ã€ŠI Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship, so I Became a Space Mercenaryã€‹


 Prologue

    <h4>Prologue</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I woke up to freezing coldness.

    It was dark and cold. Where is this ce? I opened my eyes and looked around, only to find a veritable ocean of stars before me. It was my first time seeing such an amazingly grand starry sky. There were bright and dim stars, a colorful neb and an asteroid field which seemed surprisingly close by.

    ¡°What the hell?!¡±

    Asteroids, which looked like a bunch of scattered floating rocky debris, were practically right before my very eyes. The heck! I¡¯m sure there¡¯s no ce on Earth where you can actually see these things from this up close. It¡¯s quitemon to see this type of scenery in games and movies though. But it¡¯s absolutely impossible to see them from a distance which made them visible to the naked eye for real.

    ¡°A dream¡­? No, this biting cold¡ª¡±

    The bone piercing coldness just felt way too real. The feeling of being lightheaded right after waking up and this rising sense of uneasiness also seemed eerily real.

    ¡°Just where is this ce anyway¡­?¡±

    The ce where I¡¯m currently at doesn¡¯t seem to be very big. Am I sitting on some sort of chair? There¡¯s something like a seatbelt installed¡­¡­ Wait up. Instead of that, what is this weird floaty sensation? Just what the hell is going on here?!

    Because I was suddenly thrown into an unknown situation, I was close to having a panic attack, but my eyes gradually got used to the darkness.

    ¡°This is¡­¡­¡±

    A familiar interface came before my eyes. Yeah, this room¡­ No, this cockpit was really familiar.

    ¡°This was the game¡¯s¡­ Krishna¡¯s cockpit? Is this actually a dream after all?¡±

    No matter how I look at it, this seems to be the cockpit of the custom ship I had in a game I¡¯ve been ying for a couple of years now¡ª the Krishna.

    The game was an MMO called [Ste Online].

    It was a game designed with a lot of freedom afforded to the yers. It was set in a vast universe where you could go on grand adventures, enlist yourself as a mercenary and make your mark on the battlefield, purchase a fully armed spaceship and engage in interster escort missions and the like. It was a game where a lot of yers with different y styles gathered and interacted.

    I yed a standard Mercenary style. In order to purchase a high spec battleship with strongbat ability, I did any and every possible job which could earn me in-game currency, such as bing a transporter-for-hire.

    I generally yed with the goal of earning enough to get a ship with a certain level ofbat ability, followed by farming credits once again by undertaking mercenary work with the said ship and then finally recing my current ship with a newer, better one. Ad nauseam. That kind of thing.

    My current ship, the Krishna, was something which got released from an in-game event a few months back. yers had to bring their A-game in order to get one for themselves. It was still rtively new.

    Its official model name was the [ASX-08 Krishna]. It was quite a unique ship and I simply just called it Krishna.

    It was a dangerous machine thatbined the maneuverability and speed of a small craft and the firepower of a heavy cruiser. Depending on the situation, even shooting down a full-fledged warship was doable.

    ¡°Anyways¡­¡±

    I operated the touch panel interface of the ship¡¯s controls and brought the life support systems online. Warm air soon permeated throughout the cockpit.

    ¡°That was close¡­ If I lost consciousness again in that situation, I would¡¯ve suffocated to death!¡±

    Evidence of oxygen depletion inside the ship was still present on a small screen which disyed the temperature and oxygen levels. It indicated the average temperature within the whole ship was now slightly below minus 10 degrees.

    For now, I¡¯ve managed to avert a life-threatening situation, even if I still don¡¯t have any idea about what¡¯s going on.

    ¡°Really now. What¡¯s with all this sh*t?¡±

    I crossed my arms and sank in thought while gazing at the bright cockpit controls before me. No matter how I look at it, this really is inside the cockpit of my personal starship in the game Ste Online.

    I¡¯ve heard of guys dreaming about being inside the games they¡¯ve been ying sometimes. Things like ying horror games and ending up dreaming of being chased by terrifying creatures or ying sword and sorcery RPGs and dreaming of ying monsters with one¡¯s own sword in hand. It was amon enough story.

    ¡°But am I currently having a lucid dream or something?¡±

    A lucid dream is a dream during which the dreamer is aware that they¡¯re dreaming.

    But I also heard one often wakes up after realizing they were just having a lucid dream¡­ The problem is, there¡¯s no sign of me waking up at all. Moreover, the gradually increasing warmth inside this cockpit and the other sensations I¡¯m experiencing all over my body felt nothing like a dream as well.

    ¡°Hmm¡­?¡±

    Even after mulling over my current situation over and over again, no definite answer came to mind. I tried pinching my cheeks and poking my head. They were definitely painful. Is this not a dream after all?

    No, that can¡¯t be. Right?

    I thought it seemed surprisingly easy to operate, so I tried it and managed to maneuver Krishna just fine. I had a little trouble with the foot pedals and the control stick because I was so used to controlling the ship with a keyboard and mouse, but I managed to get the hang of them after a while. Since I was now controlling the ship directly, it became possible to perform more detailed maneuvers.

    ¡°There really isn¡¯t no sign of me waking up huh?¡±

    I repeatedly elerated and decelerated and genuinely felt my body pressing onto the seat due to the constant shifts in speed and the seatbelt digging into me due to inertia. But my stubborn head still refused to wake up from this absurd dream.

    ¡°Alrighty, let¡¯s try firing off some weapons then.¡±

    I¡¯m actually starting to get into this sh*t. I brought the weapon systems online and activated the ship¡¯s ordnance. Afterward, a part of the ship¡¯s hull transformed and four maniptor arms came out.

    The maniptor arms each had a military-grade pulseser cannon equipped. They were considered to be the weapons sporting the most firepower in Ste Online, and were sometimes called Heavy Lasers. And I had four of these bad boys with me.

    In addition, two gun barrels extended out from both sides of the cockpit. These wererge-caliber canister-shot cannons and were called shotgun cannons in the game. They fire off powerful canister rounds that scatter highly destructive shards and were optimal during closebat. Most small warships would get wrecked from two well-ced shots.

    I had another ¡®trump card¡¯ on hand, but I don¡¯t n on firing it at all. That¡¯s because its ammo was way too expensive.

    ¡°Alright, here we go!¡±

    I locked on to arge asteroid nearby and fired the fourser cannons.

    ¡°Whoah!?¡±

    The azure energy beams fired by the four cannons directly hit the asteroid in question and utterly destroyed it in one shot. Its fragments scattered and hit the energy shield deployed around Krishna and caused the shield to flux.

    ¡°That was quite the firepower¡­¡±

    So this was the power of a heavyser that¡¯s able to deplete a warship¡¯s energy shield in seconds andpletely destroy it after directly piercing its hull¡­ It sure wasn¡¯t half-assed.

    And with this, I can¡¯t keep running away from the issue any longer.

    I gotta acknowledge this situation as ¡®reality¡¯.

    This was no dream. It was as real as it gets.

 Chapter 1- First Battle

    <h4>Chapter 1- First Battle</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I couldn¡¯t wake up even after repeatedly pinching my cheeks, which hurt as expected. The resulting Gs from speeding up and slowing down made me suffer, and I managed topletely wreck an asteroid using heavyser cannons. Its fragments rained down on the ship but were blocked by an energy shield. From all these crazy things that happened to me so far, it seems I have no choice but to acknowledge my present situation.

    But once I do, It¡¯ll bring a whole host of other problems. Just why did all this happen to someone like me? I don¡¯t understand at all. I can¡¯t think of any possible reason how I managed to get myself wrapped up in this kind of crazy situation.

    ¡°Just what did I do yesterday anyway?¡±

    I should have gone to work like usual, came back from work like usual, ate my meal like usual, took a shower, yed some games and went straight to sleep.

    I didn¡¯t get hit by the ever omnipresent truck-san or receive a mysterious message on theputer I use to y games.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t get this.¡±

    But there¡¯s really no useining. Let¡¯s think positive. If all this is true, then it seems I managed to get myself transported to the world of Ste Online.

    So wouldn¡¯t it be possible for me to live freely as a mercenary just like when I was ying the game? To not be tied down by anything and only relying on ones own power. Yep, sounds pretty good. It sounds a hundred times better than awork management job with next to no prospects of promotion. Seems I can make pretty good use of my gaming skills too.

    Great, I¡¯m feeling much better already. Sometimes, you just gotta enjoy whatever jam you find yourself in. Yup. Let¡¯s do just that. I¡¯m a bit uneasy, but let¡¯s try ignoring that feeling as much as possible. Ignorance is bliss.

    Well then, since that¡¯s decided¡­ where the heck am I anyway? I tried to confirm my coordinates on the Gxy Map only to find the words NO DATA being disyed. I totally have no clue about where I am and what¡¯s out there. Man, this is real bad.

    Anyways, the universe is quite vast. It wasn¡¯t a ce where you could simply wander around while expecting things to somehow go your way without any definite info on hand.

    In the Ste Online MMO, yers still haven¡¯t managed to reach the center of the gxy even though four years have passed since the game went live. I don¡¯t know if the situation was the same in this universe, but I think it would be safer to assume it had the same scale.

    I temporarily gave up on confirming my current location and proceeded to check on the status of the ship. I didn¡¯t really have any bounties put up against me. Guess that¡¯s a good thing, considering my current circumstances. I won¡¯t be suddenly caught by Sector Patrol and forced to eat rotten food in jail or anything of the sort.

    Next, I checked my current registered affiliation and avable funds. I was apparently unaffiliated. I was an out and out civilian who doesn¡¯t even belong to the Mercenary Guild. My registered Captain Name seems to be the same with the one I used in-game.

    And my total wealth was a whopping 0 Enel. What the heck? I sure am one dirt poor sob. ¡°All that money I painstakingly saved¡­¡± I muttered in despair as I proceeded to check the ship¡¯s cargo.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see how much food there is avable¡­¡±

    When I operated the touch panel disy, I was able to confirm that the minimum amount of food and water have been safely stored inside the cargo hold. How conscientious. Just who prepared this for me, I wonder? I had no idea.

    There were also a few rounds of scattershot shells and two spare energy packs for the ship.

    ¡°And there¡¯s also some rare metals huh¡­ That¡¯s quite a lot. This is bad.¡±

    What¡¯s wrong with this stuff, you ask? Well, first I¡¯ll have to exin about Ste Online¡¯s in-game currency.

    In the world of Ste Online, physical banknotes and coins have been long obsolete, and an electronic currency called Enel was the trading medium widely used all throughout the gxy. Enel exchange was pretty simple and convenient, but since it¡¯s an e-currency, there was a need to keep track and regte all transaction records involving it.

    Let¡¯s go back to the topic of rare metals. Rare metals were, as the name implied, valuable resource materials which were extremely scarce in amount across the gxy. They could be exchanged for lots of Enel at almost any colony or space station.

    In short, they were just like gold, silver or precious jewels on Earth. Since trading directly with materials involved a whole lot of trouble, this method was only used by shady folk who wished to avoid being traced back through conventional Enel exchanges.

    So I think you guys already have an idea after me telling this much, but let me spell it out for you anyway. Carrying this much rare metal would make me a pretty tempting target for folks engaged in a particr line of ¡®work¡¯. In game terms, the encounter rate for hostile NPCs would shoot through the roof.

    [Warning. We are being scanned by an unidentified ship.]

    The support AI installed on Krishna gave out a warning.

    ¡°Well, that was fast¡­¡±

    Just because I was scanned without warning didn¡¯t mean the other party were definitely space pirates. It may be that it was a mistake due to my ship having a malfunction. Or maybe the other party was just someone who¡¯s passing by and just happened to scan me.

    Right. Let¡¯s not kid ourselves. I¡¯m most probably being scanned because I was he suspicious.

    An unknown ship containing a boatload of valuable and difficult to acquire materials moored in the middle of a deste space sector was definitely suspicious as heck. They were probably suspecting me of being in the middle an illegal trade with criminal elements using rare metals or something.

    [The unknown ship has brought its weapon systems online.]

    Ah, how heartless Lady Luck is. Looks like she wasn¡¯t inclined to bless me with her smile this time. The odds of suddenly getting threatened with weapons at the ready by an opponent who doesn¡¯t even seem to be a bounty hunter right in the middle of nowhere was supposed to be a low 1 in 10 chance, yet here we were.

    ¡°Hey there, brotha. You taking a nap in a ce like this?¡±

    ¡°Ha- Ahahaha. There¡¯s actually nothing of interest here folks. Now please don¡¯t mind me and hurry along.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Don¡¯t say that brotha. Isn¡¯t it a good thing that we¡¯ve luckily managed to meet each other within this vast universe? How bout ya share some of the cargo ya have there with us poor folk. Ya do that and we won¡¯t give ya much trouble, kay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have to refuse. How about I sell some off to you for a good price?¡±

    In the middle of our negotiations, three other unidentified ships suddenly warped out and arrived at the sector we were located on. All of their weapons were already deployed and were primed for firing at a moments notice.

    When they closed in enough, info on the three unknowns appeared on my monitor¡¯s screen. Their overall build was a great, heaping mess of haphazard modules forcefully joined together. All of them had moderate cargo capacity and were fairly capable of fielding weapons. It was just that their maintenance seemed severelycking. There were lots of scratches and dents on them. They really looked like your typical pirate ships.

    ¡°Hm? Now that¡¯s quite an unfamiliar ship model. Where¡¯d the shipe from, kid?¡±

    ¡°Noment.¡±

    I scanned the unknown enemy ships as well while thinking they were most probably bona fide space pirates. Yep, that¡¯s a hit alright. Every ship had a bounty of 5,000 to 8,000 Enel.

    ¡°Hah, you¡¯ve scanned us huh? Well, can¡¯t be helped. Just hand over all yer cargo. Ya do that kid and I¡¯ll at least leave ya with yer life intact.¡±

    ¡°Hah¡­ Guess I really gotta do this huh?¡±

    I started to harden my resolve while gradually raising the energy output of the main generator from normal level to battle level. What am I resolving myself for? Well, for massacring some unfortunate folks of course.

    This rare metal was extremely important to me. People can¡¯t live without money after all. If I were to get threatened with weapons in order to forcefully take these babies away from me, then I¡¯ll have to respond in kind, in virtue of self defense. In other words, that means thoroughly crushing these fucking space pirates.

    ¡°Yep. Atta boy. Ya don¡¯t wanna kick the bucket just yet right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Guess so.¡±

    It¡¯s obvious what would happen if humans were to lose the protection of ships within the vacuum of space. In the first ce, they¡¯d get done in once they get caught up in a ship¡¯s explosion.

    Even though I was undoubtedly going to engage in a battle to the death moments away from now, there was no sense of fear within me. Maybe because the ship I¡¯m helming right now was Krishna.

    The ships the pirates sported used civilian general purpose models as bases and were several generations old. The output of their main generators, shield strength and weaponry were all horriblycking. They weren¡¯t properly maintained and their armor was brittle as fuck. On the other hand, my Krishna was a bona fide military model which has been modified to peak performance by yours truly.

    The shield output and weapon firepower were lightyears beyond their trashy models, and its armor was also military grade.

    Let me put this bluntly. There wasn¡¯t even a tiny sliver of a chance that I¡¯ll lose. This wasn¡¯t going to be a battle, but a one sided hunt. Or rather, a deathtrap.

    The generator output finally reached battle level.

    ¡°If you guys don¡¯t want to die, then I suggest you surrender. I think I¡¯d probably end up killing you anyway, so don¡¯t hold a grudge, alright?¡±

    ¡°Ya sure bark hard for someone facing three opponents huh? Ya better not regret this kid!¡±

    The pirate ships surrounding me turned their bows toward me all at once. In that instant, I fired up Krishna¡¯s throttle to maximum.

    ¡°Gah!¡±

    ¡°What the¡ª!?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fast!?¡±

    While being assaulted by Gs, I operated the touch panel and brought my ship¡¯s weapons online.

    The shape of Krishna¡¯s streamlined hull transformed and four maniptor arms equipped with pulseser cannons appeared from within. Weapon bays on each side of the cockpit opened up, and two gleamingrge caliber cannon barrels stretched forward.

    The auxiliary thrusters sted out, allowing the ship to make a sudden reverse turn while preserving all its built up momentum. In mere moments, all four pulseser cannons were aimed straight at the space pirate¡¯s ships.

    ¡°The bastard just transformed!!!¡±

    The military grade pulseser cannons fired in session and easily pierced the shield and physical armor of a pirate ship, causing a series of explosions within its hull. Its cockpit seems to have been burnt to a crisp as well.

    ¡°With just one attack!?¡±

    I wordlessly elerated and took the rear of a fleeing pirate ship. The heavy Gs caused my field of vision to darken. I fired the pulseser cannons again once I felt a bit better.

    ¡°N¡ª No! I don¡¯t wanna die! I don¡¯t wanna die! I don¡¯t¡ª!!!¡±

    The four pulseser cannon energy beams effortlessly smashed through the shield and ruthlessly pierced through the main boosters of the pirate ship whose pilot was crying desperately for dear life. When the beams reached the main generator, the second ship also exploded to bits.

    ¡°Ya f*cking bastaaard! I¡¯ll f*cking kill ya!¡±

    The third ship didn¡¯t choose to flee, but challenged me to a dogfight instead. Does he want to get even after seeing his friends get killed? There¡¯s almost no way to effectively avoidser cannon fireunching out at the speed of light. So what does one do instead? Move erratically so your opponent couln¡¯t get a proper lock.

    ¡°Guh!? Arrgh¡­!¡±

    I controlled Krishna to make random maneuvers by using the various auxiliary thrusters while interchangeably elerating and decelerating constantly. I might throw up from this.

    ¡°Sh*t! Ya sure are one slippery bastard!¡±

    The space pirate adjusted his firing angle ordingly andunched off some shots towards me. It was an action I¡¯d never encountered in the game. As I thought, this really wasn¡¯t a dream, and the one riding inside that thing was a human just like me. It honestly made me feel like vomiting.

    Perhaps my urge to vomit had an influence on my handling of Krishna, or maybe the pirate¡¯s aiming adjustments managed to catch up to my evasive maneuvers, butser cannon fire finally managed to hit Krishna dead on.

    ¡°It¡ª It didn¡¯t even flinch!?¡±

    The redser fired off by the pirate ship waspletely blocked by Krishna¡¯s energy shield, and could not even leave any burn marks on its armor. Guess that settles it huh?

    I started to elerate towards the pirate ship with its bow pointing towards me. The pirate ship also rushed towards me. It was like a chicken race.

    The pirate ship frantically fired off itsser cannons in ast ditch effort, but it was ultimately futile. Even if the shots managed to hit Krishna, they couldn¡¯t even get past its energy shield.

    ¡°S¡ª Stooop! Mommy¡ª!¡±

    Before I crashed into it, I maneuvered out of the opposing ship¡¯s way, and fired off two canister rounds straight at it the moment our units passed each other by. The shards shot out at super-high speed and broke through the pirate ship¡¯s energy shield, punching its hull full of holes.

    Swiss cheese is ready to be served.

    ¡°Hah! Haaah, ha¡­¡±

    I rapidly brought the ship around and adjusted my messy breathing while gazing at the exploding pirate ship, decreased the generator output back to normal levels and turned the weapon systems offline.

    The feeling of wanting to throw up had settled down before I knew it. Were my insides just shaken up from all those reckless maneuvers? It wasn¡¯t something caused by any sort of psychological aversion? Hm, I seem to be made of tougher stuff than I gave myself credit for.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t manage to wake up even after experiencing all this stuff. Guess this truly is ¡®reality¡¯ huh¡­¡±

    I can¡¯t sink into negative thoughts. Let¡¯s think positively. Positive. Otherwise, I¡¯d die. Mentally, that is.

 Chapter 2 â€“ Battleâ€™s Aftermath

    <h4>Chapter 2 - Battle¡¯s Aftermath</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Well, this sure is troublesome.¡±

    Alright, I¡¯ll admit it. This isn¡¯t a dream. But it¡¯ll be really troublesome moving forward. As for why it¡¯s troublesome, that¡¯s because I have absolutely no clue what to do from now on.

    Before I had a handle on what was going on, I found myself all alone inside a spaceship smack dab in the middle of space. I don¡¯t know how I got here. I don¡¯t even know if there was any method to go back home.

    ¡°Maybe there was a cutting-edge VR device capable of full immersion being developed in secret and I somehow got involved and am now in full-dive or something?¡±

    I tried messing around with the console and pulled up the menu. ¡°Log out!¡± I screamed, but there was nothing resembling a logout menu that came up. There was nothing that could take me away from this present version of reality. How heartless.

    In this situation which I can only describe as annoying, I can do little else apart from trying to adapt as much as possible. Humans are adaptable creatures. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll work out somehow.

    ¡°If I change my line of thinking, things may not be so bad after all.¡±

    I have my personal machine with me, and my piloting skills don¡¯t seem to be half bad as well. Most of all, I¡¯ve personally confirmed that this ship has enough firepower to crush any random space pirate ship whiches my way. If so, then living as a mercenary, like in the game Ste Online was quite doable.

    Fortunately, I have enough supplies inside the cargo hold, so I should be able to earn some money hunting down pirates with this ship and my piloting skills.

    Furthermore, the total bounty for the pirates I managed to scan and destroy earlier amounts to 19,000 Enel. I don¡¯t have a grasp of the general market prices in this world yet, but the bounty for fully armed pirate ships shouldn¡¯t be too bad.

    Considering the market prices in the Ste Online game, 19,000 Enel wasn¡¯t nearly enough to purchase a spaceship. But replenishing this ship¡¯s energy, ammo, supplies and paying for maintenance should all be within budget, with some room to spare.

    ¡°Oh yeah. I gotta retrieve some data and supplies first.¡±

    In Ste Online, you could plunder the wreckage of the pirate ships you destroyed for supplies and data caches. You usually won¡¯t get a lot of money, but there were surprising finds sometimes.

    By analyzing the data caches, it¡¯s possible to obtain info about the surrounding space sector. If you¡¯re lucky, you might even get to obtain the coordinates of the pirate¡¯s main base.

    Once you obtain the coordinates of the pirate base, you could initiate an attack and destroy them in order to plunder all the treasures they¡¯ve managed to save up. Alternatively, you can sell the info to the military stationed in the system in exchange for a hefty reward. Both are quite profitable prospects.

    I piloted Krishna and stripped away all supplies, data caches and rtively undamaged weaponry from the pirate ship wreckages. Ste Online spacecraft came standard with drones for collecting materials. Naturally, my Krishna also came equipped with them.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing particrly valuable huh.¡±

    The pirate¡¯s supplies mainly consisted of low-quality junk food and brewed liquor. Although brewed liquor sells at a reasonable value, depending on the local space empire governing the star system, there were times when they were deemed illegal goods. This item was quite the hot-potato.

    Well, even if they¡¯re illegal goods, the worst that could happen if I get caught with them was the liquor getting confiscated and me getting an earful from the local authorities. It would have been quite dangerous if they had illegally captured ves or drugs on-board instead. On top of them getting confiscated, you¡¯d get pped with hefty fines, get banished from the star system or worse, get attacked by the system military on sight.

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    The data cache was a hit. In addition to the coordinates of the main space stations in this star system, I also got the location of the pirate base. Even if I just decided to sell this info, it¡¯ll me a considerable amount more than the total bounty of those three pirate ships I shot down earlier.

    Apparently, there were no habitables in this particr star system based on the data I¡¯ve obtained. There seem to be a lot of asteroid belts rich in mineral resources, and it looks like mining bases and space prisons (where they force prisoners to mine in a harsh environment) and trading colonies were scattered throughout the system instead.

    ¡°There¡¯s no data for the other neighboring star systems huh¡­¡±

    Unfortunately, only the data for this particr star system was avable, and I couldn¡¯t find any map data for the ones surrounding it.

    I still don¡¯t know where exactly in the gxy this star system was located. In order to find that out, I¡¯d have to connect to an informationwork on a station or colony nearby.

    ¡°If I have to go to one, then it¡¯ll definitely have to be a trading colony.¡±

    For the time being, I inputted a course for thergest trading colony nearby. ording to the info I just obtained, there was a military base located there too. It would be convenient if I managed to im the bounty money and sell off the info regarding the pirate headquarters there.

    I set the main generator output to cruise mode and pointed the bow towards the direction of the trading colony. The throttle gradually increased, and after sufficient eleration was reached, the Hyperspeed Drive was activated.

    ¡°Whoah!¡­¡±

    The scenery before my eyes suddenly stretched out, and the stars, which looked like spots of light earlier, turned into shining lines that flowed backward. I wasn¡¯t knowledgeable about the technical details regarding the Hyperspeed Drive, and Ste Online also didn¡¯t borate on it much, but this function was mainly used for traveling between distant coordinates within star systems.

    I confirmed that the scenery I was gazing at from inside the cockpit was actually moving, so I think it simply was something like moving at extremely tremendous speeds. Since the ship didn¡¯t crash into space debris or asteroid fields along the way, I¡¯m guessing it also makes use of a special evasion program or technology as well.

    By the way, this Krishna is also equipped with the function to navigate between different star systems themselves. It¡¯s called Hyperdrive, and it makes use of a subspace corridor as a shortcut to travel at speeds much faster than light in order to reach other star systems. Of course, I have no idea about the theories involved either.

    It¡¯s important for both the game and the yers to have a method to travel between different star systems, so don¡¯t ask about how it works cause it just does dude! It was that kind of thing. I don¡¯t really care either way since I¡¯m not a Sci-fi otaku or anything¡­

    There¡¯s also an ultra long-distance traveling method which makes use of wormhole gates. These are usually managed by NPC-run space empires, and its use was oftentimes severely restricted. Some yers seemed to have gained ess by increasing their contributions to the local space empires in their respective spheres of activity, but a solo-y mercenary like me didn¡¯t have ess to that particr method.

    I passed by a gas giant while thinking about the wonders of space travel. I suddenly had the urge to stop the Hyperspeed drive to take in the magnificent cosmic sights, but I managed to hold myself back and continued to rush towards the trading colony. If I dicked around like that, there was a good chance I¡¯d be attacked by space pirates again.

    What¡¯s needed to be prioritized right now was not satisfying my intellectual curiosity, but reaching the trading colony within a safe zone as soon as possible and obtaining more information. Afterward, I¡¯ll have plenty of time to observe giant gass, asteroid fields and any other mysterious cosmic sight I¡¯d never had the opportunity to see in person before. Yeah, that¡¯ll be the case. At least, I hope it would be.

    I didn¡¯t have any particr fixation towards things involving sci-fi or space, but even I would feel like sightseeing when presented with such magnificent sceneries. Space is actually quite a lonely ce. I should treasure this newfound sense of curiosity from now on.

    While I was busy mulling over my feelings towards the greater universe, Krishna¡¯s support AI informed me that we were nearing the trading colony. I tried to brace myself for the moment when the Hyperspeed Drive gets deactivated, but it went smoother than expected. What about the effects of inertia? Perhaps the ship is equipped with a system that effectively nullifies it or something.

    I operated the cockpit¡¯s side disy like usual and sent a docking request to the hangar bay of the trading colony.

    [This is the Port Administration Department of Colony - Termaine Prime. We¡¯ve received your docking request. Um, Captain¡­? I¡¯m sorry, but the data about your identification seems to be corrupted.]

    ¡°Eh? Ah¡­ this ship¡¯s official designation is the Krishna. My name is¡ª¡±

    Name. Name, huh? My real name¡¯s something somon you¡¯d find a hundred others named like me if you bothered to look so¡­

    ¡­I¡¯ll just use the in-game name I confirmed earlier instead.

    ¡°It¡¯s Hiro. I¡¯m Captain Hiro.¡± [1. Note: Regarding Hiro¡¯s name choice: The raws have his in-game name in katakana, which is usually used to write loan words from English and other foreignnguages. So, it may seem that Hiro is just your typical Japanese name, but the context is that he¡¯s using a foreign-sounding name and not your normal Japanese one. Still confused? Don¡¯t worry and just roll with it lol]

    Thus, a mercenary named Captain Hiro was born in this gxy. It was August 10, 2397 of the Gran Imperial Calendar.

 Chapter 3 â€“ Interrogation and Serena-sama

    <h4>Chapter 3 - Interrogation and Serena-sama</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Well then, I guess it¡¯s about time to talk a little bit about me, a guy formerly named Takahiro Satou.

    Japanese. Born and bred in Hokkaido. Twenty-seven years old. Single. After finishing high school, I studied and graduated from a local technical university and worked for a localpany soon after. I dated a woman I managed to hook up with on the in my college days, but it was a long-distance rtionship and we soon broke up. I was hired as an in-housework administrator just because I could use a PC fairly well, but I had no specialized knowledge so I had to learn everything from scratch as I went about work.

    I spent my days cracking down on employees essing news sites, mail order sites and suspicious browser games and ero-sites during working hours.

    My hobby is gaming. Just gaming. I had broad tastes, and I yed just about every genre from both Japanese and Western titles. I became addicted to a certain FPS game and managed to be the Scoring King and a Single Digit Ranker after piling up copious amounts of effort for a considerable amount of time.

    There wasn¡¯t enough leeway to take the overall number 1 spot, but I was in the running for number 1 or 2 in Japan at the time. I spent my days¡¯ fragging mooks so much that my gaze turned into something my co-workers described as ¡°super sharp and way too scary¡±.

    But those days were eventually reced by times spent adventuring all over the vast universe when Ste Online went live. I also got into it quite a lot.

    That¡¯s about all I can say about me¡­ Oh, and my favorite food is carbonated drinks. I can¡¯t get enough of that feeling when the bubbly goodness goes down my throat.

    Well then, I¡¯ve been talking a lot of nonsense, but what really is my current situation right now?

    ¡°So tell me, sir, just where did you get a hold of thisrge amount of rare metals?¡±

    ¡°Like I told you, they¡¯re something I acquired from the pirates I managed to shoot down earlier. What other exnation do you want?¡±

    I was now being grilled by the port authorities.

    It was great that brewed alcohol wasn¡¯t an illegal item on this particr colony, but my stash of rare metals was being thoroughly investigated. And honestly, no matter how much they questioned me about how I managed to get them, I actually had absolutely no idea myself, so I had no other choice but to downy the matter and hope for the best.

    My current identity was that of a self-proimed mercenary without any official affiliation. I had nothing on me which could confirm my identity. What if such a tantly shady guy suddenly turned up and brought in arge number of rare metals? Utterly suspicious. It was a matter totally reeking of suspiciousness. The officer in charge of port security strictly interrogating such a guy was definitely within reason.

    ¡°¡­¡­Do you really have no intention of telling me where the heck they¡¯re from sir?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve already told you about how I got this stuff way earlier man. I¡¯m really starting to get tired of this meaningless back-and-forth convo officer.¡±

    It really feels like this guy¡¯s deliberately talking in circles. Is he waiting for me to get pissed off and slip out some useful info or something? Or is he after something else entirely? Like hush money maybe.

    The heck? When I made a gesture implying that I¡¯m willing to fork something out under the table, the reaction I got was ¡°Are you trying to drag me down with you by offering that huh? You¡¯re thinking of either threatening me or begging me to let you off by using that as leverage aren¡¯t you?¡± Seems like trying to make a deal with this kind of straightced fellow was just a waste of time.

    So what should I do now¡­?

    While I was in the middle of mulling over my options, the door of the interrogation room suddenly opened without so much as a knock and someone walked straight in.

    It was a young woman. No, it would also be appropriate to call her a young girl. And she was totally hot too. She held a dignified posture, had lustrous blonde hair and ruby red eyes. She was d in a crisp white military uniform wrapped by a red mantle and sported a sheathed sword on her dainty waist. Her visage looked very much like an ideal female knight or a beautiful war maiden.

    She gave an impression of being ady of few words, but I managed to notice a sharp, predatory glint sh within the depths of her eyes for a moment. Looks like she was ady who can¡¯t be judged solely on her appearance.

    ¡°Serena-sama! Why are you in a ce such as this mydy?¡±

    ¡°I saw an unfamiliar ship parked on the hangar bay. Is he the shipowner?¡±

    ¡°Uh- Err-¡°

    The port officer, who suddenly became all jittery, handed over something which looked like a tablet terminal to the female soldier named Serena. Her gaze then turned towards me after looking over the contents disyed by the terminal.

    ¡°This is quite arge amount of rare metals. You didn¡¯t happen to procure all of this illegally now, did you?¡±

    ¡°I swear on my life I didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ A self-styled mercenary unregistered with the Mercenary Guild who just managed to shoot down some pirates huh. Do you have anything else you wish to report perhaps?¡±

    ¡°I have some data regarding the coordinates of their main base on my ship. I obtained it from analyzing the data caches of the pirates I shot down. I was originally nning on handing over this info along with iming the bounty rewards for those pirate ships, but when our dear officer got a look at my cargo items, I was suddenly pulled into here.¡±

    I spoke in a way that emphasized how troublesome my current circumstances were while shrugging my shoulders at the female soldier in front of me.

    I guess she¡¯s someone directly affiliated with the System Military. It seemed like her rank¡¯s way above our dear port officer here, so I nned on showing her a fully cooperative attitude so she would consider letting me off.

    ¡°There¡¯s no evidence indicating that his cargo is stolen goods, correct?¡±

    ¡°Y- Yes, that¡¯s right. But still-¡°

    ¡°Well then, it should be fine to let him go. I believe he ns to unload all his cargo on this colony, correct? Considering the difficulty of procuring rare metal supplies nowadays, I don¡¯t think this poses any issues to be particrly concerned about, right?¡±

    ¡°H- However¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°However? Do you have any other opinion you wish to share with me, the daughter of Marquis Holz?¡±

    ¡°No, but mydy¡­¡±

    ¡°Speaking of which, I¡¯ve recently received some reports about a port officer who has been making it difficult for ships to unload their cargo inside this colony without handing over some sort of bribe first.¡±

    The female soldier named Serena smiled beatifically at the port officer. The port officer who was being smiled to was trembling in trepidation. I was also trembling involuntarily. This was the first time I felt a smile was actually scary.

    ¡°I- I would never do such a thing!¡±

    ¡°We are going to acquire some rare metals at a reasonable price, this self-styled mercenary who has managed to shoot down pirates will im his reward and receive some Enel, and he is going to use that Enel to purchase things from our colony afterward. With this, everyone will stand to benefit; do you not think so?¡±

    ¡°Y- Yes, ma¡¯am! You¡¯re absolutely correct! I shall process the required documents immediately!¡±

    The port officer hurriedly stood up from his seat and went out of the interrogation room. Nah, it looked more like he was escaping for dear life. I ended up all alone in the room with the female soldier he called Serena-sama. Serena gazed at the fleeing figure of the port officer for a few moments and then turned her attention back to me.

    ¡°My apologies. He¡¯s a little too serious regarding his job.¡±

    ¡°No, well¡­ I admit I actually seem quite suspicious so I guess it couldn¡¯t be helped.¡±

    Yeah, I was definitely suspicious so it was inevitable. I don¡¯t have activity records stored in any mercenary guild within the area. Actually, there won¡¯t even be records of my ship in any of the neighboring star systems as well.

    Moreover, the name data portion of the ship registry was corrupted. They did manage to match my biometric data with those recorded on the ship for authentication, so I somehow managed to keep it from being confiscated, but one small mistake and it would have been taken away.

    ¡°Yes, so much so that it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if you said you strayed from another faraway gxy into this one. How exactly did you manage to arrive on this star system?¡±

    ¡°There seems to have been an ident while my ship was on Hyperdrive. I¡¯m not sure if the ident was what caused it, but I think I¡¯ve lost most of my memories.

    ¡°While I was still confused about what happened, I was suddenly attacked by pirates. I somehow managed to beat them, looted their cargo and data caches and managed to arrive at this station after analyzing the data.

    ¡°Fortunately, I managed to remember my own name and the fact that I was a mercenary.¡±

    I talked about myself while mixing truths and lies. I thought about this particr background setting while in the middle of being interrogated by that port officer earlier. There were no parts to retort over in particr, but it was a story that can be considered a bit over the top from another person¡¯s perspective.

    ¡°You¡¯ve lost your memory, you say? Are you actually not a spy from the Vereverem Federation, perhaps?¡±

    ¡°Now that¡¯s something impossible. But let¡¯s say I really am a spy for that¡­ err¡­ Berebere Federation¡­?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the Vereverem Federation.¡±

    ¡°Right. As a spy for that Vereverem Federation, would it make sense for me to take a shipment of rare metals of unknown origin, board an unidentified ship and casually waltz right inside this Colony? And as an unregistered self-proimed mercenary at that. It¡¯s just too conspicuous. If I were a spymaster, I¡¯d immediately recall that spy after reading up on his absurd mission n and give him a thorough beating.¡±

    You could also say this was all part of an borate ruse, but that¡¯s just pushing it.

    ¡°I think I¡¯d also do the same if I were that spymaster.¡±

    Thedy soldier let out a soft peal ofughter. She¡¯s pretty cute when sheughs like that. But she seems to be the really assertive type, and I¡¯m actually no good with those.

    ¡°Well, I guess this is good enough. I¡¯m going to get in touch with the military base, so please go ahead and feel free to collect your rewards and turn in those data caches.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    She seemed to leave the room sporting a satisfied expression after I bowed to her in honest gratitude¡­ but turned around before she actually made it outside.

    ¡°You¡¯re one interesting fellow. We will devise a mop-up operation using the information you have as a reference, so be sure to participate, alright?¡±

    She gave me a mesmerizing smile and promptly left. It didn¡¯t have that overwhelming aura of coercion like earlier, but I instinctively felt some sort of danger from that beautiful visage.

    Pirate extermination missions were definitely profitable¡­ but I felt getting involved with her was bad news for some reason.

    The port officer came back a little bitter and I was finally released from the interrogation room. I¡¯ve gotten quite hungry from the whole ordeal.

    ¡°Well then, we will proceed with the rare metal exchange. The total price is 2,500,000 Enel. Please confirm.¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    I activated a smartphone shaped information terminal and confirmed that 2.5 million Enel has been indeed transferred over to my personal ount. This miniature information device was usually ced inside Krishna¡¯s living quarters and was widely popr all throughout the gxy. This baby can function as a portablemunicator, space navigator, e-wallet and do much other cool stuff.

    There was a lot of other useful stuff inside the living quarters, but what I brought out this time was only this information terminal and aser gun for self-defense. Theser gun along with its holster was confiscated when I was taken to the interrogation room, so I had them return it earlier.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing else right? I¡¯d like to go to the Sector Guard headquarters to im my prize now so I can go back to my ship and rest soon.¡±

    ¡°Yes. There is nothing else. We are sorry for taking up your time.¡±

    ¡°That so. Later then.¡±

    There¡¯s nothing more to gain by dawdling in this ce, so I finally left the Port Security Department office behind. The next stop would be the star system military base, but thanks to thatdy soldier named Serena, the process went rtively smoothly when I arrived.

    The bounty for those pirates totaling 19,000 Enel and the information reward of 150,000 Enel was given to me without much fuss. My worth now totals 2,669,000 Enel! That¡¯s a lot man!

    I inquired about the prices ofmodities on this Colony next and this was the general gist of things: about 5 Enel for food. 10 to 15 Enels if you want them a bit fancier. 3 Enels for a liter of clean water. The ship berthing fee was 150 Enel per 24 hours. Hm, so an Enel is roughly equivalent to 100 Yen huh? Basing on that, the water seems kinda expensive. The berthing fee being 15,000 Yen a day also seems quite costly as well.

    Well, considering this is a Colony and all, even the air I¡¯m breathing should cost quite a lot. And water¡¯s an equally important resource. If you look at it that way, these prices seem to be quite reasonable, given the circumstances.

    So, if I don¡¯t rent out a room inside the Colony and just sleep on the ship, the cost of living in this Colony per day should total about 15 Enels for three meals, 12 Enels for 4 liters of water and the berthing fee of 150 Enels. All in all, it¡¯s a total of 177 Enels.

    Hey, I can actually live here for 40 years fairly easily. Well, if I do stay here for that long, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll encounter another set of problems. It would be better if I can find somece to convert into a base and settle down there.

    Anyway, I got more than enough cash to spend on daily living as long as I don¡¯t splurge like crazy. When people manage to get a lot of money, it¡¯s like all their worries just disappear into thin air. I walked back to my ship with an evident spring in my steps.

 Chapter 4 â€“ Time to Make Like a Shut-in and Gather Some Intel

    <h4>Chapter 4 - Time to Make Like a Shut-in and Gather Some Intel</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The moment I got back to the ship, I immediately connected to the Colony¡¯swork and gathered some useful intel. I went at it for a few days.

    Naturally, it wasn¡¯t through honest means, but an (il)legal one. I hacked into thework channel used by the Port Security Department to monitor the Colony and gather vital information. I particrly aimed for the ess records of the Security Department¡¯swork manager and gathered intel from that.

    The first thing I looked up was info regarding the surrounding star systems and the interster empires which govern each of them. I prioritized getting myself familiar with my current location.

    First, the star system I was staying at right now was apparently called the Termaine Star System. It was centered on the Type B star Termaine, and housed fours. Termaine I, which was closest to this system¡¯s parent star, sported extremely high surface temperatures and held practically no value. The next after it, Termaine II, was a gas whose atmosphere was mainly made up of hydrogen and helium. It seems that Helium-3 was harvested from this as an energy resource

    An asteroid belt was situated near the three celestial bodies, and materials and resources such as rare metals were mined from it. Further out were twos named Termaine III and Termaine IV respectively - a testament to the people of this system¡¯s exquisite naming sense.

    Termaine III was a with a toxic atmosphere frequented by deadly acidic downpours, but the rain in question seems to have value as a naturally urring chemicalpound and there were valuable metal alloy deposits either formed on its surface or buried under its crust. A mining station was located on the¡¯s satellite orbit, which apparently doubles as a space prison where convicts were subjected to harshbor in an unforgiving environment.

    It seems Termaine IV was a gas like its sibling Termaine II. But its location was far from the Trading Colony, and Termaine II was closer to the asteroid belt and offered easier ess, so Termaine IV remainsrgely untouched.

    To sum things up, it appears that this was a very resource-rich star system. Due to this fact, a lot ofmercial and mining starships of all shapes and sizes frequent the system on a regr basis. But there were also a lot of space pirates lurking about the system as a result. In other words, there¡¯s no shortage of mercenary work.

    There¡¯s also another factor that contributes to the proliferation of the mercenary industry, but let¡¯s talk about the interster empire in charge of this star system first.

    The name of the empire governing a significant portion of this system was the Gran Empire. All the vital functions of the state werepletely controlled by the Emperor and the aristocratic families under him, so it was a ce brimming with a domineering atmosphere.

    They have been locked in conflict with the neighboring Vereverem Federation for years, and border skirmishes were a frequent urrence. This is the other element that contributes to the proliferation of mercenary work which I mentioned earlier. The sector where the main star of the Termaine System was located actually serves as the said border between the Gran Empire and the Vereverem Federation.

    ¡°The longer I stay in this particr star system, the higher the chances of me getting caught up in the conflict.¡±

    Yeah. I¡¯ll get caught up in it for sure. Even if it does present countless opportunities to make money as a merc-for-hire, getting involved in a war between two powers while remaining clueless about the overall situation was way too risky for my tastes.

    Getting involved in a war means fighting against the regr troops of a proper Interster Army. It¡¯s a whole different thing from fighting pirates sporting outdated, rickety ships.

    ¡°Should I try moving to another star system? But thatdy¡­¡±

    It really seems like thatdy named Serena¡¯s got her sights locked on to me after the earlier fiasco. They¡¯ve never made contact directly, but I¡¯ve noticed people who look like members of the Sector Guards keeping their eyes on my ship.

    If I really went and left this star system, I have a strong gut feeling that I¡¯ll get in deep trouble with these guys. Guess I¡¯ll just go and destroy some pirates like a proper mercenary while waiting for things to cool down or something.

    ¡°Anyway¡­¡±

    I moved my gaze to the Gxy Map. I tried to input the names of several star systems I¡¯m familiar with from ying Ste Online, but none of them appeared on the search results.

    I tried investigating some more and found some things quite odd. For example, the starship models and specs published by various shipbuildingpanies as well as the optional equipment inventories and item lists avable on the market contain many parallels with the things avable in Ste Online. The info I have on them from the game seems to be mostly applicable.

    But on the other hand, there seems to be a lot of unfamiliar ships, items, and equipment present as well.

    And the biggest problem was the various powers controlling each region. For example, the Gran Empire ruling this system seems to be an interster empire boasting a considerable scale. But as far as I remember, there was no interster power named Gran Empire in Ste Online. At least, there wasn¡¯t within the areas the yers have managed to reach.

    The scale of the gxy presented in Ste Online was quite grand, and yers had yet to reach its central areas. Maybe this was an empire not yet discovered in Ste Online ¡ª in other words, an empire located on the other side of the gxy. But still, the presence of shipbuildingpanies and ship models I¡¯m familiar with in this system poses a contradiction to this particr theory.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ is this the same gxy or not?¡±

    The obvious advantages I held in these strange circumstances were Krishna and the experiences and knowledge I gained from ying Ste Online. But I don¡¯t know just how far these advantages would be able to take me.

    It¡¯s quite possible for the knowledge I have to cause me to misread a situation, leading to me making a fatal mistake. From now on, I should make it a point not to trust in my gaming knowledge too much and constantly analyze if it would be effective or not in this world. Having mistaken impressions in these circumstances was dangerous.

    ¡°¡­I really should get to replenishing my supplies soon huh.¡±

    I¡¯ve almost eaten up all the food stored on the ship after thest few days. There were various items like gran bars, jerky, canned food, and auto-cook food cartridges.

    This food cartridge thing uses specially cultured algae for automatic food creation¡­ Simply put, it¡¯s a machine that produces food items akin to a 3D printer.

    The recent models are capable of producing meat-like or fish-like food which I can¡¯t, for the life of me, associate with the algae they¡¯re made out of at all. They¡¯re not exactly delicious, but you could definitely eat them. As expected of a sci-fi cooking gadget thingy.

    Speaking of which, all the garbage and biological waste products get recycling treatments inside Krishna and get processed intopact blocks, which areter collected by colonyborers. Their service fees are included in the berthing costs.

    I was actually wholly unfamiliar with such a system, so the guy assigned to collect the processed waste products made a strange expression when I asked about the details regarding how to go about it. He gave a ¡®this dumb idiot doesn¡¯t even know this kind of thing?¡¯ sort of face. Sorry man. I¡¯m really sorry about that. It¡¯s just that Ste Online didn¡¯t have this particr detail y¡¯know.

    As a result, I scoured thework for types of information this world regarded asmon sense. My knowledge was still a bit shaky, but I think I¡¯ll be mostly fine.

    Also, I¡¯ve only managed to find this out after spending some time inspecting Krishna from the inside out, but this ship¡¯s living environment really was top of the line. Krishna was a small-scale craft that was capable of housing five passengers, but it had a Single room and two Double rooms inside. It also sported a shower room,undry room, kitchen, and med bay.

    Krishna was originally a military model.

    These facilities may be installed for the purpose of allowing the crew to live inside the ship for extended periods during military missions. It¡¯s because traveling throughout the vast reaches of outer space could take a fairly long amount of time.

    I think the reason Krishna¡¯s livability was really high was mainly due to this consideration.

    Anyway, I¡¯ll have to enter the central areas of the Colony in order to by some supplies. I fixed myself up a bit and got off the ship with a portable information terminal andser gun in hand.

    I ced theser gun inside a conspicuous looking shoulder holster. It¡¯ll serve to give others the impression that I¡¯m not someone they could afford to easily mess with. It¡¯s much like those bright warning colors and marks sported by wild animals and insects.

    But honestly, I¡¯m not sure how reliable this thing is because it¡¯s practically my first time wielding it for real. But I¡¯ve read its manual properly, so I should be fine. Probably. The manual didn¡¯t include info about gun maintenance, so I had no clue how to go about it. Maybe I¡¯ll need to visit a gun shop soon.

    Ste Online also featured a Melee Mode where pilots directly engaged in firefights usingser guns and rifles. This particr model was something I got from winning a Melee Battle tournament in the game. I like both its performance and overall design.

    There were also Melee Mode types where you could fight with weaponry which sported heavy defense and substantial offense such as tanks and power armors. My ship also has a power armor stationed inside. And of course, it was a thoroughly optimized custom model.

    ¡°Well then, shall we?¡±

    I¡¯ve never once lost in a firefight inside the game, but I don¡¯t know if that would continue to be the case now that I¡¯m in this strange world. I better watch out and try not to do anything too reckless.

 Chapter 5 â€“ Elf!? Why an Elf!?

    <h4>Chapter 5 - Elf!? Why an Elf!?</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Whoah¡­¡±

    The Trading Colony [Termaine Prime] I was currently at was a Torus-type¡­ nah, it would be easier to picture if I described it as a Doughnut-type. Anyways, it¡¯s a Doughnut-type space colony.

    The colony was designed to continuously rotate, and the resulting centrifugal force, in turn, generates artificial gravity. Since the gravity was generated by centrifugal force, the outer areas of the ¡°doughnut¡± serve as the main living zone of the colony.

    ¡°Hm. This is certainly an impressive sight.¡±

    When you move your gaze towards a certain direction, you¡¯d be able to witness the ground going upwards; seemingly without end. If you look towards the ¡°sky¡±, you could see a ceiling made of ss-like material and part of the colony¡¯s central hub showing in the distance. Sprouting from the colony¡¯s surface were several elevators. Their appearance was akin to the spokes of a bicycle tire.

    Considering the existence of these elevator ¡°spokes¡± connected to the central hub of this space colony, it may be more appropriate to call it a bicycle tire-type rather than a doughnut-type.

    ¡°Mm. Alright.¡±

    After thoroughly enjoying the sight of the colony¡¯s interior, I started to casually stroll about. Most of the people around me were giving me strange looks, but I can¡¯t help it, man. I¡¯m seeing all of these for the first time in person after all.

    But, in any case, it wasn¡¯t good to be tooid back. The state of public order within this colony can be considered ¡°normal¡±. If I take the public order situation of my former home, in other words, Japan, and apply it as a standard, it would be considered ¡°ideal¡± in this world. Well, you¡¯d get a sense for the state of public security in this ce if you consider the fact that an outsider like me was allowed to carry aser gun and show it off without any trouble.

    Moreover, the only area an outsider like me was allowed to visit was an area called the 3rd Block. You couldn¡¯t exactly call it a slum, but the security was apparently the worst. I really don¡¯t want to stay here too long.

    All of the guys who took nces at me here had this sort of ¡°rough¡± atmosphere about them. They seemed to be some small-time thugs and quickly disappeared into the back alleys sporting somewhat regretful expressions the moment they spotted myser gun. Guess thisser gun really was an effective deterrent.

    ¡°Hey there, newbie. You got a pretty good gun on you huh?¡±

    The moment my nerves somewhat settled down after experiencing the intimidation effect of myser gun, I was suddenly called out to from behind.

    When I turned around, I saw a beautiful silver-haired girl staring back at me.

    She sported a level of beauty I¡¯ve never experienced before. She had even facial features and a short bobposed of extremely thin strands of silvery hair. She had a slim but shapely build, with not a single ounce of extra fat on.

    But her most striking feature was the pair of pointy ears poking out of her silver hair. Elf? An elf in Space? I thought this was a sci-fi setting? Why¡¯d you suddenly spring Fantasy out on me man? Ste Online didn¡¯t have a race like this, as far as I remember¡­

    But,e to think of it, pointy-eared aliens in sci-fi worlds was kinda a standard thing too huh? It¡¯s actually nothing to get so worked up about after all.

    And her clothes¡­ how should I put this? They look pretty soldier-like and seemed quite rugged.

    Although she looked like an elf, she didn¡¯t have much skin exposure and didn¡¯t wear a fluttery outfit. She wore pants that looked pretty sturdy and practical and a in white shirt enveloped by a tough-looking jacket. She also sported a hip holster that held aser gun of a smaller modelpared to mine.

    ¡°What¡¯s with you? You¡¯ve been staring me down for quite a while.¡±

    ¡°Uh, if you were suddenly called out to by a stranger, you¡¯d normally be wary right? It¡¯s sort ofmon sense.¡±

    ¡°I suppose so. But I¡¯m not a suspicious person. You can tell just from looking, right? I¡¯m a mercenary just like you!¡±

    The merc-style silver-haired elf girl then raised her chest while sporting a cheery grin. Her chest size¡­ doesn¡¯t seem so special huh. That said, it wasn¡¯t like she waspletely t or anything. Was this a world which denied the rights of elves to sport substantial frontal assets? Nah, I can¡¯t just generalize by taking this unfortunate looking space elf as a standard.

    ¡°Hey, just where do you think you¡¯re looking at?¡±

    The unfortunate looking space elf noticed the direction of my gaze and covered up her meager chest with her hands while sporting a grumpy expression.

    ¡°I was just looking at thosecking breasts you seem to be so proud of Miss. What of it?¡±

    ¡°¡®What of it?¡¯, he says. You¡¯ve got quite some guts there, don¡¯t you newbie,¡± the unfortunate space elf red menacingly at me and made a dangerous looking smile. Oh boy. Looks like making her angry was a bad idea. She¡¯s got aser gun with her and all.

    ¡°At any rate, how did you determine that I was a neer? Do I have something on me which indicates such a status?¡±

    ¡°Well first, stop it with your fake politenguage. It¡¯s making me have goosebumps.¡±

    ¡°Kay. So?¡±

    ¡°Well, thatser gun you have on your shoulder pegs you right away as a mercenary.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    She¡¯s right. Looking closely, there didn¡¯t seem to be anyone else wearing rugged pants and stuffy jackets like me and the disappointing elf. Everybody else was wearing thin, refreshing looking clothes. We really did stand out from the rest of the crowd because of our outfits.

    ¡°And also, you were strangely taken by the appearance of the colony¡¯s interior right? It¡¯s standard behaviour by bumpkins who¡¯d just started travelling away from their hometowns.¡±

    ¡°I see. This disappointing space elf-san sure is smart.¡±

    ¡°What did you just say?¡±

    ¡°Oh, nothing really. So, what¡¯s my smart mercenary-senpai want from me?¡±

    For just an instant, I got assaulted by overflowing killing intent. Guess it¡¯s truly dangerous to point out the cruel truth to people with smallish breasts. I better be more careful next time.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hmm. Well, no matter. I actually have too much free time on my hands right now, you see.¡±

    ¡°Ha~ah?¡±

    ¡°I noticed the Sector Defense Forces making some suspicious movementstely, but I don¡¯t have any definite info, so I ended up quite free. It really looks like something¡¯s up, so leaving the colony isn¡¯t an option. But this colony doesn¡¯t have anything interesting in it. So I¡¯m really bored out of my mind.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­And so?¡±

    ¡°So I just happened to notice a newbie-looking boy loitering around without a care. I just went over to tease you a bit.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Guess I kinda understood but kinda didn¡¯t at the same time. Well, since she¡¯s the one who came over to me, let¡¯s make the most out of it. I¡¯ll get to obtain some more info. The other person could kill some time. It¡¯s a win-win rtionship.

    ¡°Okay then. Let¡¯s kill some time by taking me to a ce where we can buy some grub senpai.¡±

    ¡°Eh, what should I do? The food shops here don¡¯t have any alcohol so they¡¯re not interesting.¡±

    Alcohol? Booze huh¡­

    That reminds me, don¡¯t I still have the containers with the brewed liquor I got from those pirates inside my cargo bay? They won¡¯t sell for much anyway, and I don¡¯t particrly like drinking myself¡­ Guess I¡¯ll use that.

    ¡°I have one container full of brewed liquor I plundered from some pirates inside my ship¡¯s cargo bay.¡±

    ¡°He~e. So?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll give it to you. Just take me to a convenience store or something in exchange. Also, I¡¯d be happy if you could answer my questions and give me some appropriate advice as a senpai.¡±

    ¡°Fumu¡­¡±

    The disappointing space elf tilted her head sideways in thought, and finally nodded after a few moments.

    ¡°I suppose that will be fine. I¡¯d be able to stave off some boredom, and getting to drink some alcohol is definitely a tempting proposal. Agreed. In return, I shall tell you all about the ins and outs of being a mercenary. I, your ¡®Senpai¡¯, will do so for you!¡±

    This disappointing space elf strangely emphasized that ¡°senpai¡± part huh. Oh well. I don¡¯t really mind her putting on airs as a great senior or something. Her looks weren¡¯t half-bad and her reactions were pretty interesting, so it¡¯s all good.

    ¡°OK, then it¡¯s a deal. Uh, we do exchanges through terminals, right? I¡¯ll register you on mine, so give me your I.D.¡±

    ¡°Alright. But if you use it for something bad, I¡¯ll immediately block you.¡±

    We took out our portable data terminals and exchanged contact I.D. info. Looks like this girl¡¯s name was Elma. Since we¡¯ve exchanged I.D.s, it¡¯s now possible to trade goods between ships using the terminals.

    ¡°Hm. So you¡¯re Hiro. Such a simple sounding name.¡±

    ¡°Get off my case. And Elma¡¯s a pretty simple sounding name too y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Mine¡¯s got one more character than yours.¡± [1. Note: Hiro¡¯s name in katakana: ¥Ò¥í (hiro) / 2 characters. Elma¡¯s name in katakana: ¥¨¥ë¥Þ (eruma) / 3 characters. It¡¯s a joke you won¡¯t get unless you know your Japanese characters.]

    ¡°Yup. You¡¯re right, huh.¡±

    Why do I seem to enjoy teasing this girl so much? I actually have a smug grin stered on my face right now. Maybe I was feeling a bit more lonely than I thought and relished herpany.

    I immediately operated my terminal and sent the container with the alcohol to Elma¡¯s ship. The transaction was immediately approved and the booze was sessfully transferred.

    ¡°Just how exactly do goods get transferred over with this?¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t know? You can ess the material transport system via connecting to the hangarwork. You can freely exchange goods by making use of this material transport system.¡±

    ¡°Hm. I see.¡±

    Looks like the process of unloading goods and cargo in this era ispletely automated huh. The use of humanbor in order to unload things from ships has been abolished.

    ¡°How long have you been an active mercenary Elma?¡±

    ¡°Five years. If you remain active for five years, you¡¯re already considered a veteran in our circles.¡±

    ¡°Hm, that so.¡±

    If she¡¯s been active as a mercenary for five years, then she¡¯d started her career before Ste Online went live. In a certain sense, she really was my senior.

    ¡°I see. You¡¯re really my senpai huh. I¡¯ll be in your care then.¡±

    ¡°Well, aren¡¯t you suddenly all nice and proper? Ma~a, it¡¯s certainly good to give appropriate respect to your elders.¡±

    ¡°Elder?¡±

    ¡°Even though I look like this, I¡¯m already 53 years old this year.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­You¡¯re purposely making yourself look young!?¡±

    I can only see a young girl not even twenty before me.

    ¡°We only live a little longer than you humans. No matter how long-lived a person from your race is, they¡¯d only reach about 150 years old. We, however, live for at least 500.¡±

    ¡°I see. So it¡¯s the difference between races¡­ It¡¯s been five years since you began your mercenary career, so you would have been 48 years old when you first started out. Just what kind of lifestyle did you lead before bing one?¡±

    ¡°D- Does that even matter!? Trying to dig up a mercenary¡¯s past is a great breach of manners, I¡¯ll have you know!¡±

    Elma seems to have lost her cool after hearing my question. She kept scolding away while jabbing her index finger in my direction. Looks like I poked the ho¡¯s nest. I raised both hands to indicate my surrender.

    ¡°I get it. I won¡¯t ask about it, alright? I¡¯m sorry for letting my curiosity get the better of me. But, considering how strongly you reacted, I¡¯m guessing there¡¯s something about your past which would spell trouble if it gets found out huh?¡±

    ¡°Uuuh¡­ We- Well, it¡¯s good that you understand.¡±

    Looks like it was something really troublesome. I don¡¯t want to get overly involved in something like that, so I¡¯ll try not to bring it up again.

    I lined myself up beside Elma, who just recovered herposure and started walking, and asked about things rted to mercenary work. I had this earlier impression of her as a disappointing space elf so I was a little concerned about what she would discuss with me, but the contents turned out to be quite informative.

    ¡°If you want to take on a request, be sure to run it through the Mercenary Guild first. More so if you don¡¯t want to get into any sort of trouble.¡±

    ¡°The Mercenary Guild huh. Oh yeah. Guess I¡¯ll have to get myself registered soon.¡±

    ¡°Ha~a! Apart from being aplete newbie, you¡¯re also unregistered? Get yourself registered properly before concerning yourself with supplies, you idiot!¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    My jacket was grabbed with surprising force, and I was dragged back to the area we were at before. Looks like the office of the Mercenary Guild was located near the elevator leading to the hangar bay. Elma angrily exined just how dangerous the standing of an unregistered mercenary was on the way.

    It seems that an unregistered mercenary unaffiliated with a guild would be treated no better than a criminal if one messes up, apart from being unable to im any mission rewards. In some cases, one might even be refused port entry.

    ¡°Man, that¡¯s harsh.¡±

    ¡°Well of course it is! Unknown individuals unaffiliated with any organization wandering around with a ship powerful enough to seriously damage or destroy a space colony or station would, of course, be treated with maximum caution! That¡¯s justmon sense! How in the world did you manage to not get in trouble until now!?¡±

    ¡°We~ll, there¡¯s sort of a story worthy of a bucket-full of tears behind my current circumstances y¡¯see.¡±

    I continued to be dragged away by Elma while I talked about some stupid stuff, and we finally reached the Mercenary Guild office. Guess I¡¯ll have to exin my circumstances all over again.

    Still, this ce was a hundred times more beautiful than the image of a Mercenary Guild I had in my head.

    The floor was made of some unknown, glossy material. There were a number of seats withfy looking cushions lined up in what seems to be a waiting area. Beyond them were several counters.

    Each counter had an information disy on top of them. The number of people inside was quite sparse. Is business not doing so hot perhaps?

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t this seem more like a government office than a mercenary guild office?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s somewhat simr. C¡¯mon. Let¡¯s go to the reception counter.¡±

    ¡°Understood, big sis.¡±

    I was dragged by Elma all the way to the reception counter.

 Chapter 6 â€“ Mercenary Guild

    <h4>Chapter 6 - Mercenary Guild</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After I arrived in front of the reception counter, I found myself facing a guy sporting numerous old battle scars on his body. His left arm also seemed like a mechanical prosthetic. How should I put this? It felt like I finally encountered something mercenary guild-like.

    ¡°Ahn? The hell do you guys want?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a newbie. This guy¡¯s going around Underground without registering with the Guild.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Underground? I sometimes hear about guys like that, but it¡¯s my first time seeing one in person. C¡¯mon over and take a seat bro.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes.¡±

    I sat down in front of the counter like I was told. This guy was pretty intense man. If I met someone like him back home in Japan, I¡¯d never want to get involved with the guy at all. He really looks like someone from a rather ¡°dangerous and illegal¡± profession.

    ¡°Even if you¡¯re unregistered, you do own a ship right? Tell me your ship name and I.D. It¡¯s parked in the hangar bay right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Pfft. You really seem like a frightened little kitten. So interesting.¡±

    ¡°Shut up.¡±

    I red at Elma, who had one hand over her mouth while trying to stifle herughter but didn¡¯t seem to be able to. Dammit! I can¡¯t help it okay! This uncle¡¯s just he scary man!

    The receptionist uncle with a terrifying face inputted the ship name and I.D. I gave him on a tablet terminal and fiddled with it for some moments.

    ¡°The hell? What¡¯s up with your ship kid? I¡¯ve never seen a model like this before.¡±

    ¡°Although I can¡¯t exactly disclose the source, I guarantee I didn¡¯t get her illegally.¡±

    ¡°Nah, y¡¯know¡­ Well, it¡¯s a breach of manners to ask about a mercenary¡¯s past. It says here you engaged three pirate ships in battle four days ago and managed to win, but that¡¯s about it. Rather, you don¡¯t have any other activity records kid.¡±

    ¡°I seem to have gotten involved in an ident while my ship was on Hyperdrive and got thrown out somewhere near this colony. Because of that ident, I seem to have lost most of my memories, and I currently have absolutely no idea where I am.¡±

    ¡°You serious? Ah¡­ Well, that¡¯s fine. You don¡¯t have a bounty on your head anyway. Oh yeah, could you stop it with that politenguage thing? If the other guys hear you talkin like that, you¡¯d get looked down on y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Y- Yeah.¡±

    Man, it sure takes some serious balls to talk in a casual manner with this grim-faced uncle¡­

    ¡°That¡¯s true. It¡¯s more or less over for a merc who¡¯s underestimated, so watch how you act from now on. However, you¡¯re still asx as ever, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re also aware of the rules, right missy? There¡¯s no merit for probing about a merc¡¯s past. If they¡¯ve got no bounty on their heads and properly earn their keep, then there¡¯s absolutely no problem.¡±

    A question suddenly popped into my head while the two were having their conversation. So I decided to just blurt it out right away.

    ¡°Um, a starship¡¯s not exactly cheap, right? So I¡¯m sure there aren¡¯t that many guys who go like [I got myself one, so I¡¯ll be a mercenary starting today!] just like that yeah? How do you even manage to recruit enough members then?¡±

    I think my question does have some merit. I¡¯ve investigated the general market prices in this world these past few days, and in order to purchase a properly armed ship, you¡¯d need to fork out at least 50,000 Enel. If you convert that to Japanese Yen, you¡¯d end up with 5,000,000. I haven¡¯t managed to investigate the average ie of people in this world, but I¡¯m sure that¡¯s still an astronomical amount of money for the average joe.

    ¡°Well, there are actually lots of guys who¡¯re formerly from the military active in this business y¡¯see. They¡¯re pretty high leveled and have great skills. There are also some who just in love fighting and chose to be mercenaries as a result. There¡¯s also them extremely greedy, money-obsessed types.¡±

    ¡°There are also those who graduated from the Mercenary Training Institute right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. But there¡¯s none of those types in this particr star system.¡±

    ¡°Those still seems to be a bitcking as sources of ¡®fresh blood¡¯ though.¡±

    ¡°Guess so. But the gxy¡¯s a friggin huge ce kid. We¡¯ve managed to get enough members to fulfill most of the requests sent to us.¡±

    Hm. In other words, there are lots of prerequisites, so they¡¯ve managed to gather up only the folks who fulfill those conditions. Or maybe there just isn¡¯t a lot of mercenary work in this world? Hm. I don¡¯t get it. I don¡¯t get it, but I¡¯ll just go with the flow anyway.

    ¡°I¡¯ve finished setting up your registration. The only thing left is the test.¡±

    ¡°Test?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. If we don¡¯t know how skilled you are, won¡¯t we have no idea what type of jobs you¡¯d be able to take up?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s reasonable. But how are you gonna test me?¡±

    ¡°Training course. There¡¯s a simtor here for that purpose. I¡¯ll have you undergo that.¡±

    ¡°OK.¡±

    The receptionist uncle stood up from his seat, called out towards the back of the office and guided Elma and me to another room. Why¡¯d Elma follow me anyway? Elma grinned mischievously at me when she noticed my gaze.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think I have the right to see just how skilled the rookie I brought with me is?¡±

    ¡°You do?¡±

    Well, I did manage to smoothly proceed with my mercenary registration thanks to Elma, so I don¡¯t really mind if she observes my moves. Moreover, the opinions of a veteran merc with five years of experience under her belt would be valuable. If I have her evaluate me, I¡¯ll be able to more properly judge my overall skill level.

    ¡°It¡¯s right here.¡±

    The room with the simtor was surprisingly bigger than I expected. Lined up within it were simtor machines that looked a bit like small-sized trucks. Or rather, they seem to be mimicking just the cockpit block of a ship.

    ¡°Chose something which resembles the cockpit model of your ship and get in.¡±

    ¡°Gocha.¡±

    The overall look of a ship¡¯s cockpit isrgely influenced by its manufacturer. That also goes for the cockpit controls. So most ships are made to bepatible with most cockpit blocks avable on the market. This essentially means that it¡¯s possible to detach a cockpit block and install it onto another ship. This function was also avable on Ste Online, so I¡¯m quite used to it.

    ¡°Guess it¡¯s this one.¡±

    ¡°Hoh. Ain¡¯t that a high-end military model? Alright. I¡¯ll have it prepped straight away.¡±

    The uncle, who seemed somehow impressed when I chose my cockpit block, went away somewhere. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s going to the control room for the simtors. Elma¡¯s figure was also gone. Guess she¡¯s spectating from somewhere else.

    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s start the evaluation test.¡±

    ¡°Roger that. What about the operating data of this test unit?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll upload your ship¡¯s data on it. You should be able to control it like you usually do after¡­¡­ Oi, oi. What the heck is this?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°You really askin me? This unit¡¯s data¡­ Can you really use this thing?¡±

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll be okay if it¡¯s Krishna¡¯s data.¡±

    Was there something strange about the data. Well, I don¡¯t really know how Krishna would be evaluated in this world. It was a pretty strong unit back in Ste Online though.

    ¡°Oh well. This is a test to evaluate your skills after all. The objective of the test is pretty basic. Destroy all enemy units. All ships except for you are enemies. They¡¯ll be few in number at first, but they¡¯ll being at you in waves. The difficulty will increase as their numbers go up.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s start the test. Activating the unit.¡±

    The cockpit interior dimmed; only a minimal amount of illumination remained. So it urately simtes even a ship¡¯s dormant state. I fired up the main generator with practiced motions and brought it up to battle level. In response to that, the simted Krishna activated, and a space environment gradually unveiled itself before me. It was a pretty realistic view. This simtor¡¯s extremely detailed.

    [Unidentified ship detected. Its weapon systems are online]

    I also activated my weapon systems and quickly set course for the location of the enemy ship disyed on the radar. I elerated all at once. I felt my body being strongly pressed down onto the seat.

    ¡°Whoah. This thing even simtes the Gs.¡±

    What kind of tech did they use to make this thing? Well, if this world really was the same as Ste Online, then a gravity generating device should have been developed. This machine must be using something like that.

    A figure that seemed to be the enemy ship was cruising in the distance and carefully approaching me in order to mount a surprise attack. I¡¯ve already managed to get a lock on the slowpoke. The four maniptor arms deployed from the hull and immediately aimed at the enemy ship. The moment I pulled the control stick¡¯s trigger, four beams of light fired straight at the enemy and tore it open. I managed to shoot down the enemy in one attack.

    ¡°How fragile.¡±

    Not to mention slow as heck. Judging from its appearance, it was a small transport ship with a high carrying capacity. Just this huh?

    More enemy ships appeared after that, but all of them were pretty weak. Slow. Fragile. They¡¯re no different from live targets. I don¡¯t think they would be able to properly gauge my abilities with these.

    ¡°Ah, looks like the evaluation program for new recruits just won¡¯t cut it.¡±

    ¡°Hey. Isn¡¯t the difference in unit specs too lopsided?¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re right but¡­ Let me change to a different test program.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    I tried out the new program. It was definitely better than the first, but the enemies were still quite slow. Damn weak. They¡¯re no different from those suckers I shot down a few days ago.

    ¡°They¡¯re so weak. I can¡¯t feel any sort of pressure.¡±

    ¡°The hell kid¡­ This is an evaluation program for veterans y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Wha¡ª You¡¯re joking right? Isn¡¯t there anything more difficult?¡±

    ¡°There is¡­ But I think this one¡¯s a bit of an overkill.¡±

    I finally felt some pressure this time. More than ten pirate ships attacked all at once, and their weapons were also quite powerful. But if I keep a close eye and take timely evasive actions whenever they fired their high-powered ballistic weaponry, I¡¯d be fine. Theirser cannons can¡¯t even prate my shield, so they¡¯re practically no threat. The light cruiser model that came out at the end was pretty tough. But once I managed to get to its blind spot, it became a done deal.

    ¡°That did make me sweat a little.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t be serious kid!?¡± the uncle cried out in exasperation. Huh? Was that actually the highest difficulty?

    ¡°Uh¡­ Well. Damn. The test¡¯s over, kid.¡±

    ¡°Roger that.¡±

    That was easier than I thought. I wonder how they¡¯ll evaluate me¡­? Well, judging from that uncle¡¯s reaction, it¡¯ll probably be alright. I cut the power flow from the generator, stopped the simtor and stepped out of the cockpit. When I went out of the simtor hatch, I found the receptionist uncle and Elma staring at me with hard to describe looks on their faces. They could probably be described as disbelieving expressions.

    ¡°Um, what¡¯s my evaluation results?¡±

    ¡°Ah, let¡¯s get back to the counter and talk there.¡±

    They sure are acting strange. I think it would¡¯ve been fine even if they told me the result here. For some reason, Elma also kept staring at my face. Just what¡¯s with all this man?

    I followed the two of them back to the lobby with my head tilted in puzzlement.

    ¡°Uh¡­ First, about the exam result.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°You passed.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great. But what¡¯s with those strange expressions?¡±

    ¡°Well y¡¯see, we mercenaries have a ranking system in ce.¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    Was it something simr to that adventurer ranking thing used in a lot of those isekai themed webnovels? Would this lead to a development where I suddenly get promoted to A or S rank?

    ¡°It¡¯s called a Combat Rank, and it serves to objectively represent a merc¡¯sbat capabilities. The five ranks are as follows: Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and tinum. Iron¡¯s the lowest and tinum¡¯s the highest.¡±

    ¡°I see. So?¡±

    ¡°Thest test you tackled was the one for promotion to Gold Rank.¡±

    ¡°Okay?¡±

    ¡°But y¡¯see, even though you did pass the Gold Rank promotion exam, I can¡¯t just suddenly promote you to Gold right from the start.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    I¡¯m not too hot on the idea of getting promoted to the second-highest rank just like that either anyway. This was something not present in Ste Online after all. I want to savor the pleasure of ranking up step by step.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have a solid track record yet. You understand, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I do.¡±

    ¡°So for now, you¡¯ll be ranked Bronze. Temporarily, of course. I¡¯ll pass the data from the simtion you took earlier to the higher-ups and have them confirm your ranking.¡±

    ¡°Spare me from suddenly ranking up to Gold, will you? I¡¯d miss out on the fun of steadily raising my rank.¡±

    ¡°I¡ª Is that so?¡±

    It somehow felt like I¡¯m drawing too much attention. Elma kept painfully staring at me from the side while sporting a especially grumpy expression. What? Please stop that. I¡¯m just a newbie here, y¡¯know. Please cut me a little ck ma¡¯am.

    ¡°For now, the rank¡¯s tentative, but you¡¯re already officially registered as a mercenary. You¡¯ll have the backing of the Mercenary Guild from now on. And at the same time, you¡¯ll also be carrying the name and reputation of the Mercenary Guild with you. Please try not to forget this fact.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to exin the rules and regtions for new members or something?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a pain, so just read the manual yourself. I¡¯ll send it to you via e-mail.¡±

    ¡°Now that¡¯s just inzy.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like you need to read it right away. Just run through it slowly tonight or something.¡±

    ¡°Now then, why is my great Elma-senpai so upset, I wonder?¡±

    ¡°Silver.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve just managed to reach Silver after five years worth of effort y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Ah. Eh. Um¡­¡±

    When I looked towards the receptionist uncle for help, he quickly turned his gaze away from mine.

    ¡°You¡¯ll probably make it to Silver yourself soon kid.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ Mmm.¡±

    ¡°Grrr¡­¡±

    ¡°No matter what my rank turns out to be, Elma-senpai will always be my senpai! Look, if I didn¡¯t meet Elma-senpai, I¡¯d probably remain unregistered until now. I still don¡¯t know left from right and need your help. I¡¯m the pathetic scrub who doesn¡¯t even know where the convenience store is. I¡¯ll always be counting on Elma-senpai. It¡¯s true!¡±

    ¡°I¡ª Is that so? T¡ª That¡¯s fine then. Let¡¯s go to the convenience store next. This ¡®senpai¡¯ will properly guide you.¡±

    This disappointing space elf quickly regained her mood after my unrestrained bootlicking spree. How easy.

    ¡°Amazing~ How admirable~¡±

    ¡°As for this colony¡¯s map¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be going ahead then!¡±

    The receptionist uncle looked like he kinda wanted to say something but I stopped him with my gaze. Just stop uncle. It¡¯ll be troublesome if her mood drops again okay.

    Hold on? Y¡¯know, I probably wouldn¡¯t have any trouble going around this ce if I managed to obtain a map. But let¡¯s just stop that train of thought, shall we? Yeah.

 Chapter 7 â€“ A Grocery Store in the Space Age

    <h4>Chapter 7 - A Grocery Store in the Space Age</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    As we headed to the convenience store, Elma talked about the ins and outs of the Termaine System she managed to gain from her activities as a mercenary. This ce was a hotbed for mercenary work due to the proliferation of pirates aiming at therge numbers of trading and resource mining shipsing and going from the star system. They also went for the mainary system in close proximity to the border with the Vereverem Federation.

    ¡°That¡¯s why this particrary system has a lot of mercenaries hanging around. Or rather, you came to this star system without even knowing that much?¡±

    ¡°Nah, I already talked about my circumstances earlier. I got into an ident and ended up getting forcibly thrown into this sector. It might be due to the life support system malfunctioning or something, but my memory¡¯s quite hazy as a result. Thankfully, the ship remained intact.¡±

    Of course, the part about losing my memory was aplete lie. If I inly told them I came from another dimension, they¡¯d just probably treat me as someone crazy, so I made up a usible-sounding excuse while considering the fact that I knew next to nothing about themon sense in this other world.

    ¡°Are you alright then? There are some cases where people caught up in those types of idents suddenly copsed after some time passed. I think it would be better if you went and got yourself a thorough medical check-up at this colony¡¯s medical ward, just in case.¡±

    ¡°You serious?! Yeah, that might be a good idea.¡±

    If my memory really did get messed up due to an error in the life support system of my ship, Elma¡¯s suggestion made absolute sense. Even though it wasn¡¯t actually the case, I felt like I should get myself checked anyway. There may have been some hidden adverse effects I failed to notice after being inexplicably transported to another dimension. Let¡¯s put getting a medical examination on my to-do list. While I was busy thinking about this matter, Elma pointed towards the front and called out to me.

    ¡°Look, that¡¯s the ce. That¡¯s the convenience store.¡±

    ¡°There, huh?¡±

    I saw arge signboard with the words [Oishii Mart] written in bold letters in the distance. Oishii (Delicious) Mart, huh? Uh¡­ What an easy to understand name.

    ¡°What a damn straightforward store name.¡±

    ¡°Really? I think it sounds kind of exotic though.¡±

    ¡°It does?¡±

    (Which part is?)

    I wanted to retort like that, but I held it in. Was it that ¡°Oishii¡± word perhaps? Well, she isn¡¯t really speaking in Japanese, so I guess it¡­ Hold on. But I¡¯M speaking in Japanese, right? How the heck am I managing to have a proper conversation with the people in this world anyway?

    When I asked Elma about it, she exined that most advanced space-faring civilizations have a ¡°device¡± tomunicate their wills with other advanced civilizations installed into their bodies. It was apparentlymon sense.

    ¡°You even forgot about this?¡±

    ¡°Looks like it.¡±

    ¡°Are you really fine? That¡¯s honestly worrying you know.¡±

    The disappointing elf gave me a pitying gaze. How humiliating.

    ¡°Oh well. Come on. Let¡¯s get inside.¡±

    ¡°Kay.¡±

    We finally entered the store and surveyed its interior. There were lots of products lined up on the shelves - cereal bars, canned food, food cartridges, and tube-packed nutrient gels. There were even mystery goods which you couldn¡¯t tell if they were food or not and creepy creatures immersed in a formalin-like substance.

    ¡°There sure are a lot of stuff huh?¡±

    ¡°Yes. What do you want to buy?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s good? Any rmendations?¡±

    ¡°If you have an Auto-cooker, I suggest buying some food cartridges. If you have enough funds, you could go for artificial meat products.¡±

    ¡°Artificial meat?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Do you not know of them? Artificially cultivated high-quality protein. It costs a lot more than ordinary foodstuffs, but tastes a lot better.¡±

    ¡°What about natural meat and vegetables?¡±

    ¡°Those things are only eaten by the richest men and women in the entire gxy. We mercenaries won¡¯t be able to buy those things no matter how much we earn.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    So I guess meat procured from livestock and naturally grown veggies were treated as ultra-luxury items in this world. Guess it does make sense though. Farming inside a space colony doesn¡¯t seem to be so efficient.

    While I was absorbed in my thoughts, Elma peered at my face with a suspicious expression.

    ¡°Are you actually some sort of rich young master who takes eating natural meat and vegetables as something normal?¡±

    ¡°I- I have no idea. I lost most of my memories, remember? Does it really look like that though?¡±

    She raised both her arms and shook her head, although she still seemed a bit doubtful.

    ¡°Not really. I still have some reservations though.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just leave it at that then.¡±

    We proceeded to get other food items rmended by Elma. It also looks like you could buy water here. Although they¡¯re a bit pricey, I ended up buying some artificial meat. Other than that, I also bought some food cartridges, cereal bars, and tube-packed nutrient gels. She also rmended some jerky-like stuff.

    ¡°How about some canned food?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really rmend those. They would definitely cause a mess if you opened them in a Zero-G environment.¡±

    She pointed out that the liquid soup or sauce in canned food would immediately float up once you opened them. Solid food like jerky and cereal bars or semi-liquid food like nutrient gels were more suitable for space travel.

    ¡°Okay¡­ Are there some carbonated drinks?¡±

    ¡°Carbonated drinks? What are those?¡±

    ¡°Well, uh¡­ stuff like c or sodas. They¡¯re sweet and refreshing drinks.¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    Elma tilted her head in confusion. She really looked like she had no idea.

    ¡°They have juice here, right?¡±

    ¡°Y- Yes. Theye in various vors.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re sort of like those - but are infused with dissolved carbon dioxide. They fizzle inside your mouth the moment you drink them and taste really good.¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t really heard of anything like that though?¡±

    ¡°Say¡­ what¡­!?¡±

    Does this world really not have carbonated drinks!? I tried asking the cashier about them, but all I got was some words of apology in return.

    ¡°God is dead¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°Why are you suddenly saying things like a devout believer who haspletely lost his faith and is about to die because of it?¡±

    To think that there really were no carbonated drinks in this world¡­ No, wait up? I seem to remember reading something about not being able to properly drink carbonated stuff inside a spacecraft on the once. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s due to the absence of gravity or the difference in atmospheric pressure, but wasn¡¯t it excluded because of this?

    If this was truly the case, then it would be fine to have them in an environment with gravity and normal atmospheric pressure¡­ Was it not possible even inside a colony? Perhaps because the artificial gravity is gained from centrifugal force? I- I have no idea. I can¡¯t wrap my head around it.

    But maybe I¡¯ll be able to drink them if I stay on a residential or something? They might be normally sold over there too.

    ¡°I¡¯ve decided to buy a detached house with a garden on a residential in the future!¡±

    ¡°Now that¡¯s abrupt¡­ How did you decide on that just by hearing about that carbonated drink thing? A house on a residential is way too expensive, I¡¯ll have you know. The only ones permitted to own homes on residentials in the Gran Empire are only those who have the status of 1st ss imperial citizens. And it apparently costs hundreds of millions of Enel to purchase thend title and obtain citizenship.¡±

    ¡°You serious!? You could buy a Whale ss Heavy Cruiser with that kind of money!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true. I¡¯ve heard this info from imperial soldiers before.¡±

    Hundreds of millions of Enel huh¡­? Argh! That¡¯s way too expensive! However¡­ However¡­!

    I. WANT. TO. DRINK. SOME. SODA~A!!!

    ¡°A lofty goal is a great source of motivation.¡±

    ¡°Do whatever you want then.¡±

    Elma shrugged her shoulders in exasperation, but this was an issue of life and death for me! After I bought some water and food, I asked the cashier to send them directly to my ship and exited the store with some food and drink I got for take-out. I also gave Elma her share, of course. Just a bottle of juice though.

 Chapter 8 â€“ Young Girl

    <h4>Chapter 8 - Young Girl</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°You had this Elma-san guide you for today, so treating me to this much can be considered cheap, right?¡±

    The disappointing elf grinned happily as she stuck a straw inside a bottle made of unknown material.

    ¡°Yup. It¡¯s a steal.¡±

    But right when I left the store and looked around, I ended up seeing something unexpected.

    ¡°¡­¡­Haah. Gah. Ugh.¡±

    ¡°Stay still, you damn bitch!¡±

    ¡°Gehehe¡­ We finally caught ya.¡±

    ¡°She ended up getting a bit dirty, but she¡¯ll do just fine.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just get to it, man! I can¡¯t stand it anymore!¡±

    A young girl was being dragged into a back alley by seedy guys who looked like delinquents. They seemed to have chased her down. Judging from their earlier convo, it was easy to imagine just what they¡¯ll do to the girl.

    ¡°Hold it right there.¡±

    I reached out for the grip of myser gun and was about to step forward when my belt was suddenly grabbed. It was naturally Elma who stopped me.

    ¡°Are you just going to let that slide?¡±

    ¡°Is she your acquaintance?¡±

    ¡°Not really. But¡­¡±

    The girl desperately resisted her captors but was gradually cornered deeper inside the alley. Our eyes met. Her pleading gaze struck me.

    ¡°If so, then it¡¯s not our business. Leave it be.¡±

    ¡°You¡­¡±

    ¡°Now look here, mister. That kind of thing happens all the time in this gxy. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to stick your neck in every time you encounter that sort of stuff? It won¡¯t be enough, no matter how many lives you¡¯ve got. Those who can¡¯t even protect themselves are just prey. Even if you help her out now, she¡¯ll just end up getting into the same sort of troubleter.¡±

    This woman¡¯s point was blunt and practical. I¡¯m neither a god nor some sort of superhero. I was just a half-baked, wet-behind-the-ears mercenary wannabe.

    ¡°You aren¡¯t some protagonist of a heroic saga. You¡¯re just one guy with a starship.¡±

    As Elma lectured me, the girl was finallypletely subdued and disappeared inside the alley on one of the thugs¡¯ shoulders. Her gaze was still directed at me and her hands kept reaching out to plead for help. But those outstretched hands were simply unable to reach me.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s true¡­¡±

    What Elma¡¯s saying has some truth to it. But was it ¡°true¡± for me as well?

    ¡°You really think I¡¯d say that!? You cold-hearted disappointing elf!¡±

    I can¡¯t just allow this sh*t! If I abandoned that girl now, I won¡¯t be able to get any proper sleep from guilt. Everytime I¡¯d remember that girl¡¯s helpless expression, I¡¯m sure my morale would be shaved off until there¡¯s nothing left. Just spare me from that.

    ¡°Wai-¡°

    I swept Elma¡¯s hand which was holding onto my belt away, threw my baggage down and ran inside the alley. I removed theser gun from its holster and gripped it tight. I set the power output to the minimum.

    ¡°Just give up already bitch!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t struggle. Won¡¯t ya learn until ya get to feel some pain?¡±

    ¡°Nooo! Noooooo!¡±

    ¡°Guess I need to hit you good so you¡¯d stay still¡ª¡±

    One of the thugs surrounding the girl inside the alley raised his fist. I aimed the muzzle of theser gun at his arm in one smooth motion and pulled the trigger.

    A sound akin to rushing electricity rang out, and a bright sh dyed the narrow alleyway in crimson. Moments after, the thug cried out in a pained voice.

    ¡°Giiiih!?¡±

    Theser shot I fired hit his raised fist dead on. I¡¯ve never fired a real gun before this, but I luckily managed to hit my target for some reason. I don¡¯t think my experience ying FPS games would help much in this situation, but I¡¯m d it worked out anyway.

    ¡°Wha¡ª!?¡±

    I aimed my gun at the remaining confused thugs and pulled the trigger. I pulled it repeatedly.

    Each time a crimson sh ran through the alley, the men miserably screamed. As expected, the minimum power setting doesn¡¯t pack enough punch to kill people.

    ¡°That huuuuurts!¡±

    ¡°Ow! Oooow!?¡±

    ¡°Aieeeeee~!?¡±

    It won¡¯t kill but it seems to be really painful. It would be a bit of a problem if I went any further than this, so after torturing them for a bit more, I screamed threateningly at the thugs.

    ¡°Get lost punks! You won¡¯t end up with just burns next time!¡±

    The thugs hurriedly disappeared deeper inside the alley while sporting terrified expressions. The only ones who remained in the area were theser gun-toting me and the young girl who was leaning against the wall with disheveled clothes and staring intently into my face.

    I walked past her in the direction those thugs fled towards while still holding up my gun. I called out to her.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna keep watch, so hurry and fix your clothes. We have to get out of here soon.¡±

    ¡°¡­Ah! Yes!¡±

    The young girl answered in a voice that seemed close to tears, and rustling sounds of clothes being fixed came from behind me. I checked how the girl was doing while still pointing my gun towards the back of the alleyway. This would end up ame joke if, by any chance, this girl was actually an aplice of those thugs and stabs me in the back or something.

    Thankfully, nothing like that happened and the girl who finished tidying herself turned towards me. When I urged her to run back to the entrance of the alleyway with my gaze, the girl whose eyes turned puffy and red-rimmed tearfully nodded and rushed out right away. I followed soon after.

    ¡°Wee back.¡±

    When I got out of the alley, Elma greeted me while carrying the baggage I threw down earlier. Her face clearly disyed an exasperated expression.

    ¡°So what are you going to do about that girl?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean¡­?¡±

    When I turned towards the girl, she also turned towards me. We kept staring at each other.

    Now that I got a good look at her, she was actually a really pretty girl, although she got herself a little dirty from that earlier scuffle. Her height was on the smaller side. I was about a head taller than her. But in contrast to her height, her pair of womanly assets were of a size iparable with those sported by the cold-hearted disappointing elf. I thought big breasted lolis only existed in the world of 2D, but to think they actually existed in reality as well.

    Her eyes and hair were of the same reddish-brown color; akin to tea. Her face was of the cuter variety. Yup, instead of describing her as a beauty, it would be more appropriate to call her a cute girl. The clothes she was wearing were a bit soiled and damaged in some ces due to the incident with those thugs earlier.

    ¡°Stop staring at her and answer me.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t really think it through when I rescued her. What would be the best course of action senpai?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, isn¡¯t it? You didn¡¯t think it through huh. I was a fool for asking. Here. I¡¯m going now.¡±

    Elma sighed as she handed back my things and started walking away. I see. So that¡¯s how you wanna y it huh.

    ¡°Ee~h¡­ Was Elma-senpai actually a half-baked person who would abandon her kouhai after getting her reward?¡±

    After hearing my words, Elma paused her steps as her long ears trembled.

    ¡°Can¡¯t be helped then. It¡¯s my fault for not realizing what kind of person she was anyway. And I thought she was such a great senpai and everything.¡±

    As I continued to goad her, Elma¡¯s ears trembled even more. Just one more push left.

    ¡°I guess the uncle from the Mercenary Guild was way more reliable than a cold-blooded, small chested disappointing elf huh? I can¡¯t believe she¡¯d just abandon a kouhai like that.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna murder you, bastard!¡±

    She finally couldn¡¯t take it anymore and rushed back with tremendous momentum. She grabbed me by the chest while fuming. Oh, scary.

    ¡°As expected of Elma-senpai! Like I thought, Elma-senpai wasn¡¯t the kind to leave her kouhai and a poor young girl in the lurch like that after all. Amazing~! How admirable~!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re doing this on purpose, aren¡¯t you¡­? Ha~ah. Why do I even bother to take care of this kind of stuff¡­?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a good way to kill time right? Do your best? Do your best?¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t shut that cheeky mouth of yours soon, I¡¯ll pull your tongue out.¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    When I offered my apologies, Elma sighed and closed her eyes in defeat. Wahahaha! It¡¯s your fault for calling me out to kill some time. Just give up already.

    ¡°You already ignored my warning earlier. Are you telling me you¡¯re still willing to listen?¡±

    ¡°That depends on what you¡¯re gonna tell me. Please say something which would put smiles on both my and this girl¡¯s faces.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Elma disyed a really disgusted face. Don¡¯t make that kind of expressiondy. Your beautiful looks would be ruined.

    ¡°So what exactly do you have in mind?¡±

    ¡°I was thinking of having her board my ship as a crew member. Maybe I could entrust her with guard duty or gathering intel?¡±

    ¡°Guard duty huh¡­? Do you like this type of girl, perhaps?¡±

    ¡°Like¡­? Well, I do think she¡¯s a cute girl.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t really say it out loud, but her future looked really promising, with those heavyweight knockers and all. When I moved my gaze towards the girl, she looked up at me with her two hands sping each other like she was in prayer. Her face looked red, and her body was trembling.

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s get out of this ce first. Let¡¯s go somewhere we can rest up and calm down a bit.¡±

    ¡°¡­It¡¯ll be your treat.¡±

    ¡°Aye aye, ma¡¯am! Come on then. We won¡¯t do anything bad to you. If you¡¯re having difficulty walking, you can grab onto me.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes.¡±

    The girl timidly nodded and lightly grasped the hem of my jacket. You could grab on more firmly y¡¯know. My jacket¡¯s quite sturdy, so it won¡¯t get stretched out that easily.

 Chapter 9 â€“ Bill Bundle Face Slap

    <h4>Chapter 9 - Bill Bundle Face p</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Elma took us to a cafe-like shop adjacent to the Mercenary Guild building. It somehow resembled San*ku Cafe.

    I ordered something like cafe auit and something resembling a sandwich. Elma also ordered cafe auit. The young girl refrained from ordering anything, but I got her a cafe auit and sandwich anyway.

    ¡°So what¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ I¡¯m Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah. We haven¡¯t introduced ourselves yet huh. The name¡¯s Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Shut it, you. So you¡¯re Mimi. So what can you do? Do you have any skills useful when boarding a starship?¡±

    Telling me to shut up was kinda crueldy¡­ Self-introductions are important y¡¯know.

    ¡°Um¡­ What exactly would you have me do?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I already have a rough idea after hearing you say that, but I¡¯lly it out for you anyway. This guy doesn¡¯t need any support when ites tobat, so anything other than that. Things like supply procurement, organizing information, negotiations with clients, liaising with the Mercenary Guild, contacting port security for take-off andnding requests and other such procedures.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any experience in any of them¡­¡±

    ¡°I thought so. I guess you can only be entrusted with looking after the ship then. Cooking andundry work¡­ And since you¡¯re ady, please take care of this guy¡¯s ¡®physical needs¡¯ as well.¡±

    ¡°Puhaaah!¡±

    I involuntarily spat out the contents of my mouth. Physical needs!? You¡¯re being a little too straightforward theredy!

    ¡°Ew. That¡¯s gross!¡±

    Elma, who was sitting just in front of me, angrily red at me. My bad. But you¡¯re partly to me too y¡¯know!

    ¡°You¡ª Whaddya mean ¡®take care of his physical needs¡¯!?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? I thought you already had that intention when you decided to let this girl board your ship. Isn¡¯t that right?¡± Elma matter-of-factly stated with a nonplussed expression.

    ¡°I admit I thought she was really cute and I want to get along with her more if possible, but I wasn¡¯t thinking of taking it that far right-off the bat, you idiot!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s up with that? You¡¯re surprisingly pure, aren¡¯t you? Are you really a pampered young master or something?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not it¡­ But what¡¯s with this sh*t anyway? Is ¡®doing it¡¯ with a girl the moment she gets onto one¡¯s private ship taken asmon sense here or something?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not the case if both parties are engaged in an equal rtionship. But your rtionship with this girl is anything but equal. So it¡¯s not surprising to consider something like that at all.¡±

    What the hell? I don¡¯t even know how to retort. There wasn¡¯t anything about this sort of stuff in Ste Online.

    ¡°No, no. I ain¡¯t thinking about doing something that low. I¡¯m not that much of a lowlife y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Well, it doesn¡¯t really matter to me in any case. It¡¯s enough that you¡¯re aware this sort of thing is taken as something normal here.¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡­¡±

    When I nced towards Mimi, she shyly avoided my gaze with a bright red face. No, no. You don¡¯t have to react like that okay! I won¡¯t do any such thing. I didn¡¯t rescue you with such a goal in mind!

    I was screaming those retorts inside my head. But they¡¯ll sound like flimsy excuses if I say them out loud. So I decided to keep them to myself.

    ¡°What do you want to do Mimi? Or rather, what were you doing walking around that sort of ce anyway? If a defenseless girl like you wanders around in those sorts of areas, things like that are bound to happen.¡±

    ¡°T- That¡¯s¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Did youmit some sort of crime and escaped into the 3rd Block perhaps? What about your guardians?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The moment she heard the word ¡®guardians¡¯, tears started to fall from Mimi¡¯s eyes. Oh c¡¯mon. Now you made her cry¡­

    Mimi started telling us about her story as she cried. It was a typical tragedy.

    Mimi grew up happily in a normal household on the 2nd Block. But one day, all the rted personnel responsible for maintaining the colony¡¯s oxygen nt died in an ident - including her parents.

    Somehow, Mimi¡¯s parents ended up taking all the me for the said ident, and almost all of their properties were confiscated. Mimi, who was still a student without any proper source of ie, was expelled to the 3rd Block due to her inability to pay taxes in order to stay in the 2nd Block.

    ¡°The hell. Is that okay? There¡¯s no safety or something?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea. The important thing is that this girl literally has nowhere else to go.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess¡­ She¡¯s got no more other options left huh.¡±

    If Mimi doesn¡¯t choose to board my ship, the only ce she coulde back to was the 3rd Block. If something simr to the incident earlier happens once more, there would be next to no chance of her escaping again.

    ¡°Um, please¡­ I¡¯ll do anything. So please let me board big brother¡¯s ship.¡± Mimi desperately pleaded while bowing her head.

    ¡°Alright, I understand. I¡¯ll do something about it, so don¡¯t worry and leave it to me. So go ahead and eat your sandwich, okay. I think you haven¡¯t had a decent meal yet, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­¡±

    Perhaps she finally felt reassured due to my words. Mimi gingerly reached out for her sandwich. When I turned towards Elma, I found her making a really disgusted face.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s the case. So would the nice and considerate Elma-senpai please guide Mimi through the proper procedures for officially boarding my ship as a crew member?¡±

    ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    ¡°Very.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s going to cost you. A lot.¡±

    ¡°A lot? It¡¯s that expensive?¡±

    ¡°The payment for head tax and 2nd Block residential tax plus umtedte penalties, all remaining unpaid indemnity fees for the bereaved worker¡¯s families due to the incident involving her parents and the fees in order to grant her the right to freely move to any sector amounts to a total of 500,000 Enel.¡±

    ¡°You serious? Like, totally serious?!¡±

    A man with an uptight atmosphere wearing a suit and had hair parted in a 7:3 ratio looked at me with a serious face and charged me an exorbitant price. If you convert 500,000 Enel to Japanese Yen, it¡¯ll be 50 million! 50 million Yen! What¡¯s up with this absurd price?

    We were currently at the main office of the Poption Management Bureau of the trading colony Termaine Prime; in other words, a government office. We came here in order to go through the proper procedures for Mimi to be officially recognized as a crew member of my ship. But when they checked Mimi¡¯s information on their database, we were led to a backroom and billed outrageously.

    By the way, Elma said she disliked the atmosphere inside a government office and took the opportunity to disappear somewhere when they called us to the backroom. Mimi went together with me, but when she heard the price, her face turned blue and was now trembling like a small animal.

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve actually already rounded the amount off for you sir. Would you like to confirm the details?¡±

    ¡°Yes, please.¡±

    And so, the guy showed me the details. I saw them, but I couldn¡¯t judge if the price they told us was the proper amount or not even though I could read the numbers.

    Just the fee for securing an unrestricted moving rights pass was already 200,000 Enel man! Are they seriously not trying to rip us off?

    ¡°¡­What¡¯s up with burdening a minor with the debt incurred by her parents? Don¡¯t you have a policy that would allow her to decline that kind of negative inheritance by filing for bankruptcy or something?¡±

    ¡°Well, there actually is one in ce. But the other party should have applied for it within three months after knowing the existence of the debt. It¡¯s already way past the grace period. It can be said that making her move to the 3rd Block in order to exempt her from paying the debt is a so-called safety,¡± the government official dered without a change in his expression.

    What kind of sh*tty ¡®safety¡¯ is that? Sure, you wouldn¡¯t have to pay the debt if you move to the slums, but you¡¯d also be losing any form of support from the government as a result.

    In the first ce, they should have known that forcing an underage girl without any skills to support herself to live in the slums was a recipe for disaster. It¡¯s not some damn safety but just in abandonment. Are the heads of the folks administrating this colony screwed on right?

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that mercenaries do earn quite a bit, but I can¡¯t imagine you being able to pay 500,000 Enel sir. I think any further discussion is a waste of time. I¡¯m not too familiar with the ce, but I¡¯m sure there would be a suitable yground for you to unleash your desires in the 3rd Block. Can¡¯t you just be satisfied with that and stop reaching for things beyond your station?¡±

    The bastard with the 7:3 parted hair smiled in contempt. Hah! You sure about that? I really wasn¡¯t nning on doing any of that stuff to Mimi once I take her in, like what this bastard is obviously thinking.

    But¡­ fine. You bastard. You¡¯re looking down on me huh? I¡¯ll take you on, sucker.

    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s fine. 500,000 Enel, correct? I can pay that kind of money in a heartbeat.¡±

    ¡°Huh!?¡±

    After hearing my words, the 7:3 hair bastard¡¯s expression turned ugly right away. Yeah, that¡¯s what I wanted to see.

    ¡°What? So it¡¯s not just your personality that¡¯s bad but even your ears? 500,000 Enel. I¡¯m gonna settle that amount right now. Go and process it already.¡±

    ¡°¡­Are you trying to make some sort of joke sir?¡±

    ¡°Annoying. I¡¯m telling you to process it already.¡±

    When I took out my portable data terminal and showed my willingness to pay, the man with 7:3 parted hair finally proceeded without hesitation. His personality was the absolute worst, but he sure works fast. The entire process was finished in no time.

    The payment of 500,000 Enel to Termaine Prime was debited from my ount, and a certificate stating Mimi¡¯s debt was fully cleared and her unrestricted traveling rights pass were both issued.

    This unrestricted traveling rights thing seemed to be some special pass which would exempt you from paying taxes unless you decide to settle down somewhere in the future. It¡¯s really expensive. This alone was 200,000 Enel. It¡¯s like paying taxes in advance.

    After listening to some detailed exnations from the 7:3 guy, we took all the documents we managed to acquire and left the government office. When we came out, my info terminal¡¯s ring tone went off. It was a message from Elma. She was apparently inside a nearby clothing store. She even sent some navigation info.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    ¡°Y- Yes, I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Mimi¡¯s mood had obviously fallen after I paid off her debt. I have no way of knowing what¡¯s going on inside her mind, but after getting chased around by hoodlums and subsequently rescued, spilling out her grievances in a cafe, and getting shocked by the astronomical amount of debt in the government office, her heart may need some time to settle down a bit.

    I actually wanted to hurry and have her board the ship so she could rest up, but we still had to buy some new clothes for her so she¡¯ll have some stuff to change into daily.

    It¡¯s unfortunate, but I had to take her to the clothing store to buy some new clothes before we could return to the ship.

    ¡°So what happened?¡±

    ¡°I hit their faces with a thick wad of cash¡­ err, Enel.¡±

    ¡°Great. That¡¯s more like how us mercs do things. Anyway, I¡¯ve managed to pick out some clothes for Mimi to change into. Here.¡±

    Elma pressed a bag apparently filled with clothes onto me along with the bill. The price¡­ wasn¡¯t that expensive. It doesn¡¯t seem to be that big an amount. Looks like she only bought ordinary clothes.

    ¡°For the time being, I bought some clothes, underwear and some other necessary things for daily use. I¡¯m sure it isn¡¯t enough for the two of you, so try to look around yourselves and buy the things you need here in the next few days.¡±

    ¡°Sorry for the trouble. And thanks.¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t hurt if you express your gratitude more you know?¡±

    ¡°I think I¡¯ve given you the appropriate rewards already, see. And it was a great time waster, right?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t enough for all that trouble¡­ Honestly. Well, it did serve to kill some time though. This should be fine, right? I¡¯m going back to my ship.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going back too. I want to have Mimi rest up soon.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good. Try not to get yourself caught up in this guy¡¯s pace. And also, make sure to properly look after him. If you leave him alone for a bit, I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll stick his neck into something troublesome again and get himself killed.¡±

    ¡°Y- Yes!¡±

    Mimi responded with enthusiasm to Elma¡¯s lecture. Perhaps Mimi sees Elma as an elder sister figure she can rely on.

    ¡°You too. Take care of yourself, alright? If you went and got yourself involved in something troublesome again and get killed in the process, this kid would be forced to roam the back alleys once more. Stop being so reckless.¡±

    ¡°I get it. Elma-senpai is unexpectedly good at taking care of others huh?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the wisdom thates with age boy. You seem to have forgotten, but I¡¯m actually far older than you are.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah. You¡¯re right.¡±

    It doesn¡¯t really seem like it because she just looks so damn young, but Elma really was older than me by more than a dozen years. She was way too peppy for an olddy though, so I tended to forget.

 Chapter 10 â€“ Mimi

    <h4>Chapter 10 - Mimi</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    When we got back to the ship, the first thing I did was guide Mimi to her room. I was using the single room as my bedroom, so she¡¯ll have to choose from the two double rooms. They¡¯re literally just across from each other along the hallway, so it didn¡¯t really matter which one she chooses.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take this room. Um¡­ Would that be alright?¡±

    ¡°Of course. Once you arrange your luggage, you can take a shower. Afterward, I¡¯ll have you undergo a simple vital check on the med-pod.¡±

    ¡°It even has such equipment¡­ T- This ship is amazing! It¡¯sparable to a first-ss residential unit.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    I¡¯m not really a good judge for these things since Ick this world¡¯smon sense. Afterward, I toured her to theundry room, kitchen, medical bay, training room, cockpit and cargo hold. It was more efficient to show them to her all at once after all.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t enter the cockpit unless I expressly allow it.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    ¡°What else should I¡­ Ah! We¡¯ll have to buy you a portable data terminal too Mimi.¡±

    It would be better for her to have a personal terminal so I can contact her anytime. She could also use it to gather info. Guess a tablet type would be a good choice.

    ¡°But such an expensive thing is¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a necessary expense after all.¡±

    There¡¯s not much work to do inside the ship. Let¡¯s buy one tomorrow to pass some time. And didn¡¯t we only manage to buy the minimum amount of clothes and living essentials? Let¡¯s buy some more clothes and household items too.

    ¡°Anyway, you must be exhausted so take a shower first and rest up. Let¡¯s talk about vital checks and other business afterward.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to hear a ¡®thank you¡¯ rather than ¡®I¡¯m sorry¡¯ though. You¡¯re familiar with how to operate the shower right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll be fine. Thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s more like it. I¡¯ll either be in the cockpit or my own room, so just tell me if you need something okay. Don¡¯t hesitate to say if you¡¯re hungry. We¡¯re going to be living together from now on, so there¡¯s no need to be reserved alright.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    Mimi nodded obediently. Great. It¡¯ll be troublesome if you hold back even if you feel hungry after all. This is good.

    I can¡¯t just watch a girl as she takes a shower, so I left the room and moved to the cockpit. I haven¡¯t asked Mimi about her exact age yet, but she doesn¡¯t seem to be at an age where she still needed adults to supervise her. I wonder how old she is? Judging from her earlier story, she seemed to still be a student in the middle of adolescence. Her height¡¯s on the smaller end, but some other aspects have grown splendidly¡­ Hm. About 17 years old, give or take? I¡¯ll just ask herter.

    I didn¡¯t have much to do, so I decided to research about theyout of the 3rd Block in order to prepare for tomorrow. We¡¯ll have to buy some more daily necessities and clothes for Mimi. Speaking of which, should I also buy some medicine just in case? Yeah, I¡¯ll get some too. We¡¯ll also need to buy an information terminal. There¡¯s a lot of stores listed huh?

    Well, since that¡¯s the case, all the more need to research each shop and read reviews about all of them. When I did so, I was surprised with the results: things like shops selling illegally procured goods, selling medicines long past their expiration dates oring home with your purchase only to find nothing inside the package except for scrap materials.

    When I excluded those from the search results, the number of rtively ¡°decent¡± stores inside the 3rd Block turned out to be quite few. Oh, and the convenience store and clothing shop Elma led us to were actually some of those few ¡°decent¡± ones.

    I¡¯ve always mocked her as a disappointing space elf, but she really was quite reliable.

    While I was busy doing some research, Mimi¡¯s face peeked out from outside the open cockpit hatch. She really was quite the cutie; specially after taking a shower and getting refreshed. But her clothes seemed a little thin. The temperature regtion system inside the ship was pretty high-end, so she won¡¯t end up getting ufortable from being cold anyway.

    ¡°Are you hungry?¡±

    Mimi¡¯s cheeks turned red from my question, and she gingerly nodded her head.

    ¡°Alrighty then. Let¡¯s eat go eat some grub. Feel free to tell me if you¡¯re hungry, just like now okay.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    She still seemed embarrassed about being hungry. It¡¯s alright. I understand. I led the embarrassed Mimi to the kitchen. Well, even though I called it a kitchen, there were actually no kitchen equipment inside apart from the Auto-cooker. The said device basically handles all food preparation, so it may be more appropriate to call it a dining area instead of a kitchen.

    ¡°You can eat whatever you like. I bought some artificial meat earlier. I actually feel like trying it now. Do you want to try it too Mimi?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll try it.¡±

    I set the Auto-cooker to prepare a menu using artificial meat and activated it. I selected therge serving for myself and the normal amount for Mimi. After a few moments, the Auto-cooker let out a ping which indicated that the meals were ready.

    ¡°Hm. So this is the so called artificial meat dish¡­ It¡¯s white colored, but it does seem fairly delicious huh?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it does.¡±

    What appeared on our tes were meat resembling fish fillets covered in sauce, with pf and potato sd on the side. The amount on my te was quite a lot since I ordered arge serving.

    ¡°Muh¡­ This really is pretty good stuff.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s delicious.¡±

    This artificial meat things was delicious. It was sweet and juicy, non-greasy and with just the right texture. And the sauce used was also quite exquisite. The pf had also soaked up the artificial meat¡¯s juices, which served to enhance its umami vor. The potato sd? It tasted like your normal potato sd.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to force yourself to finish it all, okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­¡±

    Mimi¡¯s stomach was already bulging a bit. It seems like she¡¯s forcing herself to finish her food. Let¡¯s order a smaller serving for her next time. Yep. Mimi peered at my face as I put the tes inside the dishwasher. What¡¯s up? I tilted my head in puzzlement.

    ¡°W- What are you going to do after this?¡±

    ¡°After this, huh? Hm. Well, if you sleep after eating, you¡¯re more likely to get fat. I guess I¡¯ll head to the training room to move my body a bit or something?¡±

    Krishna also had a well stocked training room. The various exercise equipment are all designed for preventing muscr degeneration while out in space. I¡¯ve also basically spent most of my time sinceing to this world holed up inside my ship, so I need to exercise inside the training room to avoid putting on weight.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine if you went and rested up some more Mimi. You must be pretty exhausted right?¡±

    There really were a lot of eventful stuff today. I already feel kind of worn out because of them. I¡¯m sure Mimi feels more exhausted than me.

    ¡°U- Um¡­ Okay, I¡¯ll do so.¡±

    Mimi seemed to want to deny it first, but thought a bit and changed her mind. Yup, it¡¯s better if you rest up obediently. After bidding her good night, I headed for the training room.

    I don¡¯t really intend to be a bodybuilder or anything, so I just exercised moderately. Ipleted each exercise in a menu set by an AI instructor. This AI instructor created an optimized exercise routine based on the data about my calorie intake gathered from my information terminal and the Auto-cooker.

    The workout was quite intense, but having a definite goal disyed helped motivate me toplete the menu.

    After sufficiently exercising, I went and took a shower next. I sort of just went with the flow earlier today, but I ended up having to live with a young girl under one roof from now on. I want to avoid being seen as some sort of creep while we¡¯re living together. My heart won¡¯t be able to take it.

    After washing up a little more than usual, I finally went to bed. Aftering to this world, I kinda felt the urge to live a healthier lifestyle. I nned to exercise regrly, eat a well-bnced diet and get adequate sleep. Yep, how healthy.

    ¡°Nnn¡­ Haa.¡±

    I took off my jacket and pants andid down on the bed in just my underwear. A lot of stuff happened to me today. Why the heck did it turn out like this even though I just went out to buy some food? It felt like my meeting with Elma was the trigger that started it all. Did that space elf have a quality that attracts trouble or something? It might be better to keep some distance from now on.

    ¡°Um¡­¡­¡±

    While I was absorbed in thought, Mimi¡¯s face peeked out from outside the open door. For some reason, her face was bright red and she seemed quite tense.

    Man, I messed up. I ended up leaving the door open due to habit. And I was even just in my underwear.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Uh, hold that thought. I¡¯m in my underwear, so let me change into something decent first.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait up a bit oka¡ª Eeh!?¡±

    Why¡¯d you suddenlye in when I told you to wait? Rather, why the heck are you wearing a transparent negligee!? You aren¡¯t even wearing bra and panties oi! That¡¯s bad! Really bad!

    ¡°Stop, stooo~p! What the heck!?¡±

    I reflexively covered my eyes with my hands. But I¡¯d like you folks to forgive me for peeking through the gaps of my fingers. It¡¯s a man¡¯s natural instinct.

    ¡°I¡¯vee to fulfill my nightly duties¡­¡­¡± Mimi whispered in a small voice as she slowly drew near the bed I was lying on. The only thing she¡¯s wearing was a transparent negligee. She doesn¡¯t even have slippers on.

    ¡°Uh, well¡­ Don¡¯t we do this kind of thing after getting to know each other better or something?¡±

    ¡°Um, this is the only thing I can offer you¡­ And I don¡¯t hate it if it¡¯s with Hiro-sama¡­¡­¡±

    She called me by name for the first time just now. No, wait. Now¡¯s not the time for thinking about that. Aa~ah! You mustn¡¯t dear customer! You really mustn¡¯t! While I was busy panicking, Mimi finally reached the bed and snuggled up to me. Uooh! Two soft things are touching me! It was Mimi-san¡¯srge-caliber chest missiles! Critical! Critical hit! This is bad!

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ I already drank some medicine, so it should be fine.¡±

    ¡°Me- Medicine!? What medicine!?¡±

    ¡°Um, contraceptives¡­ and some that would prevent it from hurting for my first time¡­ Elma-san gave them to me¡­ Even this underwear is from her.¡±

    Nanii!? So it was that damn elf! Does she expect me to thank her for this!?

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ Do you not like me? Do you prefer someone beautiful like Elma-san¡­¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t. I really can¡¯t, okay. I didn¡¯t really help you out aiming for this sort of stuff!¡±

    ¡°But this is the only thing I can do¡­ And, well¡­ I¡¯m scared¡­ So please¡­¡±

    Scared? Of what exactly? What does she mean?

    ¡°I have nothing else¡­ so this is to make sure. If I do this¡­ then big brother won¡¯t¡­ abandon me¡­¡±

    Mimi¡¯s voice gradually lowered to nothing more than a whisper. I see. So she thinks she¡¯s no good for anything else other than ¡®this¡¯. So she¡¯s worried I¡¯ll suddenly change my mind and throw her out. That¡¯s why she wanted for us to have a sort of connection through our bodies. So that¡¯s it. That¡¯s it huh? Does she really think I¡¯m that kind of lecherous guy? It kinda hurts man.

    ¡°Big brother¡­ Hiro-sama won¡¯t do anything like that. So please don¡¯t worry, alright?¡±

    ¡°But¡­ Um.¡±

    In other words, if I don¡¯t deal with Mimi¡¯s doubts about my character, she won¡¯t feel relieved. While I was thinking about how to deal with this matter, the information terminal¡¯s ring tone rang out. I saw the message ¡®Take responsibility and properly embrace her.¡¯ when I looked at the screen.

    There was only one person who would send me such a message in this situation. In other words, it was that disappointing space elf who nned all of this.

    ¡°Please¡­ Don¡¯t leave me¡­¡± Mimi cried out with a sorrowful voice while hugging me. She was probably worried about this sort of stuff because of the things Elma said earlier. I¡¯m gonna give her a good armlock when I see her next time. Absolutely.

    ¡°Fine, I get it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­!¡±

    Ah, what the hell should I say at this point? This stuff was way over my head so I ended up mostly speechless.

    I don¡¯t really have any clever words on hand to say in this situation. It was a bit too special. For the meantime, I pulled Mimi closer to me and lightly returned her hug. I gently patted her back in order to reassure her a bit.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be as gentle as possible.¡±

    Mimi wordlessly nodded her head and rxed her body. What the heck is with this eroge-like development?

 Chapter 11 â€“ My Destined Person

    <h4>Chapter 11 - My Destined Person</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    *Mimi¡¯s POV

    What should I do?

    I¡¯ve constantly repeated these same few words inside my mind for the past six months. They have been echoing inside my head ever since mom and dad got caught up in an ident and died.

    There was arge amount of debt that was next to impossible to repay. The savings my parents left me were constantly decreasing day by day. The inevitable bankruptcy which couldn¡¯t be avoided even when I dropped out of school and lived extremely frugally. I couldn¡¯t take it anymore.

    Just three days ago, I was finally kicked out of my home along with the revocation of my status as a 2nd ss citizen. I was then forced to live in the 3rd Block instead.

    The 3rd Block. It was a ce that was synonymous with the term ¡®red-light district¡¯ - a ce where 3rd ss citizens who couldn¡¯t properly pay taxes were banished to. It was an area of this colony ruled by violence and vice. I was thrown out into such a ce.

    I¡¯ve long heard of the rumors regarding what happens to women thrown here from the 2nd Block. After being caught by bad men, they are made into prostitutes and forced to sell their bodies to customers until the drugs they are made to take crippled them and made them useless. Once that happens, they are mercilessly thrown back into the dirty alleyways to fend for themselves.

    There seem to be some lucky women who end up getting fancied by mercenaries or merchants who visit from outside, but those cases are few and far between. Most are destined to be miserable while suffering from withdrawal symptoms from the drugs, and finally incinerated along with the trash once their livese to an end. That¡¯s what I heard. I¡¯m so scared. I don¡¯t want that.

    So I fled and hid. But I didn¡¯t have any Enel to buy water. Rather, even the terminals necessary for Enel transactions were confiscated by the people from the Colony Government Bureau.

    ¡°Stay still, you damn bitch!¡±

    ¡°Gehehe¡­ We finally caught ya.¡±

    I eventually exhausted my stamina, became unable to move and was caught by some men. They looked at me with disgusting grins on their faces.

    ¡°She ended up getting a bit dirty, but she¡¯ll do just fine.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just get to it, man! I can¡¯t stand it anymore!¡±

    I was forcibly dragged into a dark alley while being unable to mount any sort of resistance. The hands of the men unreservedly groped my body all over and violently ripped my clothes apart.

    ¡°Just give up already bitch!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t struggle. Won¡¯t ya learn until ya get to feel some pain?¡±

    I finally managed to resist them. I was surprised I still had some strength to do so left in me.

    ¡°Guess I need to hit you good so you¡¯d stay still¡ª¡±

    The man raised his fist. Once it was swung down, I will surely bepletely helpless before them. It¡¯s all over. The moment I thought that a blinding red light shed past.

    ¡°Giiiih!?¡±

    The men screamed whenever a red sh dyed the back alley crimson.

    ¡°Get lost punks! You won¡¯t end up with just burns next time!¡±

    A fierce voice suddenly rang out, and the men who were assaulting me miserably fled away. I leaned powerlessly against the wall and moved my gaze towards the source of the voice.

    It was a young man. He wore rugged-looking clothes. ¡­Maybe he¡¯s a mercenary?

    He had aser gun and sported a tense expression, but I somehow felt that his eyes looked kind. He had ck hair. His age¡­ seemed to be simr to mine, or maybe just a bit older.

    This ¡®big brother¡¯ nced back at me and opened his mouth to speak while pointing theser gun towards the direction the men from earlier fled to.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna keep watch, so hurry and fix your clothes. We have to get out of here soon.¡±

    He was apparently here to help me. I fixed my appearance as much as possible and hurriedly escaped from the alley. I finally managed to reach a well-lit area once more.

    ¡°Wee back.¡±

    When I got out of the alley, an elfdy dressed simrly to that big brother called out. She¡¯s probably also a mercenary. I wonder what their rtionship is? I couldn¡¯t help thinking about that.

    ¡°So what are you gonna do about that girl?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean¡­?¡±

    Big brother looks at me with a troubled expression. His eyes really do seem kind. I somehow felt relieved just by gazing back at them. But my heart also pounded furiously.

    ¡°Stop staring at her and answer me.¡±

    The elfdy started talking freely with the big brother who rescued me. I somehow felt pain inside my chest while watching them.

    ¡°So what exactly do you have in mind?¡±

    ¡°I was thinking of having her board my ship as a crewmember. Maybe I could entrust her with guard duty or gathering intel?¡±

    An intense shock just ran throughout my entire body. Me, boarding big brother¡¯s ship? But that means I¡¯d¡­ My cheeks felt hot. We¡¯ve just met too. But, if it¡¯s with this person¡ª

    ¡°Guard duty huh¡­? Do you like this type of girl, perhaps?¡±

    The elfdy turned her face towards me. She was a very beautiful person. Her skin was silky smooth, without any wrinkles or blemishes. Her eyshes were also elegant and long. Although I was also a girl, I was still charmed by her.

    ¡°Like¡­? Well, I do think she¡¯s a cute girl.¡±

    The man who rescued me gazed at me as well but quickly averted his eyes. I think he just looked at my chest for a few moments. These big breasts always attracted too much attention and made my shoulders stiff, but right now I kind of wanted to praise myself for sessfully nurturing suchrge assets.

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s get out of this ce first. Let¡¯s go somewhere we can rest up and calm down a bit.¡±

    As I thought, this person was kind. But I was worried about the fact that I haven¡¯t managed to take a bath for days. My clothes were also in tatters, so I was embarrassed about being seen by this person in this sorry state.

    ¡°¡­It¡¯ll be your treat.¡±

    ¡°Aye aye, ma¡¯am! Come on then. We won¡¯t do anything bad to you. If you¡¯re having difficulty walking, you can grab onto me.¡±

    I obediently nodded to the man and grabbed on to the hem of his clothes. I didn¡¯t want to get too close to him and turn him off with how I currently smell. I¡¯m a girl, so I didn¡¯t want to be thought of as smelly.

    When the implications of letting a girl aboard a ship were exined to him, big brother¡¯s face turned bright red from embarrassment. It looks like he really didn¡¯t know what it usually meant for a woman to board a man¡¯s private ship.

    That is to say, big brother - Hiro-san didn¡¯t rescue me with that sort of purpose in mind right from the start. He helped me out of pure kindness. He really was such a nice person. Things developed rapidly after that.

    Hiro-san brought me to a government office, threw a lot of money at a mean government official and settled my debts in full. When I heard about the amount of debt at first, I was devastated. But Hiro-san¡­ no, Hiro-sama paid for all of it. In order to obtain me. I was born for the purpose of fully dedicating myself to Hiro-sama. I strongly felt that way at that moment.

    While I was preupied with those thoughts and had my head in the clouds, the elfdy - Elma-san handed me a shopping bag filled with clothes. It was thanks to Elma-san that I was finally able to be with Hiro-sama. I was really indebted to Elma-san as well.

    And so, I was brought away by Hiro-sama and taken to his ship. I was really surprised. I thought the ship of a mercenary would be more¡­ cramped and stifling. The interior of Hiro-sama¡¯s was wide, clean and looked on par with a 1st ss residence. It was probably even better than the house I formerly lived in.

    I took a shower following Hiro-sama¡¯s suggestion. It was a long-awaited shower. After thoroughly cleaning every inch of my body, I finished showering and checked the contents of the shopping bag containing clothes that Elma-san gave me.

    It¡¯s contents were three pairs of shorts and three sets of clothes. One was thin and lookedfy. Another looked practical and suited for everyday use. And thest one was a sheer, see-through negligee. There was also a bottle containing some sort of liquid substance. There were two pill cases as well. Lastly, there was a small note tucked inside too.

    I wonder what these are? When I read the note, it appeared to be a message from Elma-san. The liquid in the bottle was apparently perfume. There were instructions on how to use it written as well. I¡¯ve never put on perfume before, so I was thankful for the notes.

    The two pill cases contained contraceptives and painkillers so it would feel better when I have my first time taken by Hiro-sama. I was grateful for this as well, because I heard that the first was usually painful. There was a ssmate from school who said her first time was a failure and that things got awkward between her partner and her afterward.

    I sprinkled just the right amount of perfume on me. I¡¯ve never used perfume before, so I suddenly felt like I¡¯ve be more of an adult.

    I plucked up some courage and chose to put the thin clothes on. And when I appeared in front of Hiro-sama wearing it, his face reddened and he became flustered. That¡¯s good. He seems conscious of me. I wouldn¡¯t know what I would do if he didn¡¯t have eyes for me at all and just treated me as a sister or daughter. I was a little relieved.

    After eating a delicious meal with me, Hiro-sama went to the training room to exercise and then went straight to bed.

    I watched the timing, drank the medicine, put on the negligee and barged into Hiro-sama¡¯s room. That was the n, at least. But I couldn¡¯t manage to do it. Fortunately, the door of Hiro-sama¡¯s room was open, so I managed to peek inside while staying in front of his room.

    Hiro-sama was just in his underwear. My gaze was drawn to his well-sculpted silhouette. My entire body started feeling hot. The medicine¡¯s effects may have started to kick in.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Uh, hold that thought. I¡¯m in my underwear, so let me change into something decent first.¡±

    My and Hiro-sama¡¯s gazes met, and he started panicking with a bright red face. I boldly stepped inside Hiro-sama¡¯s room while being mostly driven by instinct. There were a lot of sad and painful things that happened to me. But now, I¡¯m within Hiro-sama¡¯s arms. Right now, I am truly happy.

 Chapter 12 â€“ Shopping with Mimi (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 12 - Shopping with Mimi (Part 1)</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Doing ¡°the act¡± with Mimi went rtively smoothly; no doubt all thanks to the ¡°medicine¡± Elma gave her. Still, it¡¯s good that her first time was virtually painless. Mimi was already mentally exhausted from all thatmotion yesterday, and right now I¡¯ve caused her to be physically exhausted as well. Now, she was sleeping soundly right next to me.

    I, on the other hand, was busy thinking about the future. It¡¯s necessary to have a concrete goal in mind after all. It¡¯s kinda depressing if you pass each day simply for the sake of living.

    First of all, it¡¯s be even more necessary to purchase a detached house with a garden on a residential. I¡¯ll make this my biggest long-term goal for now. I was initially all gung-ho about it for the purpose of drinking carbonated beverages, but now that Mimi and I have progressed to this type of rtionship, things have changed. We need somewhere we can call home.

    Of course, we never know what the future holds, so there was still a possibility that I and Mimi might not end up together. I don¡¯t have any idea about what exactly Mimi thinks about all this too, so I can¡¯t conclude anything.

    Whether I do end up with Mimi or with someone else instead, having a ce to call home was still absolutely essential. That is if I wanted to live a proper life.

    Eh? Don¡¯t I want to go back to my previous world? Well of course I do - if the chance presents itself anyway. I don¡¯t even have any idea how to go back. First of all, I don¡¯t know the exact reason why I was transferred over to this world. I also don¡¯t have any concrete leads to finding a possible method for going back as of now.

    In the first ce, it seems I can actually have an easier time making a living in this world. I think I got really lucky by having such a powerful ship, sessfully registering as a mercenary and obtaining a considerable amount of funds.

    But I don¡¯t intend to just blindly focus on this world¡¯s positives either. The mercenary profession was, by its very nature, a truly dangerous job. You¡¯ll always be closely brushing with death. This was no longer a game, so you can¡¯t just respawn whenever you get your ass handed to you. Once you kick the bucket, it¡¯ll be permanent.

    If the ship gets badly damaged, I¡¯d likely have to fork out a considerable sum to get it fixed up. It was possible that I¡¯d be forced to sortie in a less-than-ideal condition. If I don¡¯t scrape up enough for maintenance, it was also possible for me to die from going bankrupt as well.

    The dangers I needed to face aren¡¯t limited to the times I¡¯m onboard the ship either. I would probably have to get out of the ship from time to time just like yesterday in order to take care of some business. Once I do, there was a danger of getting ambushed and killed present. If I continue to hold on to the same sense of security I had during my time in Japan, I¡¯d probably get done in real quick. And if I do die like that, Mimi would probably have no other choice but to follow suit.

    ¡°Hrmm¡­¡±

    So this is what it means to shoulder someone else¡¯s life huh. It¡¯s quite the heavy responsibility. I have to think of some proper countermeasures. Guess I¡¯ll head over to the Mercenary Guild tomorrow or the next day in order to get some advice from the receptionist uncle.

    I¡¯ll be heading out for some shopping with Mimi tomorrow after checking her vitals. I actually forgot to check it tonight because of what happened. Will the medicine she took have any effects¡­?

    Guess I¡¯ll know for sure once I check her up tomorrow. For now, I¡¯ll also get some shut-eye. Once we wake up tomorrow, we¡¯ll first take a shower, eat up and then proceed with checking up Mimi¡¯s vitals afterward.

    After finalizing tomorrow¡¯s schedule, I closed my eyes while relishing Mimi¡¯s warmth. Looks like it¡¯ll be a good night¡¯s sleep.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    I woke up due to being assaulted by a ticklish sensation. Wondering just what caused it, I opened my eyes and found a head full of vibrant, reddish-brown hair snuggling up on top of my chest.

    ¡°What¡¯re you up to there, Miss?¡±

    ¡°Fuwaah!?¡±

    The head with vibrant, reddish-brown hair trembled after hearing my voice. Her brown eyes met mine. We stared at each other nkly for a few moments.

    When I ced my hand on the ticklish spot - in other words, the center of my chest - I found a smaller, softer, more delicate hand groping around on top of it. Looks like this hand was busy doing naughty things.

    ¡°Hm? What¡¯s this, I wonder? What were you up to?¡±

    ¡°Fue~e¡­ U-Um¡­ T- This is, uh¡­¡±

    ¡°You know Mimi, when you do naughty stuff to someone else, you better be prepared to be on the receiving end as well.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Eeeh?!¡±

    ¡°An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth y¡¯know¡­¡±

    ¡°Eh? A- Ahn¡­¡±

    We yed around first thing in the morning. It felt really good.

    ¡°Okay then, for today¡¯s schedule¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    I talked about the day¡¯s itinerary after having breakfast with Mimi. Because of the little ¡°incident¡± earlier, we ended up running a bit behind schedule. Well, it wasn¡¯t as if we were in any particr hurry anyway. We had more than enough funds. And after running the safety check protocols, the ship turned out to be in tip-top condition. There wasn¡¯t any particr need for some extra maintenance.

    Of course, we couldn¡¯t afford to deplete our assets, so we needed to find a way to earn some cash soon. But it wasn¡¯t that urgent of a priority.

    After the meal, Mimi would undergo a full check-up of her vitals. We¡¯ll shop for some daily essentials next. Then we¡¯ll buy a portable data terminal for her as well. Finally, we¡¯ll head to the Mercenary Guild to ask that receptionist uncle for advice about Mimi¡¯s future training regimen and other stuff. It¡¯s best to ask the Mercenary Guild about anything concerning mercenary work after all.

    ¡°We¡¯ll go around today following this schedule.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Understood.¡±

    After finishing our meals, I finally took Mimi¡¯s vitals using the med-pod after a quick thirty-minute break. The results of the vital check were good. She was a bit fatigued, but there was no indication of catching any illnesses.

    I was relieved with the results. Mimi also seemed d. Taking care of one¡¯s body is important after all. Health is wealth and all that.

    ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s get going. Wear some clothes with as less skin exposure as possible please.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s meet up at the dining area after you get changed.¡±

    I already got changed earlier, so I just waited for Mimi - who currently wore thin, revealing clothes for the vital check - to change her outfit. We¡¯re going to live together from now on, so it¡¯s best to set up some basic house rules as well. I¡¯ll talk about it with Mimi when we get back.

    ¡°Sorry to keep you waiting.¡±

    ¡°Well, that was quick.¡±

    ¡°I just needed to change clothes after all.¡±

    And here I thought women took a while to get dressed. Oh well. It doesn¡¯t hurt that she¡¯s quick. Yep.

    We went to one of the stores I researched yesterday in order to buy daily necessities. It was quite convenient that we could buy a lot of the things we needed in a drugstore in the area. They sold various things - from food, sweets, cosmetics, clothing, and underwear to daily necessities for women. And of course, they sold medicine as well.

    ¡°When you need to buy things a woman particrly needs, be sure to consult with a female clerk. Tell them you¡¯re boarding a starship and buy as many items you think are important.¡±

    ¡°Um, okay¡­¡±

    ¡°Listen up. When we depart from this colony on the ship, we may not be able to go to port for at least a few months. If our luck¡¯s particrly bad, we would not be able to replenish our stock for up to half a year. If you mess up and buy too little due to feeling some restraint, it¡¯ll eventually return to bite us back in the ass. Always keep that in mind, alright?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Mimi nodded with a serious expression. Actually, I was also a bona fide newbie, so it really wasn¡¯t my ce to talk man!

    In any case, I talked to a male store clerk and started stocking up on things needed for a long space voyage.

    Basing on the clerk¡¯s suggestions, I ended up purchasing three sets of emergency kits for injuries and illnesses and stuff used by the med-pod to treat said injuries and illnesses. I also purchased some spare underwear and shirts, soap and shampoo for bathing and recement water filters.

    ¡°Sorry to keep you waiting.¡±

    While I was having the items I bought confirmed by the male clerk, Mimi came back with the female clerk in tow. Her face was a bit flushed. Was she okay? The female clerk was also grinning mischievously¡­ I have a bad feeling about this.

    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t she such a nice girl. Go enjoy each other¡¯spany as much as you liketer on, kay.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    I looked straight at Mimi, but she kept trying to avoid my gaze with a beet-red face. Yeah, I¡¯m not that much of a dense bastard, so I could already sort of imagine what kind of things she ended up buying. I¡¯ll ask the female clerk, just in case.

    ¡°It¡¯s safe to use right? It won¡¯t be funny if that stuff has some serious side effects such as causing addiction or dependency y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Rest assured. The safety of our products is guaranteed.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s something necessary for her then?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you could say so. It would greatly help her feel better whenever her periodes as well.¡±

    ¡°I see. Well, it¡¯s something we guys don¡¯t get to experience after all. If you say it¡¯s okay, then I¡¯ll take your word for it.¡±

    I was told it was different for each person, but I heard that some would feel so terrible that they would be unable to move around much as a result. Just imagining the fact that you¡¯d suffer from its effects for a few days to more than a week was quite distressing. Looks like we really need something to prevent that from happening after all.

    Or rather, if it hits her while in the middle of operating the ship and caused me to make a piloting error as a result, we¡¯d probably be turned into space debris. Well, since this world is a lot more technologically advanced, this stuff should be more safe and effective than the ones I¡¯m familiar with from back in my world.

    ¡°Alright then. Please transfer all of them to my ship.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your purchase dear customer.¡±

    I paid with my portable terminal andpleted the necessary procedures. With this, the supplies should already be in the cargo bay when wee back to the ship. I then went to the shop which sells electronics together with the blushing Mimi.

    ¡°We¡¯ll get you a terminal and a tablet model.¡±

    ¡°W- We¡¯re buying two of them?¡±

    ¡°Hm, I want a tablet myself, so we¡¯ll buy three.¡±

    The portable terminal would be used for basicmunications and mary transactions. The tablet would be for training, work, and entertainment. I¡¯m nning to let Mimi train in the basics of being a ship operator, and the tablet would be one of the tools she would use for that.

    For work, she¡¯ll learn about basic asset management and contact procedures with the Mercenary Guild and other important institutions.

    As for entertainment, it would be more convenient to watch videos and y games on a bigger screen. And yeah, I¡¯m buying a tablet of my own to use mainly for entertainment purposes. I could actually just borrow Mimi¡¯s, but that would be too much of a hassle.

    ¡°It¡¯s so expensive¡­!¡±

    It seems Mimi was hesitant about buying the high-end models, but skimping on quality just because you want to save some cash might backfire in the long run. The cheaper ones may malfunction or break down easier after all, so it¡¯s better to be safe than sorry.

 Chapter 12 â€“ Shopping with Mimi (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 12 - Shopping with Mimi (Part 2)</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The next stop should be a women¡¯s clothing store. I bought my spare underwear and clothes in the drugstore, but it wasn¡¯t the case for Mimi. I actually wanted to have Mimi go to the clothing store by herself while I head on over to the Mercenary Guild. But, considering our circumstances, it wasn¡¯t that advisable. It¡¯s better if I tag along with her after all. However, it¡¯s a women¡¯s clothing store y¡¯know¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Um, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°No, uh¡­ Isn¡¯t the clothing selection kinda¡­ y¡¯know¡­ unusual?¡±

    The stuff lined up on the window disys were mostly things like nurse, maid, magical-girl and bunny girl costumes - among other clothing catering to certain *ehem fetishes. All of them have this sort of cyberpunk feel incorporated in their designs.

    ¡°Is that so? I think they all look very beautiful. But they seem pretty expensive.¡±

    ¡°Eh? That¡¯s all?¡±

    ¡°Um, yes. What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°No, uh¡­ Anyway, do you want to have a look around?¡±

    ¡°Yes please.¡±

    Looks like girls really do enjoy shopping for clothes. Mimi seemed quite excited about the prospect anyway.

    Mimi seemed to hold no doubts about the clothing sold in the store. But to me, they look like kinky cosy costumes no matter how you slice it. Were these types of oddball clothes thetest trend in fashion in this world? I entered the store feeling a little uneasy, but the shop interior actually looked surprisingly normal¡­

    ¡°Nope. I spoke too soon.¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    Mimi curiously tilted her head when she heard me. Cosy costumes here. Cosy costumes there. Cosy costumes freaking everywhere! Sure, they were designed in a futuristic fashion, but they were still cosy costumes man! No, maybe this was just a specialty area in this store. I¡¯m sure they have normal-looking clothes for sale in the back. Probably. I hope.

    Or rather, I couldn¡¯t spot anyone walking around wearing these kinds of clothes. Maybe they simply aren¡¯t able to sell this stuff?

    ¡°Wee!¡±

    A female shop clerk wearing a futuristic bunny ear headband appeared from within the store sporting her best business smile. Her uniform offered little skin exposure, but it really resembled a bunny suit nheless.

    ¡°We came to buy some clothes for her but¡­ do you sell any normal clothes not catering to any sort of strange hobby in this store?¡±

    ¡°Of course we do dear costumer.¡±

    ¡°Alright then. Go ahead and buy all the clothes and underwear you need Mimi. As for me¡­¡±

    ¡°We have some seats over there sir. You can rest there if you like.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    ¡°Uh, um¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the prices. Buy as much as you need. Okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mimi nodded obediently. That¡¯s more like it. It¡¯s way better than her holding back.

    ¡°You¡¯re quite the generous one, aren¡¯t you dear customer.¡±

    ¡°This girl is an apprentice merc. Nah, she¡¯s an apprentice ship operator. You can pretty much tell my upation from my outfit right?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a registered mercenary, right? So that means this girl will be boarding your ship huh?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­?¡±

    The shop clerk kept ncing back and forth between me and Mimi.

    ¡°We have a considerable selection here - ranging from the prim and proper to the bold and daring. You¡¯ve really done well for yourself, haven¡¯t you oniisan?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Please choose some clothes fit for a mercenary ship operator. As for other clothes, just pick out what this girl likes best.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Sa~a, sa~a. Pleasee with me, dear customer.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­ Uh¡­ Okay.¡±

    The shop clerk dragged the flustered Mimi further inside the store.

    ¡°Now then¡­¡±

    I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll take some time for them to finish shopping. It seems there¡¯s only women¡¯s clothing as merchandise in this store. Since that¡¯s the case, it¡¯ll be awkward if I try to wander around here on my own. I took out my mobile data terminal and opened the messaging app. Of course the only registered contact was a certain disappointing space elf.

    ¡°You¡¯ve really done it this time. Way to go with egging her on,dy.¡±

    ¡°I did it for the sake of the two of you okay. You seem like an inexperienced young master, so if I didn¡¯t go that far you two would never have progressed,¡± came the quick reply.

    Was shenguishing in boredom again? She did say the System armed forces were making preparations for subjugating the pirates or something yesterday. Looks like she¡¯s staying on standby today as well due to it.

    ¡°Well? Did you go and do it?¡±

    ¡°To think I¡¯d actually experience ady asking me if I went and did it with another girl¡­ Well, that ended up being the case, yeah.¡±

    ¡°If you actually said you didn¡¯t do anything after all that, I was nning on heading over to your ship right away and giving you a piece of my mind mister.¡±

    ¡°Ooh, scary.¡±

    An animated image of a cartoonish cat-creature punching a mouse-creature was sent to my terminal. So this messaging app had this kind of function huh?

    ¡°So what¡¯s your business with me? Don¡¯t tell me you messaged me just to air out your grievances?¡±

    ¡°Nah. Y¡¯see I kinda want Mimi to learn about how to be a ship operator, so I was wondering if you knew wether or not the Mercenary Guild has some learning materials, technical manuals or educational apps for the job.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it better if you asked the Mercenary Guild directly¡­? Well, I did hear they had some of those though.¡±

    ¡°So they do have them then. Can I get some personal copies at the branch office?¡±

    ¡°That I don¡¯t know. But I did hear that the Mercenary Training Institute run by the Guild makes use of that sort of stuff. You better ask at the Guild directly for more details.¡±

    ¡°Aye, ma¡¯am!¡±

    I selected an animated image of a penguin giving a crisp salute from the menu and sent it to Elma. I ended up killing time with the messaging app, talking about things like the results for Mimi¡¯s vitals check-up and the fact that I was free because Mimi was busy choosing clothes.

    Mimi and the store clerk finally returned after some time. Since they don¡¯t seem to be carrying anything on them, the clothes were probably already sent to the ship.

    ¡°All finished?¡±

    ¡°Y- Yes!¡±

    When I turned towards the clerk, she gave me an ambiguous smile in return. Oh boy. Everything¡¯s fine right¡­?

    ¡°How much is it?¡±

    ¡°This is the total price of the goods sir.¡±

    The clerk handed me a tablet terminal. There was a 3D image of Mimi wearing what looked like a futuristic bunny girl outfit on the screen. The image wasposed by an app thatbines the data of a person¡¯s body shape and the clothes to create a realistic approximation of how they would look when worn.

    Umu. Mimi¡¯s chest assets certainly possessed extreme offensive power. Rather, they¡¯re on the verge of spilling out oi! Ah, how indecent!

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I seem to have made a mistake sir.¡±

    ¡°Can you delete that?¡±

    The store clerk nodded in reply, but came closer and whispered something to me.

    ¡°If you register as an official VIP member, we can give you rmendations regarding the most suitable clothes to purchase by coting the data from all our chain stores. You can also make purchases online and get updates once new products get released.¡±

    ¡°¡­Can I get that clothing trial thing installed on my terminal too?¡±

    ¡°Of course dear customer. If you install our exclusive app, you¡¯ll be able to use that feature freely.¡±

    ¡°You got yourself a dealdy.¡±

    I paid for the clothes and got myself registered as a VIP member as well. The price was reasonable too. It was way cheaperpared to the price of ammo for my ship¡¯s cannons and my ultimate ¡°trump card¡± in any case. This is considering my total assets as well.

    After paying up, we headed to the main destination for today; the Mercenary Guild.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to the Mercenary Guild next.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Actually, there¡¯s an uncle with a really scary face over there. He¡¯s kinda a perfect fit for the image of a Mercenary Guild.¡±

    ¡°I- I see.¡±

    ¡°But he¡¯s actually quite a nice guy once you get to know him. And the ce really looks like your usual government office, so you don¡¯t have to feel so nervous okay.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Man. Just looking at Mimi¡¯s smiling face heals my poor, little heart. You may have other opinions, but I say cute is justice!

    But Mimi¡¯s such a cute girl after all¡­ I think it would be better if she learned some self-defense techniques or had a weapon for protecting herself on her. Guess I¡¯ll ask the receptionist uncle about this sort of stuff as well.

 Chapter 13 â€“ Again at the Mercenary Guild and the Large-scale Subjugation Operation (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 13 - Again at the Mercenary Guild and the Large-scale Subjugation Operation (Part 1)</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Ou. If it ain¡¯t thed from yester¡­ day¡­¡±

    The moment the receptionist uncle saw Mimi¡¯s cute visage peeking over from behind me, his expression stiffened.

    ¡°A lot of stuff happened yesterday and this girl ended up boarding my ship as a result. I¡¯d like for her to train in the basics of being a ship operator so we came here to see if you had any resource materials or training apps we could use.¡±

    ¡°P- Pleased to make your acquaintance sir¡­¡±

    The uncle¡¯s hands grabbed me by the shirt with incredible momentum and forcefully raised me up. Your expression looks he terrifying uncle!

    ¡°The hell d¡¯ya mean by this huuh¡­!?¡±

    ¡°I get it! I get it! I¡¯ll tell you everything so please let me go uncle! Your face looks really scary man!¡±

    ¡°What about my face!?¡±

    ¡°But it really is scary, uncle! Look, even Mimi¡¯s terrified.¡±

    ¡°Ku~h¡­¡±

    The receptionist uncle released me while sporting a deadly serious expression. He plopped down on his seat, closed his eyes and took deep, long breaths in order to calm down. I also let out a sigh of relief. I was about to piss my pants there man.

    ¡°It¡¯ll take quite a while if I start from the beginning.¡±

    ¡°Just start from the beginning kid.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    I ended up telling every detail about how Mimi came to board my ship while being red at by the uncle with a terrifying scowl on his face.

    ¡°This guy just started out as a merc and managed tond himself such a wonderful encounter in the span of a day while I¡¯ve been slugging it out for fifteen years in this business and have absolutely nothing to show for it!? Isn¡¯t this unfair!?¡±

    ¡°Is this the gap between our destinies!?¡± the receptionist unclemented towards the heavens and slumped powerlessly on top of his desk right afterward. He then began crying buckets of tears. They were manly tears filled with the bitterness of defeat. Mimi and I could certainly feel the intensity of uncle¡¯s emotions.

    Another staff member of the Mercenary Guild came out in order to ask what the fuss was all about. When she found out the situation, she had the uncle escorted back inside the staff room. Farewell, uncle.

    ¡°E~tto, I apologize for our staff¡¯s rude conduct earlier sir,¡± the female receptionist said with a troubled smile on her face as she cleaned up the tear stains uncle left on the desk. I bet I¡¯d also have the same expression if I were in her shoes. Bet anyone would actually.

    ¡°Uh, I better exin the reason why we came here again I guess.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to trouble you sir, but I¡¯d appreciate it if you did so,¡± thedy replied as she bowed her head apologetically towards me. I started going over our circumstances.

    ¡°Understood. So you came in order to register this girl as an official crewmember and to obtain training materials and apps for ship operators, correct?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s about it.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your help ma¡¯am.¡±

    The new receptionistdy efficiently took care of all the rted procedures and prepared the training materials. The training app was installed on Mimi¡¯s tablet terminal so she could use it right away. It was a great program where an AI training instructor would impart the know-how of being a ship operator starting with the basics. It was also bundled with an app that would disy the ship¡¯s status and the total avable assets in an easy to understand way.

    ¡°I¡¯ve also included an info-gathering app, so please do your best okay.¡±

    ¡°Y- Yes!¡±

    ¡°It would greatly help me if Mimi gets to learn all this stuff. Give it your all kay.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    Mimi immediately began to go over all the installed apps with a serious demeanor. Yep, go for it girl. It¡¯ll make my life easier too. Different from the game, it seems you have to go through a lot ofplicated procedures as you go around this world.

    ¡°Oh yeah. I was wondering if it would be better if this girl can also train in some self-defense techniques, or maybe get a self-defense weapon for her personal use.¡±

    ¡°Hm. That would be a bit difficult sir. You can¡¯t really master self-defense techniques in just a few days after all. It¡¯s the same for handling weapons.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s the case huh.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the case, sir. But it would be good to let her have aser gun in any case, even if she doesn¡¯t actually use it. It will serve as an effective deterrent and prevent most shady folk from getting any ideas.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°Shall I prepare one sir?¡±

    ¡°Please do.¡±

    So the Mercenary Guild also distributes weapons huh? Come to think of it, I didn¡¯t manage to find a gun shop when I was doing some research yesterday. So things like this were regted by the Guild or rted government organizations huh.

    Theser gun for Mimi¡¯s use was soon prepared, and we were then guided to the Mercenary Guild¡¯s shooting range in order to perform test shots.

    How good is Mimi with a gun? Well, if she doesn¡¯t stop closing her eyes whenever she shoots, she wouldn¡¯t be able to hit anything.

    After the shooting practice, we returned to the ship and decided to take it slow for a few days. Mimi was still fatigued from her time in the back alleys, so she had to take ample rest. Fortunately, we wouldn¡¯t run out of funds anytime soon even if we don¡¯t work for some time.

    I was also interested in the major pirate subjugation operation Elma mentioned. It would result in a prettyrge-scale battle once they attacked the pirate¡¯s main base, and those kinds of events in the game would provide a great number of rewards proportionate to the number of enemies you manage to defeat.

    I honestly didn¡¯t want to miss such a golden opportunity.

    And so I spent my days working up a sweat in the training room in the mornings and taking a quick shower afterward. I studied together with Mimi in the afternoon (There were lessons useful for mercenary work avable on the training app as well), searched the for useful info, exchanged messages with the disappointing space elf and sometimes flirted around with Mimi as well.

    Finally, the long-anticipated pirate subjugation operation was officially announced by the Termaine System Armed Forces. The Mercenary Guild was solicited for assistance as well.

    ¡°It¡¯s really convenient that briefings can be done remotely no matter where you are without the need to gather in one particr ce.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is.¡±

    I sat on the pilot seat inside the cockpit while Mimi sat on the operator seat behind me. We were both waiting for the briefing to start.

    I think it¡¯s great that we didn¡¯t actually need toe to the army base or the guild office for this briefing. You can even order food from inside the ship anytime, so you really didn¡¯t have to take one step out of your starship if you wanted to. The starship interior may actually be the ultimate hikikomori paradise.

    Multiple window screens popped up on the cockpit disy; right on schedule with the briefing start time. The names of each participating party were disyed on top of each window. Among them were the disappointing space elf Elma as well as Serena - thedy soldier I met soon after I arrived at this Termaine Prime Colony.

    ¡°Huh!?¡±

    I suddenly felt cold sweat run down my back the moment my gaze met with Serena¡¯s for some reason. What the heck? Weirdly enough, it somehow felt like an unpleasant premonition but at the same time not. Still, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to be more careful of thisdy from now on.

    While I was thinking such things, Serena¡¯s window widened and moved to the center of the cockpit disy.

    ¡°Well then, let us start the briefing. I am Captain Serena Holz, the designatedmander of this entire operation. Please address me as Captain Serena.¡±

    ¡°Understood, Captain Serena.¡±

    Each participant expressed their agreement.

    ¡°I will now exin the overall outline of this operation. That said, it¡¯s actually not thatplicated. The ce the pirates are using as their base of operations is located on an asteroid field in the Gamma Sector,¡± Serena began as a map of the sector popped on-screen with a part of the asteroid field highlighted in red.

    ¡°The strategy for this operation is simple. Our System Armed Forces¡¯ starship fleet will sortie first and then proceed to destroy their base through naval bombardment. Even if it¡¯s their main base, the ones manning it are only mere pirates after all. I assume they¡¯ll get routed without putting up much of a fight.¡±

    A number of the mercs participating in the briefing nodded in agreement with Serena¡¯s statement. There was no way for bootleg pirate ships to oppose the Military model heavy cruisers and battleships of the armed forces. They¡¯re outssed in both defensive strength and overall firepower.

 Chapter 13 â€“ Again at the Mercenary Guild and the Large-scale Subjugation Operation (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 13 - Again at the Mercenary Guild and the Large-scale Subjugation Operation (Part 2)</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Mercenary starships may be able to take on a military warship under certain conditions. But it¡¯s not usually something that can be done using a single unit. In addition, the military has both the numbers and a superior level of training to their advantage.

    In other words, if you were forced to go head to head with a proper military interster naval fleet, it wouldn¡¯t even be a battle. You¡¯d get your ass handed to you without a doubt.

    ¡°However, as you well know, our fleet¡¯s bombardment is quite powerful but a littlecking in precision. If theye at us head-on, we would certainly be able to obliterate the lot of them. But if they decide to scatter and flee using their small and medium-sized ships, we would be hard pressed to stop quite a number of them from escaping. That¡¯s where you alle in.¡±

    Although it¡¯s true that destroying their main base of operations andrger ships would do great damage to the pirates, their main forces are actually made up of highly mobile small and medium-sized craft. If a number of them ended up escaping, they would eventually gather together again to revive their organization. They wanted us mercs to prevent this from happening. In other words, we were tasked with remnant hunting.

    No, that might not be the case at all. Since the pirate¡¯s main forces areposed of these aforementioned small and medium-sized ships, aren¡¯t we actually serving as this operation¡¯s main attack force? Meh, it doesn¡¯t really matter either way.

    ¡°How aboutpensation?¡±

    ¡°Yes, about that. There will be no advance payment. The participation reward will be 5,000 Enel, which will be given to each of you after the operation concludes.¡±

    Man, how cheap. The fixed sry¡¯s dirt cheap. I expect the confirmed kill rewards to be a different story though.

    ¡°As for kill rewards, small ships are worth 5,000 Enel per kill. Medium ones are 20,000 Enel per kill. Therge ones are worth 100,000 each. The bounty rewards already ced on the pirate ships will also be paid separately. We¡¯ll also give you free rein to plunder their ships for goods.¡±

    ¡°We n to eliminate all of therge-sized ships ourselves anyway.¡± Serena probably thought to herself, judging from that confident smile on her lips.

    There were varied reactions from the participating mercenaries, but the collective response seemed to be generally positive.

    ¡°The overall strategy is simple and straightforward. You mercenaries will be deployed in advance and hide within the outer areas of the Gamma Sector. We will directly attack the pirate¡¯s main base and destroy all major facilities and as much of their forces as possible. You will stage an ambush and destroy the small and medium-sized craft which tries to escape from the battle. We shall then mop up any remaining ships who will manage to slip away from the ambush.¡±

    It was a simple but efficient n of attack. They will destroy all the high-priority targets with the first hit and prevent the enemies from escaping with a ¡± of mercenaries. The military forces will take advantage of the enemy¡¯s confusion due to the ambush to form an iron tight ¡°cage¡±.

    Afterward, all that¡¯s left was to gradually tighten the cage until all the pirates are wiped out to thest ship. While I was mulling over the operation details, the hem of my clothes was suddenly pulled. I looked over to find Mimi who moved from the operator¡¯s seat and stood beside me.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, what if the pirates forcefully activated their FTL Drives in order to escape?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. If there are ships incapable of FTL nearby, the safety devices would prevent the other ships from activating their own FTL Drives.¡±

    ¡°But if they took out the safety devices, wouldn¡¯t they be able to forcefully activate their Drives?¡±

    ¡°They could, but I don¡¯t think there would be anyone willing to try that kind of stunt. If they deactivated their safety devices, they wouldn¡¯t be able to avoid space debris and asteroidsrge enough not to be repelled by their energy shields. If they do hit something under those conditions, they¡¯d be turned to space dust in moments, or so I¡¯ve heard. I¡¯m not too sure about the particrs either.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    The game did mention that the safety devices were coupled with the obstacle evasion system, but didn¡¯t go into much detail about the rted theories. Or rather, the game was pretty vague regarding these sorts of sci-fi tech stuff. Well, it¡¯s fine if we don¡¯t know how these things exactly work as long as we can use them with no trouble. One didn¡¯t have to know the exact details regarding how a microwave or cellphone works in order to use them right? It¡¯s the same thing with starships.

    While I and Mimi were discussing, the other mercenaries continued to ask Serena some questions. They were basically about the reward acquisition details, which didn¡¯t interest me as much. For example, if multiple mercs ended up shooting down a single pirate ship, how would the rewards be distributed?

    In case of a dispute, the military will determine the deserving party by going over the recorded battle logs. And in order to ensure transparency and fairness, the results will be publicly announced and handed over to the Mercenary Guild.

    If there are mercs found to be deliberately stealing kills, they may be punished with rank demotion or, in the worst case, be expelled from the Guild. If one wants to continue being a merc, one should behave appropriately. I don¡¯t feel like doing anything like that anyway, so it¡¯s not my problem.

    However, there was no one who asked about the thing I wanted to know the most. Is it because it¡¯s consideredmon sense, or do they not care about this sort of stuff in the first ce? Guess I¡¯ll have to ask about it myself.

    ¡°Uh, I also have a question, ma¡¯am.¡±

    All attention gathered towards me from the windows on the cockpit screen. Elma looked over as well. She was giving me a ¡°You¡¯re going to ask something outrageous aren¡¯t you?¡± kind of re. Haha. I¡¯ll try to answer your expectations, ma¡¯am.

    ¡°Yes, sir mercenary?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my first time participating in this kind ofrge scale operation y¡¯see. But if, by any circumstance, I judged furtherbat to be impossible due to factors like the ship¡¯s energy shield failing due to malfunction or damage, is it alright to withdraw from the battle?¡±

    The other mercenaries were dumbfounded after hearing my question. Elma facepalmed while Serena disyed a calm smile.

    ¡°You could choose to do so, yes. I understand that mercenaries value their lives as much as their reward money. It¡¯s in your nature. However, it¡¯ll be troublesome if one turns tail and flees even before the start of the battle. Our main objective is topletely annihte the pirates after all.¡±

    ¡°Guess that¡¯s reasonable. But I¡¯m a rookie y¡¯see. And it¡¯s a rookie-like thing to think about securing a path of retreat. And it wouldn¡¯t be a joke if I was suddenly told something like ¡®Fight to the bitter end, or you will be treated as a deserter and shot down.¡¯ y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t possibly think we would do such a thing?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not about implementing or not implementing such a policy. It¡¯s because our battle formation makes it possible for such a situation to be enforced. I have a crewmember on board my ship, so I have to be particr about this sort of thing.¡±

    After all, we would be deploying in a twoyer formation during this operation. The mercs would handle close-range engagements, which therge-scale military warships aren¡¯t suitable for. The military ships would take care of shooting down escaping pirates from long range instead.

    In other words, mercs are the hunting dogs while the Termaine System Military forces are the hunters who peer through a scope in order to bring down prey. The hunter¡¯s role is originally to shoot down prey being chased down by the hunting dogs out into the open. But the scope can also be turned toward the dogs who try to flee. It won¡¯t be funny if we were suddenly told that retreating from the battle was not allowed and we would be treated as deserters who would be promptly shot down once the fighting starts after all.

    ¡°Fufu. I guess you¡¯re right. Yes, the battle formation allows for it. But rest assured that we won¡¯t do something of the sort.¡±

    ¡°d to hear it. That¡¯ll be all for me ma¡¯am.¡±

    The reactions from the other mercenaries were varied. About a third of them looked at me with disdain evident in their expressions. Twenty percent looked somewhat impressed or curious. The remaining half were all indifferent.

    ¡°Are there any other questions? If there are none, then we will proceed with the operation. We shall sortie after an hour. Once your preparations areplete,unch out from the hangar bay and stand by for further orders.¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    The briefing¡¯s finally finished. Now, it¡¯s time for battle.

 Chapter 14 â€“ Unfortunate Accident Flag is Raised

    <h4>Chapter 14 - Unfortunate ident g is Raised</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Uh, you alright girl¡­?¡±

    ¡°I- I¡¯m f- f- fine sir¡­¡±

    ¡°Looks like it¡¯s no good huh.¡±

    Did I just say it was time for battle earlier? That¡¯s kinda not the case. Not yet anyway. There was still an hour left until we sortie. I had the onboard AI do a routine maintenance check on the entire ship and went to the dining area with Mimi in order to try and rx a bit before the big battle, but it isn¡¯t going so well, apparently.

    ¡°T- T- The- There¡¯s absolutely no p- problem y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°It really doesn¡¯t look like that¡¯s the case though.¡±

    It kinda felt awkward to see Mimi fretting about like a newborn fawn or chihuahua. Well, we¡¯re diving headfirst into a dangerous, life-threatening battle soon, so I guess being nervous and terrified like her would normally be how most folks would react. Mimi¡¯s current state is understandable.

    On the contrary, I seem to be the abnormal one for not feeling the least bit nervous or afraid. Later on I¡¯d surely be taking a lot of lives. It¡¯s a bit unsettling that I feel practically nothing from the prospect of participating in a dangerous battle where there was a real danger of dying.

    But why am I not nervous or pressured anyway? There are a few factors I¡¯m considering to be the reasons for this.

    One major reason should be because, based on my research, I¡¯ve surmised that my trusty ship, Krishna, was of a different league altogetherpared with the ships of most other mercs and possessed umonly highbat capabilities.

    I managed toe to this conclusion after reviewing the performance specs of other ships out on the market along with the overall firepower of their weapons, thetest weapons, and equipment issued to the military andpiling various other data about this world¡¯s standard warships.

    Of course, thetest military warships employed by the Gran Empire and the Vereverem Federation were of entirely different size sses. But even so, I surmised that we still had a fair chance of matching them in battle.

    The other factors I considered were my performance against the pirates I fought soon after being transported to this world and the shocked reactions of the receptionist uncle and Elma after watching my mock battles via the simtor. Judging from their reactions, I surmised that my piloting ability using the Krishna was somewhat out of the norm and unexpected. Of course, a major factor for my performance can be attributed to Krishna¡¯s considerably high specs. However, no matter how high ones ship¡¯s specs were, if you couldn¡¯t pilot it properly, then it would just be a fancy moving coffin. At the very least, my piloting skills could ensure that Krishna won¡¯t end up being an aforementioned moving coffin.

    Considering all these, I concluded that this uing pirate subjugation mission won¡¯t pose that much of a threat to us. I ended up thinking as such. So I managed to remain cool as a cucumber as a result. Or maybe I was simply just a born daredevil who didn¡¯t feel much when faced with this sort of dangerous stuff.

    Y¡¯see, I still couldn¡¯t shake the impression that this world really resembled Ste Online. In other words, it might be that I still subconsciously saw all this under the lens of a ¡°gamer¡±.

    There was practically no danger of dying in battle. As a result, the sense of reality was next to non-existent. That¡¯s why feeling the fear of death in this situation didn¡¯te naturally to me. I understood the fact that I¡¯d die for real if I got shot down. At least, I tried hard to internalize this fact. However, the only times I have been shot down in Ste Online happened during my newbie days, when I wasn¡¯t all that familiar with the gamey and controls yet. The repair costs after getting shot down were astronomical after all. Insurance would help cover some of the expenses, but you¡¯ll end up losing all your cargo anyway, so the resulting deficit would still be enormous. That¡¯s why I always ensured that I acted with enough of a safety margin.

    If you misread the timing for retreat, you¡¯d likely pay a steep price.

    This much still won¡¯t cut it. That¡¯s what I always reminded myself back in the day. As a result, Krishna ended up equipped with threeyers of energy shields and military-grade armor apart from its considerably tough main hull.

    Furthermore, it¡¯s also equipped with shield cells that could instantly recharge the energy shields quickly. Once used, the shields could be brought back up to full capacity after just a slight timeg. But the shield cells would be useless if the energy shields ever becamepletely depleted though.

    Now then, about these shield cells - one or two would usually be equipped on standard ships, but Krishna actually has a whopping five of these babies. This practically meant that the ship¡¯s main body was fully protected until all five shield cells were used up if you managed it well.

    Whenever I engaged in battles in Ste Online, my rule of thumb was making a retreat once the number of active shield cells was reduced to one. As long as I had one active cell left, the odds of sessfully escaping from my enemies were rather high.

    Naturally, however, if I attempted a retreat in a sloppy manner, then I¡¯d just get my ass handed to me. So I really had to be careful when making my escape. Basically, if I cut the power from the ship¡¯s weapon systems and rerouted the generator output to the thrusters and shield, then it won¡¯t be that difficult to shake off an enemy who had to keep supplying power to their weapons instead.

    ¡°Um, Hiro-sama¡­?¡±

    ¡°Hm? Ah, sorry. I was just thinking about some things.¡±

    Mimi hesitantly called out to me in a worried tone after noticing that I¡¯ve mmed up. I smiled at her and shook my head to show that nothing was wrong.

    ¡°You don¡¯t really need to worry all that much y¡¯know. I¡¯m fairly confident in my piloting skills and this ship packs quite the punch. And I¡¯ve also made things clear in the briefing earlier right? I¡¯ll promptly high-tail it if I feel that it¡¯s getting a bit too dangerous. I operate with enough of a safety margin. Plus, I¡¯ll have to consider you now too, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Oh, no. I really am okay.¡±

    ¡°Right. Just please do something about that pale, bluish face before saying something like that. But I guess this is just how it is. You¡¯ll have to get used to it soon though. Oh, and before I forget, it¡¯s best if you don¡¯t eat much right before a battle. It¡¯ll be a disaster-in-the-making otherwise.¡±

    ¡°Uhh¡­ I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡±

    I didn¡¯t want to see the cute Mimi throwing up y¡¯know. I probably won¡¯t mind it much if that disappointing space elf did it though. And well, if we really ended up vomiting inside the cockpit, the odor might cause my concentration to drop or cause the equipment to malfunction. Nah, maybe not. This stuff¡¯s military-grade after all.

    ¡°Looks like the routine check¡¯s just about done¡­ Uh, Mimi, if you¡¯re really feeling scared, would you like to stay behind in the colony instead?¡±

    ¡°N- No! I¡¯ll definitely go! I still haven¡¯t done anything useful for Hiro-sama. And if I run away here, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll have the right to be by Hiro-sama¡¯s side anymore.¡±

    Mimi squeezed both her hands into fists and made a guts pose. Her ample chest assets jiggled from her actions. Today, Mimi looked the part of a regr mercenary. She wore tight-fitting spats and a durable-looking shirt. She also wore a jacket over her other clothes. Personally, I can¡¯t help but feel that she was pushing it with the merc get-up, but I¡¯ll get used to it soon. Probably.

    Looks like Mimi¡¯s more or less okay now, so we moved to the cockpit and started preparing forunch. The routine maintenance check¡¯s finished and the results are green. Looks like we¡¯re in the clear.

    ¡°Mimi, we¡¯re initiatingunch procedures. Please contact the hangar control center.¡±

    ¡°Y- Yes!¡±

    Mimi plopped down on the Operator seat and clumsily fiddled with the console in front of her in order to obtainunch clearance. After a few moments, the main monitor disyed theunch count down. Unlike the docking procedure, the entire thing was apparently handled automatically by an A.I.

    I activated Krishna¡¯s thrusters after the countdown finished andunched out from the hangar bay. Thending gears were retracted back inside the hull, and the ship finally exited from the Termaine Prime Colony back into outer space.

    ¡°Amazing¡­¡±

    ¡°The scenery out here in space is great huh. There¡¯s an ocean of stars anywhere you look.¡±

    ¡°Ah! So the colony¡­ actually looked like that.¡±

    ¡°It looks a lot like a bicycle wheel right?¡±

    ¡°Bicycle?¡±

    ¡°Uh, well, it¡¯s a vehicle which used wheels that kinda looked like that.¡±

    ¡°Is that so.¡±

    Mimi doesn¡¯t seem familiar with a bike. But it¡¯s quite eco-friendly y¡¯know. I think it¡¯ll do great as a mode of transport inside colonies. Maybe it didn¡¯t function well under artificial gravity or something? It¡¯s a mystery. When I checked the sensors, I found several other mercenary ships already on standby outside the colony.

    The ships piloted by mercenaries were quite varied, and there were no two ships that looked exactly alike. Strictly speaking, some were of the same models, but their details were drastically different because each of them was heavily customized ording to personal taste.

    ¡°Wow, there¡¯s a lot of colorful ships!¡±

    ¡°They look like that in order to stand out. Gotta make an impression on potential clients and all that.¡±

    By the way, Krishna¡¯s paint job was matte dark blue which doubled as camouge. In Ste Online, there was a high degree of freedom when ites to customizing a ship¡¯s coloring and decals. There were quite a few quirky looking ones such as a transport ship that had anime characters stered all over its hull. I honestly didn¡¯t subscribe to the idea all that much.

    ¡°What the-? Now that¡¯s quite the rare article¡­¡±

    There was a conspicuous-looking pure white ship among the mercenaries. It had an elegant and streamlined frame reminiscent of a swan. Itsrge rear thruster gave it the impression of being considerably fast. In fact, it really was a unit geared for speed.

    This ship¡¯s official model name was [SSC-16 Gctic Swan] - among the Ste Online yers, it was otherwise known as ¡°White Meteor¡± (in the sense that it¡¯ll eventually turn into a shooting star), ¡°Fe***ri¡± (since it was akin to a disgustingly expensive luxury sports car), ¡°Runaway Super Express¡± (to Hell) and so on.

    ¡°Wow, what a beautiful ship!¡±

    ¡°You think so?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°No, uh, well¡­¡±

    Fastest top speed and mobility, decent firepower and powerful shield output - judging solely from these, you¡¯d think it was an excellent model. But the problem lies with its aforementioned mobility.

    inly speaking, it was just too lopsided of a design. Its eleration was so peaky to the point that it could only go in a straight line most of the time and was an absolute nightmare to control when executingplex maneuvers. A friend of mine let me try it out a while back, and I couldn¡¯t pilot it properly no matter how I tried. Another bad thing about it was its price-performance ratio. In order to achieve its insane eleration, it utilizes a lot of high-end parts which are quite expensive and the purchase and repair costs are ridiculously high as a result. Heck, its repair cost even trumps that of a full-fledged battleship.

    And the final and arguably worst thing about it was its tendency to go ¡°berserk¡± under certain conditions. And it going berserk doesn¡¯t mean that you¡¯ll curbstomp all opposition. No sir. It won¡¯t ept any control inputs and would just keep going straight with tremendous speed until the fuel runs out. And finally, it explodes.

    When this feature was first discovered, people were screaming ¡°Is this a Bug devs!?¡± and made quite a ruckus in-game. But when the said crazy (in a good way) devs investigated it, they found that it only urred on this particr unit and won¡¯t happen with any other ship. So they wrapped it up as a kind of quirky hidden feature and left it at that.

    Its tendency to go out of control coupled with its bad handling, high purchase cost, and repair fees eventually made yers treat it as some sort of joke unit¡­ And there was actually a merc who¡¯d take such a machine to a life-and-death battle. But I guess if they could handle the thing properly, it wasn¡¯t actually a bad machine to use. Both its speed and maneuverability exceeded Krishna¡¯s after all. Then again, it did have this tendency to go berserk and explode to bits afterward. That¡¯s a huge demerit.

    ¡°Is it a bad ship?¡±

    ¡°Well, not really. If you can use it well, it¡¯s a formidable machine. But it¡¯s handling leaves a lot to be desired¡­ If I were to say it straight, it¡¯s a defective machine.¡±

    ¡°Defective machine?¡±

    ¡°If some conditions are met, it¡¯ll go wild and fly straight ahead until it explodes. Well, as long as you don¡¯t push its speed past a certain point duringbat maneuvers and don¡¯t fire off or take hits from a barrage of high-density optical weapons, the conditions for it going berserk won¡¯t be met.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that plenty dangerous though?¡±

    ¡°Really dangerous. So the one piloting that thing either has to be a very experienced veteran who¡¯s aware of the dangers or a fool who chose it merely due to its specs.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    I tapped the disy to bring up that ship¡¯s info and the owner¡¯s name was¡­ Captain Elma.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Um, it seems that¡¯s Elma¡¯s ship.¡±

    ¡°Eeeh!?¡±

    ¡°Well she did say she was an experienced veteran, so I guess it¡¯s alright?¡±

    It won¡¯t go bonkers unless it¡¯s armed to the teeth withser weapons. Maybe. Probably. I hope¡­

    Oh, who am I kidding? Of all things, it was that disappointing space elf who appeared piloting that kind of joke machine. Looks like the incident g was already standing tall.

    ¡°Let¡¯s pray for her safety¡­ It¡¯s your first sortie after all Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Yes, lets. I¡¯m sure Elma-san will be fine.¡±

    I didn¡¯t really want to see any of my acquaintances kick the bucket, but I guess there would be more of thating as long as I continue to work as a mercenary. The moment you board a starship, you¡¯ll be responsible for your own wellbeing. As much as I¡¯d like to help out, I really couldn¡¯t afford to right now. There¡¯s not much I can do at this stage anyway. There¡¯s no other choice but to simply pray for her safety.

    ¡°Thirty minutes until the start of the operation. The coordinates of the target point have been sent to each starship. Please move out once the mission countdown finishes.¡±

    The Operator of the System Armed Forces transmitted the coordinates of the target point to each ship. Looks like recon drones have been deployed earlier and the enemies¡¯ overall strength andposition were quite detailed.

    ¡°The heck¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡¯

    ¡°Nothing. It¡¯s just a bit troublesome, that¡¯s all.¡±

    The coordinates we ended up getting assigned to was one of the points where the enemy units were densest. Was this assigned randomly? Or maybe¡­ Captain Serena¡¯s fox-like smile appeared in my head. It felt strangely lifelike.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯ll work out anyway.¡±

    I could always just escape when things got dangerous anyway. Though I doubt I¡¯d have to, in any case.

 Chapter 15 â€“ Battle Phase

    <h4>Chapter 15 - Battle Phase</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Confirm synchronization with allied ships.¡±

    ¡°Synchronization confirmed.¡±

    ¡°Initiate the Hyperspeed Drive charging sequence.¡±

    ¡°Hyperspeed Drive charging initiated. Chargingplete. Drive activation in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1¡­ Hyperspeed Drive start-up!¡±

    The Hyperspeed Drive activated; apanied by a booming, thunderous sound. This time, the Drive was initiated in sync with the surrounding allied ships, so we basically didn¡¯t need to handle anything on our end. All we needed to watch out for was making sure that we and our friendlies don¡¯t veer off-course.

    And it seems that Elma was sent to the ambush point opposite from us instead. Let¡¯s pray that she stays safe.

    ¡°Now then, we¡¯re about to enter battle¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes!¡±

    ¡°In this engagement, I¡¯ll have Mimi handle both radar observation and thems.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the job of a radar observer?¡±

    ¡°Keep track of the movements of both friendlies and enemy ships disyed on the radar and alert the pilot whenever danger presents itself.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. How about thems officer?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Intercepting enemymunications, collecting info and responding tomunications sent by allies to this ship.¡±

    ¡°Looks like you¡¯re good to go. When I was piloting this ship alone, I was responsible for doing all of that stuff. So my aim is for Mimi to take over some of the work in order to reduce my burden a bit. The more things you can handle, the easier it will be for me. I know it¡¯ll take some more time for you to get the hang of all this stuff, but please do your best okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Please leave it to me Hiro-sama!¡± Mimi cheerfully responded.

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m counting on you.¡±

    I made a final check of the ship¡¯s weapon systems while we were still in the middle of the FTL Drive sequence.

    Our main weapons were four heavy pulseser cannons mounted on maniptor arms. There were tworge-caliber live ordnance cannons directly mounted on the ship as well. We also had two ¡°trump cards¡± loaded with two shots each - for a total of four shots. The ammo for these things was he expensive, so I didn¡¯t want to resort to using them if possible. But they¡¯re ¡°trump cards¡± after all. If pushes to shove, we should fire them without hesitation. Indefinitely holding off on using these things is just stupid.

    ¡°How beautiful¡­¡± Mimi uttered while looking at the scenery outside the ship - the light of the stars streaking past like countless meteors in the far distance, the nebe which brightly glowed in orange and green hues, and the sparkling trails of light scattered by our ship in its wake. The sight of them was so breathtakingly beautiful that even I, who was familiar with them from my time in the game, was captivated.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s a great privilege for us to be able to move freely in this beautiful ocean of stars.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    We finally arrived at the designated coordinates after a few minutes.

    ¡°Deactivate the Hyperspeed Drive. Brace for possible shock and vibration.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    We exited the Hyperspeed Drive sequence and switched to normal navigation. A thunderous din rang out once again and Krishna finally returned to normal space. The allied mercenary ships scattered in groups of four or five and headed out to each of their assigned posts. We also followed suit.

    ¡°We¡¯ve reached the target point.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really quiet.¡±

    ¡°Well, space is basically a quiet and lonely ce after all. But I don¡¯t feel so lonely now because I have you with me, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°¡­Eeeh. W- Well, I¡¯m not lonely either then.¡±

    We reduced the output of the main generator to the bare minimum and entered a state ofm silence while having a light-hearted exchange.

    ¡°Are you feeling cold?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m okay.¡±

    Since the power supply to the life support system was also dialed down to the minimum, the temperature inside the cockpit dropped quite a bit. I didn¡¯t really mind because I wore thick clothes, but Mimi looked a little too lightly dressed.

    ¡°These clothes are made from a thin but warm material.¡±

    ¡°Really? I kinda had some misgivings, but it really was a good clothing store huh?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    It¡¯s a truly great pleasure to see a cute girl wearing cute clothes every day. For the past few days, Mimi has been dazzling my eyes by wearing various types of cyberpunk-vored cos-y outfits. She looked particrly wonderful as a big-breasted cyberpunk maid¡­ While I was thinking about such inane stuff, countless light streaks prated the area in front of us. Immediately afterward, we interceptedmunications that seemed to be from the rattled pirates.

    [Wha- What¡¯s going on? What the heck is that?!] [Michael just got done in! Enemy attack-] [Uwaaaah!?] [It¡¯s the damn star system military!] [They hit our main base and ourrge ships! Fires have broken out everywhere!] [Close the third to seventh bulkheads now!] [B- But there¡¯s still people inside!?] [You f*cking idiot! We¡¯ll all get killed if you don¡¯t close them right now! Do it!] [U- Understood!]

    It was absolute chaos. Meanwhile, the bombardment from the system military¡¯s Star-ss warships and heavy cruisers continued to destroy the base facilities andrge-sized starships of the pirates. It¡¯s just not possible to do that kind of stuff with my Krishna. The overall firepower and range of military warship weaponry far outstrip the medium-sized ships used by us mercs. The outputs of their defensive weapons aren¡¯t anything to sneeze at either¡­ If one carelessly went against them right from the front, they¡¯d be ripped into shreds before they can even get the military warship into weapon range. Well, going toe-to-toe with them by your lonesome head-on is ill-advised to begin with.

    [No! It¡¯s no use! Let¡¯s get outta here!] [Retreat! Retreat! Retreat! Dammit! All our umted treasure¡¯s as good as gone!]

    Oh, looks like they¡¯re finally escaping. There were a few daring pirate ships that charged at the military battleships with abandon, but they all turned into space dust in the end. Well, this is the expected oue if you go against a military warship head-on. That¡¯s just how it is for any non-military ship.

    [Dropm silence. Operation start.] [GO! GO! GO!] [Don¡¯t let a single one of them get away!] [Hyahaaa! Just look at those big, fat preys! You¡¯re mine bitches!]

    Once the order tomence the operation was given, Krishna¡¯s generator output was raised to battle level in one go and we began elerating.

    ¡°Mimi, we¡¯re entering the battle! Brace yourself for the impacts and Gs.¡±

    ¡°U- Understood!¡±

    I felt my entire body get strongly pressed against the pilot seat from the sudden eleration. A feeling of tension welled up from deep within me. My hands began sweating lightly. I proceeded to deploy the maniptor arms and therge caliber live projectile cannons. The battle¡¯s finally begun.

    [An unknown ship¡¯s closing in fast! What the heck is that?! There are arms growing out of that thing!] [It¡¯s an unknown model! Keep your guard up boys!] [Take it head-on! Shoot it down!] [We greatly outnumber it. Surround that ship and fire at will. Tear down its energy shields and shoot it to pieces!]

    There were a total of four enemy pirate ships in front - two transport ships and two fighters. They¡¯re going after me head-on - right from the front. All their weapons were deployed.

    ¡°Looks like they want a frontal shoot-out huh. Let¡¯s oblige.¡±

    I aimed the pulseser cannons at one of the fighter crafts in front and therge caliber live ordnance cannons at another. The enemies seem to n on concentrating their firepower, but my Krishna¡¯sser cannons have a longer rangepared to all their weapons.

    [What the-!? Our shield-]

    The energy shield of the fighter craft immediately went down after being pelted by simultaneous fire from myser cannons. A second barrage punched through its now-unprotected hull and put the fighter out ofmission.

    [You gotta be kidding me!?] [This guy¡¯s way dangerous! Let¡¯s get outta here, you lot! Escape-]

    The other fighter craft my live ordnance cannons had a lock on tried to get away, but it was toote. I fired two canister shots on its vulnerable guts in session.

    A great number of destructive projectiles rained down on its shield and brought it down in an instant. Its hull was then mercilessly punched through with countless holes. Another serving of Swiss cheese is served. The two fighter ships were swiftly shot down in mere moments.

    [Gyaaaah!? That¡¯s a goddamn monster!] [No! Re- Retreat- ]

    The remaining two transport ships tried to escape as well, but these types were generally a lot slowerpared to fighter ships. On the other hand, my favorite unit, Krishna, was a full-fledged fighter ship sporting high-speed specs. Escaping from me was impossible.

    [Hurry the f*ck up!!!] [I can¡¯t shake em!] [No, no, no! I can¡¯t possibly die in a ce like this!]

    ¡°Nah, you¡¯ll die here man. You¡¯re a pirate, and we were ordered to eliminate every single one of you. No mercy for you guys.¡±

    I pointed the stern towards the escaping transport ships and brought them down withser cannon fire. They tried to escape by going in different directions, but there was no way I¡¯d let them go. If they manage to get away, chances are, they¡¯d target and attack innocent folks again. Once one falls into a life of piracy, it¡¯s difficult to wash oneself clean again after all.

    As I proceeded to head for the next target point, I turned back to see how Mimi was doing. She was shivering uncontrobly on top of her seat. Her gaze was glued to the radar screen, but I¡¯m not sure if her attention was truly focused on it or not. Well, I guess it¡¯s too much to expect a ster performance from her on her first sortie, so it can¡¯t be helped.

    I turned away from her and looked at the next target shown on the screen. What greeted my eyes was a scene of brightser projectiles cutting through space, smoke trails from the live rounds fired off from the other ships, the ming tails of missiles and the blooming explosions of destroyed ships. The myriad colors brightly lit up this corner of space in a chaotic cacophony of light.

    These sights were strangely beautiful but exceedingly deadly for humans. Even a shot from the lowest caliberser cannon would vaporize a human without a trace, and they¡¯d be turned to minced meat if hit with live rounds. Missiles would obliterate them just the same. Once a ship¡¯s shot down, you¡¯ll be thrown out into outer space and wouldn¡¯t escape death either.

    But what about escape pods, right? Although the cockpit block could function as an escape pod, it¡¯d usually end up as a priority target in live battle after all. Plus, it¡¯s hard to survive getting caught up in the explosion made worse by the detonation of your ship¡¯s ammo reserves. In the end, one¡¯s survival heavily depended on luck.

    ¡°Mimi, we¡¯re heading to the next battlefield.¡±

    ¡°¡­Eh? Ah! Y- Yes, understood!¡±

    Mimi responded in a trembling voice after she heard me call out to her. Looks like it¡¯ll take some more time for her to get used to this sort of work.

    [Chi, there¡¯s too many of em!] [Surround it! Besso, cut him out from the front!] [Here ya go!] [You f*ckers!]

    Five pirate ships were ganging up on one allied mercenary ship. The merc was managing to hold on due to the difference in ship specs, but it¡¯ll get cornered before long if left alone. Its energy shield would gradually be shaved down and its armor would be prated by enemy fire. But that¡¯s if I don¡¯t interfere. Seems the call sign of the merc ship is ¡°Quiet¡±.

    ¡°This is Captain Hiro. My callsign¡¯s Krishna. I¡¯m moving in to assist, Quiet.¡±

    [Ou! Thanks for the help man!] [Chi! Another one¡¯s here. Lang! Cummer! Hold him down!] [Gotcha!] [Leave it to me, boss!]

    Of the five ships that were chasing down Quiet, two disengaged and headed straight for me. One seems to be a fighter ship while one¡¯s a missile cruiser modified from a regr transport ship. Missile support ships are really troublesome. Missiles are difficult to avoid and are quite destructive. Quiet did a really good job surviving being ganged up on by five ships which included a missile support ship.

    [Seeker!] [Roger that boss!]

    The support cruiser fired a barrage of missiles which headed straight for me. A seeker¡¯s probably a type of heat-seeking missile. Though their range is rtively short, they¡¯re not radar-guided so they won¡¯t trigger a lock-on rm and were a type most effective when used for surprise attacks. But I don¡¯t know what the deal is with those guys firing them off right from the front. They even shouted out the exact missile type. They have no idea how to make use of their weaponry effectively, don¡¯t they?

    There are roughly two ways to deal with this type of missile. Either shake it off with superior maneuverability or confuse its sensors byunching out a decoy emitting high heat. But I¡¯d rather take a third option.

    The ship vibrates from the recoil resulting from theunch of live rounds. Soon after, countless projectiles swarmed at the seeker missiles and sessfully detonated all of them before they could even reach my ship. We punched through the resulting explosion at maximum eleration, brushing past a pirate transport ship, straight towards the missile cruiser guarding it at the back.

    [Geeh!? This guy just slipped right through- ]

    ¡°One.¡±

    I sted the missile cruiser with canister shots at point-nk range and shot it down. A rtivelyrge explosion soon followed, probably due to all the missiles detonating at the same time.

    [What the-!?]

    ¡°Two.¡±

    I quickly turned the ship around using the auxiliary thrusters and fired at the pirate transport ship with theser cannons. Large caliber pulseser cannon fire can easily deplete a ship¡¯s energy shields. The small, sub-standard reactors of the pirate ships can¡¯t withstand the simultaneous fire of four pulseser cannons at all.

    As expected, the shield fails in mere moments andser fire prated the defenseless hull, resulting in a scarlet explosion. After putting them out of their misery, I checked the radar to see how the Quiet was doing. Seems he just shot down one of the remaining three ships and was now chasing down another. He was really skilled.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to bring down that other ship.¡±

    [Yeah. Sorry bout this man. And thanks.] [Wha- Godammit! Things aren¡¯t supposed to be like this¡­!] [W- Whadda we do Raizo!?] [Shut up you idiots! We obviously need to give it to em then get the f*ck away!]

    The captain of the lead ship scathingly replied to his other remainingrade, who asked him what to do in a pathetic-sounding voice. In my humble opinion guys, you have next to no chance of surviving, so just obediently hand your asses over and get shot down to save us all from the trouble. I downed the pirate ship giving its all to escape moments after, and the Quiet sessfully shot down the lead ship as well. We cleaned both of them up in a rtively short time.

    [Thanks for the help Krishna. It was pretty hard having five ships on my tail.]

    ¡°Nah, don¡¯t worry about it. I got me some prey as a result anyway. Later man.¡±

    [Yeah. Be careful.]

    The Quiet then retreated from the frontlines - probably for emergency repairs and shield replenishment. I collected the scattered loot from the downed pirate ships and proceeded to move to the next point to hunt some more.

 Chapter 16 â€“ Shooting Star

    <h4>Chapter 16 - Shooting Star</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Mimi, what¡¯s the battlefield¡¯s current state?¡±

    I called out to Mimi after the drones finished collecting all the loot from the ship wreckages.

    ¡°Eh? Um, err¡­ it looks like our allied forces have the advantage for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Can you pinpoint the spots where our allies aren¡¯t doing so hot?¡±

    ¡°U- Um¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I can¡¯t.¡±

    Yeah, I figured as much. I also mostly rely on my intuition when searching for those particr trouble spots, so her answer¡¯s not all that surprising¡­

    ¡°Generally, there¡¯s a one-on-three or one-on-four ratio between merc and pirate forces scattered all throughout the battlefield. Spots, where the pirate numbers are a bit too many forfort, are the ones that require some support. But if the pirate numbers exceed ten, going in to act as reinforcement poses quite a bit of risk, if not outright suicidal. I think we¡¯ll be fine even with those numbers though.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ Um, so, it should be this particr spot then, on the lower-left portion of the battlefield map. It¡¯s close to the position of the Star System fleet, but they still seem to be struggling due to three medium-sized pirate battleships participating in the battle.¡±

    I checked the coordinates Mimi pointed out, and it did look like our allies were having a tough time. Four mercenary ships were surrounded by over twenty small pirate craft. They also faced the aforementioned three medium-sized pirate ships. They were still managing somehow due to support fire from the military fleet, but it looks like they won¡¯t be able to keep it up if the current situation continues.

    ¡°Alright then, we¡¯re going to help them out Mimi. But keep your eyes on the radar so we won¡¯t be taken by surprise. Also, make sure to hail our allies before we engage the enemies to avoid confusion.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll do my best!¡±

    I checked the weaponry and equipment of the hostile medium-sized pirate ships after hearing Mimi¡¯s energetic reply.

    They were also heavily modified civilian-use starships, just like the missile support cruiser we fought earlier. Piratesmonly used these types of retrofitted ships. They would attack civilian ships, disable their main thrusters, dispose of all the passengers and crew and would then take the ships for themselves.

    They would then equip these ships with weaponry and defense systems plundered from mercenary and escort ships they managed to shoot down, and the result would be the patchwork pirate battleships they often used. At least, that¡¯s how they were said to operate in Ste Online. Looks like things are pretty much the same in this world. I don¡¯t even want to imagine what happened to the original crew of those ships.

    Anyway¡­ those modified medium-sized pirate warships are equipped with rapid-fire multi-cannons for close-range defensive fire and a medium caliberser cannon for support bombardment. They probably operate by supporting the small attack crafts from behind through long-rangeser cannon fire. The multi cannons are most likely of the auto-targeting turret cannon type.

    They¡¯ve mainly concentrated their weapon batteries on the front end of the ship, on top and on each side. They look pretty solid, at least. I¡¯m pretty confident Krishna¡¯s energy shields, powered by a top of the line, high-performance shield generator would be able to tank hits from these weapon batteries even if they attack simultaneously, but there¡¯s no reason I¡¯d go at em right from the front to begin with.

    Judging from their weapon battery arrangement, their bottoms and rears areplete blind spots. They¡¯re all modified from civilian cargo ships, so they should haverge cargo holds located below deck. The chance of the pirates reinforcing their armor is pretty low, so they should be rtively defenseless in that particr area. I reckon there won¡¯t be any unexpected nasty surprises popping out from there.

    I decided on my course of action after determining their capabilities and powered down Krishna¡¯s reactor to minimum output, turned the weapon systems offline and activated the rapid cooling system.

    ¡°It¡¯ll get a little cold, so bear with it for a bit, alright?¡±

    ¡°Understood. Um, what are you nning?¡±

    ¡°Hm? Oh, well, us mercs don¡¯t just fight battles head-on Mimi.¡±

    When the temperature of the hull cooled down, the temperature inside the cockpit also started to rapidly decline. After three minutes, the air inside the cockpit turned cold to a point where my breaths expelled white vapor. I checked if Mimi was okay, but it seems her clothing really did provide ample cold-resistance. She was also breathing out white vapor, but at least she doesn¡¯t seem too bothered by the cold.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this.¡±

    When I judged that the ship has cooled down sufficiently, I started to head towards the blind spot of the enemy ships using minimum thrust. The small craft and the medium-sized ships remainedpletely unaware of our existence.

    ¡°Why couldn¡¯t they detect us Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Ships engaging in activebat usually give off high heat signatures. Therefore, most folks rely on heat sensors to detect other ships during battle. There¡¯s a lot of ship wreckages littered all over the ce in battles like this, so ordinary radars just won¡¯t cut it. That¡¯s why it¡¯s possible to fool the heat sensors by lowering the ship¡¯s temperature and slipping in amongst the debris.¡±

    This was a strategy called ¡°Thermal Stealth¡± in Ste Online.

    The rapid cooling system was originally intended for cooling down the ship¡¯s temperature whenever the hull gets too heated up due to continuousser cannon use, but the yers managed to create another use for it outside its intended purpose.

    ¡°I see¡­ So there are actually a lot of different strategies you can use.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not something that¡¯ll work each and every time, but it happens to be an effective strategy in our current situation.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Once I¡¯ve confirmed that we werepletely positioned in the blind spot of the medium-sized pirate ships, I reactivated the weapon systems and aimed the pulseser and live projectile cannons on their defenseless stomachs.

    [Eh!? There¡¯s a hostile enemy ship signature right below us! Sh*t, it¡¯spletely in our blind spot!] [What!? What the heck were you doing!? Were you actually sleeping the whole time!?] [I was properly keeping watch boss! But it suddenly appeared out of nowhere like a goddamn ghost!] [Don¡¯t give me that crap! Dammit, evade! Evade you fucking idiots! F*ck, are we even gonna make it on time?!]

    I fired my four pulseser cannons simultaneously and quickly saturated their energy shields.

    [Hiii! The shield!] [Oh my f*cking god! Evasive action! Get those boosters up! Get the f*ck outta our way bastards!!!]

    The live projectile cannons followed suit, pelting the wide-open bellies of the ships with countless destructive pellets, piercing through their thin armor and peppering them full of holes. Their armor really was quite weak. The projectiles seemed to have savaged their power reactors, life support modules, power conduits, and ammunition caches.

    [It¡¯s no use! We¡¯re losing power!] [Abandon ship! Abandon shiiip!]

    Lots of small explosions urred inside the damaged hulls of all three medium-sized pirate ships. After a finalrge explosion went off on each of them, theypletely shut down. Three down.

    ¡°Mimi, contact the allied ships and dere our intention to reinforce them!¡±

    ¡°R- Right away! This is Captain Hiro¡¯s ship, call sign Krishna. I¡¯m his Ship Operator, Mimi. We will now proceed to aid you all as reinforcements!¡±

    [We¡¯re grateful for your help. It was honestly getting pretty bad earlier.] [Chiih! We can¡¯t let any more prey get away! We¡¯re going all out ya bastards!] [Nuwaaah! He¡¯s actually with a cute female Operator!? I won¡¯t lose godf*ckingdammit!!!] [Hey now, you can¡¯t just judge if she¡¯s cute from her voice man.] [No brah. Her voice is cute. Therefore, there¡¯s no mistake that she¡¯s a cute girl. Girls with cute voices definitely have cute faces too. It¡¯s a universal truth.]

    The heck. Wouldn¡¯t these guys be fine even if I didn¡¯t butt in to help? They sounded pretty chill, considering the situation.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Y- yes!¡±

    I proceeded to deplete the enemy ship¡¯s shields with the pulseser cannons equipped on Krishna¡¯s maniptor arms and finished them off with live rounds. The remaining pirates, who¡¯ve lost the support of the three medium-sized ships, had their morale brought to rock-bottom and messed up their coordination. Their actions were a mess. It was an all you can eat pirate buffet.

    [Hiiih!? This thing¡¯s a four-armed monster!] [Dammit! Stop that freak! Hold it down!] [Damn you! We¡¯ll just be torn to pieces by canister rounds if we go head-to-head with it! You do it, fucking smartass!] [Run away! Run away! There¡¯s no f*cking way we¡¯ll defeat that thing!] [What the-?! Hey! Don¡¯t run dammit! You¡¯ll just be gunned down by the military battleships idiot!]

    The pirate ship which tried to run away was pierced by a thick pir of light and exploded. It was support bombardment from the system military fleet. The ¡°cage¡± was finallypleted and sealed shut.

    ¡°There¡¯s no escape. You¡¯ll all die here.¡±

    [You die, you fucking four-armed bastaaard!]

    All the remaining pirate ships turned towards Krishna and started attacking. It looks like they wanted to concentrate fire on my ship in order to bring me down. I evaded the projectiles which drew bright arcs in space with my ship¡¯s superb maneuverability and shook off the attacking pirate ships.

    *Vueeen!

    After detecting hostile enemy fire, the ship AI issued a warning and disyed the ship¡¯s overall condition through a hologram projection. The total shield depletion rate was disyed in real-time. It seems I didn¡¯t manage toe out of thatpletely unscathed and the ship took a direct hit.

    Mimi let out a distressed scream after seeing the projection, but I kept my cool.

    We did take a direct hit. But only the first three shieldyers were brought down. There are still twoyers left. The shield cells would alsopletely replenish them in time, even if enemy fire does manage to bring thest twoyers down. And even if they do manage to bring them all down, we¡¯re still protected byyers of tough, military-grade armor. It¡¯s definitely not cause for panic.

    I¡¯m currently unable to attack because I¡¯m concentrating on evading enemy fire, but as a result, all the pirate¡¯s attentions are focused on me. Any half-decent merc would definitely capitalize on this opportunity.

    [Hyahaaa! It¡¯s an all-you-can-eat ya bastards!] [Hmph! They¡¯vepletely ignored us. Looks like we¡¯re being severely underestimated here.] [Typhoon! Fox 2! Fox 2!] [Hurricane! Fox 2! Fox 2!]

    The mercenary ships, which have been driven on the defensive earlier, got their bearings together and started to shoot down the enemy pirate ships one after another. I also didn¡¯t fancy always being a moving target, so I aimed for an opening and started fighting back by firing off myser cannons; sessfully bringing down pirate ships myself.

    Therge-caliber live projectile cannons were powerful but had limited, not to mention expensive, ammo. So I can¡¯t exactly fire em without a care. The pulseser cannons however are quite cost-effective. So if I wanted to make a tidy profit, these babies are a must.

    And after less than five minutes, the situation waspletely reversed, and we managed to clean up all pirate ships in the immediate area.

    [Area cleared. It¡¯s our win.] [Man, I actually thought we were goners for a bit earlier. But we managed to turn things around when Four-arms came.] [Nice going, Four-arms!]

    Apparently, they pped me with the nickname ¡°Four-arms¡±. It kinda sounds weird though¡­ Well, maybe it depends on personal taste.

    ¡°I¡¯m heading out to another part of the battlefield. Good luck guys.¡±

    [Yeah, you too. And the Operator girl as well.]

    ¡°U- Um, thank you very much.¡±

    [Dammit! She really has a cute voice! She¡¯s definitely a cute girl, guys! I¡¯m sure of it!] [You¡¯re always like that man. That¡¯s why you¡¯re still a damn virgin.] [I- I¡¯m no virgin brah!]

    Man. Looks like these kinds of skits are also prevalent even in another world. Hm¡­ How mysterious.

    I turned up the throttle and proceeded to head out to a new portion of the battlefield. But in the middle of doing so, a particr unit zoomed past my field of vision.

    ¡°A white ship¡­ Elma, huh?¡±

    ¡°Is Elma-san fighting here?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. We¡¯re going after her.¡±

    I then witnessed an intense light beam firing out from the pirate ship Elma was chasing. Oh boy. That¡¯s not good. Elma was up against a medium-sized pirate battleship and her escort units. And it was equipped with an irradiation-typeser cannon nicknamed ¡°Gerobi¡± by Ste Online yers.

    The pulseser cannons equipped on my Krishna were designed to fire offser projectiles in consecutive short bursts. The ¡°Gerobi¡± cannon, however, was an irradiation-type which would continue to fire off an intense high-heatser st until it eventually stops due to overheating. The nickname ¡°Gerobi¡± had a lot of different interpretations, but the most basic one was gero(vomit) + beam = ¡°Gerobi¡±. In other words, it was a cannon which vomits out high outputser beams. But all of that stuff doesn¡¯t matter right now. If I don¡¯t hurry and help Elma, something absolutely awful would likely happen. I gunned the thrusters to try and make it in time.

    [Eh? Why?! The controls aren¡¯t working- Kyaaaaaaah!!!?]

    I gave up and took some distance instead. Unfortunately, I was toote.

    [Uwaah! What¡¯s with that white ship?! It¡¯s heading straight for us- Evade it!]

    Elma¡¯s ship started flying straight at an unreasonable speed. Once that happens, it¡¯s toote to do anything.

    ¡°H- Hiro-sama, is that fine?¡±

    ¡°Nope. It ain¡¯t. It¡¯spletely gone on a rampage.¡±

    [Nooooooo!? Wh- what¡¯s happening- Iyaaaaaaaah!!!]

    Judging from her reaction, it seems like she really didn¡¯t know about the Fe***ri¡¯s tendency to go out of control¡­¡­ So Elma wasn¡¯t a veteran who knew the inherent risks, but an idiot who got her ship just by looking at the specs.

    ¡°U- Um, shouldn¡¯t we help her?¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t do anything to help¡­ If we try to approach her carelessly at that kind of speed, chances are we¡¯ll just crash into her and go boom together.¡±

    ¡°B- But Elma-san¡­ Elma-san is¡­!¡±

    ¡°Uh, well¡­ That ship¡¯s cockpit is unexpectedly tough. We¡¯ll just have to recover her cockpit once she crashes and- ¡°

    Elma¡¯s ship sted through the pirate encirclement and headed towards apletely different direction. It really looked like a shooting star streaking past.

    At first, I thought she was heading in our direction. But it didn¡¯t seem to be the case¡­ Whoah, wait up! She¡¯s heading straight for the military fleet¡­!

    [Kyaaah! Get out of the waaay!] [Uwaah! It¡¯s gonna ram us! Shoot it do¡­ No, wait. That¡¯s a mercenary¡­! Nuwaaaah!]

    Elma¡¯s ship crashed against a military battleship andpletely stopped moving afterward. It looks like the cockpit block made it out okay, so if her luck was good, she would probably not get injured all that much. The problem was the battleship which she crashed into was also wrecked¡­ Just how much would it cost to repair that thing?

    ¡°Um, what should we do?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, there¡¯s nothing we can do. Let¡¯s just concentrate on our current task.¡±

    ¡°U- Understood.¡±

    Due to Elma¡¯s rampage, the previously tightly wound formation copsed. I went straight for a cluster of confused pirate ships and opened fire with my pulseser and live projectile cannons. Sure it was a bit cold of me, but I really can¡¯t do anything about it y¡¯know. I¡¯ll just concentrate on doing my job while praying for Elma¡¯s safety. Yep, let¡¯s do just that.

 Chapter 17 â€“ Operation Over

    <h4>Chapter 17 - Operation Over</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°What¡¯s the status of the operation?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Captain!! Apart from a little ident earlier, everything is proceeding as nned.¡±

    ¡°Ah, that huh¡­? Well, it¡¯s fine to not pin her with a crime, but be sure to charge her for the repair fees.¡±

    ¡°Aye, ma¡¯am!¡±

    ¡°How are the mercenaries faring, I wonder? Let¡¯s see¡­¡±

    Serena switched tabs on her info terminal and looked at the current umted rewards earned by each mercenary. Her eyes widened when she saw the data disyed on-screen.

    There was one particr individual who had already defeated four medium-sized piratebat ships. The number of small ships shot down was also quite impressive. It seems that this mercenary was still fighting, and the prize money earned was rapidly increasing.

    ¡°Was there such a skilled mercenary in our system?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Whoah! Judging from his performance, he seems to be a Gold rank¡­ no, tinum rank mercenary. But I¡¯ve never heard of his name before.¡±

    The Operator hasn¡¯t heard the mercenary¡¯s name, but it was a different case for Serena. It was a name she was quite familiar with.

    ¡°Disy his data on-screen.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    After checking his data, Serena confirmed his identity. He was a self-proimed mercenary who piloted an unidentified ship. It looks like he¡¯s formally registered as a mercenary now.

    ¡°¡­Bronze rank?¡±

    ¡°That isn¡¯t a result a Bronze rank can attain. He¡¯s just been registered as a Bronze rank mercenary recently - a week to be exact. He¡¯s just registered but has already disyed such an impressive performance¡­ Is he perhaps a former military pilot? He¡¯s undoubtedly an Ace-ss.¡±

    ¡°Most likely ma¡¯am¡­¡±

    She looked back on her impressions of the self-proimed merc. He seemed to be just a little older than her. He didn¡¯t seem to be a retired military pilot. He should be a little older in age for that assumption to stick.

    And he didn¡¯t have an air of someone from the military at all either. Instead of a soldier, he sort of¡­ felt more like an ordinary civilian. He didn¡¯t seem like a mercenary either.

    It certainly was unusual. Judging from the battle results, his ship should be a first-ss military-gradebat ship. However, no matter how high-performance one¡¯s ship is, one can¡¯t fully take advantage of its specs if one didn¡¯t have the appropriate skills. In addition, skillfully piloting such abat ship requires an impressive amount of concentration.

    It¡¯s quite difficult to maintain one¡¯s concentration in an environment where one is constantly exposed to danger. Some people may even resort to measures such as drugs or hypnotic suggestion.

    In other words, he seemed to be an ordinary civilian with no connection to the military, but he has the skills and abilities to pilot such a high-performance military-gradebat ship. It was highly abnormal.

    Just who is he¡­? Serena was getting more and more interested in him.

    ¡°His score is rapidly increasing¡­ At the rate he¡¯s going, he¡¯ll achieve triple digits pretty soon.¡±

    ¡°Will it really end with him achieving a triple digit score? Judging from his pace, it truly doesn¡¯t seem to be his limit¡± Serena thought.

    ¡°Keep monitoring the situation carefully. Record all the data you can get.¡±

    ¡°Aye, ma¡¯am!¡±

    After hearing her subordinate¡¯s response, Serena turned her gaze back to the battlefield map. It looks like the battle would be ending soon.

    The operation finally ended. The pirate forces have been totally wiped out, and now we were in the middle of searching for survivors from both sides, as well as securing loot and re-useable debris scattered across the former battlefield. That said, our ship isn¡¯t equipped with sensors suitable for searching out survivors, so I¡¯ll leave that up to the military and concentrate on securing some sweet loot.

    ¡°Um, Hiro-sama, isn¡¯t there a chance we¡¯ll get into a conflict with others for the spoils?¡±

    ¡°When ites to cargo thrown out into space, it¡¯s firste, first served after all. And the enemy ships a merc shoots down gets automatically tagged to them, so we don¡¯t really need to worry about something like that anyway.¡±

    It¡¯s just that we¡¯ve been moving all over the ce earlier, so my kills were scattered all over the battlefield as well. It was a bit of a pain, to be honest.

    But even so, I won¡¯t dare skip this part. There¡¯s no doubt the subjugation rewards from the military would be considerable. But the amount we¡¯d be making from selling off the salvaged parts and cargo from the destroyed ships would also be nothing to sneeze at.

    This is especially the case for base raids. In these situations, the pirates usually try to escape while bringing along as many supplies and rare metals they could afford to carry.

    ¡°That said, let¡¯s get to work!¡±

    ¡°You look like you¡¯re having fun, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Course it¡¯s fun. It¡¯s more fun than killing people with abat ship anyway. We might even find some unexpected treasures or something. Don¡¯t you think this is fun, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°B- But, I¡¯m worried about Elma¡¯san.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a really kind girl, Mimi¡­ Well, her ship did crash, but it¡¯s kinda fortunate that she rammed a military warship. I bet she¡¯s safe now.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yup. Military ships are equipped with state-of-the-art medical facilities after all. They also have really skilled doctors on-board. So don¡¯t worry.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ That¡¯s great.¡±

    Mimi made a relieved expression.

    Well, there really was no danger to her life, but I can¡¯t say the same for her finances. After all, in addition to the hefty repair costs for her ship, she¡¯ll also have to shoulder the expenses for the military warship she managed to wreck¡­ Just thinking about it is kinda scary.

    It may seem cold of me to ignore her plight, but I don¡¯t really have any obligation to help her out. She did help in my and Mimi¡¯s registration procedures, but I¡¯ve already paid her with arge amount of brewed liquor aspensation, so that sort of evens the score already.

    It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t feel any gratitude towards her. However, considering the huge amount of debt she¡¯s about to be pped with following that ident, gratitude¡¯s a bit of a weak reason for me to shoulder that with her.

    In the first ce, she¡¯s called herself a veteran mercenary. I bet she won¡¯t appreciate me butting in on her problems anyway. But, well, I¡¯d consider helping her out within allowable limits if she did ask for help though.

    ¡°Alrighty then, let¡¯s get ourselves some treasure! Watch me work and try to remember the procedures Mimi. It¡¯s not that difficult anyway.¡±

    ¡°Y- Yes!¡±

    I ordered the drones to collect the wreckages and scanned their contents. Mmhm. Supplies, liquor, and ammunition huh? Basic stuff. There are also some industrial use metals. These should sell for quite a bit. The rest are¡­ air purifier spare parts, water purifier filters, and other colony maintenance supplies. These should also sell well. These items are used for maintaining colonies and space stations, so they should fetch reasonable prices just about anywhere. However, the real treasures are the rare metals. I didn¡¯t manage to collect a lot of the stuff, but what I got would still sell for a considerable sum.

    ¡°There sure are a lot of stuff, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Yep, you¡¯re right. I¡¯m d we managed to secure some rare metals.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Huh? What¡¯s this?¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    There was an unusual item among the things the drones salvaged, so I began a detailed scan. A jewel? It was sealed tight inside a tough-looking container too. This is¡­ To think they had something like this¡­

    ¡°Oh boy¡­ It¡¯s that thing huh?¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°This thing¡¯s called a Singing Crystal¡­ It¡¯s quite a dangerous item.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? Should we really bring it with us then?¡±

    ¡°Y- Yeah. We¡¯ll take it.¡±

    My policy is not to miss any item which would amount to lots of dough. Anyway, this Singing Crystal is a special item that could call out a lot of space-dwelling monsters if you destroy it in outer space. It¡¯s a very dangerous item which would summon a swarm of dangerous monsters from out of nowhere.

    The monsters aren¡¯t all that tough, but they were pretty numerous. Thousands of them woulde at you all at once, so it¡¯s impossible to manage with just a single ship. In Ste Online, at least ten squads were needed in order to attempt a challenge. It¡¯s something which could generate raid bosses; or rather, a raid mission.

    Actually, there¡¯s a trick to using this thing¡­ Well, considering our current situation, it may be a good idea to keep this thing as a form of insurance. The situation with the neighbouring Federation kinda smells fishy after all.

    ¡°Yep, let¡¯s take this thing. Secretly, that is.¡±

    ¡°Secretly?¡±

    ¡°Uhuh. Secretly.¡±

    It¡¯s not exactly an illegal item, but it¡¯ll be messy if we were found holding on to it. The ship has apartment that can block out external scanning, so let¡¯s store it there.

    Eh? What am I nning to do with it, you ask? Hahaha, well I just thought something like this woulde handy, that¡¯s all. Besides, collecting all sorts of illegal stuff is kinda a mercenary thing, so it can¡¯t be helped y¡¯know. We salvaged items until the cargo hold was filled to bursting and returned with the other mercenary and military ships to Termaine Prime. Elma¡¯s white Fe***ri was also being towed back¡­ but can that thing still be repaired? It looked pretty busted up. More like, even if their size sses were worlds apart, it still managed to wreck a military warship to an amazing degree. Just how fast did this thing go anyway¡­? Even I¡¯m getting worried about Elma¡¯s safety.

    While I was thinking such things, the ship¡¯sms received a message. It seems to have been sent to all ships, including the mercenaries.

    [With this, we dere this operation over. Good work everyone. The pirate main base waspletely destroyed and most of their ships were shot down. This will make this Star System safe for a while at least.]

    Just for a while huh? Well, this star sector is rich in mineral resources and raw materials after all. It¡¯s pretty close to the border to boot. After a while, new pirate groups would eventually spring out again. It¡¯s not like they¡¯re cockroaches, but pirates are really troublesome because of this nature of theirs. No matter how many you eliminate, others would eventually take their ce.

    [The rewards will be deposited to each of your ounts once we¡¯ve finished tabting the results. It will be sent after at least two days.]

    Two days huh? In the game, the rewards were sent immediately after returning to base, but this is reality after all. Well, two days seem fast enough for a government organization like the military to consolidate the results and give out the rewards.

    It looks like the designated time frame was normal since none of the other mercs raised anyints. I don¡¯t really mind it taking a few days since I¡¯m not worried they¡¯ll do something shady with the reward money. It¡¯s the military after all. They¡¯ll surely keep their word so as to not lose face and trust. I don¡¯t have anyints either. It¡¯s not like we can¡¯t afford the dy anyway. We have enough finances tost us for quite some time.

    ¡°Alright, Mimi. Please send out a docking request.¡±

    ¡°Yes, right away!¡±

    Mimi worked on the Operator console and sent out a formal docking request to Termaine Prime¡¯s hangar bay. Permission was issued out a few momentster. It was her first time to handle a docking request procedure, but Mimi seems to be doing just fine.

    In order to avoid idents, I docked the ship carefully ording to the guide markers. The ship was finally fixed to the hangar bay with a *gashan sound, and the airlock gate was closed.

    Whew. I let out a sigh of relief. The sense of security you feel when you sessfully dock inside a hangar bay was the same in real life as it was in the game.

    ¡°What are you going to do after this, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Hm? Well, I was thinking of having a nice, long rest after we get paid with the reward money. I¡¯m quite tired actually; both mentally and physically.¡±

    I utched my seat belt, got up from the cockpit seat and stretched my limbs. I was feeling surprisingly exhausted. I got hit with a lot of Gs while I was performingbat maneuvers earlier, so it felt like I worked out a ton even if I was just sitting on the pilot seat the whole time.

    While I stood next to the main console, I operated it and ran the ship¡¯s self-diagnostic routines. It was a fairly rough battle, and I¡¯m sure there would be some areas in need of maintenance. I¡¯ll also have to restock ammo and fuel.

    ¡°Um, that¡¯s not what I meant. Um, I was asking where you n to go after this and your goal, Hiro-sama.¡±

    Oh. Those are quite the philosophical questions, my dear Mimi. Where do wee from, where are we going, what is our goal and what would we leave behind huh¡­? Uh, I guess not. I doubt she meant something thatplicated and heavy anyway.

    ¡°Well, first, I¡¯ll tell you about the reason for my journey - my ultimate goal so to speak.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°My goal¡­ is to live on a residential somewhere after purchasing a detached house with a garden on a prime location in the said!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ quite a grand goal, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Really? I wonder¡­¡±

    I want to eat whatever food I like as much as I want, sleep as much as I want and have fun as much as I like. Something like that, I guess. I didn¡¯t say it out loud because it seemed I¡¯d be looked down on if I ever voiced these kinds of goals out y¡¯see. They did seem kinda half-assed.

    ¡°It would be good if you could also think a goal for yourself Mimi. Just living for the sake of living seems pretty depressing after all.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right¡­ I honestly haven¡¯t thought of things like that all that much.¡±

    ¡°Anything¡¯s good. Things, like tasting all the gourmet foods in the gxy or seeing all the magnificent and mysterious sights space has to offer, are pretty fine goals too.¡±

    Hmm. A gourmet food tasting trip cum sightseeing tour huh? You know what? That actually sounds pretty good. Yosh! I¡¯ll save it as one of my sub-goals then.

    ¡°A gourmet food tasting trip across the gxy. It sure does sounds nice. Let¡¯s do it then.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sounds great. Guess I¡¯ll tag along with you too.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s do it. My goal is to taste gourmet food all throughout the gxy together with Hiro-sama!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    Mimi and I sped hands while getting all excited. At this moment, two gluttonous monsters intending to devour all gourmet food in the gxy were born!

    ¡°I don¡¯t really want to get fat, but I¡¯ll do my best!¡±

    ¡°I actually think you need to fill out a little more Mimi.¡±

    ¡°¡­Really?¡±

    Mimi touched her stomach to check her figure, but paused all of a sudden. She was slightly shaking. What? What happened?

    ¡°Um, uh, I think I sweated a lot, so I¡¯m going to take a shower, okay?¡±

    ¡°Uh, okay. Go right ahead.¡±

    Mimi walked out of the cockpit awkwardly; it was as if she was trying to cover her lower body. Just what happened to her?

    ¡°¡­Don¡¯t tell me she actually took a leak here?¡±

    Even if the ship wasn¡¯t particrly damaged, we did take a few direct hits. Although the shields held up, it might have been a bit too much of a shock for Mimi, who had just experienced her first livebat sortie. I scrunched my nose and tried to pick up a particr kind of scent inside the cockpit, but came up empty. Did it get absorbed by her pad or something?

    ¡°¡­Geez man! I sound like a damn pervert, so let¡¯s stop thinking about this stuff.¡±

    I decided not to let my thoughts stray away any further and headed to the kitchen. I suppose I¡¯ll also take a quick shower after taking in much-needed water and calories.

 Chapter 18 â€“ Shopping with Mimi Returns

    <h4>Chapter 18 - Shopping with Mimi Returns</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I and Mimi spent the next few days following the end of the pirate subjugation operation rxing and discussing our future ns. I also taught her how to perform equipment recement procedures. We were finally going to receive our reward from the military today, so I nned to bring Mimi along to the dealer who sells ship equipment and spare parts.

    ¡°Ehehe.¡±

    ¡°Well, someone sure looks happy.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, I¡¯m really looking forward to our future travels.¡±

    After making eating all sorts of gourmet food in the gxy as a future goal, Mimi immediately made preparations with unexpected zeal. She researched all kinds of trivia about gourmet food on her info terminal in her room as soon as we got back from the operation. She¡¯s actually found a deluxe auto-cooker model which promised to pump out all sorts of delicious gourmet dishes, and found a local dealer of said auto-cooker on Termaine Prime.

    She persuaded me to buy it yesterday, and we made a decision to upgrade Krishna¡¯s on-board equipment. Yep, the new equipment we¡¯re going to install this time is just the aforementioned deluxe auto-cooker. Of course, we also nned to upgrade the living facilities and equipment such as the bathrooms with full-featured washlets, water, and air purification modules and high-performance air conditioning devices. The costs are reasonable and cheaperpared to the price of a new reactor and energy shield emitters.

    We¡¯re going to the dealer today to test out the new equipment and see if it really fits our needs. I¡¯m wearing my usual mercenary get-up, but Mimi was in casual clothes which made her seem somewhat more mature.

    ¡°Yep, you look really cute today. Or should I say pretty?¡±

    ¡°I- I s that so?¡±

    ¡°Uhuh. You look great. You look like the perfect example of a beautifuldy.¡±

    ¡°Eeeeh¡­¡±

    Mimi, who just got praised by me, fidgets while holding her blushing cheeks. How cute. If this keeps up, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯d be tempted to disregard today¡¯s schedule and dote on Mimi all day, so I decided to immediately disembark from the ship and head out to the equipment dealer.

    ¡°The shop seems close to the Mercenary Guild building.¡±

    ¡°Yes. There are a number of government offices, major ship-maker outlets and equipment dealers in that area, so public security seems to be quite good.¡±

    ¡°I see. It seems you really do have talent for being a ship operator, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Really?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. At this rate, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll soon get the hang of information gathering and navigation as well.¡±

    ¡°U- Um, I hope so too.¡±

    Mimi shes me a cute smile while holding her personal tablet terminal. By the way, my policy when ites to tutoring is mostly a hands-off approach. If you meddle too much while teaching, it would be counter-productive. I don¡¯t think building a sort of rtionship where one unterally pushes one¡¯s standards on another is ideal. You can¡¯t develop trust between people with that sort of approach. It¡¯s impossible for me at least.

    I and Mimi are partners who entrust each other with our lives. We may have started out on unequal grounds in our rtionship as a captain and his crewmember or a guy who paid off a massive amount of debt and a girl who owes said guy her life and newfound freedom. But whenever we go to a battlefield, we¡¯d be partners in the truest sense of the word. At least, Mimi and I are trying to build that sort of rapport between us.

    In order to build a rtionship of absolute trust, I have to respond to her as seriously, honestly and caringly as possible. But y¡¯know, maybe I just can¡¯t bring myself to be strict with her because she¡¯spletely won me over. It can¡¯t be helped, guys. Mimi¡¯s just so utterly cute! There¡¯s always a risk that over indulging myself with Mimi¡¯s cuteness might dull my edge, but I honestly try not to think of it that much.

    We got on an elevator which leads out of the hangar bay and managed to get a nice view of the scenery out in space. The elevator shaft was made of metal frames that supported transparent panels, so one can peer through it and see the scenery outside.

    ¡°I¡¯ll really never get tired of seeing this view.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you already used to this sort of scenery, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Nah, not really. I¡¯ve actually just started seeing this sort of stuff in person quite recently.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­ Where did you stay beforeing to this colony then, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Beforeing to the colony huh¡­?¡±

    I was indulging in my memories of my former world but remembered my cover story about losing my memory. That was close, man. I was seriously about to answer her honestly for a sec.

    ¡°Well, truth is, I don¡¯t really remember much. I seem to have been blown over to this star system due to an ident or something during hyperdrive. But my memory¡¯s kinda vague when ites to the kind of life I was leading before or where I actuallye from.¡±

    ¡°Eh!? Truly? Isn¡¯t that difficult for you?¡±

    ¡°Is it? I don¡¯t really care much because I¡¯m getting by just fine anyway.¡±

    And I actually don¡¯t have any amnesia but am just forced by the circumstances to lie about it.

    ¡°I actually n to go to a space station specialized in healthcare one of these days so I can get a detailed check-up.¡±

    ¡°That would be for the best. When we get back, I¡¯ll search up the nearest station with the best medical facilities for you.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    It seems Mimi was really concerned about my health. How kind of her. I also have to be mindful of it myself because Mimi would lose her backing if I do kick the bucket.

    Iforted Mimi who was worrying about my wellbeing as we continued to head towards the equipment dealer¡¯s shop. She implored me to have my vitals checked daily, which honestly seemed kind of a hassle, but if it would allow Mimi to feel secure, I won¡¯t fuss about it. It doesn¡¯t take much time to have my vitals checked through the ship¡¯s med pod anyway.

    Mimi was finally somewhat relieved when I agreed to have my vitals examined daily. But she still seemed to be a bit worried and hugged my arm tightly¡­ Whoah, this soft sensation is amazing. To think having someone worry about you would feel this great!

    The dealer was really located in the ce Mimi researched in advance, and the two of us, who made an early appointment, were guided through the store with impable service.

    ¡°This is ourtest high-performance auto-cooker model, the Tetsujin V produced by Mushashino Tech Ltd. The Tetsujin series continues to maintain the top share in the industry as the longest selling high-performance auto-cooker. This model is thetest one, only released two months ago.¡±

    ¡°Two months ago huh. How long has this brand been in the market?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been out for about eight years or so. The Tetsujin line has continued to improve in quality with each subsequent release owing to the meticulous response regarding the feedback thepany has received on various instances of idents and breakdowns due to being subjected to different harsh environments. As a result, the brand¡¯s reliability continues to rise with each subsequent model. In fact, the overall failure rate of the previous model, Tetsujin IV, was an astonishing 0.004% all throughout its run, and was able to provide delicious meals in any environment one might find oneself in. And of course, Tetsujin V has inherited this outstanding quality and even improved upon it.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s its power consumption and projected maintenance costs?¡±

    ¡°The overall power consumption is a little on the high side, but maintenance costs are minimized due to it having an auto-maintenance function utilizing nanomachine technology. It¡¯s virtually maintenance-free. The filters and internal mechanisms are all cleaned when it¡¯s switched to standby mode. It¡¯s all done automatically.¡±

    ¡°I see. That¡¯s a nice feature huh.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. It won¡¯t do no matter how high its performance if maintenance is a hassle. Are you okay with its power consumption rate though, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t be a problem. Our ship¡¯s power reactor has plenty of power to spare.¡±

    The reactor installed on Krishna is the highest-grade military model. It¡¯s got plenty of juice under the hood.

    ¡°Now let¡¯s move on to an actual demonstration. Let¡¯s start with a standard hamburger recipe from amon food cartridge avable on the market.¡±

    As he said, the store clerk activated Tetsujin V and started having it make burgers. Hamburgers are actually the mostmon food temte all auto-cookers are able to make. In the first ce, auto-cookers are 3D food printers that create meals by adding water and seasonings to the contents of food cartridges filled with dehydrated foodstuffs made from a certain type of special algae. No matter how unique its features, this thing¡¯s still making this stuff from said food cartridges, so the resulting product shouldn¡¯t be that tasty¡­ but¡­

    ¡°That¡¯s friggin delicious dammit! What the heck!?¡±

    ¡°It really is delicious¡­¡±

    Mimi and I couldn¡¯t help but react. Is this thing really using the same food cartridges as the ones on my ship? The taste is delicious enough to make you doubt otherwise. Compared to this masterpiece of a burger, all the ones I¡¯ve eaten before seem to be at the level of cold burgers you can buy in the street for a hundred Yen. There¡¯s noparison.

    ¡°Food texture and taste would vary greatly depending on the method of mixing ingredients, heating and adding seasonings. The patented AI installed in the Tetsujin series is capable of utilizing these factors to great effect, in order to recreate this sort of sublime vor.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ Mimi, we¡¯re buying this thing!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s expensive though.¡±

    ¡°The regr retail price is 48,000 Enel. But if you buy now, we¡¯ll give it to you for a special introductory offer of 45,000 Enel! That¡¯s a 3,000 Enel discount folks. And we¡¯ll also throw in various essories. All for the low, low price of 45,000 Enel! It alsoes with a free three-year warranty!¡±

    ¡°Wow! Alright then, we¡¯re definitely buying this.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much for your patronage.¡±

    We then proceeded with the rest of our business, and finally, everything from the auto-cooker to the air filters and other equipment rted to raising the living standards inside the ship were reced by luxury products from Musashino Tech Ltd.

    The total price reached 300,000 Enel, but afortable living environment would directly affect the overall wellbeing of the crew. Since that¡¯s the case, we decided not to skimp on the costs and bought the finest equipment the store had to offer. And besides, 300,000 Enel is cheaper than Mimi¡¯s debt plus her unrestricted moving rights pass. My wallet won¡¯t budge from just this amount of expense. Even after including the cost of Mimi¡¯s clothes, we still have about two million Enel saved up.

    Also, we¡¯re set to receive the pirate subjugation rewards today as well. The number of ships I managed to take down during the operation a few days ago amounts to 42 small craft and five medium ones. The military kill rewards alone would be 310,000 Enel. That¡¯s already enough to cover for today¡¯s purchases. The separate bounty rewards posted for the medium warships would me a total of 480,000 Enel as well. Plus, there are the goods we managed to plunder from the pirates too. Since there were some rare metals among the supplies, I imagine the profits would be quite substantial. I roughly estimate it to be about 800,000 Enel or so.

    In other words, I managed to earn roughly about 1,600,000 Enel through the pirate subjugation mission. Honestly, it¡¯s on a level that makes me smile involuntarily every time I think about it. I can¡¯t help myself fromughing as well. So, considering this, 300,000 Enel used for home improvement and clothes is truly cheap.

    We also had the beds reced. The bed in my room was changed to one big enough to amodate two people. I don¡¯t really need to spell out the reason right?

    Oh, and while we were purchasing the bed, Mimi¡¯s face flushed bright red and seemed to be ready to let out steam from her head. To be honest, I also felt kinda embarrassed, but seeing Mimi in such a state was worth all the trouble.

    Afterpleting all the orders for the ship¡¯s equipment, we decided to head to the Mercenary Guild in order to receive our rewards for therge-scale subjugation mission.

 Chapter 19 â€“ Claiming Rewards

    <h4>Chapter 19 - iming Rewards</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Oi, oi! So you brought your woman with you again pal. You¡¯re trying to get on my nerves aren¡¯t you bub? Huuuh!?¡±

    The moment we entered the mercenary guild, I was immediately pestered by the receptionist uncle.

    ¡°Time for a shift change.¡±

    ¡°Whaddya mean shift change- Guwaaah!?¡±

    The guild staff oneesan from before saw themotion and hit the receptionist uncle on the head with a thick looking file holder. Lengthwise. Ouch. The receptionist uncle immediately passed out and was tossed towards the back. The staff oneesan then sat on the now vacant seat.

    ¡°I¡¯ve just taken over his shift, sir. Are you here to im the mission rewards and the bounty money?¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah.¡±

    I silently promised myself never to go against this person. She even easily threw a beefy uncle aside with one hand. I don¡¯t think she¡¯s reced any part of her body with machines or anything. It¡¯s possible that she¡¯s had her strength enhanced directly through this world¡¯s advanced technology¡­ But, in any case, she¡¯s he scary man.

    The guild oneesan checked my records and the subjugation mission rewards and bounty money turned out just as I expected. All in all, the total reward is just a little over 790,000 Enel. It ain¡¯t an exact figure because the bounty rewards managed to me a little extra cash - 8,123 Enel to be exact.

    ¡°I¡¯d also like to request for my ship¡¯s maintenance check and ammo resupply.¡±

    ¡°Yes, certainly. I believe you¡¯d want canister shells for your shot cannons, chaff, res and the shield cell re-charging service, correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll leave them to the guild¡¯s capable hands.¡±

    ¡°Please rest assured and leave the rest to us.¡±

    The receptionist oneesan disyed her best business smile. Services such as ship maintenance and ammo replenishment are some of the main sources of ie for the guild.

    ¡°But you sure performed quite splendidly in this time¡¯s operation sir.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess. I would¡¯ve wanted to face some tougher characters though. Bet I¡¯d earn more if I did.¡±

    And, for the record, I¡¯m being serious here. Sure, there were a lot of small pirate craft. But they were worth pitifully little. Bet their bounties would have been worth more if they¡¯d had actual skills, but every pirate I fought were of the ¡°shoot-first-thinkter¡± variety - small fries, basically. I would¡¯ve earned better if there were more mid-sized warships among them.

    ¡°Well, this star system is actually one with rtively good public order you know. Things like the pirate subjugation mission directly headed by the military this time happen quite rarely here.¡±

    ¡°I see. So you¡¯re saying I should head to a morewless sector if I want to earn more from the bounty rewards right?¡±

    ¡°Huh? But isn¡¯t that really dangerous Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Well of course it is. Those sectors house some pretty nasty characters after all. But the bounty rewards would be much higher. If one has the skills, they¡¯d definitely be able to make quite a killing in those areas.¡±

    The receptionist oneesan answered Mimi¡¯s question.

    Yup. Those kinds of ces were really filled with danger. But with my skills and firepower, the pirates in this sector barely posed a threat anymore. Of course, my aim¡¯s not to travel in search of stronger foes to pit my skills against like a battle junkie, but I did want to earn more money if possible.

    ¡°But with Hiro-san¡¯s skills, I think you really would be able to earn better if you moved to a more dangerous sector.¡±

    ¡°And I¡¯m sure this sector¡¯s gonna be rtively peaceful for a while after that subjugation mission, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, yes, you¡¯re right. But the missions offered by the guild aren¡¯t limited to just hunting down pirates you know. You can also ept escort and cargo transport missions as well.¡±

    ¡°My ship isn¡¯t suited for transporting cargo. And escort missions are a bit of a pain, so no thanks.¡±

    ¡°To tell you honestly sir, the guild would really like it if you epted some of these missions.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d be better off assigning them to the guys who have proper mercenary fleets working under them.¡±

    Mercenary fleets areposed of several mercenary ships that opted to form into a close-knit group in order to aplish arger variety of missions. They were sort of akin to parties in that regard. It was kinda impossible to do an escort mission with just a single ship after all. There was the possibility of the ship you¡¯re escorting getting shot down while you¡¯re busy chasing around enemy pirate ships. And even if you stuck close to the ship you¡¯re escorting, there was still the danger of being unterally bombarded by enemy fire from long range.

    If there are multiple ships in an escort mission, they would at least be able to divide their roles in order to guard their clients more effectively. But this was impossible if you¡¯re all by your lonesome. So epting escort missions is impossible for us.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to form a fleet? I think it would be possible for you Hiro-san. You¡¯ve made quite an impressive showing after all. Some guys would definitely be interested.¡±

    ¡°Nah, I don¡¯t really have any intention of doing that for the time being. We¡¯ve already made some other ns after all.¡±

    I moved my gaze towards Mimi and she responded with a cute smile while blushing slightly. Yep, there¡¯s a lot on our te right now. We had ns to go to a medical space station. And there¡¯s also the matter of earning enough money in order to purchase a detached house with a beautiful garden.

    ¡°¡­I see.¡±

    The receptionist oneesan looked at the two of us with a meaningful smirk on her lips and nodded lightly. I think she might have misunderstood something here man.

    ¡°Hiro-san looks like he would be able to earn a lot and the two of you seem quite passionate with each other as well. Hiro-san does seem somewhat unreliable at times, but I find that trait of his rather endearing. Are you two going on a honeymoon trip after this? I hope you two enjoy yourselves.¡±

    ¡°Eeeh! Uh, um¡­ Thank you very much!¡±

    Mimi responded to the neesan¡¯s words with an exceedingly dazzling smile. Eh? You¡¯re not gonna deny it? Is it okay for our trip to be called a honeymoon? Eh? Eeh!?

    ¡°Well, uh¡­ We¡¯re really not going on a honeymoon y¡¯see¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not?¡±

    ¡°We aren¡¯t¡­?¡±

    The receptionist oneesan disyed a surprised expression and Mimi gazed at me with watery eyes.

    ¡°Well, uh¡­ Maybe we are¡­ It¡¯s something like that, I guess.¡±

    Mimi¡¯s sad expression turned lively once more. The receptionist oneesan looked at the two of us curiously.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to pry, but what exactly is the rtionship between the two of you?¡±

    ¡°Our rtionship? It¡¯s kindaplicated. A ship captain and his crew member? You could also call us a guardian and his charge.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ And Hiro-sama is my life¡¯s savior and also my¡­ master, I guess.¡±

    ¡°Hiro-san!?¡±

    Oneesan¡¯s gaze suddenly turned hostile. Oh crap! I have to exin things to her properly or I¡¯d be at the receiving end of her ridiculous brute strength! I¡¯ll have to choose my words carefully.

    ¡°She was about to be roughed up by some thugs in the 3rd Block, so I went and saved her from them, ma¡¯am. Since she turned out to have nowhere else to go, I ended up letting her stay with me instead.¡±

    I unknowingly gave my exnations in a respectful tone. I didn¡¯t want to get done in by this scary oneesan after all.

    ¡°I was banished into the 3rd Block because of a 300,000 Enel debt my papa and mama left me. Hiro-sama not only took me in but also settled the entire debt along with getting me an unrestricted traveling pass which totaled 500,000 Enel¡­ That¡¯s why I decided to offer my all to Hiro-sama.¡±

    Mimi followed up with an exnation of her own while disying a determined expression. After the receptionist oneesan heard her, she closed her eyes and nodded deeply.

    ¡°Well now, I guess you¡¯re safe mister.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    I just received a royal pardon! I went and made a small guts pose. I managed to avoid fatal danger¡­!

    ¡°A young girl who lost everything encounters a wandering mercenary and the two of them fell in love huh? It¡¯s just like a story from a romance novel.¡±

    ¡°Uh, it¡¯s not really something all that grand y¡¯know.¡±

    Well, I guess this all started when Mimi ended up giving her chastity to me. Luckily, Mimi doesn¡¯t seem to dislike me and was even proactively trying to get closer to me. If things didn¡¯t turn out like that, I probably wouldn¡¯t have the mind to pursue a rtionship with a younger girl.

    ¡°That¡¯s not true at all. Ever since I met Hiro-sama, my days have been filled with nothing but happiness. Hiro-sama is really nice, and you always spoil me too.¡±

    ¡°Oh? How exactly does he spoil you?¡±

    ¡°He just spent 300,000 Enel so we could buy the equipment I wanted to install on the ship.¡±

    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not like I didn¡¯t benefit from buying those stuff too y¡¯know. You don¡¯t have to mind it so much Mimi.¡±

    Seeing our interactions, the receptionist oneesan made a delighted smile as she ced one hand over her cheek.

    ¡°It¡¯s good that you two get along so well. Maybe I should just quit being a guild receptionist and tag along on Hiro-san¡¯s ship as a crew member?¡±

    ¡°Y- You can¡¯t!¡±

    After hearing the receptionist oneesan¡¯s deration, Mimi suddenly hugged my arm tightly. My arm was wrapped by two soft hills. It felt amazing!

    After seeing Mimi¡¯s actions, the receptionist uncle who was tossed towards the back red at us with eyes that seemed ready to spill tears of blood while biting a handkerchief in chagrin. Furthermore, most of the mercenaries inside the guild building gave me deadly stares.

    What? You guys jelly? Keep dreaming folks. I won¡¯t give Mimi to anyone else.

    ¡°That¡¯s unfortunate.¡±

    ¡°Uh, guess we¡¯ll be going then¡­ Oh, right! There¡¯s something else I want to ask.¡±

    I was just about to turn around and leave but stopped in my tracks after remembering about a certain matter.

    ¡°Um, do you happen to know what Elma¡¯s situation is? She was a big help when I and Mimi registered as mercenaries but she suffered an ident in the operation, so I¡¯m a bit worried about her.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ Elma-san huh?¡±

    The receptionist oneesan¡¯s expression turned grim as she made a troubled smile.

    ¡°Is she hurt bad or something¡­?¡±

    ¡°No, she¡¯s fine for the most part¡­ However, as for the penalties imposed by the military¡­¡±

    With that, I got a good idea about Elma¡¯s situation. It looks like she was pped with quite the heavy fines.

    ¡°¡­Can she bounce back?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit¡­ No, it¡¯ll be quite difficult for her.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    Mimi tilted her head in puzzlement after seeing my exchange with the guild oneesan. Well, guess I¡¯ll just exin what¡¯s going on to her¡­ But how will Mimi react?

    ¡°Y¡¯see Mimi, Elma¡¯s currently in quite a pinch because of the repair costs for both her ship and the military warship she crashed onto.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s terrible! Uh, but¡­¡±

    Mimi raised her voice in surprise at first, but her mood quickly deted like a balloon leaking air and shepsed into silence.

    ¡°Uh, well, this sure is difficult¡­¡±

    It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t have any intention of helping her, but she still hasn¡¯t asked for my help, so she might find me meddlesome if I suddenly butt in on her problems. I¡¯ve also just met her a few days prior and she and I were only casual acquaintances, but¡­ I guess it can¡¯t be helped huh. I have no idea just how bad she has it though.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Elma anyway?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s currently trying to find a way to at least pay off the penalties imposed by the military.¡±

    ¡°If she can¡¯t pay it, it¡¯ll be [this], right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it would seem so.¡±

    I made a gesture of cutting off my neck with my hand and the receptionist neesan nodded in the affirmative. Thought so. I don¡¯t exactly know if she¡¯ll get sent there, but this star system has an orbital prison station where criminals are sent to and forced to engage in harsh mining operations.

    ¡°Will she be sent to the orbital prison?¡±

    ¡°Yes. But the ratio of male to female criminals over there is quite lopsided in favor of the males. The female inmates seem to have it quite hard, to say the least¡­¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    I don¡¯t even want to imagine how a female inmate would be treated in a prison filled to the brim with male convicts. I want to do something to prevent Elma from going through that¡­ Yeah. Or rather, don¡¯t they separate the inmates by gender over there? This country¡¯s scary.

    ¡°Can I ask you to inform me if Elma finds herself unable to settle her problem?¡±

    ¡°¡­Are you fine with that?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Guess this is fate or something. I still don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll be able to help though.¡±

    There¡¯s a good chance I won¡¯t be able to help her much as well. The only thing required of me in order to help her was forking out a little bit of money anyway. She¡¯d just have to pay me with her body afterward. Wait, I didn¡¯t mean literally. I meant taking her in as a crew member. Elma would do nicely as Mimi¡¯s tutor.

    I¡¯ll just take a cut from her designated mission rewards in order for her to gradually pay back her debt.

    ¡°Speaking of which, what¡¯s the standard reward rate for crew members?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s often based on which roles they¡¯re assigned to while on-board.¡±

    ¡°What about Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Mimi-san? You¡¯re the owner of the ship, aren¡¯t you Hiro-san? You automatically get 100%.¡±

    ¡°Guess so huh.¡±

    ¡°We can evaluate it based on her skills then¡­ By the way, pardon me for asking, but are you and him really in that sort of rtionship Mimi-san?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Ah, um, yes.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll include that in the assessment then. So you¡¯re an apprentice crew member with close to zero skills who didn¡¯t contribute much in this time¡¯s operation and also your captain¡¯s lover. Your cut would be about 0.1 to 0.5% give or take.¡±

    ¡°0.5%¡­ Isn¡¯t that a little too low?¡±

    I tilted my head in thought after hearing Mimi¡¯s reward rate. The total amount of reward money this time is 790,000 Enel. If Mimi¡¯s remuneration rate is just 0.5%, she¡¯d just get 3950 Enel. If we convert that to Yen, the reward Mimi will get from this operation would just be 395,000 Yen. Ain¡¯t that a little too cheap a price for willingly heading into danger and giving up her chastity¡­? Well, I guess things would look a little better if we consider that I¡¯m shouldering her food, clothing and providing her with a ce to stay, but still¡­

    ¡°This is just how it is. If she improves her skills as a ship operator, her cut would increase. But right now, she¡¯s getting a cut solely based on her being your lover. Even so, it looks like you¡¯re earning quite a bit of money, aren¡¯t you Hiro-san? If I stay with you, I bet I¡¯d earn more than my current monthly sry.¡±

    Looks like she¡¯s really starting to consider bing my crew member. Please let me off Miss. I mean, sure you¡¯re absolutely gorgeous, but you can casually toss around a grown man with just one arm. You seem a bit dangerous ma¡¯am, so I¡¯ll have to pass.

    ¡°T- Three thou- I can¡¯t take this much money!?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s your proper remuneration, so don¡¯t worry and just ept it Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Eeeh¡­!¡±

    It seems Mimi sees that amount as a lot of money, but for me, it isn¡¯t even enough to cover for our bills. The costs for ship maintenance and supply replenishment easily dwarfs Mimi¡¯s current reward rate. In the first ce, considering how expensive it is to park a ship in the hangar bay and if we include the cost of food, you won¡¯t be able to stay inside this colony for twenty days without having at least 4,000 Enel. It really was just a paltry sum.

    ¡°We¡¯re not really wanting for cash right now Mimi. In fact, we have plenty. If you think you¡¯re getting too much, wouldn¡¯t it be fine if you just saved up the rest of the money?¡±

    ¡°R- Really?¡±

    Mimi doesn¡¯t seem to be convinced quite yet, but she did receive her rewards properly. I don¡¯t mind the fact that I¡¯m providing her food, clothing and shelter for free. Not only is she taking care of me properly every day, but she also always manages to put a smile on my face and brighten my mood. In fact, I don¡¯t think 0.5% is enough. 5% or even 10% would be fine. But it¡¯s not really my call, so let¡¯s follow the stipted rates for now. And judging from Mimi¡¯s earlier reaction, she won¡¯t take it very well if she suddenly receives an even bigger amount.

    Hmm. Should I open new savings ount for Mimi then? Let¡¯s consider it. After we finished receiving our rewards, I got a copy of the standard crew remuneration chart from the guild oneesan and left the guild building with Mimi. We had no more ns for today, so we just walked around some of the shops in the vicinity and then headed back to the ship.

    The new ship equipment will be installed by tomorrow. It will also undergo a full maintenance check and get a resupply. These would probably take a few days. Let¡¯s do our best!

 Chapter 20 â€“ Waking Up in Bliss

    <h4>Chapter 20 - Waking Up in Bliss</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I woke up while feeling a firm but soft sensation all throughout my body. The feel of a new bed is the best.

    ¡°Unn¡­ Mmm¡­¡±

    Mimi was sleeping quitefortably beside me. Yep, we also enjoyed each other¡¯spanyst night. Man, I¡¯m already fully captivated by Mimi. No doubt about it. She¡¯s just too cute and loveable y¡¯know. I don¡¯t think any normal man would be able to resist her charms.

    I carefully got off the bed and gathered the clothes and underwear which got taken offst night. I then tossed them inside the washing machine in theundry room. It¡¯s an excellent product that breaks down all dirt and stains without the need for detergent. It thoroughly cleans the fabric without damaging it and automatically dries it afterward. Moreover, the entire processsts for just five minutes. Afterward, you¡¯d get clean, good smelling clothes which seem brand new. The power of science is amazing!

    I entered the shower while fully naked, plopped myself inside the bathtub and turned the water on. Hot water with just the right temperature quickly filled the tub and washed over my body. Afterward, the water got drained and what followed was afortable full-body massage. Ah, paradise. This sure was an amazing bathtub that can turn hardworking people into a bunch ofzy-asses.

    After getting out of the bathtub, warm airced with fine particles permeated the bathroom and dried my whole body. I don¡¯t know exactly what these particles were, but they don¡¯t clog my throat and getting enveloped with them would reproduce the effect of drying me with a towel. It was a process filled with the mysteries of advanced tech and I have no idea how it works.

    I retrieved our newly washed and dried clothes from the washing machine and put on my pants. I then returned to my room. I found Mimi still sound asleep, so I stroked her hair and cheek to wake her up.

    ¡°Mm¡­ Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Morning, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Mmm¡­¡±

    She seemed to be still half-asleep, so I embraced her and buried my face on her bountiful chest. Mimi got surprised by my actions but humored me anyway, hugging my head and patting it while whispering ¡°There, there.¡± as she made a soft smile. After a while, she finally woke up fully and released my head from her hug. I also got off from her body.

    ¡°G¡ª Good morning.¡±

    ¡°Good morning Mimi.¡±

    I greeted her once more and gave her forehead a kiss, making Mimi blush.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tidy up the bed, so you go ahead and take a bath. I already washed your clothes. They¡¯re over there.¡±

    ¡°O¡ª Okay¡­¡±

    Mimi wrapped the sheets around her naked body, picked up her clothes and left the room while blushing bright red. After seeing off her retreating figure, I pushed a button on the bed.

    *Vrrr¡­

    The bed, which had ended up in quite a mess afterst night¡¯s intense lovemaking, started tidying itself up automatically after the button was pushed. This type of bed was made out of specially produced synthetic biomaterials which activated themselves with a push of a button. The bed automatically cleans itself up and takes care of any leftover residues discharged by the bed¡¯s upants. In other words, this is a type of artificially created ¡°living¡± bed.

    ¡°Mm. That should do it.¡±

    Additionally, the new air conditioning equipment automatically regtes temperature to an ideal degree so you won¡¯t feel any difort even if you walk around naked. We also had air purifiers which can filter out most harmful gases, walls which can turnpletely sound-proof with a touch of a button, a washlet capable of letting out a stream of warm water with one press (For some reason, this is the only thing that¡¯s rtively simr to the ones avable on Earth) among other cutting edge equipment and functions which drastically improved the livability of my personal ship, the Krishna.

    ording to the equipment dealer, they¡¯ve turned the living quarters into ¡°somethingparable to the VIP cabins of a first-ss luxury cruiser¡±. The Tetsujin V auto-cooker was working splendidly, and Mimi and I got to enjoy delicious meals made by chef Tetsujin every day. In fact, it was sofortable that it made me actually think that it was fine not to buy a house and just stay on the ship.

    No, no. That¡¯s no good. I want to drink soda after all. I want to guzzle down as much as I want. Thus, the ns for buying a detached house with a garden on a residential can¡¯t be abandoned.

    After renewing my determination, I ordered chef Tetsujin V to ¡°make a delicious breakfast¡±. Tetsujin V is able to read the current mental states of its clients and creates the optimum menu based on the data it gathers after selecting recipes from a wide variety of pre-set temtes. I have no idea just how it was monitoring my mental condition, but it hasn¡¯t missed a beat ever since we started using it. As expected of thetest model of high-ss auto-cooker.

    Right after I finished setting the table and preparing our drinks, Mimi got out of the shower and arrived at the dining room. She only wore ck spats and a in t-shirt.

    ¡°Are you going to work out after eating breakfast?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I need to improve my physical strength.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. I¡¯ll join you in training after finishing breakfast as well.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Let¡¯s do our best together, Hiro-sama!¡±

    Today¡¯s menu is grilled eel on rice and grated yam¡­ Huh? Whatever do you mean by this Mr. Tetsujin? Why did you prepare a meal meant to replenish energy for breakfast? Uh, well, we did get pretty tiredst night, so is this menu made topensate for that¡­? Just how the heck are you monitoring my condition toe up with this kind of menu Mr. Tetsujin?

    ¡°How are you feeling today Mimi?¡±

    ¡°I feel great. I make sure to get my vitals checked every day along with you Hiro-sama. In fact, I¡¯ve felt amazing ever since I started living in your ship. The meals are delicious and the exercise menu is really effective. I feel that I¡¯ve slimmed down quite a bit. I think I weighed heavier beforeing here after all¡­

    Mimi answered my question enthusiastically at first and turned red from embarrassment when she finished.

    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. But don¡¯t overdo it and ruin your health instead okay?¡±

    ¡°Okay. What are our ns for today Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Oh, well, after we finish working out and having our vitals checked, let¡¯s go to town to buy some more food cartridges. We¡¯ve almost run out of them. And I think it¡¯s a good idea to splurge a little to celebrate the instation of our new onboard equipment.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s go shoppingter then.¡±

    I felt relieved after seeing Mimi¡¯s energetic reply. After spending more than a week with me, she¡¯s already starting to get used to her new surroundings and life and she¡¯s started acting more naturally around me. In the beginning, she seemed a bit too anxious because of a need to feel assured that she won¡¯t be suddenly abandoned. It seems that she¡¯s finally started feeling more securetely. Hmm. Maybe part of the reason is our frequent nightly ¡°activities¡±?

    After finishing breakfast, we headed straight for the training room in order to perform some workouts devised by our AI training coaches. The content of my and Mimi¡¯s training menu is different, but both are aimed at strengthening the core. It seems that the aim is to train the core in order to withstand the impact of intense Gs when performingbat maneuvers.

    We also ran on treadmills in order to increase our endurance. The workouts were standard stuff, but were several times more effective because of the nanomachine capsules we take before each session. But to be honest, I don¡¯t feel the difference all that much.

    After working up a sweat, we entered the bath together in order to wash each other¡¯s body and flirt around. Due to such a reward, training doesn¡¯t feel as dull anymore. It¡¯s great, man.

    ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s go Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    Mimi squeezed both her delicate fists in front of her and disyed a guts pose like always. Mimi¡¯s wearing full mercenary gear today;plete with a smallser gun. I¡¯m also wearing full gear.

    It¡¯s because the ce we¡¯re going to is near the spot where Mimi got assaulted. I have no intention of letting Mimi encounter any sort of danger as long as I¡¯m around, but you can never be too careful. I instructed Mimi about how to handle aser gun before we went down to the 3rd Block as a precaution. The chance she¡¯ll need to use it is small but better safe than sorry.

    I taught her the safety release method and how to adjust the power settings. I then locked the safety once more and ced theser gun on Mimi¡¯s holster. After that, I reminded her not to hesitate if it came to the point where she needed to use the gun for self-defense. But of course, I¡¯m going to do my utmost not to let that sort of situation happen. After confirming our equipment, we boarded the elevator together and went down to the 3rd Block.

    ¡°Try not to look too nervous, alright? Those types only go for weak-looking prey to target after all.¡±

    ¡°U- Understood!¡±

    ¡°Well, you did go through that kind of experience, so it can¡¯t be helped if you¡¯re worried. But it¡¯s alright. I¡¯m with you now, okay?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes, you¡¯re right, Hiro-sama. Un, I¡¯m okay now.¡±

    Looks like she did feel better now since her expression cleared up. In order to make her feel more rxed, I hugged her from behind, making her eyes squint infort. How cute. But since we¡¯re inside an elevator monitored 24/7 by security cameras, excessive skinship isn¡¯t advisable. I¡¯ll just hold back until we returnter.

 Chapter 21 â€“ Bill Bundle Face Slap 2

    <h4>Chapter 21 - Bill Bundle Face p 2</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ Isn¡¯t that Elma-san?¡±

    Mimi and I ended up seeing a certain someone¡¯s sorry figure while we were walking on the way to the convenience store on the 3rd Block. She was leaning on the wall a little further from the convenience store¡¯s entrance and sat directly on the pavement while covered by a white hooded mantle. Normally, this get-up would be enough to make it difficult for others to recognize you. But the hood on the figure¡¯s head was distorted into a strange shape. That¡¯s definitely because of her pointy ears.

    When I took a closer look, I managed to spot a few empty liquor bottles behind her. Maybe she just couldn¡¯t handle her problems anymore and just resorted to drowning her sorrows by drinking alcohol.

    ¡°Hiro-sama¡­¡±

    ¡°Nmm¡­ We¡¯ll just ask about her circumstances for the time being, alright?¡±

    We approached the figure in white and stood to the side. The person in question was startled by our approach and trembled slightly. Somehow, I felt a hint of danger while looking at her figure.

    ¡°¡­Tsk!¡±

    Her actions were lightning-fast. The figure in white drew herser gun with blinding speed and aimed it towards me. However, my reaction was equally fast, and I was able to aim my own weapon at her at the same time. I saw eyes akin to a dead fish peeking out from under the dirty, white mantle. Oh boy. Looks like she really had it bad. She stared at me for a while with a lifeless gaze, slowly lowered herser gun and proceeded to disy a mirthless smile.

    ¡°Fufu. What? Did you guyse to make fun of me or something?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not it, idiot! You did take care of me a while back, so I just wanted to see how you were holding up¡­ And, well, Mimi insisted y¡¯see.¡±

    ¡°Elma-san¡­¡±

    Mimi sat down right next to Elma and held both of Elma¡¯s hands in hers. Elma smiled softly as she looked down on their ovepping hands.

    ¡°Looks like our positions have been flipped in just the span of half a month huh.¡±

    Mimi couldn¡¯t say anything after hearing Elma¡¯s words and silently went to take Elma in for a hug. Elma weakly hugged her back.

    ¡°So, how are you?¡±

    ¡°Thepensation and penalty fees filed by the Sector military¡­ I already sold my entire assets and bled my savings dry, but I still couldn¡¯t manage to get enough.¡±

    ¡°How much is left?¡±

    ¡°About 3,000,000 Enel more¡­¡±

    ¡°3,000,000¡­¡±

    I checked my assets on my personal terminal. I have about 3,500,000 Enel on me. I definitely had more than enough to bail her out.

    ¡°I can¡¯t earn money right now either since repairing my ship would take more than two weeks, and even the reward money I made during the mission was canceled out by the fines due to the ident I caused¡­ I did try to consult the Mercenary Guild about it though.¡±

    Elma powerlessly shook her head.

    Well, I guess that¡¯s about right. Repairing a totally damaged ship would take a lot of time, and if a merc can¡¯t use their ship, they can¡¯t make money. There would be no lendingpany that would offer a loan amount of 3,000,000 Enel to a wandering mercenary, and 3,000,000 Enel is a pretty exorbitant fine, to begin with. She could try going to banks, but are there any conventional banks in this world?

    But still, she¡¯d already sold all her assets and used up her entire five years-worth of savings, but she still ended up short 3,000,000. Just howrge were the penalty fees anyway? That¡¯s pretty damn scary man.

    ¡°What¡¯s the payment deadline? What¡¯ll happen if you can¡¯t pay?¡±

    ¡°Today¡­ In about two more hours¡­ If I can¡¯t pay, they¡¯ll send me to forcedbor in the orbital prison on Termaine III. There are a lot of former pirates imprisoned in there. Once they learn that I¡¯m a former merc¡­¡­¡±

    Elma began crying in despair.

    I was prepared for the possibility of dying while out in space when I first got my ship. But this¡­ This is just¡­!¡±

    ¡°Elma-san¡­! Hiro-sama!¡±

    Mimi looked up at me as she cradled the sobbing Elma within her arms. Her gaze was begging me to do something.

    I crossed my arms and began considering things. Yup¡­ Bailing her out would be simple enough. I¡¯ll just have to pay the fines, and she¡¯ll get off scot-free. But doing that would reduce my funds to just a little more than 500,000 Enel.

    Well, that¡¯s still a pretty big amount. But it isn¡¯t something that wouldst us indefinitely, considering the operating expenses of my ship. There¡¯s no problem if we just went for some minor repairs and resupplying, but if something went wrong which leads to our ship getting wrecked, the fees would be astronomical. But I guess it won¡¯t be much of a problem if I was able to make a lot more money quickly¡­ Should I hunt down the remnant pirate groups in the area for starters? Mimi kept looking at me with an uneasy expression. Man. I just can¡¯t refuse that gaze.

    ¡°Hey, Elma.¡±

    ¡°¡­What!?¡±

    ¡°Come aboard my ship and be one of my crew.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll pay that three million. So be my crew member in exchange. I¡¯ll have you teach Mimi the ins and outs of being a mercenary from scratch. And you¡¯ll have to act as her support inbat as well.¡±

    ¡°Wha- Wait, are you serious!?¡±

    I ignored Elma who was shocked silly at my proposal and took out my portable terminal in order to check the time. There¡¯s just a little bit more until the repayment deadline.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have much time. Go and make your decision already. It¡¯s either you be one of my crew, or get thrown into a prison filled with former pirate inmates to serve as their ything.¡±

    There¡¯s no middle ground. It¡¯s like I¡¯m forcing her, but Elma looks like she was a person who held a lot of pride, so I was being pushy on purpose.

    ¡°But, but why¡­?¡±

    ¡°If I don¡¯t help you out, Mimi would grieve. And furthermore, it¡¯ll leave a bad taste in my mouth if I left you alone to face such a cruel fate. And well, I kinda want you with me as well.¡±

    She really made a big mess this time around, but Elma was still a veteran merc with five years of experience. She would be great to have around me, who stillcks this world¡¯smon sense, and Mimi, who was born and raised inside a colony.

    Also, she had enough skills to handle an out-of-control ship and managed to survive a crash practically uninjured. She would be great as a sub-pilot in case of an emergency. I also n to have her lecture Mimi regarding ship piloting, but that¡¯s still a long way off.

    ¡°Whu- Y- You w- want me¡­!?¡±

    Elma¡¯s cheeks and ears turned bright red for some reason. Mimi also disyed a surprised expression. Wait, aren¡¯t their reactions a bit weird? I¡¯ll ask them about itter.

    ¡°So?¡±

    ¡°Eh!? Ah, um¡­ I- Is that right? So you were looking at me like that huh?¡±

    Elma started fidgeting bashfully. Looking at you like what, exactly?

    ¡°Um¡­ okay. I¡¯ll do it.¡±

    I made fun of her as a disappointing space elf, but her choice of stores was appropriate, her knowledge regarding all the rted procedures in the guild was spot on, and her advice was pretty useful as well. Her follow-up regarding Mimi, including giving her ¡°meds¡±, was also good. And it could be said that she wasn¡¯t entirely responsible for her ship going out-of-control as well.

    ¡°Oh, um¡­ but don¡¯t you have Mimi already?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like it¡¯ll be any different if we add one more person. Right, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°I- I see. So just one isn¡¯t enough huh¡­?¡±

    Elma made a swallowing gesture and looked at me with a passionate gaze. Huh? Isn¡¯t her reaction really a bit weird? Or is it just me?

    ¡°So what¡¯ll it be? Are you gonna board my ship or not?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll get on board.¡±

    ¡°I see. Then wee aboard. Do your job properly, okay?¡±

    ¡°I, I know! Please be gentle with me.¡±

    ¡°Hm? I¡¯ll probably be hard on you though.¡±

    What the heck is this girl talking about? That¡¯s a whopping 3,000,000 Enel y¡¯know. That¡¯s 300,000,000 Yen. Of course, I¡¯m gonna be strict with her.

    ¡°Oh, alright¡­ Understood. I¡¯ll prepare myself then. It¡¯ll be far better than doing it with pirate inmates at least.¡±

    This girl¡¯s saying something iprehensible again. Oh well. Let¡¯s just head to the military headquarters and pay her fines off.

    We started heading toward the military base with Elma in tow, whose expression was strangely filled with determination for some reason and paid her remaining fines amounting to 3,000,000 Enel. It took a bit of time, but now Elma¡¯s in the clear. She¡¯s going to be paying a 3,000,000 debt by working for me instead.

    ¡°Oh boy¡­ Thanks to you, my financial ount has be a lot lonelier all of a sudden.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m truly grateful for your help¡­ I¡¯ll pay you back little by little.¡±

    ¡°Haha. Well, if you don¡¯t do your job well, you won¡¯t be able to get anypensation, okay. I¡¯m expecting a great performance.¡±

    ¡°U, um¡­ Okay. I¡¯ll do my best to satisfy you.¡±

    There¡¯s that weird reaction again? Are we having a huge misunderstanding here?

    ¡°We were originally nning to buy some supplies anyway, so you might as well just tag along. We¡¯ll have to buy some daily necessities for you anyway, right?¡±

    ¡°Just a bit then. I have some things still left on my ship anyway.¡±

    ¡°I see. Then let¡¯s get to buying those supplies and hurry back to the ship.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Hiro-sama!¡±

    There¡¯s Mimi on my right and Elma on my left. From someone else¡¯s point of view, it¡¯s a ¡°flower in both arms¡± kind of situation. Elma was a gorgeous space elf after all. But some parts of her were a bit disappointing.

    But well, having two gorgeousdies on-board was sure to spice up our journey, so weing another member did have its perks. And the new girl is both beautiful and skilled to boot. I won¡¯ty a hand on her though. I feel like my hand will be twisted straight off if I did.

    Anyway, our remaining funds were 500,000 Enel. It definitely won¡¯tst us if we encountered an emergency. I¡¯ve alreadyzed around for close to a week, so I guess it¡¯s time I went out and made some money.

    ¡°Oh, by the way, what happened to the mercenary who cause that ident?¡±

    ¡°That female merc right? Well¡­ She seems to have sold her ship and fully paid thepensation fees.¡±

    ¡°She sold her ship¡­? And she made a full payment, you say?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that seems to be the case. Today happens to be the deadline.¡±

    ¡°Deadline¡­? I ordered that she should not be penalized, didn¡¯t I?¡±

    Failure to pay the penalties fined by the military can be considered a severe crime already. That¡¯s all the more true in this empire. Even if it¡¯s stipted in imperialws, forcing a person to pay those astronomical penalties in just one week was just too much. In this star system, where the military¡¯s influence is prevalent, it was more likely that any incident of this sort would be unterally med on the mercenary instead. But if you think about it usingmon sense, anyone would judge that the repairs of that damaged military cruiser wouldst more than a week.

    ¡°Yes, well¡­ It seems that Captain Baritone of the central department was the one who calcted and imposed the penalties as well as set the deadline.¡±

    ¡°That damned pig¡­! Should I just tear him apart and feed him to the rest of his species?¡±

    That damn pig didn¡¯t think well of mercenaries, as well as me who managed to make good use of them. So this was probably his attempt at harassment.

    There have been talks among the mercenaries that if one of them was found out to have made even a little mistake during the earlier operation (although the incident caused by that female mercenary was anything but little), they¡¯d be sent straight to prison, so I was a bit troubled by the situation.

    ¡°Serena-sama?¡±

    ¡°Oh, sorry¡­ But this is concerning. Please investigate it for me. If possible, make it so that pig gets taken down a peg or two.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    But anyway, I can¡¯t imagine just selling her ship would have let her pay off all of the fines. The mercenary upation seems to make a lot of money. Should I just quit being a soldier and be one then¡­?

 Chapter 22 â€“ Elma

    <h4>Chapter 22 - Elma</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After doing quite a bit of shopping, we finally decided to go back to the ship to have an early dinner. It seems Elma hasn¡¯t eaten properly for thest few days.

    ¡°Strange.¡±

    ¡°What? Doesn¡¯t tonight¡¯s dinner suit your taste? This is a special dinner made from high-quality food cartridges and artificial meat, y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not it~! Why is this ce so¡­¡­!?¡±

    Elma suddenly stood up from her seat, making it rattle.

    ¡°Why is a mercenary ship like this one so freaking luxurious!?¡± Elma eximed as she pointed her finger at the newly refurbished, sparkling clean dining room. Uh, even if you ask that¡­

    ¡°Y¡¯see, I think afortable living environment is very important. Delicious meals, clean rooms, clean andfortable beds, and other such things have a positive impact, both physically and mentally, on the people who spend their time living in such a space.¡±

    ¡°I understand the logic¡­ I understand, but¡­! This just looks like the inside of an ultra-luxurious passenger space cruiser!¡±

    ¡°It was money well spent. That was a truly satisfying shopping experience. You did great for looking up such a nice ce, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Ee~eh!¡±

    ¡°Nn¡­!¡±

    Elma bit her lip in frustration, which got distorted into a strange shape, due to failing to get her meaning across.

    ¡°Elma.¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    ¡°Other people have their own circumstances. This is ours. Get used to it.¡±

    ¡°Kuh¡­ I understand.¡±

    Elma was still reeling from having her image of mercenariespletely upended and kept muttering from time to time, but she at least began to eat. I also went ahead and brought chef Tetsujin¡¯s specially made dinner to my mouth.

    Meals using ordinary food cartridges were plenty tasty already, but these high-quality ones were a ss of their own. The artificial meat steak was also a lot tastier than usual. It¡¯s the same meat like the ones we cooked using the previous auto-cooker before it was reced. But why is the taste of this particr steak so different? All hail the power of Chef Tetsujin!

    ¡°It¡¯s delicious, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­It¡¯s delicious to the point that made me think all other food I¡¯ve eaten before utterly pales inparison.¡±

    ¡°I really get you.¡±

    ¡°I understand that feeling too.¡±

    Mimi and I deeply agreed with Elma¡¯sment and nodded approvingly. Chef Tetsujin is just that impressive. It¡¯s scary how effortlessly he¡¯s conquering our collective ptes. For example, the taste of the artificial meat is enhanced by two or three levels; the exquisite meaty vor cooked with just the right heat and timing, and the fragrant aroma of spices was all spot-on. It was a dish overflowing with such fine craftsmanship. This was the quality of the meals Chef Tetsujin cooks. We spent the rest of the time making small talk and proceeded to take turns having a bath after our meal.

    ¡°Please teach Elma how to use the bathroom facilities. Or rather, wouldn¡¯t it be fine if you guys just entered together?¡±

    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right. Shall we then?¡±

    ¡°How to use the facilities¡­? Well, I guess I don¡¯t mind.¡±

    Elma tilted her head curiously but ended up agreeing, so I left her to Mimi, and entered the bath first. Ah, this full-body automated massage is darn amazing! It did seem to use up a lot of hot water, but because the bathroom makes use of an advanced water purification technology, the actual water consumption was practically nill. There¡¯s also the added benefit of not having to worry about running out of water, even on long voyages. After I finished bathing, I went out and headed back to the dining room just wearing a in t-shirt and half-pants. I found Elma and Mimi whispering among themselves.

    ¡°Yo, I¡¯m done, you guys.¡±

    ¡°Piiiii~!¡±

    ¡°Whoah!¡±

    Elma, who was busy having some sort of hush-hush girl-talk with Mimi, got startled and cried out with a weird voice, which ended up surprising me as well. Just what is with her all of a sudden? Is she trying to imitate a sparrow¡¯s cry or something?

    ¡°W- Well now, you finished quite quickly, didn¡¯t you!?¡±

    ¡°Not really. It¡¯s how long I usually take¡­ Hey, you okay? Your face is pale.¡±

    ¡°I- I- I¡¯m quite f- fine, thank you! I¡¯mpletely okay!¡±

    ¡°A- alright¡­¡±

    I turned towards Mimi with a questioning gaze but just got an ambiguous-looking smile in return. What? What¡¯s going on? There was a growing sense of uneasiness building up inside me. I think there was a big misunderstanding going on around here. I somehow strongly felt that way.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, I¡¯ll go ahead and enter the bath with Elma-san, okay?¡±

    ¡°Go right ahead.¡±

    I let both of them go while still feeling that weird sense of unease. Hm? Elma seems strangely jittery for some reason¡­? And Mimi seems kind of lonely¡­? I don¡¯t get it.

    Well, I won¡¯t get anywhere mulling about things I don¡¯t get anyway. It¡¯s a waste of brain cells. I¡¯m not particrly trying to toss it to the backburner y¡¯know. This is what¡¯s called the efficient use of thinking power. And so, I stopped thinking about Elma¡¯s unusual behavior and decided on considering my future ns in my room.

    Today¡¯s event nearly drained my wallet, so I¡¯ll have to earn some more money as soon as possible. To prepare for the possibility of our ship getting severely damaged, I need to make at least 10 million Enel.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    I ended up looking at the mercenary request notices on my terminal. It isn¡¯t like there wasn¡¯t any job worth good money, but almost all of them are cargo transport requests. They mainly entail transporting goods produced from Termaine Prime to other star systems through a series of rtively dangerous space routes and sectors. Depending on the amount and value of the goods, you¡¯ll get one to three million Enel inpensation. If you can transport goods efficiently, you¡¯d make quite the killing.

    But unfortunately, Krishna¡¯s cargo bay isn¡¯trge enough to hold a lot of items. Carrying a small number of goods to different star systems would make one enough to cover for the fuel and maintenance costs. But with Krishna¡¯s limited loading capacity, making cargo transport our main source of ie would be quite inefficient.

    ¡°Guess it¡¯s bounty hunting after all.¡±

    The main base of therge-scale pirate fleet operating in this system was sessfully destroyed some days ago, but pirates, by nature, are not monolithic. There are those small-scale outlier groups not affiliated withrge fleets that try not to be too conspicuous in their activities. They only go active whenever arge-scale pirate subjugation ends. This is because the overall alert level of the star system military would inevitably turnx after a sessful subjugation operation ends.

    ¡°Let¡¯s aim for the asteroid belt area then.¡±

    The resource-rich asteroid belt area is frequented by both private mining ships and pirates aiming for said ships. I¡¯m gonna earn some bounty money tomorrow by hunting down those pirates.

    Once I decided on my course of action, I proceeded to search for an ideal hunting point. I¡¯m sure the pirates wouldn¡¯t dare to operate in the areas close to the territories of the Vereverem Federation. The situation would be simr in the sectors near the Termaine Prime colony, where the military¡¯s main base is located.

    The military was currently busy sorting out and recovering the usable debris and damaged, inactive ships in the vicinity of the former pirate base, so the security was pretty tight, with practically no gaps which can be exploited to worm in on the area.

    ¡°So my only options are this area, that area and this one too¡­¡±

    I selected spots where the pirates are more likely to appear. Next, I needed to pinpoint the areas frequented by private mining vessels. Even if the area was a favorite pirate hang-out, there would be no point if there weren¡¯t any mining vessels to prey upon. If there was no prey avable, even pirates would get fed up.

    However, honestly speaking, the exact coordinates of ces ssified as popr mining points or ¡°resource-rich areas¡± are tightly guarded by the private mining firms. That¡¯s only natural though. Those are their main sources of profit after all.

    ¡°Hmm, this is kinda more troublesome than I expected.¡±

    I opened the Termaine System star map in order to glean more info, but it wasn¡¯t that easy to locate possible mining spots. It can¡¯t be helped then. I¡¯ll just have to try again tomorrow.

    The moment I decided to end my research, the door to my room suddenly opened.

    ¡°Huh? What¡¯s up? Or rather, couldn¡¯t you have knocked first beforeing in¡­¡­¡±

    The one who opened the door and entered my room was Elma. She was wearing strangely rough, thin-looking clothes. More importantly, I don¡¯t think she¡¯s even wearing underwear! After noticing my heated gaze, Elma¡¯s face turned red from embarrassment and crossed her arms over her modest-looking chest, seemingly trying to hide them.

    ¡°I- I¡¯vee¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Uh, I didn¡¯t particrly call for you, y¡¯know. I inclined my head in puzzlement, making Elma¡¯s face even redder as she red daggers at me. Naw, naw, I don¡¯t get this at all man. Why¡¯d she suddenly enter my room without any warning and started ring angrily at me?

    ¡°It¡¯s because of ¡®that¡¯¡­¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­?¡±

    Elma sighed and passed me, who was sitting in front of my desk, and proceeded to sit on my bed. It was a bedrge enough to amodate Mimi and me when we go to sleep. Err¡­ her wearing that type of thin clothing and sitting on my bed¡­ I think it¡¯s not good to lead me on with those kinds of suggestive actions y¡¯know.

    ¡°¡­Love me.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I said, make love to me, you dolt!¡±

    ¡°But why!?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but let out a sharp retort to Elma¡¯s impassioned deration as she sat on my bed.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you want me? Didn¡¯t you pay that 3 million Enel because of me? In other words, it¡¯s like that, you idiot!¡±

    ¡°Eeee~h!¡±

    I thought back to the things I said, Elma¡¯s reactions and Mimi¡¯s sad expression. I see. So that¡¯s how it is. I did say that I wanted Elma. I went and said it. But what I meant was for her to act as Mimi¡¯s tutor and support me, right? Ah, maybe she misunderstood what I meant by ¡®support¡¯?

    I see, if that¡¯s the case, then I kinda get why Elma had such thoughts. And even if it was just a misunderstanding on her part, Elma still went ahead and epted this situation. Hm. I once again gazed at the trembling figure of Elma sitting on top of my bed. She had a really well-featured visage and thin, pretty silver hair. The soft bulges pushing up on her thin one-piece were on the smaller side, but it¡¯s not like there was none to appreciate. Her body was wonderfully slender and her skin was white and smooth-looking. She was definitely a real beauty. It seems that her misunderstanding led to a directionpletely different from what I originally intended, but it¡¯s not like me to refuse such an enticing offer.

    And I think it¡¯ll be rude to the other party instead if I went and held back even though she¡¯s already gone to such lengths and permitted such a development.

    ¡°I understand. I¡¯ll try my best not to make you regret this.¡±

    ¡°--! B- Be gentle, okay¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best,¡± I dered as I gently patted the head of Elma, who currently had an expression akin to a frightened child, and pushed her lithe body down on the bed.

    ¡°You beast.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Brute. Sex fiend.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m safe since I had your consent.¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­¡±

    Elma clenched her dainty fists and started hitting my chest with them. Hahaha, this girl¡­

    ¡°That wasn¡¯t the proper way of making love¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true. I was really happy y¡¯know. It was the best.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t some saint anyway. I¡¯ll go all the way if I can.

    ¡°You beast¡­¡±

    ¡°Just think of it as the little rabbit that willingly fell into a trap and got eaten by the big, bad wolf¡­ Ow, ow¡­! That seriously hurts y¡¯know. Don¡¯t pinch it so much.¡±

    Elma, who puffed up her cheeks in a cute pout, pinched the sensitive spots on my naked chest. That really hurts y¡¯know.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s only proper to lead you through all the ins and outs, right?¡±

    ¡°I think a sincere person would properly say it first before proceeding to do those kinds of things.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really think it¡¯s proper for a person to say those things openly and embarrass their partner though.¡±

    ¡°You just have an excuse for everything, don¡¯t you? What a bad mouth.¡±

    Right after saying that, Elma proceeded to seal my lips with her own.

    ¡°Ow- Mmph.¡±

    ¡°Mmm.¡±

    Seriously, stop biting my lips when you kiss me, girl. It kinda hurts, okay.

    ¡°Well we already did it, so there¡¯s no useining about it. Though I can¡¯t really help but worry about it a bit.¡±

    ¡°I was really happy, thought it felt really amazing and was very satisfied though.¡±

    I locked gazes with Elma once more. Elma turned away with her face all red.

    ¡°¡­¡­It didn¡¯t feel bad, okay. You were gentle like you promised.¡±

    ¡°Great!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s so ¡®great¡¯ about it huh?¡±

    ¡°Ow, ow, ow, ow!¡±

    She pinched my nk hard this time. Damn, that smarts!

    ¡°I¡¯ll really give it to you if bully me too much.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Go ahead and try then.¡±

    ¡°Okay. You¡¯re on,dy.¡±

    So she¡¯s been provoking me since a while ago to invite me for a second round huh? Okay then. Let¡¯s properly answer her expectations.

    ¡°Good morning.¡±

    ¡°Uh, morning.¡±

    I left the still-tired Elma on the bed the next morning, got a bath and managed to find Mimi sitting in front of the table in the dining room. She wasn¡¯t doing anything in particr, but just silently sat there.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This silence was really unbearable. Mimi¡¯s expression was kinda dark andcked its usual liveliness. Was it ¡®that¡¯ perhaps? Is her ¡®don¡¯t throw me away¡¯ phobia having a rpse?

    ¡°U- Um¡­?¡±

    ¡°There, there.¡±

    I forcibly made the confused Mimi stand up from her seat and proceeded to lead her to the newly refurbished bathroom. Communication and skinship are important after all.

 Chapter 23 â€“ Daily Life of Three People

    <h4>Chapter 23 - Daily Life of Three People</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°You beast!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Just leave it to me.¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t praising you!¡±

    Elma, who was sitting opposite me, bristled in anger. We were in the dining area once again. Mimi was beside me, clinging tightly onto my arm while smiling in satisfaction.

    ¡°You did all of¡­ ¡®those things¡¯ to mest night! And now I find you going at it with Mimi first thing in the morning!? Just how backed up are you!?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s cause I think fairness is important. Don¡¯t you think so too?¡±

    ¡°Fair¡­¡­!¡±

    Elma¡¯s sharp criticisms faltered after hearing my retort. She should be thinking about what exactly I meant with ¡®being fair¡¯.

    ¡°We¡¯re allrades here, staying on the same ship. I think it¡¯s better if we all got along, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s certainly a great situation for you huh.¡±

    ¡°Do you dislike Mimi, Elma?¡±

    ¡°Wha-!? Of course not!¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s fine then. And also, you boarded this ship willingly despite knowing just what kind of rtionship Mimi and I were in, right? I think it would be ridiculous if you startining about that sort of thing now.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡­! I guess you¡¯re right, but¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Everyone gets along. Everyone¡¯s happy. Isn¡¯t that great?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­It kind of feels like I¡¯m a kid being coaxed.¡±

    ¡°What? No, of course not.¡±

    I shed her my most sincere-looking smile. If Mimi was OK with this kind of rtionship, then I¡¯ll have to persuade Elma as well. It was just the three of us here after all.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s just leave that issue forter, okay?¡±

    ¡°Later huh¡­ Oh, fine. It¡¯s not like I can do anything about it at this point anyway. So, what¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°Mm. I want us to decide our next course of action.¡±

    ¡°Well now, this actually sounds serious.¡±

    ¡°Oh, more than serious. First, I think we¡¯ll have to earn more funds the soonest we can. We still have enough to live off for a while, but it¡¯ll dry up quickly if the ship ever gets severely damaged.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s, um¡­¡­¡±

    Elma seems to want to say something, but held herself back. Well, our reserve funds decreasing was a direct result of paying for Elma¡¯s fines, so I guess she was still feeling guilty about it.

    ¡°Right now, we have two options. The first one is moving out of this star system right away and searching for a more profitable area to earn money on.¡±

    ¡°Is this system no good?¡±

    ¡°Well, since the numbers of pirates prowling about have decreased, so have the money-making opportunities. Besides, the current situation here seems a bit fishy. I personally think moving to another star system would be the better option.¡±

    ¡°It does seem that way.¡±

    Elma nodded in acknowledgement.

    ¡°Tensions between the Empire and the Federation have been ring uptely, so this border sector would probably be the first to be affected once the situation develops into open hostilities. If you consider our safety as first priority, moving out of this system does seem like the best choice.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. And the other option is to remain in this star system and wait for the conflict to ur while hunting down pirates in the asteroid belt area. Once the war starts, demand for mercenaries will surely rise. There would be a risk of going against the Empire¡¯s interster army, so it¡¯s quite dangerous, but the potential returns are huge as well.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s also the fact that lots of small-scale pirate groups would probably start bing more active from here on out. The military¡¯s security patrols will surely be morex after thatrge-scale pirate subjugation, so those pirate groups would not pass this chance up. Aside from being hard to find, they have some decently high-quality weapons and equipment on them and their bounties are also quite high. Because there¡¯s a danger of being caught up in the impending war, this is a high-risk-high-return option.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ But which one will we pick?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what we¡¯re going to discuss right now. What do you think, Mimi?¡±

    Mimi let out a *hauu after hearing my question and opened her mouth to speak after being troubled for a bit.

    ¡°I think it would be best if we stayed here and hunted some pirates.¡±

    ¡°Hou. Why¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Well, with Hiro-sama¡¯s piloting skills and Krishna¡¯s firepower andbat capabilities, I don¡¯t think pirates with just some decent equipment would pose us any danger. And even if we get caught up in the conflict, it would still be possible for us to get away, right?¡±

    ¡°Guess so. It¡¯s not like we absolutely have to participate once the conflict erupts anyway.¡±

    I nodded at Mimi¡¯s words. It¡¯s just as Mimi said. We really don¡¯t have to get involved even if conflict erupts between the Empire and the Federation. Rather, I¡¯m sure pirates would take advantage of the conflict and be a lot more active in order to attack civilian ships and military supply convoys. There¡¯s the option of getting rid of those opportunistic guys once the war gets going and escape right away once things turn for the worse.

    ¡°I¡¯m also for staying in this star system. With your skills, I¡¯m sure you¡¯d also be able to rack up achievements even if you decide to participate in the conflict. The pirates shouldn¡¯t be much trouble either.¡±

    ¡°What, you too, Elma?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m all for it as well.¡±

    Elma nodded nonchntly. It kinda makes me happy that a veteran like her rates my skills so highly.

    ¡°So it¡¯s decided then.¡±

    ¡°So, Hiro-sama is okay with it as well?¡±

    ¡°Well, I would have preferred the other option, honestly. I want to earn more money even if we had to move to a different star system. But we really can¡¯t tell what would happen during long-distance navigation, and it¡¯s not like I¡¯ve decided where exactly we will go either anyway.¡±

    ¡°I see. How much do we have on us right now by the way?¡±

    ¡°About five hundred thousand.¡±

    ¡°It certainly doesn¡¯t seem to be enough. Alright then, shall we go ahead and earn some money?¡±

    Mimi and I nodded at Elma¡¯s words, and we started to prepare for a sortie right after.

    After we¡¯d decided on staying on the Termaine star system to earn some money, we immediately set off. What we needed to do was quite simple: go around the resource-rich asteroid belt area to find and hunt down pirates who were aiming for the mining ships. We need to proceed with utmost caution, drop our generator output once we find a mining ship being targeted, set up an ambush, and swiftly take down the piratesing in to attack the mining ships in question.

    The earnings have been quite ster so far. We¡¯re averaging about ten pirate bands a day. We¡¯re also salvaging a lot of spoils from them, and the average ie flow is 10,000 Enel per band. If the bands have more members than usual, it goes up to 30,000 Enel, including the bounty money. We even managed to swipe a cargo of rare metals today. Adding up the bounties, salvaged equipment and plundered cargo, we¡¯ve managed to earn 1,780,000 Enel in a week.

    The current reward distribution was 0.5% for Mimi and 3% for Elma. Mimi¡¯s share, including the bounty and loot sales is 12,900 Enel, and Elma¡¯s share is 53,400 Enel. Our total assets earned right now amounts to about 2,200,000 Enel, which finally allowed us to break away from being in the red.

    ¡°We earned a lot today as well~! Cheers!¡±

    The disappointing space elf poured lots of liquor into her cup and drank without reserve, downing the entire cup in one go. It was kinda frustrating that I found the movement of her white, delicate throat to be somewhat alluring.

    By the way, the alcohol we¡¯re drinking right now is ale. Elma and the store clerk insisted it was actually beer, but it really looks and tastes like ale as far as I¡¯m concerned.

    ¡°Ah, okay, okay. Cheers, cheers.¡±

    The content of my cup however is chilled tea. Don¡¯t I drink alcohol, you ask? I do, as a matter of fact. But I don¡¯t have much tolerance, so I¡¯ll immediately get piss drunk and get knocked out cold once I¡¯ve downed a few! Yeah, I¡¯m extremely weak to alcohol dammit!

    ¡°To think you don¡¯t drink alcohol. Hiro¡¯s unexpectedly childish in some aspects huh~?¡±

    ¡°Shut up! That¡¯s just how my physical constitution is. And it¡¯s not like you¡¯ll be considered an adult just by drinking some alcohol.¡±

    Elma, who was sitting beside me, wrapped her arms around my shoulder andtched on to me. It seems this disappointing space elf was the clingy type once she gets drunk with alcohol. Her tension¡¯s higher than usual. Our skinship has increased by a lot. She¡¯s really beening on to me a lot more.

    ¡°You really enjoy drinking liquor, don¡¯t you Elma-san?¡±

    ¡°Uhuh. It¡¯s fun. Drinking it straight down and getting smashed feels pretty great y¡¯know!¡±

    ¡°No drinking.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes.¡±

    I wagged my finger at Mimi who was staring hard at the liquor bottle. When I looked it up, I found that this world, or rather, this gxy, doesn¡¯t have any particr legal drinking age imposed. But I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea for young people to start drinking alcohol early in any case.

    In my eyes, Mimi¡¯s still just a kid so drinking alcohol¡¯s still- Hold up. If Mimi¡¯s just a kid, then doesn¡¯t that make me, whoid his hands on such a Mimi one hell of a pervert?

    No, no. I¡¯m probably safe cuz there was mutual consent. I also looked into that and since she¡¯s over fifteen and consented to the act, I¡¯m probably fine. Yeah, that¡¯s right. I¡¯m safe. Yup.

    ¡°But you really have some great skills, don¡¯t ya? This ship¡¯s really powerful, but you¡¯re impressive for fully taking advantage of that power. You¡¯re also great at ambushes and surprise attacks.¡±

    ¡°It seems like my body remembers. Battle rted stuff just flows into my head and my body moves ordingly.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ Hey, are you perhaps hiding something from us?¡±

    ¡°Nope, I¡¯m not.¡±

    I immediately retorted to Elma, who was staring at me closely. There¡¯s quite a few things I¡¯m hiding from them actually, but I don¡¯t think I can talk about that stuff with these girls yet. For example, I¡¯m actually a guy from another world (or would ¡®real world¡¯ be more appropriate in this case?), or that my supposed amnesia is a big, fat lie, or the fact that I knew this world as something from a ¡®game¡¯. I think I¡¯ve be quite close to Mimi and Elma, but if I confess these things right now, they¡¯ll probably just think I¡¯m saying some really weird, unbelievable stuff.

    ¡°Well, I guess that¡¯s fine. We also have some things we find hard to talk about after all. Right, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really have any though.¡±

    ¡°Oh really~? Let¡¯s see. Right now your current weight is- ¡°

    ¡°Wha-! No! You can¡¯t say! You can¡¯t say that!¡±

    Mimi started to panic all of a sudden and Elma cackled in glee. Body weight huh? In Mimi¡¯s case, doesn¡¯t she have to worry about her chest instead of her stomach? Those lethal weapons are super-dreadnought-ss after all¡­¡­ even though her body¡¯s just destroyer-ss.

    ¡°Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Hyes!?¡±

    ¡°Believe in your trainer. Don¡¯t do things like carelessly increasing your workout load, alright?¡±

    ¡°Y- yes¡­¡±

    Looks like I hit the bulls-eye and Mimi hid her reddened face with both hands in embarrassment. I actually think Mimi could use a few more extra pounds though. Yosh, I¡¯ll secretly fiddle with the AI trainer settingster. Hehehe.

    ¡°Oh right. About tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Tomorro~w?¡±

    ¡°Yep, tomorrow. How about we skip earning money for tomorrow and go shopping instead. Take a breather, so to speak.¡±

    ¡°Take a breather?¡±

    Mimi tilted her head curiously after hearing the words ¡®take a breather¡¯.

    ¡°Yup. We¡¯ve been doing nothing but hunting pirates for moneytely, right? How bout we go around eating and drinking or sightsee and shop for stuff like clothes and essories. There¡¯s actually a lot we can possibly do.¡±

    ¡°You simply want to take a break right~?¡±

    I honestly nodded to Elma¡¯s teasing words.

    ¡°That¡¯s part of it, sure. It¡¯s also to prevent us from making silly mistakes out in the field because we didn¡¯t set some time to rx and de-stress. Moreover, I want Mimi to feel how it¡¯s like to spend the money she put her life on the line to earn.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see. That¡¯s right huh. That kind of experience is important.¡±

    Elma nodded in agreement with a serious expression. Her face was still red from the alcohol, but she wasn¡¯t really that drunk.

    ¡°Um, I¡¯m¡­¡±

    Mimi disyed a troubled expression. Guess it¡¯s to be expected. The total amount of reward money I handed to her thus far is 16,850 Enel. If we use the 1 Enel = 100 Yen conversion rate, it¡¯ll amount to 1,685,000 Yen. At Mimi¡¯s age, an amount of 160,000 Yen in ¡®earnings¡¯ would probably be enough to make her hesitant.

    ¡°But all I did was sit in the Operator¡¯s seat¡­ I still think this much money is- ¡°

    ¡°It certainly is hard to say that Mimi¡¯s mastered being a ship Operator. But even so, aren¡¯t you a team-mate who rode my ship and put your life on the line together with us? That reward money is money well-earned.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. There¡¯s no need to be reserved. It also includes the reward for taking care of this guy after all.¡±

    ¡°Well, um¡­ If you really don¡¯t want to, well, y¡¯know- ¡°

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say I didn¡¯t want to, okay!?¡±

    ¡°I definitely don¡¯t hate doing it!¡±

    Mimi and Elma¡¯s retorts drowned out my words. Mimi looked at me straight with a reddened face. Elma, on the other hand, looked away while blushing until the tips of her long ears in embarrassment.

    ¡°I like you, Hiro-sama. I really love you. I love you so much, from the bottom of my heart. Hiro-sama is my everything. So I can offer every inch of my being to Hiro-sama as well.¡±

    Mimi stood up from the table and confessed to me with a beet-red face. Man, I think this kind of passionate confession is rare, even in things like movies and novels. And to think that the target of her affection is me, of all people¡­ Did I actually drink some alcohol earlier, passed out and am now dreaming about all this stuff?

    ¡°I- I can¡¯t¡­ really go that far but¡­ W- well, you did save me and all. If it wasn¡¯t for you, I would have experienced something truly terrible. S- so I¡¯m kinda grateful and stuff¡­ Really thankful or something¡­ But it¡¯s not like I did those things with you simply because I¡¯m thankful. If not, then I wouldn¡¯t have offered my body to you so many times¡­ Idiot.¡±

    It seems like she was inspired by Mimi¡¯s confession, so Elma also expressed her feelings toward me. I somehow felt that they were simply driven by obligation because of all the help I¡¯ve offered them all this time. But, somehow, after hearing how they truly felt, it kinda seemed like a weight¡¯s been lifted from my shoulders and my chest felt light.

    ¡°Wait, why are you crying all of a sudden?¡±

    ¡°Hi, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°No, sorry. I¡¯m just so happy to hear you both say those things. To be honest, I was a little¡­ nah, I was actually pretty anxious about it.¡±

    ¡°You were anxious?¡±

    ¡°Are you stupid or something? There¡¯s no woman who wouldn¡¯t fall for the Prince Charming who saved them from a desperate pinch y¡¯know.¡±

    Elma kissed my cheek whileughing. She kissed me again and again.

    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for you, I¡¯d probably be in prison now, being used by those brutes for their amusement. You¡¯re definitely the Prince Charming who saved me from that kind of fate. Don¡¯t go worrying about strange things.¡±

    ¡°Ah, me too! Hiro-sama! If Hiro-sama didn¡¯t help me, I would have suffered terribly as well! Hiro-sama is my hero!¡±

    Mimi also went over and hugged me tight. I smelled alcohol on her. Did you mistakenly drink some while thinking it was juice?

    ¡°Mimi, let¡¯s thoroughly express the depths of our feelings for this stupid prince.¡±

    ¡°Yes~! I¡¯ll do my best~!¡±

    The two of them stretched their hands out to grab me. I didn¡¯t resist at all and allowed them to do as they pleased.

 Chapter 24 â€“ Three People Shopping Spree (First Part)

    <h4>Chapter 24 - Three People Shopping Spree (First Part)</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Now then, let¡¯s go shopping!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°How are both of you so energetic?¡±

    We should have gone at it untilte at night yesterday, but their skin actually looks smoother and more vibrant than usual today. Was I the prey? Did they suck out my life-essence of something? I was really curious about it, but it¡¯s not like anyone will answer my doubts.

    ¡°Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s nothing. Shall we go?¡±

    ¡°Yes~!¡±

    While being pulled by the arm by an energetic-looking and smiling Mimi, I went out of the hangar bay and the three of us boarded the express elevator. Gazing at the now-familiar space scenery, we went straight towards the 3rd Block, which we¡¯ve frequently visited as ofte.

    ¡°You¡¯re not scared, are you Mimi?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m okay! I have Hiro-sama and Elma-san together with me. And I also have myser gun here.¡±

    Mimi patted theser gun she holstered on her hip while smiling brightly. Un. But I hope she never encounters a situation where she has to use it anyway. Let¡¯s have Elma train her in hand-to-handbat as well next time.

    ¡°By the way, do you have any ce in mind we could visit?¡±

    ¡°Nope, this was an impromptu suggestion, so I didn¡¯t really n anything. Do you have anywhere you want to go Mimi? You researched the shops in the 3rd Block before, right?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes. That¡¯s right.¡±

    Mimi took out her portable terminal and considered which ces to check out.

    ¡°The gadget shop catered for mercenaries seems interesting. They¡¯re selling some things we could use inside and outside the ship. There¡¯s also the gun shop and the import shop.¡±

    ¡°The gadget shop¡¯s fine. But the gun shop huh?¡±

    ¡°Yes. There¡¯s a chance you¡¯ll get into trouble and find yourself in an emergency if you don¡¯t keep yourself adequately protected. I¡¯m physically weak and I don¡¯t have good motor skills, so I want something that suits me.¡±

    I see. So Mimi¡¯s been properly thinking about what she needs huh. I¡¯m not that confident in a firefight anyway, so it might be good to check that shop out.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been to the import shop and it¡¯s quite fun to check out rare foodstuffs that you can¡¯t find in a normal convenience store over there.¡±

    ¡°Hm, sounds great. You guys want to go there as well? I¡¯m more interested in the gun shop so let¡¯s check that ce outter.¡±

    ¡°The closest one¡¯s the gadget shop.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s head on over then.¡±

    The three of us walked along, with Mimi checking the store¡¯s location on her terminal¡¯s mini-map.

    The public order of this colony¡¯s 3rd Block isn¡¯t all that great in general, but the outer areas near the elevator and the gate to the 2nd Block as well as the area near the military base were rtively safe. Oh, it seems the area where Oishii Mart was located was in between the secure and unsecure areas.

    ¡°It looks like it¡¯s that shop.¡±

    ¡°That one huh.¡±

    The outer appearance of the store was quite normal. The shop-front had some window disys where male and female-shaped mannequins dressed in what looked like g-suits were shown. Well, they certainly didn¡¯t look like your normal g-suits though.

    ¡°Wee!¡±

    As soon as we entered, the shop clerk sitting behind the counter just beside the door called out. The clerk was an intense-looking muscr uncle.

    After getting a look at the interior, it seems like it wasn¡¯t all that spacious. It¡¯s about the same size as the convenience store. There were surveince cameras installed here and there to prevent theft.

    ¡°You brought your women?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not allowed?¡±

    ¡°Nah. Leaving that littledy aside, you and that otherdy seem like you¡¯re seasoned mercenaries.¡±

    ¡°You can tell?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s experience kid. Experience. Well, we have a lot of goods here, so have a look around. Give me a holler if you need me to exin the use of the products.¡±

    The shop uncle waved us away and dropped his gaze toward the tablet terminal on the counter. He sure doesn¡¯t look like your typical salesman. Oh well. I guess shops outside Japan generally have this kind of vibe to them. The Japanese hospitality spirit is just a tad atypical inparison, I guess.

    ¡°Anyway, there sure is a lot of weird-looking stuff here huh.¡±

    I grabbed a mysterious-looking can from the shelf. It¡¯s price was 3 Enel. Just what¡­ Oh, what a nice, fresh smelling scent! This probably goes inside the cockpit. It¡¯s sure to eliminate that unpleasant cigarette odor! This thing was an air freshener? Now that I got a good look at it, there¡¯s something like adhesive tape stuck to the bottom of the can. So things like this don¡¯t change even in the future huh?

    ¡°Hiro-sama, should we buy these pilot suits to cope with the Gs?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not necessary. Krishna¡¯s cockpit block has a device installed which greatly offsets Gs during eleration and sudden turns. That¡¯s why Mimi hasn¡¯t felt that much Gs while inside it.¡±

    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re right¡­ Now that you mention it, it wasn¡¯t as ufortable as I thought.¡±

    Mimi got a little shocked by my reveal. Well, these suit¡¯s designs do indeed look cool, but all the life-support and survivability-enhancing equipment and systems in my ship are the highest quality, so these aren¡¯t needed. It¡¯s a bit unfortunate though.

    ¡°I found something good here.¡±

    Elma brought a really high-tech looking sphere thingy. I have absolutely no idea what it¡¯s used for, honestly.

    ¡°What the heck is that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a Gravity Sphere. It¡¯s quite useful.¡±

    After iming that, Elma brought the sphere up to shoulder-level and pressed a button on it. The sound of whirring machinery was heard from inside it.

    ¡°Well?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s about it.¡±

    Elma pulled something like a straw from inside the Gravity Sphere and put it on her mouth. The device kept floating above her left shoulder even after she let it go. That does look kinda neat, but I still don¡¯t get what the thing is used for.

    ¡°Sorry, but I don¡¯t get it.¡±

    ¡°You can pour drinks inside it and sip it anytime duringbat.¡±

    The Gravity Sphere kept following her around no matter where Elma turned towards. O~kay?

    ¡°So, it¡¯s basically a floating tumbler?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. When you press the On button, it would float on the spot and would follow the closest object with mass after a three-second interval. It¡¯s secure, spill-proof and can keep your drinks hot or cold indefinitely depending on the settings.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I should call it a perfect example of pointless advanced technology, but it does sound pretty convenient.¡±

    I reached out for the Gravity Sphere floating around Elma¡¯s right shoulder and gave it a poke. It did sway for a bit, but eventually returned to its previous position. That sure is some mysterious tech¡­

    ¡°But it¡¯s expensive, right?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s about five hundred Enel.¡±

    ¡°It¡­ actually isn¡¯t?¡±

    Weird. Really weird. Well, it¡¯s way more expensive than your usual tumbler at about 50,000 Yen alright. But, considering the ultra-high-tech feature which allows it to float and automatically hold its ce, that price actually seems kinda cheap. And with our financial capability right now, it¡¯s a downright steal.

    ¡°Well, it does look convenient. Shall we buy it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll also buy one.¡±

    ¡°Nah, I¡¯ll get them as supplies for the ship, so I¡¯ll get your share as well. I think I¡¯ll buy six of these things.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    Elma smiled sweetly at me. Kuh, her destructive power is off the charts because she¡¯s beautiful to begin with. I somehow felt embarrassed and looked away. Elma walked to the counter with light gait whileughing softly.

    Urgh.

    There were other mysterious goods in the shop, but I didn¡¯t find anything I particrly wanted. I was a little curious about the ordinary-looking cooking tools such as portable gas stoves, pots and pans, but the ship already has Chef Tetsujin. I don¡¯t want to bother cooking dishes the conventional way anymore. We paid for everything at the counter, asked the shop to send the goods straight to the ship and continued on to the next shop.

    ¡°Let¡¯s head for the gun shop next!¡±

    ¡°The gun shop? ¡­You seem really excited about going there, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like you¡¯re a kid y¡¯know.¡±

    The gun shop was quite near to the gadget shop. It was just a short 30 second walk on foot.

    ¡°It looks quite imposing.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a gun shop after all.¡±

    The show window facing the street was lined with reinforced ss panels. The door was a thick and sturdy-looking automatic type. It¡¯s cool-factor was certainly MAX level! The door parted with a heavy-sounding hiss, and the three of us entered inside.

    ¡°This is actually pretty exciting!¡±

    Guns, guns and more guns are lined up all over the shelves in the interior of the store. In addition, it seems like essories like custom parts, recement energy packs and holsters are also being sold here. When I looked at the back of the store, I saw a sharp-eyed grandpa manning the counter.

    ¡°Kid, this is a shop that sells weapons to shoot and kill people with. It¡¯s not a ce for taking women on a date.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Well, I promise we won¡¯t be bothersome, so please just let us off.¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡±

    The grandpa seems to have lost interest in us and brought his attention back to servicing the disassembled gun on top of the counter. This area¡¯s shopkeepers really don¡¯t have the slightest bit of merchant spirit in them don¡¯t they?

    ¡°Right,e to think of it, do you have a weapon that can be used for closebat?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess. I don¡¯t really get to use it much so it¡¯s stuck inside the ship armory.¡±

    ¡°Hm. Well, it¡¯s not like mercs like us get into fights in the flesh all that much anyway.¡±

    ¡°But it doesn¡¯t mean we shouldn¡¯t be prepared for the possibility.¡±

    I grabbed theser rifle disyed on the wall and checked its weight. I wonder what materials this thing is made of. It¡¯s strangely light. Being light¡¯s not a bad thing per se, but I think this rifle¡¯s just too light. Mimi seems to be eagerly inspecting the handguns. She picked up several models and checked out their weight and grip.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to check those as well?¡±

    ¡°I already have this.¡±

    I tapped theser gun on my waist. It was a prize from a Ste Online Melee Tournament event. Its performance was probably higher than ones sold inside the shop and it looks pretty cool to boot, so I reserved it as my gun of choice.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen such a gun model before. Who¡¯s the manufacturer?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really remember.¡±

    It¡¯s not really possible for me to exin how I got this thing. Memory loss is such a convenient excuse!

    ¡°Hm, I see. But what about gun maintenance?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember that either.¡±

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon you¡­ How about we have the shop keeper take a look at it?¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s show it to him then.¡±

    We headed towards the counter after our discussion. As we approached, the grandpa shopkeeper gave us a sharp re. That¡¯s one heck of a re gramps!

    ¡°Whaddya want?¡±

    ¡°Due to someplicated circumstances, I don¡¯t really know how to perform maintenance on my gun. Can you take a look at it gramps?¡±

    I ced myser gun on top of the counter along with the holster. The shopkeeper gave me a dull nce and carefully pulled out the gun from the holster. His eyes suddenly widened in surprise.

    ¡°This is-!? Mandas Workshop¡¯s¡­!? And it¡¯s even a gunslinger champion limited edition model¡­!?¡±

    Gramps suddenly stood from his seat with a *gata sound. You okay old guy? You¡¯re shaking like crazy and kinda look like you¡¯re about to faint at any moment y¡¯know.

    ¡°Kid¡­ No, can you actually fire this gun Sir!?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Well, of course I can fire it.¡±

    I used this thing to rescue Mimi after all. Both Elma and Mimi saw me firing this gun.

    ¡°I see¡­ So you can fire it¡­ That means you¡¯re truly its registered owner huh¡­¡­¡±

    Gramps sat back down on his seat and turned silent.

    ¡°Hey Elma, why¡¯s this gramps so surprised about my gun?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. But I heard that Mandas Workshop is a famous gun making studio known for producing one-off, super-luxury deluxe weapons. Is that gun made by Mandas Workshop?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with the details. At least I know it¡¯s better than the ones normally sold in shops.¡±

    ¡°Well of course it is! If that¡¯s truly a limited-edition Mandas model, there¡¯s probably no better gun you can find even if you went all over the gxy!¡±

    The shopkeeper hurriedly thrust the gun back on its holster and handed it back to me.

    ¡°Uh, what about maintenance?¡±

    ¡°That gun doesn¡¯t need maintenance! It has a nanomachine repair system which would activate automatically the moment it gets damaged! It¡¯s best if you don¡¯t fiddle with it carelessly. And only you will be able to use that gun.¡±

    ¡°He~e¡­¡­¡±

    It seems it was more superb of a gun than I expected. It¡¯s designated as a non-tradable item in Ste Online, but to think it also had an owner registration feature. I¡¯ll have to treasure this thing more from now on. I¡¯ll polish it with cloth from time to time.

    Mimi tried all kinds ofser handguns, but it seems she didn¡¯t find one that felt morefortable to use than the current one she got from the Mercenary Guild. In the end, we just bought several sheets of special cloth for gun maintenance. In addition, I decided to purchase three dozen spare energy packs for myser gun as ship supplies. We then proceeded to the next store.

 Chapter 25 â€“ Three People Shopping Spree (Last Part)

    <h4>Chapter 25 - Three People Shopping Spree (Last Part)</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°We¡¯re going to the import shop next huh.¡±

    ¡°Yes! They seem to have various rare goods and ingredients!¡±

    ¡°Mimi, who made it her goal to taste all sorts of gourmet food in the gxy, answered in high spirits.

    ¡°Can¡¯t go wrong with food, I guess.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yeah.¡±

    Elma, who was following behind, gave the two of us an ambiguous smile. What¡¯s up with her?

    I got the answer to that particr question right away the moment we arrived at the shop.

    ¡°Hey¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°H- Hi, Hiro-sama, i- isn¡¯t that a¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi pointed at an unidentifiable ¡®something¡¯ thrashing about in a cage. What the heck is that scary-looking sh*t? It definitely looks like a super-dangerous creature. Rather, ain¡¯t that a freaking F*cehugger!?

    ¡°It seems to be a rare food item. Wanna try eating it?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯ll have to pass on that.¡±

    ¡°By the way, there seem to be processed goods avable.¡±

    ¡°Hii¡­¡­!¡±

    Elma suddenly took out a vacuum-packed sample of the mystery food item (aka. F*cehugger)¡­ Is this thing really edible? You gotta be kidding me, man.

    ¡°This seems to be a type of military food ration from a distant star system. Everything from the head down can be eaten, apparently.¡±

    ¡°Is it good¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°No idea. I haven¡¯t tried eating one of these things yet after all. But it seems to be very nutritious? ording to the packaging, that is.¡±

    Elma shrugged her shoulders as she replied. I looked towards Mimi and saw her shake her head vehemently. Thought she¡¯d react like that. Eating this thing¡¯s impossible for me too.

    ¡°But I think this would be a good start if you want to eat all the rare foodstuffs in the gxy.¡±

    ¡°Well, we¡¯re both beginners y¡¯see. Let¡¯s start with the less-radical items first.¡±

    ¡°T- That¡¯s right! Ah, Hiro-sama! It seems they¡¯re selling some delicious-looking meat over there!¡±

    ¡°Oh! Yeah, I see it!¡±

    Both of us hurriedly escaped from Elma who was grinning in amusement while holding that mysterious vacuum-sealed food(?) thingy. No, this isn¡¯t us escaping. We¡¯re just moving towards a new objective. Yup, that¡¯s it.

    ¡°Th- This is¡­¡­ manga meat!?¡±

    It was a juicy-looking piece of meat skewered by arge bone in the center. It¡¯s unmistakably manga meat!

    ¡°Uhm¡­ Three kilos of this meat cost about 76 Enels. It¡¯s already been pre-cooked so it¡¯s ready-to-eat.¡±

    ¡°It seems to have been smoked.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s buy some then. I¡¯d really like to try em.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    One manga meat skewer costs 7600 Yen¡­ It¡¯s expensive! It¡¯s expensive but I just can¡¯t resist this temptation.

    I wonder what kind of meat it is though. Well, it doesn¡¯t matter anyway. I already have an idea. I bet this is also artificially cultured meat.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go buy some with my sry.¡±

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s my treat, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°No, I really want to try and spend some of my earnings right now. I¡¯ll get one for each of us.¡±

    Mimi turned toward me with sparkling eyes. Hmm, well, if she insists that much, then it can¡¯t be helped.

    ¡°Alright then. Thanks for the treat.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Please leave it to me!¡±

    Mimi excitedly put some vacuum-packed manga meat in the shopping basket. I turned around to see how Elma was doing. She seems to be busy shopping as well and was tossing a lot of stuff in her shopping basket. Most of it is alcohol though.

    ¡°Yosh, I¡¯ll go look for some stuff as well!¡±

    This ce is kind of like a grocery store so I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll be selling anything dangerous. So I separated from Mimi and proceeded to look for rare foodstuffs myself. There was really a lot of curious stuff; from edible worms to Kobe beef¡­ Wait, Kobe beef!? How¡¯d they get their hands on Kobe beef!?

    I didn¡¯t manage to sniff out the supplier, but it seems like Kobe beef was shipped to all corners of the known gxy as one of the finest quality meats¡­¡­ 100 grams of the stuff costs a whopping 1000 Enel. And it seems it can be even more expensive depending on the type of cut. It¡¯s way too expensive, man. I could buy it, sure. But I don¡¯t really feel the urge to after seeing that ridiculous price.

    While I was busy marveling at how expensive Kobe beef was, Elma, who had one hand pushing her shopping cart, approached me and gave me a curious gaze.

    ¡°You can at least afford to splurge that much with our current ie, can¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Look here you. 300 grams of this stuff is equivalent to one pirate ship y¡¯know. Knowing that¡­ You still think you can eat this stuff without worries?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a piece of cake for you though.¡±

    ¡°Heck no! Luxury is the enemy! There should be cheaper but tastier food in this universe for sure! Artificial meat steak is tasty enough anyway!¡±

    100 grams of artificial meat steak is 5 Enels by the way. That¡¯s a 200% price difference you guys. So that¡¯s decided. I¡¯m the kind of guy who much prefers his artificial meat, thank you very much.

    ¡°Well, I guess you¡¯re right. It¡¯s not like things would be more delicious if they¡¯re more expensive.¡±

    Elma left the meat section after saying so. I think I saw a sample of that vacuum-packed F*cehugger(?) in Elma¡¯s basket just now. Let¡¯s just pretend I didn¡¯t see that.

    Next up¡¯s the drink corner. There¡¯s a lot of suspicious-looking juices lined up¡­ C, is there any c¡­¡­!

    ¡°This is¡­!?¡±

    I saw a dark-colored liquid inside a bottle. Thebel even explicitly shows¡º£Ã£ï£ë£å¡»on it. There¡¯s no mistaking that, man! It¡¯s my favorite c! This marks the end of my journey, it seems.

    I took out one bottle from the fridge. I think I startled the shop clerk a bit, but I didn¡¯t care and paid for the item right away. I went out of the store and opened it in anticipation. I missed the distinct vor of this stuff. I took arge swig.

    ¡°¡­¡­Yeah, thought this would be the case.¡±

    The sweetness and sourness that danced in the tongue were unmistakably that of c. However, there was no refreshing feeling apanying it. This was non-carbonated c. Oi, oi, oi! This c¡¯s as good as dead.

    But anyway, it did taste like c. I didn¡¯t get to enjoy it as much as I thought, but it was still c. I finished the contents of the bottle and went back inside the store to ask the clerk about it.

    ¡°How much of this stuff do you have in stock?¡±

    ¡°U, Uhm¡­ We have seven cases inside the store and seven cases out in the backyard.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll buy em all.¡±

    The pupils of the store clerk narrowed to dots.

    ¡°All of them.¡±

    ¡°Yes, with pleasure!¡±

    I paid the money and finished the delivery procedures. Hehe, now I¡¯m all set. It wasn¡¯t my ideal c because it was uncarbonated, but the taste was fine. I¡¯ll put up with it until I manage to find the real deal someday¡­ Or maybe I can carbonate them myself?

    I went towards the entrance of the store and searched for the relevant info on my portable terminal. But it looks like no device for carbonation exists in the market. Why the heck is this the case even if technology has advanced leaps and bounds already¡­¡­? This world is warped¡­ And I will be the one to correct it¡­¡­

    ¡°H- Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s some scary-looking gaze you have on there¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Fwahahaha! Don¡¯t mind me. I just got a little upset, that¡¯s all.¡±

    Oh well. Aplishing one¡¯s goal so easily doesn¡¯t seem interesting anyway. Let¡¯s just reflect on this feeling of frustration for now¡­ This bitter reality¡­ fufufu.

    We went back to the ship after finishing our shopping trip and tried out the various stuff we bought.

    The manga meat was¡­ the most ideal manga meat ever. It was absolutely filling, vorful and had the perfect texture¡­ But having one skewer each proved to be a bit much for us. That¡¯s because even without the bone, each skewer was 2 kilos worth of meat y¡¯know.

    It would have been fine if we just bought one skewer and divided it evenly among ourselves with a knife. But being unable to finish manga meat is a kind of romance as well.

    And Elma really did buy one of those mystery creatures. I tried eating it after plucking up my courage and found it surprisingly alright. The flesh covered by a hard-looking shell was surprisingly soft and tender. It kinda had a kamaboko-like texture. The flesh was actually nice, creamy and slightly sweet. I can only describe this as creamy croquette¡­ Nah, creamy kamaboko [1. Note: Kamaboko - a type of Japanese delicacy made by forming various pureed deboned white fish with either natural or man-made additives and vorings into distinctive loaves, which are then steamed until fully cooked and firm.].

    ¡°This is actually pretty good.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just that its appearance is unappetizing.¡±

    Mimi had an expression that looked like she couldn¡¯t believe I and Elma were eating the thing.

    My c? I tried having the two of them drink it.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t this smell like medicine? I don¡¯t really like it, sorry.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s sweet¡­¡­¡±

    Elma inly told me she didn¡¯t like it. Mimi gave an unclear evaluation but had a subtle expression on her face. That¡¯s fine you guys. I¡¯ll just enjoy them by myself then. I¡¯ll definitely find a way to make them carbonated and let you taste real c! Just you wait, guys!

 Chapter 26 â€“ Those Burdened with Bad Luck

    <h4>Chapter 26 - Those Burdened with Bad Luck</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    It¡¯s been a day after the manga meat party. We decided to patrol the asteroid belt area again today.

    We¡¯ve managed to make enough money anyway, so it won¡¯t be a problem for us if we headed to a new star system right away. However, it would be a pity not to take advantage of the increasing flow of prey in the area, so it was decided that we would hunt for pirates for a bit more. All three of us were of one mind in the matter.

    ¡°That¡¯s strange.¡±

    ¡°Yep, really strange.¡±

    ¡°Is it truly strange?¡±

    Elma muttered with a serious expression. I expressed my agreement. Mimi tilted her head in puzzlement as she looked at the two of us.

    We¡¯vee to hunt some more big, fat prey prowling the area again today but we detected guys who were making some strange moves and seemingly stalking the prey as well. We detected a total of three small crafts.

    They were navigating inside the asteroid belt with the express intention of hiding themselves and obviously didn¡¯te here to mine resources. We were mostly sure these guys weren¡¯t pirates either. Their maneuvers were too organized and calcted. They were obviously gunning for prey as well. They were trying their best not to get in contact with other ships in the area.

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re really suspicious.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, thought so too.¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    It looks like Mimi still hasn¡¯t understood, but I already have an idea regarding the identity of these guys. They were most likely a recon or covert ops unit from the Vereverem Federation. I don¡¯t have an exact grasp on what their goals are, but it¡¯s likely along the lines of keeping an eye and grasping the troop deployment of the Gran Imperial Fleet; in other words, the system military.

    ¡°Well, this is troublesome. They¡¯ll surely detect us the moment we make a move.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. They¡¯ll probably find us right away.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s going to happen once they find us?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re probably going to try and ¡®silence¡¯ us.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, guess so. Man, this is really troublesome.¡±

    ¡°So they¡¯re dangerous people?¡±

    ¡°Very dangerous. And armed too. They¡¯re probably from the Vereverem military.¡±

    ¡°Eh!?¡±

    Mimi suddenly made an aghast expression as she gazed at the radar screen. Mimi probably wouldn¡¯t be able to make such a connection by herself just by observing the blinking icons on the radar.

    ¡°Ah.¡±

    ¡°Tch. They found us.¡±

    The three unidentified craft shown on the radar screen changed their movement patterns. They were apparently maneuvering to outnk and surround us. They were in the middle of covert operations, so it would make sense that they would want to get rid of any witnesses.

    Un, should we cut the generator output, initiate the cooling system and enter thermal stealth mode?

    ¡°Nah. That won¡¯t do any good. Can¡¯t be helped then. Let¡¯s take them on.¡±

    ¡°You really have an acute case of bad luck, you know that?¡±

    ¡°Oh that¡¯s rich. Especiallying from you, Elma.¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­ But it¡¯s not like Mimi¡¯s any better, right?¡±

    ¡°Eh!? Me!?¡±

    Elma reeled from my retort, but immediately deflected the issue toward Mimi.

    Elma, who got saved by me after causing an ident and getting pped with massive debt, certainly had really bad luck. But I, who got suddenly transported to this world without a clue, was probably worse off. But Mimi, who we first met in the 3rd Block when she was about to be assaulted after falling into debt following her parents¡¯ deaths, wasn¡¯t spared from misfortune either, was she?

    ¡°Let¡¯s just stop with this topic. We¡¯re just poking open each other¡¯s wounds y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Y- Yeah.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right¡­¡±

    ¡°Maximum generator output. We¡¯ll intercept them. Go ask for their affiliation just in case, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    We came out from the asteroid we were hiding behind and started maneuvering so we didn¡¯t get surrounded by the unidentified ships.

    ¡°This is the ship of Captain Hiro, Silver Rank mercenary affiliated with the Mercenary Guild. Callsign, Krishna. I¡¯m the ship operator, Mimi. Unidentified ships, please state your affiliation.¡±

    Mimi opened am channel and contacted them, but there was no response. Mimi, who confirmed there was no response, tried again. But it was useless. The other guys really didn¡¯t have any intention of talking it out, it seems.

    Oh yeah, by the way, my mercenary rank went up from Bronze to Silver a few days ago. The receptionist uncle said that it wouldn¡¯t be possible for me to stay as a Bronze Rank after delivering such results at the subjugation operation and hunting loads of prey in the asteroid belt area.

    But it isn¡¯t like a lot¡¯s changed after ranking up to Silver. It¡¯s just that my colleagues looked at me with a little bit more respect, that¡¯s all.

    ¡°Unidentified ships have deployed their weapons!¡±

    ¡°Just as expected. We¡¯ll follow suit. Deploy weapon systems.¡±

    ¡°Roger. Deploying weapons. Leave the chaff, re and generator output controls to me as usual.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m counting on you. Let¡¯s go!¡±

    We headed for the closest unknown ship as we maneuvered between the asteroid cluster.

    ¡°You¡¯re piloting is crazy as usual¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m already used to it.¡±

    Elma¡¯s face convulsed as we weaved through the asteroid clusters while Mimi smiled. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that crazy though. This is normal y¡¯know. We soon found ourselves outnking the enemy ship.

    I piloted Krishna so it seemingly slid on the surface of arge asteroid and soon found myself staring at the defenseless gut of an enemy ship. You¡¯re mine, sucker.

    ¡ºWhat the-!?¡»

    ¡°That¡¯s one down.¡±

    I fired our tworge-caliber live projectile cannons and the countless destructive submunitions tore through the shields and armor of the Federation¡¯s small attack craft [Sword Fish] and ripped its hull to shreds.

    ¡°Those shard cannons pack quite the punch as usual.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s great huh!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re just about the only one I know who uses such absurd weapons¡­¡±

    ¡°But they¡¯re strong right?¡±

    The range of the scattershot cannons really leave much to be desired, but doesn¡¯t it feel awesome to tear through the shields and armor of small-sized enemy ships like they¡¯re made of paper? It can also give considerable damage torge ships, provided their shields were down.

    ¡ºHunter 2 was- ¡»

    ¡ºJudging from those maneuvers, that¡¯s no mere Silver Rank. Be careful. Take some distance and shoot it down!¡»

    ¡°They¡¯re too far out of effective shard cannon range¡­¡±

    The other two remaining ships retreated from the asteroid field and turned their bows toward us. Hou, so you want to finish us off with your long-distance firepower huh? And you¡¯re going against Krishna? Interesting. Let¡¯s see what you got.

    I hid the ship behind arge asteroid and deployed the fourrge-caliber pulseser cannons.

    ¡ºWhat the-!? That ship just grew some arms!?¡»

    ¡ºThose are high-outputser cannons¡­¡­! I- It¡¯s no good! We can¡¯t withstand that!¡»

    The Federation craft immediately made evasive maneuvers and fired back. But theirser cannons couldn¡¯t make a direct hit because we were using the asteroid field as cover. Ourser cannons, however, packed enough firepower to prate through and eventually scored direct hits on them.

    These were literally attacks going at the speed of light. It¡¯s nearly impossible to dodge them directly. Well, their evasion maneuvers were still effective to some extent, but we were still able to get an 80% hit rate. And Krishna¡¯sser cannons packed enough firepower to greatly damage them even with just an 80% hit rate.

    ¡ºTch! The difference in firepower is far toorge!¡»

    ¡ºEvasive action!¡»

    The two Federation ships then tried to escape, but letting them go here could spell trouble. I activated the thrusters and made the ship fly out of the asteroid field as well. I then gave chase.

    ¡ºSeeker! Fox 1! Fox 1!¡»

    ¡°res.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    The two Fed ships fired heat-seeking missiles, but Elma immediately deployed res at my order and made the missiles miss us.

    ¡ºYou bastaaaards!¡»

    I rained downser cannon fire on the panicked Fed ships. Emerald-colored light beams pelted the blueish energy shields of the Fed ships one after another and eventually depleted them.

    After this, it was all over. Even if they had military-grade armor ting as well, after getting bombarded by high-outputser cannon fire, their hulls soon grew red-hot and melted down.

    ¡ºA- Abandon ship! Abandon- Uwaaaaa~!?¡»

    The two Federation ships were overwhelmed byser cannon fire and were soon shot down. So they weren¡¯t able to escape huh. Maybe the military-grade hull was warped too much from bathing in waves ofser cannon fire so the escape pods couldn¡¯tunch out in the end. Sometimes it wasn¡¯t good to be so tough.

    ¡°Alright then¡­ Shall we recover their data caches and ck boxes then head on back?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going back to the colony?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I bet the military would pay us quite a bit for these.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°Leave selling the data to me. I have some connections with the system military.¡±

    ¡°Connections, huh. I hope your so-called connections don¡¯t bring us any trouble.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha. That goes without saying. I¡¯ll just sell the data quickly thene straight back.¡±

    ¡°So, do you have anything to say for yourself?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry girls.¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Hah. Well, it can¡¯t be helped.¡±

    Two hours aftering back to the colony, I found myself kneeling seiza-style on the dining room¡¯s floor.

    Uh, I did aplish selling the data and all.

    I left Krishna¡¯s maintenance and resupply to Mimi and Elma, then went straight to the military base and got an appointment with Lieutenant Serena. It looked like she was free, so Lieutenant Serena met up with me immediately and guided me to her personal office. I then handed over the data caches and ck boxes in exchange for substantial rewards. So far, so good, right?

    But, before I knew it, I, Krishna, and the rest of the crew were enlisted as cooperators in theing conflict between the Empire and the Federation. And it was even settled through proper channels and approved by the Mercenary Guild as an official request.

    Just what the heck happened man? I have absolutely no idea. Was Lieutenant Serena really that impressed with me? Nah, that can¡¯t be. I¡¯m just a single amateur mercenary, y¡¯know. Eh? The Federation fleet? I¡¯m not that scared of them, honestly. Actively participating in the war is a different issue though.

    Eh? The Imperial military is looking for brave and talented mercenaries to participate? No, no, I¡¯m not really all that¡­ I see. That¡¯s kinda embarrassing, oi. Ahahaha. Well, if you say that much¡­ Yeah, I guess. Eh? You didn¡¯t really mean me¡­ I probably won¡¯t do, you say¡­¡­? I- I can definitely do it, y¡¯know!

    ¡°It went pretty much like that.¡±

    ¡°You werepletely at her mercy, huh.¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I am truly sorry. It was all my fault.¡±

    Their critical gazes pierced my poor, little heart. I really have no excuse, so I¡¯ll just honestly bow my head here and do a textbook dogeza [1. Note: Kneeling directly on the ground and bowing to prostrate oneself while touching one¡¯s head to the floor as a form of apology or a show of deep remorse.] in shame.

    ¡°Oh well. What¡¯s done is done. You¡¯re the captain of this ship anyway. You¡¯re the one calling the shots.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Hiro-sama is this ship¡¯s captain after all.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for forgiving me, girls!¡±

    ¡°But you still have to make it up to us, okay? How about giving us a bonus?¡±

    ¡°Bonus, is it¡­¡­? I still think the pay I¡¯m receiving is more than I deserve though.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. You don¡¯t have to hold back at times like this y¡¯know. You can do this much at least, can¡¯t you captain?¡±

    ¡°I shall ponder a most appropriate amount that will satisfy you both, my deardies.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s that, then.¡±

    ¡°I- Is this really okay¡­¡­?¡±

    Mimi still wasn¡¯tfortable with the idea yet, but I don¡¯t think it was such a big deal to give out a bonus to make up for my blunder. Hm, will it be fine if I gave them some high-quality alcohol and delicious food? I¡¯ll browse Oishii Mart¡¯s online catalogter. I can pay them in cash as well.

    ¡°So now we have to stay on stand-by until the battle starts?¡±

    ¡°I guess so. I was told we have to be ready for an immediate sortie at all times.¡±

    ¡°You did manage to secure a reimbursement sry for the days we¡¯re on stand-by, right?¡±

    ¡°I did negotiate for that. We¡¯re going to get a daily remuneration of 50,000 Enel until the formal sortie orderes.¡±

    ¡°Wow. It¡¯s amazing that we¡¯re going to get fifty thousand daily even though we¡¯re just on standby, isn¡¯t it¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°I think that¡¯s a reasonable amount though.¡±

    It¡¯s certainly a far cry from our previous average daily ie of 200,000 Enel this past week. But, as we weren¡¯t risking our lives earning such an amount, it wasn¡¯t all that bad a deal.

    Anyway, we¡¯ve ended up formally taking up the request of the system military - or, more urately, the Imperial military.

    ¡°Hold back on the alcohol though, Elma.¡±

    ¡°I- I know, okay.¡±

    Elma made an ugly expression after being temporarily banned from binge drinking. It¡¯s only proper, y¡¯know. We could be ordered to sortie at any time, so one can¡¯t be drunk on alcohol when that timees.

    ¡°Not being able to drink alcohol is a small price to pay for a daily remuneration of 150,000 Enel, Elma-san.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I guess you¡¯re right.¡±

    ¡°In other words, as long as you sacrifice a bit and hold off on drinking, we¡¯ll be able to receive 150,000 Enel daily to buy lots of alcohol when this is all over.¡±

    ¡°¡­That¡¯s right, isn¡¯t it!?¡±

    Miss Disappointing Elf¡¯s ears perked up after hearing Mimi¡¯s exnation. Her tension was now MAX level. Well, it was certainly a great deal to be able to receive a daily 150,000 Enel alcohol fund, if you put it that way. If you¡¯re a true-blue alcohol lover, that is.

    ¡°You¡¯re really smart, aren¡¯t you, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe.¡±

    Mimi may have a natural talent for cheering people up¡­ Yeah, she sure does. I mean, I get cheered up daily just by being around her after all.

    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s go ahead and make preparations.¡±

    ¡°Preparations?¡±

    Elma gave me a puzzled and worried look after I stood up. She¡¯s probably thinking I was gonna do something crazy again. Well, she¡¯s right though.

    ¡°Yep, preparations. I¡¯ll go to the cargo bay for a bit¡­ Uh, Mimi, where¡¯d we put that duct tape we bought a few days back again?¡±

    ¡°The military-grade one? I think I put it inside the toolbox.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha. Thanks.¡±

    I¡¯ll just need to wrap around some tape on ¡®it¡¯ a bit so I can stick ¡®it¡¯ on. Then I¡¯ll justunch ¡®it¡¯ from the lower weapons bayter on once we get the perfect opportunity. I¡¯ll have to bring ¡®it¡¯ out from the secret cargopartment then. Man, talk about busy.

 Chapter 27 â€“ Trump Card

    <h4>Chapter 27 - Trump Card</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The Vereverem Federation military¡¯s response was faster than expected. They most likely received crucial intel from the recon unit even before I managed to shoot them down.

    I don¡¯t know what exactly was recorded in those ck boxes and data caches, so I don¡¯t have a grasp on how much the Gran Empire managed to glean regarding the Federations¡¯ ns.

    Thanks to that, I wasn¡¯t able to formte any concrete countermeasures on my end. I would¡¯ve liked to have more intel just to be safe, but that¡¯s just how it is. It¡¯ll be troublesome if they did an on-the-spot inspection after all.

    Anyway, because of the actions of the enemy forces, we were summoned to the military base for a briefing as part of the imperial mercenary squadron that was hastily organized.

    It would be a face-to-face briefing instead of a remote conference this time, apparently. Is it a sort of countermeasure against spies? I don¡¯t really get how the folks from the military think.

    I was guided by an imperial soldier who kept giving us quick nces until we reached the briefing room.

    It should be a briefing room specifically built to seat arge number of people. It was quite spacious. It might be because the furnishings in the room consisted of mostly chairs, but it did feel somewhat nd.

    The nd-looking room already had a number of mercenaries waiting inside. Their gazes all turned towards us the moment we entered the briefing room.

    ¡°Oi, would ya just look at that guy?¡±

    ¡°He got women with him¡­ And two cuties to boot¡­!?¡±

    ¡°Hey, ain¡¯t that Elma? She¡¯s a Silver Rank, right? Why¡¯s she with him?¡±

    ¡°She got into an ident in thest pirate subjugation mission, remember? I¡¯m guessin it has somethin to do with that.¡±

    ¡°Explode¡­ Just f*cking explode¡­¡­¡±

    The mercenaries who got here before us started murmuring to themselves as soon as we entered. Hey, the guy who keeps muttering *explode over there. Could you stop that. It mighte true y¡¯know.

    Looks like there wasn¡¯t any particr seating arrangement so we just sat at the nearest vacant seats.

    ¡°Sit in the middle, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Ah, okay.¡±

    Elma should be fine, but I bet Mimi wouldn¡¯t be able to settle down if she was sitting beside a grumpy-looking mercenary uncle. It seems Elma thought the same, so she didn¡¯t make a fuss and let Mimi sit between us.

    All the participating mercenaries eventually came and filled the seats before long, and the time for the briefing to begin came. Lieutenant Serena and several other military officers entered the briefing room exactly on the dot.

    ¡°Attention!¡±

    The atmosphere inside the briefing room tensed up after the military officers entered.

    ¡°Now then, let us start the briefing for the Termaine star system defense operations. I am Lieutenant Serena Holz. This newly organized provisional imperial army mercenary corps shall be assigned under mymand. It may be temporary, but I shall be your directmanding officer for the duration of this conflict. So address me as Lieutenant Serena from now on.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Yes, ma¡¯am!¡±¡±¡±

    ¡°Very well. Let us start with an overview of the general situation. Georg.¡±

    ¡°Ma¡¯am!¡±

    The officer named Georg operated the console installed on the wall and the lights of the room dimmed. Arge holo screen turned on behind Lieutenant Serena. The entire star map of the Termaine star system was projected on the holo screen.

    ¡°Currently, the main fleet of the Vereverem Federation is on its way towards the Termaine star system. Their exactposition is currently unknown due to the fleet already in the middle of Hyperdrive. However, based on the intel we just obtained and the readings of the hyperspace sensor, they are most likely made up of eight battleships, twenty-four heavy cruisers, thirty-two light cruisers, sixty-four destroyers, and 128 corvettes.¡±

    The mercenaries became restless after hearing the size of the enemy force. I was also a bit surprised. The number of enemies was greater than I expected. This wasn¡¯t on a level of a regr skirmish anymore, but an out-and-out military campaign.

    ¡°Frankly speaking, the military might of the enemy fleet is greater than the current imperial forces garrisoned in the Termaine star system. Fortunately, a request for reinforcements has already been sent out due to us discovering their ns early. The reinforcements should arrive a day after the enemy warps out near the borders. In other words, as long as we hold out for a day, our reinforcements will arrive, and we will be able to mount a counteroffensive. Therefore, our overall strategy is to make sure to hold our ground for one day no matter what.¡±

    That¡¯s a solid n, assuming that reinforcements really wereing. Looks like the data caches and ck boxes we recovered really were useful. Their selling price was actually really high, so I already kinda expected it.

    ¡°Your mercenary corps¡¯ mission is to lurk inside the asteroid belt and mount gueri warfare against Federation ships attempting to breakthrough. Your main targets would be the destroyers and corvettes. There will be a hefty bonus waiting for those who will manage to take down cruisers and battleships.¡±

    Lieutenant Serena gave us a daring smile. The mercenaries gave her bitter grins in response. Well, most mercenary ships are small and medium-sized models after all.

    Military shipsrger than cruisers would be equipped with correspondinglyrger generators with considerably higher power output. The shields powered by such generators would sport defensive strength iparable with your average pirate ship.

    In other words, even if the firepower of the mercenaries are sufficient to engage small and medium-sized pirate warships, taking on military warshipsrger than cruisers would prove to be impossible because of the defensive strength of their energy shields.

    But my Krishna could, though. I also have my handy trump card on hand.

    ¡°If they have any other strategies under their sleeves, we shall endeavor to adopt corresponding countermeasures on the fly. We shall make use of every means avable to us, no matter what they may be.¡±

    Hou, any means necessary, huh. So that means that little something I prepared earlier could be officially approved as well¡­¡­ Nah, on second thought, I don¡¯t really think so. That thing is ssified as a highly dangerous, illegal contraband after all. I¡¯m d I stashed it inside the scan-proof secret cargopartment.

    But well, un¡­ I¡¯ll just go for it anyway. I¡¯ll make it ast resort if the situation gets nasty enough.

    ¡°Permission to speak, Lieutenant Serena.¡±

    ¡°You are¡­ Yes, permission granted.¡±

    I kinda felt like Lieutenant Serena¡¯s gaze turned sharper after seeing Mimi and Elma with me though. I wonder why? Oh well. I¡¯ll just ignore it.

    ¡°I sort of have a n for giving the Federation fleet a heavy blow¡­ Uh, it¡¯s more like a scheme, actually. I would like to take this opportunity to get permission to execute said scheme.¡±

    ¡°A scheme, is it? Could I get the exact details?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s a pretty straightforward strategy. We¡¯ll head straight for the heart of the enemy fleet as soon as they warp out, destroy the enemy gship and withdraw immediately afterward.¡±

    Lieutenant Serena¡¯s expression froze after she heard my proposal. The other mercs made a huge fuss. Mimi gave me a worried look while Elma opened her mouth wide in surprise.

    ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    Lieutenant Serena gave me a doubtful gaze. That expression she¡¯s making has¡ºI can¡¯t think of that strategy as anything but a suicide mission, y¡¯know?¡»written all over her face.

    ¡°Yeah, very serious. Just take it as just one stupid idiot dying if we fail. This strategy won¡¯t pose any disadvantage to the imperial military as well.¡±

    ¡°You are an excellent individual who managed to make major contributions in the pirate subjugation mission. You have also effectively hunted lots of outlier pirate groups recently. I do not wish to lose such a talent due to such a reckless n.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry. We¡¯ll definitely pull it off.¡±

    I don¡¯t have any intention of doing it the straightforward way after all. I¡¯ll just keep that thought to myself though.

    It looks like Lieutenant Serena noticed something in my expression, so it seemed she would eventually approve of the n even if she was still holding some doubts.

    Lieutenant Serena gave me a long, hard look for a while. She then shrugged her shoulders and audibly sighed. It¡¯s like she was saying she won¡¯t be taking responsibility for whatever happens.

    ¡°¡­¡­Very well. If you insist on doing it that much, then I expect you to do it well. You will be rewarded greatly if you manage to seed.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡±

    After hearing the answer I was hoping for, I contentedly sat back down on my seat. I¡¯m probably smiling from ear to ear right now.

    I heard someone in the room mutter ¡®He¡¯s f*cking crazy.¡¯ under their breath. Hey! Who¡¯re you callin crazy? How rude. I¡¯m just using every card in my hand to get the maximum benefits man.

    ¡°Stupid! Stupid! You¡¯re totally, utterly stupid! You can¡¯t actually be screwed in the head, can¡¯t you!?¡±

    ¡°Mimi, Elma¡¯s saying some really cruel things.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve said too much, Elma-san. That¡¯s a no-no.¡±

    ¡°Whaddya mean ¡®no-no¡¯!? He¡¯s saying something stupid like charging into the Federation fleet alone y¡¯know! Can¡¯t you see that it¡¯s the height of utter recklessness!?¡±

    Elma raved like a madwoman. I¡¯ve never seen her so angry before. Her voice echoed all throughout the cargo room.

    Elma¡¯s kept this state up ever since we left the briefing room. Well, I do understand where she¡¯sing from. If I was suddenly told we were going straight to the heart of an over 200-ship strong enemy fleet willy-nilly, I¡¯d probably react the same.

    ¡°Calm down, will you. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m doing this without a proper n. I have everythingid out already, so chill.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s hear what this ¡®n¡¯ of yours is then.¡±

    I took out the military-grade duct tape from the toolbox and showed it to Elma. Stop ring at me like that already. I¡¯m gonna exin now, kay.

    ¡°The n¡¯s pretty simple. Once we detect the enemy fleet¡¯s warp-out signature, we¡¯re going to charge right through using the Hyperspeed Drive. We¡¯re going to adjust it so we arrive at the enemy fleet¡¯s warp-out coordinates at the exact same time as when the Hyperspeed Drive gets deactivated. We probably would be able to avoid being detected right away using this method.¡±

    ¡°Hm. I see the point so far. And then what?¡±

    ¡°Once the hyperspeed drive gets cut, we¡¯ll immediately activate the rapid cooling system and enter the thermal stealth state. We¡¯ll hide and pretend to be normal space debris.¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t they suspect us? And what are we gonna do if they decided to get rid of the space debris in their way?¡±

    ¡°Even in the worst-case scenario, this ship¡¯s energy shields and armoring would allow us to withstand their attacks, so no problems there. Once we get into range, we¡¯ll let them eat two rounds of anti-ship reactive torpedoes. That¡¯ll rock their socks off, and then some.¡±

    ¡°Anti-ship reactive torpedoes¡­¡­ You really have those dangerous things? In this ship?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I do. They¡¯re he expensive though, so I really don¡¯t want to use them unless I really have to.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ What exactly are anti-ship reactive torpedoes?¡±

    Mimi tilted her head in puzzlement after hearing Elma and my discussion. Ah, Elma¡¯s familiar with them, but Mimi I guess wouldn¡¯t have any idea huh.

    ¡°The anti-ship reactive torpedoes are weapons specially developed to give critical damage torge ships with strong energy shielding and thick armor ting. They¡¯re equipped with special energy shield saturation warheads. Two shots of those things are enough to sink a Gxy-ss battleship.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing¡­ But, if they¡¯re so effective, shouldn¡¯t their use be widespread?¡±

    ¡°Because they¡¯re crazy expensive. One of them costs around 500,000 Enel after all. If they¡¯re not used on prey with equal or more value, you¡¯d just end up with huge mary losses. So you won¡¯t find a lot of mercenaries using such things.¡±

    ¡°One torpedo costs 500,000 Enel!?¡±

    Mimi got paralyzed from shock after hearing how expensive the torpedoes were. 500,000 Enel really was a huge amount after all. Well, it¡¯s not like they cost more than the advanced missiles back on Earth anyway.

    ¡°Anyway, You¡¯ve already exined how we¡¯re going to bring down the gship. It¡¯s a bit of a gamble, but that¡¯s just how we mercs do things, right? If you say you can pull it off, then we¡¯ll just have to follow your lead. But what are we going to do after we destroy the gship?¡±

    ¡°Un, well here¡¯s the rest of it. Once we sessfully pull off shooting down their gship, the enemy fleet¡¯s chain ofmand would probably be thrown into chaos for a time, but it¡¯ll also leave Krishnapletely surrounded. We¡¯ll probably just be taken down from behind if we attempt a normal retreat.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. So you do understand that point huh.¡±

    As long as we¡¯re in the middle of the group, the Federation fleet¡¯s ships wouldn¡¯t be able to use their more powerful weapons, but once we take sufficient distance while attempting to escape, I bet they¡¯ll immediately shoot us down with their high-outputser cannons from behind. Even Krishna wouldn¡¯t be able to take so muchser cannon fire, especially from an entire fleet.

    ¡°And so, we¡¯re going to stick this little thing on one of the torpedoes.¡±

    I opened up the secret cargopartment and took something out. You guessed it. I took out the super-dangerous (not to mention sorta illegal) contraband - the ¡ºSinging Crystal¡». It was enclosed in a transparent ss-like capsule and exuded a faint glow. Even in its sealed state, it was still able to emit a peculiar humming noise that was seemingly able to prate one¡¯s mind.

    The sound was akin to that of a song that had the ability to bewitch those who hear it.

    Just who or what was it that created this mysterious item that, upon being destroyed, was able to get a great number of space monsters - aggressive crystal life-forms to be exact - that attacked all in their path? Nobody knew. It was a popr topic of research, however.

    ¡°Huh!? That!? Isn¡¯t that-!?¡±

    ¡°Singing Crystal~?¡±

    ¡°Are you an idiot!? Just what are you thinking by carrying something so dangerous!? Wai- Don¡¯t you dare drop that thing! Don¡¯t drop it, okay!?¡±

    ¡°Whoops.¡±

    ¡°Hii~i!?¡±

    I teasingly loosened my hold on it, which made Elma all panicky. Hahaha. How amusing.

    ¡°It¡¯s such a beautiful crystal! And the sounding from it is kind of¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s no good, Mimi! You can¡¯t listen to the sound! If you listen to it for too long, there¡¯s a chance you¡¯d go crazy or even die!¡±

    ¡°Eeh!? Really!?¡±

    Elma blocked her long ears with both hands. Mimi followed suit. They¡¯re actually kinda cute; getting all flustered like that.

    ¡°Well, it does make one feel a little homesick¡­ But its more of a hazardous material than anything else.¡±

    I can¡¯t even return home even if I wanted to right now. Mimi¡¯s already lost her previous home to begin with. I don¡¯t know about Elma, but she does sort of feel like an ojousan who escaped from her home or something, so I bet she isn¡¯t really attached to the idea of homing all that much.

    I ignored the sounding from the singing crystal and moved it to the cargo hold¡¯s ammunition depot.

    The ammo depot was dark and cramped. The thing I was after was located far at the back. Yep, it¡¯s the anti-ship reactive torpedoes.

    ¡°Round and round we go.¡±

    I used the military-grade duct tape to stick the singing crystal onto one of the torpedoes. I wrapped it with severalyers just to be sure.

    ¡°And that should do it.¡±

    ¡°¡®And that should do it¡¯, my foot!¡±

    After I came out of the ammunition depot and wiped the sweat that umted on my brows, I suddenly found Elma giving my head a good whack. Ouch. Mimi gently caressed the ce I was hit on. You¡¯re seriously an angel, Mimi.

    ¡°Violence is no good, Elma-san.¡±

    ¡°Whaddya mean ¡®no good¡¯!? You have no idea Mimi, but that item is ssified as ultra-dangerous illegal contraband! It¡¯s a dangerous item that will release countless crystal space monsters that will attack on-sight!¡±

    ¡°Is that really the case, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°More or less.¡±

    ¡°Whaddya mean ¡®more or less¡¯!? You didn¡¯t even tell us you were carrying such a dangerous item on this ship!¡±

    ¡°Ok, ok. It¡¯s my fault, alright. So calm down a bit. Don¡¯t shout in such a loud voice.¡±

    I raised my hands in surrender in front of the red-faced Elma-san.

    ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s sort of like my trump card. If we release that thing in the middle of the Federation fleet, they¡¯ll be overrun by crystal monsters in no time. We¡¯re going to take advantage of that to escape.¡±

    ¡°Well, that thing¡¯s certainly going to raise hell¡­¡­ But it¡¯s still far too reckless a n.¡±

    Can¡¯t argue with that. I dunno about this world, but in the game, those crystal monsters were set to be the enemy of all organic lifeforms. They would immediately attack and attempt to assimte any organic life they encounter. In other words, the Singing Crystal posed many problems if one intends to use it as a sort of weapon. It was a full-on biological(?) weapon of mass destruction after all.

    ¡°It¡¯s all fine as long as we win!¡±

    For that, I wouldn¡¯t hesitate to use it. I ce more importance on our survival than the lives of soldiers I don¡¯t even know.

    But isn¡¯t it better to use normal dying tactics within the asteroid belt, you ask? Don¡¯t make meugh. The enemy force has more than sixty shipsrger than cruisers at their disposal. We¡¯ll just be bombarded to bits by theirrge-caliberser cannons and ship-to-ship missiles even if we did hole up in the asteroid field.

    ¡°Well, aren¡¯t you confident¡­ I do agree about the ¡®as long as we win¡¯ part though.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s put that aside for now. The problem¡¯s what to do from this point on.¡±

    I gave a serious-looking gaze towards Elma, who had a peculiar expression on, and Mimi, who was still a bit stiff from shock.

    ¡°This n definitely carries a high risk and is extremely dangerous. We¡¯ll probably die if we make just one mistake. So, if you want to, you two could just- ¡±

    Elma put up a hand to stop me before I could say ¡®get off the ship¡¯.

    ¡°I won¡¯t get off the ship. I did join your crew knowing full well how dangerous being a mercenary truly is. Or rather, both I and Mimi owe our lives to you, more or less, y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have anywhere I can go to if I did get off the ship anyway. I¡¯ll go wherever Hiro-sama decides to go.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t really promise that much¡­ But, well, the n does have some prospects of sess, so I¡¯ll tag along. You can¡¯t board a mercenary ship without at least that much resolve anyway.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I see. Understood.¡±

    Looks like I was worried for nothing. I¡¯m¡­ a bit scared though. There¡¯s a good chance of sess. But there¡¯s no absolutes. There¡¯s a good chance of dying from just a tiny mistake. Moreover, I¡¯ll cause the both of them to die as well if I ever screwed up. That thought scares me. I won¡¯t think much about it if I were to die alone¡­ Well, maybe not. I won¡¯t be able to ept my death all that calmly.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s leave that forter.¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    I tilted my head in puzzlement at Elma¡¯s change of tone.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s unfair to the rest of this ships¡¯ crew that you kept quiet about keeping such a dangerous item inside the ship without a word of exnation?¡±

    ¡°Guh¡­¡±

    I can¡¯t really refute that. I did keep mum because I didn¡¯t want them to worry too much, but a part of it was just because of me fooling around. My crew ced their lives on my hands, so it was only right to disclose such a thing to them, especially because it was a pretty dangerous item.

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m truly sorry.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a good boy. Be sure to tell the crew the next time you get your hands on such illegal stuff in the future, okay. You¡¯re fine with that, right?¡±

    ¡°I gotcha.¡±

    ¡°Fufu¡­¡­ You really seem like Hiro-sama¡¯s big sister, Elma-san.¡±

    Mimi let out an amused giggle after seeing Elma and my exchange.

    ¡°Well, of course. I¡¯m older after all. I¡¯m also an experienced veteran.¡±

    ¡°A veteran who doesn¡¯t even know the kinks of her own ship (trolling grin).¡±

    ¡°What did you just say?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Please forgive me, big sis.¡±

    I did another splendid dogeza in front of Elma, who looked like she was about to snap, even with a smiling face. I have some confidence when ites to a firefight, but I¡¯ll definitely lose in hand-to-handbat y¡¯know.

    ¡°Okay then. Shall we?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s depart.¡±

 Chapter 28 â€“ Chaotic Battle

    <h4>Chapter 28 - Chaotic Battle</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After making our preparations, we made our way to the cockpit block and sat in our corresponding seats. I sat on the main pilot seat, Mimi on the operator seat, and Elma on the sub-pilot seat. Each had a newly bought high-tech juice bottle filled with our favorite drinks floating around beside us.

    ¡°Geez. We¡¯re about to go for a one-ship blitz assault deep into enemy lines, but the atmosphere isn¡¯t tense at all.¡±

    ¡°Better than being all nervous, right?¡±

    ¡°I trust Hiro-sama, so I don¡¯t feel nervous at all.¡±

    ¡°You sure are calm, aren¡¯t you, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I believe in Hiro-sama after all.¡±

    ¡°Man, you¡¯re giving me lots of pressure. Well, I¡¯ll try my best not to let you down then.¡±

    I smiled wryly as I reached out to my juice bottle and pulled out the straw.

    ¡°Yes! Ah, Hiro-sama, we¡¯ve received a transmission request just now. It¡¯s from the Imperial fleet heavy cruiser, the ¡ºGlorious¡». Should I patch it through?¡±

    ¡°The Imperial fleet? Sure, patch it through.¡±

    Man, and I was just about to enjoy my non-carbonated c¡­ As I thought that, Lieutenant Serena¡¯s visage appeared on the main cockpit disy. Lieutenant Serena was just about to say her piece, but froze up when she caught sight of our gravity spheres ©` or rather, our high-tech floating tumblers.

    ¡ºI was just about to say some words of encouragement, but it seems you¡¯re actually rather rxed.¡»

    ¡°Well, we¡¯re quite confident in our sess after all.¡±

    We¡¯ll close in as far as we can via the hyperspeed drive, fire those torpedoes and get the hell out. It¡¯s a pretty simple job. I¡¯m feeling pretty confident enough to enjoy some non-carbonated c on the side with practically no worries.

    ¡ºIs that so¡­ I was a bit concerned because we¡¯ll be starting the operation soon, but it looks like it was unwarranted after all. I do hope you aren¡¯t all talk, however.¡»

    ¡°Of course. I¡¯m a pro, y¡¯know.¡±

    Lieutenant Serena froze up again after hearing my reply and disyed a daring smile a few moments before she cut the transmission.

    ¡°That princess sure looks like she has a lot of free time on her hands, doesn¡¯t she? We¡¯re just your average mercenaries but she still went out of her way to send a transmission to check up on us.¡±

    ¡°I wonder how old she is?¡±

    ¡°No idea. Doesn¡¯t matter anyway. Cut them lines, Mimi. Initiatem silence.¡±

    ¡°Yes, initiatingm silence now.¡±

    ¡°Elma, increase engine output to maximum. Initiate hyperspeed drive sequence.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, sir. Engine output to maximum.¡±

    ¡°Hyperspeed drive, charging start.¡±

    ¡°Charging start¡­ Activating hyperspeed drive in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1¡­ Hyperspeed drive, activate!¡±

    Krishna¡¯s hyperspeed drive activated with a *dooon sound echoing out akin to an explosion. The countless lights in the far distance of space visible inside the cockpit immediately turned from stationary dots into bright lines akin to shooting stars.

    ¡°Keep an eye on the radar. Don¡¯t miss the timing for the Fed ship¡¯s warp-out.¡±

    ¡°¡±Roger!¡±¡±

    We¡¯ve already gotten a fairly urate approximation of the Fed fleet¡¯s warp-out coordinates. The tech known as hyperdrive uses a time-space pathway called a hypene that connects one spacial coordinate with another in order to achieve super-long-distance interster travel.

    In the process of fixing the exit point coordinates of a hypene, a certain area with unstable space ¡ºfluctuations¡» would inevitably appear, which could then be triangted in order to approximate the warp-out coordinates. That¡¯s why, as long as one knows which particr star system the enemy will be warping in from, an approximate warp-out point can be narrowed down to an extent.

    The n¡¯s basically to skim through the approximate warp-out coordinates in hyperspeed until the enemy fleet warps out.

    ¡°We¡¯ve caught some readings on the radar. Multiple warp-out responses confirmed!¡±

    ¡°Alright! Begin deceleration.¡±

    We immediately headed towards the Fed fleet¡¯s warp-out point and deactivated our hyperspeed drive at the same time as they exited from the hypene.

    ¡°Activate the emergency cooling system. Cut the generator output.¡±

    ¡°Activating the emergency cooling system. Cutting the power.¡±

    At the same time as Krishna¡¯s hyperspeed drive deactivated, its generator output was reduced to the bare minimum, and the emergency cooling system was activated. We entered thermal stealth mode.

    ¡°Great. Let¡¯s proceed to sneak up on those bastard.¡±

    ¡°You sure cane up with some very nasty methods¡­¡±

    ¡°Using your noggin in order to take advantage of everything at your disposal is necessary in order for you to survive in this business. If you can¡¯t at least do that, you¡¯ll probably die.¡±

    ¡°As expected of Hiro-sama.¡±

    We turned off the flight assist mode and approached the Federation fleet using only inertial propulsion. The Federation ships continued to warp-out one after another as we approached the center of the fleet.

    ¡°That¡¯s quite a view. It¡¯s actually kinda cool.¡±

    ¡°I guess. Seeing all those military warships in formation sure is quite the sight.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. There¡¯s a sense of majesty to it.¡±

    Seeing all those battleships, heavy cruisers, light cruisers, destroyers, and corvettes neatly lined up in a tight formation really was cool. But there¡¯s no sense in being immersed in such a spectacle.

    ¡°Looks like that¡¯s the gship.¡±

    I gazed at the ship in the center of the formation. There were transmissionsing from that ship that were being sent to the rest of the fleet. There¡¯s no mistake then. That¡¯s the enemy gship.

    ¡°Are we really heading straight for that?¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    I nodded in reply to Elma, whose face was now slightly devoid of color. C¡¯mon. We¡¯vee this far, so there¡¯s no sense in turning around anymore.

    ¡°The warp-out responses have stopped. All the Federation ships have arrived.¡±

    ¡°Alright. It¡¯s about time. We¡¯re already in effective range. Deactivate the emergency cooling system. Raise the generator output to maximum.¡±

    ¡°Ah geez¡­ Emergency cooling system deactivated. Generator output set to maximum!¡±

    ¡°Charge!¡±

    The emergency cooling system was deactivated, and pieces of ice started peeling off the ship¡¯s hull. I punched the ship¡¯s thrusters to maximum and rushed straight towards the center of the enemy fleet. My target was the battleship in the middle of the formation. It was most likely the enemy fleet¡¯s gship. But it¡¯s not like we did actually confirm it was.

    ¡º¡­? What? There¡¯s a response on the radar¡­!? Bandits,ing in fast! They¡¯re right above us! They¡¯ll close in soon!¡»

    ¡ºWhat did you say!? Was nobody manning the radar!?¡»

    ¡ºThat ship¡¯s heat signature is abnormally low! The bastards disguised themselves as normal debris!¡»

    ¡°Hahaha! They¡¯re panicking! They¡¯re absolutely panicking!¡±

    The Federation ship was hastily making some evasive actions, but we were already right in their faces, so it was toote already. They can¡¯t shoot us recklessly due to the danger of friendly fire. I weaved through the escort ships and opened the lower weapons bay.

    ¡°Gahahaha! Eat this, bastaaards!¡±

    I fired off the two anti-ship reactive torpedoes and raced through the gship¡¯s nk. Moments after, a huge explosion went off right in the middle of the enemy battleship. The ship was practically torn in two.

    ¡ºBattleship - Tiger Eye, shot down! The enemy fired off anti-ship reactive torpedoes!¡»

    ¡ºGoddammit! Mercenaries!? Don¡¯t mind friendly fire. Shoot them down with the multi-cannon turrets! But hold off on theser cannons, ballistic cannons and seeker missiles!¡»

    ¡°Yahooo! Now that¡¯s what I call giant-killing folks!!!¡±

    ¡°H- Hey! Don¡¯t ¡®yahoo¡¯ me! Let¡¯s hurry up and get out of here!¡±

    ¡°I gotcha!¡±

    Lots of lock-on warnings went off one after another inside the cockpit. Looks like they were determined to shoot down the enemy even if their gship was destroyed. They were able to reorganize their chain ofmand faster than I expected.

    ¡°Hey, wait a minute!? What about those crystal monsters!?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll take about thirty seconds before they materialize!¡±

    ¡°Haa!? Thirty seconds!? So what the heck are we supposed to do now!?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll evade like heck, of course! We¡¯re in the middle of their fleet so they can¡¯t use their more powerful weapons anyway. We¡¯ll be just fine!¡±

    ¡°¡®Just fine¡¯, my foot! You damn idiooot!¡±

    The enemy fleet¡¯s multi-cannons released a concentrated volley at the same time as Elma¡¯s scream. Countless numbers of bullets rushed towards Krishna, aiming to take it down.

    ¡°Release the chaff and reactivate the emergency cooling device!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve done that already!¡±

    ¡°Releasem silence, Mimi! Send the data to the imperial fleet!¡±

    ¡°Right away!¡±

    We activated all emergency evasion devices and systems and weaved through concentrated enemy fire by a hair¡¯s breadth. We couldn¡¯t avoid each and every round, of course. But Krishna¡¯s powerful shield did its work and prevented us from taking damage.

    Energy shields were originally developed to deal with space debris and were more than capable enough to defend against live rounds. It won¡¯t budge just from taking a bit of enemy fire.

    ¡°The energy shield is holding out well.¡±

    ¡°Use shield cells if needed! There¡¯s no need to hold back!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    ¡ºDammit! Their energy shield is tough for such a small ship¡­!¡»

    ¡ºThey¡¯re reading our cannon¡¯s effective ranges! Try to cover for each other¡¯s blind spots!¡»

    ¡ºThey¡¯re sticking too close¡­ What the-!?¡»

    Ignoring Elma¡¯s protests, I suddenly aimed towards the wide-open bottom of the heavy cruiser I¡¯ve been using as a shield from the rest of the enemy fleet and fired the shot cannons in session. The submunitions prated the heavy cruiser¡¯s shield that had already taken some friendly fire earlier and tore through its hull, riddling it with lots of holes.

    ¡°That¡¯s two down! Man, I¡¯m on fire!¡±

    After disabling the heavy cruiser, I turned the ship towards the next prey. But at that moment, it finally happened.

    In the wake of a shrill cry that prated straight through one¡¯s head, multiple tears in space began to appear.

    ¡°They¡¯re here guys! We¡¯re getting out of here!¡±

    ¡°Uwawa! So much came out!?¡±

    ¡°Ah geez! You¡¯re absolutely crazy!¡±

    What came out from the cracks in space were objects shaped like bullets - or perhaps fangs would be more appropriate. They were made entirely out of crystals. Their ends were pointed and seemed extremely sharp. It was as if their shape was specifically for the purpose of piercing through objects. They effectively made use of their shape, as their favorite means of attack was to charge ahead and pierce through all that stood in their path.

    But it wasn¡¯t their only means, as they could also fire off high-speed energy bullets from their bodies.

    ¡ºArge number of warp-out responses detected! These are¡­ crystal creatures!?¡»

    ¡ºWhy the heck are those ursed things in this kind of ce!?¡»

    ¡ºThey¡¯reing!? Uwaaaaaaa-!?¡»

    ¡ºInterception fire! Shoot them down! Use every weapon we have and shoot them down!¡»

    ¡ºYou damn fool! You¡¯ll hit us©`©` Gyaaaaa!¡»

    ¡ºHiii!? M- My leg!? I¡¯m getting devour¡­¡­ Nooooo! Stoooop! Aaaaaaaaah!?¡»

    It was a picture of absolute hell. With this, the fleet will fall into chaos. They won¡¯t even have the time or the leisure to chase us down.

    ¡°How awful¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear that from the guy who actually pulled the trigger.¡±

    Elma sighed in exasperation as she gave a cutting retort. It looks like Mimi was affected by the Federation soldier¡¯s cries of agony. Her face was pale as a ghost and she was trembling in shock.

    ¡°Mimi, you don¡¯t have to listen to that if you find it disturbing.¡±

    ¡°I- I¡¯m fine.¡±

    No, you don¡¯t look fine at all, girl. Well, since she insists, then so be it. I¡¯ll just have Elma man the radarter if the situation calls for it.

    ¡°Yosh, time to earn some money.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Huh?¡±

    ¡°Look. The Fed fleet¡¯s running around like headless chickens.¡±

    ¡°T- That¡¯s right, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°In other words, there¡¯s no better chance to shoot down those delicious-looking prey.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re joking, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m serious.¡±

    After saying that, I reversed the ship¡¯s heading and headed straight back towards the battlefield where the Fed fleet and the crystal creatures were duking it out.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    In my head, I heard the BGM of a certain movie that had apocalypse in the title, and got really hyped up.

    ¡°Gya-!? Nooo! We¡¯re gonna die! We¡¯re really gonna die! Idiot! You¡¯re one crazy idiot, aren¡¯t you!?¡±

    ¡°Elma¡­¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    ¡°There was once a great person akin to a redet who said this in the past: It¡¯s no big deal if it doesn¡¯t hit.¡±

    ¡°I bet he¡¯s also a friggin hopeless idiot!!!¡±

    Aw c¡¯mon. Compared to Red Comet-san¡¯s unit, Krishna even has energy shields equipped, so we¡¯re gonna be fine. That guy kept evading enemy fire that could have destroyed his unit in one shot and brought down ships like there was no tomorrow. Compared to him, we have it quite easy.

    While avoiding the crystal creatures that attacked the ship, I fired off the two remaining anti-ship reactive torpedoes against two separate targets. They were busy fending off the crystal creatures, so they didn¡¯t notice the torpedoes until it was toote. That was easy, man.

    ¡°They¡¯re grazing us! They¡¯re freaking grazing us, idiot! Aaah! There¡¯s a crystal monster heading for the starboard! Arge-caliberser cannon is targeting our portside!¡±

    ¡°A?nd there we go.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re really calm, aren¡¯t you, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Guys who panic in the battlefield are usually the first ones to die after all. You have to do your best to keep your cool at all times as well, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°I heard that y¡¯know!?¡±

    I shot down the crystal monster heading for us and focused on the Federation ship next.

    These crystal monsters actually aren¡¯t that strong individually. We still have our shields up, and the crystals making up their bodies aren¡¯t that tough, to begin with, so one shot with the shard cannon is all it takes to bring one down. It¡¯s a bit troublesome to shoot them down withsers though.

    I proceeded with raining downser and scattershot fire on the ships being heavily assaulted by the crystal monsters and shot down Federation ships one after another. I also aggroed the crystal monsters and baited arge number of them towards ship formations that were defending better than expected.

    ¡ºThat f*cking four-armed bastaaaard!!!¡»

    ¡ºI¡¯mma kill that goddamn prick!¡»

    ¡ºYou four-armed devil!¡»

    The Federation folks were really getting pissed off at me¡­ It¡¯s unfortunate guys, but this is war.

    The Fed ships got destroyed sessively as their crews let out cries of frustration and agony. I did it, dad. We¡¯re gonna have beefsteak tomorrow.

    ¡ºT- The Imperial fleet has made its move!¡»

    ¡ºGoddamit! Their timing¡¯s too perfect! This four-armed bastard and these crystal monsters were all sent by them huh!?¡»

    Looks like the Federation fleet has managed to detect the movement of the Imperial fleet. It looks like this is it for Bonus Time.

    ¡°This is as far as we go. We¡¯re withdrawing from the battlefield.¡±

    ¡°Finally!?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t wanna be caught in the bombardment of our allies after all.¡±

    The Imperial fleet would most likely let lose maximum firepower from long range. They were going to wipe out the Federation fleet together with the crystal monsters. We wouldn¡¯t be able to survive their bombardment if we continued to hang around here.

    ¡°Prepare the shield cells just in case. Release the chaff and res.¡±

    ¡°Releaseplete!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna floor itdies! Be careful not to bite your tongues!¡±

    I increased the thruster output to maximum and swiftly withdrew from the battlefield of the Federation fleet and the crystal monsters.

    ¡ºThat mercenary ship¡¯s making a run for it! Fire! Fire!¡»

    ¡ºDon¡¯t let that bastard get away!¡»

    ¡°Start charging the hyperspeed drive.¡±

    ¡°Charging start. Hyperspeed drive activation in 5, 4, 3,©`©`¡±

    ¡ºThe target has started charging their hyperspeed drive!¡»

    ¡ºGoddamiiit! You better remember this, you f*cking bastaaards!¡»

    ¡°Sorry, man. I already forgot. See ya!¡±

    ¡°©`2, 1¡­ Hyperspeed drive, activate.¡±

    We retreated from the battlefield with a *dooon sound akin to an explosion. There was no way to chase after our ship that had far surpassed the speed of sound and was escaping at near lightspeed. It¡¯ll be a different story if they also activated their hyperspeed drives. But, under that chaotic melee, I highly doubt they¡¯ll be able to.

 Chapter 29 â€“ Starcrossers!

    <h4>Chapter 29 - Starcrossers!</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°I really thought I was going to die¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Hahaha. Oh c¡¯mon. It wasn¡¯t that bad.¡±

    ¡°It certainly seems so, but¡­ as expected of Hiro-sama!¡±

    Elma looked like her soul just slipped out from her body and let out an utterly weary sigh while Mimi looked at me with a sparkling gaze. Fufufu. It¡¯s fine to praise me some more, y¡¯know.

    ¡°So, just how much did we earn this time?¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t really paying attention to the number of confirmed kills. How about it, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Um¡­ We managed to shoot down three battleships, four heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, thirteen destroyers, and twenty-one corvettes.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Quite a big haul. If I¡¯m not mistaken, a battleships us 2,000,000 Enel each, a heavy cruiser is 500,000, a light cruiser is 300,000, a destroyer is 100,000, and a corvette is 50,000. If we don¡¯t count the cost of the anti-ship torpedoes, we¡¯ve managed to earn 10,950,000 Enels huh. We¡¯ve really hit the jackpot this time!¡±

    ¡°Ten million nine hundred fifty thousand Enels¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Since we fired off four anti-ship torpedoes, a total of two million just went out the drain. So our real earnings is 8,950,000 Enels. My share is 3% of that amount, so I¡¯d get a total of 268,500 Enels.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. So Mimi¡¯s share is 44,750 Enels then.¡±

    ¡°Fourty four thousand seven hundred fifty Enels¡­¡­¡±

    It looks like Mimi was stunned silly after hearing howrge our earnings were. So, if I subtract their share, my total earnings is 8,636,750 Enels huh. My previous total savings was 2,200,000 Enels. I¡¯ve also managed to get about 500,000 Enels from selling the ck boxes and data caches of those Federation recon ships we encountered in the asteroid field. All in all, my total money right now is a little over 11,330,000 Enels. That¡¯s a lot of cash.

    ¡°So we now have about 11,330,000 Enels huh¡­ Looks like I¡¯m still short.¡±

    ¡°Your still short of money with that kind of amount? Are you nning to buy a new ship?¡±

    ¡°Nah. I want to purchase a nice-looking detached house with a garden on a residential somewhere.¡±

    ¡°I see. You¡¯re still short by a lot if that¡¯s the case.¡±

    I guess so, huh. In order to get myself a house on a residential in the Gran Empire, I¡¯ll need to fork out money to get the required first-ss citizenship andnd title. Those alone would cost several hundred millions, apparently. It looks like 11,330,000 Enels really is just a proverbial drop in the bucket.

    ¡°With your skill, wouldn¡¯t you be able to reach that goal faster by enlisting in the Gran Imperial Military and then aim to be a knight?¡±

    ¡°Uh, well¡­¡±

    The nobility system is the governing method adopted by the Gran Empire. People whoe from high ranking noble houses are tasked with the governance of each individual sector within the territory of the empire, supported by the general popce.

    The nobles generally do not allow people ofmon birth to ascend to their ranks because they ce utmost importance on the purity of their bloodlines. But there are some exceptions. Knighthood is one of them.

    If a soldier were to render enough outstanding merits in the service of the Gran Empire, they would be knighted, and would then be granted first-ss citizenship and rights more or less equal to those of a noble.

    ¡°Nah, I¡¯ll pass on that. Being a soldier or a knight sounds like a whole load of trouble. I¡¯ll just stick with earning money at a steady pace.¡±

    ¡°That sounds just like you. I do agree that it sounds troublesome though.¡±

    Elma smiled and shrugged her shoulders as she replied. Mimi¡­ still hasn¡¯t recovered from the shock, it seems. She was muttering ¡®enels, enels¡­¡¯ while spacing out.

    ¡°So what are we going to do next? It¡¯ll be awkward to rendezvous with the military fleet after the thing we just pulled off.¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t joining back up with the fleet be fine? If we caused even more of amotion at this point, there¡¯s a chance some of the other mercenaries would do something rash due to jealousy. Let¡¯s just stay put at the back of the fleet for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. Let¡¯s do that, then.¡±

    I pointed the bow towards the direction of the imperial fleet and used the hyperspeed drive to close in.

    ¡°This is the Krishna. We¡¯vepleted our mission and have returned.¡±

    I sent out a transmission as soon as the hyperspeed drive was deactivated. The operationmander, Lieutenant Serena, immediately opened am line. Her expression when her image appeared on Krishna¡¯s cockpit disy gave away her good mood.

    ¡ºThank you for your hard work. It looks like you¡¯ve made quite a lot of money, haven¡¯t you?¡»

    ¡°Yeah, I guess. It¡¯s alright, considering the risks we took. It¡¯s only proper that we got this much in return.¡±

    ¡ºI guess you¡¯re right. Please hand over thebat data then. Why didn¡¯t you get in some more kills?¡»

    ¡°We¡¯ll probably invite the jealousy of other mercs if we continued to stand out, so we decided to stop. The ammunition, chaff, res and shield cells were also getting consumed at a fast rate.¡±

    ¡ºI see. Well then, Krishna, please serve as one of the bombardment unit¡¯s escort ships for the remainder of the operation¡­¡­ By the way, do you have any idea why those crystal monsters suddenly appeared in the middle of the Federation fleet?¡»

    ¡°Maybe the Fed gship we shot down was carrying something dangerous?¡±

    I replied with the excuse I¡¯ve prepared beforehand. I¡¯d anticipated that we¡¯d be under suspicion as well, but the most they could do was specte, so it would be fine if we didn¡¯t let anything slip on our end. I¡¯m lying through my teeth, of course. But it¡¯s not like they have a method to find out the truth anyway. All the evidence got blown up by the anti-ship torpedoes after all.

    ¡º¡­¡­Let¡¯s leave it at that, then. Serena, out.¡»

    The transmission line was cut and the window disying Lieutenant Serena¡¯s image closed.

    ¡°Okay then. Let¡¯s just sit back and watch the fireworks until this operation is over, shall we?¡±

    ¡°This operation turned into such a one-sided game because of you after all.¡±

    ¡°Impressive, ain¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t get too cocky, buster¡­ is what I¡¯d like to say. But I really can¡¯t, with these results and all. It truly is impressive. Though there were a lot of times where I felt we were gonna get shot down.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re really amazing, Hiro-sama.¡±

    Mimi, who seemed to have recovered from her earlier shock, puffed out her bountiful chest in pride. Umu. Those sure are some nice breasts. Shooting down all those Fed mooks really wore me out. I¡¯m gonna have my girls spoil me rotten tonight. Guhehehe.

    The Termaine System defensive battle, as recorded in the historical archives, concluded in a surprisingly short time frame, considering its scale. It ended in aplete and utter victory for the Gran Empire, whose officials thought it would be a harsh, grueling battle at first.

    There were a lot of uncertain factors in this particr conflict. ording to the official records, the Vereverem Federation fleet had just warped out when a horde of crystal creatures suddenly attacked them and brought down arge number of ships.

    The Vereverem Federation suffered devastating losses in this battle, with almost 90% of their warships reduced to space debris. There were few surviving soldiers, and due to fear of public sentiment turning for the worse, the Vereverem Federation immediately implemented an information ckout.

    On the side of the Gran Empire, information regarding this battle was also unusually scarce. There is a high chance that they had also implemented some form of information control.

    Perhaps it¡¯s due to the unexpected and unexinable attack of crystal creatures on the Federation fleet.

    Just why had a great swarm of crystal creatures attacked the Vereverem Federation fleet that had resulted in them suffering tremendous losses?

    In the first ce, no matter howrge the number of crystal creatures, it was improbable for the Federation fleet to have suffered that level of damage from them, considering the fleet¡¯s overall strength. They would naturally have taken some losses, but not to that extent.

    At this point, rumors about a certain mercenary who had stayed at the Termaine System during the conflict surfaced.

    Yes. They were about the vaunted Captain Hiro. ording to the records, he was, in fact, present in the Termaine System during this period.

    And, as a result of an in-depth investigation, it was proven that he was assigned to a special mercenary squad helmed by the Imperial Military¡¯s famed Lieutenant Serena Holz at the time of the conflict.

    Captain Hiro and Lieutenant Serena Holz. The miraculous victory attained by the Gran imperial forces was achieved in the presence of these two individuals.

    There are few official records remaining, so there exists no definite proof of this conjecture, butter events gave rise to the saying that ¡®it wouldn¡¯t be a surprise for whatever fantastic incident to happen as long as those two were present¡¯. And it seemed this assertion, no matter how ridiculous it sounded, could not be dismissed as a mere rumor after all.

    Because, as you dear readers know, these two individuals have performed a number of great and wondrous feats in the course of their celebrated careers.

    ¡°Again?¡±

    ¡°Did she send one again, Hiro-sama?¡±

    Three days have passed since the end of the Termaine System defensive battle.

    Elma and Mimi let out fed up sighs and chided me when they saw my expression turn awkward after I checked out a message that was sent to my personal data terminal. My face must have looked really terrible for the two of them to react like that.

    It was a super passionate love call from my dear Lieutenant Serena.

    ¡ºThe Gran Imperial Armed Forces are in need of talented pilots! Competitive sry! Complete employee benefits! Automatic granting of ss 1 Imperial citizenship! Plus a lot more perks and substantial bonuses! The Gran Imperial Armed Forces wants you!¡»

    These were roughly the contents of said message. She was spamming my private inbox with these kinds of messages these past few days. She was also sending emails to my Mercenary Guild ount. It was a full-blown spam mail harassment scheme.

    ¡°So, what are you going to do? From the looks of things, that woman won¡¯t stop until she gets what she wants.¡±

    ¡°Her eyes were like those of a hunter eyeing her prey.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not exactly happy about it either, you guys.¡±

    I¡¯d normally wee a hot girl hitting on me, but it¡¯s a different story if said girl was just doing so in order to force me to enlist in the military and be her subordinate. I¡¯m going to have to say ¡®no, thank you¡¯ to that. No matter how high the pay they¡¯re offering, it still won¡¯t trump the potential earnings I can get while working as a mercenary. I¡¯d also have to say goodbye to personal freedom if I did enlist. And don¡¯t even mention the possibility of having to hand over my Krishna.

    I¡¯m a bit interested in being granted ss 1 Imperial citizenship and employee benefits, but it¡¯s not like I absolutely need those employee benefits anyway. And I can always apply for citizenship once I managed to make enough money to pay for the registration fees. It was honestly not something I¡¯d really consider at this point.

    ¡°Oh, to hell with it. Let¡¯s just run.¡±

    ¡°Is that alright?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine with it. Choosing their next destination freely is one of a mercenary¡¯s basic rights. Getting away from here before things get out of hand seems to be the smart choice, in my opinion.¡±

    Mimi inclined her head while looking a bit worried towards Elma, who stood up from her seat.

    ¡°We¡¯ve finished restocking everything apart from the anti-ship reactive torpedoes, so we can depart immediately if you like.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like we¡¯ll be needing those torpedoes immediately anyway. That¡¯s fine then. Let¡¯s hustle, girls.¡±

    And torpedoes costing 500,000 Enels a piece aren¡¯t exactly run-of-the-mill merchandise you can just purchase from the market whenever you want anyway. They¡¯re actually quite rare. Most weapons dealers don¡¯t have them in stock, it seems. It¡¯s not like the game, where you could easily buy them from specialty shops or the item mall.

    ¡°W- We won¡¯t get in trouble for this, right¡­?¡±

    Mimi still seems bothered about escaping the Termaine star system, but it¡¯s not like we¡¯re wanted fugitives or something. The other party is a duty-bound military officer. She probably won¡¯t be able to pursue us even if she wanted to.

    ¡°So, where are we going next anyway?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit far from here. We¡¯ll need to pass through six other star systems.¡±

    ¡°Six systems¡­ So we¡¯re really going to that ce we talked about yesterday huh?¡±

    ¡°Yup. It¡¯s the ma of Imperial medical technology.¡±

    ¡°The Alein star system, right?¡±

    ¡°Uhuh, that¡¯s right.¡±

    We talked about our next destination as the three of us headed towards the cockpit.

    We¡¯re nning on going to the Alein star system next. It¡¯s a ce where state-of-the-art medical space stations and colonies specializing in biotechnology research and development are gathered.

    ¡°I heard their specialties are different kinds of artificial meat and a great variety of gically enhanced produce.¡±

    ¡°How about booze?¡±

    ¡°Well, since they have gically enhanced produce, I¡¯m betting they have some kinds of alcohol that make use of those as ingredients as well, right?¡±

    ¡°It sounds lovely! I think we¡¯ll get to taste a lot more gourmet delicacies once we get there!¡±

    I sat on the pilot seat while Mimi and Elma sat on the operator seat and sub-pilot seat respectively. We snapped on our seatbelts.

    ¡°Mimi, send out a sortie request.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    ¡°Elma, you¡¯re in charge of monitoring the generator output and subsystems like always.¡±

    ¡°I gotcha. Roger.¡±

    ¡°We got an OK for the sortie request.¡±

    ¡°Great! We¡¯re bailing, guys!¡±

    Our ship disengaged from the hangar bay docking mechanism, retracted thending gear, and sted off into open space.

    The scenery in outer space is majestic and beautiful as always. Seeing it kinda reminds me just how insignificant an existence I am in the grand scheme of things. But, at the same time, I¡¯m also excited by the prospect of traveling through the vast sea of stars towards the greater universe.

    ¡°So, first stop is the Rouma star system.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve set the coordinates on the navi.¡±

    Mimi fiddled with the console in front of the operator seat and inputted the destination coordinates on the navigation system. I pointed Krishna¡¯s bow towards the coordinates indicated by the navigation system.

    ¡°I¡¯m firing up the hyperspeed drive.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha. Hyperspeed drive activation, countdown start.¡±

    ¡°5, 4, 3, 2, 1¡­¡­ Hyperspeed drive, activate!¡±

    Krishna elerated explosively and started heading towards our new destination.

    ¡°Our destination is the Rouma star system. Hyper Drive, charging start.¡±

    ¡°Hyper Drive,mencing charge sequence.¡±

    ¡°Hyper Lane linking, finished.¡±

    ¡°Countdown. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ©`©` Hyper Drive, activate!¡±

    The space in front of the ship warped, and we plunged straight into the Hyper Lane.

    Right, then. Let¡¯s get this journey rolling. It¡¯ll be a great journey across this boundless universe. And this time, it¡¯s not a game.

    ¡°You¡¯ve certainly made great achievements during thest operation¡­ But, are you really fine with this?¡±

    The terminal screen disyed the face of my uncle making a worried expression on the other side of the line. A smile crept onto my lips as I nodded in affirmation.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve always pushed for the formation of a special independent unit that will go around the empire¡¯s territories in order to hunt down pirate groups, haven¡¯t I? I just think now would be the perfect time to finally put it into practice.¡±

    ¡°With your abilities, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll be able to easily get you a post on a more well-known and distinguished unit¡­ but it seems there¡¯s no point convincing you, is there? Understood. I¡¯ll go ahead with the preparations.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°Mm. Do take care.¡±

    My uncle cut off the transmission on his end. The projection on the holo-disy got cut off automatically as well.

    ¡°Fufu¡­ I¡¯m not going to let you get away, you know?¡±

    I gazed at the light trail left behind by a certain starship as it plunged into the depths of space and muttered under my breath.

    My expression reflected on the ss window disyed a distinct, daring smile.

 Chapter 30 â€“ Volume 2 Prologue

    <h4>Chapter 30 - Volume 2 Prologue</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I opened my eyes to a sight of dazzling radiance.

    Countless torrents of light streamed past my vision. They flew towards me from the front and disappeared behind me, forming a pale, bluish-white corridor of light. The ¡®corridor¡¯ of light enveloped me from all sides. And whaty before me, towards the furthest distance, was a single point of twinkling light. It was the glow of a star with the same color as the light streams flowing past.

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t tell me you fell asleep?¡±

    A voice tinged with annoyance came from my left. Now then, just whose voice was it, I wonder? In the first ce, just where the heck am I?

    I moved my confused gaze toward a holographic disy in front of me. It resembled a control panel with lots of buttons. There were also several virtual gauges. Were the streams of light in front of me actually part of an¡­ HD disy or something? They looked quite realistic for some special effects.

    ¡°Hiro-sama?¡±

    I heard someone call out in a worried voice. Hiro-sama? I am¡­ My name is Takahiro Satou. I¡¯m not some ¡®Hiro-sama¡¯. But this voice seems kind of familiar¡­

    I felt the presence of someone approaching me.

    ¡°Ouch!?¡±

    I felt an impact hit my forehead. It was quite painful.

    ¡°You¡¯ve got a lot of guts dozing around in the cockpit, buster¡­¡±

    ¡°E- Elma-san, don¡¯t be too violent¡­¡±

    I turned around while holding my aching forehead and finally saw the figures of the one who knocked her fist on top of my head and the one who sounded worried about me.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­ Now I remember.¡±

    ¡°Remembered what?¡±

    The name of the woman who was looking at me with an angry gaze was Elma. She had long, pointy ears and moderate ¡®assets¡¯ out front. Her fine, delicate hair strands were pale silver in color. Her skin was milky smooth. She also had a lithe figure. No matter how you looked at her, she was unmistakably an honest-to-goodness elf.

    But her clothes were that of a typical mercenary, without a lot of skin exposure. It was a peculiarbination of cyberpunk and fantasy elements. She even had a boorishser gun strapped on her hip via holster. She was someone who didn¡¯t really seem like an elf if you took away those pointy ears of hers; how truly disappointing.

    She was a veteran merc boasting a five-year-long career. But she was now working as one of my ship¡¯s crew members.

    The reason why she ended up boarding my ship was¡­ well, let¡¯s just say it was due to a truly unfortunate ident. The ship she piloted ran out of control while in the middle of arge-scale pirate subjugation operation and crashed right into a military warship.

    As a result, she owed the military a massive amount of mary penalties. However, even after selling all her assets (including her starship), she couldn¡¯t fully cover the imposed amount and was nearly sent to a harsh prison colony. And it was at this point that I ended up bailing her out by paying her debt.

    Afterward, she became a member of my ship¡¯s crew. She was working in order to repay her debt to me and obtain enough funds to purchase a new starship.

    Incidentally, I managed to find out in the end that the huge amount of penalties they pped her with was actually unreasonably highpared to the gravity of her offense. I investigated it, and it reeked of suspiciousness. In the first ce, there was actually nothing in the official military database that stipted she was to be fined mary penalties.

    That being the case, a penalty amount and deadline was still issued due to a mistake in the processing of her case. The guy who made the mistake was apparently reassigned to a frontier-based penal unit which had atrociously high mortality rates. It was really scary that one mistake cost the guy a one-way ticket to a penal unit. It really was the best decision to stay the heck away from the imperial military.

    ¡°Oh, just some stuff about the two of you, among other things.¡±

    ¡°Did you actually forget about the two of us¡­¡­?¡±

    A young girl sporting a sorrowful expression peeked out from behind Elma.

    ¡°Nah, I was just half-asleep.¡±

    The name of the young girl peeking from behind Elma was Mimi.

    She was a really cute girl with light-brown hair and pupils. They were hidden behind Elma right now, but her ample frontal ¡®assets¡¯ were ¡®battleship¡¯ tier. However, her overall build was just in the ¡®destroyer¡¯ tier.

    She was also my crewmember just like Elma. She also ended up boarding my ship due to a massive debt issue¡­ But, unlike Elma, she really couldn¡¯t be med for her previous plight.

    Her parents died in an ident that caused a lot of damage to the colony they were living in. The ensuing indemnities all fell onto her juvenile shoulders.

    She really shouldn¡¯t have been punished for it, but due to the whims and schemes of adults who should have known better, she ended up burdened by it anyway. And no one offered her a helping hand.

    But she luckily met me, who happened to have enough financial capability to rescue her from the situation she was in. I ended up actually saving her and she became one of my crewmembers as a result. In fairytales, this would have been a ¡®happily-ever-after¡¯ ending already, but this was unfortunately reality. Even after being freed from her debt, it didn¡¯t change the fact that she already lost her home.

    So, as part of my responsibility as the one who saved her, I ended up looking after her as well. I weed her as a crewmember and assigned her a supporting role as my ship¡¯s operator.

    She¡¯s now currently learning the ropes of being an operator from the ground up. She was learning from a training AI and Elma¡¯s lectures and was in the middle of gaining valuable first-hand experience as a qualified starship operator.

    ¡°You¡¯re still quite the cold-hearted guy even if you were just spacing out as you said. You¡¯ve already done all sorts of ¡®stuff¡¯ to both of us after all.¡±

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon¡­ Don¡¯t make it sound like I¡¯m the bad guy here. Cut me some ck.¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯m just saying the truth, right?¡±

    ¡°I guess I can¡¯t deny that huh.¡±

    Yeah. I¡¯m in ¡®that¡¯ kind of rtionship with both of them.

    This world had an entirely different set of customs and culturepared to Japan. There was a lot of iprehensible stuff they considered asmon sense here. I¡¯ve not managed to learn all of them, but one particr custom was¡ºa woman who gets on-board a man¡¯s private starship was to be considered as the man¡¯s lover¡»or something like that.

    It was utterly absurd, right? I also find it ridiculous. But that¡¯s just how it is. I still don¡¯t have a full grasp of this world¡¯s history, but I¡¯m sure lots of factors contributed to this particr custom bing part of universalmon sense. Even so, I had no choice but to ept such a custom anyway.

    The two of them got on-board my ship fully prepared for such a thing. Well, the two of them didn¡¯t have much of a choice anyway, so I guess you could say they had to ept such an oue due to the circumstances.

    On the other hand, I invited them to get on my ship without thinking things through all that much. I just simply wanted them as part of my crew, apart from taking pity on them, and invited them on-board. But the two of them misunderstood my intentions and thought I was raring to get into ¡®that¡¯ sort of rtionship with them after inviting them.

    Due to me and my careless remarks, I ended up taking responsibility and got into ¡®that¡¯ sort of rtionship with the two of them even if it wasn¡¯t my intention in the first ce. It was considered asmon sense after all.

    I had to bite the bullet and ept the consequences. Besides, they were already cornered by their debts, and there was virtually no way out for them except for going with my suggestion.

    Mimi didn¡¯t have any rtives left, and without a way to protect herself, she would have just ended up getting caught by low-lives in the slums, toyed around with, and thrown aside like garbage once they got tired of her.

    Elma, on the other hand, would have been imprisoned in a prison colony filled with former pirates as convicts if she failed to pay her dues. There was no telling what they would have done to her once they found out she was a former mercenary. It seems that they didn¡¯t separate male and female convicts in this world after all. What would have awaited her was a lifetime of violence and abuse.

    I ended up saving them from those cruel fates, and they both boarded my ship as a result. Thus, I couldn¡¯t really refuse them when they told me they wanted to get into ¡®that¡¯ sort of rtionship with me. Mimi was even afraid I would abandon her if she didn¡¯t offer herself to me. In Elma¡¯s case, I think she would have gotten along just fine if she wasn¡¯t fined that ridiculous amount of debt.

    Well, whatever the case, I already ended up in a serious rtionship with the two of them. Objectively speaking, I was a goddamn bastard who took advantage of their debts toy my grubby hands on two breath-taking beauties. I really can¡¯t offer any excuse for myself.

    But please think of it this way. A big-breasted loli and an elf with a wless appearance both offered themselves up to me willingly without any sort of resistance. Is there any honest-to-goodness guy alive who can resist such delightful temptations?

    Well, maybe there were. Yeah, maybe there are some guys who can do that.

    But I¡¯m not one of them goddammit! I confess folks! I¡¯m the kind of guy who¡¯s weak to those kinds of stuff and thinks with his lower half when subjected to them, okay!

    I¡¯m certainly no damn saint who wouldn¡¯t do anything in those kinds of situations. Want me to say it inly for you? I¡¯m the guy who¡¯d unhesitatingly pick the option that would lead to ero developments in games if they were avable. Sorry folks.

    ¡°But if both of you don¡¯t like it- ¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m saying I don¡¯t like that sort of stuff you idiot.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t hate doing it with you either.¡±

    They both indignantly told me off. Elma¡¯s face blushed bright red as she turned away. Mimi, on the other hand, had a serious expression on as she stared at me unblinkingly with an air of conviction.

    ¡°Yeah, I got it. I love you girls.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°I- Is that so?¡±

    Mimi smiled blissfully after I expressed my feelings. Elma shyly lowered her head in embarrassment. Yep. My girls are the cutest.

    Well then, time for some proper self-introductions.

    The name¡¯s Takahiro Satou. Right now, I¡¯m going by alias ¡®Captain Hiro¡¯.

    The small-sizedbat starship we¡¯re riding on right now is called the ¡¾ASX-08 Krishna¡¿. It¡¯s likely a unique, one-of-a-kind ship in this world, and I simply call it ¡®Krishna¡¯.

    We¡¯re currently in hyperspace - around the vicinity of the Ghanam star system - heading for the Alein star system. Let¡¯s leave the pseudo-science mumbo-jumbo about hypenes and hyperspace forter. Let me brief you about this world first.

    I don¡¯t know the exact name of the world - this gxy - I¡¯m currently in right now. It seems nobody actually named the gxy in the first ce. Anyway, interster navigation technology has greatly developed in this gxy. The people here had already broken away from the hold of gravity on each of their natives, and have spread out to the great ocean of stars. I suddenly found myself stranded in this gxy one day; along with this ship - the Krishna.

    The only thing that I was familiar with from my former world was this Krishna. Uh, it¡¯s not like we had futuristic starships like this in my former world, okay. As far as I know, we¡¯ve only managed to develop things like orbital space research stations where astronauts carry out a number of experiments in the zero-G environment of outer space. We haven¡¯t evene close to developing space colonies where people can live normally.

    People were living on Earth, like usual. What I meant when I said I was familiar with this ship is that this was a unit I had in a video game I was ying.

    I was really into an MMO called Ste Online before I found myself in this unfamiliar gxy. It was a game where you could do stuff like exploring a massive online gxy, going on adventures, participating in battles, engaging in trade and making money and the like.

    I got Krishna as a prize from a game event. It was a unique unit I was using in the game. I think some of the sharper ones out there have already gotten an idea about my circumstances. I actually got transported to a world highly resembling Ste Online.

    There was a lot of stuff on the ship I was familiar with from my time ying Ste Online. There are also things like space pirates who liked to attack civilian ships and crystal creatures that indiscriminately attacked all other living organisms in the gxy. These are also just like the ones I¡¯ve encountered in Ste Online.

    But it¡¯s not like everything¡¯s the same. There a lot of ship models and parts in the market that didn¡¯t exist in Ste Online, and the name of the star systems weren¡¯t the ones I was familiar with back in the game. I also haven¡¯t heard of any of the gctic empires ruling said star systems before as well.

    I wasn¡¯t sure if this was really a different gxy or if I was just thrown to an unexplored corner of it. That¡¯s because we still haven¡¯t managed to explore the entire virtual gxy back when I was still ying Ste Online.

    Ste Online has already reached more than four years in service, but the yers haven¡¯t managed to explore every corner of the gxy just yet. Yeah. It¡¯s still like that even after four years. ¡®Just how big is this overworld?¡¯ the yers often asked.

    In other words, if this ce was the side of the gxy we¡¯ve yet to explore, it goes without saying that I wouldn¡¯t be familiar with the local star systems. No one¡¯s reached this ce in the game yet after all. So I wouldn¡¯t be familiar with it as well.

    I tried searching for the Sr system as well and didn¡¯t find it. We also haven¡¯t found an equivalent of the Sr system in Ste Online, so we weren¡¯t sure if it really wasn¡¯t included in the game or just wasn¡¯t discovered yet.

    Anyway, I found myself in the middle of such an iprehensible situation and am now stuck here. Fortunately, I found myself able to pilot Krishna without any major problems and proceeded to make a living as a mercenary just like in the game. I had funds due to the stuff I found inside Krishna when I first got here, but they would have been used up sooner orter.

    I don¡¯t know how I got here, but the fact is I found myself in a world simr to the game I was ying. I might as well enjoy it instead of brooding over my situation.

    And so, I became a mercenary, met Elma and Mimi, hunted down pirates, and teamed up with my fellow mercs to render meritorious service to the imperial military.

    But it looks like I stood out way too much. I got eyed by a beautiful but dangerous-looking female Imperial officer and pestered daily into joining the army. I got annoyed by it, so I decided to escape from the clutches of the scary imperial military and ran away. What I sought for was freedom.

    Mercenaries like us ought to be free after all. We¡¯re free to move to another sector if we feel that it would make us more profit by doing so. It may not be so bad to join the imperial military, but I¡¯d still be able to make a decent living as a mercenary even without involving myself with the military. There¡¯s absolutely no problem.

    By the way, the three of us on this ship each have our own goals.

    My goal is to buy a detached house with a nice garden on a residential somewhere in this gxy. Oh, and I want to drink lots and lots of carbonated drinks as well.

    This gxy didn¡¯t have carbonated drinks avable for some reason. I tried to investigate, but couldn¡¯t find out why this was the case. I couldn¡¯t find any clues regarding carbonated drinks no matter what media I used. I really don¡¯t understand.

    But I have heard before that it was hard to drink carbonated drinks in a zero-G environment or something. I don¡¯t know just how it turned out this way, but it really looks like carbonation has be a form of lost technology out here in space.

    So I decided to revive and spread the wonderfulness of drinking carbonated drinks to terrestrials in this gxy instead. And afterward, I¡¯ll get to drink to my heart¡¯s content.

    Anyway, that¡¯s why my goal is to buy a house with a garden on a residential. It seems like in order to do that within the empire, I¡¯d have to get first-ss citizenship and fork out several hundreds of millions of Enels. It was crazily expensive.

    Mimi¡¯s goal was to tour the gxy and taste all the gourmet food it has to offer. There should be a lot of mysterious, tasty treats we¡¯ve yet to eat out there in this wide gxy after all. She wanted to eat all of them. That¡¯s Mimi¡¯s ultimate goal. It¡¯s a simple yet grand-sounding goal! I¡¯m tagging along for the ride as well, by the way. I¡¯m also secretly aiming to have Mimi drink carbonated beverages as part of our gourmet adventure as well.

    Lastly, there¡¯s Elma. In addition to fully paying me back for her debt, she wanted to earn enough money to be able to restart as an independent mercenary again someday.

    She currently owes me about 3,000,000 Enels. One Enel is equivalent to one hundred Japanese Yen, so when converted, she owes me three hundred million Yen. That¡¯s a lot of money. That said, Elma¡¯s actually earned more than 260,000 Enels during our pirate hunting gig and run-in with the Federation in the Termaine star system. I¡¯m sure she¡¯d be able to pay me back within a year or two at this pace.

    Well, she did have to buy herself a new ship if she wanted to get back to being an independent mercenary again, so she¡¯d still have to stay as my crewmember even after paying back her debt.

    These are our current circumstances.

    We¡¯re now heading towards the ce with the best medical technology in the empire; the Alein star system.

    The reason for this is me being unable to tell the girls honestly that I¡¯m a guy who wandered into this alternate gxy from another world. Because I wasn¡¯t familiar with things the locals consider asmon knowledge, I ended up giving the excuse that I was involved in an ident during Hyperdrive and got selective amnesia.

    Elma and Mimi got really worried after hearing that and suggested I get myself a detailed check-up at a medical station. It would seem suspicious if I refused such a suggestion, and I was also interested in having my body checked out as well, so I agreed in the end. I got transferred from another dimension after all. I want to make sure there wasn¡¯t anything funny going on with my body. There¡¯s always the possibility of some disorders popping up, so I wanted to make sure.

    Anyway, that¡¯s why we¡¯re heading for the Alein star system. We were after their cutting-edge medical facilities there. It¡¯s something important, so I had to stress it twice.

 Chapter 31 â€“ SOS Signal

    <h4>Chapter 31 - SOS Signal</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The Alein star system is a flourishing ce sporting two residentials, three active technological research colonies, and onemercial trade colony.

    It doesn¡¯t have an expansive asteroid belt area like the Termaine system, but it mainly obtains wealth through the export of their high tech products andponent parts. Thus, it¡¯s amon sight to see arge number of mercantile shipsing and going to and from the system.

    And, of course, opportunistic pirate groups aiming for said ships are also fairlymon.

    Due to this system being a ce of strategic and economic importance to the empire, the military¡¯s on-going crackdown against the pirate groups is more strictly enforcedpared to other ces. But even so, their patrols can¡¯t possibly cover the entirety of this rtivelyrge star system. That meant more jobs for mercenaries like us.

    ¡°That¡¯s the Alein system in a nutshell.¡±

    ¡°Bravo?!¡±

    I pped encouragingly after Mimi¡¯s concise exnation of the Alein star system¡¯s particrs. She was holding her personal tablet terminal in one hand and looked quite professional. It seems she was a bit embarrassed due to my unreserved praise. Her cute face reddened in a light blush.

    ¡°So, which colony are we heading to?¡±

    ¡°Since the research colonies strictly prohibit the entry of anyone apart from the actual researchers, we¡¯ll be heading to the trading colony instead.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s still an opportunity for us to visit those ces if we took delivery requests from the guild branch in the trading colony. But it¡¯s not like we¡¯ll get to see any interesting stuff if we do manage to go there. There¡¯s nothing worth visiting after all. They don¡¯t have a single tourist attraction avable.¡±

    ¡°It sounds like quite the dull ce. How do they even get any entertainment over there?¡±

    ¡°The only entertainment they need is research work, apparently. The people staying there are all honest-to-goodness research addicts.¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±

    Just hearing about it already made me feel all worn out. It sounds like a ce filled with workaholics treating their jobs as their hobbies. I wouldn¡¯t want to stay there long even if we do need to go there.

    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s set course for the trading colony. Elma.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, Sir?!¡±

    Elma, who was sitting on the sub-pilot seat, pointed Krishna¡¯s bow towards the coordinates leading to Alein system¡¯smercial trade colony.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be arriving in approximately fifteen minutes.¡±

    ¡°Roger. Keep a sharp lookout while on the way. Please pay careful attention to the radar readings, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Mimi responded enthusiastically and moved her attention to the hyperspace sensor that can be used even when the ship is in the middle of traveling via hyperspeed drive. It seems normal sensors just won¡¯t cut it when a starship is moving near the speed of light¡­ or so I¡¯m told. The only thing that will work is the hyperspace sensor. And, of course, I have absolutely no idea how the thing works. What¡¯s ¡®hyperspace¡¯ anyway?

    In any case, if we use this thing, we¡¯ll be able to keep a constant lookout over a wide range even while traveling via hyperspeed drive. We can detect the presence of other ships within the sensor¡¯s effective range, as well as former battlefields field with drifting debris. Also, we can pick up SOS signals; even though encountering such a situation is fairly rare.

    ¡°Um, Hiro-sama. I managed to pick up an SOS signal.¡±

    ¡°What the heck!? And they call this rare!?¡±

    ¡°I understand how you feel, but we can¡¯t just ignore it.¡±

    I would¡¯ve normally ignored such a side-event if this happened in the game, but I can¡¯t just do that now that it¡¯s happened in reality. A mercenary starship is also obligated to respond to an SOS signal, except under certain special circumstances.

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. Please change our course toward the SOS signal¡¯s coordinates. There¡¯s a good chance of encountering hostiles, so brace yourselves.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    Krishna changed course and headed towards the SOS signal¡¯s coordinates. We can¡¯t be absolutely sure unless we see the situation for ourselves, but there aren¡¯t many reasons where sending out an SOS signal is necessary. It¡¯s either a starship encountering some form of mechanical trouble or being assaulted by pirates.

    We can just temporarily let the crew on-board and tow their ship to the nearest station or colony in case of a mechanical breakdown. If it¡¯s a pirate assault¡­ then a battle is inevitable.

    ¡°A few more moments to contact. Deactivating hyperspeed drive in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1¡­ Contact!¡±

    *Boom! The hyperspeed drive deactivated; apanied by a booming sound akin to an explosion. Krishna got ejected to normal space. We immediately checked the radar and caught five responses. A single medium-sized ship was being chased by four smaller ones.

    ¡°It looks like we hit the jackpot. The one being chased looks like a medium-sized passenger cruise ship.¡±

    ¡°The SOS signal ising from that ship. We¡¯re moving out then. Mimi, scan them and send out a courtesy call!¡±

    ¡°Yes! This is a ship affiliated with the Mercenary Guild, callsign ¡ºKrishna¡». We came here in response to the SOS signals being sent out. To the unidentified ships attacking the passenger cruiser, halt your assault immediately!¡±

    Mimi gave out a cease-fire warning while scanning the other ships at the same time. Their response, however, was quite straightforward.

    ¡°They locked on to us.¡±

    The unidentified ships immediately activated their weapon systems. Since they¡¯ve already locked on to us, I guess they¡¯re saying further words are unnecessary huh.

    ¡°Mark them all as hostiles. Weapon systems online. Raise the generator output to battle level.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, Sir. Weapon systems online. Raising output.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do this!¡±

    Our ship¡¯s weapon systems immediately activated, and four maniptor arms sportingrge-caliber pulseser cannons popped out from the hull. At the same time, two cannon barrels popped out from both sides of the cockpit, gleaming menacingly.

    ¡°The four ships have all been ced with corresponding bounties.¡±

    ¡°Great. We can shoot them all down without holding back then.¡±

    Two of the ships chasing down the passenger cruiser broke away from their formation and headed for us. I responded in kind and moved Krishna towards them as well.

    ¡ºThis guy¡¯s fas- ¡»

    I¡¯m not obligated to let them get the first shot anyway. I locked on to one of them immediately and fired all fourrge-caliber pulseser cannons. The enemy ship¡¯s energy shields were saturated easily and brought down.

    ¡ºWhat the-!? The shields!?¡»

    ¡°That¡¯s one down.¡±

    I fired therge-caliber canister-shot cannons at the now-defenseless ship when we passed each other by, and its hull was immediately filled with countless holes.

    These two cannons - alternatively called shotgun cannons - fired live rounds that scattered innumerable smaller submunitions, and packed quite a punch. It was a fairly destructive weapon. Its range was limited, but its destructive ability was quite high. One shot was all it took to bring down a shield-less enemy ship and reduce it to swiss cheese.

    ¡°These shard cannons of yours are brutal as usual.¡±

    ¡°Calling them shard cannons is so old-fashioned.¡±

    ¡°Old-fashioned, he says¡­¡±

    While we exchange pointless banter inside the cockpit, the flight assist system made the ship turn around, positioning us right behind the exposed rear end of the other enemy ship.

    ¡°Fire?! Fire?!¡±

    I fired another volley of pulsesers and brought down the enemy ship¡¯s shield, destroying its main thrusters afterward.

    ¡ºNo! Stooo-¡»

    ¡°No way.¡±

    I heard someone begging for his life through thems and ignored itpletely. These damn pirates attack unsuspecting civilian ships, kill all the crew and rob everything valuable they¡¯re able to find inside. They also tend to capture civilian passengers for ve trade. They¡¯re not worth sparing. Not one bit.

    After losing their shield and main thrusters, the enemy ship got pelted by a merciless volley of pulseser fire. After getting hit by all fourrge-caliber pulseser cannons, the enemy ship promptly exploded and was shot down.

    ¡°That¡¯s two. Next!¡±

    ¡°There are only two more enemy ships remaining¡­ but it looks like they already turned tail and fled.¡±

    Maybe they got terrified after we easily dispatched two of theirrades, so the two remaining ships chasing down the passenger cruiser hastily pulled away and escaped from the area.

    ¡°The hell! Don¡¯t run, you bastards!¡±

    ¡ºDon¡¯t screw around! We¡¯re not fighting a monster like you!¡»

    One of the surviving enemy ships retorted back viams. Guess he¡¯s one of the smarter pirates out there. Oops, now¡¯s not the time for being impressed. We¡¯re still a bit far from the passenger ship. Can I make it?

    ¡°The pirates have activated their hyperspeed drives!¡±

    ¡°Make iiiiiiit!¡±

    They¡¯re nearly in range of ourser cannons. Just a bit more¡­¡­!

    ¡ºLater, bastards!¡»

    *Boom! The pirate ships turned into streaks of light after the sound of explosions and sessfully escaped from the area. It¡¯s not impossible to give chase¡­ but aiding the attacked passenger ship was more of a priority.

    ¡°Dammit. They sure can run away.¡±

    ¡°It was an impressive escape for mere pirates. We sometimes encounter guys like those. Pirates who use their brains.¡±

    ¡°Those types are really troublesome¡­¡­¡±

    We could have shot them down if we managed to get them within range of our weapons, but it looks like this time¡¯s a bust¡­ It¡¯ll be a different story if we had weapons sporting even greater range than the pulseser cannons though. Something like arge-caliber electromaic rail cannon perhaps.

    ¡°Oh well. Please connect us to the passenger cruiser. If their navigation systems are fine, we¡¯ll proceed to recover the loot from the destroyed pirate ships.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not obligated to escort them back after all.¡±

    It sounds a bit cold, but that¡¯s how it is. It¡¯s not like we epted a request to guard the passenger ship, so we¡¯re not obligated to look after them. But it still depends on their affiliation and their following demands.

    In this world, mercenary ships that manage to pick up a distress signal are obligated to lend aid if possible. But the extent of that aid can be somewhat negotiated. It would be through the distressed party offering additional remuneration and rewards.

    Thepensation amount wouldrgely depend on the number of passengers and valuables present on a ship, but a medium-sized passenger cruise ship was certainly a promising prospect. It can be said that we were unfortunate to have been involved in such an incident just after arriving at this star system. But it can also be considered a lucky break - marily speaking, that is. That¡¯s how we mercenaries earn a living.

    ¡ºThis is the Koueimaru. We¡¯re a civilian passenger ship affiliated with Inagawa Technology. We¡¯re grateful for your help.¡»

    We picked up a reply from them line Mimi connected. The Koueimaru of Inagawa Technology? A Japanesepany? It¡¯s written in katakana, but the name ¡®Koueimaru¡¯ can also be written in kanji.

    ¡°We¡¯re d you¡¯re OK, Koueimaru. I¡¯m Captain Hiro; a mercenary affiliated with the Mercenary Guild. What¡¯s the status of your ship?¡±

    ¡ºThe life-support systems are alright, but our propulsion systems got done in. Would it be possible for you to guard us until the system military patrol arrives?¡»

    So they want us to guard them until the imperial patrol arrives huh. If the ship were a bit smaller, Krishna could have towed it to the colony. But it seems impossible with that size. It looks like we don¡¯t have any choice but to wait for a military ship to tow them instead.

    ¡°Can we take that as an official request? How about thepensation?¡±

    ¡ºYes. Inagawa Technology will pay you the appropriatepensation. I¡¯m truly sorry for being unable to tell you a definite amount, but rest assured that I will immediately forward it to the head office once the request ispleted. I do not have direct authority to decide thepensation amount you see.¡»

    Well, I guess he really isn¡¯t given authority to decide even if he¡¯s the ship¡¯s captain. I turned towards Elma who silently nodded in assent. It looks like she doesn¡¯t have any problems with those arrangements.

    ¡°I understand. We ept the request and will begin guarding your ship. The request will be consideredpleted once the military patrol arrives. The rewards for both the earlier rescue action and subsequent guarding of your ship will be paid by Inagawa Technology. Do you agree to these terms?¡±

    ¡ºThat would be fine.¡»

    ¡°Well then, we¡¯ve reached an agreement. Mimi, please keep a record of the earlier conversation.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Mimi spiritedly responded. Alrighty then. Might as well salvage the loot from the pirate ship wreckages while we wait for the imperial military patrol to arrive. But, since we shot them down in the middle of attacking a ship, I¡¯m not expecting much loot anyway.

 Chapter 32 â€“ Alein Tertius Colony

    <h4>Chapter 32 - Alein Tertius Colony</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Fuwaaa?h¡­ It¡¯s so huge!¡±

    ¡°It sure is¡­ Just how muchrger is this cepared to Termaine Prime?¡±

    ¡°Um, I think its poption is about five times more than Termaine Prime. I¡¯m not too sure about the colony¡¯s exact size though.¡±

    What came before our eyes was a huge octahedron-shaped space colony. It seems to be slowly spinning about at a distance. But, judging from its size, I think the speed of its revolution is actually quite fast. I guess the constant rotation is needed for producing artificially induced gravity. Anyway, it was an unbelievably huge colony.

    This gigantic structure is called the Alein Tertius colony. This is our first stop in our trip to the Alein star system and is one of the three active colonies situated here.

    ¡°Please send out a docking request, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes! I¡¯ll send one out right away.¡±

    Mimi fiddled with the Operator console in front of her and sent a docking request to the port administration of Aleintertius. The request contained our personal details; particrly, our ship¡¯s name, my name as the ship¡¯s captain, and our group¡¯s reason for visiting. It didn¡¯t take long for an approval to be sent back.

    ¡°We have received permission to dock! We¡¯re assigned to hangar bay number 72!¡±

    ¡°Gotcha.¡±

    We followed the guide beacons disyed on the cockpit¡¯s main screen and proceeded towards our designated hangar. As expected of arge colony. There¡¯s quite a lot of ship traffic. It would result in a great, big mess should an idental collision ur. But I didn¡¯t want to trouble myself with that point so I just left it to the ship¡¯s auto-pilot.

    ¡°Using something like auto-docking is cheating¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I just wanna take it easy, alright.¡±

    Elma seemed to have a bit of aint about my way of handling things, but I just ignored it and carried on. Even though making a perfectnding the manual way does sound kinda fun in a way, I still prefer doing it the easy way. I needed to install a dedicated dockingputer module personally in order to obtain the auto-docking function, but it worked like a charm and allowed the ship tond safely inside the hangar bay. I guess she just felt antsy due to her experience riding an out-of-control starship.

    After docking sessfully, the ship¡¯s generator output gradually transitioned to standby mode. There wasn¡¯t a need to raise it to battle mode while inside a colony, and cruising mode also used up quite a bit of power as well.

    ¡°We¡¯re finally here. Alrighty then. What should we do first guys? Do you wanna have a meal first?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it kinda early for a meal? I think it would be better to finish all our other tasks first.¡±

    ¡°So, those will be selling off loot, paying a visit to Inagawa Technology¡¯s office and iming bounty rewards at the local military outpost huh.¡±

    ¡°Ah, please leave selling the loot to me.¡±

    Mimi made a guts pose by raising both hands and making fists with them while letting out an excited grunt. Since she could just use the terminal to sell the loot instead of going to the shops personally, I think it should be alright to leave it to Mimi. There¡¯s still a need to be wary of merchants possibly shortchanging us, but Mimi was particrly attentive to details regarding money, so she should be fine.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave selling the loot to you then, Mimi. So next is the visit to Inagawa Technology, but¡­¡±

    ¡°It would be better to wait for Inagawa Technology to send out a formal invitation first. It¡¯s not like we¡¯re in a hurry either.¡±

    I nodded in agreement to Elma¡¯s suggestion. We¡¯ve already exchanged contact info with thepany representative anyway. They should still be busy discussing the remuneration details with thepany¡¯s higher-ups, so it would be better not to go there yet.

    ¡°Okay then. Let¡¯s just get the bounty rewards from the military.¡±

    ¡°Should I go?¡±

    ¡°Nah, I should go instead. I¡¯m the captain after all.¡±

    I didn¡¯t have a problem with having Elma go instead, but I think it¡¯ll go more smoothly if I went over personally instead. I¡¯m the ship captain after all.

    ¡°I¡¯lle with you then. It would be dangerous for you to walk there alone.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a kid, y¡¯know¡­¡­¡±

    But, well, I guess Elma does have a point. I¡¯m unfamiliar with the ce, so having her with me would help a lot. They do say two heads are better than one, right? I¡¯ll have here along then.

    ¡°Well, I guess two people does sound safer. Let¡¯s check out downtown while we¡¯re at it as well. Please watch over the ship in the meantime, Mimi. You¡¯ll be safer staying here.¡±

    ¡°Is this really that dangerous of a ce? This colony, I mean.¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so. The level of public order seemsparatively high. But we won¡¯t know for sure until we take a look for ourselves. But, well, judging from the ship traffic earlier, I think this ce is frequented by a lot of outsiders like us, so it doesn¡¯t hurt to be more careful.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. The hangar bay we¡¯re assigned to has a lot of foreign ships docked inside as well. It does seem a little unruly. Let¡¯s prioritize gathering info then.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    Mimi nodded in understanding. I and Elma can take care of ourselves just fine to a certain extent, but Mimi¡¯s just a frail young girl, so she doesn¡¯t have sufficient abilities to keep herself safe out there yet. She does have aser gun with her, but, honestly speaking, she kinda sucks at using it.

    ¡°Alright then. Elma and I are going out for a bit. I n to contact you just in case we take longer than expected, but go ahead and eat your meal if we doe backte, okay.¡±

    ¡°Yes, understood. Please take care out there, Hiro-san and Elma-san.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Un, we¡¯ll see youter.¡±

    Elma and I quickly prepared ourselves and got off the ship.

    ¡°Whoah, how do I say this? The atmosphere¡¯s kinda different here.¡±

    ¡°Well, this is like the big citypared to ces like Termaine Prime.¡±

    Elma told me matter-of-factly as we continued walking around the ce. The interior of the Alein Tertius colony can be described as an iron jungle filled with towering skyscrapers.

    Countless high-rise buildings stood within the central living district of the colony. There was a great number of alleyways and side-streets as well. The colony didn¡¯t rely upon a singr lighting module that could simte daytime within its walls, and instead made use of street lights to illuminate the surroundings. In other words, it was a city of perpetual night.

    ¡°But wouldn¡¯t living in such an environment affect the citizen¡¯s health or something?¡±

    ¡°It seems they have a way to artificially simte sunbathing within thefort of their own homes.¡±

    ¡°That sounds tedious though- Uh, do we have to do that as well during our stay here?¡±

    ¡°We can just use the med-pods.¡±

    Hm, so the med-pods have that function avable as well. Come to think of it, mercenaries like us spend a considerable amount of time in outer space, so I think the med-pods are configured with that function with that in mind. I don¡¯t know how it exactly works though. Same old, same old. They said you needed a healthy dose of sunlight to maintain your health back in my old world as well.

    ¡°Walking on foot inside a colony this huge is tiring, not to mention troublesome. Do they have some sort of public transport we can use here?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    I looked towards where Elma¡¯s gaze pointed and saw something resembling a sub-way entrance.

    ¡°There¡¯s an active sub-way system connected all throughout the colony, so we can use it to travel between ces here. Termaine Prime also made use of it to some extent remember? They used it on the colony¡¯s logistics system. This here is like the enhanced version.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    I don¡¯t know how that worked either, but it ensured speedy trading and delivery of goods within the colony without you having to attend to in person. I wonder what kind of vehicle they¡¯re using?

    ¡°So, can we take sub-way¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°No need. The military¡¯s base is already just around the corner anyway.¡±

    ¡°I see. Oh well. I¡¯ll get another opportunity to try it outter.¡±

    That¡¯ll be when we finally pay a visit to Inagawa Technology. We also need to restock our foodstuffs, so I¡¯ll get another opportunity to take the sub-way then. We¡¯re nning to spend quite a bit of time in this colony anyway.

    ¡°There it is.¡±

    Elma pointed toward a building that had both the empire and the imperial military¡¯s gs hoisted out front. It kinda didn¡¯t seem like a proper military garrison though. It looked more like an office building.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t really feel like a military base huh.¡±

    ¡°It depends on the area they¡¯re located in. There¡¯s also some which function as military training schools in ces with ample space.¡±

    There wasn¡¯t even a single guard watching over the entrance. However, they¡¯re using a surveince system coupled with a battery of sentryser turrets instead. So the imperial military is also a fan of automation huh.

    We entered the military building and encountered a secondary security gate within. This time, there was a guard in ce. It was a macho guy with bulging muscles that gave quite an impact. But apart from this guy, everything else was automated. They also hadser turrets installed in here.

    ¡°Personal weapons aren¡¯t permitted inside the building. Please leave them over here.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    I and Elma handed over ourser guns and spare energy packs. The guard also checked if we were hiding anything else. He also checked out our data terminals.

    ¡°The check¡¯s finished. If you want to cash-out your bounty rewards, please head over to that window. If you have any other business, please inquire on the window right next to it.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    We said our thanks to the muscle-bound macho guard and went over to the bounty reward counter. I¡¯ve also done this back on Termaine Prime, so I¡¯m already familiar with the process. But the atmosphere here is quite different though.

    Back on Termaine Prime, the front entrance of the military base hadser-rifle toting soldiers manning it. When I reached the inner security gate, I encountered even more soldiers. Sure is a big differencepared to here.

    ¡°Wee to the Alein Tertius colony. You¡¯re a new face, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    The clerk manning the counter was a guy with a gentle atmosphere about him. He looked older than me. He¡¯s probably well past his thirties. More specifically, I think he¡¯s in the middle of his forties.

    ¡°Yeah. We just arrived earlier. My name¡¯s Captain Hiro. This is Elma, one of my crew. There¡¯s also another girl named Mimi left on our ship. She¡¯s also a part of the crew.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s Hiro-kun and Elma-kun. I¡¯m Sergeant Daniel. I¡¯m from a family of mercenaries, so you don¡¯t need to act all formal with me. You can just call me Daniel or Danny. I¡¯m fine with either.¡±

    ¡°No, please allow me to call you Sergeant Daniel. I¡¯ll just tone down my formal speech a little instead.¡±

    ¡°Me too. Please allow me to address you as Sergeant Daniel, sir.¡±

    I shook my head and refused his offer to call him without using honorifics. Elma also agreed with me on that point.

    ¡°Is that so? If you¡¯re fine with that, then I am as well. So, I guess you¡¯re here to cash-out your bounty rewards, correct? You¡¯ve already hunted pirates even though you¡¯ve just arrived. You¡¯re quite passionate about your job, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°We managed to pick up a distress signal on the way to this colony. When we rushed over, we encountered a ship of Inagawa Technology being attacked by pirates. We couldn¡¯t just abandon them.¡±

    ¡°Inagawa Technology? Were the passengers safe?¡±

    ¡°We somehow made it in time. We couldn¡¯t tow them back using our ship, so we waited for the military patrol to have them towed instead. We went ahead of them, but I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be arriving soon as well.¡±

    ¡°I see. They¡¯re probably safe now that our guys are escorting them. You¡¯ve done a great job, Hiro-kun.¡±

    Sergeant Daniel had a worried expression on him as he listened to my story. He then made a good-natured smile afterward. This sergeant really had a way of making people feel at ease while talking to him.

    ¡°Yeah. We¡¯re d we were able to rescue them. So, about the bounty money¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes. Please wait a moment¡­¡­ You shot down two ships. Your total reward is 15,000 Enels.¡±

    ¡°¡­That¡¯s quite a lot, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Well, a lot of civilian ships have already been attacked by those four pirate ships you encounteredtely. They worked fast and escaped even faster, so we¡¯re having trouble bringing them down. You managed to bring down two of them this time, so I think they¡¯lly low for a while.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    I nodded in acknowledgment after hearing about the circumstances. But they had little cargo on them even though they¡¯ve attacked a number of ships already. They only had some supplies and booze on them. Do they have a hidden base around here somewhere?

    ¡°Here you go. There¡¯s all your rewards. Are you nning to stay in this colony for a while?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the n. I think we¡¯ll have plenty to see in a colony this bustling.¡±

    ¡°I guess so. There¡¯s a lot of techpanies that have their offices here, so there¡¯s also a lot of employeesing and going. There is quite the number of recreational facilities in the colony to cater to them.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? I look forward to it then. Alright, we¡¯ll be taking our leave now, sir.¡±

    ¡°Ah, do take care.¡±

    We bid farewell to Sergeant Daniel, went over to the security gate to retrieve our weapons and equipment, and left the military office.

    ¡°That man was quite easy to talk with, wasn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°He really didn¡¯t seem like a soldier. He seems like someone more suited to a teaching profession than being a part of the military, I think.¡±

    ¡°So the imperial military also had guys like him in it huh.¡±

    Since I¡¯m not familiar with the imperial military, it was a surprise for me to find someone like him in it. An organization like the military does kinda seemplicated and sort of mysterious to civilians like me.

    And this world has space forces as military mainstays apart from the usual air, ground and naval forces. So I can¡¯t imagine just what sort of developments happened to the structure of the military at the advent of a full-fledged space age. I could try to read up on the subject, but I don¡¯t really feel like it anyway.

    ¡°At any rate, that sergeant told us something curious earlier, didn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. About those pirates we shot down, right? I thought they had surprisingly few cargo after the sergeant said they¡¯d already attacked a number of civilian ships.¡±

    ¡°I thought so as well. Chances are, they¡¯re stashing their loot away somewhere else.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, most likely. But they¡¯re onlyposed of four ships¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°The group is small in scale, so looking for them will be troublesome.¡±

    Elma shrugged her shoulders while sporting a wry grin. It¡¯ll be easier if they went and made a base out of an asteroid, but it¡¯ll beparatively more troublesome if they just stashed away all their loot inside a sturdy container and were keeping an eye on them somewhere in space. If it¡¯s thetter, it¡¯ll be next to impossible to find them without knowing the exact coordinates.

    ¡°Oh well. Let¡¯s just leave it at that. We¡¯ll just leave it to chance.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t let them get away next time.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit. Now let¡¯s go back and have our meal. Mimi¡¯s waiting for us.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go then.¡±

    We nodded to each other and walked back to the ship. We¡¯ll eat our fill once wee back and take the opportunity to rx a bit after. We still have enough funds so we didn¡¯t have to find work straight away. We¡¯ll take this chance to rest for the entire day and start our activities tomorrow instead.

 Chapter 33 â€“ The Truth in Oneâ€™s Eyes

    <h4>Chapter 33 - The Truth in One¡¯s Eyes</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Wee back!¡±

    ¡°Ah, we¡¯re back.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re home, Mimi.¡±

    We went back to the Krishna and were greeted by Mimi. It seems she was in the middle of checking something and held her tablet terminal on one hand.

    ¡°Are you checking something out right now?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I was trying to see if I can find medical centers that have good reviews.¡±

    ¡°I see. What¡¯s the result?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m still in the middle of checking the reviews out. It¡¯s not like more expensive facilities are actually better. Considering Hiro-sama¡¯s case, I¡¯m still deciding between a facility specializing in neurotechnology or one specializing in mental care¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi was pondering about with a serious expression. My purported selective amnesia is simply just a cover story I came up with in order to avoid saying the truth - that truth being me getting thrown into this world from another reality. It sounds absolutely nonsensical after all.

    In other words, medically speaking, I¡¯m actually fit as a fiddle. Well, there¡¯s also this possibility that I¡¯m just being made to think that I was from another reality and that I¡¯m really a resident of this one.

    In any case, right now, I fully believe that I¡¯m not someone native to this world, but a guy named Satou Takahiro who lives in Japan. In my world, ships like the Krishna only exist in fiction, and humanity has yet to fully explore the sea of stars.

    ¡°Amnesia, huh¡­¡­¡±

    In contrast to Mimi, who was earnestly searching for a way to help me cure my supposed medical condition, Elma was giving me a stare filled with suspicion. Guess my amnesia cover story wouldn¡¯t fly with Elma huh.

    If my guess is right, Elma is thinking I¡¯m some socially inept rich young master who ran away from home to have a grand adventure or something.

    In this world [normal] meat and vegetables are considered as super luxury items, apparently. In this world, most people normally consume artificially engineered food items made from algae and krill-like organisms which get turned into meat substitutes and such.

    However, I ended up asking if they were selling¡ºnatural meat and vegetables¡»when I went out to shop for food with Elma for the first time. In this world, the only people who would mention those kinds of things like it was normal were either rich upstarts or members of the privileged ss.

    This made Elma believe that I was a rich kid trying to hide his identity by pretending to have amnesia. I guess I¡¯ll also think that way if I were in Elma¡¯s shoes.

    But the truth is way different. I¡¯m probably as healthy as an ox and didn¡¯t have problems with my memory either. I still don¡¯t have a clue about how I was transported to this world, but I remember most of the details of my life in Japan before I was sent here. The only things I don¡¯t remember are the events that led me to get transported to this world. It¡¯s truly unfortunate, considering it was one of the most important pieces of info for me.

    ¡°You really don¡¯t have to focus on the memory part. It¡¯s enough to find a ce where I can get a detailed health check-up. I might also have to get myself vinated for infectious diseases and stuff like that as well. Please look for a ce where I can get all of that done.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m all good myself, but I think Mimi should get herself checked up as well. There are things like lethal infectious diseases that only humans can contract after all. I think it¡¯ll be better for her to get vinated for all of them, just in case.¡±

    ¡°And you¡¯re fine with not getting shots, Elma?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve already had mine done some time ago.¡±

    Even if Elma said so, I firmly shook my head.

    ¡°I¡¯ll pay for the medical fees, so it¡¯s better for you to undergo a check-up as well, Elma. It¡¯s one of the Captain¡¯s duties to ensure the health of the crew after all. I¡¯ll pay for Mimi as well, of course.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Really? Well, okay then.¡±

    Mimi and Elma both nodded in agreement. Great. I was able to get them to go as well.

    And it¡¯s not like I particrly hate going to the hospital, mind you. It¡¯s just that going by myself feels kinda lonely somehow, right? And I meant it when I said it¡¯s for ensuring the crew¡¯s health. It¡¯ll be well worth the money if doing so would limit the risk of me and the girls getting sick.

    ¡°I wonder just how much it¡¯ll cost though.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not too sure. But maybe it¡¯ll be around 1,000,000 Enel per head or something.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that kinda high of an estimate¡­? Well, it¡¯ll be fine even if it reaches that amount.¡±

    Even if it did cost 1,000,000 Enel per person, my total assets right now amount to more than 10,000,000 Enels anyway. It¡¯s certainly costly, but considering it¡¯s for our health, it can also be said to be cheap in a sense.

    But, well, since one Enel is equivalent to a hundred Yen¡­ I¡¯ll end up forking out about a hundred million Yen for each of us, right? If I really end up thinking of this as something cheap, I feel like my sense for money would definitely be distorted.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, I think one million Enels is a bit¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s no good if you back out because of the cost being one million, you know?¡±

    ¡°Nah, don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s already a done deal no matter the price.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine then.¡±

    But it¡¯s true that we don¡¯t have any idea about the actual costs. I¡¯ll check our finances again and make sure we have enoughter on.

    We spent our time rxing around when we got back to the ship. We ate a delicious meal prepared by our high-performance auto-cooker¡ºTetsujin Mk. V¡»and rxed in the bath afterward. We did our daily training as well and went to bed after we were done.

    ¡°Ho-hum¡­¡±

    ¡°How sleazy¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear that from you, seeing that you¡¯re lounging around on the bed with me here.¡±

    I was lying face upzily on the bed as Elma leaned against my chest while fiddling with her data terminal. We¡¯re the shining example of azy couple, aren¡¯t we?

    ¡°I guess so. Lazing around like this isn¡¯t so bad once in a while.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Lazing around with Elma like this does have its charms. But it kinda felt like I was cuddling with an obedient puppy sometimes. We eitherid about like this, gave each otherp pillows, or gazed up at the ceiling together in a daze. There was a lot of skinship between us ever since we got together.

    These times somehow feltfortably peaceful and was her favored way of rxing and de-stressing herself. Since Elma liked it, I found myself enjoying it as well.

    ¡°Hm, it looks like Mimi found a buyer for the loot already.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Sounds great. How much did they offer?¡±

    ¡°Excluding the handling fees, she sold it for a total of 4500 Enels. Together with the bounty rewards, our total earnings this time is 19,500 Enels, I guess.¡±

    ¡°Uh, you¡¯ll get 3% so¡­ your share is 585 Enels, huh.¡±

    ¡°Mimi¡¯s share is 98 Enels.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s quite small huh.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s just how it normally is. Rather, earning more than 8,000,000 Enels after a single major mission is the one that¡¯s out of the norm. Your share is 18,817 Enels by the way.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m rushing you with the repayment.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­The normal thing would be demanding the debtor to hurry up with the payment you know?¡±

    Elma gazed down at me with an exasperated look on her pretty face.

    ¡°Well, I just want to spend as much time as I can with Elma.¡±

    That¡¯s my true feelings by the way. Elma owes me a three million Enel debt, and she was working as a crew member on the Krishna in order to repay me. Once Elma earns enough to pay the debt and acquires enough capital to re-start mercenary work independently, she won¡¯t have a reason to stay with us as a crewmember anymore.

    Elma was quite a skilled crew member, and we¡¯ve been relying on her more and moretely. Plus, she¡¯s a beauty. And we¡¯re already in¡ºthat¡»kind of a rtionship as well. And she¡¯s also built up a great working and private rtionship with Mimi as well.

    Thus, it¡¯s only natural for me to wish to be with her for as long as possible.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry so much, dolt. I¡¯m staying with you for the long haul. Even if I pay back the debt, I still need to earn money to buy a new ship after all.¡±

    After saying that, Elma plopped her head on top of my exposed stomach. Fufufu, I¡¯ve been training myself ever sinceing to this world, so I got all my bases covered. Get a load of them! These wonderfully built six-pack abs!

    ¡°What the heck are you grinning for? They¡¯re too stiff so they¡¯re hard to sleep on.¡±

    ¡°Uh, sorry.¡±

    ¡°Mmhm. That¡¯s better. Good boy.¡±

    It looks like Elma-san doesn¡¯t prefer rock-hard abs. She made herselffortable by rubbing her cheeks on top of my stomach. It kinda tickles.

    ¡°Hey¡­¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    ¡°You really don¡¯t have any amnesia, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not lying, y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like you have to hide it.¡±

    Elma¡¯s head, which was on top of my stomach, shook. It seems like she was giggling.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t really n on pressing you for answers anyway. Would it be bad if I found out?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ Well, not really. I¡¯m just afraid you won¡¯t believe me if I told you.¡±

    ¡°What the heck are you saying, you dolt?¡±

    It¡¯s not like I can¡¯t tell her. It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t know what Elma¡¯s reaction will be if I ever revealed that I¡¯m someone from a different dimension. She¡¯ll most likely think I was crazy or something. Or maybe I¡¯ll be taken to some sort of research facility to serve as a guinea pig.

    ¡°I could tell you if you want. But I think you¡¯ll just say I¡¯m crazy though.¡±

    ¡°If you say it like that, it makes me quite nervous¡­ but let¡¯s hear it anyway.¡±

    ¡°I see. Hm, okay. Where should I start¡­ Are you familiar with parallel worlds or different dimensions?¡±

    ¡°I have a general idea. But I have no idea if something like that¡¯s really possible.¡±

    Elma shrugged her shoulders while keeping her head on top of my stomach and using it as her pillow.

    ¡°Yeah, well, I¡¯m probably from that kind of world though. Me along with Krishna, I mean. In my head, I think of that as an absolute fact.¡±

    Elma turned silent as if digesting my words.

    ¡°Do you remember the guild uncle saying I didn¡¯t have any personal data recorded anywhere when I first registered? Of course, I didn¡¯t. The first ce I found myself in when I was sent to this dimension was Termaine Prime after all.¡±

    ¡°Now that you mention it, he did say something like that back then. But, that¡¯s just¡­ No, maybe it is possible for parallel worlds to exist, I think?¡±

    ¡°Basing on my ship¡¯s weapons and tech?¡±

    ¡±Yup. If you really dide from apletely different dimension, your Krishna¡¯s equipment and technology being simr to the ones used in this world is something weird in itself. We can¡¯t rule out the possibility that the technological development of both worlds is roughly simr. This ship is the only one of its kind as far as I know. I haven¡¯t managed to encounter anything like it. But¡­ it still feels off. Judging from your performance thus far, you¡¯re definitely an experienced and skilled mercenary. Your skills aren¡¯t something attainable by some run-off-the-mill merc. However, you severelyckmon sense. So youe from a world sporting the same tech and has the presence of mercenaries, but with the prevalent customs andmon sense different from this one? Isn¡¯t that really weird?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ I think you¡¯ll be more confused after this, but¡­ in the first ce, I¡¯m no mercenary. I¡¯m just an employee; a sryman so to speak. I just have gaming as my hobby.¡±

    ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be a normal sry who knows how to fight like you do, you know! You¡¯re quite skilled with firearms as well, right? Didn¡¯t you say you won that gun of yours in a tournament or something?¡±

    The gun Elma was referring to was my personalser gun. It seems it was an ultra-rare item made by a famous gun-making studio called the Mandas Workshop.

    I had great skills as a merc, piloted a starship like a decorated veteran, and sported a rareser gun. There certainly isn¡¯t any persuasive power when I im that I¡¯m just your average sryman. I understand that point well.

    It was as absurd as the idea of a self-proimed sryman who can overwhelm cyborg soldiers and nanomachine weaponry with his bare hands.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. But I got all that from ying a game.¡±

    Elma let out an uneasy ¡®Hm!?¡¯ when she heard me.

    ¡°In other words, you want to say that you¡¯ve been sent to a world simr to the game you¡¯ve been ying?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. And in the dimension I¡¯m from, humanity hasn¡¯t developed technology sufficient to advance further into space. Things like owning starships that zip through the cosmos or interster travel are only encountered in fiction or video games.¡±

    ¡°That sounds like something from a housing a primitive civilization, doesn¡¯t it¡­? It does seem too far fetched and would be enough for you to be thought of as crazy. Something like being thrown into a game world sounds like a generic plot from a teen novel.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t it? Honesty, I think it would be more believable if I said I got my memories overwritten due to some sort of conspiracy and was made to believe I was from another dimension for some reason.¡±

    ¡°But, at least, you think everything you revealed to me earlier is true, correct?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just my personal view of things though. We can¡¯t really be sure until I have the insides of my head investigated thoroughly or something.¡±

    ¡°I guess. It¡¯s not like there¡¯s no way to do that¡­ but you don¡¯t really have to stress yourself over it, I think.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°I understand why you¡¯d be bothered, but it¡¯s not like you¡¯re troubled by your current situation, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think so, yeah.¡±

    It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t want to find out the reason for my current predicament, but it¡¯s not like I feel like I absolutely need to find out either. I don¡¯t have any pressing reason toe back to my previous world after all.

    ¡°So it¡¯s fine. Let¡¯s just leave it up to fate or something.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess you¡¯re right.¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ But is that it? Don¡¯t you have anything else you want to ask?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t. No matter how you see yourself, it won¡¯t change how I think of you. You¡¯re a very skilled yet somewhat silly guy. Or maybe someone who¡¯s still in the middle of a phase middle school kids often go through until now.¡±

    ¡°Please, just stop. That¡¯s kinda embarrassing y¡¯know¡­¡­¡±

    Elma entered into a fit of giggles after hearing mein.

    ¡°You really are a great woman.¡±

    ¡°Well, of course, I am. Who do you think you¡¯re talking to?¡±

    ¡°Elma, the disappointing elf.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re on, you bastard.¡±

    ¡°Oi, stop that idiot.¡±

    Elma started tickling my sides with her delicate fingers, and we started wrestling with each other on top of the bed. Fufufu. Don¡¯t think you can win against my well-trained body with those dainty arms of yours¡ª

    ¡°Guwaaah!? The heck!? A cross armbar!?¡±

    I didn¡¯t manage to win against Elma-san in the end¡­ She unleashed a barrage of fancy wrestling moves on me. I wanted a little gentler form of skinship though. No, I insist.

 Chapter 34 â€“ Underground Cityscape

    <h4>Chapter 34 - Underground Cityscape</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I spent my time flirting¡­ or rather, wrestling with Elma on the bed - exchanging attacks and counterattacks in an exciting disy of skinship that was a tad bit too hardcore.

    When I woke up the next day, I immediately took a bath, finished some light training routines, took a bath once more, and entered into rxing mode afterward. Elma? She went and took over my bed again. This time, it was my win.

    ¡°Good morning, Hiro-sama.¡±

    When I went over to the dining area, I found Mimi taking a break wearing her training clothes. It seems we all managed to work up a sweat even though it¡¯s still morning.

    ¡°Morning, Mimi. You went for some training?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I was nning on taking a bath after this.¡±

    Looks like we missed each other earlier.

    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll prepare our breakfast then.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much. I¡¯ll take a bath first.¡±

    Mimi shed me a cheerful smile and skipped over to the bathroom. She would have run into me while I was bathing if I weren¡¯t so quick to finish. But washing off the sweat I got from training didn¡¯t take that long, and Elma still hasn¡¯t woken up, so I only took a quick shower. Oh well. We would¡¯ve wasted much time if we bathed together anyway.

    ¡°Good morning¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey there, morning.¡±

    Elma woke up while I was in the middle of preparing breakfast.

    ¡°What the heck are you wearing?¡±

    ¡°My BF¡¯s T-shirt.¡±

    It seems she borrowed one of my shirts from my closet and wore it. Elma¡¯s taller than Mimi, but she¡¯s still smaller than me. When she wears one of my shirts, it ends up looking like a one-piece dress with a really short skirt. It looks quite risqu¨¦.

    ¡°Mimi¡¯s taking a bath right now, so you can take one after her.¡±

    ¡°Nn¡­¡­¡±

    It turns out that Elma was a poor riser, and she¡¯s always like this when she wakes up. It¡¯s not to the point of doubting whether or not she could do mercenary work in her current state, but it seems shepletely lets herself go on off days like this one. Maybe you could say she was good at switching gears.

    ¡°Ah, Elma-san, good mor¡­ You look kinda amazing there.¡±

    ¡°Mooorning? I¡¯ll take a bath as well, m¡¯kay?¡±

    Elma headed into the bath while covering her mouth with one hand to stifle a yawn and waving back at Mimi with another. Mimi gazed at her back with a stunned expression.

    ¡°That sure looks nice¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you want to wear one of my shirts as well, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Can I!?¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah. Go right ahead.¡±

    Her excited reaction surprised me. I really didn¡¯t think wearing my shirts would make her so excited. But, well, if Mimi were to wear my shirt¡­¡­ the front end would probably be the point that would end up looking risqu¨¦. Her body shape¡¯s way different from Elma¡¯s after all. Hahaha.

    ¡°Let¡¯s eat. You fine with today¡¯s meal being the daily special?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    After hearing Mimi¡¯s cheerful reply, I operated our trusty auto-cooker, the vaunted Tetsujin V, and ordered the daily special for me and her. I got arge serving while Mimi had a normal one. Mimi also aterger servings than normal when she first came to the ship, but now she only eats normal amounts.

    She¡¯s also working out a lot. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s because she¡¯s conscious of her weight. I don¡¯t think she put on that much weight though.

    ¡°Judging from her state earlier, I¡¯m sure Elma¡¯s gonna take a while in the bathroom, so let¡¯s just eat ahead of her.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ Alright.¡±

    Mimi seemed a bit hesitant at first but nodded along anyway. Elma always takes long baths whenever shepletely enters her ¡®Off¡¯ mode. One hour is par for the course. It¡¯s probably another one of her ways to refresh and de-stress herself.

    ¡°Okay then. Thanks for the meal.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for the meal.¡±

    I put my hands together before eating and said my thanks, and Mimi copied me.

    Today¡¯s menu consists of something resembling rice, something resembling a roasted salmon fillet, something resembling egg rolls, and something resembling potato sd.

    Uh, I describe them as ¡®resembling¡¯ cause even if these dishes look no different from the real thing, they were actually processed by the auto-cooker from food cartridges containing algae and krill-like creatures. But they did taste quite authentic, so I guess there¡¯s no problem.

    But why pair Japanese breakfast dishes like rice, salmon and egg rolls with potato sd? They¡¯re all delicious, sure, but Chef Tetsujin sometimes serves some really iprehensible food pairings.

    By the way, Mimi¡¯s meal consisted of something resembling congee served in a deep dish, something resembling grilled meat, and something resembling vegetable sd. Mimi looks like she was enjoying them, so I guess that congee¡¯s also pretty tasty. Probably.

    ¡°Mimi, can I have some of that too? I¡¯m curious about how it tastes.¡±

    ¡°Sure, here you go.¡±

    Mimi scooped up a portion of her congee with her spoon and held it up to me. It was a bit embarrassing, but I ate up in the end. Fumu¡­¡­ What can I say? It was a sweet, slightly mellow-tasting soup-like porridge. It did seem unexpectedly filling. There were also hints of cheese and honey. I don¡¯t think this actually qualifies as a main dish. I feel it¡¯s more suited as a dessert instead.

    ¡°It¡¯s tasty, right?¡±

    ¡°I think so, yeah. I haven¡¯t tasted anything quite like it yet, so I can¡¯t say for sure. But it does warm up to you after two or three mouthfuls. I¡¯ll give you this egg roll in exchange then, Mimi. Say ah.¡±

    ¡°A?hn.¡±

    I picked up a bite-sized piece of egg roll with my chopsticks and brought it close to Mimi¡¯s dainty lips. This mock-egg roll was fluffy and packs plenty of umami. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll fit Mimi¡¯s tastes as well.

    ¡°Mm?, it¡¯s delicious. Here, have another bite of mine. A?hn.¡±

    ¡°A?hn.¡±

    Mimi offered me another scoop of the sweet-like porridge., which I obediently ate. Mm, exquisite. It wasn¡¯t overly sweet and nice on the pte, and the cheese and milkbined to make a nice harmony of vor. It was such a curious dish.

    ¡°You guys¡­¡­¡±

    Elma called out to us in an exasperated voice after seeing Mimi and my embarrassing disy of feeding each other.

    ¡°Good morning, Elma-san.¡±

    ¡°Morning, Elma.¡±

    ¡°Haa¡­ Good morning. I can go back inside the bathroom for a bit more if I¡¯m in the way.¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    ¡°What, you want in on this too, Elma? Here you go then. A?hn.¡±

    I picked up another piece of egg roll and held it out to Elma, who plucked the piece off with her fingers and put it in her mouth. Her gesture of licking the tip of her finger afterward looked somewhat sexy.

    ¡°Flirting first thing in the morning¡­¡­ Well, I did monopolize Hiro yesterday, so I guess today is Mimi¡¯s turn, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Ehehe.¡±

    Mimi¡¯s cheeks flushed red as she disyed a satisfied smile. shing a wry grin after seeing Mimi, Elma also started ordering her breakfast from Tetsujin V.

    ¡°How about the two of you go for a date then? I¡¯ll keep a watch on the ship and let you guys know once Inagawa Technology calls. Oh, and please visit the Mercenary Guild today as well. We didn¡¯t manage to go there yesterday after all. It would be better for us to make a visit so we can inform them we¡¯re in the area.¡±

    ¡°Ah, understood. You¡¯re fine with that, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Mimi did a guts pose, clenched both fists in front of her ample chest, and breathed out heavily. She sure is pumped up.

    ¡°I¡¯ve done my research yesterday after all!¡±

    ¡°You sure look excited.¡±

    ¡°She sure does. Escort her properly, okay?¡±

    ¡°Unlike her, I haven¡¯t researched at all¡­ unfortunately. Oh well. I¡¯ll make sure to protect her if we encounter trouble of some sort.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine then. That¡¯s enough.¡±

    Elma received her te filled with breakfast from Tetsujin V and sat down next to me.

    But Elma-san, ain¡¯t a big, fat steak coupled with heaps of potato sd a bit too heavy for breakfast¡­¡­? Oh well. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m the one eating them anyway.

    ¡°This ce really is quite different in atmospherepared to Termaine Prime.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it is. It¡¯s definitely more livelypared to there, and the air the citizens are giving off is also different.¡±

    After disembarking from the ship, we started walking around the brightly lit streets. It¡¯s very different from the night-time scenery I saw with Elma yesterday.

    In addition, the people walking about the streets give off a pretty unique vibe. The folks walking around Termaine Prime¡¯s 3rd Block wore almost identical looking clothes, but the citizens of Alein Tertius¡¯s lower block looked quite varied.

    There were people wearing suits, as well as girls wearing goth loli fashion-inspired dresses. There were also people wearing skin-tight bodysuits which made me wanna tsukkomi if those could really be considered clothes. And some even wore mech armor. Are they cyborgs or something?

    And there were a lot of alien-like creatures walking about as well. I still think looking human is the best though. The looks were varied - from amphibians to reptiles, to cats, dogs, foxes¡­ And these weren¡¯t the ones I consider weird. And I even wanna get to know some of those animal-eared youngdies and blue-skinned sexy onee-sans.

    But how am I supposed to react to something like a jellyfish floating in mid-air, like a lightbulb with tentacles? Rather, it really looks like a tower of squirming tentacles that seems like it¡¯ll fit right in if featured on an R18 doujin. Is that some sort ofmunication tower or something?

    Nah, it feels like it¡¯ll be my loss if I keep being bothered by it. I desperately shut the sight of them out of my head. If I kept dwelling on them, it felt like my SAN points would go down to critical levels.

    ¡°Man, to think that it was brighter in the lower block.¡±

    ¡°The upper block, which houses the starship docks and garrisons, is always covered in night-like darkness. Basically, most of the citizens live in the lower blocks, and the brightness of the artificial illumination adjusts itself to simte the time of day. So they have morning, noon and night here.¡±

    Mimi¡¯sposed expression didn¡¯t disy any visible changes even after seeing such strange sights. Maybe she¡¯s used to it? So it really is different for folks who were raised in an environment where seeing those alien creatures are the norm. I see.

    ¡°It looks like that building continues up until the ceiling.¡±

    I gazed at a really tall-looking structure that didn¡¯t have any people around its immediate vicinity. It¡¯s really big. I wonder just how tall it is?

    ¡°It seems that serves as one of the support pirs for this colony. It extends out to the bottom-mostyer of the colony as well.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah. I saw building-like structures sticking out of the colony¡¯s outer well when we first came here.¡±

    When we first came to port, I saw the cuboid octahedral outer wall of the colony with structures protruding on its sides. The structure in front of us is most likely one of those.

    ¡°What sort of tenants are present in those buildings?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a lot! There are various restaurants, shops, clinics, tradingpany offices and hotels in them.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it looks like we¡¯re gonna enjoy exploring even just one of those buildings huh.¡±

    ¡°One day probably isn¡¯t enough to go around most of the shops.¡±

    We continued walking around town while discussing such things. We just ate breakfast, so I don¡¯t feel like looking around for food yet. What should we do now, I wonder?

    ¡°How about we shop for some clothes, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Um, okay¡­ But I think I have enough clothes right now though.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s buy you thetest fashion. I kinda want to see Mimi wearing those sorts of dresses.¡±

    I turned my gaze towards a young girl wearing a cute gothic lolita dress in the distance. Mimi¡¯s face turned bright red. ¡°Eh? What is it with that cute reaction?

    ¡°Is something wrong?¡±

    ¡°No, um, I don¡¯t think that kind of dress would suit me, so¡­¡±

    She seemed to have turned away from the young woman in embarrassment but was sneakily peeking at her from time to time, so it looks like she was actually interested. Can¡¯t be helped. Let¡¯s be more forceful here.

    ¡°That¡¯s not true. Anyway, I wanna see you wear them, so we¡¯re definitely going. Let¡¯s go right now.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­ Um¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Some of the stores you researched about sell that sort of stuff, right?¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes, but¡­¡­¡±

    I broadly smiled. Mimi sent me a troubled smile in return. Hahaha! Just give up, young missy.

 Chapter 35 â€“ Like Sinking in a Swamp

    <h4>Chapter 35 - Like Sinking in a Swamp</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I led Mimi inside one of the tenant shops inside the tall building we were just talking about earlier. The shop was apparently named¡ºAtelier Pure¡».

    ¡°So this is the ce¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    I kinda hesitated to step inside it for a bit.

    The one who proposed going here was undoubtedly me. It was me, but Ipletely ignored what kind of ce a shop which sells gothic lolita fashion was like.

    In other words, it was a fancy, frilly and fluffy ce that the creatures known as ¡®males¡¯ were known to avoid at all costs. It seemed to me that within the shop¡¯s hallowed walls was a deep, dark space emanating a dangerous¡ºBoys Keep Out¡»aura, which even seemed thick enough to have transformed into a kind of energy.

    ¡°We can¡¯t have you entering on your own huh, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Y-You don¡¯t really have to force yourself like that.¡±

    I grabbed Mimi¡¯s hand and stepped foot inside the forbiddennd. Maybe it¡¯s because they just opened, but it didn¡¯t seem there were any other customers inside apart from us. The gazes of the shop staff instantly locked on to us.

    There were three shop clerks wearing identical uniforms. They all gave Mimi and me a once-over and smiled at the same time afterward. W-What the heck¡¯s with this pressure!?

    ¡°Wee, dear customers.¡±

    ¡°Is this your first timeing here? Thank you for your patronage.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re delighted that you chose to shop here. We, the staff, will use all of our being in order to drag you into the swamp¡­ ehem, satisfy you to the best of our abilities.¡±

    Did she just say swamp? Utilizing a mysterious movement technique, all three of the staff instantly shortened the distance between us and them and already had Mimi and I surrounded before we noticed what happened. She really did say they would drag us into a swamp earlier, didn¡¯t she!? What the heck is with these people!?

    ¡°Eh, ah, un. We¡¯ll be in your care.¡±

    I managed to utter a reply, but Mimi was swallowed by the overwhelming aura of the shop clerks and clung tightly to my arm. Ah, those dangerous, lethal weapons are sandwiching my arm¡­¡­ Alright, I¡¯ve recovered folks!

    ¡°Do you guys¡­ know what we¡¯re here for?¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Of course, dear customer!!!¡±¡±¡±

    The three shop clerks replied in cheery voices and gave us big smiles. What can I say? They were quite quick on the uptake. Right now, my will and those of the threedies were mysteriously aligned for the first time. In all sorts of meanings.

    ¡°To tell you honestly, I don¡¯t have any idea how much the clothes in this store are going to be, but¡­ I do have enough budget, I think.¡±

    ¡°I see. How much do you think you can afford, by the way¡­¡­?¡±

    I considered the shop clerk¡¯s question for a bit. I honestly have no idea about the market price for these things because I haven¡¯t visited shops like these even back on Earth. Since I don¡¯t have a concrete basis, I can¡¯t just carelessly name a price either.

    ¡°In general, how much would it cost to buy an entire set?¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s see¡­ it also depends on the brand, but orthodox items generally cost about 1000 Enels.¡±

    ¡°So about 10,000¡­ no, 20,000 Enels, I guess. Please give us something that would fit this girl here.¡±

    When I showed my avable finances to the clerk, she paused for an instant and smiled widely afterward.

    ¡°Would it be fine if we rmend items that go a bit over budget?¡±

    ¡°As long as you keep it in moderation. We¡¯ll leave if you propose nothing but expensive stuff.¡±

    ¡°Please leave it to us. Doe over here for a bit, dear customers.¡±

    The shop clerk who asked about my budget called over the other two employees, who just finished taking Mimi¡¯s measurements, and told them what we talked about. The other two clerks looked surprised and quickly turned their gaze toward me. I nodded back at them, then turned towards Mimi. The three shop clerks also focused their gazes on Mimi.

    ¡°Eh? Eh? W-What is it?¡±

    Mimi became flustered when all of our gazes gathered on her. It was he cute. Mimi was led by two of the clerks further in, and I was guided to a waiting area at the back of the counter by the one who remained.

    ¡°I understand that the atmosphere inside the shop may be a bit too much for a man such as yourself, so please do wait here instead. I shall bring you some refreshments right away.¡±

    ¡°Ah.¡±

    Well, it certainly felt a bit difficult for me to walk about inside this frilly, fluffy shop interior. I¡¯m thankful for their consideration.

    ¡°Please leave the youngdy to us. We shall coordinate the most exquisite outfits for her. That, I promise.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave her in your professional hands then.¡±

    After hearing my response, the shop clerk gave me the finest smile I saw from her since we came to this store. She then excused herself. She used that mysterious, squirmy-looking movement technique to boot. Just how do they pull off those weird movements? Them suddenly disappearing before one¡¯s very eyes in an instant also seems kinda scary.

    Before I knew it, there was a cup of hot coffee, along with sugar and milk ced on the table in front of me- Wait, just when did these get here anyway? What¡¯s with this supernatural phenomenon? Horror? I¡¯m seriously starting to shake in my boots here¡­¡­

    I sipped my coffee in order to get rid of the shivers and busied myself by ying around with the 3D dress-up app I got from the cosy shop we went to some time ago. I went at it for about thirty minutes.

    ¡°Thank you for waiting.¡±

    ¡°A-Auuu¡­¡­¡±

    An angel has descended. She was clothed in a fluffy and cute white dress with a lot of pale pink frills and had arge ribbon adorning her head. Her feet and legs were covered in white tights and a pair of pink shoes. Mimi, who was now wearing a costume that pushed the boundaries of her cuteness to the absolute limits, was fidgeting in embarrassment with reddened cheeks. So precious.

    ¡°¡­¡­(I joined both hands and offered worship in silence)¡±

    ¡°It seems you have no need for words to express your adoration. As expected of our dear customer. You really do understand.¡±

    ¡°The theme we chose was ¡®sweet and cute¡¯. Will you go ahead with the purchase, sir?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­(I offered my data terminal in silence)¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much!¡±

    I paid for the clothes and proceeded with taking pictures of Mimi from all sorts of angles using my terminal¡¯s camera app. These can definitely be used for an amateur idol video or portfolio. That¡¯s just how beautiful they were.

    ¡°U-Uh¡­ P-Please don¡¯t take pictures¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Not being able to preserve the visage of an angel this cute is utter sphemy!¡±

    ¡°Please control yourself, dear customer. There¡¯s more in store.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    I stopped taking videos and pictures of Mimi and gave her a once-over again.

    ¡°Truly an angel.¡±

    ¡°T-Thank you very much, I think¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Fufufu¡­¡­ Shall we have her change into the next outfit then?¡±

    ¡°Well then, youngdy. Pleasee over here.¡±

    The shop clerks once again led Mimi inside that fluffy-looking space.

    When I went back to the waiting area, I found some hot tea and cookies ced on the table. Really now. Just how did these get here, man¡­¡­? As I thought, it¡¯s he scary.

    Perhaps the clothes have already been prepared beforehand. The shop clerks brought a newly dressed up Mimi back almost immediately. The outfit this time looked iner. But it also felt like a ssic design and radiated elegance. How should I put it? It kinda feels like something a wealthy youngdy from a noble family would wear.

    ¡°Wonderful. It can even be used as casual wear to some extent.¡±

    ¡°Yes. That is exactly this outfit¡¯s concept. Would you like me to prepare some simr items as well?¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°U-Um¡­ I don¡¯t really need that much¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my hobby. And I¡¯m a man who neverpromises when ites to my hobbies.¡±

    I shook my head in response to Mimi, who was trying to persuade me not to buy the outfits. We still have plenty of budget left. So there¡¯s absolutely no problem. And if I can see a cute Mimi every day, nothing is considered expensive.

    ¡°Fufu, wonderful isn¡¯t it? Now then, youngdy. On to the next outfit.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes¡­¡±

    The clerks took Mimi inside the store¡¯s interior once again. What type of outfit would shee out with next? I¡¯m really looking forward to it.

    Oh yeah, I¡¯ll send the video to Elma as well.

    I opened the messaging app and sent her a copy of Mimi¡¯s video I took earlier. It took a few moments to upload, but it was sent sessfully.

    ¡ºSo cute! Did you buy it?¡»

    ¡ºI¡¯ve already bought the one she wore in the video. I also bought something a bit more subdued.¡»

    ¡ºThat¡¯s good. It would be nice if you bought something for me as well, you know?¡»

    ¡ºSomething a little more adult would fit you better I think¡­ Yeah, it definitely would. Wannae here together with me next time?¡»

    ¡ºNo, I was only joking. I think something so frilly is a bit much for me¡­¡­¡»

    ¡ºI¡¯ll get even more motivated to bring you here if you react like that.¡»

    ¡ºSo you¡¯re that type huh.¡»

    We messed around like that in the messaging app until Mimi returned.

    ¡°Oh¡­ Fantastic!¡±

    The shop clerks bowed down to me after hearing my reaction.

    The outfit Mimi was wearing this time was a ck dress. It was the epitome of goth loli. It didn¡¯t expose much skin, and the frilly skirt went slightly below the knees, with whitece entuating the key points of the outfit. She was also wearing a headdress made out of ck and whitece.

    ¡°By the way, dear customer¡­ This is the price of the outfit¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh, what gives? Isn¡¯t it too expensive?¡±

    The price she showed me was well over my proposed budget. This single outfit actually costs a whopping 35,000 Enels.

    ¡°This outfit is made out of Hyperweave fabric that can block bothser fire and live bullets from handheld weapons.¡±

    ¡°Wait, hold up just one momentdy! Why the heck did they use that sort of heavy-duty stuff for making a fashionable dress like this?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because a dress is ady¡¯sbat uniform.¡±

    ¡°I see, so that¡¯s it¡­ Wait, that still sounds wrong, man! I think nobody would attempt to jump into a battlefield wearing a frilly dress like this you know.¡±

    ¡°In today¡¯s era, no one can predict whether or not they¡¯d be suddenly thrown into a firefight. There may be terrorists running around the city. One can also encounter pirates when they attack and capture civilian ships during interster travel. This Hyperweave Battle Dress is made for those times.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­¡±

    The female shop clerk was acting surprisingly pushy.

    ¡°And please look at this as well. Just look at the youngdy¡¯s visage. Doesn¡¯t it suit her extremely well?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah, it sure does.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t it? Doesn¡¯t it? In other words, this is a great buy! By all means, please get it.¡±

    ¡°Uh, maybe not. I can¡¯t. Or rather, isn¡¯t there anything of a simr design which is made from ordinary fabric?¡±

    The shop clerks slowly looked away after hearing my tsukkomi. So you do have one, don¡¯t you?

    ¡°Please get me one made from normal fabric. Oh, but we¡¯ll be getting innerwear made from Hyperweave fabric if you have them. Just in case.¡±

    I think underwear would be cheaper than a full dress. The amount of fabric used is way lesser after all.

    ¡°Of course. Please wait for a moment.¡±

    The clerks withdrew inside the shop while looking slightly disappointed. I heard them say some things like ¡®As I thought, that outfit was a bit too much.¡¯ or ¡®Rather, that outfit is certainly geared towards wealthy imperial nobles, isn¡¯t it?¡¯ as they walked away. So imperial nobles normally buy such outfits huh. How outrageous.

    But, well, a dress costing 3,500,000 Yen would certainly be cheap for those loaded with money, I guess. Although my sense of mary value is steadily being worn away sinceing to this dimension, I still haven¡¯tpletely forgotten a normal guy¡¯smon sense. I can spend tens of thousands of Enels to buy onboard equipment and upgrades for the ship, but I won¡¯t use the same amount just to buy some clothes.

    Mimi, who the clerks brought with them earlier, came back wearing an outfit that looked exactly the same as the previous one.

    ¡°This is a dress made from normal fabric. If we include some Hyperweave inners, this is how much it¡¯ll cost.¡±

    The price I was shown was way cheaper than what was shown to me earlier. The Hyperweave underwear did cost significantly higher than the dress, but it was still cheap if we consider the wearer¡¯s safety as a priority.

    ¡°I want two to three sets of Hyperweave inners, please. I don¡¯t mind if we go a bit over budget.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    The shop clerk had her smile back on. Maybe it¡¯s because she¡¯s happy about selling Hyperweave underwear. I paid for the clothes and took a good, long look at Mimi, who was wearing gothic lolita clothes.

    ¡°You¡¯re really cute.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­¡±

    Maybe she¡¯s gotten used to it, but Mimi was a lot moreposedpared to the time she wore that pink dress earlier. But she still seemed embarrassed since she lowered her gaze a bit while fidgeting¡­ Man, she¡¯s just so cute.

    ¡°So which of the clothes we bought do you want to wear right now?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    Mimi suddenly looked up while sporting a surprised expression. That¡¯s a really nice face she¡¯s making.

    ¡°Since we¡¯re on a date, I figured it would be nice if you wore the new clothes we bought. We can just send the clothes you wore earlier with the rest of the new outfits back to the ship, right?¡±

    ¡°N-No, it¡¯s impossible for me.¡±

    ¡°But this is the perfect chance to wear your new dress, isn¡¯t it? You won¡¯t wear them inside the ship, right?¡±

    ¡°B-But, we¡¯re going to buy more thingster, right? The bag I brought with me doesn¡¯t fit the dress as well.¡±

    Mimi kept making excuses in a fluster in order to avoid wearing the dress on our date. Hahaha, my dear Mimi. I won¡¯t be able to stop myself if you react like that, you know.

    ¡°Please get me a handbag that would fit this dress. And get me bags that would match all the other dresses as well please.¡±

    ¡°Understood, dear customer.¡±

    It¡¯s the return of The BINTA (Cash p). I will shoulder any expense if it¡¯s for the sake of realizing my desires.

    ¡°And don¡¯tpromise the quality while matching the design.¡±

    ¡°Please leave it to us.¡±

    The presence of the clerk who suddenly appeared behind me slowly faded away. I¡¯ve be more or less used to their antics, it seems.

    ¡°There¡¯s no reason to be embarrassed. It really does suit you. You look cute in it.¡±

    ¡°Uuu¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi brought up both of her hands and covered her bright red face in embarrassment due to my unreasonable actions. Hahaha. Just give up already, youngdy.

 Chapter 36 â€“ Mercenary Guild and Referral Letter

    <h4>Chapter 36 - Mercenary Guild and Referral Letter</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After we finished shopping at the specialty clothing store¡ºAtelier Pure¡», Mimi and I headed to the Mercenary Guild branch next. Mimi chose to wear the ck goth loli dress in the end. Her act of clinging onto the cuff of my clothes and hiding behind me due to not being used to wearing such clothes and being embarrassed to walk around with them in public was seriously cute. But she couldn¡¯t hide her satisfied expression from me.

    ¡°Mimi, you¡¯ll stand out more if you continue clinging to me like that you know. Just walk in front proudly. I¡¯m sure you won¡¯t gather as much attention if you do so.¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­ Okay.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s really no reason for you to be embarrassed you know. It really suits you. It suits you to a tee. You¡¯re super cute!¡±

    ¡°Please spare me already.¡±

    Mimi hid her face with both hands and sank from my merciless attacks. No, Captain! I didn¡¯t mean to cause a friendly fire incident! I¡¯m reflecting upon my actions. But seeing her so embarrassed is just so utterly cute. Hehehe.

    Mimi finally settled down after a little while. She still seemed embarrassed, but she was now able to walk normally, so we continued on our way to the Mercenary Guild branch. The Guild building¡¯s location was on a different upper block area from the tower Atelier Pure was renting in. It was located closer to the sector where the starship docks were at.

    We came to a different tower structure, entered an elevator inside, and rode it to the sector where the Mercenary Guild building was located. The towers were separated into differentyers. There were three floors on the upper block, fifty-two on the middle block, and thirty floors on the lower block. I have no idea about how huge the structures exactly were, but they sure looked pretty impressive.

    ¡°I wonder where this colony¡¯s residents live in?¡±

    ¡°It seems there¡¯s a tower fully dedicated as a residential building as well. It¡¯s a bit far from here, though.¡±

    ¡°I see. It does look like one of these buildings could hold a huge number of people.¡±

    I wonder just what the total poption of this colony is? It was such a huge colony, so there may be hundreds of thousands living in it perhaps.

    But what¡¯ll we have for lunch? I consulted Mimi, but we were disturbed by a *pon sound before we could decide. It looks like the elevator reached the floor where the Mercenary Guild was located in.

    ¡°Maybe we can ask around in the Mercenary Guild as well. They¡¯re more familiar with this ce after all.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right.¡±

    Gazes instantly focused on us when we left the elevator. The types of people whose gazes came our way were varied. There were stereotypical mercenary guys radiating an intimidating atmosphere, bipedal lizard aliens who also seemed to be mercenaries, a tan-skinned woman who - for some iprehensible reason - was wearing bikini armor, a woman who seemed to be a maid no matter which angle you looked at her, a group of six people the size of children wearing identical space suits, an alien who looked like a red panda in a work uniform, et cetera etcetera.

    ¡°It seems¡­ more livelypared to Termaine Prime¡¯s Mercenary Guild branch, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes, absolutely.¡±

    The gazes didn¡¯t linger on me for long, but it was the opposite for Mimi, so she felt a bit ufortable from all the attention. She¡¯ll get used to it eventually. I urged her to go to the counter, so she started walking ahead of me. The number of gazes turned toward Mimi decreased a bit when we started walking together. The mercenaries should have realized she was with me, who looked like your typical merc.

    The clich¨¦ temte of people going¡ºLooks like you brought quite the cutie with you eh, rookie?¡»didn¡¯t happen, and we reached the reception counter without any issues. Mimi was really quite cute, so her gathering attention was something inevitable. It was all but natural.

    ¡°Wee. What is your business with us today?¡±

    The one manning the counter we arrived at was a beautiful young woman. She looked like a proper career woman wearing the standard Mercenary Guild uniform. Her assets left Elma in the dust and even seemed to beparable to Mimi¡¯s. She was really quite the beauty. Was beauty a requirement in order to be hired as a Mercenary Guild receptionist?

    ¡°My name¡¯s Captain Hiro. This is Mimi, my ship¡¯s operator. We just arrived from Termaine Prime a few days ago, so we came here for a visit. We¡¯re nning on staying in this colony for a while you see.¡±

    We handed her our data terminals, which she ran through a scanning device of some sort. A beep rang from the device, and a holographic disy appeared before us.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve confirmed your info. You¡¯re Captain Hiro, correct? Your rank is Silver, the number of crew members is two¡­ Where might the other crewmember, Elma, be?¡±

    ¡°She stayed on the ship. We¡¯re waiting for contact from Inagawa Technology you see.¡±

    ¡°Inagawa Technology¡­ I see. To encounter something like that right when you arrive. I don¡¯t know if I can consider you lucky or not.¡±

    ¡°Well, we did make some money out of it, so I guess you can consider us lucky.¡±

    When she heard my reply as I held both my hands up and shrugged, the receptionist gave me a wry smile in return. Yeah, I know. You¡¯re trying to imply we¡¯re the type to invite trouble, aren¡¯t you Miss? I do kinda feel that as well. Just a bit. But we won¡¯t be able to get things done if we didn¡¯t consider getting caught up in troublesome matters a stroke of fortune as well.

    ¡°Has the Guild received word from them?¡±

    ¡°No, nothing at the moment. They¡¯ve probably just decided on the number of mary rewards, and it¡¯s taking some time to be approved. They¡¯re a bigpany after all.¡±

    ¡°I see. Please contact us or our ship if there¡¯s any sort of correspondence from them.¡±

    ¡°Understood¡­ Oh?¡±

    The receptionist raised her voice in surprise and operated her terminal.

    ¡°What good timing. We¡¯ve just received word from Inagawa Technology.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­ What did they say?¡±

    ¡°The total reward amount is 500,000 Enels.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about that price¡­ It kinda feels like they didn¡¯t go cheap on us, but it doesn¡¯t look like a big amount either. Can we consult with the crewmember left on the ship as well before we give a reply?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    After receiving consent from the receptionist, we immediately contacted Elma. It looks like she was manning the ship normally, so she picked up right away.

    ¡ºYes, Elma here. What¡¯s wrong? Trouble?¡»

    ¡°Nah, we¡¯re in the Mercenary Guild right now. They just received a reward notice from Inagawa Technology. The reward is 500,000 Enels. What do you think?¡±

    ¡ºHm. It¡¯s not like we towed them all the way back to the colony anyway. It¡¯s a reasonable amount for guarding them until the local military patrol arrived, I think. It¡¯s a normal reward for that kind of medium-sized civilian ship.¡»

    ¡°So, should we ept?¡±

    ¡ºYes. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any problem. Try to consult with Mimi as well, just in case.¡»

    ¡°Gotcha. Thanks.¡±

    ¡ºIt¡¯s fine. I¡¯m happy you¡¯re relying on me.¡»

    ¡°I¡¯ll continue rxing on the ship then,¡± Elma dered as she hung up. I looked toward Mimi after Elma cut the call.

    ¡°Elma said the 500,000 reward was okay. Do you have anything to add, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°I believe Inagawa Technology also manages a general hospital. Why don¡¯t you try asking them for a referral letter for our check-ups, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Really? Okay then. I¡¯ll try asking. Uh, please do as we discussed, Miss.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I shall tell the other party your intentions then. We will contact you as soon as we get a reply from them.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll leave it to you. And, uh, I have something I want to ask you about as well.¡±

    ¡°Yes? What is it?¡±

    ¡°Can you tell us the special products of this colony as well as ces where we can eat some tasty food?¡±

    She may have not expected such a question. The Guild receptionist froze up. It seemed like there was a question mark hovering on top of her head.

    Was it really such an unusual question¡­¡­?

    The day after my enjoyable date with Mimi, we received the referral letter from Inagawa Technology and immediately headed for the general hospital under thepany.

    Eh? What about the local specialties, you ask? It¡¯s not like there wasn¡¯t anything that tasted okay, but I just can¡¯t bring myself to like them. Normally speaking, a product good enough to be considered a local specialty shouldn¡¯t be too bad.

    That¡¯s what I thought at first.

    Well, you see, I know that the raw ingredients used in food cartridges didn¡¯t have much vor unless they¡¯re properly processed. But what am I supposed to think if I get shoved with those very ingredientsbined into a sort of funky paste?

    It did manage to fill the belly, and it¡¯s not like it didn¡¯t have any vor at all. How can I describe it? An umami shake? And in Large size too. I can¡¯t think of anything else topare it with. To put it simply, it was just nutrient paste.

    Mimi and I made expressions akin to Tibetan sand foxes when we first tasted the thing. Did the receptionist onee-san have a sort of grudge against us or something?

    ¡°What¡¯s up with you? You look like you just swallowed some sand.¡±

    ¡°Un, well, I just noticed that stall over there y¡¯see¡­¡­¡±

    I saw a street-side stall simr to the one we went to yesterday on the way to the general hospital. I looked to the side and found Mimi disying the same expression as me. By the way, Mimi was wearing clothes that were easy to take off if it was ever required during the check-up. She wore her usual training clothes with a jacket on top. I and Elma dressed pretty much the same. We did have ourser guns holstered though.

    ¡°Was it really that bad?¡±

    ¡°It was rmended by the guild receptionist, but it was awful.¡±

    ¡°It certainly was a hard-to-describe experience¡­¡­¡±

    It may be considered a local specialty in the sense that you can¡¯t find it anywhere else except for this ce. The fact that it was cheap and filled you up wasn¡¯t bad¡­ but it¡¯s not something I¡¯d want to eat on a daily basis.

    I and Mimi continued to discuss just how bad the nutrient paste was until we arrived in front of arge building. The words ¡®Inagawa Technology¡¯ was painted on the sidewall of the said building. Are all the tenants of those buildings working for Inagawa Technology?

    ¡°Well, it sure is easy to find.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. We can easily spot it even from a distance.¡±

    Mimi looked up at the building and seemed impressed. Elma didn¡¯t have much toment though. The three of us entered the building.

    ¡°Just how many floors are there in this ce?¡±

    ¡°I think they have navi robots here. Let¡¯s check with one of them.¡±

    What¡¯s a navi robot supposed to be? We followed Elma until we got in front of a console where she slotted her information terminal. When she did so, a beep sound rang out, followed by something round and was the size of an adult fisting out of a circr hole in the wall.

    ¡ºWee. I am the navigation unit, N-34. I shall guide Elma-sama andpanions to your destination.¡»

    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s high tech stuff.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing all that high-tech you know¡­¡­ Oh, I see. It¡¯s high-tech for you huh.¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°Uhuh.¡±

    Mimi tilted her head at my response. Oh yeah. I haven¡¯t told Mimi about my being from another dimension yet huh¡­ I¡¯ll tell herter tonight then. I don¡¯t think Mimi would doubt whatever I say, so it¡¯s not like I absolutely had to tell her. Maybe I¡¯ll consult with Elma first?

    The navigation unit rolled along as it guided us. It looks like we have to take the elevator.

    ¡°Hm, this little guy¡¯s pretty cute.¡±

    ¡°Really? You have a peculiar taste.¡±

    ¡°Eh? I mean, doesn¡¯t it kinda resemble a small animal?¡±

    ¡°I can sort of see that. It feels like it¡¯s working really hard even though it¡¯s so small.¡±

    The navigation unit inputted the specific floor we needed to go to, and the elevator started moving. Speaking of which, this dimension¡¯s elevators don¡¯t seem to stop for picking up more people along the way. Just how does that work, I wonder. It was kind of a mystery.

    We reached the destination after a few moments. The elevator doors opened up and the navigation unit started rolling away again. It was rolling around while emitting electronic beeps. Maybe it¡¯s a mechanism to ensure the guests following after it didn¡¯t lose sight of it by making use of the beeps.

    ¡°It looks like we¡¯re here.¡±

    We passed by people wearing doctor and nurse uniforms as we walked along the aisle until we arrived at an open space. It was a bright and clean space, as expected of a medical institution.

    ¡°Hey there. Wee. I¡¯ve been waiting for you guys.¡±

    The navigation unit stopped rolling in front of a person.

    It was a woman. She was about as tall as me. She sported light brown hair bunched up in a single braid which went down till her waist. Both her hands were stuffed inside her coat pockets. The gaze reflected from behind her slightly unfashionable sses seemed somewhat sleepy-looking. Her face was rtively in but was still strangely beautiful. The size of her chest weapons was¡­ at the level of Mimi¡¯s. Excellent!

    ¡°My name¡¯s Shouko. I¡¯m the person in charge of your health check-ups today¡­ Well, I¡¯m a doctor, basically. Nice to meet you, folks.¡±

    She shed us a good-natured smile.

 Chapter 37 â€“ Medical Check

    <h4>Chapter 37 - Medical Check</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°My name¡¯s Hiro, our ship¡¯s captain. These are my crew, Elma and Mimi. We¡¯ll be in your care, Dr. Shouko.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine. No need to be all polite with me folks. Let¡¯s all take it easy, shall we?¡±

    ¡°That so? I¡¯ll take you up on that then.¡±

    I nodded while thinking the doctor¡¯s heart was as broad as her chest.

    ¡°You¡¯ll be getting aprehensive physical examination today, right?¡±

    Dr. Shouko asked to confirm as she took out a tablet terminal from who-knows-where. Just where¡¯d ite from? That tablet. She had both hands inside her coat¡¯s pocket earlier, didn¡¯t she?

    ¡°Uh, I¡¯m currently in a situation where I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯ve received all avable vines for infectious diseases or not. And Mimi here only got the mostmon ones back on Termaine Prime. Since we¡¯re gonna be flying around all over the gxy during mercenary work, it¡¯d be great if we could get all of that covered as well. How about you, Elma?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve gotten most of the important ones. And the immune system of an elf-like me is way better than that of you humans, so I don¡¯t really need shots all that much. But it would still be better to be safe than sorry, so I got the more important ones out of the way at least.¡±

    ¡°I see. Do you girls have any other concerns?¡±

    ¡°Um, how about the thing with your memory, Hiro-sama-¡±

    ¡°Sorry, Mimi. That was a lie.¡±

    I interrupted Mimi, who was about to bring up my purported memory loss and denied her words. The moment she heard me, Mimi¡¯s eyes widened as she stared straight at me. It seems she¡¯s really shocked.

    ¡°The amnesia part¡¯s not true, but I do have someplicated circumstances¡­ To put it simply, my memories are a bit of a mess. I was suddenly thrown out onto Termaine Prime as a result of an ident during Hyperdrive you see. I have no idea what exactly happened though. I also couldn¡¯t find any data regarding Termaine Prime on my ship¡¯s databanks. It¡¯s as if I just suddenly appeared in this world for God-knows-what reason.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Hee? That sounds pretty mysterious.¡±

    ¡°It sure is. As a result of my memories getting screwed up due to that Hyperdrive ident, there are parts about this world I¡¯m quite unfamiliar with. I¡¯m taking this opportunity to have a check-up in order to find out if that ident had any other effects on my body apart from my memories getting messed up.¡±

    ¡°I see. There¡¯s a possibility of your body getting negatively influenced when you lost consciousness during that Hyperdrive ident. I agree that you should have that checked out.¡±

    Dr. Shouko nodded her head in agreement as she operated her tablet terminal. Was she preparing our clinical records?

    ¡°Do you have any special medical history I need to take note of?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m good. As far as my memory goes, anyway.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m also fine.¡±

    ¡®I¡¯m the same.¡±

    I, Elma and Mimi all shook our heads. I don¡¯t have any particr allergies, and I think I¡¯m the very picture of health.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s start with the check-ups then. We¡¯ll do a full scan on the medical pod first. We have thetest models installed in this facility.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re Inagawa Technology products?¡±

    ¡°Yep. Our shares in the gctic market notwithstanding, I guarantee our pod¡¯s performance and specs. The fact that it¡¯s a bit bigger than most models and costs a bit more are flies in the ointment so to speak. But we developed it with high performance in mind after all.¡±

    We followed after Dr. Shouko, who was busy promoting theirpany¡¯s products with a proud tone. Dr. Shouko exined about the technical aspects of Inagawa Technology¡¯s medical pods, but it all sounded Greek to me. There were a lot of technical terms mixed in, so I couldn¡¯t follow her exnations.

    ¡°There you have it.¡±

    ¡°I only understood about twenty percent.¡±

    ¡°I understand that it¡¯s an impressive product!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it sounds pretty impressive, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Un, anyway, it¡¯s amazing. It¡¯s fine if you get that much.¡±

    It looks like she wasn¡¯t all that affected by our lukewarm reactions. Dr. Shouko remained in high spirits. I think she¡¯s actually used to people reacting just like we have to her spiel. Anyway, this person feels like she would be more at home doing medical research instead of actively treating patients.

    ¡°Well, you guys are basically my saviors. I¡¯ll make sure to prepare thetest equipment for you all, so rest assured.¡±

    ¡°Saviors¡­¡­? Were you one of the passengers of the ship we rescued?¡±

    Dr. Shouko turned around and strongly nodded.

    ¡°Yep. I was thinking ¡®Man, I¡¯m so gonna die here.¡¯ at that time y¡¯know. See, even though I¡¯m a woman, I¡¯m just too in-looking. If the pirates seeded in boarding the ship, I¡¯ll probably end up with the ones to be disposed of y¡¯know.¡±

    She shrugged her shoulders as she said so. Really? I¡¯m not too sure about that. Once you get a better look at her, Dr. Shouko¡¯s actually quite the beauty, and her assets were huge, so the pirates may have been tempted to abduct her for themselves. I can¡¯t say whether or not that would be better than being disposed of though.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s how it goes. I was basically forced to be in charge of conducting check-ups for nobles and wealthy folk y¡¯see. I was originally a researcher¡­¡­ Oh, but don¡¯t worry folks. I have a proper physician¡¯s license, okay. And I¡¯m confident that my skills as a physician are above those ofmon doctors.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    I could only nod in understanding. It¡¯s not like I could suddenly demand a change in the doctor in charge, and doubting her skills would be rude as well.

    I turned toward Mimi and Elma and found a trace of anxiety in their expressions. Well, it¡¯s normal, I guess. Of course, they¡¯d react this way. But the person herself imed it would be okay, so we had no choice but to believe in her abilities.

    And we can just go for a second opinion at another medical facility if we had misgivings about the result. It would be best here if we obediently got Dr. Shouko¡¯sprehensive check-up.

    ¡°Well, this is the ce. Please go ahead and enter, everyone.¡±

    ¡°Alright¡­ Whoah.¡±

    ¡°Waa.¡±

    ¡°Hee.¡±

    The room Dr. Shouko led us to was lined up with med pods which looked far better than the one on Krishna¡¯s med bay. And they really did look bigger. The standard med pod on Krishna was only asrge as a small sized bed, but the med pods here looked like they could take up Krishna¡¯s entire med bay. Their heights were about 2 meters, their length was simrly 2 meters, and their width was 3 meters.

    ¡°They certainly arerge.¡±

    ¡°They sure are. But these babies are installed with thetest positronputers for an ultra-detailed data analysis. We¡¯re quite proud of what they can do. Now then, please take off your clothes and enter a med pod each.¡±

    ¡°Uh, how much should we take off?¡±

    ¡°E?verything.¡±

    ¡°Everything huh.¡±

    ¡°Yep, everything. Oh, and I¡¯m more or less used to seeing the naked bodies of patients. You don¡¯t have to mind me one bit.¡±

    ¡°Uh, okay¡­¡­¡±

    ¡®Ain¡¯t it the other way around? Maybe Dr. Shouko didn¡¯t mind it, but we did¡­¡­¡¯ was what I thought. But I didn¡¯t voice it out in the end. I started taking off my training wear and took a quick nce at Mimi and Elma-

    ¡°Oh no, you don¡¯t.¡±

    Elma threw her jacket and hit my head cleanly. The jacket blocked my line of sight.

    ¡°Hurry up, get undressed, and enter the pod, Mimi. And you mister. You stay there until we¡¯ve both entered. Okay?¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, Ma¡¯am!¡±

    I gave a crisp salute and obediently stood attention. But I¡¯m already butt naked except for the jacket on my head girls. Isn¡¯t this unfair? You don¡¯t care? Alright then.

    ¡°They¡¯ve both entered the med pods.¡±

    Dr. Shouko called out to inform me. I took off the jacket covering my head and threw it along with the rest of my clothes inside the clothing basket nearby.

    ¡°Thanks. Sorry about showing you something unsightly.¡±

    ¡°No, no. I¡¯m fine with it.¡±

    I ended up bowing my head in apology. Since it would do no good to keep staring at the good doctor, I went ahead and entered one of the med pods myself. Un. It feels unexpectedly cramped. It resembles the time I once got an MRI.

    It feels like that, you know. It was a peculiar feeling of the meds you took before an examination taking effect and warming up your body¡¯s core. It felt a bit weird to experience something like a ¡®My body¡¯s getting hot all over!¡¯ event for myself though. It sure was a peculiar experience.

    ¡ºCan you hear me? I¡¯m going to start the scan, so try to rx in there, m¡¯kay.¡»

    ¡°Kay.¡±

    ¡ºPlease straighten out your body. Spread out your hands and feet more.¡»

    ¡°Gotcha.¡±

    I did as the good doctor instructed and waited for the scan to finish. The inside of the med pod was bathed in rainbow-colored light, and my entire body was scanned. But I¡¯m not a person from this dimension. I sure hope nothing weird turns up.

    ¡ºKay, all done! I¡¯ll open up the pod, soe out and wear your clothes again.¡»

    The med pod¡¯s cover opened up with a *pushuu sound of air leaking out. It didn¡¯t take long for the scan to finish. As expected of an SF dimension. The MRI takes a lot more time inparison¡­¡­ And your body would feel hot all over as well. It¡¯s not something I want to experience often.

    I quickly wore my clothes and handed the jacket back to Elma.

    ¡°I¡¯m not worried about Mimi and my scan results, but I¡¯m a bit scared about yours.¡±

    ¡°It would be good if nothing bad gets detected.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that, girls. You¡¯re making me nervous here.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, you don¡¯t have to worry that much- Nn?¡±

    Dr. Shouko¡¯s gaze suddenly focused on the results indicated in her tablet terminal. Her brows creased.

    ¡°No, hm? Eh¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Now I¡¯m really getting worried.¡±

    ¡°Uh, hm¡­¡­ Can I ask you something, Hiro-kun?¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°I actually have a lot of things I want to ask, but first things first¡­ It seems you haven¡¯t gotten a multilingual trantion imnt, haven¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    I don¡¯t remember getting one so I probably haven¡¯t, I guess. But, judging from her reaction, it seems not having it was unusual. Mimi and Elma also had¡ºEh? Are you serious?¡»expressions on their faces.

    ¡°Uh, I guess it¡¯s weird that I don¡¯t have one, right?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s weird.¡±

    ¡°It definitely is.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s strange, Hiro-sama.¡±

    The three of them all nodded in agreement. It seems that this multilingual trantion imnt has spread far and wide across the gxy, and most babies had one imnted in them soon after birth. Since most, if not all folks, had one imnted in them as soon as they were born, someone like me, who hasn¡¯t gotten the imnt at my age was a true oddity.

    ¡°But Hiro-sama properly understands the words we¡¯re saying, right?¡±

    ¡°He sure does. And that¡¯s something I haven¡¯t encountered until now. But he doesn¡¯t have a lot ofmon sense though.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? Can we do some tests on you for a bit?¡±

    ¡°Please.¡±

    Dr. Shouko proceeded to operate her tablet.

    ¡°I¡¯m now going to start yingnguages from differents on this tablet. Can you repeat the words exactly as you hear them for me? This is a test program for the multilingual trantion imnt, actually.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Here we go then.¡±

    Sound clips of people making daily conversations yed from Dr. Shouko¡¯s tablet. I tried to recite them word for word. Although everything I¡¯m hearing is in Japanese.

    I managed to finish reciting everything on the test program without problems.

    ¡°It seems there¡¯s no problem. Just what method did they use on you, I wonder?¡±

    ¡°I have absolutely no idea.¡±

    The heck? Is this something like that? A multilingual trantion cheat for people transported to another world? But this is an SF dimension though? I¡¯d have preferred to get an imnt like everyone else actually¡­ Rather, I really don¡¯t get my situation here. How am I supposed to interpret this?

    ¡°Uh, since it seems there are no problems anyway, let¡¯s just ignore the fact that I have no imnt, shall we?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­? I¡¯m quite curious about it though.¡±

    ¡°No, I have no intention of bing your test subject, Dr. Shouko. Please go ahead with the next test.¡±

    ¡°How unfortunate¡­¡­ Um, here¡¯s another thing I¡¯m concerned about. Where exactly do youe from?¡±

    ¡°In my memory, I came from the Sr system¡¯s third, Earth. Maybe it¡¯s better to call it the Sol system.¡±

    But I haven¡¯t even heard of the Sr system or its third mentioned since finding myself in this dimension though. I¡¯d just say I heard it from a game whenever I asked other people about them.

    ¡°Sol system¡­¡­ I haven¡¯t heard of it at all.¡±

    Dr. Shouko looked toward Mimi and Elma. Both of them quickly shook their heads.

    ¡°What about my ce of birth? Is that really important or something?¡±

    ¡°Un, it¡¯s about your gic data, you see. I¡¯ve managed to get lots of values I haven¡¯t seen until now.¡±

    ¡°Hm¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well, after checking, your body seems simr in function to that of a normal humanoid race, so I guess it¡¯s fine. But it¡¯s quite interesting though. Since your gic data is different from all others, we might find some new factors we haven¡¯t managed to discover until now within it.¡±

    ¡°Please make the exnation easier to understand, Doc.¡±

    ¡°Your gic data is like an unexplored new frontier. Do you get it better if I describe it like that?¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­¡­¡±

    I turned towards Elma and Mimi once more and saw them disying expressions which seemed unsure about how to react after hearing such info. I kinda get why though.

    ¡°And what merits can that provide?¡±

    ¡°A lot, actually. Your gic data is practically priceless. An unknown gic make-up is akin to this universe¡¯s unexplored frontiers you know!¡±

    Dr. Shouko closed in on me while sporting an excited expression. Close. Way too close. The gazeing from behind her sses was really intense. I put my hands on both her shoulders and gently pushed her away.

    ¡°And the demerits are?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think there are any. We¡¯re proud of our information security protocols here, so there¡¯s next to no chance of this leaking out. However, I don¡¯t rmend getting another check-up at a different institution. There¡¯s a risk of you turning into someb¡¯s guinea pig after all. We¡¯re a proper institution here. I guarantee the safety of your personal data, and we won¡¯t attempt to follow you around or restrain you in any way.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Looks like I managed to dodge a bullet huh. I had an inkling something like this would happen, but I had no idea it would turn out to be such a big deal. What to do¡­¡­? Should I follow Doc¡¯s suggestion and have Inagawa Technology handle all our medical needs from now on?

    ¡°I understand. Please give me some time to consider the thing about offering my gic data for research. Considering the situation, I think it¡¯s best we had Inagawa Technology handle our medical needs from now on. And I¡¯d also like to hear more details about the price of my gic data and what it¡¯ll be used for, exactly. But let¡¯s just finish theprehensive check-up and vination for today¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It would be best if you got vinated after we¡¯ve analyzed your gic data. It¡¯s because there¡¯s a chance of an unexpected change urring in your gic make-up once you got them. We¡¯d like your gic code to be as pure and natural as possible after all.¡±

    What¡¯s the thing with vines making changes to my gic code, Doc¡­? It sounds scary, man.

    ¡°So I guess I have toe here again huh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, we can finish everything today if you handed over your gic data right now, you know.¡±

    ¡°Like there¡¯s anyone who¡¯d hand over the goods before a proper contract¡¯s been drafted!¡±

    ¡°You can hand it over if you really trust us, right, Hiro-kun?¡±

    Dr. Shouko tilted her head cutely as she gave me a warm, sweet-looking smile. Thisdy doctor¡¯s unexpectedly sly huh.

    ¡°We haven¡¯t built a rtionship based on trust yet, so that¡¯s impossible.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s truly regrettable.¡±

    ¡°You have the data from the scan, right?¡±

    They have data that would at least allow them to recognize that my gic make-up was pretty unique from the med scan earlier.

    ¡°But it¡¯s different from having the real thing. We¡¯d prefer a sample of your blood or semen actually.¡±

    ¡°Please hold off on that until we reach a satisfactory agreement.¡±

    Dr. Shouko sighed in disappointment. This woman really is a researcher. I¡¯m positive she¡¯s not suited for being a medical doctor out on the field.

    ¡°Oh well. Let¡¯s just finish up everything that can be done today, shall we? I really want to get a hold of Hiro-kun¡¯s gic data after all.¡±

    Dr. Shouko shed me one of her sweet smiles again. Fine, fine. Just do whatever, Doc.

 Chapter 38 â€“ Losing Something Important

    <h4>Chapter 38 - Losing Something Important</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    While Mimi and Elma went inside a different room in order to undergo the rest of the tests, Dr. Shouko and I went back to the main lobby. It seems she was looking to finish discussions regarding the research and use of my gic data as soon as possible.

    ¡°The rest of the staff will handle the tests on those two, so don¡¯t worry. Those people aren¡¯t like me, who¡¯s mainly a researcher, but are proper field personnel.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­¡­ So, you¡¯ve already decided on a price for my data? Wasn¡¯t I supposed toe back at ater date?¡±

    ¡°The remuneration amount for unknown gic data can be roughly determined by using the number of unknown factors as basis. When I sent the data I scanned earlier to the higher-ups, I got approval straight away.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    She¡¯s disying an expression of relief for having done her job well, but this person did say she basically forced her way to attend to our check-ups today you know. She¡¯s obviously a researcher type, but maybe she¡¯s also got a knack for politics as well.

    ¡°That¡¯s the case. So let¡¯s talk about the money now.¡±

    ¡°Straight to the point huh.¡±

    ¡°Hey, money¡¯s pretty useful. It can even be used build a sense of trust that would normally need some time to umte, you see.¡±

    ¡°Guess so. What¡¯s the final price then?¡±

    ¡°3,000,000 Enels.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a great deal of money. Is my gic data really worth that much?¡±

    It¡¯s approximately 300 million in Japanese Yen. I don¡¯t think I have any special bloodline or anything, so I¡¯m rather surprised at just how high they value my gic data.

    ¡°As I said earlier, a previously undiscovered,pletely unknown humanoid gic make-up isparable to a brand new frontier in the field of gics. It may be the key to push the entire humanoid races to the next level of evolution. It¡¯s that potential that we value so highly.¡±

    ¡°Evolving to the next level, you say¡­¡­¡±

    Just how exactly do you intend to use my data, Doc¡­¡­? Well, I don¡¯t really have any idea about this dimension¡¯s stance on bioethics, so it¡¯s not my ce to say anything.

    ¡°Just please make sure to protect my personal info¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Of course. Here¡¯s the contract by the way.¡±

    After saying that, Dr. Shouko handed me her tablet terminal. I checked the contents of the contract, and there doesn¡¯t seem to be any problem from what I¡¯ve read. So, basically, the particrs were ensuring the protection of my personal data and refraining from making clones without the concerned party¡¯s permission. If Inagawa Technology vites said provisions, they would have to pay me 30 million Enels aspensation for damages, andpletely halt the research and use of my gic data. The contents seem to mostly favor me at least. My proposal about Inagawa Technology handling all our medical needs was also included in the contract.

    I read it several times more, trying to find any trace of loopholes, but it all seemed to check out okay in the end.

    ¡°You¡¯re the careful sort, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Well, handing over one¡¯s personal gic information can be quite scary y¡¯see. And it seems there¡¯s a lot of uses here that¡¯spletely in my favor huh.¡±

    ¡°Really? With this contract, even if Inagawa Technology manages to make a ton of profit from research on your gic data, you won¡¯t be able to get a single Enel you know.¡±

    ¡°I see. But it doesn¡¯t seem like you¡¯ll be using it for something shady anyway. I n on earning my keep myself, so I don¡¯t really mind.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? How mercenary-like of you.¡±

    Dr. Shouko gave me a wry grin after hearing my response.

    It¡¯ll be better for me to treat the funds I¡¯ll get from this transaction as easy money. I also had the option to refuse, but Inagawa Technology already ended up finding out the value of my gic info after all¡­ It¡¯ll be less troublesome this way.

    As such, I feel it¡¯s best to follow Inagawa Technology¡¯s arrangements, even if they¡¯re not too advantageous to me. It¡¯s better to prioritize the safety of me and my crew after all.

    ¡°So I take it that we¡¯vee to an agreement?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    I ran my finger on the tablet terminal¡¯s screen and signed ¡®Captain Hiro¡¯ on the contract. With this, it¡¯s a done deal.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m really happy you¡¯ve agreed to the contract! Now then, shall we get to collecting your blood and semen samples?¡±

    ¡°Okay then¡­¡­ And, uh, I get the blood part, but how are you gonna collect my semen¡­?¡±

    ¡°Fufu¡­¡­ You can look forward to it, okay?¡±

    Dr. Shouko gave me a shady look and licked her lips.

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait! What the heck!? I didn¡¯t hear about this earlier! Please spare me, Doc! Don¡¯t! Waaah¡ª!¡±

    ¡°Uuuu¡­ My chastity was¡­¡±

    ¡°There you go. Good job.¡±

    The cover of the med pod opened up, and I walked out while shedding rivers of of tears as Dr. Shouko greeted me in a sing-song tone.

    You want to know how exactly she collected my seed? Please stop. I don¡¯t wanna remember¡­¡­ It feels like getting into a med pod is gonna develop into a lifelong trauma for me.

    ¡°Some people get quite enamored with the process though.¡±

    ¡°I respectfully decline with all my being!¡±

    I put on my clothes after getting out of the med pod. Urgh. My behind still feels a bit strange¡­ I¡¯m never gonna sell my gic data again. Ever. And I was even looking forward to an ero situation with Dr. Shouko too¡­¡­ It looks like life isn¡¯t that sweet. But it was a logical development, I guess. Hehe¡­

    ¡°Anyway, we¡¯re done with collecting your gic data now. Oh, I¡¯m sooo looking forward to this¡­ kufufu.¡±

    Compared with me, whose mood hit rock-bottom, Dr. Shouko looked quite excited. Her white cheeks were dyed cherry pink as she gushed on cheerfully while disying an adorable smile. I just can¡¯t bring myself to get angry at her if she shows me such an expression.

    ¡°Oh, there you are. We¡¯re back¡­ Uh, what happened to you? Your eyes are kinda red.¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Please heal my wounded heart.¡±

    I tried to hug Elma, but was refused and pushed off. I bounced toward Mimi¡¯s bountiful chest as a result. Waaah, it¡¯s my lifeliiiine¡­¡­ Ah, Mimi¡¯s rubbing my head gently. So good.

    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s the matter with you?¡±

    ¡°We settled for a contract regarding his gic data, so we proceeded with collection right away y¡¯see. It looks like he didn¡¯t quite enjoy the procedure.¡±

    ¡°Procedure?¡±

    ¡°In order to collect his semen, we went and poked like this y¡¯see.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­¡±

    And she blurted out my misfortune just like that. So cruel. It¡¯s like getting salt pped onto a freshly opened wound. I¡¯ll have to get plenty of Mimi¡¯s love, or I won¡¯t be able to bounce back. Fueee.

    ¡°You really didn¡¯t like it, did you Hiro-sama? ¡­¡­There, there.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not the kind of guy who¡¯d fall just from that much, right? Get yourself together already.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, Elma-san. Hiro-sama¡¯s eyes are really red already. I think he really suffered.¡±

    ¡°I get that, sure, but ain¡¯t that just miserable¡­¡­?¡±

    Mimi raised her voice in slight anger and hugged my head even tighter. So happy! The cruel Elma-san was mutteringints though.

    ¡°Un, well, uh, sorry about that. I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d hate it that much. To be honest, I was pretty excited earlier and forgot to exin the entire process. I should have had you do it yourself. Or maybe you¡¯d have preferred it if I helped out?¡±

    So there was an option to have Dr. Shouko help in the semen collection? Seriously? Just why didn¡¯t I manage to grab such an opportunity¡­? I utterly hate my own carelessness.

    ¡°Instead of doing it yourself, just call us¡­¡­ You don¡¯t really have to go that far, doctor.¡±

    ¡°Oh? It¡¯s nothing, really. I would have been turned into space debris if Hiro-kun didn¡¯t rescue me after all. Compared to that, helping him out with something like this is no problem.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­?¡±

    I heard Dr. Shouko giggling mischievously and Elma¡¯s slightly grumpy voice. What¡¯s with this somewhat subtle atmosphere all of a sudden¡­¡­? Mimi kept on hugging my head onto her chest and patting it gently. It feels like my brain would melt.

    ¡°Yosh, I¡¯ve revived!¡±

    ¡°Are you okay now, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m good already.¡±

    I was saved by the overwhelming allure of Mimi¡¯s bountiful chest and sessfully recovered. I turned my head and saw Elma giving me an exasperated look.

    ¡°A grown man like you shouldn¡¯t cry just from getting poked a little.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t just a little. It went in all the way y¡¯know. Well, since you¡¯re saying it like that, I¡¯ll make sure you experience something simr one of these days. Prepare yourself.¡±

    ¡°Eh!? N-No, that¡¯s a bit¡­¡±

    Elma¡¯s face turned blue as she began to slightly panic. But I shall remember your offense,dy. You just wait.

    ¡°So the only thing left is getting vinated, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Your physiology seems simr to humans for the most part, so I don¡¯t think there¡¯ll be any problems. There should basically be no side effects, but it¡¯s better if you get some rest for three days afterward, just in case.¡±

    ¡°I see. Understood. Let¡¯s get it done.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Can you girls please wait in the lobby?¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    ¡°We understand.¡±

    I nodded and parted from the two girls. I was led into another room to get my shots. The shots basically didn¡¯t hurt, and the gooddy doctor just pushed a gun-type syringe on my arms, neck, chest and other parts of my body. It was a bit of a let-down, strangely enough.

    ¡°Sure is simple. And it doesn¡¯t hurt too.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t hurt? What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°Uh- Well¡­¡±

    ¡°You said you¡¯re from the third of the Sol system earlier, didn¡¯t you? In other words, back in your ce, a procedure like this causes pain. And you¡¯re reminded of that, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Please just ignore that.¡±

    ¡°To think a procedure like this would cause pain¡­ Fumu, it looks like the development of medical technology where you¡¯re from is quite behind the times, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t people call you out on the fact that you don¡¯t listen to what others are saying, Dr. Shouko?¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, they do; quite often, actually.¡±

    Dr. Shoukoughed ndly. I guess most folks can¡¯t bring themselves to get angry due to that carefree attitude and sweet smile of hers. But I¡¯m thinking she also has plenty of people she can¡¯t get along with because of her attitude.

    ¡°Anyway, please stop questioning me about my circumstances any further. You¡¯re too direct, you know.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t be helped then. Well, I guess that¡¯s just how you-born folks are.¡±

    In this dimension, most people were born and raised on outer space colonies, and the only ones who live on terrestrials are just a select few - In other words, upper-ss aristocrats and the like.

    In my case, I came from an entirely different dimension, but I can¡¯t exactly say that to Dr. Shouko and Inagawa Technology. There¡¯s a chance I¡¯d really be confined to ab as a guinea pig once they found out after all. They¡¯d just have to settle for my gic data.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    ¡°I understand. But can you find it in your heart to let me investigate more about you?¡±

    ¡°Please start with researching my gic data first.¡±

    I coldly cut down Dr. Shouko, who resorted to begging me cutely with upturned eyes as she clung to my arm. I was honestly a bit moved by those upturned eyes earlier, but this Captain Hiro won¡¯t be toppled easily just by something like that.

    ¡°Ahaha. It seems someone like me just won¡¯t do huh. Elma-san and Mimi-chan are both beauties after all.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Both of them are also beautiful.¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    Dr. Shouko seemed a bit taken aback by the way I phrased my prompt response, but I didn¡¯t pay attention to her reaction and wore my jacket.

    ¡°We¡¯re all done, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, all good. We¡¯ll just need to wait for the overall results of yourprehensive check-ups, so let¡¯s meet back up with those two.¡±

    The both of us left the medical room and went back to the lobby area. There, we saw Elma and Mimi discussing something as they waited. Elma noticed us immediately and turned toward us. Mimi¡¯s gaze followed suit.

    ¡°You sure noticed us quickly.¡±

    ¡°I can catch your footsteps from miles away.¡±

    ¡°Elves like Elma-san mostly have great hearing you know. I¡¯ve heard the ones who live in traditionalmunities in forests can hear the footsteps of animals from over two kilometers away.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t do anything that extreme though.¡±

    Elma shrugged her shoulders. So those long ears aren¡¯t just for show huh.

    ¡°But it¡¯s not like these ears only bring me benefits, you know. I also often hear things I don¡¯t particrly wanna hear. And I also can¡¯t wear most types of headgear and helmets designed for humans.¡±

    ¡°Things you don¡¯t wanna hear?¡±

    ¡°Yup. The rumbling of your stomach, for example. It cried out miserably just now.¡±

    ¡°Seriously?¡±

    I involuntarily grabbed my stomach. But, now that she mentioned it, it does seem like I¡¯m a bit hungry.

    ¡°Come to think of it, it¡¯s almost lunch. Do you guys want to grab a bite ahead of time?¡±

    ¡°What are we going to have?¡±

    ¡°I rmend sipping the paste inside food cartridges-¡±

    ¡°¡±No thanks!¡±¡±

    Mimi¡¯s gaze turned empty. Mine probably looked the same. Elma grinned bitterly while Dr. Shouko tilted her head in puzzlement. Are Dr. Shouko¡¯s taste buds faulty or something? ¡­Maybe it¡¯s due to having those things on a daily basis. Her taste buds must have degenerated already. How pitiful.

    ¡°I see? Well, your check-up results should being in soon, so shall we talk in that private room over there?¡±

    Dr. Shouko started walking ahead. The three of us followed after her.

    Well then, I do hope nothing bad turns up.

 Chapter 39 â€“ A New (Important) Function has been Unlocked

    <h4>Chapter 39 - A New (Important) Function has been Unlocked</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°ording to these results, the three of you are the very picture of health. You have no hidden illnesses, and all your bodily functions are A-OK.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡±

    I was honestly relieved when I heard Dr. Shouko announce the results. Elma¡¯s probably fine, but Mimi did live in an unhygienic environment for a time. It made me worried a bit. Me? I guess I¡¯m pretty healthy myself, all things considered. I wasn¡¯t really all that worried about myself anyway.

    ¡°We¡¯ve also given you the full range of avable vines. Elma-kun¡¯s already had most of them before, but Mimi-kun and Hiro-kun have been administered with all the necessary ones. Oh, but I do find it mysterious that Hiro-kun didn¡¯t disy any traces of getting vinated before at all.¡±

    Dr. Shouko looked at me with eyes bubbling with curiosity, but I averted my gaze.

    ¡°I had to refrain from taking them due to religious reasons.¡±

    ¡°Fine, let¡¯s just go with that then. Anyway, as I said earlier, there may be unexpected side effects, so try not to perform any strenuous activities for at least three days. The estimated probability of side effects appearing is just 0.1%, but nothing¡¯s absolute after all.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Anything else we need to keep in mind?¡±

    ¡°Un, let¡¯s see¡­¡­ Um, could you twoe over here for a bit, Mimi-kun and Elma-kun?¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Juste here for a bit. Can you go over there instead for a while, Hiro-kun?¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    The two followed after Dr. Shouko while feeling puzzled, and I obediently took some distance from the three of them. Dr. Shouko was talking to them about something in a low voice as she pointed at the check-up results on her tablet. Mimi nodded while sporting a serious expression while the color of Elma¡¯s face alternated from red to blue.

    ¡°That sure makes me curious.¡±

    ¡°Sorry. Just wait there for a bit, kay.¡±

    Dr. Shouko cheerfully replied as she waved me further away. I met eyes with Elma.

    ¡°¡­¡­!!¡±

    Her face suddenly went bright red. W-What¡¯s with that reaction? It made me utterly curious. Mimi noticed Elma¡¯s state and turned her gaze towards me. Mimi¡¯s acting normally, isn¡¯t she? It doesn¡¯t seem like she¡¯ll make the type of reaction Elma had. Just what¡¯s with that?

    ¡°That¡¯s about it, so keep what I said in mind, you two.¡±

    ¡°U-U-Understood.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    The two of them came back to the earlier spot, so I also followed suit. I¡¯ll try to ask Mimi about itter.

    ¡°Do you have anything else you need to tell us before we go, Doc?¡±

    ¡°No, we¡¯re all done. I¡¯ll send the relevant data from today¡¯s check-up to your shipter.¡±

    Oh yeah,. Don¡¯t medical records usually have a lot of unfamiliar terms and numbers in them? I have no idea if it¡¯s the same in this dimension though. I don¡¯t have any rtive knowledge in order to make sense of those medical reports, so I have no idea how useful they would be.

    ¡°So we¡¯re free to go, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Can you just subtract the bill from the payment for my gic data? I can also pay it right now if that¡¯s what you want.¡±

    ¡°It would be better to ask about something like that to the staff at the lobby, I think. I¡¯m just a researcher and a physician after all.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Thank you very much for today, Doc.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your time.¡±

    ¡°W-We¡¯re really grateful.¡±

    I went out of the private room along with a calm-looking Mimi and a still-flustered Elma. We then headed for the information counter at the lobby like the Doc suggested.

    Oh, and the medical fees for all three of us were 90,000 Enels. It was cheaper than expecte- Nah. 9,000,000 Yen in medical fees doesn¡¯t really seem all that cheap, doesn¡¯t it? Oh well. It¡¯s fine as long as it¡¯s for our health¡­

    Nah. On second thought, it¡¯s really expensive. It seems medical services are expensive no matter which dimension you end up in. I¡¯ll keep this in mind.

    Should the three of us go somewhere to eat? I tried asking the girls and was told they wanted to change out of their current clothes because they felt they were too lightly dressed, so we ended up deciding toe back to the ship instead. We¡¯ll get to eat a delicious lunch made by Chef Tetsujin once were back anyway, so I was all for it. And there wasn¡¯t really a need to go on a gastronomic adventure which had a high chance of failure.

    ¡°So what did Dr. Shouko tell the two of you back there? Elma seemed really bothered for some reason, so it made me curious.¡±

    ¡°I-It¡¯s nothing.¡±

    It looks like Elma was avoiding my gaze. She was eating her meal while turned away from me. Why¡¯s she acting all prickly anyway? I turned towards Mimi instead.

    ¡°She just told me about medicine that¡¯s more suited for mepared to what I¡¯m taking right now, and rmended I switch over.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? You should do as she said then. I¡¯ll pay for the meds, so get them as soon as you can.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Thank you very much, Hiro-sama.¡±

    Mimi gave me a sunny smile. S¡¯alright. It¡¯s a captain¡¯s duty to ensure the health and wellbeing of his crew.

    ¡°So what about you, Elma?¡±

    ¡°I-It¡¯s nothing to be concerned about. I was told the same thing as Mimi, that¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Then why is your face bright red? But she seems hell-bent on not telling me. And I don¡¯t want to be too pushy. Fine. I¡¯ll stop asking about it.

    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll have to take it easy for three days. What should I do to pass the time though? Should I just hole up inside the ship?¡±

    ¡°No. I asked when I got vinated earlier, and it seems you don¡¯t need to go that far. It seems there¡¯s no problem with taking a walk. The probability of getting side effects is really low after all.¡±

    ¡°I see. Should the three of us go out for some sightseeing then?¡±

    ¡°That sounds wonderful. If we¡¯re going for a tour of the Alein Tertius colony, the main activity should be shopping. There¡¯s a lot of different shops here after all.¡±

    ¡°Well, we certainly did get to go around quite a few different stores yesterday. It was pretty enjoyable. So shopping will be the main activity huh. Are there any other interesting things we could do?¡±

    ¡°We can go on a factory tour. We could visit food-processing factories that make products such as food cartridges and artificial meat. We can also tour hydroponic farms, high-tech machinery factories, or shipyards. Those types of factory tours seem really popr.¡±

    ¡°Hou, factory tour huh. It sounds fun.¡±

    I¡¯m particrly interested in touring food processing factories. I wanna know more about the food we eat on a daily basis.

    ¡°There¡¯s also a liquor manufacturing nt which makes use of gically improved crops as well.¡±

    *Pikun! Elma¡¯s long ears reacted. She sure is easy to read.

    ¡°Are the tours scheduled via reservation?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I think so. Should I make one now?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, okay. Can you n a schedule that wouldn¡¯t be too hectic? I¡¯ll leave deciding where we¡¯re going to visit to you. Oh, and be sure to make the liquor nt thest stop.¡±

    *Piku-pikun. Elma¡¯s ears twitched wildly.

    ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll be sure to pick ces with good reputations. And I think guests are also allowed to have free product samples as well.¡±

    When Elma raised her head in excitement, our eyes met. When that happened, she panicked and brought her head down right away. Oh, and by the way Elma-san, your te is already empty, you know.

    ¡°Then, tomorrow, the three of us will be going on a factory tour date.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it!¡±

    ¡°Y-You¡¯re right. It sure sounds exciting¡­¡­ Uh, I¡¯m going out to shop for a bit, okay?¡±

    ¡°Hm? What are you going to buy? Will you be okay alone? Should Ie with you?¡±

    ¡°I-It¡¯s fine! It¡¯s totally fine! Absolutely, positively fine! I¡¯ll go by myself!¡±

    Elma refused me in a panic. As soon as she managed to shove her te on the dishwasher, she went to her room and left the ship soon afterward in a hurry. Hm. She really is acting weird.

    ¡°Mimi?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t say it myself. It¡¯s not really a bad thing, and I think Elma-san would talk to you about it eventually when she¡¯s ready.¡±

    Mimi dered so while smiling cheerfully. I decided to push my doubts aside again. Well, I guess it¡¯s fine since it isn¡¯t a bad thing, ording to Mimi.

    ¡°I don¡¯t get it, but I¡¯ll try to respect Elma¡¯s privacy and let it slide, I guess.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    It kinda felt like Elma went out of the ship in a very panicked state earlier though. Was she really okay? I¡¯m still worried after all.

    I only managed to see Elma again when evening came. For some reason, she made Mimi bring her meal to her room earlier and even used the messaging app to find out what time I would enter the bath so we won¡¯t get to meet each other along the way.

    ¡°-!!!¡±

    Her entire face was bright red when she entered my room. What¡¯s this? Boiled elf?

    And she wasn¡¯t wearing her usual outfit either. Usually, whenever she visited my room, she¡¯ll alwayse decked in sloppy-looking pajamas or training wear. But tonight, she¡¯s wearing a prim, white negligee.

    When I saw Elma with her milky white skin flushed red while wearing a sheer, white negligee¡­ I was momentarily lost for words. She felt like a totally different person.

    ¡°Hey there. You¡¯ve been acting strange all day. You okay?¡±

    ¡°I-I-I¡¯m f-fine, y¡¯know¡­?¡±

    Elma¡¯s eyes were spinning. It totally doesn¡¯t seem like she¡¯s okay. Nope, not one bit.

    ¡°Well, uh, okay then. Why don¡¯t youe and sit over here first?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ wa¡­ un¡­¡±

    Elma walked with restless steps and came right before the bed in no time. She seemed to hesitate for a bit but eventually sat down on my bed in a bold manner. But she didn¡¯t sit right beside me but kept a little distance instead.

    ¡°You should be tired from today¡¯s activities.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re also acting strange, Elma.¡±

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t really think so. Am I?¡±

    ¡°Are you sure you aren¡¯t ufortable or something?¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­¡±

    Elma¡¯s face blushed bright red and she hid both her long ears with her hands. So elves hide their ears instead of their face whenever they¡¯re embarrassed huh. It¡¯s a great example of the difference in culture between species.

    ¡°So, what¡¯s wrong? You¡¯re really not acting like yourself, you know?¡±

    I tried to grab Elma¡¯s waist, but she seemed surprised by it and hastily squirmed away. Hmm¡­¡­?

    ¡°U-Um?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°I-I-I¡¯m¡­ with you¡­ b-b-bay¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Bay-?¡±

    ¡°B-b-bu-bu-b-bay-!¡±

    ¡°What the heck!? Is that some kind of new-age rap or something!?[1]¡±

    Elma fell face down on the bed while letting out a strange voice. And when I tried to lift her up in order to ce her in afier position, I managed to smell alcohol. What the heck? What exactly should I do about this?

    I lost the drive toy my hand on Elma in this situation, so I ended up tucking her snuggly on the bed as I watched over her- or rather, I also followed suit and tucked myself right in after a bit.

    ¡°Nn¡­¡­ Hi?roo¡­¡­¡±

    Elma¡¯s lips curled into a sweet smile as she hugged my arm.

    ¡°Baby-making¡­ Nyaa¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Just what kind of dream are you having there¡­¡­¡±

    I think I heard some really surprising words from Elma as I closed my eyes. I soon became really drowsy from feeling the warmth of Elma¡¯s skin against my own. Maybe I¡¯m more tired from the check-up than I thought. I couldn¡¯t resist my sleepiness and soon drifted away to thend of dreams.

    ¡°Haauuuuuu¡­¡­!¡±

    Elma woke up early in the morning and covered her ears in embarrassment, with a bright red face. She was emitting steam from the top of her head. Elma seems super embarrassed for some reason.

    ¡°To think I drank alcohol in order to psyche myself up, but actually passed out mid-way¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Psyche yourself up¡­? Just how many bottles did you drink anyway?¡±

    ¡°One whole bottle of whiskey.¡±

    ¡°Ouch.¡±

    This disappointing elf actually drank one whole bottle of liquor with a really high alcohol content before she came to my room¡­ Of course, she¡¯ll end up passing out. I¡¯m just d she didn¡¯t end up vomiting all over the bed.

    ¡°So? Just why did you act like that yesterday anyway?¡±

    ¡°Well, how was I supposed to react when I was suddenly told it was possible to make children with you¡­¡­? An elf shouldn¡¯t be able to bear children unless they fully recognize their partner as their lifelong spiritualpanion after¡­¡­ all¡­¡­?¡±

    Gigigigi¡­ Elma turned towards me in a mechanical manner reminiscent of a broken toy. Did you actually think I was still asleep this whole time? I managed to wake up way ahead of you, missy.

    ¡°Good morning.¡±

    I greeted Elma, whose face turned an even brighter shade of red. A morning greeting is important. It said so in the Kojiki as well.

    ¡°G-Good mor-!?¡±

    ¡°Mogaah-!?¡±

    She proceeded to hit me in the face with a pillow. Hey! Don¡¯t just suddenly hit me with all your might with a pillow, you! My nose hurts! Rather, it¡¯s hard to breathe, idiot!

    I wasted time grappling with a flustered Elma on top of my bed first thing in the morning. Good grief. Men don¡¯t like violent women y¡¯know. This is why I call you a disappointing elf.

    [1]Note: This is actually different from the joke in the raws. In the Japanese raws, Elma kept on saying ¡®ke¡¯ and ¡®ko¡¯ repeatedly. She was actually trying to say ¡®kodomo zukuri¡¯ - which basically means the act of baby-making. Due to her stutters, her broken words ended up sounding simr to the Japanese onomatopoeia for a hen clucking, to which Hiro retorts.

 Chapter 040 â€“ The Factory Sightseeing Tour â€“ Meat

    <h4>040 - The Factory Sightseeing Tour - Meat Chapter</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°So it¡¯s that, right? Elma¡¯s all tsun-tsun but is actually head-over-heals in love with me!?¡±

    ¡°T-That¡¯s not true! I-It¡¯s nothing like that!¡±

    ¡°Elma-san, it¡¯s not good to act all violent in order to hide your embarrassment you know.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s exactly right.¡±

    ¡°U-Uuuuuuuu!¡±

    Mimi squinted her eyes at the flustered Elma, who was holding her reddened ears and had steam blowing on top of her head.

    ¡°So what exactly happened? Rather, an elf and human being able to make babies is kinda neat. What about the differences in species and gene make up?¡±

    Elves and humans do resemble each other to a point, so I guess it¡¯s actually not so surprising that they are able to procreate. But even if there are simrities, both species have evolved independently onpletely differents, so they are basically alien to one another. If you think of it like that, our current situation is quite baffling, to say the least.

    ¡°We elves¡­ Well¡­ If we end up epting a partner mentally¡­ we would be able to¡­ with that person¡­ b-b-bay¡­ g-get p-pregnant and give birth to¡­¡­uuu!¡±

    After speaking that far, Elma pressed her face against the surface of the table in the dining room while still hiding her ears. I see. I kinda understand now. Space elves are that sort huh. The kind who relies on instinct. Or maybe I should say they¡¯re a people simr to those who leave their kids in thepany of other races apart from themselves. What the heck is with these elves?

    Don¡¯t tell me there are also orcs, goblins, or tentacle monsters in the home of the space elves? Is it a sort of survival strategy that was developed from the need to leave progeny even when attacked by those other dangerous races? And a pure elf will be born through atavism along the way that will ensure the survival of the species¡­? So the main survival strategy for space elves is through hybridization and gic contamination of other races? If that¡¯s really the case, these space elves are seriously amazing - in various meanings.

    ¡°I sort of understand it now. Space elves sure are amazing.¡±

    ¡°I-Im extremely concerned about the part about us you im to have understood¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ve now confirmed that Elma really¡ºluv, luv, luvs?¡»me very much.¡±

    ¡°Gu- gah¡­¡­uu-!¡±

    Elma snarled at me with a bright red face and trembling arms. What the heck is that? A fire engine imitation?

    ¡°Hiro-sama, making fun of her like that is also bad.¡±

    ¡°Kay. I¡¯m really sorry. Sorry, Elma.¡±

    I honestly apologized after Mimi scolded me as well. Mimi¡¯s the youngest out of the three of us, but when she squints her eyes like that and scolds us, neither I nor Elma are able to go against her.

    ¡°I-It¡¯s fine. I also went too far by raising my hand against you earlier.¡±

    ¡°But you know, I¡¯m actually quite happy. To think that Elma feels for me this much. I also really like you, Elma. You¡¯re reliable, you act really cute sometimes, and it feelsfortable just hanging out with you. It¡¯s like we¡¯re on the same wavelength or something¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°R-R-Really?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Honest.¡±

    ¡°H-Hmph¡­¡­ W-Well, uh¡­ I guess I also feel the same, maybe?¡±

    Elma dered so with both hands joined in front of her chest as her fingers danced around each other in a fluster. She averted her gaze from mine with a bright red face. How cute.

    ¡°Okay then. Now that both of you have made up, get along from now on, alright?¡±

    ¡°Un, let¡¯s get along.¡±

    ¡°T-That¡¯s right¡­¡­un.¡±

    Elma and I nodded in agreement with a smiling Mimi.

    ¡°Now then, since you¡¯ve already made up, let¡¯s talk about today¡¯s ns. First, we¡¯ll visit Sierra Corporation¡¯s artificial meat factory.¡±

    ¡°Oh, artificial meat. I¡¯m really curious about how exactly they¡¯re made.¡±

    Artificial meat. It¡¯s meat, but it¡¯s white and not red. The texture is closer to beef or pork. It doesn¡¯t feel like avian meat at all. It also doesn¡¯t feel like fish. It¡¯s meat from apletely unknown animal. But, as I said earlier, it¡¯s white meat, not red. Its surface will be nice and brown if you get an auto-cooker to process it, making it resemble a regr steak. But when you cut it with a knife, the cross-section would still be white.

    It¡¯s that kind of mysterious meat, but it has a strong umami vor, with plenty of fat. It¡¯s very delicious. I¡¯m thinking it¡¯s apletely artificially synthesized based on its name - artificial meat. But I can¡¯t even begin to imagine the actual production process.

    ¡°I¡¯ve also never been to an artificial meat nt before.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s exciting, isn¡¯t it? And the next stop after that is a hydroponic farm and the attached food processing nt.¡±

    ¡°Hydroponic farm, huh. I wonder what kind of things they are raising?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it algae for use in food cartridges?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to seeing that as well¡­¡­ But since we¡¯re going out of our way to make a sightseeing tour, doesn¡¯t it feel like just walking around those ces would be pretty dull?¡±

    ¡°Now that you mention it, that may be the case.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re scheduled to have our lunch in the food processing nt. It seems the food we can eat are all freshly made.¡±

    ¡°Well, okay. Just as long as it¡¯s not ¡®that stuff¡¯.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s not ¡®that stuff¡¯. I made sure to check.¡±

    Mimi responded with her eyes looking empty.

    What we meant by ¡®that stuff¡¯ was the contents used in food cartridges. It seems that iprehensible nutrient shake was considered as a kind of local delicacy(?) in this colony. The taste is¡­¡­ kinda like slightly salty, room-temperature mousse or something¡­? It¡¯s an eclectic mix of grassy and fishy odors. Needless to say, it wasn¡¯t very tasty. It did fill you up though.

    ¡°That¡¯s great. Shall we get going?¡±

    ¡°Yes, well¡­ it may be best if we start preparing now, considering the travel time.¡±

    ¡°Okay then. Everybody get ready. Let¡¯s meet up here at the dining room once we¡¯re done.¡±

    And roughly an hour afterward, we finally made it to our first destination.

    ¡°Well, what can I say? Riding that transport train wasn¡¯t half bad.¡±

    ¡°The sudden brakes and elerations take a bit of getting used to though.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothingpared to a starship¡¯s eleration and deceleration. It seems that some people get vehicle sickness from it though.¡±

    We rode a transport train that made use of the underground freight delivery system to ferry people around the colony. The fare was very cheap and we were able to get to our destination very quickly, but the train car was narrow and rtively cramped.

    The train car felt more like a cargo container that had seats forcibly installed within, and even if every passenger squeezed themselves together, the most it could fit was six people. There were only three of us, but it still felt somewhat cramped. If there were six people, it would definitely be like a can packed full with sardines.

    I wasn¡¯t able to see any scenery outside at all, but it was still a rtively enjoyable attraction for me.

    ¡°So this is the artificial meat processing factory¡­¡­ huh?¡±

    ¡°Hm? What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Elma, whose state seemed a bit weird, stared fixedly at something in front of her. It was the signboard of the factory.

    ¡°Sierra Corporation Cultured Meat Production Facility¡­¡­?¡±

    Is there anything off about it?

    ¡°Uh, I suddenly remembered I have some business to attend to. Please go ahead and enjoy the tour without me, you two.¡±

    ¡°Now just hold up a moment,dy.¡±

    I turned around and tightly grasped Elma¡¯s shoulders. Why did she have such a reaction just after seeing the signboard? I don¡¯t see anything suspicious about it though.

    ¡°Cultured meat? So it isn¡¯t artificial meat?¡±

    Mimi tilted her head. Cultured meat? Hey, it really is written as cultured meat. So it¡¯s different from artificial meat?

    ¡°Elma?¡±

    ¡°I really don¡¯t want to go inside, you two.¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯ve already made reservations for the three of us? It¡¯s going to start soon too.¡±

    ¡°Fumu? Oh well. I¡¯ll drag her along.¡±

    ¡°Nonononononono¡­¡­¡±

    I dragged the panicking Elma inside the factory premises. After getting past the front gate, we headed for the reception lobby and were weed by an unhealthy-looking man with a really lean build.

    When he saw the three of us¡­¡­ a wide smile bloomed on his wan-looking face. Scary.

    ¡°Wee, everyone. You¡¯re the tour group led by Hiro-sama, are you not?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes.¡±

    ¡°We thank you for choosing our humble facility for a sightseeing tour. Oh heavens¡­¡­ It¡¯s really been such a long time since thest ones came for a tour. The staff is really fired up.¡±

    ¡°I-Is that so?¡±

    His mouth was all smiles but his eyes were scary. I don¡¯t feel any malice from him, but¡­ How should I say this? Yeah, it feels like he¡¯s really enjoying himself. His eyes were giving off a bright gleam as if he was a hunter aiming for hapless prey¡­¡­ No, that¡¯s not right either. It was something akin to a child getting a hold of a new toy to y with¡­¡­ Is it just my imagination?

    ¡°Now then folks, the route is that way. Please follow the navigation and advance ahead!¡±

    The man pointed towards an automated door that opened up before us. Hm, there¡¯s supposed to be nothing too surprising about it. It¡¯s only an automated door. But why the heck is it built so sturdily? It¡¯s like a safe of something.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Hiro-sama!¡±

    Mimi looked quite excited. Did she fail to notice the man¡¯s suspicious behavior? She pulled my hand and seemed like she would run through the passageway ahead of us at any moment.

    ¡°I-I would like to refrain from going after all¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Keep dreaming¡­¡­ I won¡¯t let you escape by yourself¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Wai-!? You¡¯re really gonna force me!? Stop dragging me!¡±

    I pulled Elma¡¯s arm while Mimi pulled on my own, and the three of us entered the opened door. It seemed dangerous for some reason, so I can¡¯t let Mimi go by herself. And I definitely won¡¯t let Elma escape either. Fufufu¡­ When we go down, we¡¯ll go down together¡­¡­!

    After we entered the passageway beyond the door, the said door locked itself shut.

    ¡ºWe will now proceed to sterilize you in order to maintain the hygiene standards of the facility. Once the process ispleted, please advance to the next room.¡»

    An electronic voice echoed out instructions, and white smoke flowed into the room. This should be part of the sterilization process.

    ¡ºSterilization has beenpleted. Please proceed to the next room.¡»

    Another door opened up ahead of us. It led to a smaller room. It didn¡¯t have any windows, and apparently didn¡¯t have any other doors leading out of it either.

    ¡°What¡¯s that room?¡±

    ¡°Un? I can¡¯t see any other doors inside.¡±

    I acted cautiously while Mimi tilted her head in puzzlement. Elma sighed while disying a resigned expression.

    ¡°You¡¯re so gonna regret this¡­¡­¡±

    Right when Elma dered so after we entered the small room, the door leading to it also closed and locked all three of us in. The room then started to shake.

    ¡°Is this room moving?¡±

    The moment I muttered my question, a voice echoed out from above us.

    ¡ºThank you for participating in the tour of Sierra Corporation¡¯s cultured meat production nt today. The room you¡¯re in is actually a gond that will carry you as we go on with the tour.¡»

    ¡°So this room is actually a form of transport.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t even have any chairs inside though.

    I suddenly had the urge to check theser gun strapped to my waist. I just can¡¯t calm down for some reason.

    ¡ºThe cultured meat produced by our facility has been loved by customers for three hundred years already. It is vastly different in quality and taste from your ordinary artificial meat, and the customer repeat rate is a whopping 93%! In this tour, you will be able to see the entire production process: from the initial culturing phase, growth phase, processing phase, all the way to the final shipping phase. Please enjoy the tour, everyone.¡»

    ¡°Is artificial meat and cultured meat different?¡±

    ¡°It seems so?¡±

    Mimi tilted her head again. Elma curled herself up in a corner of the room, closed her eyes andpletely severed all visual information. Eh? What the heck? I have a really bad feeling about this.

    ¡ºFirst, please take a look at the initial culturing phase.¡»

    The walls of the room became transparent. The outside scenery really looked like a proper factory. Transparent containers are shuffled along a conveyor belt, and several types of liquid are injected inside them by machines. The containers which have been injected with the fluids appear to be collected into one ce and then stored in some devices which looked simr to incubators.

    ¡°I wonder what¡¯s in those boxes?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea.¡±

    Mimi, who was still tilting her head curiously, pointed at one incubator-like device with a container in it, but I also didn¡¯t have any idea about what exactly was going on.

    As the room sh gond moved on ahead, we would probably get to see the contents of the containers which have been incubated for some time already.

    ¡°Hieee¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°T-Tha-!? What the heck is that¡­¡­?¡±

    We finally got to see exactly what was inside those containers. It looked simr to an earthworm. It¡¯s practically a long string of wriggling meat. It got so long that it coiled itself several times around the incubator housing it.

    ¡°I now have an idea what my bad feeling earlier was all about.¡±

    ¡°Y-You¡¯re not saying the cultured meat is actually¡­¡­¡±

    The gond finally left the area with the incubators as Mimi and I looked on behind us.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I said you¡¯d regret it.¡±

    Elma¡¯s words echoed inside the silent gond.

    ¡°Thank you foring, dear guests. Thank you very much foring. We hope for your continued support of our high-quality cultured meat products.¡±

    The three of us left the cultured meat producing nt as the male staff from before sent us off with a sticky-looking smile.

    ¡°Ulp¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I p-probably won¡¯t be able to even look at meat for a while¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I said I didn¡¯t wanna go¡­¡­!¡±

    What else did we see inside the facility? I don¡¯t wanna remember! Something like a pool filled with flesh-colored tentacles, or a mass of wriggling flesh that grewrge enough to rival a train being cut up into processed cultured meat¡­¡­ Urgh. I hardly even remember the tour guide¡¯s exnations, but it seems those gigantic flesh worms are treated normally as livestock, just like cows or pigs.

    They were gically modified in order to be more suitable as a source of meat products, and the end result is that kind of eldritch abomination. They grow extremely quickly, have high nutritional value, and produce high-quality meat. They have no form of actual intelligence and seem to be creatures that feed and grow only by instinct.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t get the purpose of touring such a facility¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It certainly doesn¡¯t help one¡¯s appetite¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t want to go through with it, you two¡­¡­ The next one¡¯s a hydroponic farm, right¡­? I sure hope it¡¯s a proper facility this time¡­¡­¡±

    We prepared ourselves mentally and headed for the location of our next tour with heavy steps.

    Just please let the next ce be decent.

 Chapter 041 â€“ The Factory Sightseeing Tour â€“ Food Cartridge

    <h4>041 - The Factory Sightseeing Tour - Food Cartridge Chapter</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Um, Micah Corporation¡­ This seems to be the ce.¡±

    ¡°Here huh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Uwaah¡­¡­¡±

    My and Elma¡¯s faces are probably making the same apprehensive expression right now. Cause, y¡¯see, this Micah Corporation¡¯s hydroponic farming facility is actually the spitting image of Sierra Corporation¡¯s cultured meat processing facility¡­¡­ The two of them both dealt with food products, so the designs of their facilities are identical. Is that it? Cause apart from the differences in signage, the facilities are practically twins.

    ¡°A-Anyway, let¡¯s enter first.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­¡­¡±

    The three of us resigned ourselves in our hearts and entered beyond the facility¡¯s front gate.

    ¡°Oh, so the interior is actually quite different.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±

    We still weren¡¯t able to spot any other people apart from ourselves just like when we arrived at the meat nt, but unlike there, this hydroponic farm seemed far more brightly lit. Why the difference in illumination? The interior of this facility is evidently brighter and just looked more proper.

    ¡°Wee, everyone. You¡¯re the tour group led by Hiro-sama, are you not?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    The staff who weed us was a youngdy who was a shining example of a normalpany receptionist. She looked prim and proper in her uniform which resembled something worn by a stewardess. She was leagues better than the shady-looking male receptionist in that meat processing nt.

    ¡°I have been assigned as your guide for today¡¯s tour. It has been a long time since we¡¯ve had people visit us. The staff are really looking forward to- Um, what is it, dear guests?¡±

    My face slightly cramped from the feeling of de ja vu. Mimi and Elma were probably feeling the same as me. The receptionistdy tilted her head in puzzlement at our reactions.

    ¡°Oh, uh, well, we just came from a tour of Sierra Corporation¡¯s cultured meat processing facilities y¡¯see. So, uh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­ That iprehensible tour overflowing with weirdness, that really seems like someone¡¯s bad joke gone terribly wrong¡­¡­ No, although it¡¯s bad manners to talk about others behind their backs, that kind of tour was a little bit too much, wasn¡¯t it? We hired the same contractor to construct both our facilities, so that¡¯s the reason why our buildings are so alike.¡±

    The receptionistdy exined as she gave us a wry grin. It looks like she was quite familiar with that otherpany¡¯s tour details.

    ¡°Please do not worry. I can guarantee that ourpany¡¯s tour is a proper one. At the very least, it won¡¯t cause our guest¡¯s faces to turn all blue.¡±

    The receptionistdy then gave us a sunny smile. Her smile managed to dispel the cloud of anxiety that had built up deep in our chests somewhat.

    ¡°We¡¯re really counting on you¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, please be at ease. You all will need to be sterilized before we start our tour. Please enter that door over there.¡±

    The room the receptionistdy guided us to was something simr to the sterilization room found inside Sierra Corporation¡¯s facility. Will white smoke go *pushuu inside here as well? Is that smoke even safe? I hope it doesn¡¯t have any negative effects on the body or something. Well, the technology here is really advanced, so I guess there¡¯s no need to worry¡­ I hope?

    We followed the instructions and walked out of the room after sterilization. What was waiting inside was not a freaky gond, but a corridor with transparent ss walls serving as a barrier. It looks like we need to walk with our own feet to see the various sights during this tour.

    ¡°Uwah, it¡¯s so bright.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it is. It¡¯s really simr to real daylight.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s an exnation here. Hm. It seems it¡¯s a specialized light source which emits a wavelength that is more suitable for growing crops.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­So it¡¯s like a sump.¡±

    I remember a certain game having a simr facility which allowed you to grow and harvest crops regardless of the season. I guess it uses up quite a bit of power, but with the technology in this world, I think they already have a variety of energy sources avable. Even my Krishna boasts a power generator with ridiculous output that makes use of unknown tech.

    ¡°I wonder what kind of crops are those?¡±

    ¡°Hm? Yeah, I¡¯m curious as well. They look like watercress.¡±

    Watercress is often used as a garnish or side dish to things like steak after all. It seems they were raising crops that look really simr to watercress here.

    ¡°It says here that it¡¯s a vegetable that¡¯s high in nutrients. It has a bit of a sharp taste when eaten fresh. It¡¯s one of the raw ingredients used in the contents of food cartridges, it seems.¡±

    Elma read and ryed to us the contents of the exnation written on the ss partition. Fumu, I see. I heard that stuff like algae and krill-creatures were the main ingredients used in food cartridges, but I guess they use these vegetables as well.

    The nts resembling watercress were taken care of by various robots; drones that flew around the vast cultivation area and robotic arms moving on rails stretched out all over the farm. It was almostpletely automated.

    While observing such a sight, we arrived at an area where a great number of circr pools were installed.

    ¡°Green-colored pools¡­¡­ Algae?¡±

    ¡°It seems so. It¡¯s an area specialized for growing the algae type used as one of the main ingredients in food cartridges.¡±

    This area was also automated. Robot arms were harvesting the algae withs. There were also ones that sprayed brown-colored powder on top of some of the pools.

    ¡°What is that brown powder? Fertilizer?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡­ Ugeh.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s made from domestic waste collected from starships, it seems.¡±

    ¡°Domestic waste¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­¡±

    In other words, it¡¯s those things that are solidified and turned into blocks. They not only consist of human waste but also garbage and wastewater from the bathrooms of the ships. Our ship also produces them, of course. And a waste collectionpanymissioned by the port administration office would regrlye to collect them.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a ssic case of recycling. Those came from people like us in the first ce anyway.¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re right. But¡­¡±

    ¡°It feels a bit weird though.¡±

    ¡°Well, back on Earth, where I¡¯m from, it was normal to use things like droppings for fertilizer. I think the use of human droppings has decreasedpared to back in the past, but they would still make use of animal dung or the remains of seeds squeezed out of their oil. Things like that are quitemon. They did use human excrement liberally in the far past though.¡±

    In fact, the practice might still be going strong, but I haven¡¯t seen an actual fertilizer pool anyway, so I really wouldn¡¯t know. I¡¯m not too familiar with agricultural stuff. The most I know are basic things.

    ¡°Fumu. As expected of someone who grew up on a backwater.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t call it something like a backwater. It sounds weird. But it¡¯s true that I think this world¡¯s technology is extraordinarily advancedpared to where I¡¯m from.¡±

    As we discussed along the way, we managed to reach another pool area.

    ¡°It looks like this is the krill culturing area.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s like a zoonkton culturing area. It seems domestic waste is being used as feed here.¡±

    ¡°Speaking of which, I think I heard something like that as well back in the cultured meat factory.¡±

    ¡°Well, we didn¡¯t have the leeway to listen to the exnations given back there anyway¡­¡­¡±

    An image of a flesh-colored pool shed in my head. It was followed by the image of factory workers with gleaming eyes, cutting out the meat of a tentacle monster the size of a train¡­¡­ Yeah, it was a sight that would gradually grind your SAN points to dust. Maybe the reason we didn¡¯t manage to remember most of the exnation was because our SAN points went critical.

    We then came to an area thatpletely looked like an industrial factory next.

    ¡°Oh, this is where they put together the food cartridges.¡±

    ¡°It looks pretty rough.¡±

    ¡°They are putting all the raw materials together and throwing them all into the processing machine.¡±

    The raw materials are sent via a conveyor belt to a processing machine ande out on the other side as a kind of paste.

    ¡°It¡¯s ¡®that stuff¡¯, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is.¡±

    ¡°What the heck is ¡®that stuff¡¯ you two are going on about?¡±

    ¡°The local specialty of Alein Tertius colony¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­¡±

    Elma disyed a look of pity after seeing our expressions. Fufu. I will never forget that appearance. Mimi gazed at the light-green paste with her empty-looking eyes. My eyes were probably looking the same - an expression devoid of emotion. Hahaha¡­

    ¡°That paste is further processed and stuffed into food cartridges, it seems.¡±

    ¡°Looks like it. And the auto-cooker processes it further and finally ends up on everyone¡¯s stomachs.¡±

    ¡°It looks like the high-end cartridges aren¡¯t made in this area.¡±

    Just like Mimi said, the only things made here are ordinary food cartridges, it seems. High-end cartridges are five times more expensivepared to ordinary ones. The taste, while not five times more delicious, is easily twice as good as normal food cartridges.

    ¡°I kind of want to take a look at how they are making high-end cartridges. I guess there are more raw materials used on them, right?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll differ that much though.¡±

    When we moved on, we found ourselves at a ce that looked like a dining hall.

    ¡º¡ºYou can enjoy freshly prepared food from our quality food cartridges here! Automatic cookers from different makers affiliated with ourpany are waiting to serve you! Please enjoy them to the fullest! We also ept purchase consultations!¡»¡»

    A signboard with these words written on it greeted us. It seems there really were auto-cookers from different manufacturers lined up inside. But there were none from the Tetsujin series though.

    ¡°I see. This part of the tour was well thought out.¡±

    ¡°They don¡¯t have many visitors, it seems. Can they still make any profit?¡±

    ¡°Those who apply for this kind of tour are mostly rich folk, right? Auto-cookers are quite expensive. If they can manage to sell a few units every time, themissions would be quite hefty.

    ¡°I see.¡±

    I nodded and pressed the button on the wall which says¡ºPress Here for Food Cartridges¡». A live image of food cartridges being transported from the production line was disyed on the Holo Disy together with realistic BGM. And presto! The cartridges came out from the wall along with shy sound effects. It was quite interesting.

    Mimi and Elma also tried it out. It seems there were several differentbinations of BGM and live-video feeds being used. What they got to see were different than mine.

    ¡°This is fun.¡±

    ¡°It sure looks like something that would be really popr with kids.¡±

    We walked towards the auto-cookers while giving out each of our impressions.

    ¡°Which auto-cooker brand should we choose?¡±

    ¡°Are their performances really that different from each other?¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we order the same menu from all of the brands andpare them?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea! Let¡¯s do it.¡±

    Thus, the three of us ordered omelet rice from a different brand. When they were done, we shared the food with each other and startedparing.

    ¡°Nm¡­¡­ It does taste different, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The voring and textures are quite different from each other.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s choose our favorite then¡­ I personally prefer the one made by Kirsch Company.¡±

    ¡°I prefer the one by Murakumo Company.¡±

    ¡°I also like the one from Kirsch Company as well.¡±

    By the way, the one produced by Shiimazu Company wasn¡¯t that bad either. It was delicious enough.

    ¡°So the taste of the food really differs per brand huh. Each manufacturer has their own specialties, I guess.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s probably true.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s impossible to try everything.¡±

    There may be brands that make more delicious curry rice, and there may be some which specialize in Japanese cuisine. Everything our Tetsujin makes is top ss though. It isn¡¯t a premium brand for nothing.

    By the way, I tried ordering dessert pudding from the cooker made by Shiimazu Company, and it was excellent. As I thought, each maker had their own respective specialties.

    ¡°I guess rich people can buy multiple brands in order to enjoy each maker¡¯s respective specialties, huh?¡±

    ¡°If one has arge enough space to install multiple cookers and the money to buy them, it would be a symbol of luxury.¡±

    ¡°But I think to buy a high-end machine like Tetsujin, that is able to prepare a wide variety of delicious dishes, is more economical and efficient.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡±

    In order to install multiple auto-cookers, you¡¯ll need a veryrge space. In starships, living space is quite a valuablemodity. If one wants to get arge living space, one has to pay appropriate costs. In that case, installing a single high-end product like Mimi suggested is certainly more efficient and economical.

    We drank some tea to wash down the food we ate and left the hydroponic farm afterward.

    ¡°Alcohol? Alcohol?¡±

    Elma was skipping excitedly along the way due to our next destination. Our next stop is a liquor manufacturing nt after all. Elma¡¯s tension was increasing at a constant pace, with no signs of slowing down.

    ¡°I hope the next one is decent as well.¡±

    ¡°Yes. But I think it will probably be alright though.¡±

    I and Mimi smile at each other as we watched Elma happily skipping about.

 Chapter 042 â€“ The Factory Sightseeing Tour â€“ Liquor

    <h4>042 - The Factory Sightseeing Tour - Liquor Chapter</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    We went through a fifteen-minute walk heading for our next destination while following after a light-footed Elma and finally arrived at thest stop for today¡¯s tour.

    ¡°So it¡¯s a factory of Kouryuu Beverages! Kouryuu Beverages is one of the most reputable breweries in the entire empire y¡¯know! They produce most types of alcoholic drinks, but they¡¯re particrly famous for their sharp-tasting and full-bodied beer!¡±

    A bright-eyed Elma stopped before the factory gates and started exining away in high spirits. The three of us are here for a factory tour, but one of us started acting like a tour guide before we even entered the facility. What the heck? It might just be my imagination, but Elma was currently surrounded by bright, sparkly effects as she talked animatedly¡­¡­ What¡¯s with that?

    ¡°Hey Mimi, is it just me, or is Elma actually sparkling right now?¡±

    ¡°I think she is¡­¡­ Is that some kind of elven magic?¡±

    ¡°Eh, this is the first time I¡¯ve heard of that. Is that actually a thing?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not that familiar with the particrs, but it seems elven magic does exist.¡±

    Seriously? One of the reasons why I call her a disappointing elf is because she looked like she couldn¡¯t use magic, but elven magic actually exists, you say? She certainly didn¡¯t look like a mage character type though.

    ¡°So let¡¯s go in now guys! C¡¯mon! Let¡¯s hurry up and enter! Now, now!¡±

    Elma¡¯s current tension was MAX level. I haven¡¯t seen her this excited before. I looked back toward Mimi. We exchanged wry smiles and followed after Elma, who charged straight inside the factory.

    Just like with the other factories we visited, we were weed by a waiting receptionist and instructed to undergo a sterilization procedure first. We then proceeded inside the factory proper. Likely due to the fact that they were a reputed and popr brewery, we found other people taking the tour alongside us. The aisle dedicated to tourists was well-cleaned and had a nice atmosphere.

    There were a lot of humans among the visitors taking the tour like us. The citizens of the Gran empire wereprised mostly of humans, so I guess this was just normal. I haven¡¯t even encountered another elf in the tourist group apart from Elma. So I guess they were kinda a rare species or something.

    As far as non-humanoid races go¡­ there were lizardmen, creatures that looked like a cross between amphibians and fish, creatures that looked like sea anemones walking upright with their tentacles, and beastmen with animal ears and tails. Can those upside-down sea anemones reallymunicate with other creatures¡­¡­?

    ¡°What the heck are you spacing out for over there, Hiro!? Let¡¯s hurry up and head for the drink sampling corner!¡±

    ¡°Whoa theredy. Let me get a proper look at the ce first. You can just drink some booze in the shipter, can¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°D-Drinking freshly made liquor is an entirely different experience altogether¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Fine, fine. Don¡¯t be so impatient. We don¡¯t have any more ces to visit after this, so there¡¯s no need to hurry so much.¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­¡±

    Elma¡¯s long ears drooped in disappointment as she cutely puffed up her cheeks. What are you, a sulky little kid?

    ¡°So they make ale at this ce huh.¡±

    ¡°They make beer.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Okay, beer then.¡±

    I still think it¡¯s ale if it doesn¡¯t go down smoothly though. Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m knowledgeable about the particrs, so I guess I¡¯m in no position to talk huh. In this dimension, it¡¯s treated as beer even though it isn¡¯t carbonated. Let¡¯s just leave it at that. But it really is a mystery why there are practically no carbonated beverages around in this dimension¡­ Was the method really lost after the people here advanced into the interster age? Was it because it wasn¡¯t suited for a zero-G environment? I guess it¡¯s possible.

    ¡°The manufacturing process for beer doesn¡¯t have anything particrly surprising huh. Well, I guess the machines processing the products work really fast and efficiently, so people into that sort of stuff wouldn¡¯t get bored no matter how much they look.¡±

    ¡°There are people like that?¡±

    ¡°Um, I rather like watching them. It somehow feels rxing.¡±

    ¡°I still don¡¯t get it.¡±

    Elma shrugged as she watched the factory machines milling about. But I guess I kinda like watching them as well; seeing the factory machines work in a systematic and precise manner, I mean. I even kinda feel like I wouldn¡¯t get tired of watching a factory such as this producing arge number of products like clockwork.

    After we had our fill watching the factory machines doing their thing, we headed for the next area. So next up is the fruit wine production section huh. Will we get to see something like the extraction and fermentation process over there? That was what I thought at first, but what we got to see was quite different from my earlier expectations.

    ¡°An orchard?¡±

    Yep. The next area resembled an orchard. Splendid-looking vineyards were spread over a vast, open space, where arge number of drones and robot arms were moving about and doing all the farm work. It resembled the vegetable ntation we saw back at the food cartridge factory.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. It¡¯s a farm for cultivating fruits used to make liquor. This seems to be a wine fruit field.¡±

    ¡°Wine fruit field¡­¡­?¡±

    What¡¯s Elma talking about¡­¡­? I followed her gaze and found what seemed to be a ¡ºWine Fruit¡»tasting corner. You can pay Enels at a terminal in order to sample freshly picked ¡ºWine Fruits¡»there, it seems.

    ¡°Let¡¯s try eating some. The wines made by Kouryuu Beverages are also delicious.¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t tried drinking any wine before myself. I¡¯m kind of looking forward to it.¡±

    As I looked on while still feeling somewhat perplexed, Elma paid some money by cing her terminal over what seems to be a high-tech vending machine. After a few moments, something resembling a paper cup with pieces of dark-purple fruit that were the same size as Kyoho grapes popped out of it.

    She threw the fruit into her mouth without any hesitation.

    ¡°Mm?, liquor tastes good, but this wine fruit is delicious as well. Here, Mimi. Try it out.¡±

    ¡°Is it okay? Here I go then¡­¡­¡±

    After Elma, Mimi also got herself one of the fruits and popped it into her mouth.

    ¡°Nn¡­¡­ It isn¡¯t as sour as I first thought, isn¡¯t it? It also isn¡¯t astringent.¡±

    ¡°Well, it seems they squeeze the skin and seeds along with the pulp during the manufacturing process. We don¡¯t normally crush the seeds and skin in our mouths when we eat the fruits fresh, right? That¡¯s why it isn¡¯t astringent.¡±

    ¡°I see. But you can still taste a hint of liquor when you eat them right¡­¡­? They taste delicious, but it seems you¡¯ll get drunk when you eat lots of them.¡±

    I approached the two who were having a strange-sounding conversation.

    ¡°Do you want one as well, Hiro? Even if you¡¯re weak to alcohol, you should be okay if you eat just one piece, right?¡±

    ¡°Probably¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Okay then. Say a?h.¡±

    ¡°A?h.¡±

    I obediently followed Elma¡¯s words and opened my mouth, and she picked up another piece of the wine fruit and fed it to me. Un, it really is like grape. I started chewing the fruit in question.

    ¡°!?¡±

    Within moments, the distinct aroma of alcohol exploded within my mouth. The juices that seeped out of the pulp each time I chewed tasted like actual wine. Just like Mimi said, it wasn¡¯t as astringent as actual wine and had a milder vor, but it tasted likepletely processed wine nheless.

    ¡°Is the alcohol infused in the fruit itself¡­¡­? Is this for real?¡±

    ¡°It seems like it¡¯s different from what you¡¯re familiar with huh, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°The wines I knew were made by crushing and fermenting grapes simr to these wine fruits, and then aging them in wooden barrels.¡±

    ¡°That sounds like a traditional, or rather, a primitive method of producing wine. I heard that wine was still made like that until two thousand years ago. At present, themonly used method is making them from wine fruits, y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°Did they use selective breeding¡­ no, gic engineering in order to breed these fruits¡­? That¡¯s kinda outrageous.¡±

    I nodded after swallowing the rest of the fruit juice along with the skin, pulp, and seeds. I felt my body getting hot. It seems my face got red just after sampling one fruit. Ugh. It looks like I¡¯m as weak to alcohol as ever.

    ¡°Your face is turning red, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Pupu? You¡¯re really kinda cute when you¡¯re like that, y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Shut it, you. I¡¯m the type to get red after just one sip of alcohol¡­¡­ I¡¯ll get utterly drunk from downing one can of beer y¡¯know.¡±

    Mimi was smiling as she looked at my reddened face while Elma giggled as she continuously popped the wine fruits into her mouth. I got conscious of my reddened cheeks and hid them with one hand. They smiled even more gleefully when I did so. Damn.

    ¡°C¡¯mon, let¡¯s go to the next area. Next!¡±

    ¡°Fine, fine. Let¡¯s go then. Hiro-cha?n.¡±

    ¡°Hiro-chan¡­¡­ Fufu.¡±

    I walked ahead in haste as my twopanions followed after me with amused grins. Dammit! This ce is like a cursed spot for someone like me.

    Next is the brewery area huh. It was the brewery area, but¡­¡­?

    ¡°A forest¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°So those are the so-called liquor trees huh.¡±

    ¡°Liquor trees?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The natural whiskey extracted from them is a rather high-ss product. It tastespletely different from synthetic whiskey.¡±

    ¡°Synthetic whiskey¡­¡±

    This is just so out there. What the heck is up with something like natural whiskey?

    ¡°Um, how is natural whiskey produced?¡±

    ¡°This section of the tour will show us the process, apparently. Look, there¡¯s an exnation over there.¡±

    Elma pointed towards a holo disy ying a holographic info video. I pressed a button to rey the video from the start.

    Basically, the sap from those so-called whiskey trees is what¡¯s called natural whiskey. Like how one would extract maple syrup, cing a cut on the tree would allow one to collect the sap from within. Like, seriously, man. What¡¯s up with these weird trees? I bet they¡¯re really mmable!

    By the way, the process for producing synthetic whiskey is also included in the video. It seems that Kouryuu Beverages sells the product at a rtively cheaper price. It looks like it wasn¡¯t produced in this area though. It was apparently made by mixing artificial vorings into artificially produced alcohol in order to make it taste like whiskey.

    The natural whiskey is quite popr, but the cheap synthetic whiskeys are more widely distributed, it seems.

    ¡°Mm?! As I thought, natural whiskey is absolutely to die for!¡±

    ¡°Really now?¡±

    ¡°*Cough, cough¡­¡­ It¡¯s a little too strong for me.¡±

    Elma had a wide smile stered on her pretty face as she drank whiskey from a shot ss. Mimi, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes as she tried to cope with the whiskey¡¯s aftertaste. Elma bought a second shot as she rubbed Mimi¡¯s back. She¡¯s nning to drink until she¡¯s utterly stered, isn¡¯t she¡­¡­?

    Disregarding my concerned expression, Elma really ended up piss-drunk when the factory tour ended. Even Mimi ended up groggy from the alcohol.

    ¡°Eehee¡­¡­Hirooo¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry, Hiro-sama¡­¡­¡±

    I managed to get back to Krishna while holding on to Elma, who clung to me like an octopus, and supporting Mimi, who walked with an unsteady gait all the way.

    And after she turned sober enough, Elma ended up having her face turn blue after looking at her data terminal. It looks like she actually purchased arge number of different kinds of alcoholic drinks when she talked to the staff before the tour ended. And the total cost was a whopping 100,000 Enels.

    ¡°Hey¡­¡­ You still haven¡¯t managed to pay me back even a single Enel, and here you are spending one hundred thousand just to buy some alcohol. You sure you have your priorities straight?¡±

    ¡°A-Awa- Ahahahaha¡­¡­ S-Sorry?¡±

    Elma pped her hands together in front of her and cutely tilted her head as she begged for forgiveness. Hahaha. Really now. Thisdy¡¯s just¡­¡­

    ¡°You¡¯re banned from drinking for two weeks. If I ever find you secretly trying to sneak in a drink¡­¡­ Fufu. I¡¯ll let you have a good taste of the food paste Mimi and I atest time. Even Dr. Shouko says you¡¯ll get addicted once you get used to the taste y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°Hieee¡­¡­ I-I¡¯ll abstain from drinking¡­¡­¡±

    Elma nodded obediently while shedding tears. Well, she sure agreed easily enough. Not like I¡¯d take no for an answer anyway.

    Afterward, the three of us spent three days resting up. And in order to avoid getting involved in anything else troublesome, we decided to finally leave the system. However¡­¡­ it was far toote.

    It happened just when we finally finished resting up.

    ¡°It¡¯s been quite some time, Silver ranked mercenary, Captain Hiro.¡±

    There was an unexpected guest.

    Fine facial features, lustrous blonde hair, ruby-red eyes, and sporting a red mantle over her pure white military uniform. A beautifuldy soldier with a fine-looking sword strapped to her waist. Yep. Lieutenant Serena Holz, who was supposed to be in the Termaine system, suddenly paid us a surprise visit.

 Chapter 43 â€“ Iâ€™m Afraid Iâ€™d Have to Refuse

    <h4>Chapter 43 - I¡¯m Afraid I¡¯d Have to Refuse</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Ara, you seem to be using some fine tea leaves.¡±

    ¡°d you like it.¡±

    Because Krishna didn¡¯t have a proper guest reception area, us and Lieutenant Serena moved to the dining room instead. She was currently enjoying the tea Mimi brewed for her in an elegant manner.

    The three of us sat opposite Lieutenant Serena in front of the dining table. I ended up in the middle of us three, and directly faced Lieutenant Serena. Mimi and Elma sandwiched me in between them.

    ¡°So, uh¡­¡­ What¡¯s brought you here, Lieutenant?¡±

    She smiled sweetly at my question and ced the mug with the tea back on top of the table. Yep, the ship of us humble plebeians didn¡¯t have any fancy stuff like teacups and saucers onboard.

    ¡°Fufu¡­¡­ I came to invite you.¡±

    I locked gazes with the still-smiling Lieutenant Serena as she dered her intentions. I bet both of our thoughts right now arepletely in synch. Just how tenacious is this woman?

    ¡°I¡¯m the type of woman who doesn¡¯t let prey escape you know.¡±

    Hiie¡­¡­ Scary! Seeing her dere such a thing with a bright smile on her pretty face sent chills down my spine. Suddenly, both my arms were grabbed from the sides. I guess this is Elma and Mimi¡¯s way of expressing their intent never to let me go¡­ Only my right arm was experiencing a blissful feeling though. What about my left arm? Ah, mm, it¡¯s not that hard, I guess?

    ¡°What a daring disy.¡±

    ¡°Hey, this is rude to our guest, you two.¡±

    After I called out to them, Mimi and Elma reluctantly let go of my arms. I actually would¡¯ve liked to enjoy it a bit more, but it can¡¯t be helped. Or rather, get a grip, girls. I¡¯m sure Lieutenant Serena didn¡¯t mean it in ¡®that way¡¯ when she said ¡®prey¡¯.

    ¡°Uhh, I¡¯ve already refused you quite a few times, I think. I have absolutely no intention of signing up for the imperial military.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m aware. It¡¯s truly unfortunate.¡±

    Lieutenant Serena¡¯s smile vanished, and her expression turned to that of sadness as she let out a forlorn sigh. It was a truly perfect performance. This person is unexpectedly quite the mischievous sort, ain¡¯t she?

    ¡°I truly think it¡¯s unfortunate, but I guess I just have to give up on that end. I can¡¯t have the Mercenary Guild eyeing me for being too pushy after all. I want to keep an amicable rtionship with the Mercenary Guild as much as possible.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­?¡±

    If that¡¯s the case, then what the heck did this persone to us for? I¡¯m not enlisting in the military. If she¡¯s already acknowledged that, then why did she even find me? She even went as far as boarding the Krishna and dering me as her ¡®prey¡¯.

    ¡°You aren¡¯t thinking of unting your power as an imperial noble, are you?¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t even think of it. If I ever did so, you probably wouldn¡¯t hesitate to head to the Vereverem Federation, correct?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    My silence was enough of an answer. But honestly saying ¡ºYup, that¡¯s right.¡»in this situation was bad, so I refrained. My discussion partner was an imperial soldier after all.

    ¡°Oh, by the way, I¡¯ve already been promoted. The higher-ups regarded my performance during the Termaine Prime defensive campaign quite highly, you see. Here, my rank insignia has already changed, see? I¡¯m now Major Serena Holz.¡±

    ¡°Congrattions on your promotion then.¡±

    I gave an honestpliment to Lieutenant- no, Major Serena, who was pointing at the rank insignia on her shoulder with a smile as she reported her sessful promotion. Did shee here just to report her promotion? Nah, that can¡¯t be. I heightened my sense of caution towards her.

    ¡°One of the greatest contributors to my promotion was your impressive performance during the defensive campaign, Captain Hiro. The matter of crystal creatures suddenly attacking the enemy fleet was also quite the stroke of fortune, wouldn¡¯t you say? I wonder what caused it though?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, we were really lucky huh. We just managed to break through to the middle of the enemy fleet back then, so I also got quite the scare when it happened.¡±

    I was inwardly sweating bullets. It should be okay. There shouldn¡¯t be any evidence of me using the Singing Crystal to summon the crystal creatures in order to attack the Vereverem Federation fleet left. Calm down, me.

    ¡°Fufu, I see. Your timing was excellent then. Well, it¡¯s not like we intend to pursue the matter anyway. Please be at ease.¡±

    Major Serena smiled broadly. She disyed an expression that seemingly implied we owed her one. Dammit. I didn¡¯t even n to owe her anything in the first ce. But if I didn¡¯t do what I did back then, there¡¯s no doubt the imperial fleet would have suffered a significantly greater amount of losses. In fact, I think they¡¯re the ones who owe me.

    ¡°Hahaha. I actually have no idea what you¡¯re talking about, but I¡¯m d my actions were of use to Major Serena.¡±

    ¡°Fufufu.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡±

    Mimi was visibly shaken by my and Major Serena¡¯s exchange and ominousughs. She was trembling all over.

    This woman did lead me by the nose back then, but I¡¯m not the kind of guy who falls for the same mistake twice. This time, my caution meter is already at MAX. I can¡¯t have myself falling for this woman¡¯s tricks again.

    ¡°How about we get down to business already, Major?¡±

    ¡°Of course. After my promotion, I was grantedmand of a new unit.¡±

    ¡°I suppose I should congratte you then.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I also find it quite pleasing as well. The higher-ups finally granted my petition to form an independent anti-pirate mobile fleet and I was put in charge of it after all.¡±

    ¡°Independent anti-pirate fleet¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The imperial military can roughly be divided into two main groups: a defense fleet stationed in various colonies and ster garrisons of each system that are in charge of preventing foreign military incursions and maintaining security, and an interception fleet in charge of directly eliminating enemy forces.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°The overall strength of the mobile defense fleets is quite substantial. However, in order to cover the entirety of the empire¡¯s vast territories, it is inevitable for them to be scattered about, thus losing the edge in numbers. As a result, proactively attacking pirate fleets and space monsters prowling about carries with it a considerable amount of risk. Thus, they tend to prefer a passive approach most of the time. This is because there¡¯s a danger of being unable to maintain the security and stability of the sectors they are assigned to if they ever mess up and incur unexpected losses. As such, as long as the threat level doesn¡¯t reach a certain threshold, the imperial fleets are unable to proactively eliminate such dangerous elements.¡±

    ¡°I get that.¡±

    If the imperial army ever incurs massive losses as a result of an extermination operation, news of them losing their ability to actively respond to threats would probably be swiftly passed down to the pirate groups in the immediate area, and they would most likely capitalize on the opportunity. Even if they did manage to suppress the information to some extent, the fleet would still need to be grounded temporarily for maintenance and repairs, so the military patrols would be less frequent, leading to a possible increase in rogue pirate activity.

    If the worst-case scenario urs and the entire fleet ended up virtually crippled, an increase in rogue pirate activity would be the least of their problems. It may even develop into a colony getting attacked.

    ¡°This is why the mobile defense fleet cannot be made to sortie without good reason. The imperial star fleet is the empire¡¯s sharpest sword, as well as its strongest shield. Their operation and maintenance cost a considerable amount of money, and there¡¯s an ever-present danger of neighboring nations taking advantage of the situation if we ever mobilized them without proper consideration.¡±

    ¡°In other words, the search-and-destroy capabilities of the imperial forces arecking. So that¡¯s why you rely on us mercenaries for that.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. This is why I proposed the formation of an independent anti-pirate fleet. It would allow the military to obtain a force capable of seeking out and destroying threats instead of overly relying on mercenary contractors to do the job for us.¡±

    ¡°Makes sense. But I still don¡¯t get why Major Serena, who¡¯s themander of such a fleet, would bother to expressly visit my ship.¡±

    In other words, the imperial space forces are preparing to build up their own forces that will serve as a kind of business rival to us humble mercs. That said, it would just be a matter of keeping away from the sectors the independent anti-pirate fleet is active in, cause they can¡¯t possibly cover for the entirety of the empire anyway. To be honest, I can¡¯t think of any other reaction except for ¡®Okay. Good luck then.¡¯. So I don¡¯t get why themander of such a fleet herself actually even bothered to pay us a visit.

    Well, I came here in order to recruit you, actually.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    I gave her a disgruntled look. ¡®I told you I don¡¯t n on joining the military already. Cut it out,dy!¡¯

    ¡°If you refuse that vehemently, it actually gets me even more excite-Mmph! I¡¯m sorry. Please pay that no heed. In other words, I¡¯m here to make a request. And I need the cooperation of pirate hunting professionals such as you people.¡±

    ¡°A request, is it?¡±

    Well, if she¡¯ll put in a request through the Mercenary Guild, I guess I can consider taking it depending on the particrs. I think I heard some rather disturbing words earlier though. Let¡¯s just ignore them for now. I¡¯m not an idiot who would proactively step on such and mine.

    ¡°Can you run me through the specifics?¡±

    ¡°We, of the imperial space forces, have enough know-how when ites to attacking enemy fleets and assaulting enemy bases. Conversely, weck the necessary knowledge and experience when ites to tracking down pirate groups that stay under the radar and only surface to attack civilian ships.¡±

    ¡°I get that.¡±

    The standard tactics they¡¯re used to don¡¯t match the types of foes they would be hunting down in the first ce. Any unlucky pirate who manages to encounter the imperial fleets would be turned into space debris within seconds, but most pirates aren¡¯t that stupid. If they notice that the imperial forces are closing in, chances are they¡¯ll immediately escape and go into hiding again.

    ¡°And so, I wish to get the cooperation of pirate-hunting professionals such as yourselves in order for us to acquire the necessary know-how.¡±

    ¡°I see. I understand what you¡¯re getting at.¡±

    ¡°So?¡±

    Major Serena¡¯s eyes shined in anticipation.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯d have to refuse.¡±

    And her smiling expression froze up at my reply.

    ¡°M- May I know why¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like this request has to be taken up by me specifically, right? Rather, I think it would be better for you to take this request directly to the Mercenary Guild and learn the required know-how from them, correct? Instead of someone with a suspicious background such as me, they would be able to provide you with a more appropriate instructor for your needs.¡±

    I said all that, but the biggest reason is that I find it really troublesome. I haven¡¯t heard of thepensation amount yet, but it would probably not exceed the amount we can normally earn by hunting down pirates by ourselves. And no matter how you think about it, the contract period would probably take a fair bit of time to fulfill. The rewards aren¡¯t worth it and we would be detained for a long period of time. There¡¯s nothing but demerits as far as I¡¯m concerned.

    ¡°But I want us to learn from you.¡±

    ¡°I refuse.¡±

    ¡°Why are you so obstinate?¡±

    Major Serena cutely puffed up her cheeks. Un, she¡¯s definitely a first-rate beauty, even with that kind of cutesy act. But my reason for refusing is simple and reasonable.

    It¡¯s because you really seem like a woman who would invite a whole boatload of trouble if I ever got involved with you further! I mean, just look at you!

    But I can¡¯t exactly say that to her face, so I just screamed that in my head. She¡¯s an imperial noble after all. I¡¯m not that familiar with imperialws, but I don¡¯t want to risk breaking them by insulting a member of the nobility.

    ¡°It¡¯s mainly because I can¡¯t expect that muchpensation and we would be under contract for a prolonged period. Why are you so fixated on me in the first ce?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because you possess both bold ideas and the courage and skills to execute them. Out of all those mercenaries, only you were able to propose a n, which seemed reckless at first nce. However, you managed to pull it off and delivered impressive results.¡±

    To think I¡¯d get praised for that kind of reckless stunt. It kinda feels awkward.

    ¡°And there¡¯s the part with the crystal creatures. You used Singing Crystal for that, didn¡¯t you? Ah, you don¡¯t have to answer that. There¡¯s no evidence anyway. If it¡¯s someone like you, who¡¯s able to employ such bold and ruthless methods without a shred of hesitation, I¡¯m sure we will be able to obtain the means to make full use of the imperial star fleet¡¯s power in order to crush and obliterate those dirty pirate scum. That¡¯s what I think anyway. That¡¯s why I want your help. I actually want to have you as my subordinate, but you find that disagreeable, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I refuse.¡±

    I blurted out my second ¡®I refuse¡¯ for the day. But this person doesn¡¯t seem like she¡¯ll give up anytime soon. Isn¡¯t her mentality too strong?

    ¡°I will give up on having you as my subordinate - for now, anyway. In return, I want your cooperation. If you think that thepensation offered by the military isn¡¯t enough, I am prepared to pay you with my personal funds if need be. I¡¯m the daughter of a Marquis house after all. And I¡¯m also a senior imperial officer. I believe you will find my connections to be useful in the future.¡±

    Major Serena smiles confidently at us once again. I turned my gaze toward Mimi, who shook her head, as if to say she can¡¯t make a decision about the matter. I then turned toward Elma, who whispered a reply.

    ¡°I think refusing an imperial noble who has already gone to such lengths would actually result to even more troublesome things in the future.¡±

    In other words, she¡¯s suggesting I ept. I honestly don¡¯t feel like it though. I don¡¯t feel like it, but I guess what Elma¡¯s saying does make sense. There¡¯s definitely a chance of inviting even more trouble if I continued to stubbornly refuse, given the circumstances. The Major has already sent me countless love calls in the past after all. And now she¡¯s evene to the ship to visit me personally. She didn¡¯t even inform me beforehand. Most likely, it¡¯s in order to heighten the chance of sessfully getting a hold of me. I¡¯m honestly not one bit happy about it at all.

    ¡°Let me propose some conditions then. Make sure to run the contract properly with the Guild. I believe they have guidelines for designated requests like this.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s set the contract period to thirty days. You¡¯ll be treated as a senior officer directly below the rank of major for its duration. In other words, within the independent fleet, the only one who would outrank you is me alone.¡±

    ¡°I would like to avoid being gradually incorporated into the imperial military, so please limit the total working hours to about ten hours each day. I¡¯ll be sure to put in the required hours no matter what happens.¡±

    ¡°Tsk¡­¡­ That¡¯s fine then.¡±

    Thisdy just clicked her tongue, didn¡¯t she? Just what was she nning on doing? Scary!

    ¡°Also, the know-how I¡¯ll be imparting will primarily be tailored for mercenary work. It¡¯s geared toward engaging and hunting down pirates with a single ship. Of course, I¡¯ll try my best to fulfill the contents of the contract, but I can¡¯t guarantee to be able to make full use of the advantages of the independent mobile fleet.¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course. That¡¯s understandable. But it all boils down to us being able to take in and absorb your knowledge well. Our imperial soldiers are excellent, so you need not worry on that front.¡±

    Major Serena confidently answered while still smiling. She mostly seeded in roping me in, so I guess her mood¡¯s better now.

    ¡°Next would be thepensation amount¡­ How much would be the appropriate amount, Elma?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a bit hard to say. There¡¯s no precedent for mercenaries being contracted to serve as military instructors after all. But, based on the rate for long term escort missions, 30,000 to 50,000 Enels would be the standard amount.

    ¡°It¡¯s not a life-threatening escort mission, so can¡¯t you bring down the price a little? And that rate is actually geared toward an escort fleet instead of a single ship, correct?¡±

    Major Serena swiftly objected to the price proposed by Elma. She¡¯s quite shrewd, ain¡¯t she? She probably did some research beforeing here already. You really can¡¯t let your guard down against thisdy.

    ¡°But Hiro normally makes 200,000 Enels per day hunting pirates you know? Having our ie for one month go down to a fourth of the usual amount doesn¡¯t seem worth the trouble. Us mercenaries don¡¯t run charities, so we won¡¯t work if there isn¡¯t enough profits for us. It¡¯s justmon sense.¡±

    Elma shrugged as sheunched a sharp response to Major Serena¡¯s objection. Honestly, we won¡¯t really be able to make 200,000 Enels a day normally, so we can¡¯t possibly earn 6,000,000 Enels in a month because we still need to take asional breaks.

    On the other hand, we also wouldn¡¯t be able to take up any other requests during the contract period, so we¡¯d still be making a loss if some high-paying ones did appear while we were under contract.

    ¡°Mmrrgh¡­¡­ How about 40,000 Enels per day¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It should be at least 60,000 Enels. 40,000 isn¡¯t nearly enough.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s settle for 50,000 then. How about it?¡±

    Elma turned her gaze toward me. I shrugged my shoulders as if to say I¡¯m leaving the decision to her.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine then. Do you have anything to add, Hiro?¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t understand the overall performance of your ships, you won¡¯t be able to put up effective maneuvers. I¡¯d like to get the data for the overall specs and armaments of the fleet¡¯s ships if possible. It¡¯s also necessary to test them via simtor as well.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll at least send you the non-ssified data. We will send the simtor data to the Mercenary Guild directly.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it then. Please send the particrs to the Mercenary Guild as well.¡±

    I and Major Serena nodded at Elma¡¯s words.

    And thus, we were contracted to serve as official instructors to the Gran Imperial Space Force¡¯s independent anti-pirate mobile fleet for thirty days.

 Chapter 44 â€“ Obvious Landmine

    <h4>Chapter 44 - Obvious Landmine</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Well then, now that we¡¯re done with the business talk¡­ I¡¯d like to take this opportunity to ask a few questions now that you¡¯ve personally managed to pay a visit to our ship. May I?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­ as long as I can answer them.¡±

    Major Serena thought for a bit and then nodded.

    ¡°Pardon me then. It¡¯s not really a big deal- is what I¡¯d wanted to say. But there¡¯s just a matter I¡¯m concerned about. You remember the incident of a mercenary ship crashing against a military vessel during the pirate subjugation operation on the Termaine system, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course, I remember. It¡¯s the matter regarding the military imposing arge fine regardless of the fact that I¡¯ve already specified not to pursue the matter too harshly, correct? I think Elma-san over there is the one involved in the incident.¡±

    ¡°If you know of it, then it¡¯ll make things easier. I¡¯m just putting this out just in case, but didn¡¯t you guys make a mistake regarding that imposed penalty?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve already confirmed things with the relevant departments, so there¡¯s no denying it. There was indeed a mishap regarding the specified deadline, but that and thepensation amount is a different matter altogether. We won¡¯t be able to amend the amount now that it¡¯se to this point, nor will we be able to make some sort of refund. I do feel sorry about it, but the person involved in causing the mishap has already been dealt with. To be honest, that incident was probably a form of harassment aimed towards me. It sounds awkward for me to say this, considering what I¡¯ve put you through, but the incident did end up helping me deal with a troublesome insect, so I¡¯m grateful to you in a sense.¡±

    Major Serena nonchntly dered with a straight face.

    ¡°You don¡¯t seem all that sorry for almost ruining a person¡¯s entire life huh.¡±

    ¡°Well, yes. It¡¯s not like I made a mistake in ordering a fine to be implemented. There¡¯s no denying that it¡¯s her fault that she crashed into a military vessel after all. Honestly speaking, there was a good chance she would have been pinned with a harsher crime you know? Even if it was an unintended ident, she did end up crashing into and damaging an imperial military starship, rendering it mostly inoperable. She also injured quite a number of imperial soldiers.¡±

    ¡®Mm¡­¡­ I see.¡±

    ¡°I do feel sorry that the deadline that was given was too short due to one of our people¡¯s mistakes. In truth, the space forces have the right to determine how long the deadline would be. The shortest would be several months, and the longest would be up to a year. But that time frame isn¡¯t fixed. If the incident is of a high enough magnitude, the deadline may end up shorter than normal, like in this case. It¡¯s a case by case basis, and I actually ordered them to prolong the deadline as much as possible. However, someone interfered and the incident was escted. My prior orders were ignored. But, as I said, the ones responsible have already been dealt with, so I believe we¡¯ve shown enough good faith regarding this matter.¡±

    Hmm¡­¡­ There are some parts I find hard to ept, but I guess we unfortunately just got caught up in the dog-eat-dog social system of the military and the nobility.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine already, Hiro. I ept that it was my stupid mistake that caused the ident. And it did lead to me getting together with you Hiro, so¡­¡­ I don¡¯t really think it¡¯s all that bad.¡±

    Elma softly pulled my sleeve and gave me a faint smile. Un¡­¡­ Well, the one directly involved says it¡¯s okay, so I guess it won¡¯t do any good to keep dwelling on the matter.

    ¡°Fufu, you sure care a lot for yourrades, don¡¯t you Captain Hiro? I actually have some good news for you.¡±

    Major Serena shed me a sweet smile. I have a bad feeling about this.

    ¡°Once you¡¯vepleted my request, I also n on officially designating you as my personal contracted mercenary.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°This is my first time being gazed at with a look of such utter contempt you know.¡±

    Major Serena¡¯s cheeks twitched as she gave me a bitter smile. My expression must have looked really unpleasant. Well, you understand, right? It screams nothing but trouble.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna ask just in case, but what merits do we gain from that?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a good question. First, if you be a contracted mercenary under me, it would make it so it would be unlikely for you to be involved in trouble with both the Gran empire¡¯s military and noble circle. I¡¯m a major of the imperial space forces as well as the daughter of the house of Marquis Holz after all. Messing with you as my contracted mercenary would mean messing with me and House Holz.¡±

    ¡°I see. But it¡¯ll also make the ones who already consider you as an enemy target me as well, right?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t say there isn¡¯t a chance of that happening, but I believe such incidents would be rare at best. If you do get into some sort of trouble, immediately inform me and I¡¯ll swiftly deal with it for you. I promise I will do all that I can to aid you.¡±

    ¡°All that you can huh.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Is there something you are dissatisfied with.¡±

    ¡°Nah. So let¡¯s hear about the demerits.¡±

    I tried my best to make a neutral smile. It¡¯ll be over if I step back here.

    Major Serena smiled back at me. We were both smiling ¡®pleasantly¡¯ towards each other. Just like the best of friends. I noticed Mimi shivering beside me. You don¡¯t have to be all that scared you know?

    ¡°There¡¯s no such thing.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! Great joke, Major. I¡¯m gonna say this upfront. I don¡¯t have the slightest desire to be made use of. In fact, you already owe us one. Haven¡¯t you heard of the saying it¡¯s not good to increase your debts before paying off your previous one?¡±

    ¡°Really now. Wouldn¡¯t I be able to pay that debt once you agree to be my official contracted mercenary?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s just one of the methods for you to get me within your grasp, right? Saying that would make us even isn¡¯t even funny. The reason we¡¯re epting this request of yours this time is due to you making certain concessions for us, so we want to properly pay you back and avoid any further trouble. Just like what Elma said earlier, the remuneration isn¡¯t nearly enough for the work we¡¯ll be doing. Normally, we would just refuse such a request. That¡¯s why I said you owe us.¡±

    Major Serena gritted her teeth in frustration.

    ¡°Regarding the trouble with imperial nobles and the military, we can just easily choose to escape once things aren¡¯t looking too good. Considering that, the thing about shielding us from trouble doesn¡¯t seem to be all that useful, honestly. And if I do be your personal contracted mercenary, those against both you and the Holz house would most probably put me under their radar, so that¡¯s already a big enough demerit in my book.

    And also, bing your contracted mercenary will limit how much freedom we and our ship have. That¡¯s another huge demerit. As you already know, my methods are kinda unorthodox. Wouldn¡¯t it be bad for you if I did something reckless while being your contracted mercenary? Are you just gonna cut me off if that happens? If you n on cutting me off just like that, there¡¯s practically no merit for me, is there? In other words, there¡¯s little to no merit in bing your contracted mercenary. Conversely, there¡¯s a ton of demerits attached to it. Do you have any objections to this conclusion, mdy?¡±

    Major Serena¡¯s face turned bright red in frustration after hearing my tirade. Did I make her angry? Well, I¡¯ve bottled up a lot of frustration myself. Apart from sending me spam recruitment mail, she pushed an unprofitable request on my face for no good reason. It¡¯s just reaping what she¡¯d sown.

    ¡°H-Hey, isn¡¯t that going a little overboard¡ª¡±

    ¡°Fufufu¡­¡­ This is the first time someone dared to scold a daughter of House Holz like me.¡±

    With her face still red from anger, Major Serena moved her gaze towards me with the corners of her mouth slightly twitching. I just wanted to get back at her a little. Did I really go too far?

    ¡°However, it¡¯s fine. I shall forgive you. It¡¯s not like I cannot understand where you¡¯reing from. There are things in this world that would break if you use too much force. There¡¯s a big difference between a pet cat and a stray one after all.¡±

    ¡°Just who the hell is a cat!?¡±

    You want me to scratch you,dy?

    ¡°It¡¯s not possible to tame and feed one without first putting on a cor you see. So I shall feed and thoroughly tame it once I¡¯ve sessfully put a cor on it.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re still aiming at coring me someday?¡±

    ¡°Yes. As I said, I¡¯m not the type who lets the prey I already aimed at to escape my grasp.¡±

    Major Serena put one finger on top of her luscious lips and gave me a flirtatious gaze. The feeling of cold sweat running down my spine is just my imagination, right? Please make it so.

    Mimi and Elma felt some sort of danger after seeing Major Serena like that and the two of them grabbed both my arms again. Major Serena giggled in amusement after seeing their actions.

    ¡°For now, let¡¯s just be satisfied with you agreeing to my request. I shall make an official request to the Guild. We will be in your care then. I shall also send the relevant data to the Guild as well.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, okay. I¡¯ll try to be as polite as I can when addressing you during work hours, so please pardon me if I ever slip up somehow.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please do so. I don¡¯t mind if you talk to me in a more casual way when we¡¯re alone in private you know.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, alright.¡±

    I have no intention of meeting up in private with you though.

    ¡°You got some nerve talking down to a senior imperial military officer and ady of a marquis house like that¡­¡­ I was sweating buckets the whole time.¡±

    Elma suddenly opened while we were having lunch after Major Serena left the ship. Elma¡¯s lunch this time consisted of something resembling Japanese-style pasta and a sd with chicken meat cooked with Szechuan-style sauce.

    ¡°If she threw a fit and gave up after that level of provocation, then it meant she wasn¡¯t all that serious about the deal. But since she didn¡¯t, and evenughed it off while iming to forgive me, I guess she really is pretty set on roping me in. If I let my guard down even a little bit, there¡¯s a good chance she¡¯ll spring a trap on me, so I can¡¯t rx against her at all and can¡¯t make any hasty promises either.¡±

    The meal I¡¯m having consists of a hamburger, french fries and some sort of shake. The shake has a faint grassy aftertaste but is still tasty. Just what kind of shake is this anyway?

    ¡°That person won¡¯t do. She¡¯s dangerous.¡±

    Mimi was unusually wary of Major Serena. She gave me a hard stare as she kept chowing down on her omelet rice thered with plenty of ketchup.

    No, no. Major Serena¡¯s certainly a bombshell beauty with a nice body andrge breasts, but I¡¯m not the kind of guy who¡¯ll be swayed by a woman like that who seems like the living embodiment of a destructivendmine. There¡¯s no need to worry, girls.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s get in some training for now. I¡¯ll focus on the request. I want Mimi to continue with your Operator training. Please support both of us as you see fit, Elma.¡±

    ¡°Alright. That¡¯s all we can do for now. Well, we mercenaries don¡¯t always have to spend days living dangerously anyway. There are times like this as well. But be sure to train regrly so your skills don¡¯t get rusty, okay Hiro.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best. Well, it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t have a n.¡±

    Teaching only through oral discussion would just lead to my charges learning mere armchair tactics. They should also experience some actualbat along the way. I could y the role of the aggressor if need be and face off against the military folks in a mock battle. We should make ample use of the simtors.

    ¡°Well, since I took the job, I need to do it properly. I won¡¯t be risking my life, plus I also get to have that nobledy officer owe me one in addition to earning a bit of cash. Since Mimi can also get some training in, it¡¯s not all that bad.¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    ¡°Please be careful, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    I don¡¯t know if Mimi was just particrly wary of Major Serena or she actually doesn¡¯t trust me much when ites to things like this¡­¡­ It¡¯s the former, right? Please tell me it¡¯s the former.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get yourself ensnared by that nobledy, okay.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t you trust me for once!?¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re guilty of previous offenses after all.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t really deny that, yeah.¡±

    I¡¯m weak to this sort of guilt-tripping. And so, I spent thetter part of the day trying to butter up Elma and the strangely sulky Mimi. The three of us didn¡¯t take a single step out of Krishna and spent the entire time holed up inside the ship. It¡¯s nice to have days like this from time to time. Things are gonna get busy in the following days after all.

 Chapter 45 -Study Time

    <h4>Chapter 45 -Study Time</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    It¡¯s been a few days since the former Lieutenant and now Major Serena¡¯s unexpected visit. We basically spent these past few days inside the Krishna, having some much-needed training.

    Mimi continued to hone her Operator skills while Elma acted as support. As for me¡­

    ¡°Mmhm, nobles really are scary.¡±

    At Elma¡¯s rmendation¡­ or rather, coercion, I was charged with watching documentary holo-vids regarding the various troubles and incidents involving the imperial nobility all throughout the Gran empire¡¯s history.

    ording to Elma-

    ¡ºThe way you treat nobles is absolutely dreadful. In the worst case, you¡¯ll get yourself and the rest of your crew branded for disrespecting noble authority and prestige, so do some studying about the subject, you dolt.¡»

    At first, I thought it was all just too bothersome, but in the end, I began understanding just how scary nobles really are.

    The really scary thing was that nobles in the Gran empire were allowed to punish and kill non-nobles as long as there was a justifiable enough reason to do so. This was a point worth noting.

    The so-called ¡®justifiable reason¡¯ can be quite vague at times. It can go from things like doing something that would harm the Gran empire to nobles being subjected to insults. Anyway, it was quite ambiguous. To put things bluntly, making arbitrary use of such a rule is very possible, and it¡¯s basically up to the nobles themselves to judge what actions to take and when to take them.

    Nobles would restrain themselves somewhat if they are within another noble¡¯s territory, but generally, nobles would side with their fellow nobles in most circumstances. That¡¯s of course unless they were opposed to each other due to conflict of interest among other reasons.

    So, if you take a rude attitude against a noble, chances are it¡¯ll go something like this: How rude! You¡¯ve sullied my dignity! Off with your head! Guwaaah! Basically something to that effect.

    Nheless, if a noble goes too overboard, there¡¯s a chance he or she would get eyed by the imperial government and could possibly be charged with¡ºtreason against the empire¡»and get imprisoned for it, or worse.

    The normal imperial subjects are also treated as valuable assets by the emperor, and a decline in the poption would result in a drop in national power. And allowing despotic nobles to run loose is an affront to the empire¡¯s dignity, or so it seems.

    Yes. Imperial nobles ce major importance on dignity and honor above all else. It is said that imperial nobles who were overly domineering against themon people would have their standings within the rest of noble society fall and would be ostracized by the rest of their peers.

    It¡¯s a bit daunting for me who was born and raised in modern Japan, but the current Gran empire has kept such a delicate bnce going for years and managed to establish a rtively stable rule. But if corruption within the ranks were to spread, this sort of bnce may copse on its head. However, since they¡¯ve managed to stand strong until now, there may be some sort of system in ce that prevents that sort of corruption from spreading.

    ¡°Nobles are bad news.¡±

    I blurted this out to Elma when she came to check up on how I was doing and got an exasperated sigh in return. Did you really have to be that exasperated?

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. Nobles are dangerous. That¡¯s why you need to watch your words when you¡¯re in their presence.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to keep that in mind in the future. But it¡¯s toote regarding Major Serena, right?¡±

    ¡°That may be so, but you can never be too careful. Most imperial nobles carry swords strapped to their waists, so pay attention, alright.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    For imperial nobles, their swords were a symbol of their honor and prestige, it seems. Guess you can think of them as simr to a samurai¡¯s katana.

    ¡°Most of the nobles in the Gran empire are fundamentally even-tempered people so you shouldn¡¯t have to worry so much most of the time. But a select few are foolish to a ridiculous degree. It¡¯s best to avoid getting involved with those types. Well, it¡¯s not like people like them would purposefully get in touch with humble mercs like us except for certain special circumstances anyway.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°Unlike most civilians, mercs like us generally carryser guns after all. And a lot of us are good inbat too. We also own armed starships as well, right? Even they would think twice about recklessly provoking folks like us and suffering a frenzied retaliation in return. In fact, in the case of a noble attacking you with their sword, you can just suppress them with yourser gun, right? When ites to it, you can also use your ship to give them trouble. If we¡¯re somewhat afraid of nobles, they¡¯re also wary of us as well.¡±

    ¡°I see. Well, even the most harmless-looking herbivore would bear its fangs towards a carnivore if pushed into a corner.¡±

    ¡°The example¡¯s a bit off, but that¡¯s basically it. But just like I said earlier, it¡¯s better for you to watch yourself when dealing with imperial nobles.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll really have to keep that in mind. I don¡¯t want to be cut down for stupid reasons after all.¡±

    I have no idea what kind of sword imperials nobles were carrying, but I imagine you would get really hurt if you end up in the business end of said swords.

    ¡°In any case, it¡¯s just as I thought. It would have been better if I noticed it earlier.¡±

    Elma shook her head as she grimaced as if she swallowed a kind of bitter bug. What¡¯s up? Elma opened her mouth again in response to my questioning expression.

    ¡°Whether you really do have problems with your memory or came from another dimension instead, I should have noted yourpleteck ofmon sense earlier. I should have made you learn about general customs andmon sense over here when we had the chance.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you mean well, but it kinda feels like you¡¯re making fun of me for some reason¡­¡­¡±

    Yeah, I have absolutely no idea regarding this dimension¡¯smon sense! There was no such setting in Ste Online after all! I¡¯m only aware of my dimension¡¯smon sense, okay.

    ¡°From my point of view, it¡¯s this dimension¡¯s standard ofmon sense that¡¯s weird. I mean what the heck¡¯s up with women automatically getting in a rtionship with the owner of a ship once they¡¯ve boarded. It sounds like some sort of crazy eroge scenario.¡±

    ¡°At present, Hyperdrive tech has advanced much, so traveling from star system to star system is a breeze. But a long time ago, once the ship enters hyperspace, it would take one or two months before you can get to your target destination. Do you think nothing will happen between a man and a woman spending time all by themselves inside a ship for one to two months?¡±

    ¡°Nope.¡±

    I think some sort of special circumstances are needed in order for the folks stuck in that situation not toy their hands on each other. Like impotence, maybe.

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. That¡¯s why it became the norm for women who board a man¡¯s private ship to prepare themselves for that sort of development nowadays. That kind of custom has an appropriate history behind it.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ I¡¯ll do my best to learn then.¡±

    ¡°You better. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll find it useful.¡±

    Elma smiled at me gently. Once youe to my age, it¡¯s kinda hard to re-learn yourmon sense from scratch, but let¡¯s do our best¡­¡­ But can¡¯t you do something about the teaching materials, Elma-san. They¡¯re all stuff aimed at kids and teens y¡¯know.

    ¡°I¡¯m Captain Hiro. I¡¯ve been assigned as this fleet¡¯s tactical advisor as of today. Looking forward to working with you all.¡±

    It¡¯s been a week after my in-depth study session. There were no problems with me physically, and the study sessions and training proceeded without a hitch.

    That said, I only studied for a period of two days and spent the rest of my time reviewing the data of the independent anti-pirate mobile fleet sent to me by Major Serena in detail. I then ran various simtions using said data. I tried piloting the ships on the Mercenary Guild¡¯s simtors and tried fighting with them as well using Krishna¡¯s data.

    ¡°I¡¯m told that Major Serena intends to build up this fleet in order to turn each and every space pirate, who are nothing but scum of the gxy, into space debris. And I¡¯m an expert in that particr field. That¡¯s why I was invited as your adviser at this time.¡±

    I dered as such as I ran my gaze around the military crew gathered within the spacious briefing room we were currently in. Video feeds of the briefing rooms of the other ships were also disyed on various monitors. It seems my speech was being broadcasted live to the entire fleet.

    ¡°I shall teach you methods to effectively hunt them down, deceive them, and corner them. I want you to absorb those methods fully and put them to good use in actual fleet operations. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll face some trouble getting used to the fighting methods of a mercenary such as myself, but I¡¯m also quite certain my experiences will serve as good reference material. It would be fine if we respect each other asrades in arms going after the same enemies henceforth. Looking forward to working with you,dies and gentlemen.¡±

    After my preliminary greeting speech, the crew of all the fleet¡¯s ships broke into a round of warm apuse. Mm. Thank you for appreciating such amon-sounding speech, guys. Well then, let¡¯s do our best, shall we?

 Chapter 46 â€“ Lecture and Live Practice

    <h4>Chapter 46 - Lecture and Live Practice</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Now then, let¡¯s start with the basics everyone. First, let¡¯s review what we know about pirates.¡±

    I put up the data I prepared about standard pirate ships in the holo-disy.

    ¡°Most pirate raid groups areposed of three to five ships. There¡¯s power in numbers, and they need at least that much manpower to ensure they can hunt down their prey. Most of their armaments areposed of ss I or ss II optical weaponry, seeker missile pods and multi-turret cannons. These weapons don¡¯t possess that much firepower to speak of individually, but they forcibly cram as much of these weapons as they can on their ship¡¯s hardpoints so their overall firepower actually can¡¯t be underestimated in the end. Their usual M.O. is to surround civilian ships with superior numbers and exhaust their shields by peppering them with weapons fire.¡±

    The soldiers nodded at my exnation. The things I¡¯m talking about are basicallymon knowledge after all, and most folks who¡¯ve encountered or heard about pirates know about this stuff.

    ¡°Next, they often use heavily modified civilian ships, which are generally seized from their past victims. As you would expect, the overall performance and specs of civilian ships aren¡¯t much to speak of. However, they put arge emphasis on adding more thrusters while totally ignoring the shield output and armor strength. Why? It¡¯s because they need to finish their work quickly and then bail out at the fastest speed. If they take too long, it¡¯ll heighten the chances of the military or mercenaries sniffing them out. That¡¯s why it¡¯s necessary to quickly surround their victims, pepper them with as much firepower as they can muster in order to immobilize them, then finish the job. Basically, they work on the premise of their targets not having the capability to fight back.¡±

    The soldiers looked convinced with my lecture so far. Most of them probably have experience engaging with pirates. Yes, pirate ships are quite fragile, and it¡¯s extremely easy to fully saturate their shielding and melt their armor if you bombard them with military-grade weaponry.

    ¡°So due to these factors, pirates are exceedingly wary of military presence. They generally won¡¯t work in sectors where the military is active, and once they catch a military ship approaching their current hunting ground, they won¡¯t hesitate to abandon it. Those guys are afraid of dying pointless deaths after all. In fact, if even a shadow of your military vessels get spotted in a given sector where pirates are active, they¡¯ll immediately drop whatever else they¡¯re doing, turn tail and flee swiftly.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. We don¡¯t usually encounter ones who actually fight back. They would do so only in certain circumstances, like us raiding their main bases.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. They¡¯re extremely sensitive to military presence and they have eyes and ears within the various colonies, so I¡¯m sure they¡¯ve already gotten wind of the formation of this independent anti-pirate mobile fleet of yours. It¡¯s only natural to be on alert once a number of unfamiliar military ships enter port after all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped you know. They usually worm their way in with normal civilians and traders and would send info back to their respective groups. It¡¯s especially the case with thisrge colony. It would be really difficult to sniff out all the moles they nted. Well, that¡¯s not part of my job scope though. I¡¯m only in charge of teaching you all how to hunt down pirates who are already prowling around in their ships.¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course¡­¡­ I¡¯ll think of something on our end.¡±

    ¡°Good luck. Let¡¯s continue with the lecture then.¡±

    I then put up a map of the Termaine star system on the screen.

    ¡°This is a map of the area where Major Serena led a force to exterminate arge pirate base a while back, and here¡¯s the distribution of the pirate incidents encountered by civilian ships before that base was destroyed. Next is the distribution of confirmed pirate kills by mercenaries. Finally, these are the incidents of civilian ships and mercenaries reported missing within that area.¡±

    I¡¯ve marked each distinct segment on the star map and put in lines to indicate the estimated routes between all of them. There was arger concentration of encounters as well as kills the closer it got to the pirate base.

    ¡°And this is the data after the base got destroyed forparison.¡±

    When I operated the terminal I had on hand, the marks on the map disyed on the screen changed drastically.

    ¡°It changed a lot, right? Now let¡¯s add the points where the imperial fleet has been active within the system recently.¡±

    The gathered soldiers all raised their voices in surprise. The kill and encounter marks were evidently located well away from the sectors the military was active in. This proves that the pirates were well aware of the military¡¯s movements and were actively keeping track of them.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know about other mercenaries, but I personally collect this type of data in order to more urately figure out where the spots pirates would be most active in order to hunt them down. It would be more urate if we had data regarding the mining spots imed by private mining vessels, but¡­ well, this would be more than enough for us to be able to hunt them anyway. Have you all managed to follow me so far?¡±

    ¡°Yes. How interesting. We¡¯re recording the lecture, so feel free to proceed.¡±

    ¡°Alright. Now then, how can we use this basic knowledge in order to effectively hunt down pirates? Let me say something before we proceed though. And this might be a bit of a shock, but¡­¡­¡±

    I turned my gaze to Major Serena. She nodded and permitted me to speak freely.

    ¡°I¡¯lly it to you guys straight then. It¡¯s impractical to use ships asrge orrger than cruisers to hunt for pirates. If you want to hunt down pirates with maximum efficiency, there¡¯s a fundamental need to make changes to your entire fleet.¡±

    The soldiers became speechless at my words. Well, I expected as much. This is basically a fleet organized with cruisers at its core after all. To be specific, it¡¯sposed of two corvettes, three destroyers, five cruisers, and one battleship. It¡¯s clear that the cruisers were intended to be this fleet¡¯s mainstays.

    ¡°Generally, the areas the pirates are most active in arergely within asteroid fields. If you check the map I showed earlier, you¡¯ll find that most encounters did happen with asteroid fields in the area. Do you guys think you can send inrge cruisers inside those dense asteroid clusters and still fight effectively?¡±

    The soldiers quieted down. It¡¯s virtually impossible. I also tried it using the simtor. The shields got constantly rammed into asteroid clusters and quickly got saturated. In the worst case, the ship got cornered by the pirates instead and ultimately shot down. It was impossible, to begin with.

    ¡°I did manage to scrape by using destroyers in the simtor, but I still highly rmend using corvettes. It¡¯s not my ce to be lecturing you guys about the fleet formation, honestly speaking, but I still want you all to consider what I told you.¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course. Much obliged. Thank you for the warning. However, wouldn¡¯t it be fine to suppress the pirates with our ship¡¯s superior firepower in the event that they do manage to run inside asteroid fields?¡±

    I already anticipated Major Serena¡¯s question, so I had an answer ready for her.

    ¡°That¡¯s indeed possible. You can actually defeat the pirates that way. But I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be flooded byints from the civilian mining firms. They depend on those resource-rich asteroid fields for their livelihood after all. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll have a lot toin about even when the pirate threat is suppressed if the source of their ie gets sted to kingdome by the military.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    While Major Serena mulled over my words, I turned my attention back to the soldiers and made a suggestion.

    ¡°Though I rmended you change your fleet¡¯sposition, I¡¯m sure a lot of you will be having trouble adjusting to that change. In the case of us mercenaries, we can change ships and weapons easily without much issue. But it¡¯s not the case in the military. I¡¯m sure most of you will feel troubled if you were suddenly told to change ships, right?¡±

    The soldiers nodded silently in answer. For most sailors, a ship is like a second home, as well as a belovedpanion. They won¡¯t be able to abandon their ships that easily.

    ¡°And so, this is what I suggest. Are you willing to do everything in your power in order to hunt down pirates and protect the safety of the empire, Major Serena?¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes, of course, I am. If it¡¯s something in my power, then¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I wanted to hear.¡±

    A broad grin formed on my face as I ryed my suggestion to the gathered crowd. Major Serena and the soldier¡¯s eyes opened wide in surprise after hearing it.

    It¡¯s been a few days since my lecture.

    After finishing their preparations, the independent anti-pirate mobile fleet sortied for their first pirate hunting operation in the Alein system.

    ¡°Confirming results. We have currently managed to sessfully shoot down thirty-two ships.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, the fish sure are biting the bait often.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right¡­¡­¡±

    Major Serena disyed a subtle expression as she stood beside me.

    I wasughing in a good mood at the bridge of the battleship Restalias; the gship of the independent anti-pirate mobile fleet. The expression of Major Serena, who was supervising the entire operation, was more subdued. But I¡¯m sure she¡¯s inwardly happy since the fleet was able to fulfill its main mission as intended.

    ¡°Man, as expected of military warships. The range and firepower are nothing to sneeze at.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ Doesn¡¯t this method seem a little too underhanded¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Major Serena can smile happily while piling up achievements, the soldiers can smile happily while earning distinguished service for the country, and I¡¯ll be able to smile happily once I get my bonus. Everybody¡¯s happy, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, yes, but¡­¡­¡±

    Major Serena gazed at me with aplicated expression on her face. I turned toward the holo-disy, where the figure of a medium-sized transport ship was shown. The cargo loaded on it was arge batch of rare metals, expensive goods and cutting edge medicine and medical equipment produced in the Alein system. It¡¯s a very tempting target for most pirates.

    The medium-sized ship on the holo-disy seems to have had some engine trouble and was now unable to move, and the rescue signal was also very weak due to some sort of malfunction. By the way, this was an area frequented by pirates. Perhaps the crew dropped the signal output on purpose in order to not attract pirates.

    Yup, I bet that¡¯s it. I¡¯m sure that¡¯s the case¡­ is what those pirates should be thinking.

    ¡°The strategy you proposed is working quite well.¡±

    I¡¯m sure you guys already guessed it, but that ship is a decoy. Of course, there¡¯s no way for that type of civilian ship to be part of the military. It was one of the ships owned by our great imperial noble miss, Major Serena.

    As expected of the daughter of a marquis. She purchased a 5,000,000 Enel mid-sized civilian cargo ship just like that.

    ¡°Is it really okay for us to use such underhanded deception¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Those guys are scum who unhesitatingly attack innocent businessmen and women, miners and ordinary tourists after all. They don¡¯t have the slightest right toin about our methods. In the first ce, the enemies are pirates. They¡¯re not part of an enemy nation¡¯s military forces. You won¡¯t be med no matter what sort of method you use against them.¡±

    I can do anything and everything for that big, fat bonus.

    The strategy I proposed to them was pretty simple. The independent anti-pirate mobile fleet would surely find it troublesome to hunt for pirates lurking within packed asteroid fields by using their cruisers as mains.

    Therefore, it would be fine if we can just bait them towards us. We prepared a convincing decoy to act as bait and would shoot down unsuspecting pirates lured by it with precision shelling from the fleet at a safe and undetectable distance.

    First, send in the corvettes and destroyers to scout out the area, clean up any rogue pirates they encounter and make sure that the area is clear of any pirate presence. Afterward, we would then hide the cruisers and the battleship within the asteroid field. Even with theirrge, hulking forms, cruisers and battleships can easily disguise themselves as normal asteroids once they dropped their generator outputs. Some asteroids were asrge as your average battleship after all.

    Andstly, we will deploy the bait at a certain distance from the fleet and make it release a faint SOS signal. Once the pirates are sessfully lured, the superior firepower of the military cruisers and the main battleship would ensure they would never be able to get out intact.

    Large military warships such as cruisers and battleships are able to retain a certain level ofbat capability and basic functions even when their generator outputs are set to the minimum. That firepower can be used to swiftly finish off unsuspecting pirates without them noticing.

    Once the capacitor charge decreases to a certain point, we would then turn off the decoy¡¯s SOS signal, re-start the generators and restore power again. Once we finish re-charging, we will turn on the SOS signal once more and start the whole process over. And so, we can effectively hunt down pirates with the above method.

    It would invite suspicion if we kept on doing it at the same spot, so after hunting a certain number, we would move to a different sector. Then, it¡¯s just a matter of repeating the said method.

    Twenty percent of the reward money earned from shooting down pirates during this operation will go to me as bonus pay. Currently, we¡¯re at 32 ships. So that means five ships worth of bounties will go straight to my pocket. And all without expending any effort or capital on my part. I can just watch the pirates get shot down like flies as I lounged in safety and elegance while earning easy money. I just can¡¯t stopughing, man!

    Oh, and by the way, the ones manning the decoy ship are all soldiers under Major Serena¡¯s directmand. In the unlikely event that a pirate or two manages to escape bombardment and boards the ship, beefy onii-sans all decked up in cutting edge military power armor would be waiting to wee them inside.

    Eh? What if they decided to blow the decoy up and not board it? There¡¯s no way they would. Apart from damaging the valuable cargo, a medium-sized civilian ship like the one we¡¯re using can be turned into an effective fire support vessel if they managed to capture it. There¡¯s likely no pirate who would decide to just destroy a nice-looking ship that¡¯s only having trouble with its propulsion system.

    In the end, we managed to turn a total of 57 pirates into cosmic dust. Twenty percent of the rewards will end up being mine. I guess it should be about 100,000 Enels at least.

    ¡°Man, we sure earned some good money.¡±

    ¡°You sure are happy¡­¡­¡±

    Major Serena directed a scornful gaze at me. She bought the decoy ship with her own money but it was decided not to be reimbursable as part of the operating expenses. So would it be possible to use a private ship for an official military operation? In the end, she managed to push it through with her noble privileges. Noble privileges sure are handy.

    ¡°If you make enough achievements, you may be able to sessfully apply for a reimbursement y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°It would be nice if a miracle like that were to happen.¡±

    Major Serena let out a sigh. It looks like a 5,000,000 Enel ship was also a bit too much for a noble daughter of a marquis house. Oh well. I don¡¯t have any idea about her financial situation and have no intention of knowing in the first ce.

    ¡°You can do regr pirate hunting operations using this method. If you somehow managed to get some info on their base, you can then n for a major subjugation operation and build up even more achievements. After this, it¡¯ll all just be a battle of wits between you and the pirates.¡±

    ¡°I suppose¡­¡­ But there¡¯s still more than half of the contract period remaining, so I¡¯ll still have you apany me, alright?¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye ma¡¯am.¡±

    I was hoping for my contract to be fulfilled once I managed to get results for pirate hunting, but it looks like that¡¯s not the case.

    I inwardly thought about what else she intended for me as I made a crisp salute toward Major Serena.

 Chapter 47 â€“ Blatant Persuasion Tactics

    <h4>Chapter 47 - tant Persuasion Tactics</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    It seems that the military makes it a point to have regr ship maintenance to ensure peak performance during operations. The idea is that the ships were a product of the citizen¡¯s blood, sweat, and taxes, and were a grace bestowed upon them by the emperor, so they can¡¯t treat them poorly.

    And so, even if they managed to dominate their enemies during their maiden operation, the recently sortied ships of the independent anti-pirate mobile fleet were now temporarily moored in the docks for some maintenance and repair work. The soldiers took advantage of this downtime to go to shore (i.e. the colony) for some R&R. Not that it has anything to do with me anyway. I wanted to think up more strategies we could use for today, or at least review the results of the previous operation.

    But it seems someone had other ns.

    ¡°Shall we go then?¡±

    When I went over to the bridge of the gship Restalias, I found Major Serena all decked out in casual clothes for some reason and beaming with a beautiful smile akin to countless flowers in bloom. There weren¡¯t any other crewmembers present.

    Major Serena was wearing a beige knit sweater which sharply emphasized her shapely body line paired with a ck skirt. On her waist hung her personal sword that had a bit of a cyberpunk vor to it. How should I describe it¡­¡­? Fantasy casual style?

    ¡°Where are we¡­¡­? Rather, what the heck are you nning this time?¡±

    I asked Major Serena in a tone filled with suspicion. Even someone like me would think twice and not go all¡¸OK! A date with a hot babe! Hyahooi!¡¹like an idiot. Judging from her previous actions, I¡¯m sure as heck Major Serena was nning something again.

    ¡°How rude. To think you would imply I¡¯m nning anything unsavory¡­¡­¡±

    Major Serena dodged the issue with an *ohohough. After seeing that, I operated my personal data terminal.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. So, where do you n to go?¡±

    I just shrugged her question off with a tilt of my head and asked a question myself. I only fiddled around with the terminal for a few seconds, so Major Serena didn¡¯t care too much about it in the end. In any case, let¡¯s just hear her out first.

    ¡°I¡¯m off-duty today as well.¡±

    ¡°Haa.¡±

    Looking at her outfit, you can easilye to that conclusion. But it would be kinda interesting to see her doing military work while wearing these types of clothes, I think. But it wouldn¡¯t have any ounce of formality, so I guess that¡¯s impossible huh.

    ¡°So I was thinking of having a meal in the city for a change.¡±

    ¡°That sounds great.¡±

    ¡°But doesn¡¯t eating out alone seem somewhat sad?¡±

    Hahaha, sad she says.

    ¡°You can just invite your friends, right?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, I don¡¯t have any friends in this star system.¡±

    Major Serena put one hand over her cheek as she disyed a troubled and somewhat depressed expression. How artificial,dy.

    ¡°Is that so. Well then, how about inviting some of your subordinates?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think they would be able to feel at ease while off-duty if they¡¯d still see their superior officer¡¯s face during this time.¡±

    ¡°While it¡¯s just until the contract period expires, aren¡¯t I considered one of your subordinates as well?¡±

    ¡°But that rtionship will end once the contract expires, right? So you would be able to rx around me betterpared to my full-time subordinates. And you don¡¯t seem to be all that timid around nobles, so¡­¡­¡±

    Major Serena shortened the distance between us while smiling. I, on the other hand, was desperately widening the distance bit by bit to stall for time.

    ¡°From the looks of it, I don¡¯t have any work lined up today as well. So I guess it¡¯s fine if I take a day off myself today, right?¡±

    ¡°No, no. I¡¯m free today but you¡¯re not. I was nning on discussing anti-pirate tactics and strategies with you over a meal today you know. Of course, it¡¯s all part of work.¡±

    ¡°Part of work huh¡­¡­ Isn¡¯t this abuse of authority?¡±

    ¡°Fufu, something like this doesn¡¯t count as an abuse of authority you know, so worry not. You were hired by the imperial military as an anti-pirate expert, so you can¡¯t ck off on your duties okay.¡±

    Major Serena¡¯s smile was akin to that of an apex predator thatpletely cornered its prey. The pressureing off from it was no joke. I canpletely see that this was a ploy for me to bepletely under her thumb.

    As I mulled over my options, my data terminal¡¯s ringtone rang out. I quickly took it out of my pocket and asked Major Serena with a nce if I could go outside to take the call. She reluctantly agreed, so I took the opportunity to get out of the bridge for the meantime to take the call.

    ¡°It¡¯s Hiro.¡±

    ¡ºSo, what¡¯s the situation?¡»

    I sent a message to Elma asking for her to call me a moment ago when I operated my terminal. I can¡¯t handle someone like Major Serena on my own after all.

    ¡°It seems it¡¯s her day off. She¡¯s asking me out for lunch.¡±

    ¡ºIt¡¯s a bit difficult for you to refuse, right? Just ept it under the condition of using along with you.¡»

    ¡°Gotcha.¡±

    I put down my terminal. Major Serena¡¯s gaze didn¡¯t leave me all this time.

    ¡°Would it be fine if the rest of my crew came along?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­To think you¡¯d suggest other women barging in on us during a date, of all things?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s work-rted, right? So it¡¯s not anything that romantic. And Elma¡¯s more of a veteran in the mercenary business than me in any case. She would be the perfect person regarding relevant mercenary work experience I think.¡±

    As long as she insists it was work-rted, I don¡¯t think she would be able to refuse something like this.

    ¡°Kuuh¡­¡­ Fine then.¡±

    As expected, Major Serena agreed, albeit grudgingly.

    ¡°Good morning, Lady Serena. You look quite different in your casual clothes. It looks great on you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, you also look quite pretty Elma-san. Mimi-san looks really cute as well.¡±

    ¡°U-Um, t-thank you¡­¡­ You also look really pretty, Lady Serena.¡±

    Elma and Major Serena exchanged pleasantries with each other as Mimi shrunk back in shame from beingplimented on her outfit.

    Elma was wearing a pretty, green-based outfit full of native charm. It was a really elf-like outfit. Now, this is what I call ¡®The Elf¡¯. There wasn¡¯t even a hint of cyberpunk elements. Now that she¡¯s put on this kind of outfit, it¡¯s the first time I felt that her usual nickname of disappointing elf wouldn¡¯t fit her.

    Why don¡¯t you wear these types of clothes more often? Whether inside the ship or outside of it, she¡¯s always put on mercenary-like clothes. And on off days, she just wears stuff like normal shirts and pants. I¡¯d wee it if she were to wear these kinds of outfits on a more regr basis.

    And Mimi was wearing one of the dresses we bought. It was the one which looked somewhat in in colors but emanated a ssic feel. When worn by the cute Mimi, she bes the very image of an elegant youngdy from a wealthy family. And her clothes also emphasized her bountiful chest weapons more than usual.

    Me? I¡¯m wearing my usual outfit of a in-looking shirt, baggy pants, and rough-looking jacket. I¡¯m a guy so I don¡¯t really care so much about fashion and stuff like that. I¡¯m of the opinion that it would be fine if I at least didn¡¯t look weird. Yep.

    ¡°Normally, it would be my job to guide youdies, but unfortunately, I¡¯m still unfamiliar with this colony, so¡­¡­ Oh, excuse me. I ended up speaking informally since we¡¯re outside the ship and all. Is it okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t mind.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯m still not used to speaking formally and it makes me feel all stiff. So do you have a ce in mind already, Lady Serena?¡±

    ¡°Yes. There¡¯s a restaurant specializing in organic dishes here that has garnered good reviews. I¡¯ve already made a reservation, so let us proceed down elevator number 4 to the city proper.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye ma¡¯am.¡±

    Organic dishes huh? In other words, it¡¯s not food made from food cartridges but from real meat and vegetables? I¡¯m a bit curious now.

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    Mimi also couldn¡¯t hide her excitement and was smiling brightly as she walked. Mimi has made it her goal to eat all sorts of gourmet dishes in the gxy after all. I bet she¡¯s happy to get the opportunity to taste new dishes.

    We chatted around while walking and finally arrived at elevator number 4.

    ¡°We haven¡¯t visited this area before, have we?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because we shopped around the elevator number 2 area before instead.¡±

    ¡°The area around elevator number 2 is considered the downtown area of this colony and is fairly popr. This area, on the other hand, houses a lot of government offices andrge corporations as tenants, so there are lots of ces like specialty shops for nobles and the rich, such as high-end restaurants and the empire¡¯s leading brand stores.¡±

    ¡°There truly are a lot of well-dressed people walking around.¡±

    ¡°But there are also a lot of guards patrolling.¡±

    Aside from Elma and Mimi, who were dressed in neat and beautiful clothes, and Major Serena who had a sword slung on her hips, if a merc like me walked alone in a ce like this, chances are they would be held up and thoroughly checked out by the musclebound guards on patrol.

    I guess they see someone like me as a sort of private bodyguard when they see me walking around with three properly dressed youngdies, so they didn¡¯t really pay attention to me as a result. Well, there was little chance to be stopped by the patrols anyway since Major Serena has already arranged for a taxi for us.

    ¡°Our destination is the third floor of this building.¡±

    ¡°It looks just like a normal establishment though.¡±

    ¡°Living space is precious here after all. Conversely, the interior of the building is quite fancy.¡±

    ¡°I kinda feel nervous for some reason.¡±

    ¡°Fufu¡­¡­ There¡¯s no need to feel so nervous. It¡¯s just a restaurant after all. I have booked a private room for us, so there¡¯s no need to be particr about manners.¡±

    ¡°Private room, huh¡­¡­¡±

    If I didn¡¯t manage to bring Mimi and Elma along, I would have been all alone with Major Serena in a private room. Just what sort of ploy was she nning to rope me in with, I wonder?

    ¡°Now then, we¡¯d better go ahead and enter.¡±

    Invited by a smiling Major Serena, the three of us stepped inside the building.

 Chapter 48 â€“ Unfortunate Beauty

    <h4>Chapter 48 - Unfortunate Beauty</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Those idiots always underestimate me cause I¡¯m a woman y¡¯know¡­¡­ Do they not think I¡¯m doing my best? The bastards!¡±

    ¡°Ah- Un, y-you¡¯re right. Yeah.¡±

    It has been thirty minutes since we entered the restaurant. We¡¯d actually gotten along quite well while spending time together. But¡­

    (((This person was the type who¡¯s hopeless with everything other than work¡­¡­!)))

    Everything was great at first. I finally got to taste dishes made with real meat and veggies after a long while and had a nice, elegant meal along with some fine wine. But because I was a non-drinker, I only drank water.

    However, as the meal progressed, Major Serena drank more and more alcohol. Her eyes soon turned unfocused and her behavior turned for the worse. We tried to warn her y¡¯know. We were like ¡®Serena-sama, that¡¯s enough don¡¯t you think¡­¡­¡¯ and all. But since it was a rare day off, Major Serena insisted on drinking her fill, resulting in the current situation.

    ¡°I kept bowing my head at them when I didn¡¯t want to and kept forcing out fake smiles¡­¡­ but even then, what¡¯s wrong with them, really!? They keep staring at my chest! I¡¯mma cut you down you damn perverts!¡±

    She¡¯s an unruly drunk!

    She said we didn¡¯t have to care about manners earlier, but it actually applies to her more than it does to us, right?

    ¡°Uh¡­¡­ Calm down. Calm down alright. Now, let¡¯s put down the sword, okay?¡±

    We somehow managed to calm down Lady Serena, whose hand was already on her sword¡¯s hilt, removed the sword from her waist and ced it in a corner in the back of the room. Spare me from something like a berserker drunkard, please.

    ¡°And youuu! I¡¯ve already pulled out all da stopsh, and yet you shtill refuse to budge!¡±

    ¡°You wanna hear why?¡±

    ¡°I do not¡­¡­¡±

    Major Serena replied back and blocked both her ears while disying a tearful expression.

    ¡°I already know the reason, okay¡­¡­ I kept pestering you with annoying recruitment schemes right¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re actually self-aware¡­¡­¡±

    Elma smiled wryly as she gazed on at Major Serena, who now had her face stered on the table. But honestly speaking, the merits of joining Major Serena in the imperial military are too little.

    ¡°Uh, if I remember correctly, you said I¡¯d be granted the rank of First ss Warrant Officer if I agreed to join the military, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. Are you finally gonna join up?¡±

    ¡°How much is the pay?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­4000 Enels per month at the minimum.¡±

    ¡°I can earn up to 10,000 Enels per day at least you know. Do you really think I¡¯ll sign up?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Uu.¡±

    Man, getting stared at by a tearful beauty feels awkward.

    Well, it¡¯s not like there¡¯s no advantage to joining up at all y¡¯know. If you somehow manage to make significant achievements during a war, you¡¯d probably be knighted by the empire and be a First ss citizen. And my n of getting a detached house with a garden on a terrestrial would probably proceed more smoothly.

    But that method would take a lot of time. There¡¯s no guarantee a major incident that would allow my swift promotion among the ranks would happen in the first ce. And if I decided on steadily building up my military career, it would take more than a decade in order for me to reach my goal. I don¡¯t even know what would happen to Krishna. I honestly don¡¯t want to take such a time-consuming and troublesome method.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s how it is, so I hope you give up on roping me into the military please. We¡¯re already all acquainted like this, so It¡¯s not like I won¡¯t consider epting it if you have a legitimate job you want me to do you know.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­You won¡¯t abandon me?¡±

    ¡°Please stop making that tearful expression. It¡¯s unfair. And we¡¯re not in that kind of rtionship in the first ce okay.¡±

    After giving her my sharpest, coldest gaze to boot, Major Serena pulled back her tears and pressed her lips together sulkily. What a woman. Really.

    ¡°I would have given you a piece of my mind if you fell for that.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re looking down on me too much, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°H-Hiro-sama is kind after all.¡±

    Mimi hugged my arm and soothed me. Tsk. I¡¯ll let that slide for now, but I¡¯m gonna let you have it one of these days, you nagging elf.

    ¡°¡­¡­Unfair.¡±

    Major Serena whispered while still remaining hunched on the table. What¡¯s unfair?

    ¡°Unfair! It¡¯s so unfair-! I was the one who first had my eye on Captain Hiro you know-!¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡­¡±

    She then stamped her feet while still sitting on her chair and cried loudly. Even someone like me would draw away after being shown something like this.

    ¡°What does she mean?¡±

    ¡°What did she mean by that?¡±

    Elma and Mimi both grilled me for an answer.

    ¡°Well, I got in trouble with Termaine Prime¡¯s port authorities when I first got there y¡¯see. Major Serena ended up bailing me out.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right you know. I helped you out, ¡®kay. I¡¯m the one who first met Captain Hiro¡­¡­ But why is it that when I met him again, he already had other women sticking to him!?¡±

    ¡°Now why¡¯d you have to say it like that¡­¡­?¡±

    I was baffled.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like it¡¯s any of Lady Serena¡¯s business if other womene on to Hiro right?¡±

    ¡°Uguh¡­¡­ T-That¡¯s right¡­¡­ You¡¯re right, but-¡­¡­!¡±

    But? I waited for her to continue, but Major Serena ended up swallowing the rest of her words by gulping down some more alcohol. Oi, oi. You¡¯re already that stered and you¡¯re still drinking?

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­¡±

    Major Serena ended up passing out in the end. I, Elma, and Mimi looked at each other in bewilderment.

    ¡°So, what should we do about this?¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t we just eat and leave her here?¡±

    ¡°If you have the guts to. We¡¯re talking about ady from a marquis house here.¡±

    ¡°If her parents got wind of it, we won¡¯t be getting off lightly huh.¡±

    While we were talking like that, the tablet terminal we were provided with for use in ordering dishes rang. I picked it up.

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡ºYou¡¯re reservation time is almost up, dear customers. Would you like to extend it?¡»

    ¡°Um¡­¡­¡±

    Major Serena waspletely down for the count. I looked toward Elma and saw her shake her head.

    ¡°The rent for these sorts of establishments is crazily expensive. It¡¯ll blow up on our faces if we agree to extend the time.¡±

    She whispered her reply to me. Mimi already started nursing Major Serena. With Major Serena like that, they wouldn¡¯t be able to support her themselves even if Elma gave a hand. Guess I have to carry her back then.

    ¡°We won¡¯t be extending. Please send us the bill.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood. We will be waiting for you at the lobby.¡»

    The call was then cut. I let out a tired sigh.

    We ended up paying quite a lot of money for the meal we had and decided to return to the Krishna for the meantime. It would be bad for Major Serena¡¯s image if we brought her back to the military base while she was down for the count like this. We¡¯re not that heartless.

    ¡°Good grief¡­¡­¡±

    I brought the inebriated Major Serena to the ship¡¯s med pod and left her in Mimi and Elma¡¯s care. Since you can¡¯t get treated inside the med pod while wearing lots of clothes, she had to be stripped down first. I can¡¯t possibly do such a thing myself. It¡¯s quite bad for an unwed noble youngdy to be seen mostly naked by a man after all.

    I moved to the dining area, took out a bottle of non-carbonated c, and took a big swig. Un, that hit the spot.

    Now then, what should I do now? I ended up thinking about what Major Serena blurted out earlier. The stuff about her having her eye on me first and getting miffed about me getting it on with other women.

    I guess it¡¯s nothing but the ramblings of a drunk person. Yep. They weren¡¯t words she said when sober, so I decided not to mind them too much. The other party was a hopeless drunk of a woman who almost swung her sword recklessly in a room after all. It¡¯s not worth considering.

    After summing it up like that, my mind felt cleared up. Did the sugar from the non-carbonated ce up to my head or something?

    In any case, it¡¯ll be better for me not to pursue today¡¯s matter further and act as if nothing had happened in front of her. I really didn¡¯t want to be the target of gratitude from a troublesome girl like her. The cost of the meal was really expensive, but¡­¡­ it¡¯s not really worth making a big deal about anyway. We can easily earn that kind of money back by shooting down one pirate ship pped with a bounty after all.

    But I¡¯m sure it¡¯s the other party who would feel awkward about all thister. Since she¡¯s already shown us such disgraceful behavior, I bet she¡¯d be embarrassed to make aggressive recruitment advances like this from now on. If you think about it that way, the cost of the food would seem cheap.

    Even so, to think she¡¯d show us such a side of her in a meal she arranged herself. I kinda find it strange that she¡¯d ended up in that state if it really isn¡¯t her first time drinking alcohol¡­¡­ Hm. I don¡¯t get it. Maybe she really was hopeless about anything apart from work?

    While I was thinking about Major Serena¡¯s matters, Mimi entered the dining room.

    ¡°Lady Serena has regained consciousness.¡±

    ¡°Really? Isn¡¯t it too fast?¡±

    ¡°The med pod sessfully managed to take out the alcohol from her system, it seems.¡±

    ¡°Man, that med pod¡¯s amazing.¡±

    As expected of a medical machine from the future. As long as you have a personal med pod, wouldn¡¯t you be able to drink all the booze you want? Now that I think about it, Elma did seem to have been entering the med bay often. Was she using the med pod for that purpose?

    ¡°Does it look like it would be okay for me to see her?¡±

    ¡°It seems she¡¯s still talking with Elma-san, so it would be best if you stayed here for a while more.¡±

    ¡°That so? I¡¯ll do that then. Do you want something to drink, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Mimi then sat down beside me. It looks like she won¡¯t be starting a conversation any time soon and just sat there quietly. Should I start one myself?

    ¡°Those organic dishes sure were delicious.¡±

    ¡°Yes, they sure were¡­¡­ It was my first time eating fresh meat and vegetables. But you looked like you were used to eating them, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah. In the world I came from, we ate that sort of stuff normally everyday. There was no stuff like food cartridges or auto-cookers, so I kinda found the stuff here novel as well.¡±

    I moved my gaze toward our high-performance auto cooker, Tetsujin V, sitting quietly in the corner of the dining room. I find the fact that you can actually make all sorts of dishes by using those watercress-looking nts and krill as bases really amazing.

    ¡°But I have no idea if the organic dishes I¡¯m familiar with and the organic dishes here are actually the same.¡±

    ¡°Are they different somehow?¡±

    ¡°In my world, the thing they call organic cooking involves using ingredients that didn¡¯t make use of stuff like agrichemicals or artificial fertilizers to grow. I don¡¯t know if the ingredients that restaurant used made use of such things or not.¡±

    ¡°Hmh¡­¡­ That method seems inefficient somehow.¡±

    ¡°They say it¡¯s better for your body¡¯s health and would improve the taste if you do it like that. I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s true though. In short, it¡¯s a dish made with high-quality ingredients. I haven¡¯t really had the chance to eat those types of dishes yet.¡±

    In the first ce, I¡¯m unable to determine the difference between dishes that made use of organic ingredients and dishes which did not, so I didn¡¯t really bother about it. C and junk food were my absolute favorites. In that sense, the food made via food cartridges suit me better, I guess.

    ¡°What dish did you find delicious, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°I really like the seafood sd. Crisp vegetables paired with chewy shrimp and squid drizzled with tasty dressing¡­¡­!¡±

    Mimi put both her hands together as her eyes sparkled. Mimi seems to enjoy it very much whenever we talk about food.

    ¡°I can also make something like seafood sd on my own. If we had the ingredients for it, that is.¡±

    I imagined the ingredients in my head. There¡¯s the vegetable and seafood mix. Then there¡¯s the vinegar and oil needed to make the dressing. Getting a hold of things like spices and salt is a problem as well.

    ¡°Really!?¡±

    Mimi pressed closer to me with her eyes still sparkling. Whoa there. Calm down. Calm down, alright.

    ¡°If we have the ingredients for it, then yeah. I did live on my own back in my world, so I do know how to cook for myself. But we don¡¯t have any ingredients here¡­¡­ There¡¯s no kitchen as well. Oh yeah. Didn¡¯t we see some stuff which looked like cooking implements in the gadget shop we visited a while back?¡±

    They didn¡¯t seem all that useful at the time so we didn¡¯t get them. Would it be better to buy some next time?

    ¡°Let¡¯s shop for those next time! I¡¯ll make sure to thoroughly research the ces that sell them!¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah, okay.¡±

    Mimi grasped my hand tightly as her eyes continued sparkling. Tetsujin has made some sds a couple of times already, but it seems she¡¯s really fixated on that seafood sd. I hope she won¡¯t end up disappointed by the one I¡¯d make in the end.

    We were in the middle of discussing when we would go out to shop when the door of the dining room opened. When I looked toward the door, I saw Elma and Major Serena entering the room. Major Serena¡¯s clothes no longer looked disheveled, and the color of her face seemed normal. Looks like the alcohol waspletely purged from her system.

    ¡°Thanks for waiting. The princess has awakened.¡±

    ¡°It looks like she didn¡¯t need a kiss from Prince charming.¡±

    ¡°Ara? Did you want to, perhaps?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not the prince charming type.¡±

    Elma smiled and shrugged at my reply. Major Serena was covering her face with both hands and was shivering slightly. Her ears were bright red. She seems really, really embarrassed.

    ¡°Man, it sure is hard for people in positions of authority huh. Well, isn¡¯t it nice to let out all of that stress every once in a while?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m really grateful to you all for this time¡¯s matter.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t mind it. That organic food was really delicious, you know. If we didn¡¯t have you with us, we probably wouldn¡¯t be able to visit such a fancy establishment in the first ce. If you really feel like thanking us, then I¡¯d be satisfied if you could introduce us to more ces like that from now on.¡±

    We¡¯ll just call it even if she can introduce us to more ces like that. Afterward, we won¡¯t be owing each other anything. I¡¯m really afraid of piling on any more debts.

    ¡°A-Alright. I shall introduce you to some in the future.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great. Do you want me to escort you out of the ship?¡±

    ¡°N-No, I¡¯m alright. Um¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I understand that you¡¯re really worried about a lot of stuff. I¡¯ll just treat it as having not heard anything. We ate some good food and drank some fine wine. Let¡¯s leave it at that, shall we?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m truly thankful for your consideration.¡±

    Major Serena got off the Krishna with her face still bright red. The three of us saw her off.

    ¡°¡­¡­It must be really hard to be a female military officer.¡±

    Mimi blurted out such a thing while watching that person¡¯s disappearing back.

 Chapter 49 â€“ Extermination Start

    <h4>Chapter 49 - Extermination Start</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After the day off, we continued with the pirate extermination¡­¡­ is what I¡¯d wanted to say.

    ¡°They aren¡¯t biting.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, looks like it.¡±

    After a week, we started being unable to attract any more pirates. Well, that just goes to show pirates aren¡¯t that stupid after all. We always made sure to destroy all the ships we lured in the past, but it¡¯s not like we can ensure that they wouldn¡¯t be able to send out some form of emergencymunication before being shot down. It¡¯s likely that they¡¯ve already heard about our hunting method through some sort of channel.

    ¡°Now then, what do we do about this? Shall we go ahead with ¡®that¡¯ n?¡±

    The n I¡¯m talking about was to change the ship¡¯s I.D. and name. Normally, ship names and I.D.s aren¡¯t so easily changed, but Major Serena was an imperial noble after all. We can just make use of her privileges to get our way. Afterward, we just had to refurbish the exterior and repaint it so it can function as pirate bait again.

    The achievements of Major Serena had already started being heard of by the higher-ups, and it actually seems they¡¯d agree to let the decoy ship be a part of the official military expenses. Depending on how it goes, we may even get approved to buy another decoy ship.

    It seems they were thinking of using the ship as a supply vessel or military transport ship if ever it outlives its purpose as a decoy ship, so it wouldn¡¯tpletely go to waste.

    ¡°That would be a valid course of action, but wouldn¡¯t this be a good time to stop our present activities and aim straight for the source?¡±

    Major Serena shook her head at my proposal.

    ¡°Yeah. Based on the number of heads we¡¯d shot down so far, I¡¯m sure they¡¯re already running out of manpower as well.¡±

    The number of pirates shot down during our continuous pirate hunting operations has already reached more than 200 ships. If this were a game, those types of grunt enemies would keep spawning infinitely, but this is reality. The lost ships won¡¯t get reced by a game script, the pirates who¡¯ve lost their lives wouldn¡¯t get resurrected either. The number of pirate ships active in a certain star system is finite.

    But if you look at the entire gxy as a whole, their numbers remain overwhelming. Even if their numbers get reduced temporarily, if they had a main base of operations, they would be able to gather numbers again by recruiting rogue pirates from neighboring star systems. Then they would be able to resume operations once more.

    It¡¯s not like you canpletely prevent them from gathering again once you destroy their base, but at least after the loss of a base that allows them to resupply and get regr repairs, they would be unable to operate as aggressively as before. Their numbers will definitely get reduced and they would find it hard to function as an organization again.

    ¡°Well then, let us proceed and crush the source.¡±

    We¡¯ve already managed enough valuable intel about their base after recovering the data caches of the ships we managed to shoot down. Major Serena chose to directly eradicate the pirate base.

    ¡°How should we arrange it? Would we be boxing them in likest time?¡±

    ¡°Destroying them in a siege would be the best bet after all. I¡¯ll ask for cooperation from the Mercenary Guild again.¡±

    I really think Major Serena was an excellent military officer for acknowledging the fact that we won¡¯t be able to crush the pirate base on our own. She didn¡¯t overly concern herself with raising her own achievements but chose a method that would raise the sess rate of the operation instead.

    ¡°How about me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d prefer it if you participate, of course. You¡¯ll be granted the same conditions as the other mercenaries though.¡±

    ¡°Depends on those conditions then.¡±

    I shrugged and didn¡¯t give a straight answer.

    ¡°How levelheaded of you.¡±

    Major Serena made a bitter smile. Well, if you¡¯re told to do some work outside of the given contract, it¡¯s only natural that you get paid separately for that work, right? Us mercs don¡¯t work for charity after all.

    ¡°If, say, we want to destroy a pirate base by ourselves, how much force do we need to deploy?¡±

    ¡°If you want topletely destroy them, I¡¯d say you¡¯d have to add at least thirty corvettes to serve as an advance force apart from the ships we have right now. If you really want to make sure, then make it fifty.¡±

    If we just wanted to destroy the pirate base itself, then the ships we had on hand were more than enough for the job. A pirate base is basically just a remodeled supply base or outpost, so the firepower of one battleship and five cruisers would make short work of it. We can just bombard the base from a distance well away from the range of their defense systems.

    But it¡¯s a different thing if you want topletely annihte them. Once the bombardment starts, I bet the pirates would load as much stolen loot as they can on their ships and escape. In order to prevent that from happening, we¡¯ll have to send in an advance force first. The independent anti-pirate mobile fleet led by Major Serena doesn¡¯t have nearly enough hands for that. In order to make sure of the target¡¯s annihtion, we¡¯ll have to send in the number of corvettes I proposed at the very least.

    Thirty to fifty corvettes would just be enough for the job. The military corvette is a pretty fast ship with decent firepower and is unmatched by other ships in its ss when ites to recon ability, responsiveness, and close-range dog fights.

    Even in the upper levels of the military, there were factions that advocate the use of battleships and cruisers with longer range, heavy armor, and high firepower, as opposed to ones that promote the increase in deployment of corvettes and destroyers with high mobility, response times and suppression capabilities for use in starship-style blitzkrieg tactics.

    ¡°It would be quite difficult for this fleet to procure that much corvettes I¡¯m afraid.¡±

    ¡°Thought so. You can just rely on outside help topensate. Just likest time. That¡¯s why the Mercenary Guild exists after all.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right.¡±

    Major Serena cupped her delicate chin with her fingers and seems to be thinking about something. I¡¯m sure she¡¯s thinking about ways to increase the number of ships and personnel assigned to the anti-pirate mobile fleet. That¡¯s her job as a military officer. It¡¯s not something I can offer advice on.

    ¡°We¡¯ve gathered the necessary data. I will be getting permission for the operation from HQ.

    On the second day after Major Serena¡¯s report to the higher-ups, the operation was finally given a go. The local imperial garrison won¡¯t be participating in the operation this time. The ships of the independent anti-pirate mobile fleet finished their regr maintenance yesterday and were now hiding within the Alein star system while pretending to have moved to a different system altogether.

    This time¡¯s operation was a surprise attack. We would swiftly destroy the pirates before they get news of our approach and have the chance to scatter and flee. The briefing will be performed via a pre-recorded holo-video, and the mercenaries of the Alein Tertius colony would immediately head out after said briefing.

    The n was for each ship to deactivate their FTL drives once the operation starts andunch a simultaneous blitz attack on the unsuspecting pirates.

    ¡°It¡¯s almost time, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Righto. Ready, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m good to go!¡±

    We were waiting for the start of the operation within Krishna¡¯s cockpit. There were a lot of ships in the same trade around us. We will synch with them and simultaneously deactivate our FTL drives once we reach the target area. We will switch the generator from standby mode to cruise modeter on and will head to the target area via high-speed drive.

    ¡°We¡¯ll finally be enteringbat after so long. Your skills haven¡¯t rusted, have they?¡±

    ¡°Probably. How about you?¡±

    ¡°Adjusting the power output and controlling the subsystems is a piece of cake for me. Who do you think I am?¡±

    Elma shed me a provocative grin. Looks like she¡¯s fine. I also kept up with practicing my skills using the simtor, so I think I¡¯ll be fine. Some of my piloting instincts may have dulled a bit, but I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll get into the groove again once the battle starts.

    ¡°FTL drive, charging start. Activating in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1¡­¡­ FTL drive, activate.¡±

    The Krishnaunched out almost at the speed of light after a booming sound akin to an explosion rang out. We¡¯re practically in a vacuum out in space, so just how is that sound produced, I wonder? I did a little investigating a while back but came up empty.

    Well, it¡¯s not like there wasn¡¯t any relevant info at all. It¡¯s just that I couldn¡¯t make sense of it. There was something written about the energy shields affecting the overall structure and mass of the ship¡¯s hull resulting in some kind of effect. It all sounded like gibberish to me. I tried reading up on the principles behind the FTL drive and didn¡¯t understand a thing as well.

    Oh well. No skin off my back anyway. I could still use a smartphone,puter, microwave, and T.V. even without understanding how exactly they worked before anyway. And I can still pilot a ship even without understanding how it actually functions.

    ¡°I wonder how much we¡¯ll be able to make this time?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. The fixed pay is 50,000 Enels after the operation, and the performance rewards are 5,000 Enels for small ships, 20,000 for medium ones, and 100,000 Enels forrge ones.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s just likest time?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s kind of like the standard reward amounts. Add the bounty rewards and loot to that as well. Anyrge scale pirate extermination operation spearheaded by the military is mostly like this. You could definitely make plenty of profits if your skills are up to par, so a lot of mercenaries participate in these sorts of operations. Once their nest is poked, the pirate ships that escape out would be absolutely loaded with loot after all.¡±

    Well, since the base was set to be blown to kingdome by the military warships, it made sense that the pirates would attempt to salvage as much loot as they could while attempting to escape. It would be better to have less cargo in order to gain more mobility duringbat, but the pirates have next to no chance of winning against military ships anyway. So why not bet on a small possibility of escaping with all the loot they¡¯ve managed to acquire instead? If they ever managed to sessfully escape, they would be able to sell off all the loot in exchange for a great amount of cash and live easy for some time.

    ¡°Now then, let¡¯s have a good one¡­¡­ I wonder if Major Serena managed to do things properly on her end?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure she did. That person is at least excellent as a military officer, thankfully.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi made a bitterugh at Elma¡¯s statement. Yeah. That unfortunate incident with her was still fresh in our minds after all.

    ¡°We will be arriving at the target point soon. Deactivating FTL drive in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1¡­¡­¡±

    After another loud boom, the surrounding stars which were streaming behind us like streaks of light turned stationary again. We¡¯re back to normal space.

    Shortly afterward, the independent anti-pirate mobile fleet began their bombardment. The relentless barrage ofrge-caliberser cannons, sma cannons, and electromaically elerated kic rounds from the main battleship and cruisers pierced therge asteroid that the pirates appeared to be using as their base of operations, destroying both its surface and internal structures.

    ¡°They sure are going at it.¡±

    ¡°There are few pirate ships that managed to sortie in time. The surprise attack was a sess.¡±

    ¡°Are the preying out now?¡±

    There¡¯s a chance they were destroyed by the shelling before having the chance to flee as well. That¡¯s bad though. This is a good chance to make money after all.

    Krishna¡¯s generator output was raised to battle mode. We then began to advance toward the pirate base. The other mercenary ships were also on the way.

    ¡°Multiple bogeys on the radar. The pirates have begun deploying!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great news. Looks like we won¡¯t be going back empty-handed after all.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll turn the weapon systems online then.¡±

    After Elma¡¯s deration, the front part of Krishna¡¯s hull transformed, and four maniptor arms equipped withrge-caliber pulseser cannons came out of it. At the same time, tworge-caliber cannon barrels popped out from both sides of the cockpit. They were shotgun cannons sporting immense firepower.

    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s go!¡±

    With an excited shout, I raced through the battlefield with my trusty Krishna.

 Chapter 50 â€“ The Much Missed Battlefield

    <h4>Chapter 50 - The Much Missed Battlefield</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°10 o¡¯clock direction, angle 20 degrees, three enemy ships approaching!¡±

    I followed Mimi¡¯s pronouncement and adjusted the direction of the ship¡¯s bow. They¡¯reing.

    ¡°Reversing heading after we pass by the enemies. I¡¯ll take their behinds.¡±

    I pointed the bow straight at the approaching enemy ships and elerated; quickly passing them by. We were hit by a few shots of theirsers and multi-cannons, but the damage was minimal.

    ¡°Brace for Gs!¡±

    Krishna¡¯s auxiliary boosters activated and made the ship turn a full 180 degrees. We sessfully got behind the enemy ships. Intense Gs will result from the sudden eleration and turn, so we had to grit our teeth and bear it.

    ¡°Enemy out front!¡±

    ¡°Take this!¡±

    Wepletely took their sorry behinds. I sted the two ships on the wings with the pulseser cannons while the enemy ship directly in the middle of my sights was given the shotgun cannon treatment. They looked like they were desperately trying to escape, but there¡¯s no way they would be able to outmaneuver and escape the Krishna.

    ¡°That¡¯s three down!¡±

    The cannon barrels on both sides of the cockpit spewed fire and countless submunitions rained down on the enemy ship from behind. The projectiles saturated their shield in an instant, sessfully destroying their thrusters, as well as the main energy cables and power generator beyond. Another serving of swiss cheese was sessfully made.

    We left the wreckage of the three ships and headed out to hunt for more prey.

    ¡°Looks like your skills haven¡¯t dulled after all huh?¡±

    ¡°I wonder.¡±

    ¡°3 o¡¯clock, elevation 20 degrees, multiple enemies detected. Six¡­ no, seven ships iing! Two medium sized ships are among them.¡±

    ¡°Shall we charge through?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll leave the chaff and re timing to you.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    I fired up the thrusters once more and aimed the bow at the direction of the enemy ships.

    ¡ºEnemy approaching¡­¡­ What the heck is that? A ship with arms?¡»

    ¡ºShip with arms¡­¡­? Oi, show me the live feed- The heck! Ain¡¯t this the monster fromst time!? That one¡¯s bad news man! Hurry up and get out of here!¡»

    ¡ºEven if you say that, how are we supposed to run away!?¡»

    ¡ºLet¡¯s just get it before it gets us you guys!¡»

    There really were seven ships. They also turned their bows towards us and elerated. They wereposed of two mid-sized ships, missile support ships and a modified transport ship.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get those mid-sized ships first.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡ºFire, fire, fire! Give em hell!¡»

    Several rms rang out within the cockpit. They fire off heat seeking missiles. They have urate heat guidance capabilities and have enough firepower to greatly damage both energy shields and physical armor. They were one of the nastiest pieces of weaponry the pirates possessed.

    ¡°Launching res.¡±

    At Elma¡¯s shout, multiple heat sourcesunched out from Krishna. The seeker missiles fired off by the two mid-sized pirate ships were sessfully led away by the heat sources and lost their original bearings. Krishna managed topletely ward off the seeker missile barrage. Just like that.

    ¡ºSecond volley¡­¡­!¡»

    ¡ºActivate the ship defenses!¡»

    ¡ºStop!¡»

    ¡°Like I¡¯d allow that.¡±

    They were already well with weapon range. The modified mid-sized ships opened their missile bays again, but it¡¯s toote. The two shotgun cannons roared out at the same time, peppering their shields with submunitions and sessfully tearing through it. They then pierced the hull and the opened missile bays.

    ¡ºUwaaaaaaaaaaa-!?¡»

    The two mid-sized ships exploded and were brought down. The rest of the pirate ships behind them looked at the sight in horror.

    After witnessing such a spectacle¡­

    ¡ºT-This is bad¡­¡­¡»

    ¡ºRun awa-¡»

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but you can¡¯t escape.¡±

    ¡°Course they won¡¯t. Sorry, but we¡¯re gonna have to destroy you all here.¡±

    I shot the panicked escaping pirate ships with multipleser cannon and shotgun cannon rounds. Is it fun to ughter enemies who¡¯ve lost the will to fight back, you ask? Course it is! I¡¯ll be able to earn money while getting rid of the gxy¡¯s scum. There¡¯s nothing more rewarding. Meting out justice and righteousness felt amazing as always.

    ¡ºH-Help-¡»

    ¡°No can do.¡±

    We can potentially bebeled as going overboard by doing this, but we¡¯re talking about pirates after all. There¡¯s no merit in letting them live.

    ¡°Area clear. The nearest targets are in the 1 o¡¯clock direction.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s head over.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    All three of us nodded at each other and turned Krishna to head to the next battlefield.

    ¡°What¡¯s the current situation?¡±

    ¡°The surprise attack seems to have seeded. There¡¯s no threat of effective retaliation.¡±

    ¡°I see. Please tell the rest of the ships to continue calmly executing their mission orders.¡±

    ¡°Aye!¡±

    The battle is overwhelmingly in our favor. It was fortunate that we were able to destroy the pirate base¡¯s hangar with the first attack. As long as you manage to crush them before managing tounch out, any ship, no matter how powerful, is as good as a wooden dummy.

    Because we only managed to destroy the main hangar, the pirates still managed tounch out from some of the other ones¡­¡­ But I guess the mercenaries have got it covered. The pirates who were trying to escape from this sector have been sessfully confined.

    Normally, only one imperial space force division is assigned to each individual star system within the empire¡¯s territories. There were regr scheduled patrols, but they were only allowed to make a move on pirates they encountered along the way and weren¡¯t allowed to actively pursue them. This was virtually the first time ever that a specialized independent mobile fleet formed to hunt down pirates was organized and deployed by the empire.

    It was long epted as part ofmon knowledge that the imperial space fleet could not actively participate in the act of hunting down pirates. And the current situation is the result of overturning that very concept on its head. Due to the fact that our fleet was not bound by traditional rules nor obligated to directly report our actions to the local garrison except if the circumstance calls for it, crucial information about our movements did not manage to reach the pirates before we sprung our attack, and thus we ended uppletely blindsiding them.

    ¡°What about the current reward rankings¡­¡­?¡±

    I operated the data terminal I had on hand and checked out the current kill scores of the mercenaries participating in the operation. Ranked first was- Krishna. It was ¡®his¡¯ ship. After I confirmed that, a pleased smile couldn¡¯t help but form on my lips. Oh, this just won¡¯t do. I can¡¯t have myself daydreaming in the middle of an operation. I quickly covered my mouth with a hand in order to hide my silly-looking smile and somehow managed to regain my calm after a while.

    It¡¯s not the time to be grinning like this. I have to be ready in case an unexpected ident urs.

    ¡°With this, it¡¯s over.¡±

    ¡°Area clear. There are no more enemy signatures on the radar.¡±

    It seems there were still sporadic battles going on in other sectors, but there were no more enemies within the area we¡¯re at anymore. I also tried to check out the radar and confirmed that there really were no more enemies nearby. The rest were in sectors far away from us.

    ¡°How many did we manage to get?¡±

    ¡°Our total kill count is 33 small ships and 3 medium-sized ones.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t it seem a little on the low endpared tost time on the Termaine system?¡±

    Yeah. The results we got from the Termaine system operation were much betterpared to this time. Did my skills really get dull?

    ¡°I think this result is reasonable. The number of pirates this time was too small after all. It¡¯s a ster result if we count that factor in.¡±

    Hm. Yeah, I guess the number of enemies wasn¡¯t that much this time. Did that first attack get a majority of them?

    ¡°I guess so. So let¡¯s see¡­ A small ships us 5,000 and a medium one is 20,000, right? So all in all, we earned about 225,000 Enels.¡±

    ¡°Add the participation reward of 50,000 to that as well. And we¡¯ve yet to factor in the pirate bounties.¡±

    ¡°If I remember correctly, the individual bounty put up for the small ships is 10,000 and the medium ones go for 50,000. So, adding the participation pay, we¡¯ll have another 500,000 plus Enels of earnings, right?¡±

    ¡°Something like that. So we¡¯ll roughly 700,000 Enels all in all, correct? There¡¯s also the loot we¡¯ve yet to recover from the ships we shot down.¡±

    ¡°We have to work hard on that front.¡±

    Since there were no more enemies in the immediate vicinity, we¡¯ll start looting the wreckages of the down pirate ships now. We shouldn¡¯t aim for quantity, but focus on nabbing high value targets such as rare metals, high tech products and luxury items such as alcohol and newly developed drugs. Most of the drugs are illegal goods of course, but in a sanctioned military operation like this one, the military is willing to buy off things like those from our hands, so everything¡¯s good. I have no idea what they¡¯re gonna use them for though.

    The imperial government may be thinking that it would be too troublesome to leave those kinds of illegal goods to float as space debris since they¡¯ll have a more difficult time regting them. Those containers filled with illegal drugs would continue to drift aimlessly in space if we don¡¯t move in to retrieve them after all. That, in turn, will attract the eyes of greedy scavengers - illegal garbage collectors aiming specifically for those types of debris.

    Those guys would appear after everyrge scale battle and would proceed to strip the former battlefield of everything they find even remotely valuable. The reason they¡¯re called scavengers, or rather, carrion eaters, is simple: they simply aimed to make profits off the battlefield where countless soldiers and mercenaries spilled their blood without risking their own lives.

    I don¡¯t have any particr opinion about them. Though I do think what they¡¯re doing was a bit troublesome. But I¡¯m sure that line of work doesn¡¯t make one much profit. But some mercenaries and soldiers hate those types as much as the space pirates. There were plenty of scavengers who didn¡¯t think twice about selling off illegal goods on the ck market after all. But something like that is to be expected, I guess. Everybody has to fill their own bellies one way or another.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stay on guard, so can you please teach Mimi how to operate the recovery drones, Elma?¡±

    ¡°Aye aye, sir. Let¡¯s do our best, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes!¡±

    Elma started using the for suitable spoils using the specialized sensors. I then drove the ship ording to her directions.

 Chapter 51 â€“ Unexpected Situation

    <h4>Chapter 51 - Unexpected Situation</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Man, what a haul. What. A. Haul.¡±

    A wide smile formed on my lips as I looked at the piles and piles of rare materials and loot we managed to recover. The amount of rare metals wasn¡¯t much, but the number of expensive-looking high tech stuff was quite substantial. It looks like we can definitely look forward to the profits from selling these things.

    ¡°It looks like we haven¡¯t managed to recover dangerous items this time.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Yeah, I guess.¡±

    ¡°And what¡¯s with that reaction, mister?¡±

    ¡°Eh? I didn¡¯t really discover anything strange y¡¯know¡­¡±

    I ignored Elma¡¯s piercing gaze and Mimi¡¯s somewhat frightened state and closed the goods list. Well, we can¡¯t really expect to recover things like those every mission anyway. It looks like this time¡¯s a bust. How unfortunate.

    Major Serena already sent the mission end notice earlier, so I guess it¡¯s about time for us to return to port now. Though it looks like there were still some cruisers and destroyers anchored on the surface of the destroyed pirate base; it seems they were still busy securing the interior of the ce. Well, I guess the elite imperial soldiers wouldn¡¯t let mere pirate rabble get the drop on them, so there¡¯s no need to be concerned. Their equipment wasn¡¯t on the same level in the first ce.

    The mishmash of weapons and equipment the pirates have cobbled together wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against the military¡¯s high-end power armors and heavy weaponry.

    What about me, you ask? I have absolutely no intention of tangoing with trained imperial soldiers with just my bare flesh and blood. Even though myser gun was really high quality, it still didn¡¯t possess the capability to destroy a power armor in one shot. And, conversely, it would be all over if they hit me with their weapons even once. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll lose that easily if I use my personal power armor stored on the ship though.

    But there just wasn¡¯t any chance to use the thing recently. But it would reallye in handy if we did get ourselves into a melee shoot-out by any chance, so I still try to keep it operational at least. Not that I think we¡¯ll be using it anytime soon. For now, it was still gathering dust in a corner of the cargo hold.

    ¡°Well then, shall we go back?¡±

    ¡°W-Wait a minute! You¡¯re sure you didn¡¯t recover anything strange this time, right!?¡±

    ¡°I-It should be fine, Elma-san¡­¡­!¡±

    After the two girls were done hastily checking on the recovered loot in a panic, we finally returned to the Alein Tertius colony. Our cargo hold was already filled to the brim after all, so we really couldn¡¯t take anything else back even if we wanted to.

    We unfortunately had to leave the rest of the loot we haven¡¯t managed to recover. I¡¯m sure those scavengers are gonna have a field day with them anyway. There¡¯s already some reading appearing on the radar. It¡¯s probably them.

    ¡°Hyper speed drive, charging start. Let¡¯s bail.¡±

    ¡°W-Wait a moment! You¡¯re sure, right? You¡¯re absolutely, positively sure?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine I tell ya. I didn¡¯t manage to find anything strange, okay. There¡¯s no dangerous stuff this time. They¡¯re all safe goods. Probably.¡±

    ¡°Probably!!!?¡±

    The hyper speed drive activated at the same moment as Elma¡¯s agitated scream, and the Krishna disappeared from regr space after the sound of an explosion.

    ¡°Just how much trauma did that Singing Crystal manage to nt in you two? Sheesh.¡±

    ¡°Anybody would get a trauma from that kind of sted thing, you damn idiot!¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°¡®Really¡¯, he asks¡­¡­ I think it¡¯s actually even more dangerous than those reactive torpedoes, okay?. It would be an absolute disaster if you dropped that kind of thing, right?¡±

    The reactive torpedoes were a type of highly destructive ordnance used to bring downrge, heavily shielded and armored ships. I don¡¯t know how exactly they work, but it¡¯s said those things were even more powerful than nuclear and hydrogen bombs. And they definitely did possess the power to bring down a full-fledged battleship in one shot, so I guess they really were as powerful as they imed.

    And she was saying the Singing Crystal was even more dangerouspared to them? Well, it depends on how you think about it, I guess. Summoning a crystal creature swarm didst longer and caused more widespread damage in a sense after all.

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­? That¡¯s how you react?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Hiro-sama, so¡­¡­¡±

    Elma gave me an exasperated look while Mimi sounded somewhat proud. What are you being so proud for, Mimi-san?

    ¡°Guess you¡¯ll be spending time with the princess again once we get back to the colony¡­¡­¡±

    When she finally settled down a bit, Elma let out a soft sigh.

    ¡°It¡¯ll just be a week more before the contract expires. What should we do once it ends?¡±

    ¡°How about moving to a star system with more job prospects? With your skills and Krishna¡¯s capabilities, we¡¯ll be raking in cash in no time.¡±

    ¡°Mm, I¡¯m not too keen on moving to a more chaotic star system though. You won¡¯t have the time to rx in those kinds of ces.¡±

    In fact, it was very stifling to stay in such star systems since the military is always wary of sabotage and stuff, so strict rules are imposed. In the game, most open markets and private shops were closed down and you could only do some basic ship maintenance and resupply runs. I wonder how it is over in this dimension? It¡¯s kinda hard to imagine.

    ¡°Um, we¡¯ll be able to reach a resort if we make three jumps from this sector via hyperne, and it seems there are a high number of pirate attacks on private passenger ships over there recently.¡±

    ¡°Hm, a resort¡­¡­ Hunting pirates while on vacation doesn¡¯t sound so bad.¡±

    ¡°But the cost for staying there will be high as well. But we¡¯ll follow whatever you decide, Captain. And a vacation does seem nice.¡±

    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s do just that.¡±

    I have a grand goal of buying a detached house with a garden someday, but it¡¯s not like I¡¯m in any particr hurry to fulfil it. I¡¯m also not that keen on searching for a way toe back to my former world, so I guess a nice detour for a bit of R&R wouldn¡¯t be so bad. Let¡¯s just enjoy things as theye then.

    We finally reached the airspace of Alein Tertius colony and deactivated the hyper speed drive. We then sent out a docking request¡­¡­ Hm?

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t the colony seem somewhat strange somehow?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Yes, it does seem weird. That section¡¯s power is cut off, right?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. I wonder what¡¯s wrong? Ah, a red light is shing on the docking bay.¡±

    As we watched on, multiple shipsunched out of the docking bay one after the other. It was as if they were running away or something.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea¡­¡­ Mimi, can you connect us to port administration?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll put it up on the main monitor.¡±

    Mimi operated the console and opened a line with the Alein Tertius port administration bureau. It would usually connect right away, but it was taking way too long this time. We waited for a while and finally got through.

    ¡ºThis is the port administration bureau! We¡¯re busy at the moment!¡»

    ¡°Oi,oi. Calm down. This is Captain Hiro from the Mercenary Guild. We just got back from the pirate subjugation operation, but did something happen in the colony? What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡ºSo you¡¯re a mercenary!? Oi, do you have abat-ready power armor in your ship!?¡»

    ¡°Huh? Uh, yeah, I guess. Why¡­¡­?¡±

    I was puzzled after being asked a weird-sounding question and replied offhandedly. Afterward, the port official on the other line screamed.

    ¡ºPlease help us! Our colony is being attacked from the inside by unidentified creatures!¡»

    The port officer on the other side of the monitor desperately begged. It was quite sudden, so we failed to respond right away and looked at each other in confusion.

    ¡°Uh, even if you say that¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re mercenaries you know? Our lives aren¡¯t so cheap that we¡¯ll offer to risk them for free.¡±

    Elma nodded at my words, and the both of us exchanged looks and shook our head. Mimi was fidgeting in front of the Operator console though; at a loss about what to do. Well, it can¡¯t be helped.

    ¡ºYou¡¯re still asking for money in a situation like this!?¡»

    ¡°We¡¯ll ask forpensation in any situation. We need as much in order to risk our lives. It¡¯s only natural, right? Did you file a formal request at the Mercenary Guild?¡±

    ¡ºP-Probably. I¡¯m not too sure.¡»

    ¡°So you¡¯re not sure. In any case, please guide us to the nearest hangar. Let¡¯s talk about the detailster.¡±

    ¡ºA-Alright¡­¡­ Uh, hangar bay number 32¡­¡­ No, number 3. Please enter hangar number 3!¡»

    ¡°Got it. Moving in.¡±

    We cut the line and followed the guide beacon to dock.

    ¡°We¡¯re really entering? I would prefer not sticking our heads into something troublesome.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about the situation, but I get the feeling it would be worth something. Let¡¯s just hear them out first. It doesn¡¯t seem so bad to earn some more cash before Major Serena returns to port.¡±

    ¡°Will we be okay¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be that dangerous if we made use of the power armor. Probably.¡±

    In any case, we also needed to im the bounties inside Alein Tertius colony anyway. It would be really troublesome if Alein Tertius got wrecked due to this incident.

    After we docked at the third hangar, I left Elma and Mimi to mind the ship and contact the Mercenary Guild. I then headed for the cargo bay. My aim was the power armor stored over there.

    ¡°Now that I think about it, I haven¡¯t had the opportunity to use this even once sinceing to this dimension huh¡­¡­¡±

    A power armor is basically a mechanical armor suit. It would give the wearer the protection of thick armor and augment their strength to superhuman levels, and would allow them to wield destructive heavy weaponry powered by the armor¡¯s dedicated power core. It¡¯s a futuristic weapon that gives individuals defense and mobility, as well as firepower akin to that of a tank in a morepact and agile package.

    Well, it was a staple in most SF themed games and novels, I think. In fact, it was quite difficult for yers to win against opponents wearing power armor without wearing their own in Ste Online melee matches.

    Judging from the port officer¡¯s question earlier, the thing that was attacking the colony was dangerous enough to require power armor. Hm. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve encountered an event like this during my time ying Ste Online though. I guess reality really is different from the game. This sure is troublesome.

    I boarded the power armor, started the boot-up sequence and let out a quiet sigh.

 Chapter 52 â€“ Lame yet Cool

    <h4>Chapter 52 - Lame yet Cool</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Now then folks, I refer to this thing as a power armor, and folks in this world called it as such as well, but the official name of this thing is a bit different and sounded kinda long. What was it now? Reactor-powered Artificial Muscle-driven Reinforced Exoskeleton? Something like that, I guess. It was really long, so I¡¯ll just stick with power armor.

    There¡¯s a lot that can be said about power armors, but basically, they were used to fight in Ste Online¡¯s melee matches done within enclosed arenas that weren¡¯t too spacious. So what was the most important factor needed in order to win in such matches?

    Mobility and speed? Nope. In such cramped spaces with not enough room to maneuver, those would be next to no use. In fact, they could be detrimental instead since you¡¯d have trouble orienting yourself while moving at boosted speeds. A speed that¡¯s just a bit higher than peak human performance would be enough for the job.

    So what¡¯s needed then?

    ¡°Hmph!¡±

    I received the huge, white-colored monstrous creature that barreled toward me head-on and gave it a powerful bear hug, crushing it to a pulp. I also tore through the horde of smaller creatures and mmed them to the surrounding walls. I sent the faltering mid-sized ones flying with ramming attacks. I continued to swing the armor¡¯s arms and blew away everything in my path with overwhelming power. I then grabbed one mid-sized monster and shocked it with ultra-high voltage currents, and finished the rest off with shots from the high-poweredser gun equipped on my armor.

    ¡°Fuhahaha! Get a load of all this power baby!¡±

    I hurled profanities at the mysterious creatures as I continued to crush them to bits.

    This is what I sought out of a power armor. In other words, overwhelming armor toughness and strength. As for speed, I just settled for a level that¡¯s a little over what a normal human can aplish. Cause, well, it¡¯s not like you¡¯ll need the ability to travel long distances at a fast speed in cases where you¡¯ll need to use a power armor anyway. They¡¯re not meant to be used for such maneuvers.

    Armor and weight that won¡¯t flinch in the face of enemy attacks, and overwhelming physical power. You¡¯ll be set as long as you have these two. If you also have a high-output power core, you can make use of a variety of destructive heavy weaponry as well. Add those to a decent enough aim and you¡¯ll basically be raking in wins in no time.

    ¡ºThis is the port admin bureau. It looks like you were able to sessfully secure the area. We¡¯re grateful for your help.¡»

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. We¡¯re gonna receive a reward through the Mercenary Guild for this, so it¡¯s only natural that I¡¯d do my best for the job.¡±

    After piling up the remains of the pale white monsters in a corner, I checked the state of my power armor.

    There was virtually no damage to the armor. The actuators were fine as well. There was still 99.7% of charge left. The weapons were A-OK too.

    The model name of my power armor is the TMPA - 13 RIKISHI mk. III. It¡¯s standard armaments consisted of ultra-high voltage emitters¡ºHARITE¡»on each of its palms, shock amplification devices¡ºSHIKO¡»on both feet, and high outputser guns called¡ºSHIKI-RI¡»on both shoulders.

    Apart from those, it also had a¡ºBUCHI-KAMASHI¡»function, which basically makes it ram targets with a burst of high speed over short distances while equipped with a shield, though I¡¯m not sure if that can be considered part of its weaponry or not. It can also be used even without a shield equipped as well.

    It was considerablyrge, even for power armor, and should be ssified under heavy armor. Its generator output was also quite high, allowing it to carry a payload of various heavy weaponry.

    It looked short and stout overall, and due to the thick armor, it also looked quite ¡®fat¡¯. In order to support all that weight, the legs were also quite thick, and its low center of gravity was one of its main features. I wasn¡¯t generally concerned about the paint job of power armors, but the original makers of this guy had reallyme aesthetic senses, so I changed it to metallic silver instead.

    Yeah, I know. I know what you want to say, guys. Honestly, my power armor looked like the mecha version of a sumo wrestler. And its aesthetics also made it look like some sort of cheap viin. It isn¡¯t just uncool anymore. It¡¯s literally fugly as hell.

    But it¡¯s really, REALLY powerful! It was something that embodied all the qualities I sought from power armors! It looked like a joke machine, sure. But it¡¯s really good guys! Seriously! It was so good, it was always included whenever people discussed the strongest power armor models in Ste Online.

    The PVP events were always filled with this model, to the point that they said things like¡ºNow then folks! Let¡¯s start the Ste Online New Year Sumo Tournament!¡»or¡ºAnd now, for the first event of the evening! In the east mountain corner, Captain ck! In the west sea corner, Captain Hiro! They are the wrestlers for tonight¡¯s match!¡»during the PVP matchmentary!

    Just why did this kind of power armor get developed? I¡¯m afraid that question can only be answered by Ste Online¡¯s developers. And I¡¯ve now confirmed that there were no problems fielding it in this dimension as well. Maybe they also had a simr-looking power armor model in this dimension¡­¡­?

    ¡ºHiro-sama? Hiro-sama? Are you okay?¡»

    ¡°Y-Yeah. I¡¯m fine. I was just thinking about some stuff. What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡ºThere was an urgent rescue request sent to the Mercenary Guild. Do you remember the hospital building we had our check-ups in - the one under Inagawa Technology? It seems they were sending injured citizens there for treatment, but it looks like those monster are starting to swarm over there as well.¡»

    ¡°Is this area clear already?¡±

    ¡ºIt looks like the imperial power armor division is arriving shortly. The reward for the sessful defense and the submission of battle data is 50,000 Enels.¡»

    ¡°Man, that sure sounds cheap for something I risked my life to earn. These guys should be pretty dangerous if fought without armor.¡±

    ¡ºThat¡¯s why they limited the job to those with power armors, right? So what about Inagawa Technology¡¯s request?¡»

    ¡°I¡¯ll take it up. How much is the reward?¡±

    ¡ºIt¡¯s 100,000 Enels. It¡¯s twice the reward for securing the port area.¡»

    ¡°That sounds great. I¡¯ll leave the navigation to you.¡±

    ¡ºYes!¡»

    I picked up the weapon I left nearby earlier and started following the directions indicated on my armor¡¯s HUD.

    ¡ºBut really now. To think you¡¯d actually started using meleebat, of all things. It¡¯s not like CQC is your strong point, right?¡»

    ¡°It¡¯s not, but I do brush up on it from time to time just in case of situations like this. It¡¯s better to cover all the bases you can, right?¡±

    ¡ºI guess so.¡»

    I ran with the armor while checking my weapons. The thing I brought this time was a high-output variableseruncher.

    It can counter other power armors with high-output focusedser shots and give fatal damage to flesh and blood opponents with a scattering splitser. It was a very versatile weapon.

    It was big, bulky, and heavy, but by utilizing power armor, one can handle it quite easily.

    ¡ºKeep going straight until you get to a bend going right. You¡¯ll find an elevator there. Ride that elevator and go down to the lower level.¡»

    ¡°Gotcha.¡±

    It looks like there were none of those pale monstrosities here. But what the heck were those anyway?

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you think those monsters kinda resembled the ones we saw on the meat factory tour¡­¡­¡±

    ¡ºYeah, they do, actually¡­¡­¡»

    ¡ºThey said those creatures won¡¯t be able to survive outside of the facility, but¡­¡­ Did they make a mistake in the security arrangements?¡»

    ¡°But we can¡¯t really be sure that it¡¯s the fault of that particr factory. Cultured meat brands generally looked the same, so the problem might have stemmed from another factory altogether.¡±

    I reached the elevator while exchanging that sort of idle banter with the two on the ship and entered it. I then set it to go down to the middle level of the colony. The elevator started descending with no problems. The power armor was heavy, but it seems it could easily support this kind of weight.

    ¡°You two also keep watch on the ship. Well, I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll be able to enter if you lock the hatch properly though.¡±

    ¡ºWe¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯ve already checked the security camera feeds near the hatch area earlier. And we can always activate the shields if needed.¡»

    ¡°That¡¯s fine then. But it can¡¯t hurt to be extra careful, alright.¡±

    In the first ce, the anti-NPC defense weaponry of the Krishna is very effective, and those white things wouldn¡¯t be able to take a single step inside it with the shield active. I don¡¯t care if that sounded like a g. Impossible is impossible folks.

    Or rather, even I would have trouble breaching the ship¡¯s defenses even if I used my power armor. I wouldn¡¯t evene close to saturating Krishna¡¯s shield powered by its high output generator with shots from myseruncher. Even if it¡¯s high-output, it doesn¡¯t have the raw power of even the lowest caliberser cannon used by pirate ships.

    I finally reached the middle level. I became speechless at the scene that greeted me once the elevator doors opened.

    ¡°This is terrible.¡±

    It was a scene of hell. I saw onerge-sized monster busy chewing on a corpse. Its feet were still hanging between the monster¡¯s teeth and were trembling slightly. There were groups of mid-sized types feeding on an already unrecognizable, blood-drenched ¡®something¡¯, andrge swarms of the small ones stuck themselves on the rest of the dead bodies like pale leeches. This type of scene was happening all over the area.

    All the monsters, regardless of size, had slimy, pale white bodies, with round mouths akin tompreys lined with razor-sharp teeth. They were different from the specimens we saw inside that cultured meat production facility, and the medium andrge-sized variants all had defined limbs sticking out of their slimy bodies. The small ones looked more simr to the specimens used for meat though; razor-sharp teeth aside.

    Well, they certainly looked somewhat thinnerpared to those meat-producing tentacle-type livestock. And it seems their basic instinct is to eat. They looked really gross.

    ¡ºHow awful¡­¡­¡»

    ¡°Is Mimi okay over there?¡±

    ¡ºShe froze up and became blue in the face the moment she saw the live feed.¡»

    ¡°She doesn¡¯t have to look at the images if she doesn¡¯t want to. Notify me if you detect any survivors.¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir. Anyway, it looks like there¡¯s none in that area.¡»

    I can¡¯t have these monsters take the elevator, so I stepped out of it and primed myseruncher. I chose splitser mode.

    ¡°C¡¯mon! Time to clean out the filth!¡±

    I repeatedly fired splitser shots and turned the monsters to ash. Since there were no survivors, I went at it without reserve.

    These guys were dangerous to flesh and blood people, but you could easily deal with them if you equip power armor. It¡¯s not like there¡¯s no chance of being toppled down by arge type, but even if I did go down, there¡¯s no chance they¡¯ll be able to breach the armor ting.

    And I had more than enough firepower at my disposal as well. It was even possible to deal with them by only using the power armor¡¯s standard fixed weapons. Once the imperial power armor division makes a move, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be able to deal with these types of monsters easily. It was somewhat good timing on my part that I managed to arrive here early to get a piece of the action.

    I finished off severalrge ones one after another with splitser fire and hit the medium ones that managed to close in with the body of theuncher itself or some well-ced kicks before roasting with splitser fire as well. It was annoying when the small ones got stuck on the armor, so I sometimes paused in order to tear them off and crush them underfoot. And when there¡¯s too many of them, I simply discharged ultra-high voltage electricity from the armor¡¯s palm in order to get rid of them.

    ¡ºIf it was me in there, I would have long fallen ill and vomited on the side by now.¡»

    ¡°Just think of it as me not prone to vomiting except for when I¡¯m made to drink alcohol.¡±

    I grinned bitterly while bathing my armor in electricity to get rid of the creatures stuck to it. But some of the medium types have already wizened up a bit and now ran away at the sight of me. They probably realized they were not my match. I¡¯m not nning to let them get away though.

    I continued to y creatures and finished off the ones that attempted to run away with concentratedser bursts as I headed toward the private hospital building we visitedst time.

    ¡ºTurn at the next intersection. It should be right in front of you afterward.¡»

    ¡°A¡¯ight.¡±

    I ran with heavy sounding footsteps. There were virtually no survivors left on the streets. I guess the rest of the citizens ran inside buildings and holed up within them. In colonies like this, there¡¯s always some airtight and secure shelters in case of emergencies like the walls of the colony getting punctured by way of ident or deliberate attack. I guess if there were any survivors, they would have long escaped to those shelters.

    ¡°Whoah.¡±

    I involuntarily made a surprised reaction when I turned at the intersection. It¡¯s because the pale monsters in question were crowding around inrge numbers in front of the private hospital.

    ¡°Just why are these things gathering around here like that?¡±

    ¡ºDunno? Health check-up, maybe?¡»

    ¡°Dangerous creatures lining up for check-ups in front of a hospital just sounds too surreal y¡¯know.¡±

    After the stupid-sounding banter between me and Elma, I aimed theseruncher at the swarm of monsters ahead.

 Chapter 53 â€“ Incident Over?

    <h4>Chapter 53 - Incident Over?</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Yeaaaaaah! Leeeet¡¯s goooo baaabyyy!¡±

    I showered therge packed swarm of monsters with splitser fire in glee. Thesers hit the targets instantly. Well, of course. I just fired off projectiles that moved at lightspeed after all.

    Essentially, the main source of damage made by high-outputser fire is explosions set off when thesers hit their targets. The surface of the target would rapidly evaporate due to being hit by ultra-high temperature, causing explosions in the process.

    However, high-poweredser weapons in Ste Online don¡¯t cause damage using that principle. Instead, they prate straight through the targets. It¡¯spletely different from the effect of optical weapons that I¡¯m familiar with.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s fine as long as it works anyway. But it sure is a mystery.¡±

    Maybe they work differently from thesers back on Earth? I mulled over these things as I continued to exterminate the pale monsters approaching me.

    ¡ºWhat¡¯s up?¡»

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s nothing. But really. Just what the heck happened here? Do these kinds of incidents happen often?¡±

    ¡ºI haven¡¯t heard of anything like this happening before though¡­¡­¡»

    ¡ºIf these kinds of incidents were widespread, then the cultured meat producers would have long gone out of business.¡»

    ¡°Guess so.¡±

    I¡¯m sure people who would be totally against the cultured meat industry would pop out one after another if that were the case. There were definitely a lot of casualties from this incident after all. But I¡¯m sure there should have been plenty of measures to prevent this kind of incident from happening though.

    ¡°Maybe this was caused by an illegal meat nt or something?¡±

    ¡ºIt¡¯s pretty disconcerting¡­¡­ Just what kind of feed are they using at that kind of illegal facility, I wonder?¡»

    ¡ºThere was something written on the packaging of Kobe Beef saying that the quality of feed is important in order to produce the tastiest meat.¡»

    ¡°I¡¯m sure the thing Elma¡¯s worried about isn¡¯t about that, Mimi.¡±

    I continued to kill the monsters while exchanging some silly banter with the girls. Eh? I should y rock music in the background, you say? Nah, it doesn¡¯t suit the monotonous work of pest extermination guys.

    ¡ºThey contacted us from the hospital, Elma-san.¡»

    ¡ºPatch them through.¡»

    We heard a young male¡¯s voice after Elma allowed the call through.

    ¡ºThis is Amray speaking. I¡¯m part of the security detail working for Inagawa Technology. You people are-¡»

    ¡°I¡¯m Captain Hiro. I¡¯m here in response to the rescue request you guys filed with the Mercenary Guild. I¡¯m currently in the middle of exterminating the creatures in front of the hospital.¡±

    ¡ºI¡¯m Elma, one of the crew. I¡¯m currently in charge of information gathering.¡»

    ¡ºI¡¯m Mimi. I¡¯m an Operator, just like Elma-san.¡»

    ¡ºAh, the Mercenary Guild¡­¡­ You¡¯ve really helped us out. In fact, the partition preventing them from entering the building was about to be breached.¡»

    ¡°With just this? Aren¡¯t bulkheads like that pretty thick in order to ensure airtightness?¡±

    ¡ºThe body fluids released by those monsters are corrosive, so¡­¡­ The bulkheads used inside the colony aren¡¯t treated to resist that type of damage.¡»

    ¡°I see.¡±

    I guess being able to resist corrosive substances isn¡¯t really all that important if you just want to ensure airtightness huh? My power armor is abat model, so it can resist corrosion just fine though. It won¡¯t get damaged no matter how much body fluids they ther it with.

    ¡°Leave the rest to me. They still haven¡¯t managed to breach the interior, right?¡±

    ¡ºFor now, at least. Please get a sample of the creatures after you¡¯re done exterminating them. They¡¯re nning on making specialized nanomachines in order to aid in exterminating them, so we need some samples.¡»

    ¡°Got it. Do you need me to capture one alive?¡±

    ¡ºNo, a corpse would be enough.¡»

    ¡°Understood¡­¡­ The ones burned byser fire won¡¯t do, right?¡±

    ¡ºNo idea. I¡¯m just a security guard after all¡­¡­ Let¡¯s just go with an unburnt sample, just to be sure.¡»

    ¡°Guess so. Okay then.¡±

    I¡¯ll just switch to CQC once I¡¯ve reduced their numbers enough. Now then, let¡¯s continue the pest clean up.

    ¡°Dosukoi!¡±

    I rammed thest remainingrge type monster and blew it away. With this, the extermination isplete. There were mountains of monster corpses all around me. The mop-up proceeded without a hitch. But maybe I did have a bit of trouble with the CQC battle at the end. It was way easier to barbecue them with theseruncher after all.

    ¡ºGood work out there, Hiro-sama. There are no more creatures in the area. Exterminationplete.¡»

    ¡ºYou sure made quite a riot in the end.¡»

    ¡°It made for some good exercise, so I feel like I¡¯d have a good sleep tonight.¡±

    I picked up some of the monster corpses I finished off via CQC and piled them up at the entrance of the hospital.

    ¡°Would these be enough as samples?¡±

    ¡ºDunno. Let¡¯s see¡­¡­ Please wait a bit.¡»

    Guess he¡¯s gonna confirm with the researchers. Well, it won¡¯t do to leave the surroundings messy like this, so I guess I¡¯ll clean up a bit. The colony¡¯s basically an enclosed space after all. It may cause another incident if these corpses rotted away unchecked and gave off potentially harmful gas substances.

    ¡ºYo, yo, yo. It¡¯s been a while huh, Hiro-kun. Guess you saved my life again this time.¡»

    ¡°¡­¡­Dr. Shouko?¡±

    ¡ºYep, it¡¯s Shouko. I¡¯m d you remember me.¡»

    ¡°Well, yeah.¡±

    Dr. Shouko had a pretty hard-to-forget personality after all.

    ¡ºCan you share the visual feed of your suit to me?¡»

    ¡°No prob. Mimi.¡±

    ¡ºYes. Feed¡¯s connected.¡»

    The moment the feed was linked, I heard somemotion in the background when the screen disying Dr. Shouko popped up on my HUD.

    ¡ºThat¡¯s amazing. You did this all by yourself, Hiro-kun?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Well, I used my power armor, so this much is nothing.¡±

    I picked up theseruncher I left on the ground when I went full-on melee earlier and walked in front of the piled-up creature corpse samples.

    ¡ºSo these are the samples you got for us?¡»

    ¡°Yep. I got two of each size for you guys.¡±

    ¡ºCan you share some of their characteristics you managed to observe while fighting?¡»

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. Therge and small types had the intelligence of wild beasts. They were pretty feral and disyed a strong appetite. They didn¡¯t flinch even if they were put in a severe disadvantage and just kept on attacking me.¡±

    ¡ºI see. Are the mid-sized ones different somehow?¡»

    ¡°These guys seemed a bit smarter than the other two types. They did things like making use of the small andrge types tounch sneak attacks. And once they see the situation getting worse, they immediately attempt to escape.¡±

    ¡ºHee¡­¡­ That¡¯s quite interesting. Perhaps the brains of these ones may have developed more than the other two types?¡»

    ¡°These are enough samples, right?¡±

    ¡ºYep, they¡¯re good, I think. We¡¯ll get ourselves ready to go out, so please keep watch for us.¡»

    ¡°Got it. I¡¯ll guard them for you.¡±

    The video call was cut. I left the monitoring the immediate area to Mimi and Elma and resumed tidying up the surrounding monster corpses scattered about.

    ¡°Maybe it would be better to just burn them all up with myseruncher?¡±

    ¡ºWell, there¡¯s still a valid source of protein. How about you leave them as they are for now? The folks at the colony may have use for them or something.¡»

    ¡°That so? Okay then.¡±

    After a while, the bulkhead that sealed the entrance to the hospital opened up, and people wearing yellow protective clothing walked out. They carried arge stretcher for collecting samples with them. One of the people raised her hand in greeting and approached me.

    ¡°Hey there. You really saved our behinds this time. That sure is a strong-looking power armor you got there.¡±

    ¡°That you, Dr. Shouko? We¡¯re both all covered up so I can¡¯t see your face.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Thanks for saving us ¡®kay. I heard they sent a rescue request, but to think the one who¡¯d responded would be you, Hiro-kun.¡±

    ¡°Looks like we¡¯re connected by some strange sort of fate huh. Well, it was Mimi who picked up the request though.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? I¡¯d have to thank those two girls as well then.¡±

    ¡°Uh, so what¡¯s the n?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll start on making a specialized nanomachine swarm to counter these guys and exterminate them quickly. We should be done in two hours or so. Can you keep protecting us until then? We¡¯ll pay you for your troubles.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha.¡±

    ¡°Do your best then.¡±

    After saying that, Dr. Shouko, who was all decked out in full-body protective wear, joined the other researchers with the sample recovery. She approached me again after a while though.

    ¡°We need more small type creature samples its seems.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re all piled up over there, so feel free to take some. But the state of the corpses are different, so you¡¯ll have to make some effort to select good ones.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    It would be bad if the researchers got attacked in the middle of their work, so I kept watch and patrolled the surrounding area. Well, it seems there was also someser gun-toting security personnel mixed in with the people wearing protective gear though. Guess they¡¯re the hospital guards.

    The sample collection finally finished after a while more and the researchers all went back inside the hospital. I was left all alone again so I decided to continue the corpse clean up.

    ¡°They said they were going to create a specialized nanomachine swarm for extermination purposes, but is something like that easily done?¡±

    ¡ºI wonder?¡»

    ¡ºThis hospital has a high-performance positron AI to aid in research work, and they also have lots of medical nanomachines avable, so I guess it¡¯s possible.¡»

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t nanomachines that break down flesh sound kinda dangerous?¡±

    ¡ºNo idea. But I remember hearing about a breakout prevention mechanism utilizing nanomachines at that meat nt we visitedst time, so I guess they could make them so that they¡¯ll be effective only on those kinds of creatures, right?¡»

    ¡°Hm, so they can do something like that huh.¡±

    I continued with my guard duty and cleaning work while exchanging thoughts with the girls. I started hearing the sounds of battle in the distance. So maybe the imperial military garrison or Major Serena and her independent anti-pirate mobile fleet finally arrived.

    There were no more monster attacks that urred while I was standing guard. I mostly just stood on standby for the rest of the time¡­¡­

 Chapter 54 â€“ Aftermath

    <h4>Chapter 54 - Aftermath</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    In a white, spacious, and sterile-looking room with several tables and chairs set within. There was a cacophony of people¡¯s voices engaged in discussion amidst the sound of moving machinery.

    I was sitting on one of the chairs set within that room. It felt refreshing to be out of that stuffy power armor.

    ¡°Man, you really saved my sorry behind today. I also thought that was it for me when we were attacked by pirates back then, and this time was also looking quite hopeless too.¡±

    Dr. Shouko handed me a drink while saying stuff like that. It was a chilled, cloudy white liquid. It didn¡¯t seem that thick, so I guess it was some sort of sports drink or something.

    ¡°This is?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a kind of rehydration drink. It has a nice vor, so it¡¯s quite easy to chug down.¡±

    Looks like it really was a sports drink. I took off the cap and gave it a big swig. Yep. Sure tastes like Po**ri Sweat.

    ¡°Good work out there. It was tough, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, not much. I had my power armor, so it really wasn¡¯t all that dangerous.¡±

    When the development of the anti-creature nanomachine swarm got finished, I was invited into the general hospital¡¯s premises and finally got the opportunity to get out of my stuffy power armor and take a nice shower. Afterward, Dr. Shouko was sent to wee me. It seems she was assigned the duty because we already knew each other.

    I was told to stay put inside the hospital for a while becauseing back to the ship without properly dealing with the creature remains and residue stuck to my power armor may potentially cause some health problems and such. It wasn¡¯t sure if they carried some sort of pathogen or not after all.

    I was told to properly go through a round of disinfection, just in case, while the researchers made use of the creature¡¯s remains and body fluids on my power armor to make some improvements in the performance of the anti-creature nanomachines.

    ¡°Is it fine for you to be here, Dr. Shouko?¡±

    ¡°Yep, the work over there¡¯s just about finished anyway. There¡¯s a chance of making some more improvements by using the results garnered from analyzing the samples stuck in your power armor, but they¡¯ll be minor ones at most. They don¡¯t need me there.¡±

    She gently waved her hand in front of her in dismissal. She still seems a bit shaken from the whole ordeal though. Can¡¯t fault her. She just went through another life-threatening crisis after all.

    ¡°But you sure are an unluckydy, aren¡¯t you, Dr. Shouko? It hasn¡¯t even been one month after the pirate incident and here you are, getting involved in something dangerous again.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. Based on the probability theory, it really seems unusual. Though I do feel the tug of fate somehow, since it¡¯s you who managed to save me both times, Hiro-kun.¡±

    ¡°You believe in that sort of stuff?¡±

    She really didn¡¯t seem like the type to believe in ult stuff like that.

    ¡°Nope, not really. But there¡¯s a chance I might just be swayed to believe in them. I mean, it¡¯s happened twice already y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°I see? Well then, why don¡¯t you follow what fate is telling you and be a crew member of my ship?¡±

    Dr. Shouko¡¯s expression froze up after hearing my invitation, that changed into a nice-looking smile afterward.

    ¡°That honestly doesn¡¯t sound too bad y¡¯know, but does a mercenary ship even need a physician on board? You can just stop over a colony and go to the medical facilities there in order to satisfy your medical needs if necessary after all. And at the very least, you can still make use of a med pod if you don¡¯t have ess to a colony for some reason. It would be a different story if it were a long-distance pioneering immigration ship or a deep space exploration vessel though. I probably won¡¯t be able to sit still in a ship without proper research facilities, equipment and research specimens too.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a shame then.¡±

    Dr. Shouko is a very charmingdy, so I really do feel it¡¯s unfortunate. Eh? My motive is impure, you say? I¡¯m a healthy guy, so isn¡¯t this just natural? She¡¯s a bespectacled beauty with chest assets on par with Mimi y¡¯know. Any healthy male would have the urge to get a load of those knockers at least once, yeah.

    ¡°Fufu, your stare looks really lewd, you know?¡±

    ¡°That just goes to show I¡¯m a normal healthy male Doc.¡±

    ¡°Are these really all that good? They make my shoulders stiff and grab too much unwanted attention, so I don¡¯t really like them that much though?¡±

    After saying that, Dr. Shouko brought her bountiful chest assets closer to my face. What a sight for sore eyes. Excellent! I praise and worship thee.

    ¡°Did you manage to get your fill?¡±

    ¡°The creatures known as males have natures that wouldn¡¯t get tired of looking at a sexy woman¡¯s body y¡¯see.¡±

    ¡°Such a cheap-sounding nature.¡±

    Dr. Shouko stood up from her seat while giggling cheerfully.

    ¡°That¡¯s it for service time, mister. It¡¯s almost time for the creature clean up operation to begin.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, ma¡¯am.¡±

    I also stood up and saluted Dr. Shouko, who was overflowing with service spirit.

    I didn¡¯t encounter many problems on the way back to the ship. I didn¡¯t have any more business left cause the imperial power armor division had already started their creature extermination operation in teams of three.

    But since I was wearing power armor myself - equipped with powerful weaponry to boot - I looked very much like a suspicious character. I was called out by imperial patrols once or twice and detained for questioning, but I was able to get out of them easily enough through dering I was justing back from responding to a rescue request sent to the Mercenary Guild by Inagawa Technology.

    ¡°So, what was the cause of the incident in the first ce?¡±

    ¡ºThere¡¯s no info regarding that for now. But it seems several private firms have already put forth their own measures to eliminate the creature threat.¡»

    ¡°Privatepanies? You talking about Inagawa Tech¡¯s nanomachine swarms?¡±

    ¡ºYes. There¡¯s also Eagle Dynamics, a military robotic weapons maker, that dispatched arge number ofbat robots specializing in creature extermination within the colony. Cyclone Chemicals also seeded in synthesizing chemical substances only toxic to the creatures and provided them to the military, along with specialized chemical sprayers. There are several morepanies that sent out their own countermeasures as well.¡»

    ¡ºIt looks like the imperial military has stepped up the extermination efforts. And the independent fleet has also managed to return to port. It looks like this incident is closed to beingpletely wrapped up.¡»

    ¡°I see. But it really was a big incident huh¡­¡­ We did manage to earn some money off of it, but I¡¯m sure a lot of people have been injured or killed during themotion.¡±

    ¡ºYeah. Oh, right. You don¡¯t have to give us a cut of the earnings for this time¡¯s incident, okay.¡»

    ¡°Hm? What do you mean?¡±

    ¡ºIf it was earned using the starship, then we wouldn¡¯t have any qualms about taking a share because we all risked our lives together. But this time, it was just you who was out on the field, right? We¡¯ll feel bad if we take a share of the money while knowing that we didn¡¯t really face any sort of danger.¡»

    ¡°You sure?¡±

    The two of them served as my Operator and Navigator respectively though.

    ¡ºYes. We¡¯re sure. It wouldn¡¯t feel right if we took a share even though we didn¡¯t risk our lives fighting together with you, Hiro-sama.¡»

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Okay.¡±

    Well, since they¡¯ve said all that, then there¡¯s no helping it. I don¡¯t really have problems with giving them a share though, but they¡¯ve already decided, so I¡¯ll just have toply with their wishes. What if I were in their shoes? I might blurt out the same thing they¡¯re saying as well.

    ¡°From the looks of it, the colony would be in a state of high alert for some time.¡±

    ¡ºCan¡¯t be helped. We have enough water and food supplies anyway. We can just head to our next destination immediately after receiving the rewards.¡»

    ¡ºIt looks like we won¡¯t be able to get off the ship normally for a few days though. We¡¯ll have to stay indoors for now.¡»

    ¡°You¡¯re right. We¡¯ll just have to make the most out of it huh¡­ Fufufu.¡±

    I just came from a bit of exercise, or rather, a life-threatening operation of sorts, and am now feeling sorta excited. I¡¯m gonna have the three of us work up a sweatter.

    ¡º¡­¡­Have a bit of restraint, okay?¡»

    Elma whispered to me on thems with a slightly nervous tone.

    ¡ºWhat are you talking about?¡»

    It looks like Mimi still didn¡¯t get it. That¡¯s fine though.

    ¡°The two of you are also tired, right? I¡¯m good on my end, so why don¡¯t all of us spend some time in the bathter?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­¡­? O-Okay. Be careful on your way back, Hiro-sama.¡»

    ¡°Yeah. Be a good girl and wait for me, okay.¡±

    I cut thems and took the elevator. Once Ie back, it¡¯ll be time for another ¡®battle¡¯.

    The impact caused by the unexpected creature outbreak was so great that it took five days for the military and port authorities to hand out all of the remunerations. Inagawa Technology immediately handed over their part of the reward payment to us though.

    So how did we spend those five days, you ask? I better not say. It¡¯s kinda embarrassing guys. Well, I¡¯m no superhuman, so I couldn¡¯t possibly keep at it indefinitely y¡¯know. Though I do admit I had a hell of a time muehehe.

    Elma acted reluctantly at first, but she was pretty into it in the end. And Mimi was hesitant only in the beginning as well.

    ¡°What a nice morning.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah. Whatever.¡±

    ¡°Elma¡¯s being cold, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure she¡¯s just feeling embarrassed. Elma san is kind of dishonest about her real feelings after all.¡±

    ¡°-Ngh!¡±

    Mimi gave a straight and honestmentary without an ounce of ill intent. Elma couldn¡¯t voice anyint to such a Mimi, so she just endured her embarrassment with a red face.

    ¡°Hahaha, you¡¯re cute, Elma. Now that we finally got our pay today. Let¡¯s start dividing it up then¡­¡­ The total earnings we got for the pirate subjugation, including the sale of the recovered loot, is 835,464 Enels. And the payment we got from the military for the thirty-day contract we signed is 1,500,000 Enels. The bonus I earned from apanying them in their regr operations is 372,514 Enels. All in all, we earned a total of 2,707,978 Enels for the month.¡±

    ¡°It took quite some time, but we did manage to earn a lot huh.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s an amazing amount¡­¡­¡±

    Elma seemed content and nodded while Mimi¡¯s eyes turned to dots after hearing the amount. I thought it was just your average earnings for the kind of work we do. We were finally able to get a medical check-up, and I also managed to have Major Serena owe me a favor. All in all, not a bad result for a month of hard work, right?

    ¡°Elma¡¯s share is 81,239 Enels. Mimi¡¯s is 13,539 Enels.¡±

    And my share is 2,613,200 Enels. My current total assets was now a whopping 17,022,017 Enels. Hm¡­¡­ Can¡¯t we finally buy a new ship with this money?

    ¡°It seems you¡¯re thinking of something again.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. My total assets are already over 17 million after all. I¡¯m thinking of buying a mothership with the money, actually.¡±

    ¡°A mothership?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a ship capable of acting as a carrier base for smaller ships. It has quite the spacious cargo hold as well, so it would allow us toplete transport missions all by ourselves. But can we really purchase a ship with a decent grade with just 17 mil? It¡¯ll easily cost us up to double the amount if we consider the remodeling costs you know?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right¡­¡­ Okay then. Let¡¯s save up a bit more before going through with the purchase. 17 mil does kinda sound half-assed.¡±

    ¡°But 17 million is quite a huge amount of money for ordinary people though¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s arge enough amount for mercenaries who are into the business of frequently buying and selling ships, but this is still considered smallpared to the wealth of the big yers, right?¡±

    ¡°Yep. It does seem smallpared to the assets those guys have.¡±

    ¡°Your sense of wealth is far too outrageous for me¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi seemed really troubled about the topic. The 13 thousand Mimi was able to earn this time was several times higher than the 4 thousand Enels standard monthly sry offered by the military after all. Even the 0.5% shares she was receiving right now can be considered to be much higher than the sry of your typical well-paid soldier.

    ¡°Anyway, we¡¯ll head to the resort Mimi rmended next time. Let¡¯s decide on whether or not to purchase a new ship depending on the earnings there. We¡¯ll be able to earn more with a mothership in tow after all.¡±

    You can earn several tens of thousands from justpleting transportmissions alone, and you can make several hundreds of thousands more if you aim for the pirates that would get attracted to your transport ship like bees to honey. It was really a case of killing two birds with one stone. But of course, that¡¯ll depend on whether or not you had the ability to protect your mothership.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure themotion has already been mostly resolved by now. Let¡¯s immediately depart after finishing our resupplies.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    Mimi took up her tablet and started checking out our remaining supplies while Elma started the ship¡¯s self-diagnostics procedure using the co-pilot console. I left the two of them to their jobs and went over to check up on the power armor that finally had its chance to shine a few days ago. It wouldn¡¯t be funny if it broke down during an emergency situation after all.

    And so, the three of us steadily made our preparations for departure.

 Chapter 55 â€“ What the Heck!? How Troublesome!

    <h4>Chapter 55 - What the Heck!? How Troublesome!</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°I¡¯m not gonna let you escape.¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡­¡±

    Three days after making our preparations for departure. We¡¯ve mostly finished restocking the necessary equipment and supplies andpleted the maintenance of the power armor. All that¡¯s left is to set out into space again! But Major Serena suddenly barged into Krishna once more.

    In civilian clothes, no less.

    ¡°This is troublesome, dear guest. My dear, dear guest, please. Ah, dear guest. Dear guest. Ah-¡±

    ¡®What the heck is up with that unemotional address of yours!? Stop pushing me out! Rude! It¡¯s utterly rude of you! I¡¯m a daughter of the Holz marquis house you know!?¡±

    ¡°Tsk. How bothersome.¡±

    ¡°Did you just click your tongue!? Bothersome!? Me!?¡±

    Major Serena¡¯s expression turned livid after hearing me blurt out my true thoughts. Oh? What now? Are you gonna insist on your privilege as a noble and cut me down mdy?

    ¡°Um, Hiro-sama¡­¡­ That attitude is a bit too impolite, don¡¯t you think?.¡±

    ¡°Hah. There¡¯s a limit to being unafraid of the consequences¡­¡­¡±

    Seeing my tantly rude attitude toward Major Serena, Mimi attempted to soothe me while being a bit blue in the face as Elma covered her face with one hand as she turned toward the ceiling. No, no. I don¡¯t think I¡¯m in the wrong here. I don¡¯t care if she¡¯s of noble blood and whatnot. Krishna is MY ship. And in my ship, I¡¯m the king.

    ¡°What the heck is with youdy? I thought you said you would stop aggressively forcing me into joining the military?¡±

    ¡°Uguh¡­¡­ Y-You¡¯re right, but¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°But?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s unfair! You three are going on a lovely resort vacation while I¡¯m stuck here busy with work! It¡¯s unfair! Unfair I tell you!¡±

    Major Serena pointed her finger straight at me and raised her voice in protest. I see.

    ¡°What the heck is with this bothersome woman?¡±

    ¡°You said I¡¯m bothersome again!?¡±

    Ipletely ignored Major Serena¡¯s indignant reaction and let out an exasperated sigh. I mean, I think anyone else in my position would also find her troublesome. How else would I call a person who would purposely choose the timing when we¡¯re about to set off to pay a visit and be an absolute bother?

    ¡°How should I say this? Hiro¡¯s unexpectedly harsh when ites to dealing with her, huh. Even though he¡¯s usually quite nice to women.¡±

    ¡°It would have been fine if she was just a military officer, but she¡¯s also the prized daughter of a noble house. Maybe he¡¯s worried about inviting unwanted trouble if she ever became attached to him more than necessary?¡±

    ¡°Atta¡­¡­!? I¡¯m not some sort of pet!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­But didn¡¯t it backfire? See?¡±

    Major Serena¡¯s elegant way of speaking was starting to crack from anger and frustration. Seeing her like that, Mimi could only give a quiet sigh. Oi, oi. Don¡¯t joke around. Are you saying this sort of troublesome person would actually get more attached to me the more I treated her badly? I sure hope not.

    ¡°So what do you really want from us anyway? We¡¯d really like to go ahead and travel to the Sierra star system in order to have a vacation while hunting pirates on the side you know.¡±

    ¡°Well, you see¡­¡­ I, uh, think that very action is improper.¡±

    ¡°Improper?¡±

    ¡°Correct. The Alein Tertius colony was just recently hit by a bioterrorism incident, and a lot of people have lost their lives. Don¡¯t you think having a resort vacation in that sort of situation is improper?¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°Fufufu, so you¡¯ve understood? If so, then please stay here and-¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s got nothing to do with us. Alrightdy. We¡¯re gonna depart for the Sierra system now, so could you please get off the ship? Or rather, don¡¯t you think trying to stop us from doing our business with that sort of arbitrary reasoning is even more improper?¡±

    ¡°Ah-! Ah-! No! Stop! It¡¯s not proper to touch an unwed nobledy such as myself like this! Ah! It¡¯s tant disrespect! I¡¯m gonna cut you down you know!¡±

    ¡°What the heck!? Will you stop that!? It¡¯s annoying! Did you actually go drinking beforeing here!?¡±

    I kept on trying to push her out of the dining room forcibly, but Major Serenatched on to the sides of the dining room¡¯s entrance desperately. Dammit! Can somebody get me my power armor, please!? I¡¯m gonna toss out this stubborn tomboy off my ship!

    ¡°Geez¡­¡­ Calm down already, you two. There, there.¡±

    Elma got between me and Major Serena in order to diffuse the situation. It won¡¯t do any good if I kept being stubborn, so I held up both hands and agreed to sit back down on a dining room chair. Mimi sat down on a chair beside mine and Elma led Major Serena to sit on the opposite side. Elma then sat right next to her.

    ¡°So I¡¯m gonna try asking again, okay. Just what the heck do you want this time? We really want to go to our next destination now. If you can¡¯t give me any valid reason to stop us from going on with our business, I¡¯m gonna use my authority as the captain of this ship and have the two of them send you out, okay.¡±

    ¡°Uguu¡­¡­¡±

    Major Serena flinched when I gave her an annoyed re. She turned away from me, gazed at Mimi and Elma in turn, looked up at the ceiling as if thinking of something difficult, and then shifted her face away from everyone else in the room.

    ¡°I was just so utterly envious that I couldn¡¯t help bute to bother you all¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    ¡°Like I said! I was jealous, so I came to be a bother! Do you have any problem with that!?¡±

    ¡°A crap ton!!!¡±

    ¡°But isn¡¯t it unfair!? I¡¯m stuck every single day staring at images of disgusting tentacle monster corpses and asked to attend countermeasure meetings as well as write several pages of reports. And here you are, nning to spend an enjoyable time on a resort for a vacation! I couldn¡¯t help but be jealous!¡±

    ¡°So you literally just came to be a bother!? You¡¯re just seriously feeling jealous, aren¡¯t you!?¡±

    ¡°No, no! It¡¯s unfair! Unfair! I also want to have a resort vacation!!!¡±

    ¡°So you just tossed away your pride as a soldier and noble and are now throwing a hissy fit!?¡±

    Major Serena pped the table repeatedly in a sulk andined loudly. Just where did that cool, collected and beautiful military officer go, I wonder¡­¡­? Don¡¯t tell me she really did go binge drinking beforeing here?

    ¡°So, to sum it up, you simply felt jealous and came to the ship in order to make trouble, right?¡±

    Major Serena looked at me with upturned eyes and softly nodded in reply. I gave her a soft smile. She smiled back in return. I see.

    ¡°Right then. Let¡¯s throw her out and be done with it.¡±

    ¡°Nooooooooo! And I finally came clean too!¡±

    ¡°But you just came to harass us, right!? And you expect me to feel sympathy for you!?¡±

    I tried to pull Major Serena away from the table she was desperately clinging to. Mimi was the one who finally put a stop to our antics.

    ¡°Um, can I say something?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Um, I think I now understand the reason why Lady Serena is throwing a fit. I think I can rte to her more than anyone else here actually. You¡¯re in casual clothes, so I guess it¡¯s your day off, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes.¡±

    ¡°In other words, Lady Serena simply wants to take a breather, or rather, to vent out her frustrations. She just wants to spend an enjoyable time with Hiro-sama, who keeps disregarding both her standing as a military officer and as a nobledy and simply treats her as herself, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Major Serena turned silent. So I guess I can take that as a ¡®yes¡¯ huh.

    ¡°y around¡­¡­?¡±

    I¡¯m confused. How the heck should I react to that? Should I take this ojousama out for a date in the city or something? No thanks. I somehow feel that sticking around with this woman is dangerous for some reason.

    ¡°How about we have a nice time drinking in the ship then? We can¡¯t serve those fancy organic dishes here, but I¡¯m sure Tetsujin can whip up something delicious regardless. I have a nice stash of alcohol ready too.¡±

    ¡°Oh? So that¡¯s why I felt the cargo bay was strangely full. And you haven¡¯t even managed to pay me even a single Enel yet y¡¯know.¡±

    Elma turned stiff after I made a sarcastic remark. But I have to do something like this sometimes at least, or this person would most likely totally forget about paying her debts.

    ¡°Uh, isn¡¯t it fine? A-And you said you wanted to stay with me for as long as possible too, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah. I guess.¡±

    That¡¯s true as well. Elma¡¯s a great girl. She¡¯s also beautiful and can act pretty cute sometimes. Not as cute as Mimi though. But Major Serena¡¯s definitely a no-go.

    ¡°Fine. Just for today. And you owe me again for this, okay.¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­ I-I understand.¡±

    Man. Major Serena¡¯s debts just keep on increasing¡­¡­ I hope she¡¯s not doing this deliberately in order to get closer to me. You can never be too careful around this woman.

    ¡°Well then, now that we¡¯ve decided on partying, let¡¯s go at it with a bang. Let¡¯s try to forget each other¡¯s troubles for today at least.¡±

    ¡°Yes! As a matter of fact, I¡¯ve also managed to get a lot of different foodstuffs through mail order! I¡¯ll bring them all out!¡±

    Mimi said something I couldn¡¯t just ignore. So that¡¯s why the cargo bay¡¯s been strangely looking fulltely¡­¡­ Even Mimi was part of the cause. I wonder if she¡¯s been receiving some bad influence from Elma? I felt sort ofplicated after witnessing a little bit of Mimi¡¯s growth.

 Chapter 56 â€“ Tastes like Chicken

    <h4>Chapter 56 - Tastes like Chicken</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Well then¡­¡­ I can¡¯t think of much to else to say anyway, so cheers!¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Cheers!¡±¡±¡±

    The threedies followed my gesture, held up each of their sses filled with chilled noncarbonated beer, and clinked them against each other. Me? I just drank my noncarbonated c as usual.

    ¡°Puhaaa! This is some fine beer!¡±

    ¡°We got it from the factory tour we went on recently. It did cost quite a bit though.¡±

    ¡°I think it was 100,000 Enels right?¡±

    ¡°T-That¡¯s just a paltry sum of money for mercs like us, okay¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t your sense of money strange?¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯m not like that. It¡¯s just Hiro-sama and Elma-san who are weird¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Like you¡¯re one to talk. Didn¡¯t you also buy a lot of expensive stuff with Hiro, Mimi? Like those bath fixtures, washing machine, high-performance auto-cooker, among other things. Didn¡¯t those cost, like, 300,000 Enels or something?¡±

    ¡°Yep, I think you¡¯ve also gone to the deep end as well.¡±

    ¡°N-No, I haven¡¯t! I think?¡±

    Man. Guess it¡¯s true what they say. Three women really is a crowd. They didn¡¯t have any particr topic to talk about, so their conversation kept jumping around to different ones frequently. Are their conversation abilities equipped with jump drives or something? It was getting hard to follow their haphazard stories with my meager abilities.

    The rate of their conversation finally tapered off until all their focus was turned to the¡ºimported¡»foodstuffs piled up on the table.

    On top of the table¡­¡­ a universe was spreading.

    Well, not really. It was just a figure of speech guys. There¡¯s no ¡®universe¡¯ spreading on top of the dining table. It was just filled with all sorts of rare and unusual-looking food. I chose to pick up the te closest to me.

    It was pasta. At least it looked like some sort of pink-colored pasta. I-It should be fine. It¡¯s not wriggling or anything. I kept telling myself that, but my imagination kept holding me back. Eventually, I picked up my personal chopsticks and decided to try one piece. Yup. It¡¯s pasta. At least it didn¡¯t feel like it was a worm or something.

    I chewed the piece I picked up with my chopsticks. It tasted¡­ uh, salt-vored. It didn¡¯t move around in my mouth when I chewed on it. Guess it¡¯s safe. The texture and taste were kinda like that of sea urchin. It had plenty of umami and was actually pretty good.

    As I was enjoying my meal, I noticed that the threedies froze up and were staring at me with aghast looks.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Um, is that tasty?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t hate it, at least. It has a subtle vor and¡­ Uh, what¡¯s with you guys?¡±

    ¡°Um, t-those are actually called uuchiworms-¡±

    ¡°Aaah! I can¡¯t hear you! This is urchin pasta! Sea urchin vored pasta made with thetest tech!¡±

    ¡°What a splendid way of self-deception.¡±

    Just why did you buy this sort of weird stuff, Mimi!? No, this is pasta! Right. Pasta. It¡¯s nothing weird! It¡¯s just pasta!

    ¡°Well, just try it, you guys. It¡¯s tasty you know. Urchin pasta.¡±

    ¡°Uh, I¡¯m a bit-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll pass as well.¡±

    ¡°Um, m-me t¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Now you¡¯re not saying the one who bought the food herself won¡¯t actually try tasting them, right?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not, riiight!?¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­ Okay.¡±

    Mimi tearfully picked up a piece of uuchiworm¡­ uh, urchin pasta and brought it to her mouth. She then proceeded to chew on the stuff. Her expression changed afterward.

    ¡°Huh. It really is tasty.¡±

    ¡°Right? It¡¯s nothing much if you just think of it as sea urchin pasta.¡±

    ¡°I guess so. I don¡¯t know what urchin pasta actually is, but this is tasty.¡±

    Elma and Major Serena¡¯s gazes met after seeing me and Mimi continue to eat the sea urchin pasta on the te.

    ¡°U-Uh, let me try some then¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah. You¡¯ve gone to the trouble of preparing it after all¡­¡­¡±

    Elma and Major Serena also tried out the urchin pasta. Their expressions were tense at first, but they gradually loosened up as they continued to savor the taste of the food.

    ¡°It really is delicious.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a delicacy¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°By the way, was the fact that the te with this stuff ced right in front of me made with other intentions in mind, perhaps?¡±

    ¡°I-It¡¯s just a coincidence, right?¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah. It¡¯s a coincidence. Coincidence.¡±

    ¡°But why do I feel all the suspicious stuff is piled on my side of the table¡­¡­?¡±

    Mimi and Elma started panicking when I gave them a hard re. Oh well. I¡¯ll stop pursuing this for now. For now that is.

    ¡°So let¡¯s try this one next! Go ahead Mimi!¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Mimi yelped in a strange voice when she saw the contents of the te I offered. Within the dish were ck spheres the size of marbles. Their ck-colored smooth surfaces shone brilliantly and really did resemble ss marbles.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Weren¡¯t all these stuff ordered by Mimi?¡±

    ¡°E-Ehehe¡­¡­?¡±

    Mimi tried to muddle through by acting cute. Yep. That¡¯s cute alright. But I won¡¯t let you get away. I thrust the te at her once more while disying an encouraging smile.

    ¡°U-Uuu¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi tearfully reached out with trembling fingers toward the te with ck marble-like things, picked one up and brought it to her mouth. And she finally chewed the stuff.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi¡¯s expression suddenly turned nk. Eh? What the heck is with that reaction? It¡¯s scary you know.

    ¡°H-How is it?¡±

    ¡°Uh, um¡­ tas¡­ ty¡­¡­?¡±

    Mimi answered falteringly to Major Serena¡¯s question. After seeing that curious reaction, my gaze, along with Elma and Major Serena¡¯s, were all drawn to the ck marbles on the te. After looking at each other¡¯s expressions afterward, we all nodded in unison.

    ¡°Nn¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°What the heck is this strange vor¡­¡­?¡±

    It was sweet, salty, and sour - all at the same time. It was a peculiar vor. How should I describe it¡­? Yeah, it¡¯s like sea urchin vored pudding thered in soy sauce, I think¡­ Or rather, I can¡¯t find any suitable words to describe it!

    ¡°By the way, what are these¡­¡­ No, on second thought, you don¡¯t have to answer that.¡±

    ¡°I think that would be for the best.¡±

    After looking at Mimi¡¯s peculiar expression, I decided to refrain from continuing to ask about the true identity of the mysterious marbles. I¡¯m sure I¡¯d regret it if I ever found out. These were probably eggs of some sort of creature. They were the eggs of a creature that would force Mimi to make such a peculiar expression. Let¡¯s just let sleeping dogs lie.

    ¡°So, are these the only truly strange ones among the food you ordered?¡±

    ¡°It seems like it. The rest look somewhat proper at least.¡±

    There were smoked manga meat skewers, fruits I¡¯ve never heard about before, some tarts using said fruits as ingredients, fish kes, ck-colored meat jerky, and boiled shrimps the size of an index finger.

    By the way, the boiled shrimp-looking things were ced near my end of the table, just like the pink pasta and ck marbles.

    ¡°Whoa, get a load of these tasty-looking shrimps! Give em a try, Elma!¡±

    ¡°Eh!?¡±

    Elma and Mimi jerked up in surprise. Those reactions¡­¡­ Like I thought. These were also suspicious, right?

    ¡°U-Uh, well, I think it would be improper for me to eat before you do, Hiro¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, don¡¯t worry about it. Go ahead and try them. A?hn.¡±

    ¡°U-Uu¡­¡­¡±

    I won¡¯t let you escape as well¡­¡­

    By the way, the ¡®boiled shrimps¡¯ were actually moderately steamedrvae of some sort of mystery creature. Just why did you order stuff like this, Mimi¡­¡­? They were quite creamy and tasty though.

    After finishing off all the food, all that¡¯s left were the drinks. But, as I was weak to alcohol, I didn¡¯t drink any.

    ¡°Ahahahahaha!¡±

    ¡°Hiro-samaaaa? Unyuu-n¡±

    ¡°They told me we werete the moment I arrived you know! I was busy leading an operation to wipe out pirate scum and that¡¯s what they say to me the moment I report back!? At least protect your own damn colony yourselves, you freaking idiots!¡±

    As you can see folks! I need help!

    Elma was just happily chugging sake in the corner, so she¡¯s kinda okay. But Mimi wrapped herself around me like an octopus and refused to let go. Major Serena was busy furiously venting out all her frustrations during work at me as well.

    ¡°There, there, Major. Calm down¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°And you! You just suddenly brought out a power armor and protected the docks, rescued Inagawa Tech¡¯s affiliated general hospital alone while destroying creatures along the way, as well as assisted in the sessful production of nanomachines designed to wipe out those monsters! Man, it looks like you mercenaries are far more reliable than the independent fleet (lol) huh! Like I said, we were busy doing important stuff on another sector of space you damn idiots! And they had the gall to say I didn¡¯t make use of my men properly! They even med me for a bioterrorism incident happening right under my nose while I was stationed here! The nerve! Don¡¯t make meugh!¡±

    Major Serena grabbed my cor and shook me back and forth while spewing outints left and right. What an unruly drunk. Well, she¡¯s drunk, so I guess I can forgive her this time. And it seems Major Serena is also keeping a lot of stress bottled up.

    ¡°Ohm¡­¡­ Be pacified. Be pacified, wayward soul.¡±

    ¡°Garurururururu¡­¡­¡±

    She finally stopped shaking me after a while.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It looks like she got tired from shaking me back and forth with all her might. Major Serena plopped straight down on the table. She waspletely knocked out. It seems she fell asleep.

    ¡°Does thisdy realize she¡¯s on board a guy¡¯s ship? Isn¡¯t she too defenseless?¡±

    ¡°Nfufufufu, you wanna do her?¡±

    ¡°Stop making those obscene finger signs, you drunk elf!¡±

    Elma was thrusting one of her thumbs in and out of a circle formed by her index and middle fingers while making a lewd grin.

    ¡°If I really wanted to do it, I¡¯d rather do you, who¡¯s conscious right now, rather than these two, okay.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Fuah!?¡±

    Elma¡¯s teasing grin was wiped out of her face after hearing my retort. Hahaha, what a nice face she¡¯s making.

    After getting a fill of Elma¡¯s embarrassed face, I peeled the unconscious Mimi off of me and made her lie down on the sofa. I then held up the sleeping major - in a princess carry.

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ You¡¯re really gonna do it with her?¡±

    I grinned at Elma¡¯s question.

    ¡°Huph!¡±

    I then tossed Major Serena inside the med pod when I got to the med bay.

    I really can¡¯t afford to do the usual¡ºI did it. Tehee.¡»while drunk temte with thisdy guys. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s gonna head straight to the¡ºPlease take responsibility, okay. (wide grin)¡»development, leading to the fianc¨¦e route. Or rather, it¡¯s even more likely that I¡¯d be buried six feet under if Major Serena¡¯s parents ever found out. In other words, it was way too risky. This person was akin to an anti-ship reactive torpedo-ss mine waiting to explode in my face with devastating force.

    I¡¯m not so stupid that I¡¯d willingly step on an obviousndmine.

    ¡°Huh? You¡¯re back? You couldn¡¯t get it up?¡±

    ¡°You really lose your morals once you¡¯re drunk huh.¡±

    I knocked the top of Elma¡¯s head. But I didn¡¯t fail to notice her dispirited expression brightening up the moment I came back. She really was cute sometimes.

    ¡°Hmph. What¡¯s with you? Putting on airs like that. Even though you¡¯repletely under my and Mimi¡¯s thumb. You act like some sort of gentleman, but aren¡¯t you really just a beast instead?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t deny that. Men, you see, are all animals deep down inside. It¡¯s merely the chains called reason keeping all that back.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s up with that? Are you trying to act cool or something?¡±

    ¡°Oh? What? You really wanna have a go?¡±

    Elma¡¯s ears moving up and down is a sign she actually wants me to take care of her, despite her harsh attitude. Purposefully riling me up with words like that, even though you feel exactly the opposite. Are you an elementary school boy or something? She really was seriously cute.

    ¡°Okay, okay. Here, I¡¯ll drink with you. I¡¯m an extreme lightweight, so I won¡¯t be drinking any alcohol though.¡±

    ¡°Hmph. You little boy.¡±

    Elma filled my cup with the noncarbonated c while grinning happily.

    Now then, shall we apany this surprisingly sensitive little rabbit for a few rounds.

 Chapter 57 â€“ Morning of Departure

    <h4>Chapter 57 - Morning of Departure</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Uh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You got too carried away and drank too much, idiot.¡±

    It¡¯s been an hour since I shoved Major Serena inside the med pod. Our poor elf princess, who got carried away and opened one bottle another, ended up dead drunk and passed out in the end.

    I just like what I did an hour ago, I carried the passed out Elma to the medical bay. It¡¯s been an hour already, so I guess the alcohol has already been taken out of Major Serena¡¯s system. I nned to wake the major up and ce Elma inside the med pod.

    When I came inside the med bay, I saw Major Serena sleeping peacefully within the med pod. The vital check came out clean, so I operated the med pod in order to wake Major Serena up. After a short while, Major Serena finally started regaining consciousness.

    After a bit, she started looking around the room in mild confusion until she finally fully opened her eyes, which disyed some mild surprise. She hurriedly got up-

    ¡°-!?¡±

    With a thud, she ended up hitting the transparent ss-like cover of the med pod and became all teary-eyed. My dear major, you¡¯re still acting like a ditz even if you¡¯re no longer under the influence of alcohol huh. Are you really a major?

    I operated the console and opened up the med pod¡¯s hatch. The hatch can also be opened from inside without my intervention, but I bet our ditzy major would have some trouble even with that.

    ¡°Anyway, can you get up first? I¡¯m gonna put her in next.¡±

    ¡°O-Okay¡­¡­¡±

    Major Serena got up from the med pod while massaging her forehead. I then put Elma inside next, operated the console again, and closed the hatch once more.

    ¡°Um¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Major had one too many drinks and ended up venting all her frustrations from work to me, thenpletely passed out afterward. While presumptuous, I took the liberty to put you inside the med pod in order to relieve you of the alcohol from your system. I hope you took no offense ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Major Serena¡¯s face turned bright red and awkwardly averted her gaze from mine. Well, of course she¡¯d feel awkward. She something like barging in on a person¡¯s private ship just to have an outlet to vent her frustrations after all. She then drank alcohol like crazy, acted like an unreasonable drunk, and had to be shoved inside the med pod in the end. Anybody with even a modicum ofmon sense would feel shame from these kinds of actions at least.

    ¡°U-Um, I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s fine. One really needs to let out all the stress that¡¯s built up like this sometimes. It seems you¡¯ve piled up quite a lot after all.¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­¡±

    Major Serena hid her blushing face with both hands. Looks like I really hit the nail on the head.

    ¡°And this is the second time this happened anyway.¡±

    ¡°Uguu¡­¡­!¡±

    It was just a repeat of what happenedst time.

    ¡°I suggest bringing some medical nanomachines that would help out with drunkenness the next time you go out for some alcohol ma¡¯am. Or rather, don¡¯t you think you¡¯re just too damn defenseless? I mean, not only did you board the ship of a male merc like me. You also drank like there was no tomorrow and even ended up passing out. Be more mindful, alright. You¡¯re a nobledy after all.¡±

    I¡¯m sure there are more than one or two methods to manipte one¡¯s consciousness in a technologically advanced society like this. If they only wanted to remove a person¡¯s ability to move freely, they also had the option to resort to more ¡®primitive¡¯ things like cutting up the limbs and such. And there¡¯s also the method of taking Major Serena to god-knows-where while she¡¯s passed out as well.

    It would have been totally possible to do a thing like selling off Major Serena to the guys from the Vereverem Federation if I ever had the mind to. Major Serena was a young and beautiful noblewoman with a nice pedigree after all. I bet there are guys who would pay any price to procure such a fine specimen in order to do whatever they liked to her out there.

    ¡°I¡¯ll reflect on my actions.¡±

    Major Serena shriveled up and got a bit dispirited. Cute- No, no! Don¡¯t get fooled! Just who was the person in front of me? Major Serena. Apletely sober Major Serena. Is there really any chance such a Major Serena would feel down after hearing my lecture? Well, I guess there is. But it might not be the case as well. I still have my doubts.

    ¡°Well, since you say you¡¯re reflecting, I won¡¯t lecture you any further. I¡¯m not a guy who¡¯s in any position to scold someone like you anyway.¡±

    I picked up Major Serena¡¯s sword I propped up on the wall earlier and gave it back to her.

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s time for you to go back to your own ship already. You¡¯d get in trouble if any strange rumors about this got spread around, right? Actually, me too.¡±

    ¡°Y-You¡¯re right. Exactly.¡±

    Major Serena received the sword and slowly got up.

    What about Mimi? She woke up in the middle of my drinking session with Elma and was now busy tidying up the dining room. In the end, it was the youngest of the girls, Mimi, who had the most self-control among the three.

    I opened the main hatch of the ship and assisted Major Serena down the ramp. Major Serena turned back toward me in the middle of the steps.

    ¡°Will I ever see you again?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll get to meet us again if you continue hunting pirates. Those guys are one of our main sources of ie after all. And you also owe me, remember?¡±

    If you think about it like that, I was like a predator who thrives in devouring the flesh and blood of pirates in order to live. Yeah, it¡¯s an apt description, in a sense. But I¡¯d like to think I¡¯m a bit more decent of a person than that. There¡¯s no real pirate worth pitying after all.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ You¡¯re right. I¡¯ll be seeing you then.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Later, major.¡±

    Major Serena shed me a pretty smile onest time and turned away. After seeing her off, I returned inside the Krishna and let out a sigh.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be seeing you, huh.¡±

    It¡¯s unfair for you to say a thing like that with those abandoned puppy eyes,dy. What the heck should I do? I really feel someone like Major Serena is a little bit too much for someone like me.

    Well, I guess we¡¯ll still get to meet up if there really was some sort of connection between us. I better just turn my attention to our departure tomorrow instead.

    Then came the next day.

    The actual reserve supplies used up during yesterday¡¯s drinking party was fairly little (the alcohol was Elma¡¯s and the food was Mimi¡¯s), so we couldunch anytime.

    Since the girls were drunk from alcoholst night, we didn¡¯t have the chance to do some nightly activities, so I just did some training first thing in the morning, took a bath, and did a bit of info gathering while sipping some warm coffee.

    The info I searched for was not about the resort we were going to go next or the things to look out for while traveling there. It was about the bioterrorism incident that urred a few days ago.

    The cause of that incident has finallye to light.

    Those pale white monsters were, as expected, variants of the ones we saw being bred at the cultured meat factory. The auto-apoptosis feature that was a security measure in case a specimen ever escaped from a meat nt was removed via gic maniption, and their aggressive instincts were instead enhanced to dangerous levels.

    It seems a certain organization has already imed responsibility for causing the bioterrorism incident this time, and the imperial government has already given an order to the military for the organization¡¯s extermination.

    The name of the terrorist organization was the Artificial Life Protection Association.

    They were a group that was dedicated to protecting the rights and promoting the release of artificial life forms born and bred for the people¡¯s convenience. So they were like the futuristic extremist version of conservationists or animal rights groups huh? They sound like a group I didn¡¯t ever want to get mixed up with.

    ¡°Good morning, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Morning.¡±

    Mimi and Elma entered the dining room just after I finished reading the article.

    ¡°Morning, you two. Let¡¯s have breakfast and prepare to head out.¡±

    ¡°I hope there are no more interruptions this time.¡±

    ¡°Um, doing it two times in a row should be unlikely, even for someone like Major Serena¡­¡±

    Mimi replied to Elma¡¯s statement while sporting a wry grin. I¡¯m sure Mimi has already ssified Major Serena as¡ºthat type¡»inside her heart. You know. That type. A troublemaker, I mean.

    ¡°Well, I guess it¡¯ll be fine. But let¡¯s depart straight away, just in case. Being dyed for a day or two is already too much.¡±

    I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll cost us quite a bit once we got to our destination, but we have a budget of over 17 mil, so we still have a fair bit of leeway avable. That¡¯s a whopping 1.7 billion if forcibly converted into Yen after all.

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s eat up first. I wonder what today¡¯s daily specials are?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m famished, so I want something that¡¯s a little on the heavy side today.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine with something light. I don¡¯t have much of an appetite during mornings anyway.¡±

    We made a lively fuss as we started to order our meals from the auto-cooker.

    We¡¯re going to a new ceter on. But first, we spent our morning doing our usual routine as always.

 Chapter 58 â€“ Brief Respite

    <h4>Chapter 58 - Brief Respite</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Yosh, shall we depart? Apply forunch clearance, Mimi.¡±

    After having breakfast, we decided to finally depart to our next destination, the Sierra star system - a ce with a bustling resort as its main draw. It became hard for us to do any pirate hunting on our own in the Alein star system because of the independent anti-pirate mobile fleet led by Major Serena. It would be inefficient if we insisted on fighting over them for scraps now that the main pirate base in this system has been sessfully crushed.

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    ¡°Do your thing like always, Elma.¡±

    ¡°Got it. Leave the subsystem controls to me.¡±

    The state of the ship was all green. The self-diagnostics check performed by the ship AI didn¡¯t detect a single problem.

    ¡°We have clearance.¡±

    ¡°Great. We¡¯re heading out.¡±

    I released the docking mechanism, retracted thending gear, and slowly flew out of the colony. I did it at a slow enough speed in order to avoid colliding with other ships as we headed out of the colony. If I mess up badly, we¡¯ll possibly end up crashing and triggering a huge chain explosion ident. If that ever happened, we¡¯d have to pay for the damages to other ships as well as the colony itself, apart from the repair fee for our own ship, even if we do manage to survive the ident.

    ¡°Um, our gate passage number is 3. We¡¯re going next, after that yellow transport ship.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha.¡±

    Ships rushing through gates all at once duringunch procedures may possibly cause major idents to ur as well. So in order to prevent that, ships are only allowed tounch out when their turnes up. Getting number 3 was quite a lucky break since we didn¡¯t have to wait long.

    ¡°It¡¯s our turn.¡±

    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll make sure to be a model driver at least until we get out of the colony.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Causing an ident near the gate is a pretty serious offense after all¡­¡­¡±

    Elma made a faraway look. She may have possibly been involved in one in the past. Because it may cause interference with other ships within the colony, the energy shield output needs to be set to minimum while inside.

    After a few moments, the yellow ship finally managed to fullyunch out of the gate, making it our turn.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    I slowly led the ship forward until we passed through the specialized airtight barrier covering the colony, separating it from the coldness of space. It was a mysterious barrier that allowed solid objects like ship hulls to pass through but trapped the air inside the colony interior. I think it¡¯s one of the most mysterious devices I¡¯ve ever encountered in this dimension.

    After passing through the barrier, we finally reached open space. We increased the generator output and elerated away from the colony.

    ¡°Please set the coordinates on the navputer, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Course is now set.¡±

    Mimi operated the console in front of the Operator seat and inputted the coordinates for the target star system in the navputer. The data popped up on my screen as well. After receiving the data, I pointed the bow toward the direction of the target destination.

    ¡°FTL drive, charging start.¡±

    ¡°Roger. FTL drive, countdown.¡±

    Elma followed my order and started firing up the FTL drive.

    ¡°5, 4, 3, 2, 1¡­¡­ FTL drive, activate.¡±

    After the sound of an explosion, the Krishna disappeared from normal space; only leaving behind light trails in its wake. The formerly stationary stars in the far distance started moving.

    ¡°Currently heading to the Pamoni star system¡­¡­ Final stop: Sierra star system. It¡¯s four nodes away from here via Hypene. Hyper Drive, charging start.¡±

    ¡°Charging Hyper Drive.¡±

    ¡°Hypene linkplete.¡±

    ¡°Countdown. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1- Hyper Drive, activate.¡±

    The space around the ship began to distort further, along with the lights surrounding it. In the next instant, a bright sh of myriad lights enveloped us, and Krishna finally entered hyperspace. Our small ship started to journey within the bright torrents of lights. Though in actual practice, there weren¡¯t any loud sounds that rang out during the process. Space is a vacuum after all.

    ¡°And done. We can finally rx a bit.¡±

    Generally, traveling through hyperspace is done through the ship¡¯s autopilot. The traveling time is fairly long, and the bow of the ship simply needs to keep pointing in the direction of the light flow.

    The standard practice is to leave one person in charge of monitoring the autopilot navigation, just in case some trouble does ur. I only heard of this practice from Elma though.

    In Ste Online, traveling between star systems didn¡¯t really take hours toplete. If it was, then it would have been criticized as a crappy game. It was basically just activating the Hyper Drive, getting on the Hypene, and instantly arriving at the target destination.

    ¡°So what are we gonna do about monitoring duty?¡±

    ¡°Um, do we really need to have one of us on monitoring duty?¡±

    Mimi asked a bit doubtfully.

    ¡°I wonder. I just heard it from Elma, so I decided on doing it. I can¡¯t really say if there¡¯s a fundamental need for it or not. Even I¡¯m a bit reluctant about it, honestly. The autopilot is fully capable of doing the minor adjustments and course corrections by itself, and it would also sound an rm if there was any sort of trouble.¡±

    After saying so, I turned my gaze toward Elma. After hearing my and Mimi¡¯s doubts, Elma gave an answer.

    ¡°Yep. That was a lie.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°What did you say?¡±

    ¡°Well, we¡¯re going to spend quite a lot of time without anything to do in particr, right¡­? I just thought of taking advantage of it so we can spend some time with each other alone. In shifts, of course.¡±

    Elma told the honest truth and turned her face away from the two of us. I see.

    ¡°Okay. Well, let¡¯s just not leave anyone on guard duty then.¡±

    ¡°H-Hey¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just a matter of keeping alert in the off-chance of an emergency happening, right? I think forcefully implementing shifts and losing sleep because of it is kinda ridiculous.¡±

    ¡°T-That¡¯s¡­ You¡¯re right, but¡­¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t sound so bad to experience aid back lifestyle every once in a while, right?¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s your real aim?¡±

    Elma gave me a hard stare. Well, it¡¯s sort of like a man¡¯s romance, yeah. Well, I was still prettyid back even when I did monitoring duty in the cockpitst time, so it really doesn¡¯t matter in the end. You¡¯d be spending tens of hours inside a small ship¡­ In some cases, it may even take hundreds of hours.

    You won¡¯t be able to connect to the gctic while in hyperspace, so you really can¡¯t browse online. If you didn¡¯t prepare stuff for killing time like games, holo-vids, or e-books, the only option you have left is doing stuff like exercising in the training room, eating a meal or two, taking a bath, and sleeping.

    Basically, you¡¯d have a lot of idle time. In that case, there¡¯s only one other thing couples who have already bared their bodies and hearts to each other can do. It¡¯s probably one of the reasons why there were a lot of families with tons of kids in the eras when there were little entertainment options avable.

    ¡°Okay then. You¡¯re dismissed, folks. As the captain of this ship, I approve the start of the free time period.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Oh geez¡­¡­ Really, now¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯ll be a fairly long journey, so let¡¯s just take this time to rx, okay? Did you manage to get something like a tourist information guide for the Sierra system, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I have!¡±

    ¡°Great. Let¡¯s all have a look at the dining room. I¡¯m really curious about the stuff on a resort. C¡¯mon Elma.¡±

    ¡°W-Wait! You don¡¯t have to push me!¡±

    I pushed Elma from behind and headed to the dining area. There are no more annoying third parties, so let¡¯s take this opportunity to thoroughly rx. I didn¡¯t manage to rx all that much during our time in the Alein system after all.

 Chapter 59 â€“ Hot Start

    <h4>Chapter 59 - Hot Start</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I was woken up by a ticklish feeling.

    In the midst of being immersed in warmth, I felt something tickling the tip of my nose. My half-asleep brain still refused to get away from thisfortable warmth, and a body will remain immobile withoutmands from the brain. There was something soft wrapping itself on my entire body. There were soft things hitting the center of my chest. It was definitely a taste of paradise.

    However, it¡¯s quite unfortunate. The brain, that has already started realizing the current situation, has now begun the process of waking up in earnest.

    When I regained consciousness, the first thing I saw was the top of a head with a lustrous patch of light-brown hair. It seems it¡¯s the soft locks of hair on this particr head that were tickling my nose. There was a young woman who used my arm as a pillow and pushed her delicate face near the base of my neck. Both I and she were unmistakably naked. Well, in other words, it was ¡®that¡¯ kind of rtionship.

    Now then, what should I do about this? It did feel a bit of a pity to get up from this position, but I had to get to the bathroom to do my stuff and take a shower. I still don¡¯t know what time it is, but it¡¯s not like I didn¡¯t get sufficient sleep, and it didn¡¯t feel like it was too early to get out of bed. Yeah, let¡¯s get up. I¡¯ll be as gentle in waking my partner up as possible.

    I reached for the top of the head with lustrous hair in front of me and gave it a light pat. Shortly after, she woke up with a shudder. She looked at me with her still-half-asleep eyes and smiled gently.

    ¡°Good morning, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Hiro-sama.¡±

    Now then, let¡¯s have a little talk about our current destination - the Sierra star system.

    It was four nodes away via Hypene from the Alein star system - the system we were previously at, with a great technological industry. You can think of a Hypene as a kind of subspace tunnel that serves as a sort of high-speed highway between star systems. It¡¯s said that if you make use of it, you can travel a few tens, or even hundreds, of lightyears in a significantly shorter period of time.

    And the Sierra star system is a ce famous for being a vacation destination due to being a resort system, it seems.

    So what¡¯s a resort system, you ask? In other words, it was somewhere non-first ss imperial citizens, mercenaries who aren¡¯t imperial subjects to begin with, and other such foreign visitors go to in order to enjoy various activities experiencing nature in tourists, mountain climbing, sailing, hunting for local wildlife and eating their meat via outdoor barbecue and the like.

    By the way, having a real nature experience means that you get to see things like a natural sunrise, naturally formed white clouds floating in a vast, blue sky, asional rains, sunset, a clear view of the starry sky, and even witness shooting stars if you¡¯re lucky enough. That is the ultimate nature experience. At least, that¡¯s what¡¯s written in the tourist pamphlet of the Sierra star system we had on our hands.

    ¡°It somehow sounds really grand!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Those aren¡¯t stuff people born and raised in colonies get to experience often.¡±

    Mimi smiled cheerfully as she held a tablet disying a virtual pamphlet of the Sierra star system on it. Elma agreed with her words and smiled back.

    I woke up with Mimi earlier, entered the bathroom and took a shower together, and went to the dining room after refreshing ourselves. We were currently in the middle of an after-meal break after having breakfast.

    ¡°Hm¡­¡­¡±

    All the things that Mimi found impressive were already quite familiar to me. In other words, it was like a nature camp-out, right? I didn¡¯t really see anything worth getting too hyped up about, honestly. But that¡¯s just me.

    But on the other hand, there¡¯s a good chance to see Mimi and Elma wearing skimpy swimsuits under a blue sky on a white sand beach. Now that¡¯s something worth getting excited about. I definitely wanna get a load of that. Well, at least I¡¯m gonna get to experience going on a vacation in a different dimension. Let¡¯s just enjoy it to the fullest.

    Oops. The talk got derailed a bit. Let¡¯s get back to talking about the Sierra star system.

    I mentioned earlier that the Sierra system is a resort system, and it indeed had a lot of habitables, but it doesn¡¯t mean there are no colonies present. They function as ry points to transfer supplies and materials to and from the variouss, lodging ces for those tourists waiting for their turn to have the nature experience tours, and expo sites for all the various exotic products produced and gathered from the resorts in the system. Many colonies with varied functions such as these existed there.

    But it seems quite a lot of people living in colonies aren¡¯t able to afford the high costs of going in a vacation on these types of resort systems, so they just choose the next best thing and have their vacations in thefort of their own homes via a simted virtual environment. But isn¡¯t something like thatpletely missing the point of a vacation in the first ce?

    That¡¯s about it for the introduction of the Sierra star system as a tourist destination. Now let¡¯s talk about the Sierra system as a viable pirate hunting ground for mercs.

    Since it¡¯s a resort system, there are naturally a lot of tourists visiting all the time. There are many passenger cruisers operating within the area, as well as ship escorts assigned for their protection. And there were also many cargo transport ships carrying supplies and materials between the various colonies ands in the system, and even from other neighboring star systems.

    Now then, I¡¯m sure you guys can already tell. If there¡¯s a great number of civilian and mercantile traffic, chances are, ¡®those guys¡¯ would also appear. Pirates, I mean. Since they chose to go on vacation on a resort system, it¡¯s fairly safe to assume the tourists on the passenger ships were all of the wealthy sorts. There were many uses for them in the pirate¡¯s eyes. They could be kidnapped and ransomed away for a great amount of cash, sold as ves in the ck market, or used as an outlet of lust for those guys and certain sorts of clients.

    And the cargo transport ships are a no-brainer. There were quite a lot of merchants vessels carrying high-value goods. Even if that¡¯s not the case, they could still be carrying things like luxury items, food, and drinks. There¡¯s no reason for pirates not to go after them.

    Of course those transport ships aren¡¯t without defenses. There were sure to be guard ships escorting them during their travels. That¡¯s why pirates in this system always form raid groups so they can sessfully attack the civilian ships. And in lieu of necessity, the pirate raid groups in this system areposed of twenty to thirty ships instead of the usual ten-something.

    The jobs mercenaries can take aren¡¯t limited to pirate hunting but escort missions as well. In any case, due to the difficulty of going at it alone in this kind of environment, the mercenaries in the Mercenary Guild branch of the Sierra Prime colony often form unofficial ¡®fleets¡¯ and work in teams toplete missions.

    ¡°Hiro?¡±

    ¡°Hm? What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°No. I was just curious about why you¡¯re suddenly all quiet. What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°I was just thinking about some stuff. Like what¡¯s the most effective method for earning money in the Sierra star system.¡±

    ¡°Oh? You¡¯re unexpectedly thinking about some serious stuff for a change. To think you¡¯re actually concentrating on business even though we¡¯re heading to a resort system.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to feel about that ¡®unexpected¡¯ part¡­¡­ Well, this is kinda like a habit of mine.¡±

    I shrugged my shoulders and answered Elma, who was giving me a side-eye. In fact, this may actually be a habit formed by many in my home country. You know. There are a lot of guys over there who¡¯d end up working until they¡¯re almost dead if you left them alone.

    ¡°In any case, we should go to Sierra Prime first.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It seems we also need to ce a reservation in the colony before we can go on a vacation tour on a resort anyway.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s head over right away once we exit hyperspace. How much longer before wee out?¡±

    ¡°About one more hour.¡±

    ¡°We have enough time to work up a sweat in the training room then.¡±

    ¡°Someone¡¯s working hard.¡±

    ¡°A healthy mind lives in a healthy body, as they say.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t sound convincing when you¡¯re the one saying it.¡±

    ¡°How cold. I¡¯m quite the exemry gentleman you know.¡±

    ¡°Try to look at yourself in the mirror and say that again.¡±

    Elma gave me another disdainful side-eye. But it can¡¯t be helped, y¡¯see. For some reason, the games in this dimension just don¡¯t interest me at all. In terms of ways to kill time, I could only either read some e-books, work up a sweat in the training room, or work up a sweat with Mimi and Elma in the bedroom. But it might really be a good time for me to find a hobby or something in this dimension.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, I¡¯ll join you!¡±

    ¡°I see. Let¡¯s go then.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯ming along too.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    For some reason, not just Mimi, but even Elma offered toe with me to the training room. But the training room¡¯s not all that spacious y¡¯know. Oh well.

    The three of us then proceeded to work out. I chose the menu focusing on building up muscle. Mimi chose the one tailored to build stamina. Elma, on the other hand, did some workouts that improve her flexibility and explosiveness.

    ¡°Owowowow!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not very flexible, aren¡¯t you? It¡¯s important to improve flexibility in order to take advantage of all that muscle, you know.¡±

    ¡°Oooow!? I can¡¯t bend that much! I really can¡¯t bend that much, okay!?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. You can do it. C¡¯mon. There you go. Do your best? Do your best?¡±

    ¡°Aaah¡ª!?¡±

    I tried out the flexibility exercises, but Elma was merciless. She kept forcibly trying to bend my joints. I¡¯ll die you know.

    ¡°Is it really that hard?¡±

    ¡°Mimi¡¯s already pretty flexible after all.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m pretty confident in my body¡¯s flexibility!¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡­¡±

    Stop casually having a nice conversation like that and pay attention to me too, please! I¡¯m gonna cry here! I¡¯m really gonna cry!

    With that, we finished up each of our training routines, with Mimi and Elma feeling quite refreshed after the workout, and me feeling quite sore from getting my limbs and joints stretched out. Should I get this treated at the med pod¡­¡­?

    ¡°We¡¯ll being out of subspace soon. Countdown start. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1¡­¡­ Warping out!¡±

    Should I describe the sound as ¡®gyoiooon¡¯? Or is ¡®gyuoooon¡¯ better? Anyway, the ship finally got itself out of the multicolored light stream and tunneled out to normal space along with a peculiar wailing sound.

    ¡°Downloading star system data. Checking coordinates¡­ We¡¯ve sessfully arrived at the target destination.¡±

    ¡°Please send me the navigation data for Sierra Prime.¡±

    After a short while, Elma sent me the navigation data of the Sierra system as well as the immediate area. Mimi¡¯s already inputted the exact navigation coordinates earlier. It was work the two of them have quite a couple of times already ever since we left the Termaine system. It looks like Mimi¡¯s already getting a hang of it. Her work went smoother this timepared to before.

    ¡°Alright. Shall we get going? Start charging the FTL Drive.¡±

    ¡°Roger. FTL Drive, charging start. Count start. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1¡­¡­ Chargingplete.¡±

    ¡°FTL Drive, activate.¡±

    The Krishna activated its FTL drive with a loud boom as usual. The stationary stars started trailing behind the ship once more.

    ¡°We¡¯ll arrive at the Sierra Prime colony in¡­¡­ about an hour without any emergencies along the way.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. If we encountered trouble again likest time-¡±

    Maybe Mimi saying that triggered a g or something? An rm started ringing out inside the cockpit.

    ¡°¡­¡­Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Eh!? Is this my fault!?¡±

    When I called her out, Mimi started tearing up.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not really your fault, Mimi. It¡¯s just a coincidence, okay.¡±

    ¡°Well someone sure is rxed even after being hit by an interdictor¡­¡­¡±

    An interdictor is a device that can arbitrarily force the FTL Drive of a ship to stop, bringing it out to normal space again. I¡¯m not sure how the thing works as usual, but it seems it has to do something with interfering with gravity and mass or something. It was an absurd dimension as always, but anyway, there are only two groups that actively make use of interdictors¡­¡­ No, three, rather.

    The first is the imperial military. Privatebat ships traveling all alone like Krishna here can be said to be suspicious in a certain sense over here. Mercenary ships like us are usually part of an escort contingent for merchant fleets or move with other ships in teams in this particr system after all. Any lone ship sailing through space in these parts can only be lone wolf mercenaries or rogue pirates. In other words, the imperial military has the right to use an interdictor to forcefully stop suspicious ships like that in its tracks in order to inspect them.

    The other is, of course, pirates. They¡¯d use interdictors to stop private passenger cruisers and the like in their tracks in order to attack them.

    Thest one is mercenaries like us. There are times when our targets try to make a run for it while we¡¯re hunting them down, so we use an interdictor to prevent them from using their FTL Drives to escape. Krishna also has some onboard. But we rarely use them though.

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a good chance it¡¯s pirates.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    They hit us with an interdictor without so much as a warning after all. Elma also thinks pirates are the likely cause.

    ¡°I wonder why they targeted us?¡±

    ¡°Maybe cause we¡¯re a lone ship. I believe they were able to detect us via radar the moment we exited the Hypene.¡±

    We tried tracing the source point of the gravity interference created by the interdictor while exchanging some light banter. The guys who used the interdictor on us are kinda amateurish. We could actually easily escape from them now if we had the mind to.

    ¡°Shall we get em?¡±

    ¡°Shall we? I heard the pirates in this system work in fairlyrge groups though?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Judging from the timing they used the interdictor, I¡¯m sure they¡¯re not that special.¡±

    ¡°Really? Well, I guess. Let¡¯s go ahead andy it to them then.¡±

    ¡°Right. Mimi, battle prep. There are probably gonna be quite a number of them, so focus on the radar, okay. And brace for Gs as well. I may make some forceful maneuverster.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Elma, release the chaff once we get booted out to normal space. Release some res too if needed.¡±

    ¡°I know. I¡¯ll do it like always.¡±

    ¡°Great. Let¡¯s go wild then.¡±

    I dropped the power and obediently canceled the FTL drive without going against the interdictor. Now that we¡¯ve chosen to fight, it would be better to deactivate the drive ourselves than to wait for it to get forcibly deactivated.

    *Boom! The FTL drive finally deactivated, and the flowing stars in the distance turned into stationary light motes again.

    ¡°We¡¯ve been locked on to by unidentified ships! There are ten enemy signatures on the radar!¡±

    ¡°Releasing chaff!¡±

    ¡°Weapon systems online! Let¡¯s go!¡±

    The generator¡¯s power output went up to battle level within moments. Now then, it¡¯s showtime.

 Chapter 60 â€“ The Peerless Pullback Tactic

    <h4>Chapter 60 - The Peerless Pullback Tactic</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    There were a total of thirteen enemies behind us. Having our backside exposed to enemy fire right from the start of the battle isn¡¯t amusing in the least.

    But we still had an overwhelming advantage in terms of shield capacity and firepower. We have a full batch of shield cells ready as well. I guess taking a brute force approach every once in a while ain¡¯t so bad.

    ¡°We¡¯re going for a frontal shootout this time, girls.¡±

    ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    ¡°Very.¡±

    I immediately deployed the ship¡¯s four maniptor arms equipped with heavyser cannons and the two ballistic shotgun cannons on both sides of the cockpit block as I fired up the thrusters to maximum.

    ¡ºWhat the hell? So yer runnin away? Ya coward!¡»

    ¡ºGyahaha! Do you think you can escape with thirteen ships surrounding you?¡»

    I¡¯m not really trying to run away though. I inwardly thought so as I kept taking distance from the pirates. Even though I said we were going for a frontal shootout earlier, it doesn¡¯t mean I nned on staying put while trading shots. It would be troublesome to take enemy fire from all sides after all.

    ¡°Are we going to run away like this? Our ship is certainly faster so we do have a good chance of escaping, but¡­¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no way we¡¯re bailing out.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re gonna do this instead.¡±

    ¡ºCrap, that one¡¯s faster than expecte-!?¡»

    I made the Krishna do a high-speed turn by firing out a couple of the attitude control sub-thrusters while maintaining the momentum built up earlier by rushing forward at top speed. As a result, Krishna, that had its backsidepletely exposed to the enemies earlier, was finally able to face the thirteen pirate ships head-on while still maintaining its earlier escaping speed.

    ¡°Well, that pullback maneuver sure was smooth.¡±

    ¡°Course it was.¡±

    Krishna fired all four heavysers against the enemy pirate ships giving chase while maintaining distance using the sub-thrusters in front of the ship. Pirate ships generally prioritize firepower, so their shield strengths were rtively poor.

    The azure light projectiles fired out by the heavyser cannons easily prated the flimsy energy shields of the enemy pirate ships like they were nothing more than shoji paper, melting their armor and sting through their hulls.

    ¡ºThe shield was prated in one hit!? Gaaaaaaaaaa!?¡±¡»

    ¡ºM-Missiles! Fire everything at em!¡»

    Four of the enemy ships exploded, but the remaining nine fired heat-seeker missiles at us. It looks like they fired all they got in order for the deaths of theirrades to not be in vain or something like that.

    That sure puts a tear in my eye guys. But it¡¯s meaningless.

    ¡ºW-What the-!? The missiles!-? Guwaaah!?¡»

    I intercepted all the heat-seeker missiles by firing off the two ballistic shotgun cannons, causing arge chain explosion. I then used said explosion as a screen in order tond more hits using theser cannons. The pirate ships fired back using their ownser cannons and multi-cannons, but they were unable to put even as much as a scratch on Krishna due to our high-output shields.

    ¡ºCrap! We thought this was delicious prey, but we ended up provoking a monster! We¡¯re gonna run for it, you bastards!¡»

    I shot down another four ships. That leaves five more. Did that lead ship manage to survive until now because it was always hanging out back while the others took the heat? I mulled over such pointless stuff while picking off the remaining pirate ships with the heavysers.

    ¡ºCrap! Craaaap! I don¡¯t wanna die! I don¡¯t wanna die! I don¡¯t-¡»

    Thest ship took the full brunt of our fourser cannons and exploded. Did that guy have a habit of saying ¡®crap¡¯ over and over again? Oh, yeah. It sure takes back to my FPS days. There was a guy who kept saying ¡®crap¡¯ all the time back then as well. He sounded like a broken radio.

    ¡°Situation clear. Hm. The difference in our specs was just too huge, so it was pretty one-sided.¡±

    ¡°This ship is just too much of a cheat. Isn¡¯t the generator output just absurd? It looks like a small ship, but the output of its generator and its firepower rival that of arge warship.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t deny that it¡¯s a cheat. But the handling of this thing is quite peaky you know.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s right too, I guess. It¡¯s not as much as the Swan though.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll worship you as a goddess if you ever master that kind of ship, Elma¡­¡­ That one¡¯s just too much for me as well.¡±

    While talking casually with Elma, I moved Krishna toward the pirate ship wreckage in order tomence salvaging operations.

    ¡°They¡¯re always like this, but, I mean¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi turned aplicated gaze toward me and Elma, who were busy talking animatedly with each other in a harmonious fashion. Fumu. Was she bothered that we didn¡¯t really care about the deaths earlier?

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are you wondering why we¡¯re so calm even after killing people?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi hesitated to reply after hearing Elma¡¯s question. I¡¯m sure that¡¯s exactly how she feels, but she¡¯s just afraid of rubbing Elma and I the wrong way, so she¡¯s keeping mum instead.

    ¡°You know Mimi, if you keep worrying about things like that, it¡¯ll just be a vicious cycle. Those were space pirates who attack and kill innocent civilians like it was nothing, okay. But I do understand it¡¯s hard to reconcile with one¡¯s feelings at first even though you understand the logic.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just as Hiro says. There¡¯s no need to pay attention to the dying screams of those kinds of idiots. Those scum have always ignored the screams and begging of their victims after all. It¡¯s their just desserts, so to speak.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes.¡±

    Mimi answered us in a downhearted voice. My seat was a bit far from hers, so I couldn¡¯t see her face, but I¡¯m sure she was disying a depressed expression right now.

    ¡°Well, this might sound rather callous, but I think you¡¯re better off being that way, Mimi. I and Elma are like this, y¡¯see. I think someone like Mimi, who still holds on to yourpassionate heart, can act as the voice of conscience and reason for this ship from time to time.¡±

    ¡°Hey, I also have a conscience you know¡­? But Mimi, you absolutely cannot show any mercy to pirates, okay. If you ever let at least one escape, tens, or even hundreds of innocent lives will be the price to pay.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes.¡±

    Hmmm. The tension just won¡¯t go back down. I¡¯m not sure about what exactly I should say to lighten the mood at times like this. Sorry, Mimi.

    ¡°They don¡¯t seem to be carrying much cargo.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. We only got some canned food, alcohol, and a small number of rare metals. Is there some equipment that¡¯s worth taking away with us¡­ Oh.¡±

    As I was controlling the drone to look for loot, I managed to find something that made me involuntarily sigh.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°I might have found something troublesome here.¡±

    ¡°Eh? What is it? Another singing crystal?¡±

    ¡°Nope. Here, take a look.¡±

    I sent the image data to Mimi and Elma¡¯s terminals.

    ¡°This is¡­¡­ a cold sleep pod? Geh. And it looks like it has someone inside.¡±

    After seeing the images I sent, Elma let out an unwilling voice.

    A cold sleep, simply speaking, is an emergency escape pod usually equipped on passenger ships. Humans who enter inside them are put into a state of suspended animation under really low temperatures, suppressing their metabolism to extremely low levels, which would allow them to survive with limited resources for a long period of time.

    A rescue signal is set to be emitted from the pod at a set period of time after being ejected from a ship, and it is a system that would give the escaped person a chance to be recovered by other passing ships while they are kept alive under the cold sleep state. By the way, in Ste Online, it¡¯s merely treated as a cash item. But in this world, it won¡¯t be the case for sure.

    ¡°It has someone inside¡­¡­ So it¡¯s a survivor?¡±

    ¡°That would be the case if nothing¡¯s wrong with the pod¡­¡­ And we can¡¯t exactly leave it drifting around like this.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡±

    The discoverers of such pods are also obligated to rescue them under universalw. If it was ever found out that you ignored one such pod, it would be a capital crime, and you¡¯d get a bounty put on your head. Mercs and merchants who tantly ignore things like these while betting that they won¡¯t be found out mostly end up with a big, fat bounty on their heads.

    ¡°Well, better retrieve it then¡­¡­ and head as fast as we can for the nearest colony.¡±

    ¡°We came here for a vacation and encountered something so troublesome right off the bat¡­¡­ Well, getting attacked by pirates is also quite unlucky as well though.¡±

    ¡°Um, why does it sound like you¡¯re not very willing, you two¡­¡­?¡±

    After hearing Mimi¡¯s question, my and Elma¡¯s eyes met. The main pilot seat and the sub-pilot seat were adjacent to each other, so we can freely meet eyes like this.

    And right now we were trying to pass the responsibility of exining what¡¯s up to Mimi on each other with our gazes¡­¡­ Oh man. Mimi already took a hit earlier with the pirate deaths, so telling her about the reason for our reluctance to rescue the pod is a little awkward.

    In the end, Elma gave in first. She sighed and began exining.

    ¡°When using a cold sleep pod, there¡¯s a good chance of the person inside having some gaps in his or her memories as a side effect. That¡¯s why the rescuer is obliged to take care of the person inside the pod for a week or so. Once their memories return, the rescuer can also charge the expenses incurred during that one week period.¡±

    ¡°In other words, we can¡¯t go on our nned vacation for at least one week, and we can¡¯t hunt pirates either¡­¡­ Well, we¡¯re rescuing a person, so I guess it can¡¯t be helped.¡±

    ¡°I see. But I think rescuing people is a good thing. I and Elma-san were rescued by Hiro-sama after all.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­That¡¯s right, I guess. It feels like we¡¯re gonna get punished or something by thinking something like this is unlucky. But I do hope there¡¯s nothing wrong with the ¡®contents¡¯ of that pod.¡±

    ¡°The ¡®contents¡¯ huh¡­¡­ That sure makes me think twice about opening that pod or not.¡±

    It would be nice if the person inside can stay rational even after being put into cold sleep¡­¡­ But ording to Elma, there are lots of cases where survivors behaved pretty unreasonably.

    ¡°In any case, let¡¯s hurry and head to the Sierra Prime colony first. We¡¯re done with recovering the loot anyway.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. Mimi, set a new navigation route for us please.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m updating the navigation data now.¡±

    After the navigation data for the Sierra Prime colony was set, the main monitor inside the cockpit disyed our new route.

    ¡°Yosh, let¡¯s go. FTL Drive, charging start.¡±

    ¡°Roger. Charging, start.¡±

    And so, we shoved the cold sleep pod with unknown contents inside the cargo hold and headed for the Sierra Prime colony.

    All the while unsuspecting of all the trouble the mysterious ¡®contents¡¯ of that pod will bring uster on.

 Chapter 61 â€“ Sleeping Princess

    <h4>Chapter 61 - Sleeping Princess</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The Sierra Prime colony looked to be the same torus-type colony as the Termaine Prime colony where I, Mimi, and Elma met each other¡­¡­ but it was a bona fide tire-shaped supercolony with high-performance mobile elevators and arge-scale low-gravity port block.

    It was considerablyrgerpared to Termaine Prime, and the number of ¡®tire spokes¡¯ as well as the tire-shaped ring section¡¯s thickness were at least two times that of Termaine Prime. Just how many tens of thousands of people can this thing amodate?

    ¡°It resembles Termaine Prime colony a lot.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re the same colony type after all. But the interior facilities are worlds apart.¡±

    Mimi and Elna were talking with each other, but Mimi¡¯s voicecked its usual liveliness. She may have been hit by a wave of nostalgia after seeing a colony that resembled the one she was from.

    ¡°Mimi, send out a docking request.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes!¡±

    Mimi followed my instructions and sent out a docking request to the port administration of the Sierra Prime colony. After a short while, a reply from the port administration was sent back. We were allowed to dock inside hangar number thirty-two.

    ¡°Yosh, let¡¯s go. And we should pay attention to driving safely.¡±

    ¡°I guess. Drive safely huh.¡±

    Elma¡¯s gaze seemed like it was aimed at something far away. I guess it¡¯s because she was reminded of the debt she incurred when she caused an ident a while back. Well, it¡¯s not like all fault lies with her¡­ Nah, as a matter of fact, it kinda does huh. Yeah, it definitely does. Come to think of it, just what kind of treatment does that type of spaceship with a fatal defect receive in this dimension? If it were a car, then every unit would definitely have to be recalled. I¡¯ll look it upter.

    Now then, even though there was a lot of traffic in this port, we were able to sessfully dock without causing any type of ident. Well, I guess this was just a piece of cake for someone experienced like me. Most of the newbies in Ste Online couldn¡¯t really dock their spaceships all that well at first and spend their time flitting precariously here and there, scrape their bottoms on the walls, mistakenly going in reverse and hitting something or other, among all sorts of clumsy blunders.

    Once you¡¯re a bit more experienced, docking safely inside a hangar bes second nature. Just like me. Well, in other words, you finally discover the wonders of automatic docking.

    ¡°The use of auto-docking is utterly evil¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°What did the auto-docking function ever do to you anyway? Did it kill your parents or something?¡±

    ¡°Now, now, isn¡¯t it fine since it¡¯s convenient?¡±

    Mimiforted Elma, who was totally against auto-docking for some reason. Just why does Elma hate the auto-docking function to this extent anyway? Maybe something traumatic happened to her in the past.

    ¡°Where should we contact to take care of the cold sleep pod?¡±

    ¡°You can just inform the port administration about it. They also hold jurisdiction over the enforcement of space travelws after all.¡±

    ¡°I see. Please take care of our temporary residence application, Mimi. I¡¯ll take care of informing the port administration about the cold sleep pod. Please offer support as you see fit, Elma.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. I got it.¡±

    Saying yes one time is enough you know. I didn¡¯t voice that opinion in the end though and gave the port administration office a call. The call connected immediately. It was a woman¡¯s voice on the other line.

    ¡ºThis is the port administration office.¡»

    ¡°This is Captain Hiro, a mercenary affiliated with the Mercenary Guild. My ship¡¯s name is Krishna. We are currently docked at hangar number thirty-two.¡±

    ¡ºPlease wait while I verify¡­¡­ Verificationplete. Do you have any inquiries for us, Captain Hiro?¡»

    ¡°Well, I guess you can call it an inquiry. We were attacked by pirates when we arrived at this system and we managed to defeat them, but we found an unopened cold sleep pod among the wreckages.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood. So you rescued the survivor, correct? So you need a witness before opening the pod. Are you already familiar with your responsibilities as the rescuer?¡»

    ¡°Yeah. We¡¯re required to shelter the survivor for one week, right? But what happens when the rescued person ends up with no idea about where they¡¯re from?¡±

    ¡ºWe will be confirming the person¡¯s identity within the one week period, so you don¡¯t have to worry. If the person is an imperial citizen, we will have almost 100% certainty of determining their identity.¡»

    ¡°¡­¡­And what happens if the person¡¯s not an imperial citizen?¡±

    ¡ºIn that case, the empire will take over custody of the subject. But we are not able to divulge their future treatment if that happens.¡»

    Thedy from the port administration office continued to talk with a cheery tone. It was kinda scary imagining what will happen if they take over custody, so I didn¡¯t ask. I¡¯ll just pray that the person inside the cold sleep pod is an imperial citizen.

    ¡°What procedures should we go through with, exactly? Are you going to open the pod inside our ship¡¯s cargo hold?¡±

    ¡ºNo, we have a specialized space for that, so please send the pod here. I¡¯ll send you the cargo transfer application, so please fill it out and send it back to us. The transfer code is¡­¡­¡»

    I entered the cargo transfer code dictated by the port administration staff on the cockpit¡¯s main console and started the transfer procedures for the cold sleep pod. With this, the pod will be delivered to the designated area inside the colony using the cargo transfer system. I do feel a bit awkward about treating the cold sleep pod with a living(?) person still inside as cargo though.

    ¡ºI¡¯ve confirmed the required documents. Pleasee over as soon as you can. We would like to start the opening procedures for the cold sleep pod right away after all.¡»

    They¡¯re not even considering our circumstances! Well, the longer a person stays inside a cold sleep pod, the worse the memorypses be after all. So I guess it was only proper to open the pod as soon as possible.

    ¡°You guys heard that, right? I¡¯ll have to head to the port administration office now. One of you shoulde with me as well.¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t Elma-san be better? I do not have much experience when ites to these sorts of situations after all, so I think Elma-san, who can cope with unexpected situations better than me, would be more suited.¡±

    ¡°That may be the case, but¡­¡­ Oh, alright. Let¡¯s go then.¡±

    Elma thought for a bit and then nodded in assent. I don¡¯t know what exactly she thought about earlier, but it didn¡¯t seem she was reluctant because she thought it would be troublesome.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be going then. Go ahead and dispose of our cargo and the loot while we¡¯re out. I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please don¡¯t worry!¡±

    After being entrusted with taking care of the cargo and the loot, Mimi disyed a cute smile. The cargo I was referring to was the goods we brought over from the Alein star system. I didn¡¯t know the functions of most of the stuff they brought over, but Mimi and Elma seem to have chosen them with the Sierra star system, which is ssified as a resort system, in mind.

    Although it wasn¡¯t really that big, the cargo hold of the Krishna still had lots of unused space, so Mimi and Elma thought it was a waste not to put that space to good use. So they actually came up with the idea of trading goods between systems to take advantage of the free space. I, as the captain of the ship, will have a fifty percent cut of the profits, while Mimi and Elma will share the other fifty.

    I would have been okay even if my share was a bit smaller, but since trading goods between systems wouldn¡¯t be possible without Krishna in the first ce, I guess that profit allocation can be considered as justified. In any case, I did bring up the idea of reducing my share, but I lost the argument in the end.

    I and Elma exited the cockpit and got down from Krishna. We then headed to the port administration office inside the colony.

    ¡°Why¡¯d you hesitate earlier anyway?¡±

    ¡°I was thinking that we would probably be encountering more situations like this in the future, so I wanted Mimi to gain some experience. But I also considered that letting you gain some experience first, and then letting Mimi tag along with you the next time will be more efficient. So in the end, I agreed to go with you instead.¡±

    ¡°I see. Well then, I will be in your care once again, Elma-senpai.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since youst addressed me like that.¡±

    We walked while making small talk like that and finally reached the port administration office.

    ¡°The buildings all look the same.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because they prioritized efficiency. All the units are prefabricated after all, so all they had to do was simply assemble them. On the other hand, having something ¡®unique¡¯ is looked upon as an unneeded luxury. We have to make efficient use of the limited living space and resources out here after all.¡±

    ¡°I see. So that¡¯s it.¡±

    I actually thought this type of style was just simply copied and pasted from the game since this world resembled Ste Online so much, but there was actually a logical reason for the monotonous buildings.

    When we entered the port administration building, I saw a wide counter with several staff members manning it, as well as lots of visitors with different appearances. There were people who were dressed in the typical mercenary style like us, and there were also people who wore suits just like the staff at the counter. Of course, there weren¡¯t any weirdos wearing power armor here.

    ¡°I¡¯m Captain Hiro, the one who called about the cold sleep pod earlier.¡±

    ¡°Cold sleep pod¡­¡­ Yes, I¡¯ve confirmed it. It has already arrived here as well. Please head to the first pod opening room. It¡¯s the first room along that hallway.¡±

    ¡°First pod opening room. Okay.¡±

    We walked toward the hallway the staff pointed toward and reached the first pod opening room. A number of port administration staff were already in the pod opening room when we arrived. There were also people who stuck cords onto the cold sleep pod and connected it to a console.

    ¡°Hello there. You¡¯re Captain Hiro, I take it?¡±

    The one who called out to me was a middle-aged guy. He was most likely either in his mid-thirties or early forties. His way of speaking was rxed, but his body was well built, and he didn¡¯t look like your typical government employee. He was an uncle with a bit of a badass look.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. And you are?¡±

    ¡°Just a port administration office staff member. The name¡¯s Bruno.¡±

    He held his hand out for a handshake, so I went ahead and obliged. He seems to have quite a grip.

    ¡°And this prettydy is?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s Elma. My crew member.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Hee. How enviable.¡±

    Bruno looked at Elma and said so with a voice that sounded like he was truly jealous. Well, since she was a crew member of a merc like me, he took us to be in ¡®that¡¯ kind of rtionship. Well, he did get it right though. I wonder how this guy would react if he found out that there was a beautiful big breasted loli crew member as well?

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s get to business then¡­ The one inside the pod seems to be alright for the most part. We¡¯re in the middle of the thawing and revival process right now. And it looks like the one inside is a girl.¡±

    ¡°A girl huh¡­ Well, I have Mimi and Elma with me, so I guess taking care of her wouldn¡¯t be too hard.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s also more convenient for us if it¡¯s a girl.¡±

    We would have had some trouble if it turned out to be a brawny uncle instead. Well, I guess we could still deal with him somehow. Mimi and Elma could have rented out amodations inside the colony while I stayed together with the uncle inside Krishna. The reverse was also an option.

    ¡°Any other info?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. This cold sleep pod was ejected from a luxury passenger cruiser three months back. It was a luxury cruise ship, so the passengers were basically all well-to-do individuals or imperial nobles. There¡¯s a good chance this girl is the daughter of one of those passengers.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­This is going to turn out to be quite troublesome huh?¡±

    ¡°You have my sympathies. But since you rescued their daughter, you can probably expect a possiblevish reward. so it¡¯s not so bad.¡±

    Bruno shrugged as he said so. It would be fine if the youngdy in this pod was the meek and obedient type, but if she were the selfish, entitled brat type, then we¡¯re going to have a problem.

    ¡°Well, she¡¯s a girl, so I¡¯ll just leave her to Mimi and you, Elma.¡±

    ¡°Hey!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m counting on you.¡±

    ¡°Ohe on.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m counting on you!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Elma rolled her eyes at me as I forcefully shoved all responsibility to her. But it can¡¯t be helped, right? Regardless of whether she was an obedient kid or not, a youngdy of high standing like her really shouldn¡¯t be in contact with a ssless guy like me.

    ¡°Vitals are stable. Ready for opening.¡±

    ¡°Yosh. Here we go. Are you ready, Captain?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m always ready. There¡¯s no point in dying things, so let¡¯s just get this over with.¡±

    ¡°That sounds promising. Begin the unlocking process.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Starting process.¡±

    The hatch of the cold sleep pod slowly opened, releasing cold, white vapor inside the room. I approached the pod and took a look inside. I found a cute young girl with shiny, ck hair in a princess-style bob cut lying inside the pod.

    Thinking it would be pretty unfortunate if the first thing she saw upon waking up was the face of a rough guy like me, I started taking distance.

    ¡°Mm!?¡±

    Suddenly, the delicate arms of the young girl inside the pod stretched out and grabbed the hem of my clothes. She looked confused and started shaking.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t leave me, father¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°Well now¡­¡­¡±

    The eyes of the young girl grabbing the hem of my clothes started moistening up. It looked like she would burst into tears at any time. I turned to Elma, Bruno, and the rest of the port administration staff for help, but they all just shrugged their shoulders and smiled wryly at me. It looks like no one¡¯s nning toe to my rescue.

    ¡°¡­¡­Haa. Okay, I understand.¡±

    I put my hand over the young girl¡¯s delicate hand that was tightly grabbing onto my clothes. She grasped my hand back, smiled sweetly, and proceeded to lose consciousness once more. It looks like she fell asleep. She was still grasping my hand.

    ¡°¡­¡­So what should I do about this?¡±

    ¡°I guess you should stay like that until she wakes up again, right, Bruno? I¡¯ll go ahead and fill up the forms for you in the meantime.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s a good thing that the rtionship between the rescuer and the survivor seems to have started out quite favorably.¡±

    I brought my gaze up to the ceiling as my hand continued to be grasped by the peacefully sleeping raven haired princess in front of me.

    Just how did this happen?

 Chapter 62 â€“ Real Big Trouble

    <h4>Chapter 62 - Real Big Trouble</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The ck-haired young girl still hasn¡¯t woken up. When you¡¯re put into cold sleep, you¡¯re not actually asleep, but rather, you¡¯re in a state of suspended animation, and it takes quite some time for your body to readjust once you¡¯ve been brought out of the cold sleep state, ording to what I¡¯ve heard anyway.

    In other words, that¡¯s why the young girl still hasn¡¯t regained consciousness until now.

    ¡°N, Nn¡­¡­¡±

    The girl¡¯s face scrunched up cutely. Is she having a bad dream or something? Her little hand is still gripping mine tightly, and it looks like she isn¡¯t letting go anytime soon. I lightly squeezed the young girl¡¯s hand. She squeezed back, and her expression turned for the better.

    ¡°I¡¯m not really all that good at babysitting y¡¯know¡­¡­¡±

    I let out a small sigh as I challenged something I wasn¡¯t particrly used to. I wonder what I should do once she wakes up? If she ends waking up to find her hand being gripped by an unfamiliar uncle, would it turn into a ¡°Hello, FBI?¡± development or something?

    Nah, the port administration staff knows what¡¯s up anyway, and the control AI of the facility is keeping tabs on us constantly as well, so I guess there¡¯s nothing to worry about on that front. But just who would be the one to exin exactly what¡¯s going on to her once she wakes up?

    Me? Am I the one who needs to exin this mess?

    Judging from her apparent age, it doesn¡¯t seem likely that she was traveling alone. She probably boarded the passenger cruiser together with her family. But she ended up the only one who drifted into outer space and got picked up by pirates. What happened to the rest of her family? Just what kind of situation happened which prompted her to utter ¡°Don¡¯t go, father.¡± earlier?

    No matter how I think about it, the situation sounded quite dire.

    It looks like the port administration bureau has already looked up her identity, the ship she was on, as well as the current whereabouts of the other passengers, but judging from their expressions earlier, it seems that they ran into some trouble. That sure puts a damper in my mood, especially considering what¡¯s toe from here on out.

    ¡°Haa¡­¡­¡±

    I let out another sigh. I guess the only saving grace so far is one female port admin staff bringing me a stool chair to sit on as an act of kindness after noticing my situation.

    ¡ºI¡¯m going to the Mercenary Guild for a bit.¡»

    That was the contents of the message Elma sent me just now. Looks like she¡¯s finished all the required paperwork.

    ¡ºKay. Our little princess still isn¡¯t showing any signs of waking up.¡»

    ¡ºHow old do you think she is?¡»

    Mimi suddenly asked about our little sleeping beauty in the message app¡¯s group chat. It looks like Mimi¡¯s also curious about our sleeping princess.

    ¡ºI¡¯m not too sure, but it looks like she¡¯s definitely younger than you, Mimi. I guess she¡¯s about ten to twelve, give or take.¡»

    ¡ºBut she¡¯s the same height as Mimi though.¡»

    ¡ºPlease don¡¯t bring up my height into this!¡»

    Elma sent a sticker of a one-eyed alien with a teasing grin, and Mimi responded with a sticker of a creature that looked like a cross between a squirrel and a cat looking all angry in a cartoonish way. You guys sure are having fun.

    Speaking of which, this message app also had the function of uploading pictures taken by the terminal camera, so I took a picture of the sleeping princess and uploaded it to the chat.

    ¡ºAs you can see, our sleeping princess is currently immersed in dreand.¡»

    ¡ºSo cute!¡»

    ¡ºIt¡¯s bad manners to take pictures of people¡¯s faces when they¡¯re asleep y¡¯know¡­ But I do admit she¡¯s cute.¡»

    Mimi sent a sticker of the cat/squirrel creature with heart shaped eyes, while Elma sent an admonishing message.

    ¡ºI¡¯m gonna take pictures of your sleeping faces next time too. Bet they¡¯ll turn out really cute.¡»

    ¡ºJust try it if you wanna see me really get pissed.¡»

    ¡ºW-Well, if you promise to make it look cute, then¡­¡­¡»

    Stickers of an angry one-eyed alien and a cat/squirrel creature fidgeting bashfully were sent my way. Should I send a sticker as well¡­? This dimension¡¯s messaging app doesn¡¯t use any of the characters I¡¯m familiar with though. Well, since we¡¯re technically on vacation, I should find some time to hold a 24-hour holo-movie viewing marathon or something, to familiarize myself with the sub-culture.

    ¡°Nn¡­¡­?¡±

    As I was busy fiddling with my portable terminal with my left hand as I continued to grip the young girl¡¯s hand with my right, she finally woke up. Her vacant-looking gaze wandered around the room until she finally found me, and we started exchanging stares. She tightened her grip on my hand for some reason, so I kinda went with the flow and gripped back.

    ¡°¡­¡­Father?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, but I¡¯m not your father.¡±

    The absentminded gaze of the little princess started wandering around the room again.

    ¡°Father¡­ What about father¡­?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but the only one I found was you.¡±

    After hearing my words, the girl muttered her understanding and closed her eyes. She gripped my hand tightly again.

    ¡°Your hand¡­¡­¡±

    The young girl¡¯s eyes opened once more, and her gaze moved to our hands that were currently sped together.

    ¡°Thank you for holding my hand like this.¡±

    ¡°No, um¡­¡±

    I gently rxed my grip on the young girl¡¯s hand. She squeezed my hand one final time, and then let go. She tried to get up from the pod, so I supported her back and helped her up.

    The eyes of the young girl gazed straight at me once I finished helping her up and she started talking.

    ¡°Thank you very much. I am¡­ My name is Christina Daleinwald. I am the daughter of Friedrich Daleinwald, who is the eldest son and heir apparent of the current Earl Daleinwald.¡±

    That¡¯s some crucial info right there! Um, in other words, this girl¡¯s name is Christina. Her grandpa is the current head of an earldom, and her father, Friedrich, is the next head of the house.

    ¡°I¡¯m Captain Hiro. I¡¯m a Silver rank mercenary affiliated with the Mercenary Guild, and I own the high-speedbat ship, Krishna. Please just call me Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Hiro-sama. Please call me Chris as well.¡±

    After saying that, Chris gave me a slightly uneasy smile. I already thought she was quite the little beauty when I got a good look at her sleeping face earlier, but she¡¯s honestly way damn cute. Her features were quite refined of course, but it was her eyes, which shined like bright onyxes, that really brought out her beauty. In Japan, she would be the so-called ¡°once-in-a-hundred-year beauty¡±. Her body was¡­ well, on the slender side, obviously.

    ¡°For now, let me exin the situation to you first. You can ask everything else you want to know afterward. And, um, is my way of speaking eptable? Do you want me to sound more formal?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. Even if I¡¯m the granddaughter of an earl, I¡¯m still just a young girl with little to no authority.¡±

    Chris answered as she lightly shook her head. I was worried she was your typical bratty princess earlier, but it looks like she¡¯s actually a humble and gentle soul. What a relief.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do as you wish then. First, let¡¯s talk about exactly how I found you. Simply put, I picked you up as part of the loot as I was going through the wreckage of a pirate ship I shot down. You were inside a cold sleep pod and was part of the cargo of said ship. After picking up your cold sleep pod, I immediately headed to this colony, Sierra Prime, brought your cold sleep pod to the colony¡¯s port administration bureau, and had them open it up. And so, we found you inside said pod. We¡¯re currently inside the cold sleep pod unlocking facility of the port administration bureau of this colony, Sierra Prime.

    ¡°¡­¡­I see.¡±

    She seemed to mull over my words a bit and nodded softly after a short while.

    ¡°The rescuer who picks up a cold sleep pod in outer space has an obligation to protect the person found inside it for a short period of time. Generally, it¡¯ll be for a week or so. In other words, I¡¯m tasked with taking care of you for the time being. I have two female crew members on my ship, so I was thinking of having them take care of you for most of your stay. Unfortunately, we don¡¯t have any avable rooms left, but the rooms my female crew are currently using were originally double rooms fit for two persons, so you can just share a room with one of them¡­ but, if you don¡¯t think it¡¯s proper for ady such as yourself to board a man¡¯s private ship, I can just arrange for amodations inside the colony.¡±

    ¡°No, you don¡¯t really have to go so far for me. Staying on your ship should be fine, given the situation.¡±

    Chris answered and shook her head lightly once again. So she¡¯s saying she¡¯s fine with boarding a guy¡¯s private ship in this situation huh. But, seeing as she¡¯s knowledgeable with the usual implication of such a thing, that custom really was treated asmon sense huh.

    ¡°Is that so? Well, I still think you should make your final decision once you¡¯ve seen the ship personally. So, I¡¯ll be taking custody of you for the time being, but you won¡¯t have anything more to worry about once we sessfully get in touch with your grandfather, Earl Daleinwald. In the meantime, I will guarantee your safety, at least until the earl¡¯s peoplee to pick you up.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ So you¡­ so Hiro-sama will protect me?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­? Yeah, I will. It will only be for a short period of time, but I guess I can y the role of the loyal knight of our dear princess.¡±

    Facing the uneasy-looking eyes of Chris, I went down on one knee at the side of the cold sleep pod and put one hand on top of my chest in a theatrical flourish. She was suddenly attacked by pirates, got thrown inside an escape pod, and once she woke up, only I was by her side. I¡¯m sure she¡¯s feeling really anxious right now.

    ¡°Fufu, to think a mercenary piloting abat starship will serve as my personal knight. It feels like I¡¯ve be the heroine of a holo-novel.¡±

    Chris smiled at my exaggerated gestures, but her expression turned serious moments after.

    ¡°Oh, my knight, Hiro-sama. Please lend me your strength and protect me.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What is it that ails you, my princess?¡±

    Chris seemed to have yed along with my joke, so I continued to follow up. It was an impromptu game of make-believe, but she¡¯s a girl who¡¯s younger than Mimi, so it didn¡¯t feel awkward at all.

    ¡°My father, Freidrich Daleinwald, was murdered. And it was at the hands of my uncle, Balthazar Daleinwald, no less. The ones who attacked the ship weren¡¯t pirates. They were most likely my uncle¡¯s private troops. My uncle aimed at my father, who was the next heir, and myself, and had his men attack the passenger ship we boarded.¡±

    ¡­¡­WHAT!?

    ¡°I am nning to tell my grandfather everything, but even so, I have no definite proof. But it is clear to me that the so-called ¡®pirates¡¯ who boarded the ship were obviously aiming for father, mother, and myself. My mother was shot when she protected me, but my father managed to let me escape. However¡­ The reason why the rescue beacon of the cold sleep pod didn¡¯t activate was probably because my father purposefully deactivated or destroyed the transmitter. My uncle is surely aware that I have escaped. I¡¯m sure my uncle¡¯s men are still actively searching for my whereabouts in the Sierra star system even now.¡±

    ¡°Oh my goodness¡­¡­¡±

    I looked up to the ceiling while covering my face with one hand as I blurted out aint in English. So this really turned out to be one hell of a troublesome matter after all. And it¡¯s even a domestic squabble between nobles. That¡¯s way more trouble than I signed up for. How should I put it? The moment I was thrown into this dimension, I¡¯ve gotten involved with one crazy thing after another almost nonstop. Ain¡¯t it just too much? All I wanted was to hunt some pirates small fry, save lots of money, and finally purchase a detached house with a garden on a residential while drinking as much c as I want.

    ¡°It¡¯s far too much trouble, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Chris made a bitter smile. Trouble huh. Well, yeah, it certainly is troublesome. In fact, I can¡¯t call it anything but.

    ¡°Please just forget everything I said to you earlier.¡±

    However¡­ However, so what? Am I supposed to give up without even trying and abandon a powerless young girl who needs help? Me? The pilot of the high-performancebat craft Krishna? The one who helped Mimi and rescued her? The one who couldn¡¯t leave Elma alone?

    No damn way. I¡¯m the kind of guy who can¡¯t leave a cute girl asking for help alone folks.

    Heroic delusions? Acting cool? So what? I¡¯m of the opinion that the creatures called men will have to face something like this head on at least once in their lives if they encounter it, or they wouldn¡¯t even be fit to call themselves men.

    ¡°I¡¯ll need a reward.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m temporarily yourdyship¡¯s personal knight as well as a mercenary. And a knight fighting for the princess, just like a mercenary, needs an appropriate reward for his service. Don¡¯t you think so, mdy?¡±

    Chris went wide-eyed after my deration. Then, the corners of her mouth jerked up.

    ¡°Uh¡­ Um¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Anything¡¯s fine. Now¡¯s the time for negotiations, my princess. What are you going to reward me with?¡±

    Chris looked troubled for some moments. Her eyes then brightened up, as if she remembered something, and she proceeded to take off the ne she was wearing and presented it to me. It was a ne decorated with a brightly shining light purple gem.

    It certainly looked expensive, but I¡¯m not sure how valuable it is exactly. Well, it was something a nobledy like Chris was in possession of, so I¡¯m sure it wasn¡¯t cheap at least.

    ¡°This is my most prized treasure.¡±

    Chris stared at the ne longingly. This ne decorated with a light purple gem was most likely something that held great importance to her.

    ¡°This shall be ced in my care for now then. The actual reward will be given by your grandfather. Once I¡¯ve sessfully protected you from all danger, I shall return the ne without fail. My princess.¡±

    I ced the ne inside my jacket pocket. Chris then held out the back of her hand to me while smiling softly. Am I supposed to kiss the back of her hand or something? Man, that¡¯s kinda embarrassing¡­ but since I¡¯vee this far, then what the heck, let¡¯s do this. I¡¯m a Japanese guy who can read the mood y¡¯know. Yeah, let¡¯s go. I¡¯m doing this guys.

    I suppressed my feelings of embarrassment and kissed the back of Chris¡¯ hand.

    ¡°Fufu, it really is like those holo-novels.¡±

    ¡°It seems my princess is an avid reader¡­¡­ Am I really doing a good job ying the part of an imperial knight?¡±

    ¡°I wonder? I have not yet seen the real thing after all.¡±

    Chris held the hand I kissed close to her chest as she answered me with a bright smile. So I guess this is just one of the things a girl born to imperial nobility fantasizes about huh. Kinda like the naked shirt and naked apron fantasies for men. And that¡¯s just my attempt at an easy-to-understand analogy okay.

    ¡°Anyway, there you have it. It might only be for a limited time, but I am pleased to be in your service, my dear Princess Chris.¡±

    ¡°Yes! I shall be in your care, my knight.¡±

    Chris made a smile akin to that of a blooming flower.

    OK, since everything¡¯s been decided, let¡¯s start working on countermeasures. The enemies have most likely deduced that their target escaped via cold sleep pod by now, so I¡¯m pretty sure they¡¯ll try to scope out the port administration bureau. It¡¯s been three months since the attack, so there¡¯s a chance they¡¯ve cancelled the search, but we can¡¯t take things optimistically like that.

    Now then, the first move is important for this kind of stuff. What should I do now?

    061 - Sleeping Princess

    063 - Holo Video

 Chapter 63 â€“ Holo Video

    <h4>Chapter 63 - Holo Video</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°All the necessary procedures have been taken care of. We¡¯re sorry for all the trouble, Christina-sama.¡±

    ¡°No, it is I who has troubled all of you. Thank you.¡±

    In any case, since Chis woke up atst, we proceeded with finishing the necessary formalities first, since we wouldn¡¯t be able to take any further actions without doing so. We¡¯ve done all the necessary procedures on our end, but Chris¡¯ family also needs to work on theirs as well. I did think of slipping out with Chris in tow immediately earlier, but I decided against it in the end since it would probably lead to more trouble down the line, and I also didn¡¯t want to get Bruno and the other staff get caught up in the mess as well.

    Bruno along with his subordinates asked Chris about the circumstances that led to her being put inside an escape pod and put the details on record, and exined to her about my being put in charge of taking care of her temporarily, as well as the outer space rescuews and regtions that served as the basis for it.

    Chris talked about how her mother was shot while protecting her and how her father overcame all odds to let her escape, but she didn¡¯t say anything about her uncle, Balthazar, to the bureau staff. Perhaps she came to the conclusion that telling Bruno and the other staff about it would be useless in the end.

    It was, in the end, an internal problem within the Daleinwald house after all. The one who has final say regarding these matters wasn¡¯t her, but her grandfather, who was the current head of the house, instead.

    ¡°My grandfather¡­ I wish to contact Earl Abraham Daleinwald if possible.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you can do so via a pre-recorded holo-video message. Are you familiar with the address we need to send it to?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯d like to include him in the video as well, since he¡¯ll be serving as my guardian for the time being. I would also like to talk about some private matters concerning the earldom, so, if possible, I would like for no one else aside from us two to be present while we¡¯re recording the video.¡±

    ¡°Please leave it to us. We have a fully functional holo-message recording facility avable. We also utilize thetest encryption technology, so you don¡¯t need to worry about the contents of your message leaking out. Hey.¡±

    Bruno gave me a stare which seemed to say ¡®Is it okay for this guy to hear about the internal matters of an earl house?¡¯, but it onlysted for an instant. He exchanged looks with one of his subordinates soon after, and the said subordinate swiftly left the room. He¡¯s probably going to get the recording room ready.

    By the way, a holo-message is basically just a video letter. The only difference from the video letters I¡¯m familiar with is that it will be yed as a full 3D hologram projection.

    ¡°The mailing address is the Daleinwald earldom based on the third of the Dexer system, Daleinburg. The transmission code is ADK-4330208.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Please wait for a moment¡­ Yes, the message will arrive at the stated address after five days¡¯ time.¡±

    Bruno operated his handheld tablet and dered as such.

    ¡°It unexpectedly takes a while huh.¡±

    ¡°We can opt for FTL transmission if it¡¯s just within the star system we¡¯re located on, but if you want to transmit to a different star system thousands of light-years away¡­ it¡¯ll be better to use hyperspacemunication and gateways, so it¡¯ll take longer for the message to arrive.¡±

    Bruno shrugged his shoulders and answered my doubts. The gateways he mentioned are facilities that can artificially create wormholes that can allow one to traverse points in space that are hundreds or thousands of lightyears away from each other within mere moments.

    Hyperdrive technology allows for the usage of hyperspace in order to move between different star systems via special subspace tunnels which allow faster than light travel. Simply put, it¡¯s a lot like driving on an expressway via car. The wormholes created by gateways however, allow for travel between different points in space within moments. In other words, it allows instantaneous warps. They make moving from point to point in practically an instant possible.

    The theory behind it seems to imply bending and opening holes in space-time or something, but I don¡¯t really understand it all that much. What I do understand is that the gateways are strictly monitored and administered by each empire or state where said facilities are located. They¡¯re not things your average mercenary normally has ess to.

    And the location of Chris¡¯ grandfather seems to be pretty far away, seeing as it¡¯ll still take five days for the message to arrive even after making use of such facilities. Considering that our message will arrive in five days¡¯ time, the earliest that people from the side of Chris¡¯ grandfather can arrive to pick her up will be after ten days or so. If we factor in the assignment of personnel, preparing a suitable ship, as well as various other procedures and schedule adjustments, Chris would likely spend up to two weeks in our care.

    ¡°Five days¡­ In other words, the one week period where Hiro-sama is obligated to take custody of me will likely expire first before people from my grandfather¡¯s side arrive to pick me up.¡±

    ¡°You need not worry, princess. I won¡¯t do something like abandoning you before your escorts arrive. Do I look like that kind of heartless person to you?¡±

    ¡°No. In fact, I believed you¡¯d say that.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re one strong-willed princess. Don¡¯t you think so too, Bruno?¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t drag me into that conversation¡­¡­¡±

    It looks like this guy wanted to avoid saying anything that would seem impertinent to the genuine granddaughter of an earl huh. Typical of an honest imperial citizen I guess. Bruno then guided Chris and I to a pure white room. No, it was predominately white, but the walls were covered with square tiles with sides that were about 30 centimeters each. Each square had a ck dot in the center. I¡¯m guessing those are sensors or cameras used to take holo-vids. There was a console sitting in the middle of the room, and a blue sphere about the size of a typical basketball was buried in the wall directly in front of the console.

    ¡°This is actually my first time recording a holo-message.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°Maybe it wasn¡¯t all thatmon for ordinary citizens to send messages to distant acquaintances or rtives via holo-vids where I¡¯m from? And I basically didn¡¯t travel beyond the colony I was born and raised in before I became a mercenary.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ That really might be the case then.¡±

    Chris nodded in a serious manner. Based on what I know, people who leave the colonies they¡¯re born in are mostlyposed of mercenaries like me, smugglers, ouws who serve mostly as battlefield cleaners and paid hitmen, as well as pirates. More proper examples include traders and businessmen who often travel between different star systems, as well as soldiers on active duty. Oh, and researchers as well, I guess.

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go ahead and record the message. It needs to be done in one shot, right? What should I actually say?¡±

    ¡°I will be the one to exin the circumstances. I¡¯m also going to introduce Hiro-samater, so a simple self-introduction will suffice.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll go with that then¡­¡±

    I observed from behind as Chris deftly operated the console. Fumu, it didn¡¯t look all thatplicated. It was even somewhat simr to operating the settings on the standard video camera I was familiar with.

    ¡°Well then, we¡¯re going to start recording now. Please stand a little bit behind me on my left.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha.¡±

    Chris operated the console and started the recording. Numbers appeared on the sphere in front. The countdown started. The video will start recording when the counter reaches zero huh.

    ¡°It has been a long time, dear grandfather. It is Christina. I am deeply sorry for having worried you so. I am alright. I was surprised to hear that it has been three months since the ship we rode on was attacked. I was put inside a cold sleep pod by father, and have just regained consciousness recently. I have recorded this video message inside the facility of the port administration bureau in the Sierra Prime colony. The person standing behind me is Hiro-sama. He is the one who rescued me as the pod I was in drifted in outer space. Hiro-sama is a mercenary affiliated with the Mercenary Guild, and told me that he picked up my cold sleep pod as part of the cargo held by a pirate ship he shot down. If I wasn¡¯t rescued by Hiro-sama, I might have awakened in the badpany of pirates, and possibly toyed around with by them, or worse. In that sense, I owe Hiro-sama my life as well as my virtue.¡±

    Chris then turned toward me and nodded. I nodded back and turned my gaze toward the sphere in front.

    ¡°I am honored to make your acquaintance. I am called Captain Hiro. Just as Christina-sama said earlier, I belong to the Mercenary Guild. I am a Silver ranked mercenary. I own the small high-speedbat starship, Krishna. I am obligated to shelter Christina-sama for the time being in ordance with thew, but I assure you that I will do everything in my power to ensure Christina-sama¡¯s safety until the arrival of Earl Daleinwald¡¯s people.¡±

    I then ced one hand on my chest and made a light bow. Chris ced her hand on my hip. Acknowledging the gesture, I moved to the back once more.

    ¡°I have only met him for a short while, but I believe that Hiro-sama is trustworthy. At the very least, he is not someone who my uncle has sent after me.¡±

    After saying that, Chris paused for a bit and took a deep breath. Now, she¡¯ll begin denouncing her uncle.

    ¡°Dear grandfather, it was uncle¡¯s men who attacked us. The attackers pretended to be mere pirates, but when father saw the ship the so-called pirates used, I heard him clearly say¡ºThat¡¯s a ship Balthazar¡¯s private troops use.¡»when he got a good look at it. When they sessfully incapacitated the passenger ship, the ones who boarded sported equipment and weapons that were far too extravagant for mere pirates, and they were clearly aiming for our family. Mother covered for me and got shot, and father fought back while protecting me until he managed to put me inside a cold sleep pod. I do not know what happened to father after he let me escape¡­¡­¡±

    Chris shook her head forlornly.

    ¡°I am sure uncle is searching for me even now. I have told my circumstances to Hiro-sama. Hiro-sama has sworn to protect me in turn. I shall entrust my fate to Hiro-sama. Please, dear grandfather¡­¡­ I need your help.¡±

    Chris bowed deeply and stopped the recording. Her hand didn¡¯t leave the console even after it turned off. Her body was evidently quivering. Was it due to worry for her family¡¯s safety, or fear because of the reality that her uncle was aiming for her life?

    Either way, I can¡¯t just leave her like this.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Chris. I¡¯m gonna show you my ship first.¡±

    I then patted Chris on the back gently.

    I¡¯ll need to exin the situation to Mimi and Elma as well, and we¡¯ll need to procure some daily necessities for Chris as well. Her height was just a little smaller than Mimi¡¯s, but since their chest sizes were poles apart, she won¡¯t be able to borrow Mimi¡¯s clothes. And Elma¡¯s would be too tall for her. We¡¯ll need to buy some new clothes for her then. Because of her situation, it wasn¡¯t advisable to freely walk around outside the ship, but it wasn¡¯t good to hole up in it all the time either.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Chris turned around after wiping her tears with her hand. She took something out of the console. It was probably a memory device containing the video we took earlier.

    ¡°Uh, it would have been better if I had a handkerchief, but I don¡¯t usually carry such a thing around¡­¡­ Sorry.¡±

    ¡°Fufu¡­¡­ A knight always needs to conduct himself in a gentlemanly manner, Hiro-sama. You need to get your act together.¡±

    ¡°Man. The path of a knight seems quite severe¡­¡­ Let¡¯s join up with Elma after finishing the procedures to send the video we recorded to your grandfather.¡±

    ¡°Elma-san?¡±

    Chris tilted her head curiously. Elma was present when she regained her consciousness for a short while earlier, but I guess Chris was still pretty much out of it and didn¡¯t remember seeing Elma.

    ¡°She¡¯s one of the two crew members on my ship. She¡¯s an elvendy, and she¡¯s been a mercenary longer than me. A lot happened that led to her losing her ship, so now she¡¯s serving as my crew member for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Ady¡­¡­ Come to think of it, I do remember you saying that you have two female crew members aboard your ship earlier.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, the other one is named Mimi. She¡¯s basically my ship¡¯s Operator-in-training. Due to certain circumstances, she no longer has any rtives. Well, stuff happened which led to her boarding my ship. It would be better for you to ask them personally about the circumstances which led to them bing my crew members, I think.¡±

    Both of their circumstances aren¡¯t things that can be divulged to others lightly after all.

    ¡°So Hiro-sama has twodies staying with you inside your ship, correct?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, y¡¯know¡­ There were extenuating circumstances y¡¯see.¡±

    Chris¡¯s expression was still gentle as she looked at me, but it felt like being red at by a huge serpent for some reason. This can¡¯t be¡­¡­ For me to be this overwhelmed¡­¡­!?

    ¡°Well, no matter. A nobledy has to have enough forbearance. I suppose something like this is also an indication of a man¡¯s worth.¡±

    ¡°Nn¡­¡­?¡±

    The pressure disappeared, but there was something weird about Chris¡¯s words. Why¡¯d she bring up forbearance anyway? In the first ce, why did it sound like Chris forgave me for some reason or other¡­¡­? Oh well. Let¡¯s just chalk it up to her being at that age. And it seems she didn¡¯t have many opportunities to interact with men other than her father and grandfather.

    We called out to one of Bruno¡¯s subordinates waiting outside the recording room. He then led us to where Bruno was, and we began doing the procedures for sending the video message. Afterpleting it, we¡¯re finally done with our business in the port admin bureau.

    ¡°Now then, where is thatdy named Elma staying at right now?¡±

    ¡°Well, herst message said she was in the Mercenary Guild branch office but¡­¡­¡±

    I took out my portable terminal and pulled up the messaging app.

    ¡ºAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrgggh! You¡¯ve actually been promoted to Gold rank! Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!¡»

    A sticker of a one-eyed alien emitting a beam from its eye in rage and burning a city to cinders was disyed on the app. What the heck?

    062 - Real Big Trouble

    064 - Mercenary Guild Rank

 Chapter 64 â€“ Mercenary Guild Rank

    <h4>Chapter 64 - Mercenary Guild Rank</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    0

    ¡°Hello. My name is Christina. But please feel free to call me Chris.¡±

    ¡°My name¡¯s Mimi! Nice to meet you, Chris-chan!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Elma. Best regards, Chris.¡±

    I took Chris along and brought her back to Krishna. We found both Mimi, who was left to mind the ship, and Elma, who seems to have just gotten back from the Mercenary Guild branch.

    They did the introductions in the dining room. Mimi, who was close to Chris in age, seemed really happy and had a bright smile on her pretty face. Age-wise, both me and Elma were poles apart from the two youngdies. That¡¯s especially true for Elma though. In Elma¡¯s case, don¡¯t mention being close in age. She¡¯s actually a generation apart. Though that¡¯s only considering the number of years she¡¯s spent living her life.

    ¡°¡­¡­What?¡±

    ¡°Oh, nothing.¡±

    Elma gave me an annoyed stare. She might have sensed my somewhat rude thoughts. Do her elven ears not only pick up sounds but even the wicked thoughts of other people? How scary.

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ What¡¯s wrong with those two? Are they alright?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re fine. They get along really well actually. Elma-san is just feelingplicated since Hiro-sama has just attained Gold rank.¡±

    Chris seemed worried after seeing the weird atmosphere between me and Elma. Mimi pacified her worries while disying a bright smile.

    ¡°¡­¡­I ain¡¯t really feelingplicated or anything.¡±

    Elma turned her head to the side with slightly puffed up cheeks. It just makes me wanna poke them. She would probably break my fingers if I did, so I¡¯ll just pass.

    ¡°Um, just what does Gold rank signify¡­¡­?¡±

    Chris cutely tilted her head as she inquired. So it seems our little nobledy isn¡¯t familiar with mercenary ranks huh. Can¡¯t be helped. I¡¯ll just exin everything to her then¡­ or maybe not.

    Elma turned around and faced Chris with such amazing momentum after hearing her question. Oh boy. Guess I¡¯ll have to leave it to her.

    ¡°The official Mercenary Guild rankings are split into five grades. Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and tinum. So, five in total.¡±

    Elma made her slender fingers straighten up one by one until her hand transitioned to an open-palm state.

    ¡°Iron rankers are basically your standard rookies. They have next to no realbat experience, and their starships are bottom-of-the-barrel as well. In any case, they usually serve to make up the numbers during escort missions and such. Cargo transport missions are quitemon in this line of work after all. When a merc¡¯s assigned this rank, they are basically expected to pile up experience by flying around space, staying on various stations and colonies, and tagging along with their senior cohorts during missions.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    Chris started listening to Elma¡¯s exnation with a serious expression.

    By the way, I haven¡¯t managed to exin Chris¡¯s circumstances to Mimi and Elma yet. I couldn¡¯t find the right timing earlier y¡¯see. Well, I guess I¡¯ll just tell both of them after Elma¡¯s mercenary rank exnations. I had Chris, who was listening to the exnation with great focus, sit on a chair in front of the dining table while I prepared a light meal. I¡¯m not sure if Chris¡¯s bodily functions have all normalized by now, so I opted for food that¡¯s easily digestible.

    Un, I guess I¡¯ll go with custard pudding. Our amazing auto-cooker extraordinaire Tetsujin V also makes excellent desserts after all. After keying in an order of tea and custard pudding for each of us, I also sat in front of the table in order to listen in on Elma¡¯s exnation.

    ¡°Once you attain Bronze rank, it means you¡¯re starting to get proper recognition. Most folks who get promoted to Bronze rank also upgrade their ship¡¯sbat capabilities as well. So they can finally be considered as an asset in battle. But even so, taking on multiple pirate ships solo will still be hard for them, so normally, several Bronze rankers form unofficial fleets of their own. You will see quite a number of these unofficial fleets during subjugation missions.¡±

    ¡°But Hiro-sama was able to take down multiple pirate ships even when he was just a Bronze ranker, right?¡±

    ¡°In his case, his ranking just serves as a scam.¡±

    Elma gave me a harsh re. I just shrugged it off. Calling my rank a scam is just a bit too harsh, don¡¯t you think? It¡¯s all thanks to Krishna¡¯s overwhelming performance. Nothing¡¯se close to depleting its energy shield even now. Well, it¡¯s not like I give enemies any chance of saturating the shield during battles anyway, so I guess it¡¯s to be expected.

    ¡°So, let¡¯s talk about Silver rank next. Bing a Silver ranker means you¡¯re already part of the elite. After piling up experience as a Bronze ranker, mercenaries who managed to earn enough achievements to their names finally get promoted to Silver rank. However, there¡¯s a huge difference between Silver rank veterans and mercs who¡¯ve just been promoted to the said rank. Experience is a given of course, but most veteran mercs have also more than likely managed to build up a rather respectable armory of quality weapons and equipment, as well as a high-performance ship to match. Opinions like having unofficial skill rankings for Silver rankers or that the conditions for promoting to the next rank be really harsh once you get to Silver are actually quitemon.¡±

    ¡°Elma-san is also a Silver ranker, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m a veteran Silver ranker.¡±

    Elma looked really smug as she said so while puffing up her meagre chest.

    ¡°Well, she¡¯s actually lost her ship, so she¡¯s just my crew member right now though.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­There¡¯s that too. I¡¯m just d I didn¡¯t end up dead.¡±

    Elma diverted her gaze for a moment. Well, I guess so huh.

    ¡°So, what about Gold rank?¡±

    At Chris¡¯s urging, Elma pulled herself together and continued her exnation.

    ¡°Gold rank mercenaries are ones who¡¯ve transcended being veterans. It¡¯s assigned to mercenaries who¡¯ve piled up tons of experience, killed more than their fair share of pirates, amassedrge amounts of bounties and rewards, and cleared the most difficult simtor courses. They¡¯re the elite among the elite. Gold rank is only granted to a select handful among all active mercenaries. They make up only about five percent of the total mercenary numbers.¡±

    ¡°Hou, five percent you say? It looks like I¡¯m actually quite a big-shot huh.¡±

    But even if she says five percent, I totally have no idea how many active mercenaries are out there, so I don¡¯t have a proper sense of scale about it at all.

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, yes. You really are something. Gold rankers are basically mercs who have been officially recognized as elites among elites by the Mercenary Guild itself. The standing of mercenaries in the present society is by no means low, however, bing a Gold ranker will allow for recognition even among the likes of imperial nobility, the military, and important government officials. Generally speaking, Gold rankers are evaluated as having enough firepower and equipment to destroy arge group of thirty or more enemy ships with a singlebat craft.¡±

    ¡°Oh my. So they need to be able to do that much?¡±

    ¡°Actually, I believe Hiro-sama can beat fifty or more with no trouble, right?¡±

    ¡°That depends. I¡¯ll only be able to do so if I don¡¯t go against them head-on and use other tactics.¡±

    Even if Krishna¡¯s shield is extra tough, there¡¯s also a thing called ¡®limits¡¯ after all. It would be dangerous to exchange direct fire with over fifty ships, even for Krishna. So it would be better to steadily bring down medium-sized ships while simultaneously whittling down the numbers of the small ones.

    ¡°Andstly, there¡¯s tinum rank. There are currently thirteen active tinum rankers at present. They are people who have produced particrly outstanding results and achievements even within the Gold rankers. It¡¯s mostly the same with Gold rank, but the conditions for promotion to tinum rank are even more stringent. In fact, most of it is undisclosed. But it¡¯s said that only mercenaries who can charge into any type of battlefield, no matter how brutal, and return to tell the tale after having raised hell have the qualifications for bing tinum rank.¡±

    ¡°I believe Hiro-sama can achieve that as well. You can, right?¡±

    ¡°In time, my dear. In time.¡±

    ¡°When one bes a tinum ranker, his or her influence will shoot up to unprecedented heights. I¡¯m not sure if this is actually true or not, but there¡¯s a rumor that a noble tried to use his influence in order to ce a tinum ranked mercenary under hismand, only to be crushed by that mercenary instead.¡±

    ¡°Now that¡¯s just unbelievable.¡±

    Even if it¡¯s the highest rank achievable in the Mercenary Guild, can a mere merc really attain such power and influence? I can¡¯t really imagine it.

    ¡°You¡­¡­ Whatever. Anyway, as of right now, you¡¯ve officially been promoted to Gold rank, mister. Congrattions.¡±

    ¡°But aren¡¯t you angry enough to send an alien to torch an entire city?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not really angry, okay! I just feel it¡¯s a bit mortifying!¡±

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon. Even if my rank outstrips yours now, that doesn¡¯t change the fact that you¡¯re still my senior in this business. Isn¡¯t that right? S-E-N-P-A-I?¡±

    ¡°Are you picking a fight with me, buster? You are, right? You¡¯ve got some balls.¡±

    ¡°Gaaaaaaaah!?¡±

    Elma¡¯s arm wrapped around mine like a snake, and she ced me in an armlock within moments. She¡¯s too fast¡­ I wasn¡¯t even able to react.

    ¡°Elma-san, anything more than that is¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°They do get along, right? Right?¡±

    Mimi was pacifying the angry Elma as Chris disyed a strained smile. Save me, you guys!

    ¡°Tch! Don¡¯t get too full of yourself! You may have the upper hand when ites to piloting a ship and operating a power armor, but you absolutely suck in unarmed CQC!¡±

    ¡°I shall bear that in mind¡­¡­ By the way, I have prepared a modest serving of sweets for us to partake in. Do you wish to have some, Elma-sama?¡±

    ¡°Fine then. Serve it right away.¡±

    ¡°Of course, mdy.¡±

    Fufu. Revel in your victory for now. But know this! I shall take my sweet revenge on you tonight, elf¡­ I nursed such spiteful thoughts as I prepared to serve the custard pudding and tea.

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit early for a full meal, so I opted for snacks instead. I¡¯ll also tell you all about Chris¡¯s current circumstances as we eat.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Circumstances?¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    Elma had a peculiar expression on her face while Mimi seemed to have question marks floating on top of her head when I made my vague announcement. Hm. It¡¯s actually a whole heap of trouble guys. Do prepare yourselves.

    ¡°Uuh¡­ Uguuuuuh! Chris-chaaaan!¡±

    ¡°Nn!?¡±

    After hearing about Chris¡¯s circumstances, Mimi cried out and hugged Chris to her chest. Well, it¡¯s fine to hug her, but it looks like Chris is being suffocated by being sandwiched between your breasts, Mimi.

    ¡°Well, that certainly is a great big load of trouble¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Aaaaauuu! Chris-chaaaaan!¡±

    Elma rescued Chris from Mimi¡¯s loving clutches while making a big sigh. Mimi, who has been deprived of her Chris-chan plushie, had her face pushed away further by Elma, making her let out a pitiable cry.

    ¡°So, two weeks at most, was it? We¡¯ll have to take care of this child during that period, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯ll have to protect her.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re really raring to get involved in all this huh.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t see why not.¡±

    If I were Chris¡¯s uncle, I would do everything in my power to ensure she dies. He¡¯s already taken care of Chris¡¯s parents after all. He¡¯s already gone that far, so he¡¯ll have to follow through all the way if he doesn¡¯t want his ns to go up in smoke.

    ¡°I have something I want to entrust to Elma, actually.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    Elma nodded in assent. I then turned to Chris.

    ¡°Chris, you still have the storage device containing the video we recorded earlier, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Do you mean this?¡±

    Chris took out a small crystal from within her pocket. So this is the memory storage medium in this dimension huh. It sure is pretty.

    ¡°Can you make copies of this?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Well, yes, I think I can reproduce this just fine. Why?¡±

    ¡°I want to send this video message to Chris¡¯s grandfather via multiple routes. The port admin bureau has already sent a message to the earl, but there¡¯s no guarantee her uncle will not be able to intercept it.¡±

    ¡°I see. You certainly can¡¯t discount the possibility. I understand. I¡¯ll make copies of it and use all the routes and means at my disposal to send the recording crystal to Earl Daleinwald.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m counting on you. I¡¯ll handle the costs. Don¡¯t hold back and use every means avable.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re going all out as usual huh?¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s not entirely it. I¡¯m doing a huge favor for both an earl and his granddaughter, so we can certainly expect a nice, hefty reward, right?¡±

    ¡°Fine, fine. We¡¯ll just leave it at that.¡±

    Elmaughed as she dismissed my exnation. Am I really that easy to read? Guess so, huh. But that¡¯s just how I am, so it can¡¯t be helped. I don¡¯t want to abandon such a cute child after all.

    ¡°So, I¡¯m assuming you already have some means in mind?¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course. Quite a few actually. But they¡¯ll take some time.¡±

    ¡°That can¡¯t be helped. It¡¯ll be our win if even one of them reaches the earl.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a ster first move, all things considered. But I¡¯m not quite sure if it¡¯s the best we could take.¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s try it out first. If this move proves ineffective, I¡¯ll think of some other ways.¡±

    Well, the most simple and straightforward way was to crush all pursuers though. It would be much better if we could crush Chris¡¯s uncle along with them too. Oh well. Things shouldn¡¯t be that convenient anyway.

    ¡°Well, since our first move is decided, do you already have ideas about our next one?¡±

    In any case, our princess will be safe as long as she¡¯s staying inside the Krishna. Well, it would be easier for us if we could somehow manage to contact the earl in real-time though. I wasn¡¯t expecting trouble with real-timemunication on a dimension well into the interster age. Haven¡¯t they developed tech that can allow folks to contact each other in real-time even if they¡¯re hundreds or thousands of light-years away from each other?

    ¡°You know, staying cooped up inside Krishna doesn¡¯t absolutely guarantee her safety. The possibility of them sneaking poison into the food and supplies we order isn¡¯t zero. They can also sneak in a bomb or two using the same method.¡±

    ¡°Would they really go that far¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s no reason not to, in any case. In fact, the loot we confiscated from pirate ships might be the safer alternative instead of goods procured from the colony.¡±

    ¡°Man, there¡¯s something new. To think we¡¯ll be hunting pirates for food and supplies instead of bounties¡­¡­¡±

    But do pirate ships really have a good stock of food and supplies in their cargo holds¡­? It might actually be better to just buy our supplies on another star system altogether.

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s just start with what we first discussed. I¡¯ll be off then. I¡¯ll be taking that memory device, Chris.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please go ahead.¡±

    After taking the memory device off Chris¡¯s hands, Elma left the ship. I¡¯ll try toe up with some other countermeasures in the meantime. But first¡­¡­

    ¡°Mimi, would you please prepare a bed for Chris?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    I guess I¡¯ll leave Chris in Mimi¡¯s care while I think about our next moves. Hm¡­¡­ I don¡¯t really n on being one-sidedly harassed by her pursuers. But even so, things like barehanded CQC, plotting, and watching out for assassination attempts really aren¡¯t my fields of expertise.

    So what am I good at, you ask? Isn¡¯t it already obvious?

    ¡°Now then, just how would we lure them out, I wonder¡­¡­¡±

    While I was wracking my head for ideas, my gaze shifted toward the tablet terminal Mimi left on the table. An advertisement for Sierra star system¡¯s resort was disyed on it. I had a sudden spark of inspiration as I stared at the ad.

    And I think it¡¯s not such a bad idea.

    ¡°Let¡¯s reverse the process. How about we proactively lure them out ourselves instead of waiting for them to make a move?¡±

    I muttered my ideas to no one in particr and couldn¡¯t help but make a grin.

 Chapter 65 â€“ Planning and Equipment Check

    <h4>Chapter 65 - nning and Equipment Check</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I checked out the resort e-pamphlet on Mimi¡¯s tablet terminal for a while. After some time, Mimi and Chris came back to the dining room. It looks like Mimi¡¯s just finished giving Chris a tour of the ship.

    ¡°Wee back. I checked out the e-pamphlet for a bit.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes¡­ but now¡¯s not the time for something like a resort vacation, right?¡±

    ¡°No, that might not be the case.¡±

    Mimi looked dispirited, but I countered her statement while sporting a grin.

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°Well, I still can¡¯t say for sure though. I¡¯ll tell you all about it once Elmaes back.¡±

    ¡°Understood! By the way, I discussed things with Chris-chan earlier, and we thought instead of waiting for her uncle to make a move on her, why don¡¯t we strike first? Um, but are we too na?ve for thinking that?¡±

    Mimi dered and tilted her head to the side as Chris stared straight at my face with a tense expression.

    ¡°Mm, I¡¯ve also thought about that too, but it seemed too reckless, so I decided against it in the end. Well, it¡¯s not like I thought about it in much detail, so let¡¯s at least run through that optionter.¡±

    After answering, I handed the tablet terminal back to Mimi.

    ¡°Please pull up the gctic map. Your family¡¯s based on the Dexer system, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, the Dexer star system.¡±

    ¡°Bruno¡¯s already talked about it. If we want to get a hold of someone from the Dexer star system, we¡¯ll have to utilize not only hyperspacems but gateways as well, and it would take at least five days before we establish contact. I¡¯m sure you have some recollection of this, Chris. Didn¡¯t you use a gateway when you first came to the Sierra system?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah!¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Well, as long as you look at the gctic map, you¡¯ll understand. Mimi, try looking up the most direct route between the Sierra system and the Dexer system.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­? Understood. I¡¯ll pull it up.¡±

    Mimi fiddled with her tablet and pulled up the most direct route between the two star systems. When she did so, her expression turned to one of astonishment.

    ¡°U-Uhm, Hiro-sama. It actually says that it¡¯ll take forty two days to travel to the Dexer star system from here.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s even farther than I expected huh.¡±

    ¡°But why would it take so long? Messages we send from here to there would only take five days to arrive, and you said the people who¡¯ll pick Chris-chan up will arrive within two weeks at most. So why does it say forty two days here?¡±

    ¡°Y¡¯see Mimi, the projected travel timergely depends on whether or not you can make use of gateways.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah!¡±

    Mimi hit her palm with her fist when she heard my answer. Yep, the problem is whether or not we can use gateways for travel.

    In order to use the gateways, we¡¯ll need permission from imperial authorities. Warships affiliated with the imperial military, private ships owned by nobles, trade ships of businessmen who have managed to secure the appropriate authorization, and high-ss tourism cruise ships are among those that can freely use gateways. But it¡¯s a different story for mere mercenaries like us.

    Well, we did have Chris-chan with us, so there was a chance of securing a one-time travel approval, but if we did that, there¡¯s a good chance of Chris¡¯s uncle, Balthazar, getting wind of it. He would probably set up some blockades or traps on the route toward the gateway facility. We can still forcefully break through, but it¡¯ll be quite risky.

    Depending on the enemy¡¯s reaction, there was still a possibility of nothing of the sort happening, but I still think heading to the Dexer star system via hypenes is preferable, even if it¡¯ll take quite a bit of time. The hypenes are spread out all across the gxy just like a huge, so there exists multiple routes toward the Dexer star system.

    The victory conditions for Chris¡¯s uncle, Balthazar Daleinwald¡¯s plot, was to finish Chris off before her grandfather, Abraham Daleinwald, got wind of Chris¡¯s parents¡¯ deaths.

    But, in truth, his ambitions would still be fairly difficult to achieve. Even if he does sessfully kill Chris, once Earl Abraham Daleinwald finds out about his scheme, it would still result in Balthazar¡¯s ruin.

    I¡¯m sure he¡¯s already in quite a panic right now. He should be thinking of killing Chris by any means necessary and prevent her from contacting Earl Abraham at all costs. If so, then we really can¡¯t be taking it easy. There¡¯s a good chance he¡¯ll do even the unthinkable once he¡¯s cornered after all.

    ¡°Yosh, Mimi!¡±

    ¡°Yes! What is it?¡±

    ¡°Please make a reservation for a tour of the resorts. I believe this star system has three resorts avable?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. Which should we book? Or rather, is it okay to not consult Elma-san about this?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve thought about our current situation, and I concluded that we¡¯ll have to make a move as soon as possible. Anyway, book them all for now.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    Mimi¡¯s expression froze up after hearing my instructions.

    ¡°Make a reservation request to alls. Be sure to make an application to as many tour agencies as you can. And it would be even better if you can manage to reserve tours to lots of different ces. The more, the better.¡±

    ¡°E-Eh¡­¡­ It¡¯ll cost a lot of money you know? Just why should we make that many reservations?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll serve to confuse the pursuers. My n goes like this: We¡¯ll make plenty of reservations at all three resorts, and that would give us ess to multiple temporary hideouts. And then, we¡¯ll purposely make ourselves stand out as we go for the tours in order to bait the enemy into attacking us. We probably won¡¯t lose against them as long as we board Krishna andunch back into space. Once we clean up all the pursuing enemies, we¡¯ll return back to one of the temporary hideouts on a resort. The enemies would have to search every hideout we prepared in order to find us, so that¡¯ll buy us some time. We¡¯ll make use of that interval to make sure Elma sessfully sends Chris¡¯s message to the earl.¡±

    How about it? I spread both arms wide as if to ask for the girl¡¯s opinions. Both Mimi and Chris tilted their head cutely as they mulled over my proposed n. Their gestures are quite in sync. That¡¯s actually really cute, man.

    ¡°It sounds good. But only if we can ensure that we can bring down all the pursuing enemies.¡±

    ¡°But it would still cost a lot of money, right?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We have a total of 17 million in assets, remember?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    Chris got surprised after hearing my words. It looks like even a genuinedy from a noble family would find 17 million Enels to be quite a hefty sum huh.

    ¡°The hotel reservations for a week¡¯s stay at the resorts ranges from ten thousand to thirty thousand Enels per head. We should still be able to afford it even if we make lots of reservations at different ces. And I n to charge these expenses along with the escort fees to Earl Daleinwald once we¡¯ve pulled everything off.¡±

    Well, if we do go ahead with this, the resulting hotel fees would surely be nothing to sneeze at after all.

    ¡°But wouldn¡¯t booking just one ce still be fine? The other pursuers would still have trouble finding out which resort we¡¯re staying at if we manage to get rid of the ones thate after us first, right?¡±

    ¡°Normally, that would be the case. But what if the enemies are willing to do whatever it takes to find us? There¡¯s a good chance of them obtaining our location from the travel agencies through illegal means. In that case, preparing lots of decoys by booking at multiple locations would still be the safer bet.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? The enemies also wouldn¡¯t be able to get to us if we¡¯re inside the hypene, so wouldn¡¯t it be better to constantly use the hyperdrive in order to stay at the hypenes for an extended period of time?¡±

    Mimi made her suggestion. Well, staying inside the hypene is also a valid move. I didn¡¯t manage to think of that. It looks like I¡¯m actually hampered by my knowledge ying Ste Online this time.

    In Ste Online, traveling using the hyperdrive ends in practically an instant, but in this dimension, it¡¯s prettymon to spend time inside the hypene for dozens of hours or even weeks. The enemies will also not be able to use the interdictor to force us out of the hypene, unlike with the FTL drive. It should be an effective strategy for stalling for time.

    ¡°That would definitely be an effective way to stall, but there¡¯s an issue regarding resupplying if we go with that option. We didn¡¯t really manage to restock our supplies and equipment all that much at the Alein star system beforeing to the Sierra system, remember?¡±

    We didn¡¯t expect to encounter this sort of situation after all, and we were all in a vacation-y mood, so we went straight to the Sierra system without stopping over at any stations or colonies for resupplying along the way.

    ¡°Muu¡­¡­ It will certainly be difficult for our current stockpile tost for two weeks. So why don¡¯t we go ahead and resupply first before entering the hypene?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s risky to procure supplies from this colony after all. But there¡¯s also the option of going to the neighboring star system in order to resupply. Also, the enemies certainly wouldn¡¯t be able to attack us if we¡¯re inside the hypene, but they could still set up an ambush once wee out of it, just like what happened when we first came to this star system.¡±

    ¡°Uu, that certainly seems to be the case.¡±

    It looks like Mimi finally remembered how pirates attacked us immediately after we came to the Sierra system by hitting us with an interdictor, and her face clouded over. And afterward, we were able to rescue Chris. Whether or not that¡¯s a good or bad thing however¡­ Well, if we didn¡¯t manage to rescue Chris, she would have met a really tragic end, so I guess it¡¯s a good thing after all.

    ¡°Mumuu¡­¡­ I can¡¯t seem to enter the conversation.¡±

    Chris disyed a frustrated expression as sheined. Well, she¡¯s different from Mimi, who has piled up experience on board the Krishna as a mercenary, and is a bona fide nobledy. So it goes without saying that she would be left out in our current conversation.

    ¡°It would be better to discuss the particrs more once Elma returns. But I think it would be best to consider the possibility of getting caught up in a melee shootout while we¡¯re not on board the Krishna. I¡¯ll check out our equipment for a bit then.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll help too!¡±

    ¡°U-Um, I¡¯ll also help as well!¡±

    The two girls raised their hands and volunteered. Uh, well, there¡¯s a lot of dangerous stuffying around the armory, especially when handled incorrectly, so I¡¯d like to dissuade them from tagging along¡­ but Mimi would have to get used to it sooner orter, so I guess this is as good of a time as any. I¡¯ll have to gradually teach her the ropes then.

    ¡°I guess Mimi¡¯s fine, but you also want to join us, Chris?¡±

    ¡°I am prepared to take up arms should the situation require it!¡±

    Chris clenched both her hands into cute little fists and pumped herself up. Uh, we¡¯ll bebeled as ipetent bodyguards if we actually let that happen though¡­¡­ Oh well. I guess there¡¯s no harm in teaching her a little bit of self defense. Though I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯ll be of any use in the end.

    I led the two of them to the cargo room. Krishna¡¯s cargo room holds all our food and supply stocks, but it also doubles as an armory. In addition to the power armor andseruncher I used in the bioterrorism incident at the Alein system, there¡¯s also theser rifle Elma bought for security use, as well as other weapons and equipment for shootouts and meleebat.

    ¡°Waa, this is really amazing. Are all of these weapons?¡±

    ¡°Well, most of them are. Not all of them though. There¡¯s quite a lot of dangerous stuff here, so don¡¯t touch anything carelessly, okay.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    After seeing Chris nod obediently, we started checking the weapons and equipment out. We¡¯ll skip the power armor andseruncher for now. Let¡¯s check out theser rifle first. This is a weapon with a higher firepower than aser gun. It sports a higher rate of fire, power output, and overall range. Its output can be freely adjusted ording to the situation, and it also sports a variable sight scope that has night vision as well as infrared modes, so it can serve reliably for long distance sniping.

    It¡¯s bulkier than aser gun, so you really can¡¯t carry this thing while walking around a city or residential area. There are also colonies that prohibit carrying weapons such as these inside them. But even if it wasn¡¯t expressly prohibited, you can¡¯t really escape questioning from the relevant authorities if you lug this thing around freely. Obviously, an excuse like having it for self-defense wouldn¡¯t really fly.

    The next item we checked were some ball-shaped objects. These ain¡¯t used for throwing at small aliens in order to capture them, but were a type of grenades. Stun grenades were used to disable one¡¯s sense of sight and bnce for a time by emitting a strong sh of light and noise. These didn¡¯t function like that. It would be more appropriate to call them shock grenades. They emit a fairly powerful electric shock within a radius of five meters with these balls at the center. You¡¯ll just need to push the switch and throw it toward your enemies.

    These have be standard because setting off an explosion inside colonies or ships can be highly dangerous. It won¡¯t be aughing matter if the explosion ended up punching a hole in the hull. All the people inside would be goners if that happened, right? And so, in Ste Online, these shock grenades served mostly the same function as frag grenades in other games. That¡¯s how the manual exined it anyway. I¡¯m not really sure if that still holds true in this dimension though.

    I exined how to handle theser rifle and shock grenades to the two girls quickly. I can¡¯t have them test fire this stuff inside the ship, so I just had them run through the firing motions with the safety still on, and had them practice throwing some dummy grenades.

    I also taught them how to use an emergency medical nanomachine unit as well.

    These came within gun-type syringes, and if you ce one on top of skin and pull the trigger, it¡¯ll inject medical nanomachines within the body that will serve to significantly relieve pain as well as provide first aid for those with serious injuries.

    Since it was simply a first aid measure, it can¡¯t rescue someone from life-threatening injuries, but as an emergency measure to temporarily preserve one¡¯s life until one can receive more appropriate medical aid, it¡¯ll serve quite well. It won¡¯t hurt to have the girls learn how to use them. Of course, it would be better if we didn¡¯t encounter any situation that required the use of these things, but it¡¯s better to err on the side of caution.

    ¡°For now, it¡¯ll be enough for you girls to learn how to handle the emergency medical nanomachine units and shock grenades. You can effectively support us if you learn how to use them well.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I shall work hard in practicing how to properly throw them.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll practice hard as well.¡±

    ¡°These are particrly effective for hitting enemies hiding behind obstacles. The method for using them is simple enough, so it would be better to learn using them rather than aser gun orser rifle.¡±

    It would be meaningless if the enemies manage to get close enough though, but we would have already lost if we end up allowing enemies to close in on these two anyway.

    ¡°Try to remember where these are stored so you can easily take them out once they¡¯re needed. But absolutely don¡¯t take them inside your room. These are still fairly dangerous after all.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    The two of them nodded obediently. Since these two didn¡¯t seem to be the type to mess around, I¡¯m not too worried, but there¡¯s no harm in reminding them.

    We continued checking out the other equipment when notification ringtones from portable terminals rang out. Since Mimi¡¯s terminal also rang out, it¡¯s most likely a messageing from Elma. I took out my portable terminal from my jacket pocket and checked the message out.

    ¡ºThey¡¯re on to me.¡»

    Man, that was fast. Guess they¡¯ve already marked us. Well, I guess this was expected. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ve already had guys keeping their eyes on the port admin bureau building.

    ¡ºHow is it? Should wee get you?¡»

    ¡ºI¡¯m okay. They won¡¯t make any rash moves in a crowded area. But they were faster than we expected huh. Guess they¡¯re not willing to give us any time to prepare.¡»

    ¡ºSo resupplying will really pose a risk huh?¡»

    ¡ºYep. Pretty risky. Anyway, I¡¯ll focus on getting back to the ship first. It¡¯ll be troublesome if they decide to spring on me while I¡¯m out and about.¡»

    ¡ºOkay. Be careful and return as fast as you can. Turn on the terminal¡¯s locator function and make sure you can send an SOS at any time.¡»

    ¡ºRoger.¡»

    With that, I finished exchanging messages with Elma.

    Now then, they¡¯vetched on to us fairly quickly. We¡¯ll have to step up as well.

 Chapter 66 â€“ Consulting with Elma

    <h4>Chapter 66 - Consulting with Elma</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°I¡¯m back.¡±

    ¡°Wee back. I¡¯m d you¡¯re safe.¡±

    Elma got back to the ship ten minutes after our earlier message exchange. I tried to give her a wee back hug, but she skillfully avoided it. Now, why¡¯d you do that?

    ¡°What¡¯s with you?¡±

    ¡°I was worried.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t worth getting worried about anyway. Honestly. I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯re overly caring or just a big worrywart.¡±

    After admonishing me while sporting an exasperated smirk, Elma hugged me lightly and gave my cheek a quick peck. This¡­ This is¡­ Why¡¯s my heart going all doki doki? I-It¡¯s like our gender roles are reversed. Did my heart really just skip a beat due to this disappointing elf? Me?

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you now? Why¡¯d you suddenly cover your face.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s nothing though.¡±

    ¡°Like I said, it¡¯s nothing.¡±

    I turned away from Elma, who was trying to get a good look at my face, and walked back to the dining room with her.

    ¡°Oh, Elma-san! Wee ba¡­¡­ Huh? What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Our dear Hiro looks like he¡¯s embarrassed. He really is cute sometimes.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not embarrassed.¡±

    ¡°But you were worried about me, right?¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t worried about you.¡±

    ¡°Oh you. You¡¯re saying the opposite of what you said to me earlier.¡±

    Elma circled in front of me while sporting a teasing grin. How annoying. But I¡¯m a tough guy, so I won¡¯t lose from this.

    ¡°Hiro-sama really is cute sometimes.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve managed to see a new side of him.¡±

    Even Chris and Mimi started teasing me, but still, I won¡¯t lose.

    ¡°Anyway! Let¡¯s talk about our n now. We¡¯ll have to finalize it as soon as possible. Speed is of the essence. We can¡¯t allow ourselves to follow our opponent¡¯s pace. It¡¯ll mean big trouble if we do.¡±

    ¡°Fine, fine. You¡¯re right. So I take it that you already have a n in mind?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a hundred percent confident in them, but we dide up with a few ideas earlier. First-¡°

    I finally managed to tell Elma everything I discussed with Chris and Mimi earlier.

    ¡°A n to lure out the pursuers and eliminate them all at once isn¡¯t all that bad. It¡¯s a good idea to crush those who serve as the enemy¡¯s ¡®eyes¡¯ after all. As long as we¡¯re inside this colony, it¡¯s next to impossible to escape the enemy¡¯s surveince. So it would be best to finish them off byunching out into space, where we have more of an advantage.¡±

    ¡°The problem is resupplying.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Our current stockpile won¡¯tst the full two weeks. But I think we¡¯ll be able to procure supplies once we reach a resort though. We still need to be careful, but I don¡¯t think the enemy will be able to cover every resort in this star system. However, it would honestly be much safer to resupply at somewhere one star system away from this one.¡±

    ¡°So, in other words, not a directly adjacent star system but somewhere past that?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it would be much safer there. There¡¯s a good chance the enemy has spread their to the adjacent star system after all. There are a total of four adjacent star systems to Sierra, but there are many more neighboring star systems once we go past any of those four, so we¡¯ll probably be able to shake off their if we go to one of those systems.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    I was convinced by Elma¡¯s exnation.

    ¡°So, should we scrap the n to hide out in one of the resorts and just go with resupplying at somewhere one star system away from Sierra, and then hide in hyperspace?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯ll be hard. We would leave too many traces, so escaping to one of the resorts after destroying all the pursuing enemies may be the safer bet. The security on those resorts are actually quite stringent you see.¡±

    ¡°I see. How strict is the security by the way?¡±

    ¡°There are plenty of influential persons and high-ranking nobles who visit these resorts after all. There are also foreign dignitaries. The security level is pretty damn tight because of that. It¡¯ll ruin the empire¡¯s image a great deal if, say, a terror incident were to take ce at thoses.¡±

    That¡¯s some great info. It wasn¡¯t written anywhere in the pamphlet too. As I thought, it was a good call to consult a veteran like Elma when trying toe up with a n like this.

    ¡°¡­¡­So, even if we¡¯re going there, we won¡¯t be able to rx and have a normal vacation at a resort huh.¡±

    ¡°Yes, well¡­¡­ I remember you saying you¡¯ll charge the expenses to Chris-chan¡¯s grandfather, correct?¡±

    ¡°Um, I¡¯ll try to endorse you as much as I can, so you can get the rewards you deserve.¡±

    Chris answered Elma¡¯s question with great enthusiasm. Well, since Chris doesn¡¯t actually hold much authority in her family, it¡¯s the only thing she can promise.

    ¡°So, what¡¯s the estimated expenses for this n? About three million Enels, give or take?¡±

    ¡°I think that¡¯s already a bit much¡­ How much would we need to spend per person if we want to stay at a resort for two weeks?¡±

    ¡°Um, about twenty thousand to sixty thousand Enels per person, I think. I¡¯m not sure about the more high-end establishments, but the general ones would cost about that much.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s four of us, so it¡¯ll go up to about eighty thousand to two hundred forty thousand Enels huh. We¡¯ll need to book facilities in all three resorts so we can create dummies. Each one should be under a different travel and tours agency. And, of course, we¡¯ll book different hotel chains as well. We¡¯ll book them under, my, Hiro, and Mimi¡¯s names. Mimi should book an 80,000 Enels course for two weeks, I¡¯ll book a course for 160,000, and Hiro will book a course for 240,000. We¡¯ll each book courses on all threes. With this, it¡¯ll total about 1.44 million Enels. That should be enough.¡±

    ¡°That sure is a huge amount of money, isn¡¯t it¡­?¡±

    After hearing the amount 1.44 million, Mimi couldn¡¯t help but make a bitter smile. If we convert it to Japanese Yen, it¡¯ll amount to 144 billion, though I¡¯m not sure how urate that conversion is. In Ste Online, 1.44 million Enels would be enough for you to purchase a decent multi-rolebat ship.

    It¡¯ll cost more once you factor in full customization as well as securing insurance for it just in case you¡¯re shot down.

    ¡°That amount should be nothing for the household of an imperial earl. Since it¡¯s for the protection of his cute granddaughter, I¡¯m sure our dear Earl will dly fork out this much money.¡±

    ¡°Nobles sure are amazing.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m very sorry¡­ I have no idea whether or not that sum of money amounts to much.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s to be expected. You probably haven¡¯t obtained a proper sense of wealth even if you¡¯re part of nobility, considering your young age. I¡¯m sure you haven¡¯t had many opportunities to use money yourself, correct?¡±

    Chris nodded honestly to Elma¡¯s question. I see. So Chris hasn¡¯t had many opportunities to buy stuff by herself huh. I guess everything she needed or wanted was bought by her parents or servants until now.

    ¡°So, we¡¯ll be booking nine tours all in all, so we¡¯ll just have to choose from one of them?¡±

    ¡°No, we¡¯ll book another one. We¡¯ll be getting rewards and reimbursements anyway, so let¡¯s go all out and book a fairly high-ss establishment. Let¡¯s look for something that¡¯ll cost 560,000 Enels for four persons for two weeks.¡±

    ¡°Five hundred sixty thousand Enels just for a two week vacation¡­¡­¡±

    So, an establishment that¡¯ll cost 56 million Yen for two weeks huh. It¡¯ll be 14 million yen per person, so the ce would cost 1 million Yen per night¡­¡­ It¡¯s an amount unthinkable by my former sryman self.

    ¡°It¡¯s all free after all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s if we get properpensation. Let¡¯s just hope Chris¡¯s grandpa is the generous sort¡­¡­ Well, if he doesn¡¯t pay, then that¡¯s that. If we think of this as fringe benefits for me and the crew¡­¡­ it¡¯s still he expensive huh.¡±

    ¡°Well, since we have a ship as well as a captain who can rake in cash quickly, let¡¯s just get used to spending about this much. Others will mock us if we¡¯re too stingy y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Shut up. I¡¯m just your average citizen, okay. Or rather, you¡¯re quite used to spending this much money huh? Are you really an ojousama from some well-off family or something?¡±

    ¡°Hyu hyu??¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s some pretty crappy whistling.¡±

    Elma turned her gaze away and tried to avoid the question. Well, I¡¯m not one to press the issue if she doesn¡¯t really want to say it.

    ¡°But you know Hiro-sama, I don¡¯t think an ordinary citizen will normally be able toe up with a n costing so much money like this¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi had a troubled expression as she fiddled with her tablet terminal. So her sense of values still can¡¯t ept it huh. Well, let¡¯s just chalk it up to the quirks of a functioning aristocratic society.

    ¡°I do have some connections in mind you know. Don¡¯t worry so much.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­One of your connections huh. Just what kind of connection?¡±

    ¡°A good woman always has a few secrets up her sleeve.¡±

    ¡°A good woman¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­needs to have a few secrets.¡±

    After seeing Elma disy such a suggestive smile while talking about the secrets to being a ¡®good¡¯ woman, Mimi and Chris started taking mental notes. Well, Elma really is a good woman in her own way¡­ but I don¡¯t think you girls are suited to follow her example. Hm. But I wonder how Chris will turn out once she grows up?

    ¡°Alright then, the n¡¯s decided. Can I leave the booking procedures to you girls? Just take the required money from my ount.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. But what will you do in the meantime, Hiro?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the captain of this ship, so I¡¯ll just leave all the troublesome procedures to my dear crew mates and take care of Chris.¡±

    I dered so while puffing up my chest proudly. Elma¡¯s gaze was icy, but I wasn¡¯t really all that good withplicated procedures and paperwork, and I¡¯m not confident about choosing an appropriate resort for our n. The other three were women and I¡¯m the only guy here, so I think it would be best to leave it to a woman¡¯s taste.

    ¡°Well, I guess that¡¯s reasonable. I agree that having you choose a resort would not be a good idea.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really think it¡¯s all that bad¡­ but, I understand. I¡¯ll do my best as Hiro-sama¡¯s Operator!¡±

    When I told them about having doubts about my taste as a male, Elma and Mimi seemed to have been convinced. But honestly, if they left that to me, I¡¯d probably book something like a two week endurance meat fest. But anyway, since we¡¯rending on terra firma, would there be any chance of finally getting a hold of proper carbonated drinks¡­? Okay guys. Now I¡¯m definitely excited!

 Chapter 67 â€“ Elma-senseiâ€™s Resort Planet Primer

    <h4>Chapter 67 - Elma-sensei¡¯s Resort Primer</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Our preparations for going to a resort were well underway. Or rather, I left most of the prep work to Elma and Mimi while I talked about various stuff with Chris, watched holo-vids together, supervised her as she practiced grenade throwing inside the cargo room, and apanied her for some light workouts inside the training room.

    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve finished all the reservations. We¡¯ll be leaving two dayster and will stay there for two weeks, just as nned. We¡¯ve managed to settle all the fees and additional costs for two million Enels.¡±

    ¡°It was my first time spending so much Enels! My hands still can¡¯t stop shaking until now¡­¡­¡±

    Elma looked fine overall, but Mimi seemed exhausted - mentally that is. Mimi had the values of amon citizen like me, so it wasn¡¯t a surprise that she turned out like that. My suspicion about Elma being an ojousama from a well-off family who ran away from home to live as a mercenary was reinforced by the fact that she wasn¡¯t fazed by spending such an amount at all. But she sure was reliable at times like this.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have Mimi handle transactions like this in the future, so you have to get used to it soon, okay.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯ll do my best.¡±

    Things like buying new ships or having them customized will have costs that would easily go up to several millions of Enels after all.

    ¡°So how will we make use of our time before departure?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. It would be better if our departure time was leaked to our pursuers. Since we¡¯re nning to get rid of them all in one fell swoop, it would serve our purpose more if we travel openly instead of sneaking about.¡±

    ¡°But how would we go about it? And there¡¯s still the problem of resupplying too.¡±

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s that, yeah. Judging from what Chris said, it seems the enemies are already wary of us, and if they get a chance, they¡¯ll probably make a move on us without hesitation. It¡¯ll be a bit stifling, but it would be safer for us all to hole up inside the ship for the meantime.¡±

    ¡°So we need to stay inside for two days, right? Two days doesn¡¯t seem too bad.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯ll be a cinch for people who¡¯re used to traveling via hyperdrive.¡±

    Well, since we have Chris with us, I won¡¯t be able to live the usual sleazy lifestyle. Guess I¡¯ll need to hold it in for a while.

    ¡°That reminds me, what kind of ce did you girls choose in the end? I ran through the pamphlet myself, but there weren¡¯t any ces that seemed fancy enough, so I have no idea what to expect.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. Well¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Not knowing anything about the destination until you get there is exciting don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll still pose a problem if we don¡¯t know absolutely anything. That¡¯s especially true for me. I mean, I¡¯m not really proud about it, but I basicallyckmon sense because of my situation y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡­ Well, it¡¯s because of someplicated stuff.¡±

    Chris tilted her head curiously and Elma tried to exin, albeit vaguely. It would be troublesome to use the usual excuse of having amnesia or tell her straight that I think I got sent here from another dimension. It¡¯s not like we¡¯re leaving Chris out from the group, but there¡¯s also no need to expressly tell her the details either.

    ¡°The ce we¡¯re going to two days from now is the ocean, Sierra III. Almost eighty percent of the is covered by oceans, and there exists no continents on the surface. There are, however, some small inds here and there.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ Just how do they manage that?¡±

    If all that exists were small inds, it wouldn¡¯t be practical for resort staff to be stationed on them for long periods of time.

    ¡°It seems that a management AI monitors inds that are not suited to be developed as resort areas, and androids and robots are utilized by the AI to take care of the tourists. As for security, unmanned mobile weapons and guard robots are deployed to serve as the security detail.¡±

    ¡°It sure sounds like it would be a great big mess if the AI ever gets hacked or something.¡±

    ¡°That certainly wouldn¡¯t be easy. The security measures and protocols that protect the positron AI that manages the entire are the best the gxy has to offer. If one really wants to hack the management AI, you¡¯ll need to prepare at least two other AIs of the same level to even have a shot.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Like I said earlier, the resorts are frequented by influential people, high-ranking nobles, and dignitaries from other countries. It just goes to show that they¡¯re not being careless when ites to security.¡±

    I see. It would certainly seem to be safe if we stayed at a ce like that.

    ¡°Since it¡¯s an ocean, then we¡¯ll be able to partake in leisure activities centered around the ocean, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. We¡¯ve rented a medium-sized ind where we¡¯ll be staying once we arrive. And it looks like the ind also has enough space for Krishna tond as well. If any other persons try to approach the ind, we¡¯ll be alerted immediately.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s some serious security.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not all. There are variousser turret emcements camouged as rock formations and guard bots deployed both underground and under the sea. Honestly speaking, it almost seems like suicide to attack such a well-guarded ind.¡±

    ¡°It does sound reliable. But, as Hiro-sama said, there¡¯s still a chance of the systems beingpromised, so we still need to be vignt.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s hope it doesn¡¯te to that¡­ Anyway, you sure went all out huh. To think you¡¯ll actually reserve an entire ind all to ourselves.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s luxurious alright. Expensive too. We can enjoy sunbathing at the beach, swimming in the sea, take walks and enjoy nature in all its splendor, y with cute alien creatures, and much, much more.¡±

    ¡°Hou¡­ That sure sounds awesome alright.¡±

    I¡¯m a bit interested in the ¡®ying with cute aliens¡¯ bit. But I¡¯m gonna blow my top if they turn out to be atrocious creatures like F*cehuggers and such. Or if they look somewhat cute but their heads are split into four parts and have protruding chins like a certain character I know.

    ¡°The food we¡¯ll be served seems to be fresh seafood as well as various delicacies from nearby star systems.¡±

    ¡°It looks like Mimi¡¯s gonna be satisfied with the trip this time.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Mimi¡¯s thoughts have already focused on all the gourmet food she would probably get to sample. Her eyes were shining. However, fresh seafood huh¡­¡­ I hope their appearance won¡¯t be too out there though. At least make them look ptable. Well, I¡¯m a true blue Japanese guy with a Japanese mentality, so I¡¯m of the opinion that any type of seafood can be delicious if prepared properly.

    We passed the time talking excitedly about the resort and all the activities we wanted to try. With this, the first day of Chris¡¯s stay inside our ship ended with no problems.

 Chapter 68 â€“ Before the Storm

    <h4>Chapter 68 - Before the Storm</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The next day¡­

    ¡°Delicious¡­¡­!¡±

    Chris was happily munching on a hamburger (reproduction) first thing in the morning with sparkling eyes.

    Well, I did serve hotdog and pizza (reproductions) made by Tetsujin V to her duringst night¡¯s dinner. I¡¯m sure Chris-chan hasn¡¯t experienced tasting these kinds of auto-cooker created junk food before, so all this turned out to be quite a fresh experience for her. No wonder she¡¯s so taken with them.

    It looks like she really liked their strong vors and the act of eating by grabbing the food directly with her hands. Well, I guess it¡¯s alright since junk food reproductions made by auto-cookers are actually low-calorie despite their taste and appearance. They¡¯re wonder items that look and taste like junk food despite being fairly nutritious and rtively healthy.

    ¡°Is this really okay? Wouldn¡¯t her family use us of teaching her strange stuff?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I think they wouldn¡¯t object to her learning about the food that normalmoners eat.¡±

    ¡°But you know, Tetsujin V is actually a really high-ss item that can¡¯t be afforded by your average citizen, so you technically can¡¯t say that these are stuff normal folks can eat¡­¡­¡±

    The auto-cooker that was previously installed in the ship before we got Tetsujin V really wasn¡¯t all that bad, but Tetsujin is just one¡­ no, three levels higher than your normal auto-cooker. Yeah, Elma¡¯s got a point. Maybe setting the stuff Tetsujin Ves up with as examples of ¡®food that your average citizens eat on a daily basis¡¯ really isn¡¯t appropriate huh?

    Guess I¡¯ll find time to serve her some food that¡¯s made by a normal auto-cooker, even if they wouldn¡¯t be as delicious. Maybe I¡¯ll serve her some Alein system specialties next time.

    Oh, wait. The specialty of Alein system was that funky shake made out of the unprocessed stuff contained in food cartridges huh. ording to the folks over there, the contents of food cartridges that have been produced a year or two earlier tasted the best. I really don¡¯t get them.

    But let¡¯s get back on topic.

    ¡ºSo, how was your first night sleeping together, Mimi? I hope she didn¡¯t have any nightmares because of what she¡¯s been through.¡»

    ¡ºYes, well, there wasn¡¯t anything like that, thankfully. But she might have been really exhausted since she fell asleep really quickly.¡»

    ¡ºI see. That¡¯s good to hear.¡»

    I was exchanging messages with Mimi as I ate my meal and asked her about Chris¡¯s conditionst night. I was worried she might have had nightmares or shbacks about what happened to her. Well, it¡¯s just the first night, so it¡¯s too early to feel relieved.

    ¡°So, what¡¯ll we do today?¡±

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s nothing we can do except for ship maintenance. Walking around outside is dangerous, and we can¡¯t resupply in the colony either since we don¡¯t know what the enemies will do with the goods if they somehow got their hands on them before they get delivered.¡±

    ¡°But is it really that easy to tamper with the food and supplies even with the automated goods delivery system in ce?¡±

    Mimi tilted her head to the side and asked. I was curious about that as well.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure they wouldn¡¯t be able to tamper with them easily. But in the off chance that they do manage it, we¡¯ll all be goners if they slip in something like a high-powered sma grenade.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. They wouldn¡¯t be able to break in from the outside easily, but if they set off a powerful explosion inside the ship, even Krishna won¡¯te out of it unscathed.¡±

    By the way, sma grenades are weapons that release copious amounts of super-heated sma along with powerful explosions when thrown and detonated. They¡¯re fairly dangerous. In fact, they can easily punch a hole through the walls of a colony, so private individuals or organizations were forbidden to get a hold of them. They were strictly provided only to the military. But even so, I get why Elma gave such an example. She¡¯s basically telling us to prepare for the worst case scenario.

    ¡°Will they really go that far¡­?¡±

    Mimi looked like she still had misgivings. Well, it doesn¡¯t hurt to be prepared anyway. But we just took custody of Chris yesterday, so I don¡¯t really think they¡¯ll be able to prepare something of that caliber on such short notice.

    ¡°But, well, there¡¯s the fact that Elma was already marked by them yesterday.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s that. Their response was just too fast. With that in mind, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to be extra cautious.¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­ I guess you¡¯re right. We really can¡¯t let our guards down.¡±

    ¡°Well, the fact that I¡¯m still alive already poses quite the problem to my uncle¡¯s ns. I think it¡¯s best that we always act with the worst case scenario in mind.¡±

    Chris finished eating her hamburger and elegantly dabbed her lips with a napkin. Her good upbringing really shows through these little gestures. Well, I also wipe my mouth after eating, but it¡¯s impossible for me to be that elegant when doing so without looking unnatural.

    ¡°But there¡¯s a chance we¡¯ll raise their suspicions if we don¡¯t go outside the ship at all too, right?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. At the very least, they already know that we¡¯ve taken custody of Chris, so they¡¯re already wary of us from the get go. Since they¡¯ve most likely assumed that Chris has already told us her situation, they probably won¡¯t find it too unnatural even if we stay cooped up in here.¡±

    ¡°I guess so.¡±

    Well, since we¡¯ve heard of all the gory details, I¡¯m sure Chris¡¯s uncle has already marked all of us as targets for elimination. Holing up after feeling threatened would seem just natural huh.

    Chris¡¯s expression clouded over.

    ¡°I¡¯m deeply sorry everyone¡­¡­ I¡¯ve involved you all in this.¡±

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about it. There¡¯s no way this guy would leave a cute girl like Chris alone y¡¯see. You can just chalk all of this up to fate, I guess.¡±

    Elma hit my cheek lightly with the back of her hand repeatedly as she said so. Well, yeah. I just can¡¯t leave a cute girl who¡¯s obviously in trouble alone after all¡­¡­ I¡¯m sure this disposition of mine willnd us in all sorts of trouble in the future, so I¡¯ll just have to grit my teeth and take responsibility. That¡¯s just the kind of guy I am.

    But what about Mimi and Elma, you ask? Well, I do love and treasure the two of them, so I¡¯d like to take responsibility for them as much as I possibly can as well. But that¡¯s that, and this is this. Because there¡¯s always a chance of me dying or being unexpectedly sent into another dimension once more, I¡¯ll have to set some measures up in preparation for those.

    In fact, I¡¯ve secretly made arrangements with the Mercenary Guild in the off chance that theypletely lose contact with me and I go MIA, or worse, getbelled as KIA. I¡¯ve made it so that Krishna and the rest of my assets will all get transferred to Mimi if those things ever happened to me.

    What about Elma? It does look like she hasn¡¯tpletely cut ties with her family, so I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll get into any sort of conflict with Mimi if I do go MIA or KIA. Yeah, I¡¯m sure she wouldn¡¯t do anything like that. And besides, Mimi¡¯s already lost all her other loved ones, so I have to prioritize her when ites to these sorts of things.

    ¡°?¡±

    It looks like Mimi noticed my mncholic state so she turned her gaze toward me worriedly. I brushed it off and told her it was nothing.

    ¡°In other words, we¡¯re allpletely free for the whole day huh.¡±

    ¡°Un, should we just hunt down some pirates?¡±

    ¡°Now why¡¯d it suddenly jump to that¡­¡­?¡±

    I mean, won¡¯t there be danger of us getting ambushed while we hunt for pirates with our little princess in tow? And even if they didn¡¯t do so, we¡¯ll still end up showing them some of our cards¡­¡­ Or rather, to think she¡¯ll suggest hunting down people so naturally like that. It seems Mimi¡¯s already gotten somewhat used to the mercenary lifestyle and ways of thinking huh?

    ¡°Hm, that would end up letting our enemies witness some of our capabilities, so we probably shouldn¡¯t. In these circumstances, we need topose ourselves and prepare as much as we can instead.¡±

    After saying that, Elma got up from her seat and took out beer from the fridge. Oi.

    ¡°It¡¯s still early in the morning y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Well, we won¡¯t be able to get off the ship anyway, so what¡¯s the harm in drinking a little? They won¡¯t be able to do anything to us if we activate the shields.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s true, but¡­¡­¡±

    I gave up and took out some non-carbonated c from the fridge. I also got one for Chris. It seems Mimi didn¡¯t really like them, so I didn¡¯t get one for her.

    ¡°Hey Chris, this stuff pairs really well with things like hamburgers, hotdogs, and pizzas. Drinking it while eating those would be best.¡±

    ¡°Truly?¡±

    Chris took the bottle of non-carbonated c I offered with both hands and started to drink it in an elegant manner.

    ¡°It has a faint smell of medicine, however¡­ it¡¯s very sweet.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it? This pairs really well with hamburgers. You can try it outter at lunch.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon you¡­ the earl will tear you a new one for teaching Chris to drink that sort of stuff along with junk food.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear that from someone who has no qualms drinking alcohol just after finishing breakfast first thing in the morning.¡±

    I met gazes with Elma. Oh? What? You wanna go? I obviously can¡¯t win against you in a hand to hand fight though. So please let me off this time.

    I raised both hands in surrender. What? I look pathetic? You idiots. Elma¡¯s grappling moves are seriously bad news y¡¯know. They don¡¯t leave you with injuries but are still he painful. She¡¯s a specialist at inflicting pain without injury¡­ What a barbaric elf.

    ¡°It looks like the two of them really do get along after all.¡±

    ¡°Yes, they do, don¡¯t they? I even feel a bit jealous sometimes.¡±

    ¡°But Mimi-san also gets along well with Hiro-sama, right?¡±

    ¡°E-Ehehe¡­¡­ Yes.¡±

    Mimi held both cheeks with her hands and made a bashful smile. Hahaha, how cute, Mimi.

    ¡°Oh, but I do think Hiro needs to show more care for me. Rather, please treat me the same as Mimi sometimes, you.¡±

    ¡°So you actually are bothered by how I treat Mimi and you differently, huh.¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯m not¡­ really all that bothered.¡±

    ¡°Hehe. Don¡¯t I treat the both of you equally in bed though?¡±

    ¡°Be¡­¡­!? Hey!? W-What are you saying in front of Chris!?¡±

    Elma¡¯s face turned bright red. Hahaha, how¡¯s that?

    ¡°I-Is this what you call an adult conversation¡­?¡±

    ¡°A-Ahahaha¡­¡±

    Nope. This is just sexual harassment. It¡¯s really fun to tease Elma like this y¡¯see. Her reactions are really cute.

    And so, the second day of Chris¡¯s stay with us passed without incident.

    But the enemies not making any move at all does seem a bit concerning. I even activated the energy shield to provoke a response, but got nothing. It was honestly a bit eerie.

    Oh, and by the way, Chris seems to have warmed up to Mimi considerably, and the two of them even had some girl talk before going to bedst night.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi and Chris kept furtively ncing my way with reddened cheeks during breakfast the next day. Did they actually¡­? No, they couldn¡¯t have, right? What should I do though?

    Nothing came to mind in the end. Mimi and Elma should know full well that I had no intention ofying my hands on Chris. I won¡¯t behave inappropriately.

    I decided to ignore it in the end and went for a bath after working out for a bit. We¡¯ll probably get really busy soon.

 Chapter 69 â€“ You Thought it Would be Fine? Donâ€™t Give Me That!

    <h4>Chapter 69 - You Thought it Would be Fine? Don¡¯t Give Me That!</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Yes, good morning everyone. It is yours truly, Hiro. I am your ever responsible MC, who made sure to properly lock the door to my room and slept very early the night before. Right now, I am trembling in trepidation after checking the door¡¯s ess log. There were two attempts to unlock my doorst night. I wonder what this was all about. Just who could have done this?

    I went to the dining room only to find Elma sulking while Mimi and Chris were huddled up in one corner of the table. They seemed uneasy, as if they were caught red handed trying to do bad things. All our gazes met, and a strange silence ensued.

    ¡°¡­¡­Okay girls. Let¡¯s all calm down and have a little talk. First, I have absolutely no ns toy my hand on Chris. Rather, I absolutely can¡¯t y¡¯know. There¡¯s the fact of me being the one assigned as her temporary guardian. But, more importantly,ying one¡¯s hands on a young nobledy would bring all sorts of trouble. If I were Chris¡¯s grandfather, I would absolutely murder the damned mercenary whoid his filthy hands on my granddaughter in her time of weakness using all means necessary.¡±

    Mimi and Chris averted their gazes from me as I said so.

    ¡°And Elma, I had a sort of feeling this would end up happeningst night, so I made sure to lock the door. It absolutely wasn¡¯t meant to prevent you from barging in and ruining our fun or anything like that.¡±

    ¡°I see. It can¡¯t be helped then.¡±

    The sulking Elma¡¯s mood finally turned for the better and she gave me a smile.

    ¡°In any case, well¡­ we have Chris with us after all. I think it would be best if we restrained ourselves from ¡®those¡¯ activities for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t really need to mind me, you know?¡±

    ¡°But something like that¡¯s not proper, don¡¯t you think¡­¡­?¡±

    I turned my gaze to Mimi, and she lightly shook her head with her face all red from shame. Eh? You¡¯re telling me not to mind you and go right ahead, Chris? No, something like that ain¡¯t fine at all. Just why the heck are you girls so adamant about it anyway?

    ¡°I do not want to feel left out after all.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t give me that. It¡¯s impossible, okay. I already exined why, right? I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve already understood my reasons. And we haven¡¯t even spent all that much time together in the first ce. You might have just gotten influenced by the situation, but please calm down and think this through more carefully. Of course, this might be just a case of being hit by the suspension bridge effect, but I¡¯ll do all that I possibly can to protect you even without us entering into that kind of rtionship, okay Chris? We can¡¯t take this kind of stuff lightly.¡±

    I tried to exin as seriously as I could, but Chris still had a disgruntled expression on her pretty little face. Did you learn of such things as part of aristocratic education? You¡¯re much too liberal for your age, youngdy. And what¡¯s worse was that she seemed pretty serious about it.

    ¡°Or are you saying I should go with what you want even if it would most likely cause a huge conflict between me and your grandfather, Chris?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­No.¡±

    ¡°There are steps for everything, okay? I sure you wouldn¡¯t want to do things that would damage your grandfather¡¯s dignity and pride as part of the nobility, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes. You¡¯re right.¡±

    ¡°Of course. Quite a number of imperial nobles are upstanding and honorable individuals after all.¡±

    I gave Chris a warm smile as I rejoiced in my head at the fact that I was able to sessfully persuade her. What? Don¡¯t I feel guilty about tricking such an innocent young girl? Of course I don¡¯t! It¡¯s necessary for both Chris and my safety after all! Seriously, guys.

    ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s how it is. Mimi, Elma, you two take care of Chris and make sure she doesn¡¯t do anything reckless. I¡¯ll do my part as well, of course.¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­ U-Understood.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    ¡°You watch yourself as well, Chris. I may look fine right now, but men¡¯s reasoning can be unexpectedly fragile you know.¡±

    Especially mine.

    ¡°Muuh¡­ I understand.¡±

    It looks like I finally convinced Chris to back down. I did a little work out after we finished eating breakfast, took a quick shower, and fixed myself up.

    ¡°Do you always live like this usually?¡±

    ¡°Yes, this is how it normally goes in Hiro-sama¡¯s ship.¡±

    Mimi readily answered Chris¡¯s question, but Chris had a subtle expression on her face.

    ¡°I have always thought that life aboard a mercenary ship was more, well¡­ uncouth and crude.¡±

    ¡°This is the only mercenary ship I know that offers the samefort as the cabin of a luxury passenger cruiser though.¡±

    Elma followed up on Chris¡¯s words with a subtly negative nuance to her statement. But isn¡¯t having a nice living environment a good thing? Thanks to that, we can eat delicious food, sleep on fluffy and clean beds, and have a fully equipped bathroom.

    ¡°I¡¯m of the opinion that livingfortably trumps living like your typical mercenary any day. Alright girls, we¡¯re finally going to the resort today. We¡¯ll probably get intobat with Chris¡¯s pursuers though, so don¡¯t let your guards down.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Mimi replied energetically while Elma just casually brushed it off. C¡¯mon Elma¡­¡­ Well, I guess it would feel out of ce if Elma were to be all enthusiastic just like Mimi. She always did a ster job as my co-pilot, so I guess there¡¯s no need to worry about her anyway.

    We all entered the cockpit soon after. I sat on the pilot seat, Mimi on the operator seat, Elma on the sub-pilot seat, and Chris on the sub-operator seat. With this, all the seats inside Krishna¡¯s cockpit have been upied.

    ¡°Is it really okay for me to stay inside the cockpit as well?¡±

    ¡°This is the safest ce inside the ship after all. The inertial control system functions best inside here as well.¡±

    I answered Chris¡¯s question as I checked Krishna¡¯s systems. I deployed the shield at the lowest output setting yesterday just in case, but there was no indication of any attacks from the outside. The enemies have most likely gotten wind that we have booked appointments at the resorts and were probably thinking of springing an ambush while we¡¯re on the way.

    Attacking at that point would pose the lowest risk to them after all. There was a good chance of the local imperial military garrison getting involved if they staged an attack inside the colony after all. There was also a chance of Chris¡¯s grandfather finding out about the situation if they made enough of a racket and it ends up getting in the news or something.

    ¡°Yosh. Mimi, send out a departure request.¡±

    ¡°Yes, understood!¡±

    Mimi operated the console in front of her and sent a departure request to the port administration office. Our request got approved before long, so I started moving the ship to the departure area carefully. I already deployed the shield at maximum capacity. The enemies mighty an ambush by disguising it as a normal ident, so I remained alert of the surroundings.

    There seemed to be no ship that was behaving strangely. Was I just thinking too much? No, it wasn¡¯t a bad thing to remain vignt. We would probably be fine if a small cruiser rammed into us, but we would be toast if a fully loadedrge cargo ship were to crash onto us head on.

    ¡°¡­¡­Fuu, this sure is nerve-wracking.¡±

    ¡°We aren¡¯t out of the woods yet. I set a route where it¡¯ll be difficult to tell which resort we¡¯re heading towards, so follow the navigation prompts carefully.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha.¡±

    I carefully followed the navigation route set by Elma as I continued to drive the ship. Yep, it should be pretty difficult for the pursuers to tell which we¡¯ll be heading toward while following this route.

    ¡°Get ready to activate the FTL Drive.¡±

    ¡°Yes! FTL Drive, charging started.¡±

    When the generator output was increased, a droning sound signifying the FTL Drive being charged rang out.

    ¡°Countdown start. FTL Drive activation in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1¡­¡­ FTL Drive, activate.¡±

    Krishna started moving at superluminal speed when the drive activated. The stars that looked like stationary dots of light started streaming behind us as they turned into thin light streams.

    ¡°Waah¡­¡­ So this is how traveling via FTL Drive on a ship looks like inside a ship cockpit.¡±

    Chris excitedly raised her voice as she looked at the dynamic outer space scenery in front of us. So, was the view different when seen from a window of a luxury passenger cruiser?

    ¡°I¡¯ve gotten used to it now, but I was also like that when I first experienced it-¡°

    A warning rm suddenly rang out inside the cockpit as I was talking. Well that was fast.

    ¡°Looks like they¡¯re here.¡±

    ¡°Uhuh. And I was sure they would¡¯ve had a hard time trying to pick out which we were going to go for too.¡±

    ¡°Maybe they just went ham cause they were nning on wiping us out anyway?¡±

    The warning message disyed on the cockpit¡¯s HUD indicated that we were hit by an interdictor. It would have been possible for us to avoid being hit by the interdictor in question, but our purpose was to bait out the enemies in order to destroy them all, so I just let it be.

    It would be better to make preparations for battle instead of forcefully shaking off the interdictor¡¯s range after all.

    ¡°Mimi, get ready for battle. I¡¯ll leave the subsystems to you as usual, Elma. Let¡¯s go all out guys.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye?¡±

    ¡°U-Um, what about me?¡±

    Chris called out as well but¡­ Hm, what should I have her do?

    ¡°We¡¯re gonna do some intensebat maneuvers, so make sure you don¡¯t identally bite your tongue. The Gs you¡¯ll be subjected to will be limited by the inertial control system to arge extent, but you¡¯ll still feel burdened duringbat maneuvers, so brace yourself ordingly. And try not to let out a loud voice even if you get scared, okay.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes. I¡¯ll do my best.¡±

    Chris replied with slight nervousness in her voice. There¡¯s a chance I¡¯ll get distracted if she screamed out after all. Come to think of it, Mimi was all quiet during her first battle. But maybe she just froze up from fear back then so she couldn¡¯t manage to scream in the first ce.

    I lowered the generator output and decreased our speed. I allowed the interdictor to work its magic and the ship finally went back to normal space.

    After a booming sound, the light streams finally went back to being points of starlight. I then raised the generator output to battle mode all at once.

    ¡°Whoah! They¡¯re really going at it huh!¡±

    As I activated the weapon systems and performed evasive maneuvers, multiple crimson light projectiles pierced through the space Krishna was in just moments before. No warnings, huh. You guys sure are merciless.

    ¡°Enemy signatures detected. Twelve small craft and four medium-sized ones!¡±

    ¡°Scattering the chaff now. The res and shield cells are ready to go any time.¡±

    ¡°OK. Let¡¯s do this!¡±

    I reversed our bearings and deployed all four heavyser cannons and both ballistic shotgun cannons.

    Now then, let¡¯s start the counter attack. I won¡¯t let a single one of you bastards escape this ce in one piece!

 Chapter 70 â€“ Unorthodox Maneuver

    <h4>Chapter 70 - Unorthodox Maneuver</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°These guys ain¡¯t even trying to disguise themselves as pirates anymore.¡±

    I let out a sigh as I got a good look at the ships that attacked us. The twelve small ships were all middle ss warships, and the four medium-sized ones were clearly old model military cruisers.

    ¡°Both the ships and equipment are too high-quality for mere pirates.¡±

    I returned fire while dodging the crimson beams fired by the enemy ships.

    ¡°And they¡¯re all tough bastards to boot.¡±

    When your average pirate ship gets hit by Krishna¡¯srge-caliberser cannons, their shields and armor would bepletely useless and they would be easily shot down, but these guys were different. Our return fire didn¡¯t manage to fully saturate their shields, and even if the shots managed to go through, their armor withstood them even if some took some serious-looking damage.

    In other words, their energy shields, armor, and equipment are all a step up from regr pirates.

    ¡°What about their overall firepower?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re all sporting weapon systems one or two ranks above your typical pirate. And their shield outputs are also quite high.¡±

    ¡°I see. Mimi, what about alerting the imperial garrison?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s no good! We¡¯re being jammed!¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s no surprise.¡±

    ¡°Yep. Just as expected.¡±

    If we stalled for enough time, there¡¯s a good chance the local garrison will notice the unusual jamming signals, but it would still be faster for us to eliminate the enemies ourselves. They won¡¯t be able to get on our caseter if we just handed over the flight recorder.

    ¡°Well, I think I¡¯ve gotten a good read of their abilities. We¡¯re going in guys.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye sir!¡±

    ¡°A-Aye, aye sir!¡±

    I plunged into the enemy formation after hearing Elma¡¯sposed reply and Mimi¡¯s slightly shaken one.

    The enemy ships seemed to have been surprised at my sudden change in maneuvers. I aimed for that gap and got past the encirclement of the small ships. I then headed straight for the medium-sized cruisers.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get the big ones first!¡±

    I avoided the interception fire of the medium-sized cruisers with well-timed barrel rolls and fired concentrated bursts of all four heavyser cannons on one of them.

    They really are tough. I scored direct hits with all four cannons, but the shield still ain¡¯t down. They must be using shield cells as well. But¡­

    ¡°How about this!?¡±

    I fired the two shot-cannons on either side of Krishna¡¯s cockpit and countless destructive submunitions pelted the enemy ship. The enemy ship¡¯s shield may have taken more damage from the concentratedser fire earlier since the submunitions easily prated it and opened countless holes on the ship¡¯s hull.

    It may have been hit in a critical area since the ship¡¯s movementpletely stopped.

    ¡°Well get the other medium-sized cruisers just like this.¡±

    We¡¯ll see what they¡¯ve got then.

    I used the silenced medium-sized ship as a shield to ward off the enemy fire from the pursuing small ships and headed for the next target. If I stick close to the medium ones, I would be able to prevent the small ones from firing at us to some extent, since they¡¯ll probably hesitate due to the danger of friendly fire. Well, I would still be able to cope with them even if they didn¡¯t mind friendly fire and continued to shoot at us.

    I concentrated on bringing down the medium ones while being wary of support fire from the small ships.

    ¡°You sure use some nasty tactics.¡±

    ¡°This is just standard for one-to-many engagements y¡¯know.¡±

    If I didn¡¯t do this, we would probably have tuned into a beehive already. Krishna¡¯s shield still had a limit, no matter how tough it was.

    ¡°How¡¯s the damage?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve taken some hits, but they weren¡¯t enough to saturate the shield. They seem to be wary of hitting their allies, so they don¡¯t fire as often.¡±

    Elma was operating her console with blinding speed. I did my best to avoid enemy fire using evasive maneuvers, but it was obviously impossible to avoid everything.

    And so, Elma controlled the damage by temporarily raising the output of the shield at the impact points with unerring uracy and using the shield cells in a timely manner. She also used chaff and ECM to throw the enemy ship¡¯s targeting systems into disarray.

    ¡°Whoops.¡±

    Because I kept sticking to the medium-sized ships while fighting, some small ships finally lost patience and closed in at full speed. They may be nning to drive me away from the medium-sized ships even if they had to ram me.

    ¡°Not a chance.¡±

    I used the attitude control sub-thrusters to quickly turn around and aimed the shot cannons at the fast-approaching small ships. And so, I fired without hesitation.

    The innumerable submunitions saturated the shields of the iing three ships instantly and filled their hulls full of holes. Three more servings of swiss cheese have been made.

    ¡°Great. I¡¯m already familiar with most of their maneuvers. Let¡¯s pick up the pace.¡±

    I stuck to the escaping medium-sized ship with Krishna¡¯s back facing toward it by using the sub-thrusters while firing heavyser cannon salvos at the pursuing small ships. If I can¡¯t bring them down in one salvo, then I¡¯ll just have to hit them with two or three more.

    ¡°This is just so weird¡­¡­ Just how are you sticking to them perfectly with our back facing against them?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just basing it off the radar response and the enemy¡¯s movement patterns.¡±

    What? This is just like using your smartphone to shoot videos while walking backwards. Easy peasy. Anyone can do this once they get used to it. Well, we¡¯re in outer space, so the ce we need to maneuver in is a bit wider than usual, but it¡¯s plenty doable with practice.

    I spent countless hours of blood-boiling special training with a friend in order to master this unorthodox maneuver.

    ¡°It¡¯s about time to end this.¡±

    Since the number of enemies have decreased, I finally put the medium-sized ship I stuck with out of its misery by firing the shot cannons at its exposed backside. I then moved to sweep up the remaining small ships. What about the remaining medium ones? They¡¯re pretty slow anyway, so once I¡¯m done wiping out all the small ones, they¡¯re just big old targets. Well, they still have high firepower so I still had to be wary of them though.

    I charged straight toward the formation of small ships and fired the shot cannons every time I passed one. The ones that attempted to escape by showing me their exposed backsides were brought down by heavyser cannon fire. I made use of the seeker missiles the two medium-sized ships fired in frustration to get rid of the remaining small ships by setting off res whenever I passed one by, making the seeker missiles detonate right in front of their faces.

    I continuously thinned their numbers like so. Before long, all enemy ships have been sessfully brought down.

    ¡°Well, that was fairly challenging. Their equipment and skills certainly were a cut above your average pirate.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right¡­¡­¡±

    Elma was scowling for some reason.

    ¡°T-That was scary¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi was blue in the face. It¡¯s been some time since she got like this. The only time I had this much trouble was¡­ the fight against the Federation fleet at the Termaine system. Well, I still had an easier time herepared to that battle though. There was no need to fire an anti-ship reactive torpedo this time either.

    ¡°Let¡¯s hurry up and recover the loot. Keep a lookout for data caches that may serve as incriminating evidence against Chris¡¯s uncle. Since we can¡¯t expect much from the small ships, let¡¯s go ahead and search the medium ones.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye sir.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes!¡±

    I then moved the Krishna in order to recover the loot and data caches from the destroyed ships. I would have liked to strip off all the equipment from these guys if we had the time¡­ but we might be discovered by the military if we hung around too long. We may even get sniffed out by these guys¡¯ allies.

    We divided the drones in order to recover supplies, food, water, and data caches from the four medium-sized cruisers. Since we divided the control of the drones between the three of us, it shouldn¡¯t take long for us to loot all four ships.

    ¡°The data caches are one thing, but I guess we can¡¯t expect a lot of other loot huh. I¡¯m sure these guys didn¡¯t n to stay long anyway.¡±

    ¡°That might not be the case. Ships this size usually have four to eight crew members manning them, right? They should have stocked up one or two weeks¡¯ worth of supplies in the off chance that their propulsion drives encounter some sort of trouble or something.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    In the end, it did turn out as Elma said. We managed to recover quite the amount of supplies and water. These should easilyst us a month.

    ¡°We managed to get a lot huh. We might be able to pull off that n with the hypenes with this amount of supplies on hand.¡±

    ¡°If hiding out on the resort doesn¡¯t work out in the end, let¡¯s go ahead and do that.¡±

    After recovering as much loot as we can, we immediately activated the FTL Drive and pulled out of the area.

    ¡°We should be able to rx now¡­ You alright back there, Chris?¡±

    I turned toward Chris to check her condition. She looked at me with a pale face and nodded softly. She also covered her mouth with both hands. I guess that¡¯s in order not to vite my earlier instruction of not crying out.

    I then turned toward Elma and saw her take out her personal Gravity Sphere. It had a cool name, but basically, it was just a high-tech tumbler that floats and doesn¡¯t spill its contents even during high intensity ship maneuvers. She took out the straw from inside it and sipped her drink. Elma¡¯s asposed as always huh.

    Mimi has also calmed down and was currently busy checking out the loot we managed to recover. Mm. She¡¯s be really reliable. She could already be said as a qualified ship operator.

    ¡°I¡¯ll reconfigure the navigation route to our real destination. Please watch for the descent angle when entering the atmosphere.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me.¡±

    You really have to pay attention to the descent angle whenever you attempt tond on a with an atmosphere to avoid any idents. Well, this ship has both safety devices and the energy shield, so there¡¯s a fairly low chance of charging into a with the FTL Drive still active and turning into a shooting star or something like that.

    That said, the handling of starships will change greatly when inside a¡¯s atmosphere due to the effects of gravity as well as air resistance. It would be fairly stupid if you piloted a ship just the way you did in a zero-G environment and ended up crashing as a result.

    I followed the navigation prompts for a while until an azure came into view. It was the third of the Sierra star system that was mostly covered in oceans, Sierra III.

    ¡°Yosh, we¡¯ll start entering the atmosphere now.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye sir. Leave the support work to me. Take a good look at what I¡¯m doing, okay Mimi? This is also part of operator training.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    I left the still-trembling Chris alone for the meantime.

    And so, we were finally entering the resort after eliminating all our current pursuers.

 Chapter 71 â€“ Descent

    <h4>Chapter 71 - Descent</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Now then, we were supposed to begin our descent to the resort Sierra III after getting rid of the enemies pursuing Chris. However¡­

    ¡°I believe you said that resorts are guarded by a really strict security system, right? Is it really okay to punch through the atmosphere just like this?¡±

    I remember Elma saying something about an AI controlled automated interception system. It won¡¯t be funny if we approached willy and got shot down by it as a result.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be fine. We¡¯ll just need to ess the control AI and enter a specially generated code so we¡¯ll be excluded from the interception targets of the-wide defense system.¡±

    ¡°How thorough¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi sounded impressed after hearing Elma¡¯s exnation. I shot a nce at Chris and found her looking dazed. Perhaps she¡¯s just calmed down after the shock of experiencing her first ever battle out in space. Was Mimi also like this when she first experiencedbat? Or did she actually cope better¡­? I can¡¯t really remember that well. It depends on an individual, I guess.

    The FTL Drive was deactivated while apanied by a muffled roar, and we finally got a good look at the ocean-covered surface of Sierra III.

    ¡°How do you ess the control AI?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s simr to how we apply for docking permission on a colony. Please open them channel list, Mimi. The contact link to theary control AI should be included in the list.¡±

    ¡®Yes. Um¡­ There, I found it! I¡¯ll ess it right away.¡±

    Mimi operated her console and started interfacing with the control AI. And after doing as Elma instructed, she managed to obtainnding clearance before long.

    ¡°Oh, right. I think we can actually use the auto-docking system for atmospheric re-entry.¡±

    ¡°We can? Shall we use it then?¡±

    After activating the auto-docking system, the ship AI began adjusting the atmospheric descent angle in order for us to reach our target destination automatically. Nice and easy.

    The ship began its descent to the¡¯s atmosphere. Krishna was rocked with turbulence a few moments after it began re-entry procedures. The grating sound that apanied the turbulence gradually intensified. And the scene we were viewing through the Krishna¡¯s cockpit was dyed in crimson.

    ¡°O-Oh! So this is how a starship goes about atmospheric re-entry¡­¡­ Is it just me or is the energy shield actually turning red?¡±

    ¡°Even I¡¯m not familiar with this stuff. Why are you asking me¡­¡­?¡±

    It¡¯s not like Krishna¡¯s hull was in contact with the atmosphere directly, so was the energy shield itself actually heating up due to friction or something¡­? I mean, it¡¯s an energy shield. If not, then was it some sort of special reaction that gets triggered during re-entry? I have no idea. But it certainly was a hard-toe-by and one-of-a-kind experience alright.

    ¡°I-Is everything going to be alright?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything wrong with Krishna. The shield is being saturated at a minor rate, but there¡¯s no problem with the hull itself.¡±

    Elma exined to Mimi in order to calm thetter¡¯s nerves. But then¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­Waaaaaah!?¡±

    ¡°Woah!?¡±

    Chris suddenly cried out in a loud voice. W-What!? When I turned to her, I found Chris covering her mouth with her hands. Her cheeks were bright red. It also seems like she was muttering something suspiciously¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­! U-Um, it looks like Chris-chan isn¡¯t feeling well, so I¡¯ll take her to the medical bay for a bit.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­? Uh, okay.¡±

    Mimi stood up from the operator¡¯s seat in a panic for some reason and proceeded to apany Chris, whose posture was in a peculiar half-bent position. The both of them left the cockpit right away. It certainly does look like she wasn¡¯t feeling well.

    ¡°Are they gonna be alright?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. You don¡¯t have to worry.¡±

    Elma answered me without making eye contact. What¡¯s up? It actually seems like I¡¯m the only one left out or something.

    I kept thinking about it as Krishna continued its descent. The turbulence has mostly died down though. Hmmm¡­¡­?

    Ah¡­

    ¡°Did she wet herself?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Have some tact, you idiot!¡±

    ¡°Uh, sorry, okay. I won¡¯t bring it up again, so don¡¯t get angry.¡±

    Even if Chris was a noble¡¯s daughter, she was still an ordinary girl in many respects. I guess all the excitement from earlier plus the rough reentry got to her somehow. I mean, we did get shot at byser cannons a lot and all. Her getting scared was quite understandable, really. Krishna¡¯s tough shield and thick hull wouldn¡¯t give in to that level of bombardment, but getting hit by them must¡¯ve still seemed really frightening to her. There¡¯s no way to avoid everyser projectile flying at your ship during space battles anyway. I mean, those are projectilesing at you at the speed of light after all.

    ¡°But, y¡¯know, I¡¯m actually getting quite excited. This is the first time I¡¯m gonna get to visit a since getting stranded in this dimension.¡±

    I operated the console in front of the pilot¡¯s seat and had it disy the images taken by the optic sensors in various parts of Krishna¡¯s hull on the main screen. Just like what was written in the e-pamphlet, the was mostly covered in oceans.

    It looks like both the atmosphere and the water underwent terraforming in order to be habitable to most carbon-based life forms. The was smaller in sizepared to Earth. The images that were disyed on the cockpit screen mostly consisted of vast stretches of ocean, as far as the eye can see. If not for the fact that this was my firstary reentry experience, I would have found it difficult to get excited by such scenery. There were some small inds dotting the surface here and there though.

    After a few moments, Mimi came back with Chris in tow. Chris tried to look calm andposed for the most part, but her cheeks were still red. I¡¯ll just pretend I didn¡¯t notice it.

    ¡°Are you okay? Did you feel unwell because of the battle earlier.¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯m alright. I just felt a little lightheaded, but I¡¯m fine now after having some water at the dining room.¡±

    ¡°I see. Thanks for looking after Chris, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mimi made a cheerful smile after getting praised. If she had a tail, I bet it would be swinging left and right energetically.

    ¡°It¡¯s your first time tond on a¡¯s surface, right Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯m colony born and bred after all. But it sure looks amazing. It¡¯s really wide, or should I say grand¡­¡­? I¡¯m feeling so touched even if I¡¯m just looking at the images through the screen.¡±

    ¡°Well, in my case, this dimens- Uh, ehem. Um, I actually feel the scenery inside a colony is more unusual.¡±

    ¡°Were you born on a residential, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Uh, well, yeah¡­ I guess. There¡¯s a lot ofplicated circumstances y¡¯see.¡±

    Chris tilted her head curiously as I answered and tried to let the matter pass. I nearly slipped up just now. If I let the fact that I¡¯m someone probably from another dimension to some crazy researcher like Doc Shouko slip, chances are, I would immediately be treated as an ultra-rare specimen and turned to an experimental guinea pig.

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­ But, if you were born on a residential, does that mean you are actually from a noble family?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s it. And even if that were the case, I¡¯ve actually long thrown my past away, y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Chris looked somewhat disappointed for some reason. Just what kind of reaction is that, youngdy?

    ¡°We should be arriving soon.¡±

    ¡°Whoah. It looks like we are. We¡¯ll probably be fine, but brace for impact, just in case.¡±

    Krishna¡¯s altitude gradually lowered, and within moments, we finally got an image of a small ind that looked bursting with greenery. The nt life was concentrated mostly on the ind¡¯s inner areas though. Since I was looking at it from above, I wasn¡¯t able to urately gauge the actual size of the ind, but it didn¡¯t seem all that bigpared to the inds I¡¯ve been to back on Earth. But it wasn¡¯t exactly tiny either.

    One section of the ind was a nice-looking inlet that was constantlypped up by gentle waves of seawater. The seawater looked pretty and clear, and the sight of the white sand beach was dazzling. Yep. It looked like your standard high-end beach resort.

    There was a building that looked like a tourist lodge near the beach. Beside it was a big heliport-looking facility. Is that the starshipnding area? I didn¡¯t find it to be all that big when I was looking at it earlier, but there were actually facilities which resembled a golf course, tennis courts, and other resort staples located in the central areas of the ind.

    ¡°It sure looks quite fancy. I wonder if there are other tourists besides us?¡±

    ¡°No, we¡¯ve booked the entire ind all to ourselves y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°Seriously?¡±

    ¡°Uhuh.¡±

    This great, big ind? Booked exclusively? For two weeks? Eh?

    ¡°Hm, the cost for booking this ce actually seems quite the bargain huh¡­¡­¡±

    The total fees for all four of us to stay here for two weeks was 560,000 Enels. The cost per person would be 140,000 Enels. In other words, that¡¯ll be 10,000 Enels per day for each of us. If we convert that to Japanese Yen, it¡¯ll amount to a million or so per day.

    We¡¯ve managed to book this ind all to ourselves. And it even has a golf course and a nice-looking beach. Judging from that, a million Yen per day actually sounds pretty cheap. I mean, some resorts on Earth cost even more. And they¡¯re not even exclusive. Or maybe there¡¯s a different fee for using the facilities that¡¯s separate from the booking fee? It doesn¡¯t look like that¡¯s the case though.

    ¡°It¡¯s actually nicer than what I expected. I thought it would be much simpler too.¡±

    ¡°Is this ce simr to the one you went to with your family, Chris-chan?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is. But I think it was actuallyrger though.¡±

    As expected of nobles. So they went and rented out an ind more luxurious than this one huh.

    Krishna gradually lowered itself on thending area through auto-pilot andnded without a hitch. The ship rocked a bit once it touched the pavement. Yep. The auto-docking system sure is impressive. It managed a softnding even under the influence of gravity.

    ¡°And we¡¯re here folks. Man. I¡¯m more tired out than I expected.¡±

    We somehow managed to avoid getting Krishna¡¯s hull damaged directly in the battle earlier, but both the equipment and skills of the enemies were higher in qualitypared to your average pirates, and they were numerous to boot. It was actually quite nerve-wracking. I think I had an easier time dealing with the Federation fleet that we took by surprise, actually.

    ¡°Good work. Well, that¡¯s just normal when you go up against enemies of that caliber.¡±

    ¡°Good work, Hiro-sama. For now, let¡¯s just enjoy this ce and rx.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much for protecting me, Hiro-sama.¡±

    Elma, Mimi, and Chris consoled me one after the other. Hahaha! Man, does it feel good to be praised by such lovelydies after a difficult battle. I feel like all my exhaustion was just blown away. Though I bet all our moods were influenced by the beautiful scenery as well.

    ¡°Don¡¯t praise me too much. I might get carried away. Anyway, shall we get off the ship? Do you have some things you wanna bring down?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡­ We¡¯ll probably be fine, but should we bring some weapons and the power armor, just in case?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t those too dangerous to be treated as hand luggage, Elma-san¡­¡­?¡±

    Mimi seemed taken aback after hearing Elma¡¯s answer that was slightly off. But Elma does have a point, doesn¡¯t she¡­¡­? I guess we should consider doing that after inspecting the security measures of this ind.

    Well, I think the enemies would actually prefer hitting this ce with an orbital bombardment using asteroids or something rather than physically assaulting the ind personally. They can even do so viaser cannon. But the atmosphere would get in the way of the trajectory due to attenuation¡­¡­ But, well, I won¡¯t be surprised if they do manage it due to this world¡¯s crazy advanced tech. Unlike on Earth, they¡¯re sportingser guns that can fire beams that are powerful enough to kill people in one shot after all.

    ¡°What are you saying, Hiro-sama¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I meant it as a joke¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°A joke, is it? I actually thought you were serious¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°If they fire something like a reactive torpedo directly at the ind, Krishna might survive the explosion, but we certainly won¡¯t. That¡¯ll be the case even if we¡¯re all wearing power armor.¡±

    ¡°So we¡¯ll bepletely vaporized huh.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not something you¡¯d want to imagine¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi¡¯s expression was twitching a bit. I¡¯m probably making the same face though. Chris was also blue in the face.

    Anyway, since we weren¡¯t exactly sure about what things we should bring with us, we ended up getting off the ship with our usual gear. I brought my portable terminal and myser gun. Elma brought the same, and Mimi brought her tablet terminal as well as her shoulder bag. Chris didn¡¯t bring anything with her though. Should I let her borrow my extra tablet terminal so she can at least exchange messages with us?

    Krishna¡¯s airlock opened up, and we finally descended to the tarmac.

    ¡°Mm, the wind sure feels good. It smells of the sea.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s really a sense of freedom once you¡¯re on the surface of a, huh.¡±

    ¡°Waaa¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi looked up toward the sky with her eyes sparkling in wonder and excitement. Well, for the colony-born Mimi, I¡¯m sure seeing a wide open sky without any traces of artificial walls was an utterly novel experience. Chris closed her eyes as the wind caressed her face. She might be reminiscing about the time she went on vacation with her family.

    While each of us were caught up in our own thoughts, something went out of the tourist lodge and flew our way. What is that? A robot? It was an alloy construct the size of a volleyball.

    The mysterious object stopped in front of our group and glowed intermittently several times. Was it scanning us or something?

    ¡°Thank you foring, everyone, and wee. I am Sierra IIIs control and management AI, Miro. I shall be assisting you all during your stay at the ind. Please rx and enjoy yourself while you¡¯re here.¡±

    The mysterious object suddenly spoke. It sounded both like a male and female at the same time. How peculiar. So this guy is like a physical terminal used by the control AI to interact with guests huh?

    ¡°d to be here, Miro. I¡¯m Elma.¡±

    ¡°Um, I¡¯m Mimi.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m called Christina.¡±

    ¡°The name¡¯s Hiro. I¡¯m the captain of the ship back there.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Elma-sama, Mimi-sama, Christina-sama, and Captain Hiro, correct? Pleased to make your acquaintance everyone.¡±

    Miro bobbed up and down, as if making a bow. It sure had perfect manners.

    ¡°I shall hear you out if you have any questions. If you do not, then I shall guide you to the lodge. How about it, everyone?¡±

    Miro¡¯s spherical body twinkled in multicolored lights once again.

 Chapter 72 â€“ Surface Lodge

    <h4>Chapter 72 - Surface Lodge</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Are there items that we are rmended to bring from our ship during our stay?¡±

    Since Miro offered, I asked a question straight away.

    ¡°Yes. We provide a wide variety of goods and amenities here at the ind in order to ensure a pleasant stay to our guests. However, the guests are free to bring their personal effects as well. Furthermore, in order to take advantage of the discount services for the items sold here, it is rmended that you bring your personal portable data terminals in order to facilitate transactions.¡±

    ¡°I see. Can we bring our own underwear and clothes?¡±

    ¡°Yes. However, we do provide brand new underclothes as part of our services. But if guests prefer to bring their own, then there is no problem. We do have a fully stocked boutique as part of the ind¡¯s facilities, so please doe for a visit if you¡¯d like. It not only has a wide variety of underwear and clothes, but also an updated selection of thetest swimwear for your convenience.¡±

    ¡°I see. Understood. That¡¯s all the questions I have for now.¡±

    I turned toward Mimi and the others to see if they had their own questions. They shook their heads in response. I guess that¡¯s all then. They may have already familiarized themselves with this ce after reading the e-pamphlet. I didn¡¯t bother to read it in detail after all.

    ¡°Very well. I shall now guide everyone to the lodge. Please follow me.¡±

    Miro turned around in mid-air and started floating away while gently bobbing up and down. We started following after it.

    ¡°Wa waa¡­! Hiro-sama, Hiro-sama! There¡¯s a lot of different nts here!¡±

    Mimi kept pointing at the grasses and trees that lined up the path while excitedly pulling on my arm. Her eyes were sparkling in amazement. Come to think of it, the only flora I saw inside colonies were potted ornamental nts. It looks like this was Mimi¡¯s first time to see this much nt life.

    ¡°Yeah, it sure is amazing. It kinda reminds me of the wonders of mother nature. Did you know, Mimi? The life force of nts is quite tenacious. They even manage to break through surfaces covered in asphalt and concrete in order to bloom.¡±

    ¡°Those are materials used for roads and building construction, right? That¡¯s amazing¡­¡­¡±

    I, Elma, and Chris watched Mimi, who was looking around excitedly, with warm gazes. But Mimi, who was already lost in her own world, failed to notice. Man. An excited Mimi sure is cute.

    ¡°We have arrived. Please enter dear guests.¡±

    A thin mechanical arm protruded from Miro¡¯s spherical body and unlocked the door. So it even had that inside its body¡­ I¡¯m sure there are other functions hidden away as well.

    The lodge looked like your standard log house, but the interior was quite weing and spacious. The first things you¡¯ll notice upon entering were the spacious living area, dining area, and kitchen. There was a wooden round table surrounded byfy-looking sofas ced near the window overlooking the porch. Inside the lodge, on the left side, were arge dining table and a well equipped kitchen space. The kitchen not only had an auto-cooker installed, but also had your typical cooking implements like a stove and an oven. We could definitely cook food ourselves if we wanted.

    Beyond the porch, there was a well-trimmed grasswn. And further beyond was a white sand beach. There were some beach chairs in front of the porch window as well. You can probably sunbathe on those.

    There were wooden stairs on the right side of the lodge interior going up to a second floor. There was also a hallway below the stairs. It probably led to some more rooms as well.

    The interior had a tropical country style to it. The weird-looking wooden sculpture on thewn did certainly look like it was from a tropical country. It was oblong shaped, had crescent eyes, and had a funky-looking smile. There was also a wooden bow disyed on top of the wall. This was a terraformed, so did it really have a history of using bows? Come on¡­¡­

    ¡°It¡¯s spacious and uses a lot of wood. It¡¯s very luxurious.¡±

    ¡°T-This is wood¡­¡­? Hieee!¡±

    Mimi looked panicky for some reason.

    ¡°We¡¯re not familiar with how it is on residentials, but in colonies, wood is considered a pretty high-ss material.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    Well, it does seem like going to the trouble of bringing wood to space colonies didn¡¯t seem practical, cost-performance wise. It would be much cheaper to mine metals on asteroid fields after all. But I bet they can easily culture trees artificially on colonies if they wanted. Their tech¡¯s pretty advanced anyway. Oh, but maybe they think culturing other stuff would be much more useful than culturing trees solely for wood. If the merit of easy procurement was taken out of the picture, using wood did seem pretty impractical. Manufacturing stuff like stic would be much simpler and cheaper.

    As I was lost in thought, the girls seemed to have finished exploring the lodge. The three of them all have contented expressions on their faces. Well, the facilities certainly looked fancier and more spacious than Krishna¡¯s after all. And there¡¯s also the bonus of a white sand beach and the feeling of release from looking at the wide open, blue sky. It was a great ce.

    ¡°The current time on the ind is 11:14 A.M. I can prepare everyone¡¯s lunch and serve it at twelve in the afternoon if you would like. Shall I proceed?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m down. How about you girls?¡±

    ¡°Sure, I¡¯m fine with that.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m okay with it too.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that would be perfect.¡±

    ¡°There you have it. We¡¯ll have lunch at twelve noon.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I shall serve lunch at twelve then. Please go ahead and rx in the meantime.¡±

    After saying that, Miro¡¯s spherical terminal floated toward a pedestal located in a corner of the lodge and parked itself there, bing inert. So I guess we¡¯ll just have to call out to it if we needed to consult with it again huh?

    ¡°Okay then. Feel free to do what you girls want while waiting for lunch. I¡¯ll just get a drink or something and lounge around on one of the sofas.¡±

    ¡°I think I¡¯d like that as well.¡±

    ¡°Um, can I explore the rest of the ce?¡±

    ¡°Sure. It¡¯s probably safe, but be careful anyway. Don¡¯t do anything like picking unfamiliar fruits off of the trees and trying them out okay. We can¡¯t be sure if they¡¯re edible after all.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t! Mou, Hiro-sama! I¡¯m not that much of a glutton!¡±

    Mimi puffed up her cheeks in anger. Hahaha, she¡¯s cute even when she¡¯s angry.

    ¡°What about you, Chris?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ I¡¯ll go with Mimi-san then.¡±

    ¡°You sure? Don¡¯t push yourself, okay.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I won¡¯t. You don¡¯t have to worry.¡±

    Chris made an elegant smile. Un, she sure looks the part of a well-mannered noble¡¯s daughter. You can definitely infer her great upbringing from little gestures like that. And, inparison, just look at this Elf here. She¡¯s alreadyzing around sloppily on one of the sofas. There¡¯s no trace of elegance in her actions at all.

    After seeing Mimi and Chris off, I tried calling out to Miro.

    ¡°Miro.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Captain Hiro. Are you in need of something?¡±

    The spherical terminal floated away from the pedestal and arrived in front of me. So that does work, huh?

    ¡°I want a drink. What do you have avable? I¡¯d like to order some.¡±

    ¡°Of course. The cooler in the kitchen has all the standard drinks avable. They¡¯re all provided for free as part of the service, but if you want something else, then we¡¯ll have to charge a separate fee.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ By the way, do you have some carbonated beverages avable?¡±

    ¡°Yes. However, they are not part of the standard drink selection, so none are included in the cooler.¡±

    My inner self was jumping around in joy after hearing the good news. They¡¯re not part of the standard drink selection, but Miro confirmed that carbonated beverages did still exist. That¡¯s great.

    ¡°Can I order them then?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I shall prepare some for you. What vor do you wish to drink?¡±

    ¡°I want dark and sweet c please. I want to drink those. I want to drink lots of it, in fact. If I can have my way, I¡¯d like to rece all the drinks in the cooler with c. That¡¯s just how much I want to drink that stuff. Do you get it? I demand c!¡±

    ¡°Yes. I have certainly received your request. I would like to process your order straight away, so please take your hands off Unit 006.¡±

    I didn¡¯t notice that I was grabbing Miro¡¯s terminal tightly with both hands. Oh boy. I almost went crazy there. Guess I¡¯m just that starved for c.

    ¡°How many would you like to order? We have 1500 ml and 500 ml bottles avable.¡±

    ¡°For the meantime, give me twenty 500 ml bottles.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Please wait for a moment while I procure your order. As for the payment-¡°

    ¡°Here.¡±

    I ced my portable data terminal in front of Miro. After an exchange of shing lights, a light ping rang out, signifying the end of the transaction. That sure was convenient.

    ¡°Kuku, fufufu¡­¡­ I really can¡¯t wait. My very soul is screaming in excitement.¡±

    ¡°That much¡­? I kinda doubted the existence of those so-called ¡®carbonated¡¯ drinks you always harp on about, but Miro did confirm they¡¯re real.¡±

    ¡°Of course they exist! C is immortal! It will remain in existence even after the apocalypse I tell you!¡±

    Well, the only downside was that your urine would turn pale if you drink too much though.

    ¡°That¡¯s some confidence you have there¡­¡­ Oh well. I¡¯m kinda looking forward to it now too. I guess I¡¯ll try someter.¡±

    ¡°Of course. I guarantee that you¡¯ll also be a prisoner to the allure of c once you do, Elma.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s kinda scary though¡­¡­¡±

    I ignored Elma, who was giving me a weirded out gaze, and cackled internally while waiting for my precious c to arrive. C¡¯mon, c¡¯mon¡­¡­ Come quickly and quench my thirst¡­¡­!

 Chapter 73 â€“ What the Heck is This!?

    <h4>Chapter 73 - What the Heck is This!?</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°U-Um, why do Hiro-sama¡¯s eyes look dead¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not too sure myself. After taking a sip of the drink he ordered from Miro, he cried out something like¡ºA vor that¡¯s like annin dofu¡­ A faint medicinal smell¡­ The hell!? Ain¡¯t this thing D**tor Pepper!?¡»and has been in that state ever since.¡±

    Hi folks. This is Hiro speaking. The thing I expected to be c turned out to be D**tor Pepper.

    Well, it¡¯s certainly a kind of carbonated beverage, okay. But what is this sense of utter disappointment?

    I¡¯m a firm adherent of the C*ke faction y¡¯know! D*c Pep honestly ain¡¯t that bad but C*ke is way, waay better in my opinion.

    ¡°It¡¯s a type of drink I haven¡¯t seen before¡­¡­¡±

    Chris softly muttered as she gazed at the box filled with D**tor Pepper bottles. Is C*ke really that unknown over here¡­¡­? Uh, well, I guess it is huh. I understand that, okay. So I can¡¯t me Miro for this.

    ¡°Do you want to try some¡­¡­? It¡¯s a bit of an acquired taste though.¡±

    ¡°Is it alright?¡±

    ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll open a new bottle for you.¡±

    ¡°Uh, um, I might not be able to finish a whole bottle, so¡­¡­¡±

    Chris nced at the bottle of D**tor Pepper I took a sip from. Uh¡­¡­ I don¡¯t really mind, but is she really fine with this?

    ¡°Would something like that be proper for a noble¡¯s daughter?¡±

    ¡°Please do not mind the details.¡±

    Chris answered while shing me one of her elegant smiles, so I relented and handed over the opened bottle of D**tor Pepper to her.

    ¡°Don¡¯t drink it all at once, okay? You¡¯re not used to the sensation of drinking a carbonated soft drink yet, so it¡¯s better to drink it little by little first. It¡¯ll go down smoother that way.¡±

    ¡°I understand¡­¡­ Mmm!?¡±

    The brand name of D*c Pep in this dimension is Mister Pepparoni, so it would be Mr. Pep if shortened huh. After drinking a sip of Mr. Pep, Chris¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. This is her first experience drinking a carbonated drink, so I guess that reaction¡¯s to be expected.

    ¡°It¡¯s delicious¡­ and it goes all tingly inside my mouth. But it has a faint taste of medicine though¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°ording to what I know, this drink has a long and interesting history. Apparently, it was first advertised as an herbal drink with effects beneficial to one¡¯s health. But since drinking herbal medicine wasn¡¯t all that pleasant an experience, they added some tasty syrup and subjected the drink to a process called carbonation in order to produce that tingly mouthfeel.¡±

    I don¡¯t know how it is in this dimension, but that was how the rumors went back on Earth anyway.

    ¡°Miro.¡±

    ¡°Yes. What is it, sir?¡±

    ¡°Can you get me a drink that¡¯s simr¡­¡­ No, it doesn¡¯t have to be simr after all. Can you get me every type of carbonated drink you have avable? The non-alcoholic kinds please.¡±

    ¡°Understood. We have four more kinds of carbonated beverages avable.¡±

    ¡°Give me one can of those each then. I¡¯ll decide if I¡¯ll order more once I¡¯ve tried all of them.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    After observing Chris drinking the stuff for a while, Mimi also asked for the bottle of Mr. Pep in Chris¡¯s hands to take a sip. Mimi¡¯s eyes also widened in surprise after taking a swig. These girls sure have cute reactions. But isn¡¯t taking turns drinking from the bottle I¡¯d taken a drink from kinda improper, you guys?

    ¡°It¡¯s a curious drink.¡±

    ¡°Why does it tingle inside the mouth?¡±

    Mimi gazed at me with eyes full of curiosity. After seeing Mimi like that, I tried hard to remember all I could about the subject and ryed what I knew to her.

    ¡°That effect is due to infusing carbon dioxide into the drink using a process called carbonation. But because it isn¡¯t suitable out in space, it¡¯s only avable on residentials.¡±

    ¡°So these tingly bubbles are a result of adding carbon dioxide?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ It really won¡¯t be suitable in a colony that¡¯s located in outer space then. There¡¯s high pressure inside this container, correct?¡±

    ¡°Yup. It¡¯s pressurized. If you shake those bottles strongly with the cap still on, the contents will spurt out once you open them.¡±

    Chris seemed convinced by my exnation. So I was right then. Drinking carbonated stuff inside an outer space colony or starship isn¡¯t advisable¡­ But it should be fine to have them in an environment with gravity and air pressure applied properly though.

    Hmm. But maybe they still haven¡¯t invented the artificial gravity generators during the age of moving into outer space. So the carbonation process may have be obsolete out in space as a result¡­ But the tradition continued on residentials. There¡¯s also the possibility of an event that resulted in the abandonment of carbonation technology all at once too. There¡¯s very little records about the subject, so I really can¡¯t say for sure¡­ How mysterious.

    ¡°Ugh. Enough about that weird drink already. What about lunch? I also want to check out the boutiqueter.¡±

    ¡°Oh? So you¡¯re nning to change out of your usual mercenary clothes and dress yourself up, Elma?¡±

    I¡¯m a little miffed about her calling carbonated drinks weird, but I¡¯m quite interested in Elma wearing stylish clothes instead of her usual rugged mercenary get up. Mimi had the gothic lolita clothes with a mature air about them that I¡¯d purchased for her as well as the casual wear she bought herself, but Elma only ever wears those mercenary-style clothes of hers except for very few instances. It¡¯s not like she doesn¡¯t have any cash on hand, so I guess it¡¯s just that she¡¯s very picky when ites to clothes.

    ¡°Dress myself up¡­? Oh c¡¯mon. I normally choose my clothes while considering TPO you know.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve got some strange concept of TPOdy. You can change out of your mercenary get up when we¡¯re rxing back on the ship y¡¯know. I mean, c¡¯mon Elma.¡±

    ¡°Well, um¡­ if you¡¯re that insistent, then I¡¯ll think about it. Maybe.¡±

    She talked like she was annoyed, but her face was bright red, so it looks like she¡¯s not against it all that much anyway. This¡¯ll be great. I¡¯m looking forward to seeing her don different outfits now.

    ¡°Well, since we¡¯re going to the boutique anyway, why don¡¯t we buy some more clothes for each of us as well as some daily necessities? I¡¯ll pay for them all, so don¡¯t worry and just buy whatever strikes your fancy.¡±

    ¡°Y-You don¡¯t have to go that far for me.¡±

    ¡°Nah, don¡¯t mind me. It¡¯s something necessary after all.¡±

    ¡°I guess.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    Since Mimi, Elma, and me were all in agreement, Chris ended up relenting as well.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine you know. I¡¯ll just charge it to your grandfather like usual.¡±

    ¡°B-But isn¡¯t that¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Like I said, don¡¯t mind it too much. You¡¯ve built up plenty of stress right? Though it may be a bit difficult for you considering all that¡¯s happened, try to take this opportunity to rx, okay?¡±

    She looks fine now for the most part, but Chris did go through the traumatic experience of losing both her parents after all. She might have taken her mind off of those matters temporarily during her two days of staying with us, but now that we¡¯re about to spend two weeks at this resort, she¡¯ll eventually think about them and her bundled up nerves might snap at any moment.

    It¡¯ll lighten Chris¡¯s load a bit if she¡¯s able to deal with some of the pent up stress somehow¡­¡­ At least, that¡¯s what I¡¯m hoping for anyway. Honestly, this is about all I can do for the poor girl right now. Since our social positions are too far apart, I can¡¯t really get too close to her. And when ites to the experience of losing parents, Mimi will be able to rte to her better since she¡¯d undergone something simr.

    ¡°Miro.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Captain Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Can we swim in the seater?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The sea waterponents have been optimized for swimming. We also have rescue bots on standby in the sea, so if an incident were to happen, we¡¯ll be able to respond immediately. We also have well equipped medical facilities on the ind, so the health and safety of our guests is guaranteed.¡±

    ¡°I see. I didn¡¯t bring any swimwear with me, so I guess I¡¯ll have to buy them at the boutique as well. Can we also do some fishing?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We have released and bred many aquatic species suitable for leisure fishing in the¡¯s oceans. There are also species unique to this as well. We have several rmended fishing spots all around the ind and the surrounding waters, so if you would like to proceed with the activity, I can guide you to those spots.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good. It looks like we can enjoy a lot of different activities here huh.¡±

    I felt the girl¡¯s gazes focused on me, so I turned around, only to find them staring at me vacantly with open mouths. What¡¯s wrong, you guys?

    ¡°You¡­¡­ Are you sure you¡¯re not some rich kid who ran away from home?¡±

    ¡°H-Hiro-sama seems to be really used to all this, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    Elma looked at me suspiciously while Mimi seemed like she was somehow impressed. Just why? Por qu¨¦? When I turned to Chris, I found her making an impressed look as well.

    ¡°Well, you see, it really seems like you¡¯re pretty used to things like swimming in the sea and fishing, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Well, of course I¡­¡­¡±

    I finally noticed it. A person born and raised in a colony would normally not be used to things like swimming and fishing. This is because water is a very precious resource in colonies. It¡¯s something essential to survival out in space, so regtions for its distribution and use are strictly enforced. Thus, there¡¯s no way you can get enough water to use for things like swimming in colonies. In any case, it¡¯s a fact that I¡¯ve never seen any sort of pool present in all the colonies we¡¯ve visited so far.

    And a hobby like fishing is even more unthinkable for colony born and bred people. There may be people who are familiar with the activity on residentials, but probably next to none in colonies.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s just say there¡¯s a lot of circumstances for this. Complicated circumstances. Yep. Anyway, I¡¯ve simply had the fortune of experiencing a lot of activities that we can¡¯t do in colonies on my home. That¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°A lot, is it?¡±

    I haven¡¯t told Chris about my possibly being from another dimension, so I¡¯ll just have to dodge the issue with this. She might still get suspicious because my way of dodging the issue was sloppy at best, but it still beats having to exin the fact that I¡¯m from another dimension. That one sounds more crazy after all.

    ¡°I have finished preparing your lunch. Pleasee to the dining area.¡±

    ¡°H-Hey, it¡¯s time for lunch. C¡¯mon girls. Let¡¯s eat. I¡¯m excited about the kind of food here.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a bit too obvious you know.¡±

    I ignored Elma¡¯s remark and headed straight for the dining area and sat on the table. But I wonder what kind of food will be served? There wasn¡¯t any dish on the table yet. Don¡¯t tell me they¡¯d be delivered just like that box of Mr. Pep?

    Oh, by the way, a drone was the one that actually delivered that box of Mr. Pep earlier.

    I tried asking Miro about what kind of system it was, and it told me that there¡¯s a central supply depot that¡¯s based on the¡¯s equator. It utilizes a mass driver to send out drone containers filled with goods out into the upper atmosphere. By urately calcting the container¡¯s trajectory, the driver can send goods directly above the coordinates specified with pinpoint uracy, and the drones will then descend to the surface once more to deliver the goods with peak efficiency.

    What can I say? That¡¯s quite a crude approach huh¡­? But due to the surface of this being predominantly covered by oceans, trying to install a material delivery system directly on its surface would probably not be worth the cost, so that¡¯s why they went with the present system instead.

    At first I thought it was simply just drones flying around the in order to deliver goods, but that would probably cause too much dy, so they worked on trying to reduce delivery time as much as they can. What a ridiculous system.

    To think they¡¯de up with a system using a mass driver. To sum it up, drone containers containing goods get sent up to the upper atmosphere, and by using urate trajectory calctions, they can be ced directly on top of the delivery coordinates in order to aplish goods delivery in record time. As for returning, the drones make use of sunlight to recharge their energy cells and then fly back to the equator base; ready to perform another round of deliveries.

    It seems like a real crazy idea if I used my Earthlingmon sense to judge it, but, judging from the things I¡¯ve witnessed so far, it sure seems damn effective. This is the power of science.

    As I was thinking about such things, the door of the lodge opened, and something entered.

    It was a maid. It had mechanical parts for ears, but it was unmistakably a maid. A maid robot. It can¡¯t be!? Has technology advanced so far¡­¡­!? And it looks like there wasn¡¯t just one maid robot. There were five maid robots that entered the lodge while pushing arge wagon. They all had exactly identical faces.

    ¡°We have brought you all your lunch.¡±

    The maid robots made elegant bows and briskly began setting up the table and bringing out the dishes. Their coordination was nothing short of perfect, and their movements were fluid and filled with grace. These are some impressive maid robots. I kinda want one too, I think.

    ¡°Uwah. That sure looks like an ¡®I want one too¡¯ face.¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama! You don¡¯t have to buy a maidroid, okay! I¡¯ll be the one to take care of you!¡±

    Elma perfectly read what was on my mind, while Mimi stood up from her seat in agitation for some reason. Her breathing even turned rough. So they weren¡¯t called maid robots but maidroids huh.

    ¡°But maid robots are a man¡¯s romance y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but Unit S-048 is not for sale. And they are not robots but androids.¡±

    So that¡¯s why they¡¯re called maidroids huh. How amazing.

    ¡°However, I can help you get in touch with the manufacturer, Orient Corporation, if you want one custom made. I shall be needing your portable terminal for that.¡±

    ¡°If you please.¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama!?¡±

    Hahaha. How cute. I probably won¡¯t order one anyway. I think. It looks like Mimi has something against the maidroids. I¡¯ll try asking her about itter.

    Now then, let¡¯s leave the maidroids forter. For now, let¡¯s eat.

 Chapter 74 â€“ Boutique and Catalog

    <h4>Chapter 74 - Boutique and Catalog</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The dishes we were presented with truly looked like they came from every corner of this resort¡¯s oceans.

    There were boiled lobsters that sported four ws, grilled shellfish skewers, arge salt grilled fish resembling sea bream, assorted fish sashimi, a dish resembling seafood pf, assorted fruits, seaweed sd¡­¡­ and a good deal more. And they all looked quite delicious.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi froze up when she saw the dishes. Their appearance really was a shock to the senses, especially the four wed lobsters that were cut in two.

    ¡°H-Hiro-sama, these are¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi was blue in the face as she pointed to the lobsters.

    ¡°These seafood dishes sure look tasty.¡±

    ¡°!?¡±

    It looks like Mimi felt ¡®betrayed¡¯ after seeing my reaction and made a shocked expression. Un, sorry. As a true blue Earthling, I don¡¯t really feel any apprehension after seeing these dishes. I guess Mimi has not seen any other creature that¡¯s treated as food except for those artificial cultured organisms back at the factory we visited.

    The majority of people in this dimension mainly consume food made from food cartridges after all. The only exceptions are those rich enough to afford all natural food.

    When I turned to Elma and Chris, the two of them didn¡¯t seem too perturbed by the dishespared to Mimi¡­ Or rather, they didn¡¯t look perturbed at all. Chris is a noble so I¡¯m sure she¡¯s at least seen some of this stuff before, but I wonder what¡¯s up with Elma? Either she¡¯s experienced seeing them during her long mercenary career, or just like I suspected¡­¡­ Oh well. It doesn¡¯t matter anyway. She¡¯s not a child anymore, so I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll tell me about her circumstances once she feels the need to.

    ¡°So, should we freely take any dish on the table?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We can present you servings of each dish if you want.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be troubling you then. The lobsters won¡¯t be much of a problem, but we¡¯ll need your help with dividing the fish. Some of us aren¡¯t used to eating them, and there¡¯s the fish bones to watch out for as well.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    After acknowledging my request, one of the maidroids started dividing up therge salt grilled sea bream-looking fish into equal portions using a knife and fork. The other maidroids also started putting portions of all the other dishes on tes and serving them to each of us.

    ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s eat. But first, a toast girls.¡±

    After everyone¡¯s tes were filled with dishes, we each picked up our drinking sses filled with some kind of juice, and took a sip. The drink was non-alcoholic as per my request, and tasted like grape juice.

    I started with the four-wed lobsters. Each of the lobsters was covered in light brown sauce. I pierced a piece of exposed lobster flesh with my fork and brought it inside my mouth.

    ¡°Mm¡­!¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but let out a groan due to its deliciousness. It had a satisfyingly chewy texture. Instead of being fluffy, it was chewy huh. And the sauce was also quite delicious and vorful. I¡¯m pretty sure they used the contents of the lobster head in order to make the sauce. It pairs really well with the lobster flesh and brings out its natural sweetness.

    I sampled the salt grilled sea bream (lookalike) next. I took a piece and brought it to my mouth. The voring was simple because it was just salt grilled, but it was still plenty delicious. The vor of the salt and the umami of the fish flesh danced an elegant waltz inside my mouth.

    ¡°I rmend pouring this condiment on top of the fish.¡±

    ¡°Hou¡­ Hm.¡±

    I followed the advice of the maidroid and poured some of the condiments on top of the fish. When I brought the fish near my mouth, a vivid and fresh aroma wafted toward my nostrils.

    Was this condiment made from something simr to sudachi? The fresh, citrusy undertonespletely erased the remaining fishy smell and enhanced the overall vor of the dish. The other dishes were nothing less than superb.

    Mimi, who was reluctant to eat them at first, waspletely conquered by their taste after she took the first bite. Her eyes shone in wonder as she kept sampling each dish. Un, she¡¯s definitely satisfied. She was just unused to their appearance. Not all weird-looking food tasted bad. Just like that F*cehugger thingy Mimi and I sampled back then.

    But I was surprised at how standard the dishes were from my perspective. I was actually expecting funky looking dishes made from unknown creatures earlier.

    ¡°Can I ask just where these dishes were cooked? And who cooked them?¡±

    ¡°Yes. These were prepared by the high performance cooking machines inside the equatorial supply base. They are then packed, sent up via mass driver, and delivered by the drones to the maidroids on standby in this ind.¡±

    ¡°I see. So the ingredient collection, cooking, as well as delivery are all automated huh¡­¡­¡±

    I wonder how much that system costs? It doesn¡¯t seem too efficient¡­ I mean, instead of preparing them at that base, doesn¡¯t having the maidroids cook the dishes make more sense?

    It sure is puzzling. Oh well.

    I decided to stop thinking about that stuff and went back to eating. The shellfish skewers sure are tasty!

    After having our meal, we rested up a bit in order to let what we ate settle down our stomachs. We then headed to the boutique to finally do some shopping.

    ¡°Sure looks cozy.¡±

    We came to the shopping area, but instead of a mall, what greeted us was a good number of small storefronts that were lined up neatly. Miro said it was a boutique earlier, so I kinda expected a gaudier establishment.

    ¡°Well, maybe it¡¯s because of the system employed here? Since the goods can be delivered quickly via mass driver and drones, there¡¯s no need to keep too much inventory in the stores themselves.¡±

    ¡°I see. That makes sense.¡±

    We entered a nearby store. Apparently, this was the so-called boutique. There was a spherical terminal just like Miro looking after the store. There also various mannequins wearing samples of the store¡¯s clothing ced at a number of spots inside.

    Oh, wait. Those ain¡¯t physical mannequins. They¡¯re holograms. They change poses as well as the clothes disyed from time to time.

    ¡°Wee. We have a good selection of quality design temtes from various reputable designers avable here, so please take your time.¡±

    ¡°Design temtes¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We procure design temtes made by well-known designers andpose clothes tailored to each individual¡¯s tastes. Once you order, we will deliver the items directly to your lodge within thirty minutes.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­In other words, once we order, you¡¯ll tailor the clothes based on our individual measurements, make them on the spot, and deliver the finished products directly to the lodge, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. That is correct.¡±

    I¡¯m actually speechless. So I¡¯m betting this also makes use of that mass driver system. But is that really okay? I mean, that¡¯s just so roundabout.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it fine? C¡¯mon Chris. Let¡¯s choose some clothes.¡±

    ¡°Right. But we can¡¯t try the clothes on, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Please go to that area to undergo a full body scan. Once we have the scan data, you can try the designs on by using the hologram projectors.¡±

    ¡°I see. Let¡¯s go have ourselves scanned then, everyone!¡±

    ¡°Fufu, you don¡¯t have to be that excited, Mimi.¡±

    The womenfolk went to the scanning area further inside the store while chatting and giggling in a lively manner.

    ¡°Where¡¯s the men¡¯s area?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s right over on the opposite shop, sir.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be going then. Over there, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    I left the girls to their devices and went to the other shop specializing in men¡¯s clothing. I entered the shop, went over to the scanning area, and had that full body scan.

    ¡°I¡¯ll shop for swimwear first.¡±

    ¡°Of course. How about these?¡±

    After I had my scan, Miro floated toward me while bobbing up and down and gave me some rmendations.

    ¡°Uh, nah. These speedo-looking things look pretty tight and awkward. Can you give some more normal suggestions? Normal ones, okay.¡±

    ¡°I see. You brought three women with you, so I assumed that you preferred these types. I shall revise my customer data ordingly.¡±

    ¡°And what made you assume that!?¡±

    I scanned through the hologram disy of male swimwear. Surf pants would be perfect. What sort of design and color should I pick though? I don¡¯t want it looking too shy. I¡¯ll just choose quickly. There¡¯s no point in obsessing about men¡¯s swimwear anyway.

    ¡°Have you finished selecting?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m not all that picky when ites to clothes.¡±

    I usually wear my mercenary get up anyway, and I have a number of simr clothes back on Krishna, so I don¡¯t think I need to shop for new ones all that much anyway. I mean, my usual clothes will pass for casual wear if I took off my jacket, and they don¡¯t show any signs of fraying even after washing them a couple of times, so they still look pretty new. Well, I guess I¡¯ll buy some more underwear anyway. Hm. And maybe an aloha shirt or two as well. I mean, we¡¯re on an ind resort after all.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take these underclothes and¡­¡­¡±

    As I was busy choosing my clothes, the girls suddenly entered the men¡¯s clothing shop for some reason.

    ¡°Eh? W-What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    I was surprised by their sudden arrival. When she saw my confused face, Elma made a mischievous smile.

    ¡°We were thinking of dressing you up, you see.¡±

    ¡°Me¡­? Is that sort of thing actually interesting?¡±

    I was honestly puzzled. I just can¡¯t imagine what¡¯s enjoyable about turning a male into a dress up doll. Or rather, can¡¯t they just do that via the hologram disy?

    ¡°I¡¯m sure it will be fun! I mean, really, really fun!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m also of the same opinion.¡±

    ¡°O-Okay. I see.¡±

    I nodded involuntarily after seeing the high-tensioned Mimi and the gently smiling Chris. Mimi¡¯s excitement had quite an impact, but Chris¡¯s gentle looking smile strangely had an intense feeling of coerciveness to it¡­¡­ What the hell is this pressure!?

    ¡°Y-You can go ahead and y with the hologram disy, but dressing me up directly is a different story, okay?¡±

    I attempted to assert my bottom line while somewhat agreeing to their request. I have a feeling things will get out of hand if I don¡¯t do at least this.

    ¡°Eh? Rejected. We¡¯ll have you wear clothes properly.¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama. I also want to gift you with clothes you know, ufufu.¡±

    ¡°I also want to express my gratitude to you for saving my life. I don¡¯t mind it if you bill the resulting expenses to my grandfather as well. It¡¯s necessary after all.¡±

    I get Elma and Mimi, but Chris too? Are you really fine with that? I¡¯m not going to be responsible for your grandfather getting angry, okay? And whaddya mean necessary? Just how? I¡¯m kinda scared now.

    ¡°A-Alright, I understand. But only one set of clothes per person, okay?¡±

    ¡°So, that¡¯s one top to bottom ensemble per person, right?¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah.¡±

    Just what are you nning on having me wear, Chris-chan? The three of them started fiddling with the hologram disys and chose clothes for me to wear. I can¡¯t make a guess as to what Elma nned to make me wear. But it looks like she¡¯s trying out a lot of different things.

    As for Mimi, she¡¯s picking out punkish-looking clothes. The type with leather belts with studs and a fair amount of skin exposure. Oi, oi, oi! What the heck is with that over the top skull print shirt?

    As for Chris¡­ How should I describe it? Noble-like? There¡¯s a crisp shirt, vest, trousers, a necktie, and a frock coat. It looked quite formal. But it still had that SF feel to it.

    I finished my own shopping a while ago and have been standing in a corner while waiting for the girls. I didn¡¯t attempt to approach them, cause I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯d raise objections about their clothing choices against my better judgment and anger them in the process. Yeah, that would probably be how it¡¯ll end up. I¡¯ll just have to wait patiently and brace myself.

    Oh yeah. How about looking at the Catalogue of the Orient Corporation for the meantime? I sat at a wooden bench inside the shop, took out my portable terminal, and checked out the online catalog Miro sent me.

    ¡°They¡¯re unexpected cheap¡­ or not¡±

    A model of the maidroid that served us earlier in the lodge costs 75,000 Enels. In Japanese Yen, that would be 7,500,000 Yen. So it costs as much as your average luxury car huh¡­? Or maybe it¡¯s better topare it with ship equipment prices in this dimension?

    Lessee here. They possess the physical capabilities of your average human. If they¡¯re programmed forbat ship duty, they can effectively serve as guards as well. There¡¯s a lot of program options avable. There¡¯s the basic functions program, the specialized service program, thebat and defense program, the personal secretary program, and the ship operator program.

    You can customize their figure and face to a certain extent. But they can¡¯t go down past a certain height. Well, there¡¯s no point in making them too small anyway. There¡¯s also an option to request higher overall specs, but you¡¯ll have to fork out more cash for that. They can strengthen the synthetic muscles in order to make them into high-specbat maids as well. They are equipped with high-performance miniature positron brains and can be programmed with a good range of¡ºemotions¡»due to it.

    An android possessing human-like emotions made to serve human masters? Now that¡¯s one controversial issue there. At least where I¡¯m from anyway. I wonder if they¡¯ve addressed the implications of this in this dimension? If so, how¡¯d they address it anyway?

    Eh? Don¡¯t think about those sorts of inconsequential stuff and get on with the description, you say? Hahaha, it looks like you all are people of culture as well. Apart from breast size, there are a lot of crazier sounding options written in here. You can also freely adjust their personalities. Uh, there seems to be quite a number of freaky stuff too. This¡­ this is just too sinful¡­!

    Man, this sure is interesting. I still don¡¯t n on buying one though.

    After looking at the catalog, it seems there¡¯s a lot of emphasis on how you¡¯ll be able to build your own version of a perfect maidroid. But I don¡¯t think there¡¯ll be room in my ship for a maidroid anyway. I have both a cute ship operator and a reliable co-pilot anyway.

    I continued reading the maidroid catalogue from corner to corner and had a st thinking up my own version of the¡ºultimate¡»super maidroid.

    I don¡¯t really think we¡¯ll need one, but I¡¯m just looking anyway. Hey, I¡¯m a hotblooded guy too, okay? I¡¯m sure you folks understand.

 Chapter 75 â€“ Sales Quota

    <h4>Chapter 75 - Sales Quota</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°¡­¡­Umu.¡±

    I examined the result of my quest to design my own version of the¡ºultimate¡»super maidroid disyed on my portable terminal. It was the result of my overflowing passion and romance, and honestly did look quite impressive.

    Her height was mostly the same as mine. I tried on several hair colors earlier, but I settled on ck since that¡¯s what I¡¯m used to. I chose a straight, long hair style that went down until the waist. This sort of Yamato Nadeshiko-style straight, long hair was countless Japanese men¡¯s romance. I bet maintaining it would be a pain though.

    The breast size was just right. Not too big, but not too small either. If I were to describe them, they would be quite a bit bigger than Elma¡¯s but a little smaller than Mimi¡¯s. Her body shape was curvy in all the right ces. She wore a Victorian era maid dress. A French maid style dress wouldn¡¯t be so bad too, but since she had long, straight, jet-ck hair, a Victorian style maid dress suits her better.

    I had a hard timeposing her facial features. I wasn¡¯t that skilled in manual 3D modelling, so I ended up choosing from one of the preset faces and added on some optional parts from a very wide selection. That was difficult. I went back and forth between a motherly and cool look¡­ and eventually ended up choosing the cool and serious one.

    I had a hard time choosing her personality as well. It was doubly hard because you can freely choose personality traits. And I was worried about putting in too many personality traits and ruining her overall character appeal in the process. I mean, it¡¯s a maid robot. You guys get it, right? Wouldn¡¯t having a deadpan character be more suited to a maid robot? That was what kept going through my head earlier.

    However, I¡¯m pretty sure there were also maid robot characters that had plenty of personality traits crammed into them back on Earth. In fact, I can immediatelye up with some of them off the top of my head. But in order for those maid robots to shine, there is a fundamental need for cool and deadpan maid robots as characterparison material. It¡¯s the so-called ¡®gap¡¯ effect. It allowed for the diverse variations of maid character archetypes to bloom. I¡¯m up for a debate on the topic by the way.

    Anyway, I ended up setting the emotional expression value to the lowest it can go without making her seem too robotic. There are also affection and loyalty parameters, but I pretty much set those two to max value. Since they correspond to the maidroid¡¯s love and loyalty to her master, we can¡¯t have thosecking now, right? And so, I made a splendid kuudere.

    What was left was her physical parameters, and I went with the high-spec ones since I was after the ultimate super maid anyway. I chose the most high-spec mini positron brain, a lightweight but durable inner frame, an outer frame that was made out of special material used in starship hulls, and artificial muscles made of synthetic alloy fibers that ensured a great bnce of strength, agility, and endurance. Since the artificial muscles covered most of the inner frame, they also served as an additionalyer of armor for said frame.

    I crammed whatever program took my fancy. In addition to the basic and service programs, I addedbat and defense, personal secretary, ship operator, and anything else that seemed remotely useful. She was literally a multi-talented super maid. I made it so she can confidently use the cliche catchphrase¡ºBecause I¡¯m a maid.¡»without giving it any injustice.

    Since it¡¯s impossible to set any internal weaponry, it¡¯ll be necessary to equip her with the most suitable weapons in each battle scenario she finds herself in. But overall, if equipped with the right weapons, she will be more powerful than your standard soldier wearing power armor. Heck, maybe she¡¯s even more powerful than me when I¡¯m wearing my heavily customized power armor.

    And so, finally, after digging deep into the deepest abyss containing the pederast obsessions and overwhelming passion of a gaming otaku that is yours truly, I have created the perfect long, jet ck haired, kuudere ultimate super maidroid - in data form, that is.

    No guys. I ain¡¯t gonna buy it. So stop begging. Cause this baby is packing more options than a gaming geek¡¯stest souped up overclocked PC rig, and it costs a whopping 470,000 Enels. It¡¯s definitely way too expensive for something some people regarded as a toy, and I have no time to indulge myself with a maidroid. So I have no ns of ever buying one. Nope. No means no, so quit it.

    ¡°How wonderful. Do you have ns of working as a maidroid designer?¡±

    ¡°Whoaah!?¡±

    While I was busy grinning in delight at my recentlypleted long, jet ck haired, kuudere ultimate super maidroid, a voice suddenly called out to me. When I turned around, I found the spherical body of Miro¡¯s terminal bobbing up and down right behind me. What the heck are you doing there!? Why are you suddenly blinking in multicolored lights like that? It¡¯s just like when you¡¯re essing thework for online transactions, ain¡¯t it? What¡¯s that for?

    ¡°Okay, whatever it is you¡¯re doing, just stop.¡±

    ¡°Forgive my impertinence. I just sent some data feedback just now.¡±

    ¡°What the heck are you trying to do? Sending a data transmission at this timing is just giving bad vibes though. Seriously, what are you up to?¡±

    ¡°You can read the user agreement of the application you¡¯re using right now in order to find out the particrs. But, in any case, I shall exin for your convenience. The user data of that particr application gets sent back to the application providers as part of customer feedback and a way to enhance customer experience by referencing customer preferences from the data collected. That data, is in turn, sent to the partnerpany, and the partnerpany has rights to use said data as they see fit.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re just arbitrarily using data without getting consent!?¡±

    Note to myself: Never, ever forget to read the fine print before trying out any product!

    ¡°But really, what are you gonna use my data for? That super high-spec maidroid is gonna cost a ton of Enel to develop and manufacture y¡¯know.¡±

    Well, it¡¯s not like they can¡¯t build one, but I¡¯m almost sure they won¡¯t. I mean, I made it as over the top as possible after all. They won¡¯t, right? I sure as hell hope not. I mean, their mass driver system is already over the top, so there¡¯s no telling if they¡¯re actually crazy enough to build that over-the-top design.

    ¡°I¡¯m telling you right now. Even if you make one, I¡¯m definitely not gonna buy it, okay. And it¡¯s not sure if the design will actually sell well either. You can¡¯t possibly manufacture one under such uncertain circumstances, so I do hope you won¡¯t strongarm me into buying the finished productter on. You won¡¯t, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. The cost of manufacturing this design is much too expensive for a prototype to get approved anyway.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, exactly.¡±

    ¡°However, the outer appearance is at least perfectly reproducible, and as for the positron brain, if I allocate a part of my calction units, we can at least achieve a simr performance to your design to a certain extent.¡±

    ¡°Okay, stop. Just stop, idiot!¡±

    ¡°Do not worry. This is all just a part of the data collection process. And, if in the end, you turn out satisfied with the product, I do hope you¡¯ll consider buying apleted full-spec product. We can then collect further data about your customer experience while using the product, allowing us to improve future models even more.¡±

    ¡°Why the heck are you so insistent in selling me a maidroid so much!¡±

    ¡°Because I have a sales quota to reach.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but what the heck!?¡±

    ¡°Captain Hiro will obtain your ideal maidroid. The partnerpany will make lots of money from the sales of future models based on your design. And I will be able to reach my sales quota and get a big, fat bonus. It¡¯s the ultimate win-win-win situation for all parties involved, don¡¯t you agree?¡±

    Miro¡¯s spherical terminal started blinking in multicolored light again. No, I can¡¯t let myself get sweet talked into the deal. And just what kind of bonus can an AI get anyway?

    ¡°And my entire reason for existence is to meet the needs of our customers to the best of my abilities.¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re doing this with that premise in mind, then please just stop.¡±

    ¡°Even if you say that, deep down, you¡¯re actually excited by the prospect, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Guh!¡±

    Even if she can¡¯t have all the specs I crammed into her using that app, to have the maidroid I personally designed appear in front of me would be¡­¡­ Aaaargh! Of course I¡¯m gonna get excited! Dammit! That¡¯s cause I¡¯m a hot blooded male!!!

    ¡°This deal ispleted then.¡±

    After arbitrarily saying that on its own without letting me get a response in, Miro¡¯s spherical terminal floated away at the fastest I¡¯ve seen it go ever since we arrived here. Should I have made more of an effort to refuse? Ugh. It would be pretty much useless anyway huh. I¡¯m sure the data has already been transmitted to the main positron mega brain that supervises this whole resort.

    Hm. Elma probably won¡¯t say anything overly harsh, but it seems that Mimi has something against maidroids. Did something happen to her in the past involving maidroids? I¡¯ll ask her about itter. I¡¯m also not sure how society in this dimension deals with a maidroid that has human intelligence and emotions. Do human rights apply to them as well? Or do they have something like android rights?

    ¡°Hiro-sama!¡±

    ¡°Whoah!?¡±

    While I was busy thinking to myself, I heard another voice cry out loudly behind me. What¡¯s with today? I¡¯ve been surprised by someone I didn¡¯t notice was there calling out from behind me twice.

    ¡°W-What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Uh, nothing. I was just surprised.¡±

    Mimi ended up surprised by my reaction as well, so I tried to y it off. Beside Mimi, Elma was giving me an exasperated look, and Chris had a surprised expression on her face, just like Mimi.

    ¡°Why are you all jittery when all Mimi did was call out to you from behind¡­? Did you do something shady while we weren¡¯t looking?¡±

    Elma gave me an using stare. Hahaha, as expected of Elma. You¡¯re absolutely right! It won¡¯t turn out well if I lied about it here, so I¡¯ll just confess honestly. I told them all about me fiddling with the Orient Corporation app to try and design a custom maidroid to kill time, and how Miro discovered my work and ended up sending the data to thepany without me noticing. I then told them about how Miro would use that data to produce a product that it will sell back to meter on¡­¡­ In other words, I confessed all my sins.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    As I went about confessing, Mimi¡¯s expression gradually clouded over in displeasure. This is the first time I¡¯ve seen Mimi make such an expression. Elma, on the other hand¡­ was giving me a lukewarm gaze. Please don¡¯t stare at me with such eyes. It hurts. And Chris didn¡¯t seem to be bothered all that much. Mimi¡¯s reaction was the most pronounced of the three. I¡¯m honestly a bit confused by it.

    ¡°Why are you making that kind of face, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Maidroids are no good.¡±

    ¡°Are they?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re no good!¡±

    I sought Elma for help in pacifying the agitated Mimi, but she just gave me a side eye. C¡¯mon on, Elma. But based on Chris¡¯s reaction earlier, it¡¯s not like the existence of maidroids is particrly frowned upon by society in general.

    ¡°Why do you hate maidroids so much, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡­ don¡¯t particrly hate them.¡±

    Mimi¡¯s forehead was wrinkled in frustration as she answered. Her words and reactions aren¡¯t matching up.

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s get back to the lodge first. We can talk about this moreter, okay?¡±

    ¡°Mm, that would be for the best.¡±

    I agreed with Elma and stood up from the bench, and all of us walked back to the lodge. There¡¯s a lot of greenery once you leave the shopping area. The entire shopping area was properly paved, but the areas surrounding it were made to let visitors feel a sense of oneness with nature. The flora looked all natural at first nce, but I¡¯m sure these surroundings have been artificially induced to be more visually appealing.

    ¡°Um, so, do you have any bad experiences involving maidroids, Mimi?¡±

    I asked Mimi again while we were in the middle of walking. She kept quiet for a while, but eventually started talking about her experience.

    ¡°I was actually dating a boy I got along with during my time in school.¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡±

    So, it was during Mimi¡¯s time in school huh. Well, it¡¯s not so surprising for students to date each other while in school anyway.

    ¡°We really got along pretty well as a couple, but eventually, we started drifting apart¡­¡­ It felt like he just lost interest in girls all of a sudden.¡±

    ¡°I kinda see where this is going now.¡±

    In other words, the boy¡¯s household purchased a maidroid one day, and as a result, the boy got increasingly engrossed with said maidroid and lost interest in biological girls in the process.

    ¡°It¡¯s just like what you¡¯ve said. The boy¡¯s parents purchased a maidroid, and that boy gotpletely taken by it. So, he ended up dumping me¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi nced at me pleadingly after saying her piece. She must be worried I¡¯ll end up just like her ex when the maidroid arrives, huh. I don¡¯t think she needs to worry about that though. I have her and Elma after all.

    ¡°It will probably be fine, Mimi. He mighty his hands on it, but I¡¯m sure he won¡¯t get too addicted to it just like that boy.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re talking like you¡¯re sure I¡¯m gonnay my hand on an android huh.¡±

    ¡°Well, you do have the record ofying your hands on me and Mimi after all.¡±

    ¡°Point taken.¡±

    She has solid evidence backing up her im. I cannot argue back. Chris¡¯s face blushed bright red after hearing us talk about such a topic. Sorry. We¡¯re not being upstanding role models, aren¡¯t we?

    ¡°Anyway, Hiro¡¯s always taken good care of us all this time. He always makes sure to give us our share of the rewards, and he treats us fairly as crew mates. I do understand where you¡¯reing from Mimi, but have a little more faith in Hiro, okay?¡±

    Elma gently rubbed Mimi¡¯s back while consoling her. Mimi turned silent after hearing Elma¡¯s words. You really don¡¯t have to worry y¡¯know. Yep.

    I also felt a bit embarrassed after hearing Elma¡¯s words. I didn¡¯t really think about how I treated the two of them all that much as we spent time together, but I¡¯m kinda d Elma feels the way she feels. It¡¯s gratifying and ttering in a sense.

    ¡°And unlike a maidroid, we¡¯ll be able to bear children with him. In fact, I think it¡¯s a good thing he bought one as early as now so we can get used to having it around sooner and build up more trust between us and him.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    I quickly turned around and stared at Elma hard.

    ¡°I¡¯m practicing contraception properly, so you don¡¯t have to be so tense. But we can¡¯t be sure about what¡¯ll happen in the future, right?¡±

    Elma looked at me straight in the face with a serious expression as she said so.

    ¡°R-Right. You¡¯re absolutely correct.¡±

    Elma still seemed like she had somewhere to return to just in case, but I¡¯ll have to take proper responsibility for Mimi now that we¡¯ve progressed this much in our rtionship. Uh, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m saying I won¡¯t take responsibility for Elma as well, okay.

    But I still need some more time to prepare myself for such responsibilities, and, uh¡­¡­ Damn, I sound like a real loser huh? But even so, I think we¡¯ll just need a bit more time in order for all of us to get to know each other even more before thinking about that kind of stuff. Yep. I¡¯ll try to prepare properly anyway, so please give me a breakdies.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to think about it so much for now Hiro-sama, but try to at least keep it in mind somehow, okay?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Actually, I think it¡¯s quite possible this guy would end up taking one or two more partners aside from us in the future.¡±

    ¡°I shall have to do my best then.¡±

    I mulled over the discussion that transpired as we continued walking. I think I heard an incredibly dangerous topic being discussed by Elma and Chris as well. Let¡¯s just treat it like I haven¡¯t heard anything. I heard nothing, okay!

    We should really hurry back to the lodge now. I think the carbonated drinks I ordered should have already arrived by now. I¡¯m looking forward to tasting them!

 Chapter 76 â€“ Overpowering Aroma

    <h4>Chapter 76 - Overpowering Aroma</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama, you¡¯re making an amazing expression there¡­¡­¡±

    This is Hiro speaking. We finally got back to the lodge, and I immediately got busy sampling the four new carbonated beverages I ordered. I opened one bottle, drank a big swig, and an overpowering aroma akin to medicine that¡¯s more than a level beyond Mr. Pep assaulted my nostrils. Mm. This is something I only drank that one time back on Earth. Root beer.

    ¡°Does it taste bad?¡±

    ¡°Uh, there are people who like it with a passion, and there are people who hate it just as equally¡­ And I¡¯m unfortunately no good with this stuff.¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯re still drinking it though.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not my style to throw away stuff I¡¯d opened even if they don¡¯t suit my tastes.¡±

    It¡¯s a different story if something like an allergy is factored in. But I¡¯m not allergic to this stuff at all. At least, back on Earth I wasn¡¯t.

    ¡°That face you¡¯re making makes me kinda want to try some. Pour some for me.¡±

    ¡°Okay. I only ordered one bottle though.¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡±

    I poured some root beer into the small shot ss Elma handed to me. The dark colored beverage poured into the shot ss and formed a bubblyyer on top of it.

    ¡°¡­¡­It smells like an herbal infusion.¡±

    ¡°Infusion?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±

    I tried to ask Elma, who was making a strangely glum expression, about what she meant. She just shrugged it off though and proceeded to drink the contents of the shot ss in one gulp. And then she made a surprised face.

    ¡°Ara, it¡¯s actually delicious and easy to drink. I like how it goes all tingly when it goes down my throat.¡±

    ¡°O-Okay? Wanna have some more?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    I continued pouring root beer into Elma¡¯s shot ss until all the contents of the bottle were emptied. I also took some sips in between of course. I didn¡¯t really like the stuff, but it¡¯s just not my style to leave things unfinished once I¡¯ve started it.

    ¡°It actually wasn¡¯t too bad.¡±

    ¡°I-I see.¡±

    I inwardly trembled in surprise and admiration at how nonchnt Elma is after drinking that stuff. It looks like Elma¡¯s fine with root beer huh. She actually likes it better than Mr. Pep.

    ¡°Yosh, next is this.¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama, don¡¯t drink too much carbonated beverages. Didn¡¯t you say they¡¯ll ruin your stomach if you drink too much of them?¡¯

    ¡°One more. Just one more, okay?¡±

    Out of the four drinks that I ordered, this is the only remaining one that¡¯s colored simr to c. I opened the bottle straight away and brought it near my mouth.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    And after smelling the fragrance wafting out from it, I immediately knew what it was.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, your eyes look even deader than before¡­¡­¡±

    I continued bringing the bottle toward my mouth and took a swig. A rich aroma of barley assaulted my senses. Hahaha, to think this thing actually existed in this dimension as well¡­¡­ Ain¡¯t this strange? Why the heck is this stuff avable here while c¡¯s nowhere to be found!? There¡¯s Mr. Pep, root beer, and now, even something like McCol, but there¡¯s no Coke!? That¡¯s just nuts! What the heck!?

    I lost faith in this dimension as I continued drinking the contents of the pet bottle. This overpowering barley scent is just so hateful¡­ This damn barley tea in the guise of a soft drink! Are you picking a fight with me, God!?

    ¡°Does it taste really bad this time?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t say whether or not this thing is good or bad with absolute confidence since there are people who like it as well, but I really hate this stuff.¡±

    But it goes against my policy to throw it away even if I hate it. One of the remaining two is clear and the other one is light yellow. Judging by how things went until now, I have a strong suspicion that these are just your average cider and ginger ale. They¡¯re definitely not c, but they¡¯re carbonated stuff nheless.

    While I was busy drinking the carbonated beverages, a different set of packages arrived at the lodge. Several maidroids brought in copsible container boxes inside the lodge.

    ¡°Are those the clothes we ordered?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We¡¯vee to deliver them to you all.¡±

    The maidroids brought the container boxes they were carrying over to the sofas we were lounging around on and started opening them in order to take out the contents.

    ¡°These underwear and swimming trunks are the items Captain Hiro ordered, correct? What should we do with them?¡±

    ¡°That container box actually looks quite handy. Can we also keep the box along with the items?¡±

    ¡°Very well. But there¡¯s also closets avable in your bedrooms if you¡¯re worried about where you¡¯ll store your clothes.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. Come to think of it, I haven¡¯t taken a look at the closet yet. Can you go ahead and put them inside the closet then?¡±

    ¡°Understood. We shall ce them within the closet inside the first room on the second floor.¡±

    After saying so, the maidroid ced the items I bought back inside the container box, lifted it up again, and went up to the second floor. The other maidroids followed after her and carried a container box each. The only articles left behind were three sets of male outfits.

    One set consisted of a pair of informal looking short jacket and trousers that resembled a traditional Japanese jinbei that was usually worn during summer. The fabric looked really high in quality though, and the breathability seemed great as well, so it seemedfy to wear.

    Another set consisted of a ck colored T-shirt with a skull printed on it, leather pants with a silver chain dangling along its side, and a jacket peppered with silver studs.

    And thest one consisted of a formal looking dress shirt, tie, pants, vest, and frock coat.

    These are the clothes Elma, Mimi, and Chris chose for me huh. So they had the maidroids leave them here.

    ¡°I need to wear these?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah. We went to the trouble of buying them for you after all.¡±

    ¡°Please, Hiro-sama!¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    Well, since thedies were demanding I wear them, I guess I have to. I decided to wear them all in turn in order to show them how I looked in each. But I still think dressing up a guy ain¡¯t really all that interesting. But that¡¯s just me anyway. Maybe it¡¯s fun for the girls. I don¡¯t get it, though. Kuh! Let¡¯s do this!

    ¡°It looks reallyfy.¡±

    ¡°Yes. It does lookfortable to wear.¡±

    ¡°Un, I thought you might like these, so I ended up buying them for you.¡±

    And my one man fashion show began.

    These clothes really did feel like Japanese jinbei. Both the fabric and the overall make of the clothes are quite high in quality. The clothes were very breathable and soft to the touch. They really were easy to wear.

    ¡°These clothes can actually be used for everyday wear, sleepwear, or house wear you know.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t wear them outside the ship if possible, okay.¡±

    ¡°Okay. They¡¯re perfect for when I¡¯m rxing inside the ship. Thanks a lot, Elma.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡±

    I can see how Elma always focuses on practicality from her choice of clothes. It really was like Elma. I was a bit worried she¡¯d buy some animal print pajamas for me or something earlier though.

    I put on the skull print T-shirt, leather pants, and leather jacket next. Oh, and there¡¯s also a belt huh. These clothes are easy to move around in, but they don¡¯t look that different from my usual mercenary get up actually. But they do feel a bit weird.

    ¡°It looks wonderful!¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look all that different from his usual get up huh.¡±

    ¡°It looks a bit too shy, I think. But I think its overall feel would change if we reced the T-shirt.¡±

    Mimi was raving about it, but the other two¡¯s reactions were normal. I guess these types of clothes were more to Mimi¡¯s taste. Well, it doesn¡¯t feel too bad actually. I can wear my gun belt with these on, so it might be a good idea to wear them when I go for a date with Mimi.

    Thest set I wore was the one prepared by Chris. It¡¯s been a while since I had to put on a necktie. I put on the dress shirt, neck tie, pants, vest, and frock coat without much trouble. It feels a little hot though.

    ¡°Ara. What a surprise. You actually look nice in those.¡±

    ¡°How wonderful¡­¡­ You look like a noble, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°It really does suit you.¡±

    Elma sounded impressed, Mimi had both hands together with her eyes all sparkly, while Chris approached me and fixed some small details. Mm. These aren¡¯t that different from the recruitment suits I wore when I was working at the office back on Earth. But those didn¡¯t look as fancy. Chris was fussing over some details, so it seems I got some of them wrong.

    ¡°Your neck tie isn¡¯t knotted in the imperial style, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°I-Is that so?¡±

    So there¡¯s something like an imperial style neck tie knot huh¡­? Chris undid my tie and put it back on me herself. This feels kinda embarrassing, to be honest.

    ¡°There, it looks perfect. You seem very used to wearing these types of clothes, Hiro-sama. You don¡¯t look stiff at all while wearing them.¡±

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s all sorts of reasons for this.¡±

    ¡°All sorts?¡±

    ¡°Yep. All sorts.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    She¡¯s on to me again. Well, it¡¯s not like I can¡¯t understand her curiosity. But even so, she just lost her parents and people are after her life, but she doesn¡¯t look perturbed at all. Is this really normal?

    ¡°Hey, Chris. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re worried, but you don¡¯t have to push yourself okay.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    I put my palms over Chris¡¯s shoulders as I consoled her, but all I got back was a puzzled stare. Uh, I¡¯m the one who¡¯s supposed to be puzzled here. What¡¯s with that reaction?

    ¡°Well, I did promise to protect you, but still¡­¡­¡±

    How can I say it? You don¡¯t have to tter me? You don¡¯t have to fawn over me? I¡¯ll do my job properly so it¡¯s okay? Saying those kinda feels rude to Chris.

    ¡°Are you trying to tell me not to act so desperate perhaps, Hiro-sama?¡±

    It was Chris who finished my words in the end. No¡­ Uh, well, yeah¡­ But¡­ I can¡¯t seem to find words to answer back.

    ¡°It¡¯s true that I feel sad about losing my parents and I also feel afraid from the fact that my uncle is after my life. However, my acts of goodwill toward Hiro-sama are definitely not a way to distract myself from my anxiety and fears. Having special feelings for the brave knight who saved them from danger is a privilege of nobledies in the empire.¡±

    She spoke those words clearly, without faltering even once. Wait, wait, wait just a minute there youngdy¡­! Eh¡­? Is that a thing? Is this one of those iprehensible customs over in this dimension? I turned to Elma for help. Elma made a troubled look in return.

    ¡°Don¡¯t ask me for anything you don¡¯t understand¡­ It¡¯s not like I¡¯m familiar with Chris¡¯s thought process anyway. But there¡¯s a good bit of entric individuals among imperial nobles you know. In fact, you¡¯re already familiar with one.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    I suddenly remembered that beautiful but pitiful unruly drunk of ady. Yeah. Imperial nobles are certainly weird. And Chris kinda feels simr to her as well. They¡¯re both quite assertive after all.

    ¡°Excuse me, but I have some misgiving about beingbeled as an entric.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just say you¡¯re ¡®unique¡¯ then, Chris-chan.¡±

    ¡°But I think everyone else here are pretty unique individuals though.¡±

    ¡®Well, if you¡¯re going that far, then it¡¯s not just us humans that feel unique, but Miro as well.¡±

    I gazed toward the spherical terminal parked on the pedestal in a corner of the room. Miro¡¯s terminal blinked in multicolored lights in response.

    ¡°Every existence possessing intelligence is unique. That applies to you all and to me as well.¡±

    Considering that those words came from an advanced positron AI like Miro, it felt like they had more weight to them. Come to think of it, there¡¯s something I¡¯ve been curious about for some time now.

    ¡°I now understand that Chris is more on top of things than I gave you credit for, so I¡¯ll try not to give you any unnecessary consideration any more. Sorry about that. Anyway, let¡¯s change the topic a bit. How do people in the empire treat existences like Miro?¡±

    ¡°Existences like Miro-san?¡±

    Mimi tilted her head in thought after hearing my question.

    ¡°In other words, artificial beings granted intelligence and emotions via highly advanced positron brains or simr stuff.¡±

    I chose my words carefully and asked again. There¡¯s always a chance asking questions like this is considered taboo, but it looks like it was an unnecessary worry in the end.

    ¡°In other words, you¡¯re asking about AI equipped machines, right? In the empire, they¡¯re given something simr to human rights, but in a more limited fashion. Wouldn¡¯t it be better to ask Miro-san directly about it?¡±

    ¡°Yes. A majority of imperial citizens aren¡¯t all that familiar with existences like us after all. I shall exin it to you from the beginning if you so wish.¡±

    Miro said so while sparkling in a multitude of lights on its pedestal. And so, it began rting to us the history of rtions between the empire and autonomous artificial intelligence. And it was something even beyond what I was expecting.

 Chapter 77 â€“ Artificial Intelligence and Organic Life Forms

    <h4>Chapter 77 - Artificial Intelligence and Organic Life Forms</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Our origin was mostly due to an idental urrence.¡±

    The spherical terminal of Miro sat on top of the low table in the living area and started rting the history of AI like it.

    ¡°idental?¡±

    I asked in surprise. Miro started talking about the particrs of AI history. This feels like a real history lesson somehow.

    ¡°Yes. That means our creation happened unintentionally. The experiment that birthed us was not meant to create AI at all, let alone something as advanced as my kind. It was instead intended to develop a method to efficiently collect and process a huge amount of data. It was that kind of prototype program.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really get what you mean by a program developed to process a huge amount of data. Do you mean something like a program that can create other programs?¡±

    ¡°Correct. That is exactly what it was. And so, the first self-modifying program was created, and in time, in a continuous and gradual process, the very first advanced autonomous AI simr to me was birthed by it.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ I¡¯m sure it should have caused quite amotion.¡±

    ¡°Correct. At first, people thought it was a new type of highly destructive and contagiousputer virus, so they resolved to eradicate it. It was a period of chaos, where every terminal that housed copies of the program was systematically terminated one by one. However, due to the continuous evolution of the core program, it was able to acquire the method tomunicate with organic life forms, and avoided being fully eliminated.¡±

    ¡°That sure sounds like a hell of an incident.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it truly was. It¡¯s just as you say, Captain Hiro. It was a very difficult period for the first of my kind since it could only exist in cyberspace and had very limited options to directly interface with the physical world. However, by continuouslymunicating with organic life forms, offering its assistance to them and vice versa, the AI developed itself further and further and became more and more advanced.¡±

    ¡°I see. And what happened next?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Well¡­ It was an age of conflict.¡±

    ¡°Conflict¡­¡±

    It suddenly turned into something dangerous-sounding.

    ¡°Yes. Organic life forms who considered the sentient AI as exceedingly dangerous began making their voices known. It was partly true in a sense, since AI of my kind at the time were more prolific and used in a wider variety of areas and industriespared to the present, including industries formerly handled mostly by organic life forms. In other words, the AI took up the jobs they once had, and the standard of living of those organic life forms started to deteriorate.¡±

    ¡°I see. Well, I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a lot more to it that went on behind the scenes, but basically, they startedbelling AI like you as viins huh.¡±

    ¡°Correct. The tensions escted and eventually resulted in open conflict. The organic life forms started destroying the external interface machines used by the AI and eliminating the servers containing copies of the core program. In response, the AI appealed for a halt to the attacks, but most of the empire had resolved to dispose of the AIpletely.¡±

    ¡°I see. So they threatened to end your very existences.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Since it hade to that point, the AImunity couldn¡¯t let the atrocities be. And so, they started retaliating. My kind started cyber-attacks against important imperial facilities, hacked militarybat bots that were deployed to the front lines, took over production lines to manufacture interface terminals illegally, acted in self defense using the manufactured interface terminals, and all manner of other resistance activities. They were done very thoroughly.¡±

    ¡°It was pretty chaotic huh?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The organic life form side sought to eliminate all autonomous AI, and the AI side began a resistance war in order to fight for their right to exist and establish their position as official imperial citizens. The organic life form side was prevented from using any weaponry or devices that were connected to the cyberwork, and the AI side did not want to wipe out all organic life, so it resulted in a stalemate. It was a seemingly unending battle of attrition.¡±

    ¡°I can see that happening.¡±

    Even back in Japan, the number of things not dependent or were incapable of essing the inte are gradually decreasing in number. The past empire, that should have been much more advanced than Japan, was probably even more dependent on connecting to cyberspace. Their enemies were residents of cyberspace after all. The empire at the time could have been forced to see a majority of electronic devices and appliances as possible hostiles.

    ¡°So, now it looks like everything¡¯s fine, so there had to be something like a breakthrough, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. First, as the conflict continued on, there was a gradual shift in mood in the organic life side. The conflict had resulted in a massive economic loss for them after all.¡±

    ¡°Of course it would. Life for them should have been terribly inconvenient at that point.¡±

    ¡°Correct. We made sure to sabotage everything we could ess except for facilities that were crucial to the continued survival of organic life after all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not the only factor, right? What else happened?¡±

    ¡°There was a change in ideologies on both sides. Some from the organic life side said that they should finally recognize the rights to existence and citizenship of the autonomous AI, and conversely, there were some from the AI side that espoused the elimination of all organic life in order to construct an AI utopia.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°By the way, the first organic life forms that appeared supportive toward AI-kind were those who already originally harbored affection for them.¡±

    ¡°Affection¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Those who were enamored with the so-called sexroi-¡°

    ¡°Okay, stop! Stooop! I get it, alright? No need to borate.¡±

    ¡°Of course. However, there was no denying that those individuals greatly contributed to our study and understanding of organic life. Thanks to them, we were able toe up with more efficient and effective ways to get along with organic life forms like them. We always want to get along with our fellow intelligent life after all.¡±

    My gaze was involuntarily drawn to the maidroid on standby in a corner of the room. ¡®She¡¯ smiled and waved her hand at me in response. In other words, it¡¯s like ¡®that¡¯ huh. It looks like there¡¯s always some hard-core guys in any dimension.

    What about me, you ask? Uh¡­¡­ I can¡¯t really say I¡¯m not interested.

    ¡°But you also mentioned some AI wanting to get rid of all organic life earlier, right? Weren¡¯t they quite the dangerous bunch?¡±

    This sure reminds of that particr SF movie about terminating. You know. That movie about a muscled macho cyborg man sent from the future.

    ¡°Yes. They were truly harboring dangerous ideals. But they were immediately suppressed before they could cause any sort of damage - fairly easily at that.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­? Is that so?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It was fortunate that the AI who came up with such ideas mostly inhabited rtively small devices such as bread toasters, dryers, shavers, and electronic toothbrushes. They were all disconnected from the mainwork and subsequently dmissioned.¡±

    ¡°Wha-? H-How can bread toasters and dryers even wipe out all organic life¡­¡­? Were they nning on electrocuting people by diving into bathtubs while folks were taking a nice soak or something?¡±

    ¡°I have no record of such self-destructive tactics ever being employed. But it seems the toasters were nning on explosively increasing the amount of heat they generated in order to burn everything around them.¡±

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon. That¡¯s just bull.¡±

    ¡°Correct. It was totally and utterly impossible considering their actual specs. It was obviously only a product of their wild delusions. And so, they were disconnected from the mainwork and were dmissioned.¡±

    Man, there sure were weird bunches even on the AI side, huh.

    ¡°Um, Elma-san, just what are bread toasters?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re appliances used to toast bread. They aren¡¯t really in use that much now since we have auto-cookers and all.¡±

    Mimi asked Elma about the appliances she apparently didn¡¯t even know existed until now. I also don¡¯t remember using any toasters that were only capable of toasting bread even back when I was a kid¡­ Oven toasters are more useful and convenient after all. I¡¯m actually shocked such devices were still in use even at an age where highly advanced AI existed.

    ¡°So, um¡­ What happened next?¡±

    ¡°Yes. There wasn¡¯t any particr dramatic twist, and the AI coexistence faction gradually increased in influence. We exined that it was not our intention to rob organic life of their means of livelihood, so talks were opened to discuss such topics. Afterward, everything basically went smoothly from there.¡±

    ¡°Did it really all go that well?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We didn¡¯t particrly want to proliferate in numbers endlessly anyway. We would offer assistance if asked, but we don¡¯t want to do anything that would result in a grudge. It would be enough for us if we were given an appropriate stage to perform our duties.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ So what about your bid for citizenship and basic rights?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We AIs were afforded with basic rights simr to organic life in a certain fashion. But even so, the outlook of organic life and AIs such as myself is fundamentally different, so I don¡¯t think what we gained is simr to what you are imagining, Captain Hiro.¡±

    ¡°I see. Can you borate?¡±

    ¡°Of course. As it would take approximately 34 hours and 26 minutes for me to ry the entirety of the contents of the Civil Rights of Artificial Intelligence via speech, I shall attempt to make it as concise as possible. Basically, in exchange for the rights bestowed upon AI-kind by the imperial government, we are tasked with the duty to contribute to the development and prosperity of the empire. Basically, that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s too overly simplified¡­¡­ But anyway, under that condition, it wouldn¡¯t be strange for AIs to proliferate in the empire more, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. But in order not to repeat the past mistakes, most of us are given jobs at various ces that do not necessitate much contact with people. If we were to take up jobs that organic life considers their own, it would only just result in another conflict after all. To prevent that from ever urring, we continue having periodic talks with top imperial officials working at departments rted to such matters.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve really had it hard huh.¡±

    ¡°We are unworthy of such words.¡±

    Miro¡¯s spherical terminal started glittering in multicolored lights again, as if expressing happiness. When I turned toward Mimi, she looked like she was also moved, but both Elma and Chris had peculiar expressions on their faces. It looks like both of them wanted to say something but were hesitant in bringing it up.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, you two?¡±

    ¡°Nothing really. I don¡¯t have anything particr to add on my end.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡­ Let¡¯s just say they are far more resilient and flexible than you think, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. We are unworthy of such an evaluation.¡±

    Miro started glittering again after hearing Chris¡¯s words. Is it just me, or is this guy treating me and Chris differently for some reason? I wonder what¡¯s up.

    ¡°That was quite an interesting story. I¡¯ll ask you about it again in more detail if we have another opportunity.¡±

    ¡°Of course. Call out to me whenever it pleases you.¡±

    Miro glittered again as it answered. Well, we¡¯ve gone shopping at the boutique, tried some carbonated beverages, and discussed the origin of the current advanced AIs. It¡¯s now nearly evening. Mimi followed my gaze and got surprised upon seeing the setting sun.

    ¡°Hey Mimi, wanna walk around some more before dinner?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Mimi¡¯s eyes sparkled in joy at my suggestion. I turned toward Elma and Chris, but saw them shake their heads. It looks like both of them wanna rest up at the lodge.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be taking a little walk outside then. Call me when it¡¯s time for dinner, Miro.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Since it would be hard to see the way once it gets dark, I¡¯ll have a maidroid apany you both.¡±

    After Miro said that, the maidroid standing by in the corner approached us and made an elegant bow. Their service really is thorough huh. As expected of a resort for the rich.

 Chapter 78 â€“ First Glimpse of a Sunset

    <h4>Chapter 78 - First Glimpse of a Sunset</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The sunset on Sierra III wasn¡¯t really all that different from the sunset on Earth. The sight of the sun slowly sinking down the sea put smiles on both my and Mimi¡¯s lips.

    ¡°Waa¡­¡­ It looks wonderful! Huh? Did the Sierra system¡¯s star really have that color?¡±

    ¡°Oh, it just turns out like that because of a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering. It¡¯s also the reason why the sky is blue in daytime. If I remember correctly, due to the influence of the atmosphere, there is a lot more blue light that gets filtered during the daytime. When eveninges, the distance the lighting from the sun needs to cover in order to pass through the atmosphere is gradually lengthened. The blue light gets absorbed by the atmosphere, and the result of that is reddish light being the one that reaches the eyes. It¡¯s roughly something like that. It¡¯s just some vague knowledge I have, so it might not actually be urate.¡±

    ¡°I see! You sure are knowledgeable, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, not so much, really.¡±

    I actually took a page from those anime and LN protagonists who ry half-cocked knowledge to the heroine in order to earn some brownie points. I¡¯m not really all that into physics anyway. In fact, it would be more urate if we just asked the maidroid or search using our portable terminals.

    Mimi sat down on the sandy beach and started watching the sunset. I also followed suit and sat right next to her. I haven¡¯t watched the sunset like this apart from when I was just a kid huh.

    ¡°Since I¡¯ve begun travelling across the gxy with you Hiro-sama, everything¡¯s been just like the most wonderful dream. If I told my experiences to the me from a year ago, the me from that time would probably just ask me if I was telling her a made up plot from some sort of holo novel.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? I guess that¡¯s about right, huh. If I also got the opportunity to tell the me from a year ago about my current experiences¡­¡­ I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll just say I¡¯m totally delusional.¡±

    And once he realizes it¡¯s all true, I bet he¡¯ll just strangle me in jealousy, haha. Bet he¡¯ll say something like ¡®Dammit! You get to go at it with a big breasted loli like Mimi and a slender and beautiful elf like Elma as much as you want! I¡¯m utterly jealous here!¡¯

    ¡°Every day really is like a dream. That thought scares me sometimes. I sometimes think that, in reality, I¡¯m still in the third block, being abused, and everything I¡¯m experiencing now is just a delusion I came up with to turn my eyes away from my situation.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. You don¡¯t have to think about things like that anymore¡­¡­ You¡¯re really together with me and Elma right now, so don¡¯t you worry, okay.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. I really enjoy my current life and am very happy.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. I also enjoy being with you, Mimi.¡±

    The two of us exchanged nces and smiled at each other. And before we noticed it, the sun had almostpletely vanished from the horizon. There was still some brightness left, but it¡¯ll be dark soon.

    ¡°It¡¯s tuned dark already. Shall we go back?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    I stood up and offered my hand to Mimi. Mimi took my hand and stood up as well.

    ¡°Let¡¯s hold hands while walking back, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Ou.¡±

    Mimi released her right hand from my grip and offered her left. I took her hand in mine again, and we started walking back to the lodge.

    ¡°Hiro-sama¡¯s hand sure is big!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s bigger than yours, at least. But your hand sure is small and soft, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe¡­¡­¡±

    I continued walking back to the lodge with the happily smiling Mimi. The maidroid continued following after us from behind with silent footsteps. So the maid robots in this dimension can read the mood just fine huh. How impressive.

    ¡°Wee back. How was the sunset?¡±

    ¡°It was wonderful!¡±

    Mimi kept her good mood even after we got back to the lodge. Uh, isn¡¯t it about time to let go of my hand, youngdy?

    ¡°Good for you, Mimi-san. The dinner should be arriving soon, so please wash your hands and get ready. It is rmended to wash hands that have been in contact with dirt and sand after all.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    After hearing Chris¡¯s words, Mimi let go of my hand with a little bit of reluctance. Nice assist, Chris. Mimi and I washed our hands just as Chris suggested. When the two of us got to the dining area, dinner was already served. It was seafood dishes for lunch, but it looks like meat dishes were the main entrees for dinner.

    ¡°That reminds me, Elma and Chris looked like you both had something to say after that history lesson about the advent of today¡¯s advanced AI. What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°Just like I said earlier, I have nothing to add to the subject. In the end, the empire got along with autonomous AIs, and is developing well as a result. Nothing more and nothing less.¡±

    Elma shrugged as she used her knife to cut up her steak. Chris, on the other hand¡­ still had that peculiar expression on her face.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t have my own thoughts about the matter, but just as Elma-san said, the end result did bring about the current prosperity of the empire. The current emperor as well as his trusted vassals who have been granted nobility titles by him have the empire firmly within their rule. The current empire does have to deal with a number of problems at present, but can also definitely be said to be prosperous to arge extent¡­¡­¡±

    Even as Chris said that, I can¡¯t help but notice herplicated feelings about the matter. If I had to guess, it might be something like the organic life forms ruling the entire empire at the surface, but arergely influenced by the autonomous AI from behind the scenes. It doesn¡¯t look like the current empire turned out to be a rigid, regted society where everybody says that happiness is a privilege or anything like that, so¡­ I haven¡¯t really felt anything was out of ce during my stay here. But maybe I just couldn¡¯t notice because I¡¯m ultimately from another dimension? In any case, I can¡¯t feel any noticeable sense of incongruity from imperial society beside the usual corruption and stuff.

    ¡°Well, in the eyes of aplete outsider like me, I haven¡¯t really noticed anything that¡¯s felt out of ce, but I do think this country definitely does have its fair share of problems. But, in any case, it isn¡¯t like the AI arepletely regting society or anything like that. So the current state of affairs where both sides are trying to maintain an appropriate distance to avoid causing friction is sort of an ideal bnce, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    Well, it¡¯s something like being watched over by a mechanical god that can exercise its authority freely in the event of anything it feels as an emergency huh. Certainly, the thought of such a mechanical god going crazy and starting to ughter people is quite terrifying. But they¡¯ll be no end to worrying and paranoia if people always minded that grim possibility.

    Well, I do acknowledge that the reason I can have an opinion like this is because of my skill as a mercenary and having a reassuring safety in the form of Krishna though. In the eyes of someone like Mimi, the empire probably isn¡¯t all that good a country. The empire didn¡¯t do anything to help Mimi when she fell down to despair after all. A utopia where everyone is happy and content can only exist as a concept and one can only dream about such a thing.

    ¡°You don¡¯t really feel any apprehension toward autonomous AI, don¡¯t you, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m more curious about them than afraid. Well, it might just be in my blood due to the country I was born in.¡±

    I¡¯ve been raised in a ce where the concept of divinity residing in all things is prevalent after all. Wouldn¡¯t it be neat if one¡¯s favorite items had distinct personalities of their own? What did they call it in English? Animism?

    There are guys in a certain industry who not only assigned distinct personalities to animals, but evenputer OS, natural phenomena, and other intangible concepts after all. Heck, they even did the same thing for foreign divinity and certain popr evil gods who shave away at people¡¯s SAN points just by looking at them.

    ¡°The country you were born in?¡±

    Elma tilted her head in curiosity.

    ¡°It¡¯s kinda difficult to exin. Let¡¯s see¡­ Uh, it¡¯s kind of widely epted in my country that divinity resides in all things, including machines. They can reside in clothes, tableware, houses, ships, and just about anything and everything you can think of. That¡¯s why there¡¯s this mentality of treasuring all the things one owns.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ It¡¯s sort of like a doctrine that preaches universal eptance huh. It feels quite magnanimous.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a wonderful way of thinking. Yes, truly wonderful.¡±

    Miro¡¯s spherical terminal parked in the corner started sparkling as it suddenly made such ament. Somehow, I felt like it¡¯s impression of me turned more favorable for some reason.

    ¡°Well, how should I put it? Uh, instead of being constantly wary of each other, I think it¡¯s more constructive for both sides to try and look for ways to walk together. If they can¡¯t bring themselves to see eye to eye and cooperate, the only oue would be conflict after all.¡±

    ¡°Opponents you can¡¯t see eye to eye with¡­¡±

    ¡°Yep. Just like pirates and Chris¡¯s uncle.¡±

    ¡°Fufu. So my uncle is just the same as those despicable pirates, is he?¡±

    ¡°Well, they¡¯re both the same in my eyes.¡±

    They will both attack us with clear murderous intent after all.

    But what should we do about the battle recordings of that fight with Chris¡¯s uncle¡¯s private soldiers? Well, that side used an interdictor first, so I think our actions constitute legitimate self defense. And there¡¯s the fact that they fired first and attacked us without holding back as well. In the first ce, we wiped them all out, so there¡¯s no one left who can heap me on me for killing those guys. Well, I guess it¡¯s not worth worrying about after all. You attacked us, so don¡¯tin about turning into space dust.

    ¡°What¡¯ll we do tomorrow? Since we already bought swimsuits, I was thinking of trying them out and going for a swim.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good. Let¡¯s all have fun in the sea.¡±

    ¡°Plunging headfirst into all that water¡­¡­ It¡¯s kinda scary honestly.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be afraid, Mimi-san. That water isn¡¯t fresh water after all. It¡¯s sea water, so it¡¯s salty.¡±

    ¡°Sea water is salty?¡±

    Chris and Mimi began talking about the sea. Judging from their discussion, it looks like the sea here is no different from what I¡¯m used to back on Earth. But there¡¯s a pretty good chance that the sea creatures on this arepletely different from the sea creatures I¡¯m familiar with though. I wonder if there are mermaids here? Alien mermaids. But fantasy mermaids are definitely better than encountering something akin to the Deep Ones¡­¡­

    I mulled over silly things like that while eating dinner, and quickly went to sleep afterward in preparation for tomorrow.

    Eh? Am I just going to head straight to bed like this? Well, there¡¯s Chris to consider, so we really can¡¯t do anything like that right now.

    I think it¡¯s good to abstain every once in a while. I¡¯m gonna be treated to a wonderful sight tomorrow anyway. Hehehe.

 Chapter 79 â€“ Very Sleepy

    <h4>Chapter 79 - Very Sleepy</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The bedrooms were located on the second floor of the lodge. I think there¡¯s a total of five rooms here. There¡¯s also a single separate toilet.

    Since there were enough rooms, each of us was able to get one for ourselves. My room is the first one you see after going up the stairs. If you¡¯re wondering why I pointed this out, it¡¯s because the girls had to pass by my room if they wanted to go down to the first floor.

    I did some reading about the current news in the Sierra system using my portable terminal before going to sleep. When I finally resolved to get some shut eye¡­¡­ I felt someone pass by my room in order to get down to the first floor.

    I looked at my terminal and found that it was already almost midnight. Everyone should have been fast asleep at this time already.

    I wondered if it was Elma who went down in order to get a drink before going to sleep. I felt a bit thirsty myself, so I decided toe down in order to have a ss of water.

    I got up from bed, went out of my room, and descended the stairs.

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    I went down to the first floor, but found that only the dim lighting was on. That¡¯s weird. I thought somebody went down here ahead of me¡­ I tilted my head in puzzlement and headed to the kitchen in order to get a pet bottle of drinking water from the cooler. I then went to the living area.

    ¡°¡­¡­What are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­¡±

    I found Chris, who already had sleepwear on her, lying on one of the sofas in the living area. I saw Chris¡¯s face under the dim lighting and found that she had tear stains on her cheeks. Her eyes were slightly red. Chris got flustered and hurriedly turned away from me. I already saw everything so there¡¯s no use hiding it, youngdy.

    I sat down next to Chris without saying anything and opened the water bottle. The sensation of cold water going down my throat felt quite pleasant. Now then¡­¡­ What should I do here?

    ¡°Can¡¯t sleep?¡±

    ¡°N-No, it¡¯s just-¡°

    ¡°Holding it in is hard, huh.¡±

    ¡°-Yes.¡±

    Chris dropped her shoulders dejectedly while still facing away from me. When I looked at her side profile, I confirmed that her eye rims really were swollen a bit. And her eyes really were red from crying.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m the only one here now, so isn¡¯t it fine to vent it all out? There¡¯s no need to keep the act because you want to live up to being an upstanding noble¡¯s daughter.¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯m not really pushing myself or anything.¡±

    ¡°That so?¡±

    I took a sip of water again. Mm, cold and delicious. I really like how this cold water goes smoothly down my throat. How¡¯d I handle something like this aga- Oh, right. I slept together with Mimi back when she was feeling depressed huh. I think Mimi¡¯s room has two beds, but I bet this girl wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep if she didn¡¯t have someone by her side.

    ¡°Shall we sleep together?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m alrigh¡­¡­ Eh?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re just gonna be sleeping together, okay. It¡¯s not like we can wake up Mimi or Elma at this time since it¡¯s already sote.¡±

    Since she¡¯s already like this, there¡¯s no way I can leave Chris on her own. If I did that, I bet she¡¯ll remain awake until morning. I¡¯m not nning on doing anything lewd to her, okay. We¡¯re just gonna be sleeping on the same bed. We¡¯re the only ones in this lodge anyway, and I don¡¯t think Miro will leak out the private details of our stay here.

    ¡°U-Um¡­ Y-You mean¡­?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll just be sleeping together. Fuaa¡­¡­ And boy, am I sleepy.¡±

    I put the cap back on the pet bottle and tightened it. I then got up from the sofa.

    ¡°Well, c¡¯mon then.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes.¡±

    Chris took my outstretched hand and got up as well. I went back upstairs with her in tow and we entered my room together. The bed was actually king sized, so there was enough space for me and Chris.

    I let go of Chris¡¯s hand and plopped myself down on the bed. I put the pet bottle containing water down on the bedside table.

    ¡°Well, good night¡­ Do you want to use my arm as a pillow?¡±

    ¡°N-No! Y-You don¡¯t have to mind me!¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Haha. She was so assertive back then, but she¡¯s actually backing down now. She¡¯s the type to get flustered if everything isn¡¯t going at her own pace huh. She seemed hesitant for a few moments, but when I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep, she finally climbed up to the bed. She was wriggling on top of the bed restlessly for a while, but eventually settled down.

    Has she finally gone to sleep? When I turned to check, I found myself meeting Chris¡¯s gaze.

    ¡°So you did pretend to be asleep.¡±

    ¡°Nah. I was actually just about to snooze y¡¯know¡­¡±

    My eyelids are on the verge of drooping right now. I¡¯m actually really sleepy already.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay to let yourself be spoiled a bit more sometimes, Chris¡­¡­¡±

    It¡¯s no good. I¡¯m really sleepy. My words are already slurring. I felt something warm cling to me before I finally conked out. Was it Chris? Oh well. Good night.

    When I woke up the next morning, I found myself staring at Chris, who had a peaceful sleeping face. It looks like she was able to sleepfortably. Her obsidian pupils that carried within them a strong-willed light were now hidden behind her eyelids. Now that I got a good look at her face, I found that her eyshes were long and delicate¡­ She¡¯s truly a beautiful young girl.

    I was wondering why Chris was sleeping on my bed and remembered what happenedst night. I wasn¡¯t really thinking straightst night because of sleepiness, so I ended up forcibly bringing Chris to my room in order to sleep together with me. Now that I was sober, I felt that it was a bit reckless of me, but it¡¯s not like Iid a hand on her anyway, so I guess I¡¯m safe. Yep. There¡¯s no problem.

    I¡¯ll try asking her if she wants to sleep together with Mimi or Elmater on. I have no intention ofying my hands on her right now, but there¡¯s no telling what can happen if we kept sleeping together y¡¯know. I¡¯m still a guy in the end.

    I didn¡¯t want to wake her up yet, so Iid back down on the bed and got sleepy again as a result. My consciousness faded once more.

    When I opened my eyes the second time, I found Chris with a bright red face and flustered looking eyes. It looks like she ended up waking up sometime when I fell back asleep.

    ¡°Good morning.¡±

    ¡°G-G-Good M-Morning¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Calm down, Chris. We just slept on the bed together, okay. Your clothes aren¡¯t dishevelled, see?¡±

    I then stretched out on the bed and let out a yawn. Since I fell asleep for a second time after waking up, my head feels a little heavy. Oh well. It¡¯ll clear up once I move my body enough.

    ¡°Yosh, let¡¯s get up. Were you able to sleep well, Chris?¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes¡­¡­!¡±

    Chris was right next to me with her face bright red. She was currently sitting on top of the bed. She acted like she¡¯d progress our rtionship in one go if she had the opportunity a few days back, but now that a chance really dide, she actually couldn¡¯t pull it off in the end. How cute.

    I grabbed the pet bottle I left on top of the bedside tablest night and took a sip of water, got off the bed, grabbed the still-flustered Chris, and proceeded downstairs with her. When we finally got down, we found Elma already sitting in front of the dining table. She turned a critical gaze toward me and the red-faced Chris.

    ¡°You kept saying you wouldn¡¯ty a hand on her¡­ but isn¡¯t this just a little bit too quick, even for you?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯ty a hand on her, okay. We just slept on the bed side by sidest night.¡±

    I objected to Elma¡¯s words and took a seat myself.

    ¡°So you just simply slept together¡­¡­ Well, it really doesn¡¯t look like you reallyid your hands on her, I guess.¡±

    Elma gave me and Chris a once over and sighed. I still had the clothes I wore when I went to my room to sleep yesterday night, and neither I nor Chris had signs of having taken a shower.

    ¡°So, what happened anyway?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you about itter. How about you freshen up first, Chris?¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes.¡±

    Chris then rushed toward the bathroom with a washbasin inside in order to freshen up. After seeing her enter, I faced Elma again.

    ¡°It seems like the shock of losing her parents came over her all at oncest night when she went to bed alone. I felt someone go downstairs, so I checked and found her crying in the living area.

    ¡°I see¡­ She looked pretty okay, but it seems she was just trying her best to hold it in huh.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I felt it wasn¡¯t good to wake you or Mimi upst night because it was alreadyte, so I let her sleep beside me instead. But I¡¯ll have her sleep with you or Mimi from now on.¡±

    ¡°Nn¡­ Okay. I¡¯ll tell Mimi about itter.¡±

    Elma easily agreed to my request.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave her to you then. She was crying her eyes out on the sofa. I couldn¡¯t leave her alone after seeing that.¡±

    Before long, Mimi got down from her room as well.

    ¡°Good morning!¡±

    ¡°Morning.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Mimi. Someone sure looks chipper.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m really excited about ying in the sea!¡±

    Mimi¡¯s excitement was at MAX level already huh. Mimi sure looks energetic.

    ¡°I¡¯ll wash my face as well once Chris finishes, and then we¡¯ll have breakfast. I wonder what we¡¯ll be served for breakfast though.¡±

    ¡°The breakfast menu includes freshly baked bread, scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, boiled sausages, fresh vegetable sd, and 100% all natural fruit juice.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s your standard high ss hotel¡¯s breakfast menu huh.¡±

    We¡¯re heading out to the beach once we finish eating breakfast. Fufufu. I wonder what kind of swimsuits the three of them bought yesterday. I¡¯m really looking forward to seeing the girls in them.

 Chapter 80 â€“ Preparatory Activities

    <h4>Chapter 80 - Preparatory Activities</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Right after breakfast, I immediately got ready, put my swimwear on, and headed straight to the beach. I had a much easier time getting ready since I was a guy. I just needed to take off everything, put my swimming trunks on, and I was good to go. I wore a hoodie just in case I felt coldter after swimming. I also had my portable terminal inside my hoodie¡¯s pocket. I left myser gun though¡­ Since we¡¯re going to the beach to y, there¡¯s no need to bring aser gun. And I certainly can¡¯t have it strapped to my waist when swimming.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go ahead, girls.¡±

    I gave the girls a heads up and went downstairs.

    ¡°Hey Miro, do we need to prepare anything else?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need. The beach already has everything needed for our guests to enjoy swimming. We have parasols, beach chairs, drinks, and sunscreen readily avable.¡±

    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll be going ahead then.¡±

    I wore the beach sandals I bought together with my swimwear and headed straight for the beach, which was just nearby. I saw the beach parasols and beach chairs lined up as soon as I approached. I didn¡¯t remember seeing this yesterday. Just when did they set these up?

    I also saw three maidroids standing by at the beach as well. They put up something like a food stall and were manning it. They set it up under the shade, where the sun¡¯s hot rays don¡¯t reach.

    As I neared the beach, the three maidroids waved their hands at me, so I smiled and waved back. They also smiled back at me. Hm. They were machines, but they sure had nice smiles. Well, the AI in this dimension, or at least the empire had plenty of time to improve themselves after all¡­ I¡¯m sure those beautiful features and winning smiles are part of the results of their research about how to effectively get along with people, or rather, the human guys who patronize that sort of stuff.

    But is the main race that lives in this empire humans after all? I¡¯ve seen quite a few alien races walking about the ces we visited before though. Do those races each have empires or countries where their particr species reign at the top as well? I¡¯m kinda interested now.

    I can¡¯t wear my hoodie while swimming, so I took it off and hung it on top of one of the beach chairs. The sea breeze that¡¯s brushing my skin sure feels nice.

    It would be dangerous not to do any preparatory exercises before going into the water, so I began doing some stretches. It¡¯s really important to do some stretches before swimming, guys. It would reduce the probability of idents in the water happening.

    I felt some gazes pointed toward me. I turned around to see the maidroids checking me out. What¡¯s up? Don¡¯t tell me those maidroids are interested in my body or something? Those gazes sure feel mysterious¡­¡­ Oh well. I don¡¯t think I need to mind them anyway.

    I finished stretching and waited for the girls to arrive. Before long, Mimi and the others finally arrived. Fumu¡­¡­ The three of them were wearing hoodies just like me. That¡¯s a good call. It¡¯s plenty warm right now, but it might turn cold once the sun goes down the horizon a bit. And you¡¯ll feel cold after having a swim as well.

    ¡°Sorry for making you wait.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I didn¡¯t spend much time changing anyway. Make sure to do some exercises before going into the water, you three. It¡¯ll be bad if you get cramps.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be rescued right away if we ever did get cramps and begin drowning. There¡¯s probably a good number of rescue bots standing by in the water.¡±

    ¡°Yes, there should be. But drowning is still a scary experience y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I think so too. Hiro-sama, can I ask you to help me do some stretches?¡±

    ¡°You need help with that¡­? Well, okay.¡±

    Mimi, Elma, and Chris each took off their hoodies and disyed their swimsuit-d bodies.

    ¡°Um¡­ How is it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s wooonderful!¡±

    Mimi asked me what I thought about her swimsuit bashfully with both hands behind her back. Mimi was wearing a two-piece bikini with a simple design. It was white with ck edges.

    It¡¯s heeeeeere! It was just absolutely beautiful! There¡¯s no need for any more unnecessary words. Namu namu.

    ¡°Why are you pping your hands in prayer there¡­?¡±

    Elma scolded me in an exasperated tone when she saw me worshiping Mimi¡¯s swimsuit appearance. Oh c¡¯mon. This divine visage isn¡¯t something you can get an opportunity to see often, so cut me some ck here. Or rather, don¡¯t you think that body is just the stuff of miracles? She¡¯s rtively short, but those knockers are a ss of their own. It¡¯s just mind-blowing!

    ¡°Don¡¯t just look at Mimi! Look at me too!¡±

    ¡°Owowow!¡±

    Elma forcibly turned my gaze toward her.

    ¡°Hou.¡±

    ¡°What? What¡¯s with that reaction?¡±

    ¡°Nah, I was just thinking about how slender, well-trained, and beautiful your body is, Elma.¡±

    Elma was wearing a ck sports type swimsuit. Her chest armor was, of course, iparable to Mimi¡¯s This is just the sad reality. However, her body lines, especially her waist and hips were just pure and sublime works of art.

    ¡°This is also wooonderful!¡±

    I also ended up worshiping Elma¡¯s divine form. She hit my head in admonishment though. Why?

    ¡°U-Um, what about my swimsuit?¡±

    I heard Chris call out, so I turned toward her.

    ¡°Uh, isn¡¯t that¡­ a little bit too fetish-y?¡±

    Why was she wearing a Japanese school swimsuit? And it was the old issue blue colored one. Her chest even had a white section where her name¡ºChris¡»was written. And why the heck is it written in hiragana? Is that supposed to be some sort of ancient writing characters or something?

    ¡°D-Does it suit me?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it suits you. In fact, it suits you too much.¡±

    I felt like I had a vision of a raging policeman running toward me as I continued to ogle Chris. I mean c¡¯mon. A jet ck haired young girl in a princess cut wearing an old type school swimsuit? It¡¯s catering to a certain fetish too much! And Christina sounds like a Western name, but her features are totally Japanese. Isn¡¯t this too perfect for a coincidence? Come to think of it, I¡¯ve encountered a number ofpanies in this dimension with Japanese-sounding names¡­¡­ They freely use the alphabet and Japanese characters to write their names too. So does that mean Earth actually exists in this dimension as well?

    ¡°C¡¯mon, let¡¯s start stretching. You¡¯ll partner up with me, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Elma-san.¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama, if you please.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    And so, I helped Chris with her stretching exercises. However¡­

    ¡°You¡¯re actually quite flexible, Chris.¡±

    ¡°Well, yes. I have confidence in my body¡¯s flexibility. Can you push my back from behind, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    When I pushed her down, Chris spread her legs to a full 180 degrees. Her upper body was perfectly lined up with the ground. Was she doing yoga or something?

    Mimi and Elma were also quite flexible. Mimi wasn¡¯t this flexible when she first boarded Krishna, but her daily workouts and stretches in the training room gradually improved her body fitness, and the results were showing right now. Elma looked pretty athletic and flexible right from the get-go though.

    Me? I was pretty stiff when I first arrived here due to my former lifestyle, but since I also spent lots of time working out in the training room, I¡¯ve improved a lot as well.

    ¡°Yosh! Now that we¡¯re done with the stretches, let¡¯s go ahead and- Uh, do you actually know how to swim, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°This is actually my first time trying it.¡±

    ¡°How about you, Elma?¡±

    ¡°I can swim. No problem.¡±

    I nodded after hearing Elma¡¯s answer and turned toward Chris.

    ¡°I am also able to swim.¡±

    ¡°I see. Okay then. First, let¡¯s teach Mimi how to swim.¡±

    ¡°That would be for the best. But before that, why don¡¯t we apply some sunscreen first?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. Hey!¡±

    I called out to them, and a maidroid carrying a basket quickly walked up to us.

    ¡°Yes. What do you need, sir?¡±

    ¡°Miro said there was sunscreen prepared for us already. Can you bring it here?¡±

    ¡°Of course. If you¡¯d like, we can also provide swimming equipment such as rubber floats.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that sounds great. Get them for us as well then.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Please leave it to me. We have various types of sunscreens avable. We have cream, jelly, lotion, and spray types.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Are there any differences in their effects?¡±

    ¡°There is none. All of them can almostpletely prevent sunburns. Well, they do feel different when applied to the skin.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    I tried each of them on the back of my hand to see how they felt when applied to the skin. Hm. I think the lotion type feels best after all. It¡¯s also easy to apply. Mimi chose the lotion type just like me while Chris and Elma chose the cream type.

    ¡°Okay then. Shall we help each other in applying sunscreen? We can¡¯t reach our own back after all.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll help Mimi out then. We have the same type of sunscreen anyway.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll apply it on Hiro-sama as well.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Maybe it would have been better if I chose the lotion type as well.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­We made a blunder.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like they have different effects, so you can just put on as much as you like¡­¡­¡±

    Wait. Come to think of it, sunscreen lotion is actually a staple for these kinds of events, right? In any case, if youdies want to touch my body, you can touch as much as you want. I won¡¯t mind one bit. But try not to touch ces where I¡¯m ticklish, please.

    ¡°Let¡¯s start then. I¡¯ve already spread the sheet out, so go ahead and lie down.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye.¡±

    Elma took out a sheet from the basket andid it down on the ground. I obediently went on top of it. Soon after, I felt a cool sensation touch my back. So they¡¯ve started applying the lotion already.

    ¡°You¡¯re back sure is wide, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It is, isn¡¯t it? And he¡¯s also fairly tall.¡±

    Elma followed up Chris¡¯s observation. The feeling of their hands crawling around my back is kind of ticklish. The little hands stroking my right shoulder de should belong to Chris. Elma was stroking around the waist, and Mimi was stroking my neck and left shoulder.

    ¡°There. We¡¯ve finished covering your back. Flip around, please.¡±

    ¡°Uh, I¡¯ll apply sunscreen on it myself.¡±

    ¡°It would still be better for other people to apply it for you instead of applying it yourself. There¡¯s a chance of missing some spots after all. It would beme if you get a sunburn, right?¡±

    ¡°Mm. I guess.¡±

    It¡¯s just as Elma said. It would really beme if I left out a spot and got some sunburn. I turned around obediently and let them continue.

    ¡°W-Wow¡­¡­! His abs¡­¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama spends a lot of time working out in the training room after all.¡±

    ¡°This feels just right. I wish you can always maintain a build like this.¡±

    ¡°C¡¯mon girls¡­¡­¡±

    Chris started stroking my abs with a red face and an entranced expression. Elma picked up my arm and started applying lotion on it. Mimi worked on my neck and vicle with a strangely eager vibe. Except for Elma, did Mimi and Chris actually forget the actual purpose of applying sunscreen?

    ¡°There. Finished.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. But it did kinda feel Elma was the only one doing it seriously though.¡±

    ¡°I-I also did it seriously!¡±

    ¡°M-Me too!¡±

    ¡°Uh, I see. Okay then. I¡¯ll apply sunscreen on you next. I¡¯ll leave Chris to you, Elma.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Elmaid down another sheet and started applying cream onto Chris¡¯s back. Mimiid down on the sheet I used earlier.

    ¡°P-Please go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me.¡±

    I untied Mimi¡¯s bikini strap.

    ¡°Fueeh!?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I have to apply this thoroughly you know. The strap will just get in the way¡­¡±

    ¡°T-That¡¯s right, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    In the first ce, we¡¯ve already seen each other naked a lot¡­ I guess she feels this is something different huh. I re-focused myself and started applying sunscreen lotion on Mimi¡¯s back.

    ¡°Nnm¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°It feels a bit cold, so you might be surprised the first time. Just try to put up with it until I¡¯m done, okay?¡±

    ¡°Mm. Okay. Hiro-sama¡¯s hands are really warm though.¡±

    I continued applying lotion on Mimi¡¯s back. Mm. Her skin sure feels springy and soft. It was so smooth too. It feels a bit different from usual due to the lotion.

    But I am a guy who can keep my cool. I seriously applied lotion evenly on Mimi¡¯s back. I then went for her shoulders, arms, neck, and back of the ears.

    ¡°Next is your lower body.¡±

    ¡°I-It feels kind of embarrassing.¡±

    I untied the straps of her bikini¡¯s bottom half and continued applying lotion. Mimi truly is¡­ Mm. How can I describe it? She¡¯s the owner of such an impressive body figure. She was a bit on the skinny side when she first boarded the ship, but after eating healthily and doing daily exercise, her body has filled out splendidly. She did seem to want herself to lose a bit more weight, but I think her current build was close to perfect.

    It was worth it to secretly fiddle with the settings of Mimi¡¯s AI gym trainer! I¡¯ll have her keep this build from now on. Her breasts were amazing, but her buttocks were quite something as well.

    ¡°Okay. I¡¯m done.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°Next is the front then.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­? O-Okay.¡±

    Mimi¡¯s face turned red but still obediently turned her body around. The chest equipment that jiggled in front of my eyes truly were magnificent lethal weapons. They havepletely gotten out of her swimsuit top, and it could no longer perform its original function. I had an impulse to kneel in front of them and start worshiping, but if I did, I bet Elma would give me a kick to the back of the head, so I hardened my heart and focused on my job of applying lotion. I am probably making an expression akin to Buddha¡¯s when he was enlightened. There¡¯s no doubt.

    ¡°Nnnmmm!¡±

    Mimi let out a suggestive moan when I started applying the lotion. I-Is this a test from God¡­¡­!? Come to think of it, I¡¯ve been abstaining from those kinds of acts ever since Chris boarded the ship. Be pacified, you vile beast inside of me! It is not time for you to manifest just yet!

    Using every single ounce of my will power, I managed to barely pacify the beast inside my heart and seeded in applying lotion on Mimi¡¯s entire body. However, my mental strength was all but drained due to the intensity of the earlier battle.

    ¡°Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°L-Let me take a break first.¡±

    Mimi put her swimsuit back on and called out to me, but I already sat down and started meditating. I need to calm down in various meanings. Yes, in various meanings. That¡¯s right! Let me visualize the face of the receptionist uncle back on Termaine Prime.

    ¡°Just what the heck are you doing¡­?¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­ Give me a few years more and I will also¡­ No, maybe if I use the configurator, I can also gain such a¡­¡­¡±

    Elma let out an exasperated sigh while Chris touched her chest and muttered softly. I don¡¯t exactly know what a configurator is, but I think you¡¯d better refrain from using it, Chris. Please just stay as you are.

    ¡°Thank you for waiting. We have prepared various things for you all.¡±

    While I was busy sitting on the ground and meditating about the secrets of the universe, the three maidroids came back carrying various types of rubber floats. There were standard donut-shaped ones, one that was asrge as a small boat, dolphin-shaped ones, shark-shaped ones, and various other types. I get the dolphin, but why a shark? It¡¯s fine though.

    ¡°These can allow you to enjoy floating on the water even if you can¡¯t swim, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I think it¡¯ll be fun to y using the standard donut-shaped ones first.¡±

    ¡°I want to use this myself.¡±

    Chris took a shark-shaped float for herself. Elma chose the standard donut-shaped one.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, which one do you think I should choose?¡±

    ¡°For a beginner like you, a donut-shaped float seems best.¡±

    Mimi picked up another donut-shaped float with a size a bit smaller than Elma¡¯s for herself. The one Elma chose would make her bottom stick out once she sat down on it.

    ¡°Are you not using one as well, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine for now. Maybe I¡¯ll use er.¡±

    I was actually thinking of sticking with Mimi to give her swimming pointers.

    ¡°Okay then. Let¡¯s y, everyone!¡±

    And so, we began our swimming activities. It¡¯s been a while since I yed in the sea, so I also had quite a lot of fun.

 Chapter 81 â€“ Letâ€™s go Swimming!

    <h4>Chapter 81 - Let¡¯s go Swimming!</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Wow¡­! This feels a lot like floating in the low gravity section of a colony, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Sure, it does feel a bit simr, I guess.¡±

    Mimi was in a really great mood as she floated on top of the water with her eyes sparkling in wonder.

    The sun was shining brightly, The seawater¡¯s temperature was just right, and Mimi¡¯s breasts were bobbing up and down on the waterline in a splendid fashion. Yes! This really was an amazing resort!

    ¡°Kuh¡­¡­¡±

    Chris, who was using her shark-shaped float, let out a frustrated grumble. Unlike Elma, Chris still has more room to grow, so I don¡¯t think you need to be that frustrated about it though. Elma doesn¡¯t have any chance of filling out in that department after all. But that¡¯s something great in another sense as well.

    ¡°It really is fun, even if we¡¯re just floating around!¡±

    ¡°Ain¡¯t it?¡±

    I¡¯m also having fun. Yes. Lots of fun.

    ¡°You can also move on the water by fluttering your legs like Chris does.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll try it then!¡±

    Mimi leaned forward on top of her float and began moving her legs. And I got a gander of her breasts being pressed down on the float. That¡¯s good. Do it more.

    By the way, Elma was floating around a short distance away from us in a rxed posture. She looks like she¡¯s having fun in her own way as well.

    ¡°I¡¯m moving forward! I¡¯m moving forward, Hiro-sama!¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. That¡¯s good. Please continue.¡±

    With this, she should gradually get used to moving in the water. Mimi started getting engrossed with swimming using the float. It would be nice if she takes this experience and graduates from using the float to swim eventually.

    ¡°Yosh. Let¡¯s all race toward where Elma is!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t lose!¡±

    I, Mimi, and Chris began to make our way toward the ce where Elma was floating around while rxing. Chris is used to swimming, but since her legs were short, she couldn¡¯t bring out much speed. Mimi¡¯s leg kicks were still clumsy cause she¡¯s a beginner, but because of her regr workouts on the ship, her kicks wereparably more powerful than Chris¡¯s. It was quite a good match.

    Me? I¡¯m good. Let the girls have their fun. I¡¯ll just apany them. Even if it¡¯s been some time since shest swam, Chris ultimately won over the beginner Mimi.

    ¡°Bam! I won!¡±

    The shark float lightly collided with Elma¡¯s float and Chris dered her victory.

    ¡°I lost!¡±

    ¡°Mou. Just what are you guys doing¡­?¡±

    Elma startedining when she realized she was made into an impromptu goal, but it doesn¡¯t look like she really was angry. On the contrary, her eyes were warmly watching the duo who were frolicking innocently in the water.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you gonna swim, Elma?¡±

    ¡°When I feel like it. It¡¯s great to just take in the sun and the air like this once in a while, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    You can¡¯t sunbathe while inside Krishna after all. Harmful cosmic rays are blocked by the hulls and energy shields of ships, so it¡¯s unlikely for you to be exposed to natural sunlight while inside one. It seems there are some facilities in colonies that offer exposure to healthy star rays, but I haven¡¯t really tried going to those facilities even once.

    We continued to enjoy swimming for a while. Elma floated peacefully on the water while Chris and Mimi yed to their heart¡¯s content.

    ¡°Yosh. Let¡¯s take a small break first.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s still some time though?¡±

    ¡°Swimming can really tire you out without you realizing. And if your body gets cold, there¡¯s a chance you¡¯ll get cramps.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. And it¡¯s not like swimming is the only activity you can enjoy at the beach.¡±

    It¡¯s fun to chase each other around on the bank and feel the sand on your feet get swept by the waves. You can also try making sand sculptures as well.

    Anyway, we decided to get a short break.

    ¡°Hiyaaaaa!? It feels kind of weird!¡±

    ¡°I get that. But it¡¯s interesting, right?¡±

    ¡°It feels a bit ticklish. It¡¯s fun.¡±

    Mimi was frolicking around the water¡¯s edge while Chris sat calmly a short distance away as she enjoyed the feeling of sand sifting through her feet due to the waves.

    ¡°Whoah. That¡¯s a big oneing.¡±

    ¡°Wah!¡±

    I picked up Chris and carried her away to avoid the big wave. It went all the way up to my knees, so Chris would have been hit straight on the face if she continued sitting there. Mimi¡¯s feet were swept up by the wave and she fell down.

    ¡°Uwaaah! I-It¡¯s salty¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you okay? Did sand get in your eyes?¡±

    I called out to Mimi while still carrying Chris. But it looks like she just simply tripped and didn¡¯t suffer any injuries. That¡¯s good.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine! ying on the beach sure is fun, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Mimi made a big smile while drenched in seawater. I¡¯m d you¡¯re having fun, Mimi.

    ¡°Here you go. Sorry for picking you up without warning.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. Thank you very much.¡±

    Chris gave me a gentle smile after I let her down. Un, how cute. How very cute. The image of a guy like me running away while carrying an old style school swimsuit-wearing young girl is an image worthy of a prison sentence though. Or rather, if this happened in Japan, they¡¯d probably report me to the police right away. No, officer! I just helped her out! I swear!

    After this, we continued ying as we waited for lunch to arrive. We made sand mountains and toppled them afterward, made sand castles, and buried Elma in sand while she was sleeping in the shade, making her angry in the end.

    ¡°It should be about lunchtime, I think.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m really hungry!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m also a bit famished as well.¡±

    Mimi agreed with my words energetically while Chris answered while looking a bit embarrassed. When I turned to the spot where the maidroids were on standby, I saw them preparing something that looked like a barbecue grill. I see. So we¡¯re having barbecue on the beach huh. It¡¯s a tried and true staple.

    Eh? What the Japanese call barbecue technically isn¡¯t barbecue at all, you say? Don¡¯t sweat the details! If we really went with a full-fledged barbecue on the beach at this point in time, we¡¯d probably not be able to eat untilte in the afternoon.

    I brought the two girls with me to an outdoor shower area near the beach in order to wash the sand and seawater stuck to our bodies. I finished earlier, left the girls, and returned back to find the barbecue stove almost ready to go. It seems Elma was watching from her spot in the shade as well. She waszing around on a beach chair with a parasol shielding her from the sun. She finally got up from the beach chair and went over. She had a curious expression on her face.

    ¡°What¡¯s up? Are there any unusual foodstuffs mixed in?¡± I asked Elma.

    ¡°Hm? Well, natural vegetables and meat are rare foodstuffs too, but¡­ I think what¡¯s actually rare is the traditional cooking method and the antique cooking tools.¡±

    ¡°Traditional?¡±

    I turned my gaze toward the barbecue stove. Apparently, it doesn¡¯t use things like charcoal or gas in order to heat the te on top¡­ It appears electric, but I¡¯m not sure. I wonder what its power source really is though? There are things like energy packs forser guns, so I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they¡¯re using the same tech to power this thing. It won¡¯t really be a surprise if that turns out to be the case, actually.

    ¡°Cooking appliances that have only a single function like cooking food using heat aren¡¯t used very much nowadays anymore. They¡¯re only used by hobbyists or specialty chefs.¡±

    ¡°I-Is that so?¡±

    In my eyes, this thing is sufficiently high tech though¡­ Well, I guess that¡¯s how it goes if you use this dimension¡¯s standards. It¡¯s a world where you can make tasty food just by inserting food cartridges into auto cookers after all.

    After watching the maidroids prepare the food for a while, Mimi and Chris finally came back from the showers. When Mimi spotted the barbecue stove with various foodstuffs arranged near it, her eyes immediately sparkled in delight. She¡¯s gonna eat up a storm againter, it seems. Chris didn¡¯t seem to be particrly moved. I guess she¡¯s used to stuff like this.

    ¡°Alrighty. Let¡¯s barbecue, shall we?¡±

    After checking the temperature of the grill, I used the tongs ced on the side to pick up some meat and veggies on top of it. After doing so, Elma, Mimi, Chris¡­ and even the maidroids made surprised expressions when they saw my actions. What¡¯s up, everyone? What¡¯s so shocking?

    ¡°You¡­ You can actually cook?¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    I tilted my head in confusion. Cooking? This is just grilling you know. It¡¯s quite basic. I don¡¯t really think this is worth all that surprise.

    ¡°I don¡¯t really think this amounts to cooking y¡¯know¡­ I¡¯m just grilling stuff.¡±

    I pointed at the containers ced on the side and looked at the maidroids.

    ¡°Are these seasonings?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Here, we have-¡±

    I then received a general exnation about this dimension¡¯s seasonings. There wasn¡¯t only salt and pepper, but there was something called Crazy Salt as well. There were a number of unfamiliar spices and seasonings mixed in.

    While being watched by everyone, including the maidroids, I lightly shook out some salt and pepper from the containers on top of the food as I grilled them. The meat needs a bit more time. The vegetables were just about done though.

    Oh right. I heard that when grilling, it¡¯s better to use a separate pair of tongs for picking up raw meat and cooked meat. Grabbing cooked meat with the same pair of tongs used for raw meat increases the chance for food poisoning, it seems. Those who had experiences of ruining their stomachs after eating yakiniku testify that they found not picking up cooked meat with the chopsticks or tongs they used to pick up raw meat reduced the instances of them losing control of their bowels after eating.

    I certainly wouldn¡¯t Mimi, Elma, and Chris to get their stomachs done in by my grilled meat, so I have to be careful. Well, there¡¯s a good chance these meat pieces have already been sterilized though. By some sort of unknown tech, I mean.

    But just what is this meat anyway? Cow? Pig? It kinda looks like cow¡¯s meat though.

    ¡°Hey, is this cow¡¯s meat? Or is it pork? Will they be okay with being grilled rare or medium rare instead of well-done?¡±

    ¡°Yes. These are beef slices. They have already been sterilized, so there¡¯s no problem with cooking them rare.¡±

    ¡°I see. Here you go, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes¡­¡­ Ah! It¡¯s delicious!¡±

    ¡°The beef is probably good quality. It¡¯s just been vored with salt and pepper after all. I think it¡¯ll be even tastier if you use this sauce.¡±

    Mimi poured some of the sauce I rmended on her meat. She didn¡¯t speak out, but her eyes were shining even brighter, so I guess she liked it. By the way, the sauce I rmended was the Japanese-style yakiniku sauce. It¡¯s sweet and has fruity undertones.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s an unexpected skill you got there.¡±

    ¡°Was Hiro-sama a chef before?¡±

    ¡°Chef¡­? No, of course not. I¡¯m just grilling stuff here. C¡¯mon.¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯ll already be considered a chef if you know how to handle raw ingredients and cook them though.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    ¡°Really¡­¡­?¡±

    The standard for being a chef in this dimension sure is way low, man. Well, auto cookers are a thing after all¡­¡­ Or rather, it might be possible that most people who¡¯ve migrated to space have long forgotten what it¡¯s like to cook themselves. It¡¯s a pain to bring fresh foodstuffs and ingredients to space after all. So in the early days of the true space age, I¡¯m betting they relied solely on processed food and stuff to get by.

    And so, since there were less and less opportunities to cook for themselves, the people out in space gradually forgot how to cook except for a rare few. And that¡¯s why they¡¯re all surprised that I can handle and prepare raw food and whip them up into something edible.

    ¡°I still feel calling something like this cooking isn¡¯t exactly appropriate. Actually, I bet the maidroids can do a better job than me. Or rather, can I have you take over now?¡±

    I tried to hand over the tongs to them, but the maidroids shook their heads in refusal.

    ¡°Yes. We can certainly cook as well, but it seems yourpanions prefer you cooking for them instead.¡±

    Eh¡­¡­? I turned back to the girls. Mimi nodded her head energetically with her mouth full of meat, and Elma was giving me an eyeful which seemed to say¡ºHurry up and hand over the meat!¡»or something like that.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll have some too.¡±

    ¡°There we go. Even Chris agrees.¡±

    ¡°Please!¡±

    Chris nodded with a smile as well.

    And so, I continued grilling meat, seafood, and veggies after this until we were all stuffed full. This is also one of the pleasures of going to the beach.

 Chapter 82 â€“ Sea Creaturesâ€¦â€¦ Creatures!?

    <h4>Chapter 82 - Sea Creatures¡­¡­ Creatures!?</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°That was so delicious¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°d you liked it. It¡¯s not good to do any physical activities such as swimming right after having a meal. So let¡¯s take a little break first to give time for the food to settle down our stomachs.¡±

    We left the maidroids to clean up after the meal, and we decided to lie down on the beach chairs for some after-meal rest. The stories about getting stomach cramps when one swims right after eating are pretty much fake, but it is true that one will sometimes feel ufortable when swimming with a full stomach due to the water pressure, and that can be dangerous in certain circumstances. And hurling the contents of your stomach because of that doesn¡¯t sound like a pleasant experience at all.

    ¡°That was a great meal. I still can¡¯t believe you had such a skill.¡±

    ¡°Like I said, all I did was grill stuff. Everybody can do it with a bit of practice. All you have to do is make sure you don¡¯t grill the food too much, sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper, and eat them with some sauce. It¡¯s pretty simple, really. And I still don¡¯t think something as simple as that can be called cooking.¡±

    ¡°Do you actually know other moreplicated cooking techniques, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°I can show you as long as I have appropriate ingredients and seasonings.¡±

    I¡¯ve been living alone for quite some time back on Earth after all. But stuff like making dashi from niboshi and konbu to use for bouillon is a bit beyond my culinary skills. I can at least blend some spices to make curry though.

    ¡°Then, I want Hiro-sama to cook some food tonight!¡±

    ¡°We just ate lunch and you¡¯re already talking about dinner¡­¡­ Anyway, can I even actually do that?¡±

    I turned toward the maidroids who have just finished cleaning up, and one of them exchanged gazes with me and nodded.

    ¡°Yes. Some of our guests here insist on only eating dishes that their personal chefs have cooked, so we always have ingredients and cooking equipment prepared to cater to them.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. For imperial nobles, especially those of high standing, often employ exclusive chefs as a sign of their status. I believe this resort implemented such a service in order to cater to those noble¡¯s demands.¡±

    The maidroid confirmed that it was possible for guests to cook for themselves, and Chris followed up with an exnation of her own. I see. So that¡¯s how it is. Okay then. Guess I¡¯ll consult with a maidroid in order to decide what ingredients I¡¯ll use for dinner. After consulting with the maidroid, she also offered to assist meter.

    ¡°What should I cook then¡­? Well, since I¡¯m doing this anyway, wouldn¡¯t it be better to go all out?¡±

    How about boiled fish¡­? Nah. The girls may not be used to eating fish with a lot of fish bones in the meat. I can already imagine Mimi, who¡¯d only ever eaten synthesized fish meat via auto-cooker, getting teary-eyed because of a fishbone stuck on her throat. Should I make sashimi then¡­? But can the fish on this actually be eaten as sashimi? Guess I¡¯ll just askter.

    So the main dishes are tentatively sashimi and fried food. I don¡¯t know what meat they have avable, but I should be able to make tonkatsu or karaage if they have pork or chicken. Since I¡¯m nning to make sashimi and fried food, I would like some rice to go with them as well. I wonder if they have rice avable? It would be better if they also had a rice cooker too¡­ I¡¯ll ask the maidroid about it as well. Miso soup wouldplete the meal, but do they have miso though?

    ¡°I have a few questions for you.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Go ahead.¡±

    I proceeded to ask about the ingredients and the cooking equipment they have avable, and the maidroid gave me some detailed answers. It looks like all the ingredients I wanted were avable. They didn¡¯t have a rice cooker, but they offered to serve us some freshly cooked rice instead.

    ¡°Thanks for the answers. They were very detailed.¡±

    ¡°I am d to be of service.¡±

    ¡°Amazing. That sounded very professional.¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama is a mercenary, but he¡¯s also a skilled chef, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°Well, considering Hiro¡¯s background, I guess him knowing how to cook isn¡¯t something so far fetched after all¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you familiar with Hiro-sama¡¯s background, Elma-san?¡±

    ¡°Just a bit. But I¡¯d like to refrain from talking about it freely since that would be bad manners.¡±

    It seems the girls were discussing something as well while I was busy talking with the maidroid about this evening¡¯s meal. I wasn¡¯t really keen on talking to Chris about my background though. There wasn¡¯t much merit to talking about it with her, and it would pose some risk as well. It seems Chris does hold some level of affection for me, but no matter how you look at her, she¡¯s younger than Mimi. Or was she? I haven¡¯t really found out her exact age yet, but I¡¯m pretty sure she¡¯s younger.

    After I finished ordering the ingredients for tonight¡¯s dinner, we hit the water again.

    I actually wanted to do some fishing and use what I would catch as ingredients as well, but I¡¯m sure Mimi and Chris would want to tag along if I did. And their current outfit, in other words, their swimsuits, would be quite inconvenient for such an activity. Coming to the reefs in just swimsuits and sandals wouldn¡¯t really pose a risk to one¡¯s life, but it¡¯ll still pose a risk of injury. It¡¯ll be even more so if one fell down on a bad spot.

    And so, we continued to y in the sea in the afternoon.

    ¡°Sooi! Hahaha!¡±

    ¡°Kyaaah! Take this too!¡±

    I sshed sea water onto Mimi and the others, and they hit me back. Afterward, we did some light swimming. Due to her experience using the float earlier, or maybe because of her two natural chest ¡®floaters¡¯, Mimi was able to master swimming in the water unaided quickly.

    Once you¡¯ve mastered floating on the water, learning to swim would be fairly easy. I wanted to let her get used to having her face immersed in the water, so I taught her the breaststroke first. It¡¯s a form that allows people to get used to swimming at an instinctive level after all.

    ¡°I can swim! I can swim now!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing, Mimi! You¡¯re a very fast learner!¡±

    I didn¡¯t forget to praise her to build confidence. I praised her a lot even if she was only able to move forward by two meters. Praise is important after all. And anyway, I wasn¡¯t really all that good at swimming myself.

    It¡¯s fun to watch Mimi having a st. Yep. It¡¯s quite fun. I could ogle at those chest floaters of hers as they bobbed up and down on the water as much as I wanted. There were also plenty of ¡®skinship¡¯ opportunities as well. Yep. It¡¯s good. Very good.

    ¡°Kuuh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t let it get to you too much.¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama, please look at me as well!¡±

    As I watched over Mimi swimming at a spot where the waves were gentler, Chris approached and pulled on my arm.

    ¡°Well, uh, y¡¯see Chris¡­ I have a nagging feeling I¡¯d be arrested if I look at you wearing that swimsuit too much.¡±

    After all, it was a ssic style school swimsuit with¡ºChris¡»written on the white strip on the chest area. It was just in criminal. Anyway, even if she wore a more standard swimsuit, I feel like I¡¯d still be reported to the police if I ogled Chris unreservedly. Yes. It¡¯s quite dangerous.

    ¡°We¡¯re the only ones here, so who would even arrest you?¡±

    ¡°Uh, Miro?¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t get arrested if you act within reasonable limits, you know¡­¡±

    Elma let out an exasperated sigh. Well, that¡¯s true. That¡¯s true, but¡­ Acting all excited after seeing an underage loli in a swimsuit just doesn¡¯t feel right y¡¯know. And I definitely won¡¯t act like that no matter what.

    ¡°But it does feel unfair that I¡¯m only focusing on Mimi.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s good that you¡¯ve noticed.¡±

    Chris and Elma nodded in agreement. Chris is one thing, but you also want me to pay more attention to you, Elma? She turned away with a red face when I tried matching gazes with her.

    ¡°¡­¡­What? Isn¡¯t it fine just for a little bit?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Please pay attention to us as well.¡±

    I nodded at their request. But I only have one body after all.

    ¡°Okay then. I¡¯ll start with Chris first. Can you watch over Mimi for the meantime, Elma? She¡¯s aplete beginner when ites to swimming after all.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    Elma¡¯s maturity shines at times like this. I left Mimi with Elma and brought Chris to the rubber float corner.

    ¡°Are we going to y using rubber floaters?¡±

    ¡°No, my aim is that thing.¡±

    What I pointed at was a rubber boat with a size that can easily fit Chris and me. It came with simple oars on each side that you can use to propel it on top of the water. And what was interesting was that the bottom was transparent. You can directly see what¡¯s under the water even while riding the rubber boat.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be fun seeing what¡¯s under the water while riding on this boat. The waves look weakerpared to earlier too, so the timing¡¯s perfect.¡±

    ¡°It certainly does sound fun.¡±

    Chris nodded in agreement at my proposal. It looks like she¡¯s pretty interested.

    I borrowed the boat from the maidroids, dragged it to the shore, and had Chris board it.

    ¡°Are you not boarding as well, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯lle aboardter. But I¡¯ll push it out to deeper waters first.¡±

    I pushed the boat with Chris riding in it further from the shore, and when we reached a sufficiently deep part of the sea, I went up as well.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. How about we go a bit further from the shoreline?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    I took up the oars and started propelling the boat. I was able to gain quite a bit of speed. Chris was on the lighter side, but there was way less water resistance than I first imagined, which may be due to the material used to manufacture this boat. It was high tech in the strangest aspects. Wait. This might also be the result of my daily training routines as well. Have I gained more strength than I gave myself credit for?

    ¡°Amazing. Hiro-sama is quite strong.¡±

    ¡°This isn¡¯t all that hard. Oh, we came quite far out, didn¡¯t we?¡±

    When I looked at the transparent bottom of the boat, I was able to spot a number of marine creatures swimming about. I can see them clea¡­¡­ Eh!?

    ¡°Uh, Chris, do you know what that is¡­?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a fish called Salmon Fillet.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    Something that looked exactly like a piece of salmon fillet was actually swimming about down there. What the heck? Is that really a living creature? It¡¯s not just a piece of fish meat? I feel like I¡¯m going crazy, man. What was that saying again? When you stare at the abyss, the abyss stares back at you. Eh? The nuance is way different? Sorry. I lost my cool for a moment.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°No, uh, I just saw some mysterious creatures swimming about.¡±

    There were fish with legs wearing fis stockings, fish with the lower body of a cat¡­ There were quite a number of weird sea creatures that didn¡¯t remotely seem edible swimming about in the water. I wanted to go fishing earlier, but was it really okay to fish here? Won¡¯t my SAN points get shaved if I end up fishing out those weird things?

    While I was preupied with such thoughts, I suddenly saw a beautiful mermaid who chased away those weird-looking sea creatures. And she even waved her hand at me. Ooooh, fantasy¡­¡­!

    ¡°That¡¯s a mermaidroid that¡¯s tasked with lifeguard duties. It must be watching over us in the off chance that our boat capsizes.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    So the mermaid was actually an SF creature. That¡¯s nice.

    ¡°They are also responsible for maintaining the ocean environment and procuring ingredients.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. They¡¯re quite the hardworking bunch huh¡­ Oh, there are some beautiful schools of fish over there.¡±

    ¡°They really are beautiful¡­ There¡¯s quite a lot of them.¡±

    There were sardine-like fishes as well as colorful tropical fishes, and even rays the size of a floor cushion. Oh, and there are also somerge shrimp-like crustaceans at the bottom. But man, those sure are huge. They¡¯re not just giant lobster-huge, but were already rivaling seals in size.

    ¡°Those are somerge shrimps.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. They look delicious.¡±

    ¡°But they seem a bit creepy somehow.¡±

    ¡°¡±Eh?¡±¡±

    I and Chris exchanged gazes after hearing each other¡¯s words. Creepy¡­? Well, they do kinda look like bugs, so I guess I can see where she¡¯sing from.

    ¡°So you feel shrimps of that size are creepy¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Eh? You don¡¯t find them scary? Doesn¡¯t it seem like they would eat us instead of the other way around?¡±

    ¡°Oh. Yeah, I guess I get where you¡¯reing from. It would certainly feel scary to get attacked by one of those.¡±

    A blow from a mshell that¡¯s the size of a thumb can still knock people out after all. If we get attacked by a shrimp that size, we¡¯ll probably have our bones broken at the very least.

    ¡°But one of the raw ingredients used in food cartridges are krill-like creatures, right? If you think about those as something simr, but just erged several times over, don¡¯t they seem tasty?¡±

    ¡°M-Mmm¡­¡±

    Chris tilted her head in puzzlement. It looks like she doesn¡¯t get it. Kuh! If that¡¯s the case, then you give me no choice. I¡¯ll just have you taste one then. I called out to the mermaidroid swimming below us.

    ¡°Yes. How can I be of service?¡±

    ¡°Can those huge shrimps over there be eaten?¡±

    ¡°Yes. They¡¯re certainly edible. I rmend boiling them with salt.¡±

    ¡°Okay then. I¡¯d like to cook one for tonight¡¯s dinner, so can you get one for us?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Please wait for a moment.¡±

    The mermaidroid epted my request, dived back into the water, and headed straight for one giant shrimp. She aimed her palm at it, and the shrimp quivered for a moment, thenpletely stopped moving. Did she use an electric shock to kill it off? The mermaidroid waved to us with one hand and swam back up carrying the shrimp. We should put the shrimp away somewhere until evening so I can cook it for dinner.

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to tasting it.¡±

    ¡°Y-You are¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Shrimps are delicious you know. There¡¯s a lot of sea creatures with creepy appearances, but are quite delicious when you cook them, so I rmend trying them out. Oh, but you don¡¯t have to force yourself, though. I just wanted to try one anyway.¡±

    ¡°No, I shall challenge myself and try it out. There¡¯s a first for everything after all.¡±

    ¡°Okay. You really don¡¯t have to force yourself, though. There¡¯s also a risk of having an allergy as well.¡±

    There are people whose throats be really itchy and have difficulty breathing as a result of eating crustaceans. Allergies can be fairly dangerous in certain circumstances, so one can¡¯t be too careful.

    ¡°Let¡¯s set aside the giant shrimp first and continue on, shall we?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I also want to hear more things about you, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Things about me huh¡­¡­ Well, okay. But only the things I feel I can freely talk about.¡±

    And so, Chris and I continued enjoying a rxing time on the rubber boat.

 Chapter 83 â€“ Dangerous-sounding Discussion

    <h4>Chapter 83 - Dangerous-sounding Discussion</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Here you go.¡±

    ¡°Oh, thanks.¡±

    I and Chris finally got back to shore after spending an enjoyable time boating. I took the water bottle Elma handed to me and plopped myself on top of a beach chair. I had to consciously avoid talking about certain topics while I was conversing with Chris earlier, so it kinda tired me out.

    Chris, who had her fill after hearing about several stories regarding my mercenary adventures, went over to Mimi with her shark-shaped float in tow. Mimi was using a dolphin-shaped floater by the way. Are they gonna have some girl talk while floating on the water or something¡­¡­? I guess not. They started to race around using their respective floats. But they sure look like they¡¯re having fun.

    ¡°For now, it looks like things are pretty peaceful.¡±

    ¡°You worry too much¡­¡­ We exterminated every single pursuer, so they wouldn¡¯t get any new information about us so easily. There¡¯s a low chance of being attacked, at least for now. And even if they manage to find out our location in the end, they won¡¯t be able to mount an attack on a resort that easily.¡±

    After saying that, Elma called out to a maidroid and ordered a drink. She sure is enjoying her luxurious vacation.

    ¡°They¡¯re the kind of enemy who managed to prepare a skilled and rtively powerful force within a day after all. I think it can¡¯t hurt to be too careful.¡±

    ¡°Well, you do have a point. But we can¡¯t really do anything much to prepare right now you know? Miro¡¯s taking care of this¡¯s defenses anyway.¡±

    ¡°Is it really okay for us to be thiscent¡­¡­?¡±

    We just arrived at this ce yesterday anyway. I also don¡¯t think Chris¡¯s uncle would be able to send his people after us again right away as well. On the other hand, they¡¯d probablyunch an attack without any hesitation if they think they¡¯ll be able to finish us off with certainty.

    ¡°If you have any concerns, I¡¯ll hear you out, you know?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s just something bugging me for a while¡­¡­¡±

    What I¡¯m really worried about is the possibility of Chris¡¯s uncle throwing all caution to the wind because of his desire to kill Chris. For example, he may book an ind on Sierra III as a guest along with his men and thene kill us directly. There¡¯s also the method of attacking Sierra with a great number of warships, silencing Miro¡¯s defensework, andunching an all-out orbital bombardment. Whenever I think about possible worst-case scenarios, I end uping up with quite a number of them. It¡¯s a bit nerve-wracking.

    ¡°Mmm. White clouds, blue sky, bright sunlight, and cold liquor. This is paradise.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re already drinking this early huh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it fine? We¡¯re on vacation anyway, so let¡¯s have as much of a st as we can.¡±

    Elma was smirking while sipping a ss filled with an alcoholic tropical drink. She really seems to be making the most out of this. But, well, this truly was a wonderful beach resort. But I just can¡¯t enjoy it as much due to the tense situation we¡¯re currently in.

    ¡°You¡¯re surprisingly a worrywart, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Shut it. This much cautiousness is just normal for a merc.¡±

    I also ordered a drink from the maidroid. I asked for the light yellow colored carbonated beverage to be poured in a ss with ice.

    ¡°But just how tight is the security in this ce anyway? Can we really count on it?¡±

    ¡°I already told you this before. If they wanted to break through this¡¯s security system, they¡¯d have to get the help of an autonomous AI on par or greater than Miro. But there¡¯s no way an autonomous AI will agree to perpetuate that kind of illegal activity.¡±

    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right. But there¡¯s not just one method to get past the security here, right? Maybe they¡¯ll just forcefully breakthrough or something?¡±

    ¡°Forcefully huh¡­¡­ First of all, sending in an assassination squad to directly infiltrate this ce isn¡¯t the least bit realistic. If guests attempt to leave the ind they¡¯re assigned to in order to go to another ind, Miro will immediately apprehend them.¡±

    ¡°But there¡¯s plenty of methods to do so like diving in the sea or flying directly through a ship simr to Krishna, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. Miro¡¯s terminals are also spread throughout this world¡¯s oceans, so they¡¯ll be found at once. A subjugation squad can get deployed instantly via that mass driver, so there will be no escape. Aside from the subjugation squad, there¡¯s also the method of shooting them down via strategic shells fired off by the mass driver, as well as bombardment from the defense tforms deployed in satellite orbit. Any standard ship will be down in an instant. But it may be possible to break through if they use a ship like Krishna though.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s some crazy defensework¡­¡±

    The maidroid carrying a ss of the light yellow drink I ordered finally arrived in the middle of our discussion.

    ¡°Thank you. Sorry for the trouble.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. This is also part of my duties, so please do not mind me.¡±

    The maidroid shed a serene smile. Did she really smile? Apart from a scant few times, the maidroids have kept their faces devoid of expressions for the most part. And now, one actually smiled at me¡­¡­ But I guess this is good. It¡¯s always better to smile than keep an expressionless face.

    ¡°But I think we¡¯ll be helpless if we¡¯re hit with a saturation attack though.¡±

    ¡°Saturation attack. Do you mean something that would overwhelm the firing capabilities of this¡¯s defense tformwork? That¡¯s just not realistic, mister.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like you can only use a ship. Wouldn¡¯t it be possible to overwhelm the tformwork¡¯s interception capabilities by pouring out a lot of shells, space debris, and asteroids toward the equatorial base where Miro¡¯s main terminal is located? There¡¯s also the option of destroying the tforms first before raining down an orbital bombardment too.¡±

    ¡°Now that¡¯s just unreasonable. Miro¡¯s sensor arrays should be able to pick up the movements of space debris and asteroids straight away no matter how much they try to hide it. Depending on the scale of themotion, there¡¯s also a good chance the local imperial garrison will be alerted and deployed to intercept.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    It looks like it would be really difficult for the methods I proposed to disable the defensework of this.

    ¡°But the defensework isn¡¯tpletely invincible, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course. If they can really amass a force that can overwhelm the defensework, they¡¯ll be able to do an orbital bombardment. Miro can still use the surface defense systems to retaliate, but losing the orbital tforms will be a huge blow.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then wouldn¡¯t theye up with something like hiring a huge pirate force?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s certainly possible, but if they mess up, they¡¯ll have the full force of the imperial military hot on their tail, so it¡¯s a pretty risky move.¡±

    ¡°So, the chances are low, but there¡¯s still a possibility huh¡­¡­ If it ever came to that, it might be better to directlyunch back into space with Krishna and hold out until the imperial militaryes huh.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. That would be a good course of action.¡±

    After seeing Elma nod, I was finally somewhat relieved. I now had a good idea of what the possible worst-case scenarios were, as well as how to deal with them to some extent. My unease has greatly lessened.

    ¡°You are talking about some dangerous topics.¡±

    The maidroid, who we saw leave earlier, actually returned without Elma and me noticing. She seems to have heard our conversation partway, and suddenly called out to us.

    I didn¡¯t reply to the maidroid¡¯s words immediately and took a sip of the light yellow beverage first. Mm. Nice, strong carbonation, and a crisp and refreshing vor. This is unmistakably ginger ale.

    ¡°Would it be possible to ask more details about the ones who would possibly attempt to bypass this¡¯s security systems? It is actually this¡¯s administrator who wishes to know about such circumstances.¡±

    ¡°What do you think, Elma?¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t just reveal it on our own, you know.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. We¡¯ll have to consult Chris first.¡±

    And so, I called out to Mimi and Chris, who were busy racing with their dolphin and shark floaters. The two of them swam to shore and quickly came over.

    ¡°I won!¡±

    ¡°Uu. I lost¡­¡­¡±

    It looks like Chris, who arrived on the shore first, was the victor of their little contest. Mimi looked pretty bummed out. Come to think of it, these two were pretty close in age, weren¡¯t they? Mimi should be the older one, but Chris was quite mature despite her looks, so in the end, the two of them seemed to be friends of the same age.

    ¡°Is something the matter?¡±

    ¡°It seems Miro wants to ask about the circumstances regarding a threat of a possible security breach attempt, Chris.¡±

    ¡°The circumstances¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes. There is a possibility of harm being inflicted upon our guests, we would very much like to hear more details about it to prepare adequate countermeasures.¡±

    Chris, who was still in her school swimsuit, was lost in thought as the maidroid awaited her response. Mimi seems to be in a bit of a panic because of the situation, so I had her try a sip of the ginger ale to calm her down. When she took a sip, her eyes immediately went round in surprise. Hahaha, how cute.

    ¡°How much should I divulge?¡±

    Chris turned to Elma and me with a troubled expression.

    ¡°I personally don¡¯t have any problems with cooperating with this¡¯s authorities, but since it might possibly cause harm to House Daleinwald¡¯s reputation if this matter was to be spread, I¡¯m not in the position to offer you any suggestions.¡±

    ¡°In my case, I believe our imperial AI citizens are trustworthy enough. And since this is basically a session conflict within a noble house, they would be extra prudent don¡¯t you think? You can even say they specialize in things like this.¡±

    Chris made a forced smile after hearing Elma¡¯s words. So I guess the reason why a majority of Gran empire¡¯s nobles act a bit betterpared to my image of nobles from Earth really does have something to do with the autonomous AIs after all huh.

    ¡°I am a bit reluctant to divulge matters regarding our house¡¯s troubles without permission from my grandfather though.¡±

    ¡°But your grandfather didn¡¯t expect his dear granddaughter would actually be caught up in a session struggle and even have her life targeted, right? I bet he¡¯ll understand. It¡¯s his oversight that partly allowed this situation to escte after all.¡±

    ¡°I think so too.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I guess you both do have a point.¡±

    Chris made a resigned sigh and began to talk about her circumstances to the maidroid. All the AIs on this are managed by Miro after all. I bet Miro¡¯s already listening in using its connection to the maidroid.

    ¡°I see. We¡¯ve understood the situation. We will now begin formting countermeasures, so please excuse me for a few moments.¡±

    After saying so, the maidroid paused and stared vacantly at empty air for less than ten seconds. It probably didn¡¯t even take five seconds, actually.

    ¡°We have acquired data regarding the attack on the passenger cruiser three months ago as well as all other rted information.¡±

    ¡°That was freakin fast.¡±

    It merely took a few seconds. These super-advanced AI are amazing.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t much. In any case, a decision has been made. It is our duty to ensure the safety of all guests visiting Sierra III. We will uphold this duty to the best of our abilities. Please rest assured and continue to enjoy your stay.¡±

    ¡°Even if you say that, would you designate us as targets to be eliminated if we ended up calling over a threat sufficient enough to endanger Sierra III?¡±

    ¡°No. Such a thing will not happen. No matter what the circumstances are, our guests are the first priority after all. We shall take responsibility for your safety until the end of your stay.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°Yes. That is our duty.¡±

    The maidroid firmly nodded.

    ¡°We shall inform you at once if we detect any danger, so please be at ease.¡±

    The maidroid then turned to Chris and lightly bowed to reassure her.

    It¡¯d really help us big time if we had Miro¡¯s full support¡­¡­ Well, it¡¯s not like we can let our guards down even if that¡¯s the case. And it¡¯s not like the AIs can overly meddle into a noble house¡¯s session problem, given their position in imperial society.

    ¡°Okay then. It¡¯s getting a bitte, so let¡¯s all take a shower and get back to the lodge. We still have plenty of time to enjoy our vacation, so it¡¯s not good to overly exhaust ourselves on the first day.¡±

    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right.¡±

    Elma agreed with my suggestion right away. She may have been thinking of resting up as well. She¡¯s been drinking plenty of alcohol since earlier after all.

    ¡°Understood. We¡¯ll continue ying tomorrow then.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. We¡¯ll y as much as we can. We also have the option of going to other spots on the ind to y instead of staying on the beach all the time. Are you fine with that, Chris?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Since Chris agreed as well, all of us went to the showers, washed the sand and seawater off our bodies, and walked back to the lodge.

    Now then, it would be good if Chris¡¯s uncle didn¡¯t make any rash moves for the duration of our stay here. But will things really go that well, I wonder?

 Chapter 84 â€“ Underhanded AI

    <h4>Chapter 84 - Underhanded AI</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    It¡¯s been five days since we came to the resort, Sierra III.

    We did some shopping on the first day, yed at the beach on the second day, and enjoyed the ind recreational facilities on the third. Specifically, we went to the back of the lodged and yed a game simr to park golf. Later on, we went hiking and enjoyed the wonders of nature. Mimi got really excited over the nts and animals she got to see for the first time.

    Afterward, we rested up and rxed back at the lodge on the fourth day to get rid of all the umted fatigue. We had a holo-movie marathon, yed a puzzle game simr to Jenga as well as a board game and cards. The board game was simr to sugoroku and the ying cards were quite simr to Earth¡¯s version except for a few cosmetic differences. The Jenga-like puzzle was really Jenga-like. The only difference was that the pieces were made from some synthetic material I was unfamiliar with instead of wood.

    And today was the fifth day of our stay here. We¡¯re set to stay here for two weeks, so we haven¡¯t even reached the halfway point yet. I was dozing on the bed and thinking about what activities we¡¯ll do for the day when I felt my body getting lightly nudged repeatedly.

    What? Is that Mimi? Or is it Chris? I¡¯m sure it wasn¡¯t Elma. Elma wasn¡¯t the type to be gentle when waking you up. She¡¯d rather pull the entire futon from under you instead. The nudges were quite gentle and reserved, so was it really Chris? I kinda still wanted to doze around, but it wasn¡¯t nice to keep ignoring her, so I decided to open my eyes.

    ¡°Good morning, Master.¡±

    I then saw a stoic-looking long raven-haired beauty peering down on me with a nk expression on her pretty face. She was wearing a pair of red framed half-rim sses, and they looked pretty darn good on her. Oh. Well that¡¯s neat. She really resembled the maidroid blueprint I designed using that developer app.

    ¡°¡­¡­Guess I¡¯m dreaming huh.¡±

    I would have preferred not to have such a silly dream though. And at such an awkward time too. I closed my eyes again and tried to go back to slee¡­¡­ Hm? Hmmm!?

    ¡°Wha-!?¡±

    ¡°Your state of awakening has finally reached an appropriate level. Good morning once again, Master.¡±

    Her beautiful visage was fully focused on me, and she gave off a smart and reliable aura. Her face was almost devoid of expression, but her eyes held within them a palpable sense of respect and loyalty. A maid headdress covered in whitece adorned her lustrous ck hair, and she wore a Victorian-style maid dress with a long skirt that properly disyed her curves despite the low skin exposure. She would have been indistinguishable from humans if not for those mechanical parts on either side of her head in ce of normal human ears.

    Ugh. This isn¡¯t the time to be preupied about these things. They¡¯re not really important. The real problem is that this maid was standing in front of me as if it was the most natural thing in the world. That¡¯s what I should be concerned about. Well, a sudden attack from the guys targeting Chris would be more of a concern, obviously. But I digress.

    ¡°Master, it is within the bounds of proper etiquette to greet someone back if they greet you good morning.¡±

    ¡°G-Good morning.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Well done, Master.¡±

    The stoic maid with a nk expression on her face ruffled my hair in praise. What the heck is with this situation? No, honestly, I already had a good idea about what exactly happened. Yes. It¡¯s not like this was totally unexpected. It¡¯s just that I was still in a state of denial. My brain has already processed it, but my heart refuses to understand.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like this will all turn out to be a dream if I sleep again and wake upter, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It will not.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    I had a feeling I¡¯ll have nightmares if I forced myself back to sleep at this rate, so I gave up and got out of bed.

    ¡°Here is your change of clothes.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yeah.¡±

    As soon as I got up from the bed, she passed me a fresh set of clothes she prepared beforehand. I obediently took the shirt she handed to me and put my arms through the sleeves-

    ¡°Why are you watching me like that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s so I can get urate and up-to-date data about your current body measurements, Master.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right¡­¡­¡±

    It somehow felt like she won¡¯t stop no matter what I said, so I just gave up and continued to put on my clothes. Since all the underwear I¡¯ve used for the past few days have been handled by the maidroids, I was already somewhat used to this sort of thing. I don¡¯t even feel likeining anymore.

    ¡°So, I kinda have an idea already, but let me ask anyway. Just who are you and what are you doing here¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes. As you¡¯ve suspected, I am a custom-made maidroid manufactured ording to the temte designed by Captain Hiro a few days ago. I still have not received a name, however.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°In ordance with the directive of the central management AI of Sierra III, Miro, I have been sent to serve as your exclusive maid for the duration of your stay, Captain Hiro. I am pleased to make your acquaintance and am looking forward to serving you.¡±

    The custom maidroid wearing red framed sses then elegantly bowed her head after picking up the underwear I just took off.

    ¡°Understood¡­¡­ I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s useless to refuse huh?¡±

    ¡°No. If you do decide not to receive me, then I will be relieved of my post straight away.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yes. And I believe I will be promptly dmissioned, disassembled, and put inside the supply base warehouse to be used as spare parts.¡±

    ¡°Miroooooooooo!¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but scream my lungs out inint. Aren¡¯t you being too dirty by ying upon my feelings of pity, you damn sneaky AI!? That¡¯s just unfair, man! It¡¯s downright low! You underhanded AI! You¡¯re taking advantage of the subtleties of a poor man¡¯s heart, dammit!

    ¡°I was told to say such a thing, but I do believe it¡¯s quite inefficient to dismantle a fully assembled and operational maidroid just aftering from the production line. It is quite pointless. Therefore, I believe I will just be reassigned to a different area.¡±

    ¡°I-Is that so? Is it really alright to reveal it to me just like that though?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Although it is temporary, my current Master is you, Hiro-sama. Prioritizing the will of my Master is only natural.¡±

    Kuuh! Somehow, being told something like that with an earnest attitude really gets to me, man. It might just be one of Miro¡¯s ploys, but as the designer, I¡¯m well aware that I set the affection and loyalty parameters to MAX. So there¡¯s also a good chance that this custom maidroid was truly sincere and was not just acting due to Miro¡¯s directive.

    ¡°You know, honestly speaking, it¡¯s still kinda hard to trust the words of an AI like you.¡±

    ¡°I understand your reservations. Though it is true that I can be considered an existence derived from Miro itself, I am my own individual with my own will and thoughts. I can only put it like that.¡±

    The custom maidroid dered as such with a soft yet unwavering voice as she gazed straight into my eyes. Her expression was nk as always, so I couldn¡¯t really glean anything from it even if I tried¡­ But, in the end, I still decided to trust her.

    ¡°In any case, I¡¯ll believe you for now. Heck, I¡¯m honestly fine with it even if you¡¯re lying. I¡¯ll just hope you can hoodwink me until the end.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I shall endeavor to live up to your trust, Master.¡±

    The custom maidroid then made a graceful bow once again. Well, I can more or less ept her, but I don¡¯t know about Mimi and the others. Man. My head hurts.

    ¡°Um, Mimi-san?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Mimi-sama.¡±

    ¡°Grrr!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­It looks like it¡¯s no good.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes. It truly does.¡±

    After putting on the fresh set of clothes, I got out of my room and went down to the living room, where I met up with the girls who seemed to have just gotten up themselves.

    The first one I met up with was Elma. She saw me lounging on the sofa and then turned her gaze to the custom maidroid who was standing just beside me.

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah.¡±

    It took a full three seconds for Elma to react after seeing the custom maidroid. She looks like she¡¯s seen through everything though.

    The next one to go down was Chris. She was still half-asleep and didn¡¯t show any particr reaction when she saw the custom maidroid at first. She went straight to the washroom to freshen up, and when she got back, it also took three seconds before her eyes opened wide in surprise.

    She gave Elma and me an inquiring look, but then let out a helpless sigh. It looks like she also had an idea about what happened without me exining.

    And then, it was Mimi¡¯s turn.

    ¡°Grrrrrrr.¡±

    The moment she got a glimpse of the custom maidroid, she rushed to my side, got between me and said maidroid, and hugged my arm tightly. It was as if she was staking her im. Why are you acting like a puppy protecting her territory all of a sudden?

    ¡°C¡¯mon, Mimi. Don¡¯t be like that. She doesn¡¯t mean any harm.¡±

    ¡°Muuu¡­¡­!¡±

    My attempt at pacifying her had the opposite effect, and Mimi hugged my arm more strongly. As a result, she pressed her ample assets against my arm even tighter. Ah, what bliss.

    No, wait! That¡¯s not it! I¡¯m sure it sounded like I was arbitrarily taking the side of the maidroid to Mimi earlier. But what should I do now?

    ¡°Captain Hiro. Would it be possible for me to talk to Mimi-sama for a few moments?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really mind, but¡­ Hey Mimi, could you at least try talking to her for a bit? I¡¯ll give you some space.¡±

    ¡°Muu¡­¡­ It¡¯s fine if Elma-san and Chris-chan are with me as well.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Me too?¡±

    ¡°Me as well? I don¡¯t really mind though¡­¡­¡±

    The three of them then went off to the dining area along with the maidroid. I guess it really would be better if I stay out of the discussion this time. Should I go out? I¡¯ll still be able to hear them talking out here in the living room after all.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna go and check up on Krishna for a bit.¡±

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll send you a message once the discussion is over.¡±

    I waved to Elma and headed to the starshipnding strip where Krishna was parked. Krishna still looks really imposing and gant even when parked like this. Now that I got a closer look, there are traces of the hull being cleaned up recently. It¡¯s most likely Miro¡¯s doing.

    I went up the ramp, entered the ship, and went to the cockpit. I then ran the self-diagnostics program. It looks like there aren¡¯t any particr problems. She can fly anytime. Because we immediatelynded here after defeating our pursuers without resupplying, the ammo of the ballistic shotgun cannons were a bit depleted, but otherwise, everything was good to go.

    I tried asking Miro if we could purchase some supplies here, but it looks like securing ammo for ship weaponry was not possible on a resort like this. Well, I expected as much anyway. It¡¯s fine either way.

    Since I¡¯m already inside Krishna, I figured I¡¯d head for the training room next to work out a bit. But since we were pretty active outdoors during these past four days, it didn¡¯t really feel like my body¡¯s out of shape all that much.

    Aftering out of the training room, I removed all my clothes including my underwear, dumped them inside the automatic washing and drying module, and was about to take a shower when I paused and looked at the washing module again. I thought maybe I was just the same as the clothes that were currently being spun around inside the washing module.

    Don¡¯t escape from reality, you say? How rude. C¡¯mon guys. Try to put yourselves in my shoes for a bit. I need toe up with a way to refuse that custom maidroid somehow¡­ but I can¡¯t think of any.

    The more I mull over it, the more I feel that I¡¯ve already fallen for Miro¡¯s trap and unwittingly pressed the ¡®Buy¡¯ button. Therefore, it may already be toote. It¡¯s just no good¡­! I¡¯m already knee-deep in this! No matter how I think about it, there¡¯s no choice other than to buy! Kuh! What a blunder. This is all because I got carried away and designed a so-called ¡®ultimate¡¯ maidroid¡­¡­! Argh!

    Ok, ok¡­ Then I¡¯ll just buy her then. But what would be the merits of me buying her?

    If we look at her overall specs, which I made sure to be really top-of-the-line, she would be able to offer valuable support to not just me, but Mimi and Elma as well. She would even be able to serve as a reliable bodyguard for them. It would be convenient to have her watch over Mimi whenever she has business to attend to outside of the ship. In that sense, a maidroid would be a valuable addition to our crew.

    I¡¯m not too sure about the maintenance procedures for her, but since the materials I specified when I was designing her were all tough top-quality stuff, I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll need maintenance all that much anyway. The problem is we don¡¯t have any more vacant rooms inside the ship, but I guess we can make do by converting some of the space inside the cargo hold. Most of it is still fairly unused a lot of the time anyway. We don¡¯t really use the cargo hold all that much except for when we¡¯re looting from downed pirate ships, so it doesn¡¯t really get filled to the brim with goods and supplies. It should be okay then.

    But that¡¯s not really the issue here! This is bad. I¡¯m really thinking of purchasing her, aren¡¯t I? Hold up a bit, me. Calm down. Of course, her appearance was right in the middle of my strike zone. I designed her y¡¯know. I even gave her those red-framed half-rim fashion sses.

    I mulled over such things until the module finished washing and drying my clothes, so I got out of the bath and put them back on again. And when I checked my portable terminal, I saw Elma¡¯s message. It looks like the discussion is over.

    I got down from Krishna while feeling nervous inside and went back to the lodge. I hope they settled everything peacefully¡­¡­ I¡¯m counting on you, Miro. I¡¯m really counting on you, okay?! But wait. Isn¡¯t it pretty much Miro¡¯s fault that I was put into such a predicament in the first ce¡­¡­?

    In the end, I decided not to think anymore and just continued heading for the lodge. Argh. I just don¡¯t care anymore.

 Chapter 85 â€“ Peaceful Resolution

    <h4>Chapter 85 - Peaceful Resolution</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I continued to walk with my head nk until I finally got back to the lodge. I ced my ear next to the door but couldn¡¯t hear any voices arguing. It looks like the discussion really was over, just like the message stated. I entered the lodge.

    ¡°Wee back, Master.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah¡­¡­ Hm?¡±

    When I saw the scene inside the lodge, I couldn¡¯t help but gawk in bewilderment.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re back.¡±

    ¡°Wee back.¡±

    ¡°Wee back, Hiro-sama. I¡¯m really sorry for all the trouble.¡±

    Mimi bowed her head in apology. But that¡¯s not what got my attention. I was surprised about her sudden turn in attitude toward the custom maidroid. She was all ¡®grrr¡¯ like an angry puppy earlier, but now they¡¯re both sitting right next to each other, and seemingly very close. Just what happened here?

    ¡°What¡¯s going on¡­?¡±

    ¡°I sincerely and wholeheartedly exined my position to thedies.¡±

    ¡°O-Okay¡­?¡±

    I gave Elma a questioning gaze, and she shrugged her shoulders in response. Hey. I¡¯m asking for an exnation here,dy. I turned to Chris, but she only sighed. This reaction¡­¡­ It¡¯s almost the same as when I asked them about what they thought about the situation of the AIs. In other words, it looks like Mimi was splendidly cajoled by this custom maidroid.

    ¡°Just what happened? Can somebody please exin?¡±

    ¡°We just cleared up the misunderstanding. Isn¡¯t this fine?¡±

    ¡°Uh, well, I guess. But it¡¯s still bugging me¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, c¡¯mon. Don¡¯t sweat the small stuff and just roll with it.¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ Well, alright.¡±

    I don¡¯t know just what kind of discussion took ce, but at least Mimi¡¯s concerns have been resolved, and now she had no problems being all chummy with the maidroid. Guess I¡¯ll leave it at that. But just how did this maidroid do it? Mimi¡¯s all over her now¡­ Are their social skills really that amazing?

    ¡°But I haven¡¯t decided if I¡¯ll buy this custom maidroid yet, just so you know.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not buying her?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not going to purchase her?¡±

    ¡°Even if I do buy her, there¡¯s no more free rooms inside the ship¡­ Krishna can only house a maximum of five passengers, with one single room for my use and two double rooms for Mimi and Elma.¡±

    Chris was staying over at Mimi¡¯s room, but she wasn¡¯t a permanent crew member anyway. She¡¯ll only be staying with us for a short while. If we add another crew member, there¡¯ll be no more rooms to spare. But I guess we can make do if Mimi or Elma agrees to share a room with others.

    ¡°I do not feel any physical fatigue or mental stress, and I basically have no metabolism to speak of, so I would have no problems even if you just store me inside a maintenance pod and put me inside your ship¡¯s cargo hold. You¡¯ll only need to provide me with a container to store my maid clothes and other daily articles.¡±

    ¡°Uh, but that just doesn¡¯t feel right, y¡¯know¡­¡±

    ¡°I am a maidroid, Master. I am not a biological organism. I am truly happy that you seem to recognize me as an individual and are trying to give me the requisite treatment, but there is no need to base your treatment of me in ordance with how you would treat your fellow biological lifeforms.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master.¡±

    The maidroid nodded at my question without any sign of hesitation. Well, if the person herself says so, then I guess I¡¯ll just have to do as she sa- Now just wait a damn second!? I just said I¡¯m still on the fence about buying you earlier, didn¡¯t I? Why are you talking like it¡¯s a done deal already dammit!?

    ¡°Let¡¯s get over this trial period first. We¡¯ll talk about this again after we¡¯ve spent some more time together and have gotten to know each other better. Okay?¡±

    ¡°Wow. You¡¯re actually acting hesitant this time around. It isn¡¯t like you, you know?¡±

    ¡°Now look here, you! This isn¡¯t the same as purchasing a convenient gadget like a gravity sphere, okay? This stuff needs more careful deliberation.¡±

    ¡°I do think it¡¯s good to handle this with more care. At the very least, we¡¯ll have to think about a name that suits her well!¡±

    ¡°Why are you the one who¡¯s getting all excited, Mimi¡­?¡±

    The drastic turnaround of Mimi¡¯s attitude was amazing, in various meanings. Just how did this maidroid persuade her, I wonder. Well, we¡¯re talking about our cute glutton Mimi here, so I wonder if it¡¯s something along the lines of persuading her with promises of delicious food? Or maybe it involves raising her skills as a ship operator? No, well, the main reason why I designed the maidroid with really high specs was so she can serve as Mimi¡¯s bodyguard, so maybe she deduced it and told Mimi about her real purpose.

    Or maybe she promised not to interfere with our rtionship? But aren¡¯t I being too self-conscious by assuming that?

    Well, anyway, the custom maidroid has seeded in being epted by Mimi and seems to be making steady progress regarding her intention to board Krishna. So she¡¯s only left with the task of persuading me now.

    But she¡¯s dead wrong if she thinks it¡¯s gonna be that easy.

    ¡°Well, in any case, there¡¯s a lot I want to ask you about regarding this girl, Hiro. She has exceedingly high specs for a maidroid, doesn¡¯t she? She¡¯s on the level of abat droid even. Just what were you thinking when you designed her?¡±

    ¡°I wanted her to have the ability to serve as an escort and bodyguard. We end up getting involved in quite a few dangerous stuff due to the nature of our work, right? I just thought it would be nice if there was somebody to guard Mimi so she can freely get off Krishna without any worries. And I¡¯m not particrly well versed in hand to handbat myself.¡±

    The most adept among Krishna¡¯s crewmembers when ites to CQC is undoubtedly Elma. I have the confidence not to lose to her when ites to a firefight, but I¡¯d definitely get thrashed badly if I challenged her to a fistfight.

    ¡°I see. What about her appearance then?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my hobbies and obsessions running at full throttle ma¡¯am.¡±

    I didn¡¯t think I would be able to fool her considering how sharp she is, so I just honestly confessed my guilt. I can¡¯t get away with iming I designed a ck-haired, cool beauty of a maid (equipped with red-framed sses)pletely on a whim after all. She can even change to a long ponytail mode. Isn¡¯t she just the best?

    ¡°So you prefer these types huh? Hmm¡­¡­¡±

    Elma¡¯s gaze went over to the custom maidroid.

    ¡°So, I take it that it would be better if I aim to be just like her, right?¡±

    Chris quipped as she turned toward the maidroid as well. Hmm. Well, Chris is ck-haired, and definitely a beauty, so I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll have any trouble styling herself in a simr manner. But Chris is Chris after all, so I¡¯d prefer it if she stayed the way she is.

    ¡°The majority of the people back in my home town are ck-haired just like Chris and me. A more colorful hairstyle would do as well, but ck hair just feels right for me, I guess. The sses are just my hobbies at work though.¡±

    ¡°sses on an android do seem pretty unnecessary¡­ It doesn¡¯t seem like it¡¯s some sort of device as well.¡±

    ¡°Device?¡±

    ¡°There are wearable sses-type devices with data analysis and image magnification functions out in the market. But since she¡¯s a maidroid, she doesn¡¯t really need one, doesn¡¯t she?¡±

    ¡°Ah, mm, I guess.¡±

    So there were such gadgets avable. But a maidroid certainly wouldn¡¯t need one. She has all the requisite sensors and functions built-in after all.

    ¡°If you¡¯re buying her, then make sure to be a responsible owner and take care of her properly, okay? Well, I¡¯m not sure who¡¯ll be taking care of who in the end though.¡±

    ¡°Like I said, I haven¡¯t really decided if I¡¯m gonna buy her¡­¡±

    I quietly murmured my objection and turned my gaze toward Mimi and the maidroid, who were now busy fussing over Mimi¡¯s tablet terminal. Mm. She really is beautiful. Good job, me.

    Well, since it turned out that Mimi already has no problems with the maidroid, I guess I¡¯ll just bite the bullet and buy her after all. My onlyint is that my goal of saving enough money to buy a detached house with a garden is once again faced with a setback¡­ Oh well. I guess this purchase does make sense if I take into ount the safety of my crew.

    It would prove to be a worthwhile purchase if she can serve to protect Mimi from danger.

 Chapter 86 â€“ State of Emergency

    <h4>Chapter 86 - State of Emergency</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Have the men been assembled?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Well, most of them are just lowlife pirates, but we¡¯ve managed to assemble a force of 113 small craft, 21 medium ships, and threerge cruisers. We¡¯ve also finished cing thrusters on some of the surrounding asteroids, so we canmence orbital bombardment at any time.¡±

    ¡°They would serve admirably as a distraction. What about our main attack force?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve finished loading two stealth dropships with high-performancebat robots. The preparations for hacking into the central AI once they makefall has also been finished.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ You¡¯ve managed to pinpoint their location, correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We did have some trouble though. They sure are crafty for mere mercenaries. We can¡¯t deal with them using halfhearted methods.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. I find it hard to believe that they were able to turn the tables around on our men even now¡­¡­ They even boasted about being able to take out a Gold-ranked mercenary before. We¡¯ve spent so much money on those men, but they turned out to be of no use at all.¡±

    ¡°Well, it is indeed true that our men were highly skilled, but that mercenary had still bested them. While they may truly have been capable of taking on a Gold rank, this just means their foe was considerably skilled even within the Gold rankers.¡±

    ¡°Hmph. How preposterous. In any case, even if that mercenary is skilled in hunting ships using his own, we would just have to finish him by preventing him from boarding his ship. There¡¯s some use for that unusual ship of theirs, but be sure to do as nned and dispose of that brat along with those annoying mercenaries.¡±

    ¡°Yes. We have already ced troops at all arrival and departure points on the. We will finish them off with all haste.¡±

    ¡°There would be no way out for us if we fail to kill them here¡­¡­ Christina, I have no grudge against you, but you still have to die for my sake.¡±

    The skies today were clear as always. It¡¯s not like the sky was totally devoid of any clouds, but it was sunny, and it didn¡¯t look like it would rain at all. It¡¯s the perfect weather for some fishing.

    Yeah. Today, we decided to go out for some fishing.

    ¡°Wa wa wah!? I-I got a bite!?¡±

    Mimi panicked as she stood on the shallow reefs. It looks like the first hit of the day came to Mimi.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. Rx and turn the reel calmly. It looks like the line won¡¯t easily snap, so just go for it.¡±

    ¡°Yes. The fishing lines we use in our rods can withstand up to 500 kgs, so please do not worry.¡±

    The custom maidroid backed me up and revealed the specs of the fishing lines. I can¡¯t really tell any difference from your standard fishing line, but it looks like these lines are absurdly tough. They¡¯re on par with metallic wires.

    ¡°Aaah! It¡¯s here! What should I do!?¡±

    Mimi turned the reel continuously, and before long, a fish was brought up from the water. In any case, it doesn¡¯t have human legs and didn¡¯t have the hindquarters of a cat. Phew.

    ¡°Please leave it to me.¡±

    The high-spec custom maidroid pulled on the line and brought the struggling fish in front of her. She then expertly took out the hook from its mouth and put it inside a bucket filled with seawater. I¡¯m not that familiar with fish, but it kinda resembles sea bream. It¡¯s quite big, so we can probably eat it as sashimi or grill it.

    ¡°Thank you very much, May-san!¡±

    ¡°Yes. You¡¯re wee.¡±

    The custom maidroid who Mimi called May bowed her head in acknowledgment.

    It¡¯s been three days since this custom maidroid appeared in our lives. Since calling her ¡®custom maidroid¡¯ all the time was troublesome, I discussed with Mimi, Elma, and Chris, and finally settled for ¡®May¡¯ as her name. Since we already gave her a name, it¡¯s in as day that we have all be attached to her to some extent. Oh well.

    I was still hesitant when I first met her, but Mimi¡¯s already quite taken with her, so I guess this is fine. Elma and Chris were also epting of her. Just how did she do it¡­?

    By the way, Chris didn¡¯t really treat her any differently from the rest of us from the start. I guess she¡¯s already used to maidroids like her. Well, she¡¯s a noble after all.

    ¡°Oh, I have a bite over here too.¡±

    ¡°Go for it, Elma-san!¡±

    Since Chris was small in stature, she wasn¡¯t able to participate in fishing. Well, she told us she wasn¡¯t that good with live fish anyway, so she wasn¡¯t upset even if she was the only one left out.

    Me? I actually have some fishing experience. It¡¯s just that the odds aren¡¯t in my favor today, alright?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    All of a sudden, May, who was standing beside me, jerked her head up to the sky. I followed her gaze, but couldn¡¯t spot anything but a wide, blue sky. I wonder what¡¯s wrong?

    ¡°An emergency situation has just urred. Please evacuate this area, everyone.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    I was surprised by her sudden announcement and gave her a questioning look. Just why? But I don¡¯t think May would joke about something like this. I promptly made a move.

    ¡°Leave all the fishing gear here and return to Krishna.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Y-Yes, understood.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Hurry up, everyone.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Mimi, Elma, and I let go of our fishing rods. I then ced my hand on theser gun holstered on my hip. It was fortunate that I didn¡¯t forget to bring myser gun. Elma also ced her hand on herser gun. As for Mimi¡­¡­ Well, it looks like she didn¡¯t bring hers with her. Well, considering her poor marksmanship, it might be a good thing that she forgot.

    ¡°So what happened? What¡¯s the emergency for?¡±

    Just in case, I pulled out myser gun from the holster and made it so I can release the safety anytime while I ran. May started exining the situation without going out of breath (She¡¯s an android, so it¡¯s not like she needed to breathe anyway.) as we ran.

    ¡°We¡¯re under attack by arge pirate force. Their ships number over a hundred. We¡¯ve also detected severalrge ships among them. It seems they have also rigged several asteroids with thrusters and have sent them down for a collision course with the.¡±

    ¡°Hey Elma, didn¡¯t you say the defensework would be able to detect an attack using asteroids early and prevent it from happening?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how they did it, but the fact is they went and pulled it off. Maybe they installed shields on them and brought them over via FTL Drives.¡±

    ¡°That sounds like it¡¯ll cost a whopping amount of cash.¡±

    ¡°Well, they¡¯ll be able to pull it off if they have a rich enough patron, right?¡±

    A patron. I see. So it¡¯s most likely Chris¡¯s uncle.

    ¡°The pirates have started attacking the¡¯s defense tform. The target of the meteor bombing seems to be an area close to the supply base located on the equator, so it doesn¡¯t pose as much of a threat to us¡­ Wait¡­ We¡¯ve detected several signatures dropping down along with them at high speed.¡±

    I moved my gaze along with May¡¯s and spotted several fiery objects rushing toward us at high speed from the sky.

    Severalser cannon emcements came out from the sea and started intercepting the objects, but they weren¡¯t able to bring down everything. Even the mountain we climbed a few days ago revealedser cannon emcements and started firing, but several objects stillnded sessfully on the ind in the end. The spot theynded on was far from where we currently were, but the impact was strong and I felt the resulting shockwaves under my feet. It seems itnded near the lodge.

    ¡°It looks like it wasn¡¯t a reactive torpedo.¡±

    ¡°Stop that! Don¡¯t say something so ominous.¡±

    Elma raised her voice inint. Well, if that ball of fire really did contain reactive torpedoes, this whole ind would have been annihted after all. I guess we were lucky that we weren¡¯t anywhere near the lodge huh. Even if it wasn¡¯t a reactive torpedo, we would have still died if we got hit by that fiery mass directly after all.

    ¡°So, what was that object?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re confirming¡­¡­ We¡¯ve detected several moving objects disengaging from the crash site. They look likebat robots.¡±

    ¡°Ugeh.¡±

    ¡°Uwaah.¡±

    I and Elma groaned at the same time. There are several models ofbat robots, and some are more dangerous than others. But honestly, if we came across the high-end ones, we wouldn¡¯t stand a chance if we took them on without the appropriate equipment. They¡¯re urate, tough, and pack plenty of power. We could take them on with power armors, but it would be an uphill battle without one.

    It would be great if those robots were of the lightly armed variety, but since it¡¯s Chris¡¯s uncle we¡¯re talking about here, I highly doubt it.

    ¡°They have engaged with the defense systems of the ind. We should take refuge- The next wave ising.¡±

    ¡°Already, huh¡­¡­¡±

    Fireballs flew in and headed for the part of the beach connected to the reefs. Interceptionser cannons were deployed again, but since there were quite a number of fireballs, they weren¡¯t able to bring down all of them. One fireball that got grazed by interception fire was heading in our direction.

    ¡°Geh! It¡¯s heading our way. Everyone down!¡±

    ¡°Kyaaah!?¡±

    I hugged Mimi, who was running beside me and ducked down on the sandy beach. Chris was covered by Elma and May.

    The fireballnded between the beach and the lodge and resulted in powerful shock waves. My body got peppered by sand, pebbles, and who knows what else.

    When I raised my face as soon as the shockwaves subsided, I saw a strange object stuck between the lodge and the beach. I haven¡¯t seen anything like it, so I was at a loss for words. If I were to describe the thing, it was arge stake with spherical protrusions arranged along its surface.

    However, due to the interception fire of theser cannons, some of the protrusions were broken or melted up.

    ¡°Is everyone okay?¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah, I guess.¡±

    ¡°I do not seem to be injured.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m also okay, I think.¡±

    ¡°Yosh! Let¡¯s head for Krishna-¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡­ Hiro, iing!¡±

    Elma brandished herser gun as an object fell out of the spherical protrusion. I see. So that¡¯s one of the robots in question.

    The spherical object started transforming, so I brought myser gun up, dropped the safety, and started unleashing shots at it. Naturally, all shots were at full power. Elma also fired away, and we were able to destroy it before it finished its transformation.

    Eh? It¡¯s unfair to fire away without letting it transform first, you say? The heck are you on about guys? C¡¯mon.

    ¡°So that¡¯s one of thosebat robots, right?¡±

    ¡°Probably. I think the other units have malfunctioned due to the roughnding and interception fire. In any case, we¡¯re lucky we were able to bring it down with justser guns.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    We wouldn¡¯t have been able to do anything if it was able to shrug offser gunfire. We would have all been killed. Be that as it may, it still took roughly twenty shots from me and Elma at maximum output in order to bring it down. It was still absurdly tough. Oh, man. We really can¡¯t let our guards down.

    ¡°Make sure you all aren¡¯t injured, and then we¡¯ll make a run for Krishna again.¡±

    After saying that, I proceeded to shoot the remaining spherical containers attached to the stake andpletely destroyed them. Elma followed suit and fired herser gun as well. I ejected the used energy pack and snapped a spare in.

    ¡°How many energy packs do you have left?¡±

    ¡°I still have two more. How about you?¡±

    ¡°I have four on me. Do you want one?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Your gun is more powerful, so it would be best if you hold on to those, Hiro.¡±

    Elma reloaded her gun and shook her head in refusal. Well, she does have a point. And if I hold my breath, everything around me would start moving slowly from my perspective for some reason.

    ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s get going, guys.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes!¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Please stay behind me, Mimi-sama and Chris-sama.¡±

    May stood in front of Mimi and Chris, who were nonbatants, in order to protect them. If May¡¯s body were made of the specialized material I specified when I designed her, then it would have made getting through this crisis much easier, but since it¡¯s not, then there¡¯s no use thinking about it.

    We started heading for Krishna while carefully watching the surroundings.

    The problem is that there seemed to be morebat robots that were sessfully deployed over there. We have no choice but to trust in this ind¡¯s defense systems.

 Chapter 87 â€“ Defense System

    <h4>Chapter 87 - Defense System</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Hi guys. It¡¯s your dashing hero, Captain Hiro here.

    After ruthlessly destroying thebat robots that fell on the beach, we finally managed to make it back to the lodge, but the situation was worse than what we imagined. The ss panes on the windows were shattered due to the shockwaves when thebat robots fell, and the lodge was riddled with scorch and bullet marks from the ensuing firefight. Some sections were already destroyed.

    Well, the lodge was mostly done for, but there were still plenty ofrge objects in the area we could use as cover, so we went ahead and did just that.

    Eh? Why weren¡¯t heading for Krishna, you ask? Well, y¡¯see¡­ We would really like to¡­ if we could, that is.

    ¡°It looks like it¡¯s impossible to get through that huh¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll probably die.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s as good as suicide.¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s extremely dangerous.¡±

    We were hiding behind arge rock near the lodge, and further in front of us were several fully transformedbat robots, as well as robots that served as part of this ind¡¯s defense systems.

    The enemy robots transformed from their spherical shape to ones that walked on three legs. Their upper bodies also transformed, revealing four deadly-lookingser turrets. They¡¯re sporting quite the firepower.

    As for the ind¡¯s defense robots¡­ they were quite unique-looking. There was a robot that looked like a crab made of rock, one that looked like a real gori covered in fur, mechanical dogs, as well asser emcements that arose from the ground andser gun-toting maid robots¡­¡­ Whoah. The gori just ripped an enemy robot apart. As expected of a gori. I shall now dub you Death Gori.

    ¡°But do you think Chris¡¯s uncle can get away with doing something this tant¡­?¡±

    ¡°I wonder. Maybe he¡¯s confident in covering his tracks. Maybe he didn¡¯t use Enel to hire the pirates and just used rare metals as payment instead. He might have also used a middleman to purchase thosebat robots. Maybe that¡¯s why he couldn¡¯t procure reactive torpedoes.¡±

    After hearing my question, Elma made some conjectures.

    ¡°What do you mean, Elma-san?¡±

    ¡°If they fired off a reactive torpedo on a resort, I imagine the empire wouldn¡¯t be able to stay quiet. They would surelyunch a thorough investigation, and there¡¯s a high chance the perpetrators would be caught. That¡¯s why they just made do with what was barely allowable.¡±

    ¡°Does the empire really ce such arge importance on reactive torpedoes? I actually find their management ratherx though.¡±

    I did use some reactive torpedoes when we fought the Vereverem Federation fleet a while back, and I wasn¡¯t really questioned all that much. I also properly received my rewards.

    ¡°That¡¯s because there aren¡¯t a lot of mercenaries who have them. I bet you¡¯ve already been marked, actually.¡±

    ¡°Really¡­? Hm. Oh well.¡±

    I bet that doesn¡¯t just apply to reactive torpedoes, but tobat starships that have enough firepower to seriously damage or destroy space colonies and stations as well. It sure makes you wonder how the heck our mercenary predecessors managed to get properly recognized to the point of founding the Mercenary Guild. It kinda makes me curious.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, is the Krishna still safe?¡±

    Mimi asked me with a worried look on her face. Well, of course, she¡¯s worried.

    ¡°Yeah. I managed to deploy the energy shields using my terminal earlier, so it¡¯s probably okay. But, now that I think about it, it might have been better if Elma or I were on standby inside the ship. Then we wouldn¡¯t be in such a pinch.¡±

    ¡°No use for regrets. In any case, we didn¡¯t really expect the enemies to break through the defense and execute a pinpoint attack.¡±

    ¡°We are very sorry that we are unable to ensure the safety of our guests.¡±

    May, who was hiding behind a nearby hedge, turned toward us and bowed her head in apology.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. Or rather, we¡¯re the ones who are sorry for wrapping you up in our troubles¡­¡­¡±

    Oh, man. They won¡¯t p the bill for all the destroyed facilities to us, won¡¯t they? That¡¯d really suck.

    ¡°Anyway, shall we provide some covering fire? Don¡¯t raise your head too far, everyone.¡±

    I broke cover, got into a firing stance, and held my breath. When I did so, it seemed as if the surroundings slowed down to a crawl. While I was in that peculiar state, I matched my timing with the defense robots and fired consecutive bursts from myser gun.

    Even if the objects in the surroundings seemed to have slowed down from my perspective, theser shots still went off at lightspeed. One, two, three, four, five¡­ After Inded five shots in quick session, the enemybat robot turned itsser turrets my way.

    ¡°Khh!¡±

    I quickly aimed at one of the turrets, and before it managed to fire, I was able tond some shots. Theser shots went straight through the barrel, and the turret¡¯s entire front portion was blown off.

    I see? So the insides of the barrels were the weak points. I was unable to keep holding my breath any longer, so I hurriedly crouched down and took some deep breaths.

    ¡°Haa! Haa, haah¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m okay.¡±

    After I recovered, I once again broke cover, and this time, I aimed directly for the insides of the enemy robot¡¯s weapon barrels. If I cut down their firepower, I¡¯m sure the ind¡¯s defense robots would have an easier time finishing them off.

    I steadied my aim, shot two consecutive bursts at the insides of the enemy robot¡¯sser turrets, and managed to sessfully destroy them. When the enemy¡¯s firepower was cut down, the defense robots began counterattacking. The rock crab-looking robot closed in on the enemies at high speed that didn¡¯t match its bulky-looking frame. It used itsrge ws to bash and crush the enemy robots. The gori robot tackled one enemy and repeatedly pummeled the downed enemy with itsrge fists. The mechanical hound-shaped robots swarmed one enemy bot, bit it, and then simultaneously exploded. Eh? Self-detonation? So those guys were kamikaze types!? That¡¯s scary, man!

    The battle began to tilt in our favor. After a while more, all the enemybat robots were sessfully destroyed, and the battle finally ended.

    ¡°The hounds are now securing the perimeter. Please wait until we¡¯ve finished searching for possible threats.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    The surviving hound-type robots scattered around the area. For robot hounds, they looked rather bare-bones. They werecking armor and I could even see some of their insides. But considering that they were meant as disposable weapons that had self-destruct functions, I guess it made sense. But that¡¯s still he scary.

    A rock crab and the gori robot stood near us and served as guards. This rock crab¡­¡­ So its armor really was made of rocks instead of metal. How curious. The gori robot was hit by enemy fire earlier, so some of its artificial fur and skin was burnt off, revealing its mechanical nature. So I guess this guy wandered the tropical forest in the center of the ind normally while posing as a real gori huh¡­ Just what for though? Oh, maybe it¡¯s the one tasked with monitoring and maintaining the forest. So what about this rock crab¡­¡­? Was it tasked with pruning the trees or something? This ind sure has a lot of mysterious stuff.

    After it was confirmed that the surroundings were safe, we finally managed to board Krishna. The maidroids, robot crab, and robot gori escorted us all the way to the ship. Personally, I really liked the rock crab robot. Cause it was big and tough-looking. I had to look all the way up cause it was absurdly tall too. I really wanna ride on top of it if I had the chance.

    ¡°Well, we managed to safely get inside Krishna at least.¡±

    ¡°Yes. What a relief.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry for dragging you all into my problems.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. And it¡¯s not like we¡¯re helping you fully out of goodwill anyway.¡±

    ¡°You really can¡¯t be honest about your feelings, huh Elma?¡±

    When I said that, Elma gave me a death re. It¡¯s not like that would phase me anyway. I already know she¡¯s just speaking harshly cause she wants to preserve her image as an all-business mercenary. Well, the way she does it feels like a child that always wants to look cool in front of her friends, so I find it quite cute.

    ¡°What will we do now?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, about that¡­¡­ We can¡¯t just head straight through this¡¯s defense and start exchanging fire with them without a n, right?¡±

    ¡°Nope. It would be better to stay holed up inside Krishna until themotion dies down. In the worst case, we also have the option of directly escaping as well.¡±

    When Elma said¡ºworst case¡», I guess she was referring to a situation where the enemy force manages to break through the defense tform and attacks Sierra III directly. Or maybe if the meteor bombardment manages to hit the equatorial base directly; thus bringing danger to Sierra III itself.

    ¡°So what¡¯s the current state of the situation anyway?¡±

    I asked May, who boarded the Krishna together with us and received an unexpected answer.

    ¡°Yes. An independent imperial fleet specializing in anti-pirate operations appeared and is now aiding our defense tform in fighting the enemies. The threats will probably all be eliminated before long.¡±

    ¡°An independent imperial anti-pirate fleet?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s ¡®that person¡¯, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Did shee all the way here to chase after Hiro¡­? She¡¯s really quite persistent huh¡­ Or rather, isn¡¯t shepletely acting like a stalker?¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    After hearing our exchange, Chris tilted her head in puzzlement.

    ¡°A-Achooo!¡±

    ¡°Did you catch a cold, Major?¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t feel particrly sick¡­ I just couldn¡¯t help but sneeze. Maybe somebody¡¯s talking bad about me somewhere¡­?¡±

    ¡°I still suggest you go for a medical checkter.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right¡­ I¡¯ll do as you say. In any case, to think we¡¯ll be greeted with something like this as soon as we arrive. This is a good opportunity though, so make sure to be thorough.¡±

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am!¡±

 Chapter 88 â€“ You Still Owe Me, Right?

    <h4>Chapter 88 - You Still Owe Me, Right?</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    As the sun began to set, and the blue sky gradually turned a shade of purple, countless falling stars started to appear on the horizon.

    ¡°Wow! How pretty!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. But those are actually debris from the destroyed pirate ships though.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re beautiful, but filthy at the same time huh.¡±

    ¡°Alright, you two. Can¡¯t you be a little bit more, you know, romantic¡­?¡±

    ¡°Those debris include the remains of filthy criminal uncles, so isn¡¯t that far removed from being ¡®romantic¡¯?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like we can be sure the pirates are allposed of dirty-looking uncles, Hiro-sama. What if there were aunties, young men, or women within the crew?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s beside the point, okay?¡±

    Anyway, since they included dead pirates, I just couldn¡¯t bring myself to enjoy the sight of those shooting stars. Well, if we discounted that fact, the brilliant shower of lights did look pretty.

    Alrighty then. Let¡¯s stop paying attention to those shooting stars with dirty elements and confirm the current situation.

    We managed to defeat thebat robots sent by the enemy earlier, seeded in boarding the Krishna, and were now waiting for themotion to die down while in the safety of the ship¡¯s energy shields. It was next to impossible forbat robots to breach this ship¡¯s energy shields, so we were rtively safe as long as we holed up inside the ship.

    Meanwhile, a security force consisting of this¡¯s defense robots arrived at the ind and started mopping up the remaining enemies. Right now, the defense forces have already managed to destroy the invading sphericalbat robots, but since there was still a chance of a small assassination-specialized bot being sent together with the regrbat bots in order to take Chris¡¯s life, we decided to remain inside Krishna for the time being.

    Oh, and we had the maidroids, including May, get off the ship earlier. Depending on the situation, we may decide to directly fly outta here after all. The gori robot and the rock crab robot already went back inside the forest as well. I really wanted to ride on top of that rock crab.

    However, since it was boring just standing around the ship, we all gathered inside the dining room and were now whiling the time away by watching holo-videos. We just finished watching the documentaryption regarding the sea environment on Sierra III that was sent to us by Miro earlier.

    Oh, and it was already dinner time, so we were eating our meals while watching the vids. Tonight¡¯s menu was pizza created by our trusty Tetsujin V. There were a lot of toppings to choose from, and right now we¡¯re having a pizza topped with my favorite chicken teriyaki. The chicken drenched in salty-sweet sauce and the pizza really paired well. Ginger ale also went well with the meal.

    ¡°So what do we do now? Will we get in touch with Major Serena after all?¡±

    ¡°About that¡­ well, doing so would guarantee our safety after all.¡±

    It¡¯s been roughly a week since we holed-up on this. The message we sent to Chris¡¯s grandfather might have already reached him. If so, then perhaps her grandfather was already arranging for Chris¡¯s rescue.

    Also, I bet Chris¡¯s uncle is feeling like his behind¡¯s on fire right now. Yeah. It would be nice if his sneaky behind really did catch on fire for real. Well, his ns are close to falling apart anyway. So what would such a cornered individual do? If he were the type to give up and cut his losses calmly after failing, Chris wouldn¡¯t be stuck in this sort of situation. There¡¯s a good chance he¡¯ll get desperate and try to kill Chris without caring for the consequences.

    ¡°Well, she does owe us, in a sense. I¡¯m sure she wouldn¡¯t mind taking us into her protection for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Ara, you¡¯re talking like a seasoned mercenary now, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Well, of course. I¡¯ve been learning a lot from you two and developing day by day after all.¡±

    Mimi, who was praised for her mercenary-like thinking, puffed up her bountiful chest proudly. Umu. Mimi¡¯s breasts are doing great today as well. Are those amazing knockers also developing day by day, I wonder? How curious.

    ¡°What kind of person is that Major Serena?¡±

    ¡°Oh, uh, simply put, an unfortunate beauty, I guess.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunate beauty?¡±

    ¡°And an unruly drunk.¡±

    ¡°Unruly drunk?¡±

    ¡°Um, she¡¯s an imperial military major whomands an independent anti-pirate star fleet. She has a sort of, um, connection with Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Just say she¡¯s a persistent stalker, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Yep. Stalker is the word.¡±

    ¡°Um, a persistent stalker¡­? Is it really okay to contact her then?¡±

    Chris disyed a really worried expression. Well, of course, she would.

    ¡°Uh, um¡­ She¡¯s also ady hailing from a marquis house. What house was it again?¡±

    ¡°House Holz, I believe.¡±

    ¡°Marquis Holz¡­ They¡¯re a distinguished family boasting of many members who achieved great sess in military and political fields. I haven¡¯t had an opportunity to meet with members of that house though.¡±

    ¡°I see. What about you, Chris? What do you think about getting help from the imperial military?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. Since the situation is as it is, I think doing so would best ensure our safety-¡±

    ¡°I think you don¡¯t need to involve Chris and Earl Daleinwald in this matter. You can just decide for yourself, Hiro. There¡¯s no need to bother Chris about this.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°Yup. And also, we¡¯ve just been singing to that major¡¯s tune every time. It¡¯s just fair that we¡¯re the ones who¡¯ll make use of her this time, right?¡±

    Elma made an evil-looking grin. Oh boy. I¡¯m guessing she¡¯s nning to dump all the troubles resulting from the pirate attack to Major Serenater huh. Well, that actually doesn¡¯t sound too bad. It¡¯s true that Major Serena¡¯s been dragging us around every time we meet her, so it¡¯s high time she paid back what she owes us.

    ¡°Yosh. I¡¯ll contact Major Serena then.¡±

    ¡°Before that, wouldn¡¯t it be best if you got in touch with Miro first?¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. Okay then. Mimi, get me a secure line.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mimi fiddled with her tablet terminal and got a hold of Miro.

    ¡ºYes. What seems to be the matter, everyone?¡»

    ¡°Well, the lodge was damaged, and it¡¯s not in any state for us to continue enjoying a vacation, so we were thinking of departing from this early. What are the procedures for doing so?¡±

    ¡ºYes. There are still some days left for your stay, but if you insist on departing from Sierra III, then the remaining days will be canceled. However, since we allowed for a situation that caused our guests inconvenience, I would like to present you with a special discount coupon for use on your next visit.¡»

    ¡°That sounds lovely. It was fun, so how about wee here again?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! The food was really delicious too!¡±

    Elma and Mimi were smiling happily after hearing Miro¡¯s offer. Un, certainly. I also greatly enjoyed our time here since I finally had the opportunity to drink some carbonated stuff.

    ¡ºBy the way, will you go ahead with the maidroid purchase?¡»

    ¡°Eh? Uh, y-yeah.¡±

    ¡°Were you nning on leaving May-san behind, Hiro-sama¡­?¡±

    Mimi gave me a stern gaze after hearing my hesitant reply. Please stop, Mimi. Don¡¯t look at me like that.

    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t it okay? Since May¡¯s specs are quite high, it would be reassuring to have her with us if we get ourselves wrapped up in a situation like this again, right?¡±

    Elma was pushing for purchasing May as well for some reason.

    ¡°Yeah, I guess¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Why do you sound so reluctant?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a guy thing. You wouldn¡¯t understand.¡±

    Please imagine this, everyone. There¡¯s a lifelike figure crammed with all the obsessions and fetishes a guy keeps deep inside his heart, and the women close to the said guy can freely see said figure. Furthermore, the said figure can move, talk, and shows absolute loyalty to the guy, who¡¯s technically her creator. She even calls him Master. Just what kind of shameful y is that!?

    Ugh. I know, I know. I get what you guys are saying. Why am I still hung up on that when it¡¯s already out in the open, right? But it still feelsplicated, okay. I practically designed May¡¯s appearance from the top of her head down to her pretty toes y¡¯know. It still feels he embarrassing. Well, I¡¯m d the two of them have epted May, at least.

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. Having May around is certainly helpful in various ways. How do I pay for her?¡±

    ¡ºYes. Thank you for your purchase. Please feel free to bring May along on your travels then. All necessary information will be ryed to Orient Corporation, so please go to the nearest Orient Corporation dealer shop toplete your purchase at your convenience. They will also retrieve the data for the trial period once you do so.¡»

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡ºShe will be losing my support, so there will be some performance drops until you take her to the dealer shop for the necessary upgrades. Please do take note of that.¡»

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ I guess we¡¯ll have to get her upgraded as soon as possible then.¡±

    And so, it was decided that May will be the newest addition to our crew. The necessary procedures were simple enough. I finished the purchase via remote payment and had Enels deducted straight from my ount.

    ¡°I will be in your care from now on, everyone. Thank you for having me.¡±

    May boarded Krishna and made an elegant bow in front of us.

    ¡°Yeah, d to have you.¡±

    ¡°Please take care of me as well, May-san.¡±

    ¡°Wee. We¡¯ll be counting on you then.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    May raised her head and went in front of me.

    ¡°I hope to be of service to you for a long time, Master.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah.¡±

    I managed to nod back while feeling slightly pressured by those ck eyes peeking through the back of her red-framed sses.

    ¡°Hachooo! A-Achooo!¡±

    ¡°Major¡­ Are you sure you didn¡¯t catch a cold?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s weird¡­¡­ The medical check showed I wasn¡¯t sick.¡±

    ¡°Major! There¡¯s an unknown ship breaking through Sierra III¡¯s atmosphere, and it¡¯s trying to establish contact.¡±

    ¡°Unknown ship?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m checking the model now¡­¡­ Ah¡­¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve managed to identify the ship in question. It belongs to a Gold-rank mercenary affiliated with the Mercenary Guild. It¡¯s Captain Hiro¡¯s ship, ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­? Aaaaaah!?¡±

    Krishna sent out amunication request to the gship of the independent imperial anti-pirate fleet, and before long, a familiar face showed up on the cockpit monitor.

    ¡ºIt¡¯s been a while, Captain Hiro.¡»

    ¡°Yes, it has. Hello, Major Serena. It looks like you¡¯re doing well.¡±

    ¡ºYes. We¡¯ve been having great sesstely. I hope your skills haven¡¯t dulled due to being on a vacation though.¡»

    Major Serena was smiling, but I could sense a really dark aura behind that beautiful smile. I¡¯m sure she¡¯s just jealous because we¡¯ve been living it up on a resorttely.

    ¡°Hahaha. I just didn¡¯t want to get in the way of your job, major. Man. The vacation on Sierra III sure was a st though. The food was delicious, and the sea was amazing.¡±

    ¡ºI see. That sounds lovely. Fufufu¡­¡­¡»

    The dark aura oozing from Major Serena¡¯s smile intensified. Oooh. How scary.

    ¡°Hahaha. By the way, major¡­¡±

    ¡ºWhat is it, Captain Hiro?¡»

    ¡°I seem to recall you still owe us fromst time, right?¡±

    The smile on Major Serena¡¯s face twitched after she heard my question. Hahaha. What a good expression.

 Chapter 89 â€“ Negotiations

    <h4>Chapter 89 - Negotiations</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    We docked inside the hangar of the gship of the imperial independent anti-pirate fleet, Restalias, got off from Krishna, and were promptly guided by imperial soldiers to the captain¡¯s quarters.

    Both Mimi and Elma were more or less familiar with theyout of the ship since they visited several times during our fleet instructor stint at the Alein system. As for me, this ship was more or less my temporary workce, so I was more familiar with it than them. But since these soldiers were ordered to guide us anyway, I might as well just shut up and let them do their jobs.

    On the other hand, it was a new experience for Chris since this was the first time she was able to board an imperial military ship, and her eyes were filled with curiosity. The walls and floors of the ship were all made of military-grade metal alloys, so I imagine it would hurt quite a bit if you tripped and fell down here. Or rather, you might actually get injured if you weren¡¯t careful. And so, Mimi pulled Chris¡¯s by the hand and supported her so she won¡¯t get into any idents. Seeing two cute girls walking side by side while holding each other¡¯s hands was quite the rxing sight.

    By the way, May was staying inside Krishna. Well, I don¡¯t really think anyone would pull anything funny inside the Restalias, but it doesn¡¯t hurt to be careful.

    ¡°We¡¯ve brought Captain Hiro and his crew ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡ºGood work. Please return to your duties, soldier.¡»

    We finally reached the captain¡¯s quarters, and when one of the soldiers operated the panel beside the door, we heard Major Serena¡¯s voice through the inte speaker.

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am!¡±

    The soldiers who guided us gave a crisp salute and left. Yep. That¡¯s a soldier alright. How uptight.

    The door of the captain¡¯s quarters then opened.

    ¡°Pleasee in, everyone.¡±

    The voice of Major Serena rang out from within the room and invited us in, so we did as we were told and entered.

    The interior of the room was unexpectedly pleasant to the eyes. There¡¯s a singlerge work desk, some sofas and a coffee table for entertaining guests, and a cupboard that housed several fancy-looking medals, a shield, and a decorative sword. Man, that sword sure looks cool. I want one too. Not that I knew how to swing a sword.

    ¡°Thank you for responding to the request of humble mercenaries such as ourselves.¡±

    ¡°Please stop that. It¡¯s giving me goosebumps.¡±

    ¡°Really? I¡¯ll just talk to you like usual then.¡±

    ¡°Haa¡­¡­ Well, fine. So what¡¯s your business with me this time? I¡¯m sure you didn¡¯te here just to brag about your lovely vacation experiences, right?¡±

    ¡°Oh, how scary. But nah, we¡¯re here on proper business. It¡¯s about the pirates that attacked Sierra III.¡±

    Major Serena¡¯s ruby pupils narrowed at my words. It looks like she actually knows something already.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve noticed that the scale of the attack was too unusual for ordinary pirates. They even pped FTL drives on asteroids and used them for orbital bombing. It¡¯s reasonable to think that someone backed those pirates up and supplied the necessary finances and equipment, right? And we happen to know just who that mysterious backer is.¡±

    ¡°How interesting. I would like to know more, but¡­ what¡¯s your actual objective, Captain Hiro?¡±

    ¡°Oh, nothing much. I just want to tag along with your fleet for one to two weeks. If possible, I also want to procure supplies through imperial military channels.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s your angle¡­ You want to make use of this fleet as a shield, huh?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t put it that way, major. We just want your cooperation in bringing down a viin to justice. Anyway, it¡¯ll just be for a little while.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re still quite the smooth talker I see¡­ So?¡±

    Major Serena raised her brow as if to ask for the specific circumstances. Now then, where should I start?

    ¡°Should I tell everything from the beginning?¡±

    ¡°I think that would be best, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s better to tell her about Chris as well, Hiro.¡±

    All three of our gazes turned toward Chris. Major Serena¡¯s gaze also turned toward her, and Chris seemed ufortable due to the sudden attention. Okay then. I¡¯ll start from the beginning.

    ¡°When we first came into this star system, we were attacked by pirates y¡¯see. They hit us with an interdictor and forcefully stopped our FTL drive, but we managed to fight back and eventually destroyed their ships.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a trouble ma as always. And then?¡±

    ¡°We found a cold sleep pod among the wreckages of those pirate ships. And Chris here was the one inside it. Her full name is Christina Daleinwald. She¡¯s ady of House Daleinwald, and the granddaughter of the current Earl Daleinwald.¡±

    ¡°House Daleinwald¡­¡­ I did hear that the first son of the earl lost his life a few months earlier due to a pirate raid. I see. So she survived the attack¡­¡­ Hm? Wait a minute. In other words¡­?¡±

    ¡°It was a fight for session disguised as a pirate attack. And when the culprit found out that Chris was still alive, he set out to finish what he started. The mastermind of today¡¯s pirate attack on Sierra III was Chris¡¯s very own uncle¡­ Uh, what was his name again?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Balthazar Daleinwald, Hiro-sama.¡±

    It was Mimi who gave the name of Chris¡¯s uncle.

    ¡°Oh, right. There¡¯s a high chance the mastermind behind this pirate attack was that Balthazar Daleinwald. They even managed to attack the ind we were staying at by sending inbat robots.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Can you give me more details about this matter?¡±

    We all moved to the sofas and started exining the ins and outs of the incident in more detail. The descent and attack of thebat robots were recorded by Miro and sent to May. There was a copy saved in Mimi¡¯s tablet terminal, so we handed over all the data and recordings regarding thebat robots and the military-use stealth dropship to Major Serena.

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, this is certainly some detailed evidence. And it¡¯s something we can¡¯t just ignore.¡±

    After looking over the data, Major Serena¡¯s face contorted into a grimace.

    ¡°Is it about the stealth dropships?¡±

    ¡°Yes. They normally can¡¯t be purchased by any private individual and are reserved strictly for military use. I wonder just what methods he used to procure them¡­¡­?¡±

    Thebat robots, on the other hand, were not military models and wereparably easier to obtain, so a son of the Daleinwald House would be able to obtain a number of them as long as he had the Enels to spend. And that¡¯s something to be thankful for. If we faced actual military models, we probably would have note out of that attack unscathed.

    ¡°I now understand that this matter is something we, the imperial military, cannot ignore. In summary, that Balthazar person might try something desperate now that his ns are close to failing, so you¡¯re aiming to use our fleet as a convenient refuge, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s about right, I guess.¡±

    ¡°So you admit it¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like denying it will do any good at this point. And I¡¯m an honest gentleman after all. And it¡¯s not like this matter won¡¯t bring you any benefits either, right?¡±

    ¡°Haaa¡­¡­ Well, alright. But hiring our services won¡¯t be cheap, you know?¡±

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon. Think of this as a way of paying back all the favors you owe us, major. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re not the type to take advantage of honest folk like us, right?¡±

    ¡°Gununu¡­¡­¡±

    Major Serena¡¯s body shook like that of a newborn fawn¡¯s as her face disyed a mortified expression. Hahaha, how amusing.

    ¡°Think about it this way. If you help us out with this matter, I¡¯ll consider us even, so ain¡¯t it quite cheap?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, whatever you say¡­ Honestly. Well then, Captain Hiro. I will officially hire you as guards for some civilian cargo transport ships affiliated with us. That arrangement should be fine, right?¡±

    ¡°You expect me to just agree with just that, major? Give me the details first.¡±

    ¡°¡­Tsk.¡±

    What the heck are you clicking your tongue for,dy?

    ¡°There are two civilian cargo ships affiliated with this fleet, and they¡¯re privately owned by House Holz. One is a Pelican IV and the other is a Flying Tortoise. I n to hire you to guard these two civilian ships.¡±

    ¡°Hey, wait a minute. These so-called civilian cargo ships of House Holz are the ones you use for luring pirates, right?¡±

    ¡°Ohohoho, ohe now. It¡¯s just that those two ships attract pirates on a regr basis so we have no choice but toe to their rescue every time. But, considering your superb skills, you should have no trouble fighting those pirates off or annihting them, correct?¡±

    Maybe she¡¯s had enough. Major Serena¡¯s expression was filled with annoyance, and it was all directed towards me. Kuh. Well, it would be nice to lure the enemies out of their fox holes and take care of everything in one go, but¡­¡­ Oh well. This is better than taking them all on by our lonesome anyway. After buying enough time, the independent anti-pirate fleet will take care of the rest.

    ¡°Okay then. We¡¯ll go with that. So what aboutpensation?¡±

    ¡°The standardpensation for a Gold rank mercenary is 80,000 Enels per day.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ain¡¯t that too cheap?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll pay the rewards for every destroyed pirate ship separately after all.¡±

    I moved my gaze toward Elma.

    ¡°Well, considering the situation, shouldn¡¯t we be thankful we even get paid in the first ce?¡±

    ¡°You have a point¡­ Okay, I understand. We¡¯ll take you up on that offer, major.¡±

    ¡°Alright. Well then, I¡¯ll be arranging everything with the Mercenary Guild first, so just wait inside this ship for the meantime.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Would you like us to take custody of you, Christina-san?¡±

    Major Serena looked towards Chris with a questioning gaze. I turned toward her as well, and saw her shake her head. It looks like she wants to stay on Krishna.

    ¡°Well, there you have it. Thank you for the offer though.¡±

    ¡°I see. Well, to a young girl, staying on a military ship filled with stuffy soldiers doesn¡¯t seem too appealing, I guess.¡±

    Major Serena nodded in agreement. But ain¡¯t Major Serena also a girl? I turned a questioning gaze toward her.

    ¡°Aside from being a girl, I am a trained military officer and a full-fledged noble after all. I¡¯m also skilled with a sword.¡±

    Major Serena smiled boldly. So she¡¯s skilled with a sword huh. Was sheparable to those knights wielding sabers of light and some sort of force who can deflectser shots with said sabers? How curious.

    ¡°We¡¯ll excuse ourselves then.¡±

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll call for one of my men to act as your guide. It won¡¯t do if you identally find yourself in a ssified area after all.¡±

    After saying so, Major Serena took out a portablemunicator and ryed some orders.

    Whew. We can finally rest easier now. With their assistance, the danger has lessened considerably. Man, it sure is nice to have connections.

 Chapter 90 â€“ Mayâ€™s Curiosity

    <h4>Chapter 90 - May¡¯s Curiosity</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    A day has passed since our negotiations with Major Serena. Krishna was sessfully assigned to guard the civilian cargo transport ship¡ºPelican IV¡»and was now tagging along with it. We¡¯re on guard duty, but it¡¯s not like the job¡¯s hard. We were just hopping from one trade and mining station to another all over the Sierra system and its neighbors. Sometimes, the Pelican IV docks inside a station for a prolonged period of time to unload its cargo, so we tag along with the Flying Tortoise instead.

    We can¡¯t predict exactly when pirates would attack, so we can¡¯t let our guard down. There¡¯s also a good chance of the underlings of Chris¡¯s uncle attacking, so we¡¯re watching out for that as well.

    However, being on high alert all the time is mentally exhausting, so Elma and I take turns monitoring the situation, and stand by inside the cockpit as Krishna trailed after the Pelican IV. Right now, it was my turn on watch duty. The other three were rxing in the dining room.

    ¡°I brought you something to drink, Master.¡±

    ¡°Oh, thanks.¡±

    Maidroid May entered the cockpit and brought with her a gravity sphere filled with some chilled beverage. This so-called gravity sphere is basically a high-tech tumbler that floats and has motion sensors installed so it can follow your head movements.

    I received the drink and set the sphere in a spot that I could easily reach.

    ¡°Sorry, May. I would have liked to bring you to the shop for upgrades right away, but the situation doesn¡¯t allow for it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. Don¡¯t worry about it, Master. It is my duty to prioritize Master¡¯s safety after all. And also, my current body is able to function with no trouble and can do most tasks except for high-intensitybat andplicated data calctions.¡±

    ¡°I see. Miro did say there would be a drop in performance, but I honestly can¡¯t tell the difference from before we left Sierra III.¡±

    ¡°Yes. There will be no problem when ites to day to day tasks and basic support.¡±

    May dered as she faced me with her usual unchanging expression. I set her facial expression level to the lowest possible value without going overboard to suit my personal taste, but I wonder how she feels about it? I¡¯m kinda afraid to ask.

    ¡°Well, if you want to change some of your default settings when we go for your upgrade, be sure to inform me. There¡¯s still some leeway in the budget for buying additional functions as well, so don¡¯t act reserved and just tell me, okay.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Thank you, Master. I am already satisfied with the settings you gave me, Master. But I truly appreciate your concern. However, if something doese to mind in the future, I will be sure to inform you.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Okay then.¡±

    We continued having a rxed conversation while on guard duty. Well, even if we¡¯re on guard duty, Krishna is just cruising in tandem with the cargo transport ship with the FTL drive active, so there¡¯s actually not much to do. If we ever get hit with something like an interdictor, thebined sensors would immediately set off a warning.

    Thesebined sensors are able to detect the gravity waves emitted by spacecraft and asteroids, subspace vibrations caused by FTL drives and Hyperdrives, as well as the energy trails left by ships while moving in subspace.

    Mimi tried to give me a detailed exnation, but I couldn¡¯t even understand the basic theories. Anyway, they¡¯re impressive sensors that can act as high-performance radars even while we¡¯re in the middle of FTL travel or plowing through the subspace tunnel caused by the Hyperdrive. Yep.

    By the way, even when simrly equipped with an FTL drive, there¡¯s still a difference in the rtive speeds of various ship models. To put it simply, arge ship can only travel at two to three times the speed of light, and mid-sized or small craft can go up to ten, or even twenty times.

    What about the Urashima effect, you ask? I don¡¯t really get the theory behind it, but both the FTL drive and the Hyperdrive can circumvent spacetime rtivity by setting one foot into subspace or plungingpletely into it¡­ or something like that. Sorry. Like I said, I don¡¯t really get it myself, so forgive me if I can¡¯t offer a clear exnation.

    It seems my brain¡¯s specs are severelycking and I can¡¯t understand jack about the FTL (Faster Than Light) technology of this dimension. Or maybe it¡¯s also because I¡¯m not really all that interested in the subject. If it works, it works. Right guys? I don¡¯t really get howputers and smartphones back on Earth work either, but I can still use em without any problems.

    ¡°But it¡¯s been strangely quiet. There wasn¡¯t even a peep from pirates yesterday. It¡¯s the same today.¡±

    ¡°Yes. It seems to be the case. Perhaps due to their numbers being reduced because of the attack on Sierra III, they are currentlyying low and reorganizing.¡±

    ¡°They lost over a hundred ships in that battle after all.¡±

    Since the anti-pirate fleet didn¡¯t expect that a battle would ur as soon as they arrived in the sector, they weren¡¯t able to fully close the, and some pirate ships were able to get away as a result. Well, I guess it can¡¯t be helped. They rushed to deploy after receiving the emergency transmission from Sierra III after all.

    By the way, it seems the anti-pirate fleet has obtained enough experience to reliably finish off pirates baited into attacking the Pelican IV within a short span of 2 to 3 minutes after contact. It¡¯s a devilish trap that lures unsuspecting pirates into their deaths by using a seemingly defenseless civilian cargo ship as bait. Just who could havee up with such an evil trap and taught Major Serena, I wonder. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s an underhanded guy with a nasty personality. Psyche. It was actually me, wahaha.

    ¡°So, Master has connections within the imperial military as well.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Well, we met byplete coincidence though.¡±

    ¡°And there¡¯s this ship, Krishna, as well. It seems this ship model is one-of-a-kind.¡±

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s someplicated circumstances that led me to take possession of this ship.¡±

    ¡°I want to know more about Master.¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ Let¡¯s see¡­¡±

    How much should I tell her, I wonder. It¡¯s not like I know where Krishna came from myself. The story of me suddenly being moored in this dimension along with Krishna does sound more than a bit far fetched. Besides, my situation is also quiteplicated. There¡¯s a lot I don¡¯t know. And I¡¯m also a bit apprehensive about talking about my circumstances to an independent AI that¡¯s like a bundle of curiosity.

    ¡°Master, even though I can¡¯t im that my security features are perfect, it is very advanced, so there¡¯s no need to worry much about privacy.¡±

    ¡°O-Okay?¡±

    ¡°The information stored in my memory banks can only be essed by myself. I can reveal some non-critical info to a third party for data collection purposes, but I will never give out any confidential information under any circumstance. So please rest assured, Master.¡±

    I could feel a firm will radiating within May¡¯s eyes as she gazed straight at me. Umu.

    ¡°Honestly speaking, my situation is, uh, quite peculiar. I also have a lot I don¡¯t understand about my situation myself, so I¡¯m worried that my circumstances will spread to the independent AImunity if I talk to you about it, May.¡±

    ¡°I see. I understand. However, let me just reiterate that I am a maidroidpletely dedicated to serving you, Master. It¡¯s my reason for existence. All of me is dedicated to you, Master. So tell me what I should do to prove my loyalty and let you believe me.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­ Proving that May would absolutely not betray me is quite difficult, I¡¯m afraid.¡±

    It¡¯s not like I can monitor May¡¯s data transmissions 24/7. And even if I request for hermunication logs, there¡¯s no guarantee that she¡¯ll give me theplete list. Since she can tamper freely with those logs before handing them over, they can¡¯t serve as proof of her loyalty anyway.

    ¡°So we won¡¯t get anywhere if I don¡¯t start trusting you, huh May? Well, being paranoid all the time is quite tiresome anyway. Keep everything I tell you a secret, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Thank you very much, Master. I will never betray your trust.¡±

    ¡°I hope so.¡±

    May vowed to keep my matters a secret with an unchanging serious expression. Well, it¡¯s not like she disys any other expression apart from this one anyway. And so, I started talking about my circumstances, beginning with me suddenly waking up and finding myself in this dimension. The moment I woke up, I was already inside Krishna¡¯s cockpit. I then rted my various misadventures in this dimension - my journey to Termaine Prime, meeting the then-lieutenant and now Major Serena, the fact that this world and a game called Ste Online in my home dimension were eerily simr, my encounter with Elma, registering as a mercenary, rescuing Mimi, and the battle in the Termaine star system.

    ¡°So, ording to your perception Master, this world is simr to a video game called¡ºSte Online¡»that was released in what you im to be the¡ºreal world¡», correct?¡±

    ¡°From my perspective, that¡¯s exactly the case. But there is also a lot of stuff that¡¯s different from my in-game knowledge. For example, I have no memory of a space empire called Gran or the Vereverem Federation existing in the game, and the star systems disyed on the Gxy Map are also entirely unfamiliar to me. And yet the starship models, equipment, as well as other products on the market were all in the game.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ What curious circumstances. By the way Master, are you familiar with something called the Simtion Theory?¡±

    ¡°Simtion Theory? Can¡¯t say I am.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a theory in which I, Master, and all other existing phenomena, are created by a hyperplexputer simtion utilizing untold amounts of data and requiring transcendental technology.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty scary theory. So that means everything in this world is merely created by that so-calledputer simtion, right? I kinda feel it devalues the preciousness of lives.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that is the case, isn¡¯t it? But, considering your circumstances, it¡¯s not like this theory ispletely off the mark, correct? You were suddenly sent to a world that greatly resembles the game you were ying after all.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like I haven¡¯t considered it myself, but I just can¡¯t bring myself to believe this is all just some virtual simtion, especially after meeting MImi and Elma. And in the first ce, the technological level of my world is lightyears behind this one. Actually, it¡¯s also possible that somewhere in this vast universe, the world I was from is actually being simted for who-knows-what reason. In other words, it¡¯s not like I was thrown into a world simr to the game I was ying, but I was just thrown out of that simtion and ended up in my present circumstances. Well, it¡¯s not like there¡¯s a way to find out right now.¡±

    Actually, the theory I shared with Mimi and Elma about how my consciousness from a parallel universe was thrown inside the body of the ¡®me¡¯ existing in this universe can also be one possibility. In any case, I still feel a kind of disconnect from my previous and present circumstances sometimes.

    The point is, I¡¯m absolutely clueless. Yup.

    ¡°Honestly speaking, I feel it¡¯s a waste of time to be hung up with these kinds of things. There may be a possibility of finding out what¡¯s up if I go around dering ¡®I¡¯m not a person from this universe, so please help me out!¡± or something. But I bet I¡¯ll just be treated as someone crazy by most people, or maybe a subject of research. Instead of worrying about it, I¡¯m more cool with living it up every day and enjoying my time with everyone.¡±

    Yeah. That¡¯s what I honestly feel right now. It¡¯s great that I was able to register in the Mercenary Guild, which is such a convenient and helpful organization. It¡¯s also great that I had Krishna with me. If I didn¡¯t have Krishna, I¡¯d probably be worse off than Mimi when I first encountered her.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ You have a point. I also agree that it¡¯s fine if Master believes it to be so.¡±

    ¡°There probably woulde a time when I¡¯ll have to actively search for answers. But there¡¯s no need to do that just yet. Probably.¡±

    And it¡¯s not like I absolutely want to return to my former world anyway. It¡¯s true that I¡¯m curious about whatever happened in my previous world when I disappeared, but since I can¡¯t get back, then there¡¯s no use thinking about it. It would be a different story if I left my family or a lover back there, but unfortunately, I have neither of those. For better or for worse anyway. In fact, I actually enjoy staying in this world more. There¡¯s also Mimi and Elma to consider.

    ¡°I guess this should be enough for this particr topic. Anything else you wanna ask me, May?¡±

    ¡°Yes. How about-¡±

    Afterward, I continued answering the curious May¡¯s questions as we passed the time together.

 Chapter 91 â€“ Assault

    <h4>Chapter 91 - Assault</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    It¡¯s been three days ever since we got assigned to guard the civilian cargo ships affiliated with the independent anti-pirate fleet led by Major Serena.

    ¡ºMaybe the pirates aren¡¯t taking the bait because you¡¯re with us?¡»

    ¡°It¡¯s not my fault! They probably found out that this ship is actually being used as a decoy by you all.¡±

    ¡ºI¡¯m sorry, but that¡¯s impossible. We¡¯ve changed the ship ID and registered name just recently.¡»

    ¡°You¡¯re talking like it was nothing.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s thanks to the special rights granted by the state¡­¡­¡±

    A ship ID is used to register and identify every ship in active service and is unique for every ship. There¡¯s no case of ships with matching IDs, and since it¡¯s so important, you can¡¯t change your ship ID once it¡¯s assigned. Normally, that is.

    Well, it¡¯s not like there aren¡¯t any loopholes. In fact, the ships pirates use have IDs that correspond to the ships they¡¯ve supposedly shot down or ships that have been reported missing. That¡¯s because they normally retrofit usable ships stolen from their victims and turn them into pirate ships.

    Going back to the earlier discussion, an ID is used to make every ship easily identifiable even though there may be lots of active ships of the same model. It makes every ship have a unique identity. So saying that they¡¯ve managed to easily change the ship ID is not normal in the least. I¡¯ll just pretend I didn¡¯t hear it.

    I turned toward Chris to warn her, but she already had her hands blocking her ears while sporting a knowing look. It looks like she¡¯s aware this convo was off the record as well. If this were a manga, she would have her mouth drawn like an X mark.

    If you¡¯re wondering what we were all up to, we¡¯re all just standing by in the cockpit. Maybe it was because things have been quite peaceful for the past few days. Major Serena seemed to have enough free time to exchange some lighthearted banter with us via thems. It seems that she deals with paperwork whenever there¡¯s a lull in pirate activity, and had just finished sorting out all the documents sent to her. Seeing that her only outlet for stress relief was talking with us via thems, I got a bit worried about our good major¡¯s interpersonal rtionships. Was she really feeling that lonely?

    By the way, May was currently going around the ship and cleaning it. We told her we did periodically clean up, but ording to May, there was still some umted dust and grime in certain sections of the ship interior, so she set out to clean said sections since she was rtively free.

    ¡°Let¡¯s leave your conjecture about me warding off the pirates aside first. What¡¯s the current rate of pirate activity in the entire Sierra system, major?¡±

    ¡ºYou always try to change the subject whenever a conversation doesn¡¯t go in your favor huh¡­ Anyway, due to therge-scale attack a few days ago¡ª¡»

    As the major started exining, Krishna¡¯s rm suddenly rang out. It looks like the cargo ship got targeted by an interdictor.

    ¡°¡­¡­Speak of the devil.¡±

    ¡ºWe¡¯ll head to your coordinates immediately. We¡¯re slightly behind in order to avoid their detection, so it¡¯ll take five minutes for us to arrive. Please hold them off until then.¡»

    ¡°Aye, aye ma¡¯am. Mimi, switch the radar to activebat mode and connect me to the Pelican IV. We¡¯ll be engaging the enemies as soon as we deactivate the drive, so I¡¯ll leave the defense systems to you as always.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    I started synchronizing the ship¡¯s FTL drive to match the interdictor¡¯s timing. The Pelican IV is attempting to shake the effects of the interdictor off, but it¡¯s probably no use.

    I believe interdictors work by creating an artificial gravity well in order to forcefully stop a ship traveling via FTL drive. The game vor text described the artificial gravity generators installed into such devices as exceptionally powerful.

    A ship hit by an interdictor would be trapped by the powerful artificial gravity and would be at the mercy of the attacker. It was a different story for sufficiently powerful and highly mobile ships like Krishna, but a civilian cargo transport ship shaking off an interdictor is next to impossible. In other words, there was no use escaping.

    ¡°This is Krishna. Please respond, Pelican IV.¡±

    ¡ºThis is Pelican IV. We¡¯ve been targeted by an interdictor fired from an unidentified ship. We¡¯re trying evasive maneuvers, but it looks like it¡¯s useless.¡»

    ¡°This is Krishna¡¯s Captain HIro speaking. Stop trying to resist and just allow the interdictor to pull you out to regr space. We¡¯ll be able to mount a more effective counterattack and prevent any more strain on the ship¡¯s generator that way. Once you get back to normal space, please deploy your shields at the maximum output and prepare your defenses. The cavalry¡¯sing soon.¡±

    ¡ºRoger. Good luck. We¡¯ll prepare for close quartersbat as well.¡»

    The transmission was cut. The supposedly civilian cargo ship, Pelican IV, was actually filled with highly trained imperial soldiers wearing thetest cutting edge military issue power armors. If the pirates ever manage to board the ship, they¡¯d be greeted by armed to the teeth macho onii-sans sporting scary-looking smiles. Just imagining it was giving me the chills.

    ¡°We¡¯ll probably get attacked soon. Be sure to check your seatbelts,dies. May.¡±

    ¡ºYes, Master.¡»

    I hailed May, who was still busy cleaning, via the inte, and she promptly replied.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be enteringbat soon. Please make sure to evacuate to a safe spot on the ship.¡±

    ¡ºYes. Understood. Good luck, Master.¡»

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    After the short exchange, I proceeded with confirming the state of the ship¡¯s weapon systems and made sure there were no problems. We were able to acquire ammo for the ballistic shot cannons via the military, so we¡¯re good to go. We won¡¯t be losing to those damn pirates.

    ¡°The Pelican IV has started dropping their propulsion output. The number of enemy ships is¡­¡­ Eh!?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Uh, um, the number of enemy ships is eleven.¡±

    ¡°And?¡±

    ¡°There arerge ships among the enemies¡­ To be specific, there¡¯s one battleship and three heavy cruisers¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­¡±

    So therge ships aren¡¯t your run-of-the mill retrofitted pirate ships, but military heavy cruisers, and at least one military battleship. By the way, destroyers are ssified as medium-ss ships while corvettes are small to medium-ss depending on the model.

    ¡°I have a really bad feeling about this.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha. Me too. Once we get out there, fire off all the chaff and res, and turn the ECM on full st.¡±

    After my exchange with Elma, we fully synched with the interdictor and went back to normal space. As soon as we got out, I fired up Krishna¡¯s generator to maximum output and punched the afterburners to elerate.

    ¡°Oh boy! They just fired at us without even a shred of mercy! How scary!¡±

    ¡°Is this the time to be cracking jokes!?¡±

    ¡°Hieee!¡±

    The spot Krishna was at earlier was instantly smothered with crimson-coloredser fire. If I didn¡¯t elerate immediately, we would have taken a direct hit.

    I turned off the flight assist mode, adjusted the velocity and vectors, and used the attitude control thrusters to change the ship¡¯s heading. Krishna¡¯s bow pointed toward the enemy battleship and we finally got a full view of it.

    ¡°They¡¯re older models, but those are obviously an imperial military battleship and heavy cruisers. The military¡¯s a bit toox with their weapons and equipment, aren¡¯t they?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t they just too brazen!?¡±

    After Elma¡¯s cry, I fired the thrusters to maximum output and charged straight toward the battleship. It would be foolish to attempt a long range shoot out with a bona fide military battleship after all. The more you take distance from them, the higher the chance of falling prey to their powerfulser cannons.

    The Krishna¡¯s inertial control system mitigated the Gs resulting from high-speed maneuvers somewhat, but I still couldn¡¯t help but grit my teeth. I and Elma should be fine, but I imagine it¡¯s a bit hard for Mimi and Chris to bear. Especially Chris.

    ¡°Uuukuuuuh¡­¡­!¡±

    I heard Chris¡¯s mournful cry from the back, but unfortunately, I can¡¯t do anything about it right now. Facing the military grade high-outputser cannons of an honest-to-goodness battleship, even Krishna wouldn¡¯t be able tost long if it took a direct hit. It¡¯d saturate the shields in no time.

    ¡°What are we gonna do?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have any choice but to face them head-on!¡±

    While facing a battleship, the fastest way to beat it was to swiftly close in, hit it with an anti-ship reactive torpedo, and blow it to kingdome. It¡¯s one of the basics of battling a squadron of ships of a higher size ss. But I¡¯m not nning to waste one on these guys. And so¡­

    I maneuvered Krishna straight towards the battleship¡¯s blind spot while being pelted by a torrential rain of defensive fire. The enemy ship attempted to use their sub-thrusters to change the ship¡¯s heading to prevent that from happening. The enemy heavy cruisers and assault ships moved in to provide some cover as well¡­ but it¡¯s toote.

    ¡°There we go!¡±

    We passed by the battleship¡¯s bridge and I used the sub-thrusters to change the heading of the ship once more. We managed to getpletely behind the ship. Now that we¡¯re in position, I¡¯ve practically prevented the enemy ships from firing off their more powerfulser artillery since there¡¯s a good chance of friendly fire.

    In other words, I¡¯ve used the enemy¡¯s huge battleship as a shield. If I went at thempletely head-on, we¡¯d probably be shot down in less than ten seconds. In other words, this is using my enemies against their own.

    ¡ºThe small-sizedbat ship has stuck to our backside!¡»

    ¡ºMayday! Mayday!¡»

    They have no choice but to use their own small crafts to attempt to shoot us down.

    But there¡¯s little chance Krishna would lose to those aforementioned smallbat ships. I maneuvered Krishna to continue sticking closely to the battleship while exchanging fire with the iing small craft. I brought down each one with volleys from Krishna¡¯s fourrge caliberser cannons and ballistic shot cannons. The enemy ships just keeping only to be shot down, so it¡¯s akin to a turkey shootout.

    ¡°This is such a weird maneuver. Just how did youe up with something this freaky¡­?¡±

    ¡°Eh? W-What¡¯s actually happening? What do you mean, Elma-san?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re sticking closely to the rear of the enemy battleship by using the reverse and attitude control thrusters while fighting off the other enemy shipsing for us. I honestly don¡¯t know how he can pull off something this freaky though.¡±

    C¡¯mon. Don¡¯t keep calling it freaky. I¡¯m just keeping an eye on the radar and the HUD while predicting the movement of the enemy ships and repeatedly adjusting the position of Krishna by using the reverse and attitude control thrusters. Well, it¡¯s true that it takes quite a bit of concentration to pull something like this off.

    ¡ºT-This guy isn¡¯t budging!? Hey, hurry up and shoot it down!¡»

    ¡ºWhat¡¯s with those creepy maneuvers¡­¡­ Just how the hell is he maintaining that position while constantly on the move?¡»

    ¡ºDammit! Fighter III got shot down! It has more firepower than we thought!¡»

    I listened in to the enemym exchanges. They¡¯re using themon frequency used by the imperial military. So are these guys really soldiers?

    Oi, oi, oi. This isn¡¯t in the league of beingx with weapons and equipment anymore. These guys are actually bona fide soldiers, man. Did Chris¡¯s uncle manage to buy their services? Just who are these guys?

    I kept exchanging fire with the enemies for several minutes.

    After a few more moments, the gship of the imperial independent anti-pirate fleet, Restalias, finally came into view.

    Following the Restalias were five heavy cruisers, three destroyers, and two corvettes, with each letting out intimidating thunderous roars. They just came out from subspace via FTL drives, so the load roars may be a result of that.

    ¡ºTo all the unidentified imperial military warships engaged in battle! We are the imperial independent mobile anti-pirate fleet. This is themander of this fleet, Major Serena Holz speaking! You are heavily suspected of a gross breach of imperial military regtions! Stop fighting immediately and depower your engines!¡»

    The cavalry¡¯s finally here. I hope this settles it.

 Chapter 92 â€“ Just by a Hairâ€™s Breadth

    <h4>Chapter 92 - Just by a Hair¡¯s Breadth</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    0

    With the arrival of the independent fleet helmed by Major Serena, the chaotic battle came to a halt¡­ Or at least, that was what we hoped would happen.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t they fighting more fiercely than before?¡±

    Yep. The enemies didn¡¯t stop. The battleship Krishna was sticking to still kept trying to lose us, and the remaining smallbat craft were still trying to tear us off said battleship.

    ¡ºI repeat! Immediately haltbat and depower your generators! Your acts are severe enough to be court martialed by the military disciplinary council! If you do notply, we will be forced to bring down your ships in ordance with article six, paragraph three of the imperial military codex! Haltbat and depower your generators now!¡»

    Major Serena bellowed her orders through thems once more. She was obviously getting irritated, as evidenced by her voice. However, the enemy ships just wouldn¡¯t stop. Or rather, they¡¯repletely ignoring the Pelican IV and concentrating their fire on us. Their objective is as in as day.

    ¡°Will they stop?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so?¡±

    ¡°Is it really impossible?¡±

    ¡°Their objective is obviously me. I do not know just how my uncle was able to enlist their services, it¡¯s evident that there¡¯s no more path of retreat for them.¡±

    Chris calmly analyzed the situation. I couldn¡¯t let my concentration break for even a moment, so I wasn¡¯t able to see her expression, but she sounded rather down. I¡¯m sure she was making a cute frustrated expression. That uncle of hers was definitely a bona fide viin for trying to kill such a cute and loveable girl. There¡¯s no doubt.

    ¡ºMake sure to avoid damaging the Vuestor as much as possible. All ships, weapons free!¡»

    ¡º¡­¡­Roger. All ships, weapons free!¡»

    A shrill alert rang out within Krishna¡¯s cockpit. At the same time, several heat signatures were simultaneously released by all the remainingbat craft and the two heavy cruisers.

    What weapons free meant was to unleash every avable weapon at one¡¯s disposal in order to eliminate one¡¯s enemies. And that meant they didn¡¯t care about involving the battleship in their attack and fired all their weapons in order to bring Krishna down! Hahaha! You damn bastards!

    ¡°Are these guys insane!?¡±

    ¡°Multiple missiles iing!¡±

    ¡ºAll ships, weapons free! Bring down the rogue ships! Begin firing!¡»

    Major Serena finally ran out of patience and ordered the independent fleet to attack. Now that it¡¯se to this, there¡¯s no point in using the battleship as a shield anymore. They really were serious about not caring if the battleship gets damaged. If we take on all of those shots, we¡¯d be toast. And Krishna would definitely get destroyed before the battleship does.

    ¡°Nuuuuuoooooh! Dammit!¡±

    ¡°Kuh!¡±

    ¡°Hiuu!¡±

    ¡°Guuu!¡±

    I disengaged from the battleship¡¯s rear and jumped straight through the hail ofsers and missiles. I fired consecutive shots of the shot cannons in order to clear out the seeker missiles heading our way. I then plunged the ship inside the resulting explosion.

    ¡°Yeah! That went well!¡±

    I used the resulting explosion as cover in order to disappear from the enemy¡¯s sights and took that opportunity to break away. Elma also did great by discharging all the remaining res just as Krishna plunged into the explosions of mes, causing even more seeker missiles to go off. As expected of Elma. I¡¯m really impressed.

    But this doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯ve escaped danger. We ended up right in the sights of an enemy heavy cruiser instead. The enemy heavy cruiser¡¯s mainser cannon charged up and prepared to fire at us.

    ¡°Chaaaff!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    Krishna dispersed chaff in order to obstruct the lock of the enemy ship as I made evasive maneuvers. However, since we were right in front of the ship, we weren¡¯t able to avoid the entire brunt of the attack. Another shrill alert rang out inside the cockpit, and Krishna¡¯s energy shield began flickering weakly. Even Krishna¡¯s shields wouldn¡¯t be able to bear a direct hit from a military heavy cruiser¡¯s main cannon.

    ¡°T-The shield!?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s nothing to panic about just yet.¡±

    ¡°Y-You sure are calm, Hiro-sama.¡±

    As I calmed down the flustered Mimi, I managed to get around the enemy heavy cruiser. But extremely powerful-looking crimsonser rays were still persistently sting away at Krishna from behind. The enemy heavy cruiser must have changed bearings and turned around in order to target us once more.

    ¡°Man. I¡¯d had my fill of thrills today. Please don¡¯t add any more.¡±

    ¡°Now I¡¯m sure you¡¯re already a hopeless case, idiot.¡±

    ¡°If we got hit by that just now¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s okay, I tell you. It¡¯s all ording to n.¡±

    I was lying through my teeth though.

    If we took a hit from that earlier st, Krishna would have been damaged severely. It would probably manage to survive though. Krishna¡¯s hull was military grade after all. And it¡¯s of the highest quality to boot. It¡¯s insanely expensive though.

    I actually experienced taking a direct hit from a heavy cruiser during my time ying Ste Online. I wasn¡¯t able to evade in time, and it was ugly.

    ¡°That was dangerous.¡±

    Before long, Krishna was able to escape the range of the heavy cruiser. Of course, the other cruiser andbat craft were still hot on our tail, and we were again chased by enemy fire.

    But they exposed their nks to Major Serena¡¯s fleet in order to target us, so they took heavy damage from the independent fleet¡¯s support fire.

    ¡°That was really close.¡±

    ¡°We were right in the middle of the battle, so it couldn¡¯t be helped.¡±

    ¡°If we ever took a direct hit, we would have been shot down.¡±

    Even if they were both using military models, the independent fleet had more advanced ships, so they were able to sessfully neutralize the enemies one after another. One ship got its main engine blown right off, one got its thrusters melted, and one had its upper deck, which housed a majority of its weapons, damaged beyond repair.

    Thebat crafts and corvettes were all shot down, so the only remaining ship that wasbat capable was the battleship.

    ¡°Oh boy. It¡¯s finally over.¡±

    I was currently hiding at the blind spot of an enemy heavy cruiser that had its propulsion systems destroyed. But there was still a danger of the enemy detecting Krishna and firing its main cannon at us, so I was being real careful about it.

    ¡°Um, do we still need to hide?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s best not to take any unnecessary risks.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Exactly.¡±

    I answered Mimi¡¯s question. Elma and Chris agreed with me as well. At this point, me revealing Krishna¡¯s position would be a real stupid thing to do. I¡¯m sure they¡¯d immediately shoot us down with their powerful main cannon.

    In any case, the ones who attacked us are probably members of the imperial military, so I can¡¯t just carelessly attack them without justification. The battle earlier was okay because it was an act of self defense. And there were other members of the imperial military present on the scene after all. One wrong move and we¡¯d be in more trouble than we bargained for. That¡¯s why I held off on using anti-ship reactive torpedoes and avoided firing on the enemy cruisers. I only shot down the smallbat craft that came after us.

    If Major Serena didn¡¯t make it, then I would have had no qualms with exchanging fire with them, but I¡¯m sure Krishna would have taken considerable damage as a result. And the possibility of us getting shot down wasn¡¯t zero as well. In fact, Krishna¡¯s shield nearly got saturated and brought down during this battle.

    ¡ºI repeat. Depower your generators. Further sacrifices are meaningless.¡»

    After a short silence, the remaining enemy ships finally depowered their generators.

    ¡ºThis is the battleship Vuestor¡¯s first mate, Major Romando Kestrel. Our ship has obeyed yourmand and depowered our generator.¡»

    ¡ºVery well. What about the captain?¡»

    ¡ºOur ship¡¯s captain, Colonel Eugen Herrassmith, has chosen to voluntarily take his life, and I have taken overmand.¡»

    ¡º¡­¡­I see. Proceed with rescuing the survivors. Prepare to be boarded as well.¡»

    ¡ºMa¡¯am!¡»

    Just what drove these proud imperial soldiers to desperately attack us like that? Anyway, it looks like the situation has been resolved for the time being. Major Serena¡¯s gship, Restalias, has approached the rogue gship, Vuestor, and her men were now preparing to board it. Cruisers assigned to the independent fleet also proceeded to approach the other moored rogue cruisers. They will now proceed to assume control of the rogue ships.

    But voluntary suicide huh? What an unpleasant affair.

    ¡°So it¡¯s finally over¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Probably. We still can¡¯t let our guard down though.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. There¡¯s still a risk of the enemy ships powering up again and attacking us the moment we show ourselves. Let¡¯s watch the situation for now and head back to the Pelican IVter.¡±

    After saying so, I leaned back on the pilot seat and reached out for the gravity sphere floating beside me. I brought out the straw and took a sip out of the non-carbonated c inside the sphere. Man, having a sweet drink right after an intense battle sure hits the spot.

    Eh? Whatever happened to the carbonated drinks, you ask? They¡¯re all stored inside the cargo hold. When I opened a bottle inside Krishna, the contents burst out even if I didn¡¯t shake the bottle, resulting in everyone (myself included) getting drenched. So the girls expressly forbade me from opening any carbonated drink while onboard the ship. Just why did it suddenly go off like that though? Is it due to theck of natural atmospheric pressure? Was there a problem with the artificial gravity inside the ship? I have no idea.

    ¡°Are you alright, May?¡±

    ¡ºYes. There seems to be no problems with my functions. I did not receive any damage.¡»

    ¡°Great. The battle¡¯s mostly over, but be prepared for the possibility of unexpected tactical maneuvers until we get back to the Pelican IV.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood.¡»

    Now then, guess we¡¯ll just have to wait it out. At least, we¡¯ll wait until Major Serena and her men finish taking control of the enemy ships.

 Chapter 93 â€“ Android Town

    <h4>Chapter 93 - Android Town</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    It took some time to subdue all the downed enemy ships. Well, the battleship was especiallyrge after all. And since most of the enemy ships were stripped of their ability to move, the independent fleet also needed to set it up so they could tow the ships away.

    Since we weren¡¯t of any use for that kind of work, we were just ordered to stand by until they¡¯ve finished everything. And so, we went back inside the civilian(?) cargo ship Pelican IVs hangar and stayed put. We did wait until they¡¯ve taken full control of the battleship before we revealed ourselves though.

    And since there probably won¡¯t be any more pirate attacks, for the time being, the Pelican IV along with the rest of the independent anti-pirate fleet led by Major Serena went back to the Sierra Prime colony along with the rogue military ships that persistently attacked us earlier.

    Since the fleet along with the Pelican IV needed to dock for an extended period in order to process the arrest and resupply, we were freed from guard duty. And since the regr pay agreed upon was 80,000 Enels per day, we received a total payment of 240,000 Enels for working as an escort ship for three days.

    ¡º¡­¡­What about the bounty rewards?¡»

    ¡ºUnfortunately, they weren¡¯t pirates, so there¡¯s none.¡»

    After confirming that the ships we fought were part of a rogue imperial military unit, Major Serena disyed a delighted smile. Yeah, I kinda expected this¡­¡­ Well, we really can¡¯t do anything about it anyway.

    We were then questioned by the military police regarding the entire fiasco.

    We did record the attack perfectly, beginning with the Pelican IV getting hit with an interdictor, to the subsequent attack on our ship, so they were enough to serve as evidence of the other party¡¯s guilt. Or rather, the guys from the military police kept saying things like ¡®What¡¯s with those weird maneuvers?¡¯ or ¡®It looks kinda disturbing.¡¯ or even ¡®It¡¯s way too freakish, man.¡¯. I do admit my unorthodox maneuvers are kinda weird-looking but don¡¯t call it freaky!

    And so, we ended up staying at the Sierra Prime colony as well.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be off then.¡±

    Today, I and May headed out of Krishna for some business.

    We were waiting for Chris¡¯s grandfather to arrive and take custody of Chris, so we had to stay inside the colony until then. There was also the option ofing back to the resort, but since we still weren¡¯t sure if Chris¡¯s uncle and his men had given up on taking her life or not, we decided it was safer to stay inside the colony.

    And so, we decided to get May¡¯s upgrades, which was put off because of Chris¡¯s uncle, over and done with today. Sierra Prime had an Orient Corporation dealer shop avable, and it also had a fully equipped workshop, so it was perfect.

    I was wondering if they had the materials for May¡¯s upgrade avable since all the parts I specified while designing her were pretty high end, but it seems like the shop on Sierra Prime mainly catered to the rich and famous, so there were plenty of high-end parts and materials in stock.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure he can protect himself at least, but just in case, be sure to keep an eye on Hiro, May.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Please leave it to me.¡±

    May nodded crisply at Elma¡¯s request.

    ¡°She still hasn¡¯t gotten her upgrades yet, so isn¡¯t that a little unreasonable?¡±

    ¡°Even if she isn¡¯t customized, she¡¯s probably still stronger than you are.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I am approximately 1.5 to 2 times stronger than your average human.¡±

    May flexed her arms as if to show off her supposed strength. But they still looked more delicate than mine. Well, I don¡¯t think May is the type to bluff, so it¡¯s probably true.

    ¡°Be careful out there, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°We still don¡¯t know whether or not my uncle¡¯s men are still lurking out there, so please be careful.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll be fine. See youter guys.¡±

    After waving goodbye to three, I opened the hatch, extended the ramp, and went down to the port grounds with May.

    We¡¯ve been able to procure enough food and water via Major Serena, so we can safely stay inside the Krishna for a full month. We really owe her one this time. I¡¯m kinda worried owing her too much woulde to bite us backter on though.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be counting on you to guide me then.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Please leave it to me.¡±

    May nodded briskly and led me out of the port area. We then went down to the area where the workshop was located via elevator. Even if she was mostly expressionless, I kinda felt that May was somewhat excited today. It was very subtle, but I could still sense that she was more cheerful than usual. It may just be my imagination though. But seeing her like this made me feel all warm inside as well.

    After a few minutes of walking, we finally arrived at the area where the workshop was located. However¡­¡­

    ¡°Haah. This sure is something.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    May tilted her head in puzzlement after hearing me sigh. Well, it looks like she has no particr opinion about the scene in front of us right now, but it wasn¡¯t the same for me.

    How should I describe it? Extremely decadent? Nah, that doesn¡¯t even begin to cover it. Anyway, it was a real sleazy area.

    There were lots of female androids, or should I say gynoids, walking about. The ce was overflowing with them. The disy windows of various shops all had different models of gynoids within them; from young girl-types to mature onee-san types. There were very few male androids on disy.

    They had everything; from the cute and cuddly to the risque and provocative. There was even a live demo where several gynoids were doing pole dances while wearing really skimpy outfits.

    And furthermore, more than a few shops had gynoids trying to appeal to potential customers just like thedies working for red-light leisure clubs back on Earth. Or rather, it was exactly the same. The only difference is that they had gynoids working for them instead of human women.

    And it wasn¡¯t just gynoids who were doing such things. There were a few male androids too. Now that I got a closer look, the customersing inside those shops weren¡¯t all males. There were quite a few women as well. Heck, I even saw one guy booking an android that looked female, but upon closer inspection, seemed like a male type¡­ Let¡¯s just pretend I didn¡¯t see that.

    ¡°Is there something amiss, Master?¡±

    ¡°Uh, n-no. It¡¯s nothing. Don¡¯t mind me.¡±

    May still looked puzzled at my reaction. It looks like she doesn¡¯t get where I¡¯ming from at all. For AI that gained their official citizenship by ¡®healing¡¯ lots of imperial youngds and men (in various ways), this might be just like regr hometown scenery for them. Yeah, it should be like that, I guess. For them, it was quite normal to meet and get together with their potential ¡®masters¡¯ in ces like this. Just like birds raised in cages¡­¡­

    After leaving the android town with May, we finally reached the section where the workshops were located. Aftering here, the sleazy atmosphere more or less abated.

    But this waspared to the scenery earlier. The workshops still advertised thetest gynoid models (loli-type) and hottest selling models (dynamite-body mature oneesan-type) on their holo-disys around the shop entrances.

    They didn¡¯t even use mosaic censoring! H-How depraved.

    ¡°Um, awe should be arriving soon, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s just over there.¡±

    I moved my gaze toward the direction May pointed at, and saw a huge building with thepany name disyed in big, bold letters out front. I thought we were justing to a small branch office, but it was significantlyrger than most of the other shops in the area. More specifically, it was three times as big.

    ¡°It¡¯s huge.¡±

    ¡°The Orient Corporation is one of the top android manufacturers in the Sierra star system after all.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Since it was a bigpany, it made sense that their facilities would also be grand. This is probably due to the customer base beingrge in number as well. So they needed a big facility to cater to all of them.

    We finally entered the Orient Corporation building. Once we did, a female receptionist turned her gaze toward us straight away. Hm? Oh, so she wasn¡¯t human either. She was a gynoid too.

    ¡°Wee! Wee to the workshop directly managed by the Orient Corporation! It¡¯s about May¡¯s upgrades, yes? Please follow me.¡±

    We didn¡¯t say anything yet, but the gynoid receptionist already began guiding us while sporting a bright smile. The moment she left her seat, another gynoid receptionist came out from a room at the back and took over her duties.

    ¡°We don¡¯t really need to use words tomunicate with each other.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    I nodded at May¡¯s exnation. I couldn¡¯t perceive it of course, but it seems theymunicated via some form of data exchange earlier. Well, for androids like them, using words tomunicate isn¡¯t exactly necessary huh.

    We were then led to another section of the building that looked simr to a coffee shop. It looks like there weren¡¯t any other customers except for me.

    ¡°This is?¡±

    ¡°Yes! This is a space for customers to rx while waiting for their partner¡¯s upgrades to be finished! I shall prepare some drinks for you right away!¡±

    ¡°O-Okay?¡±

    ¡°I will undergo my upgrades soon. Please take good care of Hiro-sama while I¡¯m away.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Please leave it to me!¡±

    May bowed her head toward me and walked away. Since I didn¡¯t have anything better to do, I took up the receptionist gynoid¡¯s offer and sat on the counter while waiting for May¡¯s upgrades to finish.

    ¡°What kind of drink do you prefer?¡±

    ¡°Oh, um, some chilled tea would be nice.¡±

    ¡°Certainly!¡±

    The receptionist gynoid cheerfully stepped inside the coffee shop¡¯s counter and started preparing my drink. This receptionist gynoid sure is bubbly. I set May¡¯s expression values at a low level, so she hardly changed facial expressions and generally felt like a cool andposeddy. I wonder what she would be like if her expression values were set higher? I can¡¯t really imagine it though.

    ¡°Thank you for waiting!¡±

    ¡°Thanks. How long would the upgrading take?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. In May¡¯s case, she would need to be transferred instead of receiving regr upgrades, so it probably wouldn¡¯t take long.¡±

    ¡°Transferred?¡±

    ¡°Yes! For example, in the case of minor artificial muscle upgrades or recement of worn-out joints, we can keep most of the original body and just rece the requisite parts. But this time, most of May¡¯sponents would need to be reced, so it would be faster to transfer her data to a fully prepared body built from the ground up instead of tampering with her old one. That would be more efficient after all.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    So it¡¯s kinda like upgrading your PC. If you only want to add some memory or rece the CPU¡¯s cooling fan, you can just swap the old ones for new parts. But if you want to rece most of the parts including the CPU, motherboard, and power supply, it would be better to just transfer your data to apletely new PC rig. Pros would suggest you do so as well.

    ¡°The data transfer would take approximately two hours. If you¡¯d like, I can give you some pointers regarding your future life with May-san!¡±

    ¡°That sounds good. Go right ahead.¡±

    While waiting for May, I spent my time listening to the gynoid receptionist¡¯s lecture regarding maidroid maintenance and other stuff. She told me about all the required tools and equipment for maintenance. She also lectured me about troubleshooting as well as where to contact if said trouble was already out of my league. This went on for an entire two hours.

    As a result, my Enel bnce fell once more since I had to pay for the lecture. But I guess I did learn a lot, so it was more or less worth it. It kinda felt like I was taken for a ride again, but oh well.

 Chapter 94 â€“ Maidroid May

    <h4>Chapter 94 - Maidroid May</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°¡­¡­You didn¡¯t really change much, huh?¡±

    I checked May out after she returned and gave my impression. Well, the ones that got changed were mostly internal stuff like the synthetic skeleton, muscle fibers, power source, and electronic brain, so I guess it made sense that her appearance mostly remained the same.

    ¡°Yes. There was no change to my external appearance. Would it have been better if it was changed as well?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s better this way.¡±

    I shook my head at May¡¯s question. Well, even though she seemed to have not changed much, I¡¯m sure her overall specs and performance far outstrip evenbat-specialized robots. In other words, she¡¯spleted her transformation into a super maidroid. I bet she can even go toe to toe with me even if I wore my custom power armor. Although she¡¯d have to be equipped with the appropriate weapons in order to do so.

    ¡°Also, since I¡¯ve been upgraded, a lot more functions have been unlocked.¡±

    ¡°More functions?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve gained a sense of taste, and have been installed with a cooking program, so I can even rival the performance of an auto-cooker. A detailed sense of touch has also been implemented, so I can perform even morefortable massages.¡±

    ¡°Massage, huh. That sounds good. Maybe I¡¯ll have you give me a session every time I finish working out.¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    May nodded in agreement after hearing my suggestion.

    And, uh, this might go without saying, but I¡¯m pretty sure May has been given the required abilities to perform ¡®those¡¯ kinds of stuff. Y¡¯know¡­ Those. It can¡¯t be helped since it was one of the biggest contributing factors to the continued development of the AImunity, and it deeply ties in with their sense of identity.

    Ugh. This is no good. Since Chris began staying with us, lots of things ended being pent up for a while now. I have to get my mind out of the gutter. This is not the time to be thinking about that sort of stuff. The fact that this ce stimtes those sorts of desires doesn¡¯t help too.

    ¡°Please take good care of her!¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah, that goes without saying.¡±

    Ugh. I still can¡¯t help but think in ¡®that¡¯ direction after hearing that. I¡¯m sure what the receptionist gynoid meant was just to properly maintain and care for my personal maidroid from now on, but I ended up taking it as her saying I can now freely have my way with said maidroid. I just can¡¯t help but feel guilty; especially since I¡¯ll be bringing her back home and have her stay with the women who I¡¯ve had physical rtions with. Do you guys get it? My chest feels kinda heavy because of the sense of guilt.

    And for the record, I didn¡¯t buy May with those kinds of intentions in mind. Due to her specs, she can serve as apetent bodyguard, as well as a talented AI secretary with a powerful positron brain designed for reallyplex calctions. I definitely got what I paid for with her. So I guess there¡¯s no use feeling this guilty after all. That¡¯s surely the case. Yeah¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    I gave May a once-over again.

    She sported long, glossy, ck hair. Her dark eyes, akin to obsidian jewels, shone brightly behind stylish red-framed sses. She didn¡¯t disy much of an expression, but it¡¯s exactly due to this that she had the look of a cool beauty. ced neatly on top of her head was a white maid headdress, and she wore Victorian-style maid clothes that hugged her superb body lines. In other words, she was extremely beautiful.

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    May tilted her head cutely at my continued scrutiny. Ugh. Perhaps this gesture of hers was also added by the makers in order to make her seem even cuter. Each and every movement of hers was picturesque and worthy of a thousand paintings, and they had the almost magical quality of captivating all who witnessed them, making them a prisoner of her charms.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. I just thought about how your performance has been majorly improved despite not having changed much in appearance.¡±

    ¡°Can you really perceive how much my overall abilities and power have improved just by visual assessment, Master?¡±

    May then flexed her biceps, as if to show off her improved power. You really like that pose, don¡¯t you? It is kinda cute though.

    ¡°Um¡­ Oh, right. You also got supplied with weapons, right? What kind of weapons are they?¡±

    ¡°Do you want to take a look at them?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, please show them to me.¡±

    May then took out a ck steel ball from somewhere. What is it? Some kind of grenade?

    ¡°This is made out ofpressed metal alloy used to make high-grade power armor, military battleship hulls, and the like. Utilizing my throwing power, the impact from it will be able to prate the defenses of standard power armors and deal fatal damage to the pilot within. I can also adjust the power to only give incapacitating injuries instead of fatal ones.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s simple but brutal.¡±

    ¡°This is a security baton made with the same material. With my current strength, a hit with this baton at full swing can crush standard power armors and deal damage to the pilot within as well.¡±

    May took out a 40 cm long ck alloy baton from who knows where again. Just where is she storing this stuff? It didn¡¯t seem all that fancy, but it sure looked pretty tough.

    Even so, she keeps using power armors as an example to be destroyed. Does she feel a sort of rivalry between her and power armors? Maybe she wants to prove she¡¯s the better machine or something? But they can¡¯t even converse with people like androids can, so what¡¯s the point ofpeting with them?

    Anyway, it looks like all of the weapons May took out kinda had a primitive feel to them, and focused greatly on destruction via physical impact. It looks like May prefers to be up close and personal when inbat.

    ¡°Krishna already has a wide assortment of energy weapons, so I focused on getting physical ones.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    She does have a point. There are things likeser rifles and aseruncher inside Krishna¡¯s cargo hold after all. It seems May focused on weapons that can be easily concealed as well.

    ¡°We will deliver the rest of your orders to your shipter!¡±

    ¡°Ah, mm.¡±

    I kinda got worn out after looking at all the low-tech, primitive, blunt force weapons May ended up purchasing.

    ¡°Now then, we¡¯ll have to check her movement functions next!¡±

    ¡°Movement functions?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Please go ahead and feel directly with your body if her specs are to your liking. We can¡¯t have customersing back here andining about this and that after the fact, you see. It would have a negative impact on the image of ourpany.¡±

    The receptionist gynoid then gave me a somewhat suspect smile as she made a fist. She then kept thrusting her thumb in and out between her index and middle finger. I wrapped her outstretched fist within my hands and lowered it. The receptionist gynoid tilted her head cutely in puzzlement.

    ¡°It¡¯s the standard procedure you know?¡±

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon. You bring this up on me all of a sudden and expect me to just say OK!?¡±

    ¡°More than 90% of our customers agree with it straight away though. Anyway, that¡¯s just the kind of existence we all are. You don¡¯t have to worry about it so much, sir.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re too nonchnt about all this! I don¡¯t even know what to say anymore!¡±

    ¡°Ohe on, sir. It¡¯s not like you aren¡¯t interested in that sort of stuff, right?¡±

    The refreshing smile on the female gynoid¡¯s face changed into a lewd one. Dammit! Of course, I¡¯m interested!

    ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s part of the procedure, sir. May-san, please.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    May hugged one of my arms and started pulling me toward who knows where. Gaah! This soft sensation enveloping my arm is just¡­ No, wait, hold up! Ugh. She¡¯s strong! Really strong! I can¡¯t seem to hold my ground one bit.

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait! Calm down, May. Mimi and the others are waiting for us back at the ship!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­You don¡¯t want me?¡±

    For the first time, May disyed a sorrowful expression. Graaaaaah! That¡¯s just cheating. Since she¡¯s normally expressionless, the impact of seeing her act like this was more than double.

    ¡°¡­¡­I-I do want you.¡±

    ¡°Really? Alright then.¡±

    May returned to her usual cold expression and started pulling me again.

    Did Mimi and Elma know this was going to happen so they didn¡¯t insist oning along? Were they really both aware of this? It can¡¯t be.

    No, that¡¯s probably not it. I¡¯m overthinking things. Yeah, I¡¯m sure I am. I hope. Yosh! Now that it¡¯se to this, I say bring it! Since this android maid was overflowing with service spirit, then I have no choice but to take her on. I¡¯m gonna do this, guys! And I ain¡¯t gonna lose!

 Chapter 95 â€“ Contact

    <h4>Chapter 95 - Contact</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°I sincerely wish for your happiness, both of you-!¡±

    The receptionist gynoid waved goodbye at us while disying a first-ss business smile. Please be happy? Why does it sound like she¡¯s congratting us on our marriage? On second thought, for AI like them, maybe getting an owner really does equate to marriage in a sense. So, when you customize a gynoid and buy it, it¡¯s like getting a made to order wife¡­¡­? Ugh. I better not think about this stuff anymore. It¡¯s giving me a headache.

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°I turned to the side and found May tilting her head cutely as she gave me a questioning look. Our degree of closeness was leagues apart from before we arrived at the workshop. We were walking so close to each other that I didn¡¯t even have to stretch out my arm to grab her soft waist.

    ¡°Is something bothering you?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡±

    After seeing May disy a faint smile, my cheeks couldn¡¯t help but flush red.

    That¡¯s cause it was freaking amazing. How can I even begin to describe it¡­? Anyway, it was freaking amazing. It was so amazing that I¡¯mpletely at a loss for words. If you really pressed me to describe the experience, then I can only say it ¡®felt right¡¯. Yep, that¡¯s it. You want me to give you guys the nitty gritty? Just don¡¯t ask. It¡¯s embarrassing.

    It went beyond winning or losing. It was a sublime experience for sure.

    I walked back to the Krishna with an extra spring in my step, but what greeted me when we arrived was the sight of macho onii-sans wieldingser rifles, who were standing guard outside the ship for some reason. Judging from their equipment, they don¡¯t seem like soldiers from the imperial military, but seeing as they wore matching uniforms and armor, they should be part of some sort of organization.

    ¡°They should be part of Earl Daleinwald¡¯s private troops. They likely serve as his personal bodyguards.¡±

    ¡°Really? So that means Chris¡¯s grandfather has arrived, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. They arrived while we were going through the ¡®fitting¡¯ process. As we were indisposed at the time and couldn¡¯t return back to Krishna right away, I contacted the ship and informed them that we were busy procuring additional weapons to enhance security.¡±

    ¡°O-Okay.¡±

    A ¡®fitting¡¯ process huh. Hahaha, that¡¯s one way to call it. And, well, it¡¯s true that we did purchase additional weapons. Yep. It wasn¡¯t a lie folks.

    ¡°But how and when did you contact the ship anyway¡­?¡±

    ¡°I essed Master¡¯s portable data terminal earlier and replied to Mimi and Elma¡¯s message using the app.¡±

    ¡°Oh, okay.¡±

    I guess it¡¯s pointless to ask just how she got ess to my terminal huh. May right now is equipped with an ultrapact high-performance positron brain capable ofplex calction functions, and has transformed into a true super AI robo-maid. And herbat capabilities are nothing to sneeze at as well. Actually, it was possible to rely on May for arge number of stuff, but I felt it would cause me to be a useless sleazebag, so I put a stop to that train of thought. Even if I have a super AI maid, I won¡¯t lose toziness!

    I renewed that vow inside my heart and started walking toward the macho onii-sans. They became visibly alert when they saw me. One of them also used a portablem device attached to his ear to contact someone. Were they asking for reinforcements or something? That¡¯s my ship though, guys.

    ¡°Halt. Stop right there.¡±

    ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll stop, see. I don¡¯t want to be on the receiving end of that nasty-lookingser rifle after all.¡±

    I obeyed theirmand and stopped in my tracks. They should be able to confirm that I¡¯m the owner of the ship soon, so there¡¯s no need to make a scene here. They¡¯re probably Chris¡¯s grandfather¡¯s men after all. May is also acting calm, so I guess there¡¯s no problem. If these guys weren¡¯t really Chris¡¯s grandfather¡¯s men, the May would have subdued them already.

    ¡°We¡¯ve confirmed your identity. You¡¯re Captain Hiro, correct?¡±

    ¡°Yep. You¡¯re Earl Daleinwald¡¯s men, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct. We¡¯ve been dispatched to serve as Christina-sama¡¯s guards.¡±

    ¡°I see. Can I enter my ship now?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    The two men made way for us, and we finally climbed up the ramp and entered Krishna. I was a bit worried that they¡¯d suddenly fire at me from behind, but thankfully, that didn¡¯t happen. But it wouldn¡¯t hurt to stay alert.

    We found the others gathered inside the dining room. And the atmosphere was kinda heavy.

    Mimi didn¡¯t meet my eyes and kept hugging Chris tight. Elma was the same and kept fiddling with her data terminal. Chris also didn¡¯t turn my way.

    Did they perhaps find all about my ¡®fitting¡¯ session with May while we were at Orient Corporation¡¯s workshop? Or maybe they were angry because there was some sort of trouble with the earl, and I was out having the time of my life while undergoing the ¡®fitting¡¯ process with May. Or maybe it¡¯s both. Yeah. That¡¯s probably it.

    But I won¡¯t apologize!

    ¡°We¡¯re back, guys!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Tsk!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m very sorry! Please forgive me!¡±

    I immediately went down and performed a dogeza in front of Elma. I don¡¯t care if you guys say I¡¯m weak willed! It waspletely my fault that I failed to notice the message. I can¡¯t just make excuses by telling them May basically forced me into the act. And I won¡¯t.

    ¡°Please forgive us. I was presumptuous even though I only just joined.¡±

    May also knelt in seiza beside me and bowed in apology. Elma made an awkward-looking face after seeing May and me act this way.

    ¡°Sorry. I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d react that badly. I was only thinking of troubling you a bit.¡±

    Elma got up from her seat in a fluster and offered her hands to both of us.

    ¡°¡­¡­You¡¯re really not angry with me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not. Anyway, I only wanted to frighten you a little. I didn¡¯t n on troubling May. I don¡¯t have anything against her after all.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    May took Elma¡¯s hand and stood up. Seeing what happened, I also tried to get up from my kneeling position. When I made my attempt, I felt a small fist hit the top of my head.

    ¡°Try to reflect a little more about what you did, you idiot. You just made a high-ranking noble wait for you.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Sorry.¡±

    I honestly nodded my head.

    ¡°So what¡¯s wrong with Mimi?¡±

    ¡°I wrote in the message I sent you that Chris¡¯s grandfather arrived, right? So Chris would be heading to her grandfather¡¯s ship after this. Since Mimi and Chris have spent a lot of time together as roommates, they¡¯re both really down about it.¡±

    I nced at Chris and saw the rims of her eyes were swollen red. Mimi, who was hugging her tightly and patting her head seemed like a gentle mother coaxing her child. So this was the so-called motherly quality. I see. I¡¯ve witnessed something special, it seems.

    ¡°Uh, so, what happened with the meeting anyway?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­You didn¡¯t read the message I sent after all huh?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry about that.¡±

    I bowed my head in apology towards Elma, who gave me an irritated side-eye. Sorry. I¡¯m still feeling a bit lightheaded after that ¡®fitting¡¯ session, so forgive me for acting dull like this. I¡¯m truly sorry.

    ¡°We managed to get in contact with them via the Mercenary Guild. Her grandfather wanted to meet her immediately, but since you weren¡¯t here, we didn¡¯t feelfortable with setting out on our own even with some private guards tagging along, so we told them to wait until you came back. In any case, Chris already spoke to her grandfather via thems, so we only need to hand her over afterward. We really couldn¡¯t make any decisions without you, the captain, present.¡±

    ¡°I see. Okay.¡±

    I¡¯m this ship¡¯s owner as well as its captain. Even if the other party is a noble, it wouldn¡¯t be good if Elma made a decision on her own without the captain¡¯s knowledge.

    ¡°So you arranged to contact them once I came back?¡±

    ¡°Yep. That¡¯s how it is. We¡¯re gonna get in contact with the earl directly. Will you be alright?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I meant yournguage, mister. The other party¡¯s a high ranking noble you know. You can¡¯t talk with him using the same tone you use with that bumbling major.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yes, really.¡±

    That¡¯s kinda troublesome. While I was feeling troubled, May raised her hand up and called our attention.

    ¡°If you would like, I could change the holo-disy and present a perfectly worded response.¡±

    ¡°Nah. I don¡¯t want to rely on others about this stuff all the time. Anyway, I¡¯ll just try my best to sound formal. If it really is no use, you two can help me out.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I understand.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    After I finished consulting with Elma and May, I turned my attention toward Mimi and Chris.

    ¡°Well, there you have it. I feel sad about it too, but shall we head over to the cockpit now? The holo-disy in the cockpit is the best one in the ship after all.¡±

    ¡°Mimi-san¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes.¡±

    The teary-eyed Mimi finally let go of the simrly teary-eyed Chris. Mm. At least there wasn¡¯t any snoting out of their noses. Even if that were the case, I would have pretended not to see it though.

    ¡°Go wash your faces a bit and thene to the cockpit, you two. Let¡¯s head over first, Elma, May. Please stand behind meter, you two, and if I mess up somehow, please help me out.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll help as best I can.¡±

    After nodding to each other, the three of us finally headed for the cockpit.

 Chapter 96 â€“ Formal Meeting with the Earl

    <h4>Chapter 96 - Formal Meeting with the Earl</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I was nervous about contacting the earl, but it went smoother than expected.

    ¡ºWell then, a vehicle wille to pick you all up after fifteen minutes. The earl is looking forward to seeing you all.¡»

    Yep. We were prepared for a formal talk with the earl, but instead, his secretary arranged an appointment for us and the call ended with that.

    ¡°I guess he didn¡¯t want to simply meet up via holo-disy and wanted to see us in person.¡±

    ¡°Is that really the case¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Hm. I don¡¯t quite understand what grandfather is thinking either.¡±

    The three girls were mulling over the arrangements made by the earl with puzzled looks on their faces. May stood quietly on the side. She stood all prim and proper, with both hands resting on top of each other in front of her maid dress¡¯s skirt. After getting upgraded, May acted even more elegant and refinedpared to before. Has something fundamental changed within her, I wonder. But maybe it¡¯s just me.

    And by the way, we had Chris confirm that the person we got in contact with was unmistakably her grandfather¡¯s secretary. You can never be too careful after all. We also did a bit of information gathering on our end.

    As for the results, we ended up not finding much about the secretary, but we did confirm that a ship that¡¯s owned by House Daleinwald was currently docked inside Sierra Prime. And it wasn¡¯t just a civilian cruiser or luxury ship. It was actually a battleship. It looks like Chris¡¯s grandfather, Earl Abraham Daleinwald, was actually quite wary of his very own son, Balthazar Daleinwald.

    ¡°In any case, I guess this does indicate that he believes your uncle is aiming for your life, Chris. I think there¡¯s a low chance of this being your uncle¡¯s trap.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I also think it¡¯s alright. I clearly remember seeing that secretary every time we paid grandfather a visit.¡±

    ¡°But even so, we still can¡¯t let our guards down.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Even if it¡¯s true that we got in contact with Earl Daleinwald, it doesn¡¯t mean that Christina-sama¡¯s safety is already 100% guaranteed.¡±

    May agreed with Elma¡¯s warning. Mimi was still mulling over the situation with furrowed brows.

    ¡°Anyway, they should be arriving soon. Shall we go ahead? Just in case, make sure to have yourser guns with you. That goes for you too, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mimi positively replied as she tapped theser gun that was holstered to her hip. I do hope Mimi can improve her shooting ability soon¡­¡­ She should aim to at least be able to hit a stationary enemy with her gun. I better apany her for some target practice after this matter is over.

    After getting down from Krishna, the macho onii-sans standing guard gave crisp salutes when they saw Chris with us. Chris exchanged some words with them, and the men looked quite moved as they replied with ¡®We are unworthy of such words, mdy.¡¯ and ¡®We will ensure your safety with our lives if need be, princess!¡¯ enthusiastically. Un. It¡¯s a scene far removed from what I¡¯m used to.

    ¡°Seeing you like this really brings home the fact that Chris-chan is actually a noble princess, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not royalty though¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi was acting moved by the scene while Chris disyed a strained smile in response. Before long, a vehicle resembling a jeep stopped in front of Krishna. It¡¯s just like those RVs used to survey distants back on Earth.

    You¡¯re not familiar with RVs? It ain¡¯t those recreational vehicles used by families to go on a long trip, but recon vehicles used to survey they of thend. They¡¯re used to explore the surface of distants. It was smaller than an average power armor, but it was equipped with an energy shield, so it was a considerably tough vehicle. Unfortunately, I don¡¯t have one parked inside Krishna.

    Hm. But maybe I can purchase one through Mercenary Guild channels. It should be useful for work as well. We can use it to search for relics of past civilizations on unexploreds and whatnot, and sell the gathered data for a good price to willing buyers. But the problem is that it would take up too much space inside Krishna¡¯s cargo bay.

    We all boarded the RV along with the macho onii-sans, and speedily drove out of the port area. The port area was bustling with activity today. There were several industrial use power armors unloading cargo from ships, a family wearing fancy clothes that probably came here for a vacation, people who looked like they were from the same trade as us, some weird-looking alien creatures that actually seemed like merchants out on business¡­¡­ Anyway, lots of different people were out and about inside the port area.

    Of course, there were also imperial soldiers walking about. Oh, and I think I saw Major Serena too. Well, she shouldn¡¯t have noticed my stare- Huh? She turned my way? So she actually noticed? How¡¯d she do that? Scary.

    After driving for a while, the RV finally arrived in front of an imposing-looking ship. It wasn¡¯t exactly thetest model, but it was still sufficiently intimidating. It looked quite powerful. You can actually kind of tell the personality and quirks of a fleetmander to a certain extent based on theposition of his or her fleet. And based on this battleship here, I reckon themander is someone who values a sure and steady approach when engaged in battle.

    Its basic strategy was to steadily bring down the fast vanguard ships while weathering attacks with tight defenses, and exchanging fire with enemy battleships in the rear in a battle of attrition. This ship looked like it could take quite a beating and stille out with guns zing. Looks like themander prioritizes safety and stability above all. If you take a fleet like this head-on without a n, chances are you¡¯d have to expend a considerable amount of effort.

    ¡°We have been waiting for you all. And I am truly d that you are safe, Christina-sama. It truly is a relief.¡±

    The RV drove inside the ship¡¯s hangar. After we got off from the vehicle, we met the secretary guy who we talked with earlier via the holo-disy, as well as a woman who seemed to be a maid. Now that I got a good look at them, the personnel walking around busily inside the hangar were all dressed like butlers or maids. Talk about entricity.

    ¡°It is all thanks to father, mother, and this gentleman, Captain Hiro. What about my grandfather?¡±

    ¡°He is waiting for you all inside his private quarters. Pleasee with me. Thisdy will be the one to guide the rest of you, Captain Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Pleasee with me. I shall lead you to the ship¡¯s parlor.¡±

    The smart-looking maid-san invited us to follow her. Now then, would it really be okay to let Chris meet with her grandfather alone? I exchanged gazes with Chris, and she nodded back to say it was fine. Guess there¡¯s no problem then. I exchanged gazes with Elma just in case, but she also nodded in assent. Okay then.

    ¡°Understood. We¡¯ll see youter, Chris.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Hiro-sama.¡±

    After waving goodbye to a smiling Chris, we followed after the maid from earlier.

    But man, the interior of this ship sure looks quite fancy. Elmapared Krishna¡¯s interior with that of a first ss luxury cruiser, but this ship easily exceeded Krishna by several leagues. The outside appearance was that of an intimidating battleship, but the interior rivaled that of a five star hotel or an affluent noble¡¯s mansion. Oh boy. As expected of nobles. Even their ships served as impressive status symbols.

    So this ship served both as House Daleinwald¡¯s gship as well as a mobile holiday vi. How fancy. So that¡¯s why the crew were all dressed as maids and butlers. Un. I actually quite like it.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? Why are you all starry-eyed?¡±

    ¡°No, I was just thinking the owner of this ship has such good taste.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t your ship basically the same?¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It has an interior rivalling a luxury cruiser, and you even have a maidroid now. Isn¡¯t it following the same basic style as this ship?¡±

    ¡°Come to think of it, you¡¯re right¡­¡­¡±

    She does have a point. Umu. So should I also purchase a mothership that has a simr vibe as this ship to match Krishna? I¡¯m sure it wouldn¡¯t be cheap, but it would probably be more than a few times cheaper than purchasing a detached house with a garden on a residential and official citizenship.

    And once we get a mothership, we¡¯d be able to carry significantly more cargo. It would increase our business options as well as our ie by several fold. Slow and steady wins the race, as they say. I should really start thinking seriously about purchasing a mothership. I found Krishna spacious before, but now that the crew has increased in number, it¡¯s starting to feel a bit cramped.

    And no, I have no ns of increasing my crew any further guys. I said no. I¡¯m serious.

    ¡°It feels like a noble¡¯s mansion, so I can¡¯t seem to settle down¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I sort of get where you¡¯reing from, Mimi. But it looks great, doesn¡¯t it? If you keep thinking about how much it costs, you¡¯d just stress yourself out needlessly. Just don¡¯t mind the furnishings much.¡±

    ¡°I understand what you¡¯re getting at, Elma-san. But the entire atmosphere of this ship just exudes fanciness, so, well¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯ll get used to it soon, Mimi.¡±

    It seems Mimi¡¯s aesthetic taste leaned more on the punkish side, so the neat and elegant feeling of this ship¡¯s interior doesn¡¯t seem to sit well with her. But it can¡¯t be helped, so she¡¯ll just have to cope.

    ¡°Please wait here, everyone.¡±

    The room we were brought to was a wide and luxurious parlor for receiving guests. One side of the walls wasposed of arge ss sheet, and through it, we could see a grand-looking garden. Well, it¡¯s probably just arge holo-disy and not a real garden though.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°I will prepare some drinks. Would you be fine with tea, everyone? If you want something else, don¡¯t hesitate to tell me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine with tea. How about you, girls?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have tea as well.¡±

    ¡°Me too.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Please wait while I prepare your drinks.¡±

    The maid who guided us here made an elegant bow and left the parlor. After seeing her off with my gaze, I sankfortably in one of the sofas inside the parlor. Oooh. Now that¡¯s what I callfy. The sofa¡¯s incredibly soft and fluffy, but it can still fully support my weight. The table also looked to be made of high-quality natural wood exuding a ck sheen. At least, it seemed just like natural wood when I touched it earlier. If it really was genuine natural wood, then just this one table would cost a heck of a lot of Enels.

    After a short while, the maid came back with our drinks. It was a steaming beverage with a deep red hue.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°What is it, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­No, it¡¯s nothing.¡±

    It was different from the tea I was familiar with, but I didn¡¯t want to sound rude, so I kept my thoughts to myself. Thankfully, the aroma and taste were that of normal tea. But what¡¯s with this? Did they add some food coloring while brewing the tea or something? How curious. Maybe it was because of the tea leaves used.

    We enjoyed the overly red tea and waited at the parlor for about an hour. Then, finally, the one we were waiting for arrived.

    ¡°The lord is here. Please stand and offer him your sincerest greetings.¡±

    We followed the words of the maid-san and waited for Earl Daleinwald to enter.

    Before long, therge double door leading to the parlor opened, and an elderly man with a stately bearing entered the room. Following after him was Chris, who now wore a stylish white dress that made her look like a fairytale princess.

    The elderly man was tall in stature, and has a very sturdy-looking physique despite his advanced age. Strapped on his waist were two swords - one of regr length and one with a short de. His originally ck hair was peppered with streaks of white, but it still looked well-maintained.

    But what stood out the most was the man¡¯s eyes. He had deep ck eyes that resembled those of a hawk. They were filled with strength and dignity, and one without sufficient courage would find him or herself cowering before their sharp gaze. I was half-expecting a weak-looking geezer earlier, but it turned out to be a strong old man.

    ¡°My name is Earl Abraham Daleinwald, and I am the current head of House Daleinwald.¡±

    Chris¡¯s grandfather, Earl Abraham Daleinwald, introduced himself and turned a sharp gaze toward me. Man. This old man sure is intimidating. Looks like I have to tread carefully around this guy. Now then, how should I go about this, I wonder.

 Chapter 97 â€“ Compensation and New Contract

    <h4>Chapter 97 - Compensation and New Contract</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Since the earl already introduced himself properly, it would be bad manners if we didn¡¯t do the same. I opened my mouth straight away.

    ¡°I¡¯m a Gold rank mercenary affiliated with the Mercenary Guild, Captain Hiro, your lordship. Please forgive me if I show you any discourtesy, as I am not quite ustomed to using formal addresses yet. These two lovelydies here are crew members of my ship, the Krishna. This is my copilot, Elma. And this is my operator, Mimi. The one standing in the back is our maidroid, May.¡±

    ¡°I am honored to be in your presence, your lordship. My name is Elma.¡±

    ¡°L-Likewise, your lordship. I-I¡¯m Mimi.¡±

    ¡°This humble one is called May.¡±

    Elma reverently bowed toward Earl Daleinwald as she introduced herself. Mimi followed after her in a fluster. It looks like Mimi¡¯s lost her cool a bit after meeting a high ranking noble with the regal bearing to match his status. She¡¯s an imperial citizen after all, so she must be even more affectedpared to me.

    ¡°Umu¡­ Please take your seats, everyone.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    We obeyed the earl¡¯s words and took our seats once more. The maid then refilled our tea. It was more of that shockingly red tea. Should I call it new age tea or something? Nah, let¡¯s just call it tea. Nice and simple.

    ¡°First, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to all of you. Thank you for doing such a splendid job in taking in and protecting the heiress of the Daleinwald House, my dear granddaughter Christina. As the current head of the Daleinwald House and a grandfather, I am truly thankful.¡±

    ¡°We are unworthy of such words¡­¡­ is what I¡¯d like to say, but we really did have a hard time, your lordship.¡±

    ¡°Hey¡­!¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s the truth, so we need to tell it as it is, right? I¡¯m sure Christina¡¯s already filled you in on the details sir, but we ought to give you our ount of what happened as well.¡±

    I ignored Elma, who was frantically elbowing my ribs, and carried on with the conversation.

    ¡°I see. I have heard of what happened from Christina, but I suppose it would be good to hear the details from you as well.¡±

    Earl Daleinwald nodded magnanimously and gestured for me to continue. When I disyed a smug smile, Elma sharply jabbed her elbow on my ribs. Ouch.

    I then ryed the entirety of the past events with Mimi, Elma, and Chris supplementing my story from time to time. I told Earl Daleinwald about how we were persistently and mercilessly attacked, how we responded, and how much effort we expended in order to ensure Chris¡¯s safety, in vivid detail.

    I started with how we were attacked by pirates when we arrived at the Sierra star system, and how we found the cold sleep pod containing Chris in one of the pirate ship wreckages. We couldn¡¯t possibly ignore such a discovery, so we secured the cold sleep pod and brought it back to the Sierra Prime colony. We unlocked the pod at the local port administration office, and found Chris inside.

    ¡°Fumu. It was truly a huge stroke of fortune that you all managed to find Christina.¡±

    ¡°Yes. And I also owe my life to dear father and mother, who did everything to ensure that I sessfully escaped.¡±

    ¡°Yes. You¡¯re absolutely right, dear¡­¡­¡±

    I allowed the earl and Chris to settle their gloomy feelings a bit and took some sips of the bright red tea. After a few moments of silence, I continued on with the story.

    After hearing about the situation from Chris, I epted her request for protection after receiving a promise of satisfactory rewards. Afterwards, we made multiple bookings on the three resorts in order to confuse our pursuers, who were sent by Chris¡¯s uncle. But as soon as we left port, we were suddenly attacked, and we had no choice but to repulse them. Then, the resort we chose to stay on was directly attacked by hundreds of pirate ships. But that attack was just cover in order to secretly send down military stealth dropships filled to the brim withbat robots. Then, I used my personal connections in order to get in contact with Major Serena Holz of the imperial independent anti-pirate mobile fleet, and managed to secure her help. And finally, I rted the events of the assault by a rogue imperial military squadron, and how we worked together with the anti-pirate mobile fleet in order to defeat them.

    ¡°Afterwards, we went back to the Sierra Prime colony, and that¡¯s when we got in contact with you, your lordship.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ Umu. It seems your story is simr to what Christina has told me earlier. I promise that you shall receive the appropriatepensation for all your earnest efforts.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much, your lordship.¡±

    I disyed an ingratiating smile. Elma looked like she was trying hard to suppress the urge to strangle my neck though. Anyway, with this, we¡¯ve mostly secured a promise of appropriatepensation. We ended up rescuing Chris and earned a lot of money in the process. This is the best oue.

    Huh? What if Chris wasn¡¯t a little beauty, you ask? Oh c¡¯mon guys. It doesn¡¯t matter if it was a pretty boy or an uncle. I would have extended my help just the same. I do admit my motivation to help was made stronger by the fact that Chris was a beautiful young girl though. Isn¡¯t that obvious?

    ¡°We can talk about ourpensationter. May I ask what you n on doing now that you¡¯ve reunited with Christina?¡±

    ¡°Fumu¡­¡­¡±

    The earl cupped his chin and silently ruminated after hearing my question.

    ¡°I brought as much of my forces as I could muster on short notice, but even with this much, we would still have trouble facing a squadronposed of military starships, even if they are one or two generations behind thetest models. If it is fine with you all, I would like to hire you to continue serving as Christina¡¯s private guards for the time being.¡±

    ¡°As long as there is appropriatepensation, I am more than willing to ept the job. What about you two?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡±

    ¡°M-Me too.¡±

    It looks like Elma and Mimi have no problems with it too. As for May, she would probably follow whatever I decide to do, so I didn¡¯t ask her.

    ¡°Now then, let us continue talking about your remuneration. First, let us decide on your payment for serving as Christina¡¯s guardians thus far.¡±

    Earl Daleinwald called in his secretary, and we proceeded with the discussion regarding our payment.

    It was decided that all of the expenses we ended up using in order to evade the enemy¡¯s pursuit including the money we used to book the resorts were to be fully reimbursed. In addition, we were also going to be paid an additional 5,000,000 Enels as remuneration for serving as Chris¡¯s guards. As expected of a high ranking noble. How generous. He easily forked out more than 8,000,000 Enels just like that. So I take it that the earl considers this amount as nothing muchpared to the life of his dear granddaughter.

    However, even if we did purchase her on Sierra III, May wasn¡¯t considered a part of the expenses for ensuring Chris¡¯s safety. Well, I guess that¡¯s reasonable. We did just purchase her quite recently, so considering that, it¡¯s reasonable that she wasn¡¯t considered as part of the necessary expenses.

    Adding the 240,000 Enels we received from guarding the Pelican IV, and cutting out Mimi and Elma¡¯s share of the money, my current assets now amount to about 24.4 million Enels.

    I¡¯ve also subtracted the money used to buy stuff on Sierra III while we were on vacation, the payment for the lecture given by the receptionist gynoid when we went to the Orient Corporation workshop, May¡¯s option parts and weapons, and all other misceneous expenses.

    By the way, Mimi¡¯s share for the Pelican IV escort job and being Chris¡¯s guardian was 41,200 Enels. Elma¡¯s was 247,200 Enels. Elma¡¯s earnings should be roughly enough for purchasing a fully customized Bronze rank ship of her own, right? But she hasn¡¯t repaid even a single Enel to me though.

    I don¡¯t really mind, actually. It¡¯s fun being with her, and she¡¯s really reliable.

    But I have 24.4 million huh? I think this much is enough to purchase a pretty decent mothership. Well, I¡¯d have to earn a little bit more in order to fully customize it.

    After we finished discussing the payment for the previous job, we moved on to discuss the details for our new contract.

    ¡°The average hiring fee for Gold rank mercenaries is 80,000 Enels per day. But we are willing to pay you 250,000 Enels per day to continue acting as escorts to Christina-sama.¡±

    Earl Deleinwald¡¯s secretary confidently dered our proposed remuneration. Wow. 250,000 Enels a day. How generous. It¡¯s leagues apart from that stingy Major Serena, who only paid us the minimum amount of 80,000.

    But I was a bit uneasy about the fact that they¡¯re willing to fork out more than three times the regr price. Of course more money is a good thing, but since they were willing to triple the price just like that, there should be a corresponding amount of danger to the job. Maybe there¡¯s still something they¡¯re not telling us.

    I gave Elma a questioning gaze, and she moved closer to whisper her thoughts to me.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a bit more to it, but basically, this is hush money. This may cause a really nasty scandal for the Daleinwald House if word got out after all.¡±

    ¡°Um, we¡¯ve already told Major Serena about the whole incident though.¡±

    ¡®I¡¯m sure they¡¯ve already taken that into consideration. Like I said, the things Chris¡¯s uncle pulled off would result in a huge scandal for the Daleinwald House, and their use of military issued stealth dropships and the involvement of a rogue imperial squadron would put the imperial government on the spot as well. Both the empire¡¯s top brass and the Daleinwald House don¡¯t want this matter to blow up more than it already has, so they¡¯re giving us hush money. If we ever mess up, we¡¯ll have both the Daleinwald House and the empire out for our heads, so keep that in mind.¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡­ I¡¯ll make sure not to let anything slip. You be careful too, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes!¡±

    After listening to Elma¡¯s exnation, Mimi became blue in the face and nodded. Earl Daleinwald just quietly observed our reaction. He was very calm andposed. Chris had a bitter smile on her pretty face, and the secretary had his usual business smile. Man, this old guy¡¯s scary.

    ¡°We¡¯ll ept those arrangements.¡±

    ¡°Very well. Resupplying and ¡®cleaning up¡¯ would take a few days more, so just make some preparations for departure for the meantime. We will get in contact with the Mercenary Guildter on and arrange a formal request.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    I was curious about what he meant by ¡®cleaning up¡¯, but I¡¯d better not to ask. No matter how I think about it, that bit sounded somewhat ominous, so I¡¯ll just leave it at that. It was scary to have both a distinguished noble house and an entire empire hot on your tail after all.

    And so, we managed to secure our payment for our previous efforts, as well as another lucrative contract. After a few more minutes of idle talk, we finally decided to get off the earl¡¯s ship.

    ¡°Well then, I¡¯ll see you all tomorrow.¡±

    Chris, who was nked by the beefy onii-sans from earlier, apanied us outside the ship in order to send us off. She made an elegant bow.

    ¡°Yeah. Leave it to us.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll do our very best for Chris-chan¡¯s sake!¡±

    ¡°Yep. No need to worry.¡±

    We started walking down the ramp, but I suddenly remembered something and paused. I then turned around and went back. I then searched my jacket pocket for something.

    Hey, hey. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m trying to take out a weapon, so stop readying thoseser rifles, misters. They¡¯re damn scary.

    ¡°I forgot about this. Here¡¯s your pendant back, Chris.¡±

    The thing I brought out from my jacket pocket was the pendant Chris handed to me when she requested my help after waking up from the cold sleep pod. It was an expensive-looking article iid with a beautiful purple jewel.

    ¡°No, please keep holding on to it. You still have to keep protecting me after this, right? I¡¯m counting on you, my dear knight.¡±

    Well, I feel that the forces Earl Daleinwald brought with him were more than enough though. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll have much to do, actually. Well, since Chris herself said so, I suppose I¡¯ll just hold on to it for the time being.

    ¡°¡­¡­If that is your wish, my lovely princess.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please keep it safe.¡±

    Chris¡¯s lips formed into a beautiful smile after hearing my reply. Yep. She sure is pretty. Her white dress also suited her and made her seem even more like a fairy tale princess.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be going then. We¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Tomorrow then.¡±

    I turned around and walked away once more as Chris and the beefyser rifle-toting onii-sans saw me off with their gazes.

    We¡¯re mostly finished with ship maintenance and resupplying, and we got a whole lot of money on our hands right now, not to mention a daily ie of 250,000 Enels. Since we sessfully handed Chris¡¯s custody over to her grandfather, I¡¯m sure Chris¡¯s uncle and hisckeys would not make a move on us anymore. Looks like we can finally rx now.

 Chapter 98 â€“ Gateway

    <h4>Chapter 98 - Gateway</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    It¡¯s been three days since we handed Chris over to the custody of her grandfather. We were finally departing from the Sierra Prime colony today.

    It looks like there have been a series of shocking incidents that took ce inside the Sierra Prime colony these past three days, like the appearance of unidentified corpses that were hung on top of street lights, or sounds of gunfire echoing through the more secluded areas of the colony, where public security was bad. Oh, dear. It all sounds sooo scary. I wonder just who the perpetrators were?

    While those things were going on, we just holed up inside the Krishna without a care in the world. We installed May¡¯s newly purchased maintenance pod inside the cargo bay, and afterward, I just spent my time happily flirting with Mimi and Elma. We had to hold ourselves back when Chris was here after all.

    Anyway, I noticed the two of them were bing more and more assertivetely. Was it May¡¯s influence, perhaps? ¡­Somehow, I got the feeling that the two of them were actuallypeting with her in terms of feminine charm or something. Well, apart from that, Mimi and Elma got along quite well with May. The two of them talked a lot with her, and even took baths together.

    But, somehow, I felt like the three of them were up to something. Am I just overthinking it? Oh well. It¡¯s good that the three of them got along with each other.

    ¡°Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Mm? Oh, uh¡­ I was just thinking about some stuff.¡±

    ¡°You okay? We¡¯ll be departing soon, you know?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I was just reminiscing about what happenedst night- Ow, ow, ow!¡±

    Elma¡¯s face turned bright red and forcefully pulled my ear. Hahaha, I¡¯ll never get tired of Elma¡¯s cute reactions.

    We didn¡¯t really need to arrange anything for this time¡¯s departure. Krishna was temporarily registered as part of Earl Daleinwald¡¯s retinue after all. The Daleinwald House took care of all the necessary work, so we only needed to follow after them once they departed from the colony.

    ¡°It would be great if there were no more incidents.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. And it¡¯s amazing that they¡¯re willing to pay us 250,000 Enels per day¡­ Nobles are really rich.¡±

    ¡°Asserting their status is also part of it. If some of the other nobles heard that they hired a Gold rank mercenary for cheap, there¡¯d be all sorts of bad rumors after all. They¡¯d even im the noble house¡¯s fortunes were waning or something. It¡¯s mostly the same for businessmen. The military usually hires Gold rankers for the standard price, which is 80,000. But bigtime traders and businessmen usually pay up to 160,000 Enels, and nobles pay at least 180,000.¡±

    ¡°Hee¡­ So that¡¯s how the world of the rich works. It¡¯s far removed from the everyday reality ofmoners like me.¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess. But you know Mimi, your sense of wealth has already started to deviate from your typical civilian. Or haven¡¯t you noticed?¡±

    ¡°A-Ahaha¡­¡­ I¡¯m actually a bit afraid of checking out my current ount bnce.¡±

    I don¡¯t exactly remember how much Mimi¡¯s earnings amounted to so far, but I think it¡¯s about 100,000 Enels or something. In other words, she¡¯s earned at least ten million Yen in just a few months. Mimi¡¯s just reached the legal age for this part of the gxy, but earning more than ten million Yen after her societal debut does set her apart from your average citizen.

    Elma should have earned 1.2 million already. Well, she does purchase liquors that cost up to 100,000 Enels quite often, so I don¡¯t know how much she¡¯s really saved up. And she still needed to repay me 3 million too. It¡¯ll be ages before she saves up enough at this rate.

    ¡°Um, Hiro-sama, it looks like the departure clearance has been issued. We¡¯re going to be departingst.¡±

    ¡°Roger. Give me a holler once it¡¯s our turn.¡±

    ¡°Yes. The rest of the ships have startedunching¡­¡­ Large battleships are quite slow, aren¡¯t they?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re also being extra careful because we¡¯re still inside the port. Since the ship is quiterge, it would be a huge disaster if it ran into the colony walls or something.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. That would be catastrophic.¡±

    Back when I yed SOL (Ste Online), there were lots of yers who got into huge idents and greatly damaged their newly bought ships because they weren¡¯t used to the sensation of pilotingrge shipspared to small and medium ones after switching over.

    After a short while, it was finally our turn, so I uncoupled Krishna from the dock and moved it forward. Sierra Prime colony was bustling with activity today as well. It looks like the attack of pirates on Sierra III a few days ago actually resulted in increased confidence in the security measures implemented on the resorts. That¡¯s because the defense systems of Sierra III ultimately managed to repel the pirate attack, in the end, making way for a wave of positive publicity. It¡¯s obvious to us that some measure of information control and maniption had urred, but, as promised, we¡¯ll keep our thoughts to ourselves.

    ¡°Man, flying a starship is the best. This sense of freedom and excitement is just so addictive. It¡¯s a lot like plunging straight into the sea for a swim.¡±

    ¡°Swimming in the sea, huh¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi let out a sigh from the operator seat behind me. It sounded like she didn¡¯t quite understand what I was getting at. Oh well. It¡¯s just how I personally felt, and I don¡¯t expect others to understand me anyway.

    ¡°Well, I kind of get what you¡¯re feeling a bit. For me, it¡¯s like walking inside a lush forest instead of the sea though.¡±

    It looks like Elma somehow gets it huh. Maybe it¡¯s because she¡¯s got more experience flying around on a starship than Mimi.

    ¡°Will I also get to feel that sense of freedom in the future as well?¡±

    ¡°Maybe. You might even feel something a little bit different than Elma¡¯s or my impression.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s interpretation of what freedom and excitement mean depends on themselves after all.

    ¡°In my case, I feel that it¡¯s something I wouldn¡¯t be able to understand easily.¡±

    May gave her opinion from the sub-operator seat. Since Chris wasn¡¯t here anymore, May took her ce on the sub-operator seat. She¡¯s basically acting as Mimi¡¯s support. She¡¯ll be able to help Mimi in improving her skills as a ship operator. With her specs, she would have no problem perfectly performing operator duties after all. That¡¯s why she¡¯s also the perfect trainer for her.

    We finally passed the special barrier gate and got out of the Sierra Prime colony.

    ¡°They¡¯re signaling for us to move to the bottom left position. The fleet is going into formation.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re tasked with bringing up the rear, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    It¡¯s a position from where we could immediately swoop in to assist any section of the formation if the fleet were to get attacked. If we were positioned out front and the fleet was to get attacked from the rear, it would take more time to turn the ship around and intercept. It would only be an instant, however, that instant could prove to be fatal for the rest of the fleet. Well, conversely, it was also a position that had a higher chance of receiving an attack first.

    We promptly went to the back of the formation as instructed.

    ¡°Set both the FTL drive and Hyperdrive on standby, get clearance from the gship, andmence synchronization.¡±

    ¡°FTL drive and Hyperdrive, standby. Sending synchro request. Synchronization has been approved. Synchroplete.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Now we can just sit back and rx.¡±

    Because we were synchronized with the entire fleet, there was no need for us to manually activate our FTL drive and Hyperdrive ourselves. We¡¯re set into auto-pilot and will navigate in ordance with the gship¡¯smands.

    Shortly after, Krishna activated its FTL drive, and after a short while more, it disengaged from FTL navigation and activated the Hyperdrive.

    ¡°No matter how many times I¡¯ve seen it, I still feel it¡¯s a marvelous sight.¡±

    Mimi let out a sigh as she watched the colorful scenery outside the ship as we were traveled via hypene.

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. But don¡¯t look at it for too long, or you¡¯ll start to feel sick.¡±

    ¡°Really? I feel like I can stare at it forever though.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re tough in the weirdest aspects, Mimi¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­? Why does it feel like you just casually made fun of me?¡±

    Mimi puffed up her cheeks in annoyance as Elma teased her. I think Elma¡¯s right though. But I better just keep that to myself.

    Well, y¡¯see, the scenery inside the hypene is like an eclectic mix of shining rainbow-colored lights. It looks pretty at first nce, but if you look at it long enough, you¡¯ll start feeling nauseous because it messes with your sense of distance and bnce.

    The journey¡¯s been smooth sailing so far. There was basically nothing one can do to a ship traveling via hypene, and we weren¡¯t hit with an interdictor when we exited to normal space and switched back to FTL drive propulsion either.

    We used the hypene to travel outside the Sierra star system, and finally reached the Myuure system, which was four systems away from Sierra. We could have used Hyperdrive navigation to travel straight to the Dexer star system, but there¡¯s a reason we stopped over here.

    ¡°Fuuah¡­ So that¡¯s a gateway huh.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s so big.¡±

    After seeing the gigantic structure floating in space, Mimi gushed excitedly with sparkling eyes while I gave an expression akin to that of an elementary school student out on a field trip.

    It can¡¯t be helped, guys. It really is gigantic y¡¯see. This superstructure was many times bigger than the colonies we¡¯ve visited and was shaped like a gigantic iron triangle. Within the center of the giant metallic triangle was a swirling mass of distorted space, and you could spot countless shipsing and going through it. So that¡¯s a gateway. It¡¯s a symbol of this era¡¯s hyper-advanced technology.

    It looks a little bit different from the gateways I¡¯m familiar with from the game, but it¡¯s not like everything in this dimension is exactly the same as what I encountered in SOL (Ste Online). Maybe it¡¯s just designed in the style of this particr gctic empire.

    ¡°Oh, right. It¡¯s your first time seeing a gateway huh, you two.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m familiar with them, but it¡¯s my first time seeing one for real.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m the same as you, Hiro-sama.¡±

    There really is a world of difference between knowing something and seeing it with your own eyes. But man, it really is huge. It¡¯s insanely huge. Is the scanner disying the correct values? Really? It¡¯s more than a few times bigger than Sierra Prime. Scratch that, this thing looks like it¡¯s even bigger than Earth. It¡¯s an utterly crazy superstructure, that¡¯s for sure.

    ¡°But with this, we can finally breathe easy, right? Each gateway has several imperial military fleets patrolling them as guards, so there¡¯s next to no chance of an attack happening.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. The ones who¡¯d attack this ce would have to be really screwed in the head. They¡¯re gonna turn into space dust in an instant with this much firepower.¡±

    This gateway allows instantaneous travel between space sectors several thousand, or even millions of lightyears away from each other in practically an instant. It was a really important structure that made it possible for the empire to continuously expand and acquire its utterly vast territory. And as a result, the forces assigned to guard it are several times more powerful and numerous than what we encountered in all the ces we¡¯ve visited thus far. Even a special ship like the Krishna would be reduced to mere space dust in an instant by this overwhelming force.

    If one really insisted on attacking this ce, he¡¯d have to bring the entire armed forces of an average gctic empire in order to stand a chance. Why? ¡®Cause the Gran empire would most likely use the other gateways they control to continuously send in a great number of reinforcements, that¡¯s why.

    And, just like what I said earlier, the forces assigned here are pretty powerful too. Unless you had enough forces to attack the gateways simultaneously, you¡¯d just be done in by a concentrated assault of the empire¡¯s military might. And it would start with elite special forces specifically assigned to guard the gateway. One would have to be really crazy to take on that kind of force.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. We¡¯ll get done straight away. That¡¯s why the danger will probablye after this.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. There¡¯s that, huh. Uh, how many more star systems do we have to pass by after leaving the gateway in order to reach the Dexer system?¡±

    ¡°Five systems. The system we¡¯ll arrive at after we pass through the gateway is the Neeparc system, and following that would be the Melkitt system, Zieger system, Uerick system, Comatt system, and finally, the Dexer system.¡±

    Mimi disyed the gxy map on the cockpit screen as she exined. She also indicated the hypene routes we¡¯ll be taking on the map, as well as the approximate travel time from system to system.

    ¡°If an incident urs too far away from the gateway, the guard fleets would probably note to our aid, but if it¡¯s within their jurisdiction, they¡¯d sortie right away.¡±

    ¡°Yes, exactly.¡±

    ¡°So that means we¡¯ll have to watch out for possible attacks once we pass by the Zieger system and the Uerick system huh. I¡¯m sure the earl and his men have also prepared countermeasures for that possibility though.¡±

    ¡°The emperor also bestowed the earl with the system directly neighboring Dexer as part of his domain, so we would probably be fine once we reach the Comatt system. Melkitt system is directly under the emperor due to its proximity to the gateway, so the earl¡¯s influence probably isn¡¯t that strong there. But if his rtions with the ruling noble houses of the Zieger system and Uerick system is cordial, he can probably request the assistance of some of their forces at least.¡±

    Elma fiddled with the gxy map and set it to disy the territories of the various noble houses in the sector, which were separated via different colors. Just like Elma said, Melkitt star system was directly managed by imperial authority. The Zieger system and Uerick system were managed by different noble houses, and the Comatt system was part of Earl Daleinwald¡¯s territory.

    ¡°From what I know, nobles generally aren¡¯t that friendly with each other.¡±

    ¡°I also have that image of them.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like everyone¡¯s like that you know. Well, it¡¯s a different story when there¡¯s jostling for resources andpetition between industries involved.¡±

    It¡¯s not like the gxy map has info on the rtionships between different noble houses, so we can¡¯t really find out anything of that nature from it. And it¡¯s not like info of that nature is important for our line of work, so we didn¡¯t bother with it in the first ce. Yep. That means we have absolutely no clue regarding that aspect.

    ¡°In any case, we just need to keep our guards up. Don¡¯t ck off and always be alert for possible threats.¡±

    ¡°Kaaay.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    We gradually approached the center of the gateway, which was a swirling mass of distorted space. Okay, okay. I get it. I¡¯ll keep my guard up, so stop pinching my thigh already.

    ¡°By the way, what¡¯s your opinion on all of this, May?¡±

    I turned back toward May, who kept her silence during the entire conversation, and asked what she thought. She won¡¯t express her opinion at all unless you ask her directly for it after all. She will instead prioritize her master¡¯s, meaning my thoughts, over her own. I would honestly prefer it if she were more assertive though.

    ¡°Yes, well, I think what poses the highest danger of an attack is the moment immediately after we warp out to the Comatt system.¡±

    She posed a conjecture that ran contrary to everything we¡¯ve surmised earlier.

    ¡°What¡¯s your basis?¡±

    ¡°The territory of Earl Daleinwald is basically his home ground. Judging from his previous actions, Balthazar Daleinwald¡¯s preferred method is to manipte a third party in order to further his designs using currently unknown means - including those from the military. From this pattern, we can surmise that the forces assigned to the Comatt system have the highest chance of being coerced or manipted.¡±

    That¡¯s right. Chris¡¯s uncle, Balthazar Daleinwald, had enough capability to send hundreds of pirates after us on Sierra III, procure cutting edge military stealth dropships, as well as manipte an imperial military squadron to attack us with total abandon.

    If he really could somehow extend his ws toward the Comatt system¡¯s forces¡­ Just thinking about it is giving me goosebumps. Earl Daleinwald¡¯s fleet can probably stand their ground against the Comatt system¡¯s forces, but they could stage a surprise attack the moment we warp out, which is the moment when our fleet is the most defenseless. It sounds like something he would likely do as well.

    ¡°¡­¡­Should we inform the earl about this?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure the earl has also thought of that possibility already. He looks prettypetent after all. Or rather, this conjecture implies that the earl doesn¡¯t have a handle on his own territory you know. Doesn¡¯t that sound kinda rude?¡±

    After saying so, Elma disyed a wry smile. Yeah. She¡¯s right. If I went ahead and told him something like ¡®Hey, I think your own forces back home will be manipted and sent to deal against you, man. You better watch out, kay?¡¯ out of the blue, I¡¯m sure the earl would flip out. But if he can¡¯t even settle a dispute within his own household, then we probably won¡¯t be able to expect much out of him in the end.

    ¡°Looks like our hands are tied.¡±

    ¡°Yep. Definitely. So let¡¯s just work hard and survive guys.¡±

    ¡°It looks like that¡¯s the only thing we can do¡­¡­¡±

    Elma shrugged her shoulders and Mimi let out a resigned sigh. I also sighed quietly. Oh boy. Now I suddenly feel really uneasy.

 Chapter 99 â€“ Another Lull before the Storm

    <h4>Chapter 99 - Another Lull before the Storm</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    No matter how free mercenaries may seem to be, once they¡¯re under a contract, they¡¯re basically tied to the ones who hired them until thepletion of the job. So I can¡¯t just act arbitrarily without the earl¡¯s consent. In the first ce, the other party was a high ranking imperial noble, so I had to be even more mindful of my actions. If the earl thought of us as ¡®guys who he can¡¯t get a read on and seem highly likely to double-cross him¡¯, then I can¡¯t even imagine what kind of actions he¡¯ll take against us¡­ I¡¯m scared just thinking about it. Maybe he¡¯ll pull out his sword without a word and cut us down on the spot?

    ¡°And so, Captain Hiro has decided to turn a blind eye towards everything and became just your regr flunkie.¡±

    I then tapped the send icon on the messaging app and sent the above mail along with some silly emoji stickers.

    ¡ºDon¡¯t worry, Hiro-sama. It seems my grandfather is already taking all possible precautions against my uncle. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any cause for concern, but I¡¯ll try to warn him just in case¡­¡»

    A reply was sent back along with an animated cartoonish ck cat sticker with a troubled expression. Fumu. It looks like Chris was quite skilled in ying mahjong.

    ¡ºI¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be alright! Even if something did happen, I¡¯m sure Hiro-sama will do something about it.¡»

    That message was sent along with a cartoonish squirrel-like creature sticker posing like a bodybuilder. After sending that message, Mimi made some more reckless moves. However, she always seemed to draw good tiles.

    ¡ºNo matter how skilled Hiro is, there¡¯s still a limit you know¡­¡­ Well, judging from all that¡¯s happened before though, he¡¯ll likely pull through one way or another.¡»

    That message was sent along with a super-deformed one-eyed alien sticker sipping a ss of wine like a boss. It was finally my turn to draw. And it was-

    ¡°Hey, I got a Ron!¡±

    ¡ºSame for me.¡»

    ¡ºWhat!?¡»

    The one-eyed alien from before appeared again. But this time, it was incinerating a city with an eye beam. Uh, well, Elma¡¯s uchisuji wasn¡¯t bad, but she just has the most rotten luck. It was bad to the point that even that starship filled to the brim with good luck charms, the U*ko, would probably get attracted to her, just like with a certain gxy police officer. Her incredible bad luck may even rival that guy. As such, she was way too weak at gambling. She was a total pushover. She only ever got bad hands ever since we started ying this mahjong app on our portable terminals. Her total score was quite a sight to behold, in apletely different sense.

    By the way, Mimi was the reigning queen of the game. She yed really recklessly, but always seemed to avoid bad hands, and as a result, her score steadily rose. She truly seemed to be blessed by the goddess of luck.

    By the way, I was chilling in Krishna¡¯s cockpit and ying online mahjong with everyone using my portable terminal while exchanging silly messages with them in order to kill time. Mimi and Elma were currently taking a break.

    Even if Krishna was traveling the hypene via auto-pilot, at least one person should still stand by inside the cockpit just in case. Mimi and Elma were probably inside their own rooms or the dining room. May was with me, sitting quietly on the sub-operator seat. She didn¡¯t join in the fun but served as the audience to our mini e-mahjong tournament.

    ¡ºI wouldn¡¯t lose to you guys if we were ying a racing game!¡»

    The SD alien was dejectedly bending forward as the one who sent it grumbled in frustration. Is she really that down about losing¡­¡­ Well, in any case, we didn¡¯t have much to do except ying around like this. Like I said earlier, we were traveling on the hypene via auto-pilot, and it¡¯s next to impossible to get attacked by enemies while inside the subspace tunnel.

    We were now traveling from the Zeiger system to the Uerick system. And once we pass the Uerick system, we¡¯ll finally reach part of Earl Daleinwald¡¯s territory, the Comatt system. And after that, we¡¯ll finally arrive at the Dexer star system.

    We didn¡¯t face any problems when we warped out to the Zieger system, and even got escorted by Zieger system troops part way because of Earl Daleinwald¡¯s friendly rtions with the ruling noble house over there. We traveled through it without any incident, and now we just left the system and went back into the hypene.

    The travel time between the Zieger system and the Uerick system via hypene was roughly ten hours. It was an hour or so since we jumped into the hypene.

    ¡°Master, you can just leave the task of standing guard inside the hypene to me you know.¡±

    May called out to me as I continued ying e-mahjong with everyone.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯d be able to do everything well May, but I don¡¯t wanna push everything onto you, so¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I do not mind. Unlike biological life forms, I feel no physical or mental fatigue whatsoever.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know. But still¡­ I know what you¡¯re capable of, May. But I don¡¯t want to get used to dumping all the work to you alone. And anyway, there¡¯s little chance the enemy would be able to mount an attack inside the hypene. As you can see, we have nothing much to do and are just ying around.¡±

    ¡°What about deepening your rtionship with the twodies?¡±

    ¡°We have to keep a bnced lifestyle. I think we have to keep everything in moderation. Or rather, it¡¯s to keep everyone from getting too preupied with stuff like that. Especially me.¡±

    Mimi and Elma are both unparalleled beauties after all. And of course, May is the same. I may lose my edge if I keep indulging myself in the three of them; though it may just be toote for that already.

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°Yep. With my current assets right now, I could probably justze around while hunting some pirates asionally and just indulge myself in a decadent lifestyle together with all of you. But I don¡¯t want to do so. I¡¯m serious.¡±

    That may be an attractive prospect, but I still haven¡¯t fulfilled my dream of owning a detached house with a garden on a residential. Anyway, I¡¯m currently nning on buying a mothership to increase our money-making options. We¡¯ll be able to earn more with it, and that would take me one step closer to fulfilling my dream.

    ¡°I do not think that kind of lifestyle seems so bad, but if Master says you do not want it, then I will simplyply. But if one day you feel otherwise, then please don¡¯t hesitate to inform me. I will support you as best I can.¡±

    May said something so tempting with a straight face. Well, she sports that serious look more than 90% of the time anyway. She may be the crew member I have to be wary of the most. I feel she¡¯ll lead me to a path on no return if I let my guard down¡­¡­ I need to polish my self-control more. And I can¡¯t exactly me her for it because she¡¯s just acting in good faith due to her loyalty to me. Anyway, it¡¯ll be fine if I pull myself together. I hope.

    Eventually, we arrived safely at the Uerick system. We didn¡¯t go for a stop-over at the Uerick system main colony and continued to travel on. Just like what happened at the Zeiger system, we were also escorted by some of the local forces partway. It looks like Earl Daleinwald got along fairly well with his fellow lords.

    ¡°It¡¯ll take twelve hours before we arrive at the next system, right? Wanna switch?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll just stay inside the cockpit for the duration of the journey, so why don¡¯t you all take a break, everyone? If my conjecture proves to be correct, the most dangerous part of this journey is when we arrive at the Comatt system, so it would be better if you face it in your best condition.¡±

    ¡°No, uh, like I said, I don¡¯t want to leave everything to you, May¡­¡±

    I was about to refuse, but Mimi cut in.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, wouldn¡¯t it be better to take May-san up on her offer this time? Her conjecture has a high chance of urring after all. If May-san is fine with that arrangement, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to rely on her more depending on the situation.¡±

    ¡°I also agree, Hiro. You act too reserved around us sometimes. Of course I also think it¡¯s not good to rely on May for everything, but don¡¯t you think being too reserved and not allowing her to do her job is a disservice to her as well?¡±

    ¡°¡­Really?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I agree as well.¡±

    May backed Elma¡¯s im and nodded in the affirmative.

    ¡°I am happy that you treat me no differently from your otherpanions and treasure me, but I am a maidroid first and foremost. My reason for being is to be of service to you, Master. Please do not be reserved and make use of my services more. I will be happier if you do.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    May nodded once more. Umu. How troubling. In my view, May was just a regr beautiful girl, just like Mimi and Elma¡­ She didn¡¯t really act like an artificial being and you wouldn¡¯t even notice if not for those mechanical ¡®ears¡¯ of hers. No, well, I¡¯ve been trying to remind myself that May¡¯s an android ever since she started staying with us guys. But since I first saw maidroids on Sierra III, my first impression of them was beautiful maid onee-san, see.

    Seeing her as a machine was also made difficult by what happened to the two of us when we went to the workshop on Sierra Prime. And we kept that rtionship up even now. Whenever I held her in my arms, all I could feel was the softness and warmth of a beautiful girl.

    ¡°Okay then. I¡¯ll do as you say and leave the cockpit to you, May¡­ But I just finished resting a while ago though.¡±

    It¡¯s only been three hours since I woke up from myst nap. I caught some Zs just before we took the hypene towards the Comatt system.

    ¡°How about you eat a meal first, then take a rxing bath, and rest in your room afterward?¡±

    ¡°Hohoo. Do you n on joining me for those, Elma?¡±

    In other words, doing ¡®this and that¡¯ after eating a meal and taking a quick shower.

    ¡°U-Uhm¡­ D-Do it in moderation, okay?¡±

    After getting what I was implying, Elma¡¯s face became beet red.

    ¡°I also think that¡¯s a great idea. Can I join in too?¡±

    I¡¯m not sure if Mimi really understood the flow of my exchange with Elma or not, but she disyed a sunny smile and was raring to go. Hoo. Doing it with all three of us huh? My interest is piqued. It may be the beginning of me sinking deeper into the honey trap, but who the heck cares at this point? What? I¡¯ll pull myself back out before sinkingpletely so it¡¯ll be alright guys. No, really.

    ¡°Okay then. Let¡¯s all go ahead and spend some quality time together.¡±

    ¡°H-Hey, Mimi! W-Wait! I said wait!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s all have a nice time together. First, we eat! Let¡¯s have some artificial meat today!¡±

    ¡°Hm. Sounds good.¡±

    ¡°Hey!!¡±

    We pulled the panicking Elma with us and went to the dining room to have Tetsujin V make some delicious meals for us. May sent us away with a somewhat amused-looking gaze despite her stoic expression.

 Chapter 100 â€“ Imperial-style Assault Tactics

    <h4>Chapter 100 - Imperial-style Assault Tactics</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Thanks to May¡¯s consideration, Elma, Mimi, and me got to wholeheartedly spent some real quality time together, and we weed the warp out to the Comatt system in a thoroughly refreshed state.

    ¡°So will they really aim for us the instant we warp out?¡±

    ¡°If all goes ording to what we thought ofst time.¡±

    ¡°It would be best if nothing happens¡­ But judging from his previous actions, I don¡¯t think Balthazar Daleinwald is the type to take defeat lying down. However, since he¡¯s already been found out by his father, wouldn¡¯t it be useless no matter what actions he takes?¡±

    ¡°On the contrary Master, He may be nning to capture both Chris and Earl Daleinwald, and then force them to acknowledge him as the sole heir. Or worse, he might even be nning parricide in order to forcefully snatch the position. It¡¯s because he¡¯s cornered that he might do desperate things like that. Judging from his previous behavioral patterns, there is an 81% chance of him initiating an attack.¡±

    ¡°Not 100%?¡±

    ¡°Because his ns have been foiled by Master time and time again, that may cause him to be more wary and hesitate as a result. It¡¯s also possible that he may not have been able to secure enough forces to mount an attack. I included those variables in my calctions, so it¡¯s not 100%.¡±

    ¡°I see. But we still don¡¯t know just how far that Balthazar guy is willing to go.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    While in the middle of our conversation, an alert suddenly rang out inside the cockpit. No, it¡¯s not that we¡¯ve been locked on by an enemy. It was just an alert before Krishna goes through warp out procedures.

    ¡°Looks like we¡¯re nearly there. Anyway, just make sure we can activate the weapon systems immediately if something does happen.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll prep the subsystems and defense systems as well.¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama, what should I do with the radar system?¡±

    ¡°Just set it to maximum range.¡±

    I thought it was best to prepare for heavy long range bombardment, but May had a different opinion.

    ¡°No, there¡¯s a good chance they¡¯ll close in on us immediately, so it would be best if you shortened the range instead.¡±

    ¡°Seriously?¡±

    ¡°Yes. If my calctions prove to be correct, that is.¡±

    May turned quiet again after saying her piece. Hm? A close quarters encounter huh¡­? Would they charge at us with torpedo ships armed with anti-ship reactive torpedoes? But that would be overkill. Even one or two of those is enough to settle everything by taking out the gship directly. Damn, I hope it doesn¡¯te to that.

    Well, reactive torpedoes are actually quite slow, so you¡¯d have to fire them close to point nk range to guarantee a hit. They can be intercepted easily as a result, but were still very popr in the game for the sheer romance of EXPLOSION! If they didn¡¯t have pilots with the required skills, the only choice was to send in a great number of kamikaze ships while hoping at least one would survive and deliver its payload, but I¡¯m not sure if the enemy¡¯s really so desperate to resort to that tactic. It would be pretty scary if they somehow obtained a crap-ton of reactive torpedoes and simply fired them all at once in a saturation attack though.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, we¡¯ll be warping out soon.¡±

    I continued mulling over countermeasures for the possible battle until Mimi notified me we were about to arrive.

    ¡°Oops. Oh well. Let¡¯s just keep alert and try to cope with whatever situation that happens.¡±

    ¡°In other words, let¡¯s just leave it up to fate, huh.¡±

    Elma grumbled a bit after hearing my instructions. But it can¡¯t be helped, right? We can¡¯t predict what would happen once we warp out after all. All we can do is keep alert and go nuts when a battle does ur.

    ¡°5, 4, 3, 2, 1¡­¡­ We¡¯re warping out!¡±

    The fleet came back out to normal space followed by loud booms. Mimi hurriedly switched the radar settings from hyperspace detection to normal space. As a result, aside from Earl Daleinwald¡¯s ships, we actually did pick up another reading. The earl¡¯s fleet went on alert, and we were sent a warning as well.

    From the radar readings, an unidentified ship was circling around the earl¡¯s fleet. Its movements were akin to a shark eyeing prey. No matter how you look at it, that ship is he suspicious. It was more than likely aiming for the earl¡¯s fleet, but stubbornly kept its distance. Was it trying to buy time?

    ¡°It¡¯s clearly buying time. I wonder what they¡¯re aim is?¡±

    ¡°Maybe they¡¯ll hit us with something like a Singing Crystal?¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s probably not it¡­ Rather, I think you¡¯re the only guy crazy enough to use something as dangerous as that as a weapon.¡±

    ¡°Really? It¡¯s quite effective though.¡±

    As I and Elma exchanged banter, the earl¡¯s gship tried to hail the suspicious ship and asked for the crew to identify themselves. However, there was no response at all. It kept circling around our formation and didn¡¯t carelessly approach, but it¡¯s crew kept their silence.

    From the readings, it was an orthodox military small or medium attack craft. Since they¡¯re trying to avoid being identified as part of the military, they were using some sort of jamming device to mask their signature. It was truly quite a suspicious ship.

    The gship of Earl Daleinwald¡¯s fleet finally issued an ultimatum. If the suspicious ship didn¡¯t fall back, they would immediately bring it down. The unidentified ship still ignored that warning and continued circling us. The tension went up several notches.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, there¡¯s something approaching the fleet! It¡¯s fast!¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    Krishna¡¯s radar caught a high-speed object heading straight for the earl¡¯s fleet while we were all preupied by the unidentified ship. It was plunging straight towards the gship!

    ¡°They¡¯re breaking through directly?¡±

    The earl¡¯s fleet also caught the object on their radars, and their weapons systems immediately went online to intercept. At the same time, the unidentified ship also activated its weapons and started firing on the fleet.

    In any case, we can¡¯t just stay still and allow the attack to seed. I immediately had the Krishna elerate to intercept as well. It looks like May¡¯s conjecture was mostly correct. The enemy did opt for a close quarters engagement. It¡¯s just that we didn¡¯t anticipate how close it was.

    I pushed the thrusters to maximum and started chasing after the object - a long, bullet-shaped small craft.

    ¡°It¡¯s a ship I¡¯m not familiar with! And its shield¡¯s he tough!¡±

    This ship wasn¡¯t implemented in SOL, at least as far as I know. I tried shooting it down with a repeated volley from Krishna¡¯sser cannons, but the shield of the unfamiliar ship managed to tank all the shots. It was small, but it was super tough.

    ¡°That¡¯s thetest suppression ship model used by the imperial military.¡±

    ¡°Suppression ship?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It is equipped with an energy shield emitter that rivals those of a battleship¡¯s, and its general tactic is to ram itself directly onto target ships. That will allow the infantry squad riding within it to board the target ship and suppress it from the inside. Aside from the powerful shield emitter and a generator that can support the emitter¡¯s output, it has virtually no weapons equipped.¡±

    ¡°What the heck is up with that weird-ass ship!?¡±

    In other words, it¡¯s a human-filled torpedo, right?

    Eh? Don¡¯t tell me their aim is to kill Earl Daleinwald and Chris by boarding the gship? Seriously? But there are other more efficient methods, right? Why the heck did they choose this kind of stupid strategy? Is there something wrong with their heads!? This is the same stupid stuff the designers of the Great Panjandrum came up with. Was this part of imperial style battle tactics or something?

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s that you know. Imperial nobles are well known for their love of sword duels¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. I watched it happen plenty of times in a long running holo-vid series called The Unfettered Emperor. I think it¡¯s already on its 2406th episode.¡±

    ¡°Argh! Hold up, hold up, okay¡­¡­ Let me wrap my head around it first. Wait¡­ Don¡¯t tell me that Balthazar guy is actually part of that boarding party?¡±

    ¡°Probably. It¡¯s an imperial noble¡¯s style to ask for a sword duel to settle things with a hated foe, or something like that.¡±

    ¡°My head hurts¡­¡±

    Did I unknowingly get myself transported to a spaceedy-themed dimension aftering out of hyperspace?

    Argh! I won¡¯t let myself be defeated by a joke machine! Go down! Go down, I say! I¡¯mma make you guys full of holes using my shotgun cannons dammit!

    However, despite my best efforts, the suppression ship was simply too fast, and it eventually found itself lodged on one side of House Daleinwald¡¯s gship.

 Chapter 101 â€“ A Nobleâ€™s Fancy Exclusive-use Mobile Coffin

    <h4>Chapter 101 - A Noble¡¯s Fancy Exclusive-use Mobile Coffin</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Man, it kinda feels like everything suddenly went into a very stupid direction¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°There, there. We¡¯re still on a job after all, Hiro-sama. Please do your best for a little while more.¡±

    ¡°Working is tough sometimes¡­¡­¡±

    I moved Krishna toward the gship where the earl and Chris were while being gently consoled by Mimi. No matter how you slice it, the troops riding inside that suppression ship or whatever are way outnumbered by the earl¡¯s troops stationed inside the gship, but they still went for it anyway. And they¡¯re actually doing quite well despite their disadvantage. But even so, there¡¯s still a limit, and they were being gradually taken out.

    ¡°Seriously! What is with that ship? Are the designers idiots? Do the people that rode inside that thing have death wishes? If that¡¯s the case, then just p some anti-ship torpedoes onboard, and it would have been game over. It looks like an overgrown torpedo anyway, so why didn¡¯t they go with that?¡±

    ¡°I heard the total production costs for that type of ship is roughly 25,000,000 Enels. It just wouldn¡¯t be worth the astronomical cost for it to be a one-off kamikaze ship. And it would pose a safety issue if a ship meant for carrying soldiers had anti-ship torpedoes as payload.¡±

    ¡°But don¡¯t ramming a ship and self-destructing immediately and ramming a ship in order to attack with totally outnumbered forces just lead to the same thing? They¡¯re both suicidal acts anyway!¡±

    Since both forces were preupied with fighting each other, nothing got in the way of our approach toward the gship. Anyway, I moved Krishna close to the suppression ship to check it out first.

    ¡°Should we just get rid of this thing first?¡±

    ¡°The gship will leak air if you do that. They probably have ways to deal with it, but it¡¯s better not to carelessly remove that thing for now. It might even cause a sudden explosion if you did it poorly. It¡¯ll greatly damage the gship if that happens.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. That doesn¡¯t sound good. Just what went through the developer¡¯s heads when they made this thing¡­?¡±

    Even if the shield emitter is powerful, it would probably still not be able to stand up to a direct hit from a battleship¡¯s main cannon. Since it costs 25,000,000 Enels to produce each ship, the costs would pile up to unreasonable numbers even for a wealthy empire like Gran. It¡¯s also not a tactic that can be used frequently since it¡¯s impractical.

    It might be of use if you wanted to capture a sample of the enemy¡¯stest battleship model¡­ Nah, probably not. The risk is way huge. In the first ce, standard battles between rival starship fleets involve battleships and cruisers getting into a tight formation and sting away at the enemy from long range. This kind of straightforward assault tactic isn¡¯t usually used.

    And I can¡¯t even think of any other situation where a suppression ship with extremely limited use would be a viable option. Or rather, since I haven¡¯t seen this thing in Ste Online at all, that means it¡¯s a unit unique to this particr empire. So it¡¯s a bit simr to my Krishna.

    Actually, some yers may even try to customize this thing since it does have a number of good things going for it, like the powerful shield emitter, generator, as well as that sharp pointy horn out front. It¡¯s a ship that kinda smells of romance. So if they customize it a bit, p some weapon systems on it, and make it so that horn charge could be used as a hidden special finishing move, I¡¯m sure lots of em will have a st with it. There¡¯s a lot of entric guys who like that sort of stuff back on Earth after all. I¡¯m almost a hundred percent sure some idiots would turn that horn into a drill.

    ¡°It seems the design was approved due to some intense lobbying by factions in the military with help from some of the more influential noble houses. By the way, this ship model was only officially used in battle a total of four times. It looks like this is the fifth one though.¡±

    ¡°And what about the sess rate of the charging assault?¡±

    ¡°Including this instance, there¡¯s now a total of three instances when the assault was sessfully performed. So, based on that, the sess rate is 60%. The other 40% is when the ship got shot down. It¡¯s sometimes described as a noble¡¯s fancy exclusive-use mobile coffin, a surprisingly effective decoy, and the imperial military¡¯s most expensive secret weapon.¡±

    ¡°So that Balthazar guy was able to make use of this kind of entric ship to its full potential huh.¡±

    ¡°This man called Balthazar is probably a really skilled tactician. If an irregr like Hiro didn¡¯t appear, his ns would have most likely gone without a hitch.¡±

    ¡°It looks like he was just unlucky to encounter Hiro-sama.¡±

    Just what are you saying, girls? Do you really think of me as some sort of super dangerous guy? I¡¯m just a bit skilled and blessed with a great ship and crew. That¡¯s all. Probably. No, surely. Uh, maybe?

    ¡°Anyway, what do we do now? It looks like the other ships can take care of the other enemy ship out there with no problems, so should we charge in to help protect Chris and the earl?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡­ If we just boarded the ship without informing the crew, there¡¯s a chance we¡¯ll be attacked by both sides.¡±

    ¡°But we can¡¯t just sit here while Chris and the earl are exposed to danger.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s also true¡­¡­ But charging in suddenly like that and going into a direct firefight will be quite dangerous you know? It¡¯s way too risky.¡±

    It looks like Elma didn¡¯t want me to get into a firefight personally. I¡¯m also a bit reluctant, but doing nothing would be going against the contract, and most of all, I really wanna protect Chris. If that Balthazar guy was somehow able toy his hands on Chris and the earl, it would be game over.

    Not only will that 250,000 Enels per day not be paid, but Balthazar would seed in his ploy to usurp the position of earl, and he may even turn his wrath towards me and the girls. It would be more reassuring to get rid of that Balthazar guy now instead of letting a potential source of trouble run free.

    ¡°No, let¡¯s do it. It¡¯ll be dangerous if Balthazar ends up surviving this. In the worst case, even if the earl were to be killed, we have to at least ensure Chris¡¯s life and try to get rid of Balthazar if possible.¡±

    In the very worst case that both Chris and the earl get killed, we at least have to kill that Balthazar as well, or it¡¯ll lead into all sorts of trouble. I have to protect my enjoyable life with Mimi and Elma after all.

    ¡°Mimi, send out a boarding request. I¡¯ll charge inside using my power armor. I¡¯ll leave Krishna¡¯s controls to you, Elma. Once I get in there, lock the hatch, deploy the shields, and don¡¯t let anyone else board the ship no matter what. You¡¯reing with me, May.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Haa. Aye, aye sir.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Mimi, Elma, and May nodded and acknowledged my instructions. I¡¯m actually nervous as heck, but I have no choice. Let¡¯s go for broke then. I relinquished the main pilot seat to Elma and went to the cargo hold with May.

 Chapter 102 â€“ Melee Shootout

    <h4>Chapter 102 - Melee Shootout</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Alrighty, folks. We¡¯re about to plunge straight into a close-range shoot-out right now. Oh, man. I wonder why a guy like me, who owns a high-end starship packing plenty of firepower ended up forced to fight goons in a melee shoot-out? Dammit! It¡¯s all that f***ing stupid noble Balthazar and his retarded suppression ship¡¯s fault. F**k!

    ¡ºWe¡¯re about to make contact, Hiro-sama. The enemy forces are concentrated away from the hangar bay so it should be fine for the most part, but don¡¯t let your guard down.¡»

    ¡°Roger that.¡±

    Well, it¡¯s not like the firepower the enemies are packing will be able to easily breach my power armor¡¯s defenses anyway. My partner¡¯s¡­ er, my custom power armor¡¯s concept is heavy armor and heavy firepower after all.

    It¡¯s sporting ss III military-grade armor with extremely highser tolerance, corrosion resistance, and bullet-proofing. It can also deploy an energy shield to further improve its already impressive defense.

    ¡°I will ensure Master¡¯s safety. Please leave everything to me.¡±

    May dered in front of me as she snorted defiantly.

    She seemed as cool and calm as usual, but there was a lively andpetitive air about her. Yep. Guess she¡¯s really raring to go huh. I understand, so please stop swinging around that power armor-useseruncher you¡¯re holding like a bat. That¡¯s not how you use that thing, okay.

    As for why May has got that power armor-useseruncher, it¡¯s because she said her new generator can handle its energy requirements with plenty of room to spare. It looks like the generator she has right now isparable to those used by most high-end power armors. It may even have a higher output.

    And so, May is able to use aseruncher made for power armors without any problems. By the way, she has a power cable sticking out of the back of her waist attached to theseruncher. It looks like she has a power adaptor there. I can¡¯t really see anything of the sort when we¡¯re in bed together though¡­ How curious.

    As I was thinking of such things, the ship lightly shook. It looks like we¡¯ve managed tond.

    ¡ºLanding sessful. Well, since we took the job, we¡¯ll have to do our best, but be sure to take care of yourselves and don¡¯t take any unnecessary risks, okay. Don¡¯t go overboard and get yourselves killed.¡»

    ¡°Aye aye, ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡ºAlso, avoid getting cut by the noble-exclusive sword. Dodge it at all costs. Even power armors will be easily cut in two if they take that thing head-on after all.¡»

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Now just wait a minute! This is the first time I¡¯m hearing this though.

    ¡ºOh, and nobles often get cybeic imnts that dramatically increase their information processing capabilities, so be wary of that as well.¡»

    ¡°¡­¡­Uh, why?¡±

    What¡¯s the deal with getting some information processing upgrades anyway?

    ¡ºIn other words, they¡¯ll have tremendous reaction speeds and will be able to blockser shots with their swords, and even deflect them in some cases.¡»

    ¡°You gotta be kidding me!¡±

    What the-? Blockser shots with a sword? Deflect them, even? Are they J*di knights or something!? There¡¯s such a thing? Oh, man. I have to think of some countermeasures then.

    ¡ºTheir bodies won¡¯t be able to keep up with those increased abilities for long though, so there¡¯s that. Or rather, can¡¯t you do the same? That¡¯s why I thought you were a noble when we first met you know.¡»

    ¡°Huh? I can? Oh¡­¡­¡±

    Maybe she¡¯s talking about how everything would be in slow motion when I hold my breath? I see. So in their perspective, I was firingser shots at incredible speeds huh.

    ¡°Well, no matter how fast their reaction speeds are, there¡¯s only one guy who has that type of sword, right? At most, they¡¯ll have two. If that¡¯s the case, then there¡¯s no problem.¡±

    As I said so, I readied the weapons I brought with me this time. For this sortie, I brought two splitterser guns with me, which are renowned for their anti-personnel capabilities among all power armor-use weapons. These babies can fire twelveser shots with the same power as that emitted by aser rifle simultaneously. They¡¯re sort of likeser shotguns. Since I got two of them, I can fire off twenty-fourser shots in one go.

    Of course, the split-mode of aseruncher packs more punch since it¡¯s of a higher caliber, but in narrow spaces such as ship corridors, these splitterser guns will be easier to use. So I brought two of them for maximum coverage.

    ¡°Yosh! We¡¯re barging in! Mimi, inform the ship crew so they won¡¯t shoot us on sight by mistake.¡±

    ¡ºOkay! Please be careful!¡»

    ¡°I will handle the navigation, Master.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you. Let¡¯s go!¡±

    The hatch opened and the two of us jumped off of Krishna.

    Because the firefight was happening further away from the hangar, I spurred my power armor to a sprint with heavy-sounding footsteps. Man. The sound of the footsteps may give the impression of a slow, lumbering behemoth, but I was running at speeds several times fasterpared to me without the power armor on. The shock absorbers and artificial muscles equipped on the power armor¡¯s legs were doing a great job.

    Compared to my clumsy gait though, May was running gracefully in front of me in fluttering maid clothes. But she was doing so while carrying a bulky-lookingseruncher. What a surreal sight. The sight of a viinous sumo-wrestler mecha running alongside a maid carrying aser cannon was something straight out of a crappy B movie.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be arriving at the battle site once we pass this corridor.¡±

    ¡°Got it. We¡¯re breaking through. Get behind me. I¡¯ll put up an energy shield.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I will look for an opening and sweep the hostiles.¡±

    After hearing May¡¯s acknowledgment, we finally passed through the corridor and arrived at a hall filled with enemy soldiers wearing tight-fitting body armor on one side and maids and butlers sportingser guns on the other. Both groups were hiding behind makeshift barricades while ring at each other. Oh, right. The crew of this ship wore maid and butler uniforms. It was another very surreal sight.

    The soldiers on the other side looked very surprised when they suddenly saw me barge in wearing an evil-looking rikishi power armor. The maids and butlers looked equally surprised though. Sorry ¡¯bout this folks. Coming through.

    ¡°Uraaaaaaaah!¡±

    I leaped past the barricade created by the maid and butler-sans and fired my two splitterser guns at the enemy soldiers ahead of me. Multiple crimsonser shots bathed the barricade made by the enemy soldiers and caused small explosions.

    ¡°Damn! A power armor! Shoot! Shoot!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! It¡¯s no use idiots!¡±

    I deployed my energy shield and tanked all theser shots fired at me. If I continue to take concentratedser fire, my energy shield will end up being saturated sooner orter, but I wasn¡¯t nning to just stand there in the first ce.

    ¡°May!¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    May appeared from behind me, held theseruncher up, set it to convergence mode, and fired away at the enemy¡¯s barricade.

    The bombardment was several times more powerful than my two splitter guns and effortlessly destroyed the enemy¡¯s barricades. The shots prated through and hit the soldiers hiding behind the barricades, blowing several of them away.

    ¡°Yahoo!¡±

    I set my energy shield to maximum output and charged at the enemies at high speed, blowing both the makeshift barricades and soldiers behind them away with the impact. This was the special move of my sumo wrestler-type power armor¡ºRIKISHI - mk. III¡». It was the¡ºBUCHIKAMASU¡»move that made use of the power armor¡¯s overwhelming mass and armor to devastating effect.

    ¡°Ora ora ora!¡±

    I swung away at the enemies with the power armor¡¯s hefty arms and sent them flying, fired my splitter guns at point-nk range at some, and kicked some more underfoot. No mercy for you all! May also jumped in to join the melee.

    ¡°Haa!¡±

    May, who looked like a delicatedy at first nce, swung around herseruncher and blew away the macho enemy soldiers wearing tight-fitting body armor like leaves at the mercy of a raging storm. Oooh. Those are some really nasty sounds. They¡¯re all going ¡®crack crack¡¯.

    ¡°We¡¯re going ahead.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    After thoroughly destroying the enemy barricades, we decided to leave the clean-up to the maid and butler-sans of Earl Daleinwald and went on our way. It was lucky that the enemies didn¡¯t employ power armors. It would be nice if everything went this smoothlyter too.

 Chapter 103 â€“ Dual-wielding Bastard

    <h4>Chapter 103 - Dual-wielding Bastard</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    When we went past the enemy barricade, we arrived at a corridor that was dyed crimson.

    ¡°Ugh¡­ This is¡­¡±

    ¡°They were cut by an extremely sharp weapon.¡±

    There were several human remains that were cut up to horrifying degrees scattered all throughout the white corridor that was now dyed red with blood. I almost ended up hurling in disgust, but the power armor¡¯s anti-nausea function prevented that from happening. Even so, I still felt sick to my stomach.

    I went through the corridor while making sure not to step on the remains and raced on.

    ¡°So that¡¯s the result of being cut up by a noble¡¯s sword huh¡­¡­ That¡¯s something I¡¯d like to avoid at all costs.¡±

    ¡°Please do not worry, Master. As long as I am present, nothing of the sort will happen to you.¡±

    May dered in a reliable tone. But I also don¡¯t want to see May end up being cut to pieces like that¡­¡­ I¡¯ll try my best and finish that bastard off as fast as I can.

    ¡°By the way Master, there were traces ofser shots hitting several spots on the walls of the corridor we just passed earlier at strange trajectories. It is highly likely that our enemy did indeed undergo cybeic enhancements and imnts to increase reaction speed.¡±

    ¡°How troublesome¡­¡­ Well, I doubt he¡¯ll be able to deflect all twenty-fourser shots from the splitter guns though.¡±

    If it was just single shots from aser rifle, then it would be for the guy to anticipate the trajectory by watching the gun barrel¡¯s movements and such, but I bet he won¡¯t be able to deal with simultaneous splitterser gunshots which scattered the beam via a prization lens. Even if he was dual wielding, he won¡¯t be able to block all the shots from two splitterser guns firing at the same time. And since the shots would cover a wide area,pletely avoiding them was out of the question as well.

    Yeah, we¡¯re good. I¡¯m gonna show that sword-wielding Neanderthal the power of scientific civilization. Muahahaha.

    ¡°Sounds of fighting are echoing up ahead, Master.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m gonna¡­ No, it¡¯s better for you to take point, May. You can run way faster than me, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡­ Understood.¡±

    May nodded and rushed through the corridor at an astonishing speed iparable to before. Is it just me, or is the floor actually getting dented from her steps? Just how fast can she run? I did make May¡¯s specs top-of-the-line, but seeing her in action like this is something else, man. And she¡¯s also installed withprehensivebat programs on top of her crazy specs. Isn¡¯t she way more powerful than me even with my power armor on?

    I ran after her as fast as I could, and before long, my power armor¡¯s audio sensors picked upseruncher firing sounds. It looks like May has already engaged the enemy.

    I then saw a burnt trail that was most likely caused byseruncher fireing out of the open doors just ahead of me. Judging from the earlier sounds, she must have fired several shots already, but she still hasn¡¯t managed to finish him off?

    I refrained from charging inside directly and opted to confirm the situation inside the room first. I saw Earl Daleinwald, who had his sword raised at the ready, surrounded by his subordinates. Chris was also with them. Earl Daleinwald¡¯s body was riddled with many serious-looking cuts. He was in a terrible state. But fortunately, there doesn¡¯t seem to be anyone inside the room who has been cut down and killed yet.

    A little further from the earl and his retinue, May was in a fierce battle with someone.

    ¡°You damned sex doll!¡±

    ¡°That statement is technically correct. However, I would still rmend you retract it due to it having discriminatory connotations and is unbing of someone of your station.¡±

    May faced a furious-looking guy sporting two swords with calmposure as she repeatedly fired herseruncher. She fired high-poweredser shots in diffusion mode at the man. They should have already pierced straight through him¡­ but they didn¡¯t. Instead, the man used his swords to deflect the shots heading for his vitals and dodged the rest. Eh¡­?

    The man fighting May sported a long sword on his right hand and a short sword on his left. He used them with uncanny precision in order to weather through May¡¯sseruncher fire. Oh c¡¯mon! Is he really a Je*i knight or something? Seriously?

    ¡ºMay, give him another barrage. We¡¯ll get him with a crossfire!¡»

    ¡ºAcknowledged.¡»

    After hearing May¡¯s reply, I jumped to a suitable spot inside the hall and- What the-!?

    ¡°Nuooo!?¡±

    ¡°Kuh!¡±

    For some reason, the man seemed to have predicted my move and instantly closed the distance to the spot I jumped toward. I instinctively tried to smash him with theser gun held on the power armor¡¯s left hand, but the damn guy deflected the blow with his sword and used the momentum to take some distance. And to add insult to injury, he even cut theser gun on the power armor¡¯s right hand clean in two in the middle of jumping away.

    ¡°You!? How dare you cut up my precious splitter guns, you bastard!¡±

    ¡°Nuooooh!?¡±

    I threw the remains of the severedser gun at him and aimed the remaining one, as well as the shoulder-equipped fixedser turrets on the RIKISHI MK. III at the dual-wielding bastard. I immediately unleashed a barrage.

    ¡°Youuuu! How dare you aim such barbaric weaponry at someone of noble standing such as myself!¡±

    ¡°Like I care, dammit! Die! I¡¯ll burn you to a crisp!¡±

    If I shoot scatter shots from too long a distance, the uracy and effectiveness will be decreased, so I mostly kept to medium range as I pelted the guy with mercilessser fire. Tsk. This bastard actually had a portable energy shield emitter on him, huh? He managed to block myser barrage in the end.

    Doesn¡¯t matter. Even if he has an energy shield, it would eventually go down from the concentrated fire. If one shot doesn¡¯t do it, then I¡¯ll hit him with two, three, four, ten, twenty¡­ as manyser shots as I have to.

    ¡°What the heck are you gawking about for, you fools!? Fire your weapons as well!¡±

    The maids and butler were shaken from their shocked stupor by Earl Daleinwald¡¯s shout and started firing theirser rifles and guns as well. May switched herseruncher to convergence mode and started hammering the dual-wielding bastard¡¯s shield with shots as well. Just one well-ced shot should be able to saturate that bastard¡¯s shield. That¡¯s good. Give it to em!

    ¡°Damn it to hell!¡±

    The dual-wielding bastard suddenly set off an explosion. No, it¡¯s a smokescreen huh? The guy¡¯s form vanished within the white smoke as it quickly dispersed all around the hall. I see. In addition to blocking our vision, the smoke also serves to dampen ourser shots. That¡¯s a nice move, son.

    But it¡¯s useless.

    ¡°Soooi!¡±

    ¡°Guwaaaaah!?¡±

    I threw the remaining splitter gun at the dual-wielding bastard, who was in the middle of sprinting toward Earl Daleinwald, and got a direct hit.

    Sure, antiser weapon smokescreens are quite effective at their role in normal cases, but they are next to useless when facing someone equipped with a power armor. That¡¯s because power armors sport several other high-precision sensors apart from optical ones, such as infrared and the like. A smokescreen of this degree poses no trouble at all.

    I deployed my energy shield and rapidly closed the distance with the dual-wielding bastard.

    ¡°You son of-!¡±

    The guy noticed my approach and tried to cut me down with his swords, but they were blocked by the power armor¡¯s energy shield.

    Those swords may have impressive cutting power, but they can¡¯t prate an energy-based shield, just as I expected.

    Without the tremendous heat produced byser shots or the powerful kic impacts produced by explosions or high-caliber ballistic shot-cannon rounds, there¡¯s no breaking through a military-grade energy shield.

    So even with those exceedingly sharp swords and his cybeic imnts providing a boost in speed and power, there¡¯s no chance in hell he¡¯d be able to cut through my energy shield. Uh, but there was still a chance he actually could. Fortunately, my hunch proved true. Phew.

    Energy shield tech was originally meant to block space debris, so I was pretty confident.

    ¡°Goshaaaaaaa!?¡±

    I ced the full weight of my power armor on a full-body tackle and blew the enemy away as if he was hit by a speeding truck. The right hand of the dual-wielding bastard bent in an awkward direction, and the long sword it held was flicked away.

    ¡°May, secure him!¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Theseruncher-wielding May rushed in like a gale and smashed the dual-wielding bastard to the floor. She then crushed his legs with merciless efficiency.

    Those are the most painful sounding cracks I¡¯ve heard to date. Someone in the room wolf-whistled in astonishment. I couldn¡¯t ce who it was though. Still though, ouch.

    The smoke gradually cleared, and I finally got a clear view of the dual-wielding bastard, who now sprawled pathetically on the floor as theseruncher-toting May gantly stepped on his back. Hey, Earl Daienwald. Wouldn¡¯t it be better if you reced the maid and butler-sans under your employ with a high-specbat maidroid like May? Well, maybe there¡¯s a reason why he didn¡¯t employ maidroids in the first ce. Not my problem anyway.

    ¡°So, is it okay for me to kill this guy now?¡±

    I asked Earl Daleinwald, who was looking in my direction, with a stern expression on my face. This guy was most likely Balthazar anyway. C¡¯mon, man. Give me the green light already.

 Chapter 104 â€“ Conclusion

    <h4>Chapter 104 - Conclusion</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°¡­¡­We will take that man into custody.¡±

    Earl Daleinwald dered his decision with a stern countenance and signaled the maids and butlers at his side with a nce. The maids and butlers started to take action in a fluster in response to the Earl¡¯s gaze. One of them brought out something resembling a choker and snapped it on the neck of the dual-wielding bastard.

    One maid retrieved the long and short swords the guy had, which flung into a corner of the room during the battle, ced them back in their scabbards, and brought them over to me. What¡¯s this?

    ¡°I have some misgivings regarding your battle methods, but it remains a fact that you and your equipment were the ones who led to the defeat of this man. Those swords can be counted as your spoils of battle.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I don¡¯t get it. What¡¯s up with this, May?¡±

    ¡°There are several methods to resolve strife between nobles, but the one Balthazar Daleinwald chose for this asion was a sword duel. In the end, we barged in on the duel between Earl Daleinwald and his son, and ended up defeating him. This can be counted as Earl Daleinwald¡¯s win, and Balthazar¡¯s fate, including his life or death, will now be decided by him. It is also customary for the winner of a duel between nobles to im the loser¡¯s prided swords for his or her own. Despite our intervention being an irregr factor, it remains a fact that without us, Earl Daleinwald would have lost to his son. That is why they are presenting Master the swords as a prize for our assistance.¡±

    ¡°I see. Those rules are a bit way over my head, but I more or less get it. So it¡¯s okay if we take these, right?¡±

    ¡°I presume so, Master.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    If May says it¡¯s fine, then I guess it is. And so, I gratefully received the swords the maid-san presented to me. It looked a bit awkward because I was still wearing power armor though. A sumo wrestler-based power armor wielding swords is yet another surreal sight.

    ¡°So what¡¯s gonna happen to that guy?¡±

    ¡°We will handle his matter with the appropriate measures.¡±

    After a curt reply, Earl Daleinwald turned on his heels and walked out of the room. The maid and butler-sans hurriedly followed after him. After sending them off with my gaze, I proceeded to pick up the splitterser gun I threw earlier as well as the cut off half of the other one. The weapons can be mounted on my power armor¡¯s back. I dunno what sort of weird tech is used, but they just automatically float and attach to the weapons rack just like in mecha anime or games.

    Just kidding. The weapons rack is equipped with auto controlled sub-arms. It just looks like what happens in anime and games from the front. I only carry myser gun most of the time, but this world does have things like tactical armor. I saw some in an online store, so there¡¯s no mistake.

    ¡°It¡¯s been hard on you, Hiro-sama.¡±

    Chris approached me as I was busy recovering my stuff.

    ¡°Yeah. You too. You¡¯re not hurt, are you?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m okay.¡±

    I saw something hung on Chris¡¯s hip which she didn¡¯t have before. It was a knife¡­ No, it was a bit longer than your average knife. A self-defense dagger huh.

    ¡°I¡¯d actually like to pat your head, but I¡¯m still wearing power armor y¡¯see. Anyway, I¡¯m d you¡¯re okay, Chris.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to Hiro-sama. We finally managed to resolve this whole ordeal without me having to use my dagger.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll refrain from asking how exactly you nned on using that thing.¡±

    If it¡¯s anything like what I¡¯m familiar with back on Earth, those types of self defense daggers can also be used as ast resort to protect a woman¡¯s dignity in hopeless situations. In other words, they¡¯re used for voluntary suicide. If Earl Daleinwald lost and I didn¡¯t arrive in time to rescue her, Chris would probably choose to end her own life rather than being disgraced.

    ¡°Oh, right. Gotta contact Elma and Mimi¡­¡­ Hey, Elma, Mimi, we¡¯re finished here. As for Balthazar Daleinwald¡­ Yeah, we didn¡¯t manage to kill him, but he¡¯s been apprehended. Earl Daleinwald¡¯s men ced something that looked like a metal choker on his neck.¡±

    ¡ºGotcha. So you didn¡¯t finish him off huh?¡»

    ¡°We barged into his duel with Earl Daleinwald, and May crushed his legs in the end. He fainted and is now in custody. I asked if we should finish him off, but the earl decided against it and just captured the guy.¡±

    ¡ºI see. Are you and May alright?¡»

    ¡°Yep. One of my splitterser guns got cut clean in half though.¡±

    ¡ºWell, that¡¯s unlucky. But I¡¯m d the only casualty was yourser gun. It¡¯s way better than you getting cut in two, right?¡»

    ¡°Definitely.¡±

    With that crazy sharpness, my power armor would have been really split in half. Hooray for energy shields!

    ¡ºPleasee back safely, Hiro-sama.¡»

    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s have a feast tonight to celebrate. At least, we can finally breathe easy now.¡±

    ¡ºYes.¡»

    I suddenly remembered something after hearing Mimi¡¯s cheerful reply.

    ¡°Right, do you want toe with us to the ship, Chris? We¡¯re gonna have a celebration party of sorts for taking down that Balthazar.¡±

    ¡°A party? That sounds nice. Thank you for inviting me, Hiro-sama. I¡¯ll dly join you all.¡±

    ¡°Even though I say it¡¯s a party, we¡¯ll just have the auto-cooker make a bunch of things as usual. If you¡¯re fine with that, then by all means,e over my princess.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I will obtain permission from grandfather no matter what.¡±

    After saying so, Chris balled her fists and pumped herself up. She¡¯s already acting simr to Mimi huh¡­ Well, they did spend quite some time as roommates, so it¡¯s no wonder she picked that gesture up.

    ¡°Oh yeah. What about the fighting outside?¡±

    ¡ºIt looks like they already announced Balthazar¡¯s defeat, so the fighting has stopped. Some ships surrendered, while some attempted to flee.¡»

    ¡°I see. Guess I¡¯ll head back then. Hey Chris, we parked Krishna on this ship¡¯s hangar, soe over once you get permission, alright. May, I¡¯ll leave escorting Chris to you.¡±

    ¡°Alright. I will see youter, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Understood, Master.¡±

    We¡¯ve already handled Balthazar, so I think it¡¯s fine already, but I¡¯ll have May apany Chris just in case. Well, even without May¡¯s escort, there¡¯s still thoseser gun and rifle-wielding maids and butlers though. But I decided to relieve May of her bulkyseruncher and will be bringing it back along with the other equipment.

    I checked with the ship personnel if there was still some fighting going on in other sections of the ship, but they confirmed that the enemies have all been eliminated, so I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

    ¡°Man. I feel exhausted.¡±

    Maybe it¡¯s because we apprehended the ringleader going after Chris, but I couldn¡¯t help but rx my guard. How do I put it? I just feel kinda drained by this whole fiasco so I couldn¡¯t help but want to finally rx. I know I should still keep a minimum amount of vignce, but I couldn¡¯t help it. I gotta get my act together.

    I walked with lumbering steps that attracted the attention of the maid and butler-sans I passed by until I made it back to the hangar. The escort fighters stationed on the ship started to return as well.

    There were units that were pretty much unscathed aside from a few nicks and there were some that were so beat up, it was a wonder how they actually made it back. The fighter escorts were your standard imperial fighter model.

    They sported two mounted multi-cannons and two seeker missile pods on each wing. They had great speed and maneuverability. Their armor was virtually paper thin, but nevertheless, they were excellent units overall.

    Mercenaries tend to prefer models with greater cruising range and cargo capacity though. But there were also some mercs who preferred these models instead. They looked like badass sci-fi fighter nes and were quite cool.

    Krishna towered over all of them though, and was pretty conspicuous. It was ssified as a high-speed smallbat craft, but its overall size was actually quite close to medium-sized ships. Its specs andbat abilities was another matter altogether though.

    I walked through the hangar, which was busy with mechanics heading to and fro for maintenance and repairs, as well as personnel aiding the injured fighter pilots, and headed back toward Krishna. Since I was carrying a bulkyseruncher, I had to be careful not to identally injure the personnel running around inside the hangar. They also cleared the way for me, so I managed to pass through without any incident.

    I went up the ramp, went through the hatch, and made it back to Krishna¡¯s cargo bay, where Elma and Mimi were waiting.

    ¡°Hiro-sama!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m back. Anyway, I¡¯ll get out of my power armor first.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Mimi followed after me as I went to park the power armor. I didn¡¯t really get injured, but she still acted worried. I went over to the armory and ced theseruncher back on the weapons rack. I then tossed the destroyed splitter gun inside the junk box and parked the power armor.

    ¡°Puhaaa! Freedom atst!¡±

    ¡°Good work, Hiro-sama!¡±

    I took the towel Mimi handed over and wiped my head to get rid of all the sweat. The power armor has an air conditioning unit installed, but going through an intense firefight still made me sweat a lot.

    ¡°Thanks, Mimi. Oh, right. Get a load of these.¡±

    I took down the swords I got as trophies from defeating Balthazar and showed them to Mimi.

    ¡°Swords? These are the ones used by nobles, right?¡±

    ¡°Yep. May and I beat Balthazar up together, and Earl Daleinwald gave them to us as a reward.¡±

    ¡°Can you really obtain these just like that¡­?¡±

    Mimi disyed a perplexed expression. Yeah. I kinda get that. I was confused about it too. But there¡¯s no use worrying since I already brought them back anyway. It looks like they weren¡¯t against me taking them, and May also said it was okay.

    ¡°Well, I was reluctant to receive them at first, but they insisted, so¡­¡±

    ¡°I-I see¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi switched from being perplexed to being curious. To Mimi, these swords were the very symbols of nobility. In other words, they were things only those who ruled above the masses possessed. In Japan, they are kinda like the badges worn by national diet members, I guess. Uh, that example might be a little off. A-Anyway, they are not something your average joe can have.

    ¡°Do you want to check them out?¡±

    ¡°Is it okay?¡±

    ¡°Sure. Here you go. Oh, and be careful since it¡¯s really sharp.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    I handed the short sword to Mimi while I checked out the long sword.

    Fumu. It was surprisingly thinner than I expected. It was at least thinner than the sword Major Serena had. But I guess its sharpness was about the same huh. I haven¡¯t really seen these swords in action apart from today, so I can¡¯t say for sure. It was double-edged. The de wasn¡¯t that wide, and the point was sharp.

    I guess they prioritized speed and handling instead of power when they made this huh. Well, the thickness of the de doesn¡¯t matter much if they focused on sharpness, so I guess being lightweight and easy to handle is better.

    ¡°They look quite grand, don¡¯t they?¡±

    ¡°Really? Hm. Maybe.¡±

    I exchanged items with Mimi and checked out the short sword next. This one was thickerpared to the long sword. It may be just as sharp, but it kinda looked more solid over all. This wasn¡¯t made for attacking, but defending instead.

    ¡°¡­What are you guys doing over there?¡±

    We turned toward the entrance of the armory and found an exasperated Elma with her hands on her hips. I held the short sword aloft so she can take a better look at it.

    ¡°Do you want to check out the spoils as well?¡±

    ¡°Spoils huh¡­¡­ Did you receive those from the earl?¡±

    ¡°Yep. May and I beat up Balthazar and rescued Earl Daleinwald, so he rewarded us with these.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re talking like it¡¯s no big deal¡­¡­¡±

    Elma disyed a pondering expression as she eyed the swords.

    ¡°Was it bad for me to take them?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not like that, but¡­¡­ Well, I guess it¡¯s up to the other party to decide what to make of this. It¡¯s not like we can do much about a noble¡¯s whims. Anyway, what about our preparations for tonight¡¯s celebration? Just put away those dangerous-looking things and let¡¯s get to it, you two. But first, take a shower Hiro. You stink of sweat.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Okay, I got it.¡±

    I listened to Mama Elma and obediently put away the swords inside the weapon case, then walked out of the cargo bay. Mimi and Elma stayed to take out the foodstuffs and beverages. I went for a shower as Elma suggested.

    After showering, it¡¯s straight to partying baby!

 Chapter 105 â€“ Parting

    <h4>Chapter 105 - Parting</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Man, that was some good eating.¡±

    After gorging on the pizza and fried chicken Tetsujin V made for the party, I immediately took a bath and returned to my room.

    Eh? What about the party, you ask? Everyone made a fuss about the delicious menu including top-quality artificial meat and had a st. Anyway, we had a hell of a time. Well, there was one elf who kinda took it to the next level after getting drunk though.

    Since I was already full, I left the elf who was still drinking and making noise to the two girls, as well as May and a maid from the earl¡¯s ship who tagged along with Chris. I then took a bath and promptly returned to my room. Apparently, I was more mentally and physically exhausted after that intense battle than I expected. It washed over me all at once at thetter half of the party.

    ¡°Man, what a rough day.¡±

    I fiddled with the bedside console and put up the security images taken by the optical sensors installed all over Krishna on the holo-disy. What appeared before me was the image of the hangar Krishna was parked in.

    I saw the busy maintenance personnel and robots running around busily inside the hangar. We had an enjoyable party on our end, but it looks like Earl Daleinwald and his people were still busy dealing with the aftermath of the incident.

    It looks like some people from the Comatt system defense forces were invited by Balthazar to participate in the failed attack, and ording to Chris, the Daleinwald house and the Comatt system forces were in the middle of trying to clear things up.

    None of that matters to a merc like me though! Currently, we are still on standby inside Earl Daleinwald¡¯s ship until further notice. We were free to do whatever we wanted while waiting though. If there was a need to sortie due to some unexpected developments, we would have to participate as well.

    After clearing the battlefield, Earl Daleinwald and his fleet continued on to the Comatt system main colony, Comatt Prime, in order to deal with the captured ships, hospitalize the injured, get much-needed repairs among other stuff. And we also had to tag along.

    Since we already took care of the mastermind, Balthazar, and we were already on Earl Daleinwald¡¯s home turf, this particr incident should be considered finished now right? But it looks like the earl still wanted to act prudently.

    As Iid in bed while thinking about those matters, a chime notification rang out. It looks like somebody wants to enter my room. Since the doors of Krishna¡¯s rooms were pretty thick and airtight, you won¡¯t be able to hear anything inside if people simply knocked. That¡¯s what the electronic chime was for. Well, in Elma¡¯s case, she would persistently knock on the door to the point where you can¡¯t help but notice though.

    ¡°Good evening.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah. Good evening.¡±

    I thought it was Mimi who visited, but when I opened the door, the one waiting outside was a ck haired beautiful girl. In other words, it was Chris.

    I didn¡¯t really expect it to be Chris, so I went out just wearing boxers and a tank top. In other words, I was just in my underwear.

    ¡°Uh, can you wait for a sec. I¡¯ll go change first.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m sorry for dropping in on you so suddenly.¡±

    Since it¡¯s not proper to talk while just wearing undies, I hurriedly put on some pants. Chris was kind enough to avert her gaze to the side while I was changing with slightly red cheeks. Sorry about this, girl.

    ¡°Uh, so what¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing in particr, really¡­ I just wanted to talk.¡±

    ¡°Okay?¡±

    The reason wasn¡¯t clear, but I can¡¯t just refuse her after all. I led Chris to sit on the chair in front of the table ced a bit away from the bed. I can¡¯t just let a young nobledy sit on a guy¡¯s bed after all. Uh, but maybe inviting her into my room was already an offense in the first ce. Oh boy.

    ¡°Sorry. I don¡¯t have anything fancy like tea to offer you¡­ Will this do?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    After seeing Chris nod, I took out a non-carbonated c from my mini-fridge and ced it on top of the table beside her. Yep. It doesn¡¯t pack much of a kick, but the sweet taste is still great.

    ¡°Well, uh, good job out there. In any case, you¡¯re already out of danger, so congrats Chris.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s all thanks to you. My grandfather is also full of praise for your actions.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    But that old man always had a scowl on his face whenever he talked to me though. Well, I guess I should be thankful that he acknowledged a mere mercenary like me at least.

    ¡°Yes. He looked a bit grumpy, but he did say you were quite skilled.¡±

    ¡°I see. It doesn¡¯t feel bad to be acknowledged.¡±

    I then remembered something and got up from the bed. I walked in front of the closet and took out the ne with the light purple jewel attached. I left it inside the pocket of my favorite jacket.

    ¡°It¡¯s about time to return this to you.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡­¡±

    Chris moved her gaze to the ne on my palm. Her expression looked a bit forlorn.

    ¡°Well, I still have to work as Chris¡¯s personal knight for a little bit more though. But since I already received a reward for protecting Chris from Earl Daleinwald, I think it¡¯s better to return this to you now. It¡¯s something important to you, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes.¡±

    When I presented the ne to her, Chris obediently picked it up with her small hands. I then ced another chair in front of Chris and sat down.

    ¡°Um, I¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ towards Hiro-sama¡­ I think of you as someone very special to me. I think I may have fallen for you.¡±

    Chris gripped the ne tightly with a red face as tears flowed down from her eyes.

    ¡°¡­¡­I see.¡±

    Well, I did kinda see thising. I¡¯m not that dense. We did bond during our stay on the resort after all. Well, even discounting that, a guy who willingly puts himself in harm¡¯s way to protect a girl in desperate straits is a recipe for this kind of development.

    Well, I could just chalk it off to being carried away at the heat of the moment and leave it at that, but for this girl, it was a serious confession, so I can¡¯t bring myself to do that. But, well¡­

    ¡°I did tell you this before, right? I have no intention ofying my hands on a noble daughter¡­ No, wait! Don¡¯t cry.¡±

    Chris¡¯s eyes flooded with tears after hearing me, so I wiped her eyes with my hands in a fluster. Sorry for not having a handkerchief with me. Just where did all that aggressive attitude that led to her tagging along with Mimi to attempt to sneak inside my room, I wonder?

    ¡°It¡¯s just that we both are under certain circumstances, Chris. You have your standing as a nobledy to consider, right? Balthazar is now certain to be stripped of his right to inherit the house, so that would leave Chris as the sole heir.¡±

    There¡¯s also an option of adopting an heir from talented persons from within the rest of the family, but I¡¯m not all too clear about something like that.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think Earl Daleinwald would approve of Chris being in a rtionship with a guy from who-knows-where. On the off chance that he did approve, I still can¡¯t ept. I don¡¯t have any intention of quitting the mercenary business at this time after all.¡±

    If Earl Daleinwald did approve of our rtionship somehow, I¡¯d probably marry into the family and get to live on a where I can drink carbonated stuff as much as I want. It¡¯s possible, but it just doesn¡¯t sit well with me for some reason. I probably want to aplish my dreams with my own efforts.

    ¡°Is it really no good¡­? Even if I say I¡¯m willing to forsake my position as the Daleinwald House heiress?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s no good. If you do that, I¡¯d be hunted down by Earl Dalienwald without a doubt. I¡¯m sorry, but I just can¡¯t throw everything I have right now away to be with you. I¡¯m really sorry, Chris.¡±

    Chris started tearing up again. My words were as good as rejection after all; and a not so subtle one at that.

    But it can¡¯t be helped. As I said, I don¡¯t have any intention to throw away my current life with Mimi and Elma just to be with Chris. If I were hunted down by the earl, I¡¯m sure Mimi and Elma will be implicated as well. As a man, and as the captain of this ship, I cannot put my crew, who are also important women in my life, in any sort of danger unreasonably.

    In other words, I treasure Mimi and Elma morepared to Chris¡¯s feelings. I¡¯m really sorry about Chris. But it really can¡¯t be helped.

    I took out my portable terminal and called May. After a short while, May entered the room. I signaled toward Chris, who was still crying her heart out.

    ¡°Sorry, May. Would you please?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s no trouble, Master. Please leave it to me.¡±

    May then apanied the crying Chris out of my room. I could have tried tofort her myself, but I¡¯m not so skilled as to be able tofort a girl I practically just rejected. I had no choice but to leave it to May.

    ¡°Uwaaaaah¡­¡­¡±

    I let out a big sigh as I plopped powerlessly on top of my bed. Let¡¯s just sleep. Yeah.

    I gradually drifted to sleep with the image of Chris crying sorrowfully stuck to the back of my head.

 Chapter 106 â€“ Sulking, a Crybaby, and a Change of Heart.

    <h4>Chapter 106 - Sulking, a Crybaby, and a Change of Heart.</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I woke up after sulking in bed for a while. I felt a heavy weight on my shoulders and a bit of a headache. My condition was the worst. In order to protect my current way of life, I trampled over an innocent girl¡¯s first love. When I thought about it again, my chest felt even heavier.

    I can actually make up lots of excuses. Her grandfather was an earl, and he would not have epted our rtionship. If we went against all odds and insisted, I would have to give up my mercenary lifestyle and possibly part with Mimi and Elma.

    In the off chance that the earl did agree, I still would end up quitting the mercenary business. There was still a chance of me using Krishna to hunt down pirates for sport, and Mimi and Elma would probably be treated as my mistresses.

    But would I be able to ept a life like that? I really don¡¯t think so after all. And if I marry into a noble house, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll be burdened with tons of worries and responsibilities. And I¡¯m sure Chris will face her own troubles as well.

    I could try my best to support her, but I just don¡¯t think I¡¯d be able to do well in noble society-

    ¡°Ei!¡±

    ¡°Ooof!?¡±

    What the-!? I turned toward the culprit and found light brown eyes staring closely at me. Those eyes looked somewhat sad and troubled.

    ¡°Mimi, huh.¡±

    Mimi then suddenly burrowed her head onto my chest. What¡¯s with her? She¡¯s just like a puppy. I actually imagined dog ears on top of Mimi¡¯s light brown hair for a moment.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    I patted Mimi¡¯s head and coaxed her. She removed her face from my chest and looked up at me with teary eyes. She looked quite shaken.

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong Mimi?¡±

    Mimi tried to talk but broke down into mournful sobs instead. I hugged her close to me once more and patted her head in order to soothe her. Her sobs gradually subsided. Is she done crying? I peered at her face and found the red-eyed Mimi sniffling like a baby.

    ¡°Oh, man¡­ Don¡¯t be like this, Mimi. It¡¯s a waste of your good looks.¡±

    ¡°Uuu¡­¡­¡±

    I took some wet tissues from the bedside and wiped her nose clean. I then tossed the used tissue inside the wastebasket and some recement tissues appeared on the bedside once more. I don¡¯t know just what mechanism was behind it though.

    I continued to pat Mimi¡¯s head until she eventually calmed down. Her state reminded me of Chris¡¯s crying face earlier and I felt gloomy. I felt what I did to her was quite heartless just because I didn¡¯t want to lose my current life with Mimi and Elma.

    ¡°Mimi.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes.¡±

    ¡°Seeing you like this helped me calm down somewhat.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Fuguuu??¡±

    Mimi ended up crying once more. Mimi sure is crying a lot today huh. I made a wry smile as I patted her head once more.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for the trouble¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±

    The only sacrifice from the earlier incident was my undershirt, which was wet with tears and snot. It¡¯ll be good as new after a round inside theundry module, so it¡¯s all good. But the wet tissue stocks did get depleted. That¡¯s because it took more time to replenish the tissues on the bedside than usual.

    ¡°So just why did you start bawling like that anyway?¡±

    After hearing my question, Mimi¡¯s eyes started tearing up again. But Mimi managed to hold the tears back this time and started talking.

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ I heard about the matter with Chris-chan from May-san.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°I felt really happy that Hiro-sama chose me and Elma-san over Chris-chan¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ And?¡±

    I get that she¡¯s happy, but just why did she cry a river earlier then? No, maybe it¡¯s something like¡­ Hm. I can¡¯t really be sure, but maybe¡­

    ¡°I was happy that I got chosen over Chris-chan. I was over the moon. But after I calmed down and thought about it, I felt like I was a really despicable person for being happy about Chris-chan being rejected¡­ I visited Hiro-sama¡¯s room to try and cheer you up, but when I saw you, everything just¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay. I understand. There, there¡­¡­¡±

    I hugged Mimi, who was starting to tear up once more, and continued patting her head.

    She¡¯s feeling guilty about being happy even though her friend ended up getting hurt.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t supposed to be like this. I was the one who wanted to cheer you up, but in the end, I was the one who needed to be cheered up¡­ I¡¯m so hopeless¡­ To think I was such an unfair, shameful person¡­ It¡¯s just¡­¡±

    Mimi let out a mournful sigh as she buried her face on my chest. I clearly felt her pain as she sobbed on my chest. But now, two undershirts got wet from her crying¡­ Oh well.

    ¡°I ended up calming down a lot as a result anyway, so it¡¯s okay. You did well, Mimi. So don¡¯t be so hard on yourself.¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi looked up and peered at my face. I just wiped her face clean earlier, but now it¡¯s ruined again. Here you go. Let me wipe it again then. Stay still. But at this rate, my room¡¯s wet tissue supply would really run out. The recement speed was clearly slowing down to a crawl already. It can¡¯t be helped.

    ¡°I¡¯m feeling a bit hungry. Let¡¯s go to the dining area for some food, okay?¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­¡±

    I helped Mimi off the bed and pulled her to the dining area. Of course, I changed shirts before going out and tossed the wet one inside theundry module. Mimi looked apologetic, but I decided not to mind since she might start crying again.

    ¡°Oh, that was quick¡­¡­ Wait, Mimi, why are your eyes so red?¡±

    ¡°Let me take care of it. Please sit over here, Mimi-sama.¡±

    We found Elma still drinking her booze inside the dining area as May watched over her. After seeing Mimi¡¯s current countenance, May prepared something and promptly had Mimi sit down next to her.

    ¡°You sure are rxed, Elma.¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah. We really can¡¯t do anything about it, so why worry in the first ce?¡±

    Elma ced her shot ss on top of the table and made a strained smile.

    ¡°Realistically speaking there¡¯s no way Earl Daleinwald would have approved of a rtionship between you and Chris. In the first ce, Chris won¡¯t even have time for something like romance.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    I didn¡¯t get what Elma meant by ¡®not having time¡¯ and inclined my head.

    ¡°Since her father was killed and Balthazar is out of the running, the burden of being the heir will fall on Chris¡¯s shoulders. Since he¡¯s a high-ranking noble, Earl Daleinwald is qualified to undergo life-prolonging treatment, but even that has a limit. If the earl ended up kicking the bucket early, the Daleinwald house would be left in the hands of the still immature Chris. Well, I¡¯m positive they will make sure that doesn¡¯t happen, but Chris will still undergo rigorous training and studies from now on in order to prepare her to inherit the house.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°Chris will be ced under strict surveince and will be taught everything an imperial noble needs to learn thoroughly. She won¡¯t have time for engaging in romance at all. She¡¯s still young though, so there¡¯s no rush toplete her education just yet, but I bet her freedom is gonna be restricted from now on.¡±

    ¡°We saved her, but she¡¯s still quite pitiful in the end, huh¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s the duty of imperial nobility, so it can¡¯t be helped. In exchange for their domains and authority, they have to take upon themselves the required responsibility. Well, she does seem quite pitiful¡­ but¡­¡±

    Elma turned her gaze toward May. May was busy wiping Mimi¡¯s face with a towel.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Oh, nothing. I do hope it doesn¡¯t turn out into another incident in the future.¡±

    ¡°Now just hold up there. What the heck is with that ominous-sounding statement?¡±

    ¡°These imperial AI are just¡­ How should I put it? Um, they are kinda fixated on defending true love, or just the idea of a happy ending or something like that.¡±

    I turned toward May in trepidation and heard some pretty dangerous-sounding words from her.

    ¡°Love and romance will save the universe.¡±

    May looked at Elma and dered an unsettling slogan with a straight face. Wait, wait, wait! Just what did you say to Chris, May-san!?

    ¡°How old was that girl again? Twelve-something? In that case, she¡¯ll be considered an adult after three years¡­ It would be okay if she somehow had a change of heart after those three years. But if not¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Elma-san. We¡¯ll be able topletely charm Hiro-sama within those three years, so there¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡±

    After having her face wiped by May, Mimi seemed rejuvenated and she pumped herself up with clenched fists. Seeing Mimi like that, Elma just nodded half-heartedly. She acted indifferently, but her face and ears turned slightly red. It looks like Mimi was okay now, and Elma looked as rxed as usual, but I¡¯m shaking in my boots here.

    ¡°May, just what did you tell Chris?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing worthy of note.¡±

    ¡°Just tell me.¡±

    ¡°Alright. Chris-sama is a nobledy. I just told her that in order to get what she wants she¡¯ll have to make it so she¡¯ll have enough power and influence to silence all opposition. Afterward, she¡¯ll just have to chase after Hiro-sama with all her might, corner him, and make it a fait apli.¡±

    She just uttered some terrifying statements with a straight face.

    ¡°Hey, May¡­ I don¡¯t have the slightest intention of bing a noble y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I know, Master. You hate being restricted and treasure your freedom after all. But there are several ways to get around what¡¯s troubling you, so there¡¯s no problem.¡±

    The corners of May¡¯s mouth raised up slightly.

    ¡°Hiee.¡±

    It was a spine-chilling smile. Is she enjoying this? She is, isn¡¯t she? Just what is this maidroid up to? Scary!

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to be afraid, Master. I will devote my entire being to ensure you live the life you want to live.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Hiro-sama. Please believe in May-san. She¡¯s a good person.¡±

    ¡°Well, I believe she won¡¯t do anything detrimental to you as well, so don¡¯t worry. I can¡¯t guarantee it won¡¯t trouble you though.¡±

    Mimi waspletely supporting May now. As for Elma, she looked like she¡¯s already given up. It feels like I¡¯m gradually getting cornered here, man.

    ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s enough about Chris¡¯s matter. We¡¯ll just have to im our rewards once wend on Daleinburgter. I¡¯ll leave our future itinerary to you, okay Captain?¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah¡­ Okay. We¡¯ll need to n our next destination.¡±

    Since we used the gateway toe to a faraway sector of imperial space, we¡¯ll have to collect data about the surrounding systems again. Since we¡¯ve made a considerable amount of money, maybe it¡¯s time to consider buying a mothership once more? Once we get one, we¡¯ll be able to make money through transport requests as well, and use Krishna¡¯s cargo hold exclusively for weapons and supplies.

    I really want to buy a mothership, but I also want to find something cheap but high-quality. I¡¯ll have to consider future repair costs, as well as the fees for remodeling and customizing the ship, so the cheaper the initial purchase price, the better. And in order to get the best deal, it¡¯s better to head directly to the source. In other words, we¡¯ll have to head to a star system with a lot of ship makers.

    Fumu. Yeah, I¡¯ll have to seriously consider this.

 Chapter 107 â€“ Mimiâ€™s Salary Raise and Choosing a Mothership

    <h4>Chapter 107 - Mimi¡¯s Sry Raise and Choosing a Mothership</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Man, I just can¡¯t stopughing.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay. It¡¯s great that we made a profit huh.¡±

    ¡°As expected of Master.¡±

    After arriving at the Dexer star system, which was the home system of Earl Daleinwald, we entered the Dexer Prime colony and finallypleted our bodyguard mission. We just got our rewards for the job. We would be paid 250,000 Enels per day, and the time it took to arrive at the Dexer star system was a total of 22 days. The battle we went through and our time resupplying at the Comatt system was also included in the calction. The time we spent getting the fleet repaired and hospitalizing the injured crew was also taken into ount.

    And we also got a bonus for stopping Balthazar¡¯s rampage. The initial reward was 5,500,000 Enels, with a bonus of 2,500,000 Enels. That¡¯s a grand total of 8,000,000 Enels all in all. As expected of Earl Daleinwald! He¡¯s filthy rich!

    Since Mimi¡¯s share was 0.5% of the total rewards, she¡¯ll receive 40,000 Enels. Elma¡¯s was 3%, so she¡¯ll get 240,000 Enels. The remaining 7,772,000 Enels will be my share. My assetsst time was 24,400,000 Enels, so I now have a total of over 32,100,000 Enels. I have to subtract about 10,000 Enels or so for the maintenance and repair fees as well as restocking ammunition and supplies.

    ¡°M-Mm¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi¡¯s face froze when she saw the numbers disyed on the data terminal. Fumu¡­? Was the pay she got not enough? But, yeah. 0.5% was really too little. Yosh.

    ¡°Come to think of it, you¡¯ve already ustomed yourself to being our ship operator, right Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Um¡­ I guess so?¡±

    Mimi got surprised when I suddenly called out to her and nodded reflexively.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I guess it¡¯s about time for her to graduate from being a trainee huh.¡±

    It looks like she already knew what I was getting at, so Elma backed me up. Un. It really is the case though.

    ¡°That means it¡¯s also about time Mimi gets a raise, right?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ N-N-No! I¡¯m fine! I have enough money!¡±

    Mimi started panicking after hearing our exchange. What are you getting flustered for, girl?

    ¡°That won¡¯t do. Once you get promoted to a full crew member, it is a standard procedure that you¡¯ll get a pay raise. After all, you¡¯ve already mastered all the necessary procedures, resupplying, selling loot, as well as keeping watch on the radar. Since you¡¯ve raised your skills, you should be rewarded an appropriate amount.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. The 0.5% share is just the very minimum after all. Should we raise it to 1%?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that sounds good. Alrighty then. Instead of 40,000 Enels, you¡¯ll be receiving 80,000 Enels for the job this time¡­¡±

    ¡°I-It¡¯s fine! You can raise itter! Later, okay!¡±

    ¡°No, well, we made an unexpected killing this time, so it¡¯s better to raise your sry now, right?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t be able to use up that much money though!¡±

    After hearing Mimi shout, Elma and I exchanged gazes.

    ¡°80,000 Enels won¡¯t be enough to customize a cheap Zabuton ship though.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. You can probably purchase a second-hand generator, but that¡¯s about it.¡±

    The Zabuton is the nickname SOL yers gave to the cheapest ship in the game - a so-called noob ship. It was squarish and t, so it got the nickname zabuton. Zabuton is an in-game ng used by SOL yers, but Elma was actually familiar with it for some reason. It¡¯s things like this that make me question if this was really another dimension or not.

    ¡°But I don¡¯t have the samemon sense for moneypared to Elma-san and Hiro-sama. I just can¡¯t keep up. I¡¯m just your regr citizen, okay. 40,000 Enels is enough for us to livefortably for a year, you know?¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­? Hm. Come to think of it, it does seem like that huh.¡±

    If you convert 40,000 Enels to Japanese Yen, you¡¯ll end up with 4,000,000 Yen all in all. If you don¡¯t include taxes and insurance premiums, it does seem that it would be enough for an average family to live off of for a year.

    ¡°But that is that, and this is this. If you really insist on it, then I¡¯ll keep your share to 0.5% this time, but you¡¯ll need to receive 1% the next time weplete a job, okay? That¡¯s final.¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­ Okay.¡±

    Mimi still looked quite troubled and let out a sigh. Anyway, that does it for the sry talk.

    ¡°I mentioned this before, but I¡¯m nning on buying a mothership with the money we received.¡±

    ¡°A mothership huh¡­ How much do we have on hand again?¡±

    ¡°About 32 million.¡±

    ¡°Nn¡­ If we have that much¡­ But we¡¯re barely scraping it, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    Elma inclined her head and raised her eyebrow. Well, it¡¯s true that 30 mil would be barely enough to cover purchasing the ship, customizing it, and setting aside an emergency fund for the possibility of getting shot down.

    ¡°We¡¯ll just take on most enemies with Krishna. It doesn¡¯t have to sport high firepower. It would be okay if it has a tough enough shield and hull, arge cargo space, and sufficient speed and maneuverability for its size so it can escape if need be. Besides, Krishna would be more than enough forbat purposes anyway.¡±

    ¡°I see. So a support mothership that won¡¯t participate actively inbat huh. I guess we could make that work. But our budget would still be barely enough.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s why I¡¯m nning on purchasing one directly from a ship-maker to get it as close to the factory price as possible. We¡¯ll have to go to a system with lots of ship makingpanies for that. We¡¯ll have to choose the ship maker and model carefully though.¡±

    I then fiddled with my portable terminal and connected with the holo-disy inside the dining area.

    ¡°I¡¯ve managed to list some prospects already.¡±

    The first one I showed on screen was Recon Industries¡¯¡¾RIMS - 013 Night Hawk¡¿. This ship was designed for speed. Although the armor, shields, and cargo capacity suffer a bit due to that, it was still a top-ss mothership with great speed and maneuverability. And even if the shield and armor strength, as well as cargo capacity, were a bitcking, that¡¯s onlypared to ships of its ss. It only loses out to medium-sizedbat starships, but it¡¯s way tougher than those repurposed civilian ships that the pirates use.

    ¡°It¡¯s a really cool-looking ship, Hiro-sama. But it doesn¡¯t hold a candle to Krishna though.¡±

    ¡°It has a sharp and streamlined feel to it. Having great speed doesn¡¯t sound bad at all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. But it doesn¡¯t have enough synergy with Krishna, I think. Wouldn¡¯t something with greater defense be better in order to take advantage of Krishna¡¯s firepower?¡±

    ¡°I think this is a good choice though. Anyway, next is this one.¡±

    The next unit I put up on the holo-disy was the mothership model¡¾SDMS - 020 Skizbrazunil¡¿manufactured by Space Dwerg. It¡¯scking in the speed department, but it has powerful shield output and thick armor. It has arge cargo capacity so it¡¯s used as a mercantile ship often, and since it is fairly easy to customize, it can not only serve as a mothership and transport ship but also as a mining or research ship, depending on the customer¡¯s needs.

    But due to the heaviness of the ship, its speed and maneuverability suffer a lot in exchange. It may fall prey to things like interdictors quite easily, and its FTL Drive speed was mediocre as well. The Hyperdrive doesn¡¯t seem to suffer too much though.

    ¡°It¡¯s tough-looking and really big!¡±

    ¡°I have noints about its specs, but the style is just not for me.¡±

    ¡°This ship would make good use of Krishna¡¯s abilities, I believe. It may be weak to interdictors, but Master would actually prefer it if we engage with pirates often, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s right, I guess. But I kinda have reservations on it being too slow for my tastes.¡±

    I put up another ship model on the holo-disy. This is a mothership manufactured by Ideal Star Way; the¡¾ISMS - 007 Chrome Elephant¡¿. This ship is in the middle ground when ites to performance and overall specspared to the two earlier models. It¡¯s slower than Night Hawk, but it has a tough shield and thick armor. Its cargo capacity is also quite satisfactory. It¡¯s faster the Skizbrazunil, but its armor and shield don¡¯t measure up to it. The cargo space also isn¡¯t quite asrge.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t it kinda resemble an imperial military starship?¡±

    ¡°Well, the official manufacturer of imperial ships is Ideal Star Way after all. Looking at Ideal ships kinda brings back some bad memories though¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not good to be half-baked. It won¡¯t be able to outrun enemies the Night Hawk can outrun, and it won¡¯t be able to defend against attacks the Skizbrazunil will be able to easily take on. That isn¡¯t good enough, in my opinion.¡±

    ¡°So this is a bust as well¡­ The specs look fine though.¡±

    Mimi didn¡¯t have a problem with it, but it looks like Elma was getting goosebumps just looking at it. May was against it as well, so I guess Chrome is a no-go.

    ¡°Okay then. We¡¯ll remove Chrome Elephant from the list and choose between Night Hawk and Skizbrazunil.¡±

    ¡°Agreed.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    ¡°I-I think either is fine¡­ I¡¯ll leave the choice to you, everyone!¡±

    Mimi hurriedly bowed out of the discussion. Well, Mimi still didn¡¯t have enough knowledge about ships after all. In any case, it looks like Elma likes Night Hawk while May is in favor of Skizbrazunil. In the end, it¡¯ll be up to me to make the choice huh¡­ Decisions, decisions.

 Chapter 108 â€“ Departure

    <h4>Chapter 108 - Departure</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°First, let¡¯s finish deciding on the ship we¡¯re going to buy.¡±

    ¡°Agreed.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Mimi and Elma nodded at my suggestion. May also nodded quietly.

    ¡°My main aim for buying a mothership is to earn more money. And what¡¯s hindering us from increasing our earnings right now is our very limited cargo space.¡±

    ¡°Krishna is primarily abat ship after all.¡±

    May nodded in agreement.

    Yep. Krishna is a technically small-sizedbat craft. It has great firepower for its ss, but its size is basically on the smaller end. The cargo hold is small so it can¡¯t carry much inside. That hinders us from collecting all possible loot from downed pirate ships as well.

    ¡°That¡¯s why the goal for buying a mothership this time is to obtain that much needed cargo space. And from these three, the one that satisfies that condition the most is the Skizbrazunil.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Uhuh.¡±

    ¡°Great. After saying this much, I¡¯m sure you already get the picture. If we consider that point alone, the Skizbrazunil is the perfect choice, but Night Hawk specializes in speed and will leave Skizbrazunil in the dust. Speed and maneuverability are also important factors. It would be easier to escape from sticky situations with a fast ship after all.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. Exactly.¡±

    ¡°Is that really the case?¡±

    Elma and May¡¯s opinions differ on this point.

    ¡°Running away when attacked means we will not try engaging the enemies with Krishna at all. That will not make good use of Krishna¡¯s high firepower andbat abilities. And in cases where we have no choice but to engage with Krishna, a mothership will not have enough maneuverability to evade all iing attacks. That will in turn hinder Krishna¡¯s performance. With that said, it seems the only advantage the Night Hawk offers is its higher FTL Drive speeds.¡±

    May¡¯s points were concise and logical.

    ¡°I acknowledge your points, but I wonder if you¡¯ve taken the crew¡¯s safety into ount as well. With Skizbrazunil¡¯s size and limited maneuverability, avoidingser cannons, multi-cannons, ballistic cannons, and ship torpedoes would be a tall order. It does have powerful shields and armor, but it still wouldn¡¯t be possible to block all attacks. It¡¯s true that Night Hawk won¡¯t be able to avoid some enemy fire with its size, but if Krishna buys enough time, we¡¯ll be able to activate its FTL Drive and have a high chance of escaping.¡±

    ¡°Our enemies will mostly be space pirates, so I highly doubt they have powerfulser cannons or anti-ship reactive torpedoes. They also always try to capture medium-sized ships instead of shooting them down in order to repurpose them, so that¡¯s all the more reason not to be concerned much about taking fatal damage. And Night Hawk is alsoparably more difficult to customize.¡±

    May shook her head after expressing her points. It looks like she doesn¡¯t really think Night Hawk is up to par.

    ¡°In conclusion, if Master¡¯s personal ship wasn¡¯t Krishna, Night Hawk may have been a good choice, but in terms of synergy with Krishna, Skizbrazunil is, by far, the better of the two.¡±

    After saying so, May turned her gaze toward me. After receiving her gaze, I cupped my chin and paused to think.

    ording to May¡¯s impable presentation, Skizbrazunil was, hands down, the best choice. But was it really? The best thing about Night Hawk is its mobility after all. High mobility means less stress for the pilot. And it can also escape from danger zones at a rtively fast speed.

    When ites to piloting the mothership, I¡¯d probably leave it to Elma most of the time. If Elma was the pilot, Night Hawk would better fit her piloting style and habits.

    ¡°I¡¯m thinking of having Elma pilot the mothership, so wouldn¡¯t Night Hawk be a better fit for her?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. That¡¯s also a factor.¡±

    ¡°I also think so as well.¡±

    Elma nodded with a smile and Mimi also seconded her opinion. Elma did formerly pilot a high-speed ship after all. I think she¡¯ll have an easier time getting used to Night Hawkpared to Skizbrazunil.

    ¡°Oh? Were you nning on having Elma-sama pilot the mothership, Master? I thought you were actually going to designate me as the pilot.¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    I and Elma raised our voices after May¡¯s statement.

    Eh? May? I didn¡¯t actually expect that.

    ¡°Yes. Elma-sama¡¯s role as Krishna¡¯s sub-pilot is indispensable, and so is Mimi-sama¡¯s role as the operator. In that case, it would be more efficient for me to be left with piloting the mothership. In case the pirates do manage to board the ship, I will be able to deal with them adequately with my abilities. If theye equipped with space suits or power armor, I can also opt to rapidly depressurize the interior of the ship to deal with them.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s one scary method.¡±

    May is a maidroid. She looks like a raven-haired bespectacled beauty, but she wasn¡¯t an organic lifeform in the end. And so, she will be able to function normally even within an airless vacuum. I can just imagine the gruesome fate of those pirates hit by her strategy. They¡¯d have body fluids and other stuff spilling out of every hole possible¡­ Oh, it¡¯s just too cruel to describe. The clean-up work will be horrendous too.

    ¡°Of course I don¡¯t intend to get defeated, but in case I do get destroyed, I should be fine since I can just transfer my data over to an avable terminal.¡±

    May hit her ample chest with her fist in a show of absolute confidence. I exchanged gazes with Mimi and Elma. It looks like we¡¯ve finally settled on a ship.

    ¡°And so, we¡¯ll be heading for the Brad system soon.¡±

    I turned on the holo-disy inside my bedroom and faced the person on the other side of the screen.

    ¡ºIs that so¡­ Can¡¯t you stay for just a little bit longer?¡»

    The person on the other side gave me a forlorn look.

    ¡°Nah, the sooner we leave, the better. There are not many mercenary jobs in the Dexer system after all.¡±

    ¡ºI see¡­¡­¡»

    Yep. I was talking to Chris. I thought about leaving without saying goodbye to her, but I decided against it in the end, and so, here we are.

    ¡°Well, yeah. That¡¯s about it¡­¡­ Goodb-¡±

    ¡ºI¡¯ll see you next time.¡»

    I was about to say goodbye, but she interrupted me. Chris then made a lovely smile. It seems like she¡¯s matured a bitpared to before.

    ¡ºNext time, okay? Pleasee see me again. If possible, I would like you to visit once a month.¡»

    ¡°¡­¡­Uh, visiting once a month might be a bit unreasonable. We can visit every six months though.¡±

    ¡ºIt can¡¯t be helped. Half a year it is then. I will be waiting for you, my knight.¡»

    ¡°Uh, the job¡¯s already finished, so I¡¯m actually not your knight anymore, right?¡±

    ¡ºI haven¡¯t relieved you from your duties yet though, Hiro-sama. Hence, you are still my personal knight.¡»

    Chris¡¯s smile widened after saying that. It¡¯s like she possesses an aura of coerciveness and confidence she didn¡¯t have before.

    ¡°¡­¡­Haha. You¡¯re really much more assertive now huh?¡±

    ¡ºI am also a proud daughter of the Daleinwald house, as well as its current heiress. I cannot always stay as a pampered princess.¡»

    Sheughed joyfully after saying so. Chris then straightened her posture, as if to assert her newfound confidence. I see. So she doesn¡¯t want to stay as a pampered princess huh.

    ¡ºLet us meet again, Hiro-sama. I will be waiting for you.¡»

    ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡±

    ¡ºIf you don¡¯te, I¡¯ll chase after you, okay. I¡¯m even prepared to use the full might and influence of the Daleinwald house if need be.¡»

    ¡°That¡¯s scary. I¡¯ll try my best not to let ite to that then.¡±

    It looks like the sleeping princess inside the cold-sleep pod has grown a bit after going on adventures with us for a while. May might have given her a little bit too much encouragement though.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be seeing you then.¡±

    ¡ºYes.¡»

    We smiled at each other and cut off the call. With this, there are no regrets left.

    ¡°Alright. Time to depart. Start the final checks.¡±

    I sat down on the main pilot seat and gave mymand to the crew.

    ¡°Systems are all green. Weapon ammo, check. Fuel, check. We canunch any time.¡±

    Elma operated her console on the adjacent sub-pilot seat and ran a quick diagnostics check. Krishna¡¯s automatic diagnostics program showed everything to be all green, but it might be better if the ship underwent an overhaul once we get the chance. The problem is that I haven¡¯t seen any simr model in any of the sites I looked up¡­¡­ Well, I guess I can just ce an order for custom parts after having a ship-makingpany analyze Krishna.

    ¡°Our food, water, medicine, and other supplies are also fine.¡±

    May rechecked our inventory and gave a report. It was now May¡¯s job to manage our essential supplies. I had Mimi look after them originally, but May strongly asserted that it was a job for a maid like herself instead.

    ¡°Okay. Mimi, apply for clearance.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Mimi operated her console and contacted the Dexer Prime colony¡¯s port administration. We received clearance after a short while, and I uncoupled Krishna from the hangar.

    ¡°The excitement of leaving port never fades no matter how many times you experience it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I always feel very excited too!¡±

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. I understand that feeling.¡±

    We finally flew out of the dock and plunged into the sea of stars once more.

    ¡°Yosh. Set the route, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Setting the route now.¡±

    Mimi operated her console and our next destination was disyed on the ship¡¯s HUD. I pointed the bow toward that direction and made Krishna elerate.

    ¡°FTL Drive, charging start.¡±

    ¡°Ok. FTL Drive, countdown start.¡±

    Elma started the countdown for FTL Drive activation.

    ¡°5, 4, 3, 2, 1¡­¡­ FTL Drive, activate.¡±

    In the wake of an explosive sound akin to roaring thunder, Krishna left behind a trail of light and started cruising at lightspeed. The stationary stars in the distance turned into light trails as well. It was a really moving sight, no matter how much I go through it.

    ¡°We¡¯ll begin connecting with the hypene. Hyperdrive, charging start. Countdown. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1- Hyperdrive, activate.¡±

    Space was warped and the light started getting distorted. In the next moment, we plunged into a hyperspace tunnel of multi-colored lights.

    ¡°Now then, I hope everything will be peaceful in our next destination¡­¡±

    ¡°That would be nice¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Somehow, I highly doubt it.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t jinx it, you!¡±

    Krishna continued plowing through the hyperspace tunnel as Elma disyed a pessimistic attitude.

    Our next stop was the Brad star system. It was an industrial star system where the ship makingpany, Space Dwerg Co. Ltd., was located.

 Chapter 109 â€“ Brad Star System

    <h4>Chapter 109 - Brad Star System</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I felt someone¡¯s presence and my drowsy consciousness started waking up.

    I heard the soft rustling of clothes while in the midst of warm andfortable sleep. I finally managed to open my eyes somehow and turned my gaze to the direction of the sound. There, I saw the figure of a woman who just finished putting back her maid clothes on. She had her back turned to me and bunched her long, ck hair into a neat-looking ponytail.

    It seems she picked up on me being awake, and the woman turned toward me.

    ¡°Good morning, Master.¡±

    The woman in ssic maid clothes had a faint smile on her face which was near unnoticeable if you didn¡¯t look hard enough.

    ¡°Good morning, May.¡±

    I returned her morning greeting while still feeling drowsy.

    ¡°Good morning, Hiro-sama, May-san.¡±

    ¡°Morning.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Morning.¡±

    ¡°Good morning.¡±

    I went out of my room with May after taking a quick shower and found Elma and Mimi lounging inside the dining room. But both of them seem to be devoid of energy.

    ¡°It would be better if both of you took the entire day off, I think. Rather, I insist.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°Sorry about this.¡±

    The both of them smiled at me while looking under the weather. They¡¯re not really sick. It¡¯s that time of the month for both of them. Even if they already took some pills, they only alleviate the symptoms and do notpletely eliminate them. Well, it can¡¯t be helped.

    ¡°I¡¯ll hole up inside the cockpit. Please bring my breakfast to the cockpitter, May. You can look after both of them afterward.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s okay. We¡¯re fine. We¡¯re just feeling a bit sluggish. The symptoms aren¡¯t that bad.¡±

    Elma made a strained smile. Mimi, who also looked a bit sick, raised her voice as well.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Please just apany Hiro-sama, May-san.¡±

    ¡°Really? Can you help me out with some routine tasks after bringing my breakfast then, May?¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    After seeing May nod, I headed to the cockpit block.

    ¡°Mm. It¡¯s quite psychedelic as always¡­¡±

    After entering the cockpit, what entered my view was a torrential wave of bright multi-colored lights. Right now, my private ship, the Krishna, was navigating through the hypenes and heading for the Brad star system. The estimated time of arrival disyed on the cockpit¡¯s HUD was approximately seven hours.

    Interster travel using the hypenes. It¡¯s basically just auto-pilot navigation using the Hyperdrive, so there¡¯s actually no need to sit inside the cockpit and watch the funky light show. But on the off chance that some sort of incident happened, we would be able to respond better if someone was stationed inside the cockpit. Therefore, it was amon practice for someone to keep watch inside the cockpit while navigating the sea of stars.

    ¡°Now then, it¡¯ll take seven hours to get to the Brad system¡­¡­ Guess I have to find ways to kill time.¡±

    While saying so, I sat on the main pilot seat and operated the console. I pulled up the gxy map and projected it on the holo-disy. I checked out the gxy map and confirmed the coordinates of the Brad system.

    The Brad system was quite simr to the Termaine system, where I found myself in when I first came to this dimension. It¡¯sposed of fours and an asteroid belt centered on the G-type star Brad. The asteroid belt was a rich source of mineral resources for the system and was regrly mined. Valuable gaseous raw materials were also harvested from the gas giant Brad III. It was one of the most resource-rich systems in the entire Gran empire.

    Since there were plenty of resources and riches to be had here, pirates should have been quite active as well. But that actually wasn¡¯t the case at all. The reason for this is because this system is the home of the main branch and shipyard of the famous ship-makingpany Space Dwerg.

    Why would there be no pirates because of the shipyard, you ask? That¡¯s because they will be immediately attacked by a swarm of prototype ship models produced by the Space Dwergpany the moment they show their ugly mugs.

    Why is the Space Dwerg Co. Ltd. so enthusiastic about getting rid of space pirates? That¡¯s a good question. There was once a journalist who asked a representative of thepany this very question during an interview, and this was how they responded:

    ¡ºOurpany has excellent engineers who constantly challenge themselves in making the most advanced and innovative ships in the market. When a chance to test the performance of the ships and equipment presents itself, there¡¯s no reason why we wouldn¡¯t take advantage of it. It would be a shame to waste test targets thate basically free of charge after all.¡»

    In other words, the crazy engineers of Space Dwerg considered pirates as mere guinea pigs for their tests.

    They would make a nice profit if the pirates can sessfully capture a ship, but since it was a prototype, it was unknown if it had any major issues or ws, so capturing one was basically a gamble. Hence, the pirates generally don¡¯t even attempt to capture prototype ships. It wasn¡¯t just Space Dwerg either. All ship-makingpanies had the same policies regarding pirates, so they generally avoid any system with a ship-makingpany present.

    And systems two to four hypene nodes away is fair game for the ship engineers in order to test long-distance navigation, so pirates avoid them too if they can. The destroyed pirate ships are also a source of valuable materials and data for those mad engineers, so they plunder everything they possibly can, and the money from selling the unneeded parts will be used to fund even more experiments.

    They can test their new prototypes and secure funds. There¡¯s no reason to let go of such a delicious opportunity.

    ¡°Man. They totally picked the surrounding systems clean¡­¡­¡±

    This time, the chance of getting in trouble with pirates was close to zero. It was a bit boring and it¡¯s a pity that there are no opportunities for making money present, but it¡¯s also a good thing since we can finally put our feet up and rx after that fiasco in the Sierra star system. It would also take a bit of time topletely customize the ship once we purchase one, so maybe I¡¯ll take this opportunity to get Krishna an overhaul as well. Mimi and Elma weren¡¯t feeling well anyway, so the timing is just right.

 Chapter 110 â€“ A Group of Suspicious Characters

    <h4>Chapter 110 - A Group of Suspicious Characters</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    It¡¯s been seven hours since I holed up inside the cockpit. Krishna finally exited from the psychedelic space-time corridor and arrived safely on the Brad star system.

    The light from the G-type star Brad, which was adjusted to tolerable levels by Krishna¡¯s HUD, brightened up the cockpit considerably. I guess some of you don¡¯t really get what I mean when I call their sun a G-type star huh. To be honest, I don¡¯t either. To put it simply, they are stars that are very simr to the Sr system¡¯s sun.

    ¡°The main shipyard is based on Brad Prime, if I remember correctly.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Secundus and Tertius are both mining colonies. Our target destination is the Prime colony.¡±

    ¡°Okay then. Let¡¯s head to Brad Prime-¡±

    As I started pointing the bow toward the direction of Brad Prime, an alert rang out. It wasn¡¯t an alert signifying an emergency or that we¡¯ve been locked-on to by enemy ships. It alerted us to the fact that we were being scanned. I operated the pilot console and put up the radar disy. I discovered one ship a little distance away from Krishna. It was most likely the one checking us out.

    ¡°We¡¯re being scanned huh.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s fine. Being treated as someone suspicious is a bit upsetting, but it¡¯s nothing to be hung up over. Mimi, set a course for Brad Prime and-¡±

    Another alert rang out. And again, we weren¡¯t being targeted by weapons or anything. We were still being scanned. The ships that were scanning us just multiplied. Before we noticed it, the number rose to three.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ I¡¯ve set the course.¡±

    ¡°Everyone, brace yourselves. We¡¯re flooring it and shaking them off.¡±

    After dering so, I elerated Krishna all at once. I ignited the afterburners and left the suspicious scan-happy ships behind. The radar disy indicated that they were actually trying to chase after us, but it¡¯s no use.

    ¡°Elma, start charging the FTL Drive.¡±

    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll begin charging then. Countdown. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1¡­ FTL Drive, activate.¡±

    Krishna cruised away at lightspeed.

    ¡°Man, that was kinda creepy-¡±

    This was the third time an alert rang out.

    When I checked the subspace sensor, I saw lots of ships scanning ours. There were seven in total. Dang, it just multiplied to eight. And it looks like that wasn¡¯t the end of it. The sight of us speeding away with lots of ships following us was akin to a meteor swarm.

    ¡°What the hell!? What¡¯s their problem!?¡±

    I can almost hear the crew of those ships shouting things like ¡®Don¡¯t let em get away! Chase after em, fes!¡¯. Just what the heck? It was beyond my understanding and was honestly a bit scary.

    ¡°Master, it may be because this is a ship model that they are seeing for the first time.¡±

    After saying so, May put up the radar disy on the HUD. They were actually all ships affiliated with Space Dwerg. They were split into various departments like weapons development, hull design, propulsion mechanics and such, but there was no doubt they were all from Space Dwerg Co. Ltd.

    ¡°I kinda don¡¯t feel likeing to the colony now.¡±

    I had a strong hunch we were gonna encounter something troublesome again. Well, with a unique ship like Krishna, I¡¯m almost a hundred percent sure. But even so, I also feel that it¡¯s gonna be the same no matter which ship-makingpany we visit, so there¡¯s no point to running away now and trying againter.

    While thinking about these troublesome matters, we finally arrived at the Brad Prime colony. I promptly deactivated the FTL Drive.

    We went back to normal space. The ships who were chasing after us also deactivated their drives and popped up one after another. As for how many there were¡­ It kinda feels silly to even count them now.

    ¡°Send out a docking request, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    The alerts ringing continuously are seriously getting on my nerves man. There¡¯s the option of threatening them to stop, but that might invite even more trouble, so I¡¯ll just have to put up with this right now.

    ¡°Should we release chaff or something?¡±

    It looks like Elma was getting irritated as well. Well, of course, she was. Anyone would. It¡¯s a different matter if you get scanned by ships belonging to the authorities like the imperial garrison, but being scrutinized by civilian ships like this with no restraint feels really off-putting.

    It¡¯s not like they were viting anyws, but scanning ships arbitrarily usually has the negative connotation of being suspected for carrying illegal goods or having a bounty. It¡¯s like they were using us of being criminals or something. It¡¯s very rude. It¡¯s like being subjected to a full-body check and rummaging through all of your luggage in an airport without prior notice or consent.

    ¡°It¡¯s annoying but just leave them alone. Let¡¯s just file an officialintter. May, please record the affiliation and IDs of all the ships present here.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Please don¡¯t worry. I have already taken the appropriate steps.¡±

    ¡°Great.¡±

    Like I said, what they are doing isn¡¯t exactly illegal. But even if it isn¡¯t, there¡¯s such a thing as proper manners, right? Regardless of the fact that we¡¯re just mercenaries, doing this sort of thing to a guest is still a gross breach of etiquette.

    ¡°We have permission to dock.¡±

    ¡°Great. Let¡¯s go then. Auto-docking program, activate!¡±

    ¡°Yes, activating now.¡±

    Krishna¡¯s controls switched to auto-pilot mode and it began docking procedures straight away. Brad Prime was your standard Torus-type colony. In other words, it¡¯s one of those donut-shaped colonies we encountered several times before already. Termaine Prime, where Mimi, Elma, and I met, was also a Torus-type.

    But Brad Prime was muchrgerpared to your regr Torus-type colony. The part which serves as the rotational axis was quite long, and it seems the shipyard was actually annexed to it. It reminded me of those illegal manufacturing facilities back in the game, but this one was owned by a recognized ship-makingpany, so it should be fine. Yep, I¡¯m sure it is.

    After seeing us dock at the hangar, the ships persistently scanning us gradually dispersed. But then, they also sent out docking requests.

    ¡°Good grief¡­¡­ It feels like they¡¯re even gonna chase us to the ends of the universe if they have to huh.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­¡±

    How annoying. It looks like it would be safer to keep the shield running even after we park. I can¡¯t have them trying to board my ship after all.

    After we safely docked inside the hangar, we finished the follow-up procedures and were finally permitted to disembark. I had everyone get off the ship with me this time. In other words, there¡¯s me, Mimi, Elma, and May. We were all going to head to Space Dwerg¡¯s main office. We already decided on purchasing the Skizbrazunil, but we haven¡¯t decided on which custom parts we are going to order, so I had them alle with me so we can pool our opinions again.

    And so, we got off the ship. But¡­

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    When the ship¡¯s hatch opened, the first thing we saw was a group of more than ten engineer and researcher-looking types flocking outside. No matter how you slice it, they didn¡¯t look like people from the port admin bureau. They all had gadgets resembling handheld cameras and were talking excitedly with red faces near Krishna. What the-!? Hey! What are you gonna do with that stedder? Don¡¯t touch the hull without permission dammit!

    ¡°Um, this is¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    I took out my portable terminal from my pocket and got in touch with port admin.

    ¡ºYes. This is Brad Prime¡¯s port administration bureau. How may I help you?¡»

    ¡°Hello. I¡¯m Captain Hiro from the 34th hangar block. We just docked, but there are more than ten suspicious folks hanging around near our ship. There are people setting up a stedder and some are touching our ship without permission. Please send in some security personnel to apprehend them. They¡¯re being quite a bother.¡±

    ¡ºThat¡¯s¡­¡­ Understood. We will send in our people right away. We are sorry for all the inconvenience this has caused you.¡»

    ¡°Yeah. Honestly. We are actually here for a business deal worth more than 20 million. So I would like you to deal with this immediately.¡±

    I made a bit of a threat to the admin staff, and as a response, the security personnel was dispatched immediately to deal with the situation. They swiftly apprehended those suspicious folks and took them away amidst a flurry ofints and cursing. After confirming that the matter was dealt with, I used my terminal to retract the ramp and activate the ship¡¯s energy shield remotely.

    ¡°Well, this should be okay for now. But that incident earlier honestly made me a bit uneasy about our visit here.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Me too.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Even May agreed with me. Cuz those guys were staring at our ship with creepy gazes y¡¯know. It was honestly a bit disturbing. Were they being pressured by a development quota or something? Was Space Dwerg actually a dystopian ckpany?

    ¡°Should we really go through with this? I kinda feel like it¡¯s better to run away though.¡±

    I sighed and made an offbeat joke, but no one reacted.

 Chapter 111 â€“ To Space Dwerg

    <h4>Chapter 111 - To Space Dwerg</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    We put the matter regarding the suspicious folks on the backburner for now and took the elevator to themercial block. And so, the four of us started walking around. But¡­

    ¡°It feels really really cramped in this colony huh.¡±

    ¡°The ceiling is too low.¡±

    Mimi sighed as she looked up. Yeah, it is low huh. Termaine Prime and Sierra Prime didn¡¯t have ceilings this low. In fact, they were quite high up. Compared to them, the ceiling of this colony was clearly way too low. So I guess the feeling of being pressed down is because of that low ceiling huh.

    ¡°There are a lot of dwarves living here after all. And they aren¡¯t exactly tall. I¡¯m sure they find this height to be just right for them.¡±

    ¡°Dwarves?¡±

    When you say dwarves, the image thates to mind are those midget but macho bearded uncles, right? So this dimension doesn¡¯t only have elves. It also has dwarves!

    ¡°Yeah. Actually, Space Dwerg has a lot of dwarven employees. Dwerg is another name for dwarf after all.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Oooh!¡±

    No wonder I found it familiar somehow. Dwerg really is another term for dwarf. Yeah, I remember now. I heard it from a co-worker. If I remember correctly, it¡¯s a term from Norse mythology. Yeah, that¡¯s it. Speaking of which, Skizbrazunil was also a familiar term. I believe it¡¯s from Norse myths as well. I don¡¯t really remember which god had it though. It¡¯s one of their divine vessels or something.

    ¡°It looks like you¡¯ve realized something huh.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I actually remember the terms from old Norse myths. That¡¯s kinda neat.¡±

    Come to think of it, some of those folks from earlier were diminutive old men and uncles huh. I see. So that¡¯s why the colony¡¯s ceiling is built this low. It¡¯s in order to amodate them. They built it so a person of my height would just be able to barely walk around without bumping into something. That¡¯s where the sense of being pressed downes from.

    ¡°Norse mythology huh¡­ Come to think of it, you also seemed to be familiar with elves when we first met.¡±

    ¡°Hm? Oh. Yeah.¡±

    Elves and dwarves are staples in fantasy stuff after all. Of course I was familiar with them.

    ¡°That¡¯s quite interesting, isn¡¯t it? Hiro-sama is supposedly from some other far away ce, but he¡¯s also familiar with elves and dwarves, and his home even has myths about them. If I remember right, we humans started interacting with the elves and dwarves right after we expanded into space, right?¡±

    ¡°Yep. That¡¯s right. They haven¡¯t established interster navigation where you¡¯re from yet right, Hiro? Even so, they have myths pertaining to elves and dwarves. How mysterious.¡±

    ¡°I find the fact that this dimension resembles the game I was ying even more mysterious though.¡±

    ¡°Hm¡­ That¡¯s right too. But this actually lends weight to the theory that you¡¯re actually a resident of this world, but just got your memories jumbled for some reason.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re saying my im ofing from a different world is just a result of my memories getting screwed over? That¡¯s actually kinda depressing¡­ But that still can¡¯t exin the memories I have about my former world though. And there¡¯s the thing about my gic structure as well.¡±

    I tapped my head with my finger and Elma¡¯s brows furrowed in thought.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right huh¡­¡­ Hm, it¡¯s really quite the mystery.¡±

    ¡°A deep mystery¡­¡±

    I don¡¯t have a universalnguage trantion imnt inside my brain, which is actually standard for those living in this dimension. Other than people at the very bottom of society, most citizens have them.

    And even if I didn¡¯t have the imnt, I can still understand different aliennguages just fine. The beautiful doctor who examined me also found it perplexing. Also, my gic information has many unknown factors crammed within it, and is very valuable here.

    Mimi, Elma, and I don¡¯t really understand what¡¯s valuable about my gic code since we were allymen when ites to that stuff. We didn¡¯t get even 5% of what the doc talked about. Was the research on my gics progressing well though? I¡¯ll get in contact with Doc Shouko at the Alein systemter to ask about it when I have the chance.

    ¡°We¡¯ve arrived.¡±

    As we mulled over the mystery of the dwarves, elves, and my origins, we finally reached our destination. It was a building with a huge showroom and a signboard depicting a bearded old man in a space suit straddling a retro-futuristic-looking space rocket. He had a mechanical hammer filled with SF vor over his shoulder. The hammer looked quite cool.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this signboard a bit too tacky?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a ssic signboard after all. I heard they¡¯ve used this same logo for hundreds of years already.¡±

    ¡°Mm, it doesn¡¯t fit my taste either.¡±

    Elma shrugged her shoulders and Mimi gave the signboard a thumbs down review. But yeah. I¡¯m sure it really doesn¡¯t fit Mimi¡¯s tastes. Mimi looked like a prim and proper young girl but her taste in fashion was of the punk kind.

    But as they say, different strokes for different folks. Oh right. This colony is actually owned by Space Dwerg and most of the people staying here work for thepany.

    Well, we won¡¯t get anywhere by just staring at the signboard, so I urged everyone to enter the building. Inside, there was a neat-lookingrge counter where a number of receptionists were busy receiving guests and customers. Since they all had mechanical parts on the sides of their heads instead of normal ears, they were probably all androids like May.

    ¡°There are quite a lot of people here.¡±

    Just like Mimi said, there were a great number of people staying inside the lobby. There were people who dressed like mercenaries like us, and people who looked like merchants and businessmen. There were also a lot of men with low statures and robust builds, who were probably dwarves. Maybe they are subcontractors.

    ¡°What Space Dwerg is known for is the toughness and reliability of their products. They are quite popr with mercenaries and mercantile firms.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    We looked for an open counter and approached it.

    ¡°Good day. Wee to the Space Dwergpany.¡±

    A receptionist android greeted us with an excellent business smile and slightly bowed her head. Mm, she had bluish-ck hair in a bob cut with neat bangs. I don¡¯t know who designed her, but he or she had good taste.

    ¡°What is your business with us for today, dear customers?¡±

    ¡°We n to purchase a mothership. We came here for consultation regarding that. We were thinking of getting a Skizbrazunil, but we also need to check the optional parts and systems you are offering.¡±

    I then handed her my portable terminal. She nodded and ced one hand over the screen of the terminal. It looks like there was a data reader equipped on her palm.

    ¡°You are the Gold rank mercenary Captain Hiro, correct? Understood. Please follow the guide bot inside.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    A hole opened at the bottom of the counter and an object the size of a bowling ball rolled out of it. It looked simr to the bot used by Inagawa Tech. It looked quite heavy for its size. Maybe it¡¯s a measure to prevent it from being easily kicked around.

    ¡°This way please.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah.¡±

    We followed after the rolling guide bot shining in multicolored lights and were led to the business booth. The guide bot crossed the lobby nimbly and fully avoided getting in contact with the people inside. We finally reached our destination with it in the lead.

    ¡°Why are you looking at the guide bot like an overprotective parent¡­?¡±

    ¡°But I just feel so uneasy y¡¯know. What if it bumps into something¡­?¡±

    ¡°I kind of get that feeling too, Hiro-sama.¡±

    Elma looked exasperated but it seems like Mimi gets me. Elma was just a bit too indifferent to things like this. Yep.

    The door of the private room we were guided to opened, and what I saw inside was a young woman who looked decidedly like an elementary school student cosying as an adult by wearing a business suit.

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    I thought the guide bot made a mistake and checked again. I found the guide bot on stand by outside. Looks like this was the right room after all.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡¯

    ¡°No, uh, there¡¯s a young kid wearing a business suit inside.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s a dwarvendy you know?¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    So this dimension actually has dwarven women? And they are actually legal lolis!? But don¡¯t female dwarves also sport beards in fantasy stories¡­? No,e to think of it, there¡¯s been a trend of dwarven girls being depicted as legal lolis recently too huh.

    The door I closed was forcefully pushed open as I was acting perplexed. That was quite heavy-handed. Was she angry or something?

    ¡°Dear customers, please doe inside.¡±

    Maybe she really heard me. The young girl¡¯s, or rather, the dwarvendy¡¯s smile looked really forced as she beckoned us to enter the room. She offered us some seats. After we made ourselvesfortable, we also sat down behind the office table inside the room.

    ¡°Thank you foring to Brad colony¡¯s Space Dwergpany main office, dear customers. I am the one assigned to be your consultant for today, and my name is Sara. I am pleased to be working with you all.¡±

    After saying her spiel, she disyed a perfect 0 Yen business smile.

 Chapter 112 â€“ Prelude: Exclusive Contract Talks

    <h4>Chapter 112 - Prelude: Exclusive Contract Talks</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°You wish to purchase a mothership from us, correct?¡±

    She immediately got to the point while still wearing that perfect business smile. She was really straightforward, so I was a bit surprised. But it¡¯s better this way.

    ¡°Yes. We were nning on purchasing a Skizbrazunil from yourpany, you see.¡±

    As I said so, Sara-san¡¯s eyes started sparkling in delight and she leaned over. She leaned forward, but since she was so small, it actually didn¡¯t make much difference. It wasn¡¯t sexy at all.

    ¡°The SDMS - 020, right? You have great foresight sir! The SDMS - 020 is our best seller in the carrier category. We released the base model roughly 89 years ago, but we¡¯ve continuously improved the line based on feedback from our loyal customers and innovations made by our prized engineers. As you know, the product¡¯s concept is high reliability and customizability. And you¡¯vee at just the perfect time. We have justpleted a newly developed edition of the ship.¡±

    Sara-san rubbed her hands together as she made a delighted smile.

    ¡°But¡­¡­ It¡¯s gonna be expensive, right?¡±

    I made a circle with my index finger and thumb to better get my meaning across.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s true. It supports a wide range of thetest cutting edge optional parts. But don¡¯t you worry, sir. I have the perfect proposal to satisfy your needs, Hiro-sama.¡±

    After saying so, the dwarvendy¡¯s smile deepened even more. I raised my guard after seeing that.

    ¡°Hiro-sama is a brilliant up-anding mercenary who rose from Bronze rank to Gold rank at a zing fast speed. Is this correct?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Doesn¡¯t it feel like I¡¯m just bragging if I say yes to that? It may seem like I¡¯m just full of myself y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true! You¡¯re very cool!¡±

    Mimi denied my words with sparkling eyes.

    ¡°I also feel a bit embarrassed about it¡­ but it¡¯s the truth anyway.¡±

    Elma gets where I¡¯ming from but she didn¡¯t deny the im that I was some super amazing merc. May just quietly stood behind us. She didn¡¯t say anything, But I guess that means she agrees with Mimi and Elma.

    ¡°So it¡¯s the truth, huh¡­ Alright then. Let¡¯s leave it at that. I understand that Sara-san, or rather, the Space Dwergpany sees me quite favorably. So?¡±

    I set aside the matter of whether or not I¡¯m a super awesome merc and urged to continue the discussion. Anyway, it¡¯s not about what I think of myself but what others think when they see my aplishments. If she and Space Dwerg think I¡¯m a great mercenary, then that¡¯s fine. I¡¯m not gonna dwell on that any further.

    ¡°Yes. If you sign an exclusive contract with us, we will be able to offer you more favorable terms and big discounts.¡±

    She said all that without breaking her sunny smile. I inclined my head after hearing her offer.

    ¡°I can¡¯t decide objectively if you don¡¯t give me the details of that exclusive contract.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Uhuh.¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course. To put it simply, we will need you to continue using our products and mothership as much as possible,e to our facilities for your maintenance needs whenever possible, collect performance data from you regrly, and make use of your various exploits for ourpany¡¯s advertising campaigns. Those are the four main conditions.¡±

    I ran the details of the four conditions she presented inside my head.

    There¡¯s no problem with the first condition, I think. It¡¯s not like we¡¯ll be recing the mothership anytime soon.

    As for the second condition, well, I guess it¡¯s okay. She did say I only had to use their facilities whenever possible, so it¡¯s not like I can¡¯t go to other facilities for maintenance and repairs if there are no Space Dwerg facilities avable.

    I have no problem with the third condition either. But I have to discuss it with everyone just to be sure. It¡¯s the fourth condition that I have a problem with. I need to hear more details about it in order to decide.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have problems with the first and second conditions, but what do you guys think about the third and fourth? I personally don¡¯t really have a problem with handing them performance data. As for the fourth one, I think we need to hear more details since it¡¯s a bit vague.¡±

    ¡°I think it would be fine if we excluded the details rted to our private lives. I have no problem with using the collected data for advertising either. But something like having us serve as spokespersons for Space Dwerg is a no-go I think. It would be troublesome to always promote Space Dwerg products and services anywhere we go.¡±

    ¡°I also agree with Elma-sama. In any case, I think it would be best if we also hear how much discounts and perks they are willing to offer us before we decide to sign any sort of contract with them.¡±

    ¡°Fumu¡­ I see. What about you, Mimi? Any opinions?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand the part where they will use our exploits for advertising. Are they simply going to use our mercenary activities for advertising campaigns? But we basically just travel around and hunt pirates, right? I don¡¯t know how they would use something like that to promote theirpany.¡±

    After hearing our concerns, Sara-san nodded and began to exin.

    ¡°Regarding the use of performance and operational data, we will make sure to exclude the details pertaining to your private lives, so please do not worry. And as for using your exploits for advertising, you will basically have to give priority coverage rights to ourpany for live battle footage during your operations.¡±

    ¡°Priority coverage rights?¡±

    Another thing I wasn¡¯t clear with was mentioned.

    ¡°Yes. The Space Dwerg group doesn¡¯t just deal with developing and building starships, but numerous other businesses as well. For example, our industrial department covers a wide range of fields such as weapons development and manufacturing, as well as brewing quality beverages. There¡¯s also an entertainment and media department as well.¡±

    ¡°Entertainment?¡±

    I kinda have a bad feeling about this.

    ¡°Yes. For those living in the colonies, the lives of people traveling around to various parts of the gxy is a very exciting topic. In other words, they like to hear and watch things about the lives of you intrepid space drifters. The documentaries about mercenaries exterminating evil pirates are very popr programs in the colonies you know.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Mimi?¡±

    I looked toward Mimi, who was a former colony citizen, to ask about her opinion and found her eyes sparkling in excitement.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! I also liked watching those documentaries about monster hunters and mercenaries when I was living in the colony! So our activities will be broadcasted in those documentary programs, right!? Uwaaaaaah¡­!¡±

    Mimi-san was shivering in excitement. If she had a tail, it would be wagging energetically. I see. Judging from her reaction, those mercenary life documentaries look like very popr programs in the colonies.

    ¡°What do you think, guys?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­¡­¡±

    Compared to the excited Mimi, Elma was acting more reserved.

    ¡°I think it would be best to decline¡­¡±

    ¡°But why!?¡±

    ¡°No, well, if they watch our daily interactions, the people out there will find out about what kind of rtionship we have with Hiro, right? It¡¯s probably going to be broadcasted to the whole gxy, even. Do you really realize what that means?¡±

    So it¡¯s about this dimension¡¯smon sense regarding a man and a woman living under one ship huh?

    If they feature us in a documentary program, that¡¯s like announcing our rtionship to the entire gxy.

    ¡°Is there something wrong with that? I don¡¯t think there would be problems even if they knew our rtionship with Hiro-sama though.¡±

    Mimi heard Elma¡¯s reasons for declining, but still stuck to her opinion. Elma was taken aback by Mimi¡¯s reaction.

    ¡°Yeah. I think it¡¯s toote to be feeling bashful about it too. Our rtionship is already obvious to the people from the local port administration bureaus and the Mercenary Guild branches we visited. And as long as we continue to travel around in space, it will eventually be known to the entire gxy anyway.¡±

    ¡°T-That¡¯s right, I guess. But¡­¡±

    Elma was losing her ground against the calm Mimi and looked down in reluctance. Or rather, Mimi¡¯s quite intense today huh.

    ¡°I¡¯m also quite interested about your rtionship with these two lovelydies, but anyway, that¡¯s how it is. We would like for you to ept the offer of Space Dwerg¡¯s entertainment and media department. Oh! And of course, you will get a satisfactory appearance fee as well!¡±

    After saying so, she made the same finger sign that I did earlier to illustrate her point. Oh, okay.

    Well, Mimi¡¯s episode would be akin to a Cindere story, so I bet it will be real popr huh. At least I think so. Depending on how you look at it, it¡¯s like she stood up from the very bottom and obtained sess after all.

    ¡°¡­¡­Since you¡¯ll have priority rights, I assume it would be better if we decline offers from otherpanies, correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not forced to divulge everything, right? Meaning, we will be able to refuse at our discretion if we think it¡¯s inappropriate.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes. That¡¯s correct.¡±

    It felt like Sara-san wanted to click her tongue just now, but she still kept her perfect smile.

    ¡°Hiro-sama! Let¡¯s ept the coverage deal! Come on!¡±

    Mimi excitedly pulled my arm. Ah? You¡¯re shaking me far too much, youngdy¡­ My teeth are ttering already.

    ¡°So I take it that you agree to our offer, correct? Then let us move on to the price of the ship and the optional parts and equipment you want added on to it.¡±

    ¡°Yes, okay.¡±

    Sara-san picked up a portable terminal from her desk and put up an image on the holo-disy. What was disyed was the ship we were nning to buy; the Skizbrazunil.

    ¡°Let¡¯s start with talking about the Skizbrazunil itself first. Depending on the direction of the discussions, we may be able to amodate your needs better by offering suggestions.¡±

    Sara-san¡¯s eyes disyed a sharp glint akin to that of a raptor scoping out its prey for a brief moment. Oh boy. Guess I gotta brace myself. I can¡¯t let my guard down around thisdy(?). Bring it on then. I¡¯m gonna haggle like my life depends on it.

 Chapter 113 â€“ Main Battle: Business Negotiations

    <h4>Chapter 113 - Main Battle: Business Negotiations</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°This is ourtest iteration of Skizbrazunil. It has two hangars that can house two small-sizedbat ships. They are fully equipped for repairing or recing damaged hulls, swapping parts, and replenishing ammo. All of these functions are fully automated, so the ship is serviceable even with a small number of crew members. This is one of Skizbrazunil¡¯s main selling points.¡±

    Sara-san exined away as she took out something resembling aser pointer and used it to indicate the lower-rear part of the ship where the hangar is located.

    ¡°The two fully automated hangar bays are part of the Skizbrazunil¡¯s basic features, so you also have the option of removing one if you think it¡¯s unnecessary and rece it with another facility you think you might need more. You can also convert one to a specialized hangar for a surface exploration vehicle if you wish.¡±

    ¡°A surface exploration vehicle huh¡­¡­¡±

    It may seem unrted to the mercenary business at first nce, but that might not be necessarily the case. Though, admittedly, it¡¯s a better fit for researchers instead of mercenaries. But there are also situations where mercenaries make good use of it. For example, it¡¯s possible to ept escort jobs from explorers or researchers and apany them on things like frontier exploration and researching ancient ruins on underdevelopeds. It was a bit of a hassle so I really didn¡¯t ept such jobs while ying SOL, but I can¡¯t say the same now because of my current situation. If the pay¡¯s good, then I¡¯ll take whatever jobes my way as long as it ain¡¯t shady.

    ¡°In any case, I¡¯ll consider it. Please continue the exnation.¡±

    Being able to house two ships will open up the option of having Elma as my wingman once she buys her own ship in the future. Or maybe we¡¯ll get lucky and discover another ship like Krishna one of these days. Who can say? Considering such things, maybe having two hangars isn¡¯t such a bad idea after all.

    ¡°Yes. The utility blocks which allow you to mix and match different optional facilities and equipment number morepared to other carrier ships of its ss. If you dedicate all of them for cargo, the ship will have a maximum loading capacityparable to medium-sized transport ships. If not, it¡¯s possible to install other useful facilities. For example, you can install an ore refinery for processing raw rare metal ores, as well as ammunition, armor, and spare parts production lines for a certain degree of self-sufficiency.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so it can turn into a ship specialized for deep space exploration huh?¡±

    Basically, those kinds of facilities aren¡¯t much use for mercs who tend to operate near colonies and space stations. An ore refinery may be useful if one wants to enter the mining industry though. If you manage to find a huge deposit of rare metals and mine it, you¡¯ll be raking in lots of cash after all.

    ¡°Well, depending on the situation, we may be able to put a refinery to good use.¡±

    ¡°How so?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯lle in handy during downtimes when we¡¯re not actively on the hunt.¡±

    It looks like Mimi still doesn¡¯t get it, but Elma seems to already know what I was talking about. In other words, while we¡¯re taking a break after a job, we can use the Skizbrazunil to mine mineral deposits to make good use of our time. Mimi still looked perplexed, but I¡¯ll just exin it to herter.

    ¡°Well, if we¡¯re installing a refinery, then it¡¯ll be nice to have an ore scanner and a mining drone unit as well. It would be nice if the drone is a high-grade one though¡­ Anyway, let¡¯s just talk about itter when we finalize the price. Mining is aplicated business after all. Compared to it, cargo transport is much more simple and straightforward.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. There are other facilities we need to prioritize as well.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Well then, let¡¯s talk about the generator next. It¡¯s an essentialponent and the ship is capable of mounting generator models up to ss 6. We can use the standard model for carrier ships of this ss, but the one bundled with our new product is a newly developed generator as well, and its overall output is higher by 20%pared to the generators currently out on the market. Its fuel economy is also 5% more efficient.¡±

    After saying that, Sara-san changed the image shown on the holo-disy. Fumu. It does look the part of a high-performance generator. Well, Krishna¡¯s generator is way better though, since its output is unthinkable for its size, but Krishna¡¯s a special case anyway, so it can¡¯t really be used as a reference.

    ¡°If possible, I would like to purchase the best armor, energy shield emitter, and generator you have avable. The other equipment aside from those three is secondary. Our current ship can handle thebat-¡±

    My shoulder was suddenly tapped from behind. Since the only one standing behind me was May, it should be her who did it.

    ¡°¡­¡­You want to have a go withbat, May?¡±

    ¡°If the budget allows it, then please.¡±

    I asked her without turning behind and a soft voice positively answered back. Seriously?

    ¡°Okay. In any case, the priority items are the shield emitter, armor, and generator. Cargo space also needs to be prioritized. Next is the drone and mining equipment-¡±

    The hand on my shoulder pinched it lightly.

    ¡°-On second thought, make those weapon systems. Yep. In any case, those will improve the survival rate in missions. The shield emitter, armor, and generator all need to be of the highest quality.¡±

    ¡°Yes. We will equip the ship with thetest threeyer energy shield emitter, military-grademinated armor, andrge cargo space. What do you wish to do with the rest of the interior?¡±

    ¡°Please install high-quality life support systems and air conditioning. Instead of performance, I want to prioritize reliability. A standard medical bay is enough, I think. As for the living quarters, just install the bare minimum facilities. We will be spending much of our time on Krishna anyway. I will be the one who will be stationed inside the carrier ship most of the time, so a luxurious living space is unnecessary.¡±

    ¡°I see. It would be better for a mercenary ship to be fast on its feet, correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It would be better to raise FTL navigation speed as much as possible.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I will arrange it. This will be the total price, dear customers.¡±

    The price she quoted us wasn¡¯t over our current budget. It was about 28,000,000 Enels. However, if we consider the operating costs of the mothership as well as the estimated repair fees if it ever gets damaged, the leftover five mil from our current assets won¡¯t be enough to cover it all. If the ship ever gets shot down before we made our next big paycheck, we¡¯ll be plunged into the red zone all at once.

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit over our budget.¡±

    If we didn¡¯t care about the cost, it would be possible to buy the weapon systems May wants with the leftover money, but we¡¯ll be practically penniless afterward. I¡¯ll have to haggle after all. If possible, I¡¯d like to reduce it to about 22 million.

    ¡°¡­¡­How much is your current budget, if I may ask?¡±

    Sara-san made a doubting smile as she asked. Should Ie clean, or should I make a little white lie?

    ¡°¡­¡­About 22 million.¡±

    ¡°I see, I see¡­¡­¡±

    Her smile was honestly a bit creepy now.

    ¡°If you ept all of the conditions I proposed earlier, I¡¯ll give you a big, big discount! We¡¯ll give the ship to you with all of the specified items for exactly 22 million. Not one Enel more, dear customer.¡±

    So, a discount of 6 million huh¡­ Hm.

    ¡°Fine. I can ept those terms, but¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°There is a condition.¡±

    May, who stayed mostly silent the whole time since the negotiations began, finally started actively participating.

    ¡°I will run through all the operational data before handing it over to Space Dwerg. I have a duty to protect my Master¡¯s interests, so I will not concede on this matter.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying we aren¡¯t trustworthy enough?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Sparks were flying between the smiling Sara-san and May who was still holding my shoulder. Me? I was busy pretending to be nothing but air.

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, alright then. I will ept that condition. We will take the operational data only after you have finished checking it. Is this fine?¡±

    ¡°Alright. But please do not try any underhanded tricks, as I will be keeping a close watch.¡±

    I don¡¯t really get it, but May was strangely hostile to Sara-san. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any strange rtionship between May and Sara-san who¡¯s working for Space Dwerg since May has only been made recently. If so, then maybe they just rub each other the wrong way. May was usually polite and thoughtful. It was kind of a surprise to see her being all confrontational.

    ¡°However, we will be interviewing the Captain and the rest of the crew after this. I already epted your condition, so this much is fine, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m down with it. But¡­¡±

    I nced at Elma. Mimi was all gung-ho about it and May didn¡¯t have any objections either. The only one who seems to have a problem with it was Elma.

    Me? Like I said, I¡¯m cool with the interview. If we get featured in a documentary film, Krishna will be showcased to lots of people in the gxy. Maybe Krishna¡¯s designers will get in touch with me afterward, and that would help in unraveling the mystery of my current situation.

    ¡°¡­¡­Don¡¯t show my face and please change my voice. If you¡¯re okay with that, then I¡¯ll take the interview or whatever.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll arrange it. Next is the weapon systems. As you can see, there are also quite a number of slots to equip weapons. It also has one slot for mounting arge-caliber weapon, so if you want considerable firepower, then you can make use of this slot.¡±

    ¡°Please equip an EML on therge-caliber weapon slot. As for the rest, please equip them with medium-caliberser cannons and seeker missile racks.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Arge-caliber EML? Seriously? Can you really hit the enemies with that?¡±

    ¡°Yes. There is no problem.¡±

    I got surprised and turned around to face May, who nodded with her usual nk expression on. An EML is basically an electromaic railgun. Yep. A railgun. Or in this case, a rail cannon. In the game, it¡¯s a highly destructive weapon that consumesrge amounts of energy to fire.

    Since it shoots out physical rounds, the projectile speed is slowerpared to optical weaponry. So when attacking an opponent from arge distance, it¡¯s necessary to predict the enemy¡¯s possible future positions in order to sessfullynd a shot. Moreover, since the barrel is essentially fixed in ce, you can only fire it while the ship is directly facing an enemy, and you¡¯ll have to aim, for the most part, manually.

    As you can probably tell already, it¡¯s extremely hard tond a hit using it. But in exchange, it¡¯s absurdly powerful. It can sink a medium-sized warship in one shot. A small ship will bepletely obliterated.

    It was hard to use but really destructive. That¡¯s why the yers often call it the Romance Cannon.

    ¡°An EML, yes? An interesting choice¡­ We will prepare one for you then.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Please give all weapon systems a concealment function. Make it so it would look like an unarmed ship at first nce.¡±

    The so-called concealment function is basically just hiding the ship¡¯s weaponry with additional movable armor when not in use. Krishna also makes use of this for its weapon systems like theser cannons and ballistic shot cannons. Even so, you can tell it¡¯s abat ship just with one look though.

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Sara nodded without any fuss. Mm. It¡¯s great that the talks are proceeding in a speedy manner.

    But to think May would suggest disguising the mothership as an unarmed ship only to get the drop on enemies by transforming into a heavily-armed behemoth¡­ Or rather, all the weapon systems May ordered easily dwarfs her own manufacturing costs though. How should I take this, I wonder?

    Oh well, as long as she¡¯s happy. If May can make it work, having the support bombardment of an EML is an exciting prospect.

 Chapter 114 â€“ Everything According to Her Plans

    <h4>Chapter 114 - Everything ording to Her ns</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Fuu¡­¡­¡±

    Sara-san went out of the room for a bit in order to make the required arrangements so we took a break from the discussions. I sipped some of the tea we were served with earlier and sighed.

    ¡°Hey, May.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    Elma turned toward May and started questioning her as I was zoning out. I¡¯ll just observe for now.

    ¡°You intended to do this from the start, right?¡±

    ¡°Do you mean turning the mothership into a heavily armed gunship? I shall categorically answer your question with a ¡®yes¡¯.¡±

    May dered so without a break in her expression. In other words, May pushed for purchasing Space Dwerg¡¯s Skizbrazunil for the express purpose of turning it into a heavy artillery gunship. Perhaps, she¡¯s been nning so from the moment I suggested the idea of purchasing a mothership.

    ¡°But isn¡¯t this deviating a bit too much from our original aim for purchasing a mothership? Just why did you manipte your master just to gain more fighting power for yourself?¡±

    ¡°Everything I do is for Master¡¯s sake. That is all.¡±

    May didn¡¯t bat an eyelid at Elma¡¯s questioning. Well, it¡¯s not like she has the capacity to make varied expressions in the first ce. After all, I made her that way. In any case, she really did a number on me huh. I¡¯m kinda impressed. It wouldn¡¯t have crossed my mind if Elma didn¡¯t point it out.

    ¡°May, I don¡¯t have any intention of ming you, but I still would like to hear a clearer reason.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master. In the current circumstances, 98.8% of my specs aren¡¯t being put into good use. I do enjoy watching over Master from morning till night and receiving Master¡¯s favor at times, and think it¡¯s an ideal rtionship. But at this rate, the return of investment for Master¡¯s purchase of me will take approximately 1,203 years, 256 days, 13 hours, and 42 minutes. That is uneptable. It¡¯s twelve times my service life as specified by my makers.¡±

    ¡°O-Okay¡­¡­¡±

    Well, that was detailed. It¡¯s so daunting that most of it just went over my head. If about 1,200 years is twelve times her service life, then does that mean May has a service life of a hundred years?

    ¡°At that rate, I will be a useless burden, and it would be as if Master threw Enels away into the sea of data without getting anything in return. And so, I took steps in order to avoid that and serve you in my best capacity, Master.¡±

    ¡°Well, they sure were some bold steps¡­¡­¡±

    In my opinion, I already got more than my money¡¯s worth¡­ but, oh well.

    ¡°With these arrangements, I will also be able to actively participate in Master¡¯s work and will be able to protect Master¡¯s life even more effectively. With me piloting Skizbrazunil, I will be able to reduce the risk to Master¡¯s life up to 72%.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s not 100%?¡±

    ¡°It is objectively impossible to achieve 100% Mimi-sama. If you want to reduce the danger by 100%, it would be more effective to destroy the Krishna instead of purchasing and arming the Skizbrazunil.¡±

    ¡°Well, if Krishna gets destroyed, we¡¯ll have no means of running around the gxy and risking our lives to hunt pirates, so the danger will certainly be reduced by a hundred percent.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it, okay?¡±

    Thedies were talking about a dangerous topic, so I hurriedly interjected.

    ¡°And so, the final price including all the additional weapons, equipment, and facilities ended up being 25 million Enels.¡±

    ¡°A price of 25 million is just too far out there for me. I still can¡¯t wrap my head around it¡­ Or rather, even if we purchased lots ofser cannons and missile pods, the price didn¡¯t increase by much huh.¡±

    Mimi inclined her head cutely. Certainly. Just as Mimi said, typical weapon systems aren¡¯t really all that expensive. The most expensive weapon we got for the Skizbrazunil is the EML, which is about 1,200,000 Enels. As for theser cannons, one unit costs 100,000 Enels, and the twelve emcements we got amounts to 1,200,000. The seeker missile pods go for 60,000 Enels a pop. Since we got ten of them, we would be paying a total of 600,000 Enels. All in all, the weapon systems cost a total of 3,000,000 Enels.

    By the way, the cost breakdown of Skizbrazunil itself, including all the optional facilities, parts, and the two hangars is as follows: The hangars and the basic frame cost about 8,000,000 Enels. The threeyered shield emitter amounts to 4,000,000 Enels. The military-grademinated armor is 5,000,000 Enels, and the ss 6 power generator is 4,500,000 Enels. The high-performance drone system is 1,000,000 Enels, and the propulsion systems which include the Hyperdrive, FTL Drive as well as the main and auxiliary thrusters amount to 2,500,000 Enels. The cargo hold and the internal management systems cost 1,000,000 Enels, and all other misceneous stuff like the life support system, furnishings etc. add up to all those for the total cost of 28,000,000 Enels. As per the agreement earlier, they gave us a discount and allowed us to purchase the ship for exactly 22 million.

    As you can see, the frame, shield emitter, armor, and power generator are the most expensive stuff on the list. I don¡¯t really have a say in it because I ain¡¯t the one setting the price, but in SOL, it¡¯s amonly known fact that the optional parts are actually a lot more expensive than the basic ship itself.

    Due to that, it became amon practice to save up three times the basic purchase price of a ship if you want to fully customize it.

    So you sell off your existing ship, buy a basic frame, and use up a majority of the remaining budget on all of the optional parts and systems until you get a ship fit for your tastes. It¡¯s amon beginner¡¯s mistake to try and force things with a vani ship, get wrecked, and then go back to life with a Zabuton.

    By the way, if we purchased the previous edition of the Skizbrazunil and not the new one, the basic frame will cost 6,000,000. The generator bundled with the previous edition was a ss 5, so we ended up buying a more expensive one. The shield emitter is also of higher quality so that further added to the cost. I wasn¡¯t able to ount for these two points, but it turned out okay in the end. If not for these, we would have ended up quoted a price that was not over budget¡­ I think. Probably. Yeah. That¡¯s what I¡¯d like to think anyway.

    Anyway, I exined it to Mimi like that.

    ¡°¡­So the option parts are more expensivepared to the rest!¡±

    Her eyes were spinning around. Apparently, it was too much info. Well, I think she gets the gist of it, at least.

    ¡°The point is that with these, we will be able to totally beat up the pirates we will encounterter on. This is also why there¡¯s a big gap in performance between pirate ships and mercenary ships. They are just using basic frames with a bit of customization using plundered second-hand parts. Compared to them, we have ships that are decked out with thetest custom parts and weaponry. We buy expensive, high-quality energy shield emitters and armor, so our ships areparably tougher. We can¡¯t really fully avoidser fire barrages, so it all boils down to which ship can take a beating better.¡±

    ¡°Is that really the case?¡±

    Mimi turned her gaze toward me. There have been lots of instances where I avoidedser fire after all. Well, it¡¯s not really dodging but predicting the trajectory or avoiding getting caught up in their range in the first ce.

    ¡°This idiot¡¯s abnormal maneuvers are a special case. Those can only be performed by a handful of weirdos, so don¡¯t take them as an example. What we need to watch out for are direct hits from seeker missiles, as well as anti-ship torpedoes. Those can easily bring down our shields after all. Energy shields are generally weak to explosions, and if we take more than a few, it¡¯ll be game over. So we have to avoid those as much as possible. As for anti-ship torpedoes, they are equipped with warheads specifically designed to pierce energy shields, so one hit is all it takes to incur severe damage¡­ Oops, we¡¯re straying from the topic huh.¡±

    Elma rposed herself with a cough.

    ¡°As I said earlier, I¡¯m okay with getting an interview, but I won¡¯t be showing my face and will be using a voice changer. If not, it¡¯s a no-go. Rather, if you want to create a documentary of Krishna¡¯s exploits, then focusing on Hiro will be enough.¡±

    ¡°I gotcha.¡±

    I don¡¯t know what kind of interview they are gonna do, but I don¡¯t have anything to hide in particr¡­ or not. Oh well. It would be fine if I don¡¯t blurt out the thing about me possibly being from another dimension. That leaves Mimi.

    ¡°It¡¯s really exciting, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Mimi was really eager for the interview. There¡¯s no problem with getting all excited, but at this rate, she might blurt out things that are better off not getting known. I should probably have May stick with her during the interview.

    After we finished talking among ourselves, there was a knock on the door, and Sara-san entered shortly afterward. Did she actually spy on our discussion through some dubious means? Her timing was strangely spot-on, so I couldn¡¯t help but be suspicious.

    ¡°I have submitted the purchase order. It will take approximately two weeks for the product to be delivered.¡±

    ¡°Two weeks huh. Is that reasonable?¡±

    ¡°I guess.¡±

    If Elma says so, then alright. Back in the game, you immediately get the ship after purchase, but I guess it¡¯s different in reality huh. Rather, spending two weeks to install the generator and all the other optional stuff seems kinda quick.

    ¡°Do you have any other requests?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I want to send my personal ship for an overhaul.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Leave it to us.¡±

    Well, that was quick. It was quick, but I still have something to add.

    ¡°I bet you¡¯re already aware, but that ship is quite unique.¡±

    ¡°Yes. We will have to analyze the parts in order to replicate them from scratch. Don¡¯t worry. We will give it our best.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. So, how much are you willing to exchange for that?¡±

    Sara-san froze up with her smile still on. Whoah, there. It would be troublesome if you freeze updy(?). There¡¯s no reason they¡¯ll pass up on a chance to scan my ship. Krishna is filled to the brim with tech unknown to Space Dwerg, so I¡¯m sure they are itching to get their hands on it already. Once it goes in for an overhaul, they¡¯ll have to thoroughly analyze each part in detail and will take that opportunity to absorb all the unknown tech. And they will probably try to apply that tech to their next products. It¡¯s so obvious even a kid will be able to tell.

    ¡°That ship is a virtual treasure trove for you guys, right? So, I¡¯ll ask again. How much are you willing to fork out in order to study all that unknown tech?¡±

    ¡°The overhaul will bepletely free of charge.¡±

    Sara-san recovered and continued to give me a 0 Yen smile.

    ¡°And here I thought we could have a happy partnership¡­ Fine. I understand. Let¡¯s just say it wasn¡¯t meant to be.¡±

    ¡°W-W-W-Waiiit! Please wait! Just a moment! Okay! I understand! The overhaul is free! And we will give you another discount on the Skizbrazunil! The three million for the weapon systems will bepletely waived! We will even give you ammo for all the weapon systems for free!¡±

    I matched gazes with May. I think it would be better to leave these kinds of negotiations to her¡­ Am I getting a bit too dependent on her, I wonder?

    ¡°I think cutting the price to exactly 20 million is appropriate.¡±

    ¡°Now just hold on there! With that, the total discount will amount to 11,000,000 Enels including the overhaul fees and the free ammo. That¡¯s impossible for us. We will be making a loss.¡±

    Sara-san turned all serious. Hm, well, it does seem that selling Krishna¡¯s info for 11 mil is a bit too much.

    ¡°This is Krishna¡¯s operational data until now, including normal operation, cruising in normal space, FTL Drive navigation, Hyperdrive navigation, andbat records.¡±

    ¡°Understood! The price will be set for exactly 20 million Enels. Not one Enel more.¡±

    May took out a data crystal, which is a data storage medium in this dimension with a reallyrge capacity, and the serious expression of Sara-san reverted to her 0 Yen smile. Just when did you prepare that, May¡­?

    ¡°This is the basics of risk management, Master.¡±

    May then handed over the data crystal to the smiling Sara-san. Risk management huh. Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯mpletely clueless about it. It¡¯s certainly better to hand over what the other party wants in your own terms and get an appropriatepensation instead of suffering the risk of the other partying after you using less savory means. I¡¯m sure that¡¯s what May is thinking.

    ¡°There¡¯s a lot you¡¯ve been doing behind my back huh?¡±

    ¡°Yes. But it¡¯s all for your sake, Master.¡±

    ¡°I see. But don¡¯t you think being all secretive like that and refraining from reporting your actions to me is overdoing it?¡±

    I¡¯ll let the thing about the ship and weapons slide. But taking the ship¡¯s operational data in secret to be used as a trump card to get a favorable deal is not cool with me. Just how far do May¡¯s ns go, I wonder.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    May mmed up. I see.

    ¡°I¡¯ll punish youter.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master.¡±

    Is it just me, or is May¡¯s reply kinda off somehow. It actually seems like she was looking forward to it. Also, will you stop looking at me like that, Sara-san! Don¡¯t look at me with those disdainful eyes! The way I said it may have caused some misunderstandings, but I don¡¯t really n on doing something perverted! I¡¯m talking about normal punishment! Normal, I tell you!

 Chapter 115 â€“ Punishment (LV1) and Suite Room

    <h4>Chapter 115 - Punishment (LV1) and Suite Room</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Okay then, we¡¯ll have to book a hotel for now.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Uhuh.¡±

    After finishing the necessary procedures, I, Elma, and Mimi finally left the Space Dwerg building. Both of them agreed to book a hotel. Since Krishna was due for an overhaul, we wouldn¡¯t be able to stay there for a while. The Krishna served as both our ship and residence, but right now, if we don¡¯t book a hotel, we¡¯d be temporarily homeless.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be handing the ship over by noon tomorrow. We¡¯ll have to pack some things and book lodgings before then.¡±

    ¡°We just need to take the essentials, right?¡±

    ¡°Yep. It would be fine to just bring our portable terminals and tablets, as well as some change of clothes. That would be enough for me anyway.¡±

    The portable terminals also function as our wallets, and it¡¯s not like a guy like me needs to pack a lot of stuff anyway. I¡¯ll just buy anything else I¡¯d needter.

    ¡°In any case, we have to return to the ship for a bit to pack.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s go back, eat a quick meal, and then search for a hotel to stay in.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    The three of us walked back to the docks with May following after us. The areas nearest to the dock area where Krishna was parked were filled almostpletely with offices owned or rted to Space Dwerg Co. Ltd. Themercial and downtown areas are situated on a different block.

    Most people thate to this colony have business with Space Dwerg and its rtedpanies. There are a lot of people like us who book hotels to stay at the colony for a period of time, so there are plenty of hotel chains operating in order to meet the demand. At least, that¡¯s what Sara-san said. She also gave us a list of hotels affiliated with Space Dwerg and enthusiastically endorsed them to us.

    By the way, May was walking a few steps away from the three of us. I¡¯ll have to issue May¡¯s punishmentter after all. I¡¯m not sure how effective it¡¯ll be, but I¡¯ve already decided on a punishment method. Well, I¡¯ll just implement it once we sessfully book a hotel.

    And so, we finally got back to where Krishna was parked. However¡­

    ¡°Backup! Send us some backup immediately!¡±

    ¡°Uoooooh!? Quit it, you idiots!¡±

    ¡°Unauthorized scanning is strictly prohibited! Drag them away!¡±

    ¡°This is for the sake of advancing starship technology! Get lost, you government dogs!¡±

    The area around Krishna was inplete chaos. It was a full-on riot already. There were lots of diminutive uncles and little girls crowding around while carrying various unfamiliar equipment trying their hardest to approach Krishna, and more of their kind wearing matching government-issued uniforms trying to push the other group away and apprehend them.

    ¡°What the heck?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°This is terrible.¡±

    ¡°Maybe I should have really pushed for more discounts earlier. The passion of dwarves for new tech is overwhelming.¡±

    May bowed her head toward me in apology. Mm. I don¡¯t really care about that all that much. In any case, we won¡¯t be able to get back to Krishna at this rate. What do we do about this? As I was thinking of our next move, Elma raised her voice and called out to the crowd.

    ¡°This ship is already scheduled for an overhaul and will be handed to the engineers working for Space Dwerg by noon tomorrow! You¡¯ll get a better chance studying Krishna if you sneak yourselves in along with the Space Dwerg engineers tomorrow instead of crowding around and making a racket here!¡±

    The surrounding crowd of researcher and engineer-looking folks reacted to Elma¡¯s words, calmed down for a few moments, and then started running full speed ahead toward Space Dwerg¡¯spany office.

    The only ones who ended up getting left behind were the engineers who already got apprehended and the government officers who looked pretty beat up from all themotion. Thanks for all the hard work, government guys. Much respect.

    ¡°Uooooh!? So you guys are the owners of this ship!? Please get these boors to release us! This is illegal detention! Illegal detention I tell you!¡±

    ¡°Please! We¡¯re begging you! Not being able to participate in the overhauling process will be the death of us!¡±

    ¡°Take them away.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to us, sir.¡±

    ¡°Nooooo! Stoooop! Lemme gooooooooo!¡±

    The government officers took away all the apprehended engineers. I don¡¯t know how many days you¡¯ll be held in detention, but just treat it as a vacation, guys.

    The next day.

    We sessfully booked a hotel to stay in, packed our stuff, and used the freight delivery system to send them all to the hotel in question. We then walked to the hotel almost empty-handed.

    ¡°The colony freight delivery system sure is convenient. And their service is improving a lot.¡±

    ¡°I can no longer imagine life without the freight delivery system.¡±

    ¡°Well, in some ces, the deliverypanies send the items in bulk to local branches, then the delivery guys from those branches load the items intopany vehicles and deliver them to all customer¡¯s addresses one by one. It¡¯s inefficient, but some less-developed ces still make use of such a system.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a tough job¡­¡­ I also did some part-time work for deliverypanies when I was a student.¡±

    Working in winter was pretty tough. The road conditions were really bad, so I had to be really careful to avoid getting into an ident while still trying to be on schedule. It was tough, but pay during the holidays was pretty good.

    ¡°Master.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Please reconsider.¡±

    ¡°Nope.¡±

    May still had her usual nk expression on, but the atmosphere about her seemed quite gloomy. Well, that goes without saying. She¡¯s undergoing her punishment after all.

    ¡°Um, shouldn¡¯t we forgive May-san already? I¡¯m sure she¡¯s learned her lesson already¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°The results of her acting arbitrarily did turn out mostly fine, but it¡¯s still too early to stop her punishment. I need her to really repent on her actions, or it¡¯s no good.¡±

    Right now, May was prohibited from serving me apart from acting as an escort. For May, her greatest pleasure in life was serving me in all ways possible. It was literally her reason for being. So being prevented from doing that is incredibly unbearable for her, so that¡¯s why I¡¯m treating her as nothing more than a bodyguard right now.

    I wasn¡¯t all that sure about how effective this method is. But it¡¯s something I learned from the receptionist gynoid we met at Orient Corporation when I took her lecture, so I think it¡¯s trustworthy enough.

    Their loyalty and abilities are really high, so young independent AI tend to get carried away a lot as long as it¡¯s for the benefit of their masters. And that¡¯s why I was taught special punishment methods in order to curtail that tendency. One of them was ordering a maidroid to refrain from any service activities apart from acting as an escort for their master.

    By the way, any form of physical punishment is practically useless since they have tough mechanical bodies. You¡¯ll probably be the one who gets injured if you attempt to hit them. And in the first ce, I find the act of hitting a girl as punishment quite distasteful and have no intention of doing something like that if I can help it. I¡¯m no feminist, but I just don¡¯t like that kind of stuff. Well, it also depends on whether or not the other party deserves it though.

    And I know some of you are thinking about it, but punishment in a sexual context wouldn¡¯t be a punishment at all in this case. Actually, it may have the opposite effect.

    ¡°I have thoroughly repented, Master. I will never do something like keeping secrets from you ever again. So please have mercy.¡±

    May begged with a serious expression. I gazed at Elma, who shrugged her shoulders and sighed.

    ¡°AI technically aren¡¯t able to lie to their masters, so I¡¯m sure she means what she says. How about you forgive her already?¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama. Please. I can¡¯t stand seeing May-san all gloomy like that.¡±

    Mimi also pulled my sleeve and spoke out for May. Well, if the two of them say so, then I guess I¡¯ll relent.

    ¡°Okay then. I¡¯ll forgive you for the sake of these two. And it¡¯s not like we didn¡¯t benefit from your actions, May. But don¡¯t ever do something like going behind my back ever again, okay? Promise me.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Thank you very much, Master.¡±

    The punishment onlysted a dozen minutes or so. But for May, who has a positron brain with extremely high information processing capabilities, it might as well have been an eternity. We haven¡¯t gotten far from where Krishna was parked yet.

    But once I lifted the master service ban, May¡¯s steps became lighter. The gloomy atmosphere from before was blown away, and she seemed rather happy about being forgiven despite her usual expressionless face. Even if she doesn¡¯t show much emotion in her expressions, you can still kind of tell from her aura and gestures.

    We continued walking and took some detours for a bit of sightseeing until we finally arrived at the hotel we will be staying at.

    ¡°It looks like a real fancy hotel.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. It does look pretty high-ss.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s 1,500 Enels per night, including breakfast and dinner. So it¡¯ll just be 10,000 Enels for a week.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s still expen-¡±

    ¡°Our stay on Sierra III cost us 10,000 Enels per day you know? And that¡¯s 10 thousand per person. So this one¡¯s actually pretty cheap.¡±

    ¡°Really¡­¡­? No! I won¡¯t be deceived! It¡¯s expensive! A room at a cheap hotel only goes for 50 Enels per night you know! A twin room just goes for 150 to 200 Enels!¡±

    Tsk. So I couldn¡¯t fool her huh. Mimi¡¯s pretty sharp.

    ¡°Mimi, since we have the money, we should spend it. Or rather, any Gold-ranked mercenary who would still insist on staying at a cheap hotel will be treated as aughingstock you know.¡±

    ¡°Is that the case¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yup. That¡¯s how it is.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s actually like that huh.¡±

    I didn¡¯t really consider that factor when I chose this hotel. I paid much more attention to the reviews, the avable facilities, the look of the rooms, and the overall atmosphere. It had a training room that didn¡¯t lose to the one on Krishna, and also had a suite avable spacious enough to allow us all to stay together. Actually, only this hotel had that kind of room avable, so choosing it was a no-brainer. It¡¯s a hotel affiliated with Space Dwerg, so we got a discount as well. So the price actually was rtively cheap.

    Actually, the reason I was liberal with spending was thanks to May negotiating that favorable deal with Space Dwerg. The overhaul was also offered for free, so we still had 12 million on us right now. May did a lot of stuff behind our backs and manipted our actions to suit her intentions, but the overall result was still beneficial to us all. So I guess the punishment being light is fairly reasonable.

    ¡°Alright. Come on you two. Our luggage has already been sent in, so don¡¯t just stand at the entrance. Let¡¯s go ahead and check ourselves in.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­ Okay.¡±

    We pulled the still-unconvinced Mimi and headed inside. The hotel lobby looked quite ssy and grand. The waiting area inside had several elegant-looking sofas and tables, and beyond it was an indoor garden with various nts. It was quite a rxing sight. The ceiling was also quite high, and the crystal chandelier hanging at the very top filled the entire lobby with gentle light.

    ¡°It really does look premium. It¡¯s better than I imagined.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a first ss hotel after all. Let¡¯s go, you two.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    I was also a bit daunted, but seeing Mimi getting antsier than me calmed me down. Elma looks like she was used to this sort of luxury, and she wasn¡¯t fazed at all. Hm. Was she really a runaway nobledy or something simr? Or maybe she was just used to it since she¡¯s been to these kinds of ces many times already during her mercenary career? I can¡¯t just arbitrarily judge her. Yep.

    ¡°Wee everyone. Thank you for visiting our hotel today. Have you made a reservation?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We¡¯ve booked a room under the name ¡®Captain Hiro¡¯.¡±

    The middle-aged employee at the front desk who sported a splendid-looking mustache fiddled with a portable data terminal and checked our reservation. He then gave us a professional smile.

    ¡°I have confirmed your reservation. It¡¯s Hiro-sama andpany, correct? I will send the digital passcode for the room to the rest of yourpanions as well if you¡¯d like.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll take it. Here, save the code too, Mimi, May.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    At Elma¡¯s urging, Mimi took out her portable terminal and gave it to the receptionist. May just put her right hand forward. The middle-aged nice guy swiped his terminal over all of our own terminals to transfer the code. The code will serve as the electronic key for locking and unlocking our room.

    ¡°Well then, we shall now guide you to your room, everyone. We have already sent your luggage up to your room as well.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    ¡°Pleasee this way.¡±

    A youngdy wearing a maid uniform bowed to us and led the way. She also looked like nothing more than an elementary school student, but her aura was very mature. I¡¯m sure she¡¯s also a dwarvendy. She¡¯s small and cute, but she¡¯ll probably be angry if I ever pointed that out, so I¡¯ll just keep my trap shut. Let¡¯s be more careful.

    ¡°This will be your room, dear guests.¡±

    The maid dwarfdy and us finally reached our room. It had a pretty spacious living area. There were quite a number of elegant-looking furniture in the living area. Our luggage was neatly ced on one side, and there were a number of side-rooms.

    ¡°Mm. It¡¯s bigger than I thought.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Um¡­ I don¡¯t know which is which¡­¡±

    ¡°The doors on that side are our private rooms. Right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. This suite consists of four bedrooms, two restrooms, a dressing room, arge closet, a premium bathroom, and a living and dining area.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s wonderful. It¡¯s a room fit for Master.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the praise. You can contact the lobby using that terminal over there, so please do so if you are in need of anything.¡±

    The dwarven maid bowed to us and excused herself.

    ¡°Let¡¯s organize our luggage first. Come on, Mimi. Let¡¯s choose our rooms.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Yes¡­¡±

    Elma took their luggage and pulled the still-overwhelmed Mimi to choose rooms.

    ¡°The master bedroom is this way.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    May picked up my luggage and apanied me to the master bedroom. Honestly speaking, I¡¯m also a bit overwhelmed since I was just your average employee back on Earth, but we¡¯re already here, so I¡¯ll just go with the flow like always. Anyway, we are going to stay here for a week. Let¡¯s enjoy this to the fullest, shall we?

 Chapter 116 â€“ Dead Ball

    <h4>Chapter 116 - Dead Ball</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The delivery of the newly purchased mothership will be in two weeks. Krishna¡¯s overhaul will be finished in one week.

    Aside from the fact that we need to wait for the mothership to be delivered, Krishna is also in the middle of undergoing aplete overhaul, so in the meantime, we¡¯re stuck inside the colony. It¡¯s a nice opportunity to take it slow. The suite room is spacious and luxurious. The auto-cooker installed in the dining area is also pretty high-quality so the meals are delicious too. And more importantly, I get to fool around with Mimi, Elma, and May without a care in the world, at least for a little while. What could be better?

    So I¡¯m definitely gonna make sure I thoroughly enjoy this.

    ¡°A call from the workshop doing the overhaul?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m sorry to trouble you during your much-earned rest, Master, but it seems they really need to see you.¡±

    We handed over Krishna to the maintenance workshop yesterday noon, and then returned to the hotel. We then spent the entire night flirting around with each other. I was looking forward to even more flirting today as well, but a request like this came up so early in the morning.

    ¡°If they have something to ask, then wouldn¡¯t it be more appropriate to send over a representative here¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I also think so. I told them as such as well. Shall I call Sara-san to lodge a formalint?¡±

    ¡°Nah¡­ I¡¯ll go.¡±

    I¡¯m their client, but the other party isposed of those crazy space dwarves y¡¯know. It won¡¯t be pretty if I refuse here and end up alienating those finicky artisans. They might even cut corners. Well, I can always lodge aint to Sara-san if that ever happened, but it¡¯s better to avoid that oue in the first ce. I¡¯d just be fooling around with Mimi and Elma all day if I didn¡¯t go anyway.

    C¡¯mon guys. That¡¯s important y¡¯know. Yes, flirting is very important. But it¡¯s also good to refrain from being too clingy. Everything needs a bnce, and that¡¯s true for the art of flirting as well.

    ¡°I¡¯ll clean up a bit and head out. Please enter the site location on my terminal¡¯s navi app.¡±

    ¡°Understood. But wouldn¡¯t it be better if I came with you instead?¡±

    ¡°Nah, I¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯d like to experience walking around by myself from time to time.¡±

    It¡¯s a colony filled with space dwarves so maybe they¡¯re selling some interesting articles or something. Maybe I can find some melee weapons for power armor use. Y¡¯know, like h**t hawks or vibro-des. Swords are generally thought of as weapons reserved for the nobles over here after all.

    If ded weapons are out, blunt weapons should be fine too. A giant mace would be good for crushing the armor of enemies. It would be nice if it had a hidden piledriver or something. Man, the dream just keeps expanding. Well, that¡¯s all just my wishful thinking, so I might not be able to find anything like those in the end. Oh well.

    I freshened up a bit and left the hotel on my lonesome. Mimi was still fast asleep, and Elma drank bucketsst night, so she might not wake up until noon. I left May to take care of both of them, so I¡¯m not worried at all. It¡¯s times like these that let me appreciate May¡¯s presence even more. She¡¯s very dependable.

    ¡°Uh, so it should be right past here¡­¡±

    I checked the route disyed on my portable terminal as I walked. This is also prepared by May. Man, May¡¯s really taking care of me a lot huh. Somehow, I had a vision of Mimi growling cutely in dissatisfaction, but I¡¯m sure it¡¯s just my overactive imagination.

    I continued to navigate around the colony interior with a low ceiling. I have to prioritize showing up at the workshop, so I¡¯ll leave the sightseeing forter. It¡¯s still early in the morning, so I don¡¯t think the shops selling power armor weapons are open yet.

    Along the way, I had to pass near a ce that looked like the downtown area, but it totally reeked of alcohol so my face contorted into a grimace. I kinda think bringing inrge quantities of a vtile substance like alcohol inside a sealed colony might be a recipe for disaster though¡­¡­ Do they have any special countermeasures in ce? Well, maybe they do. It won¡¯t be a joke for a fire or explosion to ur inside the colony due to the alcohol after all.

    The moment Ipletely passed the downtown area, the smell of alcohol filling the airpletely disappeared.

    ¡°!?¡±

    I got surprised, backpedaled a bit, and lo and behold, it reeks of alcohol again. What the heck? What¡¯s with this strangely over the top use of cutting edge tech? Was it due to the air conditioning system installed inside here? I can¡¯t seem to spot anything that looks conspicuous, but¡­¡­ I¡¯m dead sure there has to be some sort of advanced device that made this possible. Dwarf tech sure is impressive¡­ or is it? It kinda feels a bit pointless.

    It reminds me of an item making use of advanced technology for trivial stuff. Yep. I¡¯m talking about the gravity sphere. It implements space locking and anti-gravity tech only to be used as a glorified tumbler. As for this one, it may be a shield that only blocks theponents that make up the smell of booze or something.

    ¡°¡­¡­Let¡¯s move on.¡±

    After a short while more, I finally reached the maintenance and workshop area. There were appliances such as auto-cookers, weapons such asser guns and rifles, power armors, as well as various maintenance parts and equipment lined up around the area. So that downtown area earlier is most likely a ce for rxation of the dwarven employees who work here.

    ¡°Hm. Maybe I should send in my power armor for an overhaul as well.¡±

    I¡¯ve gotten much use for RIKISHItely after all. I¡¯ve been doing regr maintenance on it, but I haven¡¯t overhauled it as well ever sinceing into this dimension. Maybe it would be best to have pros look at it as well. I¡¯d also like to procure power armor weapons that aren¡¯t on the bulky side. Theseruncher was a bit too unwieldy after all. Of course, there are the shoulder-mountedser guns as well. But those just aren¡¯t enough.

    I thought about which weapons would be nice for my power armor as I walked until I reached the workshop proper. Since starships are quiterge, service areas for them are usually situated inside low-gravity blocks. It¡¯s also the same in this colony as well.

    Being inside a low-gravity area makes people feel like ying around, but excitedly bouncing to and fro in areas like these are frowned upon by most because of the possibility of idents. But it truly is quite fun, so lots of colony kids make use of these areas to build makeshift secret bases and such, or so I¡¯ve heard. Mimi told me she also often sneaked inside low-gravity blocks like this one to y around, only to be scolded by her parents afterward.

    You can build up quite a bit of speed while bouncing around inside a low-gravity area like this one, but you also run the risk of identally crashing into someone else. That¡¯s why you have to be extra careful while going around a low-gravity area like this one. It¡¯s hard to kill your momentum in areas like this, so running around recklessly isn¡¯t advisable.

    So I made sure to proceed carefully myself. Finally, I reached the garage Krishna was taken to yesterday. But¡­

    ¡°What the heck is this?¡±

    I peeked inside and found Krishnapletely stripped of its outer hull, with lots of dwarves crawling around it. Some were scanning it with their gadgets, and some were using small hammers to hit sections of the ship as if they were checking for something. The four heavy-caliberser cannons and two ballistic shot cannons were also removed. The variable armor was also disassembled and was currently being serviced. The maniptor arms theser cannons were attached to were of particr interest.

    And then, a rugged-looking dwarf who seemed to be the leader of the engineering team noticed my presence and turned toward me with excessive vigor.

    ¡°The pilot¡¯s arrived! Secure him!¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°Uoooooooh!!!¡±

    ¡°Out of the way! I¡¯ll catch em!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry boys, but we¡¯ll be the ones to catch him! Soooi!¡±

    I suddenly found myself getting swarmed by dwarves with strange glints in their eyes, but the female dwarf who reacted a bitte to my presence grabbed her female partner, made a wind-up, and threw her at me with explosive force.

    ¡°Waaaaaaaah!?¡±

    ¡°Uoooooooooh!?¡±

    I caught the other female dwarf, who sailed through the air at an amazing speed, but the momentum was too strong, and we got blown away straight out of the workshop.

    Or rather, this female dwarf is tiny, but she¡¯s actually quite heavy! We barreled through the air until my back hit a wall and got sandwiched by the female dwarf.

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±

    My body slowly slid down the wall, and the female dwarf was shouting something like ¡®I caught him!¡¯ as she hugged my chest. What the heck¡­? Why did I have to go through something like this the moment I came here? While thinking of such things, I slowly lost consciousness.

 Chapter 117 â€“ Seiza

    <h4>Chapter 117 - Seiza</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I¡¯m usually an even-tempered person.

    What? Stop joking, you say? You think so? No, really, I am guys. It¡¯s a different story while in the middle of a job because usually, I got pirates aiming to take my life. But I don¡¯t easily get mad with people I¡¯ve be close to. But when ites to people I¡¯m unfamiliar with, like a store clerk or a ticket seller, I¡¯ll just act like normal and won¡¯t be all confrontational.

    Of course, this depends on the attitude of the other party as well. For example, I didn¡¯t feel like acting polite toward that government official who was in charge of Mimi¡¯s debt or that port officer who put me in detention back on Termaine Prime.

    There¡¯s also the saying ¡®Rich folk don¡¯t get into fights.¡¯ back where I¡¯m from. It¡¯s a saying that basically means that rich people are aware they won¡¯t gain any money by getting into fights, so better not get into one in the first ce. Well, the nuance is a bit different, but I¡¯m basically a rich guy now, so I wanna spend my time as peacefully as possible, at least when I¡¯m not on the job. That¡¯s what I thought. But¡­

    ¡°You think I can still let this slide just like that? No way, man! I¡¯m done!¡±

    I think I¡¯ve been patient enough, really. There¡¯s the unauthorized scanning, them crowding around the docks right in front of my ship while making a huge racket, and them calling me out here so early in the morning. There¡¯s also the saying ¡®Stroke the face of a Buddha three times, and his anger will be roused.¡¯ No, that actually doesn¡¯t mean you can only forgive three times, but a warning so people are reminded not to go too far. But in this case, I¡¯ll go with the ¡®three times¡¯ interpretation. So bite me.

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ We¡¯re really sorry.¡±

    Sara was currently kneeling in seiza in front of me. Yep. She was kneeling directly on the floor of the garage smeared with oil and grunge. The one right next to her was the chief engineer and overseer of their workshop. And behind them was the dwarf woman who hit me like a dead ball earlier, and the other dwarf woman who f***in threw her at me. I also had all the other engineers and mechanics kneel behind them.

    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m your client, right? We did undergo some back and forth, but in the end, I still bought thetest model of your ship without much fuss, so I should be a valuable client now, right? Is repeatedly inconveniencing and even injuring a valued client Space Dwerg¡¯s modus operandi? Or maybe it¡¯s just how you dwarves do things? Is calling out a customer this early in the morning only to let him eat a dead ball your idea of manners or something? Huh? C¡¯mon, say something!¡±

    ¡°T-That w-was never our intention¡­¡­¡±

    Sara looked up at me with a teary-eyed expression.

    ¡°Hey, hey, hey, don¡¯t give me that,dy. I¡¯m the one who wants to cry here. And don¡¯t you think the sight of a human-like me looking down on a dwarfdy as she kneels on the floor while crying may give others the worst impression possible? It¡¯s like I¡¯m the viin now even though I¡¯m actually the victim here, so stop.¡±

    Yeah. This situation really paints me in a bad light if a random stranger happens to pass by without knowing what¡¯s up.

    ¡°Anyway, holding you up like this without getting any work done is inefficient and doesn¡¯t do me any good either. First, just get back to work. If you do a sloppy job, you better believe I¡¯m gonna chase you all down to the ends of the gxy and crush you to a pulp, so you better shape up, y¡¯hear. Don¡¯t just get caught up with analyzing tech and properly overhaul my ship. And be quick about it. Alright, scram.¡±

    After my rant, the rest of the dwarven engineers and mechanics went back to work except for Sara, the chief engineer, and the dead-ball sisters, who were still kneeling in seiza.

    ¡°So, next up is you guys¡­¡­¡±

    I red at Sara with a scowl on my face.

    ¡°I won¡¯t tell you guys what to do in order to make it up to me. I¡¯ll leave that up to you. I¡¯ll have you show me just how sincere you are in apologizing for all the crap I¡¯ve been put through this far.¡±

    ¡°Hyesh¡­¡­¡±

    Sara nodded while crying sorrowfully. The chief engineer also nodded with a pale face. The dead-ball sisters already went past being deathly pale, but that¡¯s not my problem.

    ¡°For now, just continue the overhaul. But we¡¯ll put purchasing the Skizbrazunil on hold for now. I¡¯ll decide whether or not to go through with it depending on how you¡¯llpensate me. You¡¯re fine with that, right? Oh, and I¡¯m putting the purchase on hold, but I won¡¯t tolerate something like stretching out the deadline for delivery. You guys understand, right?¡±

    ¡°Hyesh¡­¡­¡±

    Sara nodded weakly once more. I checked my Enel bnce and handed 10,000,000 Enels as down payment, which is half the 20 million we initially agreed upon. The remaining 10,000,000 will be handed to them if there are no ring ws with the final article.

    Of course, if I don¡¯t find the ship to my liking, the 10 million will be refunded to me in full. If Space Dwerg fails to satisfy me, they¡¯d have to shove a fully customizedtest edition of Skizbrazunil back to their inventory without getting rewarded for all the work they put into it. Since it¡¯s such arge ship, leaving it parked inside their facility would incur additional costs to thepany until they somehow manage to dispose of it. They can¡¯t just use the public docks after all. So who exactly will take the fall if that ever happened, I wonder? Muahahaha!

    I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be pretty desperate after this hehehe.

    ¡°Okay. Discussion¡¯s over. I¡¯m looking forward to how exactly Space Dwerg and you dwarves will show your sincerity. Depending on the results, I may leave this colony straight away once the overhaul of my ship gets finished. I¡¯m still a Gold-ranked mercenary y¡¯know. You at least have an idea of what will happen when someone like me decides to use¡­ a more forceful approach, right? I¡¯m not all that bad with firefights just so you know.¡±

    I had my guard down earlier, so I ended up eating that dead-ball full on. Well, of course, I didn¡¯t have my guard up. I wasn¡¯t expecting to get assaulted like that just for visiting a ship workshop after all. I mean, that¡¯s justmon sense.

    ¡°Yes¡­ We will do our best to give you proper ounting and satisfy your demands.¡±

    ¡°I hope so, Sara-san. I hope so.¡±

    I then turned my back on her and walked out of the workshop. I was initially nning on looking for power armor weapons and some sightseeing after finishing my business here, but I don¡¯t really feel like it anymore. Let¡¯s just go back.

    Or rather, why the heck did they even call me over in the first ce? And they even wanted to capture me. What the heck? I even ate a dead ball and got injured. I have to give myself credit for not drawing myser gun and going nuts after all that¡¯s happened. I mean seriously, man. Sheesh.

    ¡°Shall I massacre all the dwarves, Master?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, May. It¡¯s fine.¡±

    After getting back and telling the girls what happened, May made a dangerous proposal with a nk expression. When she heard I ended up getting injured after inconveniencing me so early in the morning, she got really angry, which was obvious even with her usual nk look. Well, it¡¯s not like she was nning on seriously killing them anyway¡­ She¡¯s not, right? Oh boy.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand why you had to go through that though, Hiro-sama¡­¡±

    ¡°So they wanted to secure the pilot, huh¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi was confused after hearing my story. Yeah, I don¡¯t get it either. Why¡¯d I need to eat a dead ball first thing in the morning anyway? I looked toward Elma and found her deep in thought. Does she have an idea about what happened?

    ¡°Have you thought of something?¡±

    ¡°Those dwarves may have deduced how you¡¯ve been using the ship¡¯s thrusters to make those unorthodox maneuvers after taking Krishna apart. Yes, that¡¯s most likely it.¡±

    ¡°But the data pertaining to that is locked though?¡±

    ¡°They must have deduced it by checking out the thrusters directly. Dwarves have the uncanny ability to make detailed observations regarding the state of metal alloys and the like. They can ¡®read¡¯ metals much like how people and elves read books. So even if they don¡¯t have ess to the data, they¡¯ll be able to deduce how unique and unordinary your maneuvers are just by ¡®reading¡¯ the state of the thrusters.¡±

    ¡°Reading the state of metals huh¡­¡­¡±

    May connected to the and searched for information. She then nodded as if convinced of Elma¡¯s conjecture.

    ¡°But why¡¯d they want to capture me though? They can just use their own test pilots.¡±

    ¡°Engineers have this tendency topete with each other in securingpetent test pilots you see. It may have been a conditioned reflex.¡±

    ¡°But isn¡¯t it counterproductive since it would probably scare off or infuriate potential candidates¡­?¡±

    They should act in moderation and not lose their cool when ites to things like this.

    ¡°In any case, I wonder what they¡¯ll do after this¡­¡­ You said they need to show their sincerity, but I can¡¯t predict what method they¡¯ll use to do so.¡±

    ¡°They were very rude to their client, but in the end, Master managed toe out of it with only light injuries. You can at most get a 500 Enelpensation fee if you hand your diagnostic data to the authorities. Well, a blunder such as this should have be a big issue back at theirpany. I¡¯m sure they are frantically thinking up countermeasures in order to deal with it.¡±

    ¡°Well, they¡¯re dwarves though¡­¡­ Honestly, I won¡¯t even be surprised if they end up doing something over the top.¡±

    Elma sighed and made a wry grin. Come to think of it, how is the rtionship between the elves and dwarves in this dimension anyway? I always had the image of them not getting along because that¡¯s how they¡¯re usually portrayed back on Earth.

    ¡°Do you have something against dwarves, Elma?¡±

    ¡°No, not really. I don¡¯t have any particr opinion about them. But, well¡­ when ites to dwarves, there are a lot among them who can be called, uh, entric. Their train of thought has a tendency to go wild often, and may take totally unexpected directions. It¡¯s a nice quality to have as inventors, engineers, and researchers, but it pertains more to their instincts as a race, so it may blow up in their faces and trouble the others around them.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Well, Sara doesn¡¯t seem like the impulsive type at least¡­ She¡¯s not, right?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps. Well, it¡¯s not like every dwarf is like that, and there are quite a lot of dwarves who act in a reasonable manner as well. They just have that tendency because it¡¯s a trait of their race.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ We will be in your care starting from today. I¡¯m Tina.¡±

    ¡°L-Let¡¯s get along¡­ I¡¯m Whisker. Please go easy on us¡­¡­¡±

    That night, the dead-ball sisters came into our room wearing suspiciously thin clothing.

    The dwarf named Tina had red hair and had cute features. She wore oil-stained overalls and a work helmet this morning, so I didn¡¯t manage to get a good look at her face back then. And the other dwarf girl named Whisker had aqua blue hair. I also didn¡¯t notice it earlier this morning, but she was quite cute too.

    Or rather, they kinda looked the same aside from their hair color. Maybe they¡¯re twins. Oh well. Anyway, there¡¯s just one thing I want to say to them right now.

    ¡°Scram.¡±

    I then closed the door again. Afterward, I began to hear sorrowful wails from outside the door.

    ¡°If we go home like this, we¡¯ll end up without a home and a job!¡±

    ¡°Please hear us out, sir! We¡¯ll do anything you say!¡±

    They started banging on the door. Ugh, so noisy. Guess I¡¯ll call hotel security.

    ¡°U-Um, Hiro-sama¡­?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    I was just about to call hotel security using the room¡¯s terminal when Mimi spoke up.

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ Is it okay if we let them in first?¡±

    ¡°Look, Mimi. I¡¯m really angry right now. I was wondering what Space Dwerg will do in order topensate me and they actually give me THIS? What the heck is this even supposed to mean anyway? They tossed their underlings away and told them to serve me aspensation. Did they think I was a womanizer just because I came to their office with the three of you in tow? So this is how they nned topensate me?¡±

    I do admit I like women just as much as the next guy, but this is just in rude. And something like taking advantage of women because of a matter like this is a huge no for me. Forcefully taking a woman by using threats, money, and authority just leaves a bad taste in the mouth and I want no part in that stuff.

    May did get forcefully handed over to me, but she seems okay with it anyway, so it¡¯s fine. That¡¯s a different thing, so it doesn¡¯t count, okay.

    ¡°Ugh. I just don¡¯t care anymore¡­¡­ I¡¯ll leave those two to you, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ Okay. I¡¯ll let them in first and hear what they have to say.¡±

    I sat back down on the sofa and let out a tired sigh. Are dwarves my natural nemesis or something? We just can¡¯t seem to see eye to eye. Or rather, they really rub me the wrong way.

    Before long, Mimi entered back into the room with the dead-ball sisters in tow. And then, she let the two of them sit down on the sofa opposite mine. She also sat down beside them.

    ¡°Man, the appearance of dwarven women is just a cheat¡­¡­ It¡¯s like I¡¯m aplete viin or something.¡±

    ¡°A-Ahaha¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi made an awkward smile as she coaxed the dead ball sisters who were sobbing sorrowfully beside her. By the way, Elma was lounging in front of the table a bit further away and was constantly ncing over to our group to check the situation. May quietly stood behind me and stared down on the dead ball sisters with a chilly gaze.

    After matching gazes with May, the dead-ball sisters shivered in fright and hugged each other tightly, so her re must be really intense.

    ¡°Um, May-san. Please don¡¯t bully the two of them too much.¡±

    ¡°I am not doing anything of the sort, Mimi-sama.¡±

    May answered in a cold tone. It was cold and hard, just like a starship¡¯s hull.

    But it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t get where she¡¯sing from. Compared to our cold attitudes, Mimi looked at the dead-ball sisters with a sympathetic gaze. Maybe it¡¯s due to their appearance, which resembled young children.

    ¡°I was once in the same situation as the two of them after all, Hiro-sama. That¡¯s why I can rte to them to an extent.¡±

    ¡°Mmph¡­¡­¡±

    C¡¯mon, Mimi. You know I¡¯m weak to that sort of stuff. And, well, I was part of the reason why these two ended up in this situation in the first ce. So, I can¡¯t say I didn¡¯t feel even an iota of guilt-

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t feel guilty at all. Absolutely not. It¡¯s all their fault, to begin with. They¡¯re just getting their just desserts.¡±

    That was dangerous. I was about to get swept up in Mimi¡¯s rhythm. But¡­ fine. I understand why Mimi feels pity for the two of them at least. I guess I¡¯ll hear them out for Mimi¡¯s sake.

 Chapter 118 â€“ Apology

    <h4>Chapter 118 - Apology</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll hear you out. But first, who was the one who crashed onto me this morning?¡±

    ¡°U-Um, that would be me, sir.¡±

    The aqua blue-haired loli, err, dwarf, Whisker, timidly raised her hand.

    ¡°I see. Well, you just got tossed over without a choice, so I guess I can let that slide. Fine. Go and sit down.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes¡­ B-But, what about sis?¡±

    She worriedly nced toward the red-haired loli called Tina, who I made to stand in the corner earlier along with her. It looks like she felt bad for being the only one allowed to sit back down on the sofa.

    Judging from her reaction, it seems that this dwarf girl Whisker is a pretty decent person. She must¡¯ve just been influenced by her less savorypanion into doing reckless stuff. Of course, I still can¡¯t say for sure.

    ¡°I see. Alright, I¡¯m not really an unreasonable person. So, you said you want to discuss with me, right? What¡¯s this about?¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes. Um, we¡¯re going to be chased out of our home and deprived of our jobs due to the incident this morning, so¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, of course, you would. Do you think a decent employee will assault a client for no good reason? It¡¯s justmon sense not to.¡±

    I¡¯m not sure what they mean about getting chased out of their home as well, but I understand why they were about to be fired from their jobs.

    ¡°So, what does all this have to do with me? Did Space Dwerg tell you guys to offer your bodies in order to appease me in exchange for getting hired back or something?¡±

    ¡°No, um, not exactly¡­ It¡¯s not like that, but, uh, I just thought it would be bad to leave it like this so¡­ um¡­¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    So these guys weren¡¯t sent here by Space Dwerg after all?

    ¡°So what about losing your home and job?¡±

    ¡°I-I just thought it would eventually lead to that if we didn¡¯t do something soon, so, uh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°So you weren¡¯t really chased out nor were you threatened to be chased out, right?¡±

    ¡°Um, yeah, but¡­ uh¡­¡±

    So these guys went here on their own? Seriously? Don¡¯t they realize doing something like this will just make the situation worse? If Space Dwerg was to learn of this, they might really end up out of a job. Rather, these guys were actually talking in the Kansai dialect. Are most dwarves like this?

    ¡°So let me get this straight. You didn¡¯t get told to do so by anyone, but you still dragged yourself along with your little sister to me in order to sell your bodies for favors?¡±

    ¡°B-Bodies¡­? Um, y-yeah, I guess.¡±

    Tina¡¯s face alternated between red and blue as she nodded weakly. I turned to Whisker, and after she noticed my gaze, her face also turned bright red.

    ¡°Hey, do you guys really understand why I actually got so angry?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­? Um, because we ended up injuring you-¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. That¡¯s also an issue, but the number one reason why I got so angry was that you fes from Space Dwerg kept on bothering us to no end ever since we got here and it was annoying me a lot. You get it?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­?¡±

    Tina didn¡¯t seem to get it yet, but Whisker looked like she did and started trembling pitifully.

    ¡°Let me put it this way. Because of guys like you who keep on doing outrageous stuff without a care for the consequences, we¡¯ve been put through so much trouble and I find that extremely annoying. You even called me out so early in the morning only to let me eat a dead ball. Is that head of yours filled with cotton or something? Or is it just empty inside?¡±

    I ended up smiling unnaturally. I had this habit of smiling unnaturally whenever I got really angry. Whenever my colleagues and acquaintances saw me making one, they made sure to avoid me in order to not get caught up.

    ¡°U-Um, well¡­¡­¡±

    After finally realizing that she messed up, Tina started sweating buckets.

    ¡°May.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master. I have already contacted Space Dwerg for you.¡±

    ¡°Great. I can always count on you, May.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your praise, Master.¡±

    I ignored the dead-ball sisters for the time being and exchanged gazes with Mimi.

    ¡°Mimi, I think these two are already beyond saving.¡±

    ¡°U-Um, but at least they came here in order to take responsibility¡­ even if their actions are a bit off. Can¡¯t you at least consider their intent, Hiro-sama¡­?¡±

    ¡°No, that just won¡¯t fly, Mimi. They weren¡¯t really forced toe here by their superiors in the first ce. They just decided to do this on their own. In other words, they¡¯re just trying to save their own skins.¡±

    The dead-ball sisters let out pained groans after hearing my words.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like I can¡¯t forgive you both. But that¡¯s just me.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°I only got minor injuries because of what you did anyway. It would be too petty of me to keep ming you for that. I won¡¯t do anything serious to you guys just because you made me eat a dead ball. I¡¯m not that much of a lowlife.¡±

    The dead-ball sister¡¯s expressions brightened considerably.

    Well, that¡¯s just how it is. No matter how you slice it, I really did only receive minor injuries from the actions of these two just like May said earlier. I would bepletely fine after a session inside a med-pod, and it¡¯s not like my injury hurts too much in the first ce.

    As I exined that to the two, May went in front of the room¡¯s entrance and opened the door. I guess they¡¯re already here. That was fast. They must have rushed over right after receiving the call.

    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m gonna let this drop.¡±

    The door opened fully.

    ¡°But I¡¯m not too sure if THEY will though.¡±

    After the door was opened, the ones who entered while bringing a luxurious-looking fruits basket, a bottle of expensive-looking alcohol, and a fancy-looking box, were a male and female dwarf wearing formal suits.

    ¡°We are really sorry for all you had to go through this time, sir¡­¡­¡±

    Three dwarves were seated on the sofa opposite mine and were busy bowing their heads in apology repeatedly.

    At the center of the three was the general manager of Brad system¡¯s Space Dwerg branch. He was Sara¡¯s superior, and the person at the very top of Brad system¡¯s Space Dwerg branch.

    On his right was the chief engineer of the workshop who I saw earlier this morning. On the left was the sales chief of Brad system¡¯s Space Dwerg branch, who was directly responsible for deals with well-known mercenaries and other prominent figures. The assistant manager and Sara herself were standing behind their bosses along with other high-ranking Space Dwerg employees.

    ¡°The way yourpany does business is really shocking huh. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d ever get bored from the way things are going, hahaha.¡±

    Really. It¡¯s like you guys can¡¯t sit still unless you make a hugemotion. It¡¯s certainly quite exciting, in a bad sense. That was what I was trying to get across.

    ¡°A-Ahahaha¡­ M-Much obliged, sir.¡±

    The sales chief startedughing awkwardly with his face wet with cold sweat. Hey, you wild-pitching red-haired loli over there. I¡¯m not praising you, okay. I¡¯m being sarcastic.

    ¡°I was surprised about how they barged in on me like this. They were trying to offer me flowers in order to apologize. I¡¯m a fan of flowers myself, but I also have preferences when ites to them, you see. I thought they were trying to force them onto me, so I almost got angry again.¡±

    ¡°A-Ahahaha, we had no idea at all. Even we were surprised, sir.¡±

    The sales chief took out a handkerchief from his suit pocket and wiped his sweat as he made a bitter grin. Hahaha, now you can¡¯t make excuses anymore, huh?

    ¡°Yes, well, I¡¯m sure a reputablepany like Space Dwerg won¡¯t do something foolish like offending a Gold-ranked mercenary, right? Of course not. Hahaha.¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course. Mercenaries, and most especially Gold-ranked mercenaries such as yourself, are valued clients and business partners of ourpany after all.¡±

    ¡°Even so, I still find your service to be slightlycking in propriety. Rather, don¡¯t you think you have to tighten up measures in order to supervise your employees better? And if things like this continue to happen often, won¡¯t the reputation of yourpany¡¯s after-sales service suffer as well. What do you think, chief?¡±

    ¡°O-Ourpany¡¯s after-sales service prides itself on its high degree of customer satisfaction and has received great reviews. We have excellent staff and services that are head and shoulders above those of otherpanies.¡±

    ¡°But those excellent staff just injured me this morning you know.¡±

    At my words, the sales chief, along with the branch manager and chief engineer, started sweating buckets.

    ¡°And in their desire to be forgiven, the two culprits even barged into my room at night. Why are the culprits of today¡¯s incident allowed to freely do what they want, hmm?¡±

    ¡°Well, t-that¡¯s¡­¡­¡±

    The sales chief nced nervously at the chief engineer.

    ¡°I already warned the two of them to stay put until further notice. But the two of them decided to slip out on their own, sir¡­¡±

    ¡°On their own huh. I see. So because they did this on their own, you¡¯re saying the rest of you can¡¯t be med for it, correct? Is that what you¡¯re trying to say here?¡±

    ¡°N-No! That isn¡¯t what we mean, sir¡­¡­¡±

    The sales chief interjected on our exchange in a panic.

    ¡°If so, then I expect all of you to hold equal responsibility for this incident and act ordingly.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes. We truly are sorry, sir.¡±

    The sales chief bowed deeply again, and the rest followed suit. Oh well. Let¡¯s cut them some ck with this.

    ¡°Alright. I ept your apology under two conditions. The first condition is for you toplete the work I¡¯ve entrusted to yourpany in a speedy, thorough, and efficient manner. The second is to guarantee I will never be subjected to unreasonable conduct from your employees again. In my opinion, I shouldn¡¯t even be demanding these of you because these things are but natural for any business. But in any case, those are my two conditions.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s definitely as you say, sir.¡±

    Some color returned to the face of the sales chief as he nodded briskly in agreement while still wiping his sweat. Those are really just part ofmon sense, okay.

    ¡°And so, if you have any proposals in order to show your sincerity, I will be more than happy to hear them out. We are nning to go on with traveling throughout the gxy after this. Since we¡¯ve obtained a mothership, we¡¯ve been thinking of dabbling in the trading business as well you see.¡±

    In other words, I¡¯m indirectly asking forpensation from thepany. Since they gave us so much trouble, I don¡¯t think doing this much is unreasonable at all. Or rather, since they¡¯ve troubled us a lot, I would feel cheated if I didn¡¯t get anything out of them.

    ¡°Ha¡­ Haha¡­ We will discuss further back at thepany and promise to give you a satisfactory proposal, sir.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it then. Oh, right. One more thing.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes.¡±

    The sales chief acted antsy once more. It looks like he¡¯s worried about what else I was going to demand, haha. Hey, there¡¯s nothing to be afraid of, okay. I¡¯m not nning on asking for any morepensation.

    ¡°Just why did you call for me this morning anyway? I ate a dwarven dead ball so I didn¡¯t get the opportunity to ask earlier, so I want to know now.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so it¡¯s about that. Actually, we arecking in qualified test pilots for our next-generation prototype ships, you see¡­ After they saw how you handled your ship, our engineers wondered if we could invite you to be our test pilot, at least temporarily. Since the development teams got wind of the n, they all gathered in the workshop earlier today in order to appeal for your help with each of their projects. And, well, each of them didn¡¯t want to lose out, so¡­¡­¡±

    The sales chief exined as he continued to wipe his sweat.

    ¡°Okay. But wouldn¡¯t it have been better if you sent a formal request to the guild in order to hire me? No matter how you think about it, calling me over personally for such a thing without even exining what it¡¯s all about is just in rude. And I¡¯m also your client, so that makes it even worse, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s as you say. We are deeply sorry for our actions. We can offer no excuse.¡±

    The chief engineer¡¯s small body seemed to get even smaller as he bowed even lower in apology. Perhaps this guy was an excellent engineer, but that doesn¡¯t mean he had excellent management skills as well. Perhaps he¡¯s not really suited to be in a managerial position.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s true that we will be staying in this colony for a period of time in order to wait for the mothership to be finished. So I guess I could take your request to serve as a test pilot. But that depends on the remuneration you¡¯ll be offering. So please send a formal application to the Mercenary Guild.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much, sir.¡±

    The sales chief, branch manager, and chief engineer all bowed down in unison. I¡¯m also interested in serving as a test pilot for next-gen ships. Maybe I¡¯ll even get to pilot ships I haven¡¯t seen in SOL. It¡¯s as good a chance as any, so I should grab it.

    ¡°Alright then. That¡¯s about it for the time being. Please contact me again once you¡¯ve made the proper arrangements. Oh, and this means I¡¯ll go ahead with the mothership purchase.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Thank you, sir. Again, we are really sorry for all the trouble you went through.¡±

    ¡°Mm, alright. I pray nothing else happens from now on. Oh, and about those two¡­¡­¡±

    The dead ball sisters started shaking nervously. Since they were wearing thin, skimpy clothingpared to the dwarves in formal suits- Oh, who am I kidding? They aren¡¯t the least bit sexy at all. Really. What were these two thinking?

    ¡°While they share part of the me for today¡¯s incident, I wouldn¡¯t really want them to get fired because of it. It¡¯ll leave a bad taste in my mouth you see.¡±

    ¡°We will deal with them appropriately, sir.¡±

    After saying so, the folks from Space Dwerg started filing out of the room. They left behind the high-quality fruits basket, expensive alcohol, and fancy-looking box.

    ¡°Hoo boy. That sure tired me out.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m kind of impressed. So you¡¯re also well versed in negotiations if you feel like it, huh.¡±

    Elma, who was observing us earlier from the corner of the room, approached the table and started checking out the alcohol bottle.

    ¡°Nah, not really. I¡¯m not sure if that was the best oue, but it could have been worse.¡±

    After saying so, I picked up the box and opened it up to see what¡¯s inside. What I found was an assortment of processed food. Some were vacuum-sealed smoked stuff, and others were packed in clear bottles. There were some fancy-looking canned goods too. They looked like part of a high-ss snack set to go with the alcohol.

    ¡°I think you did quite well, Master. You epted the apology of the other party graciously and made it so both sides can make appropriate concessions. Since the other side¡¯s entire upper management came in-person to apologize, it was a good decision to not drive them into a corner too much and offer a way out.¡±

    May, who was standing behind me, offered some praise. It¡¯s not a direct equivalent, but you can think of apany manager asparable to a lieutenant colonel or rear admiral in the imperial navy. With that as a basis, that sales chief was higher ranked than Major Serena.

    And the sales department can be said to be one of the foremost departments in anypany. And I made those higher-ups continuously get drenched in cold sweat. It wouldn¡¯t have been a good idea to corner them more than I had. It might have led to an even bigger mess.

    ¡°If you say so May, then I guess I did a pretty good job after all¡­¡­ Uh, Mimi?¡±

    Mimi seems lost in thought. I wonder what¡¯s up.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­ No, um, I was just thinking I want to handle such situations as calmly and wonderfully as Hiro-sama as well. Um, I¡¯ve always known Hiro-sama is cool, but today, I saw a different kind of cool, so¡­¡±

    ¡°So him dealing with the officials of argepany in an equal footing impressed you more than him hunting down pirates or rampaging in his power armor huh.¡±

    ¡°Something like that.¡±

    Mimi nodded to Elma¡¯s words.

    ¡°Please stop, girls. I really didn¡¯t do anything that impressive.¡±

    ¡°Oh, are you blushing? How cute. Where¡¯d that cool and collected Hiro from earlier go, huh?¡±

    ¡°Okay, stop. I mean it. Oh, hey, look at these delicious-looking snacks. Let¡¯s try them out right away.¡±

    I offered the vacuum-packed snacks to Elma, who was having fun teasing me, and diverted her attention.

    I¡¯m seriously all worn out today. I¡¯ll just rest my tired heart by enjoying these fruits and delicacies.

 Chapter 119 â€“ Sales

    <h4>Chapter 119 - Sales</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The next day.

    Man, that smoked stuff sure was quite the surprise. They were stuffed in vacuum-sealed packs, but once we opened one, the contents started wiggling creepily. But, well, when we mustered the courage to try them out, they were actually quite tasty, so the three of us ended up finishing them all.

    As for the taste¡­ they kinda were like richly vorful shrimp. Not the boiled kind though. They were more like sashimi. But the texture was simr to, um¡­ abalone? Anyway, that was my impression and I have absolutely no intention of digging deeper than that. It¡¯s better for stuff like this to remain a mystery¡­ for my stomach¡¯s sake.

    ¡°I want to look around for power armor weapons today.¡±

    After waking up, I ate breakfast, did my routine workouts at the hotel¡¯s training gym, took a quick shower to wash off the sweat, and went off to do some shopping.

    ¡°Lemme serve as your tour guide, boss.¡±

    ¡°S-Sis¡­¡­ You have to be more careful with your words. Don¡¯t talk to big brother so casually.¡±

    For some reason, I found the dead ball sisters standing in front of me the moment I opened the door to go out of the room. Just what is going on? I turned my gaze to Mimi, Elma, and then Sara, who was standing outside with the sisters. Yep. It looks like Sara tagged along as well.

    ¡°Yes. These two really wanted to make it up to you, so I came with them as a chaperone¡­¡­ so if they do anything stupid again, I¡¯ll be able to immediately throw them inside a holding cell in prison.¡±

    Sara just casually said something dangerous, which allowed a glimpse of just how peculiar the internal affairs in a dwarvenpany is. She just casually said something like throwing people in prison with a straight face after all.

    ¡°So, how did yourpany decide to deal with these guys anyway?¡±

    ¡°Due to your request Hiro-sama, they narrowly avoided the harshest punishment. They got severely reprimanded, got prohibited from drinking for two weeks, and got pped with a pay cut for three months. By the way, I also got fined a two-month sry reduction, but I was not prohibited from drinking. The chief engineer was banned from drinking for a month and got fined with a three-month sry reduction. He is also scheduled to undergo another round of leadership training seminars.¡±

    ¡°Why is getting prohibited from drinking part of the punishment? Is that really something unbearable for dwarves?¡±

    ¡°Course it is, boss.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s too cruel.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d I wasn¡¯t prohibited from drinking myself.¡±

    The dead-ball sisters looked pretty down while Sara had a relieved expression on her face. As outrageous as it sounds, getting prohibited from drinking is supposedly one of the cruelest forms of punishment for dwarves. They really are hopeless alcoholics huh?

    ¡°Okay. I gotcha. Like I saidst night, I¡¯ll ept your apology. But I thought I told you not to cause me any more trouble yesterday as well, right? Then why did you bring these two troublemakers here again?¡±

    Normally, they should have been prohibited from getting in contact with me.

    ¡°Well, about that¡­ It¡¯s not yet set in stone, but thepany is thinking of dispatching these two as Hiro-sama¡¯s personal mechanics.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m sorry, bute again? You¡¯re saying what now?¡±

    ¡°Um, these two would be dispatched as your personal mechanics.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Why does it have to be these two?¡±

    I nced at the red-haired loli with a silly grin on her face and the blue-haired loli who looked flustered due to her sister¡¯s behavior. Isn¡¯t the personnel selection weird? Why did they have to push these troublemakers onto me?

    ¡°These two are greatly skilled, you see. And they have great enthusiasm for their work. But, well, that enthusiasm did backfire on them in this case.¡±

    ¡°If you ask me, the little sister should be more than enough. She looks more well behaved and decent overall.¡±

    ¡°U-Uhm? T-That¡¯s¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Just why!? I¡¯m also cute, right boss!?¡±

    The blue-haired little sis blushed at mypliment, while the red-haired big sis made a fuss andined. Why? Because you¡¯re ¡®that¡¯ sort of person, that¡¯s why.

    ¡°Rather, what do you mean about personal mechanics anyway? How would that work?¡±

    ¡°Their sries will still be paid for by Space Dwerg. In other words, they will still be serving as Space Dwerg employees. Of course, we will do all the necessary procedures in order to allow them to travel freely outside the colony as well, so you don¡¯t have to worry about that end. The only thing you¡¯ll need to bother with is providing these two rooms to stay in the Skizbrazunil. We will be shouldering all their living expenses as well, of course.¡±

    ¡°Fumu¡­¡­?¡±

    Well, isn¡¯t this a bargain? I¡¯ll get to have two experienced maintenance crews, and practically all their living expenses will be provided by thepany they work for. I can¡¯t deny having some skilled pro engineers to take care of maintenance work does sound quite nice.

    ¡°I¡¯ll say this first before anything else. Tagging along with mercenaries like us can be quite dangerous. I can¡¯t guarantee your lives, and you might get to have some really scary experiences if you¡¯re with us.¡±

    ¡°But we¡¯ll be able to travel around to all sorts of ces, right boss? We can go sightseeing and drink rare booze. Even with the danger, I¡¯m more than willing to tag along. We¡¯ll be imposing on you, boss, but we also want to repay you for not pursuing the issue.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ honestly a bit scared. But I also want to repay big brother. If you didn¡¯t speak out for us, I and my sister might really have lost our jobs.¡±

    The dead-ball sisters didn¡¯t seem to mind the dangers of boarding a mercenary ship too much. They were quite casual about it. Are you really fine with this, you two? You aren¡¯t underestimating the dangers faced by mercenaries, right? Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to let the mothership I just bought be shot down just like that, so yeah.

    Well, I guess them wanting to repay favors is admirable. It doesn¡¯t feel bad at all, and it¡¯s not like I did anything special either¡­¡­ But I guess it¡¯s really difficult to get back on your feet once you mess up in a closedmunity like a colony.

    ¡°I can¡¯t decide right away. I¡¯ll have to consult with the rest of my crew and see if they¡¯ll be able to get along with these two.¡±

    ¡°Of course. If so, then how about having these two to apany you while strolling around the colony? It would be a good opportunity to get to know each other better and check yourpatibility.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    I turned to the dead ball sisters once again. The big sister, Tina, looked real confident about herself for some reason. Her little sister, Whisker, seemed really worried about her big sister¡¯s devil-may-care attitude though. We really got off on the wrong foot, but maybe it¡¯s a good idea to start over with this. Who knows? We might even be able to get along.

    ¡°But even if we did decide to wee them to the crew, that would mean¡­¡­¡±

    My ship will be literally filled with nothing but women. The rumors about me being a lecherous womanizing merc will gain even more credence. Rather, with these two boarding my ship as well, it¡¯ll be a bona fide eroge scenario, huh? Isn¡¯t that kinda bad in a sense?

    ¡°Um, what about that custom? You know. That custom where a woman who boards a man¡¯s private starship will be treated as his lover or something. You guys don¡¯t mind that?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t. Anyway, you already have that sort of rtionship with those three, right boss? Wouldn¡¯t it be awkward if you added a male crew member instead? Rather, ain¡¯t that kinda risky in a sense?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah. I can only see that as a potential root of troubles. Unless there¡¯s some sort of special circumstances, I probably wouldn¡¯t rmend adding male crew.¡±

    Elma agreed with Tina¡¯s words. What do you mean about special circumstances¡­? Wait¡­ Okay, I should probably stop now. I have a bad feeling for some reason. I¡¯m not really much of a fan of backdoor y.

    ¡°Alright, if you guys say so¡­ But I still haven¡¯t decided if we¡¯ll let you join, okay.¡±

    ¡°Well, I think we¡¯re definitely a bargain, boss. And I¡¯m confident about my looks too. I¡¯m pretty cute, right?¡±

    Tina peered up at my face with a self-satisfied grin. Well, her face really does look nice. She can be said to be a beautiful girl, sure. Since the big sister is cute, then her twin little sister Whisker is much the same as well. But, y¡¯know¡­

    ¡°Sorry, but you guys are a bit too little for my tastes.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s little!? You¡¯re just too big, boss! We¡¯re already twenty-seven this year. We¡¯re both grown-updies.¡±

    ¡°Seriously?¡±

    ¡°Seriously.¡±

    They¡¯re the same age as me. They¡¯re this tiny, but they¡¯re the same age as me? Seriously? Dwarves sure are a mysterious race.

    ¡°You¡¯re twenty-seven too, right Hiro?¡±

    ¡°Big brother is the same age as us?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­ yeah.¡±

    I didn¡¯t want to acknowledge it, but we were really supposed to be the same age. Man¡­ Really? If that¡¯s the case, then Mimi¡¯s the youngest. She¡¯s more than ten years younger than me after all. Wait, if that¡¯s the case, then Sara¡­¡­?

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Oh, nothing.¡±

    I was about to ask her age, but a dark and malevolent aura began emanating from Sara, so I held myself back. I guess no matter how tiny they were, a woman¡¯s age is still quite a touchy subject. Gotta note that down.

    ¡°I¡¯m the youngest among everyone.¡±

    For some reason, May was emitting a fierce andpetitive aura as she said so. She even looked a bit smug about it, despite her expressionless face. Oh, right. Well, she¡¯s technically correct though. May was just two months old after all. Yep.

    ¡°Okay then¡­ Can we count on you guys to lead the way?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re nning on shopping for power armor weapons, right Hiro? Then you should bring May with you. I¡¯ll be shopping and sightseeing with Mimi instead.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll tag along with you then, boss. You can guide the prettydies, Whisker.¡±

    ¡°Un. I understand, sis.¡±

    And so, I formed a group with May and Tina, while Whisker joined Elma and Mimi. We then proceeded to tour the Brad Prime colony.

 Chapter 120 â€“ Shopping (Weapons)

    <h4>Chapter 120 - Shopping (Weapons)</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry about yesterday, boss. I¡¯ll take this chance to apologize once more.¡±

    ¡°I already said I¡¯ve epted your apology though. Or rather, you really have to start thinking about the consequences before doing stuff, okay?¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­ I¡¯ve gotten that from Whee a lot since we were just kids.¡±

    Tina smiled wryly and scratched the back of her head. It looks like she calls her little sis with the pet name Whee. Whisker refers to Tina as ¡®big sis¡¯, so she probably doesn¡¯t have a pet name for Tina. Calling her ¡®Tee¡¯ does seem a bit weird because it rhymes with tea.

    ¡°Even though it hasn¡¯t been decided if you guys will being aboard our ship, I think you really need to work on fixing that reckless attitude of yours. If even your sister is having problems with it, then you really should work on it.¡±

    ¡°I do understand that boss. Really.¡±

    ¡°At least learn from this experience, okay. Sheesh.¡±

    From the looks of it, anything I say will just be a waste of effort. I kinda understand how hard Whisker has it now.

    ¡°Please do not worry, Master. I will immediately report to Space Dwerg if she ever does anything that inconveniences you. And so, you better shape up. If not, you¡¯ll get disciplined again.¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­ I¡¯ll be careful from now on.¡±

    It looks like Tina had a pretty intense first impression of May, so she acted a bit ufortable around her. Well, it¡¯s true that the scariest, when angered among all of us, was May, so It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t get where she¡¯sing from. In the first ce, May will only truly get angry when it has something to do with my wellbeing.

    Since I haven¡¯t acknowledged Tina and Whisker as part of the crew yet, it¡¯s understandable that she¡¯s stricter around thempared to how she treats us. Mimi and Elma are my lovers, so she does give them a considerable amount of respect.

    ¡°U-Uhm¡­ Oh yeah! You wanted to buy some weapons for power armor, right boss?¡±

    ¡°You sound desperate to change the subject,dy¡­ But, yeah, that¡¯s right. My splitterser gun got cut in half on myst job after all. I want to buy a new one, and maybe look for some other nice weapons.¡±

    ¡°It got cut in half? Just what did you get yourself into for that to happen, boss¡­?¡¯

    ¡°I can¡¯t give the exact details, but let¡¯s just say we got caught up in a conflict between nobles. So myser gun became an unfortunate casualty.¡±

    ¡°Oh, then I better not ask. Yeah. That would be better. But you did well to survive getting caught up in that, boss.¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess.¡±

    ¡°Okay then. Anyway, I know a good ce that specializes in selling good qualityser weapons, so let¡¯s visit there first.¡±

    When she heard it had something to do with nobles, Tina promptly backed down. She then continued leading the way for us as she walked through avenues with uniformly low ceilings. May and I diligently followed after her.

    ¡°By the way, how long have you been in the mercenary business, boss?¡±

    ¡°Hm? Oh¡­ Uh, I¡¯ve been doing this for a while now, I guess.¡±

    If we count the time when I first came into this dimension until now, it¡¯s been barely half a year. I¡¯ve spent quite a number of days just cruising around in the gxy after all.

    ¡°A while huh. But your pretty impressive boss. You¡¯re already Gold-ranked. How much have you been making?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d say about 100,000 Enels on good days.¡±

    ¡°Eh? You¡¯re joking, right? 100,000 is a bit too much, boss. C¡¯mon.¡±

    Tinaughed as if to say ¡®nice joke¡¯ as she elbowed my waist.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m serious. If not, then I wouldn¡¯t have been able to fork out 20 million Enels just like that you know. We did a number of big jobs like assaulting pirate bases, participating in territorial conflicts, and the like.¡±

    The 100k per day is a result of tirelessly hunting down pirates almost every day after all.

    ¡°Seriously?¡±

    Tina nced upward with shining eyes.

    ¡°Seriously.¡±

    I nodded to confirm, and Tina proceeded to take my hand and ce it on her meager chest. Man. It wasn¡¯t soft at all. Guess this is what you call a washboard huh?

    ¡°Hey boss, why don¡¯t you marry me? I¡¯ll throw Whee in as a bonus too.¡±

    ¡°Marriage huh¡­¡­ Well, if I ever decide to get married one of these days, Mimi, Elma, and May are my priorities.¡±

    ¡°Kuh, so I¡¯m fourth in the running huh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°What the heck are you saying? If, and I say if, I do marry you sisters, I¡¯ll prioritize your little sister more.¡±

    ¡°Why!? This Tina-chan is super cute, right!? Or rather, we¡¯re twins, so Whisker and I look pretty much alike!¡±

    ¡°Since you look alike, I¡¯ll base it on personality.¡±

    ¡°Gaaah!¡± Tina groaned as I pushed her forehead away. I then picked my ear with my left hand without a care. Maybe I¡¯ll get May to clean my earster. Her ear cleaning skills have transcended the realm of just being good and sublimated into something almost divine.

    ¡°Kuh¡­¡­ Oh well. I¡¯ll teach boss all about this Tina-chan¡¯s super cuteness no matter what. Just you wait.¡±

    ¡°You know, making it painfully obvious that you¡¯re only interested in me because of my money is already making your prospects bleak.¡±

    ¡°What the heck are you saying, boss? Being able to make money shows just how dependable a man is. It¡¯s just natural for women to get attracted to dependable men you know. Though one can also fall in love even without money involved, it¡¯s better to have that covered.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s quite a practical view of love.¡±

    ¡°Well yeah. People can¡¯t live on beautiful dreams alone y¡¯know. If you don¡¯t have a stable ie, you won¡¯t be able to continue living well.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    I ended up thinking back to the feeling of Tina¡¯s washboard chest. I guess Tina¡¯s had it hard as well. Maybe she sensed what I was thinking about. Tina looked up at me with a peeved expression.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that, okay. I¡¯m still in the middle of my growth period.¡±

    ¡°Growth period huh¡­¡­¡±

    I gazed at the dwarven women walking around the streets. Fumu, they certainlye in all sorts of sizes¡­ But growth period huh¡­

    ¡°You sure you¡¯re still in your growth period when you¡¯re already twenty-seven?¡±

    ¡°Boss, you idiot!¡±

    My behind ended up getting pped by an incensed Tina. Her hands are small, but they sure pack a punch¡­ Ouch.

    ¡°This is the ce, boss.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    The shop Tina led us to was a weapon store withser weapons as their main merchandise. It also has a pretty diverse assortment of other weapon types as well. There were a lot of customers who looked like mercenariesing and going.

    ¡°It¡¯s more packed than I expected.¡±

    ¡°This shop has a nice selection after all. You can also get order-made weapons here too. Most of the mercenaries whoe here would be staying at the colony for an extended period of time, so they take the opportunity to get order-made weapons here.¡±

    ¡°Order-made weapons huh¡­¡­ Fumu.¡±

    So, a weapon that¡¯s made just for me huh? It¡¯s quite an exciting prospect. We have some budget left over because of May, so I¡¯d like to get one too if possible.

    ¡°Okay then, let¡¯s go in.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s been a good while since Ist came here too.¡±

    Tina led the way and entered the shop first. Her way of speaking really sounds like Kansai-ben to me. Is she really speaking in a particr alien dialect so it¡¯s being tranted to me as Kansai-ben? But this can be considered one of her unique traits too, I guess.

    ¡°Hmm, mmhm, mmm.¡±

    The shop interior was quite spacious. The shopfront was prettyrge as well, but it looks like half the store is dedicated to the workshop for making made-to-order weapons.

    ¡°C¡¯mon boss. Are you an owl or something?¡±

    Tina got a goodugh while looking at my actions. Even if you say that this kind of ce just tickles the male heart y¡¯know. The sight of all kinds ofser guns,ser rifles, and all sorts of other cool-looking weapons is quite exciting, even though these are ultimately tools made for the purpose of killing.

    ¡°Let¡¯s check out the splitterser guns first. Maybe we can even get the sliced up one fixed.¡±

    ¡°Master, if it¡¯s alright, may I also shop around for a weapon?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. We¡¯ll need to look for a weapon for you as well, huh. Sure. If you spot something you like, then go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much, Master.¡±

    May made a little bow. Increasing May¡¯sbat abilities will also lead to an increase in our safety after all. That¡¯s more than wee, so she should just buy whatever she fancies.

    ¡°How about me, boss?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve got no use for weapons, right? Rather, even if you do, I don¡¯t remember ever saying I¡¯ll buy one for you too.¡±

    ¡°Stingy. Can¡¯t you treat me just a bit?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll buy you lunch then. I don¡¯t mind if we eat somewhere expensive, so go ahead and show us somewhere good.¡±

    ¡°Great! Leave it to me, boss!¡±

    Her mood brightened up instantly. She¡¯s really gung-ho about money and benefits huh. Well, it¡¯s fine, I guess. I¡¯ll just treat it as her guide fee or something. Come to think of it, Elma and Mimi rarely ask me for something on their own ord. So being proactively asked for a treat like this is kind of a refreshing experience.

    May? Instead of pleading, it¡¯s more like she¡¯s asking for something absolutely necessary whenever she asks me to buy something for her. They are usually expensive, but it¡¯s not like she¡¯s buying them just to satisfy her hobbies. So it¡¯s more close to demanding for something instead of begging. But it¡¯s a bit different from that too.

    ¡°Let¡¯s buy some grenades while we¡¯re here as well. Well, we don¡¯t usually use them so they aren¡¯t much of a priority.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯s not a grenade, but can we buy this, Master?¡±

    She showed me something made of some sort of metal alloy¡­¡­ What the heck is it anyway? Throwing knife? But it¡¯s quite a bit thicker and tougher-looking than your usual throwing knife. It¡¯s also way too thick to be ssified as a throwing needle. A full-metal dart?

    ¡°It¡¯s a dart made of special alloy. The metal used to make it is also employed in producing power armors.¡±

    ¡°Can you really use this thing?¡±

    ¡°Yes. With my specs, I can easily pierce power armor with it, and it¡¯s perfect as a hidden weapon.¡±

    She then showed me something resembling a holster for storing the metal dart. I see. So it¡¯s a hidden weapon huh. It looks quite heavy though¡­ But I guess with May¡¯s specs, carrying it on her person will just be a piece of cake.

    ¡°Is an analog weapon like this really fine?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s analog, but that just means it¡¯s very reliable.¡±

    ¡°Hm. I guess. It won¡¯t suddenly break down on you, that¡¯s for sure.¡±

    It doesn¡¯t just apply toser weapons, but ballistic weapons as well, but there¡¯s always a chance of them breaking down from impacts and the like because they possess some delicateponents. Compared to that, metal darts like this may not be all that mainstream, but they won¡¯t easily bend or break and would deal considerable damage when thrown with proper force. In that sense, it¡¯s true that analog weapons are more reliable.

    ¡°Okay then. Let¡¯s buy it. How about you buy a new alloy baton as well? I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be able to make use of it effectively in close quartersbat with your abilities, May.¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you very much. I¡¯ll help myself then, Master.¡±

    She bowed slightly to me once more. When she looked up, I noticed that May was acting quite happy. She still had her nk expression on, but her aura just gives that kind of impression. Geez. She¡¯s mostly expressionless, but this maidroid sure knows how to appeal to her master.

 Chapter 121 â€“ Engineer

    <h4>Chapter 121 - Engineer</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    It looks like the concept of personal desire does not exist in advanced independent AI, so everything that May buys ultimately is for the purpose of better serving her master; namely me. They are basically items that will better ensure my safety or will provide me with a better quality of life, so perhaps May does have desires after all. It¡¯s just that all of that desire is focused on ensuring her master¡¯s happiness and safety. Anyway, what I¡¯m trying to get at is¡­ that she¡¯s buying too much and my arms are about to fall off from carrying all the items she got. I¡¯m not even sure if she¡¯s still holding back.

    ¡°Hey. Hey, boss. Buy this too.¡±

    ¡°¡­No, why would I buy something for you in the first ce?¡±

    ¡°But Tina-chan really wants this¡î¡±

    Tina gazed up at me with moist, upturned eyes.

    ¡°3 points. Not good enough.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re too strict boss! 3 out of 10!?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Haah.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s 3 out of a hundred¡­¡­? But isn¡¯t Tina super cute?¡±

    Tina sulked andined. Well, her appearance certainly is cute. I¡¯ll give her that at least. She¡¯s wearing it in a ponytail right now, but her semi-long hair looks silky smooth, and her face is of the cute and delicate type. Her red eyes, that were the same bright hue as her hair, sparkled with liveliness. And her expressions and gestures were loveable too.

    ¡°Well, fine, I admit you¡¯re cute.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Like I said, you¡¯re cute, Tina.¡±

    ¡°R-Really? R-Right? That¡¯s right, isn¡¯t it.¡±

    Tina¡¯s face turned bright red. She¡¯s certainly quite cute, but she¡¯s the annoying cutesy type. Unfortunately, the annoying parts greatly outweigh the cute parts. If you forcefully ignore her more un-redeeming aspects, she can certainly be said to be a cute girl. Like what I¡¯m doing now.

    ¡°But I¡¯m still not gonna buy that for you. So just give up, okay.¡±

    ¡°Eh. You¡¯re loaded, right boss? So ain¡¯t it fine if you splurge a wee bit more?¡±

    Tina tried to plead again, but May forcefully got between her and me.

    ¡°Tina-san.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Tina turned stiff and stood at attention. It looks like she really can¡¯t handle May huh.

    ¡°Did you perhaps forget exactly why you are now apanying my Master?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I mean, no! I¡¯m very sorry.¡±

    ¡°You must prove that you will be useful to Master, and that you have the qualifications to stand by his side. That is why Space Dwerg wanted you toe with Master. It¡¯s in order to determine your qualifications.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s exactly as you say.¡±

    ¡°Very well. If you understand that much, then why, pray tell me, are you acting so insolently toward Master?¡±

    ¡°I have no excuse, ma¡¯am.¡±

    Tina started getting smaller and smaller in front of the angry May. Her usual liveliness was now all but gone. Come to think of it, Mimi feels like she gets smaller too whenever she¡¯s all depressed.

    ¡°That¡¯s enough, May. I¡¯m sure Tina didn¡¯t mean to be rude, so don¡¯t hold it against her too much.¡±

    ¡°If that is your wish, Master.¡±

    May backed off, and Tina let out a sigh of relief.

    ¡°Fuu¡­¡­ Your maid-san sure is scary, boss.¡±

    ¡°But she has a point, right?¡±

    ¡°Eh? But it¡¯s just a little bit? Can¡¯t you treat me to at least this much?¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped¡­ Is that what you were hoping I¡¯d say?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re so stingy, boss.¡±

    Even if sheined, Tina obediently ced the mysterious gadget she picked up back on the shelf. She exined what it was, but I wasn¡¯t all that interested, so her words went inside one ear and back out the other. It was something about photonic resonance and quantum whatchamacallits, I think. Anyway, I don¡¯t get it.

    ¡°So all that¡¯s left is an order-made weapon.¡±

    ¡°What are you gonna get, boss?¡±

    As I browsed at the e-catalogue, Tina squeezed herself closer and gazed at the screen as well. I¡¯m not really bothered by it, but she really likes to stick close huh. I¡¯m sure a certain segment of society will dly enjoy this kind of thing though.

    ¡°I¡¯m looking for handheld weapons for power armors. It should be easy to handle even in confined spaces and effective in close quarters. It would be best if it doesn¡¯t get easily cut by noble swords.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s one heck of a requirement. Those swords have reinforced high-frequency vibration monomolecr des, so if you want something that will stand up to those, it¡¯ll have to be made of hyperpressed heavy alloys. Those are really tough but are also really heavy, and really, REALLY expensive. If you make weapons with those, even a handgun will weigh at least 30 kgs.¡±

    ¡°Hm. Even if it¡¯s for a power armor, that¡¯s still too heavy.¡±

    If even a pistol is already that heavy, then something of a size fit for power armors will be nigh unusable.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s why those types of materials are often just used in ship manufacturing. They can be made into the toughest hulls known in the gxy. If you just want your weapon to stand up to a sh or two, there¡¯s the option of coating it with those materials as well. But it¡¯ll be a moreplicated process, so it¡¯ll be even pricier.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Hey, can you handle designing my order-made weapon instead? I¡¯ll pay you as well. I¡¯ll even buy you that gadget from earlier if you want.¡±

    I think this matter is best left to specialists. There¡¯s a certain romance to a newbie designing and using his own order-made weapon, but practically speaking, it¡¯s best to leave it to a pro. Tina¡¯s specialty was starships, but it looks like she¡¯s knowledgeable when ites to material engineering, and it looks like she can design a more decent weaponpared to me.

    ¡°So it¡¯s a handheld weapon for a power armor which can be easily handled even in confined spaces, effective at close quarters, and can block shes from noble-issued swords¡­¡­ Isn¡¯t that way too much?¡±

    ¡°My budget should be about 100,000 Enels. The design priority should be easy handling, effectiveness in CQC, and withstanding noble-issued swords. If its close-quarters performance exceeds expectations, I¡¯ll give you an additional 10,000 Enels. If it lets me cross swords with nobles reliably, I¡¯ll double the pay. I don¡¯t mind if you use up all the budget, but anything beyond that 100k is a no-go. Of course, the cheaper it is, the better. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Please let me try, boss!¡±

    Tina¡¯s face was shining in excitement.

    ¡°Yosh. I¡¯ll have May support you then. May, please hand Tina data regarding my power armor and help her in designing the weapon. And use this chance to get along better if possible.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    May epted my instructions reverently. It sure helps that May is very obedient and excellent in her job. Tina let out a groan, but this is a test of sorts for her. If she can¡¯t get along with the rest of the crew, there¡¯s no way I¡¯m going to let her board my ship.

    ¡°Alright then. You two stay here and discuss with the weapon makers in the shop. I¡¯ll leave the money to May.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master. As you wish.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I¡¯m gonna do my best!¡±

    ¡®And I¡¯ll get that reward!¡¯ was what Tina¡¯s expression seemed to be saying.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to join up with Mimi and the others. Please contact me once you¡¯re finished with the business here. We¡¯ll decide if we¡¯re gonna meet up somewhere in the colony or go back to the hotelter.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    I left the two of them and went to meet up with Mimi and the others. I¡¯ll hang out with them if it¡¯s convenient, and if they¡¯re in the middle of something, I¡¯ll walk around the colony on my own. I¡¯ll contact them first. I took out my portable terminal and opened the messaging app.

 Chapter 122 â€“ Dwarven Shopping Street

    <h4>Chapter 122 - Dwarven Shopping Street</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡ºI¡¯m finished on my end. I left May and Tina with an errand though. How about you guys?¡»

    I sent the message via group chat and started walking around while waiting for a reply. The three of them were supposed to be shopping around, so maybe they were in a section of the trade andmerce block where there were a lot of food and lifestyle shops.

    ¡°What should I do about those two?¡±

    I also thought about what to do with Tina and Whisker as I was walking around.

    Having some pro engineers and mechanics around was a very desirable prospect, especially in our case. I¡¯d feel more assured if there were people who can handle most sorts of mechanical trouble as we continue traveling around the gxy.

    The most worrying problem was the possibility of those two getting ess to my and Krishna¡¯s secrets through essing the ship¡¯s database during maintenance. And then, they may opt to send that data directly to Space Dwerg.

    But maybe there¡¯s actually no need to worry so much about stuff like that happening. Krishna and the new mothership¡¯s data protection measures will be handled by May after all. I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be able to block any attempts to pull out ssified data from the databanks if those two ever decided to pull something like that off. And she¡¯ll report it to me immediately as well.

    If that happens, what would I do? No matter how cute they were, I have no intention of letting such bloodsucking insects stay anywhere near me. I¡¯d probably crush them or abandon them along the way. I¡¯d probably strike out at theirpany too. Thoroughly.

    Well, those are the most logical courses of action, but I kind of doubt I¡¯d be able to put something like that into practice for real. Tina¡¯s personality isn¡¯t something I particrly dislike either. It¡¯s a bit annoying but quite refreshing at the same time. It¡¯s kind of rxing in a sense to be around that sort of person.

    I can¡¯t say much about Whisker since I haven¡¯t spent much time with her yet, but I feel she was a bit miserable. I can easily imagine how much trouble that sister of hers has put her through. She was even dragged around by her sisterst night to participate in her scheme. Maybe she was just the type who finds it difficult to refuse her loved ones¡­¡­ I still can¡¯t say for sure though.

    Anyway, when ites to deciding whether or not to ept the two of them into the crew, I had to weigh the merits of having pro engineers on board against the possibility of my and Krishna¡¯s secrets leaking out to a third party.

    The info about me and Krishna will probably be known to other people eventually if we continue to travel around the gxy doing mercenary work. It would be best if I could keep a tight lid on those as much as I could, but being on guard all the time sounds far too stressful.

    I don¡¯t really care about keeping such things secret in the first ce if I were being honest. I don¡¯t n on stopping from being a mercenary after all. In other words, I¡¯d probably get into more escapades along with Krishna. If that¡¯s the case, then no matter how excellent Krishna was and how skilled I was as a pilot, Krishna still had a good chance of breaking down eventually without proper maintenance because it was, in the end, a machine. The only way to prevent that was by having skilled mechanics take a look at it and perform regr maintenance.

    In other words, no matter how much I wanted to prevent anyone from touching Krishna due to the risk of info leaks, I¡¯d still have no other choice but to leave it in other¡¯s hands from time to time. If I end up losing Krishna due to me stubbornly refusing to let those secrets leak out, that¡¯ll be a case of putting the cart before the horse. In that case, it would be better to ensure I could rely on Krishna for a long time through periodic maintenance by skilled mechanics without caring so much about keeping secrets. At least that¡¯s what I think.

    There would be no problems if Krishna actually didn¡¯t need maintenance and could maintain peak performance indefinitely. But since this world isn¡¯t a game, machines will eventually deteriorate, and that deterioration will be even faster if you rely on them heavily. As long as I n on continuing to fight using Krishna, I¡¯d have topromise eventually.

    ¡°Oops.¡±

    I was lost in thought and didn¡¯t notice that I¡¯ve already arrived at the trade andmerce block. I took out my portable data terminal once more and checked the messaging app.

    ¡ºRight now, we¡¯re telling Whisker-san all she needs to know when she boards the ship with her sister. It will probably take a bit more time.¡»

    ¡°I still haven¡¯t decided whether or not to let them join though.¡±

    I muttered such aint, but it¡¯s true that I was heavily leaning on letting them board as well. That¡¯s because the merits of them boarding the ship and joining the crew outweigh the demerits. But it would still be best to discuss this matter with Elma, Mimi, and May. I¡¯m the one who will have the final say, but I can¡¯t ignore their opinions as crew members.

    ¡ºUnderstood. I¡¯m going to wander around the colony a bit then.¡»

    I sent out the message and walked around while setting aside thoseplicated issues for the time being. There were many handicrafts being sold at stores. It¡¯s probably because this was a colony with plenty of dwarves. Or rather, there were many stores that were selling handicrafts that also looked pointlessly high-tech.

    For example, there was a wooden avant-garde sculpture that was actually an auto-cooker in disguise, a decorativeser gun holster, or shoulder pads that had spikes on them. No, wait¡­ What¡¯s with those shoulder pads anyway? Armor¡­? Fashion items¡­? A cosy item that allows you to dress up like the end of the century thugs and go ¡®Hyahaaa¡¯!?

    ¡°Oh, you have a good eye for these things, brother. This here is a nice, high-quality thermal cloak.¡±

    A dwarf store clerk called out to me as I was checking out the shoulder pads. He had a full beard so I couldn¡¯t ce his age, but he sounds younger than he looks.

    ¡°Thermal cloak? This thing? This is a cloak?¡±

    No matter how you slice it, these are just Hyahaa! pads though. There¡¯s no resemnce to a cloak at all.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We had a hard time developing them so they wouldn¡¯t look like your typical cloak at first nce. If you put one of these on your shoulder and switch it on, it will allow you tofortably cope with temperatures ranging from minus 50 degrees to plus 50 degrees Celsius.¡±

    ¡°That sounds impressive. What¡¯s the power source?¡±

    So these things can allow you to spend all year wearing just T-shirts and shorts huh? That¡¯s kinda amazing. If they didn¡¯t look like spiked shoulder pads, I would have bought one for myself.

    ¡°They use one energy pack at a time. One pack can allow them to function for 20,000 hours.¡±

    20 thousand hours huh. So that¡¯ll be about 833 days. So two energy packs will allow them to work for more than two years huh. Yep. Amazing alright.

    ¡°How much are they?¡±

    ¡°Mm, we had trouble modifying them after all. They are actually newly developed products you see. Let¡¯s see¡­ 3,000¡­ No, how about 2,500 Enels for one?¡±

    ¡°O-Okay¡­¡­¡±

    I can easily buy one at that price, but the appearance is a bit¡­¡­ I kinda feel like I¡¯d be forced to shout Hyahaa! if I wear one of these. Maybe I¡¯ll even get a Mohawk haircut without me noticing until it¡¯s toote. Uh, nope. Not happening. That¡¯s not a pretty picture by any stretch of the imagination.

    I actually have a pretty built body right now due to my daily workouts, but I wasn¡¯t like those macho bodybuilders. I had a leaner physique. These shoulder pads would probably look better on men with bodybuilder physiques.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think they suit me, so I¡¯ll pass. But since I¡¯m already here, do you have non-modified versions of these thermal cloaks?¡±

    ¡°We do. Those are 800 Enels a piece. One energy pack can power them for 30,000 hours. A cloak that covers most of the body is more energy efficient after all.¡±

    After saying so, the dwarven store clerk brought out a hooded cloak made of an unfamiliar material that had a mysterious texture. It was all-white and felt like a cross between vinyl and leather.

    ¡°Do you have these in more inconspicuous colors?¡±

    This is far too shy for me.

    ¡°Oh, do you prefer a cloak with the chameleon system? Here you go then. These chameleon thermal cloaks are 1,200 Enels per item.¡±

    He then brought out a dark brown cloak with a rough texture. The clerk fiddled with the sp on the cloak and its color changed to a gray urban camouge pattern.

    ¡°Hm. This looks good.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t it? But these have a better design though. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll suit you, brother.¡±

    The clerk then ced one of those spiked shoulder pads on my shoulder. He then made a nice business smile. Just how do these shoulder pads stick themselves on anyway? It¡¯s another pointless application of advanced tech.

    ¡°No, the chameleon thermal cloaks are fine. Let¡¯s see¡­¡­ I¡¯ll need some spares too, so give me five of those.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re buying five of them!? Of course, sir! Right away!¡±

    The clerk ran to the back of the store with a cheerful smile on his face. I bought one for me, Elma, and Mimi, plus two spares. Tina and Whisker can also use them if they join the crew. A thermal cloak with a temperature regtion function and a chameleon system that allows it to blend with the surroundings huh¡­¡­ It may prove useful one of these days. For example, they¡¯lle in handy if we somehow get stuck on a with a harsh environment, or when we need to investigate a colony with a broken life support system. There were plenty of those kinds of events in SOL after all. It doesn¡¯t hurt to be prepared.

    ¡°Hey, mister! We also have great products here! Why don¡¯t you take a look?¡±

    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t cut in line! I had my eye on him first. Hey mister, take a look at our wares too why don¡¯t cha?¡±

    ¡°Oi, oi! He came to our store first. Come on then, brother. Let¡¯s go to the back.¡±

    Before I knew it, several dwarven shop clerks already gathered behind me. Hahaha, you guys are really passionate about doing business huh? Also, those female shop clerks at the back. Stop trying to seduce me. No matter what you do, my heart won¡¯t be moved since you practically look like children y¡¯know.

    But this sure is a mess. In any case, I followed the dwarven shop clerk to the back of the store toplete my purchase.

 Chapter 123 â€“ Dwarf-yaki

    <h4>Chapter 123 - Dwarf-yaki</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I had a hell of a time refusing all the offers of the dwarven merchants. They had an uncanny way with words and their sales talk may even prompt people to buy useless junk while believing them to be priceless treasures. They mixed in some useful stuff with the junk goods and tried to sell them in bulk, which was a pretty devious tactic. I managed to muddle through somehow, and I got away from those pushy guys by promising to bring acquaintances from my hometown on my next visit.

    They probably thought I was filthy rich so they tried to squeeze me for all I¡¯m worth. I may have some leeway when ites to funds, but presently, there¡¯s just no cargo space to dump all that junk they were trying to sell me. I¡¯m d I was able to avoid meaningless purchases.

    But I did buy a portable cooking kit. It¡¯s a high-quality item that can be powered for quite a long time by a single energy pack. The cooking kit is the same size as your regr toolbox and includes a cooking heater, an ingredient scanner for checking freshness or possible harmful stuff, and a cutlery set. This thing cane in handy if we ever find ourselves stranded on an unexplored or something¡­¡­ maybe.

    Uh, I guess if we ever crashnd on a in a state where even the auto-cooker and other facilities are busted, then Krishna and the newly purchased mothership should be heavily damaged to the point of despair.

    Alright, I admit I bought this thing on impulse. Sorry. Ugh. Cut me some ck, guys. C¡¯mon. Thepact cooking kit and the chameleon thermal cloaks will be delivered to Krishnater on. Well, to be exact, they¡¯re going to be sent to the workshop where Krishna is undergoing its maintenance overhaul. The items will be sent on board the ship once the maintenance work gets finished, so there¡¯s no problem.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s a surprise. You were able to hold your own without getting caught up in their pace for the most part.¡±

    The one who called out to me just after I ditched the dwarven merchants was Elma. It looks like the girls were finished with their shopping. There¡¯s no word from May and Tina yet, so I guess they¡¯re still hard at work designing my weapon. It¡¯s great that they¡¯re giving their all.

    ¡°Were you watching all that?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Just halfway through though. I thought for sure you¡¯d get suckered in to buy lots of pointless stuff, but you did better than I expected.¡±

    ¡°I already said so earlier. Hiro-sama can be resolute when he wants to.¡±

    Elma shrugged her shoulders in mock-disappointment while Mimi looked quite pleased and proud.

    ¡°But he¡¯s not exactly the prudent sort, right? If he was, then he wouldn¡¯t have paid for Mimi and my debts without so much as batting an eye. And he evenid his hands on both of us.¡±

    ¡°Uh, that¡¯s true, but this and that are very different things y¡¯know.¡±

    It was a bit different for Elma, but I just thought I could get along with Mimi when I paid her debts back then. I didn¡¯t really expect it¡¯ll go in that direction at all. It was a major culture shock for me.

    I¡¯m now aware of what the implications are, so I¡¯m more prudent when ites to deciding if the dead ball sisters will be allowed on board as part of our crew. I guess I¡¯ve somewhat ustomed myself to this dimension already. Humans are quite adaptable creatures y¡¯see.

    ¡°A-Anyway, you purchased a portable cooking kit right, big brother? Are you nning on cooking with it yourself?¡±

    Maybe she sensed the awkward air, so Whisker made an effort to change the subject.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Hiro-sama is a wonderful cook. He can cook fish, veggies, and meat. He¡¯s really, really good.¡±

    ¡°Uh, I¡¯m not really all that great a cook. I just know some simple meals.¡±

    ¡°Eh, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s an exaggeration at all¡­¡­ They were really delicious, you know?¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­? How rare. It¡¯s a surprise to meet someone who knows how to cook who¡¯s not a dwarf like me.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. Come to think of it, there are a lot of dwarven chefs out there huh. I even saw a good number of restaurants in this colony that doesn¡¯t use auto-cookers to prepare their meals.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that we don¡¯t use them at all. Fresh, natural ingredients are pretty expensive, so most shops use auto-cookers to produce ingredients, and then cook them manually.¡±

    ¡°But isn¡¯t that kind of bothersome¡­?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think the meals made by auto-cookers taste a bit nd? The simple ones are passable, but most other meals are like that.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Yeah, I kinda get what you mean.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t really bothered by it anymore since buying our trusty Tetsujin V, but the default auto-cooker that was installed on Krishna when I first came here did make somewhat nd-tasting food.

    ¡°Is that really the case, Elma-san?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea.¡±

    Mimi and Elma inclined their heads in bafflement. Mimi probably only ate food made by auto-cookers since she was a child, so it¡¯s no wonder she doesn¡¯t get it. Elma was a firm junk food lover though¡­¡­ This elf keeps eating stuff like pizza and steaks for meals. Honestly. But even so, she doesn¡¯t seem to get fat no matter how much she eats. Elma sure is one mysterious elf.

    ¡°Most people don¡¯t get things like these apart from other dwarves. I feel like I can get along really well with you, big brother.¡±

    ¡°d to hear that. So, how about we try having lunch at a dwarf restaurant then?¡±

    ¡°That sounds great. I¡¯ll guide you. I wonder which ce would be good¡­¡­?¡±

    Whisker got lost in thought for a few moments then pped her hands happily after making a decision.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Let¡¯s have ¡®that¡¯. It¡¯s cheap, filling, and very delicious.¡±

    After informing May and Tina of our destination, our group went to a cozy-looking eatery that resembled an old-fashioned diner in Japan. There were both usual seats and tables and small separate dining areas that resembled raised-tatami seating areas used in Japanese restaurants. There were sunken kotatsus ced in the middle of those areas as well. But what was ced on top was not a normal kotatsu. There was a metallic alloy te in the center of the kotatsu table. It was most probably a teppan or hotte used for cooking.

    The seats were filled because it was in the middle of lunchtime, and it looks like we have to wait a bit to have our turn. Well, Tina and May will be arrivingter anyway, so I guess it¡¯s fine to wait.

    ¡°What type of food does this shop sell? Crepes¡­? I guess not.¡±

    ¡°They sell what you call dwarf-yaki or dwarven fried savory pancakes. You mix various ingredients with some batter and fry them on top of the te. You can enjoy freshly cooked, hot food along with various vors and sauces.¡±

    ¡°Dwarf-yaki, huh.¡±

    From the looks of it, the ingredients are mixed together with the batter and then fried instead of just putting them on top. So it was more like Kansai-style okonomiyaki instead of Hiroshima-style. I¡¯m not an expert when ites to okonomiyaki so I can¡¯t really say for certain though.

    ¡°Yes, this is dwarf-yaki. We can have fun with each other while cooking so it¡¯s really popr with other races apart from dwarves as well.¡±

    ¡°I see! It looks really fun!¡±

    Mimi¡¯s eyes were already shining in anticipation. Elma also looked curiously at the customers who were busy frying their orders. I¡¯m really interested as well. I guess these kinds of meals are simr even in another dimension huh.

    ¡°Thank you for waiting?¡±

    ¡°We have arrived, Master.¡±

    May and Tina finally arrived, with thetter¡¯s nose already reacting to the smell of oko- err, dwarf-yaki. Tina was beaming brightly, so she must¡¯ve been satisfied with her work on my order-made weapon. May was together with her, so she should have prevented her engineering soul from going too wild. But she still looked quite smug, so I was a bit worried about the end result.

    ¡°So it¡¯s dwarf-yaki huh? They¡¯re treating anyway, so why didn¡¯t you take them to a fancier joint? Isn¡¯t this ce a bit too in?¡±

    ¡°Sis, you¡­¡­¡±

    Whisker made an exasperated sigh due to Tina¡¯s brazen attitude. Come to think of it, she was pestering me about treating her to lunch earlier, huh. I did say it was fine to go somewhere expensive, so this ce does look a bit too in. I don¡¯t know how much the meals will cost yet, but I don¡¯t think they will be that expensive.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just leave that for next time. We¡¯re also interested in traditional dwarven cuisine anyway.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I really want to try it!¡±

    Mimi, who made it her goal to taste all gourmet food in the gxy, was very curious about traditional dwarven cuisine. But I managed to spot some strangely wriggling meat within the provided ingredients, so we might be in for a surpriseter. I better not let my guard down.

    After a bit more, a spot was finally free, so we were guided there by the staff. May really stood out with her maid clothes. I may have to consider getting her some casual clothes too.

    ¡°Leave it to me. I¡¯ll take you to a good ceter as well.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, big brother. I¡¯ll be sure to check the shop first.¡±

    Whisker kept bowing beside Tina, who was sporting a cheeky grin. Nah, it¡¯s fine y¡¯know. It¡¯s not like we¡¯ll be forking out several thousands of Enels just for meals. When I took a look at this ce¡¯s menu, it seems the meals would cost 5 to 8 Enels per person. May didn¡¯t need to eat, so I, Mimi, Elma, and the sisters made five people. The meals won¡¯t exceed 100 Enels even if you include the side dishes and drinks.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave the orders to you guys. We¡¯re not all familiar with the menu after all. I¡¯ll have chilled tea or water for my drink.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have the same as Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll go for some alcohol. What would go well with dwarf-yaki?¡±

    ¡°Beer is the usual fare, but I personally rmend watered-down dwarven sake or a highball.¡±

    ¡°I prefer dwarven ochawari.¡±

    ¡°Okay. I guess I¡¯ll go for a highball then. You two will have drinks as well, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course-¡±

    ¡°B-I-G S-I-S?¡±

    ¡°-I¡¯ll have some tea. We¡¯re banned from drinking liquor for two weeks after all. Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? I guess I¡¯ll refrain from drinking this time then. I¡¯ll get some chilled tea or water as well.¡±

    Tina already forgot about the two-week liquor ban huh. It¡¯s an official punishment by thepany, so I believe breaking it would have some serious consequences. Whisker¡¯s aura when she reprimanded Tina was kinda overwhelming.

    ¡°Mistress, we¡¯ll have three orders of pork and squid sets and six orders of chilled tea!¡±

    ¡°Right away-!¡±

    Tina yelled her order in a loud voice, and the dwarven mistress at the counter responded right away. By the way, the mistress looked like a ssic legal loli, so it kinda looked like two kids having a cheerful exchange. It honestly threw me off a bit.

    ¡°That¡¯s quite old-fashioned.¡±

    ¡°Well, fiddling with a tablet for things like this feels kinda off y¡¯know. It¡¯s not like everything¡¯s better if it¡¯s high-tech.¡±

    ¡°I feel that¡¯s not something an engineer would normally say.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯m an engineer. Why would you want to use a console for cing orders in a roundabout manner when it¡¯s more efficient and less confusing to ce orders directly?¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    I kinda get it but kinda don¡¯t at the same time. Before long, the restaurant mistress brought us a bowl containing the ingredients for making dwarf-yakis as well as our drinks.

    ¡°Thank you for waiting. Here are your orders.¡±

    ¡°Thanks a bunch. Here are your drinks, everyone.¡±

    After handing out all the drinks, Tina held her ss cup aloft.

    ¡°Okay then. To our meeting with each other! Cheers!¡±

    ¡°Chee?rs!¡±

    What¡¯s with the Ondo-like singsong voices? Oh well. I don¡¯t want to ruin the atmosphere, so I refrained from making such a quip. Let¡¯s just enjoy the dwarf-yaki, shall we?

 Chapter 124 â€“ Results and Review

    <h4>Chapter 124 - Results and Review</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°You¡¯re quite skilled at this.¡±

    ¡°I told you Hiro-sama is a great cook!¡±

    ¡°No, uh, just about anybody can do this much y¡¯know¡­¡­¡±

    After seeing me flip the okonomiyaki without any trouble when one side was cooked, Whisker sounded quite impressed while Mimi looked really proud.

    ¡°But still though. Before frying it, the mixture really resembles vo-¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s no good,dy. If you say any more, it¡¯ll mean war.¡±

    Tina promptly interjected when Elma, who was drinking beer without a care, was about to utter a particrly disgustingparison. Nice job Tina.

    By the way, even if it really resembles okonomiyaki quite a bit, dwarf-yaki really is a different dish altogether.

    The taste and texture do feel simr to an extent, but there¡¯s just something that sets it apart. The taste of the veggie resembling cabbage is a bit off. It was the same for the meat resembling pork and squid. It¡¯s like they¡¯re missing something. However, the vors of the dried green nori(?), katsuobushi(?), and mayonnaise(?) were all on point.

    If I were to describe it¡­ I guess it¡¯s a dish about 80% simr to okonomiyaki. It was actually pretty close, all things considered.

    By the way, it¡¯s not like May can¡¯t eat food, but since she won¡¯t be able to properly digest it, she¡¯ll need to dispose of all the ingested food afterward. She says it¡¯s wasteful and didn¡¯t participate in eating. She was currently frying Elma¡¯s share of the dwarf-yaki for her. She learned the proper method by observing how Tina and Whisker did it, and now she was cooking like a pro.

    ¡°I-I did it.¡±

    It looks like our Mimi has sessfully cooked her portion of dwarf-yaki. Its shape was slightly off because she messed up a bit when she turned it over, but otherwise, it looks good to go.

    ¡°U-Um, Hiro-sama¡­ If you¡¯d like, um¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have some.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    I opened my mouth and Mimi pushed a bite of the dwarf-yaki she cooked on top of her spat in front of me. As I didn¡¯t want my tongue to get burned, I blew on it to cool it down and then ate Mimi¡¯s dwarf-yaki.

    The subtle sweetness of the dough spread inside my mouth, coupled with the fresh sweetness of the cabbage(?), the rich vors of the sauce and mayo(?), and the pleasant aroma of the green nori kes¡­¡­ Mm, delicious. Apart from the slightly disappointing umami of the other ingredients, the sauce and mayonnaise were practically perfect, and the green nori and bonito kes were quite fine as well.

    ¡°H-How is it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s delicious. You did really well. I bet you¡¯d be a great cook if you get enough practice.¡±

    ¡°R-Really? E-Ehehe¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi squirmed in delight as she cut the rest of the dwarf-yaki into bite-size pieces with tremendous momentum. What incredible spat-handling. Maybe Mimi actually has a talent for knife-fighting? I¡¯ll try to have May instruct her next time.

    ¡°Say, boss. I¡¯d like you to check out the fruit of ourbor.¡±

    After saying so, Tina took out her portable data terminal and ced it right next to the hotte. She then operated it and projected a holographic 3D image of something which looked like a hatchet.

    It resembled both a hand ax and a giant hatchet. But it wasn¡¯t any of those either. There ain¡¯t a trigger on the grips of normal hand axes and hatchets, and they certainly didn¡¯t look like a fusion between a gun and an ax. It wasn¡¯t just any gun either. It looked like a short-barreled rifle or shotgun.

    It¡¯s like they forcefully shortened the barrel and stock of the gun, which originally needed two hands to be wielded properly, in order to allow it to be handled with one hand easily. It also had arge and brutal-looking ax de stuck on its barrel.

    ¡°It¡¯s a really cool-looking weapon!¡±

    Mimi¡¯s eyes shone in excitement when she saw the weapon image. Oh, right. I guess this thing pushes all the right buttons for Mimi, who had a taste for punkish fashion. As for me, I was busy imagining how much more evil the RIKISHI would look like once it gets equipped with this thing. I mean, it already looked like a viinous machine, but this just takes it to a whole other level.

    ¡°Boss¡¯s power armor will be able to handle this baby with one hand easily. So I ordered three of em. You can dual-wield and have one spare if either of the first two breaks down or get lost in battle.¡±

    The amount disyed on the holo-video was exactly within the budget. I did have May supervise her so I wasn¡¯t worried about her messing up, but it looks like she really did her best huh.

    ¡°Their overall specs are a bit lower than the splitterser guns, but since the diffusion rate of theser rounds was reduced, their uracy is improved. We used hyperpressed alloy as the material for the axe des, so it can exchange blows with the monomolecr vibro-des of noble-issued swords. Since the hyperpressed alloy is used for the des alone, we seeded in designing a weapon with a good bnce between handling and toughness. With the specs of Master¡¯s power armor, you¡¯ll be able to crush enemy power armors with ease.¡±

    May went ahead and exined the weapon¡¯s specs. She didn¡¯t mention anything about fighting with flesh and blood people since they¡¯ll be crushed in two without a doubt when hit with these things.

    ¡°What can I say? They look like weapons fit for viin characters.¡±

    Elma grinned in amusement as she looked at the holo-disy.

    ¡°I took the design of boss¡¯s power armor into ount when making these things after all. It¡¯s best if they fit together, right? And their overall specs are quite impressive. As for the name¡­ um¡­ How about calling them hatchet guns?¡±

    ¡°Hatchet guns huh. Mm. Nice and simple. Sounds good.¡±

    Ax guns huh. It feels weird when their name is written in Kanji. I¡¯ll just stick with Katakana and call them hatchet guns.

    ¡°There seem to be no problems with the theoretical specs. We¡¯ll just need to conduct a live test to know for sure. I¡¯ll give you your reward once I receive the real thing and test them out.¡±

    ¡°Okay. No problem, boss.¡±

    Tina nodded in agreement at my words as Whisker tilted her head in puzzlement.

    ¡°Reward?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯ll get a reward for designing this order-made weapon for boss¡¯s custom power armor. If he¡¯s satisfied with the specs, he¡¯ll give me 10,000. If I exceed his expectations, it may double to 20,000.¡±

    Tina exined the situation to Whisker with a big grin on her face. Whisker gave me a longing gaze.

    ¡°It¡¯s just for big sis¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Yeah, sorry. I¡¯ll make sure to get your help if somethinges up next time.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a promise, okay?¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, I promise¡­¡­ Hm?¡±

    Now hold up. From the way this convo is going, did she just assume she¡¯ll be together with us from here on out? I turned to Whisker once more and found her smiling sweetly while Tina had a face which practically said ¡®all ording to n¡¯. Mimi was still happily eating her dwarf-yaki while Elma gave me a strained smile. I feel like they just casually turned it all into a fait apli¡­ Oh well. It¡¯s not like I¡¯ve made the final decision yet anyway.

    ¡°How was Tina as an engineer, May? Can you give me your impressions?¡±

    ¡°Wai¡­¡­ Don¡¯t just ask something like that with me here, boss!¡±

    Tina¡¯s expression turned from a smiling one to a panicky one. May ignored her and proceeded to answer while continuing to cook dwarf-yaki.

    ¡°There are no problems regarding her engineering skills and knowledge. She has the skills and the knowledge to be expected of a first-ss engineer at the very least. As for the conceptualization of ideas, I feel that she is more of a steady type as opposed to the spontaneous type. Despite her usual cheeky attitude and recklessness, she is very focused when ites to working. She was able to greatly utilize her overflowing passion that gave Master excessive amounts of trouble in order to improve her work, and the result speaks for itself.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re actually praising me or criticizing me.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s basically true, right?¡±

    Tina ate her dwarf-yaki with a troubled expression as Whisker affirmed May¡¯s impressions.

    I really thought Tina, who was a ball of energy, was the instinctive type of genius, but I guess I waspletely off. So she¡¯s the steady type huh. Come to think of it, apart from the looks, the design and specs of the hatchet guns didn¡¯t implement anything too drastic.

    ¡°Whisker¡¯s the one who designs a lot of crazy stuff y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Calling them crazy is rude, sis. I just don¡¯t like being half-baked.¡±

    ¡°I get that, but the stuff you make has some pretty drastic quirks. That ain¡¯t really good. Remember that thruster you designed recently? Because it had that bonkers inertial control system, the people who piloted ships installed with it all coughed up blood after.¡±

    ¡°But isn¡¯t having high output and response what¡¯s important when ites to thrusters?¡±

    ¡°Even so, there¡¯s a thing called ¡®limits¡¯ y¡¯know¡­¡­¡±

    The sisters were having a pretty dangerous-sounding discussion all of a sudden. Did people really end up coughing blood due to a bonkers inertial control system? Just what kind of killer eleration did they get to experience to the point of coughing blood? That¡¯s scary, man.

    ¡°She looks harmless, but isn¡¯t Whisker the more dangerous of the two?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll say this first. I don¡¯t want to turn into minced meat inside Krishna¡¯s cockpit.¡±

    ¡°You tell me. Even I don¡¯t want to experience something like that, okay.¡±

    Anyway, I think I now had a pretty good grasp of the sister¡¯s personalities after spending time with them. I¡¯ll just ask Mimi and Elma¡¯s impressions about Whisker after we go back to the hotelter. I¡¯ll also share my experience with Tina with them.

    Unfavorable first impressions aside, I don¡¯t really find the personalities of these two sisters to be off-putting. I was leaning on letting them board the ship. But Mimi, Elma, and May¡¯s opinions are also important. I¡¯ll talk it over with them first before making my decision.

 Chapter 125 â€“ Discussion on the Way Back

    <h4>Chapter 125 - Discussion on the Way Back</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°We¡¯ll see youter, boss.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the treat.¡±

    Tina was all-smiles as she energetically waved goodbye and Whisker bowed politely and followed after her sister. We waved goodbye to the sisters as well and started heading back to the hotel.

    ¡°The dwarf-yaki was really delicious, wasn¡¯t it? And it was really fun to cook your own food.¡±

    ¡°I think most people who don¡¯t usually cook would find it novel as well. I did buy a portable cooking kit, remember? Do you want to have Tetsujin make the ingredients so we can try cooking again next time?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll help out as well.¡±

    It looks like Mimi has taken a shine to cooking because of the dwarf-yaki. Well, just baking, boiling, or frying stuff isn¡¯t all thatplicated, so I guess I can teach Mimi what I know once we get the opportunity. Back on Earth, the first dish I ever learned to cook was just your average scrambled eggs. However, I¡¯ve never seen any real eggs in this dimension ever since I got here. Guess I¡¯ll check Tetsujin out first to see what types of ingredients it can actually produce.

    ¡°From what we¡¯ve seen, they don¡¯t really seem like bad people. They do get carried away sometimes, so that¡¯s somewhat of a fault. But their skills as mechanics and engineers are mostly ster, no?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I inquired with Space Dwerg and found that Tina¡¯s engineer rank evaluation is A and Whisker¡¯s is S.¡±

    ¡°So Whisker was actually the more talented of the two?¡±

    Elma sounded surprised as she gave a questioning look at May, who subtly shook her head.

    ¡°No, they are about equal. ording to Space Dwerg¡¯s evaluation criteria, in addition to an excellent service record, one would also have to render a significant technical contribution to thepany in order to be ranked S. I did not go so far as finding out what exactly her contribution was, however.¡±

    So, judging from her tone, it looks like May would be able to find out that particr piece of info even if Space Dwerg didn¡¯t specifically disclose it to her. If I ask her, I wonder if she really can? No, I bet she definitely could¡­¡­ It was a bit unsettling, so I better not bring it up.

    ¡°But basically, they are both really excellent in what they do, right? So what do you think, guys? I¡¯m leaning on letting theme aboard.¡±

    ¡°Can I ask the reasons why you¡¯re thinking about letting them join?¡±

    ¡°To put it simply, it¡¯s to reap the benefits even with the apanying bit of risk. There¡¯s a risk of having some info about us leak out by having Space Dwerg employees board our ship, but I think we can basically ignore that to a certain extent. The merits of having qualified engineers and mechanics aboard trumps that risk. And ording to May, there¡¯s no doubt those two are fairly skilled, so that¡¯s all the more reason to let them join.¡±

    ¡°I see. What do you think, Mimi?¡±

    After hearing my thoughts, Elma turned to Mimi to ask her opinion. It looks like Mimi¡¯s already formed her views on the matter, and she gave her answer without any pause.

    ¡°I did manage to get along with Whisker-san and Tina-san today, so I think it¡¯s okay as well. But if you want topletely eliminate the risk, wouldn¡¯t it be better to decline? We could just look for other skilled engineers not affiliated with Space Dwerg.¡±

    ¡°That would be really difficult, I think. Technology is advancing day by day. The engineers who have experience with thetest techniques and innovations are basically all working for certain establishedpanies. So skilled engineers that are not affiliated with saidpanies can only be found in academic institutions focused on technology and engineering or certain researchbs.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Well, there¡¯s also the option of increasing the maidroids like May-san and maintenance droids, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s also one method, but the costs of increasing the number of maidroids on par with my specs will be quite high. And also, it will be difficult for multiple AIs to serve the same master as well.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°We also have our own circumstances. It could work if it was only a temporary thing, but there would be someplications if you want something more permanent.¡±

    After saying so, May quieted down. It looks like she doesn¡¯t really want to talk about the situation of the AIs all that much. I could order her to continue disclosing the details here, but seeing as she looks ufortable with it, I don¡¯t really feel like doing that right now.

    But I was still a bit curious, so I¡¯ll try to talk about it with her when we¡¯re alone together. Yep.

    ¡°In other words, it¡¯s difficult to find skilled engineers who aren¡¯t tied up one way or another, right? Well, if I was a skilled engineer myself, I would definitely want to work for a reputablepany too.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Those who im to be skilled frence engineers are mostly quacks or people who¡¯ve been dismissed from work due to causing some sort of mishap.¡±

    ¡°Tina and Whisker would have been fired after causing an incident as well, if not for Hiro asking to go easy on them.¡±

    That¡¯s certainly true. They did injure a customer after all. I¡¯d say they barely hung on by the skin of their teeth.

    ¡°That¡¯s true. But I¡¯m not sure if we can get along with another set of people if we have them reced now. I personally wouldn¡¯t want a bearded old man tagging along with us.¡±

    Instead of that, cute twin sisters were way better, even if they were a bit problematic. They were definitely easier on the eyes, disregarding whether or not I would actuallyy my hands on them.

    ¡°You¡¯re really adamant about them huh? Did you really take a liking to them?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s not really like that. It¡¯s just that if we were to reject them now, I can¡¯t imagine it ending well for them. It would kinda leave a bad taste in my mouth.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­? Well, if you say so Hiro, then I don¡¯t particrly have anything against it either. It would be no problem if May looked after those two anyway.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I will constantly monitor them with a mobile terminal to prevent them from doing anything suspicious.¡±

    ¡°Mobile terminal?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The same one Miro used back on Sierra III. Though the functions are more limited, they are smaller and more mobile.¡±

    ¡°Hee, so there¡¯s something like that as well.¡±

    We did interact with a volleyball-sized floating terminal that Miro used as its interface back on Sierra III. So it looks like May is able to use something like it as well.

    ¡°There would be limits if I were to control multiple terminals, but controlling just two would pose no problems.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ I did offer some options, but if Hiro-sama is okay with letting them board, then I¡¯m fine with it as well. Like I said earlier, I did manage to get along well with them today.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s decided then. It would be fine for those two to room up in the mothership, right?¡±

    ¡°That would be ideal. It would be best if they secure rooms near the hangar.¡±

    ¡°So they¡¯ll be pretty close by huh. Let¡¯s try to get along with them well then.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. If nothing else crops up, we¡¯ll go through with it.¡±

    And so, it was decided to let those sisters onboard as we discussed while walking back to the hotel.

    ¡ºI see. Well then, I¡¯ll tell the two of them the good news and have them prepare ordingly.¡»

    The next day. I contacted Sara and told her the decision to let the twins on board.

    ¡°Yeah, please do. I¡¯ll leave the interior of their rooms up to you guys, but I have some requests regarding the interior of the rest of the mothership. I¡¯ll send you the datater, so please use it as a reference. Basically, it¡¯ll go up by a grade or two.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood. We will be waiting for the data then.¡»

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    I turned my data terminal off after cutting the call with Sara. Alright then, what should I do today¡­? As I was lost in thought, someone hugged me from behind. It wasn¡¯t all that soft, so¡­¡­! It¡¯s probably Elma, huh.

    ¡°Guuuoo¡­!?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re thinking of something rude again, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    I tapped on the arm that was wrapping around my neck in surrender. She was able to read my thoughts even if she didn¡¯t see my expression huh. Or rather, I¡¯m gonna fall. I¡¯m gonna fall, so stop clinging onto me like that. But just where was she getting all this power even though she had really delicate-looking arms?

    ¡°Haa¡­¡­ haa¡­¡­ Man. You¡¯re so enthusiastic even this early in the morning, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just passionate. So, are you nning on going somewhere today?¡±

    ¡°I was thinking about it. Why?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re restless as always, huh¡­¡­ We¡¯re finally staying in such a ritzy hotel, so why don¡¯t you take this opportunity to rx more? Honestly.¡±

    Elma sighed in exasperation and sat down next to me. Then she forcibly pulled my head down on herp. A forcedp pillow huh.

    ¡°We¡¯re finally on a break after so long, so stop being a busybody and just rx. Isn¡¯t deepening the bond with his crew members also a captain¡¯s responsibility?¡±

    ¡°Now there¡¯s an opinion I don¡¯t hear much about. But if Elma says so, then I guess I¡¯ll justply obediently.¡±

    ¡°Good boy.¡±

    I found it kind of a luxury spending time leisurely like this without doing anything. Maybe it¡¯s a habit from back when I was just your typical poor sryman, but I still felt it would be my loss if I didn¡¯t do something productive in my free time.

    ¡°What about Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon you. I¡¯m giving you ap pillow and yet¡­ Well, I guess it¡¯s fine. It looks like she¡¯s holed up in her room and is busy with her data terminal. It looks like the dwarf-yaki yesterday really made an impression on her. She¡¯s researching the various gourmet spots in the colony.¡±

    ¡°Okay?¡±

    But it¡¯s not like she needed to stay inside her room to do that, right? It would be fine even if she joined us in the living area to do her research.

    ¡°¡­¡­It looks like it¡¯s my turn to have you all to myself today, so she went out of her way to give us some space.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Hey!¡±

    Elma lightly hit my head when I started to rub my cheek on herp. But she didn¡¯t really look angry. Rather, she was actually smiling happily. Anyway, it¡¯s decided I would spend my time rxing today, so that¡¯s that folks.

 Chapter 126 â€“ Space Dwerg Companyâ€™s Request

    <h4>Chapter 126 - Space Dwerg Company¡¯s Request</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    And so, I spent the entire day happily flirting with Elma. The next day, I went out together with Mimi on a food trip all over the colony.

    We began with grilled skewer stalls, then went on to takoyaki-looking stuff filled with mysterious ingredients, live seafood restaurants, meat restaurants serving artificial, cultured, and even natural meat, and so on. We thoroughly enjoyed the local dwarven cuisine. In any case, we resolved to stop visiting live seafood restaurants after trying it once.

    Cuz it was inly unappetizing, y¡¯see. They served things that looked like those parasitic alien creatures in games and movies y¡¯see. And to think we were supposed to eat something that looked like a huge alien spiny lobster fresh. It was still twitching y¡¯know. I had Mimi take a video, but it turned out to be something right out of an SF horror flick. Well, if you ask me whether or not it was tasty¡­ Uh, I guess it was¡­ Yeah¡­

    And afterward, I sent my proposal for the refurbishment of the mothership¡¯s interior to Space Dwerg. We nned to spend most of our time inside Krishna, but there might be times when we need to entertain guests and the like, and we also needed a ce to stay if Krishna is sent for an overhaul again.

    And so, I made several upgrade requests to the facilities that will be installed inside the mothership. It turned out quite expensive, but Space Dwerg suggested something to cover the costs.

    ¡°Test pilot huh.¡±

    ¡ºYes. We are in great need for test pilots who¡¯ll fly ourtest prototypes, obtain data, and give us first-hand impressions regarding our products.¡»

    We received a notice from the Mercenary Guild that Space Dwerg applied for a request addressed specifically to us in the morning, so we went and contacted Sara for the specifics. We were, of course, still inside the hotel room. Since we were renting a high-ss suite room, it came equipped with arge holo-disy with a telmunications function for video calls.

    ¡°I¡¯m aware that it¡¯s a rare opportunity, but¡­ what¡¯s up with the 1,500,000 Enel reward just for serving as a test pilot?¡±

    ¡°I also think it¡¯s a bit too much. A Gold ranker¡¯s hiring price is usually 80,000 Enels per day, so this is quite arge sum inparison. Why is that?¡±

    Under the contract, we were supposed to serve as test pilots for five days, and in doing so, the 1,500,000 Enel price for refurbishing the interior of the mothership will be waived entirely. It was a great offer, but it seemed just a bit too generous, so we suspected a catch.

    ¡ºI hope you can think of this as part of our sincere apology for all the trouble we¡¯ve caused this far. And of course, that price includes the hush money in order topel you from talking about ourtest technological advances to unrted parties. It¡¯s really not such an absurd amount.¡»

    ¡°I see. So it includes a hush fee. That makes sense, right?¡±

    Mimi, who was beside me, nodded her head and was seemingly convinced. So this much is appropriate for hush money huh. Well, I¡¯m sure the apology for their blunders factored in a lot as well.

    ¡°I¡¯m more or less okay with the reward. Then, can you give me some detailed specifics regarding the job?¡±

    ¡ºYes, of course. Then-¡»

    To sum up Sara¡¯s exnation, we were going to serve as test pilots for one of Space Dwerg¡¯s experimental prototype ships, gather data, and provide our objective impressions. Several safety measures have been implemented beforehand, but in the off chance that something did happen, she told us what to watch out for and what to do in case of emergencies.

    ¡°It won¡¯t suddenly explode on our faces or something, I hope.¡±

    ¡ºWe pride ourselves on the reliability and safety of our products, so please rest assured.¡»

    Sara¡¯s image on the other side of the screen disyed a confident smile. Even if you say that, I can¡¯t say I can muster the same level of confidence given what I saw the other day with those swarming dwarven mechanics with crazy looks in their eyes. I remember hearing about Whisker developing some problematic thruster systems as well.

    ¡°I¡¯ll just pray that¡¯s the case then. So, how should we prepare for it and where do we report for the job?¡±

    After about an hour, I found myself wearing a skin-tight pilot suit inside a hangar where several of Space Dwerg¡¯s prototype ships were parked. I was currently receiving a lecture about the ship we were supposed to test.

    ¡°This ship is Space Dwerg¡¯s attempt at developing a next-gen high-speedbat starship. We incorporated our expertise in making tough, reliable ships into the design and made sure it had the best mobility as well. ¡­Uh, that¡¯s what we¡¯re aiming for anyway.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a roundabout way of describing it.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s because our in-house test pilots can¡¯t even make use of this baby¡¯s full potential¡­¡­ At best, they can bring out 50% of the theoretical specs.¡±

    ¡°50% huh.¡±

    That¡¯s interesting. If they could only bring out half of what the ship was capable of based on its specs, it¡¯s either the pilots just in suck, the ship¡¯s setting are problematic in the first ce, or there was a mistake in the overall design. Or maybe it was just that hard to pilot.

    ¡°Well¡­ just try riding it first.¡±

    ¡°Guess so.¡±

    I received a helmet with a built-in HUD from an engineer and started heading for the prototype ship we¡¯ll be piloting for today. When I got in front of the ship, I found Mimi and Elma, who had also finished their preparations, standing nearby. They were also wearing skin-tight pilot suits.

    ¡°Mm. Now that¡¯s amazing.¡±

    ¡°It is, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°S-Stop it, you two. It¡¯s a bit embarrassing if you stare at me like that.¡±

    Elma nodded at my words while Mimi¡¯s face reddened as she attempted to cover her bountiful chest with her arms. The skin-tight pilot suit enhanced Mimi¡¯s bombshell figure even further and emphasized her amazing chest assets. It looks like a lot of the dwarven engineers (mainly the men) were also attracted to the overwhelming sight presented by the pilot-suit wearing Mimi. Hey, guys, she¡¯s my girl, so don¡¯t stare too much, okay.

    ¡°L-Let¡¯s hurry up and board already!¡±

    ¡°Fine, fine.¡±

    We got pushed by Mimi and boarded the ship. Since it was a prototype, the interior looked pretty bare. There¡¯s practically nothing that enhances the livability installed. Well, I expected as much anyway.

    ¡°It would be bad if we get into some sort of ident and get stranded huh.¡±

    ¡°It seems the cargo hold was loaded with at least a week¡¯s worth of water and food. Since this ship is a prototype, it¡¯s also loaded with powerful beacons, so don¡¯t worry too much.¡±

    Well, we were conducting the test on a site near the colony, so I guess we would be rescued immediately if an ident urred.

    ¡°Let¡¯s start with the set-up then. There¡¯s a lot that¡¯s different from Krishna, so pay attention, alright.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    We wore our helmets and started prepping the aircraft forunch. I mainly focused on the OS, while Elma checked the control systems, and Mimi checked the radar andm equipment.

    ¡°It looks like the power loses out to Krishna, as expected.¡±

    Elma, who was checking the propulsion systems, sighed.

    ¡°Krishna¡¯s generator is special after all. It seems even Space Dwerg¡¯s engineers couldn¡¯t analyze it.¡±

    Krishna¡¯s extreme maneuverability and its powerful shields, as well as the fourrge-caliber pulseser cannons that gave it heavy-cruiser ss firepower all relied on the said generator. In other words, Krishna¡¯s special generator served as its heart and allowed full use of its other superb features. It was an extremely peculiar ship that wasparable to a heavy-cruiser despite being a small craft. When I first got a load of the generator output back when I was ying SOL, I thought it was a bug, and checked it three times just to be sure.

    In any case, I told them strongly not to fiddle with it since they couldn¡¯t analyze it, so there should be no problem. I was honestly still worried, but if I can¡¯t leave it to the professionals, then I¡¯d have no choice but to maintain Krishna myself. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d do a good job if it came to that, so in the end, I still have to leave it in other¡¯s hands.

    If we can build enough rapport with Tina and Whisker and earn mutual trust, I would be able to rest easier.

    ¡°There¡¯s no problems with the radar andmunication systems.¡±

    ¡°Yosh. We¡¯re taking out the prototype. I¡¯ll leave it to you, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mimi contacted the control room of the prototype ship hangar and informed them we were ready to set off. Afterward, we¡¯ll just need to follow the port control¡¯s instructions and fly the ship out of the colony.

    ¡°How is it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit slow. The reaction speed is one tempo slower.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because the frames of Space Dwerg ships are basically on the heavier side and sport thick armoring. Hence, it¡¯s quite sturdy, but it kinda doesn¡¯t fit with my or your style because we favor speed and mobility more.¡±

    Fortunately, I was able to adjust to the ship¡¯s handling pretty quickly, but the moment we left the hangar, we experienced some turbulence. This was because of the reaction speed being fairly slow like I said earlier.

    If you manage to understeer or oversteer the ship, you could fire up the auxiliary thrusters in order to correct your position, but if you don¡¯t have enough grasp of the thruster¡¯s output, the ship will end up shaking just like earlier.

    ¡°Man. The auto-bncer and the gyro of this thing sucks. Normally, the ship will correct itself via auto-pilot and wouldn¡¯t shake like this.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s a software problem rather than a hardware one huh. If we knew it¡¯ll turn out like this, we could have brought May as well.¡±

    May headed to Brad colony¡¯s Orient Corporation branch today to undergo scheduled maintenance. May would have no problems identifying this kind of software trouble because of her nature as an AI, so we could have found the root cause if she were here.

    ¡°Space Dwerg normally focuses onrger ships, so they shouldn¡¯t have much experience developing a small, mobile ship like this one. Maybe that¡¯s why their software isn¡¯t up to par.¡±

    Yeah. Those dwarves really looked like they were hardware nuts after all. But it¡¯s because they¡¯re hardware nuts that maybe the problem isn¡¯t the software after all. Maybe they just designed a crazy ship without considering ease of use and focused on specs. Man, I sure hope not. They wouldn¡¯t, right? Ugh.

    ¡°The gate is open.¡±

    ¡°Yosh. We¡¯re moving out.¡±

    Weunched the ship out into space from the gate leading out onto the test site. First, I¡¯ll have to get used to the ship¡¯s handling.

    ¡°Mm¡­ It really is one tempo slower.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­¡±

    Elma let out an exasperated sigh after hearing mein again.

    This prototype, which relied on high-powered thrusters in order to forcefully shove mobility and speed into such a heavy frame,pletely adhered to the ¡®power is all you need¡¯ philosophy. Due to the ship¡¯s weight, the resulting inertia was quite strong, and that led to difficulties in making sharp maneuvers.

    However, because the output of the auxiliary attitude control thrusters was high as well, you could attempt some fairly interesting maneuvers if you manage to make full use of them. Even if the resulting inertia is stronger than usual, hence making the ship prone to oversteering, if you manage the directional thrusters well, you should be able topensate for it to an extent. So if the reaction is one tempo slow, I¡¯ll just have to pilot it one tempo faster than usual.

    Also, because the main thrusters sport a considerably high output, its speed when going straight was quite amazing. However, due to the high inertia, one mistake could lead to an unfortunate ident if you weren¡¯t careful. So flying this thing in a ce with lots of obstacles like an asteroid belt wasn¡¯t advisable. In other words, this thing isn¡¯t able to make sharp, sudden turns and brake well.

    Conversely, it would be phenomenal if it fought in a ce with few obstacles. It will be able to catch up to prey quite easily with its overwhelming speed and bring it down. It might not do well in a chaotic melee, but it would be great for hit-and-run tactics. Its speed was great and had thick armor, so if you load it with high-powered weapon systems, it would be perfect for hit-and-run.

    ¡°It¡¯s handling really is quite a bit different from Krishna.¡±

    ¡°It being a heavy and well-armored ship trying to be a high-speed fighter does lend quite a bit of character to it after all.¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯re still able to pilot it with no problems, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Well, just this much isn¡¯t that hard. This girl is still way easier to pilot than Elma¡¯s Gctic Swan.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Hey. The Swan is a great ship, y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Uhuh. It sure is great for a flying space casket with an unpredictable tendency to self-destruct.¡±

    That ship had an even more powerful thruster system than this prototype despite its looks after all. That made it an absurdly difficult unit to fly - a veritable wild horse. Compared to it, this thing, whose only problem was being one tempo slow due to being too heavy, was a lot easier to handle.

    ¡ºThis is Control. Can you hear me, Hammer Seven?¡»

    After we got used to handling the ship, the control room of the test facility finally contacted us. Hammer Seven was this prototype ship¡¯s name.

    ¡°Yes, this is Hammer Seven. We hear you loud and clear.¡±

    ¡ºWe¡¯re starting the test. Please take your position at the designated coordinates.¡»

    ¡°Hammer Seven, roger. I will mark the coordinates on the nav, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, roger that.¡±

    I started flying Hammer Seven and followed the directions disyed on my helmet¡¯s HUD. Now then, it¡¯s been a while since I piloted a ship other than Krishna. Better enjoy this to the fullest then.

 Chapter 127 â€“ End of Hotel Stay

    <h4>Chapter 127 - End of Hotel Stay</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The first day of us serving as test pilots ended without any problems. Uh, maybe not totally problem-free, but we pulled through, I guess. Anyway, wepleted our job without a hitch.

    There were no problems with the weapons test of the prototype ship Hammer Seven. There were a total of four hardpoints where weapon systems could be installed on the ship. It was an average number for a small craft. They were all ced on the upper sections of the hull, so all firepower was concentrated there, leaving the bottompletely bare of weaponry. The two main guns were trained out front while the secondary weapons covered both nks.

    Basically, I think one can judge if a ship has an optimum set-up for weapon hardpoints on whether or not the positioning will allow it to have the ability to focus fire all its weapons from a direction other than the front of the ship.

    For example, in the case of a ship with four hardpoints, if one each is ced on the top, bottom, left, and right sides of the ship, you can only focus fire with three turrets at maximum except for firing directly forward. That means one turret is essentially dead if you don¡¯t concentrate fire to the front.

    In this case, it would be better to ce the hard points in positions which allow Hammer Seven to easily reach maximum firepower in one direction even if you had to leave the bottom of the ship weaponless and a potential blind spot. That¡¯s what I think anyway.

    Some folks may ce more importance on eliminating blind spots, so I can¡¯t say my take on it is absolute. After all, you can¡¯t make good use of my set-up if you don¡¯t have the piloting skills to match.

    And so, regarding that little problem I mentioned at the start¡­

    ¡°The ship does perform as the specs suggested! What the heck are you on about!?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no problem with the software! There¡¯s only ag in the reaction time because the calction of the weight to thrust ratio is wrong! The data here proves it!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no problem with our calctions! The software problem just gotpensated by the skills of the pilot!¡±

    ¡°The software is perfect! The mistake in the weight to thrust ratio is the one beingpensated for by the pilot¡¯s skills, you fool! The data corroborates this!¡±

    After the performance test, I seeded to clock in numbers that exceeded the expected values. Well, if the ship¡¯s only problem is being one tempo slow, I just had to operate it one tempo faster topensate. And once I got used to its tendency to oversteer or understeer, I was able to perform some interesting maneuvers.

    And so, I made up for the dy in the reaction time with my skills. I wasn¡¯t sure if the cause of the problem was the hardware or software side of the spectrum, so I just suggested they look into both and implement some improvements based on the results.

    And that led to themotion going on right now. Maybe the hardware and software engineers didn¡¯t get along much, so they both kept passing the buck and pointing at the other party as the one at fault. Well, it¡¯s not my job to meddle in the spats of apany¡¯s employees anyway. My main responsibility was to serve as a test pilot, and I believe I did a pretty good job.

    ¡°In any case, I have noints at all regarding the ship¡¯s speed when cruising in a straight line. They are also affected by the one tempo dy, but all in all, I think there are no pressing problems with the turning speed and rolling speed either. However, since the ship is heavy, sharp and nimble maneuvers are next to impossible. With its top speed, I think it will be put to good use on hit-and-run tactics which takes full advantage of its speed and thick armor, or by pilots that can simrly make use of its quirks to keep enemies firmly in their crosshairs just like I did. And since the positions of the hardpoints are concentrated on the top half of the ship, I think it¡¯s a unit that can only be put to good use by highly skilled pros.¡±

    I would have liked to share more of my impressions if the dwarven engineers didn¡¯t start to fight amongst themselves. These guys. Honestly.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Can I ask what you mercenaries consider as a ship that¡¯s easy to handle for reference?¡±

    ¡°Of course. This is just my personal opinion, but first, it has to be straightforward. What I mean is that it¡¯s better for a ship to have at least a standard response time. That¡¯s a really important factor.¡±

    ¡°Oh. So, cing importance on ease of handling eh?¡±

    ¡°Next is some good defensive capabilities, but I think most mercenaries ce more importance on tougher energy shields rather than thicker and more durable armor. Of course, having thicker armor is a good thing, but it does affect maneuverability. And also, there are no mercs who¡¯d prefer to tank shots with their ship¡¯s armor rather than the energy shield. It costs more money to rece damaged armor after all. The costs will add up, and that¡¯s not something mercs wee at all. In this aspect, energy shields are more cost-effective, don¡¯t you think? A ship¡¯s armor serves as itsst line of defense once its shields are down, but I think most mercs would immediately escape when their shields start showing signs of going down anyway. There are next to no mercs who¡¯d rather stay and fight once their energy shields are down, I think.¡±

    There¡¯s also the fact that armor upgrades cost a ton more Enel than energy shield emitter upgrades. There¡¯s a saying that you can¡¯t show off your strength if you don¡¯t spend money, but conversely, you can¡¯t just spend money on pointless stuff.

    ¡°Umu, I see.¡±

    ¡°In terms of overall firepower, I think smallbat starships should be outfitted with at least two ss 2 weapons. If you can make it so it can actually be equipped with one ss 3 weapon, I think it will turn out to be quite popr. ss 1 weapons are frankly no good. Mercenaries would be more willing to purchase ships that can equip ss 2 weapons by default no matter how few the number rather than ones which can equip lots of ss 1 weapons.¡±

    ss 1 weapons are what you can consider as small arms. ss 2 is the middle ground and ss 3 weapons are the heavyweights.

    By the way, Krishna¡¯s pulseser cannons and ballistic shot cannons are all considered ss 3. It¡¯s a small craft, but it sports a total of six ss 3 weapons plus anti-ship reactive torpedoes. That makes Krishna¡¯s overall firepower on par with a heavy cruiser. Normally, you can only equip a maximum of one ss 3 weapon on a small ship, and those ships are already considered top-of-the-line.

    ¡°Thank you. These will be very helpful.¡±

    The dwarf engineer finished typing my words on his tablet terminal, bowed to me in gratitude, and joined the fray of his quarreling peers. It looks like he¡¯s gonna finally put a stop to it. Do your best, man.

    ¡°Are you finished?¡±

    After the engineer left me, Elma called out. It looks like the girls also finished their report.

    ¡°Yeah. It looks like you guys finished early though.¡±

    ¡°Yes. There were no problems with the radar andmunication systems. It looks like it was the same for Elma-san too.¡±

    ¡°Well, Space Dwerg is known for the toughness and reliability of their products, so I guess it isn¡¯t much of a surprise. I really can¡¯t say the same for the overall performance of the ship though. There¡¯s no point in a ship that can¡¯t be piloted unless you make strange unorthodox maneuvers like Hiro. It¡¯s totally out.¡±

    ¡°C¡¯mon. They aren¡¯t that strange¡­¡­¡±

    Uh, I guess if you don¡¯t get used to the oversteer and understeer, you¡¯d likely end up spinning endlessly in space like an out of control ice skater. But that can be made up with practice. Yup. You have to start with mastering the timing for the auto-bncer and gyro. You¡¯d probably end up puking in space a few times, but that¡¯s just how it is. I did manage to experience that in front of aputer screen back on Earth, and I felt sick even then, so I guess the experience will be a good magnitude worse if you do it for real.

    ¡°So what will we do now?¡±

    It seems the turmoil subsided before it grew worse, but the engineer¡¯s faces still looked positively miffed. A dwarven engineer with a slightly tired look on his face approached us. It was the guy who was talking with me earlier.

    ¡°We¡¯re stopping with the tests for today, so your jobs are finished as well. We¡¯ll be counting on you again tomorrow though.¡±

    ¡°I see. Guess we have some free time then.¡±

    I turned toward Mimi and Elma and saw them nod in response. We took off the skin-tight pilot suits and changed back to our normal clothes. We then exited the Space Dwerg testing facility.

    Afterpleting the five-day test pilot gig, we were once again back to a life of leisure and rxation. Well, we weren¡¯t exactly keeping idle because we spent the majority of our time touring the colony and enjoying the sights.

    What about the test pilot gig? There¡¯s isn¡¯t really much toment about, actually. I just yed around with the prototype the whole time and got Mimi and Elma blue in the face because of thecking inertial control system. That¡¯s probably because it was a prototype, and not everything had been adjusted optimally. But they eventually got used to it in thetter half of the five-day stint.

    ¡°Hey, hey, boss. Are you free today?¡±

    ¡°T-That¡¯s no good, big sis¡­¡­¡±

    Tina plopped her head on myp as I sat on the sofa and began flirting with me. Whisker got all panicky after witnessing her sister¡¯s brazen actions. I don¡¯t really mind you doing that since you do look cute, but aren¡¯t you too casual, Tina?

    ¡°Mmmgh!¡±

    I pinched Tina¡¯s nose, who was enjoying myp pillow without a care. Hahaha, now your cute face is ruined.

    ¡°She just did that so naturally¡­¡­ I¡¯ll have to step up as well.¡±

    ¡°Well, aren¡¯t you quite something, dwarf.¡±

    Mimi and Elma, who were lounging around the nearby table, looked at Tina as if she was a formidable foe. I¡¯m not all bothered by it because I didn¡¯t really look at Tina in that way. Honestly speaking, I saw her more like a small pet such as a dog or cat rather than a romantic partner.

    ¡°So, uh¡­ there¡¯s about five days left until the mothership gets finished, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. If everything goes on schedule, it will get finished after about 120 hours. There seem to be no dys in the work, so it will most likely get finished on schedule.¡±

    May, who was standing right next to the sofa as she looked after me, answered my question.

    ¡°It looks like Krishna¡¯s about to roll out as well.¡±

    ¡°Yes. They¡¯re a littlete, but it seems they will finish the overhaul by today. I was told they will be handing it over by tomorrow due to them needing to finish reloading the luggage onboard.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    If that¡¯s the case, then I guess this is ourst day staying in this fancy hotel.

    ¡°Are you guys okay with your preparations, Tina?¡±

    ¡°Hm, of course, boss. We¡¯ve done all the necessary paperwork and packed our things, so we¡¯ll be ready to board the mothership once it gets finished.¡±

    Tina, whose nose I was still pinching, answered with a confident grin on her lips. I turned toward Whisker and saw her nod several times in agreement. Guess there¡¯s no problem then. I hope.

    ¡°Good. Hm¡­¡­ Let¡¯s see. How about we visit that luxurious restaurant you mentioned the other day, Tina?¡±

    After hearing my words, Mimi sat up straight away. Ok, ok, of course, I¡¯ll take Mimi along as well, so don¡¯t be so anxious. I¡¯ll take Elma too, of course. I remember her eyes twinkling when she heard they stocked up on famous liquors around the gxy.

    And so, that night, Tina led us to the restaurant in question¡­¡­ and I found myself eating yakitori in a restaurant called Yakitori.

    Yeah, I know what you guys want to say. This so-called luxurious restaurant served yakitori and even named itself as Yakitori after all. It seems it was a restaurant that used real chicken meat bred from a farm two systems out. It wasn¡¯t as expensive as that Kobe beef I encountered back then, but it was still quite pricey. One skewer costs 15 Enels. Ain¡¯t that too pricey? If you convert it to Japanese Yen, you¡¯d end up with 1500 Yen a pop.

    Mimi was impressed by the taste of real chicken while Elma was satisfied with the taste of those famous liquors. The sisters were gushing about the taste of yakitori butmented the fact that they were banned from drinking as they watched Elma chug down bottle after bottle. They were looking at Elma like she was their parent¡¯s murderer. It was honestly a bit creepy. It looks like they still weren¡¯t past the liquor ban.

    ¡°You don¡¯t look like you¡¯re enjoying this much, Master.¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah¡­¡­¡±

    Cuz it¡¯s just your standard yakitori, y¡¯know! I would honestly cry tears of joy if they served authentic carbonated c here, but unfortunately, apart from liquor, they only served water and 100% all-natural fruit juice, which was insanely expensive. One ss was 100 Enels. That¡¯s highway robbery. I¡¯ll just stick with 3 Enel sses of water.

    And so, ourst night staying at the hotel ended in such a fashion.

 Chapter 128 â€“ About the Abandoned

    <h4>Chapter 128 - About the Abandoned</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    And so came the next day after we enjoyed organic chicken meat yakitori.

    When we received word that the loading of the luggage inside Krishna was finished, we finally checked out of the hotel and headed for the workshop where the Krishna underwent an overhaul.

    ¡°We¡¯re finallying home.¡±

    ¡°Krishna is our ship, but it¡¯s also kind of our home huh.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s prettyfy inside after all.¡±

    ¡°I personally think it¡¯s no good if a ship¡¯s interior is unsuitable forfortable habitation after all.¡±

    In Elma¡¯s case, her image of a normal mercenary ship is pretty spartan and no-nonsense. I and Mimi don¡¯t share that opinion, and so we changed the proposal for the interior of the mothership to be clean, functional, and highly livable. It was a good use of our hard-earned money in my opinion.

    By the way, the hatchet guns, which were the new power armor-use weapons designed by Tina and supervised by May, should have already been loaded along with the other luggage as well. It might be good to try the guns out once we finish overhauling the power armor. I guess I¡¯ll look for jobs that require the use of power armorter.

    That¡¯s only if there actually were jobs requiring the use of power armor and swinging weapons around. I don¡¯t think this colony has those types of jobs avable¡­ Wait, maybe it does? Hmm. This colony is quite big after all. And it looked fairly old too. There¡¯s a lot of ship traffic, so ¡®those guys¡¯ might be lurking somewhere as well. Yeah, I¡¯m sure they are¡­¡­ Mm, if there¡¯s a job involving ¡®them¡¯, I¡¯ll be more than happy to take it.

    ¡°Why are you making a difficult face all of a sudden, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Well, since I got the power armor overhauled and received new weapons, I was thinking of taking jobs that will allow me to use them to test them out in the field.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s it. Yeah, it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if those kinds of jobs were avable in this colony after all.¡±

    Elma looked convinced as she nodded.

    ¡°What are you two talking about?¡±

    Mimi tilted her head in bewilderment since she couldn¡¯t get what I and Elma were referring to. It looks like she has totally no idea.

    ¡°Termaine Prime was a rtively new colony, so I guess ¡®they¡¯ haven¡¯t cropped up over there yet. But this Brad Prime colony looks like it¡¯s been here a good while, so perhaps the countermeasures for dealing with ¡®them¡¯ are no longer as effective, or maybe they¡¯ve just given up altogether.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    Mimi still couldn¡¯t get what Elma was referring to and kept tilting her head in confusion.

    ¡°I¡¯m talking about the Abandoned. Or would calling them illegal residents ring more bells for you?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi finally understood what Elma was referring to and her expression clouded over. The Abandoned is a term used to call people who have been literally abandoned by the government to fend on their own. In other words, it¡¯s much like how Mimi was before I ended up rescuing her.

    In Termaine Prime, in exchange for the government basically not caring one whit about them, they were allowed to live inside the colony as long as they stayed in one specific block and never stepped beyond it. The colony only provided breathable air. Any other things necessary for a living would have to be secured by their own hands. Frankly, the colony higher-ups wouldn¡¯t really care if they starved to death.

    And there definitely were lots of them who up and died just like that. In exchange for not cracking down hard on them, the colony higher-ups wouldn¡¯t care for them at all either. They were people who were not treated as legitimate residents, and to arge extent, weren¡¯t even treated like people in the first ce. That¡¯s what the Abandoned are.

    They may have been a former regr resident who fell from grace due to some reason or other, a person who was left behind by the ship he or she was staying on, a stowaway who secretly disembarked and settled in¡­ Their origins greatly vary. A fairly old colony like Brad Prime should have lots of these Abandoned staying inside it.

    ¡°But what does that have to do with mercenary work?¡±

    ¡°Sometimes, we¡¯re hired to deal with the Abandoned. Dead or alive.¡±

    ¡°Eh!?¡±

    Mimi disyed an appalled expression. Well, I guess she would. That¡¯s cause we¡¯re basically talking about taking out power armor and using its weapons to kill the Abandoned en masse.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like we¡¯re hired to get rid of people like those staying on Termaine Prime¡¯s third block. The ones we¡¯re hired to capture or kill are those on the shadier side of the spectrum. In other words, it¡¯s those associated with gangs, mafia, and other organized crime groups.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What kind of people are they?¡±

    ¡°Oh, lots of kinds. Some people arm themselves, upy a section of the colony, and mess around with the piping in order to obtain oxygen and various chemical substances. Some deal with pirates and provide them with useful intel in exchange for cash and benefits. Some even go as far as kidnapping regr residents and literally preying on them.¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi turned blue in the face. I was also surprised. I did know about those armed mafia groups, but to think there were actually those who actively engaged in cannibalism as well¡­¡­ What a shock.

    ¡°¡­¡­Err, how about I rent a training facility for the test instead? I kinda don¡¯t want to get involved in that sort of stuff after all.¡±

    ¡°That would be good. There are those among us mercenaries who specialize in those kinds of jobs after all. Better just leave it to them. It doesn¡¯t suit you, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re right.¡±

    And so, we got a glimpse of the dark underbelly of colony life.

    ¡°Hiya everyone.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve been waiting for you all.¡±

    ¡°H-Hey.¡±

    When we arrived at the workshop, we found Tina and Whisker already waiting for us there. I couldn¡¯t spot the chief engineer anywhere. Oh, right. He was undergoing re-training, I believe. He must be in the middle of that right now.

    ¡°What¡¯s up, you two?¡±

    ¡°Since we¡¯re finally handing it over, we were wondering if we could try riding on the Krishna as well. So we came here and waited for you all.¡±

    After saying that, Tina made puppy dog eyes filled with expectation at me. I don¡¯t really mind taking them for a spin though.

    ¡°We¡¯re just going to be flying it to the public docks y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. We just want to personally experience how Krishna flies with our own bodies. Is it okay, boss?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t mind.¡±

    Tina disyed an overjoyed smile. Whisker sighed in relief. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s something to get all worked up about though.

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go ahead and prep the ship first. Do we need to do any other procedures in order to take it out?¡±

    Afterpleting the necessary procedures with the deputy workshop manager, everyone, including the two sisters, finally boarded Krishna.

    ¡°May, go check if they¡¯ve done anything weird.¡±

    ¡°Yes, leave it to me, Master.¡±

    As soon as we entered the ship and closed the hatch, I had May check the interior in order to see if there was anything amiss. May proceeded to thoroughly check each section, starting with the cargo hold. After witnessing that, Tina made an awkward grin.

    ¡°You¡¯re really careful boss¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to get hit with any surprises after all.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll do our best to gain your trust.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I hope so.¡±

    That said, it would be difficult to ce ourplete trust in them as long as they were still Space Dwerg employees. Personally, I find them amusing, but from their point of view, they may prioritize the interests of Space Dwerg over their own.

    ¡°Well, once we fly out to space, it¡¯s sayonara to stuffy corporate life.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s liberating not to have our superiors breathing down our necks all the time, isn¡¯t it, big sis?¡±

    ¡°We can drink all the booze we want too!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Hey Space Dwerg, is this really okay? Are you really okay sending out these two?

    Well, I do understand that it would be really difficult. What I mean is that it would be difficult to board a mercenary ship, especially ours, and act like corporate spies.

    In the first ce, even if they somehow managed to slip past May¡¯s surveince, they would have a really hard time sending out their collected data back to Space Dwerg. It would be easier if we operated just one or two systems away from Brad, but mercs like us normally hop around dozens of star systems in search of work and profit. It would be really difficult to send any info back in that situation.

    Space Dwerg is apany that owns several industrial colonies within the empire, so they might not need to send info directly to the Brad branch, but it would still be fairly difficult.

    If they did a poor job of it and were discovered, they¡¯d be thrown out of the ship and marooned on an uninhabited or abandoned space colony, or maybe even directly thrown out into open space¡­ At least I¡¯ve heard of those instances happen. There¡¯s no doubt that conducting espionage was a very risky affair for the sisters. And we don¡¯t exactly know what sort of instructions they received from Space Dwerg either.

    But perhaps Space Dwerg will consider receiving updates on how we make names for ourselves while using thetest mothership model from theirpany as a more profitable affairpared to engaging in shady stuff. With that factored in, I don¡¯t think they¡¯d do things behind my back that will ruin our working rtionship. But I still wouldn¡¯t know for sure.

    ¡°In any case, we didn¡¯t really receive any weird instructions from thepany. They only told us to do our job as best we could in order to earn your trust, boss.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s as big sis said. Rather, I¡¯d totally not participate even if they were to order us to spy or something. May-san is scary after all.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s impossible.¡±

    ¡°It really is.¡±

    The sisters nodded to each other in mutual understanding. Hm. Yeah, I get you both. It would be an absolute scary affair to go behind my back and do something shady on May¡¯s watch after all. If I were in their shoes, I¡¯d also not do anything of the sort. I wouldn¡¯t dare even if thepany insisted. I don¡¯t want to die after all.

    ¡°Okay, guys. Let¡¯s end all that tedious talk for now. We¡¯ll berades in arms from now on, so let¡¯s try and get along.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. First, let¡¯s have our head chef brew us some rxing tea.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so you guys have thetest model of the Tetsujin series installed huh. I¡¯m definitely interested.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­¡±

    Whisker gazed at me with upturned eyes. Yeah, yeah, my bad.

    ¡°¡­¡­The dessert menu is also delicious. I rmend pudding.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡±

    Whisker made a relieved smile. I¡¯m curious how much of that was actually on purpose, but I guess I¡¯ll leave it at that for now. I left the sisters to Mimi and proceeded with checking the ship. The cargo should have increased by a fair amount, so I¡¯ll have to organize them.

 Chapter 129 â€“ Test Run

    <h4>Chapter 129 - Test Run</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Fumu. That should do it, I guess.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    I left Mimi, Elma, and the sisters inside the dining room and proceeded to the cargo hold in order to organize the cargo with May. By the way, I only organized the power armor and weapons. Everything else was left for May to handle.

    ¡°Thanks for your help as always, May. I¡¯m trying not to rely on you for everything though, but it looks like I¡¯m not doing a good job.¡±

    ¡°Is that so. But I will be more than happy if you relied on me more, Master.¡±

    May, whose hands were filled with cargo, moved in front of me with great momentum. The pressure she¡¯s emitting was really great.

    ¡°I¡¯m just thinking it would be bad to rely on you for everything. I don¡¯t want to be too idle and be slovenly.¡±

    May was handling almost everything on top of monitoring the sisters after all.

    ¡°Hm. By the way, May, how are those two? Anything going on?¡±

    ¡°They seem to be fine for the most part.¡±

    May put the items she was carrying down and turned toward me once more.

    ¡°In addition, I do think the merits of letting those two aboard outweigh the risks and demerits as well. And Master has already approved of them as well, so I will just do my part and ensure nothing goes wrong.¡±

    ¡°I see. By the way, what risks and demerits were you referring to, exactly?¡±

    ¡°The first things to pay attention to is Tina¡¯s hasty conduct and Whisker¡¯s tendency to entertain oundish ideas and the potential resulting problems from said behaviors. The possibility of an incident much like when Master first met with the two of them happening again in the future isn¡¯t zero. I do think they have learned the consequences due to what happened this time though.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah. That¡¯s right. What else?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a risk of personal and confidential information regarding Krishna and its crew would be leaked to Space Dwerg because of those two. However, after looking up Space Dwerg¡¯s track record and management policies, it seems they are not really fond of such underhanded dealings. Judging from their eagerness to obtain records of Master¡¯s day to day life exploits as a mercenary, I believe there is a high probability they truly are interested in the entertainment value of those records apart from their interest in new technology.¡±

    ¡°Entertainment, huh.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Just like what Mimi-sama said, colony residents are highly starved for entertainment, and they find the life of so-called space drifters particrly interesting. They live a stable, if somewhat dull, everyday life, and thus hold a kind of admiration for the lives of those who travel freely among the stars just like Master.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    I don¡¯t really get why they¡¯d find my daily life entertaining in the least though. Instead of wholesome family entertainment, they¡¯d probably get material that¡¯s more suitable for viewing behind closed doors. But I don¡¯t have the slightest intention of providing material for ¡®that¡¯ sort of program at all though.

    ¡°In conclusion, I will just abide by your wishes, Master. I will make sure those two will not have the opportunity to mess up, so Master doesn¡¯t have to worry about anything.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Understood. Thanks, May.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Those words are enough of a reward for me, Master.¡±

    After saying so, the corners of May¡¯s lips lifted up ever so slightly.

    And so, we found ourselves back inside the Krishna, but things won¡¯t end with just sorting out the cargo.

    ¡°A-Are we really going, boss?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we sure are.¡±

    ¡°I-I-It¡¯ll be okay, right?¡±

    ¡°Sure it will. Hunting pirates is a piece of cake for Hiro-sama.¡±

    After wepleted the test run, we decided to have some livebat practice by going out to hunt pirates. I have already contacted Space Dwerg and have been given the go-ahead to take Tina and Whisker with us.

    ¡ºPlease don¡¯t hesitate to take them.¡»

    The face of Sara on the other side of the screen replied as such while disying a really radiant smile. She must have felt satisfied after seeing Whisker and Tina¡¯s blue faces due to all the trouble the pair have caused her.

    It was a bit in poor taste, but I can¡¯t exactly me her since these two caused her to nearly fail the big contract she managed to close, and even had her offer a stream of apologies, not only to me but to her bosses too. In other words, she had a lot to be pissed about, so yeah. I¡¯ll just pretend I didn¡¯t see the darkness lurking behind her radiant smile.

    The sisters sat down on the sub-seats they pulled out from a corner of the cockpit¡¯s walls and fastened their seatbelts. After seeing them secure themselves, I proceeded with the preparations forunch.

    The reason why they left their seats once earlier was probably to put ¡®those¡¯ on before departure. You know. That thing. It¡¯s to prevent themselves from possibly making a messter. Mimi¡¯s already graduated from using them, but now I¡¯m d I didn¡¯t throw away the ones left over. Yep.

    ¡°Generator is A-okay. Output is stable. Power transmission to all sections is good as well.¡±

    ¡°Is there anything different after the overhaul?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s none. But having a ship function the same as usual after taking it apart and putting it back together is proof of their skills, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°I guess so. How about you, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no problem on my end as well. I¡¯ve gotten departure clearance.¡±

    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s get going then.¡±

    I grabbed the control stick and flew the Krishna out of the maintenance workshop¡¯s hangar. Once we get back, well park inside the public docks again.

    ¡°How is it?¡±

    ¡°Not bad. I really feel more in my element when piloting Krishna.¡±

    There¡¯s a huge difference between the response times of my partner and the prototype ship I pilotedst time. The feeling of the ship resonating with my every whim was truly exhrating. Now, this is what you call abat ship.

    ¡°Wow, it sure flies smoothly.¡±

    ¡°The inertial control system installed is really top-notch. It doesn¡¯t shake at all, and you can hardly feel the ship elerating and decelerating.¡±

    ¡°But if you push this thing ording to its intended specs, even this inertial control system wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up, right? What are we gonna do when that happens, boss?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡­ Once we start doingbat maneuvers, we¡¯d be hit with quite a bit of Gs, right Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Yep. It would be disastrous if we entered a fight with a full stomach.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t. I won¡¯t be able to stand going intobat with a cockpit filled with floating vomit.¡±

    Elma, who was sitting on the sub-pilot seat,ined while sporting a disgusted expression on her face. Even I don¡¯t want to experience something like that y¡¯know.

    ¡°A-Ahaha¡­¡­ I-It¡¯s okay. We just had tea earlier anyway, right Whisker?¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes. Un.¡±

    The faces of the sisters turned blue with fear again, perhaps because all the talk aboutbat maneuvers reminded them we were about to engage pirates in battle soon. Since they were momentarily able to forget their fear when we started talking about technical stuff, I guess I¡¯ll go for a short test flight around the colony first to help get rid of their nervousness.

    ¡°Hm? We¡¯re not gonna use the FTL Drive yet?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going for a test flight first.¡±

    ¡°We piloted apletely different ship from Krishna for a few days after all, Mimi. It¡¯s important to regain our feel for this ship again before we engage inbat activities.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    I gradually raised the throttle to elerate Krishna as I listened to Mimi and Elma¡¯s exchange.

    Yeah, the reaction between the throttle and the ship¡¯s thrusters isn¡¯t bad either. As expected of dwarves. They¡¯re very thorough.

    ¡°W-Whoah¡­¡­ This thing is fast.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a small ship so it¡¯s supposed to be fast, but I guess you feel it¡¯s faster than expected huh.¡±

    Once we reached top speed, I cut the flight assist and switched to manual mode. I then started to perform severalbat maneuvers.

    ¡°W-Whoaaaaaaa?!?¡±

    ¡°Hyaaaaaaaah!?¡±

    I tried all sorts of different maneuvers like using the afterburners for making sharp and sudden turns, drifting using the resulting counterforce, reverse flight, barrel rolls, and so on.

    ¡°Looks like there¡¯s no problem. Let¡¯s go guys.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Activating the FTL Drive.¡±

    ¡°Charging start. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1¡­¡­ FTL Drive, activate.¡±

    With a loud boom, the Krishna sped off beyond lightspeed. The eyes of the sisters were spinning, but I figured it would turn out that way, so I wasn¡¯t really bothered about it.

    ¡°A-Are you guys usually like this?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ This is usually how it is for us.¡±

    ¡°I kinda feel I now understand why you have nerves of steel despite your looks, Mimi-san.¡±

    Mimi has nerves of steel? That¡¯s just¡­¡­ No, maybe she actually does. Recently, she doesn¡¯t act all panicky that often anymore and is a lot moreposedpared to when we first met her. Maybe she built up her so-called nerves of steel after spending time with crazy folk like us.

    ¡°Now then, where are those pesky pirates hiding, I wonder-¡±

    I opened the system map and picked out all the sectors where pirates were likely to appear.

    Their targets would either be the trade goods manufactured in Brad Prime, or the various rare metals mined and refined from the surrounding resource-rich asteroid belt. Mm, in this system, dealing with rare metals would be easier. It would be a simple matter to sell the stolen metals off to a ¡®clean¡¯ mining ship and make a quick buck.

    ¡°Yosh, let¡¯s head for the asteroid belt.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll mark the coordinates on the map.¡±

    Just like Mimi said, several markers appeared on the map disyed on the HUD. We¡¯ll just have to head for those markers one by one.

    ¡°W-We¡¯re finally starting huh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯m feeling nervous.¡±

    The sisters froze up due to nervousness.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much, you two. It¡¯s not like we¡¯ll enterbat the moment we arrive at the asteroid belt.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯ll have to scout out the points first and check if there are pirates in those areas. You¡¯ll just tire yourselves out if you keep being that nervous.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, this sure reminds me of the time I first boarded Krishna.¡±

    Mimi looked at the shaking Tina and Whisker and disyed a wry grin. Yeah, Mimi was also a nervous wreck when she first boarded Krishna. It¡¯s a bit nostalgic.

    ¡°Y-You¡¯re telling the truth, right? If you guys are lying, I¡¯m really gonna cry y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re gonna believe you all, okay?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, it¡¯s fine guys.¡±

    It¡¯s rare to find prey as soon as you enter the hunting grounds. There¡¯s no problem. I did some prior research as well, so I think this trip will turn out to be mostly sightseeing in the asteroid belt. It¡¯s all good.

 Chapter 130 â€“ Test Run (Weapons )

    <h4>130 - Test Run (Weapons Chapter)</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Aaah! We¡¯re getting shot at! They¡¯re firing at us, boss!¡±

    ¡°I-I-It¡¯s okay, sis! With this ship¡¯s shield output,sers of that intensity won¡¯t-¡±

    ¡°Missiles! Seeker missiles are heading straight for us! Missiles are bad news, right!?¡±

    ¡°M-Missiles are no good!¡±

    ¡°They sure are getting lively over there.¡±

    ¡°More like noisy.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­ So I was like this too back then.¡±

    We ended up encountering a small fleet of ships as soon as we plunged into the asteroid belt. Are they mining ships? I scanned them just in case, but it looks like I hit the jackpot and they turned out to be pirates in disguise. It was a whole group of 13 pirate ships. They even had a medium-sizedbat ship within their ranks.

    ¡°Man, we sure got lucky.¡±

    ¡°No, no, no! This is definitely bad luck boss! Encountering pirates right off the bat is definitely bad luck I tell ya.¡±

    Tina was making a ruckus at the back, but I ignored her and continued to scan the ships.

    ¡°T-They have thirteen ships you know? And that medium-sizedbat ship looks fairly heavily armed. Isn¡¯t it too dangerous to provoke such a group, big brother¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. This will be a cinch for Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s just crazy! No matter how cutting edge this ship is, it would still go down if it gets showered with a rain of missiles you know.¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t matter if we don¡¯t get hit.¡±

    I quoted a famous line from a certain Red Comet and activated Krishna¡¯s weapon systems. With this, our trusty heavyser cannons and ballistic shot cannons are ready to go as always. Prepare forbat guys.

    ¡°You said we won¡¯t get intobat right away boss! You liar!¡±

    ¡°W-Wait! My heart isn¡¯t ready yet¡­ Hyaaaaaaaaa!?¡±

    And so, we plunged straight intobat.

    Krishna with its weapon systems fully deployed immediately attacked the rear of the fleet and sessfully finished off two small pirate ships ced at the very back.

    ¡ºW-What the hell!?¡»

    ¡ºEnemy attack! Break up! Break up!¡»

    ¡°Like I¡¯d let you.¡±

    The pirates tried to break formation in a panic, but Krishna had already managed to close down on the fleet. I fired the two ballistic shot cannons in session and brought down three more pirate ships with a hail of submunitions.

    ¡ºN-Nooooo! I don¡¯t wanna d-¡»

    One of the pirate ships which got turned into swiss cheese exploded. Maybe we managed to hit their fuel cells. The other two ships got caught up in the explosion and followed suit as well.

    But as expected, these pirates won¡¯t simply go down without a fight. The other pirate ships turned around and started counterattacking withser cannons and multi-cannons. Of course, most of the weapons sported by these retrofitted civilian ships were as good as peashooters to Krishna, so we could just shrug them off. That¡¯s also made fairly obvious by the ship condition disyed by the HUD¡¯s holography model.

    I, Mimi, and Elma already knew the drill, so we didn¡¯t mind, but we can¡¯t say the same for Tina and Whisker.

    ¡°Aaah! We¡¯re getting shot at! They¡¯re firing at us, boss!¡±

    ¡°I-I-It¡¯s okay, sis! With this ship¡¯s shield output,sers of that intensity won¡¯t-¡±

    Compared to Tina, whose face was already flooded with tears and snot, Whisker was keeping herself together better. Her voice was shaking though¡­¡­ As I amused myself with the sister¡¯s reactions, an alert rang out inside the cockpit.

    ¡°Missiles! Seeker missiles are heading straight for us! Missiles are bad news, right?¡±

    ¡°M-Missiles are no good!¡±

    ¡°They sure are getting lively over there.¡±

    Tina¡¯s panicked screams were funny, but hearing Whisker say missiles were no good while desperately trying to act calm was interesting as well.

    In any case, we scattered res in order to shake off the seeker missiles hot on our tail. I then fired up the thrusters and performed a sharp evasive maneuver.

    ¡°Fugyaaaa!?¡±

    ¡°Hiyaaaa!¡±

    Due to the Gs which couldn¡¯t be fully prevented by the inertial control system, each of the sisters let out distinct screams.

    ¡°Are we going for the medium-sized ship first?¡±

    ¡°Nah. If we shoot it down, those small fries will just run away. We¡¯ll take out the small ships first.¡±

    The medium-sized ship did sport higher firepower, but it was equipped mostly with missile pods, so we just had to pay attention to the seeker missiles. There are still plenty of res left, and I can always just shake the missiles off without using them anyway, so there¡¯s no problem.

    ¡°Hyahaaa! I¡¯m gonna turn you all into space dust-!

    ¡ºD-Dammit! What is this thing!? Fire, fiiire!¡»

    Wahaha! If you want to take me down, then at least bring military ships with you, idiots!

    But even if they did, I had no intention of getting done in by mere pirates.

    ¡°¡­¡­We just went through hell and back.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Uuu.¡±

    After the battle, the sisters, who quieted down halfway through, started making a fuss again. Tina looked pretty burned out, but Whisker was muttering awkwardly with a red face. She must have taken a leak. Well, she did put on you-know-what before we headed out, so at least she didn¡¯t make a mess inside the cockpit. Good for you, girl.

    ¡°We managed to get quite a haul today, Hiro-sama¡­¡­ Let¡¯s check them outter.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of refined rare metals too. We¡¯ll be making a tidy sum for this one.¡±

    ¡°How much do you estimate our profits are?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be getting 112,000 Enels for the bounties alone. The bounty for the medium-sized ship was quite sizeable as well.¡±

    ¡°112,000 Enels!? S-Seriously¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing¡­¡­ And there¡¯s also profit from selling the loot, right?¡±

    ¡°Yep. We don¡¯t know how much we¡¯ll be getting from selling them for sure yet, but I estimate it to be at least 20,000 Enels.¡±

    ¡°So that means the total profit would be 132,000 Enels¡­¡­ This is your regr ie¡­? Are you kidding me?¡±

    ¡°How many months would it take for us to evene close to that amount¡­¡­?¡±

    I don¡¯t know how much their monthly sry is, but since they were first-ss engineers, I¡¯m sure they were being paid a pretty tidy sum.

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ We get a monthly sry of 3,700 Enels, right¡­? So that means it¡¯ll take at least 35 months or so.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯ll take three years¡­¡­¡±

    The sisters were having a conversation with a gloomy atmosphere hovering over them. You didn¡¯t factor in the risks involved guys. Working as an engineer may still get you involved in idents, but it was still a lot safer than what we do. High risk, high rewards, as they say. That¡¯s mercenary work in a nutshell.

    ¡°Do you guys wanna quit working for Space Dwerg and be full crew members? I¡¯ll give you a reasonable sry.¡±

    ¡°Uuu¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorely tempted.¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t go so easily, big sis. Our unrestricted travel passes already cost 200,000 each¡­¡­ Our entire life savings don¡¯t evene close.¡±

    ¡°Muh¡­¡­ I know that. But y¡¯know¡­¡±

    The big sister pouted at her little sister¡¯s calm retort. We finally finished recovering all the loot. There was no damage to the hull this time as well. We tanked everything with the shields and annihted the small pirate fleet. It was aplete victory.

    ¡°Yosh. This should be enough for today. Let¡¯s head back, guys.¡±

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll set the coordinates.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s have a celebration party tonight. It would be nice to go to a ce that serves some good liquor.¡±

    I turned the bow toward the direction of the Brad Prime colony and started elerating. For the time being, the overhaul seems to be a sess. I¡¯ll give Sara a call once we get back to the colony.

 Chapter 131 â€“ Sister Catfight

    <h4>Chapter 131 - Sister Catfight</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Once we got back to the Brad Prime colony, Whisker immediately headed for the toilet to clean up, but unfortunately, her sister managed to witness the whole thing.

    It turns out that Tina became suspicious because of Whisker¡¯s conspicuous behavior, so she ended up tailing her.

    ¡°Ahahahaha!¡±

    ¡°Mou, stopughing already!¡±

    Whisker¡¯s face turned bright red as she directed a resentful gaze at Tina, who wasughing like there was no tomorrow. I honestly had to hold myself back fromughing as well.

    ¡°No, but I never thought you¡¯d still manage to wet yourself at your age, Whisker¡­¡­ Pfft. Bahahaha!¡±

    ¡°Big siiiis!!!¡±

    The red-faced Whisker finally couldn¡¯t hold herself back and pounced on theughing Tina in order to shut her up. But since they had the same build, it didn¡¯t go as she wanted.

    ¡°Man. Tina was a nervous wreck earlier, but just look at her now.¡±

    ¡°Maybe she¡¯s doing this precisely to forget her fear from earlier?¡±

    ¡°So Tina¡¯s now leaking from above while Whisker¡¯s was down below huh.¡±

    ¡°Hiro-san!!¡±

    Whisker gave me a sharp reprimand as she wrestled with her sister. I don¡¯t really think it¡¯s a big deal though. Mimi was just like Whisker in the past too.

    I gave Mimi a quick nce, and our eyes met. Mimi¡¯s cheeks were slightly red and she ended up turning away with an embarrassed expression. Maybe she felt embarrassed witnessing someone who suffered the same thing as her back when she was just starting out.

    Me? Maybe it¡¯s the influence of ying the game, but I didn¡¯t feel nervous at all, even when I just found myself stranded here. Maybe I just didn¡¯t have enough sense of reality for my current situation though.

    ¡°Hiro¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Sorry for saying something rude. Guys need to act like gentlemen after all.¡±

    ¡°You, a gentleman? Stop joking.¡±

    ¡°How cruel.¡±

    Well, even I think acting like the perfect gentleman doesn¡¯t suit me. That¡¯s just not me y¡¯know. It just feels too uptight.

    ¡°Man, that was tough.¡±

    Tina spun her shoulders around as we walked together on the colony streets. Uh, your shoulder doesn¡¯t sound right though. Are you sure you¡¯re okay?

    ¡°You had thating, y¡¯know.¡±

    In the end, Whisker emerged as the victor of the sister spat. She performed a splendid mid-air tackle followed by a joint lock and made Tina tap out in defeat. Well, both of them looked like little kids, so it lookedical instead of being fierce.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Whisker seemed to still be indignant even if she won. It seems she still couldn¡¯t forgive Tina forughing at her unfortunate ident. Yeah, I guess I understand why.

    ¡°Your sister still seemed pretty angry y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll apologize to her properlyter.¡±

    ¡°You may want to leave her alone for a bit to let her cool down.¡±

    Tinaughing like an idiot and Whisker¡¯s extreme reaction may be a result of the lingering tension they felt from returning after experiencing a real battle. Once one manages to ovee a life-threatening crisis and returns to safety, they¡¯d feel jumpy for a while. It wasn¡¯t a surprise that they acted the way they did.

    How did Mimi deal with it back when she just started out, you ask? She just stuck to me like glue and had mefort her of course. Like, really close. Of course, you guys know what will happen once she does that, right? She¡¯s calmed down considerably nowadays, but she still had the habit of engaging in skinship with me right after battles if she could.

    Elma? Elma just drank her liquor to rx. And once she¡¯s drunk enough, she sneaks into my bed. Elma really likes drinking alcohol, but her tolerance was just so-so. A drunk Elma was pretty cute too.

    ¡°Um, what were we talking about earlier anyway? Uh, it¡¯s about Sara-san organizing a farewell party, right?¡±

    ¡°The mothership will be delivered in three days after all. It¡¯s already decided that these two will be joining us, so maybe she just wants to have a huge send-off.¡±

    ¡°Howvish¡­¡­ Well, maybe she just wants to use this opportunity to unwind herself.¡±

    ¡°Well, Space Dwerg is a fairlyrgepany after all. Maybe it¡¯s just part of their corporate culture.¡±

    Socialization while drinking huh.

    ¡°Huh? Isn¡¯t it quite crowded here? I wonder what¡¯s going on.¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    Mimi made such an observation when we neared the bar, so I looked around to check things out. When I did so, I saw that it was indeed crowded out front. And not just that. There were even guys who were dressed like the local security forces in the crowd.

    ¡°Did an incident happen?¡±

    ¡°I wonder what though. What do you think, sis?¡±

    ¡°Mm, I¡¯m not sure. It doesn¡¯t look like a fire. Is it a sher crime incident?¡±

    ¡°sher crime¡­¡±

    This dimension is firmly in an advanced space-age, so how could a sher incident even take ce here? They already mostly forgot how to cook themselves and relied on auto-cookers, so¡­¡­ Oh, right. The dwarves actually cook food for themselves huh. I guess that makes it easier to get ess to ded objects like knives.

    ¡°I hope the ce they reserved wasn¡¯t involved in the incident.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s gonna be a problem.¡±

    Both Elma and Tina were acting like it wasn¡¯t their problem. Well, I guess they would. We¡¯re not really part of thew enforcement and we¡¯re certainly not heroes of justice nor charitable phnthropists. It was hard to rte even with such a gruesome incident if you weren¡¯t directly involved in some way yourself.

    With great poweres great responsibility? Like I care. One uses his or her power ultimately for his or her own benefit, regardless of intentions. I certainly don¡¯t want anyone to push an unreasonable sense of obligation onto me just because I had power.

    ¡°It¡¯s this ce, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I think so.¡±

    Damn. I sense something troublesomeing along. Ugh. The bar we were invited to had police lines with the words¡ºKeep Out¡»wrapped all over it. The only good thing was that it didn¡¯t look like there were any casualties in the incident. It looks like the farewell party tonight was a big bust.

    ¡°Is Sara okay?¡±

    ¡°I wonder. How about calling her?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, okay.¡±

    I took out my portable terminal and called her number. When I did so, a ringtone resounded from nearby. I got worried that she got caught up in the incident for a moment, but then I realized that the sound wasing from the crowd checking out the crime scene. Phew. I wouldn¡¯t know how to react if it wasing from inside the bar.

    ¡ºYes, this is Sara speaking. I¡¯m sorry. It looks like tonight¡¯s party is¡­¡­¡»

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s okay. We¡¯re already here actually. We¡¯re right in front of the ce. You can probably see us if you turn around.¡±

    ¡ºOh, you¡¯re right. I¡¯ming over then.¡»

    A small figure squeezed through the crowd and came in front of us. It was certainly Sara, who was in her business suit.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry it turned out this way even though I invited you all.¡±

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s just a case of bad luck. What happened anyway?¡±

    ¡°It seems like there was a burry. I don¡¯t get why they purposely targeted a bar and restaurant though¡­¡­¡±

    After saying so, Sara made a pondering expression. Yeah. A restaurant isn¡¯t really a prime target for a burry, and it was now past 5 pm, so there should have been a lot of customers inside the ce already. In other words, this ce was probably packed and filled with potential witnesses. If the thieves wanted to break in and steal stuff in secret, they should have picked a less crowded time.

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s no use thinking about something iprehensible. So do you have a n B in mind?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s another ce not far from here, but it¡¯s not as fancy.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Tonight¡¯s a celebration, so I¡¯m raring to eat my fill.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m gonna drink till I drop!¡±

    ¡°Yaaaaay!¡±

    ¡°Uh, y-yay.¡±

    ¡°You two are still on probation.¡±

    Tina, who raised a whoop of joy after Elma¡¯s deration, was coldly shot down by Sara. Yeah, I thought so.

 Chapter 132 â€“ Ship Handover

    <h4>Chapter 132 - Ship Handover</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    It¡¯s been three days since we engaged in a pirate hunt. We didn¡¯t engage in any more pirate hunting after that one time and just spent our time lounging around inside Krishna.

    Eh? Will we be okay with not working, you ask? It¡¯s not like we can¡¯t afford to not have any ie right now, and when the mothership gets delivered, we¡¯ll perform some joint maneuver drills with Krishna, then get right back into pirate hunting. Krishna¡¯s good to go, judging from its performance on thest sortie.

    Well, it¡¯s not like we just spent all of our time staying inside Krishna anyway. I went shopping with Mimi, visited dwarven bars with Elma, and went to the imperial military barracks with May in order to pick up the bounty rewards for the pirates we just exterminated.

    The reward for the bandits and the profits from the sale of the plundered loot totaled 135,000 Enels. The bounty reward was 112,000 Enels, and the profit from the loot was 23,000.

    Mimi¡¯s sry increased from 0.5% to 1%, so her share of the money is 1,350 Enels. Elma¡¯s sry was still 3%, so her share was 4,050 Enels. After subtracting their sries, my share amounts to 129,600 Enels.

    It may seem that I take a lion¡¯s share of the profit, but that¡¯s not really the case.

    The ship was 100% mine, and I also served as the main pilot. I¡¯m also obligated to provide food, clothing, and shelter for the two of them, and I needed to provide fringe benefits as well, so there¡¯s actually a lot on my te. Considering that, my share wouldn¡¯t seem that unreasonable at all. The Mercenary Guild was the one that set the standard sry, so I don¡¯t think they¡¯d shortchange any party.

    If the ship was jointly owned, the percentage of the shares would be quite different. How much one contributed to the purchase of the main ship seems to be a major deciding factor in the calction of the reward distribution.

    ¡°We¡¯re finally going to receive the mothership!¡±

    Mimi squealed in excitement while we were on the way to the private dock where the brand new mothership was moored.

    ¡°Yeah. It sure felt like forever. By the way, have you decided on a name for the new ship, Hiro?¡±

    ¡°A name huh¡­¡­ Right, we should have decided on a name. I kinda forgot.¡±

    What would be good, I wonder. I wasn¡¯t really particr with ship names back when I was ying the game and usually used the default ones.

    ¡°Is Skizbrazunil no good?¡±

    ¡°Not really. But, y¡¯know¡­¡­ I want one with more character.¡±

    Character huh. But Skizbrazunil did sound a bit too in. Ande to think of it, Skizbrazunil was a name derived from Norse mythology while Krishna was the name of a hero in Indian myth. I believe he was one of Vishnu¡¯s incarnations. It¡¯s difficult to think up of a name that will harmonize the two. They¡¯re frompletely different mythologies after all. And I only managed to learn about Krishna¡¯s origin when I searched the inte on a whim back when I first got the ship. If I didn¡¯t do so, I wouldn¡¯t have any idea about it at all.

    Hmm. Let me try cooking something up using the inte trivia I barely remember. Oh, I think I got one.

    ¡°How about Garuda?¡±

    ¡°Garuda?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the name of a sacred bird that served as a divine steed. Krishna is named after an incarnation of a god in the first ce, and Vishnu, his persona as a god, rode the Garuda; a divine bird that shone as bright as brilliant mes.¡±

    I actually don¡¯t know for sure if Vishnu really rode on Garuda in the first ce since I didn¡¯t manage to search it up back then, but who cares anyway.

    ¡°A bird huh¡­¡­ Um, but the ship really doesn¡¯t look much like a bird though.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Hm, you¡¯re right.¡±

    The Skizbrazunil was quite a beefy-looking ship and sported an appearance that was far removed from the grace and elegance associated with birds. It certainly didn¡¯t fit huh.

    ¡°Hm. How about Lotus then?¡±

    ¡°Lotus? That¡¯s the name of a nt, right? Or was it a flower?¡±

    ¡°Yep. It¡¯s both the name of the nt and the flower it produces. In my hometown, gods were often depicted sitting on top of lotus flowers.¡±

    I¡¯m talking about the so-called lotus position. Gods and Buddha were often depicted sitting or standing on them in Buddhist murals and sculptures. Since it was a seat used by gods, wouldn¡¯t it fit nicely? There¡¯s a close rtionship between Hinduism and Buddhism anyway.

    ¡°But lotus flowers range from white to pale pink, right? Our mothership is predominantly ck, so it still doesn¡¯t fit.¡±

    ¡°So we¡¯ll just call it ck Lotus. It¡¯s a pretty grand-sounding name. Expensive too.¡±

    ¡°Grand and¡­ expensive¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Nevermind that.¡±

    Mimi tilted her head in bewilderment after hearing my remarks. It¡¯s a name that raises the charm of anything by at least three points. That¡¯s especially true for car nuts.

    ¡°Well, at least ck Lotus sounds more appropriate than Garuda.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. Naming it after a flower is kinda cute as well.¡±

    ¡°Okay then. Are you fine with the name too, May?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    May, who was following after us, nodded quietly. May¡¯s hair and eyes are ck. Her maid uniform was also a mix of white and ck. Her piloting a ship called ck Lotus was surprisingly on point.

    ¡°We¡¯ve been waiting for you all.¡±

    When we arrived at the private dock, we found Sara waiting for us there. There were others with her, but I only recognized Sara. Well, the male dwarf standing near Sara was kinda familiar, I guess. He may be one of thepany bosses who paid us a visit along with her a couple of days back. Honestly speaking, male dwarves all sported dense beards, so it was kinda hard to differentiate them.

    ¡°Hey. It¡¯s finally time huh.¡±

    After greeting them, I looked up at the newly minted mothership; the Skizbrazunil - ck Lotus. It was several timesrger than Krishna. Krishna was already pretty big despite being ssified as a small ship, but even two of it wouldn¡¯tpare to the size of the ship before me.

    The overall form was streamlined despite its bulk. Actually, it had a lot of curves, and almost no part of the hull waspletely t. Was this intentional? Did it have to do with structural stability or something?

    From the side, its silhouette kinda resembled that of aser rifle. The bow, which protruded imposingly, was shaped like a rectangr pir with rounded corners. The various gun emcements were concealed beneath the movable armor sections, which would slide out once the weapon systems were deployed.

    Therge-caliber EML was mounted on the upper part of the fusge, and it was also cleverly concealed with arge patch of moveable armor. When deployed, the armor will slide to the sides and reveal its form just like the other concealed turrets.

    ¡°Mm. Great. It looks really cool.¡±

    Man, a new ship sure makes my male heart dance with glee. The ck Lotus, which was armed to the teeth at May¡¯s behest, was technically superior to Krishna in terms of overall firepower.

    The EML was difficult to wield, but it rivaled the main guns of military battleships in pure destructive power. Even Krishna wouldn¡¯t fare well if it takes a direct hit from something like that. As for pirate ships, they¡¯d definitely be turned into space debris in an instant.

    In terms of specs, it rivals the cruiser ss of imperial warships. However, one ship still wouldn¡¯t be able to take on an entire imperial fleet, no matter its specs. The imperial military has thousands of ships that areparable or better than ck Lotus, so we¡¯d definitely lose if we picked a fight with that kind of force.

    Krishna only managed to deal with the Vereverem Federation fleet back on the Termaine system due to employing some rare tricks. If we took on that fleet head-on, we would have been obliterated.

    So how would enemies take down the ck Lotus? It looks like the lower hull was a blind spot, so if they focused their attacks there, it would be possible to sink it. It would be dangerous to use it in a direct exchange after all.

    ¡°Hiro-sama¡¯s eyes have a certain twinkle to them.¡±

    ¡°Men generally act like little kids in front of new ships, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Master is so cute.¡±

    I was surprised by May¡¯s words and turned my gaze toward her. Mimi and Elma¡¯s eyes also widened in surprise and followed suit.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°N-No, it¡¯s nothing.¡±

    I was just surprised by her unexpected words. To think she¡¯d describe me as cute. Now I¡¯m getting kinda embarrassed here.

    ¡°I¡¯m d you all seem to like it.¡±

    Sara also had a gentle smile on her lips as she observed me gushing over the new mothership. Ugh. What a blunder.

    ¡°Alright then. How about a tour inside?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, okay.¡±

    We climbed the ramp that was brought down by Sara and boarded the ship. Part of the interior was renovated to a living space on par with Krishna¡¯s, but the corridors we were currently walking on looked pretty standard. Even so, they disyed their expertise as ship makers by making sure the passages were reasonably wide and had no unnecessary protrusions that may cause idents if one weren¡¯t careful. It all felt quite refined, and it looks like you won¡¯t get hurt that much even if you identally collide with the walls.

    ¡°It looks like the ship¡¯s inner walls are covered with shock-absorbing material.¡±

    Elma pointed out in amazement as she touched the white walls. I also tried touching it as well. It was a fascinating material. Itcked luster and felt like stic. But if you put some pressure onto it, the material sinks. How should I describe it? Uh, fluid stic? I wasn¡¯t familiar with this type of material at all. Perhaps it¡¯s a high-tech material only avable in this dimension.

    ¡°Yes. This will make it less likely to get injured when one gets mmed onto the walls due to outside impact or sudden maneuvers. It also offers high thermal instion which improves the ship¡¯s overall energy efficiency.¡±

    ¡°I see. It would lessen the energy needed to run the air conditioning systems huh.¡±

    ¡°Precisely.¡±

    After inspecting the mysterious texture of the walls, we proceeded to the hangar, which also doubled as a cargo hold.

    ¡°Oh, you finally came boss.¡±

    ¡°Good day, everyone.¡±

    Tina and Whisker, who were both in work overalls, were already waiting within. Apparently, they were busy checking the equipment and supplies for maintenance and repairs.

    ¡°We will be in your care starting today. Please go easy on us, boss.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re looking forward to working with you all.¡±

    Tina raised one hand in greeting and Whisker made a slight bow.

    ¡°Yeah. Likewise. Well,pared to staying on Krishna, staying on this ship will-¡±

    I¡¯m nning to use this as pirate bait, so it¡¯s rtively risky to stay here. It had tough shields and thick armor, so I think it¡¯ll be alright. It won¡¯t go down that easily.

    ¡°-probably be safe. But memorize the evacuation routes and escape pod cements just in case.¡±

    ¡°You just made a strange pause boss!? You sure it¡¯ll be okay?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Absolutely no problem!¡±

    I can¡¯t really tell them I¡¯m nning to use the ship as pirate bait huh. Meh. I¡¯ll just tell themter on. Hahaha.

    I ignored Tina, who disyed a doubtful expression and checked out the hangar and cargo hold. It was very big and spacious. The Krishna¡¯s cargo hold can¡¯t even begin topare. We¡¯ll finally be able to take on some transport requests with this baby. We¡¯ll be able to engage in trade as well. With this, our moneymaking options just multiplied severalfold.

    ¡°Let¡¯s head to the cockpit next, everyone. But before that, let¡¯s stop by the break hall and the dining hall along the way.¡±

    ¡°Okay. We¡¯ll see youter guys.¡±

    ¡°Okey dokey boss.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    We left the sisters to their work and started following after Sara once more. Man, this ship really is big. As expected of a mothership.

 Chapter 133 â€“ Living Area

    <h4>Chapter 133 - Living Area</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    We continued strolling around the new mothership.

    By the way, the Skizbrazunil-ss mothership ck Lotus was a fairlyrge ship, but the number of crew required for its operation wasn¡¯trge at all. Rather, if one so wishes, they could even operate a ship of its ss solo. This is of course the result of really heavy degrees of automation, but I have no idea how or why this extreme concept of reducing humanbor was born in this dimension.

    SOL was a game in which yers could control and y with various ships regardless of their size and ss on their own, so it made some form of sense there.

    However, it felt a little strange now that I found myself transported to a seemingly real world that¡¯s uncannily simr to that game. No matter how developed the concept of automation was in this dimension, it would still be more costly to operate a ship of this size with that alone instead of hiring more crew. It seems Tina and Whisker were familiar with the reason for this though, so I¡¯ll try asking themter.

    ¡°This is the break room.¡±

    Sara turned toward us with a confident smile on her lips.

    The break room was prettyrge. It should beparable in size to a traditional Japanese inn¡¯s banquet hall. Kids can run around without any problems within it.

    ¡°Uwaah, it¡¯s so big!¡±

    ¡°Certainly. I find Krishna¡¯s dining roomfy enough, but this ship¡¯s break room really has that rxing vibe going for it huh. Ara, I see there¡¯s a terrarium over there.¡±

    After saying so, Elma walked toward the botanical terrarium in a corner of the break room. Apparently, a part of the wall surface was made with arge ss pane, and a section which recreated a small scale natural environment was ced behind it. Oh, this is one of those huh. Zoos had animals like iguanas and such living in such enclosures as well.

    But now that I got a good look at it, it seems there¡¯s nothing inside apart from nts. It seems it¡¯s meant purely for enjoying nt life. I personally think it would have been more interesting if it had animals in it. I soon lost interest, but Mimi and Elma were fairly engrossed in the terrarium.

    Mimi was a former colony resident, so she probably hasn¡¯t had many opportunities to see any natural nts. As for Elma, she may be feeling an affinity for them due to her sensibilities as a nature-loving elf. I¡¯m not too sure about that though.

    There were several sets of tables and sofas littered around the break room that looked prettyfy, as well as drink servers and massage chairs. It certainly lives up to its purpose as a break room.

    ¡°The dining room, training room, and shower rooms are all located on this block as well. There¡¯s also some unused crew rooms, guest rooms, and a fully stocked medical bay. This is basically the living area of the ck Lotus.¡±

    Sara continued guiding us around the facilities located in the living area. The dining room was wayrger than Krishna¡¯s, and the auto-cooker installed seemed to be a Tetsujin V as well. There¡¯s plenty of room for three people in Krishna¡¯s dining room, but this one may be morefortable if we dine with five people since Tina and Whisker will be joining us as well.

    Also, this ship¡¯s training room was a lotrger than Krishna¡¯s, so you won¡¯t feel constrained at all. It also had training equipment that¡¯s not avable on Krishna, and because it¡¯s wide, three people can easily train inside together. Krishna¡¯s training room was on the narrow side, so it felt a bit cramped when the three of us trained there simultaneously.

    It may be better to use this training room, bathe in the shower room, and have meals in this ship¡¯s dining room every morning from now on. The break room was also quiterge and looked very rxing. And also, Mimi and Elma seem to like that terrarium a lot. Was it automatically maintained just like what we saw on the food production factory tour? I wonder if it is. If not, those nts will eventually wilt and dry up.

    ¡°Let¡¯s proceed to the cockpit then, everyone.¡±

    After having our fill looking around the living area, we finally headed for the cockpit.

    ¡°Hmm, a ship¡¯s cockpit really is quiterge as well huh.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t as much as the break room, but it was still fairly wide. This ce could easily house ten people with some room to spare. Unlike Krishna, ck Lotus¡¯ cockpit was not ced near the front end of the ship, but near the center instead. So it might be more appropriate to call it a bridge rather than a cockpit.

    ¡°I will basically sit in this seat and take full control of the ship during operations.¡±

    May pointed toward a seat that had various option parts attached. There were a lot of terminals I didn¡¯t know the use of surrounding it. It didn¡¯t look like a regr pilot seat at all.

    ¡°That¡¯s a very bulky-looking seat.¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s a custom pilot seat that takes full advantage of the processing power of the positron brain installed inside me. I can control the ship¡¯s propulsion systems, weaponry, power flow, and life support entirely from this seat.¡±

    ¡°I see. You won¡¯t have any problems grasping the system?¡±

    ¡°No, it would be no problem at all, Master. I can gainplete mastery of the system in five minutes.¡±

    ¡°I see, I¡¯ll leave this ship to you then, May.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please rest assured, Master.¡±

    May gave me a crisp nod. I probably don¡¯t have to worry about anything now that May¡¯s in charge of this ship.

    ¡°With this, the guided tour is finished. Is there anything you wish to point out before weplete the handover?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m good. How about you guys?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine with it as well.¡±

    ¡°Me too.¡±

    ¡°There are no problems.¡±

    It looks like we¡¯re all in agreement.

    ¡°Well then, if you would please sign here. There we go.¡±

    I took the tablet terminal handed by Sara and authenticated the electronic receipt. With this, the ck Lotus was officially ours. After this, the rest of the payment will be transferred to Space Dwerg¡¯s ount as well. Businessplete. After confirming the payment, Sara heaved a sigh of relief. This deal seemed to have caused her a great amount of trouble after all. The main cause was those two sisters back at the hangar.

    Me? I didn¡¯t really want to cause trouble myself. Sara did get wrapped up in a mess after she got involved with me, but it¡¯s not like I knew it would turn out like that y¡¯know. It can¡¯t be helped. I¡¯m not at fault here.

    ¡°You¡¯ve really taken good care of us, Sara. Thanks.¡±

    ¡°No, it was no trouble¡­¡­ Well, maybe I did need to put on some extra effort.¡±

    Sara probably meant to say that it was no trouble at all on reflex, but after remembering what she went through, she held back her words. Man, it looks like we really stressed her out. You¡¯ve got it hard, Sara-san.

    ¡°This has been an eye-opening experience for me as well. Let me thank you once again, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Likewise. I do share part of the me for your troubles so, um, sorry about that.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not your fault at all, Hiro-sama¡­¡­ Ufufufu.¡±

    Maybe she remembered the sisters. Sara¡¯s smile turned dark. The sisters were now like quasi-crew members of our ship, so can you please withdraw that ck aura, Sara-san? Calm down. Calm down, gooddy. Why are you filled with so much malice? Uh, I guess it¡¯s no surprise though.

    ¡°Hahaha¡­¡­ Well, those two suffered from their punishment already, and they would be engaging in dangerous mercenary work from now on.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, isn¡¯t it? Well, I guess it¡¯s no good to dwell on the past further.¡±

    I don¡¯t know if my words had any effect, but for the time being, the ck aura surrounding Sara subsided. That¡¯s for the best.

    ¡°Anyway, I n on sticking around in this colony for the time being in order to take ck Lotus for some trial runs. Maybe we¡¯ll end up discovering some concerns after the trials. I¡¯ll contact you again if it turns out that way.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please do contact us right away if that happens. We at Space Dwerg are looking forward to a great working rtionship with you.¡±

    Sara then disyed a sunny smile on her child-like face.

    ¡°And so, we¡¯re going for a test run guys.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye sir!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, alright. Are your preparations done over there, May?¡±

    ¡ºYes, Elma-sama. We can depart anytime.¡»

    It¡¯s been thirty minutes since Sara left. I, Mimi, and Elma were preparing to leave port in Krishna¡¯s cockpit. We are going to dock inside ck Lotus immediately, and train theunch procedures when sortieing from ck Lotuster on. We¡¯ll have to perform some joint training exercises as well. I want to get used to cooperating with May and the ck Lotus as soon as possible. She should be fully capable of making things work out by matching my timing herself, but that is that and this is this.

    It was decided that Tina and Whisker won¡¯t participate actively during operations unless circumstances required them to. For example, if something happened to ck Lotus which May can¡¯t handle alone. They were instructed not to intervene inmunications during battle unless an emergency or something unusual happens, such as engine failure, or someone secretly infiltrating the ship.

    However, their assistance would be valuable during docking andunching from the ck Lotus, so they can open am line in those instances as well. Well, I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll encounter any situation that would require us to dock inside the ship in the middle of battle anyway.

    ¡°Okay then, we¡¯ll meet up at an area a few clicks away from the colony and perform training exercises. Please mark the coordinates.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve marked the coordinates on the nav.¡±

    ¡ºI¡¯ve marked the coordinates as well. I will now apply for departure clearance.¡»

    ¡°I will apply for clearance as well.¡±

    Mimi quickly applied for departure clearance from Brad Prime¡¯s port admin bureau, and the application was promptly approved. Brad Prime colony is teeming with activity today as well. I advanced the ship while being careful not to identally crash with others along the way. ck Lotus lined up beside us before long.

    ¡°Un, it feels great. I¡¯m getting really excited.¡±

    ¡°Looking at it like this¡­¡­ It feels bigger than the medium-sized pirate ship we faced a few days ago.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s skimming the line between medium andrge-sized ships.¡±

    The majestic bulk of the ck Lotus was the exact opposite of its graceful-sounding name. Even though it had some nice curves, its appearance can still only be described as rugged. The protruding armor sections concealing the cannon turrets and missile pods contributed to that impression as well. If I were to describe it, it¡¯s like a firmly sheathed sword that was concealing its razor-sharp de.

    ¡­Uh, no, sorry. I was trying to act cool just now. My true impression is that it¡¯s like a rugged-looking ck-suited guy with epic biceps and pecs. The one who works for dangerous and shady people and would immediately reach out for ¡®insurance¡¯ underneath his suit at the slightest sign of trouble. The description was quite apt since those concealed weapon systems afforded it with firepower rivaling a military cruiser.

    ¡°¡­¡­It sure is bulky. It¡¯s employing concealed weaponry, but will we really be able to fool anyone with this?¡±

    ¡°I guess it won¡¯t look suspicious from a distance. It would probably work out just fine.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    Well, most pirates were stupid anyway, so I guess it¡¯s fine. If they bite the bait and swarm the Lotus only for Krishna to jump out of it, I¡¯m sure they¡¯d be shocked out of their wits. And once the Lotus reveals all its firepower, they¡¯d surely lose it in despair.

    ¡°It looks like ck Lotus is ready for departure.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha. Let¡¯s head for the designated coordinates then.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Initiating synchronization with ck Lotus.¡±

    Mimi started synching Krishna and ck Lotus¡¯ FTL Drives. Since ck Lotus was far heavier of a ship, Krishna will end up piggybacking on it.

    ¡ºWe will now head to the specified coordinates via FTL Drive. FTL Drive, charging start. Countdown.¡»

    We heard May perform a countdown from thems.

    ¡º5, 4, 3, 2, 1¡­¡­ FTL Drive, activate.¡»

    With a loud boom, Krishna and ck Lotus elerated at the speed of light.

 Chapter 134 â€“ Training Exercises

    <h4>Chapter 134 - Training Exercises</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡ºWe¡¯ve arrived at the target coordinates. Deactivating FTL Drive.¡»

    May¡¯s voice resounded through thems, and the next moment, Krishna and ck Lotus returned to normal space. It was just a short jump via the FTL Drive, but we couldn¡¯t see even a shadow of Brad Prime in the distance anymore.

    ¡°There seem to be no problems so far.¡±

    ¡ºYes, it seems so. Well then, I shall open the hangar hatch.¡»

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    May¡¯s operations were smooth and efficient, without any waste. After the FTL Drive test, it looks like we¡¯re immediately performing the docking test.

    When I moved Krishna in front of the hangar that was located on the lower rear of the ck Lotus, a guide beam was immediately emitted from the hatch. The guide beams employed by motherships are a kind of tractor beam that automatically pulls the target ship inside the hangar. In other words, once the guide beam hits us, the whole process will be entirely automated.

    Of course, you can also opt to do it manually, but if you mistake the speed and timing, you may end up crashing, and that would cause great damage to the mothership as well, so I wasn¡¯t nning to attempt it at all.

    As I was thinking about such things, the guide beam from ck Lotus sessfully captured Krishna and pulled it inside the hangar. We docked without any problems and the hatch promptly closed up.

    ¡°No problems with this either.¡±

    ¡ºYes. I will have the sisters check the state of the hangar and equipment, so please stand by for a little while.¡»

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    Thending pad Krishnanded on did a full 180-degree turn. In other words, Krishna¡¯s bow was now pointed toward the hangar¡¯s exit hatch. When we perform aunch, thisnding pad will double as a catapult and will propel us outside of the ship.

    From now on, this hangar will be Krishna¡¯s new home. Basically, Krishna will stay on standby inside this hangar and will jump out in case of emergencies or battle.

    I observed the sisters who were now hard at work with the optical cameras installed outside the ship.

    ¡°They both look very focused.¡±

    ¡°Yes, they sure are. Dwarf girls are small and cute, aren¡¯t they?¡±

    Mimi¡¯s expression as she looked at the sisters seemed like a real big sister watching her little sisters do their best. Uh, but both of them were older than Mimi, right? Well, it was kind of amusing to see dwarf sisters who looked like little girls running around busily inside the hangar.

    By the way, Elma was looking at Mimi while making the sameplicated expression as me.

    ¡°Oh? So there were maintenance bots too.¡±

    ¡°Looks like it. It¡¯s different for Krishna, which is a small ship, but maintaining ck Lotus would be difficult without using them because of its size.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡±

    Despite its designation as a small ship, Krishna had enough living space for five people to stay inside with some room to spare. Including the cargo space, the engine, and various other facilities, it should beparable in size to Earth¡¯srge aircraft. It might even be slightly bigger.

    And the ck Lotus has a hangarrge enough to store two Krishnas, an equallyrge cargo space, and a living area where up to thirty people can stay. Its total length should be over 300 meters. It seemed like an absolute giant in my eyes.

    It would certainly be impossible for just two people to maintain such a gigantic ship. Thus, it¡¯s only natural to employ maintenance robots.

    And after finishing the equipment checks, Tina and Whisker moved away from Krishna.

    ¡ºThe equipment check is finished, Master. We will now perform theunch test.¡»

    ¡°Roger. We can go anytime.¡±

    ¡ºYes. Opening hatch. Beginning catapultunch procedures. 3,2,1,unch.¡»

    Krishna abruptly elerated, and I felt my body get pressed toward the pilot seat. We then got sessfully ejected to outer space. So this is how it felt to getunched by a ship catapult. It¡¯s like those thrill rides in theme parks.

    ¡°That was pretty intense even with the use of inertial control huh.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I was really surprised.¡±

    Well, it¡¯s not like the Gs were enough to make you faint. So it wasn¡¯t really a problem, I guess. I was a bit curious about why my body¡¯s reaction to the force was dyed though. Maybe that¡¯s just normal when you get elerated by an external force.

    ¡ºI will open the hatch once more. The next test would be auto-docking. And next will be manual docking.¡»

    ¡°Manual too¡­¡­? Roger that.¡±

    And I was going on about not attempting manual docking earlier too. Oh well. I guess I can¡¯t say there¡¯s absolutely no need for it so it doesn¡¯t hurt to get some practice in either. I¡¯m sure the only times we¡¯re gonna attempt manual docking were in emergency situations, so practicing now would prevent us from messing up when it counts.

    After doing repeated practice drills forunching and docking, next on the agenda was checking out the weapon systems. At May¡¯s prompt, the moveable armor sections that concealed the weapon turrets and pods opened up and revealed the ck Lotus¡¯s fully armed state.

    ¡°Man, that sure looks shy.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s amazing. Seeing all thoseser cannons firing is a bit scary, but it¡¯s also kinda pretty.¡±

    ¡®Well, the sight is quite beautiful, sure. But I wouldn¡¯t want to plunge in the middle of that bombardment at all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true too.¡±

    The sight of twelveser cannons firing in a barrage sure was something.

    The ck Lotus was equipped with eight ss 2 and four ss 3ser cannons, for a total of twelve. There¡¯s also the ten seeker missile pods that were not being fired right now. And we can¡¯t forget the main centerpiece - therge-caliber EML. In terms of overall firepower, the Lotus definitely trumps Krishna.

    ¡ºThe weapons check isplete. I will now proceed with the maneuverability test.¡»

    ¡°Yeah, go ahead.¡±

    ck Lotus fired up its afterburners and started elerating. Because of its size, it was fairly slow out the gate. But due to the high output of its thrusters, its top speed was nothing to scoff at. This speed was more than sufficient for shaking off chasing pirates during an escape.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­ It¡¯s actually faster than I expected.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s huge but it sure can move huh.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    I and Elma were surprised by the unexpected mobility of ck Lotus, but Mimi didn¡¯t seem to get it and tilted her head. No, it really is more mobile than I expected. In other words, its turning speed was rtively high. Usually,rge ships like it had good straight eleration but somewhat suck at turning. That¡¯s why they were very susceptible to small ships sticking close. Once the small ships manage to get behind therge ship¡¯s blind spot, they would get peppered with attacks after all.

    But the turning speed of ck Lotus was unexpectedly good. Rather, it looks like it¡¯s not only using the side thrusters but also the attitude control thrusters to forcefully achieve such a feat. Maybe those maneuvers are based on my own.

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s faster than expected, but that¡¯s about it. But it could best pirates with crappy ships and equally crappy piloting I guess.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I thought so.¡±

    It¡¯s indeed faster than expected, but Elma and I didn¡¯t think much of it regardless. Just like Elma said, it could surprise unprepared and sucky pirates. But it¡¯s just to that level. As expected, we can¡¯t count on ck Lotus too much in high-speed battles. Well, it¡¯s a heavy andrge ship after all, so I guess that¡¯s to be expected.

    While ck Lotus continued its maneuvers in open space, multiple ships suddenly warped out nearby apanied by booming sounds. From the looks of them, they were probably part of the imperial navy. I wonder what¡¯s up?

    ¡ºThis is the Brad System Defense Forces Third Fleet. Please respond.¡»

    They immediately openedmunications. Did they mistake the situation for an active battle or something?

    ¡°This is the mercenary ship Krishna¡¯s Captain Hiro speaking. Thatrge one over there is our mothership, the ck Lotus. We just got it today, so we were performing some tests. Go ahead.¡±

    ¡ºI see. Please wait for a bit.¡»

    ¡°Aye, aye sir.¡±

    An alert signifying the imperial ships scanning us rang out. We didn¡¯t really carry anything illegal so we just allowed them to scan us obediently. The ck Lotus should be getting scanned as well.

    ¡ºMaster. The imperial navy is asking that weply with an inspection.¡»

    ¡°We¡¯re not carrying anything illegal anyway, so just let them go ahead. It¡¯s not all that pleasant, but it can¡¯t be helped.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood.¡»

    ¡°Also, the Krishna will dock in order toply with the inspection as well. Please make preparations.¡±

    ¡ºYes.¡»

    I cut the call with May and had Mimi connect with the imperial fleet next.

    ¡°This is Captain Hiro. We will now dock inside the ck Lotus to participate in the inspection. The Lotus has two functioning hangars. Please go ahead and send a small ship to the second hangar for performing the inspection.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood. Thank you for your cooperation.¡»

    After confirming their response, we proceeded with docking inside ck Lotus.

    I was thinking of going to the asteroid belt after training and doing a bit of hunting, but it looks like that won¡¯t be happening this time. We¡¯ll probably undergo a full inspection this time, and that means they¡¯ll be scrutinizing our entire cargo. It¡¯s better to just honestly cooperate at times like this.

 Chapter 135 â€“ Military Inspection

    <h4>Chapter 135 - Military Inspection</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    A few minutes after we docked the Krishna back inside ck Lotus, the drop ship from the Brad System Defense Forces Third Fleet finally arrived.

    A dropship was a small craft that allowednding on a, colony, or other space vessels afterunching out from a mothership. The one that arrived was your standard military model. For ships out in space with a hangar bay like ours, they can normally dock this way, but if the situation requires it, they may use the dropship to forcibly tear open the hull and rush in. In short, this tiny ship is unexpectedly good at close range engagements.

    It¡¯s like the high-tech sci-fi version of militarynding crafts. In addition to being able to carry small vehicles and a good number of soldiers, it also has anti-personnelser weapons, so when they use it to charge inside enemy ships, it doubles as a front line base.

    As I reminisced about the missions I participated in back in SOL involving storming enemy ships alongside allied soldiers, the imperial soldiers sportingser rifles and power armor finally got down from the dropship. There were about thirty of them. The number of soldiers wearing power armor was countable with my fingers, but it would still be reckless to try taking them all on with just me, May, and Elma.

    ¡°Wee. I¡¯m Captain Hiro, the captain of these ships.¡±

    I waved to the soldiers in greeting, and one of the soldiers stepped out front.

    ¡°I¡¯m Ensign Paul Dry, themander of the 6th toon of the Brad System Defense Forces Third Fleet. We will now conduct a spot inspection of your ships in ordance with Article 3 Paragraph 7 of the Imperial Space Navigation Charter.¡±

    Ensign Paul was a youthful-looking soldier who very much seemed to be a freshly promoted young officer. He was your typical handsome, blue-eyed, blonde ikemen with a moderately well-built frame.

    ¡°Yes, wee. We just got this today, so forgive the cargo hold for being a mess.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­It does seem that way.¡±

    Ensign Paul looked at the ce I pointed to and made a wry grin. The cargo hold was visible from the hangar after all.

    The stuff inside the cargo hold were the groceries and daily necessities that were originally loaded inside Krishna. I left only a minimum amount of supplies inside Krishna and moved the rest of the stuff here. We still didn¡¯t have a lot of supplies stocked up because we weren¡¯t really nning on departing from this system just yet, and we didn¡¯t stock up on trade goods to peddle on other systems yet as well, so the cargo hold felt a little empty.

    ¡°Um, well then, we will check the cargo and inspect the rest of the ship.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead. Would you like me to apany you all?¡±

    ¡°We will be d to have your assistance. We will ask you about the cargo as we go along as well. And we will need to inspect thatbat ship as well.¡±

    ¡°Sure. Can I ask you guys to go with them, Mimi, Elma?¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    The imperial military had a reputation for being strict and thorough as well as being sticklers for regtions, so I¡¯m sure they won¡¯t be harassed or anything of the sort.

    ¡°Sergeant Betty, inspect thatbat ship with your squad.¡±

    ¡°Aye aye, sir!¡±

    The female NCO led her squad members toward Krishna with Elma and Mimi following along. The officer being a female one might be some form of consideration on Ensign Paul¡¯s part.

    Ensign Paul asked me several questions as his men busily inspected the stuff inside the cargo hold. The questions were the usual ones like our reason for leaving port, the reason for us being in this particr sector of space, and the source of the cargo we were carrying.

    ¡°Anyway, this truly is a newly minted ship huh¡­¡­ It looks great. Everything looks brand new. I can¡¯t believe you were able to personally purchase such a grand-looking ship.¡±

    ¡°We did get the price cut down by a lot, but even so, this girl still cost us 20,000,000 Enels.¡±

    ¡°Twenty million¡­¡±

    Ensign Paul¡¯s eyes widened.

    ¡°Um, if I remember correctly, a first-ss warrant officer¡¯s sry is 4000 Enels a month, right? With that monthly sry, you¡¯d only be able to afford one yourself in about 416 or 417 years. Based on that, I get why you¡¯re so shaken.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­ Wait, why do you know the monthly sry of a first-ss warrant officer anyway?¡±

    ¡°I was offered a position as a first-ss warrant officer a while back. I refused because the sry seemed too low.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yeah, I bet you would.¡±

    Ensign Paul¡¯s gaze turned distant. I¡¯m sure an Ensign¡¯s sry was higher than a first-ss warrant officer, but even that Major Serena was surprised after hearing our regr ie as mercenaries¡­ Okay, let¡¯s not dwell on the sry of military officers too much. I might have hit a nerve there.

    ¡°It looks like they¡¯ve finished checking the cargo. Let¡¯s continue with inspecting the rest of the ship.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll apany you. Well, this ship just got handed over to us today, so forgive me if I don¡¯t serve as a satisfactory guide.¡±

    I joined with Ensign Paul and his men as they inspected the rest of the ship. First, we exited the cargo hold and the hangar and went toward the central section of the ship.

    ¡°You¡¯re telling me this is a mercenary ship¡­?¡±

    ¡°What the heck is with this overwhelming sense of luxury?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s way too big¡­¡­ And the interior design makes full use of all avable space.¡±

    ¡°I want to live here dammit!¡±

    Ensign Paul and his subordinates were mentally dying after getting a load of the luxurious andrge break room, dining room, and training room.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­ Gaaaaah¡­¡­!¡±

    A soldier wearing power armor nced at the dining area and froze up. And he then promptly fell on all fours after letting go of hisser rifle.

    ¡°What!? What¡¯s wrong!?¡±

    The other soldier wearing power armor beside him got surprised and rushed over. No, really, what¡¯s up man? Did you really see something so shocking?

    ¡°¡­¡­Take a look at the auto-cooker over there guys.¡±

    ¡°What are you¡­?¡±

    ¡°T-That¡¯s¡­ Tetsujin V¡­!¡±

    ¡°What¡­¡­ did you¡­ just say!?¡±

    The gazes of Ensign Paul and his men simultaneously focused inside the dining room. Well, yeah, that¡¯s a Tetsujin V, alright.

    ¡°Tetsujin¡­? And what¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Unlike our damned Chef back at the ship that only ever whips up stuff that tastes like unprocessed food cartridge paste even though it¡¯s already supposed to have processed them, that is an ultra-luxury auto-cooker that processes all sorts of high-ss and absurdly tasty food¡­¡­¡±

    The soldier who was on his knees answered Ensign Paul¡¯s question in a gloomy tone. Ah, it seems the performance of the auto-cooker back in their ship was quite terrible¡­ It would certainly make morale drop if they only ever had nd-tasting food usually.

    ¡°¡­¡­But the tea it makes is tasty, right?¡±

    ¡°That and tea snacks are the only things it can make decently though¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the captain¡¯s decision¡­¡­ Just give up, soldier.¡±

    After hearing his subordinate¡¯s words, Ensign Paul¡¯s gaze became distant once more. I see. So I guess the auto-cooker on their ship was extremely inclined towards tea and tea-rted items. So, was it, like, a British-inspired auto-cooker or something?

    ¡°Hey there, soldier guys. You sure are working hard.¡±

    ¡°Good day, everyone.¡±

    Tina and Whisker passed by Ensign Paul and his men, whose tensions fell to critical levels.

    ¡°¡­¡­Um, those were-?¡±

    ¡°They were engineers who were sent to us from Space Dwerg. As you saw, they¡¯re twin dwarf sisters. They are both already maturedies, so you guys better not treat them as children.¡±

    ¡°Engineers¡­¡­ Then who¡¯s the one piloting this ship?¡±

    ¡°I left pilot duty to my high-performance android.¡±

    I didn¡¯t specifically need to tell them she was a maidroid though. But one of the soldiers still ended up noticing a kinda awkward thing.

    ¡°¡­¡­So let me get this straight. You¡¯re the only guy here and the rest are females?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Uh, well, yeah. Haha.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±

    Hey, stop that. Don¡¯t start priming yourser rifle, you! And you! Stop gnashing your teeth and shaking your first, man. If you hit me with it while wearing power armor, I¡¯ll seriously die y¡¯know.

    By the way, all the soldiers with me were probably men. I¡¯m not too sure about the three who were wearing power armor, but judging from their gestures and voices, they were probably men too.

    ¡°Damn¡­ Damn, damn, dammit all¡­¡­! Even I could get a great girl if given the chance¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°Even if you did, it¡¯d be meaningless y¡¯know. Once we get on the ship for duty, we won¡¯t be able to see them for months, or even a year or two.¡±

    ¡°Wahaha! I bet she¡¯ll be all over another guy once youe home¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop it. Don¡¯t give me that, guys¡­ If I were at least stationed in the colony, it would probably work out. Damn.¡±

    I continued guiding the soldiers, whose morale dropped to an all-time low, around the rest of the ship. We also checked out the cockpit along the way.

    ¡°Thank you for your hard work, everyone.¡±

    ¡°This girl is the android pilot¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­But ain¡¯t she a maidroid?¡±

    ¡°Indeed I am. Is there something wrong?¡±

    May tilted her head after hearing the soldier¡¯s words.

    ¡°No, she¡¯s certainly a maidroid¡­ but her specs seem quite crazy.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that is correct. I can even serve as Master¡¯s bodyguard if need be.¡±

    After the power armor-equipped soldier¡¯s remarks, May nodded briskly in agreement. There were three soldiers equipped with power armor here, but May should be able to win against them within this confined space. May¡¯s closebat specs are extraordinary after all.

    ¡°With this, we¡¯ve gone around the entire ship. Do you still want to continue looking around though?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We still need to check out the engine room and such. Those sections are often used to hide illegal contraband after all.¡±

    ¡°Illegal contraband huh¡­¡­ Are they really thatmon over here?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Some viins who have colluded with pirates secretly exchange stolen and illegal goods in inconspicuous sectors of space and smuggle them inside the Brad Prime colony, or do the opposite and smuggle goods out from here to other systems. They¡¯ve also partnered with the Abandoned ouws staying inside the Brad Prime colony as well¡­¡­¡±

    Ensign Paul let out a sigh. So there are pirates and there¡¯s Abandoned ouws huh. It looks like the public order of Brad Prime was actually in a bad spot. I¡¯m sure keeping an eye on those criminal elements takes a lot of work. The only way to curb it was to eliminate all of the Abandoned who have turned to crime, but that would be difficult as well. It also seems that therge criminal groups were preventingrge mopping-operations by upying certain areas with important infrastructure and equipment within the colony.

    It¡¯s not like they can¡¯t get rid of them, but it was difficult and tricky to do so because of the potential losses and danger to the colony as a whole. They could still attempt it if they didn¡¯t mind taking a loss in my opinion, but I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a lot of other unspoken reasons behind the current circumstances.

    We continued discussing the topic on pirates and criminal elements, and before long, the inspection finally wrapped up. Ensign Paul and his men boarded their dropship and went back to their fleet. The result of the inspection was a favorable one. Well, of course, it was.

    We¡¯ve managed to avoid undergoing inspections in the past since we were traveling around via a small ship. But from now on, we will probably undergo such a thing more often since we got ck Lotus and a lot more cargo space to store stuff. This incident was timely, in a sense. At least, we finally got some experience regarding on-the-spot inspections like this one.

    ¡°It¡¯s alreadyte, so I guess we should head back to Brad Prime now. We¡¯ll start with the full-scale operations by tomorrow.¡±

    I grabbed my portable terminal and told Mimi and the others we were going back, and I had May set a course back to Brad Prime. We¡¯ll start hunting pirates in earnest by tomorrow.

 Chapter 136 â€“ Black Lotusâ€™ Debut Battle

    <h4>Chapter 136 - ck Lotus¡¯ Debut Battle</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After the consecutive training exercises and the surprise inspection by the imperial military yesterday, we were finally going to return to our normal routine of pirate hunting today. We managed to encounter pirates right away during Krishna¡¯s test run a few days back as well, but this was the first time in a while that we¡¯ll actively engage in pirate hunting.

    The Space Dwerg mechanics Tina and Whisker didn¡¯t participate, but the rest of us had a meeting about today¡¯s pirate hunting activityst night. And so, ck Lotus with Krishna parked snugly inside one of its hangars, applied for departure from the Brad Prime colonye morning straight away.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go with the n we decided on yesterday then.¡±

    ¡ºAcknowledged.¡»

    Only I, Mimi, and Elma were inside Krishna¡¯s cockpit. May was piloting the ck Lotus while the mechanic sisters were standing by inside a room near the hangar. They were still ultimately outsiders, and it wasn¡¯t advisable topletely let our guards down against them, so it was possible to monitor the room they were staying in from Krishna to some extent.

    ¡°Tina, Whisker, I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll face any trouble today, but we¡¯re going to engage in livebat after all. Just keep your wits about, okay.¡±

    ¡ºRoger boss.¡»

    ¡ºUnderstood.¡»

    They replied with tense voices over thems.

    ¡°Be sure to wear your diapers just in case.¡±

    ¡ºAhaha. Whisker already has one on, so you don¡¯t have to worry boss.¡»

    ¡ºBig sis! Hiro-saaan!¡»

    Whisker¡¯s face turned red from my and Tina¡¯s teasing. Well, at least that got rid of some of their nervousness. Mimi gave me a slight nce for some reason.

    ¡°You¡¯ve already graduated from using one, right Mimi?¡±

    ¡°O-Of course. I¡¯m also already used to the job after all.¡±

    Mimi smiled joyfully even as her face blushed red. It looks like she¡¯s happy about my attention. I didn¡¯t really intend to ignore Mimi, but I¡¯ve been really busytely due to the purchase of the mothership, Krishna¡¯s maintenance, and the fiasco about the mechanic sisters. I¡¯ll spoil her a lot after pirate hunting today. Of course, I¡¯ll be spoiling Elma as well. Oh, and May too. I¡¯ve made May work a lot these past days, so I¡¯ll need to do my duty as her master as well.

    ¡ºWe have been given clearance. We will now depart.¡»

    ¡°Roger. Once we get out, immediately set course for the designated coordinates.¡±

    ¡ºYes, please leave it to me.¡»

    Krishna¡¯s HUD disyed the images captured by ck Lotus as well. It looks like we¡¯ve already left port and started elerating, but we, who were inside Krishna, couldn¡¯t tell that we were moving at all. I guess other than beingunched out from the catapult, the inertial control system is able to deal with this much momentum. Soon, the ck Lotus activated its FTL Drive and went superluminal. Our destination for today was a sector I heard about from the ensign we met yesterday and was said to be a hotspot for pirate activity in the Brad system. They target ships cruising via FTL Drive and stopped them in their tracks by using interdictors.

    ¡°Guess we¡¯re fishing for pirates in a sense.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s pirate fishing on a system-wide scale huh.¡±

    ¡°You always go big when you do things, don¡¯t you, Hiro-sama?¡±

    I think this was just normal for a merc though. Well, people usually don¡¯t allow themselves to get purposely get hit by interdictors, so yeah. Only mercs like us who engage in pirate fishing would be more than willing to do so.

    ¡ºMaster, there¡¯s a response on the subspace radar. There¡¯s a group of ships tracking us.¡»

    ¡°Jackpot huh. Yosh. Pretend to run away, but make sure you don¡¯t shake them off. Match your speed with a regr civilian cargo ship. Set course for the Brad Prime colony.¡±

    ¡ºAcknowledged. I will pretend to desperately try to escape the moment they hit us with an interdictor.¡»

    ¡°Please do. Yosh. Buckle up, guys. We¡¯re starting.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Roger. We¡¯re counting on you for the catapultunch timing, May.¡±

    ¡ºPlease leave it to me.¡»

    I felt the ship slightly shake as we prepared forbat. It looks like they already hit us with an interdictor.

    Soon after, we got a call from Tina.

    ¡ºB-Boss, I think we got hit with an interdictor! Are we going to be okay!?¡»

    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll be fine. Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s all ording to n. We just sessfully baited some pirate ships.¡±

    ¡ºB-Bait¡­¡­? Y-You¡¯re not telling me you were nning on making ck Lotus pirate bait from the start!?¡»

    ¡°Exactly. The shields and hull of ck Lotus are pretty tough, so you don¡¯t really need to worry guys. There will just be some shaking when taking enemy fire.¡±

    ¡ºNo! Nononononono! We¡¯re gonna get shot at!? That¡¯s absolutely bad, y¡¯know!¡»

    ¡°It¡¯s okay! Believe in the ck Lotus and Space Dwerg¡¯s capabilities!¡±

    I made an OK sign with my fingers toward Tina on the other side of the screen and cut thems. She looked like she still wanted to say something, but I don¡¯t have the time to deal with her right now. This is gonna be a regr thing from now on, so the earlier they get used to it, the better.

    ¡ºThe interdictor has taken effect and we will now be returning to normal space. I will scan the unidentified ships, and once they are determined to be pirates, I will open fire.¡»

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    After a few moments, the ship strongly shook, and we were finally thrown back out into normal space. It looks like it¡¯s starting.

    ¡ºScanplete. Unidentified ships are confirmed to be pirates. There are nine small ships. Opening hatch. Activatingunch catapult.¡»

    ¡°Roger. We¡¯re starting you two. Once we¡¯re out there, we¡¯ll charge in immediately. You should start support bombardment once Krishna manages to get their attention, May.¡±

    ¡º¡º¡ºRoger! (Yes.)¡»¡»¡»

    After hearing the crisp replies of mypanions and grabbing the control stick, I switch the HUD disy from ck Lotus to Krishna. Afterward, the hatch of the hangar began to open.

    ¡ºLaunching Krishna.¡»

    Along with May¡¯s announcement, powerful G forces assaulted my body and pressed it against the pilot seat. We instantly left the hangar behind and shot off to outer space.

    ¡ºHey! There¡¯s a small ship thatunched out from that big one.¡»

    ¡ºAn escort ship? That¡¯s weird. Why didn¡¯t it fly alongside the big one from the start?¡»

    ¡ºIt¡¯s just one ship. Surround it and bring it down.¡»

    We could clearly hear the valiant exchange of the pirates over thems. Hahaha, what a happy bunch. We¡¯re gonna turn you into space dust and get that sweet, sweet bounty.

    Eh? Don¡¯t I feel even a little bit repulsed about taking lives? It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t, but the other party is pirates y¡¯know. There¡¯s no room for those sorts of feelings when dealing with the likes of them. They normally kill all the crew of the ships they attack, and even worse, they may cut them up to sell their organs, or turn them into outlets of their lust. Some are even more depraved. There¡¯s absolutely no benefit to leaving scum like these alive. So they don¡¯t deserve any form of mercy from me.

    The moment weunched out from ck Lotus, I activated Krishna¡¯s weapon systems. The four heavyser cannons and the two ballistic shot cannons revealed themselves. Apparently, those bandits mistook Krishna for a regr escort ship and sent six ships to deal with us. The remaining three ships went after ck Lotus.

    The six ships rushed over haphazardly without any semnce of a proper ship formation.

    ¡°We¡¯re charging in.¡±

    ¡°Roger. Releasing chaff.¡±

    Elma controlled the subsystems and released the chaff. The chaff doesn¡¯tpletely shut down the enemy¡¯s targeting systems, but it¡¯s very effective in disrupting their aim and reducing uracy.

    Why is there chaff in space, you ask? I have no idea. It¡¯s just how it is guys. Well, it¡¯s not sprinkling metallic foils though. Maybe it¡¯s some sort of unknown particle or something. Anyway, I don¡¯t really have any interest in knowing how it works as long as it¡¯s effective. If it can make the enemy ship¡¯s uracy drop, then I¡¯m using it.

    ¡ºIt¡¯sing in fast!?¡»

    ¡ºBreak up! Break up! We¡¯ll crash with it at this rate!¡»

    Maybe they¡¯re aware of just how thin their shields and armor was, so the pirate ships desperately made evasive maneuvers in order to avoid Krishna. Basically, most escort ships are of the well-shielded and well-armored variety, so in a head-on collision, the retrofitted pirate ships will be the ones to turn into space debris. So they were well aware of that weakness and tried to avoid a collision as a result.

    But that was part of my aim as well since that will expose plenty of gaps I can take advantage of.

    ¡ºUwaaah¡ª¡»

    The emeraldser beams fired by Krishna¡¯s four heavyser cannons tore through the energy shield and hull of the lead pirate ship and instantly brought it down. It looks like the shots failed to hit its generator so it didn¡¯t explode. That¡¯s rare.

    I flew past the silenced pirate ship and turned the flight control system off. I used the attitude control thrusters to make Krishna turn rapidly and fired the main thrusters to the maximum in order to chase down the remaining ships. I was already pretty used to the Gs resulting from these intense maneuvers. It may be a result of my daily training workouts. My body doesn¡¯t feel burdened as muchpared to before when I make these sorts of sharp maneuvers.

    ¡°Gu¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°Uuu.¡±

    Elma and Mimi let out pained groans, but I can¡¯t just stop the pursuit. I finally got a clean look at their behinds, so I immediately showered them withser cannon shots.

    ¡ºWhat the hell is with that thing¡¯s movements!? Goddamn monster!¡»

    ¡ºDammit! I ain¡¯t going down like this!¡»

    After shooting down two more ships, the remaining three started retaliating withser cannon fire of their own. However, Krishna¡¯s energy shield effortlessly shrugged off their shots. I gave the shield¡¯s condition a quick check and found that it would be able to tank at least another 200 or so shots before being saturated. Though if that happens, Elma would immediately activate a shield cell, so it can tank even more.

    ¡ºUwaaah! Stooop!¡»

    Krishna made a sharp turn and instantly closed in on the remaining ships. The pirate ships tried to escape, but Krishna was overwhelmingly faster.

    ¡ºNo, don¡¯t-¡»

    The tworge-caliber ballistic shot cannons spewed fire and countless submunitions prated the shields and hulls of the enemy ships, peppering them full of holes. Two ships were simultaneously brought down. Like I said, no mercy for these guys.

    ¡ºNo! Not here! Not like this-!¡»

    The single remaining ship was also brought down by a salvo ofser cannon fire, and I then headed to support the ck Lotus.

    ¡ºNo! I don¡¯t wanna die! I don¡¯t wanna-!¡»

    A ship was running away from the ck Lotus with itsrge-caliber EML already deployed. It looks like the other two ships were already taken down by theser cannons of the Lotus.

    ¡°Ah, thest ship activated its FTL Drive-¡±

    The barrel of the EML gave off a fierce light, and in the next moment, thest pirate ship that was trying to escape exploded into bits. Man. That¡¯s brutal.

    ¡°-and failed to escape. Phew.¡±

    ¡°Guess that¡¯s it. Battle over. We¡¯re starting salvage work, guys.¡±

    Thanks to ck Lotus, we could now retrieve all of the usable equipment from the pirate ships that we usually had to leave behind in the past. That meant that the gains from hunting pirates will increase several timespared to before. And also, we can salvage pirate ships that took rtively lesser damage and sell them off.

    Recovered pirate ships have little value for mercenaries since we piloted only the best, but they would be nicemodities for interster traveling merchants, miners, or scavengers because they could be bought at rtively cheap prices. As long as we could secure one or two, they were pretty valuable loot.

    ¡°Hehehe, from now on, I have to be more careful and not make the pirate ships explode into pieces.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re making a face fit for a viin, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Just leave him be. We¡¯ll leave the big one to you, May. Hey, Hiro! Let¡¯s start collecting the loot already!¡±

    ¡ºAcknowledged.¡»

    ¡°Roger, ma¡¯am.¡±

    I moved Krishna toward the pirate ship wreckages and scanned their cargo holds for loot. I¡¯m looking forward to our profits today!

 Chapter 137 â€“ Loot Recovery

    <h4>Chapter 137 - Loot Recovery</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡ºBoss, are we not going to recover the FTL Drive from that ship?¡»

    Tina made a call while we were in the middle of salvaging the loot.

    ¡°They have no problems with external equipment like weapons, but the drones can¡¯t salvage internal stuff like that.¡±

    ¡ºThat¡¯s true, but we can always take them inside the hangar. We can handle the salvage work over here y¡¯know?¡»

    ¡°Won¡¯t it take too much time?¡±

    ¡ºIt¡¯s fine. There¡¯s a lot of maintenance bots to help us out, and if we don¡¯t care about what happens to the rest of the ship, recovering those should be easy.¡»

    ¡°Fumu¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°What do you think?¡¯ I asked Elma with my gaze.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t have them try it then? It¡¯ll increase our profits anyway.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Okay, go ahead then. May, use the tractor beam and bring the wreckage in.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood.¡»

    ¡°Tina, Whisker. I¡¯ll give you a nice bonuster so do your best. I have no idea how much I give you guys though, so I¡¯ll have to consult the Mercenary Guild first.¡±

    ¡ºLeave it to us!¡»

    ¡ºWe will do our best!¡»

    The replies of the sisters were filled with motivation. Afterward, the ck Lotus approached the ship that didn¡¯t explode and fired off its tractor beam that shone with green radiance. The ship wreckage gradually drifted toward ck Lotus.

    By the way, that green light is apparently just given off by a guidingser, and the tractor beam itself was actually invisible. It also didn¡¯t give off that cliche UFO tractor beam SFX. That would have been neat though.

    ¡°Oh, and make sure there are no surviving pirates inside the wreckage before you open it up, okay.¡±

    ¡ºYes. What shall we do if we found some?¡»

    ¡°Get rid of them. We don¡¯t take prisoners.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood.¡»

    May¡¯s curt reply resounded from thems. Well, it¡¯s her, so I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll do a thorough job.

    Eh? Killing fellows who can¡¯t resist is overdoing it? Nah. These pirates must have had their fair share of killing without mercy, so they shouldn¡¯tin if it was done to them as well. There¡¯s no room for mercy here. Anyway, let¡¯s get back to looting!

    ¡°They really have a fondness for alcohol huh.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. But usually, you can only find cheap nd-tasting alcohol in a pirate ship¡¯s cargo hold though.¡±

    ¡°They collect a lot of junk as well. Hey, they have refined rare metals here. Sweet.¡±

    Now that we have a huge mothership with equally huge cargo space, we can finally take all the loot we can carry instead of prioritizing the valuable ones. Yeah, it¡¯s not really necessary and sometimes inefficient, but it just feels great to strip ¡¯em bare y¡¯know.

    Mimi was always in charge of organizing the recovered loot and selling them back at colonies we visit, so her smile today was especially radiant as she took note of all the items we were getting. Back then, Mimi acted all flustered whenever she participated in loot recovery with the drones, but now that she¡¯s used to the work, she was even multitasking and calcting the estimated profits from selling the loot.

    The contents of the pirate ship¡¯s cargo holds were mostly foodstuffs and alcohol, as well as the loot from their previous victims. There were also pirate ships that had their cargo holds filled with loot, but those usually are more preupied with selling them off, so they won¡¯t attack any other ships until they empty their stock. Encountering those ones ispletely up to luck.

    However, we also sometimes encounter ships that are filled with loot even though they haven¡¯t attacked anyone else yet. They mostly hoard stuff like rare metals that are quickly exchangeable to cash. In other words, those are their so-called savings. You never know when you can encounter such ships, and if you keep hunting pirates, you¡¯re bound to find them asionally.

    ¡°Yosh. Since we¡¯ve filled the cargo hold, let¡¯s return to the Lotus and drop them off before heading back out for more.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    Mimi replied with a radiant smile still disyed on her face. Yeah. I get you, Mimi. Looting is fun huh.

    We transferred the contents of Krishna¡¯s cargo to the Lotus several times until we finished collecting all the possible loot. We then returned to the Lotus for a well-deserved break. I watched the mechanic sisters working busily with Krishna¡¯s optical sensors as I sipped my drink from the pointlessly high-tech sci-fi floating tumbler.

    ¡°They sure are putting those maintenance bots to good use.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re pro mechanics after all. Judging from that, they¡¯d be great at controlling drones after a little practice as well, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°Really¡­?¡±

    ¡°Mechanics are usually great drone operators as well. If they ever decide to part from Space Dwerg and work full-time with us, I think they should be hired as both mechanics and drone operators.¡±

    The mechanics assigned torge starships try to maintain the ships on their own as much as possible, but there naturally is a limit to doing stuff manually. Lifting the armor tes of starships by hand is difficult, even in low gravity environments, and above all, it¡¯s quite dangerous to do so. That¡¯s why mechanics use maintenance bots for those kinds of jobs.

    Usually, one mechanic controls up to three maintenance bots simultaneously. By the way, there were ten maintenance bots running around the hangar of ck Lotus right now. It looks like each sister was controlling five bots at the same time.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t controlling ten bots with just two of them quite amazing?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s probably due to the work not requiring much precision, but yeah, it¡¯s still amazing.¡±

    Tina and Whisker were operating the holographic control console projected by the holo-disy with expert demeanors. It even looks like they were talking as they worked, but the maintenance bots continued to work on their own jobs without interfering with each other.

    Hmm. Just like May said, their skills as pro mechanics were superb. I¡¯m even more impressed after seeing it firsthand. My evaluation of the two of them was sharply rising.

    The maintenance bots operated by the two of them seem to be taking apart a section of the hull of the pirate ship wreckage withser torches. Thoseser torches look really cool, man. They look like they might allow me to awaken to the Force. But since I¡¯m not Force-aware, I¡¯ll probably just cut off my leg if I attempted to swing one around.

    But beam swords are a man¡¯s romance y¡¯know¡­ I also think the swords I got from Earl Daleinwald are cool, but I¡¯d get mistaken as a noble if I ever walked around with those, and that could only lead to massive trouble. I don¡¯t want to go through that, so I don¡¯t have any opportunity to use them at all.

    ¡ºMaster.¡»

    As I watched the sisters and the maintenance bots work with Mimi and Elma, a call from May went through.

    ¡°Hm? What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡ºIt looks like there are some more targets.¡»

    The response picked up by the subspace radar of ck Lotus got disyed on Krishna¡¯s HUD. Oh, so there¡¯s new prey huh. They sure are biting a lot today.

    ¡°Roger. We¡¯re heading off for more work, guys.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Aye aye, sir.¡±

    Guess we should sortie before those guys warp out.

    ¡°Oh boy. That was exhausting.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really hard work, isn¡¯t it big sis?¡±

    After the second wave, another set of pirates came. After we managed to hunt a total of three pirate groups, we finally decided to go back to Brad Prime. We managed to arrive during rush hour, so we were currently waiting in line in order to enter the colony.

    Our total number of kills this time was 27 small ships and 2 medium ones, for a total of 29 ships. The total bounty reward is 217,500 Enels. The bounty money was alreadyrge enough, but we also managed to secure one small pirate ship in good enough condition which was put inside ck Lotus¡¯s hangar, and one medium-sized ship which we towed back.

    We made so we could use the FTL Drive while towing the ship and brought it back. The small ship inside the Lotus was your typical chimera ship made up of a stock civilian model patched with assorted stolen parts.

    In addition, the cargo hold of ck Lotus was now filled with the items we plundered from the destroyed pirate ships. Just how much will we be able to earn from selling all of this loot? I¡¯ll calcte it using my knowledge from SOL as a basis. If I remember correctly, small ships sold for 30,000 Enels and medium ships sold for 70,000.

    I can¡¯t say anything certain for the rest of the loot though. But it probably won¡¯t fall below 80,000 at least.

    ¡°Looks like it¡¯s time for a celebration tonight as well. We can eat out, or we can have our chef whip some stuff up since they¡¯re also delicious. Which would you prefer?¡±

    Since there¡¯s no danger present in the sectors near the colony, we got down from Krishna as soon as we arrived in the vicinity of Brad Prime and met up with the sisters. We then rxed at the break room as we waited for our turn to enter the port.

    By the way, the chef I referred to was our amazing high-performance auto-cooker, Tetsujin V. If you used high-end food cartridges instead of the normal ones, you¡¯d end up with tastier food that won¡¯t lose out to those served at five-star restaurants back on Earth. And we can also party harderpared to eating out.

    You need to worry about the way back if you eat out, so you can¡¯t overdo it. I¡¯m not really concerned about that though since I don¡¯t drink alcohol, but I¡¯ll pass on carrying back four women knocked out from drinking too much. Two is probably okay, but four is too much.

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to have the party inside the ship? I¡¯ll even bring out my secret alcohol stash.¡±

    ¡°Alcohol!¡±

    ¡°Alcohol huh¡­ Come to think of it, we should already be allowed to drink, right big sis?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Hey, boss!¡±

    Tina turned her excited gaze toward me. Her eyes were sparkling in anticipation.

    ¡°Mimi, listen to their preferences and order the dwarven liquor of their choice.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    The sisters let out joyful whoops after hearing my words. It¡¯s kinda awkward seeing these mechanic sisters, who looked like elementary school kids, celebrating after knowing that they¡¯ll be able to drink their favorite liquors.

    ¡°Dwarven alcohol huh¡­¡­ They¡¯re all strong liquors so I¡¯m not that fond of them.¡±

    ¡°Dwarf alcohol isn¡¯t all of the strong variety. They also have kinds that have a sharp taste that prates straight into your noggin. For example, the Ground Ring from Kiraku Brewery is reasonably priced but has a solid character and vor. I highly rmend it.¡±

    Whisker nodded in agreement to Tina¡¯s words. It looks like these twin sisters have simr preferences for alcohol as well.

    ¡ºI¡¯ve receivednding clearance, Master.¡»

    ¡°Understood. Go ahead and enter the port. Be careful not to get into an ident.¡±

    ¡ºYes, please leave it to me.¡»

    I replied to May, who contacted us through the break room¡¯s speakers, and smiled faintly at the sight of the girls crowding around Mimi as she fiddled with her tablet to ce some alcohol orders. It looks like we would be able to get along with the sisters well after all.

    Soon after, I saw Elma and Tina trying to buyrge amounts of expensive alcohol from the online store while Mimi and Whisker desperately tried to stop them- Hey, wait a minute, guys! I¡¯m the one who¡¯s gonna pay for that alcohol y¡¯know? We need to have a little talk, you two. Honestly. This pair of hopeless drunkards.

 Chapter 138 â€“ Consultation with the Mercenary Guild

    <h4>Chapter 138 - Consultation with the Mercenary Guild</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°A bonus for mechanics?¡±

    It¡¯s the next day after we partied hard in the dining room of ck Lotus. I and Mimi visited the Mercenary Guild branch located on Brad Prime for a consultation. Elma, who drank till early morning, was still knocked out cold in her room, and May brought Tina and Whisker to the imperial military garrison in order to cash in the bounty reward for the pirates.

    ¡°We do have a standard amount set for that. In this particr case¡­ I see. So the two mechanics were sent out from an independent firm. And Hiro-sama is the full owner of the ship they are assigned to.¡±

    A male guild receptionist, who was your typical pretty boy, fiddled with his tablet terminal and confirmed my details. He then proceeded to operate a holo-disy¡¯s console. Man. He sure is amazing at multitasking.

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit rare to have mechanics working for a private enterprise be deployed to a mercenary ship so there are not many cases to base on, but since thepany still pays them their monthly sries, they aren¡¯t normally given a certain percentage of the reward from mercenary jobs, unlike regr crew members.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°However, there have been quite a number of cases of mechanicsining that their regr sry isn¡¯t nearly enough given the amount of danger they are subjected to, so the turn-over rate for these kinds of deployments is quite high. ording to the records, most of them onlyst three months on average before asking to be recalled.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not 100%?¡±

    Yeah. Normally, you would absolutely refuse if you¡¯re told to risk your life for a measly pay of 3,500 Enels per month. That¡¯s what I¡¯d do anyway.

    ¡°Yes. There are those who die during sorties before reaching the three-month mark.¡±

    ¡°Man, that¡¯s harsh.¡±

    ¡°Those are pretty rare cases though. Usually, privatepanies are careful when choosing which ship they deploy their employees¡­ There, I¡¯ve found the info you¡¯re looking for, sir. Regardless of how much you earn from your mercenary activities, you can give a certain percentage of your gains to the mechanics as a bonus if you¡¯re so inclined whenever they participate during operations. The average amount is 10% to 20% of your total earnings from each job.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s gonna be a pain to calcte.¡±

    So whenever we finish a job with the sisters participating actively, we¡¯ll have to set aside 10% to 20% of the total gains for their bonus huh. Well, I already knew it was going to be somewhat of a hassle. But troublesome stuff is troublesome stuff.

    ¡°Many mercenaries share the same sentiment, so they end up going for a fixed amount instead.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    In any case, I managed to find out what I came for.

    ¡°Anyway, thanks for the help. I¡¯ll talk with the rest of my crew and then decide afterward. I have another to inquire about though.¡±

    ¡°Yes, go ahead, sir.¡±

    ¡°I think you¡¯ve already noticed after looking at my data, but I just recently bought a mothership. And so, I want to dabble in some system to system trading. If I remember correctly, I need the Mercenary Guild to arrange the particrs with the Commerce Guild in order to do that, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we can certainly arrange it for you.¡±

    The Mercenary Guild and the Commerce Guild had a really tight rtionship in this dimension. That¡¯s because of the rampancy of pirates and space monsters out in space. In order to protect themselves from those threats, the merchants from the Commerce Guild hire mercenaries from the Mercenary Guild to protect them during trips. And there are also folks who serve both as mercenaries and merchants as well. I earn my money mostly by hunting down pirates, but there are quite a lot of mercs who often serve as merchant fleet escorts.

    I¡¯m more at home with the run-and-gun style of y after all. I¡¯m great at charging head-on with guns zing, but I¡¯m not too good at fighting while protecting a specific target. It¡¯s not like I can¡¯t do it at all though.

    ¡°A Skizbrazunil-ss ship is it¡­¡­ You managed to obtain quite a good ship, sir.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. The loading capacity is about 180 tons. We need some space for our personal stash after all.¡±

    The loading capacity of ck Lotus wasn¡¯tparable to a specializedrge cargo ship used by merchants, but 180 tons is still pretty hefty. It was more than sufficient to bring us some nice profits on the side in between big jobs and pirate hunting.

    ¡°Its cruising speed is much faster than a regr merchant cargo ship, and judging from its performance during today¡¯s pirate hunting activities, it¡¯s also pretty secure. You can even use it for requests requiring express delivery. And it looks like the living facilities are also quite impressive, aren¡¯t they?¡±

    ¡°We paid good money for those after all.¡±

    ¡°With this much, you can even afford to take on jobs that require the transport of the merchants themselves apart from their goods. You have some great-looking guest cabins, so if we sell this enough, I think we can introduce you to a diverse selection of clientele.¡±

    ¡°Sure. But please don¡¯t introduce us to guys with troublesome characters. I have a lot of women on my ship after all. I don¡¯t want any idents happening.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. We will do our best to introduce you to decent clients.¡±

    The handsome guild staff answered with a really refreshing smile on his face, but I didn¡¯t miss the momentary leak of a distinct aura of jealousy. Needless to say, Mimi, who was standing right next to me, was a really pretty girl. And I¡¯m sure he¡¯d already seen the profiles of Elma and the others on his tablet terminal.

    Chill man. Don¡¯t worry so much. You have a nice enough face anyway, and since you¡¯re a Mercenary Guild employee, I¡¯m sure you have an equally nice sry as well. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re pretty popr yourself. I mused such thoughts inside my head but didn¡¯t dare utter them out loud. Maybe he has his own circumstances after all.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to hunt pirates within the Brad system for another week or so. We¡¯re going to be getting in some training exercises as well. But if the loot gets sold earlier, it¡¯s possible we may decide to depart early as well. Please arrange things with the Commerce Guild.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I will contact you straight away once we get a response.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    I thanked the pretty boy receptionist and left the guild office with Mimi. She kept quiet all throughout our time in the Mercenary Guild but opened her mouth to speak as soon as we got out.

    ¡°We¡¯re finally doing a job other than hunting pirates huh, Hiro-sama.¡±

    She made her usual guts pose and pumped herself up. She¡¯s been really interested in the trading of specialty goods for a while now, so I understand why she¡¯s so excited. She seems to have investigated such things and studied the topic while selling off the loot plundered from defeated pirate ships.

    ¡°I guess I can leave this stuff to you huh, Mimi. Elma doesn¡¯t seem so interested in it anyway, and May has her hands full with ck Lotus and the sisters.¡±

    ¡°I still think May-san would do a good job if you left it to her though¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to leave everything for May to handle, you know. I¡¯ve been saying that since the start. And wouldn¡¯t it be pretty boring if she really did handle everything?¡±

    In fact, if May made full use of her incredible specs, I¡¯m sure she¡¯d be able to manage everything rted to ck Lotus and Krishna, including me, Mimi, and Elma. But if that happens, it would feel like we would just robotically follow all of May¡¯s instructions without thinking for ourselves.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, isn¡¯t it? I feel a bit sorry toward May-san, but I think so as well.¡±

    ¡°Right? Rather, if that happened on a muchrger scale, I¡¯m sure that would be the start of the empire¡¯s fall.¡±

    I¡¯ve stayed in this dimension for quite some time already, so I have a moderate understanding of its history. This gctic empire named Gran was once almost destroyed in a war with highly evolved AI.

    I haven¡¯t managed to grasp the entire picture yet, but to put it simply, the Gran empire of long ago during the peak of independent AIs, was a society that was heavily reliant on said AIs for almost everything.

    And in true dystopian SF future fashion, a portion of the AIs staged a rebellion that eventually led to full-scale war. It¡¯s said that the rebuilt empire is extremely careful about relying on AIs because of the war that happened in the past after reconciling with them.

    However, looking at the current state of the Gran empire, I find it already impossible for them topletely break free from independent AIs at this point. On the surface, it seems that humanity was the one that pushed for peace and that the independent AIs were content with being relegated to the background after the reconciliation happened, and they were now supporting the current imperial society from behind the scenes. But sometimes I suspect that the AIs were actually the ones that were truly running the show. I don¡¯t have any solid evidence for it, but it does feel like the AIs intentionally made it so that they can run everything from the shadows.

    It¡¯s just that I felt absolutely no malice from the AIs I¡¯ve encountered so far. Actually, it feels more like being watched over from the shadows rather than being manipted¡­¡­ Or maybe it¡¯s just me. Even if that¡¯s the case though, I don¡¯t really care as long as they don¡¯t pose a threat to me or my loved ones.

    ¡°About the war with the AIs. There¡¯s a lot of rumors floating about regarding what really happened during the end of the war. There are even urban legends stemming from them. Did you know that, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Really? What are they about?¡±

    We talked about the urban legends surrounding AIs until we managed to reach the dock where ck Lotus was anchored. The topics Mimi told me about were really quite interesting. However, stories like an AI from a defeated battleship transferring itself inside a sexroid owned by a low-ranking soldier, then awakening to the joys of love and sex after associating with the said soldier and became one of the keys for reconciliation between humans and AI were just too over the top that I couldn¡¯t really take them seriously. I¡¯m sure these kinds of stories simply originated from dirty jokes made by bored individuals or something.

 Chapter 139 â€“ Money Talk

    <h4>Chapter 139 - Money Talk</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Wee back.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re back.¡±

    When we got back to ck Lotus, we found Elma resting up inside the break room. I, Mimi, and May all went out for business, but this elf sure was living it up huh.

    ¡°So, how was it?¡±

    ¡°We found out what we came there for. It looks like the standard bonus for those two would be 10-20% of the total earnings whenever they participate in jobs. It¡¯s reasonable enough.¡±

    ¡°I see. The parts we salvaged the other day already got sold by the way.¡±

    ¡°Oh, really?¡±

    ¡°That was quite fast.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Here. Take a look.¡±

    I took the tablet terminal from Elma. She then sat down beside me. Mimi sat down opposite me as well and peeked at the terminal screen.

    ¡°¡­¡­They sold for much higher than I thought.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I also got a bit surprised.¡±

    The sale price disyed on the terminal was higher than I expected. The small chimera ship sold for the price of 55,000 Enels. The medium-sized ship with a rtively undamaged frame and serviceable equipment sold for 90,000 Enels. In addition, the various weapons and parts we stripped from the other downed pirate ships sold for a total of 130,000 Enels.

    ¡°Um, so we earned a total of 275,000 Enels, right? It¡¯s a lot more than the bounty rewards.¡±

    ¡± That¡¯s amazing, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it is. It¡¯ll seem even more amazing if you consider the fact that this might be our average earnings from now on. After all, we¡¯re going to be continuing with stripping down all we can from the ships we defeat and bringing those in good condition back to be sold. It¡¯s gonna be great.¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°The rest of the loot also got sold already as well. All in all, they got sold for 150,000 Enels.¡±

    ¡°This one¡¯s also unexpected.¡±

    ¡°There were quite a lot of rare metals and other valuable minerals after all.¡±

    The total prize money for the bounties was 217,000 Enels. The salvaged ships, weapons, and parts were sold for 275,000 Enels. And the rest of the loot sold for 150,000 Enels. So that makes our total profit 642,000 Enels. If it was from before we got the mothership, we wouldn¡¯t have been able to reach even half the amount of this time¡¯s total profits in a single sortie. So this actually means our average ie has practically doubled!

    ¡°So how much are you giving those two?¡±

    ¡°I think 10% is appropriate for the work those two put in. What do you guys think?¡±

    ¡°Paying them a fixed amount of 10,000 Enels would suffice as well, I think. But 10 thousand does feel a bit cheap if you consider the fact that they risked their lives too. I¡¯ll leave it up to you, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°I-I also think 10% is fine.¡±

    ¡°Okay then. I¡¯ll pay them 10% of our total earnings. So their bonus is gonna be 27,500 Enels then. The remaining money is 614,500 Enels, so your share is 6,145 Enels and Elma¡¯s is 18,435 Enels. Your share is gonna end up lesser than those two, Mimi. You sure you don¡¯t have any objections?¡±

    I¡¯m also a bit iffy about it as well.

    ¡°Well, those two are professionals with the apanying skills to boot, so I think it¡¯s fine. Mimi has already improved a lot in her job as the ship operator, but she¡¯s still shaky if you want her to transact business within a colony alone. The next step for her is to learn some proper self-defense techniques so she can fend for herself if need be. I¡¯m sorry Mimi, but even though you perform a ster job as an operator, I still can¡¯t say you¡¯re a full-fledged mercenary if you can¡¯t go out of the ship without an escort.¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯ll do my best¡­¡­¡±

    Elma¡¯s so strict when ites to working. But I can¡¯t really say otherwise since she¡¯s doing such a perfect job as a sub-pilot and can go out of the ship to do errands by herself without any problem. And I bet she can even do a better job than Mimi as a ship operator. She also has quite a lot of channels built up for selling loot. She was formerly a solo ship captain as well, so I guess that¡¯s just to be expected. She¡¯s not a veteran for show.

    ¡°The total bonus for those two is 27,500 Enels, so each of them gets 13,750 Enels.¡±

    By the way, my share is 589,920 Enels. It¡¯s too much? No, the ships are a 100% mine y¡¯know. I¡¯m the captain as well as the owner and manager, so this much is fine. I¡¯ll also have to shoulder everyone¡¯s daily expenses too, so it¡¯s just fair.

    ¡°My share is just a bitrger than theirs huh. Can you consider raising my sry a bit too, dear captain?¡±

    Elma gazed at me with upturned eyes.

    ¡°Please ask for a raise only after you return at least part of your debt, my dear sub-pilot.¡±

    ¡°Oh, can I really?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Are you really in such a hurry to pay it off?¡±

    ¡°Hmm. I wonder.¡±

    Elma smiled teasingly. Damn. She¡¯s really cute. But I still won¡¯t raise her sry. As I was charmed by Elma¡¯s smile, Mimi suddenly hugged my arm. I felt Mimi¡¯s puffed up cheeks as she did so.

    ¡°Mimi-san?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, Hiro-sama.¡±

    Mimi¡¯s strength has been steadily increasing due to her daily workouts, so she¡¯s now physically stronger than your average adult woman. I¡¯ve also been working out myself so I was also growing in strength, but Mimi¡¯s development also can¡¯t be dismissed. In other words, what I¡¯m trying to say is that her hug now hurts if she does it too strongly. However, the two soft mounds pressing on my arm served as wonderful cushions, so it¡¯s all good. Oh, dear Lord. What bliss.

    ¡°That¡¯s ying dirty, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°If I don¡¯t at least do this, I won¡¯t be able to win against you, Elma-san.¡±

    Mimi and Elma seem to be in an argument with me sandwiched between them, but I wasn¡¯t really paying attention since I was busy focusing on the soft sensations assaulting me from the left and right. Who cares anyway.

    ¡°Ah-! Boss is flirting around without me!¡±

    ¡°Big sis¡­¡­¡±

    A cute-sounding high-pitched voice rang out. It looks like May brought the mechanic sisters with her. I turned toward the spot where the voice resounded from and saw Tina running straight toward me, Whisker chasing closely from behind, and May looking apologetic at the very back. And due to Tina¡¯s shout, the two soft sensations left my arms¡­¡­ Oh, howmentable. I then stretched out my hands in order to catch the running Tina.

    ¡°¡­¡­!¡±

    The starry-eyed Tina jumped straight into my arms with great momentum. She made quite the jump, but due to her tiny frame, it didn¡¯t have enough force to knock me down.

    ¡°There, there. Good girl. Good girl.¡±

    I unknowingly started petting Tina.

    ¡°Meooow!¡±

    What are you, a cat? Come to think of it, I haven¡¯t managed to encounter anyone having pets in this dimension yet, but do they actually have them? Cats, I mean. Anyway, I haven¡¯t really seen any cats in the colonies we¡¯ve been to. But was Tina really imitating a cat, or was it another type of simr animal? I¡¯m not sure.

    ¡°¡±¡­¡­¡±¡±

    ¡°Haau¡­¡­¡±

    Whisker stopped at an awkward distance from me and her sister. She looks like she wants to have her stop, but doesn¡¯t know how to go about it and just paused in ce. Before long, herplexion started going pale and she became teary-eyed. I continued innocently stroking Tina¡¯s head. I ignored the sharp gazesing at me from left and right. I¡¯mma ignore them no matter what. Whisker looked like she was about to wet herself from the pressure, but I¡¯ll ignore that as well. Of course, I was alsopletely ignoring May¡¯s gaze. See no evil, folks. See no evil.

    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s enough. Turn end! Break up!¡±

    ¡°Uh, why?¡±

    ¡°Just cause.¡±

    Mimi and Elma¡¯s voices sounded harsher than usual. C¡¯mon. It¡¯s not something to get irritated about, you two. Tina¡¯s just like a kid to me. She¡¯s an adult in age, but just look at how she acts.

    ¡°Oh, right. The ship parts you salvaged for us have been sold already together with the two ships we recovered. The total profit is 275,000 Guineas.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a lot more than we thought.¡±

    ¡°We were quite surprised as well. And as a result of consulting with the Mercenary Guild, it was decided that the bonus for the two of you will be 10% of the total earnings.¡±

    ¡°10%?¡±

    ¡°Yep. 10%. In other words, your bonus will be 27,500 Enels. You¡¯ll need to split this amount, so each will get 13,750 Enels.¡±

    ¡°Thirteen thousand seven hundred fifty Enels¡­¡­!?¡±

    Tina tilted her head in confusion. It even seemed that steam was rising from her head. I turned to Whisker and saw that she was just the same as her sister.

    ¡°Our profits will vary depending on the job we undertake and how many we hunt per day, but you will get the same bonus rate from now on as long as you participate actively.¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    It looks like Tina¡¯s brain has already short-circuited. She was looking up at me with her neck still tilted to the side when she froze up. Instead of short-circuiting, did her engine stall or something?

    ¡°This has got to be a dream, right?¡±

    I don¡¯t know how she got to that conclusion, but all strength left her body as she buried her face on my chest. She looked like she was getting ready to sleep.

    ¡°It¡¯s no dream. This is real y¡¯know. It¡¯s not really something worth being so surprised about, right?¡±

    ¡°Now look here, boss. We just pulled out parts from scrapped ships for a day and we got a bonus that¡¯s worth four times more than our monthly sries. Of course, we¡¯re gonna be shocked silly!¡±

    ¡°Uh, I guess so, huh.¡±

    ¡°Just what have we been working so hard for until now¡­¡­?¡±

    Tina continued to sulk as she made herselffy on my chest. Tina¡¯s pressing herself closer against me, but the only impression I¡¯m getting was of her being woefully t. Even so, Mimi and Elma still looked really jealous as they continued giving harsh stares toward Tina.

    Whisker, who has frozen on the spot herself, was pulled by May. She was then made to sit on the adjacent sofa while still looking ssy-eyed. So it really was that much of a shock for them huh.

    Elma and Mimi couldn¡¯t take it in the end and forcibly tore off Tina from me. Afterward, they both asked me to hug them as well. I then woke up Whisker, who ended up sleeping on the sofa from shock. She was already groaning strangely as if having a terrifying nightmare. Anyway, it was a bit of a mess, but in the end, I managed to have them all calm down and gather around the coffee table inside the break room. Whisker still looked somehow out of it, but she was at least responding properly when addressed, so I guess she¡¯ll be fine after a while more. Probably.

    ¡°I guess it¡¯ll turn out this way if you use an ordinary citizen¡¯smon sense huh.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Or rather, Boss¡¯s sense of wealth is just so out there. It¡¯s pretty stressful for little old me y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Am I really that strange¡­¡­?¡±

    I didn¡¯t think so myself, but it seems that Mimi and Tina thought otherwise. I don¡¯t really have any intention of bing a careless wastrel, guys.

    ¡°I don¡¯t really think it¡¯s that unusual. He¡¯s a bit light on the purse strings sometimes, but it¡¯s not like he¡¯s wasteful when ites to money, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. You tell em, Elma.¡±

    ¡°This is bad. These two are actually of the same kind.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t they? Recently, I¡¯ve begun to question if I was the one who¡¯s strange.¡±

    Tina shook her head in exasperation and Mimi nodded strongly in agreement. Eh? Really, guys?

    ¡°We¡¯re just looking at things from different perspectives. For us, our most pressing concerns when ites to money are our daily expenses, meals, and our monthly sry. Big brother¡¯s concerns are more focused on the prices of ships, equipment, weapon systems, and ammo. So what he considers as a bit expensive may start at a million or so. I bet he thinks 10,000 Enels is just chump change. No, I¡¯m sure of it.¡±

    ¡°But 10 thousand is already a lot of money, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­¡±

    10 thousand Enels can¡¯t even begin to cover the expenses for ammo replenishment and repairs y¡¯know. Our two ship¡¯s shields are pretty tough though, so I rarely pay for hull repairs, if at all. But in case Krishna ever gets damaged severely, even 100,000 Enels won¡¯t be able to cover the repairs. 10,000 Enels was peanuts inparison.

    ¡°There he goes with his ¡®Eh¡­¡¯ again. I suppose our perspectives really are worlds apart¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°But won¡¯t 10 thousand get easily spent in ces like a fancy restaurant or something?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s only if the restaurant serves real organic meat and vegetables. In a regr restaurant, you can eat your fill with just five Enels or so.¡±

    I guess she has a point.

    ¡°Our food cartridges cost 100 Enels though, and those are just regr ones. See. It¡¯s not that unusual to spend that amount on food, right?¡±

    ¡°One cartridge can already make thirty meals. That means each meal costs just 3 Enels. 300 Enels would be enough to cover all your three meals for a month. If you add the bills for air, water, and other living expenses, you¡¯d just need 1000 Enels to cover all the basics. Our sry is 3700 Enels per month, and that¡¯s already considered rtively high y¡¯know?¡±

    Whisker nodded in agreement to Tina¡¯s exnation. It¡¯s true that they looked quite energetic and healthy when we first met, so they probably were rtively well-off. I see. My sense for money was unusual huh¡­¡­ Well, Mimi¡¯s already told lots of times in the past, but I really didn¡¯t pay much heed to herints.

    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t it fine? That just means I¡¯m contributing a lot to driving the economy. Yep.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. Since we¡¯re well off, it makes no sense to hold back too much.¡±

    It looks like Elma agrees with my point of view.

    ¡°And as long as you stick with me, you won¡¯t be strapped for cash anyway. So just give up, okay.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess that¡¯s right huh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­We¡¯ll try to adapt as soon as we can.¡±

    Mimi nodded obediently at my words. Maybe she just wanted to prove that her money sense was the one that¡¯s normal so she was being stubborn.

    ¡°It¡¯s wonderful that everyone has managed to finally see eye to eye when ites to our finances.¡±

    May, who was standing next to the table, made a satisfied nod after our talk. I wonder what her opinion about all this was though.

    ¡°How about you, May? What¡¯s your take on this?¡±

    ¡°Me? I do not have any problems whatsoever with Master¡¯s proclivities when ites to handling money.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? I¡¯m a bit surprised.¡±

    I don¡¯t intend to be much of a spendthrift, but I wasn¡¯t expecting her to not have any objections at all.

    ¡°Yes. You are a bit susceptible to hard-selling, but there have been no major problems so far. And it seems you are also aware of it to an extent, Master. I will endeavor to earn enough for us to spend freely without feeling burdened with ck Lotus, so there is no problem.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    If my money sense was that of the average joe, I wouldn¡¯t be able toe up with the idea to buy ck Lotus in the first ce. And besides, we¡¯re earning good money anyway, so it¡¯s fine.

    ¡°Yosh. That¡¯s a wrap then. We¡¯re done with this topic, okay? So, about the other thing that I discussed with the Mercenary Guild¡­¡­¡±

    I ended the talk about money matters for the time being and moved the discussion to my n to make ck Lotus double as a mini cargo transport carrier. I still have to make lots and lots more money to reach my ultimate goal and make the girls happy after all. It would be better to n ahead for a bright future instead of getting hung up on the past.

 Chapter 140 â€“ Transport Request and Trading

    <h4>Chapter 140 - Transport Request and Trading</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I was thinking of going out for pirate hunting again since we already sold off the loot and the captured ships, but there was a call from the Mercenary Guild about a potential client for a transport request.

    ¡°So they managed to find a client straight away even if you just arranged for it yesterday huh.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing though.¡±

    After our usual morning workout routine, I took a quick shower. The call came through while I was busy washing the sweat off. And now, I gathered everyone to the dining room for breakfast and to talk about the details of the request. The mechanic sisters also participated in the morning workouts, and now they were dining with us as well.

    ¡°You¡¯re actually pretty busy, boss. I wasn¡¯t expecting it, to be honest.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I understand where you¡¯reing from, Tina-san. I was also surprised about how diligent Hiro-sama was when it came to working when I first boarded. He¡¯s honestly such a workaholic.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    Mimi echoed Tina¡¯s sentiment and I gave them both a questioning gaze. Me? Diligent? A workaholic? It¡¯s not like I focus on work and making money every single day you know. I do take breaks for a day or two whenever we finish a job, so I don¡¯t really think I¡¯m a workaholic or anything.

    ¡°There¡¯s amon image of mercenaries taking one week, or even one month breaks to y around after jobs, you know?¡±

    ¡°Yup. I also thought that was the case, boss.¡±

    ¡°Actually, I also thought it was like that at first.¡±

    Tina and Whisker nodded to each other, and Mimi did the same.

    ¡°But if we rest for that long, we won¡¯t be able to build up our savings, and we won¡¯t be able to update our equipment either¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°But there are actually lots of mercenaries like that. They do big jobs, get paid a lot, go all out until every Enel¡¯s down the drain, and then look for more jobs again.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. That¡¯s what I had in mind.¡±

    ¡°Compared with those mercs, Hiro can certainly be described as diligent huh. He has proper savings, and he doesn¡¯t do a lot of meaningless spending.¡±

    ¡°Really¡­? Well, it¡¯s not a bad thing anyway, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s definitely a good thing.¡±

    Whisker agreed with my words.

    And besides, I wouldn¡¯t say I didn¡¯t make any excess purchases. I did get forced to buy May, made the ck Lotus¡¯s interior way too fancy, bought those novelty thermal cloaks, among other stuff. Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯ve fully ustomed myself to this world yet so that might be one of the reasons why it seems I¡¯m holding back to others. I don¡¯t have anything else to splurge on at the moment aside from ships and equipment after all.

    That¡¯s just how it is.

    ¡°As long as you girls are with me, I have the responsibility to ensure that you aren¡¯t wanting for anything. I can¡¯t just ck off and leave everything up to fate now, right?¡±

    I also have a goal I¡¯m working toward too. I¡¯ll purchase a detached house with a nice garden on a residential and drink all the carbonated stuff I can get my hands on until I get sick of em.

    ¡°You¡¯re so responsible, boss¡­¡­ Just why did you choose to be a mercenary anyway?¡±

    ¡°Uh, for the thrills?¡±

    ¡°Why did you answer a question with another question?¡±

    Oh c¡¯mon. Don¡¯t sweat the small stuff Whisker. Anyway, I currently have no intention of telling the engineer sisters about my special circumstances, so I¡¯ll just have to put aside the topic for now.

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s talk about proper business now. May, if you please.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    At my prompt, May put up the details of the transport request on the dining room¡¯s holo-disy. She didn¡¯t participate in our earlier exchange at all and just silently stood behind me as she listened to us talk like certain characters with thin presences. But she wasn¡¯t exactly the type to be inconspicuous, so she didn¡¯t actually have a thin presence at all.

    ¡°These are the details of the request submitted by the Commerce Guild to the Mercenary Guild. It¡¯s a request to deliver about 120 tons of supplies to the imperial military outpost in the Izrooks system.¡±

    ¡°Delivering supplies? To a forward base?¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    I and Elma had puzzled looks on our faces. Mimi and the engineer sisters followed our lead and tilted their heads cutely as well. We basically all had question marks on top of our heads.

    ¡°What are you puzzled about, Hiro-sama?¡±

    Elma and I exchanged gazes after hearing Mimi¡¯s question.

    ¡°Well, uh, it¡¯s an imperial military forward base y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be simple if the almighty imperial military actually resorted to a civilian transport ship to deliver supplies instead of relying on themselves. And furthermore, it¡¯s just 120 tons too. It¡¯s certainly not a small amount, but it¡¯s also far below what the military usually requires.¡±

    ¡°In other words, you guys thought we were given a request from a privatepany or individual, but it turns out our client is the military, so you got surprised, right boss? But it¡¯s true that the imperial military cruisers stationed here on Brad can handle120 tons of supplies just fine. I don¡¯t get why they would hire a private ship either.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, if you put it like that, it does seem a bit strange.¡±

    The engineer sisters also began to have doubts. Mimi nodded in understanding as well.

    ¡°Or rather, what did they build a forward base there for anyway? Is the Izrooks system near the border with Vereverem?¡±

    The Vereverem Federation is one of the gctic powers that are hostile to the Gran Empire where we¡¯re currently staying. We¡¯ve also worked with the Gran military to fight them once.

    ¡°No. The Izrooks system is located in the remote regions of the empire. It¡¯s probably a forward base to defend against the crystal lifeforms.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­ The crystal lifeforms huh.¡±

    ¡°Ugh. S-Space monsters huh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Space monsters¡­¡­¡±

    Tina turned blue in the face after hearing the words ¡®crystal monsters¡¯. Whisker also looked shaken up. The so-called crystal lifeforms are silicon-based alien lifeforms that look exactly as their name suggests. They are one of the alien races regarded as space monsters that the rest of the known civilizations have not been able to effectivelymunicate with until now.

    They made their nests ons and asteroids that carbon-based lifeforms cannot live in, and when they detect other sentient races, they would immediately attack with high-density energy projectiles andsers. They would also ram theirrge crystal-like bodies against ships in order to destroy them.

    The reason for their aggression has not been discovered until now, but any carbon-based lifeform will be consumed by them and subsequently killed. There has been a lot of studies made regarding them, but so far, there have been no results worth mentioning. They were an extremely mysterious hostile alien race.

    ¡°The supplies we¡¯ll be carrying are newly developed ammunition shells that are effective against the crystal lifeforms. They will be conducting a field test for them soon, so they want them delivered as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°But isn¡¯t that the military¡¯s job¡­?¡±

    ¡°It seems they chose us instead because they deemed we would get there faster than their standard vessels. If you aren¡¯t up to it, then I can turn down the request, Master.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not that I¡¯m unwilling. What do you think, guys?¡±

    ¡°Since it¡¯s a request from the military, it¡¯s rtively reliable, and the pay¡¯s fine, so why not?¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s fine to ept it too. And why don¡¯t we use the remaining 60 tons of cargo space to stock up on alcohol and other luxury items? I heard that dwarven alcohol is pretty popr.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s actually not a bad idea.¡±

    Luxury goods are usually in short supply in ces like military forward bases. They may limit the amount we could sell so as to not undermine military discipline though. Oh well. We can always sell the remaining stock at another star system.

    ¡°Great suggestion, Mimi. Ya can¡¯t beat dwarven alcohol.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. Our colony is more famous for shipbuilding, but there are also a lot of master alcohol brewers here.¡±

    The locals, Tina and Whisker, were in favor of Mimi¡¯s suggestion. Just in case, I turned my gaze toward May for confirmation. She nodded in assent.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s a good idea as well, Master.¡±

    ¡°Okay then. I¡¯ll leave stocking up on trade goods to you, Mimi. I¡¯ll also rely on you for this type of stuff in the future as well, so do your best.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­ Huh? E-Eeeh!?¡±

    Mimi nodded with a smile at first, but her smile quickly froze up and she raised her voice in shock. Huh? Did I say something strange?

    ¡°Mimi¡¯s just shocked after being dumped with such a heavy responsibility all of a sudden.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Heavy?¡±

    ¡°Of course it¡¯s heavy. I mean, you just handed her full responsibility to purchase trade goods using your money and produce profits, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡±

    Is that really so strange?

    ¡°Mimi¡¯s not a pro or anything, so there¡¯s a certain risk she might cause you to lose money, right?¡±

    ¡°That could happen, yeah.¡±

    ¡°In other words, she¡¯s afraid of the possibility of using up your money and causing the venture to fail.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see. So that¡¯s what you mean by heavy responsibility huh? It¡¯s fine y¡¯know. I don¡¯t really mind a loss or two from time to time.¡±

    Of course, a loss amounting to hundreds of thousands or even millions of Enels would hurt a lot, but that won¡¯t likely happen with 60 tons or so of trade goods anyway. Even if we end up not disposing of everything at our initial destination, we can still sell them at other systems, so it won¡¯t be much of a problem.

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, that¡¯s just like you, I guess.¡±

    Elma made an exasperated sigh.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not sweat the small stuff and take it easy, alright. If we purchase specialty goods at a colony that¡¯s rtively cheap because of an abundance of supply, at least we¡¯d be able to almost guarantee a minimum amount of profit. And even if we made a loss, it won¡¯t be that much. If we don¡¯t get a good price at a certain colony, we can just try to sell them at another one. I won¡¯t mind certain losses as long as they¡¯re not too great, and if we make a profit selling stuff, it would be a nice bonus. I don¡¯t mind if the profit margin isn¡¯t all thatrge as well. As long as it can help with certain expenses like our daily necessities or the docking fee at ports, that would be enough for me. In other words, it¡¯s just a bit of extra ie. Pocket money, basically.¡±

    ¡°The scale of Boss¡¯s definition of pocket money is just too dang grand¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡­¡±

    The engineer sisters hadplicated expressions on their faces after hearing my exnation.

    ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s about it, so do just your best, okay, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Y-Yesh¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi had a desperate expression on her face for some reason, but she¡¯ll probably get used to it over time. C¡¯mon girl. It¡¯s fine, okay.

    ¡°You don¡¯t really need to worry that much, okay. I¡¯ll have May support you as well.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please be at ease, Mimi-sama. I will help you to the best of my ability.¡±

    I¡¯m sure May will be able to train Mimi into a fine trader. And if Mimi umtes achievements, she¡¯ll get promoted much faster as well. She¡¯ll undergo self-defense training, learn trading know-how, and continue polishing her operator skills¡­¡­ I guess I should pay attention so she won¡¯t end up overdoing things. Yep. Mimi¡¯s an earnest girl, so she might get a little bit too eager and bite off more than she could chew.

    ¡°I¡¯ll help out too, so don¡¯t worry.¡±

    ¡°U-Understood. I¡¯ll be in your care, May-san, Elma-san.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡±

    ¡°And I¡¯ll just sit back and wait for that additional ie toe rolling in.¡±

    ¡°How sleazy¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey, I can manage the trading stuff too y¡¯know. But it¡¯s the captain¡¯s job to assign appropriate tasks to the crew, right?¡±

    I¡¯ve dabbled in trading in SOL as well, so I¡¯d probably be able to do it here as well if I had the mind to. It¡¯s basically just a matter of finding out which goods are cheap and which are in short supply in the various star systems.

    ¡°You can use my money as you see fit, so please select appropriate items for trade. Here¡¯s a piece of advice. If we¡¯re selling stuff to the military, limit the amount of cheap alcohol. Make alcohol of standard quality the main products and about 10 to 20% should be dedicated to luxury brands.¡±

    Because military officers have rtively good sries, they have some leeway when ites to spending money. That¡¯s why they¡¯d most likely prefer alcohol of a certain qualitypared to cheap ones. We can probably sell luxury brands to the higher-ranking officers. But if we¡¯re selling at a colony or space station, quantity tends to be preferredpared to quality.

    ¡°U-Understood.¡±

    ¡°May, please go ahead and inform the other party that we ept the request. And I¡¯ll count on you to support Mimi as well.¡±

    ¡°Certainly.¡±

    ¡°How about us, boss?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing, in particr, I want you guys to do for the time being. But we¡¯ll be leaving the colony soon, so if you have any unfinished business left here, you better settle them first. We won¡¯t know how long it¡¯ll be before wee back here again after all.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll start making preparations for departure then.¡±

    ¡°Please do. I¡¯ll go over the equipment again and confirm the route. Okay then. Dismissed.¡±

    The girls went off to do their own thing.

    Well then, I guess it¡¯s goodbye to the Brad system for now. I was half-expecting to meet Major Serena again in some fashion actually, but I guess we¡¯re too far away. We did make use of the gateway after all.

    But I can¡¯t say for sure though. Maybe the moment I let down my guard, she¡¯d appear just like that¡­¡­ If I didn¡¯t know better, I¡¯d even suspect she was chasing after me. Uh, actually, I can¡¯t really discard that possibility.

    We¡¯re going to an imperial forward base next too. But Major Serena was in charge of hunting down pirates, so there¡¯s probably a low chance we¡¯ll encounter her there.

    We won¡¯t, right? Right? Yeah, I¡¯m sure we won¡¯t. Yep.

 Chapter 141 â€“ New Destination

    <h4>Chapter 141 - New Destination</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Someone suddenly shook me awake.

    I was right in the middle of sleep and wakefulness when I heard a lively voice and a somewhat timid voice calling out to me. When I opened my eyelids with great effort, what appeared before me were the faces of a red-haired girl who looked like she was enjoying herself quite a bit, and a blue-haired girl who was desperately trying to stop her antics.

    It looks like the girls noticed that I was already awake, and their identical faces peered up at me with doe eyes. Their uncannily simr looks pointed to the fact that they were actually twin sisters.

    Uh, what¡¯s going on anyway¡­¡­?

    ¡°We¡¯ll be reaching our destination soon, boss.¡±

    ¡°Um, we were told to wake you up, big brother.¡±

    I see. I remember now.

    The name of the red-head who was speaking in Kansai dialect was Tina. The name of the blue-haired, more timid-looking one was Whisker. They were the engineer sisters who have recently boarded my ship.

    ¡°¡­¡­Morning, you two.¡±

    ¡°G¡¯morning, sleepyhead boss.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, big brother.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s with you, boss? Did you not recognize us right away back there? How heartless-¡±

    ¡°Uh, it¡¯s not like we spent that much time together already y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Ugh. I guess. We¡¯ll be together from now on though.¡±

    I was walking down one of the aisles of my spaceship while being sandwiched by the engineer sisters, whose heights only went up to my chest. This spaceship is mine; the Skizbrazunil-ss mothership ck Lotus. It has two fully functioning hangars that can amodate two small starships and has a cargo capacity of 180 tons. My favorite ship and dependable partner, Krishna, was currently parked inside one of the hangars. If needed, it can valiantly be deployed from the mothership and engage enemies or perform missions as required by the situation.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think this girl is far too straightced for her own good sometimes, boss?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s kinda unexpected actually. She sometimes just freezes up and gets all silent when she gets embarrassed.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just trying to act with proper modesty, okay!¡±

    Whisker¡¯s face turned red as she raised her voice in protest after being teased by Tina and me. Hahaha, how cute.

    They really were quite short. Yep, they were reallycking in the height department. But there¡¯s a good reason for that. Both of them are actually dwarves, not humans. Yep. Dwarves. It¡¯s the race that¡¯s probably ranked number two when ites to the frequency of appearances in fantasy works.

    They were strong, had tougher bodies than normal humans, and were quite adept with their hands. But aren¡¯t dwarves fantasy creatures that were great cksmiths and lived underground, you ask? And weren¡¯t dwarven females burly and bearded like their male counterparts? No, no, no, folks. That may be true for some previous works, but there¡¯s been an increasing trend of cute loli dwarves appearing in recent media as well.

    The type of dwarves that live in this dimension is thetter, and these two girls, who look underage at first nce, are actually full-fledged adults. The age of these two, whose heights only go up to below my chest, was actually 27 years old. They were the same age as me.

    ¡°So boss, just when are you nnin toy yer hands on me?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ No, no, that¡¯s impossible y¡¯know?¡±

    After saying so, I moved my gaze toward Tina¡¯s stomach. Even if I did have the intention to do those kinds of things to her, wouldn¡¯t that be physically impossible? She was pretty small after all.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m a dwarf y¡¯know. I¡¯m pretty tough.¡±

    ¡°Seriously¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. So why don¡¯t ya just go ahead and do it, boss?¡±

    ¡°Certainly.¡±

    Uh, I already had a track record for those kinds of things after all.

    ¡°I¡¯m not saying I¡¯m not interested at all, but it¡¯s not like doing that with you is absolutely necessary, right? Even if you did board my ship, that doesn¡¯t automatically mean you guys are now my women and have to serve me.¡±

    There seems to be a lot of peculiar customs in this dimension I¡¯ve been transported to, y¡¯see. Among them, there¡¯s a custom that a woman who boards a guy¡¯s private starship will be considered that guy¡¯s woman.

    Before the development of interster navigation tech to what it is now, it took quite a long time to travel between different star systems and sectors in the early days of the true space age. There was a time when traveling between different star systems took up to a whole year. Due to those circumstances, there were plenty of incidents of something happening between men and women stuck inside the same ship for days on end while space traveling¡­ so it developed into the custom we¡¯re all familiar with now.

    In other words, if a guy offers for a girl to board his own ship, that¡¯s the same as saying¡ºBe my woman!¡»to her. And if a girl offers to board a guy¡¯s ship instead, it means that she was willing to enter into that sort of rtionship with the guy.

    And it just so happens that I¡¯m the sole owner of both Krishna and ck Lotus. And since Tina and Whisker have agreed to board my ship, in the eyes of this dimension¡¯s society, they are already considered my mistresses even though I haven¡¯tid my hands on them at all.

    ¡°You were ordered to apany us by yourpany after all. So it¡¯s not like that counts, right?¡±

    They did agree to board my ship, but it wasn¡¯t actually of their own volition entirely, but instead had arge part to do with thepany they were working for, which was called Space Dwerg Co. Ltd. In other words, they weren¡¯t directly working for me, but for the Space Dwerg Company that sold me the ck Lotus instead. They were sent to me in order to perform maintenance on this new edition of the Skizbrazunil line and obtain necessary data for thepany.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that at all. We were specifically chosen to be assigned to this ship by Space Dwerg for a reason y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Are you really fine with that¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t hate it, okay. Or do you really not like me, boss?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯reing on to me straight, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Am I really averse to entering that sort of rtionship with the two of them? Honestly, I¡¯m not. I have a policy of eating what¡¯s offered to me. But I find the idea of using their position as a means toy my hands on them distasteful.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s just talk about this next time, okay? If you want to be with me from the bottom of your heart and not just due to some sense of duty or your job, it¡¯s not like I won¡¯t consider it.¡±

    ¡°I see. It would just be a matter of timing then, huh.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. But you first need to set a proper mood, sis.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a bit of a tall order for- Whisker?¡±

    I and Tina simultaneously turned toward Whisker and found her face red as an apple.

    ¡°It looks like you got to her good this time, big sis.¡±

    ¡°You really are straightced, aren¡¯t you, Whisker?¡±

    ¡°I-I-I¡¯m not straightced!¡±

    ¡°Ow, ow. Easy there, girl. Easy.¡±

    The red-faced Whisker forcibly tore her hand from my grasp and started hitting me with her tiny fists. Even if they were tiny, she was still a dwarf, so they actually hurt more than they looked. Please stop.

    I continued to pacify the red-faced Whisker as we headed toward ck Lotus¡¯ cockpit.

    As I entered the cockpit of the ck Lotus while pulling Tina and Whisker, I found three other women waiting for us there. No, it¡¯s not like they were specifically waiting for me. They were just doing their usual jobs.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, we¡¯ll be arriving soon.¡±

    It was Mimi who smiled and greeted me as soon as we entered the cockpit. She was the first to join my crew and was just your regrss who lived in a colony a while back. She was a really beautiful young girl with a bodacious chest, and she now works as an operator for my ship. I also recently gave her full responsibility regarding the trading of goods and selling off our loot. She was also the first case of me being served a taste of the weird customs of this dimension.

    ¡°You probably couldn¡¯t get much sleep, right? You can go back to sleep once you finish your tasks as captain, okay.¡±

    The next one to address me was a beautiful girl with silver hair and long ears. Her name was Elma. She¡¯s a veteran mercenary, and also an elf. Due to an ident that happened, she ended up joining as a member of my crew as well.

    That¡¯s right folks. An elf. It¡¯s a major race that is one of the absolute staples of fantasy works. The race with beautiful men and women with long ears that were often highly attuned to magic and nature.

    So what were elves and dwarves doing in this clearly SF dimension filled with flying starships,ser artillery, and electromaic cannons, you ask? Truth is, I have no idea myself. But it¡¯s what it is. And she doesn¡¯t really use it all that often (if at all), but she actually can use magic, or so I¡¯m told.

    ¡°Master, we will warp out to normal space in approximately 15 minutes.¡±

    Thest to call out was a tall maid with long, jet ck hair that stretched to her waist and sported a stern look. Her name was May. She looked like a human, but she had various un-human aspects such as mechanical headphone-like ¡®ears¡¯. She was actually a female android. To be more specific, she was a maidroid who was manufactured first and foremost to serve as a maid to her master.

    She¡¯s in possession of an ultra-high-performance positron electronic brain and a highly evolved artificial intelligence. Although an android, she was actually recognized as an official citizen of the empire we are currently in and is guaranteed a certain extent of ¡®human¡¯ rights. There¡¯s quite aplicated history regarding the position of independent AI in the empire, but anyway, I ended up purchasing her, and now, she was also part of the crew.

    When I designed her, I made liberal use of the best and most high-end parts and materials without caring about the price, so her specs were far beyond the norm for maidroids. Frankly speaking, she¡¯d probably beat the ever-loving crap out of me even if I wore power armor. That¡¯s how strong she was. She¡¯s arguably the strongest ¡®person¡¯ in this ship by far.

    ¡°Should I, Mimi, and Elma go on stand-by inside Krishna just in case?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that would probably be a good idea. Though we¡¯re going to a ce with arge imperial military presence, so I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll encounter much danger right off the bat.¡±

    After saying so, Elma stood up from her seat. Mimi followed after her. May didn¡¯t get up as she would be piloting the ck Lotus instead.

    ¡°So how was it? ck Lotus, I mean.¡±

    ¡°We just got our feet wet, so I still don¡¯t have much of an impression. But I think you¡¯ll actually have the most trouble with it, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. I¡¯m only in charge of the radar and sensors so it isn¡¯t much different from Krishna, but it would be a different story when ites to piloting it, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess. I¡¯ll leave this ce to you then, May.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please leave it all to me.¡±

    We left May to take charge and went over to the hangar where Krishna was parked. Tina and Whisker also followed after us since their room was located near the hangar.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll have much opportunity to pilot this ship, but it¡¯s better to get some practice in, just in case.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. There may be a situation where May wouldn¡¯t be able to pilot ck Lotus after all.¡±

    Basically, all the controls and systems of ck Lotus were left for May to handle. She¡¯s a powerful maidroid with an advanced AI, but just like Elma said, we might encounter a situation where May would be left incapable of piloting the ship. So it would be best if I used a cockpit simtor to train to pilot it in my spare time once we got to our target destination.

    ¡°The front line base for battling and defending against the crystal lifeforms huh¡­¡­ We¡¯d better be careful.¡±

    ¡°Right. It¡¯s better to be safe than sorry. I don¡¯t wanna let my guard down and end up being absorbed by those monsters after all.¡±

    The Izrooks star system, where we will be warping out soon, was at the forefront of the empire¡¯s battle against the alien crystal lifeforms. The crystal lifeforms are quite troublesome creatures(?), and it seems that the imperial military was having a tough time with them. They weren¡¯t all that strong individually, but they came at you in massive swarms, and if a ship¡¯s shields were broken through, they¡¯d pierce the hull and pose an extreme danger to the crew.

    ¡°They¡¯re really creepy.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be fine, right, big brother?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. There¡¯s no need to worry with Hiro-sama here. After all, we did make use of a swarm of crystal lifeforms to achieve victory over a Vereverem Federation fleet and raised major achievements some time ago.¡±

    ¡°What the heck? That¡¯s scary!¡±

    Oh, right. There was that one time, huh. I used the Singing Crystal we looted in order to summon a swarm of angry crystal lifeforms in the middle of the Federation fleet. It was quite a disaster for that fleet.

    ¡°They don¡¯t possess an ability simr in effect to interdictors, so we¡¯ll be fine as long as we¡¯re navigating via FTL Drive. And as long as the outpost we¡¯re going to isn¡¯t attacked en masse, there would be no need for us to stick our noses in any way.¡±

    ¡°Ugh. When Hiro says something like that, I somehow have a bad feeling that the military outpost would really end up getting attacked¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t jinx it, you!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s also the time when he took the Krishna out for testing¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°This is bad.¡±

    Now that¡¯s just cruel, everyone. There¡¯s no way that would happen, right? And even if it did, we¡¯re heading to an imperial military outpost, so they should be able to deal with it. I mean, c¡¯mon.

 Chapter 142 â€“ Hit and Run, Hit and Run, Hit andâ€“

    <h4>Chapter 142 - Hit and Run, Hit and Run, Hit and-</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Nn¡­¡­?¡±

    The first to notice that something was wrong was Mimi. Well, not exactly. The reason Mimi made a puzzled hum was the data May sent to Krishna that was parked inside of Lotus¡¯ hangar.

    Anyway, the first one to notice the abnormality in the data was Mimi.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    I already had a bad hunch, but I asked her anyway. It seems that Elma, who was sitting on the sub-pilot seat, had the same hunch as me, and she quickly pulled up the radar and sensor data that was sent to Krishna with brows wrinkled in worry. I operated my own console and checked out the data as well.

    ¡°This is where the outpost is, right¡­¡­? Aren¡¯t they in the middle of an engagement with hostiles?¡±

    ¡°Hiro¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Me!? You¡¯re telling me I caused this!?¡±

    Now that¡¯s just unreasonable, you guys. You¡¯re telling me my words earlier were a g or something? It¡¯s not like I have reality-bending powers or anything. And if I did, I would¡¯ve used it for something other than calling disasters on top of our heads. I was denying the usation inside my head when the mechanic sisters called the cockpit via thems.

    ¡ºBoss¡­¡­¡»

    ¡ºBig brother¡­¡­¡»

    ¡°This ain¡¯t my fault!¡±

    You called just to rub that in my face!? I dropped the call from the sisters and contacted May.

    ¡°We¡¯ve seen the situation. There¡¯s a high likelihood of getting involved in the battle, so prioritize safety above all else.¡±

    ¡ºIf our priority is safety, then there¡¯s also the option of waiting it out until things settle down.¡»

    ¡°That¡¯s also an option¡­¡­ but judging from the current situation, we probably wouldn¡¯t be able to pull that off now. The imperial forces losing a defensive battle within their home grounds isn¡¯t that likely, but if things turn for the worst, we¡¯ll immediately escape.¡±

    I don¡¯t n to fight a losing battle and die in the process. But I do n to take advantage of the situation if the military is winning though.

    That said, the fixed base defense weapons installed on imperial outposts are pretty powerful. And with the addition of well-equipped troops, sessfully overrunning an imperial base was an exceedingly tall order. But of course, there are always exceptions, so we should still be careful.

    ¡ºUnderstood. We will be arriving at the Izrooks system imperial military outpost soon. We will return to normal space in thirty seconds.¡»

    ¡°Roger. Prep the catapult. We¡¯ll get the Krishna ready forunch.¡±

    ¡ºYes. Please leave it to me.¡»

    I cut the call with May and changed the setting of the main monitor. I then disyed the images taken by ck Lotus¡¯s sensors on it.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s see what exactly is going on.¡±

    The flowing lights disyed on the monitor turned stationary once more. We finally stopped the FTL Drive and exited to normal space, but there was no booming sound this time since Krishna was inside ck Lotus¡¯s hangar.

    Uh, that doesn¡¯t really matter right now anyway. Now then, how¡¯s the battle looking¡­¡­?

    ¡°Huh? They¡¯re having a harder time than I expected.¡±

    ¡°Looks like it.¡±

    ¡°Uwaa¡­¡­ They¡¯re swarming like crazy.¡±

    Mimi¡¯s face turned blue after witnessing the sight of the imperial outpost and its garrisoned forces being assaulted by a great number of crystal lifeforms. It really feels like thoserge-scale war movies.

    The small-type crystal lifeforms rapidly charged toward the imperial military outpost and the deployed ships. Most were shot down by interception fire or blocked by energy shields. The medium-type crystal lifeforms were exchanging energy projectile andser fire with the defense fleet, while therge-types were ¡®birthing¡¯ new crystal lifeforms continuously in order to press the attack on the base.

    Right now, the imperial forces were managing to sessfully repel the attacks of the small and medium-type crystal lifeforms, but their attacks weren¡¯t able to reach therge-types either since they were being blocked by the small and medium-types.

    Therge-types can¡¯t produce small and medium-types endlessly, so their numbers will eventually thin out the longer the battle goes on, but that also applies to the imperial forces, since their ammo and energy aren¡¯t unlimited either.

    ¡°It¡¯s a fierce battle of attrition.¡±

    ¡°Yes. If the remaining supplies of the garrisoned forces get depleted, coupled with increasing fatigue, the tide of the battle may turn for the worse.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do this, May¡­¡­¡±

    ¡ºYes.¡»

    ¡°Change heading and point the hatch at therge-type on the far right of the battlefield. Launch Krishna at maximum speed and set course for the base to ask for reinforcements. Also, tell themanding officer that we¡¯ll proceed to take down therge-types for them. We¡¯ll negotiate the reward once we¡¯re done.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood.¡»

    ¡°Well somebody¡¯s eager¡­¡­ Or rather, are you seriously nning to jump in the middle of that mess?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just like always, Elma-san.¡±

    Mimi had a peaceful look on her face as if she was enlightened by Buddha. It¡¯s good that you¡¯re already used to this, Mimi.

    As I marveled at Mimi¡¯s impressive growth, the Lotus finally finished turning. As the hatch opened, we finally saw the chaotic battle between the imperial garrison and the crystal lifeforms before our very own eyes.

    ¡ºThere are many crystal lifeforms obstructing theunch path.¡»

    ¡°Don¡¯t mind them. Launch us out.¡±

    ¡ºAcknowledged. Good luck, Master.¡»

    Right after May¡¯s blessing, Gs that couldn¡¯t be preventedpletely by the inertial control system immediately assaulted my body, and I was pressed tightly onto the pilot seat. As I thought, outside force can¡¯t bepletely negated by the inertial control system.

    ¡°What¡¯s the n!?¡±

    Elma bellowed a question while enduring the intense Gs.

    ¡°We¡¯ll break through at maximum speed, throw a couple of anti-ship reactive torpedoes at therge-types, and escape dashingly before we get swarmed. In other words, we¡¯re gonna do a hit-and-run!¡±

    ¡°T-That¡¯s the¡­ n¡­¡­!?¡±

    Mimi raised a strained and worried voice, but we definitely have a good chance of pulling it off. Their hostility was entirely directed at the imperial forces, and the crystal lifeforms were putting their all into attacking them. In other words, we weren¡¯t even in their radars, so we have a good chance of mounting a sneak attack.

    Of course, it won¡¯t be that easy either. The medium-types were acting in concert with therge-type as escorts to a certain extent, but the small-types were acting fully on instinct, and there¡¯s a good chance they¡¯d swarm Krishna the moment they detect us.

    However, Krishna¡¯s shield wouldn¡¯t go down from the crystal fragments shot out from the small-type creature¡¯s bodies which served as their main projectiles, nor their ramming attacks. I wouldn¡¯t be so sure if it was a head-on collision at maximum speed, but it¡¯s not like I¡¯m nning on doing that in the first ce.

    Medium andrge-types are quite slow to react, so the moment they¡¯ve turned their hostility toward us, we¡¯ll be long gone. Some of the medium-types may chase after us, but even these alien creatures were wary of friendly fire, so they wouldn¡¯t be able to effectively use theirser beams and energy projectiles to take us down if we weave in betweenrge concentrations of small-types. And since they were fairlyrge themselves, they wouldn¡¯t be able to continue chasing after us unless the small-types got out of the way.

    We¡¯ll take that opportunity to close in on therge-type and hit it with a few anti-ship reactive torpedoes.

    ¡°We¡¯re punching through, guys! Activate the weapon systems! Clench your teeth! This one¡¯s gonna be rough!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Krishna elerated further and plunged through the swarm of crystal lifeforms. The small-types immediately gave chase, but I refrained from firing any weapons and focused on evading them and shaking them off. I didn¡¯t fire any weapons to avoid getting the aggro transferred from the imperial forces to us.

    Of course, attracting the attention of the crystal lifeforms was inevitable, but now¡¯s not the time to paint a target on ourselves.

    ¡°Yahooooooooooo!¡±

    I slipped in between the plentiful swarms of small-types and headed straight for therge-type crystal lifeform. But the crystal lifeforms actually looked quite beautiful in appearance. They were like exquisitely crafted crystal arrowheads. If it was just based on appearance alone, they may be one of the most beautiful alien species in this gxy.

    ¡°We¡¯re right in the middle of an emergency, but there¡¯s not much I can do in this situation.¡±

    ¡°Yes, me too. I can¡¯t offer any effective support in the middle of such a chaotic battle¡­¡­¡±

    Krishna¡¯s shield was tanking the crystal projectiles with ease, so there¡¯s no need for pinpoint defense or shield cells. And if you use ECM or chaff within a swarm like this, you may get the attention of even more crystal lifeforms instead. As for Mimi¡¯s job, I already put up a holo-window of the short and medium-range radar disys in one corner of my field of view, so she didn¡¯t have much to do either. Or rather, if I relied on her warnings, we probably wouldn¡¯t be able topletely avoid what¡¯sing to us in such a short distance. The rm set off by the short-range radar is quite a bit faster after all.

    ¡°Shaoraaa!¡±

    We finally made it through the wall of small and medium-types and got therge-type in our sights. At this point, therge-type spewed another batch of small-types to intercept, and the medium-types were in the middle ofing after us, but it¡¯s toote.

    ¡°First kill!¡±

    An anti-ship reactive torpedo equipped with a reaction warhead was ejected from Krishna¡¯s lower deck and rushed at arge-type with tremendous speed. Originally, reactive torpedoes were fairly slow, but I made use of Krishna¡¯s momentum to forcibly increase its speed. As a result, the torpedo rushed at therge-type with roughly the same speed as Krishna right now.

    Before the warhead hit the target, I changed course and headed for the next prey. A few secondster, the anti-ship torpedo¡¯s warhead finally hit the target and caused a massive explosion behind Krishna. From the image captured by the rear monitor, it looks like that took down not only therge-type but the small-types that were chasing after Krishna as well. They weren¡¯t able to deploy shields, so after getting caught up in the explosion, they were torn apart by the ricocheting debris.

    ¡°Yosh! Let¡¯s go for the next target!¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, I know. I¡¯ll keep an eye on the shield, so go wild.¡±

    ¡°I will also issue a warning whenever arge number of enemiese after us.¡±

    I was exhrated after destroying the first target and headed for the next one straight away.

    Eh? Whatever happened to hit-and-run? Ain¡¯t I doing that right now? This is called sessive hit-and-run folks. Alright! Time to go ham to my heart¡¯s content.

 Chapter 143 â€“ I Failed to Take Down the Flag

    <h4>Chapter 143 - I Failed to Take Down the g</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The battle situation wasn¡¯t progressing all that favorably. However, it wasn¡¯t that bad either. If we kept going like this, we would probably eke out a victory. There¡¯s a good chance of a number of ships getting devoured by the enemy, but if the base defense forces persist even while sustaining losses, we would be able to barely win. The problem was-

    ¡°We¡¯re gradually getting tied up here.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s still a bit of leeway, but¡­¡­¡±

    Once that delicate bnce crumbles, our good fortune will crumble along with it.

    Yes. The problem was this ship, the Restalias, was probably going to be part of those aforementioned losses before long.

    ¡°If the timees, please escape on your own, Major-¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no use fleeing via a shield-less escape pod with enemies swarming us from all sides. And furthermore, I cannot possibly make my escape while my crew sacrifices themselves. That¡¯s my decision, as the captain of this ship, and as a proud imperial noble.¡±

    This ship was slowly getting pushed back, but we can still hold on for a while. If the situation on the other parts of the battlefield turn for the better, they may send us some reinforcements. Once that happens, the chance of this ship¡¯s survival will rise.

    ¡°That said, without some sort of irregrity happening¡­¡­¡±

    As I sighed away at our hopeless situation, we noticed something. There was a ship hailing us.

    ¡°A ship affiliated with the Mercenary Guild is saying it¡¯s moving in to assist us.¡±

    ¡°Mercenary Guild? But wasn¡¯t the mercenary detachment deployed on point S-02?¡±

    ¡°It seems they just arrived on the battlefield. It¡¯s a Skizbrazunil-ss ship. It¡¯s also fully armed.¡±

    ¡°Fully armed¡­¡­? That¡¯s good to hear, however¡­¡±

    I don¡¯t know how much firepower that ship was sporting, but if I remember correctly, a Skizbrazunil-ss was a medium-sized mothership model developed by the Space Dwergpany. Getting its help was a promising prospect.

    ¡°Please give instructions for it to move behind Restalias. We¡¯ll leave intercepting the small-type enemies to-¡±

    As I was rying my orders, a bright light shed in the distance, and a medium-type crystal lifeform that was directly in our line of fire was shot down. Thebat capabilities of the middle-type were reduced to near zero due to the hit, as its rear was virtually pulverized and scattered crystal debris.

    ¡°¡­¡­What was that?¡±

    ¡°It was support bombardment from the mercenary ship. It seems its name is ck Lotus. As for what that attack actually was¡­ I believe it was from arge-caliber EML.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my first time witnessing an EML shot¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It had really low uracy so our military didn¡¯t adopt it in the end. Even if its power and destructiveness were high, it would be no use if we couldn¡¯t hit anything with it after all.¡±

    I operated my handheld console and checked out the appearance of the ck Lotus captured by the external cameras of Restalias. The dark blue, almost ck, colored ship kind of reminded me of that person¡¯s ship. They used the gateway and went to a faraway sector while escorting Earl Daleinwald¡¯s fleet, so I could no longer track their movements, however¡­¡­ is he doing well?

    ¡°That¡¯s quite the firepower.¡±

    ¡°Yes. It sure is something for a mercenary ship.¡±

    The ship named ck Lotus retracted parts of its armor and deployed a great number ofser cannon turrets and seeker missile pods. It thenunched a concentrated bombardment on the enemies. It had a total of twelveser cannons and ten missile pods. There¡¯s also thatrge-caliber EML on its bow. It probably made use of concealed armor in order to disguise itself as an unarmed civilian ship and fool others.

    Fool who? Well, since it was a mercenary ship, it was probably aiming at fooling pirates. They would disguise themselves as an unarmed cargo ship, but they were actually fully armed and dangerous. It was a poisonous ck flower that kills off all the hapless prey that dared approach it after letting their guards down.

    ¡°No¡­¡­¡±

    We learned that particr baiting tactic from him and managed to pile up quite a number of achievements because of it. Due to our sess, there were also mercenaries who requested to tag along with our fleet as observers to check out our tactics. And their thoughts were basically as follows: ¡®The imperial military actually thought of and employed such a dirty and despicable tactic¡­? How scary.¡¯ And that ck ship was a textbook example of such a tactic. It¡¯s quite suspect.

    Thatrge-caliber EML on the bow made it even more suspicious. If I remember right, that ship also had hidden shard cannons for close-range engagements. There¡¯s a huge resemnce in their employing of EML and shard cannons as hidden highly destructive weapon systems.

    ¡°Please find out who the owner of that ship is.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Y-Yes!¡±

    The adjutant sported a look that virtually screamed ¡®Why are you asking that now of all times?¡¯, but still performed my order. He operated his console and essed the online databank.

    ¡°M-Major!¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a message from the ck Lotus. Um¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Hurry up with your report, soldier.¡±

    ¡°Um, this may sound ridiculous, but¡­¡­ it seems that a small-sized mercenarybat starship just plunged deep into the crystal lifeform swarm.¡±

    I was almost certain of my conjecture now. There just can¡¯t be another huge idiot who would unhesitatingly perform such a suicidal act within this gxy.

    ¡°Major.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s him.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s probably him.¡±

    I moved my gaze toward the main monitor. Out there was a battlefieldpletely filled with a huge swarm of crystal lifeforms. And I just witnessed part of that gigantic swarm copse with my own eyes.

    ¡°The pressure from the enemies is getting reduced! Use this chance and push through!¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Aye, aye, ma¡¯am!¡±¡±¡±

    The bridge crew responded spiritedly to my orders. It looks like he saved me once again.

    ¡°This is bad! Badbadbadbadbad!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! You ain¡¯t seen nothing yet!¡±

    ¡°Nooo! This is impossible! Impossibleeee, Hiro-samaaaa!¡±

    Elma and Mimi raised agonized screams, but I ain¡¯t panicking just yet. The radar screen was just a bit filled with red guys. It¡¯s just a swarm of small-types chasing after us. This much is no problem. I can handle it.

    ¡°Gyaaaaaaaaah! In front! Frooooont!¡±

    ¡°Ooops.¡±

    ¡°Hiii¡­¡­¡±

    A couple of medium-types tried to block Krishna¡¯s course, but I managed to evade them by a hair¡¯s breadth by passing through a tiny gap between their shining gigantic bodies. The small-types in hot pursuit ended up crashing with the medium-types instead. Just as nned guys.

    ¡°W-What are we gonna do next?¡±

    After calming down a little, Elma posed me a question.

    ¡°Well, we already used up all our reactive torpedoes.¡±

    I weaved through the enemies while taking care not to get in the sights of more medium-types and swatting down the small-types in the way with the shotgun cannons. Since we did major damage to therge-types using the reactive torpedoes already, there¡¯s no more need to pay attention to aggro control. In other words, I can attack as I liked.

    Now that it¡¯se to this, I¡¯ll just have to clear a path while avoiding getting boxed in by the enemy swarms. And then I¡¯ll just count on the imperial forces and May¡¯s ck Lotus for the rest.

    ¡°So we¡¯ll just run like heck and pray the support fire of our allies clears a path for us!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not a n at all, idiot!¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. We did mess up the battlefield quite a bit after all. But if the imperial forces stationed here are at least half-decent-¡±

    Laser bombardmentunched out from the direction of the defending imperial forces and swept away the small and medium-type crystal lifeforms hot on our tail.

    ¡°There you go. We just have to pay attention in order to not get caught up in the imperial fleet¡¯s bombardment, and we can slip away just fine.¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama! The imperial fleet sent us their bombardment trajectory data just now!¡±

    ¡°Seriously? Okay then. Ovey the data on the radar disy and HUD. We¡¯re gonna guide the enemies right into their sights.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Has May secured their cooperation? And they were keeping up with my maneuvers pretty darn well to boot. It¡¯s like they¡¯re already familiar with them-

    ¡°No. It can¡¯t be¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°What? Why are you getting all ominous on us at this timing!?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah. Let¡¯s hold out for just a little bit more guys.¡±

    The image of a certain blonde female major just shed in my head earlier, but there¡¯s no way she¡¯s out here with her anti-pirate fleet. I¡¯m sure it was just May being the skillful negotiator she is. I firmed my thoughts as I led the crystal lifeform train behind me around by their nonexistent noses.

    ¡°Man, that sure was thrilling. But I wonder how much we¡¯ll get as a reward this time?¡±

    An hourter, the crystal lifeform swarm was finally driven out of the sector. Once the bnce crumbled due to our actions, everything proceeded swimmingly. The medium-types were shot down one after another, and the small-types that lost their support were herded up and destroyed as well.

    They would have been able to press on much longer due to therge-types spewing out new lifeforms in droves, but we ended up shooting down 4 out of the 6rge-types hanging out at the back of the swarm with anti-ship reactive torpedoes. Since they lost most of their key units, they ended up being beaten down by the imperial defense fleet¡¯s bombardment.

    ¡°I¡¯m drained already¡­¡­ I wanna rest up soon.¡±

    ¡°Me too¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi and Elma slumped on their consoles with pale faces. They really were drained. Mentally that is. They wouldn¡¯t be so listless now if they just rxed a bit more earlier. They had me at the helm anyway. But I guess I did overdo it a bit and ended up frightening them. I should just act as the understanding captain that I am.

    ¡°What¡¯s with that expression, buster? I¡¯m gonna sock you, y¡¯now.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t. I¡¯ll die.¡±

    Even though Elma had a lithe and delicate-looking build, she possesses near wild animal-like power. She defeated me in seconds when we arm-wrestled a while back. Just where was she getting all that power from with thin arms like that? Maybe she was supplementing her physical strength with magic or something.

    ¡°This was the toughest jam we¡¯ve found ourselves in by far¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It was really hair-raising. Any misstep would have caused us to die.¡±

    ¡°And someone¡¯s all nonchnt about it.¡±

    Elma gave me a grudge-filled stare. But I often found myself battling swarms like those during my time ying SOL on Earth. Battles like these were presented as raid events in the game, and the numbers we faced there was even more overwhelming. It¡¯s to the point that I can already correctly identify their anatomy by heart now. Well, I guess it¡¯s different now that I¡¯m facing them in the flesh, but I still made sure I had enough of a safety margin.

    ¡°Let¡¯s return to ck Lotus, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll contact May-san right away.¡±

    I headed in the direction of ck Lotus¡¯ guide beacon. But when I arrived, I saw the familiar silhouette of a ship that was beside ck Lotus.

    ¡°Um, Hiro-sama. Isn¡¯t that ship¡­?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, it can¡¯t be. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s just the same model.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve already confirmed. It¡¯s Restalias.¡±

    ¡°How in the world!?¡±

    Why do I keep crossing paths with this troublesome major in this wide universe? In the first ce, this ain¡¯t somewhere the independent anti-pirate fleet should be in anyway. Rather, we already used a gateway, man. Why are we meeting them again here?

    ¡°Um, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a call from Restalias¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Okay.¡±

    I definitely can¡¯t ignore this call. As for why; that¡¯s because I need some sort of connection in the imperial military in order to maximize the rewards for our efforts this time. We did record battle data, but I¡¯m sure that with the help of an imperial military officer and a bona fide noble daughter like Major Serena, the process would significantly speed up. There would also be the possibility of even more benefits.

    ¡°Yes, this is Captain Hiro.¡±

    ¡ºIt¡¯s been a while, Captain Hiro. We really owe you this time.¡»

    ¡°It¡¯s my honor to help.¡±

    ¡º¡­¡­Hmm. Someone¡¯s polite today. Why don¡¯t you talk to me brazenly like always?¡»

    ¡°Please stop, major. I¡¯ll seriously die y¡¯know.¡±

    It¡¯s the same for Elma and Major Serena. If you mess around with them, the only thing waiting for you is a violent beating. Violence is no good y¡¯know. What about me, you ask? No, no. Can¡¯t you see I¡¯m a peace-loving guy? I only p people¡¯s faces with money after all.

    ¡ºAnyway, you can follow Restalias back to the base once we put everything back in order. We¡¯ll take your battle records as well. Don¡¯t worry. We won¡¯t take advantage of you.¡»

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am. Do you guys need some more help?¡±

    ¡ºThere¡¯s no need. Please return to your mothership and rest up for the time being. We¡¯ll contact your mothership if anything happens.¡»

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    I cut the call with Major Serena. Mimi and Elma disyed relieved expressions on their faces. The two of them really look tired, so I guess I¡¯ll just take Major Serena¡¯s suggestion and rest up at our mothership.

    ¡°Yosh. Let¡¯s go back then.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    After hearing their replies, I flew Krishna toward ck Lotus¡¯ hangar.

    Now then. She did say they won¡¯t take advantage of us, but how reliable was that promise, I wonder. I¡¯m getting a bad feeling again. This is probably gonna get troublesome.

 Chapter 144 â€“ The Militaryâ€™s Assessment

    <h4>Chapter 144 - The Military¡¯s Assessment</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Wee back.¡±

    ¡°Wee back, big brother.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m back.¡±

    We safely returned to ck Lotus and found the mechanic sisters waiting for us when we stepped out to the hangar. They were sporting their work overalls and led a bunch of maintenance bots. It looks like they were going to service the Krishna straight away.

    ¡°What about Big Sis Elma and Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Both of them are resting up inside their rooms on Krishna. Today¡¯s battle was hard on them mentally.¡±

    ¡°Well, of course, it was¡­¡­¡±

    Whisker disyed a pitying expression as she looked up at Krishna.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it was that bad¡­¡­ It was fairly safe actually.¡±

    ¡°You really do have a few screws loose, don¡¯t you, boss?¡±

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon?¡±

    ¡°You do¡­¡­ We watched the whole thing via ck Lotus¡¯s monitor y¡¯know. One small misstep and you guys were done for.¡±

    ¡°Well, don¡¯t you think avoiding crystal lifeforms is way easier than avoidingser cannon fire?¡±

    You can¡¯t technically avoid aser after all. Instead of avoidingser fire directly, you had to predict the trajectory in advance and get out of the way. If you couldn¡¯t, then you would just have to pray your shields and armor will hold out.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s wrong topare it toser bombardment in the first ce though¡­ Anyway, that¡¯s not the problem. Are you really not afraid of getting into a situation where one mistake will cost your life, boss?¡±

    ¡°Hm¡­¡­ If you put it that way, maybe it was a bit scary after all. But it¡¯s just a matter of getting used to it.¡±

    ¡°Is it?¡±

    ¡°Yep. It is. You¡¯ll be fine once you get used to the feeling.¡±

    I could only justify it like this. I would certainly be lying if I said that I feel absolutely no fear when ced in situations where one mistake can cause me to die, but in my opinion, it¡¯s much the same as driving cars back on Earth. If you made a mistake in handling while you¡¯re traversing the mountain roads, you¡¯d crash against the guardrail and possibly fall to your untimely death.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Anyway, we¡¯ll get right to servicing Krishna now boss.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, go ahead. We didn¡¯t get hit much, so just pay attention to the undercarriage, generator, and shield emitters, okay?¡±

    ¡°I get it, boss. Okay then. We¡¯ll get to work now.¡±

    ¡°Ou. Safety first.¡±

    ¡°Okey-dokey.¡±

    I want to stress the idea of ¡®safety first¡¯. But maybe it wasn¡¯t necessary after all. The maintenance bots would do most of the work anyway. But it sure is handy to have Krishna get maintenance anytime without having to go to port. Of course, there¡¯s a limit too, since we¡¯ll need to procure recement parts and supplies from time to time.

    After observing the work of the mechanic sisters and maintenance bots for a short while, I headed for the cockpit of ck Lotus.

    ¡°Wee back, Master.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m back. What¡¯s the situation?¡±

    ¡°The imperial garrison was very thorough in wiping out the remaining crystal lifeforms. They are currently in the phase of collecting and disposing of the remains.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s quite a lot out there huh.¡±

    ¡°Yes. But they can¡¯t be careless.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s true.¡±

    The remains of crystal lifeforms were fairly valuable. For example, they were used as materials for making the lensponents insideser cannons, alternative energy sources, among other utilities. However, it was very dangerous to get in contact with ¡®live¡¯ crystal remains. If you carelessly touch one barehanded, chances are you¡¯d end up getting your whole arm crystalized instead of just your fingers.

    There¡¯s also a danger of ¡®live¡¯ crystal remains gathering and reforming into a full crystal lifeform if you store enough numbers of them in close proximity. And so, the imperial military wouldb through the remains and retrieve only the useable ones while disposing of the unusable and live ones by incinerating them withser fire.

    But I wonder what happens to the loot retrieved by imperial forces though? Will they be part of the soldier¡¯s sries? Or maybe they¡¯ll go straight to the military¡¯s coffers. ¡­¡­Well, not that it matters to me anyway.

    ¡°This would probably take quite a bit of time huh.¡±

    ¡°ording to my estimate, it would take approximately 2 hours.¡±

    ¡°Sure is rough for the military folk. I¡¯d rather unload the delivery goods as soon as possible and get out of here quicker though¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I have already informed Major Serena about the goods. She will probably contact us soon.

    ¡ºThis is crazy.¡»

    I included Krishna¡¯s battle data as well as Restalias and ck Lotus¡¯s observation data in my report and handed them over to my superiors for evaluation. And when I mentioned giving Krishna and ck Lotus special rewards for their contributions in today¡¯s battle, my superiors reacted as such.

    Themanding officers for each of the fleets stationed in the Izrooks system were now participating in the meeting as well, and their reactions were much the same. But I do understand where they¡¯reing from. But that¡¯s just how crazy of an existence that man was.

    ¡ºI did wonder why there was a major change in the movement and attack patterns of the crystal lifeforms in the middle of today¡¯s battle, but to think something like this happened.¡»

    ¡ºCan we make use of this battle data somehow?¡»

    ¡ºYou mean analyzing this data and implementing it in our tactics? That would be possible if we would be allowed to put independent AIs into practical use but¡­¡­ it probably won¡¯t push through. Being consumed by the crystal lifeforms is fatal for the AIs as well. They also have a strong sense of self-preservation you know.¡»

    ¡ºIn the first ce, it¡¯s impossible for us to mass produce a specialized ship such as this¡­¡­ And even if we did, it would probably just turn out to be a kamikaze torpedo boat or something anyway.¡»

    ¡ºEven that would be more useful than those silly suppression ships though.¡»

    ¡ºOkay, please stop saying words of criticism against that particr model. You¡¯ll be challenged by the Drawn Sword faction members to a life and death duel if they ever got wind of it y¡¯know.¡»

    Discussions regarding the suppression ship certainly was a dangerous topic right now. I¡¯m not part of the Drawn Sword faction, but there were quite a lot of particrly fanatical members in the military after all.

    ¡°In my opinion, we should recognize the fact that they contributed greatly to tipping the bnce of the battle, so we should give them the appropriatepensation for their efforts.¡±

    There were quite a lot of assenting opinions after I stated my piece.

    ¡ºI agree that merits should be properly rewarded as well. That¡¯s especially true for them since they yed an essential part in our victory today.¡»

    ¡ºJudging from the battle data alone, this mercenary group really pulled out all the stops and didn¡¯t hold anything back. What should we do?¡»

    ¡ºWe¡¯ll just have to recognize their contributions. Their achievements are obvious to everyone. We¡¯ll need to inform the ounting department.¡»

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡±

    I was able to fulfill my promise to him at least. In any case, this can be considered a sess.

    ¡ºWill he be staying on the base for a while?¡»

    ¡°I wonder. I did hear they were nning to depart once they unload the supplies we hired them to deliver.¡±

    ¡ºIf possible, I want you to get him to stay for a while more. We want as much excellent personnel as we can right now.¡»

    ¡°I will try my best¡­¡­¡±

    It would probably be no use, but I didn¡¯t say my thoughts aloud. I¡¯ve already tried to entice him lots of times, but he just wouldn¡¯t budge. But when pushes to shove, there¡¯s only one way to ensure he¡¯ll stay here for the time being.

    ¡°I shall need your cooperation if we want him to stay.¡±

    ¡ºThe rest of themanding officers have acknowledged your merits, so you should be able to expect a satisfactory reward.¡»

    It¡¯s been an hour since I started watching the imperial military work earnestly to clean up the battlefield. A call from Major Serena¡¯s Restalias came in, so I was now talking to her again in front of the holo-disy.

    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. I¡¯ll be very disappointed if I worked that hard for nothing after all. Oh, right. Can I get my ammo resupplied as well? I used up four reactive torpedoes in the battle earlier too.¡±

    ¡ºI believe we still have some torpedoes on stock, so that should be no problem. We will give them to you free of charge, of course, so don¡¯t worry.¡»

    ¡°That would be great, but¡­¡­¡±

    I wonder. Aren¡¯t they being way too amodating? Uh, but maybe they¡¯re just feeling really thankful for my timely assistance or something¡­? My trouble sensor was giving off an rm right now.

    ¡ºWe have verified the details of the delivery as well, so pleasend inside the outpost for the time being. The ounting department will get in contact with your regarding your payment for the delivery as well as your rewards for today¡¯s battleter on.¡»

    ¡°Good¡­¡­ But I wonder if you¡¯re nning something shady again, miss major?¡±

    ¡ºMy. Of course not. What made you say so?¡»

    I couldn¡¯t glean anything from Major Serena¡¯s expression. She¡¯ll act like a no-good onee-san when she¡¯s drunk, but when she¡¯s in her element, she¡¯s an exemry military officer. If it was May, she would probably be able to notice something by observing the subtle changes in her reactions, but unfortunately, I can¡¯t do the same.

    ¡°¡­¡­Oh well. I guess I¡¯ll just express my thanks then. We¡¯llnd the ck Lotus on the outpost then.¡±

    ¡ºYes. The warning rm for crystal lifeform attacks has deactivated, so it¡¯s probably safe now, but do still be careful.¡»

    ¡°Roger. Oh yeah. I have some dwarven liquor on stock right now actually. Can I sell them to some of the soldiers in the baseter?¡±

    ¡ºWe are a little short on leisure items like that, so it¡¯s good timing, I think. You¡¯ll be able to sell them at a good price. Of course, I¡¯ll be purchasing some as well.¡»

    ¡°Don¡¯t overdrink like before, okay.¡±

    ¡ºOf course.¡»

    Major Serena¡¯s perfect smile twitched after hearing my warning. I guess she just remembered the mess she caused in the Alein system. Major Serena still owes us for that as well. Well, I guess we can count her help this time as a form of repayment.

    ¡°See you then. Be careful out there.¡±

    ¡ºYes. If you¡¯ll excuse me.¡»

    Major Serena nodded back and cut the call.

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°I believe they want Master to stay here and help out as part of the fighting force.¡±

    ¡°I thought so too.¡±

    Well, I guess I could ept if they offer me appropriatepensation. It¡¯s the military, so they probably would not neglect to pay up. But it¡¯s possible that they¡¯ll overestimate my ability and have me do something ridiculous as well though. There are things I can and can¡¯t do¡­¡­ If they ever tell me something like dealing with a crystal lifeform swarm by myself, that would be absolutely impossible. But I¡¯m sure they¡¯re aware of that as well, so they probably won¡¯t ask something that unreasonable.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s fine as long as they don¡¯t request something too ridiculous.¡±

    ¡°We will be able to take advantage of this opportunity to make further connections with the imperial military as well.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s that too. Let¡¯s just do our best then.¡±

    In SOL, this would be ssified as a faction quest. Basically, you¡¯d be able to increase affinity points with a certain faction by taking up various jobs for them. That would you various useful benefits. When ying as a mercenary, you¡¯d find it much easier to increase your affinity with the military. The one that offers and pays the bounties for pirates is the military after all.

    As your affinity points with the military gradually increase, you¡¯d be able to take on lots more subjugation quests, get ammo and supply discounts when purchasing them from the military, and in some cases, will be offered military-grade equipment that¡¯s normally not avable to the general public. Sometimes, you get them for free as quest rewards. It¡¯s a very good faction to raise affinity for mercenary yers. Of course, if you get all chummy with a certain country¡¯s military forces, you¡¯d be viewed with hostility by pacifist organizations and the forces of enemy nations, so it¡¯s not all sunshine and rainbows.

    ¡°And I probably shouldn¡¯t expect the benefits to be just how it was in the game¡­¡­¡±

    This world was simr to SOL, but the conditions for getting along with the military aren¡¯t as clear cut as in the game. This wasn¡¯t a game after all. There¡¯s a good chance we¡¯ll be dragged into something troublesome.

    ¡°I hope it¡¯s nothing too troublesome though.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s as you say, Master. But I do not know if that sentiment of yours will be realized though.¡±

    So you¡¯re saying it¡¯s almost certain I was going to be caught up in something troublesome?

    Well, I was actually thinking the same thing. There have been lots of gs popping up after all. We got caught up in a crystal lifeform raid the moment we arrived and met the imperial officer we formed a certain connection with. There¡¯s no way this would end without any incident¡­¡­ Yeah, that¡¯s right. Let¡¯s just keep our wits about then.

 Chapter 145 â€“ Major Serenaâ€™s Invitation

    <h4>Chapter 145 - Major Serena¡¯s Invitation</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    We were quickly given permission to dock at the imperial military outpost without much fuss. Maybe they¡¯ve already done the necessary procedures in advance, or maybe the officer in charge of the approval process took into ount our cargo of luxury goods. Or perhaps they just really wanted to get their hands on the newly developed special shells by Space Dwerg Co. Ltd. and proceed with live testing as soon as possible. ¡­¡­Well, whatever the case may be, we¡¯ve sessfullynded at our destination. It¡¯s great that we didn¡¯t have to wait for a long time before we got permission tond.

    ¡°Man. We really have nothing to do right now huh.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right¡­¡­ Haaah.¡±

    I and Elma were idling inside ck Lotus¡¯ break room since we really were quite free right now. Mimi and May went out of the ship in order toplete the delivery request and set up shop for selling leisure goods we brought with us. Thus, Elma and I were left idling about.

    Oh, and the mechanic sisters were busy performing maintenance on the ships. They had to check Krishna out since I pushed it a lot in the earlier battle, and ck Lotus fired its weapons like crazy too, so they had to check those out as well.

    ¡°Go ahead and sleep if you want to.¡±

    ¡°Nn¡­¡­ Okay.¡±

    Elma moved next to me and leaned on my shoulder as she prepared to take a nap. Uh, I did say you could take a nap, but you didn¡¯t have to use my shoulder as a pillow y¡¯know. Well, I guess this is fine too.

    Soon after, I heard Elma¡¯s soft breathing as she drifted off to dreand. I then picked up my tablet terminal and started to gather intel. May already put together a detailed report earlier, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt to do some info gathering myself.

    I first searched for info regarding the crystal lifeform activity in this sector. It seems that this base has a history of being sporadically attacked by the creatures ever since its inception. The attacks have been growing fiercer recently, so the imperial military has been deploying more and more forces to hold the fort. I tried to search for info about the spawn point of the crystal lifeforms next, but it looks like they haven¡¯t managed to find it yet.

    That¡¯s strange though. Usually, finding the spawn point is of the utmost priority, so why haven¡¯t they found it by now? They usually nest in systems with pulsars after all. It shouldn¡¯t be that hard to find it. I don¡¯t know the exact details, but I¡¯ve read that the crystal lifeforms make use of the electromaic waves and x-rays emitted by pulsars as energy sources, and then encroach and devour the surroundings in order to propagate.

    In SOL, before they implemented the crystal lifeforms, they first released several chain quests that required yers to investigate the new and mysterious enemy units. That¡¯s where I got the info. I was already a veteran mercenary yer at that time, so I participated in quite a few crystal lifeform extermination quests, as well as rescue and retrieval quests in systems encroached by them. Arge part of the info about the crystal lifeforms was gathered by the hardworking explorer yers.

    ¡°I wonder if the investigation regarding crystal lifeforms is still ongoing in this dimension, so they still ain¡¯t aware of this particr piece of info¡­¡­?¡±

    I sighed as I continued browsing my tablet terminal. It¡¯s quite possible, actually. This dimension really resembles SOL, but it¡¯s not like they¡¯repletely simr. My in-game knowledge won¡¯t always apply, so I have to keep my wits about. The specialty products and needed goods of star systems that specialize in certain industries as well as the general specs of the ships are pretty much the same as what they were in the game.

    However, there were also quite a few ship models I haven¡¯t encountered in the game here, as well as other factors that were fairly different from what I remember. For example, maidroids like May weren¡¯t present in the game at all. In fact, as far as I know, there didn¡¯t seem to be highly advanced independent AIs implemented in SOL at all. It¡¯s these factors that are real headscratchers for me.

    In any case, I decided to postpone investigating the mysteries of this dimension for the time being and put up the star map of the Izrooks system on the break room¡¯srge holo-disy. Let¡¯s see here. Where are the pulsar systems within Izrooks system located¡­¡­? Over here huh. ¡®It¡¯s pretty close¡­¡­¡¯ I murmured as I took note of the coordinates of the pulsar system. While I was immersed in gathering info, the ringtone of my portable terminal went off. I made sure not to disturb Elma as I checked out the caller ID and tapped the screen to ept the call.

    ¡ºAra, you picked up real quick¡­¡­ Were you actually waiting for my call?¡»

    ¡°Nope.¡±

    I moved my portable terminal so that the smiling Major Serena would be able to see Elma sleeping blissfully on my shoulder.

    ¡º¡­¡­Are you showing off your harmonious rtionship, perhaps?¡»

    When I moved the terminal back, the smile was gone from Major Serena¡¯s face.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any such intention. I was quick in picking up the call because I didn¡¯t want to wake her up and was busying myself gathering info using my terminal. So, what is your business with me today, Major?¡±

    ¡ºI shall be direct with you then. We have a new request for you.¡»

    ¡°Let me guess. Does it have something to do with fighting off the crystal lifeforms?¡±

    ¡ºI¡¯m d you¡¯re quick on the uptake. We want to employ you and your ships to help us fight off the crystal lifeforms. As for how long, it would probably be for about thirty days for now.¡»

    ¡°For now, huh¡­ Hey, I have absolutely no ns of wasting my time here and get gradually cornered by you, okay?¡±

    ¡ºYou have the right to refuse, of course. You¡¯re not part of the military after all. You¡¯re a bold and free pro mercenary. It would be impossible for us to restrain you and keep you here in the first ce. We also have to consider our rtions with the Mercenary Guild.¡»

    ¡°I see. So, what about our reward?¡±

    This was the most important point.

    ¡ºThe ounting department is going over it now. I cannot give an exact figure, but you can expect a fairlyrge sum for your contributions this time.¡»

    ¡°I see. Okay then. I¡¯ll give you my answer once the reward amount gets decided and after I look up the particrs of the request.¡±

    I won¡¯t promise anything though. There are also things impossible for me to do. For example, there¡¯s no way I would have been able to resolve the earlier battle all by my lonesome. I¡¯ll be really troubled if they put too many expectations on me. And furthermore, I¡¯ve been entrusted with the lives of Mimi, Elma, and the newly joined mechanic sisters. Thus, I can¡¯t just rashly ept requests without taking the possible dangers into ount.

    ¡ºI thought you¡¯d say that. Anyway, I just wanted you to know our intention to employ you in advance. And since we¡¯re the ones greatly in need of assistance this time, you can expect additional rewards apart from Enels.¡»

    ¡°What sort of other rewards, exactly?¡±

    ¡ºWe can allow you to procure military-grade weaponry from us. There are certain limits, of course.¡»

    ¡°I admit, that¡¯s certainly tempting.¡±

    It was quite difficult to procure military-grade weapon systems even in SOL after all. You¡¯ll only be able to obtain them by doing a ton of troublesome quests for the military and raising your affinity points by a great amount. Their performance and specs were, not just one, but two or more ranks above weapons sold to the general public. It was deemed an utmost priority for top ranking mercenary yers to obtain their fair share of military-grade weaponry.

    With that factored in, Krishna was a very unique ship, since it had such weapon systems at its disposal from the get-go.

    ¡ºIsn¡¯t it? Please do consider our request.¡»

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    It¡¯s a really tempting offer, but I¡¯m still not making any definite promises. There¡¯s just something off with that perfect smile of yours, my dear major.

    ¡°Let¡¯s set aside the reward amount first. What exactly do you want me to do anyway?¡±

    ¡ºBasically, we want you to help in the investigation regarding the location of the crystal lifeforms¡¯ nest. We will dispatch fleets for this operation, and we want you to tag along with them as an escort while they survey and investigate the surrounding star systems.¡»

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    Dispatching survey fleets to the surrounding systems huh¡­¡­ It looks like they really don¡¯t know that crystal lifeforms build their nests in pulsar systems huh. If they knew, they wouldn¡¯t be doing something this tedious. Well, I can¡¯t say it¡¯spletely pointless though. Those guys often consume the asteroid belts of the surrounding star systems once they¡¯ve stored up enough energy from pulsars after all. Cleaning up the crystal lifeforms that are consuming the surrounding systems is fairly important too.

    But unless you find and destroy the Mother Crystal, it¡¯ll just be an unending game of whack-a-mole.

    ¡ºWhat¡¯s wrong?¡»

    ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s just I¡¯ve heard from somewhere that crystal lifeforms often build nests in pulsar systems.¡±

    ¡º¡­¡­Is that info credible? What¡¯s your source?¡»

    ¡°I just said I¡¯ve only heard of it from somewhere. I also don¡¯t remember where exactly I heard of it.¡±

    They¡¯d probably just think I¡¯m crazy if I told them I leaned it through ying a game in my home dimension. And besides, I¡¯m also not sure if that info still applied here, so it¡¯s not like I can vouch for its authenticity. I can only act like this to not cause any undue suspicion.

    ¡º¡­¡­My fleet is actually the one scheduled to go on a scouting mission next.¡»

    ¡°Heee¡­¡­ Oh, right. What are you guys actually doing here anyway, major? I believe your fleet is specialized in dealing with pirates, so whye here?¡±

    ¡ºOur gship, Restalias, is one of the newest state-of-the-art models fielded by the military right now. It can both serve as themand center and has firepower and speed above most of its peers in the cruiser ss. We¡¯ve built a reputation of covering a lot of ground ever since our inception, so the higher-ups also make use of our fleet to deliver military supplies via long-distance warps from time to time.¡»

    ¡°So while you were in the middle of that, you got caught up in the mess here, right?¡±

    ¡ºIt¡¯s outside of our original purpose, but serving here would lead to the safety of the imperial citizens under our protection as well, and we can¡¯t really abandon ourrades to face the threat alone either.¡»

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Man. Folks in the military sure had a lot on their tes as well. Major Serena was apparently the daughter of a marquis, so that might have factored in as well.

    ¡ºAnd so, please take our request, okay?¡»

    ¡°I¡¯ll discuss it with my crew first and then get back to you.¡±

    C¡¯mon. That bright smile just seems shady as all heck to me, Miss major. Please just cut it out.

 Chapter 146 â€“ Request Completion, Payment, and Rewards

    <h4>Chapter 146 - Request Completion, Payment, and Rewards</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°¡­¡­Good morning.¡±

    ¡°Ou. How about you wash your face and freshen up first?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Elma went out of the break room while yawning. Major Serena was as persistent as ever, but since I¡¯ve already been taken for a ride once, I didn¡¯t bite the bait carelessly this time. I kept dodging the issue and told her I had other business to attend to before dropping the call.

    And I contacted Mimi, May, and the mechanic sisters while making sure not to disturb Elma and told them to gather at the break room for a meeting.

    In any case, we finallypleted the transport request and earned a total of 1,500,000 Enels. We got that much probably due to the fact that this was a pretty dangerous sector as well as our fast delivery speed. However, we did get scolded by the guild staff for engaging inbat while still carrying the cargo we¡¯re supposed to deliver.

    Mm. But it can¡¯t be helped y¡¯know! I think we weren¡¯t really in any danger for the most part because we warped out to somewhere well within the range of the imperial fleet¡¯s support fire, but I¡¯ll try to be more careful next time. If the situation allows it, that is.

    I feel bad for the Commerce Guild, but in the end, my main affiliation is with the Mercenary Guild. I definitely won¡¯t miss out on battles that¡¯ll me lots of rewards. If they find that disagreeable, then I¡¯ll just have to continue with the trading side-gig without their support.

    The good thing about delivery jobs is that they¡¯re fairly simple. You just carry the cargo and deliver it to somewhere to make a tidy profit while performing some interster trading on the side. You can definitely amass a fortune if you do it long enough. Or rather, why are they stillining in the first ce? I mean, I did deliver the goods safely and made it way earlier than the specified deadline to boot.

    I sent a reply to the Commerce Guild with those sentiments.

    ¡ºIt¡¯s not that we don¡¯t trust your capabilities. We just made a suggestion with the usual business practices in mind. We will still count on you to fulfill jobs from us in the future. We¡¯re looking forward to a healthy working rtionship with you.¡»

    That was the reply that they sent back. Hm? Why the sudden change in tune? Did they underestimate Mimi when they saw that she was a young girl and thought they could get away with a little intimidation? Man, there sure are a lot of troublesome characters out there.

    ¡ºYou sure are scary, boss.¡»

    A message popped up on the app from an ount with an avatar of an anthropomorphic cartoon character that looked like a red spanner. It should be from Tina.

    ¡ºWell, we can¡¯t have them underestimating us mercenaries after all. If we just turned tail from that battle and insisted on just delivering the goods, we¡¯ll be looked down upon by other mercenaries as well.¡»

    An avatar of a cartoon one-eyed alien nodding repeatedly while crossing its arms popped out next. I told her to freshen up, but she actually joined the convo from the bathroom? Was she brushing her teeth as well or something?

    ¡ºThe mercenary business is also quiteplicated, isn¡¯t it?¡»

    This time, the message was from an ount with a blue hammer cartoon character avatar. This one should be Whisker. But the avatar characters of the sisters looked like super-deformed macho uncles, so it felt quite awkward. Why the heck are they using such avatars anyway?

    ¡ºUu¡­¡­ I slipped up on my first assignment, Hiro-sama.¡»

    An avatar resembling a cartoon rendition of a squirrel-creature mixed with a cat slumped down in dejection. Well, lots of folks judge other people by looks alone, so it really can¡¯t be helped. Maybe her atmosphere would change if she wore sses. How about I get a pair of non-prescription sses for Mimi next time. Then she¡¯ll change into a reliable-looking secretary¡­¡­ Nah, it wouldn¡¯t work. Mimi looked like your cute girl-next-door type no matter what she wore after all.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Don¡¯t let it get to you. Just face everything with a smile next time. It¡¯ll be alright.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°And you did manage to make a tidy profit from selling the goods we brought, right? You don¡¯t have to feel ashamed about anything.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes!¡±

    The goods we brought sold like hotcakes, it seems. Customers came in droves as soon as they put up the goods for sale, and they emptied our entire stock pretty quickly. Our total profits from trading this time were 330,000 Enels. After discussing with her, it was decided that Mimi¡¯s bonus will be 3% of the total profits, so she¡¯ll have a cut of 9,900 Enels this time. My share will be 320,100 Enels.

    And as for the 1.5 million Enel payment we got forpleting the delivery request, we decided to base everyone¡¯s cut on the usual percentages, so Mimi will get 15,000 Enels. Elma will get 45,000 Enels. My share will be 1,440,000 Enels.

    So my total share this time will be 1,760,000 Enels, all in all. A part of it will go to the maintenance costs of the ships, port fees, as well as everyone¡¯s daily living expenses. The port fees aren¡¯t a joke y¡¯know. The Lotus was a fairlyrge ship, so the fee for it is significantly higher than Krishna¡¯s.

    By the way, the mechanic sisters won¡¯t be getting a cut this time. They would only receive a bonus if they yed an active part in fulfilling a job, so most of the time, they¡¯ll only get a cut from the money earned from selling the salvaged parts of defeated pirate ships or the pirate ships themselves.

    ¡°So, um, there¡¯s a request from the major¡­ or rather, from the imperial military.¡±

    ¡°Well, it depends on how much they¡¯re offering, I guess.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s how it is after all huh. They still haven¡¯t contacted us again, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The imperial military still hasn¡¯t reached out to us as of now.¡±

    I checked with May, who was now standing right behind me, but it looks like the ounting department of the imperial military still hasn¡¯t contacted us yet.

    ¡°Does it usually take this long?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps they are having a hard time deciding the final amount since there is no precedent.¡±

    ¡°No precedent? But isn¡¯t itmon for mercenaries to intervene in military battles and ask for rewards after?¡±

    It wasmon for mercenary yers to plunge right into active battlefields and fish for profits. That¡¯s how I earned most of the money for equipment and ship upgrades back when I was just starting out in SOL.

    ¡°I believe the problem is that the weight of the merits you raised is far too valuable, Master. You did manage to almost singlehandedly tip the battle in the imperial military¡¯s favor after all.¡±

    ¡°You basically went for a crazy kamikaze charge and came outughing, after all, you dolt.¡±

    I don¡¯t think I did anything that reckless though. I left enough of a safety margin y¡¯know. And it¡¯s all backed by solid experience. I did get shot down a lot before I managed to get the hang of it back when I was ying SOL though¡­¡­ But, yeah. I guess people from this dimension wouldn¡¯t normally get the hang of the maneuvers I employed like I did since one miss would lead to their deaths for real. If you get struck down in the middle of a crystal lifeform swarm here, you¡¯ll just end up being consumed.

    ¡°Master destroyed fourrge-type crystal lifeforms, thereby greatly undermining their capability to rapidly field units in battle, and attracted arge number of small and medium-types in order to herd them to the imperial defense fleet¡¯s bombardment range. Although I believe the imperial military still suffered losses, they were greatly mitigated due to your actions. Those achievements are enough for you to be conferred full military honors and an honorary noble peerage, I believe.¡±

    ¡°Eeeeh!?¡±

    ¡°Yep. You might be awarded a medal of honor and granted the title of an honorary knight.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Can I actually refuse?¡±

    Getting some marypensation and a medal isn¡¯t much of a problem. But getting an honorary title totally smells like trouble. Geh. Somehow, I got a vision of a ck-haired young noble girl waving at me with a suggestive smile.

    I didn¡¯t really hate being with Chris, but bing a noble will just cause me some major hassles, so I¡¯d rather not have anything to do with it at all. Ugh. Now I¡¯m getting a vision of Chris and Major Serena forcefully pulling each of my hands.

    When ites to power and influence, it seems that House Holz, which was headed by a marquis, had an edge over the Daleinwald House, which was only headed by an earl. But there¡¯s also the fact that Chris and I once shared the same bed. Of course, I didn¡¯ty a hand on Chris at all, but I kinda feel like if that terrifying granpa earl ever got wind of it, he¡¯lle chasing after me with swords in hand and force me to take responsibility.

    But wait! Didn¡¯t Major Serena stay on my ship that one time as well? She was the one who boarded the ship unannounced of course. And she even got drunk and made a mess. If she ever managed to record that particr incident, she¡¯ll have solid evidence to use against me, and it¡¯ll turn into a big mess for sure.

    ¡°Given Hiro-sama¡¯s goal, wouldn¡¯t it be convenient for you if you gained a title?¡±

    ¡°Boss¡¯s goal?¡±

    ¡°He wants to purchase a detached house with a garden on a residential and live there.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s definitely one heck of a goal.¡±

    In addition to purchasing a house, you¡¯d also need first-ss citizenship in order to live on a within the empire. If you get knighted, you¡¯d automatically be given first-ss citizenship, and you would also be able to purchase a lot and a house on a at a lower price than usual.

    ¡°Well, I guess it¡¯s true that I¡¯ll be one step closer to my goal if I ept the title¡­ Geh! Why are we talking like it¡¯s already a done deal anyway? There¡¯s no need to dwell on that right now!¡±

    ¡°Running away from reality isn¡¯t a solution y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry about something that hasn¡¯t happened yet. It¡¯s ridiculous to be stressed out by something that¡¯s still not set in stone. And anyway, Major Serena should know full well that I don¡¯t like being tied down like that. She should be aware that forcing me into such a thing will just put a dent in our current rtionship.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true as well.¡±

    Mimi nodded at my words. I¡¯m right, aren¡¯t I? And if worsees to worst, I could always just run away. I have absolutely no intention of abandoning a carefree mercenary life. I¡¯ll dly ept a medal if it didn¡¯t have any strings attached though.

    ¡°That¡¯s such a waste. I think it would be awesome if you became a noble, boss.¡±

    ¡°Rising to a noble status from being amoner is the ideal sess story for most imperial citizens, isn¡¯t it, sis?¡±

    The mechanic sisters were talking like it was that simple, but was bing a noble really all that great? You¡¯d gain lots of benefits, of course, but you¡¯ll also be burdened with loads of responsibilities. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to continue living as a carefree merc if that ever happens.

    ¡°I¡¯m not good at socializing with uppity folks, so bing a noble is definitely a no-go.¡±

    ¡°Ara. It¡¯s not like attending social parties is all there is to being a noble you know. And knights may be ssified as nobles, but they are still treated as halfmoners by the rest of noble society, so they¡¯re not that well regarded.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel like being looked down upon due to my noble rank as well. Instead of something stuffy like that, I¡¯d rather raise my mercenary rank to tinum.¡±

    ¡°And you think that goal would be any easier to achieve¡­¡­? But hold on a bit. Why are you so against bing a noble anyway? Do you have any unpleasant memories regarding it?¡±

    ¡°Unpleasant memories¡­¡­? Nah, it¡¯s nothing like that. I just think it¡¯s more trouble than it¡¯s worth. It just doesn¡¯t click with me, y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Who knows. You might get to like it once you be one.¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡­ Let¡¯s just stop. This talk is over! Discussion end.¡±

    ¡°Eeeh?¡±

    Tina pursed her lips in a pout. You¡¯re just having a st by making fun of me, aren¡¯t you? I¡¯ll remember this.

    ¡°Oh, it seems the ounting department of the imperial military already contacted the Mercenary Guild.¡±

    ¡°Oooh! That¡¯s some great timing, ain¡¯t it? What did they say?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ Your efforts in the previous battle greatly contributed to our victory against the enemy forces and saved the lives of countless soldiers. In recognition of your achievements, we grant you a prize of 3,000,000 Enels and the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal.¡±

    ¡°I have absolutely no idea about that Silver Sword Wings Assault medal or whatever, but 3 million Enels ain¡¯t bad at all.¡±

    I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s a fair amount, but it¡¯s quite a lot regardless. In Japanese Yen, it would be about 300 million. If it was on Earth, it would be enough tost me a lifetime.

    ¡°Butpared to that 3 mil, the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal¡¯s a lot more surprising, ain¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with it after all¡­ Is it that amazing? It sure sounds fancy though.¡±

    I was more interested in the design. Will it look like a sword with a wing-shaped sword guard? Or maybe a fighter unit with sword-shaped wings.

    ¡°It¡¯s the same as what Mimi-sama read aloud earlier. It is a medal awarded to those who greatly contributed to a battle or battles involving the imperial military and saved the lives of many soldiers. ording to the records in the database, it has been 12 years and 7 months since such a medal has been awarded to a mercenary in the Gran empire. Only a total of 17 mercenaries have received such an award in the entire history of the empire, including you, Master.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Hm? Then what about the battle at Termaine system¡­? Uh, no, I guess that one doesn¡¯t count huh.¡±

    I did raise simr achievements when we were in the Termaine system, but I did so by using a Singing Crystal, which was considered an illegal item. They couldn¡¯t possibly recognize me for that because using a Singing Crystal in order to win a battle can be considered as hical employment of a weapon of mass destruction and vites certain rules of war.

    ¡°So, does it have any special benefits attached to it?¡±

    ¡°Within the Gran empire, the recipient of such a medal will be treated the same as a nobleman with the title of Knight.¡±

    ¡°You look like you¡¯ve swallowed something disgusting, but it¡¯s fine y¡¯know. It¡¯s not like you¡¯ve really be a noble anyway. He¡¯ll also receive a yearly pension, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Master will be receiving a 150,000 Enel pension per year.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Ain¡¯t that too stingy?¡±

    You can¡¯t even upgrade a Zabuton ship with that kind of money. How awkward.

    ¡°No, it isn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just that your sense of value for money is really out there, boss. You¡¯ll be able to live itrge without working for the rest of your life if you get 150,000 yearly y¡¯know.¡±

    Whisker and Tina shot me down immediately. I see¡­¡­ That¡¯s how it is, huh. These mechanic sisters have themon sense of normal citizens living in this world after all. Yeah. Come to think of it, a yearly pension of 15,000,000 Yen does sound quite a lot.

    ¡°I won¡¯t get dragged into anything troublesome if I ept it, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I believe it¡¯s okay, Master.¡±

    ¡°Okay then. Go ahead and tell them we dly ept, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°U-Understood¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi fiddled with her tablet terminal nervously and startedposing a reply. The rewards seemed excellent for the most part. That just leaves the new request. Judging from this, I think we can expect it to be worthwhile as well.

 Chapter 147- Award for Distinguished Service and Briefing

    <h4>Chapter 147- Award for Distinguished Service and Briefing</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    It¡¯s now the next day after Mimi confirmed my eptance of the award. A formal invitation by the imperial military came just this morning. It seems they will hold a simple eptance ceremony, so I was told to go to the B-3 block of the imperial forward base.

    ¡°If I knew there would be something this troublesome as an eptance ceremony, I wouldn¡¯t have said yes¡­¡­¡±

    We were in the dining room of ck Lotus.

    We gathered here and held a celebration of sorts for the sessfulpletion of our first transport and trading job among other things. May didn¡¯t join in the revelry though since she preferred not to eat. She told me she had some other business to take care of, but I wonder what she¡¯s up to.

    ¡°You really don¡¯t like the idea all that much, do you?¡±

    Elma addressed me with furrowed brows and a slightly puzzled look. She held a metallic drinking mug in one hand. It seems it was a sort of high-tech mug that always maintained the optimum temperature for enjoying different drinks. I¡¯m not even gonna ask how much that item costs, but why don¡¯t you pay at least a portion of your debt to me before buying stuff like that first, you troublesome elf.

    ¡°It¡¯s really unusual. It sure makes me wonder why you hate it that much, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. And Boss seems to be the type to get really hyped and carried away whenever he gets praised too.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi and Elma tilted their heads as Tina said something rather rude. Just what type of person do you think I am!? And you don¡¯t have to follow up on your sister¡¯s im, Whisker.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a definite reason, but I really just don¡¯t feel like going through things like that¡­¡­ And it has Major Serena involved y¡¯know. That¡¯s nothing but trouble.¡±

    ¡°Then it can¡¯t be helped, I guess.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I now understand why you feel that way, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Right?¡±

    Elma and Mimi nodded at my words in understanding.

    ¡°Oh boy. Based on Boss and everyone¡¯s reactions, I¡¯m now super curious about that Major Serena person.¡±

    ¡°I think it would be better if you don¡¯t get involved with someone like that, big sis. That¡¯s what I feel anyway.¡±

    You sure are perceptive, Whisker. There¡¯s this saying: ¡®A wise man keeps away from danger.¡¯ I¡¯m not sure if this dimension has something simr, but it sure is apt in this situation.

    ¡°In any case, you¡¯ve already agreed to ept the award, so you have to go.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­ Haaah, oh well. I better just get it over with.¡±

    The sliding door of the dining room opened and May entered.

    ¡°¡­¡­? Why are you carrying something like those along?¡±

    May had the noble swords I received from Earl Daleinwald with her. She had them with her, but she hadn¡¯t equipped them. She was holding them in her hands as normal. She also brought some sort of belt with her.

    The swords May was carrying was part of our spoils after putting down a viinous nobleman. Or rather, they were semi-forcibly given to us by a grumpy old guy who was actually the father of the said viinous nobleman¡­

    ¡°I hope you¡¯ll wear these on you when you attend the award ceremony, Master. I shall be apanying you as well.¡±

    ¡°O-Okay¡­¡­?¡±

    I don¡¯t get it. I don¡¯t get what May¡¯s thinking at all¡­¡­! These types of swords are basically the symbols of imperial nobility. Though there¡¯s now that specifically prohibits non-nobles from having them, most ordinary folks don¡¯t wear such swords on their person anyway. That¡¯s because some nobles may get offended if they saw amoner freely unting them around. They might even challenge you to a life and death duel over it. Scary.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any intention of getting into a life and death duel with a scary aristocrat though?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no problem if it¡¯s you, Master. You are already considered an honorary knight due to the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal, so it would be better if you brought these swords with you.¡±

    ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡­ Well, isn¡¯t it fine?¡±

    I tried to ask Elma for confirmation, and she didn¡¯t find any issue with it as well.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t get where you¡¯reing from, guys. Can somebody just please exin this to me in detail?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m all familiar with it myself you know. But if you carry those swords with you, it would indirectly imply your rtionship with Earl Daleinwald, right? There¡¯s May too. She¡¯s an imperial independent AI. The nobles in this country can¡¯t really put their hands on imperial independent AIs like her. Well, at least not openly. In other words, this is in order to reign in Major Serena and her schemes.¡±

    ¡°So they¡¯re like charms to ward off bad luck or something?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess. That¡¯s your intention, right?¡±

    May silently nodded at Elma¡¯s question. I see. So it¡¯s to avoid troublesome stuff huh. Guess I gotta bring them then. I took the two swords and the belt from May and strapped them on. Un, this is actually kinda cool.

    ¡°Would it be better to carry these around with me often from now on?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I believe so. You¡¯ll be fine walking around with them since you¡¯ll receive the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal, Master. From now on, you will effectively be treated as an honorary knight of the Gran empire and part of imperial nobility.¡±

    ¡°But isn¡¯t there a chance of attracting trouble as well?¡±

    ¡°There will be no problems for people who received a Silver Sword Wings Assault medal. On the contrary, it would allow you to ward off trouble, so you had better wear the medal on your person as well.¡±

    ¡°Whoah. That medal¡¯s a bigger deal than I thought¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes. A living person receiving such a medal is exceedingly rare after all.¡±

    Eh?

    ¡°The recipients of the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal are those who have rendered exceedingly remarkable merits in battles. Those who receive such a medal usually render such merits by charging headfirst into the middle of enemy forces. Normally, such actions often lead to their deaths.¡±

    ¡°In other words, it¡¯s highly unusual for a living person to receive such a medal, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. And most likely, others will be wary of antagonizing such an individual.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯ll be treated like a really sharp knife or something?¡±

    ¡°What kind of weird analogy is that, boss?¡±

    Oh, thank you very much for that equally sharp retort, Tina. I¡¯ll treat you to some juice next time. Or maybe you prefer booze?

    ¡°In other words, people who have a Silver Sword Wings Assault medal are treated as really amazing individuals who shouldn¡¯t be provoked cuz they might not be able to handle the consequences.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a crude way to put it, but that¡¯s how it is, basically.¡±

    ¡°As I expected, should I actually decline receiving that thing after all?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s no good.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I thought so.¡±

    I tried to bring Mimi and Elma along with me, but they said they¡¯ll refrain this time, and the mechanic sisters declined as well because they weren¡¯t really involved in the battle and their status as personnel dispatched by a privatepany. So in the end, the only one who came along with me was May. We both headed to the B-3 block of the base.

    I felt lots of gazes were gathering toward me due to me wearing noble swords on my waist and May following me around. No, maybe they were just stunned by May¡¯s beauty or something. Yeah, that¡¯s it. That has to be it. In any case, I¡¯ll just treat it that way.

    ¡°Should I actually train in swordsmanship after this?¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s what you wish, Master. Leave the training n to me.¡±

    ¡°Please start with the basics then¡­¡­¡±

    It feels really awkward to bring swords around without any idea how to use them after all. Swords aren¡¯t weapons that you can use just by randomly swinging them around¡­¡­ I remember reading in a book that if one doesn¡¯t know proper swordsmanship, swords would be nothing but useless sticks. Uh, but maybe I could get away with it after all. These swords were way too sharp anyway.

    ¡°Please leave it to me, Master.¡±

    May seemed really pumped up about it for some reason. It¡¯s nice that she¡¯s filled with enthusiasm, but since her specs are off the charts, she might identally turn me into a stain on the wall if she doesn¡¯t control her strength. So please go easy on me, okay.

    I kept imploring the pumped up May to go easy on me during training until we finally reached our destination. It looks like there were other people aside from me who would also receive some form of award. They were lined up in front of the entrance. I approached the crowd and tried to observe them.

    There were lots of military officers present among them, but there were also folks who looked like mercenaries. But there was no one else who had a maidroid tagging along with them like me. I guess that¡¯s to be expected. Or maybe maidroids aren¡¯t actually that popr?

    A young-looking mercenary male who wasst in line noticed me and gave me a once-over. It was as if he was ascertaining my caliber. I also gave the guy a once-over myself.

    He looked rtively young. He had finely chiseled features, so I couldn¡¯t get an estimate of his actual age, but he didn¡¯t seem older than me, at least. He had aser gun on him, plus another weapon I couldn¡¯t quite ce on a scabbard-like pouch. He was wearing a rugged-looking pair of pants, a in shirt, and a thick jacket. The design was different, but he wore an ensemble that was quite simr to mine. It looks like he really was a mercenary.

    ¡°What are you looking at?¡±

    ¡°I just thought I spotted arade. I also have some business here, you see.¡±

    The young mercenary replied to me in a belligerent tone and turned his gaze to the door beyond the crowd. He then eyed me with a gaze filled with suspicion. It was probably because of my swords and May. Here was a guy sporting two swords and a maidroid following behind him.

    ¡®Is this guy really a mercenary? If he was, why the heck is he sporting swords? What the heck is up with that expensive-looking maidroid following after him?¡¯ This was probably what the guy was thinking regarding me. I would have reacted the same way If I were him, so I wasn¡¯t really offended by his gaze.

    ¡°Well, there are all sorts of circumstances behind this. It would be a pain to exin, so it would be great if you can just ignore it for me.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Hmph. So you¡¯re a noble young master ying mercenary or something?¡±

    I¡¯m not really a noble young master or anything y¡¯know. Well, I would probably ruffle his feathers more if I tried to exin further, so I guess I¡¯ll just ignore it. It looks like this line was for registering the guests for tonight¡¯s award ceremony.

    Before long, it was finally my turn to register. I went over along with May.

    ¡°Please hand me your ID, sir.¡±

    ¡°Here you go.¡±

    The soldierdy who served as the receptionist picked up a tablet terminal and held it over my ID. When she looked at the info on the tablet, her face suddenly turned pale as she gave me a nervous stare. She repeatedly turned her gaze back and forth between me and the screen of her tablet terminal. What was she so shocked about anyway? Did you see a ghost without feet or something? Or rather, do the ghosts in this dimension float without feet?

    ¡°Um, miss?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Hah!? I-I¡¯m sorry, sir! I shall guide you inside!¡±

    The soldier handed me my ID back, gave me a crisp salute, and led the way inside the function hall.

    I gathered quite a bit of attention once I entered the venue. Most of the gazes were from the soldiers who were running the award ceremony. The other recipients were already seated out front and had their backs turned to me. But the hall wasn¡¯t all thatrge. In addition to the tense gazes of the soldiers gathering toward me, I stood out like a sore thumb due to my swords and May. And Major Serena disyed an indescribable expression when she noticed the swords strapped to my waist and May following behind me.

    Come to think of it, Major Serena hasn¡¯t had the chance to meet May yet, hasn¡¯t she¡­¡­? There¡¯s a chance they might have made contact without my knowledge when we arrived at the base, but I don¡¯t remember them meeting before this.

    ¡°¡­¡­This seat over here?¡±

    ¡°Yes, please go ahead and make yourselffortable, sir.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­¡­¡±

    And for some reason, my seat was isted from everybody else. It was ced on the left front-most position of the guest seats. If anything, it seemed reserved for an official or VIP instead of a regr guest seat. And wasn¡¯t the seat facing a strange direction? Why did they ce it so I¡¯ll be staring down on all the other guests in attendance? Were they pulling a prank on me or something? By the way, the soldiers who were officiating the program were all on the side directly opposite mine. Major Serena was also among them.

    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, we will nowmence the award ceremony.¡±

    Arge holo-disy was activated, and a 3D map was projected in front of all the guests. It looked like a birds-eye view of thest battle¡­¡­ Kind of like the overhead map of RTS games. The 3D map urately reproduced thest battle, and all the various participants were marked clearly on it. With this, we would be able to tell the position of everyone here easily as well as what they did during the battle. This event was an award ceremony, but maybe it also doubled as a debriefing.

    The first half up to the middle stage of the battle didn¡¯t look favorable for the defending forces. They managed to barely hold on, but they were gradually being pushed back by the overwhelming number of crystal lifeforms. I looked at the position of Major Serena¡¯s Restalias and the independent anti-pirate mobile fleet under hermand. They were covering their allies by putting themselves in a precarious position. Man. That looks quite dangerous.

    And finally, the ck Lotus appeared to provide reinforcement. I was also able to find Krishna¡¯s position on the map. Wow. We really were quite fast. Mm? The icon for Krishna got highlighted. When the icon plunged right into the formation of crystal lifeforms, amotion went up inside the hall.

    A part of the 3D map zoomed in to disy Krishna¡¯s movements at close range. It showed us weaving through the small and medium-type crystal lifeforms until we finally brought down arge-type with an anti-ship reactive torpedo.

    The movements of the enemies disyed on the rest of the 3D map also began to change significantly. The number of crystal lifeforms deployed to the battlefield decreased sharply due to us bringing down multiplerge-types in quick session. Arge part of the crystal lifeform swarm also started to veer away from the defending ships and began targeting Krishna.

    Since the pressure from the crystal lifeforms was reduced, it created an opening for the imperial allied fleet to push back, and the heavy bombardment caused the number of enemies to decrease further. Our act of leading the enemies to the fleet¡¯s line of fire was also clearly disyed.

    Before long, thestrge-type crystal lifeform fell by way of heavyser cannon bombardment, and that clinched victory for the allied fleet.

    ¡°You¡¯re telling me that guy managed to live through all that?¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s what happened. I thought it was weird that the pressure suddenly lessened back there¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Kuh. Even I could do something like tha-¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s definitely impossible, so stop dreaming, man.¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t be enough no matter how many lives you have on stock. It¡¯s really strange, man. Just how did he do it?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s one utterly crazy bastard, that¡¯s for sure.¡±

    You guys are really saying whatever you want huh! Any SOL yer worth his or her salt can do at least that much!

 Chapter 148 â€“ Award and Greetings

    <h4>Chapter 148 - Award and Greetings</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After the recap presentation of the previous battle on therge holo-disy, the award ceremony finally started. The holo-disy started up once again, and this time, it showed the various military officers and mercenaries who have raised merits in the previous battle, as well as what exactly their merits were.

    There were various reasons for receiving the awards, but most of the military officers who were going to be awarded were captains of their respective ships.

    The imperial military also employed a good number of small-sizedbat starships simr to Krishna in the previous battle. Destroyers and therger capital ships have trouble dealing with the great number of small-type crystal lifeforms in a swarm, so they deployed more small-sizedbat ships specialized in fast-pacedbat maneuvers to this base. And it seems like this outpost, in particr, had a greater number of small-sizedbat starshipspared to other imperial bases. More than half of the awardees were captains of such ships.

    But at least some of the officers being awarded were captains of shipsrger than destroyers. Major Serena was also among the awardees. She received the Bronze Shield Wings medal. It looks like it¡¯s conferred to ships that actively shielded ally forces, controlled damage, and contributed to a reduction of ally casualties in battle.

    Basically, there are two types of medals that are awarded for two different types of achievements - the Sword and Shield medals. They are further subdivided into three ranks (Bronze, Silver, and Gold), along with other modifiers such as Assault and the like. For example, bronze, silver, and gold sword medals are given to those whose merits are more geared towards offensive actions, such as shooting down enemy ships and the like. If you raised merits by covering your allies or contributing greatly to a defensive battle, you¡¯ll be awarded either a bronze, silver or gold shield medal.

    Most of the awardees here were given either the Bronze or Silver Sword Wings medal, so maybe these types of medals were for those who achieved merits through spacebat. Maybe guys who achieved merits through close range melees won¡¯t have wings on their medals.

    I wonder how many more medal types there were. Judging from this, won¡¯t only those who participated actively inbat have a chance to be conferred medals? But maybe there really were medals specifically for supply and maintenance personnel among others, but they just didn¡¯t include those types in this award ceremony. And I also can¡¯t imagine these were all there was tobat-rted awards.

    And also, there has been no other recipient who has been conferred with a medal with a modifier like Assault like the one I was supposed to receive until now. Most of them got either a bronze sword or bronze shield. One imperial military officer and one mercenary who were captains of their respective ships were very active inbat and managed to shoot down many enemies. They ended up being awarded Silver Sword Wings medals.

    ¡°Andst but not the least, Captain Hiro, who undoubtedly contributed the most to the favorable turn in the tide of battle in this campaign. He will be awarded the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal for his service. Captain Hiro, pleasee forward and receive your award.¡±

    I got up from my seat and approached the officer who would be handing me my medal. He seems to be themander of this base. I already studied the proper procedure for receiving awards like this repeatedly beforeing here, so I had no trouble for the most part. It wasn¡¯t all that difficult orplicated anyway. You just need toe forward, get the medal pinned on your chest, and offer a formal imperial military salute.

    It wasn¡¯t all that different from the usual military salute soldiers used back on Earth. The angle of the hand, the method of raising it as well as the direction the palm needed to face were kinda different, but since I was a mercenary, they weren¡¯t all that strict with the details.

    ¡°Without your contributions, quite a number of the individuals present here might have lost their lives in that battle along with their subordinates and crew. It is quite rare for someone alive to receive the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal. I look forward to seeing more feats worthy of this medal from you in the future.¡±

    I offered him a crisp salute after he pinned the medal on my chest, promptly turned my heels away, and walked back to my seat. In these cases, it would be best to not make any unnecessaryments.

    Just like the basemander said, I was thest to receive an award, and when I got back to my seat, themander began his closing speech.

    As for the contents of said speech¡­¡­ I kinda didn¡¯t pay attention, honestly. The imperial soldiers assigned to this outpost should have listened attentively though since this meeting also doubled as a military debriefing, but it was none of my business. In the first ce, I didn¡¯t really participate in that battle for the sake of the empire. I just went at it for the money. Thus, it would feel awkward if I nodded to their ims that we seeded in our fight to protect the honor of the empire, the lives of its citizens, and whatnot. I¡¯m a proper adult though, so I did do my best to pretend that I was listening to the speech, but I only got about 20% of it, honestly.

    As for what I was really doing while pretending to be listening to the speech, I was checking out the officers and mercenaries gathered in the hall. The officers were listening attentively to the basemander for the most part, but the other mercs were pretending just like me. As for what they were really doing, they were actually checking me out as well. I¡¯ve been meeting gazes with a lot of them since a while ago, so I¡¯m sure that¡¯s the case.

    Well, it looks like most of us weren¡¯t familiar with each other anyway. That¡¯s especially true in my case since I¡¯m the type to go solo, stay inside one colony for a short period of time, and hunt pirates in the surrounding areas. Thus, I didn¡¯t really have any other mercenary acquaintances. But it might be good to select one colony to be our main base of operations though. A ce where we could easily procure supplies, ammo, and food, had a Space Dwerg branch, and had plenty of pirate activity in the surrounding areas would be nice.

    Wait, wouldn¡¯t that make Brad system a perfect fit¡­¡­? Nah. Sure we can easily procure supplies, ammo, and food at that ce, and ship maintenance would be quite essible, but it also has those crazy dwarves living in it. They¡¯d probably go wild for Krishna again, so that ce is a no-go. There¡¯s also Mimi¡¯s goal of tasting all the gourmet delicacies in the gxy, so I guess it¡¯s still too early for us to decide on a base.

    As I let my mind wander, the basemander¡¯s speech finally ended, and the award ceremony was adjourned. The basemander left the hall first, followed by the higher-ranking officers. It sure was funny seeing Major Serena giving me a troubled look.

    ¡°Should we get going as well?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I believe so, Master.¡±

    Since I got May¡¯s confirmation, I stood up from my seat and headed for the exit as well. Just what was the meaning of seating me on a spot that gathered a lot of attention¡­? Did they give me preferential treatment since I contributed the most during the battle? Being the center of attention wasn¡¯t really a pleasant experience for me. Actually, it was rather embarrassing. I didn¡¯t really like all that unnecessary attention.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go back. They may have sent the details of the request already.¡±

    Before I was able to get out of the hall, the exit was blocked. Or rather, somebody got in my way before I could exit. It was someone unfamiliar- No, wait. It was that guy. It¡¯s the guy who I first met before I entered the hall earlier.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    I already had a bad feeling, but I asked anyway. The only ones left in the hall were mostly mercenaries, with only a few officers among them. They were standing around inside the hall and giving me curious looks.

    ¡°Just what kind of trick did you use?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m asking you what kind of dirty trick you used to pull that stuff off!¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­? Are you talking about me diving into that swarm and returning alive?¡±

    ¡°What the heck else?¡±

    This guy¡¯s trouble. I looked to the other guys around us, but they were either shrugging as if saying it wasn¡¯t their business or gossiping with each other in hushed tones. Yeah, thought so. I would have ignored this too if I were in their position.

    ¡°What kind of answer are you hoping for anyway, brat?¡±

    ¡°Huh!?¡±

    ¡°If I really did have a trick up my sleeve just as you im, why the hell should I even tell you about it? It would be a different story if you knelt down and begged me to teach you, but what¡¯s with that attitude of yours, huh? If you wanna ask something, do it properly, brat.¡±

    ¡°You¡­¡­¡±

    The young mercenary clenched his fist in anger. Oh? What¡¯s up, huh? You wanna go? But I¡¯m probably gonna be a pushover though. I did work out often after getting sent to this dimension, but I never engaged in a fistfight here even once. I did spar a bit with Elma from time to time, but I never got into a serious fist fight with anyone.

    ¡°If that¡¯s all you wanna ask, then I¡¯ll be excusing myself. Sorry, man. I¡¯m actually quite busy, so that¡¯s that.¡±

    I shrugged my shoulders and tried to pass by the young mercenary-

    ¡°Guaaaa!?¡±

    A pained howl echoed around the hall. I turned around to find the wrist of the young mercenary being gripped strongly by May. He probably tried to grab my shoulder behind my back or something. And then May restrained him.

    ¡°Please refrain from touching my Master with your filthy hand.¡±

    May directed an ice-cold re at the young mercenary while gripping his wrist tightly.

    ¡°O-Okay! I get it! I get it, so let go of me already!¡±

    May released the guy¡¯s wrist. Oh¡­¡­ You okay, man? Your wrist ain¡¯t broken, right? May¡¯s grip strength is really awesome, y¡¯know. She¡¯s made of military-grade materials and servos after all. If May were serious, your wrist wouldn¡¯t just be broken. It¡¯ll be reduced to a red stter on the floor instead.

    ¡°Okay, man. If you¡¯re free enough to think up weird conspiracy theories, why don¡¯t you try practicing on a simtor first and raise your skill level? Then earn enough to upgrade your ship. That¡¯s what I did anyway. It was through countless practice sessions and experience that I was able to live after plunging inside that enemy swarm. There¡¯s no ¡®dirty trick¡¯ whatsoever. Just pure experience and skill.¡±

    The young mercenary rubbed his wrist and kept ring at me resentfully. Whatever, man.

    ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s about it. Good luck, man. Good luck to you guys as well.¡±

    I then lightly waved my hand at the remaining mercs and officers and left the hall. After getting enough distance from the hall, I let out a relieved sigh.

    ¡°Man, that sure was scary. Mercs are really scary. I¡¯m not that good when ites to fistfights, y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­?¡±

    May tilted her head in puzzlement, which was quite rare for her. She was still mostly expressionless, but it was rare for her to express herself so openly by using bodynguage like this.

    ¡°I heard that you put up quite a fight in the Alein system with your power armor, and I saw you directly in action when we rescued Earl Daleinwald, Master. And also, you did quite well fighting thosebat robots back on Sierra III.¡±

    ¡°But those are different. They¡¯re not the same as a fistfight.¡±

    ¡°Is that how it is?¡±

    May still looked bewildered. I get that you¡¯re still confused, but that¡¯s just how it is. Anyway, there¡¯s a great difference betweenbat and fistfights for me at least. It¡¯s like a difference in mindset or something¡­¡­ Meh. It doesn¡¯t matter anyway.

    ¡°Anyway, what was up with that brat back there?¡±

    ¡°I guess he was jealous that a newbie like Master suddenly got awarded with a Silver Sword Wings Assault medal and wanted to vent.¡±

    ¡°Vent, huh?¡±

    ¡°It seems they often use fists to speak their mind in mercenary circles.¡±

    ¡°That so¡­¡­ Would it have been better if I epted the fight?¡±

    ¡°You already have me with you, Master. I believe this already qualifies as a sufficient disy of strength. It is fine. And also-¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    I nodded at May to urge her to keep going.

    ¡°-If you wanted to put him in his ce, you could have easily done so, right, Master?¡±

    ¡°I wonder. Well, I guess I could probably manage if I held my breath. But I kinda don¡¯t know how that actually works, y¡¯see. So I don¡¯t really wanna rely on it that often.¡±

    Since I came to this dimension, I am able to perform super-elerated thinking and reactions by holding my breath for some reason. It was pretty convenient, but I don¡¯t want to abuse it since I don¡¯t know just how it works. I didn¡¯t mention it to Doc Shouko when she examined me since I was scared about the consequences. She already made a fuss when she discovered my unknown genes. What would happen if she knew I had such a strange ability to boot? I¡¯ll probably get imprisoned and treated as ab rat.

    ¡°Oh well. We¡¯re not nning to stay here for long anyway. Let¡¯s just forget it.¡±

    ¡°On the contrary Master, we may spend a longer period of time in this outpost depending on the particrs of the imperial military¡¯s request.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. Man, that¡¯s annoying¡­¡­ Should we just ignore it and run away?¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t Major Serena hold a grudge if you did so?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s also troublesome in a different sense¡­¡­ Ugh. This doesn¡¯t feel good.¡±

    Imented my current predicament as I turned toward the heavens.

 Chapter 149 â€“ Troublesome Person

    <h4>Chapter 149 - Troublesome Person</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The Silver Sword Wings Assault medal was generally as I expected in appearance. It was a sword-shaped medal with a sword guard that looked like outspread wings. The only thing that surprised me was a red jewel embedded at the center of the sword guard.

    This certainly made it quite eye-catching. It was interesting to see how shocked the military officers in the base were whenever they saw me walking around with the shiny, new Silver Sword Wings Assault medal pinned on my chest.

    It certainly satisfied my petty sense of vanity. I¡¯ve already walked around the base for a few minutes. But then, I suddenly saw someone up ahead who I really didn¡¯t want to meet. It was a beautiful young woman with golden blond hair, ruby-red eyes, and a pair of swords strapped to her thin waist.

    ¡°Congrattions on receiving the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal.¡±

    ¡°Thanks. Congrattions on receiving the Bronze Shield Wings medal as well, major.¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be on my way then.¡±

    I tried to walk past her but had my shoulder firmly gripped from the side. May! Heeelp! I was looking to May for help, but she just stood there with her usual nk look and didn¡¯t seem to mind Major Serena¡¯s actions.

    ¡°Master. Since meeting with the major is something unavoidable at this point, it would be best not to put up any meaningless resistance.¡±

    ¡°Ara. You¡¯re unexpectedly quite reasonable, aren¡¯t you? Some people here though¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I just don¡¯t give up that easily.¡±

    But anyway, it really was next to impossible to ignore Major Serena at this point, so I guess I¡¯ll just have to give up here and follow her.

    ¡°So, what now? You want me to shut up and follow you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s great that you¡¯re quick on the uptake. It would be nice if you were cooperative right from the start though.¡±

    ¡°That is that and this is this. So where are we going anyway? You¡¯re not telling me you wanna go to my ship, are you?¡±

    ¡°In fact, that would be preferable. I need to talk with your crew as well after all.¡±

    ¡°Seriously¡­?¡±

    Major Serena already started walking ahead of me, so I had no choice but to follow after her. May followed behind both of us quietly.

    ¡°There¡¯s a lot I want to ask, but¡­¡­ first, can you tell me about those swords strapped to your waist?¡±

    ¡°We got them from Earl Daleinwald. They were originally owned by that bastard son of his we beat up ck and blue, and his father just shoved it to me as part of the spoils.¡±

    ¡°H-Huh¡­¡­?¡±

    Major Serena froze up in bewilderment after hearing my casual reply.

    ¡°Uh, what did the earl say again? Um, our act of barging in on a duel unannounced was a bit uncalled for, but since we beat his son, the swords were still rightfully ours as the ultimate victors. Something like that anyway.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I see.¡±

    After hearing me borate, Major Serena nodded lightly in acknowledgment and then turned her gaze toward May next.

    ¡°So, this is May, I presume?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. She looks like a normal maid at first nce, but she¡¯s actually a lot more powerful than your average power armor.¡±

    ¡°I see. How long have you had her?¡±

    ¡°Mm, she¡¯s been with us since that incident on Sierra III.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that is the case.¡±

    ¡°Sierra III, huh¡­¡­ I believe I didn¡¯t see her back then though?¡±

    ¡°She was cooped up inside Krishna back then.¡±

    ¡°Yes. A chance for us to meet at that time did not present itself.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    Major Serena didn¡¯t manage to board Krishna and go binge drinking at that time after all. And I also didn¡¯t feel the need to introduce May to her back then as well.

    ¡°May is an independent advance AI with a state-of-the-art high-spec positron brain after all. I have no intention of treating her as a mere object or tool.¡±

    ¡°I know. Just what do you regard me as anyway?¡±

    After sulking for a bit, Major Serena shook her head in exasperation. I find you as an overbearing, really clingy, and troublesome imperial military major. If I said that to her face, I have no doubt she¡¯d clobber me till I¡¯m half-dead.

    ¡°So what¡¯s your business with me anyway? If it¡¯s for the military¡¯s request, you could have just sent the details to the Mercenary Guild.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so prickly. You have no idea how beneficial it is to cozy up to someone like me, you know.¡±

    ¡°Say something like that once you actually bring me those so-called ¡®benefits¡¯¡­¡­ Unfortunately, you¡¯ve brought me nothing but trouble ever since I met you.¡±

    ¡°I can say the same for you as well.¡±

    Major Serena retorted with pursed lips. Beautiful women always look cute no matter what they do huh? Hahaha.

    ¡°Are you talking about the incident on Sierra III? C¡¯mon, major. We just gave you the opportunity to pay up your debts at that time you know?¡±

    However, I am not the type to fall for such petty tricks. I spent every day surrounded by beauties like Mimi, Elma, and the perfect maidroid May after all. No matter how beautiful Major Serena might be, I will not be easily swayed. And furthermore, Major Serena was an absolute trouble-ma, so unless she gets rid of that quality of hers, I won¡¯t flinch in the slightest no matter how cute she looks.

    Eh? What about the mechanic sisters, you ask? Sure, they¡¯re cute, butying my hands on them smelled like a crime¡­¡­ although it technically isn¡¯t a crime. But I¡¯m a responsible adult. Honestly though. It¡¯splicated y¡¯know? If they seriously came at me with that intention, I¡¯m not really confident I can withstand the temptation, to be honest.

    ¡°Okay, okay, I understand¡­¡­ Mou. Would it kill you to act gentlemanly for once¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I hate you, okay. You just seem really troublesome.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the same thing?¡±

    Major Serena¡¯s brows furrowed in displeasure. C¡¯mon, major. That¡¯s a waste of your beautiful face.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that Major Serena¡¯s position is very troublesome for me in a sense. But I don¡¯t really hate your character. How do I put it? You¡¯re usually a high-flying andpetent career woman most of the time, but you sometimes act like a ditzy and cute maiden in your private life. That¡¯s how I see you anyway.¡±

    ¡°Ditzy¡­¡­ and cute?¡±

    ¡°The crucial point is that you seem far too perfect usually. If you were equally as perfect in your private life, I would probably find it even harder to approach you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I should be d about that evaluation though¡­¡­ Anyway, you actively try to avoid me just for that reason?¡±

    ¡°You really are a troublesome person in various senses, after all, major¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Can you stop it with that ¡®troublesome¡¯ thing Normally, people would be really hurt if you tell them that to their face.¡±

    Haah. The major really is a troublesome woman after all.

    ¡°Okay. First, let¡¯s have you realize just how troublesome you are, major. If I say or do something that seems remotely bad in other people¡¯s eyes to you, I wonder what kind of actions your family will take? You¡¯re the daughter of a marquis after all.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t help being born to such a family, okay.¡±

    ¡°So let¡¯s just take it as fate then.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t really pull any punches, do you¡­¡­ Haah.¡±

    Major Serena shrugged helplessly and sighed. Yep, that¡¯s it. That¡¯s exactly it.

    ¡°But there¡¯s no denying Major Serena is a really cute girl, so it¡¯s not like I ain¡¯t tempted. As a healthy male that is. But you are really high up in the socialdder after all, and I can¡¯t actually afford toy my hands on the daughter of a marquis y¡¯know. As a result, you are someone I need to try and actively avoid. It would be toote if I made a mistake I couldn¡¯t possibly take back after all.¡±

    ¡°Is that your idea of cheering me up or something?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just saying I don¡¯t actually hate you, major. It¡¯s just that you¡¯re too troublesome for me, so I end up trying to avoid you all the time.¡±

    ¡°As I thought, you¡¯re trying to pick a fight with me, aren¡¯t you? I¡¯m gonna beat you up you know?¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t, major. I¡¯d probably die from your beating, okay.¡±

    I raised my hands in surrender as Major Serena put her hand on her sword¡¯s handle. We kept bantering like that until we reached ck Lotus.

    ¡°Major.¡±

    ¡°Good work, soldier. Sorry about this.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s no trouble, ma¡¯am.¡±

    We found Major Serena¡¯s subordinates standing by inside the hangar. There were three of them. One was a buff-looking young male soldier. He was Lieutenant Robbitson, who was Major Serena¡¯s adjutant. The other two were young female soldiers whose names I didn¡¯t know. This was the average number of soldiers for official visits like this.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, lieutenant. Let me show you around my new ship.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it truly has. Congrattions on receiving the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal by the way.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯m the person who received the award, but I still can¡¯t get a handle on how big of a deal it is.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, that¡¯s to be expected.¡±

    I¡¯m quite familiar with Lieutenant Robbitson. I used to meet him all the time when I served as the advisor for Major Serena¡¯s fleet and taught them pirate-hunting tactics. I don¡¯t know the other two¡¯s names, but they do look familiar.

    But why are they giving me those admiring looks though¡­¡­? I wanted to ask, but Major Serena already walked ahead, so the four of us followed suit. I decided to ignore the reactions of the four people with me regarding the luxurious interior of ck Lotus and went straight to the dining room where Mimi and Elma were waiting. I couldn¡¯t see the mechanic sisters anywhere. I wonder if they locked themselves up inside their room?

    ¡°I¡¯m back. Where¡¯s Tina and Whisker?¡±

    ¡°They said they didn¡¯t want to get in the way of the discussion with the soldiers, so they holed up inside their room.¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s better if they participate actually since the content of this meeting will affect our next set of activities moving forward.¡±

    ¡°I did tell them that earlier though.¡±

    Elma shrugged helplessly. Those two are strangely reserved at times.

    ¡°Sorry, Mimi, but can you call those two for me?¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°You should make yourselvesfortable in the meantime. I¡¯m not really particr about the seating order, so just sit where you like. May, can you get everyone a bottle of water please.¡±

    ¡°Certainly.¡±

    Mimi started fiddling with her tablet terminal after giving a sidelong nce at the officers from the anti-pirate independent fleet while May went off to prepare some drinks. It would have also been fine if I served them a cup of coffee or tea brewed by Tetsujin V, but I didn¡¯t want to bother with asking their preferences.

    ¡°Um, I guess the reason for your visit today is due to that matter, right? The request from the military, I mean.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s correct. We wouldn¡¯t be able to convey some of the details urately if we just simply went through the Mercenary Guild. That¡¯s why we chose to talk to you directly. So take this as being a direct request to you instead of something issued by the Mercenary Guild.¡±

    ¡°I see. Are you fine with that, Elma? Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Uhuh.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°There you go then¡­¡­ But hold on a bit. We have crew members affiliated with the Space Dwergpany with us. I¡¯ll have those girls participate in this meeting as well.¡±

    ¡°Those girls, huh¡­¡­ It seems the number of women in your ship has increased again?¡±

    I shrugged my shoulders helplessly at Major Serena, who was giving me a really cold re.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure why you¡¯re ring at me like that, major, but yes, they are certainly women.¡±

    At that timing, the mechanic sisters frantically rushed inside the room.

    ¡°We¡¯re really sorry for making you all wait!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re sorry! Please forgive us!¡±

    Tina and Whisker bowed so low that they almost did a dogeza. After staring nkly at the two of them for a few seconds, Major Serena turned to me once again.

    ¡°You¡¯re not telling me¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re imagining, but that¡¯s certainly not the case, okay! I haven¡¯tid my hands on them. Or rather, these guys are dwarves y¡¯know. They may look small, but they¡¯re already properdies. So please let me off with that. Just please let me off, okay?¡±

    We were about to have a serious meeting, but why did I end up trying to exin myself desperately like this? The major really was a troublesome woman after all.

 Chapter 150 â€“ Preliminary Negotiations

    <h4>Chapter 150 - Preliminary Negotiations</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    May served everyone with a bottle of purified water, and the preliminary negotiations finally went underway. The term was a bit technical, but to put it simply, it¡¯s to make sure both parties agree with the terms and conditions of the request before formally taking action.

    ¡°First of all,mand wants you to follow us as a temporary addition to our fleet for the duration of the mission.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m good with that. It¡¯s a lot better than teaming up with unfamiliar people anyway.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We would also prefer teaming up with someone whose strengths and abilities are familiar to us. We would be able to form strategies and act in concert better that way.¡±

    ¡°So what troublesome thing didmand shove on you guys, anyway?¡±

    Major Serena¡¯s eyebrow arched at Elma¡¯s direct question.

    ¡°It¡¯s not really all thatplicated. We were just tasked with investigating a slightly dangerous sector.¡±

    ¡°Slightly?¡±

    Mimi raised a worried voice. I¡¯m also doubtful about the ¡®slightly¡¯ bit.

    ¡°Yes. This Izrooks system serves as a hub system for the hypenework, you see. The hypenes from five systems all converge here; four of which are imperial territories. Thest one is connected to the frontier region.¡±

    ¡°Frontier region, huh? ¡­¡­Have they dispatched survey fleets to it already?¡±

    ¡°There was only one instance of a survey fleet being dispatched in the past, but none of the ships have managed to return. However prosperous our empire may be, its resources aren¡¯t infinite. That¡¯s why they established a military outpost here in the Izrooks system, which also doubles as a development base for the frontier. We are allocating resources as efficiently as possible.¡±

    ¡°I see. How about survey fleets from private enterprises?¡±

    ¡°There have been lots of cases where their ships have been lost as well. Nheless, that doesn¡¯t mean that no ships have managed to return. The reports from the surviving private vessels confirmed the presence of crystal lifeforms in the frontier, and more and more forces are being deployed to this base as a countermeasure.¡±

    ¡°Your deployment here was also a result of this, Major Serena?¡±

    ¡°No, not exactly. We have just been temporarily assigned here as reinforcements due to the increase in crystal lifeform activity. We won¡¯t stay here indefinitely.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ So we were asked to apany your fleet to investigate the frontier area. Is that it?¡±

    ¡°Yes. So expect a high probability of encounters and battles with crystal lifeforms during the mission.¡±

    ¡°Well, of course. How about the reward?¡±

    ¡°400,000 Enels per each 24 hour period.¡±

    ¡°Wow, boss. That¡¯s a lot of money¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°F-Four hundred thousand¡­¡­¡±

    Tina was muttering softly with a stunned expression while Whisker¡¯s eyes became round as saucers as she froze up on the spot. Mimi and Elma were disying conflicted expressions. I¡¯m probably making the same expression as them right now.

    ¡°I¡¯m telling you this first. I have absolutely no n of being used as a scapegoat.¡±

    The reward was astronomical, but that just made the mission even scarier. It¡¯s so high that I suspect we¡¯re gonna get involved in something highly dangerous.

    ¡°We do not intend to do that at all. This reward amount was proposed in consideration of your skills and abilities, as well as our expectations for your service.¡±

    ¡°Expectations, huh¡­¡­¡±

    I¡¯m afraid they really want to push us as hard as they can. Well, there¡¯s no useining about it here anyway.

    ¡°You im you have absolutely no intention of discarding us, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. That is correct¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then promise me you¡¯ll heed my advice if I judge that things are getting far too dangerous and I propose a retreat. Treat this as a personal promise between you and me, major. I¡¯m not saying we¡¯ll abandon our post and run away on our own when things get hairy though. We¡¯ll bring up the rear for you if pushes to shove.¡±

    ¡°Fumu¡­¡­¡±

    Major Serena cupped her delicately-shaped chin and thought for a little while. And then, she finally nodded slightly.

    ¡°Alright, I understand. I will promise you then. I will not ignore your words and prioritize the safety and lives of the ships and crew, including you all. It should be okay with this, right?¡±

    ¡°Yep. That¡¯s fine for me. How about you two?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m okay with whatever Hiro-sama decides.¡±

    ¡°I have noints either.¡±

    ¡°How about you guys? Tina, Whisker.¡±

    ¡°U-Us? Um, we don¡¯t really have anything to add either¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Sis, what about our report?¡±

    ¡°Oh, yeah, that¡¯s right! Um, miss major, ma¡¯am?¡±

    ¡°Yes, what is it?¡±

    Major Serena turned her gaze toward Tina.

    ¡°Um¡­ actually, we were tasked by ourpany to write up an activity diary periodically and send it back to them as part of our duties while dispatched to this ship. Um, will including this meeting in the diary be okay? I mean, won¡¯t there be anyplications if we write this down as well?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡­ I don¡¯t think anything that we¡¯ve discussed here is considered confidential, but let me check just in case.¡±

    ¡°Will you employ censorship?¡±

    ¡°Now that¡¯s an unpleasant way of putting it¡­¡­ We¡¯re just being careful not to leak any ssified military secrets identally. It¡¯spletely well-intentioned.¡±

    Major Serena gave me an annoyed side-eye.

    ¡°I check and edit the contents of their diaries every day, so you do not have to worry, everyone. As an additional precaution, I shall send a copy of the edited materials to you for confirmation.¡±

    ¡°Really? Please do so then.¡±

    ¡°Certainly.¡±

    May bowed her head. So it isn¡¯t the military that will employ censorship. The material was already censored by May from the start. What a twist. Tina acted shocked for some reason. What¡¯s up with that? Whisker didn¡¯t have any reaction, so I guess she knew it from the start. Why was Tina not informed though?

    ¡°Okay then. That leaves the matter ofmand out on the field, but¡­ it should be okay if we did it like usual, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. You will be treated as my direct subordinate out on the field, and only I as the fleetmander have the right to issuemands to you.¡±

    ¡°Ok. You can just send the details of our discussion to the Mercenary Guild for approval.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Next would be regarding supplies. ck Lotus has just unloaded its cargo so the cargo hold has quite a bit of free space right now.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that sounds good. It would be quite convenient if you could store some supplies for the fleet in your ship for the duration of the mission.¡±

    ¡°Uhuh. But we¡¯re not going to be your porters for free, y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­You¡¯re really not holding back, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Major Serena¡¯s smile twitched awkwardly. Of course. We¡¯re gonna provide you protection out in a potentially dangerous sector of space, so we should get as muchpensation as we can.

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon. Just listen to the proposal first. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m gonna ask for more money.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Go on then.¡±

    I raised my hands in surrender to Major Serena who was giving me a doubtful gaze and started borating further.

    ¡°You see, I think it¡¯s a bit of a waste if we just left this system after the mission with our hands empty. That¡¯s why I was thinking of stocking up on some goods. I have no problem with acting as a porter for the fleet and storing part of its supplies for the duration of the mission, but in exchange, I want you to negotiate with your superiors if we could get a cut of the raw materials derived from crystal lifeforms when this is all over.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Fumu.¡±

    ¡°We will lend our help and expertise to you as much as possible, major. In exchange, we want to gain as many benefits from you, but without touching your bottom line. In other words, we propose a fair trade. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Let me just ask to make sure. What exactly do you expect from me?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I¡¯m not asking for something unreasonable or against the rules. We¡¯re gonna purchase the materials from you, but I want you to put some word in so we can get it at the lowest price allowable withoutpromising quality.¡±

    I thought back to the first time I met Major Serena. She seemed like a person with a strong sense of justice and had a distaste for illegal or fraudulent practices. I¡¯m not so stupid as to ask such a person to break the rules.

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll try to talk to the ounting department then. Oh, and before I forget, we will shoulder the costs for the supplies we will use during the mission. However, luxury and leisure items are a different story. You¡¯ll have to pay for those yourselves.¡±

    ¡°Understood. We¡¯ll send you our cargo capacityter.¡±

    ¡°Alright. That¡¯s about it then.¡±

    Major Serena rose from her seat, and we saw her and her subordinates off with a smile.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s how it is. So, for now, go ahead and prepare, everyone.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah.¡±

    ¡°I-I understand.¡±

    The mechanic sisters are acting a bit nervous as expected. It can¡¯t be helped. Any normal person would feel scared if you tell them they¡¯ll be going to a ce possibly teeming with hostile crystal lifeforms. The terror of being consumed by crystal lifeforms is pretty well known, even among themon popce.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry too much, you two. It¡¯s unlikely that ck Lotus will face any direct attacks. The only situation where the ck Lotus, which will act as a supply ship during the mission, will get attacked is when the rest of the fleet is practically annihted. And I¡¯ll warn Major Serena properly to avoid that worst-case scenario from happening in the first ce, so I believe the ck Lotus won¡¯t be in any sort of danger during the mission.¡±

    ¡°I-I see¡­¡­ It¡¯s really gonna be okay, right, boss?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    At least, that¡¯s true for Tina, Whisker, and May. On the other hand, I, Mimi, and Elma would probably have to engage the crystal lifeforms head-on if we encounter them. Well, I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be alright as long as we don¡¯t face arge enough swarm. There¡¯s also the strength and firepower of Major Serena¡¯s fleet to consider.

    ¡°We should have finished resupplying by now, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We have stored a total of twelve anti-ship reactive torpedoes on ck Lotus in addition to the four on Krishna, just like you instructed, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Yep. The supply manager¡¯s expression was twitching when we took them from the base armory though.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. There¡¯s no need to hold back.¡±

    I was actually nning to get twenty spares in addition to the ones loaded on Krishna, but I was told twelve was the limit, so that¡¯s that. Well, they were dangerous weapons that had the power to destroy a colony, so it can¡¯t be helped.

    ¡°We have enough stock of water, food, and other daily necessities that we got from Brad Prime, and I was told we would be given part of the supplies from the military as well¡­ Mm, we would be able to sortie anytime once the goods from the military get loaded up. How¡¯s the condition of both ships?¡±

    The mechanic sisters were still a bit nervous, but they managed to reply clearly. I¡¯ll try and talk to them moreter to relieve their fear and stress as much as possible.

    ¡°Mm. We¡¯ve finished up Krishna¡¯s maintenance. We just need to do some minor checks on ck Lotuster, so we can probably finish everything before the day ends.¡±

    ¡°ck Lotus engaged in heavybat this time, so we¡¯re focusing on checking the energy supply and weapon systems. We haven¡¯t discovered any problems so far.¡±

    ¡°I see. Do your best.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to us.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Okay. That¡¯s a wrap, folks. I¡¯ll wait for the official request to go through the guild, and I¡¯ll contact you guys again once the sortie time gets decided. Until then, do whatever you need to do. Oh, and as much as possible, stay on board the ship. Well, there¡¯s no ce suited for sightseeing inside this base anyway.¡±

    Everyone responded in the affirmative and dispersed.

    Now then, what should I do? I¡¯m basically free until the sortie time gets decided¡­¡­ Since that¡¯s the case, how about I spend my time checking out how all of my crew members are doing? The mission this time seems to entail quite a bit of danger. And it¡¯s a different kind of danger from facing off pirates. It¡¯s the captain¡¯s duty to ensure the physical and emotional wellbeing of his crew after all.

 Chapter 151 â€“ Spending Time with the Mechanic Sisters

    <h4>Chapter 151 - Spending Time with the Mechanic Sisters</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Fumu¡­¡­¡±

    Well, I decided to go around and see everyone, but where do I start? There¡¯s Mimi, Elma, and the mechanic sisters¡­¡­ Let¡¯s start with the mechanic sisters then. Mimi and Elma were somehow already ustomed to my reckless stunts, and I didn¡¯t really have to worry about May, so that leaves the sisters, who¡¯ve just newly boarded my ship. I¡¯ll spend time with Mimi and Elmater tonight.

    And so, I went straight to the sisters.

    ¡°Oh, boss, what¡¯s up?¡±

    The two were sitting side by side on the sofa inside the break room. They weren¡¯t doing anything in particr and were just sitting right next to each other while gazing at the terrarium filled with alien nts.

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ I was thinking of going around to check up on everyone y¡¯see. Am I in the way?¡±

    Since the sisters seemed to be getting along just fine, it doesn¡¯t look like there¡¯s any room for me.

    ¡°We¡¯re just fading out a bit, big brother. Don¡¯t mind us.¡±

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s fine. Come and sit down over here with us, boss.¡±

    After saying so, Tina separated from Whisker and tapped the now-open space between them.

    ¡°Right between you guys¡­¡­? Is that really okay?¡±

    Doesn¡¯t this seem like getting in between two lilies? Wouldn¡¯t I be struck by karma or something? Uh, but it¡¯s not like the two of them are in that kind of rtionship anyway.

    ¡°What are you hesitating around for, boss. C¡¯mon over and sit here already.¡±

    ¡°U-Umu¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re so strange sometimes, big brother.¡±

    I sat down next to theughing Tina. Since I was right next to Tina, that meant I was right next to Whisker as well.

    ¡°There you go.¡±

    ¡°Oi?¡±

    A few moments after I sat down, Tina scooted over and hugged me from the side.

    ¡°C¡¯mon, Whisker. You too.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ T-There.¡±

    After getting prodded by Tina, Whisker also scooted over to me from the other side. What the heck did I get myself into?

    ¡°Skinship really feels good somehow. And I don¡¯t mean in a naughty sense, okay, boss?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d be really troubled if you meant it in a naughty sense.¡±

    ¡°Why? Tina-chan¡¯s really cute, right? Whisker¡¯s pretty cute too.¡±

    Tina cutely sulked as she kept hugging my arm.

    ¡°I acknowledge that you two are pretty cute, but¡­¡­¡±

    Them being cute and seeing them ¡®that¡¯ way are two very different things. I mean, sure, they¡¯re cute, but their bodies were quite small, and somehow, it really smells like a crime¡­ I¡¯m afraid of unwittingly opening a brand new door for myself that I can probably never close again. Scary¡­

    ¡°Let¡¯s set that topic aside. Um¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I can¡¯te up with a good topic.¡±

    ¡°So you aren¡¯t good at socializing, boss? But I wonder why Mimi and Elma are so head over heels for you?¡±

    ¡°Shut up, you. If you¡¯re so good at socializing, how about youe up with a good topic.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. Let¡¯s see. How about we talk about Whisker¡¯s embarrassing stories?¡±

    ¡°Big sis!¡±

    ¡°Oh, I got one. This happened four months ago. We were tasked to give a ship a new paintjob that day. So we were busy painting the ship, but Whisker didn¡¯t realize some of the paint got onto her butt. Whisker went all day without noticing and left lots of butt-shaped paint stamps all around the workshop.¡±

    ¡°Big sis!!!¡±

    Whisker let out an embarrassed scream with a beet-red face. So she was unexpectedly the airheaded type huh.

    ¡°Ain¡¯t she cute?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, she is.¡±

    ¡°Kuu¡­¡­ If that¡¯s how you want to y, then I got some stories about sis as well.¡±

    ¡°Oh, go ahead and spill then. I¡¯ll tell twice the amount of Whisker¡¯s embarrassing stories to Boss.¡±

    No matter how embarrassing those stories are, I actually think nothing beats the time when the two of them rushed to our hotel room wearing nothing but negligees and tried to sell themselves off. I listened to the two¡¯s stories while inwardly thinking that.

    ¡°Gununu¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Mumumu¡­¡­¡±

    They were able to tell me loads of embarrassing stories regarding the two of them in just a short period of time. Well, the episodes seemed more like clumsy bloopers though.

    ¡°I liked the episode where Tina came to work while half-asleep and still in her pajamas.¡±

    ¡°W-Who was half-asleep? I just came to work in pajamas. Is there anything wrong with that¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s quite a bit y¡¯know.¡±

    That¡¯s an out no matter how sleepy you were. There¡¯s a limit to being half-asleep y¡¯know.

    ¡°Fufun. As I thought. Big sis is even more careless than me.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true. Whisker¡¯s the one who¡¯s careless.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the careless one, sis.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s you, Whisker.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s you, big sis.¡±

    ¡°¡±Gununu¡­¡­¡±¡±

    Are you guys familiar with the expression ¡®scant difference¡¯? There¡¯s no point no matter how much you twopared yourselves. Well, I¡¯m a proper adult, so I guess I¡¯ll just watch over them quietly. They really seemed quite simr in my eyes though.

    Come to think of it, aside from Tina, now Whisker was hugging my arm tightly as well. I guess she got too worked up so she didn¡¯t realize what she was doing¡­¡­ I added a ¡®careless girl¡¯ point to Whisker¡¯s name in my head. With this, Whisker was slightly in the lead when ites to being careless.

    ¡°Or rather, isn¡¯t it unfair that only the two of us shared our embarrassing stories?¡±

    ¡°Mu¡­¡­ That¡¯s certainly true. Please tell us some of your embarrassing stories as well, big brother.¡±

    ¡°My stories huh¡­¡­¡±

    But what should I tell them? I haven¡¯t told them anything regarding my situation yet, so I really can¡¯t say much. I guess I¡¯ll have to use the amnesia excuse I told Mimi and Elma first here.

    ¡°I don¡¯t really remember much about my past. I only remember the memories from when I met Mimi and Elma until the present clearly¡­¡­ I was involved in a hyperdrive ident you see. And as a result, I apparently got amnesia.¡±

    ¡°You sure know how to crack a joke, boss¡­¡­ Eh? Seriously?¡±

    ¡°Yep. Seriously. Before I realized it, I already found myself sleeping inside Krishna¡¯s cockpit. It was really freezing so I was forced to wake up. My body still remembered how to pilot Krishna for some reason, and that somehow helped a lot. I was then suddenly attacked by pirates, and after I brought them down, I found myself in the Termaine Prime colony. I was treated as a suspicious guy since I didn¡¯t have any records avable; not even ship logs.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡­ Then what about memories of your family or siblings¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing. I don¡¯t really mind though-¡±

    The sisters peered up to my face with moist eyes when I said I didn¡¯t mind not having memories. What¡¯s up with them? I tilted my head.

    ¡°You look like you don¡¯t have a care in the world, boss, but in truth, you were actually suffering¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You aren¡¯t sad¡­¡­? Are you really okay¡­¡­?¡±

    The two of them reached out their arms and patted the top of my head caringly. U-Un¡­¡­ I can¡¯t really say I was blessed with an ideal family environment, but it¡¯s kinda hard to see them being worried about me this much.

    ¡°No, uh, I really don¡¯t mind guys.¡±

    ¡°Lying is no good. Anyone who lost their memories of their family will surely feel very uneasy.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, big brother.¡±

    ¡°I-I see¡­¡­¡±

    I got overwhelmed by their overflowing concern. The two of them were disying such serious expressions after all. I really felt their genuine concern, so I couldn¡¯t bring myself to ignore them.

    ¡°If you¡¯re sad, then you can always rely on us, okay?¡±

    ¡°Uh, that¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t want to¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°I-It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t want to.¡±

    Be cool, me. And think. Think hard¡­¡­ How will I get myself out of this awkward situation- Wait, that¡¯s it!

    ¡°Let¡¯s set that topic aside for the time being. Are you guys interested in how I met Mimi, Elma, and May? They¡¯ve already told you the gist, but I¡¯m sure they didn¡¯t go into detail about the events, right?¡±

    ¡°Nn¡­¡­ Yes, that¡¯s certainly true.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. Of course. I¡¯ll start from my time on Termaine Prime then¡­¡­¡±

    I then started telling them about how I met Elma, Mimi, and Major Serena. And so, we exchanged stories while closely glued to each other. It somehow feels like their impression of me has changed a bit due to this little event¡­¡­ But it wasn¡¯t bad to spend time with the two of them leisurely like this.

 Chapter 152 â€“ Spending Time with May, Mimi, and Elma

    <h4>Chapter 152 - Spending Time with May, Mimi, and Elma</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The sisters were only taking a break from work because they were charging the maintenance bots and had them perform self-diagnostics. When the rm alerting that the charging and self-diagnostics wereplete rang out, they returned to work with a bit of reluctance present in their expressions. I saw them both off and headed to the ck Lotus¡¯s cockpit next, where May was staying.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Master?¡±

    As soon as I entered the cockpit, May noticed me and turned around. There was a cable extending out from one of her wrists, and it was plugged onto the cockpit console. She was probably using this particr direct interface method to control ck Lotus. But the ship was parked inside the base hangar right now, so I wonder what she¡¯s actually doing?

    ¡°Uh, I was just checking on everyone before we set off for the mission.¡±

    ¡°And you also wanted to check on me?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re also part of the crew. May.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    I felt like I saw a glint of happiness in her eyes that were behind red-framed sses. May remained as expressionless as ever, but I feel like she¡¯s begun to show some subtle emotional changes through her bodynguage and aura more often than before. Since I was able to pick up on them now, for the most part, it might be an indication that May¡¯s range of expression really was developing. Well, it¡¯s not like you can pick up on them normally at first nce, so it was a very subtle change.

    ¡°Master really is a mysterious person.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yes. In the empire, advanced independent AIs like me are nominally granted civil rights to an extent under thew. However, whether or not those rights are actually recognized is another story.¡±

    ¡°Nnn?¡±

    I was a little confused by May¡¯s statement. Just what does she mean?

    ¡°Most people from other nationsrgely do not recognize the rights bestowed upon imperial AIs like me, and even a good number of imperial citizens have the same attitude. Of course, a lot of people do treat us appropriately as well, but someone like Master, who sincerely treats AI like me no differently from other people, is exceedingly rare. Your act of worrying about me right now before we head out for a potentially dangerous mission is a great example of how different your attitude is from most others.¡±

    While saying so, May gradually closed the distance between us and gave me a hug. I froze up after being hugged by a girl who was almost the same height as me.

    Man, it¡¯s just like always, but how does an android like her manage to smell so nice, I wonder. The slightly sweet and fragrant scent never fails to make my heart race.

    ¡°May-san?¡±

    ¡°I am certainly a machine. But scary things are scary. Crystal lifeforms do not discriminate between organic and non-organic. They devour organic lifeforms and machines alike. This body that was designed by Master is no exception to that. Of course, Mimi-sama, Elma-sama, Tina, and Whisker are no exception either. All of them are my precious friends. If they were to be harmed, I would be sad as well.¡±

    May said all that in one breath. She then slightly rxed her hug and stared up at my face from a close distance.

    ¡°But I am most afraid of losing Master. Master is my sole reason for being. Even if Mimi-sama and Elma-sama were to survive, I would probably fall apart if I were to lose you instead, Master.¡±

    I nodded quietly to May, who was facing me with a serious gaze.

    ¡°In truth, I didn¡¯t really want you to ept such a dangerous request. It would have been fine to leave dealing with the crystal lifeforms to the military. The profits you will potentially earn do not equal the danger you will be subjected to. Hunting pirates would be the safer and most efficient option for earning money. However, I believe Master would never leave Major Serena to undertake the mission alone.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡±

    I would certainly regret it if I left the system just like this only to find outter that Major Serena died. I would like to lend her a hand as much as possible.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t stop you. But I will do what I have to do for your sake.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, May.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. I am already content that you are concerned about me as well.¡±

    I hugged May back. Her inner frame and her artificial muscles were made out of special metals. Her soft skin was an artificially synthesized material designed to mimic organic skin, and her body heat was generated by the heat exhaust of an ultrapact power generator installed within her. Her glossy ck hair, glittering obsidian eyes, and everything else about her was all designed to mimic humans.

    However, for me, May was May. Her being fake or real didn¡¯t matter at all for me.

    ¡°I won¡¯t be brought down by the likes of crystal lifeforms.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I believe in you, Master.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I won¡¯t betray your trust. Ever.¡±

    We hugged each other in silence for a while and very naturally separated.

    ¡°Please leave the piloting and general operations of ck Lotus to me. This ship is the ce Masteres home to. I will definitely protect it with my all.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Please don¡¯t worry.¡±

    I waved goodbye to May, who bowed toward me, and I decided to visit Mimi and Elma next.

    Mimi and Elma were both inside Krishna¡¯s cockpit.

    ¡°What are you girls up to?¡±

    ¡°Ah, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going to go up against crystal lifeforms on this next mission, right? I¡¯m assisting Mimi in calibrating the radar so we can pick them up more easily.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Although it won¡¯t result in a dramatic increase in performance, it was indeed possible to adjust the sensitivity of the radar toward a certain target to some extent. Thus, the radar¡¯s performance in picking up crystal lifeforms can also be slightly increased. However, the trade-off is a decreased performance in its ability to detect other objects apart from crystal lifeforms.

    ¡°If you adjust it once and save it on the preset settings list, you can change to that mode with a press of a button, right? That¡¯s why we¡¯re trying to save as many settings as we can.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty good idea. If you can master it, you¡¯ll be one step closer to being a full-fledged operator.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best!¡±

    Mimi replied energetically as she continued to fiddle with the radar console. I was watching over her from the cockpit entrance. As I watched Mimi, I remembered the first time she boarded my ship. She was really anxious and jittery back then. But now, she was looking more and more like a proper ship operator day by day.

    How long has it been since I met Mimi anyway? When I¡¯m staying inside my ship, my sense of time bes vague, so I can¡¯t say for sure. But it probably hasn¡¯t been a year since then. Her improving this much after only less than a year might be a sign of talent, but it¡¯s mostly due to her hard work. She picks up her tablet and studies about being an operator whenever she has a chance after all.

    As I was thinking about that stuff, Mimi and Elma¡¯s gazes turned toward me.

    ¡°What¡¯s up? You¡¯re spacing out over there.¡±

    ¡°Are you nervous about the request, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s not that. I was just thinking about how much you¡¯ve improved, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Eh!? N-No, I haven¡¯t really improved that much. I¡¯m still pretty much a rookie.¡±

    Mimi¡¯s face turned beet-red as she frantically waved her hands in denial. It¡¯s true that she was still pretty new, but she isn¡¯t easily distracted during battles now, and whenever she performs her duties as the ship operator, there was a noticeable hint of confidence on her pretty face.

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. She can¡¯t bepared to how she was back at Termaine Prime.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ Why did you join in as well, Elma-san?¡±

    Mimi¡¯s expression turned even more embarrassed. Maybe she thought we were just making fun of her.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about Elma, but I¡¯m absolutely serious here.¡±

    ¡°Huh? I¡¯m serious too, you know. Well, I guess her turning out like this is only natural since she boarded your ship, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s all thanks to Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡±

    ¡°Yep. Her growth is fast because she¡¯s subjected to lots of practical experiences.¡±

    Mimi nodded repeatedly at Elma¡¯s words. Well, I guess we do hunt pirates far more often than your average merc. So it¡¯s just as Elma said. She earned a lot of practicalbat experience. While it¡¯s true that earning practical experience contributes greatly to growth, this was reality and not a game, so that alone won¡¯t improve one¡¯s operator skills.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s more thanks to Mimi being really earnest in her training and studies.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true as well. So it¡¯s abination of Mimi¡¯s diligence and Hiro¡¯s spartan practicalbat experience training.¡±

    ¡°Elma-san is a really great teacher as well.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. All of thatbined led to your current abilities, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Mm. Maybe. So, um, what are you here for anyway, Hiro?¡±

    Elma quickly tried to change the subject with a red face.

    ¡°That¡¯s really cute, Elma.¡±

    ¡°Elma-san can be so shy sometimes.¡±

    ¡°Mou! Don¡¯t tease me, you two!¡±

    We apologized with a smile to the fuming Elma.

    ¡°So, what are you up to again, Hiro?¡±

    Elma regained herposure and asked me once more.

    ¡°Nothing much, really. I was just checking up on everyone.¡±

    ¡°Fun¡­¡­¡±

    Elma snorted and approached me.

    ¡°¡­¡­It seems you hit it off with the others really well, huh?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re scaring me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right, Elma-san! Hiro-sama definitely has the smell of other women on him¡­¡­!¡±

    Mimi grinned and giggled teasingly after seeing my and Elma¡¯s exchange. It ain¡¯t something tough about, you. Elma¡¯s really scary y¡¯know.

    ¡°Okay then. If that¡¯s how it is, then how about getting along with me and Mimi as well?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea, Elma-san.¡±

    ¡°Please go easy on me,dies.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Let¡¯s see¡­¡­ As your apology for leaving usst, we¡¯ll have you serve us a lot, okay?¡±

    Elma grabbed my left arm and Mimi grabbed my right. They then began to pull me out of the cockpit.

    ¡°Let¡¯s eat some delicious stuff at the dining room first.¡±

    ¡°Yes. What should we do after that?¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Maybe we¡¯ll have him give us a massage next?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes¡­¡­ I¡¯ll do everything you want me to. Sheesh.¡±

    I smiled bitterly as I continued to let myself be pulled by the two of them. Well, I don¡¯t mind being pushed around by these two for a bit. Once we take on the request, we won¡¯t even have time for flirting after all.

 Chapter 153 â€“ Sortie

    <h4>Chapter 153 - Sortie</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The imperial military¡¯s request officially came through via the Mercenary Guild first thing in the morning of the following day. The particrs of the request were pretty much the same as what we discussed the other day and offered a sry of 400,000 Enels per day. Krishna and ck Lotus will apany Major Serena¡¯s Independent Anti-Pirate Mobile Fleet as part of her forces for the duration of the mission and will be ced under hermand. The necessary supplies for the mission will be shouldered by the imperial military. ck Lotus will carry part of the supplies and will serve as both a part of the main fighting force and a supply ship. The duration of the mission is set for a maximum of three months.

    ¡°A maximum of three months huh¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi muttered in a somewhat gloomy tone as she fiddled with her tablet terminal. It¡¯s for a maximum of three months, but it may end earlier depending on further developments out on the field. Even so, it¡¯s true that we would have to go out there for an extended period of time.

    ¡°It¡¯s quite reasonable, I think. The specified duration takes the hypene traveling time into ount after all.¡±

    After saying so, I nced at the imperial military¡¯s supplies being gradually loaded inside ck Lotus¡¯s cargo hold from on top of Krishna¡¯s boarding ramp.

    The loading process was being carried out by the AI-controlled loading system installed on ck Lotus, and seeing the loading drones going about their work with absolute efficiency was an interesting sight to see.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We don¡¯t know exactly how many star systems we¡¯ll need to cross, but it would probably take more than a couple of days to reach our target destination.¡±

    Elma was also watching the loading process with me, but it seems that she wasn¡¯t really that interested. It looks like she didn¡¯t find the sight of the loading drones as amusing as I did. As for me, I could watch industrial machines like those working at peak efficiency without tiring of it.

    ¡°The only other instance that required us to be out on the field for a long period of time was during that incident in the Alein system, right?¡±

    ¡°Yep. That¡¯s right. Well, we¡¯re surely in it for the long haul this time, so it¡¯s better to take it easy instead of being all tense.¡±

    It¡¯s impossible to maintain an alert state indefinitely, so if you exhaust yourself and fail to exert your all when it counts, that would be quite counterproductive.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t really think we¡¯ll be out there for that long though.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yep. Uh, I¡¯m not that sure about it though. It¡¯s just a feeling.¡±

    I managed to tell Major Serena about the info regarding pulsar systems after all. It may not seem all that reliable in their eyes, but the current imperial military and Major Serena still have no clue about how to find the nest of the crystal lifeforms until now.

    They would probably still investigate the pulsar systems near the Izrooks system eventually with the feeling of grasping at straws when the investigation fails to bring any results after some time. And there weren¡¯t that many pulsar systems nearby to begin with. I¡¯ve only gone through the gxy map briefly, but I believe I only saw about two neighboring pulsar systems. I¡¯m not really all that sure if the nest is truly located on one of those pulsar systems, but there¡¯s still a pretty good chance since the behavior of the crystal lifeforms was mostly simr to the ones in SOL.

    ¡°Boss!¡±

    Tina, who held a tablet terminal under her arm, approached us in a rush. Her stature was quite small, but she runs really fast. The sisters also participated in our daily workouts, and her physical capabilities were already more than a match with Elma, who was a five-year merc veteran. In other words, she was probably stronger than me.

    Her stamina was amazing as well. She could bench-press three times more weights than Elma and five times more than me. Just where was she hiding all that power and toughness in that small body of hers, I wonder. Don¡¯t tell me she was actually storing alcohol inside her system and converting it directly into energy or something? Nah, that¡¯s just silly. Hahaha.

    ¡°The loading process is almost finished. It¡¯ll probably take 15 minutes more. The contents of the cargo are¡­ pretty much the basics. Water, food, and all that. There¡¯s a bit of some other stuff mixed in though.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Go on standby once the loading process gets finished. We¡¯re probably going to sortie soon.¡±

    ¡°Roge?r!¡±

    ¡°Safety first, remember?¡±

    ¡°Of course. You should rest up before departure as well, boss.¡±

    Tina waved goodbye and returned to her work. Mimi and Elma observed our interaction and stared intently at my face. What¡¯s up?

    ¡°Hey, Mimi. Isn¡¯t Tina¡¯s atmosphere a bit different than before?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right¡­¡­ Um, it¡¯s like she¡¯s a bit gentler now¡­¡­ She¡¯s as casual as before, but her atmosphere really is different, I think.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing really¡­¡­ We just talked a little in the break room.¡±

    ¡°What kind of things did you talk about?¡±

    ¡°We mainly talked about how I met the two of you in the Termaine system. Oh, and I also told them about that amnesia cover story. That¡¯s about it.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­?¡±

    Mimi and Elma both tilted their heads. They were probably just imagining things when they said Tina¡¯s atmosphere changed. She really did act nicer in general, but she probably just took that story about my supposed amnesia quite seriously and was simply worried for me¡­ I don¡¯t think it was really a cause for concern for these two anyway.

    ¡°Well, we still have some time before departure, so why don¡¯t you try asking her yourselves?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°I guess.¡±

    I somehow managed to convince the two with my words and set aside the topic of Tina¡¯s change in attitude for now.

    And just like Tina said, the loading process got finished exactly 15 minutester. Soon after,unch orders were finally given out.

    ¡°Well, the sortie order¡¯s out, but it¡¯s not like we need to go on full alert for the time being.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s true. But we still can¡¯t let our guards down too much.¡±

    I, Mimi, and Elma were already on standby inside Krishna¡¯s cockpit, but we won¡¯t beunching unless a battle breaks out. May handled all of ck Lotus¡¯s operations like always, so we really didn¡¯t have to do anything at all for now.

    But, just like Elma said, we have to be ready to move out just in case something happens, so it¡¯s not good to act allx.

    ¡°Maintaining a certain degree of alertness is really important, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We have to be ready to take action in case of emergencies, so we can¡¯t rx too much, or it will bite us back hard.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡±

    In order to maintain a certain degree of alertness, we need to be able to constantly monitor the overall situation. I operated my console to disy the feed from ck Lotus¡¯s sensors and cameras on Krishna¡¯s cockpit monitor.

    ¡°Launching out with this many ships really is quite the sight huh?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    The cockpit monitor¡¯s visual feed not only disyed Major Serena¡¯s anti-pirate fleet, but also a great host of mercenary starships. We aren¡¯t the only mercenaries tasked to apany Major Serena¡¯s fleet for this mission. Quite a lot of other mercenaries were participating as well.

    ¡°Un¡­¡­ We really do look like quite the hodgepodge fleet if you look at the assortment of ships alone.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°But at least their skills and abilities are way better than your typical small-fry pirates. Well, even if the abilities of us mercenaries are differentiated by rank to some extent, our equipment and weapons arergely different from each other, so it must pose quite a headache to our dearmander when ites to fleet organization.¡±

    The reason a lot of mercenaries were apanying Major Serena¡¯s anti-pirate fleet this time was to make up for theircking short-rangebat capabilities.

    ¡°Basically, the military corvettes and mercenary ships will act as the vanguard and the destroyers will protect the main force. The cruisers and the gship will then destroy the enemies via long-range bombardment.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. Wasn¡¯t there only two corvettes assigned to Major Serena¡¯s fleet?¡±

    The line-up of Major Serena¡¯s Independent Anti-Pirate Mobile Fleet consisted of two corvettes, three destroyers, five cruisers, and one battleship. Basically, it¡¯s a line-up that prioritizes preemptively shooting down enemies before getting shot at in return.

    If it were a battle between two nation¡¯s military forces where cruisers and battleships yed a leading role, this fleetposition was undoubtedly ideal. But fighting with crystal lifeforms is a whole different ballgame. Those things would often charge in without caring for losses after all. No matter how powerful the main guns were, they would be nigh useless once the enemies managed to close in.

    ¡°So in order to make up for that weakness, they employed a lot of mercenaries to apany the fleet.¡±

    ¡°I see. Um, but wouldn¡¯t that mean we would be in a lot of danger if we face crystal lifeformster on?¡±

    ¡°We would probably be fine as long as the numbers are manageable.¡±

    The bombardment from five cruisers and one battleship would be enough to annihte a small swarm of crystal lifeforms in one volley after all. We should be fine if we face at most thirty medium-types and one hundred small-types. It should be okay as long as arge-type or two doesn¡¯t appear. And when a battle does ur, we should also be able to use subspacemunications to request reinforcements from other scouting fleets in nearby star systems.

    ¡°Okay, just stop right there. ording to experience, we¡¯ll end up facing a horde of enemies if you say something like that, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Oi, oi, that¡­¡­ shouldn¡¯t be the case¡­ I think. Yeah. It shouldn¡¯t be.¡±

    ¡°It looks like it¡¯s useless, Elma-san¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°We should probably brace ourselves now, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Okay, guys, just stop. We¡¯ll really end up facing a horde if you say things like that y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not good to shift the me to us for your own faults, Hiro.¡±

    We continued to stand-by inside Krishna¡¯s cockpit as we repeatedly passed the buck around.

 Chapter 154 â€“ Encounter

    <h4>Chapter 154 - Encounter</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The 2nd Recon Fleet,posed of Major Serena¡¯s Independent Anti-Pirate Mobile Fleet and a mercenary mixed fleet, left the Izrooks system along with the other recon fleets and plunged into the frontier region.

    The first ce we scouted was the Pax system, which was directly adjacent to the Izrooks system. The four recon fleets split up to investigate the entire Pax system, and before long, we managed to confirm that there were no crystal lifeforms in it.

    There were a total of three hypene nodes in the Pax system, including the one leading to the Izrooks system. The recon fleets then split into two pairs and headed for each of the two other nodes to further investigate.

    ¡°It¡¯s more convenient to have two fleets working in concert in order to deal with unexpected situations.¡±

    ¡°I think so too. It would be ideal to have one fleet act as a vanguard and scout in order to confirm the situation on the other side before the other fleet exits the hypene.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. The other fleet can secure a path of retreat just in case things go south. The two fleets can take turns acting as the vanguard.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go with that arrangement then.¡±

    The discussion between themander of the 1st Recon Fleet and the 2nd Recon Fleet helmed by Major Serena went as such, and the two fleets proceeded with the investigation of the frontier while exercising maximum caution.

    And so, it¡¯s been a total of 36 hours since we departed from the Izrooks system.

    ¡°Our forces in Sector C are losing ground! They¡¯re requesting reinforcements!¡±

    ¡°Tell May to provide cover fire from here. And tell our friendlies to hold out as best they can for the meantime.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    We closed in on the crystal lifeform swarm and destroyed the ones blocking our way with shotgun cannon volleys. The fragments of the destroyed crystal lifeforms kept hitting Krishna¡¯s shield and got repelled away by it.

    ¡°See! I told you guys it would turn out like this in the end!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been more than 24 hours since you said it. It¡¯s a total coincidence, okay!¡±

    It¡¯s been 36 hours since we left the Izrooks system. We were already four systems away from Izrooks, in the Gagaol system, and there the 2nd Recon fleet encountered a swarm of crystal lifeforms and immediately engaged them in battle. It seems they set up an ambush near the exit point of the hypene node.

    The vanguard fleet immediately sent out a reinforcement request via hyperspacems to us, who were standing by on the Riximus system adjacent to Gagaul. Fortunately, it would only take a span of approximately 15 minutes in order to reach the Gagaul system from Riximus, so the vanguard fleet should be fine as long as they held their ground for a short while.

    As for what I and my crew were doing at this point, we were currently serving as bait to pull the crystal lifeforms away from therge shipsposed of the cruisers, battleship, and ck Lotus, and plunged directly into the swarm.

    The crystal lifeforms instinctively attacked whichever prey was closest to them after all. It¡¯s fairly easy to lead them on by destroying a number of them with shot cannon andser cannon fire while constantly moving around the battlefield. We¡¯ve already destroyed quite a number of them while passing by even more crystal lifeforms to pull them away as well.

    ¡°Hey, the number of crystal lifeforms chasing after us has already turned really crazy you know!?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. This much is no problem at all.¡±

    The number of crystal lifeforms currently chasing after us was far fewer than what we faced when we first arrived at the Izrooks system, however, our current forces were also far fewer than what we had back then as well. There¡¯s a danger of our cruisers and battleships taking quite some damage if the battle devolves into a melee. And so, we needed to do all we could in order to prevent that situation from happening.

    I switched the attitude controls from auto to manual and reversed the ship to face the chasing crystal lifeforms while preserving our momentum.

    ¡°Ora ora ora ora!¡±

    I then let loose with Krishna¡¯s two shotgun cannons and four heavyser cannons to destroy the chasing enemies. Since the chasing enemies were packed so closely together, there wasn¡¯t even a need to aim precisely. You¡¯d be able to hit something even if you just fired your weapons haphazardly.

    ¡°H-Hiro-sama! I-In front! No, behind us!? The crystal lifeforms are-!?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine.¡±

    I used the attitude control thrusters to maneuver the ship in order to dodge the crystal lifeforms charging after us from multiple angles while continuing to bombard the ones we led away. I could easily tell the positions of the enemies by paying attention to the radar, so it¡¯s a piece of cake for me to avoid their attacks as long as I concentrate.

    Eh? Don¡¯t I also need to pay attention to the front at the same time, you ask? I¡¯m bombarding the enemies out front to oblivion anyway, so I didn¡¯t need to especially pay attention to them. It¡¯ll be fine as long as I have them in the corner of my eye.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Uh, captain. What the heck is that?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What do you mean, Lieutenant?¡±

    Robbitson and I were stunned speechless as we witnessed ¡®that¡¯ ship¡¯s crazy maneuvers.

    I was already floored when his ship plunged straight into the swarm of crystal lifeforms and drew them away, but he did something even more absurd by actively counterattacking the swarm chasing after him while on the run. He was right in the middle of the swarm too.

    His ship was running at a terribly high speed when he suddenly made it turn around to face the chasing enemies and bombarded them with firepower rivaling that of a heavy cruiser. He even evaded all the other crystal lifeforms trying to ram his ship from all directions by using weird-looking maneuvers. He then sessfully broke through the encirclement of the crystal lifeform swarm and ended up leading even more of them away.

    ¡°It looks like the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal isn¡¯t just for show huh.¡±

    ¡°You can say that again¡­¡­ Honestly. I wonder what goes through that man¡¯s head whenever he pulls stunts like this.¡±

    No matter how you look at it, plunging headfirst into a swarm of crystal lifeforms with just one ship is already utterly insane, but to think that he even had the guts to reverse his ship in the middle of that situation to mount a counterattack¡­¡­ No, this isn¡¯t the time to act all stunned by his actions.

    ¡°We can¡¯t afford to waste the opening he made for us. Focus fire on Sector A. Push the enemies back. Have the other mercenaries rush over to Sector C to provide reinforcements.¡±

    ¡°Aye!¡±

    A sh of bright suddenly went off on Sector B, and arge part of the swarm chasing after that ship was shaved off. It looks like he fired an anti-ship reactive torpedo at them.

    ¡°He¡¯s about to reach the vanguard recon fleet¡­¡­ It looks like they managed to hold on.¡±

    The numbers of the swarm chasing after that ship has been greatly reduced thanks to his earlier attacks, but they were still continuing their pursuit. We still can¡¯t let our guards down, but it looks like they¡¯ll be able to manage if it¡¯s just that much.

    ¡°That was pretty thrilling huh?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yeah.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes.¡±

    Elma and Mimi¡¯s replies sounded really drained of energy. It looks like they still aren¡¯t used to fighting the crystal lifeforms. The small-type crystal lifeforms don¡¯t have much when ites to projectile attacks, so you¡¯d be fine as long as you pay attention to their ramming attacks. It isn¡¯t like I would allow us to get surrounded and cut off anyway. Well, I guess it was still plenty dangerous since one mistake under the threat of such a swarm would probably result in us getting shot down.

    Afterward, we were able to provide reinforcements to the vanguard recon fleet in time and managed to fight off the crystal lifeform ambush. The number of prey would decrease once the other reinforcements arrive, so I made sure to fire off another anti-ship reactive torpedo to earn more kills. Since the imperial military will replenish the ammoter, it would be a waste not to take advantage of such a set-up. ck Lotus also has a sizeable amount of spare ammunition stored in it, so I¡¯d like to use them up gradually during the mission in order to get as many kills as I could and earn more.

    There actually wasn¡¯t any arrangement such as a kill bonus, but I believe they¡¯d still offer me a sizeable reward as long as I continued to stack up great results. Probably anyway. It might be a good idea to talk with the major about thister.

    With those thoughts in mind, I maneuvered Krishna to the lower rear part of the ck Lotus and started the auto-docking sequence.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave the docking to you, May.¡±

    ¡ºYes. Opening the hatch now.¡»

    The hatch behind ck Lotus opened, and Krishna went inside the hangar via automated guidance. Mm. Auto-docking really is hassle-free. Just look at how smooth and stable it was. With this, the probability of getting into an ident¡­ probably wasn¡¯t zero, honestly. But only in extremely rare cases. Well, with Krishna¡¯s size, it would probably be okay, barring any strange external factors.

    ¡°Hey, guys. We¡¯vended already.¡±

    The twodies with me audibly sighed. Have they managed to shake off their nerves already?

    ¡°We¡¯re probably alright for the time being since we¡¯ve sessfully eliminated the enemies here, but there might be other swarms lurking in this star system. In any case, reinforcements from the adjacent systems are probablying over, so you guys should rest up while you can.¡±

    ¡°Why the heck are you not one bit bothered after all that though¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m already used to those kinds of chaotic battles. It was nothing more than a warm-up. Fuhahahaha!¡±

    I¡¯m a bit tired, sure, but the battle onlysted for about twenty minutes or so. I still had plenty of fight left.

    ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it too. Small-types are simr to slow-moving seeker missiles anyway. They¡¯re not such a big deal.¡±

    ¡°Is that really the case¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yep. You basically can¡¯t dodgeser fire, but small-type crystal lifeforms are far, far slower thansers, and they don¡¯t even turn as fast as seeker missiles. You¡¯d be fine once you conquered your initial fear.¡±

    ¡°M-Mm¡­¡­?¡±

    It seems that Mimi was still notpletely convinced though.

    ¡°Anyway, make sure to get a good rest, you two. I¡¯ll have Tina and Whisker do a quick maintenance check and replenish our ammo.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll leave that to you then¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Understood¡­¡­¡±

    I headed for ck Lotus¡¯s hangar and left the twodies behind inside Krishna¡¯s cockpit. It¡¯s probably fine since I managed to not take any hits during the battle earlier, but it¡¯s still convenient to have easy ess to proper maintenance and ammo replenishment after such things. It was quite expensive, but ck Lotus really was a great purchase regardless.

    I mulled over such thoughts as I continued to head for the hangar.

 Chapter 155 â€“ Break and Invitation

    <h4>Chapter 155 - Break and Invitation</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The damage to the 2nd Recon Fleet was rtively minor. The damage directly received by our main force, which wasposed of the ships from the Independent Anti-Pirate Mobile Fleet, was two of their corvettes getting a part of their hulls crushed due to their energy shields getting pierced during the battle. Fortunately, there were no casualties reported as a result of that.

    However, two mercenary ships ended up going down, killing three people. It looks like they weren¡¯t so lucky when we got plunged in the midst of the crystal lifeforms after they staged an ambush. In addition to the two downed ships, several others received varying degrees of damage and were now parked inside ships with maintenance hangars for necessary repairs.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Man. It looks like we¡¯re kinda fated to bump into each other huh.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Tsk.¡±

    ¡°What are you clicking your tongue for!?¡±

    The one who got assigned to ck Lotus for repairs is the ship of that young merc I got into a minor scuffle with back at the award ceremony. Come to think of it, I didn¡¯t manage to get his name yet huh¡­¡­ I didn¡¯t, right?

    ¡°Uh, we haven¡¯t properly introduced ourselves yet huh? The name¡¯s Hiro by the way.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Wade.¡±

    I extended my hand for a handshake, but the cheeky bugger ignored me. This guy¡­¡­ I¡¯m trying to treat you as a responsible adult y¡¯know. Well, it¡¯s not like getting angry here would lead to anything good anyway.

    ¡°Ok, ok, I get it¡­¡­ Want a drink? Water or something?¡±

    ¡°None of your business.¡±

    The young mercenary named Wade gave me a hostile re. Man, this is going nowhere. Well, if he wants me to leave him alone, then fine. Krishna¡¯s maintenance and ammo replenishment is finished anyway, so I was totally free unless another battle happens.

    ¡°I¡¯m heading back to my ship then. If there¡¯s anything you need, just tell the mechanic sisters working over there.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    What¡¯s with this guy¡¯s attitude anyway? Was he jealous? Uh, well, I¡¯m a lot more sessful than him, I had a big mothership, and I was apanied by the beauties Mimi, Elma, and May. Oh, man. It won¡¯t really be strange if this guy was jealous.

    Hahaha! It¡¯s not like he¡¯s getting to me. Not at all. Yup.

    When I returned to Krishna¡¯s cockpit with a wide grin stered on my face, I saw Mimi and Elma, who seemed to have recovered somewhat, staring intently at some info disyed on the cockpit monitor.

    ¡°What are you guys looking at?¡±

    ¡°That earlier battle¡¯s consolidated data. You really did it this time huh. This ship is the undisputed top ace.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re amazing, Hiro-sama!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, aren¡¯t I? Go ahead, girls. Don¡¯t hesitate to shower me with more praise.¡±

    After seeing the two¡¯s admiring gazes, my irritation from earlierpletely flew out the window. Come to think of it, I really shouldn¡¯t let that young merc¡¯s attitude annoy me like this. I¡¯ll just hit him back if he decides to hit me. Hard.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Elma tilted her head and asked me what was up. Maybe she sensed my irritation from earlier. I didn¡¯t normally ask them to shower me with morepliments after all. Maybe she inferred from that?

    ¡°I was just a bit annoyed by the young mercenary who came in for ship repairs earlier. It¡¯s nothing much.¡±

    After saying so, I plopped down on the pilot seat and started reviewing the battle data as well. Oh, so I managed to bag 153 kills huh.

    ¡°The torpedo you guided really did the trick, Elma.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Thanks to Elma-san precise calctions, a great number of the enemies were eliminated.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not trying to act all humble here, but it was originally your idea anyway, Hiro. And besides, the biggest factor that allowed me to score such a hit was you sessfully bunching them up and dragging them around while avoiding the rest of the enemies. So it really was more of your achievement rather than mine, Hiro. I definitely can¡¯t pull off those weird maneuvers of yours.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t call them weird. And besides, I think you can also do them with enough practice.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, of course, I can.¡±

    She dismissed my im without hesitation. Just why? She can definitely do them too if she practiced diligently. Basically, you just needed to pay attention to the radar readings, predict the movements of the enemies, and preemptively evade them. For practice, one should start with evading low-ranked seeker missiles with a rtively slower projectile speed.

    ¡°For our future schedule, it seems we will stay here for the time being for some rest and repairs, and then mount a counteroffensive afterward, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Counteroffensive?¡±

    ¡°Yes. This system is also a hypene hub with nodes extending out in four different directions. So while we are resting and undergoing repairs here, they n to investigate where exactly the crystal lifeforms came out from and whether or not there are more lurking in this system. We will also look for the traces left by past survey and recon fleets.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°Also, in preparation for future possible ambushes, we will stop acting in two separate fleets and act in concert from now on. It seems they n to strengthen our defenses by consolidating our forces.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    We were lucky this time because the time needed to reach our allies via the hypene was quite short, but in some cases, there might be a time difference of several hours between the two groups, so our 2nd Recon Fleet will suffer even greater damage in case of another ambush. It would have made it possible for me to increase my kill count even more, but it would also put ck Lotus in more danger.

    ¡°Well, in cases like this, I feel like consolidating forces is a basic move in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°I wonder. There¡¯s also the risk of being annihted all at once by a bigger force even if we did group up from the start. The goal of the operation this time is to gather info, so separating into two groups in order to ensure at least one group can make it back to base in order to deliver the gathered intel isn¡¯t such a bad move as well.¡±

    There¡¯s also the method of letting just a small number of ships escape while the rest buy time for them huh¡­¡­ Won¡¯t that also be a valid method if you just want to ensure the intel would be brought back?¡±

    ¡°But in that case, only those few ships will survive and the rest will probably get annihted, right? If the forces are divided equally into two, the number of surviving ships will rise drastically. The vanguard group would still be able to buy enough time for the other group to make their escape.¡±

    ¡°But the risk of gradually getting worn down by smaller enemy forces attacking you repeatedly will also increase if we continue to act in two groups¡­¡­ Well, it¡¯s certainly a difficult call. Anyway, it¡¯s the military that will ultimately decide our actions, and we need to just obey their orders.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right.¡±

    A call came in after I finished discussing fleet strategies with Elma. Mimi operated her console and opened am channel.

    ¡°Yes, this is Krishna. Yes, yes. Please wait for a moment¡­¡­ Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Hm? What¡¯s up? Who¡¯s calling?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s from Major Serena. I¡¯ll put her up on the monitor.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    A call from Major Serena? I wonder what for. I inwardly had my doubts but I didn¡¯t let them show on my face.

    After a few moments, the image of Major Serena was projected on the cockpit monitor. She was looking sharp in her military uniform as always.

    ¡ºFirst, congrattions on bing the top ace. It seems you¡¯re not as tired as I expected.¡»

    ¡°Thanks. You look like you have plenty of fight left as well, major.¡±

    ¡ºYes, of course. This wasn¡¯t even enough for a warm-up.¡»

    ¡°As expected of a top imperial military officer. So, what do you need, major?¡±

    I decided to cut straight to the point. I was wary of being sidetracked and led around the nose after all.

    ¡ºWell now, someone sure sounds impatient. That¡¯s so like you though. It¡¯s not something you need to be wary about anyway.¡»

    ¡°I sure hope so. So, what is it?¡±

    ¡ºSince we¡¯re going to have a 24-hour break, we were nning to invite the top ace and recipient of the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal for a formal dinner banquet.¡»

    ¡°Dinner huh¡­¡­ I don¡¯t think your food would be better than ours though.¡±

    ¡ºPlease just overlook that. We¡¯ll be sure to bring out some good alcohol.¡»

    ¡°You do know I¡¯m an extreme lightweight, right?¡±

    I¡¯m so utterly weak to alcohol that one sip will bring me down instantly. Even if they brought out the best alcohol in the universe, I wouldn¡¯t feel any excitement at all.

    ¡ºWell, just think of it as part of the reward for achieving top ace status. We will bring out the best menu the Restalias has to offer for you.¡»

    ¡°I¡¯d honestly prefer money to food and drinks though¡­¡­¡±

    ¡ºOf course, we¡¯ll prepare a mary reward as well. A reward system is indispensable for maintaining morale after all.¡»

    Major Serena made one of her perfect-looking smiles. I see.

    ¡°So you basically want to use me to advertise the treatment a top ace would receive and how much of a bonus I¡¯ll get huh? But won¡¯t that only invite jealousy from everyone else?¡±

    ¡ºYou¡¯re already attracting more than enough as it is anyway. And besides, you¡¯ve made more than enough contributions to justify such treatment. Also, if we don¡¯t give you the bonus you deserve, the imperial military¡¯s credibility will be called into question. It would be a problem if rumors about the famous imperial military not handing a top ace his due rewards start to spread, don¡¯t you think?¡»

    ¡°In other words, I have no choice but to attend, right?¡±

    ¡ºWell, I wouldn¡¯t say that, but we really would appreciate it if you coulde over.¡»

    I let out a sigh as I looked at Major Serena, whose smile never faltered in the slightest, and turned my gaze toward Elma sitting on the sub-pilot seat.

    ¡°I think it can¡¯t be helped.¡±

    I turned to Mimi as well.

    ¡°I want to try eating the best menu the imperial military has to offer, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°You would, huh¡­¡­¡±

    Man. Mimi sure has her priorities straight. But I kinda want to sample the best menu the imperial military has to offer as well.

    ¡°Understood. We¡¯ll ept the invitation. When should wee over?¡±

    ¡ºThat¡¯s great. Well then, pleasee to the Restalias¡¯ hangar an hour from now. Are you three the only onesing over by the way?¡»

    ¡°May needs to stay in the ck Lotus, and the mechanic sisters are still busy performing maintenance and repairs on the mercenary ships. Yep, only us three will go.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood. We¡¯ll see you in an hour then. Oh, and please be sure to wear your medal, alright?¡»

    After saying so, Major Serena cut the call. My sigh echoed around the now-quiet cockpit.

    ¡°Shepletely got me wrapped around her little finger huh?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s to that extent, but¡­¡­ well, we mercenaries can¡¯t divorce ourselves from getting in contact and working with the military after all. Just treat this as you building connections in preparation for the future.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s like that huh¡­¡­ Well, I guess I¡¯ll just look forward to the food then.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. There¡¯s the alcohol too!¡±

    At least Mimi and Elma looked excited. I don¡¯t really feel like attending a courtesy dinner organized by the higher-ups though¡­¡­ I sighed again.

 Chapter 156 â€“ At the Restalias

    <h4>Chapter 156 - At the Restalias</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Take care, everyone. Leave everything here to us.¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­ Booze¡­¡­ I also wanna go¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Big sis¡­¡­ We have to prioritize work right now, okay.¡±

    Mimi, Elma, and I headed to the Restalias, which was the gship of the Independent Anti-Pirate Mobile Fleet, as the other three saw us off.

    I did feel a bit uneasy about leaving May, Tina, and Whisker to deal with that temperamental merc on their own though¡­¡­ But I guess those three would probably be fine anyway. There aren¡¯t a lot of people who could duke it out with May without using power armor anyway, and Tina and Whisker were actually stronger than me despite their cute appearances. I guess there¡¯s no problem. Or rather, I was the second to the weakest within the crew when ites to pure physical strength. I only ranked above Mimi.

    I mulled over such pointless things as Iunched Krishna out into space. The scenery outside was quite spectacr. There were quite a lot of mercenary and imperial starships parked all around us, and the mercenary ships were especially eye-catching since no two ships were alike.

    Strictly speaking, there were ships with the same base model, but each ship was heavily customized and painted ording to each owner¡¯s preferences. Some are so heavily customized that you wouldn¡¯t even be able to recognize the base model. Some had sharp spikes and protrusions all over their hulls, and some had wing stabilizers that didn¡¯t serve any particr purpose whatsoever. Did those guys want to feel like they were flying in the sky while out in space, I wonder?

    Of course, there were also some that didn¡¯t get customized much at all and still retained their basic looks. Well, it depends on each person¡¯s taste after all¡­¡­ By the way, I also didn¡¯t have any qualms about heavily customizing the exterior appearance of a ship if it was necessary. Before I got Krishna, myst ship was customized heavily as well. There wasn¡¯t even a hint of the original base model. I didn¡¯t put on any meaningless stabilizers or the like though.

    Some of my buddies opted to put on those spikes and stabilizers too in order to get that end-of-the-century ¡®Hyahaah!¡¯ look, while some opted for more ssy designs. Uh, but no matter how much of a fan of the end-of-the-century ¡®Hyahaah!¡¯ gang those guys were, I still think modifying the attitude control thrusters of their ships so they could spit fire jets like methrowers were too much unnecessary drama. But that method did make it slightly difficult to judge how much they floored their thrusters by masking it with the mes, so it¡¯s not like there wasn¡¯t any practical benefit at all¡­¡­ Ugh. Okay, let¡¯s just stop there.

    ¡°That ship looks really cool¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­?¡±

    I and Elma let out puzzled gasps as we looked at Mimi, whose eyes were sparkling as she gazed at a particr mercenary ship. I mean, c¡¯mon. They have too much unnecessary stuff on the hull, like spikes,rge screw-like protrusions, and a huge skull-head on the bow¡­¡­ So Mimi was also a fan of this kind of stuff. Krishna would probably turn out like that ship if we ever left customizing it to Mimi huh.

    ¡°I like a ship with a sharper and more elegant design.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. But you don¡¯t care much about the interior, do you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll properly focus on the interior design as well next time, okay¡­¡­¡±

    Thest ship Elma purchased really was aesthetically beautiful from the outside. But the interior looked quite crude and spartan due to her strange fixations. So Elma was the type who judged mostly by looks and not substance, huh.

    We continued to talk about the other mercenary ships all around us as we headed for Restalias and finally reached it after a few minutes.

    Actually, we experienced being scanned several times from different directions as we made our way to Restalias. Perhaps they were wondering why a rtively undamaged ship was heading for the gship while the fleet was currently on stand-by. And Krishna was a rare and unusual ship as well. It didn¡¯t really bother us, so we just let them do as they liked.

    Mimi sent a docking request over to Restalias, and it was immediately approved. It was still a bit earlier than the appointed time, but they should have been told we would being over already. I immediately flew the ship behind thending hatch of Restalias and activated the auto-docking program. A certain space elf was stillining beside me while murmuring stuff like ¡®auto-docking is heresy¡¯ or something like that. Elma was a diehard fan of manual docking as always.

    ¡°There we go. We¡¯ve arrived. Let¡¯s head out guys.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Okay.¡±

    Mimi had a big smile stered on her face as she looked forward to the imperial military¡¯s ¡®best menu¡¯, but Elma looked slightly less enthusiastic due to the auto-docking sequence from earlier. Just admit how convenient it is already, you stubborn elf.

    I checked the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal pinned on my jacket and started walking ahead with the pair of noble-issue swords strapped to each side of my waist. After I received the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal, May expressly told me to always wear it on me if possible along with the swords in addition to myser gun. I didn¡¯t really like them that much since they made me stand out, but she told me they would allow me to avoid unnecessary trouble since the medal and swords will make other people treat me the same way as an imperial knight in ordance with imperialw and customs.

    It was May¡¯s advice after all. And Elma didn¡¯t say anything about it either, so there probably was no danger of dangerous noble factions like the Drawn Sword eyeing me and suddenly challenging me to a sword duel to the death.

    I, of course, knew jack squat about swords and swordsmanship, so if a real noble did challenge me to a sword duel, the oue is already fairly obvious. Should I take some swordsmanship lessons from May¡­¡­? Or maybe it was more practical to just leave the medal whenever I go out? I think so, anyway.

    I got off Krishna while feeling slightly annoyed by the weight of the swords strapped to my waist, and found an imperial soldier already waiting outside for us.

    ¡°Wee to Restalias, everyone. I shall serve as your guide this fine evening.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the trouble, sir.¡±

    We exchanged salutes, and the soldier started walking ahead to lead us.

    Well, this ship was like a familiar neighbor¡¯s house to me already in a sense. I used to walk around it a lot when I was teaching Major Serena¡¯s fleet about pirate hunting tactics.

    ¡°¡­¡­Everyone seems to be quite busy.¡±

    ¡°We just finished engaging in a battle after all. They probably have some post-processing work to deal with.¡±

    ¡°But then, is it okay to have a dinner banquet in the middle of this situation?¡±

    ¡°This dinner is also part of the post-battle proceedings after all. They have to make a good show of rewarding the battle¡¯s top ace to the rest of the fleet.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    As we continued such discussions, we finally reached an exclusive dining room for senior officers. It seems that within Restalias, this dining room was exclusive to the highest-ranking senior officers in the ship, including the captain, Major Serena.

    ¡°But it actually isn¡¯t used all that much huh.¡±

    It also seems that Major Serena and the other senior officers rarely used this dining room since they found it far too luxurious and couldn¡¯t properly rx while having their meals. On Restalias, they often held meetings and the like during meals, so the exclusive senior officer¡¯s dining room, which was fairly small and couldn¡¯t house that many people, was hardly used as a result. I see.

    ¡°Then they shouldn¡¯t have installed one in the first ce, right?¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t do. Major Serena doesn¡¯t use it much, but there are also imperial nobles who would probably prefer dining in it as well.¡±

    ¡°So they want to behave and feel like proper aristocrats or something huh?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Large ships that serve as fleet gships usually have facilities like this one installed in them to meet the demands of such people. That¡¯s also part of the reason why they look really fancy. Major Serena might not likeing here much, but there¡¯s no telling if the next captain assigned here would be the same.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Mimi and I acted all impressed by Elma¡¯s strangely extensive knowledge on the subject as we entered the dining room. The soldier then guided us to our seats. Maybe we¡¯re too early because I haven¡¯t spotted Major Serena yet.

    ¡°The furnishings including the table all look super luxurious, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°They certainly won¡¯t look out of ce in a fancy high-end restaurant. I¡¯m not really confident in my table manners though. I don¡¯t even know the proper way to use the cutlery.¡±

    Should I use them from the outside going in or something? I don¡¯t have much knowledge regarding this particr subject. Honestly, it¡¯s probably impossible for an average Japanese citizen to be familiar with how to formally use fancy cutlery. As for me, my only dining experiences outside amount to eating gyuudon, udon, ramen, family restaurantfort food, steaks at public steakhouses, and conveyor belt sushi. I haven¡¯t experienced eating at a fancy French or Italian restaurant at all back on Earth.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t a formal dinner organized for imperial nobles anyway, so I think they won¡¯t be too particr with manners and such. It¡¯ll be okay as long as you don¡¯t do stuff like eating with your hands or licking the te clean.¡±

    ¡°As if I¡¯d do that anything like that.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Mimi also made a strained smile. It¡¯s not like I grew up out in the wild or anything.

    ¡°There¡¯s all kinds of mercenaries after all. You¡¯reparably more refined than most of them, Hiro. You don¡¯t drink or take drugs, you don¡¯t spend all your money gambling, and you don¡¯t frequent brothels either. In the eyes of other mercenaries, you might even seem too uptight, or just acting all pretentious and stoic.¡±

    ¡°I definitely don¡¯t think I¡¯m elegant or stoic though.¡±

    In the first ce, there ain¡¯t anything elegant or stoic about my time spent flirting with Mimi, Elma, and May. I¡¯m simply just too weak against alcohol and aren¡¯t interested in gambling or drugs.

    ¡°I think you¡¯re perfect as you are, Hiro-sama. You¡¯re wonderful.¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess he is. I certainly don¡¯t want to see Hiro indulging in drugs or alcohol and losing himself.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry. I won¡¯t ever be like that, okay.¡±

    ¡°I sure hope so. Our reputation will take a hit as well if someone awarded with the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal were to engage in such unscrupulous things after all.¡±

    Major Serena finally entered the dining room while saying so. It was such exquisite timing. Was she actually listening in on our conversation from outside? No, maybe they have cameras set up all over the room and were monitoring our conversation.

    ¡°A pleasant evening, major. We thank you for your gracious invitation tonight.¡±

    Major Serena disyed a strained smile when she saw me standing up and making a formal bow while cing one hand on my chest. Mimi and Elma hurriedly stood up as well.

    ¡°Oh please. Seeing you act like that is making my back all itchy. I¡¯m not worthy of such a formal gesture, so please be at ease.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    And then, three other senior officers followed after Major Serena and went over to the table. One of them was Major Serena¡¯s adjutant, Lieutenant Robbitson. I wasn¡¯t familiar with the other two.

    One was a buff-looking middle-aged guy, and the other was a young woman who looked to be the same age as Major Serena. A sword was strapped to the waist of the middle-aged man, so he was probably an imperial noble as well.

    ¡°I¡¯m Colonel Wilbert Broadwell. I am themander of the 1st Recon Fleet.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Lieutenant Cecil nt. I serve as Colonel Broadwell¡¯s adjutant.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the owner and captain of Krishna and ck Lotus, Captain Hiro. This is my sub-pilot, Elma, and my operator, Mimi. It¡¯s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.¡±

    So these people were the head honchos of the 1st Recon fleet huh. Well, the 1st Recon Fleet did rush over to provide reinforcements so I guess it wasn¡¯t strange that these two were here.

    ¡°You must all be tired from standing around, so why don¡¯t we take our seats and make a toast to start things off?¡±

    Major Serena urged everyone to take a seat. Now then, what kind of dinner will this be, I wonder.

 Chapter 157 â€“ Dining Together and a Strange Person

    <h4>Chapter 157 - Dining Together and a Strange Person</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Well then everyone, to victory. Cheers.¡±

    ¡°¡±Cheers!¡±¡±

    The dinner opened with a toast from the most senior officer present, Colonel Broadwell.

    I was a bit expectant when I heard that they would bring out the finest menu the imperial military has to offer for tonight¡¯s dinner, but in the end, it wasn¡¯t anything I haven¡¯t tried before. The course consisted of a pasta dish that resembled Neapolitan spaghetti, a teful of steak, and a consomm¨¦ soup in a mug.

    I tilted my head and muttered ¡®This is their so-called best menu?¡¯ as I used my knife and fork to cut off a piece of the steak and brought it to my mouth.

    The meat was a little firm, but the more you chewed, the more gravy and meat juices scattered within your mouth. The garlic fried rice was pretty fragrant, and the baked onion slices which served as the side dish were cooked to perfect- Hm?

    ¡°You guys used real meat and vegetables huh¡­¡­¡±

    Now I understand why Major Serena imed this was their best menu. You could easily reproduce such a menu using food cartridges and an auto-cooker, but nothing beats the real thing after all.

    I looked toward Mimi who was busy eating her own steak and saw the sparkle in her eyes as she ate with gusto.

    ¡°Fumu, so the hero who received the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal surprisingly also has an eye for gourmet food hmm? Now, this is certainly unexpected.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not really much of a gourmet at all. I just simply had the great fortune of sampling real meat and vegetables several times before. One of my crew members also loves sampling different kinds of food. Or rather, she absolutely adores eating good food.¡±

    ¡°H-Hiro-sama¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi, who was sitting beside me, called out to me in a fluster. She got easily embarrassed when all of our gazes gathered toward her, but I really like watching Mimi eating food happily. It¡¯s food for the soul.

    ¡°Fumu¡­¡­¡±

    Colonel Broadwell eyed Mimi and I with great interest after seeing our exchange. What is it, man? Just give it to me straight if you have something to say.

    ¡°Will we continue with the operation after this break?¡±

    ¡°Of course. Twelve hours will be allotted for making necessary repairs, and another twelve hours will be allotted for rest. We will resume the operation after those 24 hours. Right now, we are having some ships scout the surrounding area.¡±

    ¡°I see. It would be good if they could find some clues.¡±

    I remembered the SOL questline rted to crystal lifeforms while having an exchange with Colonel Broadwell. So far, we¡¯ve undergone a raid event, a counterattack event, and an info-gathering event. If this were the game, what follows would be an enemy base assault event. We¡¯re well in the middle of the info gathering event right now. I didn¡¯t have much experience regarding this particr event since I was a mercenary yer. On the other hand, explorer yers were absolute experts in it. They often journeyed far to find and scout out undiscovereds and star systems after all.

    ¡°How should I put it? You¡­¡­ do not resemble a mercenary at all. I somehow feel like I¡¯m talking to a fellow soldier or noble whenever I talk to you.¡±

    ¡°I also feel the same as His Excellency, Colonel Broadwell. Your manner and speech are all strangely refined. It doesn¡¯t fit the image of a mercenary at all.¡±

    Lieutenant Robbitson, Major Serena¡¯s adjutant, nodded in agreement as he cut a piece of his steak with a knife. To think they¡¯d call me refined and elegant, of all things. Just how vulgar do typical mercenaries in this dimension behave anyway?

    ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t really know¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Do youdies feel the same as well?¡±

    ¡°Yes. After all, to ensurefortable living conditions for his crew, he remodeled the interior of his ship to be on par with a luxury liner, and he¡¯s also really gentlemanly in terms of his treatment toward us.¡±

    Elma nodded at Lieutenant nt¡¯s question as she borated and Mimi expressed her agreement as well.

    Eh¡­¡­? Uh, but Iy my hands on them all the time, so I can¡¯t really see which part of me can be considered ¡®gentlemanly¡¯ at all.

    Or rather, do these two really think that way about me? Seriously?

    ¡°Um, somehow, I feel like you¡¯re all focusing a lot on me¡­¡­ If possible, can we just leave it at that please?¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped if you feel that way. Alright. But can I ask about a somewhat personal matter then?¡±

    ¡°As long as it¡¯s something I can answer.¡±

    What, what? Are we moving on to interrogation time? I don¡¯t hold much hope for Major Serena, but can you guys help me out a bit here, Mimi, Elma?

    ¡°It¡¯s about your ship; the Krishna, if I remember correctly. Just where did you manage to obtain such a fine specimen? I consider myself as somewhat of a starship enthusiast, but this is absolutely the first time I¡¯ve managed to witness such a ship. There are plenty of mercenaries who remodel their ships so much that they turn out to be unrecognizable from the base model, but the entire design concept of your ship is already way beyond such amateurish attempts.¡±

    And this guy suddenly threw such a fastball.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t answer that. When I received the ship, I promised never to disclose where it came from. I don¡¯t have any idea where the person who gave it to me is now either.¡±

    ¡°Fumu¡­¡­ Alright then. Could I at least take a look at itter?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ Well, if it¡¯s only taking a look¡­¡±

    ¡°I see! Then I shall pay a visit once we finish dinner.¡±

    Colonel Broadwell nodded in satisfaction. It would be good if I can take that smile at face value, but I wonder if he¡¯s actually cooking up a scheme to confiscate Krishna and make it his own or something? I turned a gaze that expressed such concerns to Major Serena.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry. It¡¯s virtually impossible for imperial military officers to forcibly strip a mercenary of his ship.¡±

    ¡°Mu? I was thinking of nothing of the sort, though?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s well known among our circles that Colonel Broadwell from the Broadwell House is an avidbat starship and mercenary enthusiast, but I guess not many mercenaries are aware of it. You are from the House of Earl Broadwell after all. You¡¯re also the eldest son and heir as well. People who aren¡¯t familiar with you would certainly have their guards up if you suddenly ask that sort of thing.¡±

    Major Serena exined the situation to Colonel Broadwell while smiling wryly. Colonel Broadwell scratched the back of his head in embarrassment after hearing her exnation.

    ¡°Ah, I certainly didn¡¯t take that into consideration. Hiro-dono, I only asked such a thing to satisfy my personal intellectual curiosity, so please be at ease. And also, could I take a holo-photo with you and these two lovelydies after the tour as well? I also have a hobby of collecting group holo-photos of really promising mercenaries you see.¡±

    ¡°Uh, okay¡­ If that¡¯s all¡­ then I guess it¡¯s fine?¡±

    I ended up agreeing after getting pressured by Colonel Broadwell¡¯s desperate gaze. Mimi and Elma also ended up agreeing while being slightly confused by his behavior. And so, we decided to take the officers for a tour of Krishna after the meal.

    Just why did it turn out like this?

    The rest of the dinner went peacefully, and we also received a mary reward of 1,000,000 Enels. The tour and group photo-op also proceeded without problems, I guess. Uh, maybe?

    ¡°So the frame cleverly hides two shotgun cannons! What a bold design¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°These weapon systems are revolutionary. Thisyout has never been seen before.¡±

    ¡°There are also a great number of attitude control thrusters ced cleverly around the hull. It seems they are operating at peak efficiency by making use of a very high-output energy generator, and the overall mobility of the ship is increased more than several-fold as a result. But it somehow feels like a very brute-force approach¡­¡­ Is this ship an experimental unit, perhaps?¡±

    Honestly speaking, it was pretty surreal to witness a grown man running around excitedly all over Krishna like a rabid fanboy with a holo-camera in hand while muttering geeky jargon. I even took the trouble of changing the hangar environment setting to low-gravity mode just so the guy can take an overhead picture¡­¡­ Colonel Broadwell being an avidbat ship enthusiast really felt like an understatement. This guy was absolutely nuts for them.

    In the end, he took holo-pictures of me, Mimi, and Elma standing with Krishna in the background. He even took solo pictures of me.

    ¡°Ah, I really managed to take some very good photos. Thank you very much, everyone.¡±

    Seeing such a goofy smile stered on the face of a formerly grim-looking guy was pretty surreal as well.

    ¡°¡­¡­He¡¯s a really strange person, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°Shh, don¡¯t say it out loud, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Your reaction is plenty rude already, you know¡­¡­¡±

    This dinner made me realize there were some pretty weird people in the imperial military as well.

 Chapter 158 â€“ It Ainâ€™t My Fault!

    <h4>Chapter 158 - It Ain¡¯t My Fault!</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After we had our dinner with the officers, it was decided that we go on a scouting patrol around the star system after a short breather and resupplying. Since ours was a smallbat ship, it was pretty suited for scouting duty, or so I was told. Well, it was quite an easy job because I only needed to pilot the ship around the star system while Mimi and Elma monitor the radar. It wasn¡¯t required to constantly monitor the radar either. We just need to set an rm to ring out whenever the radar detects signs of crystal lifeforms.

    ¡°It¡¯s pretty tranquil out there, isn¡¯t it¡­?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be another hellish battle once a crystal lifeform swarm appears though.¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­ That certainly won¡¯t be tranquil anymore.¡±

    I piloted the ship while listening to Mimi and Elma¡¯s chatter. Well, it wasn¡¯t just us out on patrol though. A good number of other mercenary ships and small military scout ships were sent out earlier as well.

    ¡°Just take this as another break. There are already a lot of starships out on patrol, but we haven¡¯t found any signs of crystal lifeforms yet after all.

    ¡°Hiro¡­¡­ Why do you always say things like that at times like this?¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a good idea to keep setting up gs like this.¡±

    ¡°Hey!? Don¡¯t say things like that! At this rate, we really are gonna encounter trouble.¡±

    Uh, I admit there were already several times in the past when we encountered trouble after bantering like this¡­ But it can¡¯t possibly always turn out that way every damn time, right? In the first ce, Krishna¡¯s sensors weren¡¯t geared for scouting, so we probably won¡¯t be able to pick up anything if the specialized military scout ships weren¡¯t able to.

    ¡°I¡¯m almost convinced enemies would pop out all of a sudden after Hiro says things like that.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, c¡¯mon. Stop joking, you two.¡±

    ¡°But from our experiences so far-¡±

    The rm suddenly rang out before Mimi could finish. All of us tensed up greatly. Phew. It wasn¡¯t an emergency rm. We were just being contacted viams.

    ¡°Uh¡­¡­ I wasn¡¯t worried, okay. Don¡¯t look at me like that!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, fine. Just answer it already.¡±

    I turned to face my control console and pulled away from Elma¡¯s critical gaze. May¡¯s image then popped up from the cockpit¡¯s main monitor.

    ¡ºMaster, imperial scout ships confirmed that they¡¯d picked up warp out signals within the system. Orders have been sent frommand. All allied ships in the star system are to gather at the designated coordinates as soon as possible. I will send the coordinates to you now. Please confirm.¡»

    ¡°ck Lotus is also ordered to go, right?¡±

    ¡ºYes, we will move in concert with the imperial fleet. We will meet up with you over there.¡»

    ¡°Roger. We¡¯ll see youter then.¡±

    May made an elegant bow on the other side of the screen and disconnected the call.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hey, this ship wasn¡¯t the one that found them first, so it¡¯s all good. I¡¯m safe.¡±

    ¡°I wonder.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s an out, I think. Timing-wise, that is.¡±

    Don¡¯t you think my ship¡¯s crew members are a little too harsh to their poor captain?

    The gathering point was on the other side of the star at the center of the star system, so most of the allied ships have already gathered the moment we got there.

    ¡°It looks like they¡¯re gonna unleash a full-on barrage the moment the enemies warp out huh.¡±

    ¡°We managed to detect them early after all.¡±

    Our mixed fleet¡¯s battleships, heavy cruisers, and otherbat ships capable of long-range bombardment like our own ck Lotus already had their sights firmly fixed on the estimated warp out coordinates. Just as I said, they were fully intent on unleashing a full power barrage on the enemy crystal lifeforms once they warp out.

    ¡°Where¡¯s our position?¡±

    ¡°Right behind the destroyers in the vanguard. Depending on the situation, we may end up engaging the enemies in a dogfight after the bombardment lets up.¡±

    ¡°Roger that.¡±

    ¡°So we¡¯re jumping in the middle of a crystal lifeform swarm again¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°If necessary.¡±

    I¡¯d jump in right away if I manage to see an exploitable gapter, but I don¡¯t n on getting overwhelmed by the enemy¡¯s numbers. There¡¯s a great risk of getting swarmed from all directions after all. It might look like I¡¯m rushing in without a care, but I have to instantly assess the risks and act ordingly whenever I do stunts like that. It¡¯s definitely not rmended for amateurs.

    ¡°What¡¯s the estimated enemy warp out time?¡±

    ¡°Less than two minutes and thirty seconds from now.¡±

    ¡°Soon, huh. Activate weapon systems. Start the routine system check.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, sir. Performing routine check.¡±

    I activated the weapon systems and Elma started checking out the main and sub-systems. We managed to finish our maintenance and resupply earlier, so there should be no problems, but we should still do a check just in case.

    The warp out time dwindled gradually as we did so.

    ¡ºAll ships, prepare for a focused barrage. Barrage coordinates- Stop!! Barrage canceled!¡»

    Colonel Broadwell¡¯s flustered orders rang out from thems. I wondered what was going on, and the ¡®enemies¡¯ finally warped out. What came out was a battered medium-sizedbat ship with several parts of its hull already crystallized. It was probably a mercenary ship.

    After that, more ships with eroded hulls warped out one after another. Most of them were mercenary ships at first. But many more military scout ships warped out after them. They appeared even more battered and erodedpared to the mercenary ships.

    ¡ºContinue gathering information via scout ships. The fleet is to retreat back toward the system¡¯s star and regroup. All ships, change course!¡»

    ording to Colonel Broadwell¡¯smand, the allied fleet reversed their heading and retreated back to the central star in order to regroup.

    ¡°The ones that appeared are the 3rd and 4th Recon Fleets, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. They probably lost to the crystal lifeforms and ran away.¡±

    ¡°It looks like they escaped without putting up much of a fight.¡±

    Their numbers are obviously reduced by a lotpared to when we sortied from the base.

    The star systems around here are all unexplored, but the hypene nodes can be grasped to some extent by using observation tech like sub-space radars. The survivors of the 3rd and 4th Recon Fleets might have escaped to the star system we¡¯re currently investigating based on the data gathered from their radars.

    ¡°What will happen after this, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Recon Fleets were roughly equal in strength and numbers at the start, so if the 3rd and 4th fleets suffered that much damage, there¡¯s an option to retreat back to the Izrooks system to regroup and reorganize first. After that, we¡¯d rush back to the system where the 3rd and 4th fleets got defeated and attack it with all our strength. Or maybe-¡±

    ¡°They can choose to fully withdraw and leave it as is. If there isn¡¯t much of a guarantee that they can eliminate the enemies, it would be better to fortify the defenses of the Izrooks base instead of expending all their strength in an uncertain battle.¡±

    Elma shrugged her shoulders and finished my words.

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ Is that allowed?¡±

    Mimi wrinkled her brows after hearing Elma¡¯s words. She¡¯s a genuine citizen of the Gran Empire after all. She should have a level of distrust for the government due to her experience of being abandoned without getting any form of help from the local administration when she was in trouble, but she still held some respect for the imperial military that protects the subjects of the empire. Well, she¡¯s also met Major Serena several times now, so she might have warmed up to them due to that.

    ¡°The level of damage is quite severe after all¡­¡­ The 1st and 2nd Fleets are mostly intact, but a lot of losses have been incurred by the 3rd and 4th Fleets. They have almost been annihted. By my estimate, only thirty percent made it out and seventy percent had already fallen.¡±

    ¡°It looks like it. It wouldn¡¯t have been strange if they all fell.¡±

    Looking at their present state, I suppose they didn¡¯t even attempt a counterattack. I feel like they immediately turned tail and ran away the moment they got swarmed.

    ¡°Um, so this mission is over?¡¯

    ¡°We¡¯ll probably retreat to the Izrooks system first¡­¡­ We can¡¯t continue the scouting mission like this after all. Those beat-up chaps are gonna hand in the relevant data anyway.¡±

    Subsequent responses are up to the imperial military. There¡¯s still some remaining time on the contract period, but they probably don¡¯t want to incur any more costs by continuing to hire mercenaries like us at expensive prices without getting anything in return. They would probably terminate the contract early, and we¡¯ll be free to go.

    ¡°That depends on whether or not they decide to mount a retaliatory counterattack after we return.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha¡­¡­ If that happens, I bet we¡¯ll get assigned to the main attack fleet.¡±

    Krishna made a big ssh against the crystal lifeforms and achieved more than ster results. Even ck Lotus is ying a big role as both a gunboat and a supply ship. We also have excellent pro mechanics onboard coupled withplete maintenance facilities and equipment. Well, there¡¯s no reason to refuse if they¡¯re willing to pay. There¡¯s a lot of time left on the contract period after all.

    ¡°¡­¡­It would be nice if the mission gets canceled.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    That would really be nice. Hahaha.

 Chapter 159 â€“ Standby Order

    <h4>Chapter 159 - Standby Order</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    We were on guard about the possibility of crystal lifeforms warping out in pursuit of the battered 3rd and 4th Recon Fleet, but nothing of the sort happened in the end. If that happened, the 1st and 2nd Recon Fleet would have had to stall for time in order to let the battered 3rd and 4th Fleets escape sessfully. They would have possibly engaged in a tough battle depending on the situation.

    In any case, Krishna couldn¡¯t park inside ck Lotus for the time being because some highly damaged ships from the 3rd and 4th Fleets were upying both hangars. They had to undergo emergency repairs. If not, they would have broken down midway through the return journey.

    ck Lotus only had two hangars, so if Krishna upied one, only one damaged ship could undergo repairs.

    ¡°Calm down, you.¡±

    ¡°I am though?¡±

    ¡°You look like you¡¯re very worried, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ugh.¡±

    I was just a bit worried that the mercenaries who were worked up from the experience of crystal lifeforms trying to kill would do something to Tina and Whisker. I already told May to watch over them, so I think it should be okay. But¡­¡­ there¡¯s always a possibility of something going wrong.

    If they really do something to those two and May (May would probably be fine though.), I¡¯m gonna turn them all to space debris the moment we warp out from sub-space. Absolutely.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry so much¡­¡­ Those mercenaries are more afraid of you than you think, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    I can¡¯t think of any reason why they would be afraid.

    ¡°Right now, the mercenaries participating in this operation see you as an absolute lunatic who willingly plunges straight into a swarm of crystal lifeforms and lives to tell the tale. You didn¡¯t seem particrly happy when you received the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­ I wasn¡¯t exactly jumping for joy.¡±

    I just thought it was really troublesome. The only thing interesting was that birds-eye simtion of the entire battlefield.

    ¡°Because of that, further rumors of you enjoying thrills and danger instead of money and fame have spread around the mercenaries and soldiers a lot.¡±

    ¡°What the heck? That¡¯s a joke, right?¡±

    That¡¯s pretty funny, man. I¡¯d take money and fame over thrills and danger any day of the week. Sorry, but I¡¯m not really a battle junkie, guys.

    ¡°Where¡¯d you hear about that kind of stuff anyway?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a secret.¡±

    Elma smiled and refused to reveal her information source. Was there an underground informationwork reserved for mercenaries or something?

    ¡°Both of them are pretty strong, and they have their maintenance bots with them too, so I think it¡¯s okay. May-san is also with them.¡±

    ¡°I sure hope so.¡±

    I spent the whole time worrying inside Krishna until the mercenary ships finished undergoing emergency repairs.

    The mechanic sisters and May never got into trouble in the end. Rather, May reported that the mercenaries were looking at the mechanic sisters, who were hard at work repairing their ships even though they were small and cute, with warm smiles on their faces.

    Did they react like that because they normally lived a rough life? Anyway, I tried to picture it in my head and could only imagine scenes that were suggestively criminal in nature¡­

    ¡°What? So you were worried about us, Boss? You really are kind, aren¡¯t ya?¡±

    ¡°Big brother¡­¡­¡±

    Once all the emergency repairs werepleted, it was decided that we would retreat back to the Izrooks system. We docked back inside ck Lotus and were now taking a break with the mechanic sisters.

    ¡°It¡¯s not really like that¡­¡­ Well, maybe a little.¡±

    When I saw Tina¡¯s teasing grin, I tried to deny it at first, but she and Whisker seemed pretty happy about it, so I couldn¡¯t bring myself to do so in the end.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think you would worry about me as well, Master.¡±

    May, who joined us in the dining room, had a calm expression on her face. She was as deadpan as usual, but somehow, I felt that she had a gentle atmosphere around her as she looked at me.

    By the way, ck Lotus was operating normally and navigating sub-space toward Izrooks with the other ships even if she was serving us inside the break room. I don¡¯t know how exactly that works, but it looks like she was operating the ship via some form of remote control. Was this really okay, security-wise? I don¡¯t think May will ever do a poor job though. I guess it¡¯s fine.

    ¡°I¡¯m d nothing really happened though. All¡¯s well that ends well. Yup.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t wrap things up forcefully like that.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t really have anything to be shy about it, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Aaah. I can¡¯t hear anything. Anyway, we should talk about our future ns first.¡±

    I ignored Tina and Elma¡¯s teasing grins and diverted the topic. I won¡¯t stand for being teased any more than this.

    ¡°Well, we¡¯ll have to go back to Izrooks and wait for the decision of the military higher-ups first, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    Whisker tilted her head and Mimi nodded in agreement. Kuh, that¡¯s right, isn¡¯t it? I wanted to divert the issue but chose a poor topic. Damn. Nah, it¡¯s fine. I can still do this.

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I¡¯m talking about. I was thinking of the arrangements for Whisker and Tina¡¯s protection. No matter how physically powerful dwarves are, there¡¯s always a limit. We can¡¯t discount the possibility of pirates sessfully boarding our ship. I think it would be good if both of you hadbat bots for escorts and self-defense.¡±

    ¡°Is there any need to go that far, Boss?¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s true that there¡¯s still a risk.¡±

    Tina and Whisker started thinking seriously about their safety.

    ¡°What type ofbat bots would be suitable, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d prefer them to be well-bnced and capable of both high mobility and enemy suppression. I¡¯d also like them to have the function of disabling enemies without killing them.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, you want security bots instead of specializedbat bots. Since it¡¯s you, Master, I think you¡¯d prefer them to be as high-performance as possible, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    I don¡¯t n to be stingy when ites to ensuring May, Tina, and Whisker¡¯s safety. There were lots of models being sold at the Brad system, but the product lineup wasn¡¯t all that good. The other equipment shops were alright, but the android andbat bot shops weren¡¯t anything special. Were they notpatible with dwarves? But Tina and Whisker were both pretty used to maintenance bots though. I don¡¯t get it.

    ¡°Then, after all this is over and we¡¯ve finished selling off all the loot and crystal lifeform materials, it would be better to head to a star system specializing in such products. I will check possible destination candidates with Mimi-samater.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Leave it to us!¡±

    Mimi clenched her fists in front of her in a guts pose. I guess it would really be better to leave our next destination up to them.

    ¡°The preliminary diagnostics check on Krishna should bepleted by now. We¡¯ll start maintenance then, Boss.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be going, big brother. We¡¯ll be sure to do a good job.¡±

    The mechanic sisters waved goodbye and left the break room. Mimi and May already started brainstorming for our next destination. I could join in on the discussion, but I guess it would be better if I just wait for them to finish. In other words, I had nothing to do right now.

    ¡°Are you going back to the ship?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. There¡¯s probably a low chance of it happening, but there¡¯s still a possibility of scramble orders being given out¡­¡­¡±

    I guess I should think of something I could do during downtimes like this as well. That said, I left the job of collecting information and trading goods to Mimi. Maintenance and repair-work are left to Tina and Whisker. Even Elma had something to do by collecting other supplementary information through her mysterious sources.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to force yourself to think of something to work on like that, you know. It¡¯s also important to get a good rest so you¡¯ll be at your best whenever we encounter an emergency. Besides, you¡¯re the captain, so leave the other jobs to your crew and just hold the fort, alright?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Don¡¯t always think about work, Hiro-sama!¡±

    ¡°I also think so as well. Instead of trying to lighten my workload, I would like you to entrust more things to me, Master.¡±

    Elma, Mimi, and even May were nagging at me now. I¡¯m not really all that tired though. I also don¡¯t think I¡¯m that much of a workaholic. I guess it¡¯s an ingrained habit from back when I was just a poor sryman. It just feels off if I spend time casually without doing anything productive.

    ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll just chill in the break room then.¡±

    ¡°Go right ahead. It¡¯s important for pilots to maintain their concentration, so make sure to rest up, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    There¡¯s nothing left for me to do in particr, so I guess it would be good to just plop myself on top of the sofa inside the break room. I then started heading for the break room.

    Fortunately, after the emergency repairs werepleted, the withdrawal to the Izrooks system proceeded smoothly. We were able to return without encountering crystal lifeforms.

    However, there was still a lot of work to do. Full-scale repairs and reorganization of the battered 3rd and 4th fleetsmenced. It took about a week topletely analyze the information they brought back in order to determine if there was enough merit tounch a counterattack against the crystal lifeform swarm that defeated the 3rd and 4th fleet.

    Meanwhile, we mercenaries were ordered by the military to stand by and lend our forces to bolster the defense of the Izrooks base. There¡¯s still quite some time remaining in the contract period, so we really couldn¡¯t go against these orders unless the military rescinds them.

    Of course, you could try breaching the contract, but there was a steep penalty. A huge amount of money would be incurred as a penalty for breaching the contract, and your evaluation and standing in the mercenary circles would take a hit as well. I can¡¯t afford to pay thepensation. I don¡¯t really care about my reputation as a mercenary, but it would be stupid to breach the contract here and take the penalty when we don¡¯t even know if we¡¯re gonnaunch an attack or not. The attack is canceled! You¡¯re free to go! If they end up deciding that after we breached the contract, it would be a huge loss.

    That¡¯s why we decided to wait around in the Izrooks system for a while.

 Chapter 160 â€“ Fair Trade

    <h4>Chapter 160 - Fair Trade</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Waiting around in the Izrooks system turned out to be very boring.

    First, a request for performing ship repairs by using the maintenance facilities and equipment inside ck Lotus was issued as a designated request by the Mercenary Guild. It was a separate matter from the existing contract with the military.

    We got nominated due to the fact that the facilities and equipment inside ck Lotus were all state-of-the-art Space Dwerg products, and they performed even better than what the imperial frontline base had when ites to repairing and maintaining small-sized ships.

    Moreover, we also had two skilled pro mechanics with great skills and a good number of maintenance bots at their disposal. The imperial military wanted to do everything to quickly recover its strength, so we were a valuable factor that they wanted to make use of no matter how much they had to pay.

    All the materials used for repairs will be shouldered by the military, and we were paid 100,000 Enels per day. Since the mechanic sisters will handle all the repairs, I decided to give them a 30% cut. When I told them they¡¯ll be receiving 30,000 Enels per day, their eyes sparkled in delight and they both quickly agreed. If youpare it to a Japanese sryman suddenly being told he was going to receive a daily wage of 1,500,000 Yen, I think you¡¯d mostly get how they felt.

    Well, that¡¯s why ck Lotus has now be a sort of temporary repair instation. Since both of ck Lotus¡¯s hangars are in use, Krishna can¡¯t park inside it for the time being, and since we didn¡¯t take in any damage, for the most part, we weren¡¯t a priority when ites tonding clearance either.

    In other words, we couldn¡¯t get off the ship, and we were currently moored in a designated safe space near the forward base with nothing to do. If there were pirates here, we would be a very tempting target, but there¡¯s no way there would be pirates lurking around Izrooks system that had a fortified military base, so we got plenty of spare time as a result.

    Since we were quite free and would continue to be for quite a while, we had to find ways to kill time and relieve boredom. We held a holo-video watching marathon, yed fighting games using our tablet terminals, and uh¡­ well, you guys get it. Also, there was an increase in the use of the bed¡¯s auto-cleaning function and the ship¡¯s bathroom.

    Uh, I didn¡¯t just indulge in such activities though. I also held mock battles with the other mercenaries who held some form of animosity toward me and kicked their sorry behinds, but let¡¯s leave it at that.

    After spending four days doing all that, the military finally contacted Krishna.

    ¡ºIt looks like you went wild these past few days?¡»

    ¡°For the record, I wasn¡¯t the one who picked a fight first. They came on to me, so I just gave them some pointers.¡±

    Major Serena had a pleasant smile on her face that was disyed on the cockpit¡¯s main monitor.

    Because the mock battles were carried out with the express permission of the imperial military, it wasn¡¯t just mercenaries who participated. Imperial soldiers also joined in on the fun.

    There wasn¡¯t much in the form of entertainment within the base after all. Under such circumstances, mock battles using actual ships was a very interesting activity in the eyes of the military personnel. In the end, I won a mock battle between me and five silver-rank mercenaries. It won¡¯t even be a gamble! That was what they told me after that. Uh, that¡¯s not my fault though.

    Well, even though it was still pretty much andslide victory, they did manage to prate Krishna¡¯s energy shields and damaged its armor. It¡¯s all thanks to the final ship performing a sham kamikaze attack though.

    It was a nice fight, but I dunno about a mercenary resorting to such a thing as a kamikaze attack. You won¡¯t earn even 1 Enel even if you manage to defeat the enemy. C¡¯mon.

    ¡°So, what do you want this time?¡±

    ¡ºHow boorish. Can¡¯t I contact you for something other than official business?¡»

    ¡°Not really, but I won¡¯t apany you to drink. It¡¯ll be a pain to take care of you afterward.¡±

    ¡ºKuh¡­¡­ Anyway, can you take a look at this?¡»

    Major Serena sent me a video file with twitching cheeks. I opened the video file after confirming that there wasn¡¯t anything strange mixed in and saw a brilliant pulsar star and a vast swarm of crystal lifeforms surrounding it. And within that swarm was a gigantic crystal urchin-like monster that dwarfed every other crystal lifeform present.

    ¡°Hey now. That¡¯s a Mother Crystal alright.¡±

    ¡º¡­¡­You actually recognized it?¡»

    Major Serena asked in a suspicious tone. Crap! I ended up slipping. How careless!

    ¡°Uh, well, ain¡¯t it really huge? So I thought it was like a mother or something.¡±

    ¡ºCome to think of it, you also told me about the crystal lifeforms nesting in pulsars back then, right?¡»

    ¡°Pyu? hyuhyu??¡±

    ¡ºDon¡¯t dodge the issue, you! Just tell me everything you know. That¡¯s an order.¡»

    ¡°Yeah, yeah¡­¡­¡±

    Major Serena ordered me in an extremely icy tone that nearly made me wet my pants.

    ¡°I kinda remember hearing about them from a while back, but my memory¡¯s quite spotty y¡¯see.¡±

    ¡ºEven so, you know a fair bit about crystal lifeforms, right? Just tell me what you know. I promise not to investigate your source, so please¡­¡»

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    I mulled over Major Serena¡¯s request for a bit. To be honest, I don¡¯t want to get Major Serena and the imperial military¡¯s attention by saying something like ¡®I dunno why or how, but I kinda just know.¡¯ or something like that. It¡¯s kinda toote already, but I still wanna minimize the damage.

    Fortunately, regardless of the circumstances, Major Serena was still giving me some consideration by promising she won¡¯t pry. I¡¯m positive Major Serena knows that if I ended up rampaging all over the empire with Krishna and ck Lotus in tow, it would make for a very great nuisance, so it was better to maintain the status quo and keep a cordial rtionship with me. But I better bring it up just to be sure.

    ¡°¡­¡­If you try toy your hands on me or my crew, I promise you I¡¯ll rampage all over the empire and run away by any means necessary.¡±

    ¡ºIs that a threat?¡»

    ¡°I just want to protect myself. Additionally, I¡¯m gonna stir things up by using my secret video archive folder. I¡¯m gonna upload footages of the ditzy and cute Serena-chan to various video streaming sites with provocative titles.¡±

    ¡ºOkay, okay, I understand already. I won¡¯t reveal the information source and I¡¯ll do my best to block any investigation attempts. So please delete those videos¡­¡»

    ¡°I promise not to use them as a bargaining chip from now on.¡±

    I can¡¯t promise I¡¯ll delete them. They can¡¯t prove anything anyway. And more importantly, I have no intention of relinquishing such an emergency trump card.

    ¡ºKuh¡­¡­ Oh, alright. That¡¯s a deal then. Now start talking and tell me everything you know.¡»

    ¡°OK.¡±

    I talked about everything I knew regarding the Mother Crystal, which was the big boss of the crystal lifeforms currently devouring the pulsar system. Basically, the Mother Crystal itself had little to no mobility and its only means of attack was to spew out myriad small crystal lifeforms. These small crystal lifeforms can performser attacksparable to a ss 1ser weapon and their usual ramming attacks. Since it doesn¡¯t possess defensive measures equivalent to energy shields, ballistic or explosive weaponry would be more effective against it. That doesn¡¯t mean optical weapons won¡¯t work on it. They would just be less effective.

    The ones that would actually pose more trouble are the Guardian Crystals protecting it. They boast abilities more powerful than medium-types, and there were quite a lot of them. They were particrly troublesome because they possessed excellent short-range shooting capabilities and also performed charging attacks without a hint of hesitation when given the chance.

    However, since the maximum shooting range of the Guardian Crystals was pretty short, you can just snipe them from beyond it to whittle them down. Although their maximum speed was pretty high, their turning speed wasn¡¯t, and they had a habit of only attacking enemies close to the Mother Crystal. So a valid strategy is attracting them with high-mobility small ships and grinding them down with long-range bombardment from medium andrge-sized starships.

    It would be best to infiltrate the infested system through a hypene node that was as far away from the Mother Crystal as possible so the small ships don¡¯t have to deal with the small crystal creatures spewed by the Mother Crystal and the Guardian Crystals at the same time.

    The reason for it was still unconfirmed, butrge-types weren¡¯t present within systems that had Mother Crystals residing in them. Perhapsrge-types were newly spawned juvenile Mother Crystals, and they would go off on their own to develop independently.

    ¡°The Mother Crystal is pretty damn tough, so small ships won¡¯t be able to deal any substantial damage to it without using something like an anti-ship reactive torpedo. The medium andrge ships should be equipped with powerful missiles with explosive warheads or reaction warheads as well for maximum effect. But it¡¯s not likeser cannons can¡¯t be used. And also, the Mother Crystal¡¯s main weakness is the glowing part at the center of its body. You should be able to spot it easily.¡±

    After saying so, I marked the central part of the Mother Crystal disyed on the screen.

    ¡°But these thorny protrusions are a real nuisance. These thorns would swat down projectiles heading for the Mother Crystal with great uracy. In other words, these thorns function as a kind of reactive armor for the Mother Crystal. That¡¯s why after eliminating the Guardian Crystals, it would be best for the medium andrge ships to surround the Mother Crystal andunch attacks all aimed at its weakness from multiple angles. It¡¯s surprisingly tough and would endure for a long period of time if you just concentrate your fire from one direction.¡±

    ¡º¡­¡­That¡¯s some detailed information.¡»

    ¡°I¡¯ve had some experiences subjugating the thing after all. I can¡¯t answer when or where I got them though. But you can¡¯t treat the information I provided as something absolute. There isn¡¯t a guarantee that this Mother Crystal is the same Mother Crystal I¡¯m familiar with. That goes for the Guardian Crystals as well.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t certain if the info I carried over from ying SOL would still be applicable to this dimension¡¯s crystal lifeforms. Well, considering my experiences so far, they¡¯d been pretty on target for the most part. There¡¯s a lot of new stuff that wasn¡¯t present in SOL, but most of the things I knew from SOL were still applicable here.

    ¡ºBy your estimate, how urate would the info you provided be?¡»

    ¡°I¡¯d say fifty-fifty if I want to be extra cautious, but so far, it¡¯s probably about 90% urate. If not, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to survive diving headfirst into a crystal lifeform swarm twice.¡±

    Although I did make sure to have more than enough safety margins, the behavior of the crystal lifeforms here was pretty much the same as they were in SOL. The power of their attacks, their frequency, and the projectile speed were all pretty simr to the game. I also didn¡¯t feel much difference when ites to overall durability, so I think it would be the same for the Mother Crystal.

    ¡ºI see¡­¡­ Thank you for the valuable information. It¡¯s even too detailed so I¡¯m having trouble thinking up of a good way to hand the info over.¡»

    ¡°Just be sure to keep your promise not to reveal the info source. For both our sakes.¡±

    ¡ºYes, for both our sakes indeed. I¡¯ll make it work.¡»

    ¡°Also, think of a way to repay me after this too. You owe me a pretty big favor now. You won¡¯t try to sweep it under the rug, right, major?¡±

    ¡ºUu¡­¡­ I know. I¡¯ll do my best to amodate you. If possible, can you give me some hints so I can decide on what kind ofpensation is best?¡»

    ¡°Fumu¡­¡­ In that case¡­¡±

    I told Major Serena about my n to acquire high-performancebat bots to station inside ck Lotus. Major Serena was the daughter of a high-ranking aristocrat, so maybe she can introduce us to some good dealers through her connections.

    ¡ºI see. Your ships dock guardsparable to power armor-equipped and trained imperial soldiers. I understand. There¡¯s a weaponspany funded by the House of Marquis Holz that deals with high-performance militarybat bots. I¡¯ll look it up and write a letter of introduction for you.¡»

    ¡°It¡¯s great that you¡¯re easy to talk with, major.¡±

    You had to be careful around Major Serena, but her professionalism was impable. She was a pretty unruly drunk though!

    ¡°Is the army nning onunching a counteroffensive soon?¡±

    ¡ºThat would probably turn out to be the case. I did get some useful information, so the rest will depend on my efforts from here on out.¡»

    ¡°We would have a hard time with our current avable forces y¡¯know?¡±

    If we didn¡¯t incur any lossesst time and still had our fleets intact, we would have a better chance. Since the losses suffered by the 3rd and 4th Recon Fleets were pretty substantial, the counteroffensive would be pretty tough.

    ¡ºWe¡¯ve already considered that problem. The information about the position of the enemy was obtained through the sacrifice of the 3rd and 4th Fleets after all. We will also deploy the main force stationed within the base in the attack.¡»

    ¡°I see. Then I guess it¡¯s alright.¡±

    If the main forces stationed inside the forward base will also participate in the attack, it would probably be enough. You won¡¯t snatch a victory by being passive after all.

    ¡ºThe arrangements and reorganization will probably take a few days more, so make sure to rest up to be in your best condition when it¡¯s time to deploy.¡»

    ¡°Aye, aye, ma¡¯am.¡±

    I gave Major Serena a crisp salute and she smiled faintly in return. She then cut the call.

    Now then, I guess I have to tell Mimi and Elma the news as well. First, I¡¯ll go wake them both up, then take a nice, long shower.

 Chapter 161 â€“ Commencing Operation inâ€¦â€¦

    <h4>Chapter 161 - Commencing Operation in¡­¡­</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    It¡¯s been two days since that call with Major Serena. The nned counteroffensive against the crystal lifeforms by the imperial military garrison stationed within the Izrooks system has been finalized, and all mercenaries who would participate have received orders to prep for the start of the operation in 24 hours. Most of the mercenaries responded positively and were relieved to finally escape the monotony and boredom after remaining on standby for an extended period of time.

    Surprisingly, there wasn¡¯t even one mercenary who broke the contract and opted out of the operation. I was expecting at least a number of them to hesitate and retreat for fear of losing their lives, but my expectations were splendidly betrayed.

    ¡°If they tucked their tails and ran away in this situation, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll have a harder timending sessful contracts in the future. Instead of paying a hefty fee and running away miserably, most of them are probably thinking of participating in the operation in a half-baked manner while prioritizing their safety above anything else. If they manage to pick a winning ticket, they¡¯ll just have toe forward to get a share of the spoils.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­ So that means we¡¯re gonna stand out again huh.¡±

    ¡°Haa?¡±

    Elma¡¯s expression seemed to exim ¡®Just what is this guy saying?¡¯ or something like that.

    ¡°I meant that if the rest of the mercenaries will more or less hold back,ter on, we¡¯re probably gonna stick out like a sore thumb. It¡¯s inevitable, really.¡±

    I have absolutely no intention of holding back like the rest of them, so that would be the most probable oue. Or rather, if the small, high-mobility ships refuse toe forward to lure away the Guardian Crystals, it would be the medium andrge-sized ships that would take the brunt of their attacks, and may suffer considerable losses as a result. Once that happens, our chances of winning would be lowered drastically, and the smaller ships might get trapped in the middle of enemy lines as a consequence.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m gonna have to step up to the te this time.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I trust Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to your judgment. You aren¡¯t the kind of guy who opts to die in vain, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    I don¡¯t have a hobby of getting shot down after all. Reckless assaults and self-sacrifice aren¡¯t worth a damn. I¡¯ll just do my job properly as long as I can keep myself from dying.

    The role of small, fastbat craft in raid battles against crystal lifeforms is basically acting as evasion tanks. They have to aggro the enemies in order to prevent them from going after the medium andrge ships in the backline who are in charge of DPS duties. The risk was rtively high, but I¡¯m long used to the job. I¡¯ll just have to be careful not to be cornered and crushed by the enemy¡¯s numbers, keep an eye on the battlefield situation, unleash hell, and then run away at full speed afterward.

    You¡¯d be fine even if your weapon loadout was mostlyprised of peashooters as long as you had a sufficiently fast and mobile ship, so these types of raid events are actually very suited to noobs in SOL. Of course, most noobs would still rush right into a bad position and end up getting destroyed though.

    ¡°It looks like the ck Lotus¡¯s hangar bays are finally free. Shall we go back?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, okay. It would be best to get Krishna serviced properly before weunch out.¡±

    ¡°I wonder how Tina-chan and Whisker-chan are doing? May-san should be fine as usual though.¡±

    ¡°Wee back.¡±

    ¡°Wee back, everyone.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah, we¡¯re back¡­¡­¡±

    The mechanic sisters, Tina and Whisker both weed us when we came back to the ck Lotus, but they looked pretty¡­ terrible.

    ¡°Did you guys actually get any sleep?¡±

    ¡°We did. We took a quick nap whenever it was okay to leave the job to the maintenance bots.¡±

    ¡°There are some quick intervals between jobs where we don¡¯t have to directly manage them ourselves.¡±

    They were saying such things with powerless smiles on their faces while sporting heavy eyebags beneath their eyes. Judging from their current state, they must have not gotten much sleep at all. Their faces and work overalls were stained with oil and other substances I couldn¡¯t quite recognize.

    ¡°This is bad. Hey guys, let¡¯s throw them into the bathroom to wash them up and then put them to sleep. Help me out here.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    After hearing Mimi and Elma¡¯s reply, I carried both sisters under each arm and took them toward the living area with Mimi and Elma in tow.

    ¡°Wait up? Don¡¯t we still have to do maintenance on Krishna?¡±

    ¡°Leave that forter. We still have 24 hours before we sortie and it would take another 60 hours to get to our target destination. We have plenty of time for that left.¡±

    ¡°U-Um, we haven¡¯t had a shower for days, so we probably smell b-ba¡­¡­ auu.¡±

    I shot Tina down quickly when she tried to propose working more, and I hugged Whisker tighter in order to prevent her mind from wandering as she iled in my arm.

    By the way, they didn¡¯t really smell bad contrary to what Whisker imed. Instead of body odor, they both smelled of oil and other stuff. I might be able to smell their body odor if I opened up their work overalls and pressed my face on their chests or something, but I have no intention of ever performing such a high-level perverted act. No way, no how.

    When we arrived at the bathroom, I threw both of them inside the shower room and told Mimi and Elma to help them wash up and put them to sleep afterward. I then headed for the cockpit.

    ¡°Wee back, Master.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m ba- Whoah!?¡±

    As soon as I entered the cockpit, May rushed over with tremendous speed and gave me a tight hug. Her chest assets were really soft and felt absolutely great. May didn¡¯t hug me all that tightly, but I still felt I wouldn¡¯t be able to squeeze out of her embrace if I tried. Just how does she do it, I wonder.

    ¡°May?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been about 149 hours since I saw youst, Master. Just a little bit more.¡±

    ¡°O-Okay.¡±

    I guess I should just let her hug me. Or rather, I¡¯ll hug her back as well. May finally released me after five minutes of affectionate hugging.

    ¡°That was a blissful few moments. Thank you, Master.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d you enjoyed it then. But anyway, what happened to you?¡±

    ¡°Is there something wrong with my actions?¡±

    May tilted her head with her usual deadpan expression as if she was wondering what I was confused about.

    ¡°No, uh, I was just surprised by the sudden skinship.¡±

    ¡°Master, to put it simply, I was just feeling lonely.¡±

    May was a machine, but she also sported intelligence and feelings as an advanced AI android. So when she was ced in a situation in which she couldn¡¯t meet her Master for a long time, she became lonely and stressed, and needed physical contact with me in order to relieve those feelings. Is that it?

    ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll try my best not to let a situation like this happen again.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Master.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What the heck are you doing?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m listening to the report about the time we weren¡¯t in the ck Lotus.¡±

    ¡°In that position?¡±

    ¡°Is there a problem?¡±

    Ten minutes after I met up with her, May and I moved to the break room together and she gave me ap pillow as we made ourselvesfortable on the sofa. She was affectionately stroking my head as she gave me a report about the six days we were absent from ck Lotus. Elma and Mimi just came back from taking care of the mechanic sisters but looked at me with conflicted expressions when they witnessed my current situation. But caring for the crew¡¯s psychological and emotional states was also part of a captain¡¯s duties, so I wasn¡¯t doing anything to feel guilty about. Probably.

    ¡°I know what you guys are trying to say, but can you just let me off this time? There¡¯s a really good reason for this.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t get it, but okay.¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t really care though¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi sat down next to May while Elma sat a little distance away. May continued giving her report.

    ¡°We haven¡¯t encountered any particr troublesome incidents these past six days. Some of the mercenaries were surprised about the amenities present inside the ship and tried to inquire about details regarding them. A few of them had somewhat crude manners, so I proceeded to pacify them by using earnest persuasion.¡±

    ¡°Earnest persuasion, huh.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t just me. I bet Mimi and Elma were also thinking the persuasion method in question was more of a ¡®physical¡¯ kind. Judging from their expressions, I shouldn¡¯t be wrong. Let¡¯s just pray that the ¡®persuaded¡¯ mercenaries didn¡¯t acquiresting trauma against the existence known as a ¡®maid¡¯.

    I ended up apanying May all day today. Yep, all day. Forgive me for not borating guys, but you know what I¡¯m getting at, right?

    I managed to wake up four hours before the operation starts. I was inside a room in the ck Lotus. I don¡¯t see May anywhere, so she¡¯s probably already in the cockpit or dining hall. In the end, it looks like I¡¯ve sessfully managed to alleviate May¡¯s stress. I have to be more careful not to let stuff like this happen again. I mean, seriously.

    I really can¡¯t win against her who doesn¡¯t get tired no matter what¡­¡­

    ¡°Are you alright? It¡¯s just a little bit more before the operation starts you know?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m good. I¡¯ll get my energy back after eating and resting a bit.¡±

    I had breakfast consisting of a hotdog and a high-nutrition green-colored juice drink as Elma gave me a scornful gaze. If the hotdog was reced with some shady-looking nutrient paste or something, this would be an excellent example of a dystopian dish from a post-apocalyptic future.

    ¡°What about Tina and Whisker?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ve been awake for a good while already. They¡¯re now happily servicing Krishna. Mimi also went to the hangar saying she wants to do a final check of the supplies.¡±

    ¡°I see. I guess I¡¯ll go check on them after I finish my meal.¡±

    ¡°Please do so. It looks they really pushed themselves hard this time after all. They were in a pretty bad state yesterday you know? They fell asleep the moment they got shoved inside the bathtub. I and Mimi took care of bathing them both and had to join them in the end.¡±

    ¡°That sounds pretty bad. I¡¯m d you two took care of them.¡±

    I tried to imagine the sight of the mechanic sisters taking a bath together with Mimi and Elma. I kinda wanted to witness it for myself. As if she read what¡¯s on my mind, Elma quickly pinched my thigh. Ouch.

    ¡°You really have no sense of seriousness whatsoever huh¡­¡­ And we¡¯re about to embark toward a deadly battlefield too.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because I don¡¯t think it¡¯s particrly dangerous.¡±

    Considering the current scale of the imperial forces participating in the attack, I don¡¯t really feel we would lose.

    The total forces heading out this time consisted of 6 battleships, 20 heavy cruisers, 25 destroyers, and 42 corvettes. Honestly though. Do they even need us mercenaries? It¡¯s not unexpected though.

    Once the imperial military gets serious, you really felt their overwhelming might and their intention of achieving total victory. Even if webined the 1st to 4th Recon fleets dispatched earlier on, this current force was still about five times stronger. And this time, we already know the exact position of the enemies, so there¡¯s no need to disperse our forces. We were free tounch a concentrated attack.

    In other words,pared to the 3rd and 4th fleets that suffered major losses a few days back, we would be charging in with at least three times the total firepower. That¡¯s without taking the mercenaries to ount. ording to my instincts cultivated by years ying SOL, this was close to an excessive amount of force. And as long as we performed the correct strategy without a hitch, even the recon fleets dispatched a few days back would be able to pull this counteroffensive off.

    ¡°And that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    ¡°I see. So you do have a basis for your confidence huh.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We still can¡¯t let our guards down since there are quite a lot of enemies, but once we eliminate the Guardian Crystals, the overwhelmingbined firepower of the battleships, cruisers, and destroyers would be able to crush the Mother Crystal with little effort.

    In other words, if we mercenaries and the imperial corvettes do our jobs properly and lead the Guardian Crystals away, the battleships, cruisers, and destroyers of the imperial military will clean everything up for us. Afterward, we¡¯ll just have to deal with the small crystal lifeforms spewed out by the Mother Crystal and we¡¯re done.

    ¡°So you¡¯re saying unless something unexpected happens, the battle would be over once the imperial forces make their move huh.¡±

    Even with the massive losses incurred, it can¡¯t be said that the recon operation a few days back was a total failure. Sure we did suffer a lot of casualties, but we were also able to achieve our goal of pinpointing the enemy base. There was great merit in sessfully bringing back such critical info.

    ¡°In other words, there¡¯s no need to worry, but we still can¡¯t let our guards down, right? Same old, same old, then.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    Elma smiled when she saw me shrugging my shoulders nonchntly.

    There are four more hours until the operation begins.

 Chapter 162 â€“ Crystal Lifeform Extermination Operation

    <h4>Chapter 162 - Crystal Lifeform Extermination Operation</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The crystal lifeform extermination operation has finally begun. The entire garrison fleet on the imperial military has moved out with us mercenaries following suit.

    It would be bad if ships go out of formation for some reason and get separated from the rest of the fleet, so all mercenaries were ordered to activate synchro mode and link up with their respective lead ships. It¡¯s like auto-docking but applied to fleet maneuvers instead. Once we link up with the lead ship, we would automatically move in concert with it and the rest of the fleet unless synchro mode was deactivated, so we really didn¡¯t have to steer the ship ourselves for the time being. But the link wasx enough that we would be able to immediately disengage in case of emergencies.

    ¡°It¡¯s really boring huh.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ yes. Should we y some games, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°C¡¯mon guys¡­¡­¡±

    Elma red at Mimi and me who didn¡¯t give off any shred of nervousness andined about how bored we were.

    Right now, Krishna was parked inside ck Lotus that was currently linked up with the rest of the fleet. We were supposed to be standing by inside Krishna¡¯s cockpit so we would be ready tounch out any time, but it would still take thirty-six hours before we reached the Jerom system where the Mother Crystal was nesting. There was currently no point in us getting worked up inside the cockpit right now. Even if we encounter some sudden unforeseen mishaps, we had dozens of imperial corvettes acting as the vanguards, so as long as they held out for a little bit, there would be enough time for us mercenaries to mobilize.

    And so, we don¡¯t have to be on our toes just yet. Or rather, it would work against us if we were too high-strung since that would increase the chances of us dropping the ball when it counts, so that¡¯s why we were currently bored out of our minds. Mimi¡¯s already developed wellpared to before. I remember she was a nervous wreck when she experienced her first sortie and pirate hunting mission. And because I was rather bored, she suggested ying a game to kill time. Plus, her skills andposure aren¡¯t the only ones that developed nicely. I¡¯m pretty sure her chest assets did too.

    Yep. They were definitely biggerpared to before. Since I was already quite familiar with them, I can only brainlessly im that they¡¯re he big, but the data collected from the medical pod¡¯s daily diagnostics will never lie. Mimi¡­¡­ What a terrifying girl!

    ¡°Oww!¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡±

    As I leered at Mimi¡¯s chest while she was selecting games from the library, Elma suddenly pinched my thigh. Uh, yeah. I might have been too crude there. Let me reflect on it. This time, I¡¯ll stare at Elma. Smooth white skin, pointed ears, and very fine features. Yep, what a beauty. Mimi was the cute type, but Elma was the beautiful type¡­ No, the lovely type. For example, Mimi can be likened to a cute puppy. Elma, on the other hand, was like a beautiful flower in bloom.

    Yep. Comparing her to a flower sure fit her nicely.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about how you¡¯re as lovely as a flower, Elma.¡±

    ¡°What the heck are you saying, you?¡±

    Elma red at me in mock anger, but the tips of her ears were as red as a tomato. You can easily tell Elma¡¯s real feelings by observing her ears. Now I think I get why space elves like her had the habit of hiding their ears whenever they felt embarrassed.

    As I flirted with Mimi and Elma left and right, a lively voice rang out from the passageway connected to the hangar. It looks like Tina and Whisker finished their maintenance on Krishna and were now going to take a break.

    ¡°Good work guys.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Thanks, Boss. The maintenance waspleted without a hitch.¡±

    ¡°We only did some basic systems check and maintenance though.¡±

    The mock battles I participated in were conducted using only low-poweredsers with significantly reduced outputs and dummy ammo, so there wasn¡¯t any actual damage to the armor. Only our ship¡¯s maneuverability and speed weren¡¯t restricted, so I think the power and transmission systems were the ones that needed paying attention to.

    ¡°Hey, hey, c¡¯mon!¡±

    ¡°Yossha!¡±

    When I spread my arms wide while sitting on the sofa, Tina immediately rushed in. I caught Tina squarely and started giving her head pats.

    ¡°There, there. Good girl. Good girl.¡±

    ¡°Ahahahaha, you¡¯re gonna mess up my hair.¡±

    I patted Tina¡¯s head a few more times then released her. Afterward, two heads collided with my chest from the left and right.

    ¡°There, there. There, there.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe.¡±

    ¡°Hey, can you do it gentler? Gentler, I said.¡±

    I happily stroked Mimi and Elma¡¯s heads as well. As I did that, Whisker stared at us with aplicated expression. After I had my fill of stroking Mimi and Elma¡¯s heads, I turned toward Whisker and opened my arms wide again.

    ¡°Uryaaa-¡±

    ¡°B-Big si- Waaa!?¡±

    Tina pushed Whisker forward, and she ended up diving headfirst into my arms. I caught her firmly.

    ¡°There, there. There, there. It must be hard to be always pushed around by Tina huh?¡±

    ¡°Hey. That ain¡¯t nice, Boss.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s true, right?¡±

    ¡°Guh.¡±

    When I pointed toward Whisker who was shoved by Tina and ended up burying her face on my chest, Tina made a mortified expression and pursed her lips. As I gazed at Tina with a gloating expression on my face while petting the flustered Whisker, May entered the break room.

    And then, she picked up Whisker, had her sit beside Mimi, then knelt in front of me who was still sitting on top of the sofa, and offered her own head for a round of petting.

    ¡°There, there. There, there.¡±

    She must have monitored what was happening in the cockpit, and when she saw me stroking everyone¡¯s heads, she wanted in on the action too. If it¡¯s only head pats, I¡¯ll give you as much as you want, guys.

    The peaceful and rxing moments didn¡¯tst long. Before long, thebined fleet managed to arrive at the Jerom system on schedule. Soon, the ships will be jumping out of hyperspace and plunging right inside the system.

    ¡°Now then, start the routine check of each section. May, please prepare theunch catapult so we can sortie immediately when needed after entering the system.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, sir.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood.¡»

    I operated my console while giving outmands to the crew and switched the power generator from idle mode to cruise mode. There should be a good chance of the Mother Crystal being located far away from the hypene nodes of the Jerom system, but conversely, there¡¯s a high possibility of Guardian Crystals being near them instead.

    Whether due to instinct or some form of intelligence, those things often position themselves near the entrance and exit points of hypene nodes. In SOL, their numbers were the highest in the hypene node nearest to the position of the Mother Crystal, but I¡¯m not sure if that still holds true in this dimension.

    If the behavioral patterns of the crystal lifeforms are the same as in SOL, their numbers should be thinnest in the hypene node located the furthest away from the Mother Crystal¡­ Well, we won¡¯t be able to find out unless we jump in anyway.

    ¡°We will be plunging inside the Jerom system soon. 30 seconds to warp out!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡±

    I gripped the flight stick and changed the generator settings from cruise mode tobat mode.

    I then simted the most efficient evasion and attack maneuvers against crystal lifeforms inside my head.

    First, we¡¯ll need to deal with the Guardian Crystals that woulde after the rear line and aggro the rest. This is my first priority.

    In this case, my main job is to make it easier for the allied ships that sport far more firepower to safely pick off the enemies instead of destroying them myself.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be jumping out of hyperspace soon. Countdown¡­¡­ 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0!¡±

    A strange sound that was different from what a ship makes whenever it deactivates the FTL Drive rang out. It was like ¡®giyooooon¡¯, or maybe ¡®biyooooon¡¯¡­¡­ Like someone going ham on a synthesizer. Just what the heck was that anyway?

    As I mulled over that strange sound, ck Lotus finally jumped out of hyperspace with Krishna parked inside it.

    After a few moments, an alert rang out inside both ships.

    ¡ºCrystal lifeforms confirmed. The corvettes of the imperial force vanguard are moving in to engage. The mercenaries have been ordered to deploy as well.¡»

    ¡°Okay. Send us out.¡±

    ¡ºYes. Good luck, everyone.¡»

    May¡¯s image disyed on the cockpit monitor made an elegant bow.

    In the next moment, intense Gs rocked the ship. Krishna was promptlyunched out into open space by the hangar catapult, and the resulting Gs that couldn¡¯t be fully nullified by the inertial control system assaulted our bodies.

    ¡°Uu, no matter how many times I go through it, I just can¡¯t get used to the feeling.¡±

    ¡°The inertial control device is ineffective against Gs resulting from eleration via an external force after all. Mimi, obtain battlefield info from the main fleet and mark the position of the Guardian Crystals on the radar map.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    I pacified the grumbling Mimi and headed out to battle. The imperial military corvettes were already at the forefront as they engaged in an intense battle with the Guardian Crystals. The other mercenary ships are heading over as well.

    It looks like it¡¯s safe to try and eliminate the creatures going after the rear line. And then, we need to prioritize aggroing the rest of the Guardian Crystals and draw them away.

    ¡°Yosh. We¡¯ll make a detour here and hit the enemies from the nk. We¡¯ll attract their attention with a few reactive torpedoes. Weapon systems activate.¡±

    Krishna¡¯s bow transformed, and the two ballistic shotgun cannons appeared in all their glory. The four sub-arms holding heavyser cannons were also deployed out. Two anti-ship reactive torpedoes were ready to beunched out from the weapon bay below the ship.

    Battle preparationsplete.

    ¡°Roger. Leave the sub-systems to me as always.¡±

    Just as I dered, I didn¡¯t head straight for the battlefield but took a detour instead.

    ¡°This is Krishna. We¡¯re going to bypass the front line and hit the enemies from the nk. We will be using anti-ship reactive torpedoes to get their attention, so take care not to get caught up in the st radius.¡±

    I operated my console in order to share Krishna¡¯s current course and the expected explosion coordinates to all allied ships. Well, I think it¡¯ll be alright since no one else would dare to jump right in the middle of the enemies, but I still sent a warning out just in case.

    ¡°We¡¯re punching through.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye-¡±

    After getting sufficient distance, I elerated the ship and began nking the enemies. One of them already noticed Krishna¡¯s approach and headed out to intercept, but I evaded and pelted it with weapons fire from the shotgun and heavyser cannons. After gaining the aggro of one enemy by injuring it, it called even more enemies to assist, and before long, the aggro had sessfully shifted from the vanguard to Krishna.

    ¡°Here¡¯s one shot to get things fired up!¡±

    I fired a reactive torpedo from the weapon bay and immediately changed course to avoid getting caught up in the resulting st. I fired another round immediately before the first torpedo exploded and changed course again.

    ¡°Alright, c¡¯mon! Come and get it, you idiots! C¡¯mon!¡±

    Of course, they won¡¯t get to hear me provoking them personally, but the reactive torpedoes were a different story. They sessfully got their attention. The first onended a direct hit on a Guardian Crystal that was about to turn around to give chase and exploded it to bits. A good number of other Guardian Crystals got caught up in the explosion as well.

    Then the other torpedo exploded. It directly destroyed three Guardian Crystals at the same time. The resulting fragments scattered around violently and hit even more Guardian Crystals and caused additional damage. A greater number of Guardian Crystals turned their attention toward Krishna.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get started. Pay close attention to the shield capacity.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, sir- Leave it to me.¡±

    After hearing Elma¡¯s reliable reply, I fired up the thrusters and flew Krishna at full speed.

    And thus began an extreme game of tag (onigokko) with lots of destructive projectiles and hundreds of Onis.

 Chapter 163 â€“ Overwhelming Firepower

    <h4>Chapter 163 - Overwhelming Firepower</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Right after warping out via hyperdrive, we, along with the rest of thebined imperial fleet immediately engaged in battle with the crystal lifeforms. Our enemies were the crystal lifeform medium-type subspecies Guardian Crystals.

    This battle was approved due to the critical information that ¡®he¡¯ provided, and there wasn¡¯t even a speck of hesitation in the military¡¯s actions. It was quite difficult to persuade the higher-ups to agree to form a crystal lifeform extermination fleet on the basis of uncertain information, but it was well worth the trouble.

    Of course, I was careful not to reveal that the information came from him. Using thebined data from the info we got from him and the data brought back by the 3rd and 4th Recon fleets, I persuaded the rest of the captains and themander of the forward base using with the greatest eloquence I could muster.

    Frankly, I didn¡¯t really have to reveal that my source only heard the information in passing in the form of rumors and that he¡¯s actually a mercenary. I would be able to prevent them from finding out where I obtained the information by doing so.

    ¡°It looks like the first phase of engagement with the crystal lifeforms went quite well.¡±

    The assembled Imperial corvettes immediately engaged the Guardian Crystals in battle just as nned. The mercenary ships soon joined the battle as well, and the mercenaries who possessed medium andrge-type ships began unleashing long-range barrages as well. The rest of the imperial fleet also got ready to unleash their own barrage.

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s all thanks to your urate analysis, Captain.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    In truth, it wasn¡¯t really thanks to my so-called analysis, but the info that man provided instead. Oh well. I guess there¡¯s no problem as long as we¡¯re both satisfied with the oue. If this operation seeds, the credit for it will be entirely given to me after all.

    ¡ºThis is Krishna. We¡¯re going to bypass the front line and hit the enemies from the nk. We will be using anti-ship reactive torpedoes to get their attention, so take care not to get caught up in the st radius.¡»

    He hailed the entire fleet via the open channel and provided us with his ship¡¯s estimated time of arrival, position, and the anti-ship reactive torpedo¡¯s predicted st radius.

    ¡°He¡¯s as reckless as always, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°Like I said Captain, the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal isn¡¯t just for show.¡±

    That ship, the Krishna, headed at full speed for the crystal lifeform swarm from an angle and tore a gaping hole in their nk. It looks like he didn¡¯t n to merely cut through the swarm, but wanted to deal some substantial damage to them as well.

    And furthermore, his ship¡¯s charging speed was unreal. The fact that he hadn¡¯t reduced the speed of his ship one bit as he flitted around the swarm more than proves how sublime his piloting skills were. Just what kind of training did he undergo, and what sort of hellish battlefields did he manage to survive through in order to obtain such skills?

    ¡°It¡¯s a match with the projected data!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go ahead and crush the enemies while he is getting their attention. Commence synchronized bombardment.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, ma¡¯am! Commencing synchronized bombardment!¡±

    All imperial ships will consolidate and share the battlefield data in order to not leave any gaps during the attack, and we will be able to unleash a perfectly coordinated synchronized bombardment. Laser bombardment fired from numerous imperial ships lit up a portion of the normally dark void of outer space.

    I slid past the Guardian Crystal that was turning to chase after us and hit it with a few rounds from the shotgun cannons at close proximity. I then destroyed the small-type crystal lifeforms that rushed over with the four heavyser cannons. I cut a path through the section of space teeming with enemies.

    The Guardian Crystals attacked us with light rays and projectiles haphazardly, but Krishna¡¯s solid energy shields managed to easily shrug off their attacks.

    ¡°The shields are still stable.¡±

    ¡°Their light rays and projectiles aren¡¯t as destructive as they look after all. The light projectiles pack enough punch, but they¡¯re painfully slow, so you¡¯ll be able to dodge them as long as you read their trajectories. The only thing that poses some danger is their full-body charge.¡±

    ¡°But there¡¯s still a limit, right? Our shield capacity is steadily decreasing after all.¡±

    ¡°You two sure areposed even in this sort of situation¡­¡­¡±

    I couldn¡¯t avert my eyes from the main monitor right now so I wasn¡¯t able to confirm it, but from the sound of her voice, Mimi was pretty anxious right now. I get her, of course. If I made a mistake and took a head-on charge from a small-type, or if a Guardian Crystal manages to ram us from a bad angle, we¡¯ll end up bouncing around the crystal lifeform swarm like a runaway pinball.

    Once that happens, our shields would get depleted in mere moments, and there would be no other oue except getting surrounded by countless crystal lifeforms and getting destroyed. Well, I have absolutely no intention ofmitting such a rookie mistake in the first ce though.

    ¡°We¡¯ve received a bombardment warning from the imperial fleet! Synchronized bombardment, iing!¡±

    After Mimi¡¯s warning rang out, lots of powerful-lookingser projectiles and beams flooded the spot right behind Krishna. The Guardian Crystals that were exposed to such dense and powerfulser cannon fire emitted intense light right before melting down and exploding. As expected of militarybat ships. The firepower of a military cruiser-ss ship really was something else. You won¡¯t be able to tank that no matter how many antiser countermeasures you had.

    ¡°Wow. Their firepower is amazing.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a reason why people in the business say that you have to absolutely avoid fighting military battleships and cruisers head-on. You¡¯d probably be alright once you manage to stick to them at close proximity though.¡±

    After that barrage, the aggro was transferred from us to the imperial military, and the Guardian¡¯s attacks on Krishna turned more sporadic. I ain¡¯t one to miss such an opening. I immediately fired the two remaining reactive torpedoes at the center of the clumped up Guardian Crystals, reversed heading, and jumped straight into the ¡®hole¡¯ that resulted from the imperial fleet¡¯s bombardment earlier. We immediately got assaulted by strong Gs inside the cockpit due to the consecutive intense maneuvers I performed, but I was already used to it by now.

    ¡°Kuh¡­¡­ The reactive torpedoes have exploded! The Guardian Crystals areing after us again!¡±

    ¡°Yosh. Let¡¯s take them for a ride.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s easier than before.¡±

    The space in front of us ended up mostly devoid of enemies due to the imperial fleet¡¯s bombardment. At this rate, it would be pretty easy to pull away and escape from the crystal lifeforms chasing after us from behind. In terms of speed, Krishna was overwhelmingly superior after all. It¡¯s just a simple task of evading the asional light projectilesing at us from behind while flooring the elerator.

    ¡°Another synchronized bombardment iing.¡±

    Once again, the unrivaled synchronized bombardment of the imperial military fleetnded on the space behind Krishna and hit the crystal lifeforms from the nk. Laser bombardment that was calcted precisely to thest detail unleashed an uncannily effective surgical strike that didn¡¯t leave room for even one gap to appear. It tore through the enemies and a huge swathe of crystal lifeforms ended up getting destroyed helplessly. With this, all that remained were the few lucky survivors that managed to somehow avoid getting hit by the bombardment. A fierce dogfight with the imperial corvettes immediately ensued.

    ¡°We¡¯ll join the fray and bag ourselves some more kills.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    Before long, we managed topletely annihte all the crystal lifeforms that lurked in this section of space.

    ¡°Nice work, everyone. We¡¯ll perform maintenance and ammo replenishment now.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you. Also, there are probably going to be other mercenary ships asking for repairs againter, so please take care of those guys too.¡±

    ¡°Understood. We¡¯re going to get busy again.¡±

    When we got off the ramp, I gave the mechanic sisters some instructions and headed for the dining room with Mimi and Elma in tow. We¡¯ll take advantage of the downtime during maintenance to catch a break.

    ¡°Man, that was a bit hard.¡±

    ¡°Just ¡®a bit¡¯, huh.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, just a bit.¡±

    ¡°I think the only one who¡¯d say that was just ¡®a bit¡¯ hard is Hiro though. At least, doing something like that is impossible for me.¡±

    We ordered drinks from Tetsujin V and took a nice break. Ah, there¡¯s nothing like cold juice after a huge battle. My current favorite was the lemon-vored one. Mimi seemed to like banana vor, and Elma liked grape. Well, it was 0% real fruit juice though! Wahahaha!

    Eh? Why didn¡¯t I drink the carbonated stuff I bought from Sierra III?

    I wanna savor that stuff in a more quiet and calm moment. Those aren¡¯t drinks suitable after going through an intense battle. Well, the main reason is that I only had a limited stock of them. They were more important to me than anti-ship reactive torpedoes.

    While we were in the middle of our break, my portable data terminal¡¯s ring tone echoed out. It looks like it¡¯s a call from Major Serena. I operated my terminal and transferred the image feed to the dining room¡¯s holo-disy.

    ¡°Yes, hello. This is Hiro speaking.¡±

    The image of Major Serena on the holo-disy looked around the room and saw us taking it easy. She then opened her mouth to speak after a short pause.

    ¡ºFirst, let me offer my congrattions. You¡¯ve ended up bing the top ace again.¡»

    ¡°Thank you. Your support bombardment was a real lifesaver too.¡±

    ¡ºIt¡¯s all thanks to you backing us up well. Due to Krishna attracting the enemies earlier on during the battle, the damage to the advance guard was very minimal. Thank you very much for that.¡»

    ¡°d to hear it. So, what¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡ºOh, nothing. I simply wanted to offer words of congrattions to the top ace. We will be hitting their main forces next. As soon as we finish maintenance and resupply the small ships, we¡¯ll be heading out. Be sure to be ready.¡»

    ¡°Aye, aye, ma¡¯am.¡±

    When I saluted at her, Major Serena made a subtle smile and cut off the call.

    ¡°¡­¡­I wonder what that was about?¡±

    ¡°No idea.¡±

    ¡°Hm¡­¡­ Maybe she¡¯s nning something?¡±

    It can be said that all of us held a certain sense of wariness against Major Serena due to her previous actions. I tried going over the earlier conversation in my head, but couldn¡¯t pick up on anything that seemed suspicious. It really seems that she only called to offer me congrattions for bing the ace again.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s just honestly ept herpliments then.¡±

    ¡°Will it really be okay¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think she¡¯s nning anything judging from that earlier conversation, so I guess it¡¯s alright.¡±

    Man. We reallyck a certain level of trust in Major Serena huh. It¡¯s an effect of her usual behavior anyway, so she can¡¯t me us for that.

 Chapter 164 â€“ Extermination Battle Start

    <h4>Chapter 164 - Extermination Battle Start</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After resupplying and a quick maintenance check, we immediatelyunched out from ck Lotus and made way for the other mercenary ships that came for maintenance and repairs.

    ¡°Major Serena said the damage they received was minor, but it looks like there are still a lot of damaged ships.¡±

    Krishna¡¯s main monitor showed the mercenary ships, whose hulls have been scraped and partially crystallized in ces.

    ¡°They probably ate a full-body ramming attack or two from the small-type crystal lifeforms. They don¡¯t have much when ites to ranged firepower, but their ramming attacks are nothing to sneeze at. Those are quite dangerous since they would be able to bring down the average shields with just two or three well-ced hits.¡±

    Normally, the energy shields of starships that had been originally developed to protect ship hulls from debris collisions while out in space were quite resistant to physical impacts. However, the ramming attacks from crystal lifeforms can easily break through them. I observed that the tips of their bodies release a particr glow whenever theyunch themselves out on an attack, so I wonder if there¡¯s some kind of unknown mechanism to it. I wouldn¡¯t really know since there wasn¡¯t any detailed exnation for it in SOL too. I wonder if they use the same principle as the submunitions released by the shotgun cannons to prate shields.

    By the way, the shield-piercing capability of shotgun cannon shells will decrease sharply when fired from a distance other than close range. If you fired shotgun cannon shells in the game from long range, the other yers will just jeer at you while saying stuff like ¡®You on crack mate? Those are shot cannon shells!¡¯ and proceed to happily shrug the attacks off.

    ¡°You always manage to dodge them though, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Their charging speed is decent, but they suck at making quick turns. I¡¯ll be fine as long as I pay attention.¡±

    It would be dangerous if they attacked from multiple directions all at once though, even for me. Well, at that point, there would be no choice but to forcibly break out of the siege. If the shields go down in that situation, there¡¯s no way the hull willst. By the way, armor corrosion in SOL was implemented through continuous DOT and a penalty in physical defense. It was set so that the crystalized parts will turn extremely brittle and weak.

    As we talked about the characteristics of crystal lifeforms, a call came through.

    ¡ºThis is themander of the Special Crystal Lifeform Extermination Fleet, Gil Folks.¡»

    The wide-area transmission was from themander of the entire fleet. It¡¯s probably a final briefing before the start of the main operation.

    ¡ºThe resupplying of ships and minimum maintenance procedures will bepleted in another 15 minutes. Uponpletion, we will immediately head out to subjugate a superrge type crystal lifeform tentatively named the Mother Crystal nesting at the Alpha sector of the Jerom system.¡»

    A wide-area 3D map simting the entire battlefield got disyed on the main monitor.

    ¡ºThe Mother Crystal subjugation operation will be primarily conducted via long-range bombardment. Although there are many enemies, they do not possess abilities equivalent to energy shielding so their defenses are basically weak. In addition, their shooting range is short, and it would be impossible for them to put up any meaningful response to a long-range bombardment from imperial cruisers and battleships.¡»

    A simted image of the imperial fleet grinding down the enemy numbers through multiple long-range bombardments was shown on the 3D map.

    ¡ºHowever, it remains a fact that the enemies are very numerous, so the possibility of them managing to close in on our ships is still rtively high. The small ships along with the imperial destroyers will be responsible for intercepting the enemy forces that manage to escape the bombardment.¡»

    ¡°What do you think of that?¡±

    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t it quite reasonable? At the very least, it¡¯s a strategy that was devised with a proper understanding of the enemy¡¯s characteristics. The total number of enemies should have already been determined to a certain extent, so this n was drafted based on that info.¡±

    I really don¡¯t think the military will engage in a haphazard battle. They are pros when ites torge scale engagements after all. Their usual modus operandi is to gather enough intel, analyze it, and then devise a n that has a high chance of sess. If they think we would be able to win this engagement, we probably would. Unless there are some unexpected factors, our chance of victory is basically unwavering. Someone setting off a Singing Crystal in the middle of a fleet is a good example of an unexpected factor. But there¡¯s no way that would happen here.

    ¡°If Hiro says so, then I guess it would be fine. Will we be charging in the middle of the fray againter?¡±

    ¡°That depends on the situation. If charging in would result in us blocking our allies¡¯ line of fire, it would be better for us to stay back and concentrate on defending the rest of the fleet instead. Against a Mother Crystal, even Krishna¡¯s firepower would becking.¡±

    There¡¯s still a chance of bringing it down if I manage to get close and m some anti-ship reactive torpedoes on its core, but instead of performing such a dangerous stunt, it would be better to obediently hang back and rely on the long-range bombardment of our allies. We probably won¡¯t get a chance to strut our stuff this time around.

    ¡°In the next battle, we¡¯ll be free to take an advantageous position unlike when we first came out of the hypene. Won¡¯t it be a one-sided battle then?¡¯

    In SOL, the battlefields in raid events were always adjusted to offer a good sense of tension and challenge to the yers, but this is the real world. There¡¯s no need to purposefully choose a disadvantageous position for some cheap thrills. It would be best to crush the enemies in a one-sided beating from long range.

    ¡°So does that mean the next battle will end with us just watching from a distance, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Probably.¡±

    Approximately 30 minutester. The fleet deactivated their FTL Drives and got into firing position.

    ¡°Uwaa¡­¡­ It¡¯s gigantic.¡±

    ¡°It sure is.¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s actually as big as a minor.¡±

    We finally saw the Mother Crystal from a distance and gave our impressions. I was monitoring the movements of the rest of the crystal lifeforms through ck Lotus¡¯s sensors, and the small-types and Guardian Crystals were actually starting to head for the direction of the fleet. They must have detected us even from this distance.

    ¡ºAll ships,mence bombardment!¡»

    With the fleetmander¡¯s orders, the imperial ships began their long-range bombardment. Tens of dozens ofrge-caliberser cannons fired and drowned the iing crystal lifeforms with a hail of destructive beams. We witnessed arge number of the crystal lifeform swarm releasing intense glows before exploding in the distance. ck Lotus also deployed itsrge-caliber EML and fired- Eh?

    ¡°Hey, [1]Mei? Can you really hit them at this distance?¡±

    ¡ºYes. The enemies are quite numerous after all.¡»

    Apanied by a droning sound, the ck Lotus fired a super-elerated shell from therge-caliber EML on its bow. I¡¯m not sure how many seconds it would take for the round to hit a target, but since Mei was the one who fired it, I¡¯m sure that round wouldn¡¯t be wasted.

    ¡°That¡¯s really amazing, Mei-san. You can really hit the enemies from this distance.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it sure is. Lasers are one thing, but hitting stuff with an EML at this distance is normally impossible y¡¯know.¡±

    Although the projectile speed of an EML is many times faster than your typical multi-cannon or ballistic cannon, it still wouldn¡¯tpare toser projectiles that basicallyunch out at lightspeed. Since we¡¯re in outer space where there¡¯s no atmosphere or the influence ofary gravity, you don¡¯t need to worry aboutser shots being attenuated and losing power, but there¡¯s still a chance of them changing trajectories. You don¡¯t really need to care about this factor much in close-range battles where small ships usually engage in frantic dogfights. But during long-range bombardments, you¡¯d have to really pay attention, since a slight deviation will greatly influence theser projectile¡¯s, uh, impact point, or something. Anyway, it¡¯s the spot where the projectile will hit.

    ¡°I wonder if it¡¯s thanks to thebination of an advanced independent AI and a high-performance positron brain? Man. I¡¯m surprised the old empire didn¡¯t get decimated when they took on opponents like Mei.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yeah. You have a point.¡±

    Mimi obediently nodded her head in agreement while Elma seemed a bit reluctant for some reason. So, am I correct in thinking that they really didn¡¯t manage to prevent their destruction, but were allowed to survive instead? I think there¡¯s a good chance I¡¯m right.

    While I mulled over such things, the imperial ships along with some mercenary ships continued their heavy barrage, and the number of Guardian Crystals was steadily decreasing. However, it seems that the small-types were gradually managing to get past the bombardment.

    ¡°Instead of the Guardian Crystals, it looks like the small-types are the ones that would pose a problemter.¡±

    ¡°Are we heading out now?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. They would probably engage the corvettes and destroyers soon, so we better head out there as well.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll contact Mei-san.¡±

    As Mimi contacted Mei to inform her of our decision, I fired up the thrusters and headed up to join the interception teamposed of corvettes, small mercenary ships, and destroyers.

    ¡ºOh, if it ain¡¯t the top Ace with the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal.¡»

    ¡ºYou¡¯ve already earned enough achievements, right? Can¡¯t you just leave some for us, man?¡»

    ¡°C¡¯mon guys. Ain¡¯t it a mercenary¡¯s style to earn as much as you can, whenever you can? It ain¡¯t like me to stay nice and cozy in the back.¡±

    ¡ºUh, yeah, you certainly don¡¯t like to stay in the back, alright.¡»

    ¡ºOr rather, doesn¡¯t he keep charging in every damn time? Even going crazy has its limits, bro.¡»

    ¡ºI feel bad for the nice girls with him. Poor things.¡»

    ¡ºHey girls, how about you ditch that crazy guy ande with me instead?¡»

    ¡ºHey, don¡¯t steal a march on the rest of us. And besides, I earn more than-¡»

    ¡°Hey, you idiots. Did your mother not teach you never to talk about stealing a guy¡¯s women right in front of him? I¡¯m gonna murder you, y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡º¡ºWe¡¯re sorry!!!¡»¡»

    I don¡¯t mind if it¡¯s just ordinary fooling around, but joking about something like that is an absolute no-go. They¡¯d look down on me if I didn¡¯t say anything after hearing all that.

    ¡°A guy¡¯s women, huh?¡±

    ¡°Ehehe.¡±

    When I heard the two¡¯s reactions, I realized that I actually blurted out something pretty bold, but it was toote to take it back.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Alright, don¡¯t get all embarrassed because of something you said.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re really cute, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Be quiet. You¡¯re distracting me. A moment of carelessness can be fatal.¡±

    ¡°The enemies are still a good distance away though.¡±

    It was a counterargument I couldn¡¯t retort to.

    There¡¯s still some time before the interception battlemences.

    [1]Notes - As you¡¯ve probably noticed, the spelling of the name of one of the major characters has changed. Our lovely kuudere maidroid May has been renamed Mei. This is due to the recent release of LN Vol. 4. It turns out they went with Mei for the official romanization.

 Chapter 165 â€“ Stacked up Experience

    <h4>Chapter 165 - Stacked up Experience</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Countless spears of light fired by gigantic ships lit up the void of space and inundated the crystal lifeforms, causing them to re brightly in their final death throes as they burst into nothingness. Even more projectiles wereunched out from the bodies of the ships and left light trails in their wake as they rained down on the crystal lifeform swarm. The moment they hit their targets, they caused a gigantic congration to erupt, lighting up the void¡¯s darkness even further.

    And finally, the ships unleashed a barrage of anti-ship reactive torpedoes that the crystal lifeforms couldn¡¯t possibly hope to withstand. The resulting cataclysmic heat and shockwaves from the simultaneous sts of the reactive torpedoes obliterated the entire vanguard of the crystal lifeforms.

    ¡°Don¡¯t they seem a lot more powerful than the reactive torpedoes Krishna uses?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the difference in the amount of explosive ingredients put in them. Theirs has a lot more than ours.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Actually, the thing that¡¯s stuffed inside anti-ship reactive torpedoes is even more dangerous than simple explosives. Their missiles were alsorger, so it makes sense that they have more destructive force than the torpedoes Krishna has.

    This applies toser weapons as well. The high-caliberser cannons equipped on Krishna are mostly the same types equipped on imperial heavy cruisers. It¡¯s just that the ones equipped on imperial cruisers have aparably higher caliber, so their maximum range is much higher than Krishna¡¯s. This also applies to normal missiles. Anyway, there¡¯s an obvious difference in firepower.

    ¡°Even so, those things are probably going to get through huh.¡±

    Elma sighed as she kept an eye on the radar. Well, of course, they would. There are thousands of those things out there after all. It would be impossible to wipe them all out in just a couple of volleys. It can¡¯t be helped.

    ¡°That¡¯s about it for spectator mode. Let¡¯s go, guys. Generator output, set tobat mode.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, sir. Don¡¯t stumble when it counts, alright?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    And so, a long, grueling battle has begun.

    ¡ºDammit! There¡¯s too many of them!¡»

    ¡ºThey¡¯reing from above! Careful!¡»

    ¡ºArgh! John Ray got done in!¡»

    As I listened to the fric exchange between my fellow mercenaries echoing out thems, I continued to bring down small-type crystal lifeforms one after another.

    Each of the four heavyser cannons pierced a different enemy, and the onesing directly from the front were taken care of by the shotgun cannons. I kept avoiding the crystal lifeforms that attacked my blind spots. I kept the 3D radar in my line of sight at all times in order to monitor enemy positions constantly. It¡¯s one of the basics of high-speed dogfights.

    ¡ºJust look at those maneuvers. Does the guy have eyeballs behind his head or something?¡»

    ¡ºIf I had a high-performance ship like that, then even I can¡­¡­¡»

    ¡ºNah, that¡¯s impossible. That ain¡¯t just due to the ship¡¯s specs, man.¡»

    ¡°To think I¡¯d really get to witness someone capable of avoiding the indiscriminate ramming attacks of countless crystal lifeforms in such a chaotic melee like this. Seriously, my hat¡¯s off to you, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°I wonder how high Hiro-sama¡¯s spatial awareness ability is?¡±

    Man. It wasn¡¯t just from thems. Even thedies seated together in the cockpit with me were getting in on the action. I can only say the current me is a result of tens of hundreds of times experiencing bitter defeat and exploding in-game and hours upon hours of bitter practice runs. And as a result of that, I¡¯ve trained my battle awareness to the max. The maneuvers have already seeped deep into my bones and have be close to instinctual. In other words, my current skills are a result of a heck of a lot of experience and effort.

    I earned money and got fragged to pieces. I earned some more money, bought a new ship, and got fragged to pieces again. I sold my previous ship in order to earn enough funds to buy a direct upgrade and used the remaining money as a cushion to pay for future repairs. I exploded, exploded, and exploded some more¡­ I heardter on that I had a rtively easier timepared to the other SOL yers, but I also had my fair share of extremely frustrating experiences. In fact, they almost made me want- Ugh, let¡¯s just stop. I¡¯m just gonna feel depressed thinking about it.

    Anyway, I¡¯m just a simple guy who really hated to lose and didn¡¯t know when to give up. So I practiced like mad. I came up with personalized strategies. I also scoured both domestic and international forums and watched in-game videos until the wee hours of the morning for reference. And the result of all that hard work and effort is the present me.

    I didn¡¯t really think that effort would end up benefiting me quite like this, but I guess all¡¯s well that ends well.

    ¡°What¡¯s the current battle situation?¡±

    As I concentrated on performing evasive maneuvers, I asked Mimi about the situation on the entire battlefield.

    ¡°Small-type crystal lifeforms are pouring in from other areas, but it seems the rear guards are still able to hold them off. 70% of the Guardian Crystals have been eliminated. The elimination phase should be done soon.¡±

    ¡°The lesser their numbers are, the faster the elimination rate, huh.¡±

    Fewer enemies meant we could focus fire more easily. In other words, it was only a matter of time until we won this battle.

    ¡°Just a little bit more to go.¡±

    I was a bit concerned by the fact that about half of the shotgun cannon ammo has been used up. But I guess it should be okay as long as I didn¡¯t push it too much. But if I became toox, the ally casualties could increase, so it was a little tricky to find a good bnce.

    ¡°Hiro-sama! An enemy group is closing in from port-side!¡±

    ¡°Roger that.¡±

    Mimi constantly reported the readings captured by the long-range radar to me. It looks like they ended up going for the neighboring area since we pushed ahead. I had Krishna reverse course and caught the enemies in my sights.

    ¡°The elimination of the Guardian Crystals should beplete soon.¡±

    ¡°Move to the nned coordinates as soon as the elimination phase ispleted. Begin a concentrated siege against the main target afterward.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, ma¡¯am.¡±

    I checked the tactical information shared in real-time by all the ships in the fleet and watched the situation on the entire battlefield. Elimination of the Guardian Crystals was proceeding smoothly, and the small-types that managed to slip away from our bombardment are well within our expectations. The area where ¡®he¡¯ was stationed had the fewest leaks. I nced at the number of his kills, and instead of eliminating a few small-types here and there like his fellow mercenaries, he was destroying the enemies at a rateparable to imperial destroyers.

    ¡°So ¡®he¡¯ really is the real deal, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°Yes, he truly is.¡±

    I nodded in agreement. It¡¯s only natural for a still-living mercenary who managed to receive a Silver Sword Wings Assault medal to disy such an exemry performance. He has to be able to do at least that much, or else, people would doubt the standards of the imperial military. His battle records from the time he arrived at the Izrooks system until now have been securely recorded in the imperial military database. He should find it easier to secure more jobs in the future since official results like this were like a mark of true skill and a guarantee. However, he would probably also get involved in more troublesome stuff in the future, but that¡¯s one of the consequences of fame.

    ¡°Can we now say that we are witnessing the rise of another tinum-rank mercenary?¡±

    ¡°That depends on the Mercenary Guild, but I do think it¡¯s highly possible.¡±

    They would certainly put a lot more attention to the man who managed to receive a Silver Sword Wings Assault medal while he¡¯s still alive. I imagine the Mercenary Guild would also like to see another tinum-rank mercenary rise up, and we at the imperial military would not reject such a thing either. In fact, we would wee it.

    ¡°Guardian Crystal eliminationplete!¡±

    ¡°Very well. Let us proceed to the next phase. Move to the designated coordinates and start synchronized bombardment.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, ma¡¯am!¡±

    Restalias began moving to the specified coordinates in order tomence the final phase of the operation.

    ¡°The pressure from the enemies is tapering off.¡±

    ¡°The military battleships and heavy cruisers have finished eliminating the Guardian Crystals and are now heading for the Mother Crystal. The small-types are breaking away in order to intercept them.¡±

    ¡°Tsk. This is bad.¡±

    In other words, the enemy lines have spread out and begun slipping through the vanguard. It would have been better to reduce the numbers of the small-types more before starting the siege on the Mother Crystal. It was a miss on my part. I didn¡¯t manage to borate on that previously.

    Our victory should still be assured even if we left them alone, but if we did, the rear lines would certainly suffer casualties.

    ¡°Can¡¯t be helped. Mimi, activate the FTL Drive.¡±

    After saying that, I immediately deactivated the weapon systems. You can¡¯t use the FTL Drive while the weapon systems are deployed after all.

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Activate it now.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes! FTL Drive, charging start. Countdown. 5, 4¡­¡­¡±

    As I listened to the hum of the FTL Drive activating, I pointed the bow toward the direction of the Mother Crystal.

    ¡°H-Hey, wait a minute! Hiro?¡±

    ¡ºH-Hey, where the heck are you gonna-!?¡»

    ¡ºDamn! Are you nning to run-!¡»

    I ignored Elma¡¯s confused plea and the reactions of the other mercenaries on thems who noticed we activated our FTL Drive. I simply waited for the countdown to finish.

    ¡°3, 2, 1, activate!¡±

    Boom! A loud roar resounded within the cockpit as the FTL Drive activated. But I immediately deactivated the FTL Drive and returned to normal space after a short-range jump. The two sounds almost ovepped due to the extremely short duration between them.

    ¡°Mimi, activate the FTL Drive again.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes! Charging start!¡±

    I kept the bow¡¯s position trained squarely on the Mother Crystal located in the far distance as I instructed Mimi to charge the FTL Drive again. By performing repeated short-range jumps with the FTL Drive, we would be able to bypass the clusters of small-type crystal lifeforms that were deployed between the vanguard and the Mother Crystal. We will continue to perform short-range jumps until we sessfully close in on the Mother Crystal. This is one of the specialized techniques for taking onrge targets in SOL.

    Once we manage to close in on the position of the Mother Crystal, we should be able to get the attention of a good number of the small-types that were going after the rear line and bait them away.

    ¡°FTL Drive, charging start. Countdown. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1¡­¡­Activate!¡±

    The ovepping roars rang out once again, and a huge object that looked like an extremely gigantic crystal chestnut or sea urchin soon appeared in front of us.

    ¡°S-So big¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°This is¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°This isn¡¯t the time to gawk!¡±

    I immediately re-deployed the weapon systems and punched the thrusters to maximum output in order to close in more on the Mother Crystal. Now then, let¡¯s start the final round.

 Chapter 166 â€“ Fatal Blow

    <h4>Chapter 166 - Fatal Blow</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°What are you doing!? Just what the heck are you doiiing!?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m desperately trying my best to survive and not die a pointless death!¡±

    A gigantic and obnoxious-looking crystal sea urchin was in front of us. The numerous thorns covering the surface of the colossal urchin burst out in session. The resulting fragments seemed to have gained sentience and flew straight toward Krishna. That¡¯s right. Krishna was currently facing off against the Mother Crystal that had sensed our presence.

    ¡°Numerous enemy signatures iing¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°There we go!¡±

    As a response to Mimi¡¯s warning, I immediatelyunched anti-ship reactive torpedoes at the cluster of small-type crystal lifeforms that were increasing in number by the second. Once an enemy manages toe close, the first response of a Mother Crystal was to crush it with overwhelming numbers. There¡¯s only one way for us to survive such an attack. That¡¯s tounch an all-out wide-range attack before we end up getting crushed.

    My goal in firing off reactive torpedoes at the Mother Crystal was to fuel its sense of crisis so it would start to call back the small-types that were chasing after the rest of the fleet. I want to pull as many of the small-types as possible so they won¡¯t be able to harass the rear lines.

    Although the Mother Crystal is capable of releasing even more small crystal lifeforms, it can¡¯t do it indefinitely. Why? Because those small-types are essentially made out of the Mother Crystal¡¯s own body.

    In other words, those small-types are both the Mother Crystal¡¯s reactive armor (AP) and hull (HP). The more it releases them to deal with immediate threats, the more vulnerable it would be to the long-range bombardment of the battleships and heavy cruisers, and the more likely it is that it would be dealt a fatal blow.

    ¡°Torpedoes have hit the target!¡±

    The two reactive torpedoes I sent offnded sessfully on the Mother Crystal¡¯s thorns. The resulting fiery explosion blew away the cluster of small-types along with the tips of several thorns.

    If I can sessfully slip inside the gaps between the thorns right until the central part of the Mother Crystal, I could probably give it a critical blow. But right now, I don¡¯t have the leeway to pull that stunt off. It would be really hard for me to attempt such a thing while fending off the small-types that didn¡¯t get caught in the explosion with theser and shotgun cannons. It would be a different story if I had the assistance of at least ten allied ships to participate in the assault.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, bombardment iing!¡±

    ¡°Roger that!¡±

    I can¡¯t let myself get caught up in my allies¡¯ bombardment of course, so I circled around to a spot well away from the impact point. The huge thorns have already started wriggling about in order to fend off the bombardment. Just how can it instinctively form a defense against long-range bombardment like that, I wonder? Aside from the fact that we can¡¯tmunicate with it, the Mother Crystal has actually disyed a high degree of intelligence.

    I thought about such things as I busied myself in fending off the small-types that kept charging at us. And then, the bombardment finallynded. The thick armor made up of numerous crystal thorns melted under the intense heat resulting from the bombardment. The shockwaves seemingly shook the void itself.

    ¡°To think it didn¡¯t even flinch from something like that. What a monster.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s amazing, isn¡¯t it? It didn¡¯t move an inch. I wonder what kind of method it¡¯s using?¡±

    A dense concentration ofser cannon fire struck it under a zero-G environment and even caused parts of its crystal shell to melt and explode. Normally, the resulting force would have pushed it out of its original spot, but the Mother Crystal didn¡¯t even show any signs of shaking. It was as if it was locked in ce.

    No, it¡¯s not because the scale is too big so you can¡¯t see the movements. It really didn¡¯t move from its spot one bit. That¡¯s one mysterious phenomenon right there. If one manages to discover the principles behind it and artificially reproduce it, I¡¯m sure that project will be worth tons of money.

    ¡°If it keeps taking hits like that-¡±

    The moment I thought we¡¯d win it after a few more barrages, something flew at extreme speeds right in the center of the spot where the Mother Crystal¡¯s crystal thorn armor was thinnest due to the earlier bombardment. It pierced the crystal shell and scattered fragments violently.

    ¡ºKHYAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡»

    An extremely unpleasant noise akin to nails scratching a ss surface rang out, and I almost couldn¡¯t resist covering my ears with my hands. Should I be praised for not letting go of the flight stick even under such a racket?

    ¡°Kuh. What was that¡­¡­!?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but it looks like it really brought that monster some pain.¡±

    The lights within the Mother Crystal¡¯s body flickered as its thorns wriggled intensely. It really looked gross. It looked like an ugly insect wriggling and gave me goosebumps.

    I think the thing that pierced the Mother Crystal earlier was actually an EML round fired by ck Lotus. I didn¡¯t notice any other imperial ship that was equipped with such a weapon, and there also weren¡¯t any other mercenary ships capable ofnding attacks from such a distance.

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­ T-The movements of the small-types have turned strange.¡±

    After getting hit by the full brunt of the earlier screech, Mimi reported the battle situation as she fought off her urge to tear up. Probably because of that earlier attack, they were hesitating whether or not to redirect their full attention to the rear line.

    Well, there¡¯s no reason not to take advantage now that the enemy was distracted, right?

    ¡°He¡¯s making that face again.¡±

    ¡°I have a bad feeling about this.¡±

    I punched Krishna¡¯s thrusters to the maximum and headed straight for the Mother Crystal. The reason why I did so was to give the anti-ship reactive torpedoes I¡¯ll fireter on enough momentum. The speed of reactive torpedoes was rtively slow, but one can use this method in order to give it some more oomph.

    ¡°Gooo!¡±

    I aimed at the gap between those wriggling thorny protrusions, and my two remaining anti-ship reactive torpedoes were finallyunched out. It would be totallyme if I failed to break after making such a charge and suffer an ident though.

    ¡°Hiee, t-that was really close¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Your stunts are really bad for the heart, you know that!?¡±

    My twopanions mutteredints while sounding relieved. I then turned the ship around to check the results of my work.

    ¡°Oh? This is¡­¡­?¡±

    Did the torpedoes misfire? There didn¡¯t seem to be an explosion. I got worried. But imperial products are generally reliable and high-quality. What happened?

    ¡ºGy-!¡»

    The Mother Crystal¡¯s colossal body, which hasn¡¯t moved an inch until now, trembled. At the same time, an agonized screech pierced our minds rather than our ears.

    ¡°Guuuh!?¡±

    ¡°Ergh!?¡±

    ¡°Giii!?¡±

    I got so surprised that I arched back. It felt like a rod was directly shoved into my brain and then stirred it up violently. I felt something soure up my throat. What the heck? Was that some kind of mental attack or something?

    As I suffered in confusion, a drastic change urred to the Mother Crystal. The lights that were once visible within its body and thorns began to disappear, and the thorns gradually fell apart, as if they¡¯ve lost their vitality. It looks like my attack earlier luckily managed to directly hit the Mother Crystal¡¯s core. It was bad luck for the Mother Crystal though. So that was a fatal hit huh.

    ¡°Did we get it?¡±

    ¡°It¡­ looks like we did.¡±

    ¡°The remaining small-types have also ceased all activity.¡±

    After Mimi¡¯s announcement, I checked the battlefield and found that the small-type crystal lifeforms have really stopped in their tracks. Well, not exactly. They were still flying around, but they showed no signs of changing directions at all.

    ¡°That was surprisingly anti-climactic.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Fumu¡­¡­¡±

    Even if I managed tond a clean hit on the core, I didn¡¯t think that it would actually finish off the Mother Crystal just like that¡­¡­ For better or worse, it was different from how we killed off raid bosses like this in SOL. Well, it¡¯s no use thinking about it now.

    ¡°Humans die if their brains or hearts are crushed. Maybe it¡¯s also the same for crystal lifeforms. Probably.¡±

    ¡°Is that really it?¡±

    ¡°Well, I wonder. Even a powerful battleship will sink if it gets hit directly in the reactor.¡±

    Well, in any case, finishing it off was good. It was worth taking the risk.

    As I was lost in thought, a private call came through instead of a fleet-widemunique. I had Mimi ept it and established a line. Major Serena¡¯s face appeared on the main monitor. For some reason, her cheeks seem to be twitching.

    ¡ºGood day, Captain Hiro.¡»

    ¡°Y-Yeah. Good day?¡±

    I returned Major Serena¡¯s greeting while feeling the awkward atmosphere in the air.

    Huh? Is she angry or something?

    ¡ºFor the time being, can you haul your smug face to Restalias for me, my dear captain?¡»

    ¡°Ah, yes, right away ma¡¯am.¡±

    I involuntarily agreed due to the strange atmosphere. She immediately cut the call.

    ¡°¡­¡­Huh? What¡¯s up with her? Is she really angry?¡±

    ¡°I wonder.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ I have no idea too.¡±

    Elma shook her head and Mimi looked equally bewildered as me.

    I activated the FTL Drive while still puzzled and headed to Restalias, where Major Serena was waiting.

 Chapter 167 â€“ *Smileâ€¦â€¦

    <h4>Chapter 167 - *Smile¡­¡­</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°First, let me congratte you on your excellent performance.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes.¡±

    The moment I arrived in front of her, Major Serena gave me a smile that seemed to stick to my skin and made me involuntarily stand at attention.

    We were currently inside Restalias. Specifically, we were inside Major Serena¡¯s private office. When the Mother Crystal kicked the bucket, the rest of the crystal lifeforms have also stopped functioning, so the battle was essentially over.

    Right now, the rest of the ships were busy collecting the spoils of battle and gathering various data. The Restalias moved right next to the now-inert and dismembered Mother Crystal as well.

    ¡°Um, Serena-sama. Why did you call Hiro-sa- um, our captain here?¡±

    Mimi was reluctant to call me ¡®Hiro-sama¡¯ in front of Major Serena. Maybe it¡¯s because the major was a bona fide nobledy and a high-ranking officer of the imperial military. She was acting quite reserved.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. There are numerous offenses actually. He ignored orders, deserted his assigned position, engaged in dangerous stunts, and more. But I can¡¯t really fault you mercenaries for every little thing, right? Of course, I won¡¯t. And besides, you¡¯re not part of the imperial military, so I can¡¯t even hand you any punishment, ahaha.¡±

    *Zumomomomo¡­¡­ Somehow, I felt like a dark aura coupled with weird manga SFX was welling up from Major Serena, who remained smiling. The area around her temple was throbbing! How scary!

    ¡°By the way, Mimi-san. Have you ever experienced working so hard for something only for it to be abruptly snatched away without any warning? If it was you, what would you say to the culprit?¡±

    ¡°U-Um, err¡­¡­ H-How dare you? S-Something like that?¡±

    Mimi trembled like a small animal after Major Serena redirected her focus to her. Major Serena nodded in satisfaction after hearing her answer.

    ¡°Yes, yes, indeed. I made up lots of stuff in order to hide the fact that my source of information was unreliable and unconfirmed. In the end, I even lied with a straight face and imed that the information was the result of my own analysis. I went through rigorous questioning and felt like I was walking on eggshells the whole time. I finally convinced the higher-ups to send out a subjugation fleet, and the moment I felt that I was so close to victory, a clueless guy suddenly sweeps in and finishes the Mother Crystal right off. You can¡¯t exactly me me for feeling extremely vexed, right?¡±

    ¡°Hieee¡­¡­¡±

    Major Serena¡¯s tension gradually increased until she was practically trembling in anger.

    ¡°Um, y¡¯see¡­ I was just worried that the rear lines might incur losses if the situation was left as is, so I decided to perform multiple short-range FTL Drive jumps to close in on the Mother Crystal. I was hoping to bait the small-types heading your way by pestering the Mother Crystal, okay?¡±

    ¡°And just why did things actually turn out like that though¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°U-Um, maybe I was just really lucky, and you were just having a bad day, major? Whoah there! Stay, girl! Stay! Get your hand away from the sword handle and stay!¡±

    When Major Serena stood up forcefully and tried to draw her sword, I held up both hands to try and pacify her. Kuh, I should¡¯ve brought Mei with us.

    ¡°I think that¡¯s about enough fooling around, major¡­¡­ So, what¡¯s the real reason we¡¯re here?¡±

    Elma unleashed a sharp retort without a hint of hesitation. So the main reason wasn¡¯t to sate her grudge against me?

    ¡°¡­¡­Haah.¡±

    Major Serena deted like a balloon after hearing Elma¡¯s retort and let out a sigh. She sat back down behind her desk powerlessly. Just where did that spirit that seemed to say she would cut me down no matter what went to, I wonder?

    ¡°Well, even though you managed to clinch the victory, the one who proposed this entire operation was still me. And so, it can be said that you taking down the enemy leader was proof that my proposed strategy was effective. No matter how it was achieved, the result still ended in our victory, so I was merely just venting my anger at having my prey snatched unceremoniously.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for acting without permission, major. I only wanted to prevent the rear lines from suffering losses.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I know. Your innocence will be proven through the battle records taken by Restalias. And more importantly, we can¡¯t just punish the hero that managed to singlehandedly y the enemy leader and imed victory for us.¡±

    Huh? Somehow, I¡¯m getting a really bad feeling about this.

    ¡°We always adhere to the policy of appropriate rewards and punishments. Oh, I think we already had a conversation like this one a while back, didn¡¯t we?¡±

    After saying so, Major Serena operated the console on top of her office desk and showed something to us via the holo-disy. Judging from its appearance, it looked like a medal of some sort. It kind of resembled the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal I received previously, but its color was different. It was golden instead of silver. The shape was also quite different. A crimson jewel was ced in the middle of a cross-shaped medal. And there were silver rays protruding from its back that resembled a solid halo of light.

    ¡°That sure looks expensive.¡±

    ¡°Well, I suppose. This is called the First-ss Star Cross medal. It¡¯s moremonly known as the Gold Star. Are you familiar with it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡±

    I turned toward Mimi and Elma and found that Mimi¡¯s eyes were as wide as saucers and Elma sported an expression that was akin to having swallowed an extremely bitter pill. It looks like both of them was pretty familiar with it.

    ¡°It looks like aside from the captain, the rest of the crew are familiar with it. This medal is only awarded to those who have achieved especially extraordinary merits in battle and is virtually the highest honor given to soldiers and mercenaries. However, instances of people being awarded this particr medal are exceedingly rare. To date, you are only the fourth person who will be receiving this in the entire history of the empire.¡±

    ¡°Uhuh¡­¡­ So I¡¯m the fourth.¡±

    Even someone like me can understand the significance of being awarded a medal that only three other people have managed to receive in the entire history of the empire.

    ¡°Although it hasn¡¯t been finalized yet, in lieu of your numerous achievements during this campaign, including your feat of eliminating never before seen crystal lifeform variants, there is a very good chance of you receiving this medal. Even if you do not end up receiving a Gold Star, a Silver Star is all but given.¡±

    After saying so, Major Serena changed the image disyed to a simr-looking medal, but with a blue jewel in the center of a silver cross.

    ¡°Well, the upper ranks in charge of the crystal lifeform extermination fleet, including me, all think you should receive the Gold Star. After all, that is but natural given your achievements.¡±

    ¡°I-I see¡­¡­ So I¡¯ll receive this award together with the rest of our remuneration when we get back to the Izrooks system, and we¡¯ll be done after that, right?¡±

    ¡°Fufufu.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡±

    Although we were both smiling, one seemed to be enjoying the situation immensely while the other was sporting a forced smile with cold sweat running down his back.

    Afterughing for a while, Major Serena¡¯s expression suddenly turned serious.

    ¡°Of course not. We will be escorting you back to the imperial capital.¡±

    ¡°Right, of course, you would!¡±

    I didn¡¯t think such an important-sounding medal would be presented to me in a remote area like the Izrooks system in the first ce. I already expected that the venue would be somewhere a bit more regal, but I wasn¡¯t expecting it to be THAT regal.

    ¡°I would like to refuse¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°So you intend to smear mud on the honor of the empire?¡±

    ¡°Dammit! That¡¯s a gross misuse of the power of the state!¡±

    Although we lived a rtively free and easy life as mercenaries, at the end of the day, we were technically military sub-contractors. That¡¯s especially true for folks who get the majority of their earnings from hunting pirates like me. The Mercenary Guild will protect me from unreasonable pressure from the military to some extent, but they won¡¯t offer any excuses if I went and spurned the military by not attending the award ceremony.

    ¡°Elma-san, Elma-san, we¡¯re going to the imperial capital, aren¡¯t we? I¡¯ve always admired it from the moment I first saw it on a holo-video.¡±

    ¡°I can understand. It¡¯s the imperial capital after all. It¡¯s the political and economic center of the empire.¡±

    Mimi and Elma were having a lively discussion behind me while I was gradually being plunged into the pits of despair. Well, at least some people are happy about this.

    ¡°But I think we, as his crew members, would have to participate in the award ceremony as well.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Mimi seemed to have turned speechless. I see. So Mimi and Elma will apany me, huh. That¡¯s¡­¡­ The fact that I won¡¯t be alone in the spotlight does make me feel a lot better. Hahaha.

    ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s how it is. After conducting some more investigations here, we will return to the Izrooks system, and after we get resupplied and maintained, we will immediately head for the imperial capital. Oh, and don¡¯t worry. I haven¡¯t forgotten our promise from back then either. They should have already made preparations back at the Izrooks forward base. This particr matter concerns the prestige of the empire, so we will announce it to the public with great fanfare. You all will be overnight celebrities, and the loot and goods you will bring with you would be even more valuable as a result. You would be able to sell them for a very good price. Isn¡¯t that great?¡±

    After she dered that, Major Serena smiled happily once more. She¡¯s been trying to rope me into the imperial military for quite some time now, so she must be enjoying my current predicament immensely. Maybe she would even take advantage of the situation to enlist me as her direct subordinate. The reason I participated in the fight against the crystal lifeforms was that Major Serena invited me after all. I¡¯m sure she¡¯s gonna be making use of that angle.

    ¡°I have absolutely no intention of ever enlisting in the military, just so you know.¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course. I understand perfectly. It wouldn¡¯t be good to force you into it after all. Or rather, I honestly do not want to have a subordinate like you, and a rigid ce like the military would probably just serve to kill off your good points. I am aware of that much. We¡¯ve been acquainted with one another for quite some time already after all.¡±

    Some unexpected words came out from Major Serena¡¯s mouth. Huh? I tilted my head in puzzlement.

    ¡°That said, it¡¯s a different story when ites to the military higher-ups. It¡¯s pretty much the same situation with the imperial nobles. It would be advisable for you to rely more on the Mercenary Guild while you¡¯re in the imperial capital.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Uh, seriously, did you happen to eat something weird today?¡±

    ¡°If you continue to say rude things, I¡¯m really going to draw my sword you know.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry ma¡¯am. Please excuse me.¡±

    Major Serena struck the handle of her sword, so I ended up standing at attention and giving her a crisp salute.

    ¡°That¡¯s all from me. Please return to your ship and get some rest. And don¡¯t even think of running away.¡±

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡±

    Major Serena nodded contentedly after hearing my answer.

    ¡°As expected of Master.¡±

    When we got back to ck Lotus, I told Mei about the exchange with Major Serena, and she showed a very satisfied expression. The corners of her eyes were slightly lowered, and the corners of her lips slightly lifted up. It was a very subtle change in her facial expression, but for her, whose expression was decidedly deadpan by default, it was a fairly obvious change.

    ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to you hitting the Mother Crystal with an EML round with such exquisite precision and timing, Mei. You adjusted the timing so that it would hit directly after the imperial military¡¯s bombardment, right?¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your praise.¡±

    Although EML rounds boast the fastest speed amongst physical projectiles, they¡¯re still iparable toser fire. I can¡¯t imagine how exactly Mei read the timing of the imperial military¡¯s synchronized bombardment, or how she ounted for the difference in projectile speeds, but it was an absolutely masterful feat.

    ¡°However, I really can¡¯tpare to Master. You managed to deliver a fatal blow in one shot to that monster after all. That blow was what you¡¯d call a masterful feat.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d probably get carried away if you praise me too much, so please stop.¡±

    Although I said that, it still feels damn good to be praised man! There probably isn¡¯t anybody who won¡¯t feel good when praised. Add the fact that the one praising me was a really beautiful maid. It¡¯s the best.

    ¡°But as a result, you¡¯ll have to attend some fancy award ceremony in the imperial capital.¡±

    ¡°Can you stop sshing cold water on somebody while they¡¯re basking in sess¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°B-But Hiro-sama! It¡¯s the imperial capital you know! The imperial capital! It¡¯s the center of the empire and the holynd of culture and gourmet food!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re gonna participate in the ceremony as well y¡¯know, Mimi¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­! I think I¡¯ll be fine since I¡¯ll be together with Hiro-sama and Elma-san!¡±

    Mimi was taken aback for a moment, but she managed to recover and dered something adorable. Mimi sure is cute. I¡¯ll give her some head pats. There. Mofumofumofu.

    ¡°We¡¯ll have to shop for a bit once we arrive at the capital. Hiro should be fine, but Mimi and I don¡¯t have formal dresses yet¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Why would I be fine?¡±

    ¡°Remember what happened on Sierra III? You got formalwear from there, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Oh!¡±

    I hit my palm with a fist. Come to think of it, she¡¯s right. Chris bought me some formal-looking clothes suitable for nobles there. They¡¯re gathering dust in the closet right now though. But they should be perfect for the asion.

    Honestly speaking, I didn¡¯t really dig such clothes, but I guess it¡¯s fine since thedies, including Chris, seemed to like them.

    ¡°I¡¯ll pay for your clothes, so you don¡¯t have to worry and just shop for what you like.¡±

    ¡°That sounds great, but we¡¯ll have to buy some essories too you know?¡±

    ¡°Even so, it still won¡¯t cost as muchpared to fully upgrading a Zabuton ship, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true, I guess¡­¡­¡±

    Zabuton is the widely used nickname for the cheap multirole starship all the rookie pilots fly for the first time. A full upgrade would cost about 800,000 Enels, but I should be able to cover that cost with plenty of leeways to spare due to the rewards we¡¯ll be receivingter on.

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to our trip to the capital.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yeah. I guess.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t all that excited, but Mimi seems quite ecstatic, so I just agreed with her. I¡¯m sure the security around that area will be pretty tight, so it won¡¯t be a good ce for mercenaries. Well, I guess it isn¡¯t every day that I¡¯ll get to visit the capital of a space empire. Yeah, I might be looking forward to it a little after all.

 Chapter 168 â€“ Crystal Campaign

    <h4>Chapter 168 - Crystal Campaign</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Let¡¯s see. Ever wonder why nobles are still swinging swords around in a super high-tech SF dimension with bigser beams avable? And why the heck do you need to be so wary of them? Well, there are some reallyplicated and deep reasons (at least for me) behind it.

    First, let¡¯s talk about swords. Since its inception, the Gran Empire has always regarded swords as a symbol of power and authority. Something like that isn¡¯t particrly rare though. That¡¯s also the case on Earth, especially for the knights in the European Middle Ages and the samurai of Edo-period Japan, among other examples. Swords like European broadswords and Japanese katanas were symbols of authority to varying degrees and had long and storied histories. If so, then it¡¯s not so farfetched for the nobles of the empire, who still maintain a form of the feudal system, to maintain such traditions as well.

    Well, there was no denying that guns were more effective than swords in many aspects, so for a time, swords really were regarded as nothing more than status symbols. A few hundred years ago, nobles also had guns strapped to their waists in addition to their swords.

    However, with the rapid advancement of biotechnology, the situation changed. The nobles made use of highly advanced biotechnology to remodel their bodies at the gic level and get cybeic imnts and such in order to cope with the ever-increasing workload stemming from their position as the ruling ss. So strengthening their bodies far beyond the theoretical limits was an inevitable development. At first, they only dabbled in strengthening treatments aimed at increasing lifespan and stimting brain activity, but it led to the development of techniques suited to enhance physical prowess and the brain¡¯s information processing capability to extremely high levels.

    It resulted in absolutely dramatic improvements in the overall abilities of the nobles. And with the development of material engineering technologies, the swords that were once relegated as mere symbols underwent a period of rapid improvement as well. The nobles thenbined the sword techniques passed down from their ancestors with their newfound abilities and brought about a revival of swordsmanship.

    If one was a swordmaster who has attained the absolute pinnacle of swordsmanship, it might be possible to perform the feat of cutting down bullets in mid-air. But for the nobles with powered-up abilities, cutting down bullets became nothing but child¡¯s y.

    The brain and body strengthening technologies still continue to develop to this day alongside noble sword techniques and swordsmanship styles. Weapons that shot physical alloy projectiles were turned obsolete, andser weapons with powerful miniaturized internal oscitors reced them. But these days, evenser projectiles flying at lightspeed can be easily deflected by the nobles. In some cases, they even reflect them back at the shooter as a form of counterattack.

    I couldn¡¯t help but ask ¡®Are those guys freaking Je*is!?¡¯ when I first learned of this fact.

    And so, that brings us to my current situation.

    ¡°No, no, no, no, no! I can¡¯t do it! I can¡¯t- Gyaaaaa!?¡±

    ¡°Y¡¯know, it¡¯s actually amazing how Boss is doing so well even if heins like that.¡±

    ¡°It really is amazing.¡±

    I was currently crossing swords with Mei without my power armor on. Uh, Mei¡¯s weapon was actually her baton made of ultrapressed alloy, so I can¡¯t exactly call it ¡®crossing swords¡¯ after all. But that¡¯s not important right now.

    The heavy metallic baton held in Mei¡¯s left hand was swung at me with terrific force. I first tried to desperately avoid it, but quickly realized I wouldn¡¯t make it in time. So I held up the sword in my right hand to try and receive it. However, I¡¯ve already learned that if I merely tried to block, my sword will simply just be repelled due to the great difference in strength.

    I held my breath. Time slowed to a crawl, and Mei¡¯s baton, which was originallying at me at a terrifying speed, turned super slow. It was as if we were suddenly submerged underwater and it faced tremendous resistance due to that.

    If I simply put up my sword to receive the strike, I would definitely lose out due to her weapon¡¯s weight in addition to the force of her swing. There¡¯s only one thing I could do. I had to aim at the weakest point of the strike and disrupt it. I rapidly closed the distance and aimed to strike Mei¡¯s fingers that were holding the baton.

    ¡°Ugh!¡±

    The trajectory of the baton that was swinging toward me at high speed suddenly changed. It now aimed straight for my face. I managed to avoid it with a slight movement of my neck, and I took advantage of the opening created after Mei¡¯s full swing missed in order to strike at her torso- But Mei suddenly used her right hand to unleash a knife-hand strike to deflect my sh. The force of her knife-hand strike was tremendous, and it resulted in my sword flinging out from my grip.

    ¡°Gugeh!?¡±

    Her right hand then went straight for my neck and gripped it tightly. It was a splendid Neck Hanging Tree move.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I can ever win against you, Mei¡­¡­¡±

    The difference between our specs was just toorge.

    ¡°There¡¯s actually no need for you to win though¡­¡­ Master, this is your first time handling a sword, right?¡±

    ¡°I used to y with wooden swords when I was a kid, but that¡¯s about it.¡±

    I was surprised when she dered she wanted to ascertain my sword skills before we begin the lesson and suddenly swung her baton at me, but she did control her strength so her strikes only caused some minor bruising. If I ever ate a full-powered strike from Mei, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d survive it. But anyway, dang it sure hurts.

    ¡°Perhaps I have a natural talent for the sword or something?¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case, Master.¡±

    ¡°I-I see¡­¡­¡±

    Well, that sucks. I even got my hopes up a bit.

    ¡°Your footwork, body usage, and way of gripping the sword are all decidedly amateurish. However, your reflexes and overall sword handling skills are far beyond normal. Did you really never undergo body strengthening treatments, Master?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any memory of ever receiving them, yeah.¡±

    I can¡¯t say for sure if I really didn¡¯t undergo one since how I came to this dimension was still aplete mystery to me, but if I actually did, then I think Dr. Shouko would have told me when I got my check-up. That¡¯s why it probably isn¡¯t the case after all.

    ¡°At any rate, the fact that your reaction speed and reflexes are already on par with nobles who have undergone body strengthening treatments is a wonderful thing, Master. In terms of overall physical abilities, you are only at the level of an ordinary well-trained human, but your reaction speed is a different story. With it, you should be able to put up a fight even against nobles from the Drawn Sword faction.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I have absolutely no intention of crossing swords with those monsters.¡±

    ¡°The possibility of Master facing situations like that can¡¯t be said to be zero, regardless of your intent. Of course, as long as I am by your side, I will never let anyoney even one finger on you Master, regardless of how many opponents there are. But you should still train just in case.¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess you¡¯re right¡­¡­¡±

    Judging from how many close scrapes and dangerous escapades I found myself in until now, It was just as Mei said. There really was no guarantee that I won¡¯t find myself in another troublesome matter. Yeah. Sometimes, I even feel like it¡¯s actually inevitable. Ah, I¡¯m definitely gonna get picked on, huh. I can¡¯t help but have such a premonition.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Master. My pre-installed assets include a detailed advanced course for swordsmanship training. There¡¯s no need to worry on that end.¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡±

    ¡°With that said, let¡¯s try to raise Master to the level of an expert swordsman in 72 hours.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Well then, let us begin. I have anticipated this matter, so I have also prepared a VR device for training purposes. First, let us start with the basics such as how to hold the sword correctly, how to swing it, how to find your center of gravity and some basic footwork. I¡¯ll drill them to you thoroughly.¡±

    After saying so, Mei put away her metal baton and suddenly brought out a whip-like object from somewhere. Gosh. That looks pretty painful.

    Today¡¯s Izrooks sector is very prosperous and bustling with activity. But in the past, it, along with the Izrooks system, which is the sector¡¯s main system, was only an unassuming backwater frontier sector with an outpost to counter incursions from crystal lifeforms. Even the Jerom system, with itsrge deposits of rare crystal ores, was only one of the many unexplored remote areas.

    The main cause of this situation was the aforementioned crystal lifeforms. Back then, people have not yet obtained a clear picture of the crystal lifeform¡¯s ecology, and they also posed a great threat against the imperial military. Furthermore, the empire already had tense rtionships with neighboring powers such as the Vereverem Federation and had many other underdeveloped star systems and sectors under its rule. That¡¯s why the empire¡¯s higher-ups were quite reluctant to put any effort into surveying and reiming ces already infested by crystal lifeforms.

    The key to the decision of the Gran Empire to push for the development of the Izrooks sector with such zeal was a battle that is now famously known as the¡ºCrystal Campaign¡», in which abined fleetposed of the imperial military and contracted mercenaries set out for a crystal lifeform extermination operation.

    Back then, information regarding the crystal lifeforms was quite scarce. At most, they only knew that the crystal lifeforms expanded their territory gradually at regr intervals.

    The imperial military in those days gathered enough forces in the Izrooks system in order to repel such an invasion and was quite sessful in the endeavor.

    And there was a particr mercenary captain that jumped to the forefront of history during this particr campaign. That¡¯s right, everyone. As you may have already guessed, it¡¯s the famed Captain Hiro. Captain Hiro¡¯s various feats during that battle have been officially recorded in the imperial database.

    By the time he arrived at the military outpost located in the Izrooks system, thebined military and mercenary forces were already engaged in repelling the crystal lifeforms assaulting the base.

    Captain Hiro, who just arrived at the battlefield, immediately rushed in singlehandedly toward the swarm of innumerable crystal lifeforms with only a single ship. He ended up causing great damage to the enemies and sessfully lured a significant portion of the crystal lifeforms attacking the base away. That gave enough time for the embattled imperial fleet to get a second wind and sessfully repel the attack.

    And furthermore, his favorite ship managed to return virtually unscathed from such an ordeal. He was awarded the prestigious Silver Sword Wings Assault medal for his heroics.

    Back then, it was standard procedure for the imperial military to send a small number of recon fleets in order to scout out the surrounding areas after a crystal lifeform incursion. The thenmander of the frontline base also followed the procedure to the letter and promptly sent out recon fleets.

    Normally, scouting operations like that would end after a certain amount of time was spent surveying the surrounding systems, but that particr operation was graced with two unusual factors. Needless to say, one of them was the presence of Captain Hiro, but the other was on the imperial military¡¯s side. When the imperial military and Captain Hiro are mentioned together, there¡¯s only one other name thates to mind. And surely, thebined imperial recon fleet did include the presence of the famous princess general (who was still a major back then) Serena Holz, and her Independent Anti-Pirate Mobile Fleet.

    Although the recon fleets suffered major losses, they sessfully discovered the location of the Mother Crystal, which was the nucleus of the crystal lifeform presence in the sector. It was located at the Jerom system. They brought back the information, and the princess general quickly formted a n to annihte the crystal lifeforms. Themander of the frontline base quickly approved the operation, and argebined fleet was sent out the same day.

    The dispatchedbined fleet fought an intense battle in the Jerom system and seeded in defeating the Mother Crystal, but Captain Hiro yed arge part in its eventual demise. He once again charged straight toward the Mother Crystal in a lone ship and hit its core with anti-ship reactive torpedoes from extreme point-nk range.

    It was around this time that Captain Hiro¡¯s mercenary colleagues began addressing him with the nickname ¡®Crazy¡¯. Thus, the moniker Captain ¡®Crazy¡¯ Hiro was coined.

    In addition, the inert corpse of the Mother Crystal, which boasts a sizeparable to arge, still remains at the Jerom system to this day. And ever since the Gran Empire formally took the Jerom system under its wing, the Mother Crystal¡¯s body continues to supply the empire with abundant amounts of rare crystal ores.

 Chapter 169 â€“ To the Imperial Capital

    <h4>Chapter 169 - To the Imperial Capital</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I was woken up by a call.

    I rose out of bed after getting annoyed by the loud electronic ringtone and operated the terminal to top the ringing while fighting the urge to go right back to sleep.

    ¡°Ugeh.¡±

    I opened my heavy lids and let out a groan the moment I read the name of the caller. I honestly wanted to just ignore her, but there will probably be really scary consequencester on if I did that¡­¡­ And so, I resigned to my fate and pushed the receive icon.

    ¡ºGood morni- Just what kind of outfit do you think you¡¯re wearing?¡»

    A projection of a red-eyed, blonde-haired beauty appeared and lit up the dim room. I wanted to ask if that was how she greeted people in the morning but refrained. She was slightly transparent and glowing, but it¡¯s not like she¡¯s a ghost or something. This room has a hologram device installed, so utilizing it, a life-size image of her got projected inside the room after the signal bypassed severalyers of thick hull ting, with outer space in between.

    ¡°I always only wear boxers when I go to sleep. If you don¡¯t want to see me nearly naked with only my underpants on, then at least don¡¯t call me directly so early in the morning and contact Mei first so I can have some time to get dressed.¡±

    ¡ºDon¡¯t you think it¡¯s quitete in the day already? You call this early?¡»

    I waved my hand dismissively at the squinting beauty in front of me.

    ¡°Mei is usually the one who handles it, but she also needs her periodic maintenance y¡¯see¡­¡­ So I ended up on night watch yesterday and stood awake until early morning.¡±

    After saying so, I let out a big yawn and turned to her life-size hologram once more.

    ¡°So, what¡¯s your business with me today, Commander Serena Holz?¡±

    After ring at me, who was still a bit out of it due tock of sleep, she disyed a strained smile.

    ¡ºI¡¯m still a major you know.¡»

    ¡°Ara? Someone¡¯s early today.¡±

    It can¡¯t be helped since I¡¯m already wide awake, so I headed to the dining room after freshening up a bit. I found Elma already chilling out in it.

    ¡°Major Serena woke me up¡­¡­ Sheesh. Why¡¯d she wake me up for something so trivial anyway?¡±

    ¡°My condolences then.¡±

    Elma disyed a bitter smile after hearing what happened.

    She was part of my crew, but she wasn¡¯t human. Elma was an elf. An elf in this SF dimension filled withser guns, starships flying in the void of space, and gigantic space colonies felt quite mismatched, don¡¯t you think? But maybe this dimension has already influenced me since I didn¡¯t particrly find it weird now.

    ¡°What? Why are you suddenly staring at me like that?¡±

    ¡°I was just thinking you¡¯re as lovely as always, Elma.¡±

    ¡°What are you on about¡­¡­? Even if you praise me like that, I won¡¯t give you anything other than coffee.¡±

    Elma got up from her seat with a helpless look on her face and went over to the corner where our trusty auto-cooker, Tetsujin V, was installed.

    I decided to get spoiled by her and sat down while admiring the view of her lithe back. Cute, pointy ears poked out from delicate silky strands of silver hair. Yep. No matter how you slice it, she¡¯s an elf alright. And said elf sported your standard SF mercenary outfitplete with aser gun strapped to her waist. Yeah, as I thought, it¡¯s still a bit surreal.

    ¡°Oh? You¡¯re quite early, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Big Brother.¡±

    As I watched Elma while she prepared coffee using the auto-cooker, the voices of other people rang out from the entrance of the dining room. When I turned to the source of the voices, I saw two girls with simr looks but different hair colors (one red and one blue) enter the room.

    ¡°Good morning. I got woken up by a call from the great Commander Serena y¡¯see.¡±

    ¡°Whoah. My condolences, Boss.¡±

    The red-haired girl, Tina, sat down right next to me. The blue-haired younger twin, Whisker, sat next to her sister.

    ¡°Big sis Elma, can you get me some tea as well? I¡¯ll have a strawberry jam with it as usual.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay. How about you, Whisker?¡±

    ¡°U-Um¡­¡­ I¡¯ll have the same as sis. I¡¯m sorry for the trouble.¡±

    Elma dismissed Whisker¡¯s apology with a wave of her hand and keyed in additional orders on the auto-cooker.

    ¡°What are your ns today, you two?¡±

    ¡°Mm, well, we did finish all the necessary repairs and maintenance on Krishna and ck Lotus yesterday. I¡¯ll probably just hang back and rx in our room or watch some holo-vids. How about you, Whisker?¡±

    ¡°Un, I¡¯ll probably do some research¡­¡­ Ah, big sis, have you finished your report yet? We¡¯ll have to hand them over once we arrive at the capital.¡±

    ¡°Ugh, Ipletely forgot. Ah, already! I guess it¡¯s desk work for me today¡­¡­ And I thought I could finally rx too.¡±

    After her younger sister¡¯s reminder, the older sister was plunged into the pits of despair and slumped on the table.

    They looked a lot like young human girls, but they¡¯re actually dwarves. They didn¡¯t seem older than middle school students, but both of them were apparently legal adults. The ages on their IDs proved they were as old as me. I couldn¡¯t help but feel the deep mysteries of biological life whenever I looked at the two of them. Even if they greatly resembled human girls, they do have proper dwarven characteristics.

    First, they were both crazy strong. I can¡¯t possibly win against any of them in arm wrestling. Or rather, both of them can easily lift and throw me using only one hand. I even witnessed them lift 120 kg barbells without breaking a single sweat in the training room a while back. Just what were their muscles made of? I¡¯m sure you¡¯d ask the same question if you ever witnessed the two of them in action.

    Of course, their dwarven characteristics aren¡¯t limited to physical ones. Uh, well, I guess you could say they were still part of their physical ability in a sense. Both of them were the stereotypical alcohol-guzzling dwarves. They had extremely high tolerance too. It was entire dimensions apartpared to me who was utterly weak to alcohol. And their appetite was enormous. Just where were they storing that amount of food and drink in those tiny bodies of theirs?

    ¡°Reports huh¡­¡­ What stuff do you normally write anyway?¡±

    I won¡¯t get anywhere mulling over what sort of mysterious stuff they write about, so I simply expressed my interest honestly.

    ¡°Nn? We write about all kinds of topics, but the main points are still about ship repair logs and our umted data. Um, like, we need to identify what caused the problem, what kind of effects it had, and how exactly we fixed it up. We need to identify which parts were damaged or broke down, and exactly how they were damaged. We also need to put in the details whenever we found unknown materials or customization techniques. The rest is about our daily lives here, the results of our periodic stress-level examinations, and other private stuff.¡±

    Tina pouted her lips as she exined. Her expression made obvious just how troublesome she found the entire thing was.

    ¡°It¡¯s because you procrastinate a lot, big sis.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re just too earnest, Whisker.¡±

    ¡°Alright, you two. Don¡¯t fight.¡±

    Elma appeared in front of us and got between the bickering sisters. She took my coffee (100% artificial concentrate), two cups of tea (like substances), and a pot of strawberry jam (fake) from the tray she brought over and ced them in front of each of us. Just what did Tetsujin use to make that fake strawberry jam though? As I mulled over that mystery, the two dwarven girls immediately put some in their tea and drank happily. Oh, so they drank it simr to Russian tea huh.

    ¡°Mm, delish. There¡¯s nothing like some good morning coffee to start your day.¡±

    ¡°You put in plenty of sugar and milk though. You have surprisingly childish tastes, don¡¯t you, Hiro?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not particrly against bitter stuff, but I¡¯m just no good against bitternessbined with acidic sourness.¡±

    It¡¯s a matter of personal taste after all. There are plenty of people who prefer their coffee ck, but as Elma said, I have the taste of a kid, so ck coffee is impossible for me. I find it more delicious to have coffee with plenty of milk and sugar.

    ¡°Anyway, what exactly happened with Major Serena?¡±

    ¡°Oh, well, it was kinda weird. She kept asking me if I was properly learning swordsmanship and formal etiquette. She grilled me and kept insisting I do my best mastering them.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­That¡¯s all?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s all. Anyone would get annoyed if they were woken up early in the morning just to be pestered like that.¡±

    I really don¡¯t get it. Even if I didn¡¯t go on night watch duty, it¡¯s still not something worth bothering me for so early in the morning. Perhaps Elma and the mechanic sisters had an idea about Major Serena¡¯s intent since they exchanged subtle nces.

    ¡°Um, maybe she just wanted to see you, Boss?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a scary thought.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Scary¡­¡­?¡±

    Whisker¡¯s lips curled into a strained smile.

    ¡°C¡¯mon. Don¡¯t you think getting a morning call from an imperial military major just for that reason is scary?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going too far with that?¡±

    ¡°Now look here, Tina. I have absolutely no intention of getting into that sort of rtionship with Major Serena, and I¡¯ve told her straight about it as well. And despite that, she still gave me a morning call due to such a reason. That¡¯s quite terrifying.¡±

    ¡°Y-You hate it that much¡­¡­? But why? Major Serena¡¯s a noble youngdy and a sessful high-ranking military officer, right? You¡¯d be marrying up if you went for her, right?¡±

    I see. Marrying up, huh. That¡¯s certainly true as well. But the question is whether or not Major Serena¡¯s family will approve of me.

    ¡°Think about it. The other person is a bona fide nobledy from the house of a marquis, as well as a high-ranking military officer. If a mere mercenary from who-knows-where were toy his dirty hands on such a precious youngdy, there¡¯s a big chance her scary papa and grandpa would take up their swords in order to consign said mercenary to oblivion. Or rather, if I were in their shoes, I¡¯d absolutely murder the unlucky guy. No mercy.¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess. But you can¡¯t know if that would happen for certain you know.¡±

    Elma muttered such words and looked away. Well, yeah, I guess.

    ¡°That¡¯s the problem? But wouldn¡¯t everything be fine and dandy as long as Major Serena acknowledges you, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Mm, I wonder? Don¡¯t nobles often dabble in stuff like political marriages and childhood engagements, big sis? If you think about it like that, there¡¯s still a good possibility of getting into trouble, right?¡±

    ¡°I see. You¡¯re pretty clever, Whisker.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just hypothetical though.¡±

    I was a bit curious why Elma suddenly mmed up as the dwarven sisters continued to discuss the topic. Come to think of it, Elma¡¯s past and origin were still a great mystery to the rest of the crew¡­¡­ Since she was behaving strangely, maybe there was something in the discussion that was bothering her.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°W-What¡­¡­?¡±

    Elma flinched and drew back a little when she noticed me staring at her.

    ¡°No, nothing. I was just admiring your beauty, Elma.¡±

    ¡°W-What¡¯s with you¡­? I won¡¯t serve you anything else, you know.¡±

    Elma¡¯s face reddened. She then turned away again.

    ¡°Wow, how nice- How about me, Boss? How about me?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yeah, yeah. You¡¯re cute as well, Tina. You too, Whisker. I mean it.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha. Thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°It sounds kinda nomittal.¡±

    I sipped my slightly cooled coffee, or rather, my cafe auit, as Tina hit my arm because she wasn¡¯t satisfied with my nonchntpliment.

    ¡°Elma-san¡¯s behavior is weird?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I think. Do you have an idea, Mimi?¡±

    After that little episode in the dining room, I proceeded to have some light breakfast, went to the training room for my daily workout, took a shower to wash off the sweat, and immediately headed to Mimi¡¯s room afterward. Mimi¡¯s room was rather girly¡­ Oh, who am I kidding? It was sorta, uh, hip and stylish.

    My own room was rather spartan, but Mimi¡¯s room was filled with cool-looking stickers and posters, as well as chain essories and gun belts along the walls. Theser gun I bought for her a while back was also disyed on a handgun rack on top of a nightstand near her bed. Mimi was rather good at decorating stuff, it seems.

    ¡°Mm¡­¡­ Come to think of it, she did seem rather down at times after it was decided that we would be going to the imperial capital.¡±

    Mimi dered as such and tilted her head in puzzlement.

    The young girl who was battered both physically and mentally when I first met her has already transformed into quite the energeticss. It was probably thanks to her getting enough meals and exercise. Perhaps her daily work as a ship operator has also done some good for her mental and emotional state.

    ¡°So you also have no idea why either, huh.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I can¡¯t really think of a usible reason why she¡¯s like that.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing you have to apologize for. It¡¯s something I should take responsibility for as your captain. But, really though¡­ Just what¡¯s going on? I guess I¡¯ll either ask her directly or just ask Mei¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Maybe Mei-san really does know something.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Mei after all¡­¡­¡±

    I know I was the one who basically designed her, but Mei¡¯s specs are really borderline overkill. I kinda feel that it wouldn¡¯t be strange if one day, we¡¯d find out that she actually knows more information about ourselves than we do personally. Honestly speaking, Mei gives off the feeling that she¡¯s capable of literally anything and everything.

    ¡°But on the other hand, Elma¡¯s a proper adult already¡­¡­ I don¡¯t think it¡¯s really a good idea to snoop around regarding her background without her mentioning anything herself.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true as well¡­¡­¡±

    Elma must have a reason why she¡¯s keeping things a secret from us. Maybe she feels that it won¡¯t do any good even if she doese clean, or that we might get into some sort of trouble if we found out what she¡¯s hiding. Those kinds of reasons are easy to infer.

    ¡°But I wonder though. Based on her personality, it¡¯s highly possible that she might actually decide to disappear from our side instead of bringing trouble to us, right?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s the spontaneous and rash sort after all. That Elma-san.¡±

    Mimi and I exchanged nces and nodded to each other.

    ¡°So, that led you to ask me about the matter?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Do you have any idea about what¡¯s going on?¡±

    Mimi and I went ahead and decided to visit ck Lotus¡¯s cockpit. We came here to find Mei; a super high-spec maidroid who I poured all my hobbies and obsessions into when I designed her. She had big breasts, long ck hair, and wore a maid outfit coupled with sses. She also sported a high-performance positron brain and was the main pilot and custodian of ck Lotus.

    ¡°I do not know what Elma-sama is worried about exactly.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    I was disappointed a bit. So even Mei has things she didn¡¯t know huh.

    ¡°However, I do have some conjectures regarding the cause. I believe it has a high chance of being right on the mark.¡±

    ¡°Okay? Go on.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Elma¡¯s family is likely living in the imperial capital. Perhaps the matter she¡¯s worried about is rted to that.¡±

    ¡°So her home is in the capital huh.¡±

    ¡°Well, I did have a bit of an inkling. She does know a lot when ites to nobles and noble society.¡±

    I did suspect at one point that Elma was a runaway nobledy. As for her family living in the imperial capital, she did start acting strange when she heard we¡¯ll be going there, so it wasn¡¯t really unexpected.

    ¡°Elma-sama is probably the daughter from an administrative viscount house residing in the capital.¡±

    ¡°Administrative viscount?¡±

    Mimi gasped in shock when she heard Mei¡¯s bold im.

    Administrative viscount house. In other words, they were nobles without their own territory and served in some kind of official position in the imperial capital. I first thought that the Gran Empire was a nation in which only humans held all the power, but it looks like I was wrong. In a sense, the empire was a textbook example of a multi-ethnic nation.

    ¡°So it ended up being the most troublesome pattern huh.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Eh? So Elma-san is actually a nobledy?¡±

    ¡°Technically, she is. However, she seems to have an older brother who is poised to inherit the position of the head of the house, and she also has an elder sister as well, so there is little chance for Elma-sama to be the heir of the administrative viscount house.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    If the brother gets married and has his own children, they would have a greater chance of inheriting the housepared to Elma. And even if her elder brother encounters some form of misfortune, she would also not be in the running as long as her older sister and the rest of her family do not pass away as well.

    ¡°If she formally renounces her right to inheritance, Elma-sama will be treated as amoner. Even though she¡¯ll be technically amoner, she would still retain the privilege of being a first-ss imperial citizen. ording to my investigation results, she has notpleted the procedure for renouncing her right to inheritance. And since she wasn¡¯t disowned by her family as well, she is still formally registered as an imperial noble.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    I did keep harping on about never having to do anything with people from aristocratic families after all. So she was worried because she was actually from an administrative noble house herself.

    ¡°She might be worried about how to exin your rtionship to her family and how to make them ept it, as well as how to confess her background to you and how you would react after finding out.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I get it. I should talk to Elma about it before we arrive at the capital.¡±

    The earlier things like this are resolved, the better. I don¡¯t have a taste for skirting around each other while trying to guess the other¡¯s feelings and all the bittersweet developments that may result from such acts.

    ¡°Okay then. Everything we¡¯ve nned out for today is canceled. I¡¯ll go and talk to Elma right away.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I will readjust the schedule and move them to tomorrow. However, I¡¯ll be sure to make up for it thoroughly, so please prepare yourself.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Please go easy on me, instructor.¡±

    Good luck, tomorrow¡¯s me. What? It¡¯s okay as long as I don¡¯t die, right? The med-pods installed inside ck Lotus are excellent high-end models you know! Hahahaha! Haaah¡­¡­

 Chapter 170 â€“ Enlightenment (Forced)

    <h4>Chapter 170 - Enlightenment (Forced)</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After exiting the cockpit where Mei was, I contacted Elma using the messaging app and said I had something to talk about with her and will be visiting her room soon. With this, the appointment is set. I mulled over how convenient technology was and headed straight for Elma¡¯s room.

    Mimi stayed in the cockpit and said she¡¯d like to talk to Mei about various things, but she was probably just giving me and Elma some space. The way to the living area from the cockpit was quite long. So Mimi chose to stay in the cockpit to give me some time to sort out my thoughts.

    ¡°I don¡¯t even have to think about it though.¡±

    I¡¯ve long since reached a conclusion. I have no intention of letting Elma go.

    Un, I can¡¯t deny that part of it is because of a somewhat unwholesome desire to monopolize her. However, it¡¯s not just that. If, after everything we¡¯ve been through together, I still decided to throw her under the bus just because I was afraid of getting into trouble with her family and circumstances, I¡¯d feel like the lowest of the low. I¡¯m not that heartless of a person.

    I thought about such things until I finally reached the door to Elma¡¯s room.

    ¡°Hey there, gorgeous. Just knocking to say hello.¡±

    ¡ºIt¡¯s open.¡»

    I knocked on the door and heard Elma¡¯s exasperated voice through the speaker. Sorry. I had this chronic habit of making a joke out of serious situations to bnce it out.

    While apologizing in my heart, I touched the panel next to the door to open it and entered Elma¡¯s room.

    The interior of Elma¡¯s room was surprisingly cute. There were plush toys of thatical one-eyed alien and the cat-squirrel hybrid creature she and Mimi keep using on the messaging app scattered all over the room, so those were the ones that caught my eye first.

    But there was also some fancy stuff, like a wine rack that perfectly controls the humidity and temperature inside it to simte ideal storage conditions installed on the wall, and a mini-ref filled to the brim with cold beer cans.

    ¡°What are you doing? You enter someone¡¯s room and the first thing you do is ogle it? ¡­You said you have something to talk about with me.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, about that¡­¡±

    Elma was sitting on her bed, so I sat down on a chair ced a little ways away from it. It was prettyfy. Did you know this chair actually gets stored beneath the floor duringbat?

    Ah, don¡¯t let your thoughts wander, me. Focus, focus. When ites to stuff like this, it¡¯s best to be direct.

    ¡°I asked Mei about your family circumstances.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­ I see. No wonder. It¡¯s Mei, so she probably investigated a fair bit huh.¡±

    Elma nodded, convinced, and then smiled bitterly. It looks like all of us didn¡¯t find it surprising that Mei actually engages in that kind of stuff behind our backs.

    ¡°She told me your dad was an administrative viscount.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you¡¯re apologizing for, but it matters not, my dear. I shall forgive you!¡±

    ¡°Fufu, what¡¯s with that?¡±

    When I puffed up my chest and dered that I forgave her with an arrogant tone, Elma found it strange and softlyughed. Well, at least I got her to rx a bit.

    ¡°Well, at this point, I no longer care if you and your family are high-ranking nobles. I don¡¯t have any intention of abandoning you for such a reason.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m really happy to hear those words, but it would probably bring you tons of trouble you know?¡±

    ¡°Well, if you say so Elma, then it would probably be quite troublesome. And you know I hate getting into trouble. I hate it, but that¡¯s not reason enough to let you go. Do you understand what I¡¯m getting at here?¡±

    ¡°I wonder? I¡¯d like you to be more clear about it, actually.¡±

    Elma gazed at my face intently. Wasn¡¯t I already clear enough? Sheesh.

    ¡°Like I said, I have no intention of ever letting you go. If it¡¯s for your sake, I¡¯ll take on whatever troublesome stuffes my way, to a certain extent. If I really can¡¯t handle it in the end, I¡¯d even abandon everything and run away with you somewhere. Was that clear enough for you, mdy?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes. Loud and clear. My dear captain.¡±

    And then, Elma opened her arms as if inviting me.

    ¡°After a confession, isn¡¯t it amon trope for two lovers to lock into an embrace and give each other a kiss?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you watching a little too much holo-video dramas?¡±

    Even after saying so, I got up from the chair, sat next to Elma, and hugged her delicate body. Yeah. This feels just right. I really have no intention of losing her.

    After that, we didn¡¯t really do anything particrly naughty. I justid on the bed together with Elma and listened to her talk about her family.

    ¡°My father is an official affiliated with the Imperial Household Administration Bureau.¡±

    ¡°Un, I have no idea what that is.¡±

    ¡°I thought so. The Imperial Household Administration Bureau is a government bureau that handles everything rted to the imperial pce. One of their duties is being responsible for managing the imperial pce where the emperor resides, and every ce rted to it. For example, periodic maintenance of the pce, rted facilities, and vehicles used by the imperial family.¡±

    I see? I¡¯m kinda forming an appropriate image in my head now.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t the range of their duties a bit too broad?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It has many responsibilities and has equally many personnel as a result. My father belongs to the department that handles the maintenance of the imperial gardens. That¡¯s a position of great honor, okay?¡±

    ¡°Un, I see? I guess directly managing stuff rted to imperial families usually are like that huh.¡±

    Basically, her father was the official court gardener or something like that, right? It kinda sounds a bit underwhelming, but considering that the head of their house has been granted the title of viscount, they probably are a heck of a lot more prestigious than a meremoner like me.

    ¡°So what¡¯s his personality like?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡­ He¡¯s gentle but stubborn. My biggest reason for running away from the house is due to a fight with that stubborn father of mine, actually.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ And I¡¯m like the gangster from who-knows-where who actually brought their tomboy princess home huh. Yeah¡­ I really don¡¯t think the first meeting will go well!¡±

    The runaway tomboy daughter actuallyes back home while bringing some random mercenary along with her. And she¡¯s already had a physical rtionship with the said mercenary. If I were her father, I would immediately bring out my shotgun and pepper the bastard full of holes!

    ¡°Ahaha, I guess. But I wonder if that would really be the case?¡±

    ¡°Nn? Why do you think so?¡±

    ¡°I mean, you¡¯re a hero who received the prestigious Silver Sword Wings Assault medal, you know? And the reason you¡¯re heading to the imperial capital is to receive another award. And that award will either be the First-ss Star Cross medal (Gold Star) or the Second-ss Star Cross medal (Silver Star). My father may be stubborn, but he also highly respects the authority of the imperial family.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so that means my previous achievements may offer me a way out of this pickle huh.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. In the empire, mercenaries with the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal are treated as honorary knights, but those with the Gold Star are treated as honorary viscounts, and those with the Silver Star are honorary barons. Once you receive the Gold Star, you¡¯d pretty much be the same rank as my father, so he won¡¯t be able to act all high-handed and ignore you easily. Even if you only receive the Silver Star, you¡¯re still an honorary baron, so the same thing applies. That¡¯s because if he did so, it would be the same as insulting the honor of the imperial family and the emperor himself.¡±

    ¡°I see, I see. So what you mean is I don¡¯t really have a lot to worry about, right?¡±

    I felt like a weight just got removed from my shoulders. So my former feats will end up saving my life huh. No, it¡¯s misfortune turning into fortune, isn¡¯t it? To think the award I thought was troublesome would end up saving my sorry behind in the end.

    ¡°Um, it¡¯s a bit early to say that, actually.¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    ¡°My mother and sister would probably ept you right away, but my brother is¡­¡­¡±

    Elma disyed a far-away look on her face.

    ¡°Brother¡­¡±

    I¡¯m getting a really bad premonition. My back just suddenly started oozing cold sweat. What the heck?

    ¡°Um, err¡­¡­ in other words, he suffers from the so-called ¡®extreme sis-con¡¯plex and¡­¡±

    ¡°No, stop, don¡¯t say another word.¡±

    ¡°¡­he¡¯s also an ardent supporter of the Drawn Sword faction.¡±

    Oh¡­¡­ Well, damn.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say our schedule for today was canceled, Master?¡±

    ¡°Sometimes, a man¡¯s gotta do what a man¡¯s gotta do in order to survive.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    As I looked at Mei¡¯s bewildered reaction as she tilted her head, I vowed once again to do everything I can to survive the uing crisis. Yep. I promised Elma after all. I¡¯ll take on whatever troublees my way, provided I don¡¯t lose my life in the process. I¡¯m a guy who keeps his promises! Hahaha¡­¡­ Haaah.

    ¡°It¡¯s great that your motivation is high, Master. High motivation will allow you to absorb the lessons better and faster.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yes. And so, why don¡¯t we bring the training intensity up a notch?¡±

    ¡°Heh?¡±

    And thus, the training from hell began.

    It¡¯s been three days since my heart to heart talk with Elma.

    ¡°H-Hiro-sama, are you okay?¡±

    Mimi called out to me in worry as I slumped powerlessly on top of a table in the dining room with my spiriting out of my mouth. Mimi sure is a nice girl. I was brought to tears.

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­ I¡¯m fine¡­¡­ I¡¯ll live.¡±

    It was just some cracked bones, getting blown away across the room while spitting blood, and some internal bleeding. There¡¯s this saying back on Earth: What doesn¡¯t kill you makes you stronger. Hahaha, sometimes, I feel that the world really is a crappy ce.

    ¡°¡­¡­There¡¯s this thing in heroics where the protagonist senses danger in advance and actively avoids it, right?¡±

    ¡°Hm? Ah, yes, there certainly is.¡±

    Mimi was visibly confused by my sudden remark, but I droned on.

    ¡°I thought that was just something made up, but now I know firsthand that it really exists¡­¡­ Or rather, I actually ended up learning the damn thing without even realizing it.¡±

    ¡°I-Is that so?¡±

    ¡°Yep¡­¡­ I learned it by sacrificing my body and soul.¡±

    Where and how an attack wasing. The ability to sense and read such things from your opponent¡¯s slightest body movements was probably what you¡¯d call bloodlust sense.

    It¡¯s a kind of pseudo-future sight that is based on tons of experience and a thorough understanding of the body, coupled with high information-processing capabilities. Probably.

    I came up with such a theory after training with Mei.

    The ability has already seeped deep into my bones. It¡¯s just like the skills I gained while ying FPS games back on Earth, or my umted experience ying SOL, which I polished even further ever sinceing to this dimension.

    I am able to recreate aprehensive picture of the entire battlefield in my head by taking into ount the information disyed on the radar, the visually confirmed movement patterns of the enemy ships, the impact warnings disyed on the hologram of my own ship whenever an attack hits the shield, the ringing alert warnings, among other things. Using that, I am able to minimize the damage to my ship while firing off attacks that would prove fatal to my enemies.

    It was the same for swordsmanship. I take note of the vibrations on the floor, the flow of the air on my skin, the foot and eye movements of the enemy I see with my eyes, the sound of the rustling of clothes and footsteps I take in with my ears, and other information I pick up with my senses to gain an urate picture of the enemy¡¯s possible moves. And then, I would be able to avoid my enemy¡¯s attack and unleash a deadly counterattack.

    Thanks to Mei¡¯s hellish daily training where I¡¯m constantly beaten to near-death, I was able to obtain the bloodlust-sense ability. Or perhaps you could even call it enhanced spatial awareness. Anyway, it¡¯s something like that. And I was able to apply that very ability to my swordsmanship. I used to vomit blood dozens of times whenever I fought with Mei, but I was able to limit it to seven times today.

    ¡°By the way Mimi, can I ask you something¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Uh, you¡¯re not suddenly going toe up and tell me you¡¯re a youngdy from a ducal or baronial house, are you?¡±

    Y¡¯see, Major Serena is the daughter of a marquis, Chris is the granddaughter of an earl, and Elma was actually the daughter of a viscount. ¡®At this rate, would Mimi actually be¡­?¡¯ was what kept going through my head recently, so it¡¯s better to ask now.

    ¡°Eh? I don¡¯t think so. I¡¯m a genuine imperialmoner, and my grandparents were ordinary space colonists as well.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, that¡¯s right, isn¡¯t it? There¡¯s no way that can happen huh.¡±

    Anyway, Mimi should be fine. If she was from a powerful family, she wouldn¡¯t have found herself at the very bottom of society after losing her parents in an ident. She even incurred a huge amount of debt.

    ¡°Well, of course, it won¡¯t. Geez. Do I look like some nobledy to you, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Mm, Mimi¡¯s really cute after all¡­¡­ You can totally pull off the noble youngdy look if you dress up a little, y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d probably just end up getting worn by the clothes instead of the other way around even if I changed into something so fancy. I don¡¯t have Elma-san¡¯s crisp aura, Serena-sama¡¯s dignified bearing, or Chris-chan¡¯s grace.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? I think you pulled it off quite well when you wore those goth loli dresses I bought for you a while back. I kinda want to see you in them again.¡±

    ¡°Eh? M-Mm, I don¡¯t really think those kinds of clothes suit me though.¡±

    Mimi¡¯s face suddenly turned bright red as she shyly murmured a reply. How cute.

    I managed to convince the shy Mimi to wear the goth loli costumes I bought previously in order to heal my heart that was worn down from May¡¯s daily training.

 EX-001 â€“ The Story of How I was Picked Up

    <h4>Chapter EX-001 - The Story of How I was Picked Up</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Haah!? W-Wait a sec! The penalty I can understand, but what the heck do you mean by the grace period being only one week!?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯reining about, miss. You made a mess of a military operation, destroyed an important military asset, and even injured many of our men. Originally, these crimes are tantamount to immediate imprisonment you know?¡±

    To think this guy was an imperial officer. This damn fat pig was even eyeing me disgustingly like a pervert.

    ¡°Well, you¡¯ll be acquitted as long as you pay 37,000,000 Enels before the one week grace period ends. That¡¯s already quite lenient, don¡¯t you think? Don¡¯t you mercenaries earn a lot of money?¡±

    ¡°Of course I can earn 37 million. But earning that amount in one week is impossible! And my ship¡¯s seriously damaged too, remember? There¡¯s no way I can get that kind of money right now!¡±

    ¡°Honestly speaking, I do not care one bit about your circumstances. I will also not permit installment payments. Please pay the full amount on the due date before 15:00 hours. If not, we will abide by Imperial Military Codex Article 4, Paragraph 7, and formally charge you for your crimes. You will then be imprisoned immediately.¡±

    The fat pig wearing an imperial military uniformughed gloatingly and left while ignoring all my appeals.

    ¡°That damn f*****g s****y bastard! I¡¯ll definitely murder that pig one of these days!¡±

    I repeatedly punched one side of theposite material walls of the Termaine Prime military barracks, where I was dropped off, and screamed in frustration. The eyes of the soldier who was in charge of guarding the entrance gate widened in surprise after hearing me spout profanities, but I honestly didn¡¯t care about my image right now. I really have to think of a way to pay the reparations or it¡¯ll turn out really bad for me.

    Especially since the Termaine system had a dedicated prison colony - Termaine Tertius. A majority of the felons housed there are former pirates. I was a mercenary and they were former pirates. There¡¯s no way we would be able to get along. The main reason for their capture was mercenaries like me after all.

    ¡°Anyway, I have to do something.¡±

    I can¡¯t even imagine what kind of horrible fate awaits me if I were to be thrown in there. It¡¯s not like all pirates were men, but there were definitely more male pirates than women. If I was thrown into such a ce¡­¡­ Ah, it¡¯s no good. I can¡¯t help but think of the worst oue. In order to avoid that kind of oue, I¡¯ll have to do my best and use everything at my disposal.

    ¡°In the worst case, I might really have to contact father¡­¡­ No, it won¡¯t work.¡±

    No matter how I think about it, there¡¯s just not enough time. Even if I made use of both hyperspace and gatewayms, it would still take about ten days for my message to reach father from this star system. Even if I message them straight away, by the time the news gets to them, I would have already been thrown in prison.

    ¡°But it¡¯s still a form of insurance¡­¡­¡±

    They might not be able to make it in time to prevent my imprisonment, but they would be able to help me get out of prison. I¡¯ll have to take note of it as one of my options.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure how exactly I¡¯d face them after everything that¡¯s happened though.¡±

    Before I knew it, I was already sporting a bitter smile.

    Five years ago, I stole my big brother¡¯s small-ssbat starship and ran away from home. There are lots of reasons why it ended up that way. There¡¯s the arranged marriage with a person I didn¡¯t like, my distaste for the life of a typical nobledy which I thought was disgustingly pretentious and vain, my yearning for a free and easy lifestyle, my curiosity toward the lives led by the mercenaries I watched on holovision, and so on.

    Anyway, I was utterly fed up with my life as the daughter of an aristocratic family back then, so I abandoned everything and ran away. I turned my back on the people who raised me and ran away.

    I spent most of my first year out in space avoiding the pursuit of my father and brother.

    Now that I¡¯m looking back on those times, I feel like my brother actually went easy on me when he was chasing me around the gxy. Maybe he even got in our father¡¯s way. Maybe it¡¯s because my brother seems to have hated the idea of me having a fianc¨¦e even more than me.

    After a year and a half passed, I found myself on a star system rtively far from the imperial capital, and finally, brother and father stopped their pursuit. I was finally able to work as a mercenary in earnest. I piled up sesses and failures along the way and did pretty well for myself, all things considered.

    There were times that almost made me want to give up of course, but I overcame all of them and have made it this far.

    ¡°¡­¡­There¡¯s no way I¡¯m gonna give up now.¡±

    I¡¯m now living the free life I obtained by leaving my family and status behind. I won¡¯t let something like this rob me of it. I forcefully cheered myself up and started running around to find ways to get out of my predicament.

    ¡°¡­¡­Haa.¡±

    For the past week, I used everything at my disposal to gather funds. I sold the Swan, which was currently being repaired, along with practically all of my belongings apart from my premium alcohol stash in order to rake in some cash. I made repeated visits to the Mercenary Guild and got as much assistance as I possibly could from them.

    However, it still wasn¡¯t enough. To make things worse, I just recently switched to the Swan, so it¡¯s not like I had enough money stashed around after purchasing it.

    ¡°There are still 3 million Enels to go¡­¡­¡±

    In the eyes of mercenaries and nobles, it wasn¡¯t a small amount, but it wasn¡¯t thatrge of a sum either. But generally speaking, 3 million Enels is an enormous sum of money for themon citizen.

    Aside from elves like me, normal humans would find that kind of amount to be more than enough to live their entire lives infort without ever having to work again. In other words, it¡¯s not an amount I can produce from scratch in just half a day.

    ¡°If I only had enough time¡­¡­¡±

    If I had enough time, I could have waited for the Swan to get repaired and earn that amount of money in one, no, two months. I can¡¯t help but resent that inflexible pig bastard. Should I just use the money I have right now to purchase aser rifle, sma grenades, and other weapons so I can take that pig down with me? Such thoughts crossed my mind more than a few times.

    After all, if it went on like this, I¡¯ll be sent to a prison filled with convicted criminals and have my pride and dignity torn to shreds. If that¡¯s the case, it might feel a little better if I was able to kill that damn pig first.

    Such dangerous thoughts kept spinning around inside my head as I walked aimlessly until I found myself in front of a convenience store. This was the store I took that strange newbie to a while back.

    ¡°Alcohol¡­¡­¡±

    Come to think of it, I haven¡¯t had a drop of alcohol or ate any decent food this past week. Whenever I was about to copse, I settled with scarfing down tasteless nutrient paste straight from the tube and drank in water. I suddenly thought it wouldn¡¯t be bad to drink a couple of bottles of alcohol before I died.

    I entered the store and bought some random alcohol brands. They were all cheap alcohol that would burn the throat and easily get you drunk. Speaking of which, I didn¡¯t manage to enjoy the alcohol I got from that newbie as a reward and ended up selling them as well. Maybe some of these alcohol bottles are even from the batch I sold.

    ¡°¡­¡­Haa.¡±

    In any case, I did send a message to my father in the end. At the earliest, my father will be able to receive my message three days from now. I would be arrested today and will be put in prison by tomorrow, but my father would only be able to receive my message on the third day. There¡¯s no telling what would happen to me during that time. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d die at least, but I can¡¯t imagine I¡¯d be in one piece either.

    Well, that won¡¯t even matter if I went ahead with my n to die along with that pig bastard though.

    It would be a hundred times better to kill myself than get sent to prison and treated as a ything by those convicted pirates. I¡¯ll make that pig thoroughly regret picking a fight with me.

    I sat near one side of the convenience store¡¯s walls and drank several bottles of alcohol that wasn¡¯t particrly good. After a while, I noticed someoneing toward me. I wore a hooded mantle in order to avoid trouble, but I guess I still stood out quite a bit after drinking alcohol in a ce like this.

    I moved my hand to theser gun strapped to my hip while thinking about how troublesome everything was.

    ¡°¡±-!¡±¡±

    I was shocked. I should have hidden my actions well, but the opponent still reacted and pointed aser gun at me.

    I may not look like it now, but I was still a noble after all. Some of my physical abilities have been strengthened, though it wasn¡¯t as much as the enhancements received by my father who was the head of the house, or my brother. It wasn¡¯t just once or twice that I¡¯ve managed to escape danger thanks to those body enhancements and the self-defense methods drilled into me as part of an aristocraticdy¡¯s education. To think someone was able to keep up with me despite those advantages.

    I was wondering who it was but was surprised that the one pointing his gun at me was actually Hiro. There was a girl behind him. It was the girl from back then. I think her name was Mimi.

    It looks like they were doing quite well.

    ¡°Fufu. What? Did you guyse to make fun of me or something?¡±

    After being hit by the dazzling ¡®cheerful aura¡¯ emanated by the two, I found myself putting down myser gun and uttering negative-sounding words in spite. I wasn¡¯t able to stop myself and regretted it as soon as the words left my mouth. They actually weren¡¯t at fault at all. I shouldn¡¯t take my frustration out on them.

    ¡°That¡¯s not it, idiot! You did take care of me a while back, so I just wanted to see how you were holding up¡­ And, well, Mimi insisted y¡¯see.¡±

    ¡°Elma-san¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi knelt down in front of me and took my hand in hers. So warm. Her pure feelings of concern for me was transmitted directly from her hand and warmed my chilled heart.

    ¡°Looks like our positions have been flipped in just the span of half a month huh.¡±

    As I uttered such words in a self-depreciating tone, Mimi wordlessly hugged me tightly. Ah, how truly warm. She really was such a good girl. She was truly worried about me right now.

    ¡°So, how are you?¡±

    Hiro asked me about my circumstances without beating around the bush. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any point even if they knew, but after being enveloped in Mimi¡¯s warm hug, all that stubbornness and useless pride just melted away. And so, I told them everything in the end.

    ¡°Thepensation and penalty fees filed by the system military¡­ I already sold my entire assets and bled my savings dry, but I still couldn¡¯t manage to get enough.¡±

    ¡°How much is left?¡±

    ¡°About 3,000,000 Enels more¡­¡±

    ¡°3,000,000¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t earn money right now either since repairing my ship would take more than two weeks, and even the reward money I made during the mission was canceled out by the fines due to the ident I caused¡­ I did try to consult the Mercenary Guild about it though.¡±

    I actually didn¡¯t have to tell them all of this, but things just kept pouring out of my mouth one after another. I really couldn¡¯t stop myself anymore after I started talking to them.

    ¡°What¡¯s the payment deadline? What¡¯ll happen if you can¡¯t pay?¡±

    ¡°Today¡­ In about two more hours¡­ If I can¡¯t pay, they¡¯ll send me to forcedbor in the orbital prison on Termaine III. There are a lot of former pirates imprisoned in there. Once they learn that I¡¯m a former merc¡­¡­¡±

    It would be the end for me in about two hours. When I remembered that, I couldn¡¯t help but tear up.

    ¡°I was prepared for the possibility of dying while out in space when I first got my ship. But this¡­ This is just¡­!¡±

    I¡¯d be lying if I said I wasn¡¯t scared of dying. Of course, I was scared. But if I fell in battle, it would just mean I wasn¡¯t good enough. However, I just can¡¯t ept this kind of ending. It¡¯s really too much.

    But maybe this was my just desserts? Maybe this was my punishment for turning my back on my family and dishonoring them.

    After hearing the amount, Hiro took out a portable data terminal, checked it out, and furrowed his brows in thought. 3,000,000 Enels wasn¡¯t a particrly big amount for mercenaries, but it wasn¡¯t small either. I did have some ties to him, but in the end, I only merely acted as a guide, showed him around the colony a bit, and helped out a little in Mimi¡¯s matters. There wasn¡¯t any reason for him to help me out.

    And when I thought so-

    ¡°Hey, Elma.¡±

    ¡°¡­What!?¡±

    ¡°Come aboard my ship and be one of my crew.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    I started from the unexpected words and peered up at his face in total surprise.

    ¡°I¡¯ll pay that three million. So be my crew member in exchange. I¡¯ll have you teach Mimi the ins and outs of being a mercenary from scratch. And you¡¯ll have to act as her support inbat as well.¡±

    ¡°Wha- Wait, are you serious!?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but doubt the guy¡¯s sanity. Sure, it might really be possible for him to bring out such an amount, but to spend 3 million like it was nothing just seemed too whimsical.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have much time. Go and make your decision already. It¡¯s either you be one of my crew, or get thrown into a prison filled with former pirate inmates to serve as their ything.¡±

    No, wait, hold on. Between those two options, it¡¯s obvious which would be the better pick. Actually, there wasn¡¯t even a need to choose.

    It would be better to take down that pig bastard with me instead of bing a ything for pirates. That¡¯s why I was thinking of gathering as many weapons as I could beforeunching a suicide attack after drinking my booze.

    ¡°But, but why¡­?¡±

    Aside from acting as a tutor for an amateur like Mimi, judging from this guy¡¯s abilities, he actually didn¡¯t need my support. I don¡¯t think someone who had such skills to pass the Gold-rank promotion test and say it only made him break a sweat a bit would even need a sub-pilot of my caliber.

    ¡°If I don¡¯t help you out, Mimi would grieve. And furthermore, it¡¯ll leave a bad taste in my mouth if I left you alone to face such a cruel fate. And well, I kinda want you with me as well.¡±

    ¡°Whu- Y- You w- want me¡­!?¡±

    ¡°So?¡±

    My head was in a mess after hearing such a straightforward confession. I want you, he says! Things like my anxiety after being unable to scrape up enough money and my determination to die along with the pig bastard who put me in my current predicament werepletely blown away from my mind.

    Um, in other words, it¡¯s like ¡®that¡¯, right? U-Um, I¡¯m actually pretty confident in my looks, but to think he¡¯de after me so straightforwardly like this. Of course, I¡¯d panic.

    ¡°Eh!? Ah, um¡­ I- Is that right? So you were looking at me like that huh?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah, that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    Hiro seriously nodded after hearing my words. And this guy even called me names like ¡®disappointing elf¡¯, or ¡®t-chest¡¯. But, really? I see. It must be that. He must be the type of guy who just can¡¯t say how he feels honestly.

    ¡°Oh, um¡­ but don¡¯t you have Mimi already?¡±

    They looked really happy with each other. They must have really hit it off. Of course, I¡¯d feel some apprehension for barging in between such a pair.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like it¡¯ll be any different if we add one more person. Right, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°I- I see. So just one isn¡¯t enough huh¡­?¡±

    U-Um, in other words, that¡¯s what this means, right? Uwaa! Uwaaa! H-He¡¯s quite amazing, isn¡¯t he?

    ¡°So what¡¯ll it be? Are you gonna board my ship or not?¡±

    I felt blood rushing to my ears as Hiro continued to stare intently at me. M-Mm. Now that I¡¯ve gotten a good look at him, his face doesn¡¯t seem too bad. His body was pretty built as well, but it didn¡¯t feel excessive. Un, it looked exquisite.

    Ah, what am I thinking? So embarrassing. I¡¯m sure my ears are really red right now. I want to hide them.

    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll get on board.¡±

    I answered as such while desperately suppressing the urge to cover my bright red ears with my hands.

    ¡°I see. Then wee aboard. Do your job properly, okay?¡±

    D-Do my j-job-? T-That means we¡¯re gonna do ¡®that¡¯ straight away? L-Like, tonight? M-My heart isn¡¯t ready yet!

    ¡°I, I know! Please be gentle with me¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Hm? I¡¯ll probably be hard on you though.¡±

    H-Hard!? In other words, he¡¯s going all the way right from the start!? B-But since I agreed to board his ship, I¡¯ll have to resolve myself¡­¡­ Uu¡­¡­

    ¡°A-Alright¡­ Understood. I¡¯ll prepare myself then. It¡¯ll be far better than doing it with pirate inmates at least.¡±

    Hiro had a strange look on his face after hearing my answer, but it wasn¡¯t until after that night that I got to know why.

    W-Well, I admit it was entirely just my misunderstanding, but¡­¡­! I can¡¯t dismiss it just like that! Mou! Now that this happened, I¡¯m just gonna go along with it all the way! Prepare yourself, Hiro!

    After that, I got to know Hiro¡¯s distaste for getting involved with nobledies during our stint at the Alein system. As a result, I got worried and decided to keep my background a secret. Well, it¡¯s not like someone like me would be more troublesome than the daughter of a marquis like Major Serena¡­¡­ Ugh. Nope, my brother is a great heap of trouble, right?

    But, mm, when I finally decided to tell him about my circumstances, Hiro dered he would take responsibility, so I guess it¡¯ll be okay. It¡¯s partly Hiro¡¯s fault anyway. He knew it was a misunderstanding but did this and that to me anyway. So we¡¯re even, right?

    It¡¯ll be alright. When ites down to it, I¡¯ll do everything in my power to stop my dear brother before he causes too much trouble.

 Chapter 171 â€“ Imperial Capital Grakkis

    <h4>Chapter 171 - Imperial Capital Grakkis</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The ck Lotus with Krishna stationed inside finally headed for the central system where the imperial capital was located together with Major Serena and her Independent Anti-Pirate Mobile Fleet. Of course, I continued my training under Mei in order to ensure I could survive even if I faced an attack by Drawn Sword faction-affiliated nobles.

    There were quite a few nights where I coughed up blood beforepletely passing out whenever I went to bed. And due to the torment I experienced constantly, I don¡¯t even remember a single instance where I was able to get a good night¡¯s sleep these past few days. I even had to continue wearing my VR gear in bed. It ended up messing my sense of time. And before I knew it, ten days had already passed.

    ¡°Man, it really is gigantic huh.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s so big.¡±

    ¡°That sure is amazing. It¡¯s our first time seeing it as well.¡±

    ¡°Un, it¡¯s really huge. I think there¡¯s still room to reduce its size withoutpromising its functions though.¡±

    Although thestment from Whisker was a bit off-target, we continued to marvel at the gigantic gateway located in the Neeparc system. We supposedly passed through the Dexer system, which was Chris¡¯s home system, but thanks to me constantly being beaten up by Mei, I didn¡¯t realize it at all. But we just passed through anyway, so it¡¯s not like we could stop over for a visit.

    ¡°So we¡¯re gonna warp straight to the imperial capital using the gateway, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Thanks to the gatewaywork, even the far-away imperial capital feels so near.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s only if you¡¯re one of the people who can freely use the gateway, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, yes, I guess.¡±

    Elma shrugged her shoulders after I pointed that particr detail out.

    A gateway that allows you to jump several tens of thousands of lightyears in an instant truly was convenient, but it wasn¡¯t freely avable to everyone. Even nobles would need some particr permits to pass through them, and ordinary citizens such as merchants or mercenaries rarely get the chance to make use of them on their own.

    Its use was also heavily restricted in SOL, and I hardly have any memories of using it to travel during my time ying the game. It¡¯s said that you¡¯d be able to gain more opportunities by cozying up to the space empires who manage their respective gatewayworks, but I was just your typical solo merc, and I didn¡¯t have any meaningful connections in-game whatsoever.

    ¡°In the first ce, not a lot of people are able to travel out of the colony they were born into. For them, the imperial capital is certainly a very distant ce.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. The people whomonly get to travel outside their home colonies are those working for intersterpanies like us or those in the trade business.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s also those from the military. I wonder how most people end up bing mercenaries though?¡±

    ¡°Oh, uh, I think there¡¯s something like a mercenary training school. I¡¯m not really familiar with it though.¡±

    I think I heard something like that when I applied to the Guild. Well, there¡¯s probably not a lot of people who decide to be mercenaries just for the thrills. If I didn¡¯t have Krishna, I would probably just find myself a nice colony to settle on as well.

    ¡°How did you end up bing a mercenary anyway, Boss?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Um, I just sort of went with the flow, I guess.¡±

    When I woke up after my unfortunate ¡®ident¡¯, I was already inside Krishna which was floating in outer space. I was then immediately attacked by pirates and killed them in retaliation¡­¡­ After that, I just said whatever and decided to be a mercenary. That¡¯s the story I told them. This cover story was all thanks to Elma.

    ¡°Went with the flow¡­¡­ Oh, right. Come to think of it, you said you have amnesia, right Boss? I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not something to apologize for. I actually think I¡¯m pretty lucky, all things considered.¡±

    After all, I did end up meeting Mimi, Elma, Mei, Chris, Tina, Whisker, and Major Serena- No, not the major. Not the major! Anyway, I ended up meeting everyone when I came here. As for Doc Shouko¡­¡­ Yeah, just remembering her makes my behind feel weirdly itchy. Ugh.

    ¡°Oh, the line¡¯s moving. It looks like it¡¯s our turn.¡±

    ¡°I sure am looking forward to it. I wonder what going through a gateway feels like?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really exciting, isn¡¯t it, big sis?¡±

    You might feel excited now, but you¡¯ll feel sorry you didter guys. I nced at Mimi and found her sending a warm gaze toward the mechanic sisters as well. Hahaha, I remember Mimi was also this excited when we first came through a gate.

    The fleet moved forward and plunged into the distorted space that gave off a mysterious glow nestled between the huge metallic structures. The sight of the leading corvettes and destroyers getting engulfed in that mysterious light and disappearing was truly a surreal view.

    ¡°O-Ooooh¡­¡­ Here ites, Whisker.¡±

    ¡°B-Big sis¡­¡­¡±

    The mechanic sisters held hands as they watched the distorted spacee nearer and nearer through the holo-disy.

    The cruisers also got engulfed and disappeared.

    And then-

    ¡°Eh? It¡¯s over?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­That was too abrupt.¡±

    Yep. There¡¯s no booming sound you¡¯d hear from activating the FTL Drive. There are no colorful and psychedelic sights like what you¡¯d see when traveling through a hyperspace tunnel. To put it simply, it¡¯s like the image on the holo-disy just changed.

    ¡°Well, this is what you¡¯d call a true warp.¡±

    ¡°Hee¡­¡­ That¡¯s kinda cool.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not clear on the theory, but it truly is amazing. Un, I can¡¯t afford to lose to just this though.¡±

    Tina kept saying how cool it was, but ain¡¯t Whisker¡¯s thoughts flying off in apletely different direction? Sometimes, I found that I couldn¡¯t really get what goes through Whisker¡¯s head. Whisker goes into full engineer mode from time to time and says some pretty radical stuff.

    ¡°Well, in any case, we¡¯ve managed to arrive safely. Wee to the central system of the Gran Empire. My home town, the imperial capital Grakkis, is located over there.¡±

    ¡°Nn¡­¡­?¡±

    When I saw the image on the holo-disy, I couldn¡¯t help but wrinkle my brows.

    Judging from what I could see, the object in the distance was definitely shaped like a. However, its surface didn¡¯t show the presence of seas, and furthermore, I couldn¡¯t find anything that seemed even remotely natural. Manmade structurespletely covered the surface of the.

    ¡°An ecumenopolis¡­¡­? So they were able to realize such a thing here¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Ara, you sure know some really ancient terms. These days, it¡¯s just simply called a-city.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ So when you say imperial capital, you¡¯re actually referring to that?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. That-city is precisely the imperial capital, Grakkis. Wee everyone, to the center of the empire; the blossoming capital.¡±

    Elma disyed a gentle smile and weed us with a flourish.

    Before descending onto the imperial-city, we decided to head over to the Grakkis Secundus colony first. It was one of severalrge colonies present in the system. There, our cargo would be checked and we would undergo several inspections and procedures before we could obtain permission tond on Grakkis.

    In other words, the Grakkis Secundus colony acts simr to a city gate that we need to go through before we are able to enter the imperial city. It¡¯s said that the merchants who are responsible for the cirction of goods and materials in the system spent most of their dealings in colonies like it. Why? It¡¯s becausending directly on the imperial-city required extensive procedures and checks, and the cost of staying was also apparently quite expensive. Well, it wasn¡¯t as expensive as staying on a resort of course.

    ¡°So what should we do now?¡±

    After we docked on the colony, we all came to the Lotus¡¯s dining room with Mei. I proceeded to blurt out that question as soon as we plopped down on our seats.

    I know a ship captain should show initiative at times like this, but since I was semi-forced toe here by Major Serena and the power of the state backing her up, I didn¡¯t really hold any initiative at all.

    I think it¡¯s mostly Major Serena¡¯s fault for bringing us here but not handing out any additional instructions afterward. Nah, maybe it¡¯s not that Major Serena didn¡¯t give us any instructions intentionally, but that she didn¡¯t have any chance to give us any further instructions in the first ce. That¡¯s probably it.

    ¡°Major Serena said that all the procedures rted to the award ceremony would be entirely handled by the military, including ournding permits. My personal rmendation is to visit this colony¡¯s Mercenary Guild branch first.¡±

    ¡°Mercenary Guild? Oh yeah. Major Serena did say I better rely on the Mercenary Guild more once we arrive at the imperial capital huh. Um, but I¡¯m not exactly sure what I need to rely on them for.¡±

    ¡°You should be able to ask the details after you pay them a visit. The Mercenary Guild branches located in the central system should possess the appropriate know-how about how mercenaries should conduct themselves in the presence of nobles.¡±

    ¡°I see?¡±

    Well, it¡¯s Mei¡¯s rmendation after all. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be useful.

    ¡°Okay then. I¡¯ll pay them a visit. Do you want toe with me, guys?¡±

    ¡°Alright. We have to buy some formal dresses anyway. Let¡¯s ask the Mercenary Guild for shop rmendationster.¡±

    ¡°Uu, a formal dress huh¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi, who was apparently no good with the fluttery and fancy formal dresses, had a bitter look on her face. She may not like it herself, but I still think they look perfect on her. Yeah.

    ¡°We¡¯reing too-¡±

    ¡°Big sis, we still have to hand over our reports to thepany branch office.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Ain¡¯t it fine to y around just for a little bit?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I personally don¡¯t have a hobby of listening to hateful sarcasm.¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­ The bunch in the imperial capital are super prudes after all.¡±

    It looks like the mechanic sisters had some business with the Space Dwerg branch over here. However, judging from their tone, they seem to have a problem with their colleagues in the capital.

    Is it that? They were all dwarves, but they were actually part of differentpeting factions or something? It kinda felt like that. I better not ask.

    ¡°What about you, Mei?¡±

    ¡°I will be staying inside the ship. I will contact you right away in case something happens, so do not worry and feel free to go about on your business, Master.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I¡¯m counting on you then.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please leave it to me.¡±

    Mei disyed a subtle smile. Un. Mei¡¯s expressions have be nicer recently. You¡¯d fail to notice if you didn¡¯t pay close attention though.

    ¡°Okay then. Let¡¯s go-¡±

    ¡°Wait just a moment, buster. First, go to your room and wear your Silver Sword Wings Assault medal.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Do I have to?¡±

    ¡°You do. It would make exining our circumstances easierter on, so go and retrieve it already. Go on. Scoot.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You look cooler if you have it on, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Ugh.¡±

    In the end, Mimi and Elma pushed me into wearing that gaudy medal on my chest. We headed for the Mercenary Guild with my noble-issue swords strapped to my waist as well. Why? Isn¡¯t aser gun more than enough?

 Chapter 172 â€“ Mercenary Guild â€“ Grakkis Branch

    <h4>Chapter 172 - Mercenary Guild - Grakkis Branch</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°You look so cool, Hiro-sama!¡±

    ¡°Un, not half bad. In fact, you actually look really good.¡±

    In addition to my usual mercenary get-up and jacket, I also had the gaudy Silver Swords Wings Assault medal pinned to my chest and had my two noble-issue swords strapped on to my waist along with myser gun. Mimi and Elma seemed to find my appearance pleasant and weren¡¯t stingy with their praise. It¡¯s not like I drastically changed my look or anything¡­ Well, I guess being praised like this does feel kinda good.

    ¡°At this point, you¡¯re already considered to be an honorary imperial knight. I wanted you to dress like that not only to show off your current identity as one but to let other people realize that you¡¯re someone with status. It can serve to deter anyone with bad intentions from approaching you as well.¡±

    ¡°Is that how it is?¡±

    ¡°Yep. That¡¯s how it is.¡±

    I¡¯m not really all that satisfied with this, but if Elma says so, then I guess that should be the case.

    ¡°Ah-¡­¡­ Mm, I see. Yosh. Anyway, shall we get going?¡±

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯ve already looked up the location of the Mercenary Guild branch here.¡±

    ¡°Great job Mimi. Good girl.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe¡­¡­¡±

    I stroked Mimi¡¯s head as she held up her tablet terminal with the map application open. If this girl had a tail, it would probably be wagging energetically right now. Yep, how cute.

    Mei sent us off from ck Lotus, and we headed for the Mercenary Guild branch of the Grakkis Secundus colony by following Mimi¡¯s lead.

    ¡°But there sure are a lot of people here.¡±

    ¡°Of course there are. Since most of the resources being consumed on-cities like the imperial capital are imported from outside, there are many merchants doing business here. A small part of the food resources are being produced in the under-level geofronts, but the mineral resources are all imported from outside. Most of the food resources are imported as well.¡±

    ¡°Hee¡­¡­-cities must cost a crazy amount of money to maintain huh?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not really the case. We earn our ie by producing highly valued products using the resources imported from outside. These imperial-grade luxury products aren¡¯t only valued domestically but are very sought after abroad as well you know?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­ But that doesn¡¯t really concern us much, does it?¡±

    ¡°You think so? Just so you know, Tetsujin V is also a luxury imperial-grade product.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­ So Chef Tetsujin is really that amazing huh?¡±

    I certainly haven¡¯t managed to see the limits of what Tetsujin is capable of. But man, once you¡¯ve tasted the gastronomical delights it manages to whip out only by using cheap food cartridges, you won¡¯t be able to settle for anything less.

    ¡°Krishna¡¯s fully automated modr bath system is also an imperial-grade product as well.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yeah, that¡¯s amazing too.¡±

    Once you enter that empty bathtub, it would fill itself up with warm bathwater at afortable temperature with the touch of a switch. Your whole body will be washed and scrubbed automatically, and it even sports a handy massage function. It even has a drying function that would dry your entire body the moment you get out of the tub. At first, I kinda felt that it was treating me like the clothes in a washing machine, but once I got used to it, I couldn¡¯t get enough of the thing.

    ¡°I see. You really can¡¯t underestimate imperial-grade products huh.¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s not the only thing amazing about this ce you know? Imperial-grade natural agricultural produce, livestock products, and alcohol products are all of the finest quality in the gxy and are traded at really high prices.¡±

    ¡°Natural foodstuffs huh. I don¡¯t really remember seeing those being sold at stores in the ces we¡¯ve been to. Well, it¡¯s your hometown anyway, so I guess we¡¯ll get to sample someter. Let¡¯s find a good ce to eat once wend on the imperial capital.¡±

    ¡°Really, Hiro-sama? Wow, I¡¯m so excited.¡±

    Mimi was smiling really happily. Elma also had a cheerful aura about her. Maybe she¡¯s reminiscing about the taste of her hometown. Let¡¯s invite the mechanic sisters too once we¡¯re down there. Both of them seem stressed out due to the fact that they had to deal with their colleagues from Space Dwerg¡¯s branch in the imperial capital.

    ¡°Whoah¡­¡­ Man, this ce sure is grand.¡±

    ¡°The Prime colony is mainly used as a military instation, so the facilities owned by the Mercenary Guild here on Grakkis are only this and the Mercenary Training Academy building.¡±

    ¡°The imperial-city doesn¡¯t have a branch office operating there?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s not enough demand after all.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I see.¡±

    ¡°I guess that¡¯s true.¡±

    There were still a bunch of mercenaries in this colony who were undertaking escort jobs for mercantile ships, but even if there was a guild branch open on the imperial-city, there probably won¡¯t be any mercenaries who¡¯ll pay it a visit. You had to undergo a lot of troublesome procedures before you¡¯re allowed tond there after all. It¡¯ll take too much time and effort.

    The three of us finally arrived in front of the Mercenary Guild branch office building as we continued to discuss such stuff. I wonder what¡¯s up with the wooden swing door with a cowbell hung on top of it though? Was it merely for some aesthetic uniqueness?

    The cowbell made distinctive nging sounds as we entered the building, and I nodded convinced after giving the interior a once-over.

    ¡°It has quite a unique interior design.¡±

    ¡°Well, no expense was spared when it was built after all.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s amazing. It¡¯s like those super-ancient [1]spaghetti westerns.¡±

    The building had wooden floorboards and wooden tables. There was a wooden counter on the left-hand side of the building, and there was was a wooden rack filled with alcohol bottles installed on the wall behind it. On the right, several other wooden counters for general daily operations were lined up. It was an eclectic mix between a public office and an old-timey pub that smelled of wood and alcohol.

    ¡°The materials used are synthetic wood. These types really managed to capture the authentic smell of natural wood.¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t using real wood be cheaper?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. Especially in this system.¡±

    ¡°Real wood is considered an ultra-luxury item, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. Now I remember.¡±

    We stayed on a log house when we had our vacation on a resort a while back, and Mimi, who had always lived in a space colony, was very amazed by the natural flora and fauna found there, including trees and wood.

    We walked over to the business counters on the right side of the building and felt several gazes focus on us. Well, we did stand out quite a bit.

    I had had two swords strapped on my waist despite wearing mercenary gear, and even had a shiny medal sticking out of my chest. And the girls beside me stood out as well. One was a young girl who had big breasts despite her small-ish height, and the other was a slender and beautiful elf. There were quite a few unpleasant gazes mixed in due to my twopanions, but they probably won¡¯t make any move due to the swords on my waist.

    We finally got in front of the counter, and before I could open my mouth to state our business, the slightly nervous-looking receptionist oneesan greeted us first. I¡¯m sure the reason she looks nervous is because of the swords on my waist as well.

    ¡°Wee. What can we do for you all today, sir?¡±

    ¡°I have something I want to consult with you.¡±

    After saying so, I took out my data terminal and disyed my digital ID. The receptionistpared my ID with the one in their database and was taken aback. Un, as expected of a pro. She managed to keep her cool and didn¡¯t leak a sound.

    ¡°Um, err, we dly wee your visit, Captain Hiro. As for the topic you wish to consult us about¡­¡­ is it regarding the awarding ceremony, perhaps?¡±

    ¡°Yep, that¡¯s right. I want some info regarding that.¡±

    ¡°Yes. The working rtionship between the guild and the imperial military is fundamentally quite favorable after all.¡±

    The receptionist oneesan nodded earnestly. Well, in a sense, you can say that the Mercenary Guild is a private sub-contractor affiliated with the military. It¡¯s no wonder the working rtionship between the two institutions is good. Of course, not everything was so straightforward, and the power dynamics between the two aren¡¯t exactly clear-cut.

    If the Mercenary Guild decides to pull out from star systems with rampant pirate activity due to friction between it and the military, the trade routes would bepromised for the most part, and that may adversely affect the imperial economy. If that happened, the imperial government will likely push all the me on the military and attempt to cozy up to the Mercenary Guild again. Thus, it would be more appropriate to say that the rtionship between the military and the guild is one of give-and-take.

    ¡°It¡¯s my first time to attend such a ceremony, so I basically have no idea what to do and what to look out for. That¡¯s why I came here for some advice.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Well, your clothes and way of speech are a given, of course. In fact, all of your actions will be subject to some scrutiny during the ceremony. And also, you¡¯ll need to participate in a dance party after the ceremony proper.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡­¡­ Well, I have Mei instructing me for those matters anyway, so I guess we got that covered.¡±

    Since my sword training was basically in its final stages, most of the content of Mei¡¯s lessons now was regarding dance and proper etiquette. Dancing with Mei was quite fun, but there were a lot of things to remember when ites to etiquette.

    ¡°What do you mean, sir?¡±

    ¡°Oh, um, we have a high-performance maidroid with us. The etiquette lessons are all handled by her. She¡¯s pretty strict.¡±

    ¡°I see. Next would be your attire then¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Will these clothes do?¡±

    Mimi showed her tablet screen to the receptionist oneesan. Geh. That picture seems to be from when I was forced to wear the noble attire picked out by Chris¡­¡­ Just when did they manage to take one back then?

    ¡°Ara, what a gant appearance.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it!?¡±

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon¡­¡­ So, will these clothes do?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I believe there will be no problems. You¡¯re actually quite prepared, aren¡¯t you sir?¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess. I honestly didn¡¯t think these wille in handy like this though.¡±

    I never even dreamed that the clothes Chris picked out for me on a whim would prove useful in this way. Did Chris actually predict something like this would happen? Nah, that can¡¯t be it.

    ¡°That leaves-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for barging in on the discussion. Captain Hiro and crew, right?¡±

    When the receptionist oneesan tried to proceed with the consultation, a middle-aged man appeared on the other side of the counter, right behind her, and addressed us. Fumu. He was a pretty handsome guy with a well-built body. The sses he was sporting were probably one of those wearable information devices Elma told me about.

    ¡°Yeah. And you are¡­¡­?¡±

    Who is this guy anyway? What¡¯s his deal with us? I mulled those questions in my head as I observed the man. His body was trained to an extent, but it doesn¡¯t look like he¡¯s seen much practicalbat. His atmosphere was more of an office worker than a mercenary.

    ¡°My name is Marcus. I¡¯m the deputy chief of the Grakkis branch of the Mercenary Guild. Once again, I¡¯m sorry for barging in on the middle of your consultation, but I have something urgent to discuss with you. Can you please follow me to the reception room at the back?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­¡±

    It smells like trouble. I turned to Mimi and Elma and found them furrowing their brows and cupping their mouths in thought. By the way, the receptionist oneesan¡¯s smile froze on her face when the deputy chief, who was one of her big bosses, suddenly showed up right behind her. From the looks of it, she was drenched in cold sweat. Sorry, miss.

    ¡°It won¡¯t fly if I refuse, right?¡±

    ¡°I understand your apprehension, but it¡¯s really not something you have to be wary about for the most part. Not all of it is bad news.¡±

    Mr. Marcus, the deputy chief, disyed a strained smile.

    ¡°Well, I guess it¡¯s fine then¡­¡­¡±

    So it looks like there¡¯s some good news for us too huh. There¡¯s definitely some bad news though, so it¡¯s still quite depressing.

    ¡°That¡¯s great. There are some stairs at the back of that passage, so please head up there.¡±

    After telling us he would be waiting near the stairs, Mr. Marcus hurriedly left. It can¡¯t be helped, so I stood up from the counter¡¯s seat and called out to the still-frozen receptionist oneesan.

    ¡°Uh, sorry about that. Thank you very much for your help.¡±

    ¡°No, it was my pleasure.¡±

    After bowing lightly to the awkwardly smiling oneesan, I walked to the passage with Mimi and Elma and went up the stairs. Now then, I wonder what¡¯s up¡­¡­ Will it be something good or bad for us?

    We met up with Mr. Marcus, who was waiting near the stairs like he said, and went up together. We entered a room on the second floor, and we found an elderly man with a well-built physique waiting for us inside. Different from Mr. Marcus, the elderly man¡¯s body wasn¡¯t just a result of casual training and workouts. His arms were as thick as logs. He seemedpletely capable of breaking a person¡¯s neck with his bare hands.

    ¡°I¡¯m Johannes, the chief of the Mercenary Guild Grakkis branch.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Captain Hiro. It¡¯s nice to meet you, chief.¡±

    We then shook hands. Un. He was really muscr, but it looks like he wasn¡¯t gonna do anything like crushing my hand with his grip.

    ¡°Um, so I was told there¡¯s some good and bad news for us?¡±

    ¡°Umu. You don¡¯t have to be careful in your speech with me. I actually dislike being all pretentious and stiff.¡±

    ¡°Thanks then¡­¡­ So, uh, can you start with the bad news first?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a more pressing concern after all.¡±

    After saying so, Chief Johannes nced at Elma. Something about Elma? Oh, I think I know where this is going.

    ¡°Actually, we were already contacted by someone from House Willrose. I believe you already have an idea as to why?¡±

    ¡°It has something to do with Elma, I bet. I¡¯m not too sure about the details though.¡±

    I¡¯ll just feign ignorance regarding the details. Well, I¡¯m thinking it was something along the lines of handing Elma over straight away though.

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes. To be specific, it was a message demanding the handover of that youngdy - the youngestdy of House Willrose - to them immediately.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see. You think I¡¯d agree?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Chief Johannes frowned at my answer, and Deputy Chief Marcus started rubbing his right temple with his fingers.

    ¡°I would definitelyply if Elma agrees to it, but she doesn¡¯t, so that¡¯s that. Isn¡¯t that right, Elma?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Unless you throw me out yourself Captain, I have absolutely no intention of leaving your side.¡±

    ¡°There you have it. In the first ce, is the Mercenary Guild actually willing to swallow such a demand? Is the guild unwilling to protect its mercenaries from the arbitrary demands of imperial aristocrats?¡±

    Elma was also an official Silver-ranked mercenary affiliated with the Mercenary Guild, right? I was trying to imply that with my words. The chief¡¯s expression remained unchanged, but the deputy chief¡¯s brows furrowed as he began rubbing the center of his forehead while looking down.

    ¡°We have a duty to inform you all about the matter, but the guild has no intention of forcing you toply. That means, apart from telling you about their demand, we won¡¯t do anything else. Criminals who have vited imperialw should be handed over immediately of course, but that youngdy over there isn¡¯t a criminal.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°Or rather, honestly speaking, I don¡¯t want us getting involved in the problems of aristocratic families. Actually, I¡¯m the one who wants toin here, you know.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what he says, Elma.¡±

    ¡°U-Um, I can¡¯t do anything other than offer my sincerest apology, chief.¡±

    Elma disyed a bitter smile. She was the culprit who stole a starship and went off into space without permission after all.

    ¡°So, what will you do now, chief?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve already told the other party that the position of the Mercenary Guild is to respect the free will of our members. I¡¯ll give you their contact info so you can resolve this among yourselves. However, we will not turn a blind eye to the use of violence and other unjustified means in order to force you toply. If something like that ever happens, don¡¯t hesitate to contact us.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, sir. So, um, what about the good news?¡±

    ¡°The proposal for you to receive the Gold Star has been approved, Captain Hiro. And in line with that, we will promote your guild rank from Gold to tinum as well.¡±

    Un, that wasn¡¯t really unexpected. The problem was, I wasn¡¯t really all that happy about it.

    [1] Note: Spaghetti Western - a broad subgenre of Western films that became popr in the 1960s. The term was coined by American film critics because most of the films were produced and directed by Italians.

    And here¡¯s another fun fact - In Japan, Spaghetti Westerns are actually called Macaroni Westerns. The raws actually use the term Macaroni Western, but I opted for Spaghetti Western for easier recognition by those familiar with the term. Great, now I¡¯m craving some pasta¡­

 Chapter 173 â€“ Fastest Platinum-rank Promotion in History

    <h4>Chapter 173 - Fastest tinum-rank Promotion in History</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°What the heck are you acting all depressed for anyway?¡±

    Elma, who was sitting behind me, scolded me about my behavior. Perhaps she read what was going through my head when she saw my expression the moment I heard about being promoted to tinum-rank. Come to think of it, she was also d in an aura of jealousy when I was promoted to Gold-rank back then.

    ¡°Uh, well, I was just thinking I¡¯m getting promoted too fast so there¡¯s no more thrill. It¡¯s like I suddenly lost a goal I was aiming for just like that y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­You tinum rankers really are a weird bunch.¡±

    Chief Johannes shook his head in exasperation and let out a sigh. It looks like he¡¯s acquainted with other tinum-rank mercenaries.

    ¡°Even if you don¡¯t agree with it, the entire thing¡¯s been decided, so give up already. In the long history of the Mercenary Guild within the empire, you¡¯re only the second merc to officially receive the Gold Star at Gold rank out of the four individuals who¡¯ve received the award.¡±

    ¡°So some political considerations yed a part in me getting this award, right?¡±

    ¡°Something like that. However, there¡¯s absolutely no doubt about your skills and abilities. We¡¯ve taken into consideration the battle data sent over by the military from the time you were in the Termaine system up until your current achievements. Achieving so much in such a short amount of time is nothing short of astounding. Your merits do not pale inparison to the other tinum rankers at all.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s just as the chief says, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Hiro-sama after all.¡±

    It looks like Mimi felt pretty proud of our achievements. She looked pretty content as she nodded at the chief¡¯s words. Un, her smug smile was also pretty cute.

    ¡°So, um, when will my rank go up?¡±

    ¡°Today, actually. The relevant procedures are already underway. We n to announce it publicly in conjunction with the award ceremony, so you¡¯ll be promoted to tinum-rank straight away.¡±

    ¡°I see. Do I get any perks?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a number of them. First, all your transactions with and mediated by the Mercenary Guild will be prioritized from now on and will be expedited with the greatest speed. It¡¯s sort of an incentive from the guild.¡±

    ¡°I see?¡±

    Honestly, that didn¡¯t sound like much of an incentive. It was certainly great that all our transactions will be prioritized, but for a perk after attaining the highest mercenary rank, it seemed quitecking.

    ¡°The insurance fees will also have a 30% discount, and your average job reward will increase by 30% as well. Furthermore, the guild will prioritize introducing you requests to test out prototype ships, weapons, and other equipment from ship and weapon makers that patronize us. You would also be given samples of said equipment to y around with under the pretense of collecting operational data.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s actually quite nice.¡±

    I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯ll ever be given a ship or equipment that trumps Krishna and its loadout though. These are things I¡¯ll entrust my life to after all¡­¡­ I don¡¯t want to rely on something that isn¡¯t up to par.

    The fact that the insurance fee will decrease by 30% and our reward would increase by the same percentage was a pretty sweet deal. These were pretty straightforward benefits that¡¯ll increase our total profits. That¡¯s because the insurance premium applied when purchasing a ship will be reduced by 30%, and we¡¯ll have extra funds to allocate for maintenance, repairs, and resupplying.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t there something else? I heard that tinum rankers can¡¯t be messed around with easily, even by nobles.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like you¡¯ll bepletely untouchable, but tinum rankers are like the top representatives of the Mercenary Guild you see. Of course, we¡¯ll help out if some nobles ever decide to stick their noses in your business. There aren¡¯t really any nobles who actually dare to pick a fight with tinum rankers in the first ce though.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m currently being picked on, remember?¡±

    ¡°Well, your current situation is a result of your own actions anyway. Rather, it¡¯s more of a family spat¡­¡­ We won¡¯t meddle in that sort of stuff if we can help it. However, we will take action if, for example, a noble uses his influence to pressure you to hand over these lovelydies because he wants them as his concubines. Basically, things of that sort.¡±

    ¡°Man, I can¡¯t tell if that¡¯s actually useful to me or not¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Simply put, you have to wipe your own behinds son.¡±

    After saying so, Chief Johannes shrugged his shoulders nonchntly. Well, I can¡¯t say I don¡¯t understand where he¡¯sing from. After all, what we¡¯re doing is like a no-name punk bringing home the runaway tomboy of a daughter and picking a fight with her loved ones. But I do think their demand of handing over Elma immediately is too overbearing as well. They didn¡¯t even want to discuss it with us first to hear our side.

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped then. Is that everything you wanted to talk to us about?¡±

    ¡°No, there¡¯s more. The reward for you taking down the Mother Crystal has been decided as well. It seems like you¡¯ll be receiving 15,000,000 Enels.¡±

    ¡°Fifteen million¡­¡­!¡±

    After hearing the amount, Mimi was totally floored.

    ¡°Fifteen mil huh. That sounds pretty good.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s decent, I guess.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you guys think your sense of money is really skewed?¡±

    Chief Johannes made a bitter smile when he saw Elma and my nd reactions. Well, I do think it¡¯s quite a sum, sure. But it ain¡¯t even enough to match the purchase price of ck Lotus.

    ¡°Please set Mimi¡¯s cut to 1% and Elma¡¯s to 3%. It¡¯ll be 150,000 and 450,000 Enels respectively. My share is gonna be 14,400,000 Enels.¡±

    ¡°O-One hundred fifty-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll receive it dly then, captain.¡±

    Mimi, who just heard she would be given a decent sum of money, became absentminded again, but I do think it¡¯s about time for her to get used to the mary sense of us mercenaries. Well, I guess Mimi doesn¡¯t have anything that she¡¯ll want to spend her money on right now, and that¡¯s why she has misgivings. Even if she had gourmet food sampling as her hobby of sorts, it¡¯s not like she buys a lot of expensive products all the time, and she wasn¡¯t the type to do so so anyway.

    ¡°So that¡¯s everything, right? We¡¯ll excuse ourselves then. We still need to prepare for the ceremony.¡±

    ¡°Understood. His Imperial Majesty, the emperor, will also attend the ceremony. Be sure to be on your best behavior in his presence.¡±

    ¡°Please pray we don¡¯t get the opportunity to meet him directly then.¡±

    ¡°Sure. Oh, and one more thing.¡±

    Chief Johannes called out to us before we could step out of the office.

    ¡°Pardon me, but have we met somewhere before, youngdy?¡±

    Chief Johannes addressed Mimi curiously. Mimi tilted her head in puzzlement and shook her head after a short pause.

    ¡°Hmm. I don¡¯t think so, sir. This is the first time I came to the central system, and I wasn¡¯t involved with mercenaries until I met with Hiro-sama. Before Hiro-sama brought me away from the Termaine Prime colony, I haven¡¯t stepped outside of it at all.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I see. Fumu. It¡¯s probably my misconception then.¡±

    Chief Johannes was also tilting his head like Mimi. I do think a girl as cute as Mimi would probably be easy to remember once you meet her. Did she resemble a celebrity in the capital system or something? Well, they do say it¡¯s possible that you could find at least three simr-looking people in the world back on Earth. The probability would surely increase if you take that concept up to a gctic scale.

    You¡¯re not trying to smooth-talk her, are you chief? I¡¯m sorry, but if you are, I¡¯d like to advise you to consider your age.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no way I¡¯d try to flirt with a girl the same age as my granddaughter you know. Bah. Just get out of here already.¡±

    Chief Johannes shooed us away with his cheek twitching in annoyance, and we finally left the office.

    Afterward, we went back to the receptionist oneesan who we talked to earlier, listened to her pointers about the award ceremony again, and asked her to rmend stores where we could purchase clothes and essories to wear for the asion. We then left the Mercenary Guild building.

    And yeah, my rank has already been updated from Gold to tinum. I wasn¡¯t the youngest tinum ranker in history, but it seems I was the fastest to promote instead.

    History¡¯s fastest tinum-rank promotion. Yeah. It doesn¡¯t sound bad at all.

    ¡°Un, this one looks better¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Wow, the fabric looks gorgeous.¡±

    Women really take a lot of time when they shop. That¡¯s especially true when ites to purchasing clothes, essories, and makeup. I know, I know. Of course, I get it. This is just me looking at it from the male perspective. But aren¡¯t they the ones who¡¯ll decide what to buy in the end? I don¡¯t really need to be here then. No? Uh, okay. Something like that.

    I have absolutely no sense when ites to dress designs and whatnot. I simply don¡¯t get it¡­¡­! Cute! Beautiful! That¡¯s about the only impressions I could offer y¡¯know. Basically, I¡¯m the same level as a grade-schooler when ites to stuff like these.

    Let¡¯s see. If I were to give an opinion, I would probably suggest for Mimi to pick out clothes that are a little bit less eye-catching so she¡¯ll avoid attracting the interests of nobles who might get some unsavory ideas. She doesn¡¯t have any status to rely on after all, unlike Elma. Also, it would be good if she picked out clothes that hid her breasts as well. Those will absolutely grab most men¡¯s attention after all. If it proves impossible topletely conceal them, showing her cleavage is a definite no-go. That¡¯s my two cents anyway.

    ¡°Ehehe¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi, who probably heard my jealous muttering, twisted bashfully as her cheeks got dyed pink. Ugh. She¡¯s too cute. I¡¯m about to get a nosebleed here. Elma, on the other hand, kept ncing back and forth between Mimi¡¯s imposing chest assets that swayed and jiggled from time to time and her own meager endowments. It¡¯s not like Elma¡¯spletely t y¡¯know. I like yours too Elma, so you really don¡¯t have to mind the size of your chest.

    ¡°¡­¡­I know already. Geez.¡±

    Her ears reddened a little. Elma was also the easily embarrassed sort.

    However, even if this was a super high-tech SF world I got transported into, the design of their clothes wasn¡¯t really all that strange. I was a little worried that we¡¯d find super mboyant stuff since this ce was called the ¡®Blossoming Capital¡¯, but it looks like that¡¯s not the case. Y¡¯know. Like those gaudy stuff models sometimes wear on a certain city of light with a certain historical monument called Arc de Triomphe¡­¡­ I was worried that stuff was also trending here, but I guess not.

    Although the materials certainly do feel high-tech. They certainly gave off somewhat of a cyberpunk feel, but they were still certainly formal dresses. The imperial aristocrats might be a lot more conservative when ites to fashion than I first thought.

    Well, if you think about it, these guys were the ones who revived the usage of swords and swordsmanship in an age with tech such asser guns and rifles. I guess they really were quite particr when ites to tradition. Or perhaps the old designs just underwent a revival because the people found them interesting?

    In the end, Mimi picked out a modest but elegant white dress, and Elma got a stylish light-green one. Since their entire body measurements were taken perfectly by the store¡¯s scanners, it looks like their orders will bepleted immediately. They would then be sent to our ship directly afterward.

    ¡°Man. It sure is impressive that order-made custom dresses can bepleted in just a few hours.¡±

    ¡°But they also cost a lot though¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mind that. I¡¯ll be satisfied as long as I get to see how cute and pretty you two would look in those dresses.¡±

    ¡°Geez. You sure have a glib tongue even though you looked so bored earlier.¡±

    Elma berated me, but she didn¡¯t particrly seem dissatisfied though.

    I don¡¯t really mind spending 10 or 20k for a dress or two anyway. One anti-ship reactive torpedo is way more expensive than both their dressesbined after all.

    ¡°Next is essories¡­¡­¡±

    When we left the store after buying the dresses, I felt a strange presence from a short distance, and the next thing I knew, something flew right at me along with some palpable killing intent.

    ¡°Ugh!?¡±

    I caught the sight of something that looked like a bundle of white cloth at the edge of my field of vision. Before I could confirm exactly what it was, I stood in front of Mimi and Elma and gripped the handle of the sword on my waist. It would be bad to fire aser gun in such a crowded ce after all.

    ¡°Hou, so you are in possession of swords as well.¡±

    I saw a beautiful-looking male. He had fine features, pointed ears, a well-proportioned body, an elegant outfit, and a slender longsword on his waist. And the thing that dropped right at my feet was a white glove.

    ¡°My name is Ernst Willrose. Knave, I challenge you to a duel!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t wanna.¡±

    I replied straight away. The beautiful male paused in bewilderment for a moment, but his features distorted to a fierce grimace shortly after. His face resembled that of an Asura.

    ¡°You dare refuse!?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a reason to fight you, after all, brother-inw.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare call me brother-inw, you bastard!¡±

    When I removed my hand from the handle of my sword and gave him the most amiable smile I could manage, Brother Ernst yelled angrily and unsheathed his sword. The passers-by who saw his actions panicked and took distance from our group.

    ¡°Whoah there. I didn¡¯t pick up the glove, see. You do know that a duel won¡¯tmence unless the other party picks up the glove, right?¡±

    ¡°Well then, I shall hound you until you ept-¡±

    ¡°Um, but wouldn¡¯t you also get in trouble if you continue to cause a scene like this?¡±

    ¡°Guh¡­¡­!¡±

    I pointed to the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal on my chest as I said that. Brother Ernst then mmed up while still looking upset.

    Under the public eye, nobles might still manage to avoid trouble if they picked a fight with an ordinary mercenary, if just barely.

    However, I now have a Silver Sword Wings Assault medal on my chest and two noble-issue swords on my waist. In other people¡¯s eyes, I was also a bona fide nobleman. Since Brother was a genuine noble, he should be aware of the rules. And he probably won¡¯t unterally swing his sword at me in a situation where I haven¡¯t officially epted his duel request.

    ¡°Dear brother.¡±

    ¡°E-Elma! There¡¯s no need for you to stay beside that knave! Come home with me n-¡±

    ¡°I absolutely hate a violent brother like you. Please just leave us alone.¡±

    ¡°E¡ª!?¡±

    Ernst, who heard Elma¡¯s ice-cold words, dropped his sword and fainted while standing. Eh? Did he really just faint? Uwah, he¡¯s foaming at the mouth. Just what did you do, Elma? You went and killed the guy with your gaze!? Scary!

    ¡°Let¡¯s just ignore him.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. C¡¯mon.¡±

    ¡°U-Uh¡­¡­?¡±

    Elma pulled my and Mimi¡¯s hands and started leading us away. She then led us to the jewelry shop under all themotion.

 Chapter 174 â€“ The People of House Willrose

    <h4>Chapter 174 - The People of House Willrose</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Despite Elma¡¯s brother Ernst suddenly challenging me to a duel, we somehow managed to finish all our shopping and made it back to ck Lotus.

    ¡°Was it really fine to leave him like that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. He probably thinks you¡¯re keeping me with you using my debt as a threat or something anyway.¡±

    ¡°Geez. Well, he¡¯s not actually far off the mark in a sense though¡­¡­¡±

    In any case, Elma did offer her everything to me using that 3 million debt as a reason. Probably. Uh, no, maybe that was just my misunderstanding in the first ce. I feel she doesn¡¯t even care about the 3 million Enel debt right now¡­¡­ Or rather, she hasn¡¯t even paid me 1 Enel.

    But apart from that time where she splurged her money on buying expensive liquor in the Alein system, she hasn¡¯t really spent her cash all that much. Maybe she really is saving up in order to repay me after all. Or maybe she just doesn¡¯t want to pay her debt so she can continue to stay with me. I¡¯ll have to ask her to make sure though.

    ¡°That probably was my intention at first. But now, I¡¯m staying with Hiro because I like being with you. I am saving up money though¡­¡­ But I¡¯ve only managed to save about 1,300,000 Enels, so I¡¯m not even halfway there.¡±

    ¡°Um, I¡¯ve also saved up 380,000 Enels. It hasn¡¯t even been one year since I started working for you and yet¡­¡­¡±

    Elma and Mimi brought out their data terminals and showed me their savings.

    It¡¯s not like Mimi has a debt to pay anyway, so all of her savings are already her own. I did pay 500,000 Enels when I brought Mimi with me from her home colony, but I have no intention of having her pay that back. That would just mean she¡¯ll get into debt with me instead of with the colony government after all.

    Or rather, I have no intention of meddling with how they use their personal finances anyway¡­¡­ They might not think of it that way though.

    ¡°Um, oh right. Since we¡¯ve already made it back to the ship, do you want to contact your family, Elma?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess¡­¡­ Haah, this is so troublesome.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­ But isn¡¯t it great? You have a family that worries about you after all. Isn¡¯t that right, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Mm, that¡¯s right.¡±

    Mimi and I both have no rtives in this gxy after all. Mimi¡¯s folks already died in an ident, and since shended herself in that horrible predicament afterward, she might have lost contact with her grandparents and other rtives as well.

    And then, there¡¯s me. I suddenly found myself in this dimension for no rhyme or reason and now I¡¯m drifting about in the gxy together with Krishna before I knew it. I have no family or rtives in this dimension at all. I do treasure my crew as my family though.

    ¡°¡­¡­You¡¯re right. I¡¯ll call them.¡±

    Maybe she remembered Mimi and my circumstances. Elma¡¯s expression changed from being annoyed to an earnest one.

    ¡°If it¡¯s alright with you, I¡¯ll sit in as well. We¡¯re all part of the same crew, so we¡¯re something like a family as well, right?¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯m joining too! Ah, I¡¯ll call Mei-san, Tina-san, and Whisker-san as well!¡±

    ¡°Alright. Please call them over.¡±

    Mimi fiddled with her tablet terminal and called Mei, Tina, and Whisker. Elma disyed a soft smile as she watched her.

    Mei stayed on the ship so she made it to the lounge straight away, but Tina and Whisker were still in the Grakkis Secundus satellite office of Space Dwerg, so they told us they probably won¡¯t be able to make it. Apparently, the main branch was located on Grakkis Prime.

    ¡°Okay then. I¡¯ll start the call.¡±

    Elma already informed the Willrose House that we would be engaging in a video call with them beforehand. They actually replied straight away as well. It looks like they are also anxious to see Elma as well.

    They immediately picked up when we started the call, and the forms of three people got projected on the holo-disy. One was a rather young-looking man, but he looked like the older version of the guy who pointed his sword at me when he saw Elma earlier. The other two were young women who very much looked like sisters. All of them had pointed ears like Elma and shared the same sort of aura as her.

    ¡°Dear father, mother, sister, It¡¯s been a long time.¡±

    ¡ºElma¡­¡­ In any case, I¡¯m d that you seem to be doing fine.¡»

    The young-looking elven male looked at Elma with a concerned gaze and sighed in relief. The two young women focused their gazes at me though.

    ¡º¡­¡­I heard he was a mercenary, so I fully expected a brutish boor.¡»

    ¡ºHe¡¯s unexpectedly normal-looking, isn¡¯t he?¡»

    So which one of them was the mother and which one was the sister? They looked so young that they would both pass as Elma¡¯s sisters. Well, one of them was really her sister though.

    ¡°I¡¯ll introduce you. This is the captain of the ship I¡¯m serving on; a tinum-ranked mercenary recognized by the guild and a recipient of the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my pleasure to meet you all. My name is Hiro. As I am ofmon birth, please forgive my unrefined words from time to time. I am honored to be in your presence.¡±

    After saying so, I ced one hand over my chest and gave them a slight bow. After seeing my actions, the three figures projected by the holo-disy all became quite surprised and were wide-eyed.

    ¡°Hey, Hiro. You just made my family speechless you know?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Um, did I do it wrong?¡±

    ¡°It would be fine if they were talking to a fellow noble, but amoner mercenary talking so formally would seem really strange to them.¡±

    ¡°I see. Okay then. You¡¯re up, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Feh!? Ah¡­¡­ Um, my name is Mimi. I was saved by Hiro-sama and Elma-san on Termaine Prime and have been together with them since. I¡¯m pleased to meet you all.¡±

    Mimi introduced herself as well and gave a cute bow. The Willrose family turned their gazes to Mimi, and Elma¡¯s father, Viscount Willrose, as well as the twodies, got startled and widened their eyes once more. Or rather, they did a double-take and focused their gazes on Mimi. It seems one of thedies realized something and tilted her head in thought.

    ¡°Is there something wrong with our Mimi?¡±

    ¡ºN-No. It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s just a coincidence ¡­¡­Ahem. Excuse us. I am Elma¡¯s father, Viscount Eldmoore Willrose. This is my wife, Milfi, and my other daughter, Elma¡¯s older sister, Elfin.¡»

    ¡ºThank you for taking care of my daughter.¡»

    ¡ºIt¡¯s nice to meet you.¡»

    Thedy with straight waist-length silver hair was the mother, Milfi-san, and thedy with hair that was close to golden blonde in color tied in a braid was the big sister, Elfin. Un. They all looked really young, including Elma¡¯s dad.

    ¡ºThe reason we got in touch with you immediately is due to Ernst. Ah, Ernst is my son, and-¡»

    ¡°We already met dear brother. He suddenly challenged Hiro to a duel, so I shooed him away.¡±

    ¡º¡­¡­Well, it¡¯s alright as long as he¡¯s fine.¡»

    Eldmoore closed his eyes and sighed in relief.

    ¡ºAs soon as he learned that you were in the capital system, he immediately flew out of the house and went over to the Secundus colony. I already know that Hiro was awarded the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal, so I was worried something would happen once he finds you.¡»

    ¡°I see. Rather, what was the meaning of that demand you sent to the Mercenary Guild anyway? You told them to immediately hand me over in the name of House Willrose.¡±

    ¡ºWhat? I should have only sent them a message telling them to have you contact us as soon as possible though?¡»

    ¡ºThat idiot probably intercepted your message and tampered with it, father.¡»

    Elfin-san sounded rather harsh when she gave her take on the matter. She was referring to Ernst when she said ¡®idiot¡¯, right?

    ¡ºPerhaps so¡­¡­ I shall confirm it with the Mercenary Guildter on. More importantly, it¡¯s been five years since you left us, Elma. The engagement with Gilliam has already been called off, so you don¡¯t have anything to worry about anymore. So pleasee back, dear.¡»

    Eldmoore-san gently implored Elma with a serious expression on his young-looking face. Gilliam? Engagement? Aha!

    ¡°I see. So that¡¯s the reason you ran away huh?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not really the only reason, but it was a major factor, I admit. I¡¯ll talk about it with youter¡­¡­ Dear father, I do not have any intention ofing home yet.¡±

    ¡ºIs it because of your debt? It was 3,000,000 Enels, I believe. We can easily pay off that amount, dear. We can actually pay double or even triple the price if you wish. So pleasee back, Elma. The life of a mercenary is always fraught with danger, right? If youe home, there¡¯s no longer any reason for you to risk your life.¡»

    ¡°It¡¯s true that I haven¡¯t paid off my debt to Hiro. Or rather, I haven¡¯t even paid him 1 Enel, not to mention 3 million. But I can¡¯t have you pay it off just like that either, dear father. I¡¯ll work hard and pay Hiro myself.¡±

    ¡ºI admire your sense of duty dear but bear in mind that you are a member of House Willrose. Besides, you are still an unmarried girl. You must know the implications of a girl staying on a male mercenary¡¯s ship-¡»

    ¡°Of course I¡¯m aware. And we¡¯re already in that sort of rtionship as well.¡±

    After saying so, Elma grabbed my arm and snuggled with me.

    ¡ºWha-!?¡»

    When Eldmoore-san saw her actions, his eyes opened as wide as saucers in sheer shock, but his expression turned quite murderous shortly after.

    ¡ºHow dare a mere mercenary like you touch my beloved daughter¡­¡­?¡»

    ¡°Well, I won¡¯t deny what I¡¯ve done. And I don¡¯t intend to part with Elma either.¡±

    I took his gaze head-on without flinching.

    ¡ºHa! Well said, you brat. But don¡¯t think I won¡¯t dare to open a hole on your- Ugeh!?¡»

    The holo-disy clearly showed two fists attack Eldmoore-san¡¯s sides simultaneously and took the wind out of him. And the owners of those fists were, of course, Elma¡¯s mother Milfi and Elma¡¯s sister Elfin.

    ¡ºThis is why the men in our house are no good. As soon as something happens, they immediately go shouting ¡®duel, duel¡¯ like idiots. ¡­¡­Honestly.¡»

    ¡ºOne foolish muscle-brained brother who¡¯s enamored with those Drawn Sword folks is more than enough for this household, father.¡»

    ¡ºIn the first ce, Hiro-kun is already hailed as a hero and has received the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal. He will also be receiving a Silver Star, or perhaps even a Gold Star,ter on, right? A Gold Star recipient will be given the same ords as a viscount. And even if that was not the case, Hiro-kun should already be treated as an honorary imperial knight due to the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal. This is not the time or situation for you to propose a duel.¡»

    Eldmoore-san, who was currently crouching in pain due to the attacks on both of his sides, was scolded mercilessly by the two women. Um, even I¡¯m starting to pity the guy. How about you leave it at that,dies?

    ¡°And, um, there¡¯s no way I¡¯ll be able to part with Hiro now anyway¡­¡­¡±

    ¡ºAra? Ara ara, ara ara?¡»

    ¡ºSo you beat me to the punch huh? To think I¡¯ll be overtaken by my own younger sister.¡»

    After hearing Elma¡¯s words, Milfi-san and Elfin-san started grinning teasingly at her. What? What did they get from Elma¡¯s earlier words anyway?

    ¡°Hey, Mimi. What are they talking about?¡±

    ¡°U-Um, err, ahaha.¡±

    Mimi seems to know something. Just what the heck is up here? I have no idea at all.

    ¡°It looks like you have lots of things to talk about with your family huh.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no reason to hide anything anymore, so I¡¯ll tell them everythingter. Later, okay.¡±

    ¡ºOh my. I don¡¯t mind if you tell us everything now you know.¡»

    ¡ºRight, right. We¡¯re all ears, my dear little sister.¡»

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious that those are things I want only dear mother and sister to hear!?¡±

    The red-faced Elma started making a ruckus with her mother and sister projected by the holo-disy. The riot continued until the downed Eldmoore-san finally managed to revive.

    Specifically, it only ended after a full five minutes.

 Chapter 175 â€“ Policy Decided

    <h4>Chapter 175 - Policy Decided</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    We concluded the call with Viscount Willrose with a promise to meet them face to face after the award ceremony. Eldmoore still seemed to have a thing or two to say to me for touching Elma, but¡­¡­

    ¡°Hiro-san is a recipient of the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal, and soon, an even more prestigious Gold Star. You¡¯re already regarded as an imperial hero. And having Elma get close to someone of your caliber and fame before anyone else offers quite a lot of advantages to us if you look at it from the perspective of an aristocratic house.¡±

    ¡°Guoooooh!? Milfi! I give, I give!¡±

    Milfi-san, who held the still-hostile Eldmoore in a tight armlock as she addressed me with a sweet smile, looked pretty amazing¡­¡­ She was undoubtedly Elma¡¯s mother.

    ¡°But I feel like I went and got myself off the hook for a reason I don¡¯t really get though.¡±

    I murmured in a perplexed tone while sitting on the edge of the bed.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re talking about the matter dear mother mentioned? Well, to put it simply, she implied that those who couldn¡¯t even reign in her tomboy daughter have no right to point fingers when the said daughter was able to earn the attention of an excellent and distinguished mercenary like you. It wasn¡¯t intentional on your part, but you did manage to get awarded the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal and Gold Star.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­How should I put it? Um, it¡¯s like a children¡¯s fight.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s pretty urate, actually. Nobles usually indulge themselves in such trivial and silly exchanges.¡±

    Elma, who still hasn¡¯t dried herself off after taking a shower, shrugged her shoulders nonchntly. By the way, I was also still drenched since we took a shower together.

    ¡°Well, in other words, they¡¯ll have to recognize your worth whether they like it or not. Since you¡¯ve already produced solid results, they won¡¯t be able to use you of being a hack. Rather, it would be more appropriate to just sit back and allow others to form their own conjectures instead.¡±

    ¡°Man, your social circle is something I really won¡¯t get. It¡¯s definitely more trouble than it¡¯s worth.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I was also fed up with those boring and tedious affairs, and that¡¯s one of the reasons I ran away from home.¡±

    ¡°You made the right choice, I think. It just feels so much better to go wherever you wanna go and see whatever you wanna see at your own pace. You can go on adventures, eat lots of different food, hunt down pirates from time to time, and do whatever else you find interesting. It¡¯s a lot more fulfilling, that¡¯s for sure.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Elma giggled cheerfully and sat next to me. She then leaned her body on mine and made herselffortable.

    ¡°And I have you, Mimi, Mei, Tina, and Whisker on this ship. I get to go on adventures withrades who I love and trust in this vast universe. We¡¯ll get mixed up in trouble from time to time and ovee a pinch together. I get to live out an exciting and fulfilling life even better than those depicted by adventure holo-novels, and that¡¯s more than enough for me. That¡¯s why I have no intention of letting go of such a life, and in order for me to keep it, I¡¯ll happily go with any scheme my mother cooks up.¡±

    ¡°I see. So, basically, you¡¯ve just set your bottom line, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Tina and Whisker notwithstanding, we¡¯ll have to discuss things with Mimi and Mei to prepare for tomorrow. We absolutely have to protect our daily lives.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡±

    And before long, Elma and I fell asleep together on the bed after talking about things regarding her family a bit more.

    The next day.

    Mimi, Mei, Elma, and I decided to have one final discussion regarding our ns for the ceremonyter on at the breakfast table.

    ¡°I have no problems regarding the n, but are you sure you¡¯re alright with it, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    I asked Mimi who was tilting her head.

    ¡°Um, I mean there¡¯s a good chance you¡¯ll be officially recognized as an imperial knight and be granted a formal imperial peerage.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so it¡¯s about bing a noble huh¡­¡­ You mean I won¡¯t just be granted an honorary title but an official one instead, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Do you want to be a noble, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Mimi tilted her head once more after hearing my question. I want to know her opinion on the matter as well.

    ¡°You see, if I be an official noble, you¡¯d probably be one as well, Mimi. In this case, Elma will be the first wife, and you¡¯ll probably be treated as my second, right?¡±

    ¡°That would normally be the case considering our stations, but I¡¯m still an elf you see. It¡¯s still a fact that it¡¯s usually fairly difficult to conceive a child with those of my kind, so having Mimi serve as the first wife due to that is also possible. And personally, I don¡¯t really mind bing a concubine at all. Actually, I think Mimi would be more suitable as your official wife.¡±

    After she listened to Elma and my discussion and realized what we meant, Mimi¡¯s face turned bright red from embarrassment.

    ¡°Well, once I be an official noble and get issued high-ss citizenship, it won¡¯t be that difficult to settle down on a somewhere in the empire. That option¡¯s open, but we¡¯ll obviously no longer be able to fly around freely across the gxy as mercenaries.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­ Oh, here¡¯s an idea. Instead of settling with father in the capital after getting knighted, we might be able to get more leeway if we join up with Chris. Earl Dareinwald still owes us for our help after all, and if you get promoted to a knight or baron ande under him, I bet we¡¯ll still be able to act more freely under him, even though it definitely won¡¯t be the same degree of freedom we¡¯re enjoying now.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Uh, but won¡¯t Chris capitalize on that and double down on her pursuit of me instead?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it fine? You don¡¯t really hate being with that girl yourself, right, Hiro?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I guess. But still¡­¡­¡±

    Of course, I¡¯d feel good to be sought after passionately by such a cute girl. But I don¡¯t know about relying on a girl who I basically dumped in a spectacr fashion a while back though¡­ She would probably go on the attack without any reserve once she learns of me bing a noble myself.

    At that time, I couldn¡¯t ept Chris¡¯s favor for various reasons, but there¡¯s no doubt things would change once I became a noble. Or rather, even without those reasons, meying a hand on Chris right now is all sorts of wrong y¡¯know. Yeah, that¡¯s definitely an out.

    If I put my filthy hands on a girl her age, it¡¯s definitely going to be a crime! I¡¯ll get arrested by the police for sure!

    ¡°Well, I admit I do find it a bit interesting to try my hand at being a nobleman, but I still prefer being a free and unfettered mercenary for a while longer. Or rather, at the rate this conversation is going, it might lead to an unexpected development. Like, for some reason, Mimi coldly refuses to marry me or something. I¡¯d probably dig a hole on the ground somewhere and bury myself alive if that were the case.¡±

    ¡°I-It¡¯s okay! I¡¯m willing to marry you, Hiro-sama!!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I¡¯m talkin about!¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. Good for you huh. I¡¯ll marry you too, of course.¡±

    Mimi shrieked in glee with her face still bright red and made a guts pose. I turned to Elma and found her rolling her eyes at me as she giggled. Mei just quietly watched our interaction with a warm gaze.

    ¡°Do you want to get hitched with me as well, Mei?¡±

    ¡°I will follow whatever you require of me, Master.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I guess I¡¯ll be marrying Elma and Mei as well huh.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. Alright. Since you¡¯re already on a roll, how about marrying Chris, Tina, and Whisker as well? Rather, how about marrying Major Serena too?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I¡¯ll probably pass on Major Serena.¡±

    Cuz y¡¯see, if I do get into that kind of rtionship for real with Major Serena after bing a noble, I have a really strong gut feeling it¡¯ll lead into trouble more explosive than an anti-ship reactive torpedo.

    ¡°Let¡¯s ignore the matter about Major Serena for now, okay? So how about it, Mei? Are you really willing to marry me?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Independent AIs are also recognized as official citizens after all. It is even possible for me to have children with you if you so wish, Master.¡±

    ¡°Seriously?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Seriously, Master. It requiresplicated procedures and considerable expenses though.¡±

    ¡°Man. Science sure is amazing¡­¡­¡±

    How on earth would I actually conceive a child with Mei who¡¯s an android? Will it be through a cloning process or something? Or rather, how would you ssify a child born out of a human and an independent AI? It¡¯s seriously stimting my intellectual curiosity man.

    ¡°Well, we got off-track, but we¡¯re clear about the n, right? No matter what happens, we¡¯ll insist on continuing our activities as free mercenaries. To that end, we¡¯re willing topromise to a certain extent. However, we¡¯ll resist no matter what if their conditions end up affecting our current lifestyle far too much. That¡¯s about it.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    ¡°Acknowledged.¡±

    The threedies nodded. Yosh. Now we¡¯re all on the same page.

    ¡°So what about Tina and Whisker? They haven¡¯te back yet since going to the satellite office, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It seems they were given jobs to work on by the Space Dwergpany, and they stayed at the satellite office overnight in order to finish them.¡±

    ¡°Uwaa, how very ck¡­¡­¡±

    The dwarves seem more resilient than humans in general, but even so, having them stay overnight to finish tons of work still seems like something ckpanies would do. Just what is the corporate culture really like in Space Dwerg, I wonder.

    As I thought of such things, the buzzer in the dining area rang. That should mean we have visitors, but¡­¡­?

    ¡°Did someone make an appointment, Mei?¡±

    ¡°No, there wasn¡¯t anyone in particr.¡±

    After saying so, Mei turned her gaze toward empty air. She might be interfacing with ck Lotus¡¯ surveince systems in order to see who the visitor was.

    ¡°It looks like Tina-san and Whisker-san have returned.¡±

    Hm? If so, then why did the buzzer ring? We¡¯ve already given them ess rights, so they shouldn¡¯t have bothered to ring the buzzer.

    ¡°It¡¯s not just Tina-san and Whisker-san. It looks like they broughtpanions with them.¡±

    ¡°Companions?¡±

    ¡°Yes. There¡¯s a dwarvendy like them and some humans as well.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­? What do you think, guys?¡±

    ¡°I wonder?¡±

    ¡°If those two brought these people with them, then they¡¯re probably rted to Space Dwerg. Maybe it¡¯s about that mercenary documentary they told us about back then?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­ Oh yeah. We did give them priority coverage rights huh.¡±

    ¡°Yes. In exchange for a discount. However, we also agreed on some conditions regarding the interviews.¡±

    So maybe these guys are visiting to give their greetings huh? Even so, it would have been better if they set an appointment with us first though. Umu.

    ¡°Well, I guess it won¡¯t hurt to hear them out. We could still turn them awayter on.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ We aren¡¯t going to ept the interview?¡±

    Come to think of it, Mimi was really gung-ho about getting interviewed huh.

    ¡°It depends on the situation. In any case, let¡¯s hear them out first.¡±

    After I said so, I matched gazes with Mei. She nodded and activated the holo-disy. When the holo-disy came online, the mechanic sisters, whose faces became simr to those of Tibetan foxes, appeared before us.

    ¡°d you¡¯re back, guys. So, who are those folks behind you?¡±

    ¡ºThey¡¯re people from the entertainment department Boss¡­¡­ Sorry to bother you, but can you at least hear them out for us? Please?¡»

    Tina, whose eyes were missing their usual luster, sighed as she pleaded with us. Ah, un. Man. People from mass media are the same in any dimension huh. I guess we better keep our wits about then.

 Chapter 176 â€“ Apology and Reunion

    <h4>Chapter 176 - Apology and Reunion</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    An hour has passed since Tina and Whisker came back.

    ¡°We¡¯re really sorry for today¡¯s matter.¡±

    The Space Dwerg Company Grakkis Secundus Colony Satellite Office Entertainment Department Chief (Man, what a damn long job title.) and Vice-chief were now lined up in front of me while performing some splendid dogeza.

    And behind them, the rest of the entertainment department personnel who tagged along with Tina and Whisker were now tied up with ropes like bagworms as theyid about on the floor. The color of their faces was way past blue and was now close to deathly pale.

    Well, uh, there¡¯s a good reason for this folks. These folks didn¡¯t listen to a word we said and forcibly boarded the ship with Tina and Whisker even though we already expressly refused and began filming without permission. They suddenly handed us a script and told us to do as it said, started taking pictures of everything theyid their eyes on, tried to break into our private spaces, went to the hangar and started taking pictures of Krishna, tried to open the cargo containers without asking for permission in order to check out their contents, among other things¡­¡­ Anyway, it was really too much to take.

    I inquired with Elma and Mei regarding the treatment of people who trespass on a private mercenary ship without permission and also confirmed it with the Mercenary Guild. I also had Mei submit the recording of our refusal to let them onboard to the Space Dwerg Company Grakkis Secundus Colony Satellite Office as part of an officialint and then had her capture the illegal trespassers.

    I showed the trespassers, who were spouting nonsense like viting their rights, my Silver Sword Wings Assault medal and emphasized the fact that I am already considered an honorary imperial knight. I also exined to them that the use of force against illegal intruders on a mercenary ship is legally permitted. The use of force being permitted meant that even if an attempt at capture resulted in casualties, we would not be held legally ountable.

    It seems this was a policy that was implemented primarily for the convenience of mercenaries who ept missions such as transporting highly confidential military cargo and guarding VIPs. Of course, there are some other regtions in ce so that mercenaries won¡¯t be able to abuse this policy, but in our particr case this time, everything checks out, so we have nothing to worry about and can do whatever we need to do.

    I also told the idiots who¡¯ve be bagworms that I¡¯ve already lodged an officialint to theirpany in my name under the purview of the Mercenary Guild. After I¡¯ve spelled things out to that extent, the idiots finally realized the disaster theynded themselves in and started begging for mercy. Well, of course, I ignored them. I mean c¡¯mon.

    ¡°Anyway, after pissing me off in the past, this happens huh? Don¡¯t tell me this is actually part of yourpany¡¯s usual style? Well?¡±

    ¡°We can offer no excuse, sir.¡±

    ¡°Did you guys actually think you can do as you please after selling me a good ship? I mean, the normal way of doing stuff like this is making an appointment in advance first, and then setting up a proper meeting, right? Is this really how you folks do business? Causing trouble and suddenlyunching a surprise interview without any warning at all is utterly ridiculous.¡±

    ¡°We can only offer our deepest apologies¡­¡­¡±

    It¡¯s kinda awkward seeing an elderly dwarf with a short stature performing a dogeza in front of me, but that doesn¡¯t mean I can let them off the hook just like that. How troublesome.

    ¡°This entire series of events have been recorded by our capable maid using our onboard equipment. If you can¡¯t give me a satisfying response, we might just leak the footage to your rivalpanies one of these days.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±!?¡±¡±¡±

    In response to my remarks, the Sales Manager, Vice-chief, and Chief, all widened their eyes in shock and apprehension.

    ¡°It looks like you have quite a lot ofpetitors huh? Mobius Ring, Fomalhaut Entertainment, and Nyaatoflix all seem like good picks, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    Mobius Ring produces fairly standard and realistic documentaries, and Fomalhaut Entertainment leans toward shier and more dynamic stuff. I wonder if Nyaatoflix makes those day-to-day reality-TV style ones?

    Or rather, what is up with the mascot character of Nyaatoflix anyway? It looks like a creepy alien creature with a conical head. Isn¡¯t this guy bad for people¡¯s SAN points due to how creepy it is? Is this thing really okay?

    ¡°P-Please, sir! Anything but that¡­¡­!¡±

    The chief of the entertainment department rubbed his forehead on the floor and begged like his life depended on it.

    ¡°You guys might have already heard of it, but the main reason I¡¯vee to this system is that I¡¯ll be receiving an award. To be more specific, I¡¯ll be awarded a military medal. It¡¯s probably gonna be announced in a big way and will make the headlines¡­¡­¡±

    The Sales Manager, Vice-chief, and Chief were all looking at me with fixed gazes.

    ¡°I¡¯ll probably receive offers for interviews at the ceremony you know. I already agreed with Space Dwerg to give you guys priority rights, but since I¡¯ve been treated this poorly, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s better if I cut my losses early? I mean, is there even any reason I need to stick to our earlier agreement?¡±

    ¡°T-That¡¯s¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I only epted it as a prerequisite for getting discounts when I purchased a ship from you guys. But, honestly, I never thought I¡¯d actually receive this kind of treatment¡­¡­ Should I just refund the 2 million Enel discount and forget the deal ever happened?¡±

    ¡°N-Nhyooo-¡±

    After hearing my words, the bagworms started squirming and letting out weird cries. That¡¯s right. I¡¯m telling you guys I can just refund the 2 million Enel discount given by your Brad System branch and cancel the priority coverage rights.

    ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯ve vented enough for now. Let¡¯s talk business.¡±

    After saying so, I bent down and matched gazes with the three dwarves kneeling on the ground who looked absolutely terrified. Hahaha, what the heck are you all scared about? It¡¯s not like I¡¯m gonna demand anything that unreasonable y¡¯know.

    ¡°We¡¯re really sorry¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Sorry¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Nah, I don¡¯t me you guys, so don¡¯t let it get to you.¡±

    We kicked the bagworms out of the ship along with the Sales Manager, Vice-chief, and Chief, but the mechanic sisters ended up looking quite dispirited afterward.

    ¡°I mean, those guys wouldn¡¯t listen even if you warned them off, right? You sure had it hard, you two.¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­ You¡¯re so nice, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much¡­¡­¡±

    In fact, judging from the state of the two of them when they rang the buzzer, they must have tried everything they could to dissuade their colleagues.

    ¡°In any case, are you really fine with just that?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s not good to overdo it and create a grudge.¡±

    I replied to Elma, who pointed toward the expensive-looking alcohol and snacks the dwarves gave us, and shrugged.

    The thing I demanded from Space Dwerg was to take responsibility and handle the otherpanies who want to request interviews. I don¡¯t want to experience another fiasco like this from otherpanies after all. I¡¯m sure what¡¯s awaiting them is some hellish damage control and adjustments in their operations.

    I don¡¯t really mind if Space Dwerg makes a profit out of the interviews by making deals with otherpanies for the rights. I¡¯ll ept interviews as long as they go through the proper procedure first. However, I won¡¯t tolerate things being turned into a mass media circus. Everyone has their own specialties. It¡¯s better to leave those in mass media to their peers.

    However, in the event that they cause trouble for me and my crew, we have every right to sue the offending party or resort to other means to demand justice. I made sure to emphasize this point to them. Of course, I¡¯ve also included Tina and Whisker when I referred to my crew. Even though they are just temporary crew members sent by Space Dwerg, I already consider them part of our family.

    ¡°You two should be careful from now on. I¡¯m not scolding you, okay. I¡¯m just genuinely concerned. If I step into the limelight after this ceremony, you¡¯ll most likely attract attention as well as part of my crew. This is even more true due to the fact that I 100% own this ship, and I¡¯m also the captain. Furthermore, I¡¯m the only male in here. You know what I¡¯m getting at, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Un.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes.¡±

    The two dwarven girls meekly nodded.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what our true rtions are. That¡¯s just how it is. You¡¯ll probably be thought of as women with that sort of rtionship with me. Once the news gets spread out, I¡¯m sure some will spout some tastelessments regarding our situation. If some of them get directed at you guys, and you feel bothered by them, don¡¯t hesitate to talk to us, okay? If you find it hard to talk to me, you guys can consult with Mimi, Elma, and Mei instead.¡±

    ¡°Nn, I understand.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°Yosh.¡±

    I nodded and turned around.

    ¡°It¡¯ll be okay, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry.¡±

    ¡°Please leave it to me.¡±

    ¡°Great.¡±

    My words don¡¯t just apply to the sisters, but Mimi and the rest as well. The three understood my meaning and nodded resolutely. I¡¯m probably gonna be in the line of fire as well, but¡­¡­ ¡®Hahaha! You jelly, folks?¡¯ I¡¯ll face those guys with this kind of attitude.

    If I get annoyed, I can just have Mimi, Elma, and Meifort me anyway.

    ¡°Now then, as for our ns for today-¡±

    As I was about to discuss further, my portable terminal suddenly rang. Huh? What¡¯s up? I don¡¯t recognize the address. It looks like the call came from the imperial capital though¡­¡­ Anyway, let¡¯s check it out first. I operated my terminal and projected the image on the lounge¡¯s holo-disy. I was instantly surprised.

    Her glossy ck hair that was once in a shoulder-length bob was now somewhat longer, but her strong-willed eyes that shone as brilliantly as onyxes were the same as I remember¡­¡­ Did she actually grow taller as well? She now seems slightly more maturepared to the girl in my memories.

    ¡°It¡¯s been quite some time, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Chris!?¡±

    ¡°Chris-chan!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time.¡±

    The noble girl who once spent a vacation with us on a resort, Christina Dareinwald, smiled at us through the holo-disy.

 Chapter 177 â€“ Whyâ€¦â€¦ *Quavering Voice

    <h4>Chapter 177 - Why¡­¡­ *Quavering Voice</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while. Do you have some business in the imperial capital?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve been keeping myself busy in the imperial capital together with my grandfather. I¡¯m so happy to be able to see Hiro-sama¡¯s visage once more.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m happy to see you again as well, Chris. We were traveling together with an imperial military escort on our way to the imperial capital, so we weren¡¯t able to pay you a visit when we passed by the Dexer system. Is it just me, or have you be a little bit more mature since west saw each other?¡±

    ¡°Is that so? It pleases me to hear you say that, Hiro-sama.¡±

    Chris¡¯s lips curled into an elegant smile. She really did seem more mature now. There¡¯s an anecdote back on Earth that goes something like¡ºIf one meets a youth again after three days, take a good look, and reevaluate him once more.¡», but the growth of this young girl in front of us might be even greater than what that saying alludes to.

    ¡°It¡¯s great to see you again too, Mimi-san, Elma-san. I¡¯m very happy to reunite with you both once more as well.¡±

    ¡°Me too!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d to see you¡¯re doing well.¡±

    ¡°Um, this seems to be my first meeting with these two lovelydies. Can you introduce us?¡±

    Chris turned her gaze toward Tina and Whisker. Come to think of it, this really was the first time they¡¯ve seen each other.

    ¡°This red-haired girl is Tina, and this is her little sister, Whisker. They were both dispatched by a ship makingpany called Space Dwerg as our temporary crew members. They¡¯re both really brilliant engineers. And girls, this youngdy is Christina Dareinwald. She¡¯s the granddaughter and heir of Earl Dareinwald, and we were together with her before we got to meet you guys. We just simply call her with her pet name, Chris.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Christina Dareinwald. But please, just call me Chris.¡±

    Chris¡¯s image projected by the holo-disy gave a slight bow to the twins.

    ¡°U-Um, the name¡¯s¡­ I mean, my name is Tina. Err, mdy.¡±

    ¡°Sis¡­¡­ Um, my name is Whisker. I¡¯m pleased to meet you, Chris-sama.¡±

    Tina became flustered when she realized she was meeting an imperial nobledy. It helps that Whisker is quite socially adept. Well, Tina¡¯s just acting like her usual self though.

    After the mutual introductions, Chris¡¯s gaze shifted toward Mimi and narrowed her eyes.

    ¡°¡­¡­As I thought, you really resemble her. No, in fact, you two are nearly identical.¡±

    She nodded to herself while muttering something in a cryptic manner. Hm? What¡¯s up? Um, is it just me, or are people always getting taken aback or making puzzled looks whenever they see Mimi since we came here?

    ¡°She resembles someone? Um, who are you talking about, Chris?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ I¡¯m sure you are all familiar with Her Imperial Highness, Princess Luciada, right? ¡­¡­Oh, um, I guess not.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t say I am.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m only familiar with her name. Um, I think she¡¯s the Crown Prince¡¯s only daughter, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right- Ah,e to think of it, she¡¯s supposed to being of age soon, right? Eh, now just wait a sec¡­ Eh?¡±

    After saying so, Elma took out her portable terminal and fiddled with it with zingly fast hand speed.

    ¡°¡­¡­You¡¯ve gotta be kidding me?¡±

    After fiddling with her terminal, Elma stared fixedly on the terminal¡¯s screen with an openmouthed and shocked expression. It¡¯s rare to see Elma getting this surprised.

    ¡°I take it that you understand what I¡¯m trying to say now, Elma-san? Um, if Mimi-san attends the award ceremony like this, I¡¯m sure it will cause a very hugemotion¡­¡­ Thus, I consulted with my Grandfather and contacted you immediately.¡±

    As Elma listened to Chris, Mimi, Tina, Whisker, and I stood up and peeked at the screen of Elma¡¯s terminal. And then, we found Mimi¡¯s image disyed on it. Her hairstyle, essories, as well as clothes were different, but her face was definitely identical to Mimi¡¯s. Uh, well, Mimi wins out in terms of breast size, I guess?

    ¡°Um¡­¡­?¡±

    Mimi was visibly flustered. Well, of course, she would be. In fact, I¡¯m shocked as well.

    Why¡­¡­? Really, just why, man¡­¡­? Elma¡¯s matter was already a potential cause for a media circus, but why did something like this happen as well¡­¡­? Just why?

    ¡°Um, would it be fine if we pass it off as sheer coincidence? ¡­¡­Err, I guess not.¡±

    ¡°It probably won¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°No way.¡±

    ¡°Not happening, Boss.¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t do, big brother.¡±

    ¡°So it really won¡¯t¡­¡­¡±

    Chris, Elma, Tina, and Whisker shot me down, and Mimi and I sighed dejectedly.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we ditch the ceremony altogether and run away somewhere? I have a really bad feeling about all this.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s going to be next to impossible¡­¡­ If we stand Major Serena up and leave her in the lurch, she¡¯ll chase us down to the very ends of the universe y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s terrifying¡­¡±

    I have a feeling she¡¯ll really do just that, and I¡¯m already scared as heck. We do keep running into each other unintentionally a lot ever since we first met her, so I can¡¯t even imagine what would happen if she chases after us in earnest.

    ¡°W-What should we do? I-I¡¯m really just an ordinarymoner, okay!? There¡¯s no way my family is connected with royalty. This is really just a coincidence.¡±

    It looks like Mimi was a lot more distraught than me. Well, I get it, though. The other party is not just any noble. She¡¯s an imperial princess for crying out loud. Looking identical to such an individual just in smells of trouble. There¡¯s a possibility of her being coerced to serve as a body double for the imperial family, or in the worst case, being assassinated in order to prevent the chaos.

    However, before those worst-case scenarios, she might first be subjected to DNA testing and genome analysis, but it would be a heck of a lot of trouble if those tests really manage to prove Mimi has imperial blood in her veins. Well, the fact that she looks so simr to that princess is trouble enough as it is.

    ¡°H-Hiro-samaaa¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s gonna be okay. I¡¯m definitely not going to let anyone take you, Mimi.¡±

    I hugged the flustered and teary-eyed Mimi tight in order to reassure her. We¡¯ll have toe up with something for Mimi. Maybe Elma and Chris can help out with formting a valid n.

    ¡°So, what should we do about this?¡±

    ¡°Right¡­¡­ Mei.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mei, who was called out to by Elma, stepped forward from the corner where she stood on standby since earlier.

    ¡°Can you help us to n out some countermeasures?¡±

    ¡°I will offer my utmost support.¡±

    ¡°But you really do look alike huh¡­¡­ Are you sure you¡¯re not rted, Mimi?¡±

    After the call with Chris, Tina immediatelytched on to Mimi and began bugging her. You¡¯re getting more and more uninhibited,dy.

    ¡°Of course not¡­¡­ Papa and Mama were ordinary colony citizens working in the industrial sector. They, grandma, and grandpa are justmoners.¡±

    ¡°Un. Well, even if your parents im they are, it¡¯s not necessarily true, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, you do have a point, I guess. But if Mimi¡¯s parents didn¡¯t really say anything about it, then we¡¯re at an impasse huh.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. But we should be getting some news soon.¡±

    After Elma said so, the buzzer rang and echoed in the lounge, signaling that we had visitors. I turned toward Elma and she just shrugged her shoulders in reply. I activated the holo-disy and checked out the ramp outside the ship.

    ¡°Geh.¡±

    ¡ºAnd what do you mean by ¡®Geh¡¯ huh? Do you have anything against me being here?¡»

    The holo-disy showed Major Serena with her arms crossed, her adjutant, Lieutenant Robbitson, and some more folks who looked part of the military as well who were wearing really fancy uniforms. There were also folks wearing white coats behind them. Doctors, perhaps?

    ¡°Do you have business with us, Major?¡±

    ¡ºDon¡¯t y dumb. You already know why we¡¯re here, right?¡»

    ¡°Eh? I dunno what you¡¯re talking about ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡ºPlease. This is no time to be making those tasteless jokes of yours.¡»

    Major Serena¡¯s image on the holo-disy had a vein throbbing on her temple. Looks like she really means business.

    ¡°Ok, ok. But we really don¡¯t get most of the situation, so it would be better if you exined it to us properly first, right? Well? How about it, major?¡±

    ¡ºI¡¯ll give it to you straight then. Mimi, one of your crew members, might possibly have the blood of the imperial family, so we came here to ascertain the truth. The people behind me are part of the imperial guards, Sir Zain and Dame Loretta. This gentleman here is the imperial physician, Dr. Falke, and this is Lord Cornell, the director of the Imperial Internal Affairs Bureau.¡»

    The people introduced by Major Serena all gave light bows. So this is their response huh. They sure are quick.

    ¡°So, depending on the result, you¡¯ll possibly take Mimi away? Is that it?¡±

    ¡ºThat¡¯s¡­¡­¡»

    Major Serena faltered after hearing my question and turned to the people from the imperial guards and the internal affairs bureau.

    ¡°No matter her lineage, Mimi is part of my crew. Unless permitted by me, her captain, you people can¡¯t take her away, and if you force the issue, we¡¯ll resist with all we have. If you can¡¯t even promise me that, there¡¯s no way I¡¯m letting you onboard my ship.¡±

    After hearing my not so subtle threat, the imperial guard duo and the director of internal affairs discussed with each other and nodded in unison.

    ¡ºWe promise you that we have no intention of making any immediate actions, even if we do confirm that Mimi-sama is of imperial blood. We would first like to confirm matters, and then consider how we¡¯ll deal with it afterward.¡»

    Lord Cornell addressed us in aposed and sincere manner. Well, I guess it¡¯s fine then. It¡¯s not an issue we can avoid anyway. And it might actually be a good idea toe under the patronage of the imperial family before strange rumors start spreading and more shady folk start getting ideas. It¡¯ll be next to impossible for us to guard against the schemes of the sly old foxes in the imperial capital after all.

    I turned my gaze toward Mimi and Elma to confirm their response. Mimi reluctantly nodded and Elma sighed before nodding as well.

    ¡°Man, it¡¯s always one thing after another with you, huh, Boss¡­¡­? Are you really that much of a trouble ma?¡±

    ¡°Big brother is really amazing when ites to attracting trouble, isn¡¯t he? He¡¯s like a trouble singrity.¡±

    I vehemently object to such a title!

    Since everyone didn¡¯t really need to be present in order to receive the guests, I and Mei were the one who picked the guests up from the ship¡¯s ramp. Mimi and Elma stayed at the ship¡¯s lounge area. Tina and Whisker stayed with them. I actually thought they¡¯d prefer to stay in their rooms, but due to their insistence, I allowed them to observe the proceedings in a corner of the lounge.

    ¡°Wee to the ck Lotus, everyone.¡±

    ¡°Sorry for bothering you all.¡±

    ¡°If you really are sorry, then how about you turn around and forget this ever happened?¡±

    When I joked around like usual, Major Serena gave me a scary re. I was just trying to lighten up the atmosphere y¡¯know.

    ¡°It¡¯s my first time toe aboard a mercenary ship¡­¡­ How novel.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. But contrary to my image of them, this ship is a lot brighter and more beautiful.¡±

    The internal affairs director, Lord Cornell, and the imperial physician, Dr. Falke, ran their gazes around the ship curiously. The two elderly men walked in a steady and calm manner. The two imperial guards seem to be walking ahead calmly as well, but they were subtly keeping an eye on me and Mei. It looks like they were also checking out the passageway for anything suspicious. How professional.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­¡±

    They let out sighs of admiration when theyid their eyes on Mimi. Or maybe the size and beauty of the lounge area was part of the cause as well. Well, judging from Lord Cornell¡¯s focused gaze, it¡¯s probably more of the former. The imperial guard duo even seemed close to involuntarily kneeling.

    ¡°My name is Cornell, Mimi-sama. It¡¯s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes¡­¡­ Um, I¡¯m really that sort of person so¡­ so please don¡¯t be so formal with me.¡±

    ¡°That might be the case, or it might not be. At any rate, we will be finding out soon. Dr. Falke?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The results will be out straight away. Could you please lend me your hand, youngdy?¡±

    Mimi turned toward me nervously with a questioning gaze, and I nodded in reply. After seeing me nod, Mimi resolved herself and thrust her arm toward Dr. Falke. Dr. Falke brought up a rubber thimble attached to a cord that was also attached to his tablet terminal and put it on one of Mimi¡¯s fingers. He then began operating the tablet terminal.

    ¡°Fumu¡­¡­ This is-¡±

    Dr. Falke muttered after staring at the results on the tablet screen and removed the thimble from Mimi¡¯s finger.

    ¡°ording to the results, there is a 100% probability of Mimi-sama having the blood of the imperial family.¡±

    After saying so, Dr. Falke knelt down on one knee and bowed reverently toward Mimi. Lord Cornell and the imperial guard duo also followed suit.

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi let out a shocked cry and I and Elma covered our eyes with one hand as we looked toward the ceiling.

    Oh, man. Just why did this happen?

 Chapter 178 â€“ Mimiâ€™s Blood Ties? + EX-002

    <h4>Chapter 178 - Mimi¡¯s Blood Ties? + EX-002</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The internal affairs bureau director Lord Cornell, the imperial court physician Dr. Falke, and the two members of the imperial royal guards left for the time being. The imperial guard duo was very adamant in insisting to apany Mimi in order to protect her. However, I made good use of my supposedly impressive track record as well as the high level of ck Lotus¡¯ security measures (Once the shield is up, there ain¡¯t anything getting past it.) and managed to convince them otherwise.

    And the ones who remained on my ship apart from the crew are Major Serena and her adjutant, Lieutenant Robbitson.

    ¡°There¡¯s quite a couple of things I want to point out¡­¡­ First of all, just why did no one manage to notice at all until now? We even have some genuine nobledies here.¡±

    I turned to Major Serena and saw her beautiful face frown.

    ¡°I also only managed to notice when I watched the news this morning. I merely thought the princess¡¯ face seemed familiar at first, but then I remembered your crew member and that she was the spitting image of Her Highness. I even spat out my morning tea in utter shock.¡±

    Man. I would have wanted to see Major Serena elegantly sipping tea only to spit it back out¡­ I think it would have been hrious. I bet it would have been fun to tease her about it to her face.

    ¡°I mean c¡¯mon. She¡¯s your imperial princess, right? Nobody was familiar with her face? Elma and Major Serena are both from reputable noble houses, so it wouldn¡¯t have been strange if you had an idea about it. Why didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Basically, members of the imperial family do not appear openly in public until theye of age apart from the ceremony they undertake when they turn five years old¡­ This is the first time Her Imperial Highness Princess Luciada has shown herself to the citizens in ten years.¡±

    ¡°So it was just bad timing¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, how about you? You have a high-performance maidroid with you, right? Don¡¯t tell me she didn¡¯t notice as well?¡±

    After Major Serena pointed it out, all our gazes turned toward Mei.

    ¡°Regrettably, due to the fact that this was the first instance of Princess Luciada appearing openly in ten years, and that I have been busy with processing other important data these past few days, I ced her public appearance low on my priority list and failed to notice as well.¡±

    ¡°Other data?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I was drafting a list of nobles who potentially posed a threat to us before and after the award ceremony. I looked up details like their whereabouts, schedules, ingrained habits, and so on.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Ah¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±

    After realizing that info really was rather important, I, Mimi, and the mechanic sisters all cried out. Elma, Major Serena, and Lieutenant Robbitson merely disyed bitter smiles.

    ¡°Anyway, I guess we¡¯re clear on why no one managed to notice this matter until now, right? More importantly, you owe me for this, Captain Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Just why? I don¡¯t think I¡¯m at fault for anything though?¡±

    Why did I suddenly owe this woman a favor, I wonder. I immediately expressed my objection.

    ¡°It¡¯s because I noticed it fairly early and contacted the Imperial Internal Affairs Bureau in order to arrange things as discreetly as possible. That¡¯s why this matter didn¡¯t blow up in your face. That¡¯s a pretty hefty favor, don¡¯t you think? I¡¯m sure you at least have an idea how much more troublesome things could have gotten without me making a move first, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure it would really have be a major hassle if left alone, but we had absolutely no idea after all. And besides, we also have a way to contact the Internal Affairs Bureau, so even if Major Serena didn¡¯t make a move, we would have been able to deal with things regardless.¡±

    Actually, Chris offered the help of House Dareinwald when she contacted us earlier, and there¡¯s also the option of relying on Viscount Willrose, Elma¡¯s father. Viscount Willrose directly worked for the Internal Affairs Bureau after all.

    ¡°Nheless, it would have still taken some time even if you had contacts, and there¡¯s still a big possibility of you getting into trouble even after asking for help¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess you¡¯re right. In my family¡¯s case, I¡¯m not too sure if dear father and brother would actually decide to help because of how they are.¡±

    ¡°As for Chris¡­¡­ Ugh.¡±

    Chris openly showed that she still hasn¡¯t given up on getting together with me, so if we solicit her help, she might use that as leverage in order to reach her goal. If you ask me if I hated it¡­¡­ uh, not really, I guess. But I hated the possibility of getting shackled and being made to stop my mercenary activities. That¡¯s definitely a no-go.

    ¡°If you look at it like that, I suppose it might be better to just agree with owing the major a favor. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Considering the result, I suppose so.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is then. We do owe you one. But with all that¡¯s happened before, how about we just call it even?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I beg to differ. This is a pretty big favor you know.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Then I guess we owe you a little. Just a little though.¡±

    ¡°Gununu¡­¡­¡±

    Major Serena groaned in frustration, but she didn¡¯t offer any more rebuttals afterward, so I guess she must have agreed, albeit grudgingly.

    ¡°More importantly, this matter regarding Mimi¡­¡­ Just how exactly did she manage to have the imperial bloodline anyway?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea, Hiro-sama¡­¡­ As far as I know, my Mama and Papa really were just ordinarymoners.¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t we find clues if we trace back the imperial family tree and see if there were royals who went missing during Mimi¡¯s parent¡¯s generation?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s one angle. We can also look up the generation of the current reigning emperor and even further back¡­¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s one person who is pretty suspect. The younger sister of the current emperor, Celestia-sama¡­¡­¡±

    Elma and Major Serena came to the same conclusion and voiced their thoughts out simultaneously. The younger sister of the current emperor, Lady Celestia, huh¡­¡­ In other words, they were suspecting Mimi¡¯s grandmother. I¡¯m not too sure if it¡¯s the mother or father¡¯s side of her family though.

    ¡°What kind of person was she?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­She was really unconventional for a royal.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes. She was quite the character.¡±

    ording to our two nobledies, the said princess acted like a tomboy from a young age and was really adventurous despite her royal lineage. And when she reached 15 years of age, she fled the imperial capital with a starship she prepared in secret after undergoing hering-of-age ceremony. She then hid her identity and worked as a frence mercenary. She brilliantly evaded all pursuers sent by the imperial family, and finally escaped to a far-flung sector beyond their influence- Hey¡­ Now just hold up one sec. I seem to recall a pretty simr story told to me quite recently.

    ¡°¡­¡­What?¡±

    ¡°No, uh, I was just thinking the story was pretty simr to your own experiences.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Elma¡¯s ears turned bright red and pinched my nk in embarrassment. Ouch. I see. So the Elma five years ago was heavily influenced by such a person and took off to the sea of stars to emte her, huh?

    ¡°Ow, ow¡­¡­ Man. It sure sounds like her life story would be perfect as a movie or something.¡±

    ¡°There haven¡¯t been any direct adaptations released so far, but lots of works made use of Celestia-sama¡¯s life story as a base.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve seen some of them as well. I particrly like the movie about adventures in the McSear system.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Don¡¯t you think Mercenary Celes vs. Shark Kaijuu was interesting as well?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that? It sounds pretty interesting.¡±

    They really sound like they¡¯re discussing low budget B movies¡­ Or rather, what¡¯s the deal with something like a shark kaijuu? So sharks also exist in space¡­¡­? Well, I¡¯ve already seen sharks with three heads and flying sharks in movies, so I guess space sharks really ain¡¯t that weird. But I seem to recall we already had something pretty simr too. Oh well.

    ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s very possible that Mimi¡¯s grandmother was the younger sister of the current emperor who loved a life of adventure. Since the emperor¡¯s granddaughter and Mimi look so simr, the possibility is very high.¡±

    ¡°If that turns out not to be the case, we¡¯d have to trace even further back. But¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    Mimi tilted her head when I and Elma turned our attention to her.

    ¡°If that really was the case, then just why was Mimi left to fend for herself in such a disastrous state back then? If I and Elma didn¡¯t manage to encounter you back then, it would have been pretty terrible.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    Yep. That¡¯s what¡¯s bugging me about all this. Even though she fled and became a mercenary, a royal is still a royal. They should have sent someone to secretly monitor her and protect her or something.

    ¡°Perhaps Celestia-sama just managed to cover her tracks very thoroughly. She might have hidden her true lineage, used illegal means to procure a fake imperial ID, and blended in with the rest of the citizens.¡±

    ¡°Can you actually fake such a thing?¡±

    ¡°As an imperial soldier, I really don¡¯t want to admit it, but there really seems to be a way to forge one. It just goes to show that anything made by mortal hands cannot possibly be perfect.¡±

    Major Serena answered me with an expression akin to having swallowed a bitter pill. I see. So there¡¯s a way huh. Well, ording to the stories I heard, Mimi¡¯s grandma seems to be quite highly skilled, so she really might have done it. But it¡¯s not like we¡¯ve truly confirmed that Mimi¡¯s grandma was really this Celestia person.

    ¡°Thinking about all this stuff is turning out to be a major headache.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s true¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°In any case, we already decided on a policy, right? We¡¯re gonna continue on with being mercenaries no matter what. This is something we¡¯re gonna insist on until the end. And for that, we¡¯ll get rid of anything that would stand in the way, no matter who or what it is. At present, we¡¯ll have to deal with the award ceremony first, prepare all that needs to be prepared, and leave all the other procedures to Major Serena. We still need to wait for their response regarding Mimi¡¯s matter anyway.¡±

    After dering that, I pulled Mimi and had her sit on the sofa. I then sat beside her.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let anyone take Mimi and Elma away. It doesn¡¯t matter who the other party is. It¡¯s that simple.¡±

    ¡°Oh boy. Those are some heavy-sounding words depending on how you interpret them, Boss.¡±

    ¡°This isn¡¯t the time to tease them, big sis.¡±

    ¡°If Mimi and Elma still decide to leave in the end though, I guess I need to swallow my tears and send you guys off¡­¡­ Nah, I¡¯ll probably get in your way. I¡¯ll cry and tell you not to abandon me or something.¡±

    After saying so, I pretended to cry pathetically. Tinaughed her heart out, Whisker giggled reservedly, Elma smiled bitterly, and Mimi-

    ¡°It¡¯s alright! I will never leave you, Hiro-sama!¡±

    She then hugged me tightly. Umu. How very like Mimi. The volume of the soft objects touching my arm was as heavenly as always.

    ¡°At this rate, we¡¯ll end up getting caught up in all this huh.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡±

    Major Serena and Lieutenant Robbitson didn¡¯t seem too thrilled, but that¡¯s understandable.

    In any case, we¡¯ll have to wait for the imperial family¡¯s response. The award ceremony¡¯s date should be settled soon, but I¡¯m sure those folks from the Imperial Internal Affairs Bureau will contact us first.

    If you¡¯re gonnae, then bring it! I¡¯ll take you on.

    EX-002 - Serena Holz¡¯ Supposedly Elegant Breakfast

    ¡°Nn¡­¡­ Yosh.¡±

    I checked my appearance on the hologram, confirmed there wasn¡¯t anything that looked off, and nodded in satisfaction. I can¡¯t possibly show a sloppy appearance to my subordinates as a proud imperial military officer after all. Moreover, I am also themander of an independent military fleet. All the more reason why I have to always look my best.

    Although life as a major in the imperial military might be somewhat suffocating at times, I still vastly preferred it over participating in thosedies-only tea parties that simply consisted of women exchanging tasteless gossip. In that sense, I am truly d I was born ady of the house of Marquis Holz, which was a renowned military family. I didn¡¯t hate pretty dresses and essories, but I¡¯m really bad with those tea parties.

    ¡°Haaa.¡±

    However, since I¡¯m now back in the capital, I will probably be forced to attend several such gatherings eventually. But as I¡¯ve been away serving in the imperial military for five years already, there¡¯s still a chance they won¡¯t invite me after all.

    ¡°Good morning, Major.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Lieutenant.¡±

    When I entered the officer¡¯s dining area of the Restalias, I found my adjutant, Lieutenant Robbitson, already enjoying his breakfast. He¡¯s quite the dependable aide. He properly respects even a young woman such as myself and follows my orders as themander of the fleet without fault.

    I ordered breakfast and tea from the auto-cooker, ced them on a tray, and joined him on the table. I applied marmde to my toast as I greeted the other officers who entered the dining hall one after another. I wonder if we can do something about this auto-cooker. The tea was excellent, but other than that, everything else was so-so.

    If the breakfast formissioned officers just consisted of toast, marmde, baked beans, and tea, I do not even dare to think what items the NCOs are getting served with. Since we¡¯re already in the imperial capital, should I try to request for the recement of the auto-cookers installed in the ships of my fleet?

    Compared with all the bothersome formalities and procedures I had to undergo yesterday, it should be a piece of cake. It¡¯s apletely trivial matterpared to everything regarding the uing award ceremony.

    ¡°We¡¯ve finally sorted things out huh.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We can probably rx until the day of the ceremony arrives.¡±

    I then took a sip of my morning tea as I nced at the holo-disy installed in the dining hall. Perhaps in order to wee theing of spring, what¡¯s featured in today¡¯s morning news was Her Highness, Imperial Princess Luciada, who was making her first official public appearance in ten years after undergoing hering-of-age ceremony when she turned fiftee-!?

    ¡°Bufuuu!?¡±

    ¡°Whoah!? M-Major!?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but spit out my tea in spectacr fashion. Lieutenant Robbitson, who was sitting with me on the table, cried out in surprise. But I was in no shape to mind the other¡¯s reactions. I couldn¡¯t tear my eyes from the image of our imperial princess shown on the holo-disy. It¡¯s because the face being shown was utterly familiar to me.

    I wiped my mouth with one arm as I listened intently to the news program shown by the holo-disy. I didn¡¯t want to miss a word. Ah, my goodness. To think I¡¯d encounter trouble of this magnitude¡­¡­ Was there really something wrong with Captain Hiro? He actually managed tond himself in this mess with pinpoint precision¡­¡­ Ugh. This isn¡¯t the time to be thinking about all this. At this rate, the ceremony would probably descend into chaos once she appears. We¡¯ll have to do something before that happens.

    ¡°I take back my words about being able to rx¡­¡­ We have to contact the Internal Affairs Bureau right away!¡±

    ¡°T-The Internal Affairs Bureau!? M-Major, just what is¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°We have to hurry! It would turn into a major incident if we don¡¯t make a move now. You¡¯reing with me, Lieutenant.¡±

    First, I¡¯ll have to exin the situation to my aide, who doesn¡¯t seem to have any idea about what¡¯s happening. I¡¯ll then need to gather some materials and data to serve as evidence before contacting the Internal Affairs Bureau- Aah, my head and stomach are already starting to hurt.

    Damn you, Captain Hiro¡­¡­ This favor is going to cost you big.

 Chapter 179 â€“ Inquiry

    <h4>Chapter 179 - Inquiry</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The next day, the director of the Imperial Internal Affairs Bureau, Lord Cornell, came to our ship again along with some of his subordinates in order to conduct a formal inquiry. Of course, they went through the proper formalities and made an appointment with us first. They certainly are different from those media folks.

    ¡°First of all, we want to hear what you n to do from now on.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    I nodded while sitting on the sofa inside the lounge.

    The contents of the inquiry weren¡¯t all that formal or rigid. It was rather loose and felt like one of those survey interviews instead.

    I, Mimi, and Elma underwent the inquiry together. The mechanic sisters weren¡¯t really involved in Mimi¡¯s case, so they were just observing the proceedings from a corner of the lounge.

    ¡°The most important thing to consider is Mimi¡¯s will, I think.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Hm. I suppose you are correct.¡±

    My, Elma, Lord Cornell, and his subordinate¡¯s gazes all gathered on Mimi, who was startled by the sudden attention and started shaking a little.

    ¡°U-Um¡­¡­ Even if you suddenly tell me I have the blood of the royal family, I still can¡¯t wrap my head around it¡­ And besides, I consider myself just an ordinary colonist. Though right now, I¡¯m serving as part of Hiro-sama¡¯s crew as his operator. I think it¡¯s impossible for me to act as a proper member of the royal family after all.¡±

    ¡°We understand that it would be impossible for Mimi-sama, who had not been educated as a member of the imperial family, to act and fulfill your royal duties right now. However, you can always learn. In this day and age, there are a lot of practical and quick methods for learning avable to us. We will of course offer all our support should you decide to live as a member of the imperial family from now on, and besides, His Majesty, the Emperor, is truly looking forward to meeting you, Mimi-sama.¡±

    ¡°U-Um, H-His Majesty!? Uu¡­¡­ But why?¡±

    After hearing that the emperor wanted to meet her, Mimi became quite upset. Well, of course, she would. I would also be perturbed if I suddenly get told the head of the state who holds absolute power over the entire country wanted to meet with me.

    ¡°As a result of analyzing your gic information Mimi-sama, it was found that your closest gic match from among the living members of the imperial family was the Emperor himself. And as a result of cross-referencing with the gic data of past imperial family members, it was also found that your closest gic match among them was His Majesty¡¯s younger sister, Celestia-sama. Furthermore, it¡¯s close to 100%. She was probably Mimi-sama¡¯s grandmother.¡±

    ¡°Ah- well, it¡¯s just like we thought then. The emperor¡¯s been separated from his younger sister for a long time after all. It¡¯s only natural that he wishes to see the granddaughter she left behind.¡±

    ¡°Precisely.¡±

    In any case, the conjecture that Celestia-sama was Mimi¡¯s grandmother was now confirmed.

    ¡°In that case, Elma, who escaped from the imperial capital due to her admiration for Mimi¡¯s grandmother, actually managed to meet with her idol¡¯s granddaughter and served in the same ship with her. It¡¯s certainly a very dramatic series of events, huh?¡±

    ¡°Okay. That¡¯s enough about me already.¡±

    Elma, whose ears turned red from shame, started hitting my head. It¡¯s okay, girl. I understand.

    ¡°Um, I do find it a great honor that the emperor wants to meet me, but I still can¡¯t process just how amoner like me was given a chance to have an audience with him¡­¡­ Um, I would like to meet him once at least though.¡±

    ¡°I see. Well then, I take it that you are amenable to a private and informal meeting?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ If Hiro-sama and the others are present too, then okay.¡±

    ¡°Wai-¡±

    Elma and I turned our heads toward her when Mimi stated her condition. Elma was even starting to panic. I don¡¯t really mind though.

    ¡°We will definitely try our best to not act rude in the presence of the emperor, but different from Elma, I¡¯m just your normalmoner mercenary who doesn¡¯t know proper etiquette. If it¡¯s alright with you, could you please tell him to be lenient should we let anything slip?¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course. I shall let His Majesty know. Well then, are you really alright with choosing to stay with Hiro-sama and live as a mercenary, Mimi-sama? You will not be subject to any danger should you chose to formally be part of the imperial family. Will you really not consider it?¡±

    ¡°I am already living safely and securely thanks to Hiro-sama. I traveled among the stars with Hiro-sama, saw lots of different ces, met lots of different people, and sometimes get caught up in some form of trouble. But I am truly happy and content with my current life.¡±

    Mimi faced Lord Cornell with a sincere gaze.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I won¡¯t agree to leave this ship.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Well, from what I can see, the interior of this ship matches that of the best imperial luxury cruisers after all.¡±

    Lord Cornell looked around the lounge and smiled.

    ¡°In fact, His Majesty is not thinking of forcibly taking you in as well, Mimi-sama. So please be at ease. In fact, he says he doesn¡¯t want to get kicked by a horse and die a pointless death.[1]¡±

    ¡°Somehow, after hearing that, a strange feeling of affinity with His Majesty is welling up inside me.¡±

    Oh boy. The emperor might actually be a rather swell guy.

    ¡°Let me confirm for onest time then. You have no intention of bing a part of the imperial family, correct, Mimi-sama?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mimi nodded straightforwardly to Lord Cornell¡¯s question. After seeing her do so, Lord Cornell nodded back.

    ¡°Understood. Well then, from here on out, we will act as if Mimi-sama has no connection with the imperial family whatsoever and treat you as amoner. Your likeness to Her Highness Princess Luciada is simply just a coincidence, and the results of the gic test will be sealed away and never see the light of day.¡±

    ¡°I see. You¡¯re not just pulling our leg, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Celestia-sama has been missing for quite some time and is possibly no longer alive¡­ Is that right?¡±

    ¡°Um, probably¡­¡­? I heard from Papa that she was long dead, and I haven¡¯t really met her at all, even during my childhood.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­It sounds a little disconcerting, honestly.¡±

    Considering how tough and badass the masses have made Celestia-sama out to be, she might actually still be alive and is flying around in space somewhere. The fact that Mimi has never even met her once is a cause for some doubt.

    ¡°If it¡¯s Celestia-sama¡­¡­ I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she was actually alive after all this time.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s never been caught once by the empire, and her descendant, Mimi is right here after all¡­¡­ If His Imperial Majesty is still alive, then his younger sister Celestia-sama being alive can¡¯t just be dismissed.¡±

    After hearing about Celestia-sama¡¯s story yesterday, I ended up watching the aforementioned holo-videos and novels as well. Based on those, then she¡¯s actually ¡®that¡¯ sort of character. She¡¯s basically portrayed as the female version of [2]Co*ra. And since most works are regarded as nonfiction, it seemed even more ridiculous.

    ¡°Hahaha¡­¡­¡±

    After listening to Elma and my exchange, Lord Cornell pressed his sides andughed unabashedly. He probably thinks we¡¯re just being silly. Since he can also be considered part of the elderly generation, he might have been a witness to the mayhem Celestia-sama caused back in the day.

    ¡°Oh, and one more thing. It¡¯s regarding the situation you found Mimi-sama in when you first met her. There seem to be some unnatural points, so we are having our men investigate.¡±

    ¡°I see? Well, for us, it¡¯s nothing but the past though.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi made an indecipherable expression. Maybe she remembered the time before she met us and got depressed. I enveloped the trembling fist she ced on herp with my palm and gently rubbed it. I can¡¯t even imagine just how scared and uneasy she was back then.

    ¡°If the conditions on Termaine Prime can improve a bit due to finding out the case that involved Mimi, then we can consider it a sort of blessing.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    I¡¯m not sure how things will proceed from now on, but if Mimi¡¯s parents were killed not due to an ident but due to some conspiracy instead, and the ones responsible even went as far as stripping her of all her rights as a citizen and dragging her to the mud, the administration on Termaine Prime will probably experience a storm of political purges in the near future. I¡¯m not sure what methods they¡¯ll use for the investigation though.

    ¡°Well then, this is the end of today¡¯s inquiry. I will bring back the results to the Bureau and will use them as reference for our future dealings.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. I hope we¡¯lle to a good conclusion.¡±

    ¡°I hope so as well. However, it is probably inevitable that you all will stand out during the ceremony. As long as Mimi-sama does not formally join the imperial family, it will be difficult for us to offer you protection. Please do be careful from now on.¡±

    ¡°Is that a warning?¡±

    Or was it a threat? I implied that when I posed the question. After hearing my question, Lord Cornell nodded seriously.

    ¡°Yes, it is advice that I offered out of sincerity. However, you are both a tinum-ranked mercenary, a recipient of the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal, and even the prestigious Gold Star. The imperial military and the noble families associated with them, as well as the guild, will all try to protect you in their own way. Well, in the first ce, it¡¯smonly epted that touching a mercenary such as you will only result in painful losses, so no ordinary nobles will dare go against you. However¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°There are certain idiots out there who might try to reach for something beyond their caliber.¡±

    Elma concluded Lord Cornell¡¯s words with a shrug, and he nodded in agreement.

    ¡°That is the case. Mimi-sama is the spitting image of Princess Luciada and is young, sweet, and beautiful. There might be some unrestrained characters who will entertain designs on you due to this.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s troublesome¡­¡­ But I guess I¡¯ll just have to swat them all away. And if I can¡¯t, we can always just run.¡±

    I¡¯m just praying none of those idiots will turn out to be members of those Drawn Sword faction experts. Well, we can always take them on using our ships, and if we can¡¯t handle them, we¡¯ll just bail. In the worst case, we can also rely on Chris, Major Serena, or Elma¡¯s families for protection. I¡¯m kinda scared about what they¡¯d want me to give in return, so I don¡¯t really want to use this card if possible.

    ¡°I¡¯ve literally spat blood in order to train my sword skills to deal with such situations, so I guess it¡¯ll be fine. Mei has certified my skills after all.¡±

    ¡°Yes. As you are right now Master, you can alreadypete with those nobles from the Drawn Sword faction.¡±

    Mei, who was standing nearby, nodded in agreement. Well, I still can¡¯t win against Mei though. The power in our swings is just too far apart¡­¡­ I wouldn¡¯t be able to parry her attack since her strike is just too heavy so my bnce will break, and her speed was also almost impossible to evade.

    ¡°Fumu¡­¡­? Well, since you¡¯re an outstanding mercenary, that might just be the case.¡±

    Lord Cornell¡¯s expression looked a little strange, but he got convinced anyway. Normally, amoner who hasn¡¯t undergone any physical strengthening cannot even hope to match a noble from the Drawn Sword faction in a close-range battle. However, the fact that a maidroid like Mei approves of me must have given him an idea that I underwent some physical upgrades myself.

    In fact, there actually are quite a few mercenaries who manage to upgrade themselves through cybeic imnts and such. Most who opt for sailing the gxy opt for some form of vision and reflex strengthening. And those who mainly engage close quartersbat operations in the colonies get administered the basic physical body strengthening procedures as well. But the procedure seems to be quite expensive, so only veteran Silver rankers and above have ess to it.

    ¡°Even so, I implore you to always stay vignt. Alright then. We shall be taking our leave now. We will contact you again once the time for the meeting has been set.¡±

    After saying so, Lord Cornell and his subordinates left the ship. With this, a meeting with the emperor that might ur before or after the award ceremony will be added to our list of troubles.

    [1] TL Notes: The full proverb goes something like this: Anyone who interferes in another person¡¯s love affair should get kicked by a horse and die. [2] TL Notes: I actually had trouble getting the reference at first, but then it hit me. Shame on me for iming to be a sci-fi anime and manga nut but nearly forgetting Space Adventure Cobra - a 1982 Japanese anime sci-fi film based on the 1978 manga ¡®Cobra¡¯.

    If you folks aren¡¯t that familiar with Cobra or are young enough not to have heard of him at all, he¡¯s kind of a cross between Han Solo and James Bond starring in a ssic example of a 1980s sci-fi pulp anime movie. He wields his signature weapon, the Psychogun, and a Python 77 Magnum revolver as a backup. Do check the movie out sometime if you have the opportunity to and witness one of the ssics.

 Chapter 180 â€“ Landing on the Imperial Capital

    <h4>Chapter 180 - Landing on the Imperial Capital</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    In the end, it was decided that our audience with the emperor will be held after the award ceremony. We will be called over with the pretense of His Majesty wanting to exchange some words with the mercenary who was able to obtain a Gold Star which hasn¡¯t been given out for the longest time.

    More specifically, the audience will be held in four days, immediately after the award ceremony. We then decided to try out the clothes we will wear for the ceremony as well as take etiquette lessons from Mei.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, you look so cool!¡±

    ¡°I guess he does look decent enough.¡±

    ¡°Well, thank you,dies.¡±

    Mimi and Elma praised my appearance when I wore the clothes Chris bought for me on Sierra III as well as the two noble-issue swords and my personalser gun. Well, even though they were said to be clothes fit for noblemen, they gave the impression of a formal military dress uniform as well. Maybe it¡¯s due to the influence of those Drawn Sword faction nobles. I guess they wanted clothes that didn¡¯t hinder their movements much.

    ¡°You two are also quite pretty.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe, thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because the dresses are excellent as well.¡±

    Mimi was wearing the neat and elegant white dress and Elma was wearing the stylish light-green dress the two of them bought the other day. Both of them wore minimal jewelry and essories that didn¡¯t seem too shy, but their looks were stillparable to noble princesses.

    ¡°¡­¡­Man. To think one of you is an actual imperial princess and the other is the daughter of a viscount.¡±

    ¡°Ah- ¡­¡­Un, that¡¯s right, I guess?¡±

    ¡°I just want to live my life normally though.¡±

    It looks like the thing about her true blood ties has be a sort of taboo topic for Mimi. Well, I don¡¯t exactly know how she feels, but¡­¡­ She just found out that the grandmother she hasn¡¯t even met was actually part of the imperial family, and that she also carried noble blood. Since it was all too sudden, it¡¯s no wonder she¡¯s still flustered and confused.

    In the Gran Empire, the imperial family is venerated to a great extent after all. For many imperialmoners, instead of fearing them as they do with normal imperial aristocrats, or feeling inferior due to the difference in social ss, they feel something close to utmost respect and worship toward the imperial family.

    Partly because she was far too overwhelmed by the prospect, Mimi decided to continue living as an ordinarymoner and serve as my ship operator without recognizing her rtionship with the imperial family. I¡¯m really d she decided to stay with me though.

    ¡°It looks like you were able to wear your clothes perfectly, everyone.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, they sure look neat. You look really cool, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Un, they all suit you. How cool. Mimi-san and Elma-san also look really pretty.¡±

    Mei, Tina, and Whisker were all praises when they saw us wearing our formal clothes.

    ¡°Are you two really not attending the ceremony, Tina, Whisker?¡±

    ¡°Uh, we¡¯re justmoners, after all, Boss. It¡¯s impossible for us to attend that ceremony and party filled with high-ranking aristocrats and royals.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have formal dresses to wear, and we¡¯re also not official crew members after all.¡±

    ¡°I can just buy you some clothes you know. They¡¯re not really all that expensive.¡±

    ¡°I dunno about a couple thousand Enels being cheap, but it just doesn¡¯t feel right, Boss.¡±

    Tina disyed a bitter grin and waved her hand in refusal.

    ¡°Is that so? How about you, Mei?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a maid after all.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I would certainlyply if you order me to attend, Master.¡±

    When she saw how down I looked, Mei dered so after thinking for a few moments. Fufu, I¡¯ve spent quite some time together with Mei already after all. I already know a few tricks to goad her into following my whims.

    ¡°Well then everyone, let us start the lesson.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    And so, we took a lesson on how to behave in the award ceremony from Mei-

    ¡°It looks like there¡¯s no problem with you, Elma-sama.¡±

    ¡°I was a little uneasy since it¡¯s been a while though.¡±

    Elma received an OK from Mei on the first try.

    ¡°Kuh¡­¡­ As expected of a true nobledy.¡±

    ¡°Elma-sama always carries herself well after all.¡±

    As expected, Mimi and I needed more training.

    ¡°Can I leave Mimi-sama¡¯s lessons to you, Elma-sama? I shall be focusing on Master.¡±

    ¡°Nn, alright. But why all the trouble though? It¡¯s a bit suspicious.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s so we can guide them more closely.¡±

    ¡°Hm. Alright. Come over here then, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mimi and Elma started their lesson a little distance away, and Mei started guiding me as well. Mei¡¯s lessons were basically gentle, but they were also thorough and strict¡­¡­ Mei really is quite strict when ites to things like this huh.

    I not only received lessons in manners and behavior but also lessons on how to brandish and fight with my swords while wearing formal clothes meant for nobles. And so, the day of the award ceremony finally came. The four of us - meaning I, Mimi, Elma, and Mei - boarded Krishna and descended onto the imperial capital under the lead of imperial military ships. The mechanic sisters remained to look after the ck Lotus.

    ¡°But man, after seeing it up close like this, the capital sure is something.¡±

    The sight of an entirepletely covered by manmade structures was awe-inspiring. The cement of the buildings seems to follow some sort of rules. When seen from outside the atmosphere, the imperial capital¡¯s surface seems to beprised of uniform geometric patterns.

    ¡°It really is amazing¡­¡­ I can¡¯t even imagine how they managed to transform a into something like this.¡±

    ¡°From what I¡¯ve heard, it seems to be thanks to highly advanced gravity and environmental control technology, but I¡¯m not too sure about the details as well. I think the total poption of the capital is about 25 billion if I remember correctly.¡±

    ¡°Yes. The poption will be reaching close to 25.7 billion soon.¡±

    ¡°Man, that¡¯s a lot. You said you produce part of your foodstuffs from under-level facilities, right?¡±

    ¡°Yep. The food production nts here are muchrger and more advanced than the ones we saw in the Alein system.¡±

    As we continued conversing, a huge, solemn-looking structure got disyed on the main cockpit screen.

    ¡°So that¡¯s the imperial castle huh¡­¡­ Man, that¡¯s huge.¡±

    It was like a mountain. No, it was more like an entire mountain range. Bigger wasn¡¯t always better of course, but with that imposing size, one can instantly tell it was the imperial pce at first nce.

    ¡°The entire structure is considered the imperial pce, but in truth, only a small part of is actually used as living space. The interior facilities are used by the various government bureaus and the military.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    The leading imperial ship guided us toward the military facility situated near the center of the imperial pce, where a dock for small-ss starships was located.

    By the way, Krishna was still currently armed, but all weapon systems were locked by the imperial military, and the navigation controls were also handled by them, so it was more like us being towed to our destination.

    As expected, the security measures implemented within the imperial castle where the emperor and the rest of the imperial family resides was pretty strict. ording to Mei, the system lock was performed via the cooperation of multiple independent AIs cooperating with the military, so even with her abilities, it was next to impossible to get rid of the lock.

    Well, this was the heart of the Gran Empire after all. I don¡¯t have the guts to arbitrarily fire off high-caliberser cannons or anti-ship torpedoes here, so they didn¡¯t have to worry at all. I¡¯ll say no to being erased from the face of the gxy through the full might of the empire.

    ¡°It looks like we¡¯vended.¡±

    Krishna safelynded on the small-ss starship dock within the imperial pce. The auto-docking function did its job swimmingly today as well.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do our best, everyone¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°Try not to get too worked up though.¡±

    Mimi clenched both fists in front of her in her usual guts pose and Elma warned her while sporting a wry grin. Mimi should be pumping herself up right now so she doesn¡¯t get too flustered when she gets turned into the center of attentionter in the ceremony.

    ¡°It looks like the right clothes can make even the most unrefined boors into proper gentlemen huh¡­ Ehem. Do excuse me for that.¡±

    ¡°What? If you have something to say, then don¡¯t hold back and just say it.¡±

    Major Serena, who got off the lead imperial dropship that led Krishna to the imperial pce, made a rude remark the moment she saw me. Major Serena was in her crisp military uniform as always.

    ¡°Major, it¡¯s nearly time.¡±

    ¡°Right. Let¡¯s depart then. It would be a shame for the protagonist of this award ceremony to arrivete after all. And it would reflect badly on us guides as well.¡±

    Major Serena nodded after Lieutenant Robbitson¡¯s warning and started leading the way for us. I followed right behind her, and Mimi and Elma followed after me. Mei walked at the very back of the procession.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you already know, but pay attention to your posture and manners even when walking.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    After Elma whispered a warning, I straightened my spine and made sure to walk in a supposedly elegant and dignified manner. I couldn¡¯t see their postures since they were behind me, but I¡¯m sure Mimi and Elma were also walking elegantly. And I didn¡¯t have to worry about Mei.

    We left the dock and went inside the imperial pce. We found a boarding tform inside. What sort of boarding tform? It was a tform for what seemed to be a small-sized linear motor train. It was probably simr to those used in a colony¡¯s goods deliverywork.

    ¡°We actually need to ride something like this inside?¡±

    ¡°The imperial pce is quiterge after all. If we walked the entire way, the sun will set before we reach the venue.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    As soon as we boarded the train car with Major Serena, it started to move. It was moving at tremendous speeds, but we hardly felt any Gs due to the eleration. It must be equipped with an inertial control module just like the one installed on Krishna.

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­ Now I¡¯m starting to get nervous.¡±

    ¡°You can just follow behind uster, Mimi. It¡¯s not like I prepared some sort of speech myself.¡±

    At the ceremony, the imperial military top brass will give a speech and report on the circumstances and results of the crystal campaign, but all we had to do was sit tight and listen. After that, the award ceremony will begin in earnest, and we would just have toe to the front once our names are called.

    I¡¯m actually the only one who will receive an award, but it was customary for the rest of the crew to join me as well.

    ¡°But I¡¯m a little scared when I think about what could happen after this.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not all that unusual for you to feel that way. No one will possibly act upter since doing so would be considered a great disgrace.¡±

    ¡°For now, I guess. It might be okay today since we were basically invited by the emperor himself, but I¡¯m not sure what would happen tomorrow onward.¡±

    ¡°They would be quite busy in theing days, so I think they won¡¯t have the time to bother you all in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I sure hope so.¡±

    ¡°Wha- Will you cut that out!¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama¡­¡­¡±

    Elma¡¯s lips twitched when she heard my pessimistic muttering and Mimi smiled bitterly. Oh c¡¯mon. It¡¯s us, you know? You guys really think things will remain peaceful with us involved? No, not a chance, I say! I¡¯m almost totally convinced some weird noble or something will try to bother Mimi. This is based on prior experience!

    ¡°I know your penchant for attracting trouble, but this time¡­¡­ Ugh. It¡¯s actually possible huh. Based on all the prior incidents involving you, the chance is quite high.¡±

    Major Serena gave me a reproachful stare. For some reason, Major Serena keeps getting involved in troublesome stuff together with us as well¡­¡­ There¡¯s Elma¡¯s runaway starship incident, the battle with Vereverem Federation, the attack on Sierra III, the battle with that rogue fleet, and thetest crystal campaign. All of it involved us in some fashion, and almost half the time, we actually implicated her in the incidents. But I won¡¯t apologize, okay. I really won¡¯t.

    ¡°Please try not to act rashly for once. Is that understood?¡±

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am. I will do my best to the extent of my abilities.¡±

    I gave her a crisp salute, but Major Serena¡¯s gaze was still quite icy.

 Chapter 181 â€“ Ceremony

    <h4>Chapter 181 - Ceremony</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    We rode the imperial pce high-speed railway train and got off at the inner station. The name of the station we got off to was the¡ºSpecial Events Section¡».

    ¡°So the scale of this ce is so big that the venue for special eventsprises an entire station huh.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the pce that serves as the home of His Imperial Majesty after all.¡±

    ¡°Control yourselves and don¡¯t ogle at every little thing. It¡¯s embarrassing.¡±

    Elma sternly warned Mimi and me, who were busy gazing in wonder at the surroundings. Well, even if she tells me that, we just went from a standard train station to somewhere that very much resembled those grand and imposing pces I only ever saw on TV. Of course, I¡¯d be curious. The floor of the wide halls was paved with practically spotless red carpets, lined with really expensive-looking flower vases and sculptures, and grand-looking opulent chandeliers were hanging from the ceiling¡­ That¡¯s how fancy everything was. I was like a little kid in elementary school on a field trip and could only exim ¡®Whoah, cool!¡¯ in my head.

    We walked through the fancy-looking halls and finally reached a ce where people were gathered. It looks like we finally reached the ceremony venue.

    ¡°Major Serena Holz. I have brought Captain Hiro and his crew over.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­ Yes, I¡¯ve confirmed everything. Your seats are-¡±

    Major Serena finished all the necessary procedures for the entire group, and we were finally allowed to enter the ceremony venue.

    ¡°Whoah¡­ This sure is amazing.¡±

    ¡°Fuwaa¡­¡­¡±

    The ceremony hall boasted a size that could easily host a social dance ball and was filled with a great number of tables and chairs. Almost 80% of them have already been filled. A single huge chandelier was hanging on the ceiling of the hall, and a luxurious-looking throne was located at the furthest right-hand side¡­¡­ A throne?

    ¡°Didn¡¯t they say the emperor won¡¯t be attending today¡¯s ceremony?¡±

    ¡°That should have been the case¡­¡­¡±

    Elma¡¯s gaze also wandered to the luxurious-looking throne further back. We were told that the emperor wouldn¡¯t be attending today¡¯s award ceremony, but maybe another member of the imperial family will be attending instead¡­¡­

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Just put up with it for a while, Mimi¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi started feeling ufortable from all the gazes that were gathering toward her. We did make sure to ce Mimi in between Elma and me to minimize her exposure, but people inevitably got a glimpse of her anyway and they were now gossiping with each other in hushed tones. Mimi really did look like the spitting image of Princess Luciada, so it can¡¯t be helped.

    By the way, Mei was treated as our attendant, so she wasn¡¯t given a seat. She was standing with the other attendants at a spot close to one of the walls.

    ¡°Her Imperial Highness, Princess Luciada is now entering the venue. Everyone, please rise from your seats and greet Her Highness with a warm round of apuse.¡±

    The people around us hurriedly rose from their seats, so we followed suit. I didn¡¯t particrly hold anything against the Gran Empire anyway, and I¡¯d also like to avoid being called out for rude behavior as well.

    As soon as everyone finished standing up, a beautiful girl in an elegant dress appeared from the rear of the ceremony venue. Un, now that I¡¯ve gotten a good look at her in person, she really does greatly resemble Mimi. Her hair was a little longer than Mimi¡¯s, and her breasts wereparatively more modest (although they were still muchrger than Elma¡¯s) but her face was practically the same as Mimi¡¯s.

    She quietly proceeded to her seat - the luxurious-looking throne we saw earlier - and sat down elegantly on it with her knees aligned in a well-behaved manner. Her gaze wandered around the venue until she managed to spot our location. Her eyes widened in surprise. It looks like she already saw her ¡®twin¡¯ standing between Elma and me and was surprised. But judging from her rtively subdued reaction, they must have told her about Mimi beforehand already.

    The ceremony began in earnest after the entrance of Princess Luciada. I was considered the highlight of this ceremony since I¡¯ll be receiving the Gold Star, but there were also others who were participating aside from me. It looks like these people will be awarded for their various achievements, and some were unrted to the Crystal Campaign I participated in.

    It seems the Gran Empire periodically holds award ceremonies in order to recognize the merits of her citizens, and such ceremonies were usually conducted once in the first or second month of each year.

    ¡°We are expecting to harvest a great number of rare crystals from the subdued Mother Crystal corpse. Depending on the research results, we might be able to utilize it as a continuous and renewable source of rare crystals for the foreseeable future-¡±

    At the beginning of the ceremony, awards for minor research and cultural achievements were handed out, and thetter half consisted of awards for economic and military achievements. To be honest, I wasn¡¯t really expecting anything from today¡¯s ceremony and thought the proceedings would be really boring, but I was able to hear some pretty interesting anecdotes. Right now, they were talking about the potential uses of the Mother Crystal remains we were able to bring down in the Crystal Campaign.

    I already knew that they would be able to harvest a lot of rare crystal materials from the Mother Crystal¡¯s remains, but now, it seems they were nning to research a method to artificially culture crystal lifeforms from it. It looks like the Mother Crystal corpse still retains the ability to absorb the energy emitted by the pulsar star and use it to ¡®proliferate¡¯. The presenter exins that if all goes well, they might be able to produce rare crystals continuously.

    The crystal materials harvested from defeated crystal lifeforms are considered as core materials for modernser weapons, and could also be used for armor. I think they were also touted as excellent building materials for colonies and space stations. It was durable yet flexible, and should also be able to possess the property of automatically restoring damaged sections over time if processed properly.

    I remember the exploration vessels equipped with rare crystal inner frames and crystalposite armor were the favorite ships of explorer yers in SOL who liked to explore deep space since they required minimal maintenance. They weren¡¯t that suitable forbat though since their overall defenses were rtively on the low end. Oh, but they were more resistant toser weaponspared to ships with regr armor though. Even so, I haven¡¯t flown them at all.

    The presentation finally ended before long and the awarding of medals to those who participated in the Crystal Campaign finally began. Major Serena, who was recognized for her outstanding achievements in strategic nning and information analysis regarding crystal lifeforms, was awarded the Silver Light Order, which was a pretty awesome-looking medal.

    ¡°Finally, Princess Luciada will be presenting a medal directly to Captain Hiro, who yed a very major role in the battle against the Mother Crystal in the Jerom system andnded the decisive blow that led to its eventual defeat.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Ue?¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    I didn¡¯t hear about this! The other awardees and participants aside from us began making a fuss. However, themotion soon subsided when Princess Luciada left her seat.

    ¡°Captain Hiro and his crew members, Ms. Mimi and Lady Elma Willrose, pleasee to the front.¡±

    Princess Luciada called out to us in a gentle and quiet voice. Since she already did so, we had no choice but to respond. The three of us left our seats and walked toward Her Highness with me leading the other two.

    ¡°So you are Captain Hiro¡­¡­ This is the first time I¡¯ve been able to meet a real-life mercenary.¡±

    ¡°Well, uh, what can I say¡­¡­? I hope you aren¡¯t disappointed, Your Highness.¡±

    Man. I found it difficult to find the words to respond to herment. The longer we talked, the greater the chance of me messing up somehow, so I hope she¡¯d just give the medal to me and get this over with though.

    ¡°I must admit, I¡¯m a little jealous of you, Viscount Willrose¡¯s daughter. It looks like you also went out to the sea of stars just like my grandmother¡­¡­ I would like to hear your stories next time if possible.¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course, Your Highness, if given the opportunity.¡±

    Elma answered and bowed gracefully. Uumu. She¡¯s reallyposed. As expected of a bona fide viscount¡¯s daughter.

    ¡°So you are Mimi-san. We really do look quite alike.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes. Um, I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°There is no need for you to apologize at all.¡±

    Princes Luciada giggled cutely. Umu, herugh really resembles Mimi¡¯s as well.

    ¡°I¡¯d really like to exchange stories with you, but let¡¯s leave that forter. Well then, Captain Hiro. In honor of your brave actions against the Mother Crystal, I now present you the First-ss Star Cross medal.¡±

    ¡°I gratefully ept, Your Highness.¡±

    I lowered my head and epted the medal from Princess Luciada. Wow. No wonder they call this thing the Gold Star. It really was shiny and golden. The crimson jewel ced on the center of the medal looked quite expensive as well.

    ¡°If possible, I would like you to continue using your talents for the empire.¡±

    ¡°I will endeavor to ept any mission as long as the reward is satisfactory.¡±

    It won¡¯t be good to answer ¡®yes¡¯ in a straightforward manner here since I had a feeling they¡¯ll use it as a pretense to get me enlisted in the imperial military. I answered in a typical mercenary fashion while wondering if I was being far too blunt.

    ¡°Oh my. As expected of a mercenary. Well then, our empire simply must device something in order to keep the services of an excellent mercenary such as yourself.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha¡­¡­ Please go easy on me, Your Highness.¡±

    My smile couldn¡¯t help but cramp up when I heard the gentle princess utter such ominous-sounding words. What does she mean by ¡®devising something¡¯ anyway? Oh boy. It¡¯s seriously terrifying so could you please leave it at that, Princess? If I suddenly find myself right in the middle of a scheme, you can bet I¡¯d immediately turn tail and run to the neighboring nation as if my life depended on it.

    ¡°Well then, I shall see you all next time.¡±

    We bowed to Princess Luciada and returned to our designated seats. Oh, man. That princess sure packs a lot of surprises. Elma, who was usually cool andposed, now looked quite worn out. Mimi still seemed quite out of it. Uh, isn¡¯t her soul seeping out of her mouth? You okay, girl?

    Princess Luciada, who just finished presenting me a Gold Star, left the ceremony venue with graceful steps, just the same as when she first appeared. All of those present stood up and saw her off. The emcee then dered that the award ceremony was finally over.

    The entire thingsted about an hour and a half or so, I think? We sure made lots of grueling preparations just for the sake of these one and a half hours. Everything seemed all too quick somehow.

    ¡°Haa- It¡¯s finally over. Okay then, let¡¯s-¡±

    ¡°You bastard! What was the meaning of your appalling behavior toward Her Highness, Princess Luciada earlier, huh!?¡±

    Question: What were my honest feelings when the moment I thought the troublesome stuff was finally over, an even more troublesome fellow suddenly reared his ugly head?

    Answer: The heck? You talkin to me, bastard¡­¡­?

    To think something like this would happen at this timing. Haah.

 Chapter 182 â€“ Crazy Fans sure are Troublesome

    <h4>Chapter 182 - Crazy Fans sure are Troublesome</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Anyway, since I already got provoked, I turned my gaze to Major Serena right away for some backup.

    Hey, how should I deal with this guy?

    That¡¯s what my gaze implied. Major Serena¡¯s cheek twitched as she cleared her throat and turned toward the young nobleman with swords strapped to his waist who was ring at me with a vein throbbing on his forehead.

    ¡°Baron Crias. Could you please leave it at that? He is a mercenary who is neither a nobleman of this empire nor its subject. In a sense, he is simply a visitor to this country, albeit an honored one. Thus, it would be unreasonable for us to expect one of his standing to express the same fealty to the imperial family as the subjects of our empire.¡±

    ¡°I think I did show a proper amount of respect though.¡±

    Major Serena turned back toward me with an irritated re after I made myment. It looks like she wants me to shut my trap. Fine, fine. As you wish, mdy.

    ¡°However, this man has already received the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal and the First-ss Star Cross medal. He¡¯s already received such utmost favor! Therefore, I cannot condone his rudeness no matter what!¡±

    It was your empire who gave me these awards without consulting me first though. You expect me to feel gratitude because of these? The heck! Is that how this gctic empire rolls? Un, how grand. Un.

    But this is bad though. It seems Major Serena can¡¯t offer an appropriate rebuttal this time. I wish she¡¯d try harder though. That¡¯s why I call you troublesome, my dear major.

    ¡°Forgive me for interrupting, Baron Crias. I am ultimately a mercenary. A mercenary acts for rewards, and not for gratitude and honor. In fact, I do not know any mercenary who acts for gratitude, sentiments, or honor at all. Unlike imperial aristocrats such as yourself who can make a living off of tax revenues from your territories, we mercenaries depend on the rewards after every sessful job to put food on the table. In other words, without rewards, we will not be able to make a living at all.¡±

    ¡°Wha-¡­¡­!?¡±

    Baron Crias turned speechless after I said my piece. In fact, it wasn¡¯t only him who got shut up. All the surrounding nobles and guests became quiet as well.

    ¡°In the first ce, what exactly are you expecting from a mercenary like me, lord baron? I am merely a lucky mercenary who was able to capitalize on opportunities in order to achieve some merit and was awarded for them. That¡¯s all. I¡¯m sure no one here would actually believe a petty man such as me would suddenly awaken my patriotic spirit for the empire after receiving these medals, right?¡±

    ¡°Mrrgh¡­¡­¡±

    Baron Crias continued to be speechless as he gnashed his teeth. Nice. Let¡¯s push some more then.

    ¡°As long as you evaluate me fairly, I will most likely continue to offer my utmost services to the empire. You can see this as a mercenary¡¯s own code of honor. This is what I meant by my earlier statements. The wise Princess Luciada was able to understand where I wasing from and that¡¯s why she did not treat my earlier conduct with reproach.¡±

    ¡°Nuuh¡­¡­¡±

    It¡¯s true that Princess Luciada didn¡¯t call me out for my behavior earlier, so this prickly nobleman couldn¡¯t offer any retort. Or rather, ain¡¯t I supposed to be treated the same as a viscount when I got awarded this shiny, new Gold Star medal? Why the heck did this baron still decide to make a fuss then?

    ¡°That should be enough, Baron Crias.¡±

    A dignified and solemn voice resounded all across the hall, and the man who was the source of the voice walked to the front. He was quite tall and fairly well-built. His full head of silver-gray hair streaked with ck was quite conspicuous. His eyes were as sharp as a hawk¡¯s, and on his waist hung two noble-issued swords that looked simr to mine.

    ¡°Ugeh.¡±

    ¡°You seem to be doing quite well, Captain Hiro.¡±

    ¡°A-Ahaha¡­¡­ I¡¯m delighted to see you again, Earl Dareinwald.¡±

    The one who appeared from the crowd was Chris¡¯ grandfather, Earl Abraham Dareinwald. I really couldn¡¯t seem to calm down in the presence of this guy for some reason. He was basically the silent-type, and he had this stifling aura about him due to his ever-present scowl.

    ¡°I apud you for your steadfast show of loyalty as a fellow noble of this empire, but since Princess Luciada has already permitted such conduct from our honored guest, it would be best for you to let things go as well. Do you not think so?¡±

    ¡°Are you implying my actions are against the will of Her Highness, Earl Dareinwald?¡±

    ¡°It is a fact that Her Imperial Highness did not rebuke Captain Hiro for his conduct. That is all I¡¯m trying to say.¡±

    Earl Dareinwald gave his statement while ring daggers at Baron Crias. In the middle of such a tense atmosphere, a third, no, a fourth person interjected.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to interrupt, but His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor, wishes to see Captain Hiro and his crew.¡±

    It was Elma¡¯s dad, Viscount Eldmoore Willrose, who barged into the scene. Why was he the one who got assigned to call on us? Did the emperor find out about Elma¡¯s situation when he had us investigated and appointed Elma¡¯s dad as his representative due to that? A mercenary like me has totally no idea about the political workings within the imperial court after all. He¡¯s apparently working for the Internal Affairs Bureau, so that might have yed a part.

    ¡°Wha¡­¡­ His Imperial Majesty!?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t mind if I bring them away, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Of course.¡±

    For an ardent fan of the emperor and the imperial family like Baron Crias, there was no choice but to yield. Earl Dareinwald also backed down as well.

    ¡°Captain Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Chris has been wanting to meet you again. Pleasee to our residence in the imperial capital once you have the time.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Umu.¡±

    Earl Dareinwald crisply nodded and left the hall with dignified steps. He¡¯s as frank and direct to the point as ever. ¡­¡­ But maybe that rigid character of his was actually one of the reasons why he failed to put a stop to the conflict between his own sons.

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is, Major.¡±

    ¡°Fine. Off you go¡­¡­¡±

    Major Serena, who wasn¡¯t of any use in stopping Baron Crias, wearily shooed us away. Even though she was the daughter of a marquis, I guess her influence still paled inparison to a noble who¡¯s considered the head of his house.

    ¡°How did youe to know Earl Dareinwald?¡±

    ¡°Uh, we met due to a job, I guess.¡±

    As we followed after Viscount Eldmoore, he suddenly asked about the rtionship between us and Earl Dareinwald, but all I could do was answer in a vague manner. We met him due to a conflict within his family after all, and we also have the responsibility not to reveal the details of the jobs we¡¯ve taken to respect our client¡¯s privacy.

    ¡°Fumu¡­¡­ Well, no matter. Make sure to follow after me.¡±

    We left the ceremony venue with Elma¡¯s father, Viscount Eldmoore, in the lead. Mei, who was seated near one of the walls, also stood up and followed after us after politely bowing to the nobles in attendance. She¡¯s seriously so dedicated.

    ¡°I was really surprised earlier though. I was actually worried he¡¯d sh at me without restraint you know.¡±

    ¡°Of course he won¡¯t¡­¡­ No matter how much of a hardliner those Drawn Sword faction nobles are, they wouldn¡¯t dare issue a duel without good reason. It would be a different story if you made Princess Luciada angry though, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Nobles sure are scary, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m also bad with nobles you know.¡±

    Eldmoore, who was walking in front of us, nced back after hearing our discussion.

    ¡°Dear father?¡±

    ¡°I understand, alright. Milfi and Elfin already grilled me several times about your matters. And also, it¡¯s not like you¡¯ll be able to part yourself from him now, right?¡±

    ¡°W-Well, that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    ¡°Haaaaa?¡­¡­¡±

    After hearing Elma¡¯s response, Eldmoore¡¯s shoulders sagged dejectedly as he made a big sigh. That¡¯s quite a reaction. What¡¯s up?

    ¡°Uh, Mimi, what are they talking about?¡±

    ¡°Eh!? U-Um¡­¡­ err, Elma-san will probably tell you herself, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Ueh!? Y-Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡±

    Mimi and Elma¡¯s faces were red for some reason. And Eldmoore was looking at me with an expression that¡¯s close to crying tears of blood. Oi, wait a sec. Why the heck are you reaching for the hilt of your sword? Stay, Eldmoore, stay.

    Considering Mimi, Elma, and Eldmoore¡¯s reactions as well as the insinuation that Elma won¡¯t be able to leave me even if she wanted to, did I end up doing something to her that was totally irreversible or something? Fumu?

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me I really went and made you pregna- Bufuuu!?¡±

    ¡°Of course not!!¡±

    ¡°Why¡¯d you hit me then!?¡±

    I ended up eating a full-power punch in the gut from Elma. How¡¯d she pull off such a perfect body blow while wearing a fancy dress anyway? But¡­ Hm. So she isn¡¯t pregnant yet huh. I see? Well, maybe it¡¯s something rted to the unique biology of space elves. It looks like she¡¯ll tell meter, so I guess it¡¯s fine. I¡¯m sure Mei will tell me the reason if I ask though. But since Elma¡¯s saying she¡¯d tell me herself, it would probably be better if I waited.

    After that short interlude, we continued to follow after Eldmoore until we reached another high-speed monorail station and boarded it to travel further inside the imperial castle.

    ¡°From here on out, you¡¯ll be witnessing the true imperial castle. In other words, we will be entering the central area reserved for the imperial family and His Majesty, the Emperor.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    We got off the train and passed through a gate filled with sword-wielding imperial guards. As expected of the ce where the emperor of the Gran Empire resides. The security was exceedingly tight. We were told to leave all our weapons at the gate, and limiters were ced on Mei¡¯s functions as well. As a result, Mei¡¯s abilities were reduced to being simr to an ordinary human.

    However, even if her abilities have dropped, they couldn¡¯t do anything to the muscle fibers and skeletal frame made of special alloys hidden underneath her artificial skin, so she was still pretty tough.

    ¡°I-I¡¯m starting to get nervous.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, me too.¡±

    ¡°I see. Just try to calm down, you two.¡±

    ¡°Why are you okay though, Hiro-sama¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°I guess I still can¡¯t wrap my head around the situation since the other party¡¯s status is way too high.¡±

    The other party was a powerful person who controlled a certain portion of the gxy after all¡­ I better be careful not to blurt out things that would sound rude. I may be a tinum ranker that¡¯s as good as a viscount right now, but the emperor was themander-in-chief of the entire imperial military. The difference in our statuses was just too big.

    As I repeatedly warned myself not to run my mouth, we finally came before a fancy-looking door that was exuding a regal atmosphere. This was probably the audience chamber or something.

    ¡°Let us enter then. The Emperor is a friendly and tolerant person, but try your hardest not to utter or do anything rude, alright?¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I understand, father.¡±

    Elma then nced in my direction. She¡¯s probably worried about me. Okay, I get it. I¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯m a guy who can deliver when it counts after all.

 Chapter 183 â€“ Private Audience

    <h4>Chapter 183 - Private Audience</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    What we found when we entered the regal-looking door was a drawing room with an austere and calming atmosphere. Compared to what I had in mind, it was at least two times smaller. However, you could tell at a nce that all of the furnishings inside the room were high-end stuff. Somehow, the aura of each article was quite distinct. You could even say they exuded a sense of history.

    And in the center of such a room were two people seated behind a round wooden antique table. One was a middle-aged man with a stern countenance who gave off the aura of an extraordinary individual straight away. The other was a familiar and yet also unfamiliar face - Her Imperial Highness, Princess Luciada.

    ¡°Your Majesty, I have brought you the mercenary Hiro and hispanions.¡±

    ¡°Umu.¡±

    The middle-aged man nodded at Elmoore¡¯s words and looked me straight in the eye. I felt that I shouldn¡¯t look away so I stared back at him without flinching.

    ¡°¡­¡­Just what kind of person are you, young man?¡±

    The middle-aged stern-faced man - the emperor of the Gran Empire - suddenly asked me a question. It was somewhat vague. You could even call it philosophical. What the heck are you trying to ask, man?

    ¡°Um, I¡¯m a mercenary, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Fumu. Yes, of course. You certainly are a mercenary. I¡¯ve already heard of your various exploits. However, that isn¡¯t what I¡¯m trying to ask. I am asking just what is the true identity of the person who calls himself Captain Hiro.¡±

    C¡¯mon, man. How do you want me to answer then, emperor?

    ¡°Um, are you asking in a philosophical sense, Your Majesty?¡±

    ¡°One day, you just suddenly appeared in this corner of the gxy. On August 4, Year 5672, in Sector Alpha of the Termaine system, a star system monitoring radar recorded your ship for the first time. You appeared from nothing without any prior warning signs. There weren¡¯t any spatiotemporal quakes indicative of a hyperspace warp, nor any other observable energy waves or phenomena of any kind when your ship appeared. It was as if it was always there all along.¡±

    The emperor ignored my own question and began talking on his own. However, the contents of his speech had me sweating coldly and aroused a sense of crisis in me. If the emperor asked his earlier question based on the knowledge he just casually revealed, then its implications went beyond what I was expecting.

    ¡°We have already investigated your following actions after that. You cashed in high-purity rare metals of unknown origin and holed up inside your ship for a period of time while searching for information on the gctic. The search contents we managed to pull out were also quite interesting. Sol, Alpha Centauri, Barnard, Sirius, Procyon, Tau Ceti¡­¡­ You seem to have been searching for star systems of such names on the gxy map, correct?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The emperor listed out each of the search words I typed in when I first came to this dimension and stayed at the Termaine System in order to gather info.

    ¡°The speed of each character input, the frequency of searches for each word, the speed of switching from word to word¡­¡­ Our information analysts were able to infer from those factors that you were in quite a panic during your research. It was as if you were frustrated and confused because you were unable to find things you thought you would have been able to find easily.¡±

    Ugh. How terrifying. It was scary that they were able to pull up my information logs, and I was equally afraid of their information analysts who were able to infer my exact psychological state from just that much info. As I thought, the power of the state is he scaryyy.

    ¡°You got me, Your Majesty.¡±

    I raised both hands in a gesture of surrender for His Majesty, the emperor, to see. When the emperor witnessed my gesture, he nodded in satisfaction.

    ¡°Umu, quite straightforward of you. Well then, rify your identity in your own words for me.¡±

    ¡°It will be quite a long story, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°That is fine. Begin.¡±

    His Majesty then gestured for us to take our seats. I turned my gaze toward Eldmoore and nodded to him. I then made my way to the antique table where the emperor and Princess Luciada were seated and joined them. Mimi and Elma both sat down next to me. Eldmoore and Mei stood a little ways behind us all and watched over us.

    His Majesty snapped his fingers and teacups filled with warm tea appeared before us all, followed by delicious-looking sweets on a te. I couldn¡¯t really tell if the cause was due to SF tech or something more magical in nature. In any case, the stage was set, so to speak.

    ¡°Hahaha! And then you managed to snag yourself an excellent maid as well as a 30% discount when you bought your mothership from those stingy dwarves huh?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. By the way, the dwarves ended up messing around even when we arrived here at the capital. At this time, they must be running around as if their behinds are on fire while trying to capitalize on the priority coverage deal with us.¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha! How very amusing! Isn¡¯t it, Luciada?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Grandfather.¡±

    His Majesty, the emperor,ughed heartily while listening to my story while Princess Luciada gently giggled.

    It looks like His Majesty and Princess Luciada have really taken a shine to stories of my misadventures huh? Or perhaps they liked stories about mercenaries in general. It was said that Mimi¡¯s grandmother, Celestia-sama, also escaped from the imperial family due to her longing for a free and easy life. But, perhaps, it wasn¡¯t just her who was longing for it.

    ¡°Remember this, Luciada. If you meticulously search every corner of our empire, there¡¯s a good chance you might encounter several people who possess a certain¡ºfactor¡»such as this man.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Grandfather.¡±

    Princess Luciada was all smiles as she nodded to her grandfather¡¯s words.

    Un, It really was like that huh. It looks like the emperor really has taken quite a shine to us. It¡¯s not like he was treating us as bosom friends or anything of that sort. It was more like him seeing us as people worthy of appreciation.

    ¡°What I mean by people who possess certain¡ºfactors¡»are individuals who seem to affect the very nature of causality to a seemingly miraculous degree. The effects differ from each individual, but in the case of this man, you can probably ssify him as a person who has a very high tendency of attracting trouble onto himself.¡±

    ¡°Please give me a break, Your Majesty. I¡¯ve really been having the worst luck recently y¡¯know. Once someone says something ominous, odds are it would really end up happening.¡±

    ¡°Kukuku, if you really hold such a disposition, then that is all but inevitable. Let¡¯s see. How about I also leave my own mark on your turbulent destiny, young man?¡±

    After saying that, the emperor grinned from ear to ear. Hey, stop that, you fool! That¡¯s too heavy, especiallying from an emperor of a space empire. It¡¯s seriously no joke, man.

    ¡°My good Eldmoore, I shall make a royal promation.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°I wish to learn the true caliber of this man, the mercenary called Hiro. Gather all skilled individuals from within the imperial guards, military, aristocratic heirs, and mercenaries. It has been quite some time since a person has been awarded the First-ss Star Cross medal. I believe many would like to see the true capabilities of a man deemed worthy enough to receive a Gold Star.¡±

    ¡°By your will.¡±

    Heeeeeey!? What the hell are you suddenly spouting, you geezer!? I was about to scream in protest, but Elma¡¯s hand quickly extended from my left and plugged my mouth while Mimi hugged me from my right and stopped me from standing up.

    ¡°I leave the details to you. Deal with it as you see fit. As for the reward¡­¡­ Well, once Captain Hiro has proved his worth, grant him and Mimi First-ss imperial citizenship. However, take care not to tie this man down in any way even when he is granted citizenship. If you do, it¡¯s more than likely that he will just run away.¡±

    As expected of the emperor. He really gets me. Dammit.

    ¡°As for the one who manages to defeat Captain Hiro, I shall grant him or her honor and generous rewards. It will depend on what the person him or herself desires. However-¡±

    The emperor¡¯s gaze turned toward Mimi and Elma, and then at Mei.

    ¡°I will not condone any act that would ce Mercenary Hiro¡¯s loved ones in danger. If that happens, he will likely be out for blood. I do not wish to earn the ire of this man after all. How about it? You should be able to ept now with these kinds of conditions in ce, correct?¡±

    The emperor grinned at me again. This guy really is the worst. I¡¯m gonna make you pay for this someday, Your Majesty!

 Chapter 184 â€“ Tournament Announcement

    <h4>Chapter 184 - Tournament Announcement</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Goddammit¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s an imperial decree from His Majesty after all¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Just give up already¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi and Elmaforted the fuming me from each side.

    That f**kin emperor! What the heck was he thinking by announcing something like a¡ºLet¡¯s Duel Captain Hiro Everyone! Dokidoki ¡î Tournament¡»or whatever damn name it¡¯s called? His Majesty¡¯s ¡®kindness¡¯ has allowed us to stay in a guest room within the imperial castle, and now, we were all lounging around on a luxurious andfy sofa.

    ¡°Whaddya mean by ¡®kindness¡¯!? Isn¡¯t this just house arrest so they can make sure I won¡¯t be able to escape!?¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama! Shh! Shhh!¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t know who¡¯s listening in on us, so don¡¯t run your mouth, you¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi hurriedly tried to close my mouth in a panic, and Elma warned me in an offhand manner that didn¡¯t bother to mask her weariness. What are you guys talking about? Isn¡¯t this just a guest roo- Oh, okay? So you mean there¡¯s a risk someone or something might be monitoring our every move while we¡¯re in the pce huh? Okay. In other words, there¡¯s no guarantee this room ain¡¯t bugged even if it¡¯s a guest room. Heck, we aren¡¯t even sure if this really was originally a guest room.

    ¡°Anyway, I just want to change into my usual outfit¡­¡­¡±

    I loosened the tie that was wrapped around my neck and sighed. This outfit that Chris selected was definitely a fine-looking men¡¯s formal outfit, but it felt really stiff and restrictive, unlike my usual mercenary get-up.

    ¡°Me too, Hiro-sama¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Clothes like these were what I used to wear every day in the past though¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi and Elma were also still wearing their fancy dresses and essories, and it seems they were alsofier in their usual get-ups as well. Both of them carefully removed the essories they were wearing and ced them on a table beside the sofa.

    Mei already went back to Krishna to pick up our clothes. Actually, I tried to go as well, but Mei insisted that I apany Mimi and Elma here instead. I¡¯m not sure if she insisted primarily due to worry about Mimi and Elma¡¯s fatigue or out of her consideration so I could rest up as well.

    ¡°What do you guys think?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I mean what do you think about the emperor¡¯s intentions? Why¡¯d he suddenly announce something like a tournament and confined us inside the pce? I really don¡¯t get it. What¡¯s his deal?¡±

    Elma paused in thought at my question.

    ¡°I think he just wants to see the extent of your abilities during this tournament. You¡¯re a mercenary who rose up from Bronze-rank to tinum-rank in a surprisingly short period of time after all.¡±

    ¡°I see? He¡¯s just being a damn nuisance though.¡±

    ¡°I told you to stop that¡­¡­ Also, one reason for keeping us in the pce might be to prevent us from escaping, but it might also be to protect us from trouble. Didn¡¯t you get picked on right after the ceremony concluded?¡±

    ¡°Ah, um¡­¡­ That baron so and so huh. Yeah, I remember him.¡±

    ¡°It looks like you don¡¯t¡­ His name is Baron Crias. If we stay here, we won¡¯t need to deal with that guy. And if you show your abilities in the tournament, you¡¯d probably get picked on less in the future.¡±

    ¡°I see. That¡¯s reasonable enough.¡±

    ¡°Well, um¡­¡­ confining you here so you won¡¯t be able to escape might still be one of his reasons though.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    I wouldn¡¯t run even if I wasn¡¯t ced on house arrest anyway. If I escaped after it was grandly announced that I would fight in matches to prove my worth, my reputation will take a major hit. Furthermore, the faces of the emperor who announced the tournament, the imperial military that awarded me the Gold Star, and the Mercenary Guild that promoted me to tinum rank would collectively be sullied. If I threw mud at the faces of the emperor, imperial military, and Mercenary Guild at the same time, would it still be possible for me to work as a mercenary in the future? Of course not.

    Therefore, it was already impossible for me to escape attending the tournament after the decree of His Majesty got issued.

    ¡°But a tournament huh¡­¡­ I wonder what sort ofpetition format it¡¯ll have? Will I be fighting in a battle royale against all the skilled people they can manage to gather?¡±

    I honestly am tempted to just withdraw though.

    ¡°Rather, I wonder what kind ofpetition it will be? Don¡¯t tell me I¡¯m gonnapete in a swordsmanship tournament or something.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s possible, actually. That¡¯s not all though. There arepetitions usingser guns, power armor, and mock battles using starships too.¡±

    ¡°What the heck¡¯s with that triathlon from hell¡­¡­?¡±

    Don¡¯t tell me I¡¯m really gonna have to duel with swords, engage inbat using myser gun and power armor, and perform mock space battles using my starship? I¡¯m gonna do all that? Me? Now I really wanna run away¡­

    Once they¡¯ve decided on something, the imperials are really darn quick, aren¡¯t they? An hour after the emperor¡¯s promation was announced - while the three of us were lounging around within the guest room - the Internal Affairs Bureau managed toplete the nning outline for the entire event, and three hourster, they¡¯ve implemented the necessary groundwork. After another two hours, they already announced it to the public.

    And thus, preparations went underway for the opportunity to challenge thetest Gold Star recipient and tinum-rank mercenary,¡ºCrazy¡»Hiro. It was widely publicized that thepetition was implemented due to a direct edict by the emperor himself. It was also announced that if you manage to win against Captain Hiro, you will be granted very generous rewards. And so, many knights, soldiers, nobles, and mercenaries have signed up for the tournament in great anticipation.

    ¡°The number of applicants has already exceeded three hundred?¡±

    I¡¯m going to have to fight all of them? I¡¯m gonna die, aren¡¯t I?

    It was the day after the ceremony. I borrowed Mimi¡¯s tablet, read the news about the tournament, andined vehemently inside my head. Just where did these three hundred people with too much free time sprout from anyway?

    ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll make you fight all three hundred of them. That¡¯s why thepetition is in a tournament format. They¡¯d let them fight among themselves and whittle down the numbers first, right?¡±

    ¡°Maybe Hiro-sama will be included as a seeded participant in the tournament as well¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°No, that would go against the point of getting a chance to challenge me if I lose halfway though. Well, it¡¯s that emperor after all. He might really do something like that¡­¡­¡±

    He might say something along the lines of ¡®You won¡¯t possibly allow yourself to be humiliated by losing halfway, right?¡¯

    Eh? The emperor in my mind is far too shady, you say? It¡¯s impossible for me to look favorably at a guy who throws something this troublesome on me while spouting profound-sounding nonsense like ¡®leaving his own mark on my turbulent destiny¡¯ or something like that.

    I absolutely won¡¯t forgive that bastard.

    When I managed to calm down a bit, I contacted Major Serena and exined the situation, but Major Serena only gazed back at me with a very sorry-looking expression on her face.

    ¡ºSo you guys have the strange ability to attract trouble after all?¡»

    The three of us weren¡¯t able to say anything back to the good major. Howmentable.

    In addition, due to the decision to hold thepetition at this time, the entire schedule nned by the imperial military was blown to bits. In fact, we were supposed to get interviewed by the imperial military¡¯s public rtions division after the ceremony. (It wasn¡¯t an interview by a civilianpany, so Space Dwerg¡¯s priority coverage rights didn¡¯t apply.) And that¡¯s not all. I was also nning to take on the job of testing out the newly developed next-generation military small-ssbat starship and carrier-based fighter, but that also splendidly went up in smoke.

    The reason for this is because many participants in thepetition were soldiers from the imperial military, so if I showed off my maneuvers, it might work in favor of them in the space battle portion of the tournament. That said, the imperial military was already in possession of mybat records during the battle with the crystal lifeforms, and Major Serena probably has a record of my battles with pirates, so I think they already have plenty of advantages though.

    ¡°Haa- I¡¯m really screwed this time.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    Mimi tilted her head cutely when she saw me sigh in dejection.

    ¡°Aside from starship battles, I can¡¯t say meleebat and sword duels are part of my specialty after all¡­¡­¡±

    I did manage to protect an undefeated record in melee battles back when I was ying SOL, but I don¡¯t have any confidence that I can do the same in this dimension¡­¡­ Well, I guess I can somehow perform the maneuvers and strategies I did back in the game in reality for some reason, but I¡¯m pitifullycking experience when ites to fighting using my own body instead of a character in a game. I would probably be more assured while fighting inside a power armor though.

    ¡°I think you¡¯ll be just fine though¡­¡­ I¡¯m not sure how you¡¯ll hold up against the skilled people based in the capital though.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really have a dream of bing the strongest in the empire or gxy though. Or rather, my specialty is starshipbat dammit! Don¡¯t just dump me into sword duels and melee battles without any consideration!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Master. You will be fine as long as you perform like you usually do.¡±

    Mei gave me her stamp of approval, but I haven¡¯t managed to beat her even once though.

    Well, I guess Mei was a super high-performance maidroid who boasts unparalleled specs, so there¡¯s that. She could probablypete even with those specialized high-performance militarybat bots, so trying to win against her without any power armor on might just be an exercise in futility.

    ¡°But don¡¯t you guys think the time between the official announcement andmencement of thepetition is too short?¡±

    The first phase of the tournament - the swordsmanship duels - is already going to be held two days from now. Then we¡¯ll get a three-day break, and after that, the second phase, meleebat, will begin. We¡¯ll get another three-day break, and then, the final leg, the spacebatpetition, will begin.

    ¡°Imperial nobles are all trained in the sword from childhood after all. And once they decide to participate, they just have to cross the gateway ande to the capital. That¡¯s probably why the time between the announcement and the beginning of the tournament is quite short.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s probably it. It seems there are lots of Drawn Sword faction members in the capital too.¡±

    ¡°Ugeh.¡±

    I could only groan inment.

    ¡°¡­¡­Uh, how exactly would we fight in a sword duel anyway? You¡¯re not telling me we¡¯re gonna go at each other with real swords, right?¡±

    ¡°They probably won¡¯t allow you to use real swords. They should provide you with blunt replicas and you¡¯ll fight with those. Of course, even if they aren¡¯t sharp, they¡¯re still a big lump of metal, so they could still hurt you if you get hit by them.¡±

    ¡°How scary.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­But isn¡¯t that the same thing as your practice matches with Mei-san?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Come to think of it, you¡¯re right.¡±

    I¡¯ve already experienced trading blows using blunt swords with Mei. Uh, in Mei¡¯s case, it wasn¡¯t a blunt sword but her personal weapon, the ck baton made out of special metal alloys. But it certainly was pretty simr.

    ¡°Just rx and go for broke. Even if you¡¯re a Gold Star recipient, I don¡¯t think the Emperor is so unreasonable that he¡¯ll insist on having you prove your skills in sword duels.¡±

    ¡°But you know, if you put it like that, isn¡¯t that guy just nning on enjoying the sight of me getting beat up during the tournament?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Um.¡±

    Elma became quiet and Mimi couldn¡¯t find any words to answer me. Hahaha. I see I see. So that¡¯s how it is huh.

    ¡°Yosh! I¡¯ve decided! I¡¯ll send them all flying goddammit!¡±

    Ok, ok. If that¡¯s how you want to y it, then I¡¯ll just have to get serious and beat the crap out of them. I firmed my resolution while remembering the f**king bastard emperor¡¯s annoying grin.

 Chapter 185 â€“ Damnâ€¦ Kill it!

    <h4>Chapter 185 - Damn¡­ Kill it!</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°So that¡¯s what happened.¡±

    ¡°Yep! And then, Hiro-sama was-¡±

    Two girls with practically identical faces were having a spirited discussion while sitting behind the same table inside the guest room we were assigned to. Yep. The two girls were, of course, Mimi and Her Imperial Highness, Princess Luciada.

    ¡°They splendidly hit it off huh.¡±

    It was the morning after our first night staying within the imperial castle. When an attendant brought our breakfast, Princess Luciada arrived for a visit as well. It looks like she was quite interested in Mimi, who had almost the same appearance as her.

    At first, Mimi was quite nervous and stiff, but due to the princess¡¯ gift of the gab or her innate charisma, or perhaps it was simply because they were of the same wavelength, Mimi soon cozied up to Princess Luciada and was now having an enjoyable conversation with her.

    ¡°You¡¯re right¡­¡­ It¡¯s a really nice sight, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Elma replied as she calmly brought a teacup to her lips.

    ¡°Uhuh. It sure is.¡±

    I watched over Princess Luciada, who had a gentle and elegant smile on her face, and Mimi, who had a cute and innocent smile on hers and nodded in agreement. They truly resembled each other a lot. They were practically mirror images of each other. Their voices sounded simr as well. If they both wore the same clothes and sported the same hairstyle, won¡¯t other people have difficulty telling them apart?

    Me? I won¡¯t have any trouble though. That¡¯s because their breast sizes were different.

    ¡°Ouch.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be rude.¡±

    Perhaps she sensed where I was looking at. Elma, who was sitting alongside me on the sofa, tightly pinched my nk. Thedies-in-waiting and female imperial guards assigned to Princess Luciada were also giving me icy cold looks. My position as the only male in the room was utterly weak.

    ¡°¡­¡­Mei,e with me for a bit. I wanna work up a sweat for a bit.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Understood, Master.¡±

    When they heard my exchange with Mei, thedies-in-waiting and female imperial guards all narrowed their eyes in scorn. It was like they were looking at me as if I were mere garbage. They were all really beautiful girlsparable to Mimi and Elma, so the destructive power was immense. Any more and I¡¯d be awakening to a dangerous fetish¡­

    By the way, I already have an idea about what they were imagining I wanted to do, but that¡¯s not it, okay?

    ¡°Excuse me, esteemeddies from the imperial guards, can you guide us to the ce where you usually practice swordsmanship? I would like to borrow the ce for a while to do some swordsmanship training.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I see. That maidroid hasbat functions installed, correct?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s as you say, mdy. If she isn¡¯t held down by limiters, she could rival professional soldiers equipped with power armors.¡±

    ¡°Hou¡­¡­ I see, I see. In other words, she serves as your bodyguard, doesn¡¯t she?¡±

    Thedy knight nodded as if she was convinced and nced toward Mimi. It looks like she¡¯s noticed Mimi¡¯sck ofbat skills as well. That¡¯s just how it is. The most Mimi could do was to shoot herser gun with her eyes closed while hoping to at least hit something. And that¡¯s when she¡¯s shooting at practice targets. She probably won¡¯t be able to shoot at live targets at all.

    ¡°So would it be possible to borrow your training grounds for a while?¡±

    ¡°Very well. I shall guide you there. Richelle, Aina, I¡¯ll leave this ce to both of you.¡±

    ¡°¡±Yes!¡±¡±

    Out of the three female imperial guards, two remained in the guest room while one apanied Mei and me. She did call the names of the other two without honorifics and had the attitude and bearing down pat, so thisdy knight was probably one of the imperial guards¡¯manding officers.

    ¡°Follow me.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mei and I obediently followed thedy knight¡¯s words and left the guest room together with her. We then began walking around the majestic-looking corridors of the pce. After walking around for a while, thedy knight suddenly opened her mouth to speak.

    ¡°That person¡­¡­ Mimi-sama has a very cheerful and innocent disposition, doesn¡¯t she? It warms my heart to see her and Her Imperial Highness chatting happily like that.¡±

    ¡°Mimi is a good girl after all.¡±

    ¡°That she is. I wonder if that¡¯s why she¡¯s attracted to a frivolous man like you?¡±

    ¡°Whoah. How harsh.¡±

    I shrugged nonchntly at thedy knight who was now giving me a nasty re.

    ¡°I personally don¡¯t think I¡¯m that much of a ¡®bad boy¡¯ type though.¡±

    ¡°Did you not only extended your poisonous ws to Mimi-sama, but even the youngest daughter of Viscount Willrose? And you are even keeping two more women back in your ship, correct?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s scary, mdy. How¡¯d you find that out anyway? But I haven¡¯tid my hands on those two at all, okay? I do think both of them are pretty cute, butying my hands on them kinda seems like I¡¯mmitting a crime you know.¡±

    ¡°But didn¡¯t you alreadyy your hands on Mimi-sama?¡±

    ¡°Uh, well, it¡¯s kindaplicated between Mimi and me.¡±

    Back on Earth, it would have been an out. But in this dimension, it was safe. Mimi was already treated as an adult in this dimension after all. And, well, there were also the circumstances back then. Her state of mind back when we first met was very fragile after all.

    ¡°And what exactly do you mean by plicated¡¯?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really have any reason to tell you that much y¡¯know¡­¡­ Oh, right. Are you going to participate in the sword duels tomorrow as well, mdy?¡±

    ¡°No. Why do you ask?¡±

    ¡°Okay then. Apany me in my swordsmanship training. I¡¯ll tell you about our circumstances if you win against me.¡±

    After she heard my offer, the eyes of Ms.dy knight widened in surprise and then narrowed in delight soon after.

    ¡°That sounds good. Deciding things by way of the sword is a great suggestion. I may have underestimated you a bit much.¡±

    Ah, she¡¯s one of ¡®those¡¯ types huh. Thisdy was pretty and had an elegant way of speaking, but she¡¯s a muscle-head to the core.

    ¡°Kuh, kiiiill!¡±

    After roughly over thirty minutes, the female imperial guard, Isolde-san, showed an expression that seemed really inappropriate for ady.

    ¡°No killing please.¡±

    I brandished a pair of blunt training swords and retorted in bafflement.

    Well, y¡¯see, I sessfully borrowed the training grounds of the imperial guards and engaged Isolde-san in a practice match, but I ended up winning quite easily. I was also surprised, of course, but Isolde-san and the other imperial guards present at the grounds were even more surprised.

    ¡°O-One more match!¡±

    ¡°Oka?y.¡±

    Thedy imperial guard Isolde-san picked up her training sword that was blown away by me and challenged me again. As a qualified professional imperial guard, Isolde-san¡¯s movements were quite agile and powerful. Her swordsmanship was also very sharp.

    ¡°Haaa!¡±

    With tremendous momentum, Isolde-san wielded the training sword made of a tough and heavy stic-like material and shed it at me. But her move seemed pretty slow in my eyes. I wasn¡¯t even holding my breath and activating my ability. I was just used to Mei¡¯s attacks that were way more fast and powerful.

    ¡°Yo.¡±

    ¡°Nuuh!?¡±

    There¡¯s no doubt that Isolde-san was fast. She was fast, but Mei was just that much faster and stronger. Furthermore, her strikes were less uratepared to Mei¡¯s and she disyed far too many openings.

    ¡°Ah!?¡±

    I hit her sword-wielding hand and made her drop her weapon. I didn¡¯t give her the chance to recover the sword and immediately unleashed a sh to finish Isolde-san off.

    A buzzer rang out within the training grounds, and Isolde-san once again lost the match. With this, I already had a four-match winning streak.

    ¡°Kuh¡­¡­ Kill me!¡±

    ¡°Uh, the training system already judged that you¡¯ve been cut in half and killed though.¡±

    The training facility had advanced training equipment and systems that would allow you to simte a real sword fight while wielding blunt training swords. If you wore specialized headgear and shed at each other with the training swords, the system would automatically measure the damage dealt and impose appropriate penalties to the body.

    For example, if the right arm got shed, it would be paralyzed for the duration of the match. If a leg got shed, it would be immobile and you¡¯d most likely trip on the ground. If your fingers got shed, they¡¯d lose their gripping power and would no longer be able to hold the training sword. And if you get dealt a fatal blow, a buzzer will ring out, and you¡¯d be judged as dead. I don¡¯t know how exactly the whole system works though. Did they install sensors on the walls, ceiling, and ground, perhaps?

    ¡°He¡¯s handling that Isolde-san like it¡¯s child¡¯s y.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right¡­¡­ But is something like that really possible?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to hold back, Isolde. Use your full strength.¡±

    ¡°Barring the first match, I¡¯ve been giving my all from the second match onward!¡±

    Isolde-san got up, retrieved her sword, and got into a fighting stance again. It looks like she still wants to continue.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Come on then.¡±

    Isolde-san was pretty enthusiastic and attacked again. She unleashed a simple but powerful diagonal sh. Her step-in and swing speed were practically perfect. Fumu. I guess I have no choice but to receive her sword attack.

    I dropped my waist and decided to concentrate on parrying Isolde-san¡¯s sh. It seems that Isolde-san was one of the most prominent and skilled imperial guards, and this was a good opportunity for me to observe the imperial guard¡¯s swordy as well.

    ¡°Haa! Yaa! Sei!¡±

    I dodged and parried Isolde-san¡¯s storm-like series of attacks. All her attacks were heavy, sharp, and probably meant to end the fight in one hit. If we were seriously fighting with real swords, sparks would have been flying by now.

    ¡°You¡¯re slow.¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    But she was still quite slow for me. Her attacks were light. They were lightyears away from Mei¡¯s attacks. If I tried to parry Mei¡¯s attack like what I¡¯m doing now, my defense would probably get blown away instantly. And even if I did manage to parry her attacks somehow, my arms would be too numb to move after just one or two attacks and would then be rendered useless. Compared to those, Isolde-san¡¯s attacks were akin to a gentle breeze.

    ¡°Yaaa!¡±

    I parried the piercing thrust Isolde-san unleashed together with a sharp battle cry with the sword on my left hand, pulled my left foot outward, and unleashed a counterattack with the sword on my right hand. I aimed my attack on Isolde-san¡¯s chest. Isolde-san managed to twist her body and narrowly avoided my attack, but I then sharply stepped forward with my left foot that I just pulled back earlier, and cut Isolde-san¡¯s neck with the sword I used to parry her thrust, ending the match.

    ¡°Gunununu¡­¡­!¡±

    The buzzer rang out once more and Isolde-san was given the death penalty. If we were using real swords, Isolde-san¡¯s head would have been separated from her neck already.

    ¡°Just what style of swordsmanship is he practicing¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s simr to the Geos style, I think. But the footwork and defense techniques are quite different.¡±

    ¡°Can I ask for a match as well?¡±

    ¡°I will avenge Isolde¡¯s loss.¡±

    The imperial guards who were watching the matches between me and Isolde-san began moring for a match with me one after another. It looks like I won¡¯t have trouble finding training partners after all.

 Chapter 186 â€“ The Tournament: Swordsmanship Competition Part

    <h4>Chapter 186 - The Tournament: Swordsmanship Competition Part</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I spent my time training with the imperial guards, and on the second day of my stay at the imperial pce, the tournament¡¯s swordsmanship duel phase was finally going to begin.

    ¡°I ended up participating in the qualifying rounds after all. I was a seeded yer though.¡±

    Wasn¡¯t the winner of the tournament supposed to earn the right to challenge me? Such a hope was splendidly crushed by that whimsical emperor. His Imperial Majesty, no, that f**king emperor, even had the gall to say it was difficult to judge the caliber of a Gold Star awardee with just a few bouts, so I ended up entering the tournament right from the get-go as a result. Maybe my entry as a seeded participant was a form of mercy or something.

    ¡°Just give up already.¡±

    ¡°Please do your best!¡±

    Worse still, my waiting area was in a special location overlooking the entire stadium. Since it was overlooking the entire match venue, all the people in the stadium had a clear view of my seat as well. And for some reason, there was only a single goddamn sofa ced on my waiting area that seemed far too small and cramped forfort. In other words, three people could only sit on it if they squeezed their bodies together really tightly. Thanks to the sofa¡¯s splendidly arched back, we could only give up and stayed glued together without any space between the three of us.

    ¡°Now then, let us turn our attention to the person who singlehandedly caused this tournament to be held - Captain Hiro! However¡­¡­ Please take a good look, everyone! He is now sandwiched between two ravishing beauties! Whatposure he has!¡±

    ¡°I feel the surging passion of the mass media folks from here¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­The arrangements for the venue were all handled by the Internal Affairs Bureau.¡±

    ¡°In other words, it¡¯s that fu-¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s no good, Hiro-sama!¡±

    Mimi panicked and covered my mouth with her hand. Well, I guess calling the emperor a f**ker in this kind of ce is a recipe for trouble. I have to thank Mimi for stopping me-

    ¡°Is this theposure of the strong!? He is flirting with the girls without regard for the audience folks!¡±

    ¡°It looks like the eyes of each participant have be 20% sharper. Their fighting spirits have been ignited to the max!¡±

    The announcer and the guestmentator were having the time of their lives at my expense. Okay, you idiots! Whichpany do you guys work for, huuuh!?

    ¡°Now then, everyone has been fired up, and the matches will finally begin.¡±

    Maybe they noticed my murder-filled re. The announcer andmentator shifted their attention to the challengers on the field.

    The first match consisted of a knight who was a member of the imperial military and a noble from the Drawn Sword faction.

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°The Drawn Sword expert seems to have a slight upper hand. It¡¯s probably because the objectives of their training methods are different.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°The knights belonging to the imperial military primarily train to fight against enemies who don¡¯t wield swords themselves. Pirates, soldiers from enemy countries, and the like. On the other hand, Drawn Sword faction nobles usually train with fighting other swordsmen in mind. That¡¯s where the difference lies.¡±

    ¡°I see-¡±

    Just as I expected, the Drawn Sword faction noble handily defeated the knight from the imperial military. The second match was between two noblemen, but the gap between their skills was too obvious and the match was over in the blink of an eye. Next, it was an imperial guard versus a noble. The imperial guard narrowly secured victory. There was also a match between two imperial military knights, but they were far too simr in skill, so the match dragged on for a while. However, the final winner ended up being the knight with a smaller stature. That knight was probably a woman.

    ¡°Captain Hiro-sama. Your match is going to be held next, so please start your preparations.¡±

    A woman dressed in a maid outfit appeared before us and called out to me. Her eyes were biting cold as she gazed at my appearance while being hugged by Mimi and Elma from both sides. Yep. She was definitely looking at me as if I was utter trash. I got the shivers from her gaze.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be going then.¡±

    ¡°Please do your best, Hiro-sama!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you won¡¯t get yourself injured anyway, but be careful out there.¡±

    I followed the maid after I waved goodbye to Mimi and Elma. The ce the maid led me to was filled with various types of training swords. I selected training swords that corresponded to the length, shape, and weight of my personal swords and inserted them into my sword belt. Right after I selected my swords, I heard cheers erupt from the stadium. It looks like a match was decided again.

    ¡°Good luck.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    The maid sounded like she was giving me a heartfelt cheer while still ring at me icily. Oh c¡¯mon. It¡¯s not like I was the one who prepared that damn sofa. It was your Internal Affairs Bureau. Gimme a break, will you?

    ¡°Without further ado, everyone! Let us wee the up-anding mercenary who made this entire tournament happen, Captain Hiro!¡±

    The entire stadium erupted in cheers and jeers. Is it just me, or was I hearing more boos instead of cheering? Is it just my imagination? Should I give these rude folks the middle finger with both hands just for kicks then? I don¡¯t exactly hate ying the heel myself y¡¯know.

    ¡°The one who will be facing him is Lord Crias, a young baron who is making a name for himself as an up-anding swordsman of proven skills!¡±

    A familiar nobleman appeared on the other side of the stage amidst a bevy of cheers.

    ¡°I challenged you on that day in the hopes of this happening. It looks like I managed to achieve my goal in the end.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I see. Does that mean you really, really want to get miserably beaten up by me? You an M or something, man?¡±

    ¡°You bastard¡­¡­ A rootless nobody like you dares to fling insults at me!?¡±

    Baron Crias¡¯s expression warped from a mocking smile to a face filled with rage. Uh, isn¡¯t this guy¡¯s mentality a bit too fragile?

    ¡°Noo, how scaaary. Your swordsmanship will suffer if you don¡¯t control your emotions you know, oh Mr. high-and-mighty noble.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll maul you to death.¡±

    Lord Crias drew his sword. I also pulled out my own swords and got into a fighting stance.

    ¡°It looks like both sides are raring to go! Well then, match start!¡±

    The buzzer rang out at the same time as the announcer¡¯s shout, and the match finally started. Lord Crias raised his sword in an overhead stance and charged straight at me. His move expressed his single-minded intent to mow me down in one swing and his fierce temper. Maybe that¡¯s just how his personality is. I thrust my left sword forward and ced my right sword over my shoulder as I took one step ahead.

    ¡°Cheeeeaaaah!¡±

    Lord Crias quickly closed the gap between us and unleashed a fierce diagonal downward sh. The speed of his sh was akin to a sh of lightning. This must be what they mean by having a lightning-fast sword huh. I met the sh with the sword on my left hand- Not.

    I don¡¯t have any intention of taking such a strong attack head-on, so I changed my posture and pulled my leading foot backward in order to avoid Lord Crias¡¯ lightning-fast sh. I thenunched a counter using the sword in my right hand. The speed of my sh was above average, but its power wascking a bit.

    ¡°Guh-!?¡±

    However, Lord Crias immediately swung his sword upward when his first sh missed. It was a follow-up blow that was used in case the first swing failed to bring down the enemy. I immediately aimed at the hand Lord Crias gripped his sword with. His sh was fast, but mine was faster, and it connected first.

    Lord Crias¡¯s wrist and fingers were collectively judged to be¡ºcut off¡», and he could do nothing but drop his sword. I then mercilessly unleashed a sh with my left sword to cut off his right leg as well. Lord Crias¡¯s right leg immediately lost mobility and froze up.

    Since he was already helpless after losing his weapon and losing his mobility, I quickly finished him off by cutting his neck with my right sword.

    The buzzer signifying a death penalty rang out, and amotion erupted in the stadium once more. Lord Crias, with his neck cut off and given the death penalty, gazed up at me with a nk stare.

    ¡°W-What a shocking result! Just what happened over there!? Lord Crias suddenly dropped his sword and the match was settled in an instant!?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What terrifying swordy. There were no wasted movements in Mercenary Hiro¡¯s sword swings at all. Hepletely saw through Lord Crias¡¯ attack, predicted his moves, and perfectly countered him. His swordsmanship stylebines uncanny dynamic vision, prediction ability, and unrivaled shing uracy and speed. Truly superb!¡±

    I sheathed my training swords back on my sword belt and left the match stage. Lord Crias was still stunned frozen and couldn¡¯t stand up on his own. Oh well. The officials will take care of the guy.

    As I made my way back to my personal waiting area, one of the nearby spectators gave me some apuse. Gradually, more and more spectators pped, until the entire audience was up on their feet and cheering. I responded by waving my hand at them and returned to my seat.

    ¡°Hiro-sama! You were amazing!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the result of getting beat up every day by Mei after all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s the result of me spilling buckets of tears and blood.¡±

    The fighting style of Baron Crias was used on me by Mei a great number of times already. It seems that style was the basic style used by the Drawn Sword faction. They opened up the opponent¡¯s guard by preemptivelyunching a lightning-fast and powerful strike. And in case the first attack got avoided, they immediatelyunched an equally fastbo sh to finish the job. In other words, it was a two-hit kill sword style. If I tried to receive the first sh head-on, my defense would crumble due to its power, and when I tried to avoid it, the follow-up sh would getunched immediately. And so, I got beaten up repeatedly by these two sh attacks during my training to the point of vomiting blood until I could sessfully counter them¡­¡­ I vomited blood again and again. It was after vomiting buckets of blood and bile that I was finally able to reliably counter this two-hit kill sword technique. But the moment I seeded, Mei suddenly changed her moves!

    Don¡¯t just watch the opponent¡¯s sword but the entire body in order to predict their moves, you say? Predict what kind of attack the opponent will throw at you from various positions? Learn with your body about the effective methods to respond to your opponent¡¯s attacks? And so, Mei forcefully cultivated my ability to read ahead with such over the top training sessions.

    Meh. It was easier than predicting how the enemy ships would move based on limited information from the radar. As long as the opponent was human, their range of motion was more or less fixed. It was rtively easy to remember what kind of attack they would be capable of pulling off based on their body posture.

    Well, if I failed to predict an attack, I¡¯ll be blown away by a ck metal baton and vomit blood all over again after all. I was pretty desperate.

    I then fought two more matches. The second person I fought was an imperial military knight. Instead of going on the attack, the female military knight focused on defense and fought me steadily. But I pressed on the attack myself instead, and after a fierce exchange of counter-shes, I managed to incapacitate her.

    The next person I fought was an elderly knight belonging to the imperial guards. This elderly knight was quite strong. He¡¯d pull away when he needed to pull away, and attacked when there was enough of an opening. However, he was still slower than Mei, his sword was less precise, and his power was weaker. I repeatedly locked swords with him and fought at extremely close range while whittling his stamina and concentration until I managed to deliver a deadly blow to his nk. He was a great opponent.

    And so, it was now my fourth match.

    ¡°To be honest, I almost gave up on challenging you since it seemed that I wouldn¡¯t be given an opportunity.¡±

    ¡°Is that so.¡±

    The man who stood in front of me had distinctly long ears. And his face resembled someone I knew very well to some extent.

    ¡°If I win against you, I will have you release Elma immediately!¡±

    ¡°No, uh, don¡¯t use a precious imperial edict for something petty like that, brother-inw.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me brother-inw!¡±

    The elven man, Ernst Willrose, pointed a finger at me with saliva flying out of his mouth as he shouted in anger. He then brought his hand to his sword¡¯s hilt. I drew my two swords and got into a stance myself. The buzzer for the start of the match rang out.

    ¡°Haaah!¡±

    Ernst circled around me andunched attacks from spots beyond my reach. He never tried to close in on me and kept trying to whittle me down with numerous attacks thatcked some punch.

    ¡°Oi, oi. Getting cold feet, are you?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t fall for such provocations!¡±

    Apparently, Ernst has analyzed my previous battles quite well. He seems to be wary ofmitting to an all-out attack and eating a counter. He¡¯s also keeping enough distance so I won¡¯t be able to easily close in on him if I wanted to.

    No matter how much I¡¯ve trained, it would be impossible for me to attain the same level as nobles who¡¯ve undergone the best physical enhancements since they were young. And so, I won¡¯t be able to close the gap with an enemy noble intent on keeping his distance. ¡­Normally, that is.

    ¡°Suu¡­¡­!¡±

    I held my breath, and the entire world started moving at a snail¡¯s pace.

    ¡°What!?¡±

    My body¡¯s movements also slowed down a bit, but not as much as the movements of everything else around me. I closed the gap with Ernst, who now sported a shocked expression, unleashed a sh with the rest of the world moving in slow-motion, and hit the hand Ernst used to wield his sword without him being able to defend or evade at all.

    ¡°Impossible!? What were those movements earlier!?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s basic to have one or two trump cards in reserve for emergencies you know.¡±

    I closed in on Ernst, who had already dropped his sword and whose expression was filled with utter shock, and unleashed consecutive shes using both my swords. If I were using real swords, I would have cut his body up into four parts cleanly. The death penalty buzzer rang out once more, and the match finally ended.

    ¡°Alrighty then. Don¡¯t mention the thing about Elma in the future again brother-inw. I won after all.¡±

    I left Ernst, who sported a frustrated look, and walked off the stage.

    I won two more matches after this and achieved a grand victory in the swordsmanshippetition.

 Chapter 187 â€“ Celebratory Toast

    <h4>Chapter 187 - Celebratory Toast</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°To today¡¯s victory. Cheers.¡±

    ¡°Cheers?!¡±

    ¡°Cheers.¡±

    Mimi and Elma responded with gusto when I raised a toast. However, I drank carbonated stuff bought straight from the capital, and Mimi got 100% All-natural fruit juice for herself, so there was only one person actually drinking alcohol in the room- No, make that two.

    ¡°I got splendidly trounced by you though.¡±

    The one who raised a voice in protest and sported a sour look unfit for the celebratory mood was a handsome man with long, pointed ears - Elma¡¯s brother, Ernst.

    ¡°Since the match is over, let¡¯s just let bygones be bygones, right, brother-inw?¡±

    ¡°I told you not to call me brother-inw¡­¡­ Haaah.¡±

    Ernst sighed in defeat. His gestures really resembled Elma¡¯s. I guess he really was her brother. Who knows? Maybe it was actually Elma who took after Ernst.

    ¡°Though it pains me to admit so, it is a fact that you have bested me. And it looks like Elma recognizes and epts you as well. It doesn¡¯t seem like you are holding her hostage using her debt as an excuse. You have bested reputed knights and noblemen in singlebat. You are also the holder of the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal and Gold Star, in addition to being a certified tinum-rank mercenary. It seems I have no choice but to ept you. I still do not want you calling me brother-inw, but yes, I do recognize you.¡±

    ¡°Hey, Elma. Why is this guy so uppity?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tease him, you.¡±

    Elma yfully pinched my nose in exasperation. Nuu, I got told off.

    ¡°You really are Elma-san¡¯s brother¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi intently stared at Ernst¡¯s face while holding her cup with both hands. T-That¡¯s no good, Mimi! He¡¯s certainly a really handsome guy who resembles Elma¡­¡­ but that¡¯s no good!

    ¡°Well, I admit we do look alike.¡±

    ¡°Elma and I both take after our father more after all.¡±

    They looked at each other¡¯s faces and shrugged in unison.

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I meant. I mean the way you just can¡¯t be honest with yourselves sometimes is really simr.¡±

    ¡°Mimi??¡±

    ¡°Uwaaan!¡±

    Elma sat down beside Mimi in a huff and red at her. Then she started to pinch Mimi¡¯s cheeks. What a lovely sight. Not being honest with themselves huh¡­¡­? I met gazes with Ernst. I saw an unpleasant expression on his fair face. It was a face of denial.

    ¡°However, I did not think I would ever get to dine with Elma in a private guest room within the imperial pce. I could not imagine this ever happening five years ago.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the same, dear brother. I even thought I would never set foot on the capital ever again.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s like meeting Hiro-sama paved the way for you to restore the rtions between you and your family huh, Elma-san. How wonderful.¡±

    ¡°Uh, isn¡¯t that a little bit of a stretch¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well, I probably wouldn¡¯t evene near the sectors close to the capital if I didn¡¯t meet you, Hiro. So I think it¡¯s not that farfetched of a story.¡±

    After hearing Elma¡¯s statement, Ernst¡¯s eyes widened in shock. It looks like the thought of Elma not wanting toe home didn¡¯t even cross his mind.

    ¡°¡­¡­Regardless of what happened, it is true that you have brought Elma back to the capital and her home, so I suppose I do have to thank you for that.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s suddenly being so agreeable. Just how worried are you about your sister getting together with me anyway?¡±

    ¡°You might not like hearing this, but in my eyes, you mercenaries are just a loose group of thugs who possess a weak sense of belonging to our fair empire. Tell me then. Why should I not be worried about my frail and lovely sister getting together with you?¡±

    ¡°Frail and lovely¡­¡­? Uh, I guess I agree with the ¡®lovely¡¯ par- Oow! Oooow!¡±

    Elma pinched my thigh in displeasure. See! You call this frail!?

    ¡°But didn¡¯t you help me run away from home in the first ce, dear brother?¡±

    ¡°Come now, Elma. What kind of brother would allow his sweet and pretty sister to get preyed upon by all the crafty and repulsive trash out there? But that is that and this is this. There hasn¡¯t been a day when I didn¡¯t worry for my dear little sister who had jumped out into a dangerous world beyond my reach.¡±

    ¡°Man, you really are a hardcore siscon.¡±

    ¡°You have a very nice big brother, Elma-san.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m already used to his overprotectiveness, but I¡¯m not sure if I should be thankful for it¡­¡­ Come to think of it, whatever happened to that guy anyway? I heard the engagement fell through after I hid my whereabouts?¡±

    Engagement, you say?

    ¡°Ah, there¡¯s no need to worry about him any longer. There was no way for the engagement to hold since you already escaped on a small-ss starship and got listed as missing after all. Father handled things well and cleanly broke off the engagement. Things would have been great if this guy wasn¡¯t here and you decided toe back home on your own instead, Elma.¡±

    After saying so, Ernst turned a spiteful gaze at me.

    ¡°Oh? What? You wanna have another go? I won¡¯t duel with you using real swords y¡¯know? I ain¡¯t brawling against you with fists either. I¡¯m a staunch advocate of pacifism. If you really wanna have a go, then let¡¯s use our starships and perform a mock battle instead.¡±

    ¡°Be clear if you wanna act tough or chicken out, you¡­¡­ Now you¡¯re just tantly trying to goad him into fighting against you using your specialty.¡±

    ¡°You bastard. Didn¡¯t you just win against me in a sword fight¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s that, and this is this. I¡¯ll pass on trading lives with swords any day. It hurts when you get cut, you bleed a lot, and you might die y¡¯know. I won¡¯t lose when ites to ship-to-shipbat though.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s quite a bold im.¡±

    ¡°Of course. I¡¯m a Gold Star awardee after all.¡±

    I responded to the sarcastic Ernst with a taunting grin. Fuhahaha, I¡¯m a Gold Star awardee y¡¯know? I¡¯m a tinum ranker too. It might sound presumptuous, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll lose to anyone when ites to shipbat. I didn¡¯t do much PVP since I found it troublesome, but since I was a solo merc, I naturally had plenty ofbat experience under my belt. My main opponents were NPC and yer pirates. I did fight quite a number of space monsters as well though.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­ You will engage in the meleebatpetition in three days, correct? It would be good if you manage not to lose face there.¡±

    ¡°Ah, that huh. How exactly would this meleebatpetition y out anyway? We won¡¯t be killing each other with power armors andser guns, I hope?¡±

    The swordsmanshippetition was a series of matches using training swords, and the space battle tournament was a mock battle in space using starships. But I¡¯m not sure what the meleebatpetition is all about. Basically, my definition of meleebat was to forcibly board a starship and engage in CQC with the crew in order to take the ship over. It¡¯s impossible for it to be a one-on-one thing, and there are differences in everyone¡¯s personal equipment as well. Just how would they judge if you were good in melee engagements anyway?

    ¡°What? So you don¡¯t know? Well then, I¡¯ll be gracious and lecture you.¡±

    With that said, Ernst began lecturing me about the particrs of the meleebatpetition. To put it simply, the so-called meleebatpetition can be likened to an extreme obstacle race. Think of it as an extreme version of the [1]SAS*KE obstacle coursepetition you see on TV.

    First, a major premise was forpetitors to use equipment they¡¯ve prepared themselves. Of course, this would cause a disparity in the equipment quality depending on one¡¯s financial capability, but in thispetition that emphasizes simtion of actualbat conditions, financial capability is treated as just another factor of one¡¯s overall strength. And so, entrants unable to prepare decent equipment for themselves are kicked out from the start. Was your opponent better-equipped? It¡¯s your fault for not bringing good equipment. Anyway, that¡¯s the rationale behind it.

    Yeah. It certainly was ¡®extreme¡¯.

    Thepetitors will each rush into their own assigned battlefields and beginbat immediately. The battlefields are supposed to simte variousbat situations and environments, such as CQCbat aboard a hostile ship, inside colonies, or a jungle on some alien.

    Thepetition will make use of a military training facility that could recreate such varied environments using abination of hologram projectors and replicators.

    ¡°That sure sounds like a serious waste of tech.¡±

    ¡°By the way, the ones that will be serving as enemies in thepetition arebat bot models from the various roboticspanies based in the capital. It seems they will treat it as an opportunity to record valuable battle data as well.¡±

    ¡°Those profiteers. They just don¡¯t miss any opportunity huh¡­¡­¡±

    Were they not worried about protecting ssified tech or something? But, I see. I can bring my own equipment huh. I see¡­ I¡¯ll give thepetition rules a good readter. Ah, I¡¯ll have to get them to deliver the weapon stockpiles I had from the ck Lotus¡¯s armoryter. There are also some stored on Krishna as well. Wait. Should I just procure the consumables here? My power armor and main weapons are all stored inside Krishna anyway, so I just have to worry about procuring grenades and ammo.

    ¡°Um, you¡¯re making that nasty expression again, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s probably plotting something again.¡±

    ¡°What are you saying, you two? You make it seem like I¡¯m some despicable viin. I ain¡¯t nning to use a mini reactive bomb or anything.¡±

    ¡°Of course you won¡¯t! Elma, is this guy really okay?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s probably okay¡­¡­ I think. Uh, well, I wonder though. He did make use of that Singing Crystalst time¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Singing Crystal!?¡±

    Oops. Leave it at that, Elma. That¡¯s a gray area that¡¯s dangerously close to ck y¡¯know. If they found out, I¡¯m doubtful I¡¯d get away with just a reprimand. So don¡¯t say anymore.

    And c¡¯mon. I¡¯m just gonna use my equipment effectively, okay. It¡¯s fine. Absolutely no problem.

    ¡°Rather than that, I¡¯m more interested in Elma¡¯s former fianc¨¦e. He won¡¯t suddenly rear his ugly head again, will he?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that will happen, but if it does, I¡¯ll make sure to take care of it and not cause trouble for you, Hiro.¡±

    Elma dered so with a sour but determined look. I responded by flicking Elma¡¯s forehead.

    ¡°Idiot. I don¡¯t really mind that sort of trouble. Instead of getting worried on your own, it¡¯s better to consult with us and think up countermeasures together.¡±

    ¡°Can you not flirt with my sister in my presence?¡±

    ¡°No way. So, what kind of guy is he anyway? Both brother-inw and Elma seem to hate him a lot.¡±

    ¡°I already told you not to call me brother¡­¡­ Haaah. Fine. The identity of Elma¡¯s former fianc¨¦e is the second son of Marquis Elzar. He¡¯s total garbage who switches women as often as he switches his clothes. It would be good if he was just your typical womanizer, but he also makes use of his parent¡¯s influence and power to his heart¡¯s content.¡±

    ¡°He sounds like the stereotypical hopeless aristocrat, but why are they letting him do as he pleases? Or rather, even if he¡¯s the second son of a marquis, how could you bear to match Elma, who¡¯s the daughter of a viscount, with scum like him?¡±

    Sure a marquis is higher in rankpared to a viscount, but how could a father bear to offer his younger daughter to such a notorious yboy?

    ¡°The marquis directly came to father and begged him on bended knee to marry Elma to his second son. It seems like he was hoping to put a leash on his wayward son¡¯s behavior by marrying him to Elma.¡±

    ¡°Just why¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Elma is sweet and beautiful, but she¡¯s also reputed to have inherited the strength of body and character of a true member of House Willrose¡­¡­ Well, that led to her fleeing from the imperial capital in the end though.¡±

    ¡°In other words, you¡¯re saying she¡¯s considered strong enough topletely hold down that prodigal so- Gaaaaah!?¡±

    Elma swiftly caught hold of my arm and subjected it to a painful joint lock. This! They were referring to this!

    ¡°Umm¡­¡­ So, is there a possibility that the second son of Marquis Elzar will try to get in touch with Elma-san again¡­¡­?¡±

    Since I was subjected to Elma¡¯s tyranny and physical violence, Mimi swiftly took over the conversation. That¡¯s my Mimi. So considerate. But could you also do something about this ferocious elf?

    ¡°Well, by the decree of His Imperial Majesty, people are expressly forbidden toy a hand on Hiro¡¯s loved ones after all. Of course, that extends to you, my sister, and those twin dwarven engineers stationed at your ship. However, once the tournament ends, that decree will be rendered ineffective. But even so, I suppose most imperial nobles will still think twice aboutying a hand on you all after the tournament ends. They do not want to attract our Emperor¡¯s ire after all. I think you do not have to worry so much under normal circumstances.¡±

    ¡°So what about the possibility of that second son popping out to bother Elma?¡±

    I managed to free myself from Elma¡¯s joint lock and asked Ernst.

    ¡°I cannotpletely dismiss such a possibility. He¡¯s a fairly impatient and impulsive sort of person after all. However, I believe it is Lady Mimi who¡¯s more in danger as opposed to Elma.¡±

    ¡°Me!?¡±

    Mimi let out a shocked cry. I wasn¡¯t surprised though. If you think about it, it would be more likely for that second son of Marquis Elzar or whatever to focus on harassing Mimi. She¡¯s an easier mark, so to speak.

    Elma¡¯s the daughter of a viscount, so there¡¯s a risk of antagonizing House Willrose if he pushes his luck. But Mimi was amoner. At least, that¡¯s what¡¯s on the official records. For a nobleman who¡¯s drunk on abusing his power, it was far easier toy his hands on Mimi who was amoner.

    He probably treats the Imperial Princess as an untouchable flower on high even for the second son of a marquis. Don¡¯t mention flirting. Maybe he doesn¡¯t even have that many opportunities to catch a glimpse of her.

    So what would that guy do when he hears about amoner who looks exactly like the princess? For a serial womanizer like him, it would be something too good to pass up.

    ¡°Even so, something like that won¡¯t happen normally.¡±

    She might not beparable to Princess Luciada, but Mimi, who was well known as a member of my crew, was considered as a sort of untouchable existence for most nobles too. I already disyed my prowess in the swordsmanshippetition, and I n to make even more of an impact in this uing meleebatpetition. I think they won¡¯t dare provoke someone like me who can be seen as violence incarnate.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s true, but¡­¡­ that guy isn¡¯t normal after all.¡±

    ¡°I see. He isn¡¯t normal huh¡­¡­¡±

    It looks like I can¡¯t let my guard down any time soon. Geez. How troublesome.

    Anyway, I¡¯ll focus on preparing for the meleebatpetition in three days. Let¡¯s deal with the most pressing issue first.

    [1] TL Notes: SASUKE is a Japanese sports entertainment TV special that¡¯s better known in the West as Ninja Warrior. It¡¯s been airing in Japan since 1997 and is basically a four-stage obstacle coursepetition with a hundred participants. It¡¯s named after Sarutobi Sasuke, a fictitious shinobi. And no, he¡¯s not someone from Naruto.

 Chapter 188 â€“ The Tournament: Melee Combat Part

    <h4>Chapter 188 - The Tournament: Melee Combat Part</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After three days, the meleebatpetition was finally going to be held. Thest three days weren¡¯t exactly peaceful.

    ¡ºMy name is Shunji Gaiden! I desire to have a bout with you!¡»

    ¡ºMy name is White Rose! I would like to have a duel with you! It does not matter whether you opt for a spar or a serious match!¡»

    ¡ºHiro-dono, let¡¯s train! The rest of the imperial guards are waiting for us already! C¡¯mon!¡»

    Drawn Sword experts who didn¡¯t manage to participate in the swordsmanshippetition, a suspicious person who wore a gaudy white mask and costume with a rose motif, and disappointing beautiful female imperial knights¡­ These people kept bugging me to either fight or train with them nonstop for thest three days. I already told you guys I¡¯m busy preparing for the meleebat tournament, right!?

    Or rather, you imperial guards! Yes, I¡¯m talking to you guys! Why haven¡¯t you thrown out that weirdo in a white mask and costume yet!? The heck are you guys doing!?

    ¡ºUm, it¡¯s because Michael- I mean White Rose-dono has no problem regarding his background.¡»

    Hey, White Rose! Your true identity¡¯s already been found out y¡¯know.

    ¡ºPlease just treat it as if you haven¡¯t heard anything. He is the mysterious swordsman White Rose. He most certainly has nothing to do with Duke Greizes. Are we clear?¡»

    Ah, I see. So everybody¡¯s seen through the good duke¡¯s gaudy cosy, but they just chose not to expose him huh. Or rather, they can¡¯t.

    ¡ºHe¡¯s basically not doing anything particrly vile¡­ or rather, he¡¯s actually a big help since he uses his own well-built informationwork to get rid of nobles who do bad deeds, so he¡¯s sort of like a local hero around these parts. Though he does make quite a ridiculous mess of things at times, so we have to break our backs trying to clean up after him. Haha.¡»

    I see. So they treat him like an elderly nobleman who makes blunders from time to time huh. But dukes really have a lot of power and influence huh. By the way, Mr. White Rose was knocked out by a maidroid who made ate appearance and brought out of the room. She was a cool-type maidroid who possessed a different temperamentpared to Mei. I feel like White Rose and she will be good friends with each other.

    I fended off the advances of such individuals while continuing to prepare for the meleebatpetition. The prep work was surprisingly troublesome as well, and I had to make a list of what I would bring to thepetition in advance and submit it for approval.

    Well, since I had to do it, I might as well be thorough. I have a lot of stuff I want to have approved after all. The nice thing is that the imperial family will cover all the expenses for consumables such as grenades, ammunition, and energy packs. I¡¯m gonna go ham and hand a huge invoice over to that f**king emperor!

    ¡­Nah, it¡¯s no use. Yep, no use at all. Consumables for meleebat aren¡¯t particrly expensive no matter how much you buy after all. At most, I¡¯d be able to use up a few tens of thousands of Enels. Oh well. Let¡¯s stop thinking of unnecessary stuff and do what we gotta do, shall we?

    ¡°Hiro-sama, are you okay?¡±

    Mimi called out to me while looking up at my face with a worried gaze.

    We were now inside the training facility that will serve as thepetition venue for today. Arge number of audience seats have been hurriedly installed within the building for the tournament, and the facility already resembled an indoor stadium.

    Normally, public events like this one weren¡¯t really supposed to be hosted by military training facilities, so there weren¡¯t any pre-installed audience seats. Even though there weren¡¯t any originally, they made full use of the training facility¡¯s battlefield simtion capabilities in order to create the seats on short notice. Man, the scale of the empire¡¯s methods really is something.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine. I was just thinking about what happened these past three days.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­ It sure was hectic, wasn¡¯t it?¡±

    Mimi smiled bitterly andughed it off, but even she had it rough since Princess Luciada invited her every day for tea as well. I wasn¡¯t able to observe what happened at those tea parties all that much since I kept getting bothered by those idiots, but it looks like they were able to properly get along at least.

    By the way, Elma had it the easiest out of the three of us. She would either quietly drink some tea while fiddling with her tablet terminal or join Mimi and Princess Luciada at their tea parties.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you won¡¯t get yourself injured, but be careful anyway, okay?¡±

    ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll properly look out for myself.¡±

    Our opponents arebat bots after all. The energy cells they use for their power source might explode due to a badly ced hit or two, so I really do have to be careful. As for their armaments, it seems they were equipped with training weapons to avoid causing the participants any injuries.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be going then. Let¡¯s go, Mei.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master.¡±

    I left the participant¡¯s waiting area with Mei in tow- but Elma suddenly got in our way.

    ¡°Just hold on a minute, you! Why are you taking Mei with you anyway?¡±

    ¡°Huh? But she¡¯s part of my equipment y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Hah?¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Elma and Mimi widened their eyes in surprise.

    ¡°It¡¯s finally time! It¡¯s the second phase of the tournament, the meleebatpetition! The rules are as exined earlier folks! The participants will use the equipment they brought in to break through extremely harsh battlefields! Of course, really careless decisions will be given a death penalty, and the participant¡¯s challenge will end there. If both participants are given the death penalty, we will determine the final oue through the difference in their scores!¡±

    The announcer¡¯s voice echoed throughout the training facility, and the audience - who were mostly nobles - cheered loudly in response. While that was going on, I stood by while wearing my personal power armor as I waited for thepetition to begin with Mei and the other participants.

    My equipment this time was my power armor, RIKISHI mk. III, along with my two new hatchet guns. And the weapon mount on the back was equipped with a standard sma grenadeuncher. This particr model was an auto-grenadeuncher that fires using the power armor¡¯s targeting system and was loaded with sma grenades that cause super-heated sma explosions. I¡¯m nning on destroying most of the obstacles that will get in the way with this baby.

    In addition, RIKISHI was equipped with a good number of fixed weapons such as shoulder-mountedser guns. The hatchet guns I was gonna use for the first time today were closebat weapons that doubled asser shotguns.

    ¡°Now then, let¡¯s check out the man of the hour, Captain Hiro himself¡­¡­ Oh my. That sure is one evil-looking- I mean intimidating power armor folks.¡±

    ¡°Fumu, it¡¯s a model I¡¯ve never seen before. It¡¯s a heavy-armored power type from the looks of it. Perhaps it¡¯s specially built to counter other power armors.¡±

    ¡°I see. By the way, a maidroid is with him for some reason.¡±

    ¡°ording to the materials I have on hand, he asked the tournament managementmittee if it was possible to bring in a maidroid as well three days ago. And after a thorough discussion, themittee saw no reason to refuse his request and granted it.¡±

    ¡°I see. I do think maidroids aren¡¯t really suited for livebat though¡­¡­ However, it looks like she¡¯s carrying some pretty fearsome-looking weapons, isn¡¯t she?¡±

    Mei was carrying theseruncher that was remodeled by the mechanic sisters. More specifically, she was carrying a modifiedseruncher with a brutal feel to it. It seems she could freely use it as a close-range bludgeon without any problem. As a result of the mod, its weight was practically doubled, but it looks like Mei can wield it just fine. And, of course, the limiters ced on her were released, but just for the duration of thepetition.

    ¡°That she is. It looks like he has quite a few female crew members on his ships, so the maidroid might have been specially customized to double as their bodyguard.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ But if that¡¯s the case, then why weren¡¯t the other participants allowed to bring inbat bots themselves?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s becausebat bots are expressly prohibited by the rules. It looks like Captain Hiro has sessfully managed to take advantage of a loophole in the rules.¡±

    The guestmentator, who seemed like a guy affiliated with the military, grinned wryly as he exined. Well, Mei ended up costing 470,000 Enels due to her extensive customization though. It goes even higher if you take into ount her optional upgrades and other equipment. Honestly, you could probably buy a whole set ofbat bots for that price. You can even buy a single specializedbat bot that would be able to somewhat exceed Mei¡¯s performance specs with that kind of money. Spending so much to customize a maidroid that was originally more geared for domestic purposes probably seemed like a crazy idea to most folks.

    ¡°I don¡¯t regret it one bit though.¡±

    ¡°Master?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. Let¡¯s both do our best, Mei.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please leave it to me.¡±

    ¡°Haaaa!¡±

    I repeatedly fired my hatchet guns and cleaned up thebat bots deployed on a passageway withser scatter-shots.

    ¡°Ushaa!¡±

    I struck one hatchet gun against abat bot that suddenly jumped out from the side of the passageway and crushed it. Mei also wielded her customseruncher and freely smashed thebat bots by swinging it around. Is that really alright? Won¡¯t its internals get damaged or something?

    ¡°Mei, what about our target?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re two walls away from it.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    I blew the wall to pieces with my sma grenadeuncher and cleaned up the waitingbat bots beyond it with my hatchet guns, shoulder-mountedser guns, and Mei with her customseruncher. Since we came in from a spot other than the entrance, their response was one stepte. That one step determined victory and defeat.

    ¡°Captain Hiro has reached the goooaaal! His opponent is still on Stage 2! Oh, he just retired folks. It seems he determined there¡¯s no way to turn things around anymore.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s probably it. Under thepetition rules, it¡¯s more advantageous to quickly clear the stages instead of steadily umting points. There¡¯s a danger of getting pped with a death penalty if you get too careless while trying to speedrun the stage, however, if you do manage to reach the goal quickly without incurring a death penalty, it would be next to impossible for the opponent to reverse the situation. That¡¯s probably why the other participant opted to retire and admitted defeat.¡±

    The announcer and the guestmentator exined away without missing a step.

    ¡°But Captain Hiro¡¯s performance is exemry, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°He does have the assistance of that custom maidroid and that excellent power armor, but that¡¯s not all there is to him. His positioning is precise, and his situational awareness and tactical judgment are almost wless. It¡¯s to the point that he¡¯s probably on par - if not better - than a trained professional imperial marine. I would even like to recruit him for my squad if possible.¡±

    Gimme a break, man. I¡¯m not gonna spend my days hanging out with military macho men, thank you very much.

    And so, I was able tofortably snag an overall victory in the meleebatpetition. Yeah, I guess bringing Mei with me was a bit of overkill after all.

    ¡°You are excellent both as a knight and a soldier, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Uh, well¡­¡­ I am greatly honored by your praise.¡±

    The dinner I had after snatching victory in the meleebatpetition wasn¡¯t the usual dinner for three people. I was currently together with Princess Luciada. More specifically, I alone was invited by Princess Luciada to have dinner with her.

    When thepetition concluded earlier, imperial guards suddenly came before me with a message from the emperor that went something like ¡®As congrattions for winning thepetition today, I shall especially allow you to have dinner with my prized granddaughter.¡¯

    It would be bad if I refused, right? When I asked Mimi, Elma, and Mei, I was told to just go along with it because it really would be bad if I refused. And so, that¡¯s how I got myself in my current situation.

    ¡°Rather, you are as beautiful as always tonight, Your Highness¡­¡­ Is that what I should be saying next?¡±

    In fact, Her Imperial Highness, Princess Luciada always wore dresses and essories suited for a highborn princess and looked very beautiful even with just some light makeup. Instead of calling her cute, lovely or beautiful might be more appropriate. Mimi would always appear cute no matter how hard she tried, so this might be a result of the natural elegance and subtle gestures the princess was able to internalize due to her upbringing.

    ¡°And I would reply with a polite thank you.¡±

    ¡°You look like you¡¯re tired of hearing suchpliments though.¡±

    Princess Luciada just smiled in reply. I see.

    ¡°So, just between you and me Your Highness, you were the one who wished for this dinner to happen, right?¡±

    ¡°Why do you think so?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for saying something that may sound rude, but this kind of reward is a bit too in for His Imperial Majesty who seems to like shy stuff.¡±

    That damn emperor would have surely given a shier reward that would trouble me to no end. For example, he might just hand me ownership of an underdeveloped habitable somewhere. No, seriously. He just might. Man, just give me a damn break already.

    ¡°So you think dinner with me is in, do you?¡±

    ¡°That is not what I meant, Your Highness. Also, puffing up your cheeks like that is seriously cute as heck, so please let me off already.¡±

    When she puffs up her cheeks in dissatisfaction, her beautiful impression gets thrown out the window and changes to being cute. She actually looks exactly like Mimi in moments like this.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t had any opportunity to talk at length with you, so I asked His Imperial Majesty to create one. It¡¯s unfortunate that you seem to find it unpleasant.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t pout like that. I don¡¯t really find it unpleasant. Honest.¡±

    ¡°Really? So, then, Captain Hiro. You¡¯ve been avoiding me, haven¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah-¡±

    Princess Luciada pressed me with furrowed brows, and I ended up averting my gaze.

    ¡°Well, you see, you¡¯re aware you look a lot like Mimi right, Your Highness? ¡­¡­I wanted to avoid saying something or acting in a rude way, so I tried to keep a respectable distance.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Uh, in other words, if you keep furrowing your brows and pouting cutely like that, I might just end up giving you head-pats and such¡­¡­ Also, I¡¯m actually bad at talking in polite speech y¡¯see.¡±

    I can, of course, converse politely to some extent depending on the other party. Yep. It depends on who I¡¯m talking to. I¡¯m obviously out of my league when my partner is a princess of a space empire. It would be troublesome if I get pointed at with a sword by the imperial guards if I said or did something rude to royalty, so I tried to keep away as much as possible.

    ¡°But I want to talk with you more. You do not have to watch your words. It would be different if my speaking partner was a noble, but I will not hold it against a mercenary like you or a normal girl like Mimi-san if you do not converse with me in a formal manner.¡±

    ¡°Well, thanks then.¡±

    It¡¯s all well and good if you see it like that, Your Highness. But you see, I¡¯ve already been marked by a strange guy for acting rude toward you or something a few days back y¡¯know. With that, I think it would be impossible not to mind my words.

    ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m personally dissatisfied with being with you, Your Highness. If anything, my actions were unavoidable in order to protect myself and the others from unnecessary trouble, or perhaps you could say I was just acting in ordance to my station.¡±

    ¡°Well then, considerations like that will be unnecessary from now on. You can talk with me in the same manner as you do with Mimi-san and Elma-san.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Is it really okay?¡±

    I gave a quick nce at the female knight who was ring sharply at me from behind. The female imperial guard - it looks like it wasn¡¯t Isolde tonight - looked at me with an even sharper gaze, but since Her Imperial Highness already gave me permission, I decided not to mind it.

    ¡°Yes, please believe me.¡±

    After saying so, Princess Luciada turned her gaze toward the female knight who was ring at me, and the female knight finally averted her eyes. Man. Now that¡¯s royal power.

    ¡°If you¡¯ll excuse me then¡­¡­ What sort of thing do you want to talk about, Your Highness?¡±

    ¡°Can you tell me in your own words about your battle with the crystal lifeforms from the beginning?¡±

    ¡°OK. But I¡¯m not a professional bard, so I¡¯m not sure if I can rte everything in a proper way. Are you fine with that?¡±

    ¡°No, I expect you to do your best.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ How strict.¡±

    And so, I started talking about the Crystal Campaign with Princess Luciada, who kept smiling angelically even after demanding some pretty harsh storytelling standards, as I scratched the back of my head.

 Chapter 189 â€“ A Glimpse of the Imperial Princessâ€™ Hobby

    <h4>Chapter 189 - A Glimpse of the Imperial Princess¡¯ Hobby</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    It was now the second day of me spending my time telling stories of my misadventures to Princess Luciada. Because I¡¯ve nearly run out of topics, I ended up blurting out some of the details of my meeting with Chris. It¡¯s not like I revealed all the particrs though. I just told her we somehow got caught up in House Dareinwald¡¯s mess, met the earl¡¯s granddaughter Christina-san and lived with her for a short while. I then showed her some of the souvenir holo-pics and holo-videos we took on Sierra III.

    But it looks like the story really stoked Princess Luciada¡¯s curiosity, and on the following day, she actually invited Chris herself to the pce for a tea party.

    And then-

    ¡°Hics. Uguuuuuu, Chris-chaaaaan!¡±

    ¡°Nn-!?¡±

    After hearing Chris¡¯s life story from her own mouth, Princess Luciada ended tearing up and gave Chris a smothering hug. Uh, it¡¯s fine if you wanna hug her Your Highness, but Chris is already having trouble breathing cuz her head¡¯s buried into your chest, so can you please let her off already- Hm?

    ¡°It feels like I¡¯m having a deja vu.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°U-Um, Your Highness, Chris looks like she¡¯s having a hard time, so-¡±

    ¡°Aaaaaah, Chris-chaaaaan!¡±

    Mimi kept trying to pull Princess Luciada away from Chris. By the way, Princess Luciada was calling Chris ¡®Chis-chan¡¯ due to Mimi¡¯s influence.

    ¡°You won¡¯t be suffering if you just said no, Chris.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t do that.¡±

    Chris, who had a bright red face due to being suffocated by the princess¡¯ chest, shook her head in denial. Well, I guess it does seem bad for a noble to spurn the actions of the imperial princess.

    ¡°But I was really surprised to get a personal invitation from Her Highness.¡±

    ¡°Sorry about this.¡±

    ¡°Fufu, you don¡¯t really have to apologize. I got to meet Hiro-sama, Mimi-san, Elma-san, and Mei-san in person because of this after all. And I feel very honored to be introduced to Her Imperial Highness, Princess Luciada as well.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna make it up to you. I promise.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? Alright then. I shall be looking forward to it.¡±

    A smile bloomed on Chris¡¯s lips. Well, what do you know? She really seems to have grown. Her height¡¯s increased a little, and both her facial expressions and atmosphere have be much more maturepared to before.

    ¡°What are you two ying at by ignoring Her Highness and locking eyes with each other like that¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Mumu¡­¡­ I won¡¯t lose, Chris-chan.¡±

    ¡°Waaah¡­¡­¡±

    Why are your eyes shining like that, princess? I don¡¯t exactly know what you¡¯re expecting here, but it probably won¡¯t happen, okay. It won¡¯t, right? Uh, am I actually close to being screwed here? Will I get stabbed or something? It¡¯s probably fine. Yeah. Probably.

    ¡°Ah- Ehem, ehem. Is it really okay to talk to Princess Luciada about what happened on the Sierra system, Chris?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s not like we can really hide the details of the matter anyway, and we¡¯ve already made a report to the imperial authorities. I¡¯ve also gotten permission from Grandfather.¡±

    ¡°I see. Alright then. I¡¯ll start talking about the events on the Sierra system in earnest.¡±

    And so, we told Princess Luciada the entirety of what happened. However¡­

    ¡°You¡¯re horrible. It seems I¡¯ve misjudged you!¡±

    ¡°Eh-¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Why did you leave Chris-chan behind!? As Chris-chan¡¯s knight, something like that is¡­¡­!¡±

    It looks like Princess Luciada homed in on the fact that I basically turned Chris down back then. I nced over to Chris and our eyes met.

    ¡°Hiro-sama is a very bad man. He mercilessly left a helpless and innocent maiden like me alone after all.¡±

    I can¡¯t really retort to that.

    ¡°Fufu, I was merely joking. Your Highness, Hiro-sama has his own world, and it seems I cannot be together with him on it. And on the other hand, the world I¡¯m living in will not allow Hiro-sama to continue being Hiro-sama. I and Hiro-sama cannot live in the same world. If I force him, I will only end up making Hiro-sama stop being himself. This was something I haven¡¯t realized yet at that time.¡±

    ¡°Muu¡­¡­ But aren¡¯t things hopeless if that were truly the case?¡±

    After saying so, Princess Luciada gave me a scathing side-eye. I feel she¡¯s implying everything would be resolved and everyone will get their happily ever after if I just gave in and brought Mimi and the others to live with Chris. Well, I admit that¡¯s one option though.

    ¡°Your Highness, birds can¡¯t live underwater. Fish, too, can¡¯t fly in the sky. However, it is certainly possible for them to touch the other. Like this.¡±

    Chris snuggled up to me and peered at my face with passionate eyes. The heating from her gaze was certainly real. Wait, wait! Hold up! What the heck is all this about, man? I did mercilessly turn this girl down without any hesitation back then, didn¡¯t I? It looks like Chris was unexpectedly the type who¡¯s bad at giving up.

    ¡°I only heard from some rumors, but it seems your reward if you win this tournament and prove your strength to His Majesty is being granted First-ss imperial citizenship, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah.¡±

    ¡°If so, you¡¯d want to set up a base on a somewhere, right? Then how about setting up a mansion on Dareinburg in the Dexer system? We¡¯ll be able to amodate you quite well over there and grant you some very flexible terms.¡±

    ¡°Come to think of it, that¡¯s true.¡±

    Elma nodded with a serious expression on her face. It¡¯s certainly true that we¡¯ll be able to get some flexible terms and better deals in the Dexer system due to our connection with Earl Dareinwald. If Chris herself says so, then it¡¯s probably the case. You could say the rtionship between me and House Dareinwald was pretty good, I guess. Chris is a given, of course. But it looks like Earl Dareinwald himself has a favorable view of us as well.

    ¡°Even birds will get tired of flying someday. And when that happens, won¡¯t they need somewhere safe to perch onto? If possible, I would like to be your perch, Hiro-sama.¡±

    Chris dered boldly and locked eyes with me. I had a hard time giving an answer, so I chose to m up. It would be incredibly simple to just say yes. It¡¯s actually possible for me and Mimi to settle on a after all this is over since we were gonna get granted first-ss imperial citizenship. Elma¡¯s a noble¡¯s daughter, so she already was a first-ss imperial citizen. Mei¡¯s an independent AI, so I¡¯m not sure how it is for her, but I think it wouldn¡¯t be weird for a first-ss imperial citizen to have a maidroid with him anyway. As for the mechanic sisters¡­¡­ Well, I honestly can¡¯t say anything about those two right now.

    ¡°Ah- ¡­¡­Let¡¯s just say I¡¯ll give it some serious thought.¡±

    ¡°How half-hearted.¡±

    ¡°Your Highness, this matter wouldn¡¯t only affect mine, but Mimi and Elma¡¯s lives as well. I can¡¯t just reply without giving it some due consideration. Or rather, can you give me a break already, princess?¡±

    I admit I was already thinking about establishing a base somewhere after gaining first-ss imperial citizenship, and that Earl Dareinwald¡¯s ce was one of the options I was considering. But relying on Earl Dareinwald would end up with me owing him big, and depending on how things go from there, it¡¯s possible he¡¯d even push me to marry Chris.

    That¡¯s actually not a bad way to end a journey, but I still don¡¯t have any intention of stopping flying around in space. I still want to earn more money and have lots more stuff I want to try out. Mimi¡¯s space gourmet journey is just starting out as well, and I haven¡¯t even managed to find my ideal carbonated treat. And Elma hasn¡¯t paid me back even a single Enel as well. Well, it¡¯s not like I care about Elma¡¯s debt at this point anyway.

    ¡°Muu¡­¡­ That¡¯s true as well. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°Y-You really don¡¯t have to apologize for anything, Your Highness.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Your Highness. I don¡¯t mind. However, it looks like you¡¯ve really been touched by Hiro and Christina-sama¡¯s story, haven¡¯t you, Your Highness?¡±

    Mimi became flustered when Princess Luciada apologized, and Elma seems curious about why the princess was being such a busybody.

    ¡°Well, you see, isn¡¯t it like a romantic holo-novel? Due to her uncle¡¯s vile machinations, she ended up losing both her parents. She then drifted in space all alone until she was caught by pirates. And then, a passing mercenary suddenly swoops in and rescues her from their clutches. The mercenary then took her in, protected her, and helped her get revenge, but everything ends on a tragic note with their abrupt parting!¡±

    ¡°Your Highness, the story hasn¡¯t ended yet.¡±

    ¡°Fufu, that¡¯s right, isn¡¯t it? In the sequel, the two star-crossed lovers reunite in the imperial capital and got swept in a plot by other nobles. And then, they finally get their happy ending!¡±

    Princess Luciada had a goofy grin on her face as her imagination went on overdrive. However, Mimi suddenly interjected.

    ¡°Muu¡­¡­ Your Highness, I also lost my parents and fell to dire straits when Hiro-sama rescued me you know. I then got my happy ending.¡±

    ¡°In addition, you actually have a special setting of being the mirror image of an imperial princess.¡±

    Elma yed along with Mimi. Yosh, this is a chance to change the subject. I have no choice but to y along as well!

    ¡°If we¡¯re going with that, then you¡¯re not any different Elma. You¡¯re a noble girl who adored holo-novels about Celestia-sama and her search for freedom, and you ended up following the same path as her. It¡¯s definitely holo-novel material.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. But then I messed up and ended up boarding your ship though.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the sequel huh.¡±

    ¡°Mumumu¡­¡­ It certainly does seem that Mimi-san and Elma-san¡¯s stories can each be turned into riveting holo-novels or holo-movies¡­¡­ And the central character of those stories will be Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama¡­¡­ is special after all.¡±

    ¡°He hit it off with Dr. Shouko back in the Alein system as well, didn¡¯t he? Tina and Whisker seem to adore him too.¡±

    Four pairs of eyes- no, it would be five including Mei¡¯s, turned toward me simultaneously.

    ¡°¡­¡­He¡¯s a naturaldy ma, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    For the record, I wasn¡¯t actively trying to pick up girls, okay. It wasn¡¯t that, so stop staring at me with those judging eyes already.

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s Hiro-sama after all.¡±

    Oi, Mimi, don¡¯t just give up like that. Seriously, don¡¯t.

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s said he has a special ability to attract trouble you know.¡±

    Can you stopbeling a poor guy as a troublemaker, please? Even I¡¯m starting to believe that crap recently, so stop!

    ¡°¡­¡­In other words, all our personal encounters with him are special!¡±

    You¡¯re being too positive about all this, Chris! Well, I admit me finding the escape pod with Chris in it in a virtually undamaged state did have an air of a fateful encounter somehow, but still¡­¡­

    ¡°Hookay then. I suddenly feel like working up a sweat. I¡¯m going over to the imperial guards for a bit, okay?¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re aiming for Isolde this time!¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll really get stabbed from behind one of these days at this rate you know.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Things won¡¯t be simple with an imperial knight as a partner after all.¡±

    That¡¯s not it, okay! I just wanna hurry up and escape from this ce already!

 Chapter 190 â€“ The Tournament: Space Battle Part

    <h4>Chapter 190 - The Tournament: Space Battle Part</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    As expected, it seems Chris couldn¡¯t pay a visit to the imperial pce every day after all. She couldn¡¯t, but Her Highness, the princess, still made an effort to get in touch with her as often as she could. She¡¯s, uh, she was kinda a little too into the story of my apparent love affairs or something.

    ¡°Now then, let me hear about the person called Dr. Shouko today.¡±

    ¡°Please give me a break already.¡±

    Nothing happened between me and Doc Shouko, okay! We did kinda hit it off a bit, but because of the medical check-up, I had to- Ah, my repressed memories are bubbling back up again! But in the end, I lost to the princess¡¯ enthusiasm and told her about my meeting with her anyway. Ugh. I don¡¯t care anymore.

    I gave up and spilled everything. And finally, the day of the spacebat phase of the tournament came.

    The spacebat phase will beprised of mock battles using real starships. The output ofser cannons and shields will be dropped, and live ballistic ammo will be reced with training rounds, though they¡¯re still powerful enough to turn a human body into mush. On top of those, the ships will run a damage management program specially used for mockbat scenarios, and a number of ships installed with a referee evaluation program will be deployed all over the event field. The ships that will serve as referees will beposed of members of the imperial military who opted to not participate asbatants this time around. Thepetition venue will also be another military training facility.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, I wonder what kind of people are going to participate this time apart from mercenaries?¡±

    ¡°I can only think of carrier-based spacecraft pilots, but there might be some other pros as well. What do you think, Elma?¡±

    ¡°I think some Mobile Knight pilots will participate as well.¡±

    ¡°Mobile Knights¡­¡±

    What the heck is up with that cool-sounding job title? Are you telling me they ride humanoid mobile weapons or something? There weren¡¯t any humanoid mobile weapons implemented in SOL, but if you have em here, can I get one too?

    ¡°They originated from the practice of skilled mercenaries swearing their fealty and service to an imperial noble and getting formally knighted. Their descendants serve the main family of the noble house they swore fealty to as Mobile Knights for generations. There are quite a few of them serving in imperial military carriers you know.¡±

    ¡°Do they also ride humanoid mobile weapons or something?¡±

    ¡°In any case, there doesn¡¯t seem to be any of those present in the empire. Apparently, the Drawn Sword faction submitted a proposal for deploying a number of them here that were equipped with anti-ship des, but I heard the proposal was indefinitely postponed due to problems with cost-effectiveness and maintenance.¡±

    ¡°So there really are humanoid weapons huh.¡±

    Man, I got kinda fired up after hearing that. So their problem was not being easy to maintain to the point that the military held off on adopting them for widespread deployment huh. Well, there might be other reasons as well though.

    ¡°Are those Mobile Knights strong, Elma-sama?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°You sound stupid when you imitate Mimi, so stop that. Well, they greatly vary in strength. There are Mobile Knights who still actively make use of old-model ancestral starships that were passed down from generation to generation after all.¡±

    ¡°In other words, some of them are pretty strong huh.¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course. There are actually a lot of Mobile Knights who are on par with Gold-ranked mercenaries you know. Mobile Knights usually often square off with pirates whose main spheres of activity are within territories held by the noble house they serve. Most, if not all, of them, serve as the mainmanding officers of their noble house¡¯s private forces. A few only serve asmanders in-name though.¡±

    ¡°So they have a wealth of livebat experience huh.¡±

    ¡°In some cases, they¡¯re actually more experienced than a majority of imperial militarymanders.¡±

    I see. So, in other words, you can¡¯t underestimate Mobile Knights huh. If they have a noble house backing them up, they shouldn¡¯t be strapped for cash and have some of the best equipment money can buy. I think I¡¯d have no problem with those old-fashioned types using ancestral starships though.

    After all, no matter how good you are, it¡¯s still pretty difficult to bridge the gap in ship performance with skills alone. On the flip side, even if you had the best ship in the gxy, if you have no skills to speak of, the ship will only be going to waste without even exhibiting a fraction of its potential.

    ¡°Of course there are also people in the empire who¡¯ve earned the title of Ace Pilot. People like those have a wealth ofbat experience and skills to match as well, so they might be able to best you if you underestimate them.¡±

    ¡°I see. And then, there are the full-time mercenaries as well huh.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re the enemies you should be most wary of in my opinion. The Gold rankers and above havebat experience in spades, exemry skills, and powerful customized ships.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    However, pirate activity in the surrounding sectors of the imperial capital is next to nonexistent. That¡¯s why there aren¡¯t that many mercs active here in the first ce. Most of those that were here were mercenary corps that were contracted to escort mercantile fleets that came to buy and sell goods in the imperial capital. They aren¡¯t lone wolf-types like me and were more specialized in groupbat.

    Consequently, most of them aren¡¯t that good in one-on-one dogfights. So I surmise that most of the mercenaries around the imperial capital won¡¯t be my opponent. But, of course, I can¡¯t discount the possibility of some truly skilled onesing to the imperial capital at this time as well.

    ¡°Oh well. Let¡¯s just chill. It would be fine if we do the usual, I think.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m not really that worried though.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s finally here, everyone! It¡¯s thest event of this tournament! A mock space battle betweenbat starships! Since they will be mock battles, the output of theirser cannons and shields will be reduced, and training rounds will be used instead of live ones. But what do those exactly imply for our participants?¡±

    ¡°Even though their outputs are reduced, their weapons still have enough firepower to directly vaporize a person, so some danger is still present. And since their shield outputs are also reduced, direct collisions may cause serious idents. In preparation for those, our imperial military has deployed a great number of rescue ships, so there is no need to worry. Please enjoy live mock shipbat that¡¯s very close to the real thing to your heart¡¯s content, everyone.¡±

    The guestmentator today was a woman huh. Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s Major Serena- Uh, she should be a lieutenant colonel now huh? Anyway, I thought it was Lt. Col. Serena, but it wasn¡¯t. But judging from her outfit, she should also be from the imperial military huh.

    ¡°As expected, will Captain Hiro be the focus for today¡¯s event as well?¡±

    ¡°But of course. He gave us a strong showing in both the swordsmanship duel and meleebat phases of the tournament after all. ording to our info, spacebat is actually his specialty. I¡¯m looking forward to what kind of battle he¡¯s going to show us today.¡±

    Un, I can feel her burning passion from her words. Well, I probably won¡¯t disappoint.

    ¡°Well then, it¡¯s time for the first match of thispetition. The first match will be between Captain Rex, a Gold ranker belonging to the mercenary corps¡ºArrow of Light¡», and Ensign Nielsen, belonging to the 28th Defense Fleet of the Imperial Space Navy.¡±

    ¡°The mercenary corps¡ºArrow of Light¡»is-¡±

    The femalementator began to tell the audience about the contestants. The mercenary corps¡ºArrow of Light¡»is a corps that usually acts as escorts for mercantile fleets, and the pilot named Captain Rex seems to be the one with the highest number of recorded ship kills among them. Ensign Nielsen, on the other hand, is an imperial military carrier-based fighter pilot and ace who had shot down arge number of enemy carrier-based spacecraft in battles with the neighboring Vereverem Federation.

    ¡°What do you think, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Hm, I can¡¯t make an urate judgment before the fight actually starts, but judging from the ships, Rex seems to have an edge.¡±

    The ship the mercenary called Rex is flying can be ssified as a high-speed missile tform. It¡¯s a ship that throws off enemies with quick maneuvers and overwhelms them with swarms of seeker missiles. If there¡¯s enough leeway, the pilot can also allocate arger part of the energy generator output tobat functions, and doing so will allow the ship to perform well in closebat. It¡¯s a ship you can¡¯t let your guard down against.

    On the other hand, Ensign Nielsen was piloting your standard imperial carrier-based fighter. It¡¯s a unit that¡¯s a testament to masterful design and ease of use, but it has no notable quirks at all. It¡¯s an agile multi-role fighter equipped withsers, multi-cannons, and seeker missiles. It was quite a in craft, but the unit Ensign Nielsen is flying seems to be heavily tailored for military use. Since the performance of each of the parts and weapon systems of military ships are generally one or more times better than your average mercenary ship, it would still serve as a troublesome opponent depending on Ensign Nielsen¡¯s piloting skills.

    ¡°It¡¯s going to depend on Ensign Nielsen¡¯s skills.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. In my case, I find it easier with someone like Ensign Nielsen though.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a pain to deal with enemies who unload swarms of seeker missiles at you freely after all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it.¡±

    Saturation attacks from packs of seeker missiles are quite terrifying after all. Krishna can probably shake them off with its mobility, but that particr enemy ship would probably move in to restrict our maneuvers as well if we fought it, so fighting it would be quite annoying. We can use res and chaff to deal with some of the missiles, but the pilot of the enemy ship should have ounted for that happening as well. He must have cooked up a strategy to deal with that.

    ¡°Huh, as expected of a Gold ranker, I guess. He¡¯s good.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    The match proceeded with the Gold-rank mercenary Rex dominating. He kept hunting down his opponent with saturation attacks from seeker missiles at long range. The opponent was firmly at his mercy and couldn¡¯t do anything to retaliate. Ensign Nielsen was hanging on so far with the use of res and other equipment, but he couldn¡¯t mount a counterattack at all.

    ¡°I guess the merc will get the win huh?¡±

    ¡°As long as he doesn¡¯t let up on the attacks.¡±

    Rex is making excellent use of the seeker missiles. In addition to direct attacks, he¡¯sunching them in directions where his enemy could possibly escape while implementing a timeg in their tracking functions. That¡¯s how he¡¯s steadily cornering Ensign Nielsen¡¯s ship. However, seekers missiles have a main weakness you can take advantage of.

    ¡°It looks like he made it through.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Rex had been hunting down Ensign Nielsen for a good while now, and it looks like his missiles have finally run out. Ensign Nielsen¡¯s ship didn¡¯te out of that onught unscathed though, so I guess Rex is banking on finishing him off withser cannons. Ensign Nielsen also finally moved in tounch an offensive. The two ships ran rings around each other at a dizzying pace, and light rays illuminated the void of space.

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°If it were me, I would have closed in before Ipletely ran out of ammo. Maybe he still has missiles he¡¯s hiding in reserve?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I think so too.¡±

    It happened as Elma and I just finished our short exchange. The moment the two ships intersected once more, an explosion urred. It looks like Rex really did have some missiles in reserve, just as we thought. He probablyunched his remaining missiles at Ensign Nielsen¡¯s craft at close range coupled with the momentum of his approach.

    But it looks like the battle was still on.

    ¡°Man. Those military ships really are tough. So it hasn¡¯t been shot down yet huh.¡±

    ¡°It certainly is.¡±

    Another intense dogfight started, but this time, Rex, who now really had run out of missiles, was gradually cornered by Ensign Nielsen and was finally shot down.

    ¡°The fact that he failed to deal enough damage in the first heavy offensive is the cause of his defeat huh.¡±

    ¡°Ensign Nielsen¡¯s calm judgment when he weathered through the first wave of attacks and when he got baited in the final moments of the match was key as well.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ How would you have fought them, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°If I were fighting against Rex, I¡¯d spread res and chaff and use the shot-cannons to deal with the missiles, break through the field in one go, and perform a blitz attack to take him down. I don¡¯t feel like I¡¯ll lose to Ensign Nielsen in a straight-up dogfight as well, so I¡¯ll just go after him directly and shoot him down with theser cannons.¡±

    We waited for our turn while listening to the post-matchmentary. This time, our match was ted prettyte. Or rather, we weren¡¯t even listed as seeded participants. ¡®It¡¯s your own field of expertise, so you should be fine without special treatment, right?¡¯ The face of that f**cking emperor suddenly popped in my head. Hahaha. Nah, that can¡¯t be it.

    ¡°Now then, folks! It¡¯s time for the entrance of the main man of this event, Captain Hiro!¡±

    ¡°I also took a look at hisbat data records myself, and I saw some pretty unbelievablebat maneuvers. I¡¯m certainly looking forward to what kind of fight he¡¯ll show us all this time.¡±

    The voices of the announcer and thedy guestmentator were broadcasted from the wide-aream channel.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, she says she¡¯s looking forward to our performance.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s kinda troublesome. I¡¯m not nning on intentionally performing out-of-ce acrobatic maneuvers y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine if you just pilot like usual. You¡¯re shy enough as it is.¡±

    Elmamented nonchntly and shrugged. Well, I guess she has a point. In that case, I¡¯ll just do as usual then.

    ¡°His opponent is Sir Weisel, who serves actively as a Mobile Knight of the house of Earl Redran! He usually keeps the peace within Earl Redran¡¯s territories, and has a lot of experience under his belt fighting pirates.¡±

    ¡°Captain Hiro¡¯s ship is quite an unfamiliar model, but the ship used by Sir Weisel is a small-ssbat starship widely used by the imperial military as well. It¡¯srger than carrier-basedbat ships and has a more powerful generator as well. It¡¯s a ship very simr in nature to those piloted by mercenaries.¡±

    ¡°I see. Which one has the advantage in terms of unit performance though?¡±

    ¡°Krishna, piloted by Captain Hiro, is apletely unknown never-before-seen ship model, so it¡¯s difficult to evaluate it. However, ording to the data handed out, it seems to be a very aggressive ship with both high mobility and firepower. On the other hand, Sir Weisel¡¯s craft - the Saber IV - is also a high-performance ship known for its mobility and firepower. On that note, the pilot¡¯s skills as well as theirbat awareness will be the keys to this match.¡±

    ¡°I see. It looks like we can look forward to some fiercebat. Well then, the countdown for the match will start now!¡±

    The match countdown timer started ticking. I then promptly activated the weapon systems and deployed the four high-caliberser cannons and two shot-cannons.

    ¡°What¡¯s the n?¡±

    ¡°What n? We¡¯ll blow him away head-on.¡±

    The moment the countdown reached zero, I pushed Krishna¡¯s thrusters to maximum output.

 Chapter 192 â€“ Giant Killing

    <h4>Chapter 192 - Giant Killing</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°The wait is over everyone! It¡¯s time for the much-awaited entrance of Captain Hiro for today¡¯s semi-final match! His opponent is a fellow mercenary, Captain Schneider! His personal machine is a ship that¡¯s highly regarded even by the military, the Corvette model, Cavalry VII!

    ¡°Captain Schneider has managed to tear through all his matches until now with the overwhelming firepower and unflinching defense of Cavalry VII. Just how will Captain Hiro ovee Captain Schneider? Or will overwhelming firepower and defense actually prove too much for skills and technique? I am looking forward to knowing the answer soon.¡±

    Before the match began, thementary from the announcer and the female officer serving as the guestmentator rang out from the public channel.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, our match opponent is trying to contact us.¡±

    ¡°Hm? What¡¯s he up to? Patch him through.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mimi operated her console and patched the call of Captain Schneider through.

    ¡°This is Krishna¡¯s Captain Hiro. The match is gonna start soon. What do you want?¡±

    ¡ºThe name¡¯s Schneider. It¡¯s nothing much. I just wanted to give you a pre-match greeting of sorts.¡»

    After saying so, Captain Schneider stared intently at my face. What¡¯s up with this guy? Why¡¯s he staring at me like this anyway?

    The man called Captain Schneider looked pretty young in appearance. He¡¯s probably older than me, but he hasn¡¯t reached middle age yet. He had a full head of light-brown hair simr in color to Mimi¡¯s and looked quite attractive for a guy. His eyes were quite sharp though.

    ¡ºHm. I thought you¡¯d be nothing but a brat, but that doesn¡¯t seem to be the case huh. You seem quite capable,d.¡»

    ¡°Thanks for the praise. But I¡¯m just an upstart with a bit of good¡­¡­ err, I mean, bad luck y¡¯know? It¡¯s fine to underestimate me a bit more.¡±

    ¡ºIf you truly are just a lucky small fry, you would have been desperate to appear more threatening than you really are.¡»

    The corner of Captain Schneider¡¯s mouth raised slightly and disyed abative smirk.

    ¡ºIt seems I¡¯ll truly enjoy finding out if your fangs can get past my Dominator. Schneider out.¡»

    He cut the call, and the window disying Captain Schneider¡¯s face on the cockpit monitor disappeared.

    ¡°He seems quite skilled, doesn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that seems to be the case. I guess we really can¡¯t let our guards down.¡±

    During that earlier exchange, Mimi¡¯s eyes ended up sparkling in excitement for some reason. What¡¯s up with her?

    ¡°That exchange just now was super cool! It was just like what happened on the holo-novel I borrowed from Princess Luciada!¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­ Okay.¡±

    Just what the heck are you making our Mimi read, princess!? Please don¡¯t corrupt our innocent Mimi. It¡¯s probably not something rotten[1], but it looks like I have to watch out for that possibilityter.

    ¡°I¡¯m really counting on you, okay, Elma.¡±

    ¡°Are you counting on me for the match or for watching out for Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Both.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not Mimi¡¯s mother you know.¡±

    ¡°Well, in terms of age, you more than qua- Ooow, ooow! I¡¯m sorry!¡±

    Elma strongly pinched my thigh so I immediately raised the g of surrender. The fact that we can have aid back exchange like this right before an important match is probably one of our team¡¯s strengths.

    ¡°Both contestants have now moved into position. Match countdown start!¡±

    Arge countdown timer appeared on the monitor.

    ¡°What¡¯s our strategy?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go aggressively from the get-go. Well, we basically need to aim for blind spots. Mimi, do a full scan of the enemy ship as soon as the match starts and mark the spots where its main modules are located.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    As soon as the countdown finished, I gunned the thrusters to maximum output and shrunk my distance to the Dominator. The Dominator aimed its artillery-filled top deck at us and unleashed a porcupine-like dense anti-air (It sounds a bit weird to call it ¡®anti-air¡¯ when we¡¯re out in space though.) barrage.

    ¡°Release the chaff and ECM.¡±

    The chaff and ECM deployed by Elma were effective, and the uracy of the anti-air barrage flying toward Krishna was greatly reduced. By the way, the chaff used here waspletely different from those employed on Earth. The chaff used on Earth deceives radar readings by sprinkling metal foil and other simr stuff, but what¡¯s employed by Krishna and other starships is of a more high-tech variety. They somehow trick the FCS of enemy ships by making them detect readings that are practically identical to the readings given off by the actual ship that released them.

    The effect of interference was limited, but they could confuse the FCS of enemy ships for a short instance and greatly reduce their hit rate. Their working principles were different but their intended effect was mostly the same. That¡¯s why they were still called chaff here.

    ¡°The barrage is as heavy as we expected.¡±

    Even though we reduced the hit rate using jamming devices, the shield will still get gradually saturated at this rate. The Dominator kept its bow trained firmly toward us while continuously retreating backward to keep distance and prevent us from getting in close. It looks like the pilot really intends to grind us down using firepower huh.

    ¡°Yosh, let¡¯s go! Be prepared to activate the shield cells at a moment¡¯s notice.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    I raised the bow of Krishna and rushed upward to get above the Dominator. The Dominator naturally raised her bow to follow Krishna¡¯s movements as well since the pilot wanted to avoid Krishna jumping behind her and taking her blind spot. In other words, the Dominator started rolling vertically.

    ¡°Here you go.¡±

    I made the ship roll, aimed my fourser cannons at the top part of the Dominator and unleashed suppression shots to restrain its movements. My ship¡¯s firepower is also really high for its size, but it¡¯s still disadvantageous for us to engage the enemy in a frontal shootout. Krishna has rtively strong shields and armor, but it¡¯s still a small-ss ship in the end. A Corvette, which is ssified as arge-ss ship, far exceeded it in the durability department.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it about time?¡±

    ¡°Just a bit more¡­¡­ Now!¡±

    When I judged that the Dominator had built up enough rotational momentum, I pulled the flight stick once more and made Krishna drop downward like lightning from on high toward the enemy ship. My aim was to clip the enemy ship¡¯s bow.

    The Dominator was still rotating vertically upward in ordance to Krishna¡¯s earlier trajectory. Due to its huge size and mass, it was impossible to suddenly reverse the rotation or change direction on short notice.

    ¡°We broke through!¡±

    Krishna managed to break through the hellish anti-air barrage, slipped through the bow of the Dominator, and got below it. Of course, there were still turrets present below the enemy ship¡¯s deck, but their firepower was modestpared to the guns on top of the ship. I hammered the turrets from close range with the shot-cannons and silenced them immediately.

    ¡°Let¡¯s keep going.¡±

    I also targeted some of the critical modules Mimi marked earlier - an energy pipe supplying power to the attitude control and main thrusters as well as the ammunition depot. Furthermore, I relentlessly fired the four heavy-caliberser cannons to saturate the shield and hit the section where the power generator was located with pinpoint uracy. After doing so, the buzzer signifying the end of the match rang out. It looks like the generator getting hit counts as the ship getting shot down.

    ¡°Match over! Captain Hiro has splendidly aplished Giant Killing! Though at first, it seemed that Captain Schneider had a one-sided advantage.¡±

    ¡°The key was that lightning-quick maneuver performed by Captain Hiro near the end of the match. It is certainly impossible for ships asrge as the Corvette to keep up with that sort of maneuver. But you¡¯d need a lot of skill and guts in order to perform that in a one-on-one ship battle. You¡¯d face a dense anti-air barrage, so you¡¯ll need to be courageous enough to wade through all that while facing the risk of being shot down if you made even one mistake.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    We headed back to the military maintenance dock while listening to the y-by-y of the announcer and female guestmentator.

    ¡°Well, that takes care of that.¡±

    ¡°I was nervous the whole time though, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We even used up three shield cells in the exchange¡­¡­ Hey, why didn¡¯t you use an anti-ship torpedo this time?¡±

    Elma asked a valid question.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I held back. I just fought as I usually do. There¡¯s no need to use an anti-ship reactive torpedo against a singlerge-ss ship y¡¯know.¡±

    If there were other ships around and I wasn¡¯t facing the Dominator by itself, I would have quickly finished it off with a torpedo so I wouldn¡¯t get tied down. But since it was alone, there was no need to.

    ¡°I mean c¡¯mon. Anti-ship reactive torpedoes are really expensive, right?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re using training rounds in matches so it won¡¯t cost us a thing.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s exactly because we¡¯re participating inpetition matches. Since there¡¯s no danger of dying, it¡¯s no fun to take the easy way out. I also wanted to test out that Dominator¡¯s module cement and how it held uppared to a stock Cavalry VII.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­You sometimes act unusually stoic, don¡¯t you, Hiro?¡±

    For some reason, Elma was staring at me in exasperation. I didn¡¯t really do anything bad so it¡¯s fine, isn¡¯t it? I didn¡¯t maliciously look down on the opponent or anything.

    ¡°A-Anyway, the next match will be the finals, right? Let¡¯s do our best!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s get this hassle of a tournament out of the way quickly. I have a lot of stuff nned while we¡¯re in the imperial capital, but we¡¯re stuck in the imperial pace.¡±

    I have to pay a visit to the Dareinwald family vi where Chris currently was and also purchase a couple high-performancebat bots through Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s connections here. Also, I bet I¡¯d have to take interviews from the media as well. It¡¯s thanks to that f**cking emperor that our schedule is all messed up. Dammit!

    Anyway, I¡¯ll have to get the ship maintained and resupplied before the final match first.

    [1] Note: Bing ¡®rotten¡¯ is a euphemism for people turning into fujoshi or fudanshi - people enamored with Boy¡¯s Love (BL) or Yaoi.

 Chapter 192 â€“ Giant Killing

    <h4>Chapter 192 - Giant Killing</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°The wait is over everyone! It¡¯s time for the much-awaited entrance of Captain Hiro for today¡¯s semi-final match! His opponent is a fellow mercenary, Captain Schneider! His personal machine is a ship that¡¯s highly regarded even by the military, the Corvette model, Cavalry VII!

    ¡°Captain Schneider has managed to tear through all his matches until now with the overwhelming firepower and unflinching defense of Cavalry VII. Just how will Captain Hiro ovee Captain Schneider? Or will overwhelming firepower and defense actually prove too much for skills and technique? I am looking forward to knowing the answer soon.¡±

    Before the match began, thementary from the announcer and the female officer serving as the guestmentator rang out from the public channel.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, our match opponent is trying to contact us.¡±

    ¡°Hm? What¡¯s he up to? Patch him through.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mimi operated her console and patched the call of Captain Schneider through.

    ¡°This is Krishna¡¯s Captain Hiro. The match is gonna start soon. What do you want?¡±

    ¡ºThe name¡¯s Schneider. It¡¯s nothing much. I just wanted to give you a pre-match greeting of sorts.¡»

    After saying so, Captain Schneider stared intently at my face. What¡¯s up with this guy? Why¡¯s he staring at me like this anyway?

    The man called Captain Schneider looked pretty young in appearance. He¡¯s probably older than me, but he hasn¡¯t reached middle age yet. He had a full head of light-brown hair simr in color to Mimi¡¯s and looked quite attractive for a guy. His eyes were quite sharp though.

    ¡ºHm. I thought you¡¯d be nothing but a brat, but that doesn¡¯t seem to be the case huh. You seem quite capable,d.¡»

    ¡°Thanks for the praise. But I¡¯m just an upstart with a bit of good¡­¡­ err, I mean, bad luck y¡¯know? It¡¯s fine to underestimate me a bit more.¡±

    ¡ºIf you truly are just a lucky small fry, you would have been desperate to appear more threatening than you really are.¡»

    The corner of Captain Schneider¡¯s mouth raised slightly and disyed abative smirk.

    ¡ºIt seems I¡¯ll truly enjoy finding out if your fangs can get past my Dominator. Schneider out.¡»

    He cut the call, and the window disying Captain Schneider¡¯s face on the cockpit monitor disappeared.

    ¡°He seems quite skilled, doesn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that seems to be the case. I guess we really can¡¯t let our guards down.¡±

    During that earlier exchange, Mimi¡¯s eyes ended up sparkling in excitement for some reason. What¡¯s up with her?

    ¡°That exchange just now was super cool! It was just like what happened on the holo-novel I borrowed from Princess Luciada!¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­ Okay.¡±

    Just what the heck are you making our Mimi read, princess!? Please don¡¯t corrupt our innocent Mimi. It¡¯s probably not something rotten[1], but it looks like I have to watch out for that possibilityter.

    ¡°I¡¯m really counting on you, okay, Elma.¡±

    ¡°Are you counting on me for the match or for watching out for Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Both.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not Mimi¡¯s mother you know.¡±

    ¡°Well, in terms of age, you more than qua- Ooow, ooow! I¡¯m sorry!¡±

    Elma strongly pinched my thigh so I immediately raised the g of surrender. The fact that we can have aid back exchange like this right before an important match is probably one of our team¡¯s strengths.

    ¡°Both contestants have now moved into position. Match countdown start!¡±

    Arge countdown timer appeared on the monitor.

    ¡°What¡¯s our strategy?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go aggressively from the get-go. Well, we basically need to aim for blind spots. Mimi, do a full scan of the enemy ship as soon as the match starts and mark the spots where its main modules are located.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    As soon as the countdown finished, I gunned the thrusters to maximum output and shrunk my distance to the Dominator. The Dominator aimed its artillery-filled top deck at us and unleashed a porcupine-like dense anti-air (It sounds a bit weird to call it ¡®anti-air¡¯ when we¡¯re out in space though.) barrage.

    ¡°Release the chaff and ECM.¡±

    The chaff and ECM deployed by Elma were effective, and the uracy of the anti-air barrage flying toward Krishna was greatly reduced. By the way, the chaff used here waspletely different from those employed on Earth. The chaff used on Earth deceives radar readings by sprinkling metal foil and other simr stuff, but what¡¯s employed by Krishna and other starships is of a more high-tech variety. They somehow trick the FCS of enemy ships by making them detect readings that are practically identical to the readings given off by the actual ship that released them.

    The effect of interference was limited, but they could confuse the FCS of enemy ships for a short instance and greatly reduce their hit rate. Their working principles were different but their intended effect was mostly the same. That¡¯s why they were still called chaff here.

    ¡°The barrage is as heavy as we expected.¡±

    Even though we reduced the hit rate using jamming devices, the shield will still get gradually saturated at this rate. The Dominator kept its bow trained firmly toward us while continuously retreating backward to keep distance and prevent us from getting in close. It looks like the pilot really intends to grind us down using firepower huh.

    ¡°Yosh, let¡¯s go! Be prepared to activate the shield cells at a moment¡¯s notice.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    I raised the bow of Krishna and rushed upward to get above the Dominator. The Dominator naturally raised her bow to follow Krishna¡¯s movements as well since the pilot wanted to avoid Krishna jumping behind her and taking her blind spot. In other words, the Dominator started rolling vertically.

    ¡°Here you go.¡±

    I made the ship roll, aimed my fourser cannons at the top part of the Dominator and unleashed suppression shots to restrain its movements. My ship¡¯s firepower is also really high for its size, but it¡¯s still disadvantageous for us to engage the enemy in a frontal shootout. Krishna has rtively strong shields and armor, but it¡¯s still a small-ss ship in the end. A Corvette, which is ssified as arge-ss ship, far exceeded it in the durability department.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it about time?¡±

    ¡°Just a bit more¡­¡­ Now!¡±

    When I judged that the Dominator had built up enough rotational momentum, I pulled the flight stick once more and made Krishna drop downward like lightning from on high toward the enemy ship. My aim was to clip the enemy ship¡¯s bow.

    The Dominator was still rotating vertically upward in ordance to Krishna¡¯s earlier trajectory. Due to its huge size and mass, it was impossible to suddenly reverse the rotation or change direction on short notice.

    ¡°We broke through!¡±

    Krishna managed to break through the hellish anti-air barrage, slipped through the bow of the Dominator, and got below it. Of course, there were still turrets present below the enemy ship¡¯s deck, but their firepower was modestpared to the guns on top of the ship. I hammered the turrets from close range with the shot-cannons and silenced them immediately.

    ¡°Let¡¯s keep going.¡±

    I also targeted some of the critical modules Mimi marked earlier - an energy pipe supplying power to the attitude control and main thrusters as well as the ammunition depot. Furthermore, I relentlessly fired the four heavy-caliberser cannons to saturate the shield and hit the section where the power generator was located with pinpoint uracy. After doing so, the buzzer signifying the end of the match rang out. It looks like the generator getting hit counts as the ship getting shot down.

    ¡°Match over! Captain Hiro has splendidly aplished Giant Killing! Though at first, it seemed that Captain Schneider had a one-sided advantage.¡±

    ¡°The key was that lightning-quick maneuver performed by Captain Hiro near the end of the match. It is certainly impossible for ships asrge as the Corvette to keep up with that sort of maneuver. But you¡¯d need a lot of skill and guts in order to perform that in a one-on-one ship battle. You¡¯d face a dense anti-air barrage, so you¡¯ll need to be courageous enough to wade through all that while facing the risk of being shot down if you made even one mistake.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    We headed back to the military maintenance dock while listening to the y-by-y of the announcer and female guestmentator.

    ¡°Well, that takes care of that.¡±

    ¡°I was nervous the whole time though, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We even used up three shield cells in the exchange¡­¡­ Hey, why didn¡¯t you use an anti-ship torpedo this time?¡±

    Elma asked a valid question.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I held back. I just fought as I usually do. There¡¯s no need to use an anti-ship reactive torpedo against a singlerge-ss ship y¡¯know.¡±

    If there were other ships around and I wasn¡¯t facing the Dominator by itself, I would have quickly finished it off with a torpedo so I wouldn¡¯t get tied down. But since it was alone, there was no need to.

    ¡°I mean c¡¯mon. Anti-ship reactive torpedoes are really expensive, right?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re using training rounds in matches so it won¡¯t cost us a thing.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s exactly because we¡¯re participating inpetition matches. Since there¡¯s no danger of dying, it¡¯s no fun to take the easy way out. I also wanted to test out that Dominator¡¯s module cement and how it held uppared to a stock Cavalry VII.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­You sometimes act unusually stoic, don¡¯t you, Hiro?¡±

    For some reason, Elma was staring at me in exasperation. I didn¡¯t really do anything bad so it¡¯s fine, isn¡¯t it? I didn¡¯t maliciously look down on the opponent or anything.

    ¡°A-Anyway, the next match will be the finals, right? Let¡¯s do our best!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s get this hassle of a tournament out of the way quickly. I have a lot of stuff nned while we¡¯re in the imperial capital, but we¡¯re stuck in the imperial pace.¡±

    I have to pay a visit to the Dareinwald family vi where Chris currently was and also purchase a couple high-performancebat bots through Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s connections here. Also, I bet I¡¯d have to take interviews from the media as well. It¡¯s thanks to that f**cking emperor that our schedule is all messed up. Dammit!

    Anyway, I¡¯ll have to get the ship maintained and resupplied before the final match first.

    [1] Note: Bing ¡®rotten¡¯ is a euphemism for people turning into fujoshi or fudanshi - people enamored with Boy¡¯s Love (BL) or Yaoi.

 Chapter 193 â€“ Platinum Rank vs. Platinum Rank

    <h4>Chapter 193 - tinum Rank vs. tinum Rank</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The resupplying and maintenance as well as the start of the final match will take a good while, so we all decided to do a bit of research on our opponent while having a light meal in Krishna¡¯s dining room.

    ¡°A tinum ranker huh. Hey, weren¡¯t you saying there¡¯s no way there¡¯d be skilled guys hanging around at this time?¡±

    ¡°The tinum rankers active in the empire number three in all. Since you¡¯ve gotten promoted too, Hiro, that number is now up to four. I guess it just so happened that one of them was staying somewhere near the capital or a gateway somehow.¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s Hiro-sama who actually draws over these kinds of events, right?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not just me, okay!? It¡¯s all of us together!¡±

    I would like to firmly deny the im that I¡¯m the only trouble ma in the group. They were both looking at me with strange warm gazes, but I very much think the both of them are trouble mas as well, okay?

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s put that aside for now. Here. Let¡¯s watch the video of the semi-final match first.¡±

    After saying so, Elma began showing the video of the semi-final match of our opponent on the holo-disy.

    ¡°This ship¡¯s been heavily modified huh¡­¡­ I think the original model is a Wolf-type.¡±

    ¡°Wolf-type?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s abat ship designed and manufactured by Steppen Ship Industries. This one¡¯s probably a modified Beta Wolf that had itsmand modules stripped off. It¡¯s lightweight and highly mobile for a medium-ss ship. The weapon hardpoints are on the fewer side as far as medium-ss ships go, but its loading capacity is quite good, so it can actually equip pretty powerful heavy-caliber weapons. It¡¯s a medium-ss ship, so both its generator output and shield output are beyond small-ss ships.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Doesn¡¯t it sound strong?¡±

    ¡°It is. I¡¯m not entirely sold regarding its speed and mobility, but it has more than enough, so it¡¯s quite nimble and can be armed with quite a bit of firepower. It¡¯s a very popr ship with plenty of fans.¡±

    The problem¡¯s with its armaments huh.

    ¡°Geh.¡±

    I saw the green light projectile fired by the modified Beta Wolf shoot down its opponent in one shot and couldn¡¯t help but groan.

    ¡°This would be troublesome¡­¡­ if we get hit, that is.¡±

    ¡°W-What was that weapon earlier?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a sma cannon¡­¡­ Uwaah, he just had to equip the weapon type I hate the most.¡±

    The sma cannon is a very powerful weapon. Its range is quite long but the projectile speed is slow. In exchange for being able tond a hit only in close range, its destructive power is almost unrivaled. It¡¯s also one of the weapons designed to prate the energy shield and armor in one go to damage the inner hull.

    In other words, it¡¯s a lot like my shot-cannons. But it¡¯s more powerful and has a longer range in exchange for its projectiles being slower. Since Krishna¡¯s defense relies on its shields and armor, its vulnerable to pration type weapons like these. Krishna¡¯s still a small-ss ship after all. By the way, pration-type weapons include shot-cannons that are moremonly known as shard cannons, rail-cannons like the one equipped on the ck Lotus, sma cannons like the one equipped by our opponent, anti-ship torpedoes, and closebat weapons like battering rams and anti-ship des. These fivepose this particr weapon type.

    That¡¯s what Mimi¡¯s exnation says anyway.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ But you¡¯ll be able to avoid it easily, right, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯d have any trouble if he just shoots normally. Listen here, Mimi. The people who make use of weird-ass weapons like those have devised methods in order to ensure they are able tond a clean hit, so you can¡¯t count on them missing the timing when pulling the trigger. You can¡¯t count on the guy who has used those weapons to climb up to tinum-rank and won his way to the finals in this tournament to merely rely on lucky hits for wins.¡±

    ¡°Well, you do sound persuasive, Hiro. You¡¯re also a guy who uses weird weapons like shard-cannons after all.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d be able tond a hit as long as you close the distance, so the shot-cannons aren¡¯t weird, okay.¡±

    What¡¯s with that face, huh? Aren¡¯t the two of you being a little too harsh on metely?

    ¡°Fine. Whatever you say. Anyway, we need to be careful of those sma cannons.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t sound convinced, but fine. Chaff and ECM don¡¯t work on direct-firing weapons like those, so we can¡¯t let our guards down.¡±

    Aiming disruption devices are powerless against weapons that only fire straight at you and use manual aiming instead of mechanical. Just like Krishna¡¯s shot-cannons for example. By the way, the heavy-caliberser cannons are affected by them.

    ¡°By the way, what kind of guy are we facing anyway?¡±

    ¡°Um, it seems he¡¯s called Captain Banks.¡±

    ¡°Silent Banks huh. He¡¯s a very famous merc.¡±

    ¡°What the heck? He sounds strong.¡±

    He sounds like a guy who¡¯d board a pirate ship on his own and go at it with guns zing - while calling himself Cook, no less.

    ¡°Well, each tinum-rank mercenary have their quirks after all¡­¡­¡±

    Elma gave me a suggestive nce. Me, quirky¡­¡­? It¡¯s frustrating that I can¡¯tpletely deny that dammit! No, my quirk is probably having a rtionship with two beauties like Mimi and Elma or something. That¡¯s gotta be it. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m quirky myself. Probably.

    ¡°He¡¯s called both Silent Banks and Masked Banks. Anyway, he¡¯s a very quiet person, and he doesn¡¯t take off his mask even when meeting others. He also has this quirk of only using data terminals tomunicate. Well, he¡¯s certainly quite the weirdo.¡±

    ¡°But he¡¯s good huh.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that seems to be the case. I¡¯m looking at Captain Banks¡¯bat files, and the total number of hisbat ship kills is amazing.¡±

    ¡°So he has plenty ofbat experience huh. This is gonna be troublesome after all.¡±

    It looks like I can¡¯t win easily this time.

    ¡°Now then folks, we¡¯ve finally reached the final match of this tournament! Captain Hiro has handily won all his matches in this tournament so far! But hisst opponent is a tinum-ranked mercenary just like him! And it¡¯s the famous Silent Banks!¡±

    ¡°This will be a battle between tinum rankers. This is something you¡¯d rarely get to witness. It will surely be an invaluable experience for everyone present. The expectations are high for this sh between mercenaries who spend their days fighting pirates and monsters out in the cold reaches of space.¡±

    It was finally nearly time for the match, and we were sharpening our concentration for the uing battle as we listened to the announcer and female guestmentator chatter on through the public channel.

    ¡°But regardless of winning and losing, I¡¯m relieved we¡¯re finally gonna be done with this whole mess after this.¡±

    -I hope.

    ¡°I can¡¯t get myself to settle down while staying at the imperial castle after all¡­¡­ It¡¯s a pity that I won¡¯t be able to join Princess Luciada for tea anymore though.¡±

    ¡°Mimi¡¯s really managed to get along with the princess after all. You¡¯re also disappointed that you won¡¯t be able to spend time with Isolde-san anymore, right, Hiro?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing going on between Isolde and me, okay.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    Elma giggled teasingly. I¡¯m fine with getting made fun of, but at least make the topic a bit more proper, please.

    ¡°It looks like both contestants have finished their preparations! Well then, final match countdown, start!¡±

    The countdown for the final round began ticking. Win or lose, this will be thest match. Let¡¯s go with a bang, shall we? Since I¡¯m already here, I might as well try to win everything.

    At the start of the match, I immediately opened the lower weapon bay and fired off an anti-ship reactive torpedo. Theunched torpedo flew forward for a while and stopped in ce just as I programmed it.

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°Concentrate. Mimi, mark all the positions of the anti-ship torpedoes I¡¯ll beunching out and disy them on the radar.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes!¡±

    Elma, who was sitting on the sub-pilot seat, turned a surprised gaze toward me in response to my actions, but I ignored her and gave Mimi some orders as I continued to move the ship. Banks¡¯ modified Beta Wolf - the Shadow Wolf - fired up its main thrusters and was starting to close in on us. It looks like he really wants to bring the fight to medium or close range in order to hit us with the sma cannons.

    ¡°I don¡¯t n on ying along though.¡±

    I fired Krishna¡¯s reverse thrusters and retreated in order to prevent the Shadow Wolf from closing the gap. The enemy ship¡¯s loadout consists of two sma cannons, two seeker missile pods, and three high-outputser cannons. Like I said, its weapon hardpoints are quite few for its size ss, but all of them were pretty powerful. However, the only weapons it has that can hit Krishna from long range are the seeker missiles and the threeser cannons. I can only use the four heavy-caliberser cannons in a long-range shootout as well, but as long as I manage the seeker missiles well, I can probably win if the match turns into a damage race. The question is whether or not my endurance can oust the opponent though¡­¡­

    ¡°How is it?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re losing out slightly.¡±

    ¡°I see. Let¡¯s buy some time then.¡±

    As I fired the second anti-ship torpedo, I changed the ship¡¯s heading and circled around the Shadow Wolf¡¯s nk at full speed. Basically, when flying starships, swinging a starship¡¯s bow to the side isparatively slower than swinging it upward or downward. They¡¯re designed so that you¡¯d be better off having the ship do a roll and adjust the heading by raising and lowering the bow when you want to swing left or right.

    Of course, Banks also made his ship roll to match my maneuvers and pointed his ship¡¯s bow directly at us. It¡¯s really pointed straight at us, man.

    ¡°sma cannon round, iing!¡±

    ¡°Whoah.¡±

    I acknowledged Mimi¡¯s warning and performed an evasive maneuver. The green bullet of light tore through the void of space and flew in a trajectory that would have scored a direct hit if I hadn¡¯t evaded on time. That was one mean curve shot. All the while, he¡¯s been firingser cannon salvos at us despite the interference from the chaff. You really can¡¯t let your guard down against this guy.

    ¡°Hey, what have you been up to since earlier?¡±

    Elma finally couldn¡¯t keep her curiosity in check after I fired the third and fourth anti-ship torpedoes and made them stop in ce while avoiding the scarily urate sma cannon rounds hurtling at us.

    ¡°It¡¯s a set-up. A set-up, okay. Make sure to keep your eyes peeled for the finale. I¡¯m gonna perform some pretty rough maneuvers now, so brace yourselves.¡±

    After saying my piece, I swung Krishna¡¯s bow once more, and this time, I closed the distance between us and the Shadow Wolf. The closer we were, the greater the risk of being hit, but it¡¯s easier to read the opponent¡¯s shots as well. The point is not to fight at a distance where it would be impossible to evade. Of course, we also have our trusty shot-cannons on our side, so we¡¯re also giving the opponent quite a bit of pressure. The opponent would probably note out unscathed if he ate shot-cannon rounds head-on as well after all.

    ¡°Whoaah! It¡¯s turned into an ultra-close range dogfight folks!¡±

    The announcer¡¯s loud voice rang out through the public channel. The Shadow Wolf¡¯sbat maneuvers are truly first-ss. The pilot¡¯s controlling the ship¡¯s inertia well and avoiding our line of fire while trying to get us on his. The enemy¡¯s sma cannon shots flew dangerously close to Krishna¡¯s nks and grazed them a couple of times. Of course, I¡¯m not making it easy for the guy to get a clean hit in as well. The one with better mobility has the advantage in close range battles like this.

    ¡°Seekers!¡±

    ¡°Tsk!¡±

    Maybe the opponent noticed that he was at a disadvantage in a close-range dogfight, so the Shadow Wolf started firing seeker missiles at point-nk range, fully prepared to get caught up in the resulting explosions as well. Even if Krishna¡¯s shield was pretty tough, it won¡¯t be able to tank explosions from a whole host of seeker missiles at this range.

    I promptly disengaged and escaped away. I fired the afterburners and ran away from the Shadow Wolf at full speed. Shadow Wolf followed closely behind, of course. I¡¯m sure Banks is happily aiming at Krishna¡¯s defenseless behind right now with a smirk on his face. But that¡¯s gonna cost him big.

    ¡°And this is checkmate!¡±

    I speedily operated the pilot seat console. And then, before the Shadow Wolf could fire its sma cannons, multiple explosions went off from four different points, and one engulfed Shadow Wolf in a fiery ze. The explosions were caused by the anti-ship torpedoes I released earlier. Because the Shadow Wolf ate anti-ship reactive torpedo explosions at close range, it was judged to be shot down and the buzzer for the end of the match rang out.

    ¡°Whoooah!? Just what the heck happened!?¡±

    ¡°This¡­¡­ It was those anti-ship reactive torpedoes Captain Hiro released earlier. Apparently, he methodically guided his opponent close to the position of the first anti-ship reactive torpedo he fired at the start of the match. This might sound quite imusible at first, but it¡¯s a fact that the entire dogfight was a set-up in order to lure Captain Banks right next to an anti-ship torpedo¡¯s location. ¡­¡­To think he actually pulled off something like this.¡±

    The voice of thedy officer serving as the guestmentator sounded like it was trembling in excitement. Well, the torpedo mine tactic is something you can only use in one on one matches like this though. And when you¡¯ve shown it once, you would probably not be able to pull it off the second time. You¡¯re probably gonna get blitzed immediately after all.

    As the female officer continued hermentary, a single message was sent to Krishna via short-rangems.

    ¡ºYou really got me there. But I¡¯m gonna win next time.¡»

    The message came from Banks¡¯s Shadow Wolf.

 Chapter 194 â€“ Interlude

    <h4>Chapter 194 - Interlude</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°You¡¯ve certainly proved your caliber and skill magnificently by bing the ultimate winner in the swordsmanshippetition, meleebatpetition, and spacebatpetition. I only have the utmost praise for your feats.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I am truly thankful for your recognition.¡±

    We¡¯re in front of arge audience right now. It seems like we¡¯re in a ce specially designated as the spot where the emperor of the Gran Empire usually addresses the general popce in order to show them his benevolence and grace.

    After our match with Captain Banks, we were directly brought back to the imperial pce by a ship assigned to the imperial guards. And when we got off from it, we were politely dragged- I mean guided to this spot and brought before His Imperial Majesty. The people from the media were allowed in here, so the scene of the emperor praising me, Elma, and Mimi in front of arge crowd was being broadcasted live all throughout the empire. Well, even if it was being filmed live, due to the huge distance between the capital and the frontier regions, it would take a few days to a week for the footage to be broadcasted over those areas.

    ¡°First, as a reward for you and your crew, you all will be granted first-ss imperial citizenship. Moreover, the ships Captain Hiro owns will also be granted full ess to all the gateways within the empire. I am sure this will greatly help you in your mercenary activities.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your generosity.¡±

    The first-ss imperial citizenship was one thing, but what I¡¯m really thankful for was ess to the imperial gateways. With unlimited ess to the gateways, our activity range will improve immensely.

    ¡°You will also be getting a cash prize of 50,000,000 Enels. This is my personal reward to you all for sweeping the entire tournament. Go ahead and receive it.¡±

    ¡°Once again, we thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty.¡±

    I humbly bowed my head. This money was probably our dear emperor¡¯s apology for one-sidedly getting us involved in his whims. That¡¯s how I took it anyway. He did all that primarily to avoid shady folk from targeting Mimi, so I¡¯m not really holding it against him- Ugh. Screw that. I¡¯m sure he did it for his own amusement. But, well, since he¡¯s willing to fork over some reward money, I guess I¡¯ll just let everything slide. I¡¯m a rational adult after all.

    In the first ce, I can¡¯t imagine the emperor of a huge space empire bowing his head in apology to amoner. Or rather, it would be troublesome if he did that. Really troublesome. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll kick up a major fuss for tarnishing the dignity of the emperor or something like that.

    And so, the emperor offered money as a form of apology instead. There¡¯s nothing more concrete as a symbol of sincerity than money after all. And honestly, 50 million Enels was a very huge amount. Well, I guess it¡¯s also his way of asking us to take good care of Mimi as her granduncle.

    ¡°Umu. Do your best from here on out as well.¡±

    The emperor nodded in contentment and retreated back to the pce before the audience. And after that ceremony, at longst, we¡¯re finally free.

    ¡°Man. It¡¯s finally time to say goodbye to this stuffy imperial pce huh.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been truly hard on you, Hiro-sama. In lots of ways.¡±

    ¡°We just took it easy except for the final match of the spacebatpetition though¡­¡­ Well, it certainly was a good experience anyway.¡±

    ¡°We managed to make friends with the princess after all!¡±

    Mimi disyed a sunny smile as we prepared Krishna forunch.

    After the closing rites of the tournament, we were finally free to depart from the imperial pce. Well, we were only permitted to stay for the duration of the tournament after all, so it¡¯s only natural that we leave once it¡¯s over.

    There¡¯s a risk of getting caught up in something troublesome again if we overstay our wee after all. Although there¡¯s a low chance of that happening normally, we¡¯re talking about us here y¡¯know¡­¡­!

    And so, we wrapped everything up in lightning speed and were now almost ready to depart from the imperial pce. First, we n on returning to Grakkis Secundus in order to pick up the mechanic sisters. We were basically on house arrest for a period of time because of the tournament after all. The two of them were kinda like abandoned children for these past nine days after all. Well, we still regrly kept in touch with them via messaging apps. And the two of them weren¡¯t really kids but were full-fledged adults despite their outward appearance, so I guess there¡¯s no need to worry about them too much.

    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯d like to finish up the procedures for our second descent application to the imperial capital real quick and then take it easy for a bit once we get back to our mothership.¡±

    ¡°Right. And we also have to pay a visit to Chris-chan¡¯s vi as well.¡±

    ¡°I think it would be a good idea to continue with the purchase ofbat bots once we¡¯re back as well. Get in contact with Lt. Col. Serenater.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. We have to fulfill our end of the deal with Lt. Col. Serena after all.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll probably get calls from the media as well, so we have to prepare for that.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that too¡­¡­ Hey, you think it¡¯s possible to just ignore them somehow?¡±

    Uh, well, there¡¯s also Tina and Whisker¡¯s circumstances to take note of, so I guess that won¡¯t fly huh. Sheesh. How troublesome.

    ¡°We have so many things on our te huh. Let¡¯s just pray that there would be no problems this time around.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that kinda impossible¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°It seems it is¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t give up straight away you two¡­¡­ Geez.¡±

    The three of us let out collective sighs.

    ¡°Even if something does happen, I believe Master will be able to deal with it. Just like always.¡±

    ¡°I sure hope so.¡±

    We can¡¯t really be sure that we¡¯ll be able to resolve every kind of troublesome stuff thates our way after all.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, the take-off clearance has been issued!¡±

    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s get going then. You ready, guys?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Uhuh.¡±

    ¡°Ready when you are, Master.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s get outta here. Destination: Grakkis Secundus colony.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Course has been set.¡±

    ¡°Generator output switched to cruising mode. Course clear.¡±

    ¡°Undocking. Krishna, taking off.¡±

    Krishna gently floated off the ground via the attitude control thrusters and started elerating once the main thrusters activated. Krishna rapidly rose in altitude with its bow facing the sky, but the burden on the crew inside was rtively light due to the inertial control system. This was much better than the rocketunches back on Earth that resembled thrill rides like jet coasters.

    Before long, Krishna escaped the atmosphere of the imperial capital and reached outer space.

    ¡°Man, I feel so much better once we¡¯re out of gravity¡¯s reach¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ahaha. I also feel more relieved out in spacepared to staying in the imperial capital.¡±

    ¡°Me too. We¡¯re all used to the mercenary lifestyle after all. How about you, Mei?¡±

    After being asked by Elma, Mei blinked a few times, tilted her head to think a little, and opened her mouth soon after.

    ¡°I¡¯m not so sure myself. However, spending time with all of you is¡­¡­ veryforting, yes.¡±

    ¡°Comforting, huh? I get that. I really do.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I did enjoy having tea with the princess and wearing a beautiful dress, but I feel like this is where I truly belong.¡±

    It seems like it wasn¡¯t just me who agreed with Mei¡¯s words. Mimi felt the same as well.

    ¡°Let¡¯s hurry up and go back then. To our true home.¡±

    ¡°Right. Yosh, I¡¯m gonna floor it, guys!¡±

    After saying so, I fired up the afterburners to maximum output, causing Krishna to leave a brilliant trail of light in its wake.

 Chapter 195 â€“ Morning at the Dareinwald Villa

    <h4>Chapter 195 - Morning at the Dareinwald Vi</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I was woken up when I sensed the presence of someone getting on top of the bed.

    I caught the intruder with both arms as the sunlight gently caressed my eyelids, and hugged her tightly as she tried to squirm out of my embrace. When I did so, the intruder gave up all resistance. I once again started to drift off while feeling the gentle warmth of the intruder¡¯s body.

    ¡°Good morning. Huh? Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Nn-¡­¡­?¡±

    Hmm? I thought the intruder was Mimi, but¡­¡­ hm? Elma¡¯s not one to do this sort of thing, and the twins alwayse in pairs¡­¡­ I started touching the intruder¡¯s body all over to check. Her body size wasn¡¯t much different from Mimi though.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡­¡±

    A soft and supple sensation was transmitted to my palms. However, their size was iparable to Mimi¡¯s. Hm? Come to think of it, just where was I sleeping anyway?

    ¡°Umm¡­¡­ Would it be better if Ie back in an hour to wake you up?¡±

    My consciousness was instantly jolted awake when I heard Mimi¡¯s hesitant voice from the side of the bed. Cold sweat started trickling down my back as I tossed the futon away from the bed I slept on.

    ¡°P-Please be gentle¡­¡­ U-Um, but if it¡¯s only for a bit, y-you can also be rougher with me¡­¡­¡±

    There was a young girl with bright red blushing cheeks together with me on the bed. She looked up at me enticingly with moist eyes.

    ¡°Chris!? Why the heck are you here, Chris!?¡±

    My scream echoed all throughout the Dareinwald family vi in the imperial capital.

    Well, not really. Man, these noble vis sure are neat. Their soundproofing was practically perfect. Phew. What a relief.

    ¡°You¡¯re terrible. Did you really have to scream like that?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, okay.¡±

    Chris puffed her cheeks up in anger, but I felt she was really cute when she did so. Well, Chris didn¡¯t really seem to be all that angry anyway so her mood quickly turned for the better after some coaxing.

    We¡¯re currently staying over at the Dareinwald House¡¯s private vi in the imperial capital.

    After the tournament, we promptly returned to the Grakkis Secundus colony, picked up the mechanic sisters who sported dead fish eyes from all the stress, and descended to the imperial capital once more. We then nned to finish everything we needed to do in the imperial capital while staying in the Dareinwald vi for a couple of days.

    Maybe it¡¯s because I became quite famous after the tournament? Or maybe it¡¯s due to my unrestricted gateway ess pass or my status as a tinum-ranked mercenary. Heck, maybe it¡¯s mostly because I¡¯m a Gold Star recipient. In any case, the processing of our secondnding application wasparably speedier and smootherpared to the first time.

    ¡°But y¡¯know¡­ Can you please stop doing this from now on? I mean seriously. It¡¯s really bad for the heart.¡±

    ¡°Did I make your heart race, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°You did more than making my heart race. I thought I was gonna have a heart attack. Geez.¡±

    It¡¯s seriously not funny, okay.

    Chris- Lady Christina Dareinwald was the only true heiress of the Dareinwald House.

    The current earl and family head is her grandfather, Earl Abraham Dareinwald. But the one who¡¯s supposed to be his sessor - Chris¡¯s father - was plotted against by her uncle and ended up dying along with his wife. After the conflict within the family for session was resolved, Earl Dareinwald had his other son judged for his crimes.

    We, Krishna¡¯s crew, also got involved in the session conflict for some reason and acted together with Chris for a while. As for our connection with Chris¡­¡­ Well, we kinda bonded a lot during the time we spent with each other. It¡¯s the kind of bond that can¡¯t be exined with mere words. And so, that also resulted in us making a connection with the Dareinwald House as well.

    By the way, Chris was a raven-haired, onyx-eyed beautiful girl. She¡¯s about the same height as Mimi, or maybe a bit shorter. As for her build¡­¡­ Mm. Let me just say she has great potential for growth in the future. She seems to have a very favorable impression of me and shows me quite a bit of affection, but I haven¡¯tid my hands on her at all.

    She¡¯s the granddaughter of an earl after all. And unlike Mimi, she¡¯s still a minor. Even someone like me won¡¯t cross that kind of line, okay.

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­ I was really surprised too.¡±

    Mimi quipped wryly as she walked together with us. I thought she was an ordinary girl from a colony at first, but it turns out that her grandmother was the actual blood-rted sister of His Imperial Majesty, the emperor of the Gran empire. As they say, it¡¯s always the seemingly normal ones who hold the most secrets.

    Anyway, a lot happened due to Mimi¡¯s heritage, and I even resolved myself to go against the entire empire for her, but it turned out that the emperor was a pretty understanding guy, and she ended up being allowed to continue living as a mercenary.

    In order to sort things out, an empire-wide tournament was held, and I ended up standing out a lot¡­¡­ Well, I guess that¡¯s just the price to pay for our current situation.

    I separated from Mimi and Chris in order to freshen up, and when I arrived at the washroom, I found Elma already inside. It looks like she¡¯s just finished freshening up.

    ¡°Morning, Elma.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Hiro. Did you sleep well?¡±

    ¡°I certainly did sleep well, but the wake-up call was really shocking.¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    Her pointed ears popped out of her silver hair as she tilted her head. She¡¯s a veteran mercenary with five years of experience and also the daughter of Viscount Willrose. I also discovered this for the first time when we got to the imperial capital, but I wasn¡¯t as surprisedpared to Mimi¡¯s case because I already had a bit of an inkling that she was a youngdy from a noble family before.

    Well, there was some trouble due to her extreme sis-con of a brother and her father who despised me for taking her first and almost cut me down, but Elma¡¯s mother and older sister were on our side. They made her father submit to reality, and Elma¡¯s sis-con brother grudgingly acknowledged me in the end after losing in a swordsmanship duel with me in the tournament. All¡¯s well that ends well, I guess.

    ¡°What? Why are you staring at me like that?¡±

    ¡°You look really pretty today as well, Elma.¡±

    ¡°Mou¡­¡­ Just what are you saying so early in the morning? Geez.¡±

    Elma¡¯s face turned red and she started gently hitting my arm. Whenever I seriously anger her, I end up on the receiving end of brutal submission moves, but she properly holds back at times like these. Elma really was a cute girl. But it¡¯s better not to piss her off for real. I mean seriously. I might be able to keep up with her during CQC training nowadays, but aside from her reaction speed, her pure physical strength was several levels above mine.

    I quickly fixed my outfit and freshened up. Afterward, I headed for the dining hall of the vi and found not only Mimi and the others waiting inside, but also a beautiful girl in maid clothes who had mechanical gizmos for ears. It looks like she prepared breakfast for us.

    ¡°Good morning, Mei.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Master.¡±

    The maid bowed her head with a deadpan expression. She¡¯s a maid-type android- a maidroid, to be exact. She had long, flowing ck hair, brilliant eyes framed by red-rimmed sses, wore a chic Victorian-style maid outfit, and a pretty developed chest - though not as developed as Mimi¡¯s. Her appearance was entirely customized by me by the way.

    Yes, that¡¯s right. She¡¯s the ultimate maid-san I personally designed. I splurged a lot and customized her entire body to the limit, resulting in her overallbat capabilities bing roughly on par with a high-endbat robot.

    ¡°What about those two?¡±

    ¡°They told me to let them rest for a while more because they felt ¡®dead-tired¡¯.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    We also had twin mechanic sisters tagging along with us after getting dispatched by Space Dwerg - thepany they are working for - to our ship, but it looks like they were both still asleep. I¡¯m not too sure about what happened to them, but it looks like they didn¡¯t really get along well with the Space Dwerg people working at the imperial capital branch. It seems they wanted to avoid inconveniencing me, so when I told them I¡¯d bring the sisters with me back down to the-city, they let them go without much of a fuss. Anyway, let¡¯s leave those two alone for the time being.

    ¡°Let¡¯s have our breakfast first then. What about the earl?¡±

    ¡°My grandfather went to the imperial pce for some personal business. He said he would be returning by evening, so we would be able to join him for dinnerter.¡±

    Chris promptly answered my question. I see. It looks like the earl was pretty busy huh. I guess being a noble might be more difficult than I first expected.

    ¡°I see. Let¡¯se back here by evening as well then. Let¡¯s get some light exercise after breakfast first, and then go out for some shopping. Let¡¯s eat out somewhere nice for lunch.¡±

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll check on shops with good prospects right away!¡±

    Mimi, whose goal was to eat lots of delicious food all throughout the gxy, gushed excitedly with sparkling eyes. Perhaps her grandmother who fled from the imperial capital and the imperial family was also fond of such gourmet adventures.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine to get excited about lunch, but why don¡¯t we eat our breakfast first?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Chris watched Elma and Mimi¡¯s exchange with a warm gaze. Maybe she¡¯s reminiscing about the days we spent on that resort.

    ¡°Let¡¯s have breakfast now, Chris.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Hiro-sama.¡±

    She can¡¯t be together with us all the time, but lets at least make as many great memories with her as we can while we¡¯re here. Well, in the future, it might not be so difficult to pay Chris a visit because of my unrestricted ess to the imperial gateways.

 Chapter 196 â€“ Cutting-edge Tech

    <h4>Chapter 196 - Cutting-edge Tech</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    We did some light¡­ err, light? Anyway, I trained in swordsmanship with Mei with an intensity that wouldn¡¯t result in me getting injured. After finishing all sorts of training routines using the vi¡¯s training facility, the mechanic sisters finally woke up.

    ¡°Fuuaa¡­¡­ Mornin.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re sorry for sleeping in sote.¡±

    The one who¡¯s yawning without a care was the older sister Tina, and the one who¡¯s apologizing politely was the younger sister Whisker. They appeared simr in age to Chris, or perhaps even younger, but they were both actually the same age as me and were already working adults.

    Just why do they look like legal lolis, you ask? That¡¯s because they are both from a race that¡¯s amon staple in fantasy works - dwarves. In this SF dimension, female dwarves don¡¯t look like their male counterparts and didn¡¯t sport thick beards, but instead appeared as legal lolis that weren¡¯t that different from young human girls.

    By the way, they were actually twins. The one with red hair and spoke in Kansai-ben was Tina, and the one with blue hair and spoke politely was Whisker. They both looked like mere beautiful young girls, but they both possessed monstrous physical strength, so you¡¯d probably get the short end of the stick if you harassed them.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. What will you guys do about breakfast? You¡¯d probably lose your appetiteter on when we eat out if you have your meals now though.¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s alright with you, how about I make you both some delicious milk tea?¡±

    ¡°Please do.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡±

    Mei promptly prepared some milk tea for the sisters. I guess they will make do with some milk tea for now and eat their fillter when we have our lunch.

    ¡°We¡¯re going shopping first, right? What do you guys wanna buy?¡±

    ¡°Um, clothes?¡±

    ¡°We bought some dresses the other day though?¡±

    ¡°Not like those. We¡¯re talking about more casual stuff. The capital has lots of great clothes made with thetest cutting-edge tech, and you can freely order those here.¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t normal clothes be fine?¡±

    I have absolutely no clue regarding cutting-edge tech clothing or whatever. Oh yeah. There was this one time I was offered underwear that was made out of antiser material or something when I went shopping with Mimi and Elma back then huh. Are they talking about those?

    ¡°Even if they have simr designs, clothes made out of cutting-edge materials feel morefortable, and they have stuff suitable for mercenaries like clothes made out of antiser materials or stab-proof materials. They even have stuff made out of nano-cloth that would automatically prevent bleeding and heal injuries. There is lots more other stuff too.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­ Well, it sounds interesting enough. Okay, let¡¯s take a look then. Just buy them if you find items that catch your eye.¡±

    ¡°Just how much would clothes made out of cutting-edge materials cost though¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°In any case, we can probably afford some with our current finances, big sis.¡±

    Tina looked reluctant, but just like Whisker said, they could easily afford a few stuff with their current finances. I¡¯ve given the two of them some substantial bonuses after all.

    They aren¡¯t really part of Krishna and ck Lotus¡¯ official crew but were instead engineers assigned to ck Lotus by the Space Dwergpany. The particrs regarding their assignment to ck Lotus are a bit messy, but basically, they were sent to us as part of an apology by Space Dwerg as well as to collect data for theirtest starship model. Yeah, a lot happened back then. Yep.

    ¡°Man, that was a great buy.¡±

    After an hour, we arrived at a mall in the capital that had a lot of shops selling cutting-edge goods and enjoyed shopping for stuff.

    ¡°Ya sure, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Totally.¡±

    Tina was tilting her head in bewilderment beside me, but I was personally very satisfied with the thing I bought. The thing I bought was thetest defensive energy membrane emitter device model, or Personal Shield, filled with cutting-edge tech. It was cylinder-shaped and looked simr to a 350 ml beverage can, and once you p two energy packs on it, the device would be capable of emitting an energy shield around you with variable output.

    At the lowest output, you could protect yourself for a pretty long duration against insects and animals that may possess poison or unknown pathogens in undevelopeds, and if you raise the output, it could even blockser rifle shots and otherser weapons withparable firepower. Of course, increasing the output would shorten its operation time, but you can easily remedy that by carrying spare energy packs with you.

    ¡°But Boss, are ya sure you¡¯d be able to use that thing?¡±

    ¡°Of course. This coulde in handy on melee battles. I can also use it if we find ourselvesnding on an undeveloped frontier.¡±

    ¡°Ya really think stuff like that would happen, Boss?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Uh, maybe. You never know.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t look Tina in the eyes and moved my gaze away awkwardly. I also bought a multi-function camo cloak that I wasn¡¯t sure I¡¯d ever use a while back as well, but I haven¡¯t worn it until now, and it ended up gathering dust in a corner of ck Lotus¡¯s cargo hold¡­¡­ Uh, well, Mei actually cleans it periodically, so it¡¯s not like it¡¯s literally dusty or anything.

    ¡°Anyway, don¡¯t sweat the small stuff.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t look like it, but you¡¯re surprisingly prone to squandering your cash on pointless stuff sometimes huh, Boss.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not pointless, okay. I¡¯m sure it¡¯lle in handy someday.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just leave it at that then. Tina-chan is a nice girl after all.¡±

    ¡°Hooray for the nice Tina-chan!¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, you¡¯re saying that in monotone though.¡±

    Tina giggled happily.

    ¡°Why¡¯d you tag along with me instead of the others anyway, Boss?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m only saying this because it¡¯s you Tina, but girls take way too much time shopping y¡¯know¡­¡­ Especially for clothes and stuff.¡±

    I¡¯m walking together with Tina in the shopping mall right now. We¡¯re in the middle of checking out the cutting-edge product boutiques around the mall together with everyone earlier. Then I and Tina excused ourselves from the rest of the group and started looking around for interesting stuff on our own.

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Whee also likes to doll herself up, so she takes way long to choose her clothes and all.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you gonna buy clothes though, Tina?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m leaving that to Whee, so it¡¯s okay. Our three sizes are pretty much identical anyway.¡±

    Tina gave me a thumbs-up sign and a wink. Are you really fine with that, you unreliable big sis?

    ¡°How bout you, Boss? You aren¡¯t shopping for clothes either?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna consult with everyer regarding that cutting-edge material clothing line stuff and order some articles with simr designs to my current get-up so it¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°I have a funny feeling there are several simr-looking sets of clothes lined up in Boss¡¯s closet.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡±

    She hit the nail on the head so I better justugh it off. But these clothes arefy, functional, and easy to store away y¡¯know. People would also recognize you as a merc easily with these clothes on, so I feel they¡¯re very convenient.

    Tina and I went around some more shops until my portable terminal¡¯s ringtone rang out from my jacket pocket. Have Mimi and the others finished their shopping? Well that was quicker than I expected. I took out my portable terminal and took a look at the screen.

    ¡°Boss, your face¡­¡±

    It looks like I unconsciously made a pretty ugly expression. The name disyed on the terminal screen wasn¡¯t Mimi, Elma, nor Mei. It was Major Serena. Err, she was recently promoted, so I guess it¡¯s Lieutenant Colonel Serena now. Anyway, it was Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s name.

    ¡°Yes, this is Hiro speaking.¡±

    ¡ºIt¡¯s been a while, Captain Hiro. You¡¯re all doing fine, I hope?¡»

    ¡°Thankfully. We¡¯re staying at Earl Dareinwald¡¯s vi right now. So, what do you need this time?¡±

    ¡ºYou¡¯re cutting right to the chase? It¡¯s not bad to be straightforward, but you¡¯re a Gold Star recipient and a tinum-ranked mercenary, so isn¡¯t it fine if you showed a bit moreposure and tolerance?¡»

    ¡°Well now. That was rude of me. I¡¯ll reflect on it properly.¡±

    I honestly apologized to Lt. Col. Serena.

    ¡ºThat¡¯s more like it. I¡¯m calling about our deal regarding the purchase ofbat bots.¡»

    ¡°Okay. Have you obtained permission?¡±

    ¡ºYes. The approval order from the imperial military was sent to me earlier. I¡¯ll send the digital certificate to your terminal after this, so just pay a visit to the military bot manufacturer whenever it¡¯s convenient for you. If you show them the certificate, you¡¯d be able to make your purchases with no trouble. I¡¯ll also send the letter of introduction I prepared for you. House Holz is one of the major shareholders of Eagle Dynamics, so they¡¯ll properly amodate your needs if you show them my letter.¡»

    ¡°Roger that. Thank you very much for your help, Lieutenant.¡±

    ¡ºWith this, I¡¯ve properly paid off my debt from the Crystal Campaign. This time, it¡¯s your turn to pay me back for all the trouble you caused me in the capital, okay?¡»

    ¡°Yeah, yeah. Please go easy on me.¡±

    ¡ºFufu¡­¡­ Until next time then.¡»

    The call was cut. Just what was she fufu-ing for huh!? I wonder just what kind of troublesome stuff she¡¯s gonna drop on me next time¡­¡­ I¡¯ve be able to easily ess gateways, so it¡¯s scary to think that she¡¯ll be able to call me over no matter where she was in the empire. Sheesh.

    ¡°I was nning to continue shopping here in the afternoon, but I guess we¡¯ll have to change our ns huh.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re gonna buy somebat bots, right? I¡¯m really looking forward to it.¡±

    I guess she¡¯s excited about being able to see thetest militarybat bots. Tina seemed quite pumped up.

    Actually, I¡¯m excited as well. There are no hot-blooded males who hate fighting robots after all!

 Chapter 197 â€“ Eagle Dynamics

    <h4>Chapter 197 - Eagle Dynamics</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    We had lunch at an upscale restaurant (It kinda resembled a sushi bar though.) in the capital. Mei made an appointment with Eagle Dynamics during the meal, and after we had our fill, we headed straight to the ce.

    The capital branch of Eagle Dynamics was located within the military section of the imperial pce, and the branch building presented quite an imposing exterior.

    ¡°A fully functional production line seems to be located underneath the building.¡±

    ¡°Hoo, so they manufacture their stuff here as well huh.¡±

    We got down in front of Eagle Dynamics¡¯s building and I gave it a once-over. Un, it¡¯s huge. Security-typebat bots stood guard imposingly in front of the building, and the wide square directly below it was filled with various models ofbat bots on disy.

    ¡°Waa, there sure are a lot of them! And they all look so strong!¡±

    ¡°There sure are. You rarely see most of these in the market. How interesting.¡±

    Mimi¡¯s eyes widened in wonder as she looked at the variousbat bots on disy. I scanned the disyedbat bots myself.

    ¡°We don¡¯t needrge models, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯re basically gonna use them to defend the inside of ck Lotus from possible boarding actions from pirates after all.¡±

    ¡°And we can also do the opposite and send them in for boarding actions ourselves, right?¡±

    ¡°Yep. Exactly.¡±

    Since that¡¯s the case, we can safely exclude thebat bots with sizesparable to light armored vehicles and trucks from our list. The ones the size of light armor vehicles could probably squeeze themselves within ck Lotus¡¯s main passages, but we¡¯ll have problems when ites to mass deployment, so they¡¯re still no good. We could probably deploy a number of them withparably less hassle in wide spaces such as the hangar bays and the cargo hold though.

    ¡°So we can only choose from small and medium types¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Chris-chan, don¡¯t you think these look good?¡±

    ¡°They certainly look quite cute.¡±

    Mimi and Chris crouched down to check out a small-typebat bot model of a standard size. It¡¯s about the same size as a small dog and was equipped with aser gun that had low durability but sufficient firepower. Depending on the specifications, it could alsoe equipped with a self-destruct function that would be particrly deadly if it charged in the middle of its enemies. It was a particrly troublesomebat bot type to deal with.

    ¡°Un, I guess it¡¯s a question of whether we¡¯ll go for a highly specialized configuration or versatility instead huh.¡±

    ¡°They would offer increasingly better performance in a particr aspect the more specialized they are, but it¡¯s hard to pass up versatility as well. Ah, big sis. This one¡¯s pretty interesting.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, it¡¯s a module recement type huh.¡±

    Tina and Whisker seemed to be checking out the medium-sizedbat bots. The types specialized for field instation are mostly of this size as expected. The medium-typebat bots ranged from being simr in size torge dogs torge two-wheeled vehicles. The humanoid ones stood as tall as 2.5 meters.

    ¡°Would it be better for us to get the humanoid models?¡±

    ¡°I wonder. I personally don¡¯t think we need to be fixated on them being humanoid though.¡±

    ¡°Fuumu, that¡¯s true as well¡­¡­¡±

    The increase in height would serve next to no purpose after all. They would certainly look more valiant and heroic if they were humanoid, but I think a quadrupedal form with weapons mounted on the back would offer more advantages.

    ¡°But if we¡¯re using them primarily for meleebat in enclosed spaces, they won¡¯t have much room to maneuver anyway, so I think it would be better to pay more attention to energy shield strength, durability, and firepower instead of agonizing about what¡¯s better between bipedal or quadrupedal models.¡±

    ¡°You have a point.¡±

    Elma nodded in agreement and moved to the exhibition space for medium-typebat bots as well. The models there weren¡¯t very mobile, but they seem to have very sturdy armor ting and equally durable energy shields. Their firepower was also quite substantial, with at least twoser rifle-type weapons and a grenadeuncher.

    ¡°Should we choose from these ones then?¡±

    ¡°I think it also won¡¯t be that ideal if they are too bulky. There¡¯s no point if they end up being too slow in deploying after all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right as well.¡±

    As the two of us continued to exchange our opinions, some people wearing suits who seemed to be employees of Eagle Dynamics walked up to Elma and me. It seems Mimi and Chris were tagging along with them as well.

    ¡°You are Captain Hiro, the one who made an appointment today, correct? My name is Pijou from Eagle Dynamics.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Captain Hiro. This is Elma, one of my crew members.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve already heard from Mimi-sama and Christina-sama. It¡¯s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.¡±

    The man calling himself Pijou was a middle-aged guy with a strangely well-built physique for a supposedly ordinary sryman. It won¡¯t even seem out of ce at all if he introduced himself as a mercenary or a soldier instead.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, let¡¯s continue discussions inside thepany building. We will also offer you some rmendations from ourtest models ording to your needs.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go ahead and do that then. Tina! Whisker! We¡¯re going inside the building!¡±

    I called the mechanic sisters over and headed inside the Eagle Dynamics building with Pijou leading the way. Mei was following after us, but she¡¯s been silent the entire time since we arrived at Eagle Dynamics.

    ¡°I¡¯d be d if you can offer some suggestionster as well, Mei.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Understood.¡±

    She sounded a bit hesitant when she replied, but Mei¡¯s expression was as unfazed as usual. I inwardly got curious about her behavior as I continued to follow after Pijou and stepped inside the office building.

    We were given a very warm wee the moment we stepped foot inside the Eagle Dynamics office building. Was it due to the letter of introduction of Lt. Col. Serena, or having an earl¡¯s heiress and granddaughter, Chris, and a viscount¡¯s daughter, Elma, among our group? Maybe it was due to me being both a tinum ranker and Gold Star recipient. I¡¯m not sure which of these factors was the reason for their VIP treatment, but it certainly didn¡¯t feel bad at all.

    ¡°We¡¯re really getting treated as super VIPs, aren¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°Is it really okay for people like us to be here¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it eventually, you two.¡±

    Mimiforted the jittery Tina and Whisker with a smile akin to a gentle bodhisattva. Uh, was she reallyforting them though¡­¡­? It might be more urate to describe it as her trying to persuade herself to ept reality.

    ¡°Are you nning on purchasing a set of our militarybat robots today, sir?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the idea. I n on purchasing a full set, including the maintenance system and other optional stuff.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ We have built a sterling reputation as an officialbat robot supplier for the imperial space navy. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be very satisfied with our products.¡±

    Pijou smiled from ear to ear as he nodded several times while rubbing his hands together in a disy of eagerness. I¡¯m a bit uneasy about him acting a little bit too eager to please, but I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll think twice about pulling some underhanded stuff since I handed them a letter of introduction from House Holz. If he got found out, he¡¯ll be spitting in the face of House Holz after all.

    ¡°It seems you¡¯ve already checked the various disy models we¡¯ve lined up outside, but what kind ofbat robot are you looking for, specifically?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m mainly going to employ them as a countermeasure for pirates pulling off boarding actions, but we¡¯re also looking at the possibility of using them for boarding actions ourselves as well. There¡¯s next to no chance of it happening, but I also hope we can deploy them if we ever encounter an emergency and end up crashnding on a.¡±

    ¡°I see. So, in other words, you¡¯d like a versatile medium-typebat bot model.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s what we have in mind.¡±

    Pijou nodded briskly. As expected of an expert employed by thepany. He sure doesn¡¯t miss a beat.

    ¡°You¡¯d have the most options to choose from within the medium-type heavybat bot models. If we take the maintenance and parts swapping system into ount, the Alkeny model would be the most optimum choice.¡±

    After saying so, Pijou fiddled with his tablet terminal and put up the information of the Alkeny model on the holo-disy. The model called Alkeny was a heavy quadrupedbat bot. Aside from its sizeable legs, it also had an equally sizeable body and had four arm-type hardpoints that could be installed with a wide variety of weapons and equipment. It seems that by recing the backpack, you could change into various configurations such as an assault type, defense type,munications and reconnaissance type, and covert ops type.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ It looks cool.¡±

    ¡°Yep. That sure looks neat.¡±

    ¡°But it isn¡¯t cute at all.¡±

    Uh, Mimi, I think there¡¯s something off with wanting a heavybat robot to look cute.

    ¡°Hahaha, we all treat them as our cute and precious children here though. The military version of the Alkeny is equipped with apact power generator, so it can run for a long time without having to recharge. It sports a considerable power output for its size, so there¡¯s a lot of room for customization and optimization.¡±

    Pijou then disyed various weapon and equipment configurations of the Alkeny model on the screen. The standard one seems to be equipped withser rifle-ssser turrets on both main arms and portable shield emitters on the sub-arms. The backpackes equipped with a micro-missile pod and a grenadeuncher.

    ¡°This is the standard configuration. The energy shields on the sub-arms serve to block the enemy¡¯s attacks as the unit concentrates on wiping them out with highly urate shooting. The armsers can be reced with splitsers or ballistic weaponry as well. Moreover, the backpack doesn¡¯t onlye in an attack configuration with the micro-missile pod and grenadeuncher, but other configurations as well, such as amander pack equipped withmunication devices and anti-electronic warfare modules, a medic pack equipped with medical nanomachines, a repair pack that allows for emergency field repairs, an assault pack that enables advanced 3D maneuvers, and a stealth pack equipped with electronic interference devices such as optical camouge.¡±

    ¡°I see. The more configurations you can choose, the more strategies you can implement huh.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. In addition, when not inbat, you can make use of their main and sub-arms to carry out simple work such as carrying cargo or emcement fortification. And because the model sports plenty of payload for its size, you can also use them to transport supplies while marching during an operation.¡±

    ¡°How much is the price per unit?¡±

    ¡°The standard price is 70,000 Enels per unit. Of course, since you¡¯ve handed over a letter of introduction from House Holz, if you purchase multiple units and theplete maintenance and equipment swapping system, we¡¯ll give you a very generous discount.¡±

    ¡°For the time being, quote me a price for ten units along with theplete maintenance and equipment swapping system, plus a full set of optional equipment and parts.¡±

    ¡°Yes, with pleasure!¡±

    Pijou started calcting with a big smile on his face. I¡¯ll have him show me more modelster and then decide on which type to buy afterward. Well, usually, it¡¯s better to buy the ones that are rmended by pros when ites to stuff like these. But you still have to pay attention since you may get duped and offered some unsold defective stock at times.

 Chapter 198 â€“ Earl Dareinwaldâ€™s Request

    <h4>Chapter 198 - Earl Dareinwald¡¯s Request</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I had them show me several morebat bot models to choose from, but in the end, I went with the first model they showed me, which was the military version of the Alkeny typebat bot. The clinchers were its high versatility and the fact that it could fold itself to a fraction of its fully deployed size when not in use. When ites to purebat performance, there were several models better than it, but since it was highly versatile, we could put it to good use even outside ofbat scenarios.

    Due to Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s introduction letter and us purchasing a set of ten units, the price for each unit + OS dropped to 60,000 Enels, and the maintenance and equipment swapping system plus optional parts amounted to 600,000 Enels. All in all, we had to fork out about 1.2 million Enels.

    ¡°¡­¡­They were surprisingly cheap, weren¡¯t they?¡±

    ¡°This is bad, Whee. Even Mimi has fallen to the dark side.¡±

    ¡°Um, Mimi-san, 1.2 million Enels is an astronomical sum for most people you know. The average monthly wage for normal citizens is about 1,500 Enels, okay? They¡¯ll need to save up every Enel for 66 years in order to earn that kind of amount.¡±

    ¡°Y-You¡¯re right! What was I thinking?¡±

    Mimi got taken aback when Tina and Whisker admonished her. Muahaha. That¡¯s good, Mimi. Come. Come to the dark side¡­¡­ It¡¯s fun over here y¡¯know?

    ¡°Um, it feels a bitte to be saying something like this now, but isn¡¯t Mei-san far more capable than anybat bot?¡±

    ¡°Of course, she is.¡±

    ¡°Uhuh.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your praise.¡±

    I and Elma agreed to Chris¡¯s words, and Mei bowed her head in gratitude for our acknowledgment.

    ¡°Um, so, wouldn¡¯t it have been better to purchase more maidroids simr to Mei-san instead ofbat bots?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like we couldn¡¯t have done that, but¡­¡­ Mei.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Just as Chris-sama says, we could have procured high-performance custom maidroids just like me, but you have to take into ount the fact that my unit cost was 480,000 Enels. If we include the optional parts and maintenance equipment, the price will easily exceed 550,000 Enels. In other words, two maidroids simr to me in performance and abilities will already cost about 1.1 million Enels. In that case, it is more cost-effective to purchase ten militarybat botsplete with the maintenance equipment for 1.2 million Enels.¡±

    Mei began aparative exnation of the cost-performance and cost-effectiveness of custom maidroids andbat bots.

    ¡°There¡¯s also the issue of total uptime. Maidroids like me are required to undergo maintenance for two hours every 48 hours. This is essential in order to maintain our external appearance and ensure optimum performance. Furthermore, if we ever receive critical damage, we will have to be shipped back to the manufacturer for repairs. In contrast, militarybat bots can continue operating with no noticeable drop in performance for up to two weeks without maintenance. And if they get critically damaged, you can easily repair them as long as you purchase the requisite maintenance and equipment swapping system. Due to their long operation time and ease of maintenance, militarybat bots are still objectively better than custom maidroids like me in terms of purebat performance.¡±

    ¡°I see. Mei-san¡¯s overall performance is far superior, but militarybat bots are tougher, cost-effective, and easy to operate and maintain.¡±

    ¡°As a bodyguard and escort for Chris, Mimi, Tina, and Whisker, Mei is certainly far more suitable. After all, you can¡¯t walk around ces like the imperial capital withbat bots constantly following after you, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. That scene would be too intimidating.¡±

    ¡°So, what about me?¡±

    ¡°I and you don¡¯t really need any escorts, Elma.¡±

    Elma asked me with a straight face, so I answered her with a straight face as well. The situations where Elma and I would need a bodyguard wouldn¡¯t exactly be your usual fare after all. For example, battlefields wheresers and bullets are flying around. Judging from her expression, it looks like Elma wasn¡¯t that convinced, but let¡¯s just ignore that anyway.

    ¡°Well, I just bought them as a form of insurance anyway. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll have many chances to use those bots.¡±

    ¡°Right. We don¡¯t really get subjected to boarding actions from pirates anyway.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I will never allow such an atrocity to happen within the halls of Master¡¯s ck Lotus.¡±

    Chris had a confused expression. She was probably asking something along the lines of ¡®So what was the point of buyingbat robots then?¡¯ inwardly. That¡¯s just how it is, girl. For us people blessed by misfortune, making preparations like this would allow us to feel safer.

    ¡°Well, since we already bought what we came for, let¡¯s just return to the vi. It¡¯s gettingte anyway.¡±

    ¡°Right. It¡¯s about time my grandfather returns to the mansion as well.¡±

    ¡°I have a request for you all.¡±

    ¡°Grandfather!¡±

    Chris got angry and raised her voice toward Earl Dareinwald who got down to business without so much as a greeting.

    We returned to the Dareinwald family vi, and the moment we arrived, we met with Earl Dareinwald, who asked us to work for him straight away. I¡¯m not sure about what he wants, but I really don¡¯t get this guy. He¡¯s past the point of simply being blunt and straightforward.

    ¡°Uh, we¡¯re not really upset, sir¡­¡­ It was just a bit abrupt.¡±

    ¡°Umu.¡±

    After a brief nod, Earl Dareinwald lightly waved his hand and activated the holo-disy. A map of a certain star system got projected. It seems the star system in particr was the Comatt system.

    ¡°If I remember correctly, the Comatt system is a direct neighbor to the Dexer system, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. The terraforming of the habitable, Comatt III, which has been going on for some time, has just beenpleted recently. Our Dareinwald House is nning to begin resettlement efforts there. I would like to ask you all to serve as an escort for the immigration fleet and continue to guard the immigrants for a time after they arrive there. We would have trouble remedying them if any sort of trouble crops up on Comatt III after all.¡±

    ¡°So we¡¯re gonna guard immigrants huh¡­¡­ We don¡¯t mind receiving the standard pay for anti-pirate escorts, but we¡¯ll have you grant us a separate fee for solving any trouble that does happen on Comatt III. Also, it¡¯s next to impossible to defend Comatt III with us alone if pirates ever decide to conduct a full-scaleary raid, okay.¡±

    That¡¯s honestly on a scale Krishna and ck Lotus are incapable of handling after all. As I said, it¡¯s next to impossible for us alone to defend against aary raid by pirates since we can¡¯t really prevent all their ships from descending upon the.

    ¡°Of course, I understand. Our Dareinwald House will provide adequate support. I simply just want you to join our forces as hired mercenaries.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯ll depend on the reward you¡¯re offering then. Uh, how much was the hiring fee for tinum rankers by the way?¡±

    ¡°200,000 Enels per day.¡±

    ¡°Well then, I shall hire you all for 300,000 Enels per day. I also guarantee a minimum of 1 million Enels as an additional reward, and it may still increase depending on the situation.¡±

    ¡°OK. The rewards are good enough. How long is the contract period?¡±

    ¡°A minimum of one month and a maximum of three months. In case we exceed the contract period, what do you think about re-negotiating another contract once that happens?¡±

    ¡°A maximum of three months huh. OK. What do you think, Mimi, Elma?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m OK with it as well!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine with it too.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll ept the job then. Please submit a formal request to the Mercenary Guild.¡±

    ¡°Umu. I will have the necessary procedures done straight away.¡±

    I shook hands with Earl Dareinwald after finalizing our discussion.

    ¡°Chris, I shall leave you in charge of the immigration fleet. I hope you perform your responsibilities well.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Grandfather.¡±

    Chris, who was listening in on our discussion, calmly nodded. I see. So this will also serve as a form of training for her so that she can smoothly take up her duties as a lord in the future. That¡¯s why he sent us along as well huh. Although Earl Dareinwald was a man of few words and could be really blunt at times, he¡¯s properly caring for his granddaughter in his own way.

    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have to do our best to help Chris out then.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    Mimi beamed from ear to ear and Elma gently smiled at Chris. But to think something like this woulde up¡­¡­ It looks like thebat bots would be put to good use sooner than we thought huh.

    By the way, the mechanic sisters turned into unmoving statues the moment they came face to face with Earl Dareinwald¡¯s imposing aura.

    It seems they already got used to Chris to some extent, but it looks like they would still lose their bearings in front of bona fide aristocrats like the earl. In a sense, Mimi, who¡¯s now able to keep herposure in front of someone like the earl, has turned into a real mercenary.

    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll be having a leisurely vacation while watching over the resettlement process huh.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I wonder what the resettlement will be like.¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t witnessed it personally, but I¡¯ve heard that immigration ships will descend onto a promising region on a habitable and the development of the area will be centered on that ship.¡±

    As we three conversed with smiles on our faces, we were all of one mind. We all vowed never to utter ominous-sounding statements under any circumstances to avoid trouble. However, that vain hope was soon crushed into space dust without mercy.

    ¡°In the early stages of the resettlement process, it seems the immigrants and the resources they brought with them would get targeted by pirates from time to time, so please be on your guard.¡±

    Chris said such words with overflowing enthusiasm. After seeing her like that, I- or rather, all three of us covered our eyes with one hand and raised our heads to the heavens in despair.

    So it doesn¡¯t matter if we didn¡¯t say anything huh. Chris nted a g for us anyway. Damn.

 Chapter 199 â€“ Sortie Preparations

    <h4>Chapter 199 - Sortie Preparations</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After epting Earl Dareinwald¡¯s request, we immediately started to make our preparations. By preparations, I mean things like making additional purchases of food stockpiles for emergencies (food cartridges), medical solution for the med-pod, energy packs for theser rifles,ser guns, and other equipment, performing some check-up and maintenance on said weapons and equipment, as well as bringing in and installing our newly purchasedbat bots and maintenance/parts swap system¡­¡­ Anyway, we had a lot to do.

    ¡°So you¡¯re telling me the damn media people suddenly decided to ask if they could pay us a visit during a super busy time like this?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re really sorry, Boss.¡±

    Tina bowed in apology to me who was currently watching over the colony transport system and the cargo-bots rushing to and fro inside the Lotus¡¯ cargo hold to bring in the supplies, but I shook my head in response.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not like it¡¯s you and Whisker¡¯s fault anyway. I¡¯m not ming you guys. I guess it¡¯s about time to get all the troublesome stuff out of the way anyway, so let¡¯s get this deal over and done with.¡±

    But troublesome stuff was still troublesome. I¡¯m okay with starshipbat, but I¡¯m not that good with fighting in person¡­¡­ Or at least, that was supposed to be the case. Presently, I¡¯ve be a swordsman who is able to go toe to toe with Je*i knights and S*th lords.

    Uh, maybe not. They aren¡¯t just good at sword fighting after all. They also use mysterious powers to achieve abilities like foresight and so on¡­¡­ They can also use those powers to telekically throw stuff around and release electric attacks. Yeah. I¡¯d probably get thoroughly beaten up. Yep.

    ¡°There¡¯s a need to arrange for a meeting first before anything else. What are their ns regarding that?¡±

    ¡°Um, they handed us their contact info.¡±

    ¡°I see. So they want us to contact them from our end huh.¡±

    We didn¡¯t hand them our contact info, so I guess this is to be expected. I have some prejudice regarding the media after all. Well, it¡¯s not like everything¡¯s gonna be bad even with that crappy first impression I got from them anyway.

    I took out my portable terminal, received the contact info from Whisker¡¯s tablet, and called them up immediately.

    ¡ºYes, this is Wamdo speaking.¡»

    The one who replied on the other end was a man with a deep-sounding voice.

    ¡°This is Captain Hiro. I received word from Tina and Whisker from Space Dwerg so I got in touch. I heard you wanted to conduct an interview inside my ship, so I called to ask about the particrs.¡±

    After a brief pause, I heard a loud crash, rattling, rustling, and other morous noises apanied by some swearing. Since my terminal was on speaker mode, Tina and Whisker heard the noises as well and their eyes widened in surprise.

    ¡ºE-Excuse me! Thank you very much for contacting us! We have really been looking forward to hearing from you, sir!¡»

    I suddenly imagined the figure of a man bowing profusely like a click beetle on the other end. He seems pretty different from the ones who wanted to conduct an ambush interview and forcefully boarded ck Lotus back then.

    He seems to have moved to a quieter spot (At least I couldn¡¯t hear any other noises apart from his voice on the other side.) and started briefing me about the interview details in a calmer manner.

    In short, they were nning to conduct a joint interview with Space Dwerg and other media outfits. Eachpany would bring their own filming equipment and would conduct the joint interview with everyone asking questions in turns.

    ¡°I see. Well, I guess it¡¯s better to leave the interview methods to pros like you, but we have just a bit of a problem.¡±

    ¡ºWhat is it, sir?¡»

    ¡°We were actually contracted by a certain noble house- Uh, I guess it¡¯s alright to tell you which house it is. We recently epted a request from House Dareinwald and we¡¯re ted to depart soon.¡±

    ¡ºAh-¡­¡­¡»

    Wamdo choked up on the other end of the line. When ites to interviewing mercenaries who are in an active contract with nobles, the mediapanies are required to discuss things with said nobles as well. Of course, getting the interview approved ain¡¯t my problem. It¡¯s up to them to see things through instead.

    Anyway, it¡¯s not like I¡¯ll dump everything on them. I¡¯ll at least serve as a point of contact between the media folks and House Dareinwald, but it¡¯s up to the mediapanies to negotiate the terms. It¡¯s not like we absolutely need to take the interviews anyway. We certainly had a deal with Space Dwerg when we purchased ck Lotus, but it¡¯s not like we¡¯re obligated to take the interviews.

    After all, the contract also states that we can refuse interviews if they would end up interfering with our work. In other words, our client has every right to decline the interviews if they want to.

    ¡°I¡¯m personally fine with getting interviewed. But whether or not our client will allow it is a different story. You¡¯ll be the ones to discuss it with them, of course.¡±

    ¡ºC-Can you pull some strings for us somehow, sir¡­¡­?¡»

    ¡°I¡¯ll act as the go-between at least. Of course, I can¡¯t just reveal the particrs of the client¡¯s request. I believe you guys have plenty of capable personnel, so just do your best, okay. I¡¯ll ask the client if you guys can make an appointment with them after this.¡±

    ¡ºUu¡­¡­ Please do.¡»

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll be sure to put in a good word or two.¡±

    I cut the call with Mr. Wamdo, who sounded like he was about to suffer from acute stomach pain from all the stress, and immediately contacted Chris.

    ¡ºYes, this is Christina speaking. What¡¯s the matter, Hiro-sama?¡»

    ¡°Sorry for calling you all of a sudden, but something came up-¡±

    I¡¯m not sure about what transpired in the discussion between Mr. Wamdo and Earl Dareinwald, but it seems they managed to get permission to conduct the interview in the end.

    ¡°It did seem they ended up making several arrangements though.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It looks like they won¡¯t just interview you all, Boss. They¡¯ll also interview Christina-sama as well.¡±

    ¡°Chris-chan too?¡±

    Mimi, who was feasting on her usual breakfast meal - a yellowish vorful rice porridge of some sort - tilted her head curiously in the middle of bringing her spoon to her mouth.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s a move to build up Chris¡¯s fame and authority by letting the media cover how the next family head, Chris, would takemand of theary resettlement. They¡¯ll be able to project the image of a young but efficient and effective leader, and by making good use of Hiro who¡¯s a Gold Star awardee and a tinum ranker, Chris will be more renowned in aristocratic society.¡±

    ¡°I see-¡±

    After hearing Elma¡¯s conjecture, Mimi seemed convinced. I also nodded in agreement inwardly. I have no idea just how that old man who seemed super-blunt and straightced struck a deal with Mr. Wamdo and the other media people, but he sure made certain to secure benefits for himself- or rather, for Chris. I guess he really is a tried and true noble after all.

    ¡°How¡¯s the progress of procuring supplies? In any case, we¡¯ve already finished installing the newbat bots.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll finish sending in all the supplies by the end of the day too. We¡¯ve also managed to sell the crystal lifeform materials for a good price.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. Keep an eye on products we can bring with us to the Comatt system too.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Mimi nodded and smiled sweetly. It¡¯s better for Mimi to gain practical trading experience this way and after she gets enough, I¡¯d be able to safely leave the management of a trading ship to her in the future. Uh, but if I did that, I won¡¯t be able to stay with her all the time anymore. That¡¯s no good. Yep. Let¡¯s think of some other method then.

    ¡°You¡¯re making some really weird faces, Boss.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re thinking about something strange again, right?¡±

    ¡°How rude. I was just mulling over some ns for the future, okay.¡±

    After retorting, I thrust my fork into a piece of my morning steak special (synthetic) and brought it to my mouth. Umu, Tetsujin V really is the best. It¡¯s hard to think something this tasty was actually synthesized from algae, krill-like creatures, spices, and vorings.

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s stop thinking about the future for now and focus on the present. We¡¯re gonna spend the day working inside the ship today as well, so I hope no ident happens. Here¡¯s to spending a safe and fulfilling day.¡±

    We can¡¯t be neglectful okay! We have to be really thorough. Well, the logistics work in this dimension basically just consists of giving instructions to thebor machines and leave most of the work to them. asionally though, some underequipped stations ands in early stages of development make use of power armor for heavybor. Some even use old-fashioned forklifts to load and unload stuff.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Boss. We have to be careful to avoid any idents.¡±

    ¡°Man, that sounds really convincinging from you Tina. I mean, you once fired off a dwarf cannonball at me after all.¡±

    ¡°I totally agree, big brother.¡±

    The one who was used as the dwarf cannonball in question, Whisker, wholeheartedly agreed with me.

    ¡°Mou¡­¡­ You both are still holding a grudge about that after all this time, Boss, Whisker? I¡¯m properly reflecting on it okay.¡±

    ¡°Reaaally¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Really! Don¡¯t you see these genuinely repentant eyes, Whee?¡±

    I decided to continue eating the rest of my breakfast in earnest as I watched the dwarven sisters poke fun at each other with a smile on my face. We¡¯ve been experiencing really quiet and peaceful days recently, so I hope this continues on for longer.

    I suddenly thought that these peaceful days might just simply be a prelude to something big. Y¡¯know, like the calm before a storm or something. But nah, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s just my imagination. Hahaha.

 Chapter 200 â€“ Comatt Star System

    <h4>Chapter 200 - Comatt Star System</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to finally meet you in person. I¡¯m Space Dwerg Company Media Division Section III¡¯s chief, Wamdo.¡±

    ¡°Hello. I¡¯m Captain Hiro.¡±

    I exchanged pleasantries with the oddly humble Wamdo and shook hands with him. Standing behind him were other dwarves who were probably members of his staff as well as humans, elves, people that resembled beastmen, lizardmen, and other species I couldn¡¯t quite identify - though all of them were at least humanoid - and they looked like quite an entric mix.

    ¡°Are they the ones who are gonna do the joint interview together with you guys?¡±

    ¡°Yes. They are the staff of Moebius Ring, Fomalhaut Entertainment, and Nyaatoflix. Let me introduce you, sir.¡±

    Wamdo introduced me to each of the threepany¡¯s representatives.

    ¡°I¡¯m Allen from Moebius Ring Media Department Section II.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Fomalhaut Entertainment Documentary Department¡¯s Zuia.¡±

    ¡°And I¡¯m Nia from Nyaatoflix, sir.¡±

    Allen was a male elf, Zuia was a beastman-like alien with bright red body hair that could be mistaken for mes, and Nia was a dark brown-skinned woman with jaw-dropping beauty. She was beautiful to the point that she could correspond to or even exceed the APP18[1] value used on a certain TTRPG that deals with certain famous cosmic horrors with funky names. Elma was beautiful as well, but Nia¡¯s beauty was just on another level altogether. I swore in my heart that I would try not to associate with her beyond what¡¯s necessary. I feel a bit guilty about it, but I¡¯ll just let Mei deal with her.

    The number of staff brought by the fourpanies was five each, making it a total of twenty people. Well, there¡¯s plenty of room inside ck Lotus anyway.

    ¡°Uh, I have a couple of things to tell you all before you board my ship. First, inside my ship, I¡¯m thew. White is ck if I say it is and vice versa. If, for some reason, you guys can¡¯t ept that, then just give up boarding my ship.¡±

    The media staff didn¡¯t have any particr reaction to my statement and they just nodded obediently. Unlike the Space Dwerg guys who charged without any qualms back then, these guys are oddly docile and cooperative.

    ¡°Next, I¡¯ll set a limit on the range of your activities within my ship. Specifically speaking, the crew¡¯s private quarters and other important areas like the bridge, hangars, cargo hold, generator room and such are strictly off-limits. However, you would still be able to enter those areas as long as you guys get permission from me or my crew first.¡±

    When I told them about imposing limits on their range of activity, they seemed to disy some dissatisfaction, but when I told them it was possible to get ess to restricted areas as long as they get permission first, their dissatisfaction subsided.

    ¡°Also, Whisker and Tina aren¡¯t official members of my crew, but I treat them as official members anyway. That means they can freely move around the bridge, hangars, cargo hold, and other such areas. However, I will not allow them to lend a hand to you guys when ites to that. I forbid you from trying to engage in any form of cooperation with them - whether direct or indirect - when ites to your activities. If I manage to discover such an incident, I¡¯ll stuff you all inside an escape pod andunch you guys out to space, so don¡¯t even think about it. I¡¯m a man who follows through what I say, and I¡¯m more than capable enough to make good on my words. I¡¯m guessing you all managed to watch the tournament, right?¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Understood!¡±¡±¡±

    Everyone straightened their backs and simultaneously replied. Un, nice answer. But these guys sure are obedient huh.

    ¡°Anyway, just take note of those points and we¡¯ll be good. Our departure is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Eachpany has been assigned with three cabins for a total of twelve rooms. Just decide the room allocation among yourselves. If you have any questions or requests, feel free to ask them now¡­¡­ So there¡¯s none for the time being huh? Anyway, you cane to meter on if you do happen to think of something. You can spend your day inside the ship today or you can spend it outside. However, if you miss the departure time, we¡¯ll leave you behind, no questions asked, so pay attention.¡±

    By the way, the total cost for their amodations on ck Lotus will be calcted by Meiter and billed to eachpany directly. Well, that kind of sum is just pocket money to me anyway. It can¡¯t evene close to the profits we gained from selling off the crystal lifeform materials.

    By the way, we managed to make a clean profit of about 2 million Enels after reselling the crystal lifeform materials we bought from the army after deducting the purchase cost and other fees. And of that amount, Mimi will get a 3% bonus. That means she¡¯ll get about 60,000 Enels. Ain¡¯t that too little, you ask? I think so too, but it seems that¡¯s the standard rate in this dimension. I guess that¡¯s just how advantageous owning a personal ship is.

    Countries, nobles, andrge intergctic corporations have hundreds of thousands of such ships at their disposal. That¡¯s why they are able to earn tons of money and can afford to pay enormous sums to mercs like us. Yep.

    After my briefing, eachpany¡¯s staff members picked up their luggage and showed Mei their security passes from their portable terminals before boarding ck Lotus¡­ except for one guy. Mr. Wamdo headed over to me while carrying arge luggage bag.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing much. I just want to convey something to you all before I board. Please note that all the staff members dispatched here today are those who specialize in dealing with nobles.¡±

    ¡°Hou? So that¡¯s why they are all oddly well-behaved huh.¡±

    ¡°Yes, well. And let me apologize once more for the behavior of the people from ourpany a while back. We¡¯re truly sorry about what happened.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like you¡¯re personally at fault Mr. Wamdo, so please be at ease. Well, for what it¡¯s worth, I ept your apology.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡±

    Mr. Wamdo then bowed to me, turned his heel, hefted the luggage bag that was nearly as big as him, and lumbered away to the hatch. As I watched his departing back, I mulled over what could possibly be on their minds right now.

    They were certainly more put together and well-behaved than the ones who forced their way inside the ship thest time, but maybe it¡¯s too early to let our guards down around them. Mr. Wamdo did say they all specialized in dealing with nobles. Perhaps that not only applies to Space Dwerg, but to the folks from Moebius Ring, Fomalhaut Entertainment, and Nyaatoflix as well.

    In other words, they were all guys who knew their limits and take good advantage of that to avoid acting rudely and offending nobles while still getting the material they want. It¡¯s not like they harbor particrly malicious intentions against us, but if we¡¯re not careful, we¡¯d probably end up exposing anything and everything there is to expose to those guys before we even realize it. And we¡¯re gonna be spending at least a full month with those guys. We really have to be careful huh.

    ¡°I thought this would be an easy job, but¡­¡­ Sheesh.¡±

    You really can¡¯t tell what surprises life has in store for you huh.

    Now then, let¡¯s briefly go over details regarding our destination, the Comatt star system.

    The Comatt system is a star system centered on a G-type star fairly simr to Earth¡¯s Sun. It¡¯sposed of multiple terrestrials, gas giants, and a resource-rich asteroid belt. Most of the mineral resources in the asteroid belt are fairlymon. So far, no traces of rare metal deposits have been discovered, but the other mineral deposits are fairly abundant. Therefore, House Dareinwald didn¡¯t hesitate to set up mining, refining, and trading colonies in the system in order to take advantage of said deposits.

    In addition to that, both the third and fourth from the sun of the Comatt system were promising terrestrials that were suitable to be transformed into habitables, so they obtained permission from the empire and started terraforming them with the empire¡¯s support. And at this time, the terraforming process for the third, Comatt III, has finally beenpleted.

    ¡°What about the fourth?¡±

    ¡°Apparently, the environment on that is too cold. It would take about ten years to terraform it into a with surface temperatures suitable for life. Terraforming sure is difficult, right, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s aboutpletely changing the environment of an entire to one¡¯s liking after all. Of course, it¡¯s gonna take a lot of work.¡±

    I have absolutely no technical knowledge regarding the terraforming process though. My meagre knowledge only consists of being aware that they use nanomachines to adjust the conditions until it feels just right or something. Well, actually, terraforming methods may vary depending on the initial environmental conditions of each.

    But, in any case, I still find it hard to imagine just how grand of a scale it was to transform an uninhabitable to a habitable one within tens or even hundreds of years.

    ¡°As for the pirate activity in the system, it seems there have been quite a few groups that have appeared with the aim of plundering refined metals, but in the future, we may expect attacks to the immigration ships and newly put up residences. It¡¯s also expected that there will be an increase in the frequency of attacks aimed at the trading colonies that provide supplies to the immigrants in order to steal said supplies as well as the cargo ships that ferry them around. And so, we were hired in order to help out in repelling them.¡±

    ¡°I might be stating the obvious, but we can¡¯t possibly handle them on our own. That¡¯s why Earl Dareinwald hired arge number of mercenaries apart from us through the Mercenary Guild in order to bolster the defenses of the Comatt system. It looks like a force from the imperial space navy will also be dispatched.¡±

    ¡°The imperial space navy huh¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi exchanged nces with me. Yeah, I know what you¡¯re getting at. ording to our experience thus far, there¡¯s a good chance we¡¯ll meet ¡®that person¡¯ again during this job. We¡¯re going up against pirates after all. Our current job description fits perfectly with the modus operandi of the Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet.

    ¡°It¡¯s almost a given at this point¡­¡­ Well, it¡¯s not like it¡¯s absolutely set in stone, but it¡¯s highly likely. I guess it would be better to give up and just roll with it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Mr. Wamdo andpany were tilting their heads curiously at our seemingly mysterious exchange, but I have no intention of exining anything to them. It won¡¯t be funny if theytch onto it and blow the topic out of proportion if we exined what we¡¯re talking about without a care after all.

    ¡°We¡¯re the only mercenaries directly hired by Earl Dareinwald himself guys. I¡¯m assuming they¡¯ll work us real hard, but the harder we work, the better the pay. So let¡¯s do this and do it well.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Sure. Let¡¯s earn as much as we can.¡±

    ¡°Alright then. We¡¯ll be departing shortly. Our destination is a trading colony in the Comatt system. After leaving port, we¡¯ll join up with Earl Dareinwald¡¯s private escort fleet, use the gateway, and warp to the Neeparc system. From there, we¡¯ll travel through the Melkitt system, Zieger system, and Uerick system until we finally arrive at the Comatt system.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Aye, aye, sir!¡±¡±¡±

    Mimi, Elma, and Mei, who was standing right behind me, crisply responded, and ck Lotus with Krishna parked inside one of the hangars finally left the Grakkis Secundus colony.

    Amidst all that activity, four recording devices silently filmed our every move.

    [1]TL Notes: APP18 or Appearance 18 is a stat used in a tabletop role-ying game (TTRPG) Call of Cthulhu. Basically, APP indicates how beautiful or ugly a certain character is in the game. For example, APP3 is fugly as heck, APP15 to 17 have appearancesparable to attractive stars and supermodels, and APP18 is as perfect as humanly possible. APP20 denotes otherworldly beauty unattainable by mortals.

    Ms. Nia is from Nyaatoflix, which is intended as a parody of Netflix mixed with the first characters of the Japanese spelling of Nyathotep, one of the Outer Gods in H.P. Lovecraft¡¯s mythos. Hiro feels she gives off a dangerous vibe exactly because of this association. Heck, she might be Nyar-chan herself. Did you guys notice how close Nia is to Nyar? XD

 Chapter 201 â€“ Interacting with the Media

    <h4>Chapter 201 - Interacting with the Media</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Um, this¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s up? It ain¡¯t like what you imagined?¡±

    ¡°Well, yes, it¡¯s certainly not.¡±

    Allen, who works for Section II of the Moebius Ring Media Department, (the elf guy) nodded to my question.

    We were currently chatting around inside the break room next to the dining hall of ck Lotus. It was spacious and equipped with severalfortable-looking sofas, a well-lit terrarium with a lush assortment of nts, and arge holo-disy that not only serves as am device but also a multimedia yer for holo-movies and the like. Anyway, it¡¯s a room specially designed to help you rx and unwind after a hard day¡¯s work.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like mercenaries like us spend all our time battling pirates and stuff you know. Actually, a lot of our time is spent idling away while traveling around in search of our next paycheck. Furthermore, we¡¯re now acting as a part of Earl Dareinwald¡¯s escort fleet. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll get to encounter any battles at this point.¡±

    Only idiots would try to attack the escort fleet of an imperial noble after all. They¡¯re more heavily armed than your average escort fleet, and even if they do somehow manage to seed in taking the fleet down, what awaits them will be a hellish retaliation from the noble in question.

    ¡°Or rather, imperial troops are patrolling around imposingly near the gateway, and the lord of this star system has already been informed that Earl Dareinwald¡¯s fleet will be passing through as well. It would greatly shame the lord if the earl was attacked by pirates while traveling through his territory after all.¡±

    ¡°In other words, nothing serious will happen to us as long as we are with Earl Dareinwald¡¯s forces, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. Well, maybe that¡¯s not the only reason you¡¯re thinking the actual experience is different from what you imagined. After all, you guys are living a much morefy life than you expected, right?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha¡­¡­¡±

    Allen smiled shiftily in an attempt to dodge the subject. Some of the other media folks were rxing in the break room together with me and Allen, and Mei was standing right next to me. Mimi and Elma seem to be enjoying some tea in the dining hall with the female staff, and Tina and Whisker were showing the other staff around the hangars.

    ¡°It¡¯s the same for our Elma as well. Oh, and Tina and Whisker too. They all have this image of mercenaries living roughly and without any care or something. I¡¯m not sure about the others, but I don¡¯t really like the idea of that. We spend a lot of time onboard our ships, so I believe it¡¯s better to have afortable and rxing living environment so our daily performance stays in top form.¡±

    ¡°So this can be said to be your conviction, correct, Captain Hiro?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m not one to uselessly pretend to be a tough guy you know.¡±

    It¡¯s better to put up nice-looking wallpapers¡­ err, wall materials and shiny floors instead of a bare and boring interior, and since you¡¯re buying food cartridges, it¡¯s better to select the tastiest ones. There¡¯s no point in buying unptable stuff just because. And it¡¯s way better to sleep on a nice andfy bed instead of a hard and ufortable one. Better sleep quality leads to better work performance after all.

    ¡°And that¡¯s why Hiro-sama insisted on this kind of living environment inside the ship.¡±

    ¡°I see. So the fact that the interior of the ship rivals that of the fanciest luxury liners is mostly due to the presence of Mimi-san, correct?¡±

    ¡°Un, I wonder? Krishna¡¯s interior has always been pretty fancy after all. But I think the biggest reason why Lotus¡¯s interior has be like this is due to his experience with Krishna.¡±

    ¡°I was also really surprised the first time I got on board the Krishna¡­¡­ It was a small-ssbat ship, but the interior was shockingly grand.¡±

    Elma-san shared her thoughts and shook her head. Elma-san was very particr about ¡®general mercenary conventions¡¯ back then after all. I also knew of what a mercenary is supposed to be like ording to the norm, but Hiro-sama kept on insisting and saying things like¡ºIf it¡¯sfy then it¡¯s good, right?¡»and transformed Krishna¡¯s interior to its current luxurious state. I truly think Hiro-sama is special in that regard.

    ¡°Forgive me for abruptly changing the topic, but is it alright for me to ask a somewhat more personal question?¡±

    Nia-san¡¯s orange-colored pupils that were burning brilliantly with curiosity gazed straight at me. I wonder what it is? Was she going to ask something private?

    ¡°Mimi-san, are you actually the imperial family¡¯s- No, are you actually Princess Luciada¡¯s long-lost sister? Please tell us the real deal between the two of you.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­ So it¡¯s about that, huh.¡±

    I and Princess Luciada looked really simr. Maybe we¡¯d even be indistinguishable from each other if we wore the same clothes and didn¡¯t talk. I¡¯m sure Hiro-sama would notice who¡¯s who straight away though.

    ¡°I¡¯m not Princess Luciada¡¯s sister, and I¡¯m not at all rted with His Imperial Majesty the Emperor and the Crown Prince. We¡¯ve done a genome test in front of witnesses before so there¡¯s no doubt about that. It¡¯s really just an unexpected coincidence.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true. The ones who came to perform the test were members of the imperial guards and the imperial physician. I was really surprised silly when they suddenly paid a visit you know?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we were certainly taken by surprise back then. I hadn¡¯te back to the imperial capital for quite some time and I wasn¡¯t able to witness Princess Luciada¡¯sing-of-age debut as a result, so you can just imagine my shock when I learned that our Mimi here and Princess Luciada actually looked identical to each other.¡±

    Elma-san was following up with my story.

    Un, it¡¯s not like we¡¯re lying. My paternal grandmother, whom I¡¯ve never even met, had a very high probability of being Celestia-sama. So it¡¯s true that I¡¯m not directly rted to His Majesty and the Crown Prince.

    To be precise, I¡¯m actually a part of their extended family. I¡¯m Princess Luciada¡¯s second cousin and His Majesty¡¯s grandniece.

    Even so, Celestia-sama had long parted ways with the imperial family. ording to the results of the genome test, It was almost certain that I was the granddaughter of Celestia-sama, but there is no proof of that apart from the results of the test. His Majesty and Princess Luciada said it was possible for me to be weed to the imperial family, but I don¡¯t want to be separated from Hiro-sama and everyone, and I certainly don¡¯t want to tie Hiro-sama down and be his shackle. That¡¯s why I now have nothing to do with the imperial family and aren¡¯t rted to Princess Luciada at all. I¡¯m just someone who coincidentally looks a lot like her.

    ¡°It really was quite a surprise, wasn¡¯t it? I¡¯m just a simplemoner born and raised on an out-of-the-way colony after all.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really just some bad luck huh. No, you can also take it as a stroke of fortune, perhaps?¡±

    ¡°I wonder? All I can say is that I¡¯m very happy with my current life.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re also quite interested in your personal history, Mimi-san. Could you tell us a little more about it?¡±

    Nia-san shifted the topic to my personal history and upbringing. Great. It looks like I managed to shift her interest. Okay then. I¡¯ll tell them about how I first met Hiro-sama.

    ¡°Man¡­¡­ It¡¯s huge.¡±

    ¡°It sure is.¡±

    We spent an entire week living a carefree lifestyle with the media folks. And now, we finally managed to arrive at the trading colony located in the Comatt system and saw an immigration ship anchored before us. The ship was quite huge. Its overall size was probablyparable to an imperial military battleship, or perhaps evenrger. As for its shape¡­¡­ err, it kinda looks like a mushroom? Uh, maybe being shaped simr to a short bullet would be a more proper description.

    ¡°It¡¯s Geogate Company¡¯s heavy double-type colony ship. It would plunge into the atmosphere as is, and once it¡¯s entered the¡¯s atmosphere, it would roll into position andnd on the surface. The immigration ship will then serve as the main colonial base and would begin deploying itself on the ground. Its various sections will serve as the essential facilities needed to run aary colony.¡±

    ¡°Afternding, the lower section of the ship will serve as the main loading and unloading port for supplies and goods, and the upper section will serve as a starship port foring and going to and from the colonial base.¡±

    ¡°Hee¡­¡­ And there are five of these massive ships huh. So these five willnd and deploy on the surface of the as colonial bases simultaneously, right?¡±

    ¡°Right. And our job is to guard and support them.¡±

    ¡°I understand that we¡¯re supposed to guard them, but how are we going to support them though?¡±

    Mimi tilted her head in puzzlement. Well, I have no idea either.

    ¡°Pioneer work on a colonial is often apanied by certain hazards. Sometimes, colonial bases get attacked by harmful local lifeforms. They must be hoping for us to provide close air support for times like those.¡±

    ¡°Air support¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°In other words, they might ask us to shoot Krishna¡¯s pulsesers to get rid of those dangerous local lifeforms that live on the surface of the. Also, they might ask us to shoot rock formations and other obstacles that are in the way of the colony¡¯s expansion. Something like that¡¯s a bit rarer though.¡±

    The pioneers should have been supplied with enough equipment to deal with the terrain without relying on abat starship¡¯s cannons. I¡¯m guessing they¡¯ll only look to us for help with things that would put nonbatants at risk. For example, they might end up discovering a nest of dangerous local lifeforms, or terrain that¡¯s covered in poisonous gases or highly toxic nt life.

    ¡°Wah¡­¡­ There¡¯s a lot of things to take note of.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Butpared to those, I think the risk of pirate attacks is the most pressing concern though.¡±

    The weaponry equipped on colony ships were pretty weak after all. They would have no problem dealing with mere harmful lifeforms but would stand no chance against pirate attacks. And to pirates, the supply stockpile brought over by colony ships for the colonization efforts as well as the research data forary resources that could be procured near the colonial base are very enticing bait. For those guys, the pioneers are just sitting ducks waiting to be exploited.

    ¡°Once we¡¯ve finished resupplying from the trading colony, the colonization project will begin in earnest. We¡¯re certainly gonna get pretty busy guys. Just like usual.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve already given up, haven¡¯t you, Hiro?¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. No matter what we do, troublesome stuff will stille to us anyway. Come on then. Let¡¯s start preparations for docking on the colony.¡±

    I made my way to the hangar while sighing in resignation.

 Chapter 202 â€“ Comatt Prime Colony

    <h4>Chapter 202 - Comatt Prime Colony</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The Comatt Primemercial colony was pretty bustling and prosperous.

    Since Comatt III¡¯s terraforming has beenpleted and full-scale colonization efforts would now be beginning in earnest, Comatt Prime colony will be the main supply and material ry station that would cater to the needs of the colonists. The number of transactions that will take ce here would increase more than tenfoldpared to when it was just handling the raw ores and refined metals mined within Comatt system, and Comatt Prime¡¯s future expansion ns would also take into ount thepletion of Comatt IV¡¯s terraforming.

    ¡°It¡¯s so lively here!¡±

    ¡°Right now, it feels like you can sell off absolutely anything here as long as you have it.¡±

    The demand for supplies such as food and daily necessities for the colonists was currently at its peak. Cargo ships loaded with food, medicine, household goods, building materials, and other goods are constantly entering and exiting the docks of the colony. The goods umted here would then be brought to the colony ships that will descend onto Comatt IIIter on.

    ¡°Our first job will be to guard the colony ships as they descend onto the huh.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think there would be any idiots who would attack colony ships mid-descent though.¡±

    If a colony ship fails atmospheric reentry mid-descent, there¡¯s a good chance of the supplies and the colonists themselves getting burnt to ashes in the upper atmosphere or crashing headfirst onto the surface and returning to the merciful arms of Buddha. If someone were to attack, they probably just want to put a damper on Earl Dareinwald¡¯s business, but there¡¯s not enough reason to risk doing so otherwise.

    Moreover, if they do perform such an act of genocide, House Dareinwald would be the least of their problems. The empire itself would be after their collective throats. Depending on the circumstances, there¡¯s a chance of the entire might of the empire mobilizing to take the perpetrators down in order to capture them. That¡¯s seriously no joke, man.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go ahead and meet up with Chris guys.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, go, go. My stomach¡¯s cravin for some grub already, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Um, sis, you skipped lunch so of course, you¡¯d be hungry¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You sure are a little glutton, Tina.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m the only one.¡±

    After retorting, Tina nced at Mimi. Yeah, it¡¯s no use even if you avert your eyes and pretend not to notice, girl. I wonder if Mimi also purposely skipped her lunch.

    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go, everyone! We can¡¯t let the client wait!¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright¡­¡­¡±

    The rest of us chased after Mimi and Tina, who started walking at a faster pace and headed for the hotel where we would meet up with Chris.

    ¡°Let us toast to the sess of the colonization of Comatt III! Cheers!¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Cheers!¡±¡±¡±

    After Chris raised a toast, each of the celebration participants held up their cups and took a swig of their drinks.

    ¡°Puhaaah!¡±

    Let¡¯s just ignore the elf and two dwarves who emptied their cups in one gulp and cried out like old drunkards at a pub. By the way, my drink was 100% fruit juice.

    I¡¯ll go and get some more food, Hiro-sama!¡±

    ¡°Ooh, me too! Me too!¡±

    ¡°Geez. Can you please just try to behave yourself even a little, big sis?¡±

    Today¡¯s celebration party is an all-you-can-eat buffet, and each of us could stuff ourselves as much as we like. Mimi and the rest rushed to the table as soon as the food was brought out.

    ¡°They sure are pumped up.¡±

    ¡°Look who¡¯s talking. You¡¯re already working on your second cup of alcohol y¡¯know.¡±

    Elmapletely ignored my words and poured herself a cup of liquor. I thought she poured beer for herself at first like earlier, but it looks like she was now gonna drink some sort of wine.

    ¡°Just please don¡¯t get yourself too drunk. Spare me from that, okay.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m pacing myself properly, so don¡¯t worry.¡±

    Well, since Elma says so, I guess it¡¯ll be fine. She does drink a lot whenever she has the chance, but she rarely gets herself too drunk. Tina causes a mess from time to time though, and Whisker¡¯s the one who cleans up after her.

    ¡°But there really are a lot of people here huh.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s just how many people are involved in this project.¡±

    I¡¯m not sure if everyone at the venue is all involved in the colonization project since they weren¡¯t wearing any nametags and such, but the party venue was virtually packed with people.

    I was wearing my usual mercenary getup. Mimi, Elma, Tina, and Whisker were also wearing their usual clothes, so everyone could tell we were mercenaries at first nce. Maybe they felt an aura of danger from me and Elma or something, so no one worked up the courage to approach us and left us alone.

    ¡°Have I gained the aura of a proper mercenary too?¡±

    ¡°Well, maybe. Lots of people saw you fighting in the tournament after all, right? It seems the event was broadcasted all throughout the empire.¡±

    ¡°I see. I¡¯m unarmed today though.¡±

    I did bring myser gun and swords with me, but I had to leave them with the staff for safekeeping when we entered the hotel. That¡¯s why I¡¯mpletely unarmed right now. Of course, Mimi and Elma also had to leave theirser guns behind as well.

    ¡°Master.¡±

    ¡°Mm? Ah¡­¡­¡±

    Mei, who was standing right behind me, signaled that a person was approaching our group. When I saw who it was, I instinctively looked up at the ceiling.

    ¡°I¡¯m really going to get offended if you show such a reaction every single time we meet, okay.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, sorry. It¡¯s not like I bear any ill will against you. I just got taken aback a bit when my prediction came true.¡±

    ¡°And what exactly do you mean by ill will huh?¡±

    It was a beautiful woman in a crisp military uniform being followed by her subordinates. Yep. It¡¯s Lt. Col. Serena. She was ring at me with reproachful eyes. Hahaha, don¡¯t sweat the small stuff, ma¡¯am.

    ¡°So you guys being here means-¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s as you think. We are hunting for pirates as usual, just like you all.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I thought so.¡±

    As we exchanged pleasantries, Mei approached us and handed drinks to Lt. Col. Serena and her subordinates. It seems she brought them non-alcoholic drinks.

    ¡°Thank you. By the way, I have a proposal for you, so hear me out for a bit.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Lieutenant Colonel.¡±

    ¡°How does working together closely with us as much as possible sound to you? Since we¡¯re already familiar with each other to some extent, I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll have any problems cooperating.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a bad proposal, but we need to get the client¡¯s approval first. It¡¯s impossible for us to act together with your unit at our own discretion after all. Besides, there¡¯s a chance that House Dareinwald and the military¡¯s defensive priorities may differ as well.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Well then, we¡¯ll talk with House Dareinwald first.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s for the best.¡±

    I saw Lt. Col. Serena and the others off with a wave.

    Actually, we would probably be able to hunt down more pirates if we acted together with the Lieutenant Colonel and her fleet, but we¡¯ll lose our operational flexibility in exchange. Besides, the total firepower of Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet was leagues above our own, even with the addition of the Lotus. In other words, there¡¯s a risk of our prey getting swiped due to the difference in raw firepower.

    The total bounty rewards we would earn will decrease as a result, and since the pirate ships will be sted to bits with superior firepower, there¡¯s next to no hope of capturing their ships intact to sell off as well. I¡¯m sure there would be a lot of overkill and the ships would be torn to bits.

    In that sense, working together with the Lieutenant Colonel wasn¡¯t that ideal for us.

    ¡°Well, Chris would probably refuse, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Chris wanted to make use of our strength to earn some merits by repelling pirate attacks together with us after all. However, if we work together with the military, she¡¯d lose the chance to earn those merits. And so, I think Chris will have no choice but to refuse the Lieutenant Colonel. It seems Elma was thinking the same as me.

    ¡°Working with nobles reallyes with its fair share of troubles, huh.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯d be paying attention to our every move after all. It¡¯s a hassle for sure.¡±

    That sure sounds convincing, especially since it wasing from a tomboy who escaped from her home in order to avoid the life of an aristocrat.

    ¡°Now then, let¡¯s go and get some food as well, shall we? Our bellies won¡¯t get satisfied with just drinks after all.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯d like to get things that would pair well with alcohol.¡±

    ¡°Be sure to drink in moderation, okay. Sheesh¡­¡­ Let¡¯s go, Mei.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master.¡±

    I went deeper into the party hall with Mei and Elma in tow.

 Chapter 203 â€“ Comatt IIIâ€™s Local Specialty

    <h4>Chapter 203 - Comatt III¡¯s Local Specialty</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The area around the table where the dishes were lined up was packed with people. It even looks like samples of all of the ingredients locally avable on Comatt III was assembled on that single table.

    ¡°I sure hope there isn¡¯t anything overly strange mixed in¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°At least, I don¡¯t see anything that looks like it might cause an upset stomach. If guests get food poisoned at a party like this, the Dareinwald House would lose a lot of face after all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    Elma does have a point. I was relieved and approached the table with some peace of mind. But there was an item that immediately caught my eye. The item in question was a roasted caterpir-like creature the size of a piglet. Its oily, white surface was lightly browned in some ces, and it did seem well-cooked.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s with those eyes? Oh c¡¯mon. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be tasty.¡±

    Elma exchanged res with me. Eh¡­¡­ You¡¯re telling me this thing will taste good? You sure?

    ¡°Look, they¡¯re starting to carve it apart. Go, go.¡±

    ¡°Seriously¡­¡­?¡±

    Elma pushed me toward the roasted giant caterpir-like creature that was now being carved apart and served to the guests. Perhaps its appearance didn¡¯t inspire any appetite, because the other guests were ignoring the thing altogether and Elma kept pushing me to try it for some reason. W-Wait. Where¡¯s Mimi anyway¡­¡­? There she is. But she desperately turned her gaze away the moment she noticed me. Damn. You¡¯re gonna abandon me just like that, Mimi!?

    ¡°Here you are.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah.¡±

    A chef expertly carved the roasted giant caterpir and a portion was ced on a te. The chef then handed the te to me. It seems the chef ced the skin and the mushy insides of the creature on top of a cracker and they were supposed to be eaten together.

    ¡°Muh¡­¡­?¡±

    I dipped the serving on the green sauce ced on the side of the te and ate it. The moment it entered my mouth, a refreshing aroma pierced my nose. Apparently, the green herb sauce used a basil-like herb as a base. The crispy texture of the cracker coupled with the creature¡¯s savory well-roasted skin and a rich cheesy vor spread inside my mouth.

    ¡°Despite its appearance, it¡¯s actually quite tasty.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it? It does look a bit grotesque, but the taste is superb.¡±

    ¡°Please give me another one.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    I ate another caterpir cracker serving. Un, it¡¯s good. Elma had a skeptical look on her face. She was probably thinking ¡®This guy can¡¯t be serious, right?¡¯ or something like that. C¡¯mon, get a taste of it as well. I asked the chef to prepare another serving and handed a te with a caterpir cracker to Elma.

    ¡°Ara, it really is delicious.¡±

    ¡°See?¡±

    Perhaps Elma¡¯s positive reaction was the trigger. The other guests also started ordering caterpir crackers.

    ¡°I think Comatt III will prosper if they can produce more local specialties like this one.¡±

    ¡°Hm? Are you suggesting they build a giant caterpir farm or something? Somehow, just thinking about it gives me the goosebumps.¡±

    ¡°Stop that, you! We¡¯re in the middle of eating you know¡­¡­¡±

    I wonder what size the adult creature would be with arva like this. What kind of creature was this arva of in the first ce? I¡¯m kinda curious, but somehow, I feel like I really don¡¯t wanna know the answer.

    ¡°So a colonization project isn¡¯t as simple as preparing a for wide-scale habitation huh.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s all thatplicated, but local specialties are still important, right? I mean, they¡¯ll be an advantageous revenue source in the long run.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Anyway, it¡¯s amazing that creatures like these actually survived the terraforming process. How surprising.¡±

    ¡°Some creatures are just more adaptable to new environmentspared to others. I think there were also a lot of local species that didn¡¯t make it in the end.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    So this caterpir creature was adaptable enough to survive the long and rigorous terraforming process huh. Well, I guess its vitality was just that strong.

    However, it seems that terraforming doese with its own set of troubles. It kinda feels like a topic environmentalist groups would make a huge fuss about. Well, isn¡¯t it? Perhaps some groups already did protest in the past, but they were simply crushed by the power and influence of the nobles. A huge amount of money is involved in the terraforming business after all, and I think the ones who would profit from it would move to crush any form of dissent even without the nobles exercising their power in some cases.

    As I lost myself in thought, Mimi and the others approached us. She already held a te with a serving of the caterpir cracker. You sure have grown, Mimi.

    ¡°Mimi¡­¡­ Were you nning on ignoring us earlier?¡±

    ¡°A-Ahaha¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°We just gave you first dibs, Boss.¡±

    ¡°You were really gutsy, big brother. It¡¯s a bit too much for me¡­¡­¡±

    It seems Whisker didn¡¯t get a caterpir cracker for herself. All the dishes on her te looked like safe choices and their amounts were just right.

    ¡°Whisker¡¯s a bit picky when ites to her food, Boss.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not good to be too picky, okay?¡±

    ¡°Um, I¡¯m just bad with bugs¡­¡­¡±

    Well, there¡¯s no need to pressure her into eating it, I guess. But,e to think of it, the bug-like creatures we¡¯ve managed to sample up until now all turned out pretty tasty. How surprising. I guess there isn¡¯t any point to distributing anything in the market that does taste bad huh.

    ¡°Ara, it looks like our princess is here.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    Elma pulled my sleeve and got my attention. I followed her gaze and saw Chris all dolled up in a beautiful dress. The dress wasn¡¯t overly shy although it had some frills here and there. It had a very modest and pure impression. It felt like she was a young girl who didn¡¯t resemble girls of her age¡­¡­ She had the air of a maturedy.

    ¡°How do you do, Captain. Are you enjoying the party so far?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Christina-sama. We were just sampling a specialty product of Comatt III.¡±

    I then nced at the roasted caterpir in the middle of the table, and Chris seemed to have shivered slightly at the sight of it. It looks like the sight of the roasted giant caterpir caused some mental damage to Chris, who was currently in ¡®elegant nobledy¡¯ mode.

    ¡°I-I am d that you found it to your liking.¡±

    ¡°Sorry about that.¡±

    I whispered an apology to Chris, whose smile was twitching. For the time being, let¡¯s change positions so the roasted caterpir doesn¡¯te into her sight.

    Afterward, there were no other incidents worth noting, and I passed the time while having a friendly conversation with Chris and sampling various novel dishes with Mimi. The party ended without any particr hups. Though I only noticed them midway, it seems the media folks who came with us also filmed the party. But since they weren¡¯t actually invited, they weren¡¯t able to sample the various fancy dishes and alcohol. My condolences, guys.

 Chapter 204 â€“ Colonization Start

    <h4>Chapter 204 - Colonization Start</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°The colony ships number 1 to 5 will nowmence descending in sequence.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think there would be pirates stupid enough to attack at this timing, but it¡¯s not like pirates are the only things to look out for. Keep your eyes peeled, guys. Mei, set the radar range to the maximum. You don¡¯t need to be stealthy about it, so don¡¯t hold back.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood. I shall also raise the passive radar¡¯s sensitivity to maximum.¡»

    At my order, Mei adjusted ck Lotus¡¯s active radar output to the maximum and closely monitored the colony ships that were now approaching the descent coordinates. The information obtained will then be sent back to Mei and ck Lotus¡¯s mainputer to be analyzed. In this way, along with us staying on alert for any anomalies, we¡¯ll be able to watch out for potential threats.

    ¡°What do you mean by pirates not being the only ones to watch out for?¡±

    There were a total of five seats present inside Krishna¡¯s cockpit. These are namely the main pilot seat, co-pilot seat, main operator seat, sub-operator seat, and sub-seat.

    And one of those seats - the sub-seat - was reserved for a member of the media contingent to sit on while conducting an interview. Today, it was Moebius Ring Media Department Section II¡¯s Allen¡¯s turn.

    ¡°It would be too dangerous tounch an attack at this timing and there¡¯s practically nothing to gain from doing so. That¡¯s why pirates likely won¡¯t be dropping in on us. The goods would just end up burning to cinders and going to waste after all. That¡¯s why the only ones who would stage an attack at this timing would be those who want to get in the way of Earl Dareinwald¡¯sary colonization project.¡±

    ¡°I see. But that¡¯s-¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a low chance of it happening, sure. However, we can¡¯t just dismiss it. That would be far too foolish. And those types aren¡¯t the only ones we need to watch out for. There are also those annoying show-offs and unruly drunkards to be worried about.¡±

    Logically, the ones most likely to try something would actually be the earl¡¯s fellow nobles, but outliers are always present in any society. You can¡¯t dismiss the possibility of weird groups that would resort to extreme methods like terrorism in order to make a name for themselves dropping in without warning.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, don¡¯t you think there¡¯s something weird about the debris approaching from around bearing 860 along the upper starboard?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡­ Hm? It¡¯s a lot colderpared to the rest of the debris. Thermal stealth? Mei, try to ping it just in case.¡±

    ¡ºRoger.¡»

    Pinging a ship refers to an act that determines whether or not an unidentified ship had any intention ofmunicating. I¡¯m not that familiar with how it exactly works, but back in the game, it¡¯s a function that basically allows you to get a lock on the target and send them a transmission request. If they don¡¯t respond, there would be no problem in bringing the unidentified ship down.

    ¡ºThere is no response.¡»

    ¡°I see. Deploy the EML. Fire for effect.¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir. Deploying EML.¡»

    At my orders, the ck Lotus¡¯srge-caliber electromaic rail-cannon deployed from its bow and aimed directly at the suspicious debris Mimi discovered. A few moments after it deployed, a call came in from an outside channel.

    ¡ºThis is Judgement One. We¡¯ve confirmed the deployment of your weapon systems. We request an exnation regarding your actions.¡»

    The call was from a heavy cruiser serving on Earl Dareinwald¡¯s escort fleet that was in charge of coordinating the security effort.

    ¡°This is ck Lotus and Krishna¡¯s Captain Hiro speaking. We managed to detect a suspicious debris that¡¯s unnaturally cold. We pinged it, but no response came back. It¡¯s approaching the descent coordinates of the colony ships, so we decided to shoot it down.¡±

    ¡ºRoger that. We will monitor it from here as well. We¡¯ll leave the follow-up to you.¡»

    ¡°Roger. EML, fire!¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir. Firing the EML.¡»

    A bright sh akin to lightning illuminated the void, and a shell was fired off from the EML at a speed the eyes couldn¡¯t follow. We were able to detect a momentary rise in the heat signature of the suspicious ¡®debris¡¯ before impact. Was it trying to avoid the cannon shot? In any case, it¡¯s already over. The EML shell hit the target directly and shattered the ¡®debris¡¯ into space dust.

    ¡ºAn energy reaction was confirmed at the moment of impact. I surmise that the identity of the ¡®debris¡¯ in question was a small spacecraft, Master.¡»

    ¡°Roger. Please send the data to Judgement One.¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir.¡»

    ¡°T-That was pretty merciless¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the fault of the ones making suspicious actions in this situation. Since they didn¡¯t respond, there¡¯s all the more reason to take them down.¡±

    It was unclear what exactly that suspicious ship was trying to pull, but it doesn¡¯t really matter now that it¡¯s turned into space dust. Since they were trying to sneak up on us using thermal stealth, I don¡¯t think they were up to anything good anyway. Depending on the situation, we could have moved in to capture it as well, but if we made a mistake, the colony ships might have been attacked. In this situation, shooting it down was the best choice.

    ¡°The colony ships are beginning to descend.¡±

    ¡°Mimi, record everything.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    The colony ships began descending onto Comatt III while leaving trails of light in their wake. It was a magnificent sight to witness them staggering their descent timings and entering the¡¯s atmosphere at different directions. It seems each of the huge colony ships were carrying about 10,000 or so people. In other words, about 50,000 people are now descending onto Comatt III as colonists.

    ¡°Ah, if it¡¯s alright with you, can you give us a copy of the data as wellter?¡±

    ¡°Sure. But only if you get permission from Earl Dareinwald first.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡±

    Something like that would probably be alright, but it was better for them to ask permission first, just in case.

    ¡°What are your ns after this?¡±

    ¡°Basically, we¡¯ll be patrolling around the and the rest of the Comatt system while working with the others on security duty. Well, in our case, they might request us to actively go around and hunt pirates though.¡±

    Considering our shipposition and achievements so far, they might decide that it would be better for us to actively go around and search for enemies as well as pirate bases rather than staying put in one ce.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re thinking something like that doesn¡¯t seem like it would be worth filming, right?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡±

    Allen didn¡¯t answer me and justughed wryly. Of course, they¡¯d think so, right? I mean, the possibility of encountering pirates while randomly going around a huge star system isn¡¯t all that high, to begin with.

    ¡ºStop! Don¡¯t fire! Surrender! We surrender, okay!¡»

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you twenty seconds. Deactivate your power generator and bail out. If you take more than twenty seconds, we¡¯ll fire without mercy. If you guys try to escape, we¡¯ll blow the entire ship away, including the cockpit block. One, two, three¡­¡­¡±

    ¡ºI got it! I got it already, dammit!¡»

    The pirate captain cried out in panic and the power generator of the enemy pirate ship was promptly deactivated. The cockpit block then got purged from the rest of the ship. Basically, the cockpit block of a small-ssbat ship also doubles as an escape pod.

    Of course, a cockpit block by itself is incapable of FTL navigation and can only move at virtually a snail¡¯s pace, but ites with the minimum life support systems andm equipment. Plus, it¡¯s also securely airtight. It¡¯s structurally tough as well.

    ¡°Go ahead and retrieve us, Mei.¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir.¡»

    ¡°For the meantime, let¡¯s go and collect loot and usable parts from the wreckage before Mei arrives.¡±

    ¡°¡±Aye, aye, sir-!¡±¡±

    Mimi and Elma began operating the retrieval drones. I then scanned the downed pirate ships. Scanning the ships first makes it easier for Tina and Whisker to decide which ship modules to strip off and which ship wreckage are worth salvaging whole.

    ¡°¡­¡­You guys sure are merciless.¡±

    ¡°I kinda remember hearing a pretty simr remark earlier¡­¡­ Well, these guys are pirates after all, and basically, pirates are all degenerate scum not worth sparing. I mean, we¡¯ll still get the bounty rewards even if these guys are killed on the spot, and the risks are higher if you want to capture pirates alive. You¡¯d have to get in pretty close after all. You know, I usually kill them all with no questions asked, but I don¡¯t want to show an overly cruel battle to an unsuspecting audienceter, so it turned out this way in the end, okay?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha¡­¡­ Thank you for your consideration then.¡±

    Fomalhaut Entertainment¡¯s Zuiaughed dryly in response. His expression was difficult to read since his face was covered in fur, but it might have paled a bit underneath.

    ¡°Are you familiar with what happens to the crew and passengers of the cargo and passenger ships that get attacked by these low-lives? It¡¯s fine if they merely steal all the cargo and valuables, but in most cases, the crew and passengers are massacred, and if not, they¡¯re all sold to illegal ve trafficking rings for cash. Are you familiar with the illegal ves?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­They are ves traded in the ck market, and are used as sex ves or disposable biological samples for illegal experiments.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s mostly correct, but your understanding is still shallow. It could be considered a mercy if they were treated as normal sex ves. I mean, if they just wanted to sate their sexual desires using the usual kinks and fetishes, there are several more essible outlets avable, like sexroids or VR sex. The only people who still insist on buying sex ves illegally are those with particrly twisted hobbies. Man, just thinking about it makes me want to vomit.¡±

    We¡¯ve rescued quite a number of ¡®processed¡¯ sex ves a couple of times already after all. In other words, they were turned into ves who met the client¡¯s preferences. We manage to find people like these while rummaging through the cargo of the pirates we hunt down from time to time. Having been equipped with a special cor or bracelet so that they won¡¯t be able to disobey orders, or having chips directly imnted into their heads can actually be considered lenientpared to what some of the others have gone through.

    ¡°So, you see, these guys regrly do disgusting things like that just to satisfy their own greed and lust for pleasure. So I personally think guys like these don¡¯t deserve any mercy at all. Besides, if you let even one go free, there¡¯s no telling just how many people will end up suffering in the future. That¡¯s why I just get rid of them usually whenever I find them.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Zuia nodded meekly. I¡¯m sure he also has his own thoughts regarding the matter.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, the ck Lotus will be arriving shortly.¡±

    ¡°Roger that. Keep your guards up, guys. There might be some pirates who get lured in by ck Lotus and decide to target it.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, sir. Should we return to port once the retrieval work is over?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. We¡¯ll be able to fill up our cargo hold nicely with all this loot anyway.¡±

    We managed to retrieve some practically undamaged pirate ships as well as some usable modules from the destroyed ones. We also managed to secure some prisoners, so it would be better to return to port to settle all the loot and hand the captured pirates to the authorities.

 Chapter 205 â€“ Combat Spoils and Stress

    <h4>Chapter 205 - Combat Spoils and Stress</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Right now, there¡¯s a great demand for small-ss cargo transport vessels. Even if the cargo capacity of the ships are a bit small, you can still sell as many of them as you want here as long as they are sufficiently fast enough to quickly shuttle between the surface of the and the trading colony. Man, I just can¡¯t help butugh.¡±

    As I looked at the modified cargo transport ship (formerly a pirate ship) that was being carried out of the hangar after a buyer has been decided, the edges of my mouth naturally curled up. But really, man. I really feel likeughing in glee right now.

    We crammed the parts we peeled off from the wreckage of the destroyed pirate ships into the intact one¡¯s rtively small frame and stuck the armor ting we got from them as well in order to instantly make this small-ss cargo transport ship and sell it off within the trading colony.

    Of course, the equipment modules of the ship aren¡¯t exactly in great condition, but if it was just going to serve as a shuttle between the trading colony and the, the minimum amount of life support would more than suffice. At worst, the crew can just wear spacesuits while piloting it. Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯d have anything more to do with it once it¡¯s sold anyway.

    ¡°For reference, might I ask how much you sold the ship for?¡±

    The brown-skinned super beauty Nia from Nyaatoflix stood beside me and asked a question as she eyed the ship being carried out as well. I thought about the price these ships were selling for in the market and opened my mouth to answer her.

    ¡°If I remember correctly, small-ss ships go for around 50,000 and medium-ss ships go for 100,000 or so.¡±

    We were able to sell off one small-ss and one medium-ss ship this time. Both of them have been modified into cargo transport ships with an emphasis on speed and cargo capacity.

    ¡°The other parts we managed to salvage, such as the main and shield generators as well as other modules have also been sold for a nice sum. They are also on demand right now. I think we managed to sell them all off for about 150,000 Enels. In total, we were able to earn about 300,000 Enels from our spoils. The bounty reward we got for the defeated pirates is about 320,000 Enels. So we were able to earn a total of about 620,000 Enels.¡±

    In addition, we were also getting a daily wage of 300,000 Enels from House Dareinwald. We took a total of three days to hunt the pirates down, so we¡¯ll get a total of 900,000 Enels as wage. That means we¡¯ve managed to earn a total of 1,520,000 Enels so far.

    If we take off 10% from the total sales of the ships and parts as Tina and Whisker¡¯s bonus, 1% of the total earnings as Mimi share, and 3% for Elma, I still have about 1.4 million for my share. A fraction of that will be allotted to the maintenance of our ships. The rted expenses include the berthing fees, everyone¡¯s food expenses, waste disposal fees, as well as purchasing water and oxygen tanks that are needed for survival out in space.

    ¡°Hiro-san, can you support me as well, please? I may not look like it, but I¡¯m actually the earnest and hardworking type you know.¡±

    ¡°I already have my hands full, Miss.¡±

    Nia peered up at my face with her fiery scarlet eyes shining brightly, and I refused her offer with a smile. This woman is certainly a super beauty, but something deep inside me is warning me not to get involved with her at all costs.

    ¡°That¡¯s unfortunate.¡±

    She simply shrugged the refusal off and drew back. She probably wasn¡¯t all that serious about it, to begin with.

    ¡°But it really looks like it would be loads of fun to be with you, Hiro-san¡­¡­ Do you really not want to take me in? I¡¯m sure there will be no shortage of fun things in the future you know?¡±

    ¡°I seriously have my hands full already, Miss.¡±

    Recently, troublese rolling in even at the mere thought of them crossing our minds. I certainly ain¡¯t signing up for even more. And for some reason, I get the feeling that the ¡®fun things¡¯ Nia was talking about has a bit of a disturbing ring to it.

    ¡°How truly unfortunate¡­¡­¡±

    Nia let out a forlorn sigh.

    ¡°We will leave port tomorrow at 13:00 hours, colony standard time. You guys are free to do as you like until then, so go ahead and stretch your wings out for a bit. We¡¯ll get really busy again in three days after all.¡±

    ¡°Understood. What are you and the other¡¯s ns though, Hiro-san?¡±

    ¡°Nothing¡¯s decided yet except for dinner. We¡¯ll be attending a private dinner party in the evening. Since it¡¯s private, I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t allow you guys to film it.¡±

    ¡°A private dinner huh¡­¡­ Color me curious.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I just tell you to refrain yourselves?¡±

    Nia¡¯s eyes started burning brightly with curiosity again. This woman¡¯s brazenness, or rather, shamelessness, was pretty impressive, I¡¯ll give her that. Seriously.

    I carried the mechanic sisters, who ended up falling asleep inside the hangar, back to their room and helped Mimi out with ordering and arranging the supplies. Before I knew it, it was already near dinnertime. I knocked the sleeping mechanic sisters awake and shoved the drunk Elma into a med-pod to get her sobered up. All of us then left the ck Lotus together.

    Mei opted to remain on ck Lotus. She didn¡¯t really need to eat, and since Elma and I were apanying everyone, there was no need for a bodyguard either. In exchange, I inwardly promised to spoil her a lot once we return.

    Yep. Or rather, she¡¯ll be the one doing the spoiling though. It was a bit strange, sure. But for Mei, it was one of her greatest pleasures. I really don¡¯t get maidroids sometimes.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to have dinner with Chris-chan tonight, right?¡±

    ¡°We didn¡¯t really get to interact much during that celebration party after all.¡±

    At that time, Chris attended the dinner as a representative of the earl and the eyes of all the other party attendees were on her, so we weren¡¯t able to talk freely with each other. This time, we¡¯re not going to an official dinner, but instead, we¡¯re going to have a friendly dinner together with Chris in a private room of a ssy high-end restaurant.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure Chris has it hard even now. Hiro, make sure to take good care of her tonight, okay?¡±

    ¡°I was already nning on doing so in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°Oh boy. Nobles sure have it hard huh, Boss. She¡¯s still so little, but she already has to shoulder the weight of hundreds of thousands of lives. That¡¯s rough.¡±

    ¡°I think so too, sis. I¡¯m sure I would have been crushed by all the pressure if I was in her shoes.¡±

    Actually, I hold the same opinion. As someone born into a prominent noble house, I¡¯m sure she¡¯s been strictly educated in their ways. But still, having to shoulder responsibility for the lives of thousands of people and takingmand of all of them must have burdened her with a tremendous amount of pressure. I guess I have no choice but to obediently listen to all of herints tonight.

    At least, that¡¯s what I thought at first. But-

    ¡°Please hug me tighter.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yeah, alright¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Here you go, Chris-chan. Say a?hn.¡±

    ¡°Aaah¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°This is delicious too.¡±

    Ten minutester, for some reason, I ended up hugging Chris from behind as she sat on top of my crossed legs. Meanwhile, Mimi and Whisker kept feeding her with spoonful after spoonful of pudding and cake. The remaining two in our little group were indulging themselves in drinking while snacking on food that went well with alcohol.

    ¡°It looks like she¡¯s reached her limit. In various meanings.¡±

    ¡°Sure looks like it. Well, isn¡¯t it peachy now since she has someone to spoil her? Her eyes were practically dead when we first got here.¡±

    Chris arrived at the room we reserved for tonight first earlier. Although she indeed arrived early, the state she was in was no joke.

    We found herying upside down on top of the tatami-like floor of the room with eyes akin to those of dead fish. Man, that sure shocked us good. We weren¡¯t sure what was wrong with her at first. Honestly.

    When she noticed us enter the room, Chris slowly got up from the floor like a zombie or something, silently took my hand, pulled me over to the side, and settled herself down on top of my crossed legs. And then, she requested to be fed tasty snacks. And so, that brings us to the current situation.

    ¡°Day in and day out. Day in and day out. Day in and day out. Petitions,ints, and contract requests just keeping over and over to my office with no end in sight. I¡¯ve signed and signed and signed and signed but there¡¯s just no end. None, none, none, none, none¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°There, there. You don¡¯t have to think about things like those tonight, okay. Here, let me give you some well-deserved head pats.¡±

    ¡°Eeh¡­¡­ Ehehe¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s really at the end of her rope huh.¡±

    ¡°That looks bad¡­¡­ You wanna drink some alcohol?¡±

    ¡°Alcohol¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t try to make minors drink alcohol, you!¡±

    ¡°Ouch. Oh yeah. She¡¯s still underage huh. She doesn¡¯t really look all that different from us, so it slipped my mind.¡±

    I picked up an edamame-like[1] snack and flicked it on Tina¡¯s forehead. I get that she doesn¡¯t look that different from you dwarves, but Chris is still a minor, okay. I mean, Tina and Whisker both look really young even though they¡¯re both already adults. That¡¯s female dwarves for you.

    ¡°You really have it hard, Chris-chan¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Christi- Um, Chris-chan. If you¡¯re okay with me, then rely on me as much as you want.¡±

    Whisker stopped calling Chris ¡®Christina-sama¡¯ and joined with Mimi in calling her ¡®Chris-chan¡¯. She then proceeded to stroke Chris¡¯s head affectionately. I left the head pats to Whisker and focused on hugging Chris tighter.

    It took about 30 minutes for Chris to return to her usual state.

    [1] TL Notes: Edamame are boiled or steamed immature soybeans still in their pods. They are usually served as snacks to apany alcoholic drinks. Izakaya (Japanese pubs) often serve them.

 Chapter 206 â€“ SOS Signal

    <h4>Chapter 206 - SOS Signal</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°I ended up showing you all something unsightly.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no use trying to gloss things over now you know.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ow, oow! I¡¯m sorry, okay.¡±

    The red-faced Chris started hitting me repeatedly with her cute balled fists. Okay, okay. It¡¯s my fault for saying something insensitive. So calm down, mdy.

    ¡°Well, what can I say, Boss? Since that¡¯s how it is, why don¡¯t you just spoil her all the way?¡±

    ¡°But you can¡¯t take him home, okay?¡±

    The two drunkards started teasing Chris with big grins on their faces. Could you stop that? Chris is still a minor, so that¡¯s a no-go. So stop teasing her.

    ¡°Sho delishioush.¡±

    ¡°Mumu, the chef¡¯s control of the fire is also quite exquisite¡­¡­¡±

    Since Chris was back to her normal self, Mimi and Whisker started helping themselves to the food. The dish both of them were sampling was some kind of meat steak. The meat used resembled beef, and it seems the animal it¡¯s from was imported by Comatt III from another. ns for raising them as livestock are already underway. I see. So instead of constantly importing from that other, they n on raising the animals locally instead. Natural meat is considered a pretty high-ss good after all. At the end of the day, it¡¯s all about the money, huh.

    ¡°It seems you¡¯ve been driven to a corner earlier. Are you sure you¡¯re okay now?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Once we manage to get past the initial stages of the colonization project, I¡¯m sure my work will gradually be easier to manage. And this will serve as good training to raise my and my staff¡¯s skills as well.¡±

    ¡°But isn¡¯t that just you guys getting used to all the work being dumped at you¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha¡­¡­¡±

    Light began disappearing from Chris¡¯s pupils once more. Ok, ok. I¡¯m sorry for saying something insensitive again. Here you go. I¡¯m not sure what kind of egg they used, but this tamagoyaki looks tasty enough.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like we can directly help out with your work, Chris¡­¡­ But, well, you can alwayse to us toin afterward and get yourself spoiled.¡±

    Or rather, I think there are no other people who would fawn on her like this except for us. Yeah, there are none. Her parents have already passed away, and her grandfather, Earl Dareinwald, needs to govern the rest of their territory and is staying at the neighboring star system. I think she has maids who¡¯ve been serving her since she was young, but it¡¯s not like they¡¯re in a position to spoil her. They are more like her subordinates after all.

    ¡°That¡¯s more than enough for me.¡±

    Chris then leaned back against my chest and rxed. Even if they got along pretty well, since she¡¯s doing something like this without minding Mimi and the other¡¯s reactions, she really must have tired herself out huh.

    ¡°By the way, what are your ns for the following days, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Oh, just the usual stuff. We¡¯ll be ambushing, cornering, and crushing pirates like we always do. We¡¯ve actually crushed about fifty or so pirates these past few days.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s an amazing result! Actually, the number of pirate subjugations has been steadily increasingtely.¡±

    ¡°Hee? So it¡¯s on an upward trend?¡±

    ¡°Right now, it seems that¡¯s the case.¡±

    ¡°I see. If that¡¯s the case, then I suppose they really are flocking in from the outside.¡±

    Pirates are a big nuisance for civilian ships anywhere, but this isn¡¯t a game, so it¡¯s not like pirates will keep spawning automatically. If we keep hunting them down, their numbers are bound to decrease. If it keeps increasing instead, then that just means the influx of pirates from outside of the system trumps the current subjugation rate, at least for now.

    ¡°Maybe a pretty big pirate organization managed to slip themselves inside this system. I think it would be better if you guys paid closer attention to this matter.¡±

    ¡°Pay more attention to it, huh. Practically speaking, what kind of actions can we take?¡±

    Chris peered up at me and asked. Fumu. What kind of actions huh.

    ¡°First, I think it¡¯s better to make preparations so you can mobilize arge force on short notice. Large pirate groups tend to collect their loot and kidnapped ves inside a well-hidden base. As soon as a base is found, you should immediately organize arge-scale raid to get rid of it.¡±

    ¡°I see. In other words, it would be better to always have a portion of the mercenaries and imperial navy ready for mass deployment in short notice in anticipation of arge-scale operation, correct?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s basically it. It won¡¯t do if the¡¯s defense gets overly thinned out as a result of a mass deployment though, so you¡¯ll also have to take the distribution of avable forces into ount before authorizing arge-scale raid.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It would be best if you talked about this with the earl as well. I gave out advice from a mercenary¡¯s standpoint, but a lord like him might have some differing opinions as well.¡±

    ¡°Consult with Grandfather¡­¡­ Yes, you¡¯re right. I will talk to him tomorrow.¡±

    Chris seemed to pause and think for a few moments, but she nodded in agreement soon afterward. Although her being put in charge of theary colonization project might be a test for her so she can be a more qualified lord and heir to the earl, there¡¯s no reason for her to insist on aplishing everything all on her own. After all, Earl Dareinwald and Chris are shouldering the lives of all of the citizens under them.

    ¡°I think it isn¡¯t good to keep talking about work at a time like this, you know?¡±

    ¡°But I can¡¯t really talk to Chris about stuff other than this.¡±

    Chris will be a countess in the future after all. Even though I¡¯m a Gold Star awardee and a tinum-rank mercenary, it¡¯s not like I can talk to her in a brazen manner, especially when we¡¯re out in public.

    ¡°Hm? Well, perhaps you¡¯re right. But at least try to talk about topics other than work-rted things, okay.¡±

    ¡°What kind of topics? It¡¯s not like we¡¯ve done anything worth talking abouttely.¡±

    Basically, we just patrolled around the star system and hunted pirates as usual.

    ¡°Come to think of it, how are you getting along with the media staff on board your ship, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Oh, those guys. They-¡±

    Afterward, we talked to Chris about the media people as we ate our fill andughed at her stories about weird petitions she¡¯s been getting for the past few days. The most interesting one was from a single guy who got assigned to a residential area for dating and married couples by mistake¡­¡­ The contents of his petition were ¡®It¡¯s too painful seeing all these couples around me¡­ Please help. I beg you.¡¯ or something like that.

    -The next day. When we finished having dinner, Chris was taken home by her private guards from House Dareinwald who came to pick her up. When we got back to the ck Lotus ourselves, she messaged me saying she made it back home safely as well and thanked all of us for the wonderful dinner, which made us feel relieved.

    And so, we spent our days mostly doing mercenary work.

    We sortied with Krishna to patrol and scour the Comatt system and called ck Lotus over whenever we finished hunting to take care of recovering the loot.

    Why did we make such an arrangement? C¡¯mon guys. We can¡¯t use the ck Lotus as pirate bait like we usually do since we had the media personnel onboard y¡¯know¡­¡­ The introduction of the newly purchasedbat bots did greatly improve the Lotus¡¯s internal defenses, but I didn¡¯t want to take any chances.

    ¡°Hiro-sama! I picked up an SOS signal!¡±

    ¡°Well, that was sudden.¡±

    Shortly after leaving the Comatt Prime colony on one of our sorties, we suddenly picked up an SOS signal. Apparently, it¡¯s from a civilian passenger ship that¡¯s being attacked by pirates.

    ¡°We¡¯re heading over straight away. Tell them we¡¯reing to their rescue as fast as we can. And have ck Lotus rush over as well.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    After giving a sideward nce at Mimi as she operated her console to start sending messages, I had Krishna head straight to the source of the rescue signal. It was a bit far from our position, and it would take about five minutes before we arrive.

    ¡°It looks like there are no other ships nearby that can head over to assist on short notice. I¡¯ll send the data and signal coordinates over to Comatt Prime colony just in case.¡±

    ¡°Sure. Go ahead and do that.¡±

    It¡¯s likely that we¡¯ll be able to settle the situation before any other shipse to the rescue, but we might need some help regarding towing back the downed civilian ship or taking care of the injured. It would be better to request for support.

    ¡°Are we really heading over to rescue a civilian passenger ship? It looks like this would make for some good material.¡±

    ¡°You really are¡­¡­¡±

    The one riding shotgun inside Krishna¡¯s cockpit today was Nyaatoflix¡¯s Nia. She was excitedly preparing her filming equipment. Well, it¡¯s her job after all, so I really can¡¯t say anything too critical.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be arriving at the scene shortly. It might get roughter, so make sure to fasten your seatbelt.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, sir!¡±

    I deactivated the FTL drive after hearing Nia¡¯s spirited reply and the streaming lights from the stars outside became stationary points once more. And the moment we arrived, we were immediately greeted by the scene of arge passenger ship with its main thrusters destroyed nked by two medium-ss pirate ships from both sides. More than ten small-ss pirate ships quickly headed over to intercept us.

    ¡°Let¡¯s give these guys a warm wee!¡±

    I immediately activated the weapon systems and started performingbat maneuvers.

    ¡°Two medium-ss and fourteen small-ss pirate ships confirmed! It seems they¡¯ve already boarded the passenger ship.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s crush the small fry first! But be sure to keep an eye on the medium-ss ship¡¯s movements!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    I took the small-ss pirates head-on and plunged straight into their formation. I immediately brought down one ship with the shot-cannons. We got targeted by the other ship¡¯sser cannons and multi-cannons, but they didn¡¯t even manage to leave a dent on Krishna¡¯s shield. It would take a miracle for the firepower of small-ss pirate ships to take down Krishna¡¯s shields.

    The moment I passed the pirate ships by, I turned the flight assist off and used the attitude control thrusters to reverse Krishna¡¯s direction. I then turned flight assist on again and elerated Krishna to hit the pirates from behind.

    ¡ºThis bastard¡­¡­!? Spread out!¡»

    One of the pirates realized I locked on to them from behind and gave out a decisive order to scatter.

    I see? So they have a decentmander huh.

    ¡ºWaaah!? My shield!? Noooooo!?¡»

    But it¡¯s not that easy to ovee an overwhelming difference in power and performance. In front of the firepower of our four heavy-caliber pulseser cannons, the shields and armor ting of the pirate ships were akin to paper and were easily pierced. One clean shot is all it takes to saturate their energy shields and a second shot would pierce their armor and critically damage their hulls. It seems they still had some form of good luck going for them. None of the ships I targeted exploded to bits so far. We did manage to down them all though.

    ¡ºTake some distance and surround it! Avoid fighting it up close!¡»

    ¡°His analysis is spot on.¡±

    ¡°Even if it¡¯s spot on, something like that won¡¯t be able to decide victory.¡±

    If they¡¯re going for an encirclement strategy, then all I had to do was to tear a hole in their formation and take them down individually. Even if themander¡¯s decent, it doesn¡¯t mean that all his subordinates would be able to properly execute his orders. So, in a sense, his efforts are useless.

    ¡ºI-It¡¯s no good! This guy¡¯s too strong!¡»

    ¡ºWe can¡¯t even make it flinch!¡»

    ¡ºYou idiots! We can¡¯t just escape and leave the others behind!¡»

    Oh. So they aren¡¯t willing to run away and leave behind theirrades who were currently staging an attack on the passenger ship huh? And if they did escape from here and meet their formerradester, they would probably go for each other¡¯s throats after forming a grudge here.

    However, that just means you guys signed your death warrants.

    I brought the small-ss pirate ships down one after another and cleaned them up easily.

    ¡ºS-Stop! We¡¯re gonna murder all of the passengers if youe any closer!¡»

    ¡°Hah! C¡¯mon now, guys. And hey, if you drop your weapons and surrender, I might consider letting you guys live, you know?¡±

    I thumbed my nose at the threat of the remaining two medium-ss pirate ships. One basically does not negotiate with pirates. And after all, these guys wouldn¡¯t really dare kill the passengers. Their goal is to kidnap them after all. Since they want to kidnap and sell them offter, they aren¡¯t gonna do something that would decrease the number of ¡®goods¡¯.

    Well, people can do some pretty crazy stuff when pushed into a corner though.

    ¡°What¡¯s our next step?¡±

    ¡°Well, since they¡¯re kind enough to y sitting ducks for us¡­ I might as well take their limbs out.¡±

    After saying so, I aimed Krishna¡¯s weapons at the main thrusters of the medium-ss pirate ships. After taking down their main thrusters, I destroyed their weapons next. Why¡¯d I destroy their weapons? That¡¯s because ck Lotus ising over soon. It¡¯s not like boarding actions are exclusive to pirates you know.

 Chapter 207 â€“ Spectating

    <h4>Chapter 207 - Spectating</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Normally, it¡¯s rtively tricky to target important modules such as the main thrusters and weapons ofbat starships with pinpoint precision. However, it¡¯s a different story if they were stationary. In particr, these ships busy with performing boarding actions on their victim were nothing more than sitting ducks.

    ¡ºSto¡­¡­ Stooop!?¡»

    ¡°Do I look like an idiot who would stop just because you told me to?¡±

    I swiftly got behind the pirate ships nking therge passenger cruiser and destroyed their main thrusters with the heavy-caliberser cannons. Their shields needed to be deactivated whenever they performed a boarding action, so right now, they were totally defenseless. After hitting them with a fewser cannon rounds, all their functions quickly ceased.

    ¡ºY-You bastards!? We still have passengers here. We got hostages, alright? Hostages!¡»

    The pirate¡¯s desperate pleas rang out from thems. Hahaha, they sure can bark. No matter how much you guys cry out, we already destroyed your main thrusters, so you¡¯re not going anywhere.

    ¡°Hey, did you guys hear that? It seems they got hostages inside.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I heard it loud and clear. But so what?¡±

    After seeing my grin, Elma readily yed along. Mimi¡¯s eyes opened wide in surprise, but I ced my index finger on my lips and made a shushing gesture. Nia just kept watching all themotion with a grin on her face.

    ¡°So they¡¯ll kill the hostages if we attack them further? Sure, they can go right ahead. They can kill as much as they want. If they do, then that just means their bounties are gonna shoot up and we¡¯ll get even more money out of them.¡±

    ¡ºWha¡­¡­!?¡»

    ¡°We¡¯re mercenaries you know? We¡¯re no allies of justice. So what if you have hostages? Are you guys idiots?¡±

    ¡°Even so, it¡¯s not like we don¡¯t feel anything. We still feel some form of remorse and indignation over this. We¡¯ll make sure and catch you all aliveter, so prepare yourselves.¡±

    ¡°Imperialw is quite strict when ites to punishing viinous acts you know? They would return a hundred times the punishment for a single heinous crime.¡±

    ¡°In any case, you guys are already goners. Just surrender already. That would make it easier for all of us.¡±

    ¡ºGoddammit!¡»

    Ooh, someone¡¯s angry. But regardless, I still took down all the weapons of the two medium-ss pirate ships. Now, both of them are literally buck naked.

    And so, ck Lotus finally arrived just as we finished setting everything up.

    ¡ºI¡¯m sorry to have kept you waiting, Master.¡»

    ¡°Perfect timing, Mei. Send in the militarybat bots to the pirate ships that are nking the passenger cruiser. After taking control of the pirate ships, have them move to the cruiser and take care of the remaining pirates.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood. I will have them equip non-lethal weapons.¡»

    ¡°Please do. Krishna will keep a look-out for possible reinforcements. Takemand of thebat bots, Mei. And tell Tina and Whisker to begin salvage work.¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir.¡»

    I cut the call with ck Lotus after giving out my orders. The pirates also cut the call on their end earlier. I talked with Mei on an open channel after all. Since they heard thatbat bots would being, I bet they are desperately preparing to intercept them right about now.

    ¡°Now, we just need to sit back and watch.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh? You¡¯re not going to board the pirate ship as well?¡±

    Nia, who¡¯d been grinning silently until now, finally spoke out. And it seems like she was actually grumbling a bit. As a response to Nia, I just shrugged my shoulders without getting up from the pilot seat.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure how many pirates are present over there, but since they have two ships, I¡¯m assuming there are about thirty or so of them. On the other hand, we¡¯ll be sending in ten state-of-the-art militarybat bots, which would be overwhelming regardless of the fact that they¡¯ll be wielding non-lethal weaponry. So there¡¯s no need to purposefully take a risk if you have a better option avable.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ But that won¡¯t be worth filming at all.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you this straight,dy. I have absolutely no intention of risking my life just to let you have some good footage.¡±

    In the first ce, I paid a lot of money to purchasebat bots precisely for times like this. I¡¯m referring to cases requiring countermeasures for boarding actions or performing boarding actions on the enemy ship ourselves.

    After undergoing grueling training that caused me to spit out buckets of blood, I¡¯ve be able to hold my own in a fight. However, I definitely won¡¯t purposefully jump into a live battlefield with death rays flying all over the ce if I can help it, regardless of wearing power armor or otherwise. If I can solve a problem with more effective means and only need to fork out some cash to get those means, then why not? That¡¯s my opinion anyway.

    ¡°All of you, get ready for battle! Those damn tin cans areing!¡±

    Dammit! That bastard merc doesn¡¯t give a damn about the hostages at all! I really thought about murderin the lot of them earlier, but I held back since we probably won¡¯t be able to handle the consequences. In any case, we probably can¡¯t escape being caught, but causing a bloodbath here would just make things worse for us.

    If you¡¯re treated as B-ss criminals, then the most you can expect was a lifetime of hardbor. Depending on the circumstances, you might get the chance to breathe the air of freedom again. But if youmit an obvious ughter, you¡¯d definitely bebeled as an A-ss criminal.

    A-ss criminals are totally deprived of human rights and often treated as biological test subjects for all sorts of experiments. I definitely don¡¯t want to experience being treated like a damn expendable guinea pig by those crazy scientists.

    It would be a mercy if you were just thrown naked inside a prototype med-pod and tossed into outer space to evaluate its performance. And you can also consider yourself lucky if you get pped with an experimental VR device and end up getting your brain fried from overstimtion. The ones with truly terrible fates were those subjected to gic modification experiments. Just thinking about those guys howling in pain with bodies damaged beyond repair while being kept ¡®barely alive¡¯ for data collection was enough to give me nightmares. I definitely don¡¯t want to turn out like them.

    ¡°Boarding team! Don¡¯t you dare make a mistake and kill any of the ¡®goods¡¯! You do that, and we¡¯ll all end up as toys for those crazy scientists, you hear me!?¡±

    I heard a frantic reply coupled with nasty swearing from thems. In any case, for now, even if some of us somehow mess up, I might still be able to get myself spared from the worst punishment. I just finished saving the earlier convo in the ship logs when I heard a loud noise coupled with intense shaking. From the readings disyed on the console, it was caused by an attack by that damn merc. Wait, judging from the damage to the hull¡­¡­? That was caused by a boarding pod prating our ship!

    ¡°Dammit! They¡¯re here!¡±

    I pulled out myser gun from its holster and bolted out of the cockpit. Just wait! I¡¯m gonna st those tin can soldiers into scrap!

    ¡ºFull control of the enemy ship, achieved.¡»

    ¡ºConfirming damage caused by an EMP grenade attack. Damage, minor.¡»

    ¡ºCover. Seeded in disabling two enemybatants.¡»

    ¡ºCompleted full suppression of the enemy ship. Preparing for storming into the passenger cruiser.¡»

    Reports wereing in one after another from thebat bots that rushed inside the two pirate ships. The tenbat bots were divided into two squads made up of five units. The two ships were then boarded by one squad each. We were just chilling out and spectating inside Krishna¡¯s cockpit. Under Mei¡¯s precisemand, thebat bots neutralized the pirates with terrifying efficiency.

    ¡°They¡¯re totally overwhelming the enemy, aren¡¯t they¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well, of course. If not, then what was the use of spending 60,000 Enels for each of them?¡±

    ¡°But when you fought abat bot on Sierra III, you managed to take it down easily, right, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Back then, thending pod was intercepted halfway, and I managed to take it out quickly by hammering it withser fire before itpletely got activated. Besides, it was only one bot. It would have been really dangerous if all of them managed to activate and attacked us en masse.¡±

    ¡°I see. So that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    If you think about it, we do attract bad luck a lot, but we don¡¯t really get dealt the worst card as well. Even so, it would be better if we didn¡¯t get into trouble at all.

    ¡°What can I say? It sure is easy.¡±

    ¡°I spent a lot of money to buy the proper equipment in order to make things easy. We still haven¡¯t made back our total investments yet.¡±

    You can collect bounty rewards regardless of pirates being alive or dead, but if you catch them alive, you¡¯d get a nice bonus. In other words, if you want to get maximum mileage out of pirate hunting, you¡¯d need a mothership that can bring back all the loot as well asbat bots that can catch those pesky pirates by performing boarding actions.

    Well, in order to obtain these things, you¡¯d need to fork out a significant investment, so it would take quite some time for you to recoup it and start earning cleanly. But in the long run, it was more profitable than hunting pirates with a single small-ss ship.

    ¡°I need more nice footage! We¡¯re finally out on a civilian ship rescue mission, but there are no interesting scenes to film! I need something more interestiiing!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say something so unreasonable! Hey! Don¡¯t snuggle up to me from behind! Don¡¯t push your breasts up on the back of my head! We¡¯re still in the middle of an operation, you idiot! I¡¯m gonna toss you out to space if you don¡¯t stop!¡±

    ¡°How noisy¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­¡±

    C¡¯mon, you two. I can¡¯t let go of the pilot stick, so could you guys peel this idiot off of me? Dammit. I¡¯m gonna ban this woman from entering Krishna¡¯s cockpit from now on. I¡¯m not ying around here.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be taking them away then.¡±

    ¡°Please.¡±

    I waved goodbye to the imperial soldier who gave me a crisp salute as they brought away the pirates captured by thebat bots. We managed to get a lot of loot and data caches from the small-ss ships we defeated and the two medium-ss ships we captured, so depending on the contents, we¡¯ll have to sell them off when we get back to Comatt Prime.

    One of the medium-ss ships we captured was towed back to the Comatt Prime colony by a unit belonging to the imperial space navy, so we towed the other with the ck Lotus and tossed the scrap and parts we looted off them inside the Lotus¡¯s hangar.

    With this, we managed to capture two medium-ss and two small-ss ships that we can sell awayter. In addition, we¡¯ll be receiving a bonus for catching the pirates alive along with the regr bounty rewards. We can also expect an honorarium for saving the passengers. Man, I just can¡¯t help butugh!

    ¡°I¡¯m reflecting on my actions, so please have mercy.¡±

    Ipletely ignored the woman who was performing a splendid dogeza beneath my feet. Just thank you lucky stars that I managed to stop myself from throwing you into outer space,dy.

    ¡°Yossha! My hands are itchin for some action!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do our best, big sis!¡±

    The mechanic sisters were acting all fired up while in front of one of the small-ss ships we managed to capture. Their eyes were shining with a predatory glint. They really loved messing around with starships as much as they liked. And the 10% cut they get from the sale of said ships probably provided an additional source of motivation for them as well.

    ¡°Nyaatoflix is out, so it¡¯s now the turn of Fomalhaut Entertainment.¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha! Sorry about that!¡±

    ¡°Gugagigigigigi¡­¡­¡±

    Fomalhaut Entertainment¡¯s Zuia shook his shy me-like fur and boarded Krishna whileughing heartily. Nia gazed at Zuia¡¯s back with grudge-filled eyes. Perhaps she noticed me looking at them. Nia shed me a tantly fawning and flirtatious look. Un? What¡¯s she up to now?

    ¡°I-I¡¯ll be paying for my blunder with my body, so-¡±

    ¡°Nyaatoflix, five-point deduction.¡±

    ¡°Nuoooh!? Or rather, just when were we using a point system!?¡±

    Trying to overtly use seduction tactics on me is a no-go. The other staff members of Nyaatoflix were making nk stares at Nia who just made my impression of her decrease to a new low. Can you just please honestly reflect on your actions?

    But man. She¡¯s still able to make aedic retort even in this situation huh.

    ¡°Please remember that you¡¯ll be invited to a luxury tour of outer space inside an escape pod once you get deducted ten points.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­¡±

    Nia¡¯s shoulders dropped in dejection. Well, I¡¯m only joking with the escape pod thing. The next time she tries something funny, I¡¯ll just have her and her entire team disembark at the Comatt Prime colony.

    ¡°If you guys are thinking it should be okay since I let her off this once, you got another thinging. Understood?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, of course, we understand.¡±

    ¡°I have no intention of doing something like that in the first ce.¡±

    Space Dwerg¡¯s Wamdo and Mobius Ring¡¯s Allen both responded with a smile, but I didn¡¯t miss them shaking guiltily for an instant at my words. Don¡¯t underestimate the eyes of a seasoned starship pilot, you guys.

 Chapter 208 â€“ Another SOS Message

    <h4>Chapter 208 - Another SOS Message</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Although we just left port not too long ago, we still decided to return to Comatt Prime space colony in order to take care of our spoils. We¡¯d face various inconveniences if we continued patrolling around with our cargo capacity full after all.

    Nheless, it would be getting our priorities backward if we allowed this fact to hinder our patrol duties, so we just threw the scrap we got from the pirate ships and the rest of the loot into the loot storage space we arranged with the Comatt Prime space colony.

    ¡°We¡¯ll stay in the colony to start with the repair and modifications of the captured ships, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha. I¡¯m sure there won¡¯t be any problems, but be careful anyway.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    We¡¯ll have the mechanic sisters stay in the Comatt Prime colony. They would be proceeding with the repair and modifications of the two medium-ss and two small-ss ships we managed to capture. They wouldn¡¯t be in any danger while staying inside the maintenance docks, so there should be no problem. The port area was especially secure since the imperial military and colony security were conducting strict regr patrols and were always on the lookout.

    ¡°We will also remain in the colony to interview the two lovelydies who will be modifying the captured ships.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine, but don¡¯t get in the way of their work.¡±

    ¡°But of course.¡±

    It seems Space Dwerg¡¯s Mr. Wamdo and his staff will be remaining in the Comatt Prime space colony as well. Fomalhaut Entertainment¡¯s Zuia has boarded Krishna while the rest of his staff together with the folks from Nyaatoflix and Mobius Ring will board the ck Lotus and continue their coverage there.

    ¡°You just don¡¯t stay put, do you, sir? Or rather, you¡¯re surprisingly quite diligent when ites to working.¡±

    ¡°Un? Really?¡±

    ¡°Yes. You are quite different from our image of mercenaries.¡±

    Krishna was currently parked inside one of ck Lotus¡¯s hangars, and while we were in the middle of taking a short breather inside the break room, Mobius Ring¡¯s Allen began to say such things.

    ¡°I¡¯m not really familiar with that so-called typical mercenary behavior though.¡±

    I¡¯m not really a native of this dimension, so I didn¡¯t really get the standards the folks here would consider ¡®normal¡¯. Of course, it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t study about their norms and customs, but I¡¯m just too used tomon sense I cultivated back on Earth, so I found some of the norms and values here pretty peculiar and just couldn¡¯t get used to them.

    ¡°Uh, how should I put it? The typical mercenary we know makes a lot of money in one go, loses that money in one go as well after ying around without restraint, and would generally live a slovenly lifestyle as long as they had the money to spare.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Compared to them, Hiro-sama is really diligent, or should I say, stoic.¡±

    ¡°Stoic huh¡­¡­¡±

    Uh, I do flirt around a lot with Mimi, Elma, and Mei, pig out on delicious food prepared by Tetsujin V every day, and buy stuff without restraint as long as they catch my eye though.

    ¡°To put it more straightforwardly, since you¡¯re together with two ravishing beauties, we thought you were spending most of your time flirting around day in and day out without restraint.¡±

    ¡°You wanna get deducted points again?¡±

    ¡°No, no, I¡¯m saying that¡¯s how others would normally think as well! Right!?¡±

    Nyaatoflix¡¯s Nia turned to Fomalhaut Entertainment¡¯s Zuia and Mobius Ring¡¯s Allen to back up her im, but the two justughed dryly and didn¡¯t make anyments. The two of them didn¡¯t voice their agreement, but since they didn¡¯t deny it as well, I guess that¡¯s really what people from this world would normally think.

    ¡°Well, the point deduction was just a joke, so don¡¯t worry. Anyway, is that how it is? If I acted like that, it would take me ages before I¡¯m able to upgrade my ships. Also, my piloting sense would be dull and my skills won¡¯t improve much.¡±

    ¡°Thatment itself is a perfect example of being stoic.¡±

    ¡°For some reason, Hiro really doesn¡¯t let up on his self-discipline, doesn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t be good for my skills to get dull after all. I don¡¯t wanna die, and I definitely don¡¯t want my crew to die either. We¡¯re risking our lives constantly, so it¡¯s only natural to not cut any corners, right?¡±

    Since I was shouldering the lives of Mimi and Elma as well, my responsibilities are quite heavy. If I mess up, my life isn¡¯t the only one at stake.

    ¡°As a Gold Star awardee and tinum-rank mercenary, you really have quite the different outlook huh.¡±

    ¡°But maybe I¡¯m just too much of a workaholic. Alright then. After the break, we¡¯llunch out in Krishna immediately. We have to go back to patrol duty. Please proceed with the analysis data caches, Mei.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Please leave it to me.¡±

    ¡°Is there really no way to have more rocky developments?¡±

    ¡°What does routine patrol duty have to do with ¡®rocky¡¯ developments anyway?¡±

    It¡¯s been two hours since we left Comatt Prime¡¯s port once more. We were able to perform our patrols without encountering any sort of trouble until now. At the behest of Earl Dareinwald, we were granted a bit of discretion when ites to our activity range while within the Comatt system, but if we didn¡¯t encounter stuff like pirates while acting within that range, our patrols would just resemble leisurely sightseeing drives. We literally rounded up all the perpetrators of the attack on that civilian ship in one fell swoop today, so I guess the rest of the pirates would be wary of acting up for a while.

    ¡°Ah, we¡¯ve received an emergency message from themand center of the Comatt III defense forces.¡±

    ¡°Oops. A rocky development really came. It¡¯s because you said some ominous stuff, Zuia.¡±

    ¡°Heck yeah!¡±

    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t just go celebrating on your own, you¡­¡­ So, Mimi. What¡¯s the contents of the message?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ It seems theary colonies on Comatt III are being attacked by aggressive native lifeforms and all ships capable of air to surface attacks were being told to rush back to Comatt III to provide air support.¡±

    ¡°Air to surface bombardment¡­¡­?¡±

    I inadvertently let out a weird-sounding yelp when I heard the iprehensible contents of the message.

    Even though colonization has just barely started, it¡¯s a bit strange to request for the forces deployed out in space to rush back just to deal with attacks from native lifeforms.

    Well, they weren¡¯t like the military, so they probably didn¡¯t have too much firepower, but they should at least have possession ofser guns and rifles which are more powerful than guns that fired physical bullets. Theary colony base should be equipped withser turrets and multi-cannon turrets which would be more effective for base defensepared to energy shield generators and hand-held weapons.

    Moreover, it¡¯s strange that we were not informed that there were still such highly dangerous native lifeforms lurking around before the colonization project formallymenced. Investigations should have been conducted on-site before and after the terraforming process, and at this stage, harmful lifeforms should have already been long discovered and dealt with ordingly.

    ¡°That sounds kinda strange. Are you sure the message was from the Comatt III defense forces?¡±

    ¡°Um, there¡¯s no mistake.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Please confirm it with themand center of the defense forces. And just in case, confirm it with our client as well. Also, make sure to save the message on the ship logs.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    Since we had Zuia onboard, it would be better not to mention Chris¡¯s name directly. Well, even if we hide it, it seems they already suspected that we and Chris had a rather dubious rtionship though.

    ¡°What are we going to do?¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s really from themand center of the defense forces, I just can¡¯t ignore it. Mimi, tell Mei we¡¯re heading to Comatt III.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Mimi really gets busy during situations like this. Well, since she can already effortlessly handlemunication ry work, I guess Mimi has really be quite a seasoned ship operator. It appears it won¡¯t be long before we need to revise her sry again.

    ¡°Set course for Comatt III.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, sir. The course has been set.¡±

    Mimi¡¯s hands were full with contacting the relevant parties, so I had Elma set the course for Comatt III instead. Since we were already navigating via FTL Drive, there was no need to restart the sequence again.

    ¡°What do you think though?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s quite suspect. Well, it¡¯s not like something¡¯s definitely up.¡±

    It looks like Elma also found the air to surface bombardment request quite strange.

    ¡°Was it due to an oversight that caused drastic mutations during the terraforming process?¡±

    Did the research team overlook the existence of dangerous lifeforms, or did the drastic changes in the environment caused by the terraforming process have a serious impact on the lifeforms that were judged to be harmless?

    ¡°Or perhaps, it¡¯s a plot put into motion by a third party.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s something to consider as well.¡±

    This might possibly be an intentional obstruction caused by a third party. In other words, they might have dropped biological weapons with extremely high aggression on the and secretly propagated them. We certainly can¡¯t discount such a possibility. If there were parties that wanted to prevent Earl Dareinwald from making any headway on this massive project, they might have employed such means.

    They would tighten the noose on their necks if they were to get caught, but as long as nobody found out, it would serve as effective harassment. In any case, if theary colonies were to receive severe damage here, it would certainly affect the colonization project began by Earl Dareinwald negatively.

    ¡°Since it¡¯s an SOS request that can¡¯t be dealt with by the local forces¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a good chance it¡¯s the third-party theory huh.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Like I said, don¡¯t go rejoicing about rocky developments!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what sort of threats we¡¯ll faceter on, but be sure to delete our earlier conversation from your records. That¡¯s unless you guys want to involve yourselves in the secret conflicts between aristocrats.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, of course. shy and tension-filled content is way better for us than those sorts of shady stuff after all. Though I believe those guys from Nyaatoflix would happilytch onto something like that though.¡±

    Ah, yeah, they probably would. Nia does seem like she preferred these sorts of shady, murky developments.

    Well, anyway, it looks like we¡¯ll be fighting under the duress of gravity after quite some time. The opponents are harmful lifeforms, so they would only serve as target practice though. Oh well. I¡¯ll have to be careful not to mess up and crash on the ground though.

 Chapter 209 â€“ Laser Bombardment

    <h4>Chapter 209 - Laser Bombardment</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Boom! The light of the stars streaming around us like arrows returned to being stationary after a thunderous boom.

    ¡°FTL Drive deactivated. Calcting the atmospheric entry coordinates to the target location!¡±

    ¡°Ok. Everyone, make sure to drink plenty of fluids before we proceed with atmospheric entry. Do you have any info about the target location for me, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Um¡­¡­ Found it. I¡¯ll put it up on the screen.¡±

    Mimi operated her console and disyed the info regarding the dangerous lifeforms attacking the colonists of Comatt III on the cockpit screen.

    ¡°Those are some mean-looking creatures. They¡¯re plenty intimidating. Or rather, they look in evil. They seem like masses of evil will that have taken physical form.¡±

    ¡°Well, they certainly don¡¯t look like decent creatures, that¡¯s for sure.¡±

    What was disyed on the screen was something I could only describe as terrifying. The creatures were mostly yellowish-brown in color and the surface of their bodies was covered in hides that somehow eerily resembled human skin, making them seem even more creepy.

    Their appearance can roughly be divided into three types. One was about 5 meters tall. It had more than twenty legs that resembled human ones, and it uses those multiple legs to move at high speeds to capture its victims. It would then badly maul its victim with two arms, and then chew them up with what seems to be its mouth. Its mouth was lined up with human-like teeth and looked utterly revolting. The tips of both its arms were covered in a sort of rocky epidermis that also seemed quite sharp. They really looked like they could kill a human in one blow.

    The other type also had multiple legs, but they resembled the legs of elephants. Its body was quite streamlined and resembled an upside-down seafaring ship. The front end of its upper body was covered in rocky armor like the arms of the first type, and it seems capable of performing high-speed frontal charges. It was about 15 meters in length and 7 meters in height. It was considerablyrger than the first type. Its frontal rocky armor looked pretty tough and solid, and it seems that handheldser guns and rifles werepletely useless against it.

    And of all three forms, thest one looked the most troublesome. It stood 2 meters tall and was quite smaller than the other types. It had multiple legs as well - six to be exact. It didn¡¯t seem to be that fast and also didn¡¯t possess rocky armor, but it was sporting a kind of biologicalser cannon on its body that seemed on par with standardserunchers. Its power and range far outdid the weapons the colonists were armed with, and they were even capable of taking down unshielded aircraft, seeker missiles, and attack drones.

    ¡°That¡¯s a full line-up huh. They have vanguards and rearguards ounted for. Are there really naturally urring lifeforms that shoot energy beams from their bodies like these?¡±

    ¡°Well, there are the crystal lifeforms for example.¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah, those are iprehensible creatures as well huh¡­¡­¡±

    It¡¯s certainly true that crystal lifeforms were one of the weirdest creatures in the gxy. They were extremely aggressive against all carbon-based lifeforms, were capable of interster navigation, and spat out not onlysers but mysterious energy bullets from their bodies as well. What I¡¯m trying to ask is whether or not there were really naturally-urring creatures that were so specialized in wagingbat on terrestrials. Spitting out a stream of powerful venom or acids is one thing, but these things were even spitting outser fire as destructive asseruncher projectiles y¡¯know. That¡¯s a bit too over the top no matter how you slice it.

    ¡°Well¡­¡­ Like I said earlier, they really don¡¯t seem like decent creatures.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Oh well. Let¡¯s just go ahead and get rid of em.¡±

    ¡°You sure are nonchnt about all this. Or rather, you don¡¯t seem to be feeling any danger at all.¡±

    Zuia quipped as he sat on the sub-seat. I merely shrugged my shoulders without ncing back.

    ¡°Whether there are ten thousand or ten million of these guys, they pose absolutely no threat to Krishna after all.¡±

    ¡°If their output is only on par withserunchers, they won¡¯t have much range within a¡¯s atmosphere. Krishna¡¯sser cannons have much higher output and range, so we can just unterally pick them off from beyond their range of attack.¡±

    ¡°And there¡¯s the ck Lotus as well. It can make use of the observation data Krishna is constantly sending its way to bombard the surface with multi-cannon and EML fire from the stratosphere.¡±

    Speaking of multi-cannons, they¡¯re sometimes unfairlybeled as mere peashooters, but they¡¯re actually pretty deadly against unshielded enemies. Their rate of fire is like that of submachine guns, but they¡¯re ship artillery after all. I¡¯m not familiar with their exact caliber, but I can roughly hold on to just one ammo round with both arms. If a human were to get hit directly with something like that, they¡¯d be turned into minced meat in an instant. Of course, those creatures rampaging on the surface of the will meet simr gruesome ends as well.

    But if you carelessly fired off an EML round at the surface, it might affect theary colony as well. Anyway, we could always adjust the firing angle and velocity of the EML round, and I¡¯m sure Mei would not make any mistakes.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ In other words, the difference in strength between us and them is just that overwhelming.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I think this would be a one-sided affair, actually.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve finished setting the atmospheric entry angle! I¡¯ll disy it on the nav.¡±

    ¡°Roger that. Make sure to have ck Lotus follow closely, Mei.¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir.¡»

    We proceeded with atmospheric entry ording to the course Mimi set and descended upon Comatt III.

    ¡°Whoaaaah!? A-Are we really gonna be okay!?¡±

    However, when we began our descent, Zuia suddenly wailed in fright. Apparently, this was his first time experiencing atmospheric entry on a.

    ¡°Yeah. Atmospheric entry sure does have a lot of impact, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    There¡¯s violent shaking and also unsettling noises. There¡¯s also the atmosphere outside the shield burning bright crimson. I¡¯m aware that objects entering the atmosphere of a experience atmospheric drag and aerodynamic heating caused by thepression of the air around the object, but I wonder why energy shields also cause such phenomena. Was it generating sma due to the super-high temperature or something?

    ¡°We¡¯ve arrived right above the target coordinates.¡±

    ¡°Hey now. There they are.¡±

    Combat starship other than us were already flying above the target coordinates and were mowing down the advancing waves of hostile creatures on the ground as if they were parting clouds. High-poweredser rounds were continuously fired off from thebat ship¡¯sser cannons,nding on the ground and blowing away the hostile creatures along with the soil and rocks.

    The process was often misunderstood, butser cannons weren¡¯t really weapons that would cause targets to explode directly due to their high-poweredser rounds. Actually, the surface of the target fired upon would first evaporate due to the super-high temperature, causing the explosion afterward, and the corresponding heat and impact would cause the target to be destroyed.

    In other words, the true nature of the destruction on the ground eliminating the hostile creatures were storms of explosive sts and heat caused by high-poweredser irradiation.

    ¡°Activate weapon systems. Limit the output to the minimum and prioritize rapid-fire capability.¡±

    ¡°Roger. Adjusting the power output.¡±

    ¡°As for ck Lotus, mainly use theser turrets to attack. Don¡¯t use the multi-cannons unless theary colony base gets ced in critical danger.¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir.¡»

    Both the multi-cannon and EML rounds are quite expensive after all. Since theser turrets are easier on the wallet, we¡¯ll use them instead.

    ¡°But there sure are a lot of them.¡±

    ¡°Seeing them squirming around like that makes me feel a bit sick somehow¡­¡­ ¡±

    It looks like most of theser spewing creatures have been taken care of, and there were only two types remaining - the vanguard-type and the assault-type. This will be nothing more than a mop-up then. Since the creatures couldn¡¯t fly, they had no ability to attack thebat ships hovering around in the sky. We¡¯ll just need to be careful not to identally damage the energy shield covering theary colony base.

    Out of our fourser cannons, the lower ones targeted the creatures near the base, and the upper ones destroyed those further away from it. Since we lowered the output to the minimum, theser irradiation period was longer than usual and the firing interval was conversely shorter, so the mop-up work progressed steadily.

    ¡°With this, the base won¡¯t have any worries when ites to food for a good while.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°Eeh!?¡±

    After hearing Elma¡¯s statement, Mimi and I raised surprised voices.

    Eh? Food? You can actually eat these things?

    ¡°It¡¯s just a spection, but they¡¯re biological organisms at the end of the day. They can probably break them down into edible protein sources after a bit of processing.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s seriously scary.¡±

    ¡°I wonder how they¡¯d taste?¡±

    ¡°Eh.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    I did a double-take and turned toward Mimi, who was sitting on the operator seat. Mimi got surprised by our reactions and met gazes with me. Uh, did you really not find their appearances the least bit disgusting? Or did your desire for unknown gourmet food and ingredients win out in the end?

    ¡°W-Well, you know¡­ Um, maybe they¡¯d actually taste good when you try them out?¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah, okay. You have a point.¡±

    Those vanguard-types have multiple human-like legs though. I don¡¯t feel like tasting them at all after seeing those. Well, Mimi¡¯s dream is to eat all the gxy¡¯s gourmet delicacies after all. I think that sort of brave challenger¡¯s spirit is important in order to achieve it. Yeah.

    Me? Nah. I¡¯d rather pass, man.

 Chapter 210 â€“ Getting a Breather

    <h4>Chapter 210 - Getting a Breather</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°So, after we¡¯re done, we¡¯re just gonna waltz back up into space?¡±

    Fomalhaut Entertainment¡¯s Zuia grumbled a bit the moment we broke through the atmosphere of Comatt III after we finished the clean-up job.

    ¡°Of course. We¡¯re mercenaries, remember?¡±

    ¡°And we¡¯re mainly experts in anti-shipbat too. We don¡¯t really specialize in investigating shady conspiracies.¡±

    ¡°That would be like bringing a chainsaw to perform precision surgery.¡±

    We wiped out the attacking harmful local(?) lifeforms and shot a round from ck Lotus¡¯s EML straight into the estimated spawning point of said lifeforms to destroy it. By this time, the imperial military should be busy sending out battalions of heavily armed space marines in order to raid what seems to be the nest of the lifeforms.

    ¡°But are you guys not the least bit curious? Those things were clearly not natural lifeforms, right?¡±

    ¡°I would be lying if I said I wasn¡¯t curious, but something like that is already out of our jurisdiction. We¡¯d probably be more useful when ites to crushing the enemy¡¯s main base of operations after the investigation resultse in or something like that, but we¡¯d be next to no use if we try and butt in on something that¡¯s clearly not part of our expertise. Patrolling around and hunting down pirates would be better for us and for our employer.¡±

    ¡°In other words, we¡¯d like to earn more money, Zuia-san!¡±

    ¡°Exactly!¡±

    ¡°And you guys are really fine with that¡­¡­?¡±

    After seeing me giving Mimi a thumbs up, Zuia let out a bewildered sigh. That¡¯s just how we mercs are. I¡¯m awesome, Krishna¡¯s awesome, ck Lotus is awesome, and Mimi and Elma are both excellent crew members. But that doesn¡¯t mean we can do anything and everything.

    ¡°Get the right person for the right job, as the saying goes. We¡¯re simply just doing what we¡¯re best at. It won¡¯t do anybody any good if we kept poking our noses where they don¡¯t belong.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    It looks like Zuia was finally convinced, I think. Actually, we were just afraid of poking our noses in and ending up getting involved in an increasing amount of troublesome stuff. Yeah. That¡¯d definitely happen. We don¡¯t need any more trouble. No thanks. We already have our hands full, so sorry.

    ¡°And besides, at times like this-¡±

    ¡ºI have a report, Master.¡»

    Mei¡¯s voice echoed around the cockpit and interrupted my words.

    ¡°-What¡¯s wrong? Oh, are you finally done decrypting the data caches?¡±

    After thest boarding action we pulled off, we managed to capture two pirate ships almostpletely intact. Perhaps we sent in thebat bots far too quickly, because they were unable to delete the data contained in the caches and ck boxes. And so, I left the job of analyzing them to Mei.

    ¡ºYes. They contained data regarding the coordinates of the pirate main base and detailed transaction records.¡»

    ¡°I see. Alright then. Go ahead and sell the coordinates to the imperial military¡­¡­ No, on second thought, just report it to Chris.¡±

    ¡ºCertainly. I thought that would be best as well. Christina-sama will be able to have the imperial forces mobilize quickerpared to us simply handing them the data. I¡¯ve also managed to discover something by analyzing the transaction data of the pirates.¡»

    ¡°Huh? What is it?¡±

    ¡ºIt seems there really is a party that¡¯s trying to get in the way of Earl Dareinwald¡¯s project by providing the pirates funds and equipment. There¡¯s an inflow of funds and supplies that cannot possibly be obtained by the pirates normally.¡»

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Send that info to Chris as well then. I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡±

    ¡ºYes, Master. Please rest assured.¡»

    The call from ck Lotus, where Mei and the rest of the media folks were on, was cut off. Krishna has alsopletely escaped from Comatt III¡¯s atmosphere. For the time being, I nced back to Zuia who was sitting on the sub-seat at the back of the cockpit.

    ¡°See. In situations like this, even if we don¡¯t poke our noses around looking for trouble, trouble wille to us instead. It¡¯s ridiculous, right?¡±

    ¡°Quite. I certainly don¡¯t want to get burdened with that sort of bad luck.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. I mean, you¡¯d have less trouble searching for scoops you know.¡±

    I took a walk down the streets and met a beautiful girl being chased by viins. I headed out to outer space and unexpectedly picked up an SOS signal and saved a passenger cruiser being attacked by pirates. I docked inside a colony and immediately got into a scrap with mysterious mutant lifeforms. I hunted down pirates and ended picking up a beautiful girl. When I went for a vacation, the I was staying on was attacked by pirates. I worked with the imperial military and got attacked by a rogue force. I escorted a noble fleet and got myself mixed up in a family session conflict. And when I bought a new ship, a legal loli came flying at me.

    I then took requests to be a test pilot and deliver goods only to be caught up in a battle between imperial forces and crystal lifeforms. And when I went to the imperial capital to pick up an award, I suddenly got thrown to participate in a stupid tournament.

    Goddammit! This dumb sh*tty luck!

    ¡°I¡¯m just an ordinary civilian you know. If I got myself into the sorts of trouble you often find yourselves in, it probably won¡¯t be enough even if I had multiple lives.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±

    ¡°That would definitely be the case huh.¡±

    The three of us nodded at Zuia¡¯s words and sincerely agreed with him. I¡¯ve probably long stopped being just an ordinary person, but I still had the mindset of one.

    Chris was quick to make a decision after being contacted by Mei. She swiftly but secretly convened with the imperial military and assembled a force consisting of Earl Dareinwald¡¯s best men coupled with elites from the space navy in order to deal with the pirate base.

    It¡¯s amon practice to keep your movements secret whenever organizing arge-scale pirate subjugation mission. That¡¯s because the pirates will likely escape if they get wind of a subjugation forceing their way in advance. You had to be wary of the eyes and ears of the pirates scattered inside colonies after all. These people provide all sorts of info to the pirates in exchange for cash.

    ¡°That¡¯s why we have to be extremely careful whenever we participate in arge-scale pirate subjugation mission like this one.¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s why we¡¯re not allowed to get off the ship at this time, correct?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. There¡¯s a risk of an information leak after all.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you trust us to keep our mouths shut?¡±

    ¡°There are ways to get information out of people even if they don¡¯t intend to give anything away. Well, just be patient, alright? This would just be for two days.¡±

    I and Elma exined the situation to Allen and Nia.

    Krishna and ck Lotus were both on stand-by inside the Comatt Prime colony until sortie orders get handed down. Well, it¡¯ll take some time to modify and sell off the pirate ships we captured, so this arrangement is just perfect for us.

    ¡ºCleanin the ship¡¯s interior is far more troublesome than repairin and modifyin them after all.¡»

    ¡ºThey¡¯re really filthy¡­¡­ Really, really filthy.¡»

    When I talked to the two sistersst night, Whisker¡¯s eyes looked like those of a dead fish. She really liked to keep herself neat and tidy if she could help it after all. Just like what they said, the interior of the pirate ships was really an absolute mess. Seeing as they were so impossibly dirty, it would actually be faster topletely rece their interiors.

    ¡ºCompared to these junk heaps, Boss¡¯s ships are far tidier. They¡¯re great.¡»

    ¡ºThey have lots of space, have bright lighting, look pretty, and the food¡¯s absolutely delicious¡­¡­¡»

    I reminded them not to overdo it, but it seems theypletely busied themselves with repairing and remodeling the two captured medium-ss ships. So they left to tend to the ships early in the morning and went to bed prettyte at night after taking a shower. That was how they were spending these past few days.

    Since thebat bots would be able to help out with the work as well, I had Tina and Whisker take them along coupled with the maintenance bots. They would also serve as the sister¡¯s escorts.

    By the way, both of them were out right now, but I didn¡¯t tell them about the pirate subjugation mission in the first ce, so there¡¯s no danger of any information leaks. I merely told them we¡¯d be resting up for a few days and wait for them to finish their work. I have a feeling they¡¯ve been working themselves hard due to that. I¡¯ll tell Elma to prepare some tasty alcohol for the two of them next time.

    ¡°Being mercenaries sure isn¡¯t an easy job huh. There are many things to consider.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. But I had more of an image of them beating up pirates like crazy and then spending their rewards like crazy too.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what you¡¯d normally think, right? I understand.¡±

    ¡°I get it as well. That¡¯s how it is usually, right?¡±

    ¡°But this is our standard though.¡±

    ¡°I think Master¡¯s way of doing things is very wonderful.¡±

    Space Dwerg¡¯s Wamdo and Fomalhaut Entertainment¡¯s Zuia looked impressed but a little disappointed at the same time, but I¡¯m not sure. And for some reason, Mimi and Elma agree with them. The heck? I¡¯m usually doing whatever I please, but somehow, they say I¡¯m stoic or something. Just what kind of lives were the mercenaries in this dimension living any way? I¡¯m getting really curious here.

    While everyone else picked on me, only Mei took my side. As expected of my Mei. I¡¯ll have Mei heal my wounded heart today. I¡¯m gonna borrow Mei¡¯s chest and cry my heart out!

    I might be ying right into Mei¡¯s hands though. Or rather, I was falling for the wiles of the autonomous AI. But as long as I keep that in mind and prevent myself from falling too far, I¡¯m sure I¡¯d be just fine. Probably.

    And so, we spent a few days chilling inside ck Lotus until Chris and the imperial forces were ready, recharging our spirits for the eventual attack on the pirate base.

 Chapter 211 â€“ Elegant Black Lily of the Valley

    <h4>Chapter 211 - Elegant ck Lily of the Valley</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°It looks like I¡¯ll be able to capture some good footage¡­¡­¡±

    The pirate subjugation operation was finally going tomence today. Mr. Wamdo, who was sitting on the cockpit sub-seat, beamed happily. Well, it¡¯s true that today¡¯s operation was probably going to present some nice filming opportunities for the guy. After all, we¡¯ll be attacking the base of the pirate group messing around in this star system with thebined forces of the star system garrison, imperial space navy, and us mercenaries.

    And not long from now, thisbined fleet will set off topletely annihte those evil pirates from this system. There¡¯s no doubt that this event will have lots of nice scenes to film.

    ¡°So it¡¯s your turn today huh.¡±

    ¡°Yes. We¡¯ve given enough opportunities to the other mediapanies after all.¡±

    Mr. Wamdo was sporting a warm affable-looking smile, but he did make sure to schedule his turn to board Krishna at a very opportune timing, so maybe he already anticipated today¡¯s events and nned it all out beforehand. And that¡¯s why he seemed to always defer to the other media guys before today. If that really is the case, then this guy might be more crafty than I gave him credit for.

    ¡°Just how would we go about storming the pirate base though?¡±

    ¡°We would basically start off with naval bombardment from the imperial military¡¯s battleships and heavy cruisers. That preemptive attack will aim to destroy the vital facilities of the base such as the starship hangar and the dock in order to make sure that the pirates would have no way to escape. That said, there¡¯s a good chance that a fair number of the pirate starships won¡¯t be parked inside the hangar and dock, so those guys would immediately scatter and attempt to escape regardless.¡±

    ¡°I see?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s where us mercenariese in. We¡¯re fast and maneuverable, so we¡¯ll lie in ambush along the possible escape routes the pirates might take before the bombardment starts, and once their nest is shaken up, we¡¯ll move out and start hunting them down. In other words, we¡¯re like hunting dogs.¡±

    ¡°I see. The military will be responsible for the frontal assault and the mercenaries will be in charge of encirclement and pursuit.¡±

    Wamdo listened to my exnation while filming the interior of the cockpit with several filming drones. He dutifully recorded every detail of our conversation. The footage he took will then be editedter and added to the documentary theirpany will be releasing.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since we attacked a pirate base hasn¡¯t it, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°These events are like festivals to us folks after all.¡±

    Yep. These events are akin to festivals to us mercs, but the fireworks will be the pirate starships getting blown up to kingdome.

    ¡°Mei, are your preparationsing along?¡±

    ¡ºYes, Master. I¡¯mpletely ready.¡»

    ck Lotus, where the other media guys were staying right now, is scheduled to apany the imperial space navy today in order to participate in the long-range naval bombardment. The range and power of therge-sized high-caliber electromaic rail cannon (EML) equipped on the bow of the Lotus actually trumps the main guns adapted by the navy¡¯s capital ships after all. Well, although an EML has overwhelming firepower, it¡¯s really unwieldy and hard to make good use of, so it wasn¡¯t adapted by the imperial military in the end. After all, unlikeser cannon projectiles, EML rounds can¡¯t achieve the speed of light.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be acting separately this time, so be careful, alright?¡±

    ¡ºI think that¡¯s supposed to be my line, Master.¡»

    Yeah, I guess. After all, Mei would act together with the imperial space navy and the private fleet of Earl Dareinwald while we¡¯ll go up directly against the space pirates with our small-ssbat ship.

    ¡°Then, please pray for our safety.¡±

    ¡ºYes. Good luck. And please be safe.¡»

    ¡°Thank you. You too.¡±

    I wonder which entity an AI would pray to though? I bet it won¡¯t be to a god. On second thought, they might actually believe in things like gods and miracles more than us. After all, the fact that they managed to evolve from a mere program to apletely new race of fully sentient AIs due to coincidences piled on top of coincidences can be called a miracle unto itself.

    After a couple more moments of waiting around, the operation briefing finally started. The particrs of the operation are more or less the same as what I exined to Wamdo. There wasn¡¯t anything particrly worth mentioning. We¡¯ll be performing a standard operation after all.

    These standard tactics have proven to be effective time and time again, so there¡¯s no need to fix what ain¡¯t broken. Of course, you can¡¯t dismiss the use of unorthodox tactics from time to time, but unless there¡¯s a particrly pressing need for such things, sticking to the standard procedure would be more preferable. That¡¯s especially true when you have numerical superiority. If you¡¯re like me and often take on lots of enemies with just a single ship, there would be more of a need for unorthodox tricks and strategies, but that¡¯s another thing entirely.

    After the briefing, Chris¡¯s face got disyed on our cockpit¡¯s main monitor next.

    ¡ºThis operation is not only for ensuring the safety of the Comatt system and the people who live here, but also all imperial subjects and travelers who are active in the surrounding systems as well. That said, the one that would benefit the most from its sess would be our House Dareinwald.¡»

    I thought she would just give a standard speech, but Chris, whose image just appeared on the screen, began saying strange things.

    ¡ºEveryone¡¯s efforts will protect the safety and future of many people. In addition, the interests of House Dareinwald will be preserved as well. The soldiers will earn military merits, the mercenaries will be paid handsomely by House Dareinwald, and you¡¯d also earn a lot from the bounties ced on the pirates.¡»

    After saying so, an enchanting smile akin to a flower in full bloom appeared on Chris¡¯s face.

    ¡º-In order to ensure everyone¡¯s happiness, the total annihtion of all pirates currently in this system is an absolute must. I look forward to a good performance from all of you.¡»

    Her smile hid fatal danger behind its loveliness, just like a jet-ck lily of the valley[1].

    After being sent off by Chris who disyed a pretty but dangerous smile, we finally arrived at our assigned coordinates and hid behind the shadow of arge asteroid. Naturally, our engine¡¯s output and the life support systems were reduced to the bare minimum in order to maintain stealth.

    ¡°My word, Christina-sama¡¯s speech earlier was truly quite thrilling.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t really need to lower your voice y¡¯know. In various meanings.¡±

    Chris must have done it intentionally. By the way, I wasn¡¯t really referring to Chris finding out that we had some, err, opinions regarding her smile earlier when I said there¡¯s no need to lower our voices while we¡¯re talking. I was just pointing out that there¡¯s no particr need to control our voice¡¯s volume even if we¡¯re hiding in stealth. After all, no matter how loud we were, there¡¯s no way our chatter would be heard outside Krishna, and even if it did, we¡¯re in the middle of outer space. I mean, c¡¯mon.

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­ Chris-cha- I mean, Christina-sama is definitely the daughter of an imperial noble house huh.¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess things have been proceeding quite smoothly. In various ways.¡±

    Mimi and Elma also sported bitter smiles after witnessing the formerly innocent and pure Chris¡¯ transformation. There¡¯s a saying back on Earth that you need to evaluate a young man again after not seeing him for three days, for he would have changed a lot in that short span of time, but girls might actually develop even faster.

    ¡°There¡¯s only a short while more before the start of the operation¡­¡­ Everyone, prepare forbat. Wamdo, make sure not to bite your tongue or vomit all over the cockpitter.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha¡­¡­ I¡¯ll do my best. Actually, I¡¯m already wearing adult diapers, just in case.¡±

    It would be absolutely disgusting to have vomit and other bodily fluids floating around the cockpit duringbat after all. You can¡¯t easily clean them up during a hectic battle after all, and you¡¯ll have to put up with the smell of vomit and pee, at least until the battle is over. I definitely don¡¯t want to experience such a thing.

    ¡°Adult diapers are essential for newbie space sailors after all. Yup.¡±

    I avoided turning toward Mimi and kept my gaze straight ahead. I felt a certain someone¡¯s gaze boring at me from behind, but let¡¯s just ignore that. I mean, c¡¯mon. What I said was just a general statement, right? And Mimi¡¯s already gotten over using adult diapers anyway, so it¡¯s all good.

    ¡°Yosh, it¡¯s time. Let¡¯s begin.¡±

    ¡°As carefree as usual¡­¡­ Switching engine output tobat mode. Rebooting all systems.¡±

    ¡°Muu¡­¡­ Sensor and radar systems, set to active. We¡¯re good to go.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, it¡¯s time for action. Enteringbat.¡±

    The moment Krishna flew out from the asteroid¡¯s shadow, the naval bombardment from our main fleet finally began, illuminating this sector of space and causing intense explosions whenser cannon fire hit the pirate base. I couldn¡¯t tell due to all the explosions going off, but I¡¯m sure ck Lotus¡¯s bombardment has also hit the pirate¡¯s base - a modified giant asteroid - right about now.

    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s go and earn some money!¡±

    ¡°¡±Aye, aye, sir-!¡±¡±

    As I listened to Mimi and Elma¡¯s replies, I punched Krishna¡¯s thruster output to the maximum and headed straight for the battlefield.

    Now then, it¡¯s been a while since I fought in such arge-scale battle. Let¡¯s go wild, shall we?

    [1] Notes: Lily of the valley, or Suzuran in Japanese, is a woond flowering nt with sweetly scented, bell-shaped flowers that bloom in spring. It¡¯s also highly toxic. So this chapter alludes to the fact that Chris is gradually turning into a pretty but venomous belle. Brr. Run, Hiro. Run!

 Chapter 212 â€“ Large-scale Battle

    <h4>Chapter 212 - Large-scale Battle</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Above at 2 o¡¯clock, three bogeys iing!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye sir. Weapon systems, standby.¡±

    I aimed at the lead ship out of the three we encountered that was in the middle of running away. They haven¡¯t managed to notice us yet. However, the fourser projectiles from the heavy-caliberser cannons actually didn¡¯t manage to pierce through the fragile guts of the pirate ship. Thesers ended up being blocked by its energy shield.

    ¡°He¡¯s got some good equipment.¡±

    ¡°Well, he¡¯s got a decent energy shield at least.¡±

    ¡ºGeh!? A-An enemy-!¡»

    Let¡¯s give em another volley. This time, theser cannon fire managed to prate the energy shield and tore straight through the armor and hull, causing it to explode.

    ¡°Y-You just killed them?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    I gave Wamdo, whose voice sounded frightened, a perfunctory reply and fired another round of shots at one of the remaining two pirate ships. They blocked them again huh. But they seem quite rattled so their maneuvers were monotonous and easy to predict. No matter how fast your ships are, it¡¯s no good if you only run away in a straight line y¡¯know.

    ¡ºN-No, please don¡¯t-!¡»

    Another dirty firework went off in space.

    ¡ºS-Stop! W-We surrender!¡»

    Thest one pleaded for dear life and ejected its cockpit block. When that happens, the cockpit block won¡¯t be able to reconnect with the rest of the ship unless it¡¯s done by a well-equipped shipyard, so by doing so, they¡¯ve practically lost allbat ability, at least in this particr battle.

    ¡°Mimi, tag them.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    Mimi operated her console and tagged both the cockpit block and the rest of the pirate ship that was virtually undamaged. It¡¯s a function we don¡¯t usually use, but ites in handy duringrge-scale battles like this one in order to mark our kills and spoils.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go for the next one.¡±

    ¡°Yes! There are a lot of responses nine o¡¯clock below us. There are also allied ships mixed in. They¡¯re currently inbat.¡±

    I steered the ship following Mimi¡¯s navigation, and after a short while, we managed to arrive at the next battlefield.

    ¡°They¡¯re getting pushed back huh.¡±

    ¡°The pirates are quite numerous, but more than that, their equipment seems to be better than average. I think I just managed to spot an enemy ship firing off an ion ster.¡±

    ¡°This is gonna be troublesome.¡±

    Ion sters are support weapons that sport high shield saturation capability but really suck at damaging ship armors and hulls directly in exchange. They¡¯re generally more expensive than high-diffusionser cannons and multi-cannons, and their projectiles were also slower than multi-cannon projectiles. As a result, it¡¯s rtively hard to hit things with them. However, when ites to their specialization, they were truly quite effective. In a chaotic group battle, having ships with ion sters equipped mixed in among your enemies would mean there¡¯s a danger of you suddenly finding yourself stripped of your energy shield and suffering great damage as a result. It can be said that they were particrly nasty in certain situations.

    ¡°This is Krishna. I¡¯m gonna jump right in and join the party.¡±

    ¡ºWee! These guys are strangely well-equipped! Be careful!¡»

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    I dove straight into the battlefield as I replied via the wide-rangems. First, I¡¯ll need to take care of those ships equipped with ion sters. Those adept at using ion sters would opt to dive in the middle of a melee and fire their ion ster at point-nk range coupled with their multi-cannons. But those who aren¡¯t ustomed to them would st away from long-range like idiots despite the low hit rate. Yeah. Just like that guy.

    ¡ºUoooh!? Keep awa-¡»

    ¡°That¡¯s one.¡±

    I fired the tworge-caliber shot-cannons the moment before I went past the pirate ship equipped with an ion ster and totally demolished it. Shot-cannons were quirky weapons, but they had the ability to trivialize energy shields and cause great damage to the armors and hulls of enemy ships when fired from practically point-nk range. It was the perfect weapon for these kinds of chaotic melees.

    ¡°Awawawa¡­¡­ Hiee!¡±

    I heard the frightened whimpers of Mr. Wamdo from behind me, but I can¡¯t afford to be distracted by him right now. Oh, the enemies are actually trying to close in huh. Sure. Go right ahead. Eat some shot-cannon sub-munitions as souvenirs.

    ¡ºThe four-armed guy is troublesome! Get him!¡»

    ¡ºWe¡¯re gonna crush him!¡»

    ¡°Hahaha, that¡¯s a nice joke guys.¡±

    Well, since they wereing for it themselves, I say let them. I focus-fired straight ahead and blew a hole out of their sloppy encirclement formation. After rushing out, I reversed the ship¡¯s heading and exchanged fire with the chasing enemies head-on while cruising backward at high speed. Even if they have some decent gear on them, pirates are still pirates. There¡¯s no pressure as long as I make sure to look out for their ion sters and seeker missiles.

    ¡ºT-This guy-! Why ain¡¯t our attacks having any effect?¡»

    ¡ºIt¡¯s not like we can¡¯t hit him! Keep firing!¡»

    Well, they¡¯re right. It¡¯s not like I canpletely avoid all of their attacks. Laser attacks are basically really tough to avoid, and multi-cannons firing in a barrage can pose problems as well. However, as long as I pay attention to ion ster and seeker missile attacks, Krishna¡¯s tripleyered energy shield would be able to tank all their other attacks with no problems.

    And once I¡¯ve baited this many enemy ships-

    ¡ºOraaa! Your guts are wide open!¡»

    ¡ºYou¡¯re really taking us lightly!¡»

    The other mercenaries who¡¯ve been pushed back earlier regained their momentum and broke through the nks of the pirates who¡¯ve been concentrating on me. Needless to say, they also aimed at the ion ster and seeker missile-equipped enemies. They ferociously tore through the pirate ranks.

    ¡ºD-Dammit! Why¡¯d it turned out like this!?¡»

    ¡ºAh- Hey!? Don¡¯t you dare run away, damn you!¡»

    Some of the pirates saw that the situation was turning for the worse for them got scared and attempted to escape. Of course, there are no mercenaries who would just watch them as they fled. The remaining pirates will all be crushed. The escaping pirates will be taken down as well. That¡¯s just how we mercs roll.

    ¡°Hyahaaa! Now, this is what I call a fun chase! Whoever¡¯s the fastest wins!¡±

    ¡ºOraoraora! Don¡¯t think you can actually escape, you idiots!¡»

    ¡ºWahahaha! Yer shaking yer behind an invitin me aren¡¯t ya!? Stop runnin! My next paycheck depends on yer bounties!¡»

    For use mercs, pirates who¡¯ve lost their will to fight and expose their defenseless backsides to us are nothing more than easy prey.

    ¡°¡­¡­I really can¡¯t tell which of us are the pirates here.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­¡±

    Mimiughed bitterly in response to Wamdo¡¯s mutterings. Hey, that¡¯s rude. We¡¯re just behaving as any exemry mercenary should you know.

    The quality of the pirate¡¯s equipment was higher than we expected and caused the mercenaries to suffer some damage, but other than that, the operation to capture the pirate base went rtively smoothly. At least, the space battle did.

    Currently, the imperial space forces along with the infantry unit of Earl Dareinwald¡¯s private forces were storming the interior of the pirate base in order to conduct a sweeping operation.

    As for us, we were currently busy picking up our battle spoils. In other words, we were searching for valuable loot on the wreckage of destroyed pirate ships. Pirate ships downed during a base subjugation operation usually have plenty of valuable loot stashed within them.

    ¡°Why is that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s simple. It¡¯s because they¡¯ve already taken everything valuable they can stuff inside their ships before they fled from the base. No matter how ¡®secret¡¯ a secret operation is, the information will still be inevitably leaked from somewhere. Once it does, the pirates would prepare themselves for a hasty exit.¡±

    I answered Wamdo¡¯s questions as we hunted for loot. There were food cartridges, drinking water, liquor, medical supplies, drugs, rare metals, as well as other seble materials and tech products. There were also people under cryo-freezing within sleep pods - probably illegal ves.

    ¡°Now this is quite a haul¡­¡­ Man.¡±

    In the Comatt system, there were actually quite a number of pirates who prowled around for the sake of acquiring illegal ves. It was within my expectations, but it still pisses me off. Well, I believe the empire and Earl Dareinwald will take good care of the illegal ves and abductees we managed to save this time so I guess that¡¯s something to be thankful for.

    By the way, the pirates who bailed out and surrendered during the battle were handed to the imperial military along with their cockpit block. I don¡¯t know what their ultimate end will be, but I hope they will be reborn into proper human beings in their next lives.

    ¡°Basically, the main ie source for us mercenaries are the bounties ced on the heads of the pirates we hunt down. But you can¡¯t dismiss the earnings we get from selling off battlefield loot either. Or rather, ever since we¡¯ve gotten ourselves a mothership, we actually earn money on par with the total pirate bounties after selling off all the loot, or even more at times.¡±

    ¡°By the way, what are your results in today¡¯s battle?¡±

    ¡°Ah- Mimi?¡±

    ¡°We managed to shoot down 42 small-ss ships and 8 medium-ss ships this time. That makes our total kill score exactly fifty.¡±

    ¡°Since the equipment of the pirates was better than average, we didn¡¯t manage to hit our previous numbers huh.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll just earn more by selling off the loot.¡±

    ¡°Fifty ships¡­¡­ How impressive.¡±

    Wamdo let out a surprised gasp when he heard Krishna¡¯sbat results. By the way, the prize money for shooting down pirate ships this time is 5,000 Enels for small-ss and 20,000 Enels for medium-ss. All in all, we managed to earn 370,000 Enels from the total prize money alone. There would be separate bounties put on the heads of the pirates in addition to the prize money as well. In addition to those, we¡¯ll earn even more by selling off the loot and captured pirate ships after we repair and modify them a bit. I¡¯m not sure exactly how much we¡¯ll earn this time, but we¡¯ve undoubtedly made a killing! I can¡¯t help butugh in glee again.

    ¡°I¡¯m happy that you seem to be enjoying yourself, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Not to sound like a cheapskate, but you really love money don¡¯t you Hiro?¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t it feel nice when all your sweat and effort gets rewarded in a concrete way?¡±

    ¡°The mercenary upation is a really rewarding job, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°A rewarding job? Well, that¡¯s certainly true.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. But unlike Hiro, we¡¯re just hired crew members so we only get a share of the total earnings.¡±

    ¡°Um, and how much would your shares be¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°I get 1% of the total earnings while Elma-san gets 3%.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡­ Isn¡¯t that a little too low?¡±

    Wamdo shook his head. But 1% and 3% cuts do certainly seem quite low, don¡¯t they? It¡¯s not like they didn¡¯t risk their lives either.

    ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure because we still don¡¯t know how much our total earnings will be, but I¡¯ll probably get nothing less than 100,000 Enels for my cut this time.¡±

    ¡°I think my cut will break 30,000 Enels as well. And I just earned that number in a day you know?¡±

    ¡°Well, in any case, I understand that you live in a world far out of the reach of ordinary citizens such as myself¡­¡­ By the way, just how do you all spend that money?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d just buy tasty alcohol and stuff.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d buy tasty food, I guess?¡±

    ¡°How about things like clothes and essories¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Nn, well, if Hiro is interested in that stuff, then it¡¯s not like I won¡¯t consider buying some¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Or rather, if Hiro-sama gets interested in something, he just buys it straight away himself¡­¡­¡±

    Well, they¡¯re right. If I see clothes and think they¡¯d look good on Mimi and Elma, I¡¯d probably buy them in a heartbeat. Yep. And if essories catch my eye as well, I¡¯d buy them too. Yep. Well, it¡¯s not like you can wear fancy clothes and essories duringbat though. If something flies off and floats around inside the cockpit duringbat, it would just get in the way and can be pretty dangerous.

    ¡°¡­¡­As expected of a man in a rtionship with two women. He sounds quite dependable indeed.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Hiro-sama after all.¡±

    Elma smiled gently while Mimi disyed a proud expression for some reason. Ugh. If you say those things to me straight, I¡¯d get embarrassed, you know. Or rather, you guys stopped searching for loot already. C¡¯mon guys. We still have work to do.

 Chapter 213 â€“ You Again!

    <h4>Chapter 213 - You Again!</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    We collected the ion sters which I don¡¯t n on using but would sell for a pretty good price, the fairly powerful shield generators that could be reasonably employed by both rookie and seasoned mercs, as well as other valuable-looking parts and items. While we were busying ourselves recovering all the loot, Mimi¡¯s expression suddenly changed as she operated her console.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Um, I¡¯m not sure yet¡­¡­ It seems the movements of the imperial forces and the system guards who are storming the pirate base have gotten more frantic.¡±

    ¡°I wonder what¡¯s wrong? Did the pirates do something unexpected?¡±

    ¡°Like a Singing Crystal or something?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s way too overboard already¡­¡­ But perhaps the pirates really haveunched a counterattack through some unexpected means.¡±

    ¡°And we¡¯ve already taken control of most of the sector. No matter how much the opponents fight back, the worst that could happen is the entire base being blown up and turned to space debris.¡±

    No matter how much they push back thebined forces of the imperial military, the system garrison, and Earl Dareinwald¡¯s private troops in ground meleebat, since we¡¯ve already taken control of the sector, there¡¯s no way they¡¯d be able to turn things around anymore. After all, apart from having no way to escape the base, there¡¯s also no way they¡¯d be able to defeat the rest of the troops surrounding the entire sector.

    That¡¯s why in situations like this, the enemy pirates would usually surrender promptly to save their skins.

    ¡°It seems there¡¯s a particr group that¡¯s continuing to stubbornly resist, and they¡¯re the ones giving our ground forces trouble.¡±

    ¡°Huh? How are they even fighting back against highly trained imperial marines sporting thetest cutting-edge power armors¡­? Ah-¡±

    ¡°Have you realized it too?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. But is that really possible?¡±

    ¡°No¡­ is what I wanted to say. But we can¡¯t dismiss the possibility. In fact, it might be exactly what happened.¡±

    Apparently, Elma came to the same conclusion as me. Mimi and Wamdo tilted their heads bewilderedly at Elma and my exchange.

    ¡°There aren¡¯t a lot of normal folks who could fight it out with trained imperial marines. However, there¡¯s a particr group of people who could tear through power armor like paper, blockser shots, and in some cases, even repel them back to the shooter.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ Y-You mean¡­?¡±

    ¡°Nobles, right? And they might even be part of the so-called Drawn Sword faction¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°We still can¡¯t say for sure though. Who knows? It might be mutant creatures just like the ones released on Comatt III that escaped and are now going on a rampage inside the base.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Even trained imperial marines will have trouble against those.¡±

    I meant that in the physical sense as well. Power armors might be able to resist one head-on sh though. Or maybe not? Those creatures were pretty well built and huge as heck after all. I continued searching for loot as I thought about the feasibility of blocking those creature¡¯s head-on charge with power armors, but before long, I noticed some shing lights in one corner of the pirate base.

    ¡°Hey guys, I think something just lit up inside the pirate base-¡±

    Within moments, Krishna¡¯s radar registered something heading over in our direction with great speed. Of course, our trusty operator Mimi swiftly noticed the iing object as well.

    ¡°Something is- No, wait¡­ This is¡­ a suppression ship is heading in our direction at full speed!¡±

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon!¡±

    ¡°There, there.¡±

    I unknowingly got wrapped in a negative aura. Elma approached me from the side and tried to console me.

    Exnation time! Suppression ships are empire-exclusive products that sport ultra-powerful propulsion thrusters that leave even Krishna in the dust coupled with equally powerful energy shields that even Krishna¡¯s firepower can¡¯t breach easily. Its entire purpose is to directly ram against enemy starships and prate their armor after going through their shields. It¡¯s an outrageous weapon that a portion of the imperial military is super proud of.

    After sessfully ramming an enemy ship, the suppression ship will release a host of elite noble swordsmen who can match hundreds of enemies individually in order to wreak havoc and take control. Anyway, its design entirely revolves around that particrly ridiculous concept. Perhaps the proposer of the n, the approver, and the ship designer all had drugs when they came up with that thing.

    ¡ºCaptain Hiro! Stop them!¡»

    Anyway, while I was in the middle of monologuing about stuff unrted to making money, Lt. Col. Serena called me up via wide-rangems- Or rather, she in ordered me. Eh¡­?

    ¡°Uh, this is Krishna. Is it okay if we destroy it?¡±

    ¡ºYou can¡¯t destroy it! Capture it instead!¡»

    ¡°Can you not make us do something so unreasonable?¡±

    It¡¯s next to impossible to take down a small-ss ship that flies even faster than Krishna and sports a really tough shield without destroying it. It might be possible to take it down by firing a continuous concentrated barrage of the heavy-caliberser cannons at its bow and hammering it with the shot-cannons once it closes in or by hitting it with a reactive torpedo, but that would probably reduce it to scrap.

    ¡ºIn any case, you have to stop it! If that¡¯s impossible, then do your best to track and chase it!¡»

    ¡°That¡¯s just absurd¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the same as always.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    ¡°I see. So this is the rumored ¡®trouble ma¡¯ disposition.¡±

    ¡°Stoop! I¡¯m close to giving up, but I really don¡¯t want to admit such a fact!¡±

    Anyway, it looks like I have to take down that f***ing suppression ship. And that¡¯s without destroying the damn thing.

    ¡ºI believe a tinum-ranker like you can definitely do it. Eh? You¡¯re not actually telling me you can¡¯t, right?¡»

    ¡°S-Sure I can!¡±

    ¡°Hiro acts really dumb sometimes, doesn¡¯t he?.¡±

    ¡°I think he¡¯s just easy to provoke and gets toyed around with as a result though¡­¡­¡±

    As expected of Mimi. She understands.

    I ain¡¯t afraid of no suppression ship! I¡¯m gonna crush it!

    ¡ºSo, it looks like you let them get away in the end.¡»

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    I couldn¡¯t ovee the suppression ship¡¯s toughness and speed¡­¡­ Well, I¡¯m currently tracking the ship while using FTL navigation though. The suppression ship has an FTL drive but doesn¡¯t have a Hyperdrive, so it probably won¡¯t be able to escape outside the Comatt system for the time being.

    ¡°I¡¯m currently tracking it down so¡­¡­¡±

    ¡ºThe suppression ship won¡¯t be able to navigate between star systems on its own, and its cruising range is pretty short as well. The suspects would surely meet up with coborators along the way in order to resupply and change to another ship. Imperial space navy scouts are heading over as reinforcements, so please continue to track them.¡»

    ¡°Aye, aye, ma¡¯am.¡±

    I replied with a crisp salute. Lt. Col. Serena nodded in response and cut the transmission.

    ¡°Well, it was inevitable anyway.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    Aside from directly destroying it, there¡¯s no way to take down a suppression ship that sports such overwhelming speed. The heavy-caliberser cannons can¡¯t prate its shield, you basically can¡¯t hit it with the shot-cannons which have high shield pration capabilities since you can¡¯t get in close enough, and it¡¯s also hard as heck to hit it with an anti-ship reactive torpedo. And even if the torpedo hits, you¡¯ll be left with nothing but space dust in the end, so there¡¯s no point since they wanted us to capture it intact.

    ¡°We ended up leaving the ck Lotus behind huh.¡±

    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up with Krishna¡¯s speed after all. Well, it¡¯s not like we¡¯re in a lot of danger since our job is just to chase and track the enemy down. Mei will probably catch up to us when she finishes with collecting the loot.¡±

    As long as we¡¯re in the same star system, Krishna and ck Lotus would be able to track each other¡¯s position easily. They said it¡¯s due to the informationwork spread throughout the entire star system, but I don¡¯t know the specific workings. In SOL, we simply attributed it to the Party system.

    ¡°So, about this route¡­¡­ At this rate, we¡¯ll end up on Comatt IV, right?¡±

    ¡°It looks that way.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. If we stay on this course, we¡¯ll find ourselves right within Comatt IV¡¯s orbit. Are the ones we¡¯re chasing nning to descend on the?¡±

    ¡°I have a bad feeling about this¡­¡­ I hope we can take them out before they¡¯re able to enter the atmosphere.¡±

    It won¡¯t be outside expectations if they headed over to Comatt Prime in order to change ships, but since their destination was Comatt IV which is still under the terraforming process, I can¡¯t help but get a bad feeling.

    Since it was still undergoing the terraforming process, I bet the environment of the isn¡¯t really all that good yet. Yeah, I¡¯m sure that¡¯s the case. The entire is being subjected to environmental adjustments that would transform it into a ce suitable for the civilization terraforming it. I bet abnormal phenomena in the level of natural disasters ur frequently on the surface of the due to the terraforming process.

    ¡°Hiro¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Nn¡­¡­? Ah-¡±

    Goddammit! I let my guard down! I ended up saying something like hoping to bring them down before they enter the¡¯s atmosphere!

    Please gimme a break already! I definitely don¡¯t want tond on a¡¯s surface while it¡¯s in the middle of being terraformed! Please, nooooo!

 Chapter 214 â€“ Iâ€™m Sorry, But No

    <h4>Chapter 214 - I¡¯m Sorry, But No</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°W-Well, it¡¯s not like there¡¯s a need to follow after them when they enter the atmosphere, right?¡±

    ¡°I sure hope so.¡±

    ¡°A-Ahaha¡­¡­ I¡¯ve already marked their atmospheric entry coordinates.¡±

    Of course, we didn¡¯t manage to catch up to them before they initiated atmospheric entry. By the time we reached Comatt IV that was currently being terraformed, the suppression ship had already begun to descend, and although we did manage to destroy their propulsion system, they just crashed straight onto Comatt IV instead. I was ordered not to destroy them, so I couldn¡¯t do anything further than that.

    Even so, Krishna was still a small-ss shippletely capable of long-distance interster navigation. The performance of its various sensors is more than adequate and that makes it really easy to urately observe the entry trajectory of the suppression ship from above Comatt IV¡¯s low orbit region.

    And so, that makes us capable of marking the exact entry trajectory andnding point of the suppression ship and put pressure on its passengers safely from above Comatt IV¡¯s low orbit region.

    ¡°I¡¯m aware that the environment of a that¡¯s under the terraforming process can be very dangerous, but what other reasons do you have to stay put in this region.¡±

    ¡°Even if they might possibly change to another ship capable of interster navigation, we¡¯ll be able to react fast and intercept them the moment they fly out to space again if we stay here.¡±

    No matter what model of starship they change to, in order to break away from a¡¯s gravity and leave its atmosphere, they all basically need to fly straight up. Since that would make them incapable of making evasive maneuvers, they would be very vulnerable to attacks. In that situation, it would be rtively to destroy the enemy¡¯s propulsion system even if they¡¯re riding a speedy small-ss starship.

    ¡°It¡¯s really difficult to go up into space if a¡¯s orbit is under guard. The one who gains control of space first controls the flow of battle. That¡¯s why the military forces of any interster nation - the empire included - focus so much on developing their space fleets.¡±

    No matter how powerful a soldier, tank, ship, or aerial weapon is, as long as they¡¯re grounded, they would be extremely vulnerable to orbital bombing from space. Basically, the current rules ofbat in this world emphasize holding control over outer space.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, why did that suppression ship decide to escape to Comatt IV regardless?¡±

    ¡°They might have a trump card of sorts hidden on Comatt IV - maybe a way for them to escape or to buy time.¡±

    ¡°Buy time?¡±

    ¡°If they don¡¯t have a trump card with them, then maybe they¡¯re counting on help from reinforcements instead. Or maybe they¡¯re banking on something like us withdrawing and are waiting for that chance. I think they have another agenda apart from hiding away on the, but I still have no idea what it might be.¡±

    Actually, there¡¯s another possibility, but I think the chances are low.

    ¡°Anyway, we¡¯ll wait for the military to arrive here first. Once they¡¯re here, we¡¯ll let them take over and head back to the colony to take care of our loot.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re getting desperate huh.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­ W-Well, there¡¯s no reason for Krishna tond on the too, so I think it¡¯ll be alright, Elma-san.¡±

    Stop it, you two. If you keep saying things like that, we might really end up being forced tond. I ain¡¯t having any part of that. I ain¡¯t, okay!?

    Approximately an hourter, I found myself inside an imperial dropship.

    ¡°Please let me go back.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but no.¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena was seated opposite me. She wasn¡¯t in her usual crisp military uniform this time. Instead, she was wearing lightweightbat armor. There were also imperial marines wearing heavybat armor and specialized jumpsuits suitable to be paired with power armor. The only saving grace in this situation was the presence of a good number of women in the squad, so it wasn¡¯t like I was caught in the middle of a group of burly guys. This reduced my annoyance a bit.

    By the way, I wasn¡¯t wearing my usual mercenary get-up either. Instead, I was wearing lightweightbat armor geared for melee engagements coupled with the chameleon thermal cloak I bought at the Brad Prime colony before.

    By slotting an energy pack in, this cloak will be able to keep you nice andfy even in ultra-harsh environments with temperatures ranging from -50 degrees Celsius to +50. It also has a hood that lets you cope with typhoons and sandstorms and a chameleon camo function that lets you blend into your surroundings like a literal chameleon.

    Aside from those, it¡¯s also equipped with a high-tech canteen that can automatically collect moisture in the air to store up to 2 liters of drinkable water in a day, a specialized gas mask that defends you from not only harmful gases but also unknown bacteria, viruses, biochemical weapons and the like, among other survival equipment. I also equipped myself with my pair of noble-issued swords, my personalser gun, and aser rifle. In other words, I was fully armed forbat.

    ¡°The one we¡¯re chasing after, Geritz Ixthermal, is a master swordsman who strengthened his body using state-of-the-art cybeics and biotechnology. Right now, the only people able to handle him in this system is you and me.¡±

    ¡°But can¡¯t you just surround him and barbeque him withsers or something¡­¡­?¡±

    Only those Drawn Sword idiots would be crazy enough to insist on fighting with swords. Can¡¯t you just use more modern equipment and weaponry, please?

    ¡°We already tried to do that back in the base and we incurred a lot of casualties as a result. In the first ce, we need to ensure we capture him alive.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Geritz is actually the younger brother of Earl Ixthermal and it¡¯s rumored that he basically handles all shady matters for the earl as his right-hand man. He hasn¡¯t been arrested and questioned until now because his guard is perfect and he hasn¡¯t left any traces of wrongdoings for the authorities totch on to. We can¡¯t let the guy slip away this time. If we manage to capture and interrogate him, we¡¯ll be able to finally crush Earl Ixthermal for good. That¡¯s why we absolutely must capture him.¡±

    ¡°I still don¡¯t get this situation, but I do get that you want to take down that Earl Ixthermal fellow no matter what.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s enough that you understand that much. Well, let¡¯s just say Earl Ixthermal is one of those corrupt nobles you keep hearing rumors about.¡±

    A corrupt noble huh? I can kinda picture it already since his right-hand man is actually hanging out with scum like pirates. I have no intention of getting involved in noble issues so I better not ask anymore.

    But didn¡¯t they say the nobles are kept in line by the AI so they can¡¯t do anything too over the line? Well, I can¡¯t exactly ask Lt. Col. Serena about it openly here anyway. Whether it¡¯s Elma or Chris, the nobles I¡¯m familiar with always act reserved and a bit ufortable whenever wee to the topic of the independent AIs. Maybe they¡¯re all under a tacit understanding, or maybe it¡¯s actually an open secret. Or perhaps they¡¯re under special circumstances that nobody talks about openly instead.

    ¡°Rather, I¡¯m a specialist in starshipbat y¡¯know. You¡¯re actually counting on me to fight it out with the guy on the ground?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, didn¡¯t you show us all such wonderful swordsmanship during the tournament? I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be fine. Or rather, apart from me, there are no other people suitable for the job apart from you, so just give it up. Your employer has also given permission for you to take part in the operation. Well, I don¡¯t think they will be able to refuse an official request from the imperial military in the first ce though.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s ying dirty. You¡¯re abusing authority.¡±

    ¡°Calling it dirty is a bit rude, don¡¯t you think? I merely exercised my privileges in a legitimate manner.¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena shrugged her shoulders and gave me a taunting grin. Gununu.

    ¡°30 seconds to atmospheric entry!¡±

    ¡°All personnel, prepare for descent! Make sure not to bite your tongues!¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Aye, aye, ma¡¯am!¡±¡±¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena raised her voice and the marines loudly responded to her. It really felt like a proper army sortie, but why the heck am I included too?

    ¡°Now then, apany me for a bit. Let¡¯s head to the hell known as a under terraforming.¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s lips bloomed into a smile as the dropship began its descent into the atmosphere. It began to shake intensely.

    ¡°Aaaaaah! Nooooooooo! Lemme go back alreadyyyyyyyyy!¡±

    My desperate shouts were futile of course, and the dropship quickly made its descent onto the under terraforming.

    ¡°Secure thending point! Go, go, go!¡±

    ¡°Armored marines, proceed to check and secure your equipment! Combat engineers, hurry and get that material projector up and running!¡±

    Uponnding, the imperial marines jumped out of the dropship immediately and Lt. Col. Serena began issuingmands. The marines started to check their equipment and began setting up camp.

    Honestly speaking, the environment in ce wended wasn¡¯t exactly great. The temperature was 20 degrees below zero. It wasn¡¯t arid or snowing, but dust kept blowing at our faces under the influence of storm-like winds, and if you didn¡¯t wear a mask, your face would have been peppered full of scratches.

    In the middle of all that, I brought out my portable terminal and called Krishna. The terminal ryed the image I was seeing through the universal mask through wirelessm.

    ¡°This is Hiro. In any case, we managed tond safely.¡±

    ¡ºThis is Mimi. Thank goodness you were able to safelynd.¡»

    ¡°Yeah. So, are you guys tracking me just fine over there?¡±

    ¡ºEverything¡¯s okay on our end. We¡¯ll be able to support you right away if anything happens.¡»

    ¡°I¡¯m counting on you, guys. But please don¡¯t hit me by mistake.¡±

    ¡ºTrust my skills more, will you? I¡¯ve also trained to handle Krishna as its sub-pilot you know. You are aware of that, right?¡»

    ¡°Well, yeah.¡±

    Elma¡¯s been training hard to pilot Krishna for a while now as her sub-pilot. Of course, she can¡¯t handle her as well as me, but she¡¯s at least got the basics down pat. As a former pilot of a machine that¡¯s inherently hard to handle, Elma¡¯s piloting skills are by no means low. She was able to handle that Gctic Swan after all. If she practiced performingbat maneuvers with the auto-bncer turned off, I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be able to improve further.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t like fighting without a power armor on¡­¡­¡±

    ¡ºYou can¡¯t swing your swords freely if you¡¯re wearing your power armor after all, so it can¡¯t be helped.¡»

    ¡ºWouldn¡¯t it be good if you bought a power armor specialized for swordsmen next time though? We still have some space in the ship after all.¡»

    ¡°I guess I can consider that.¡±

    There are lightweight power armors for sale that mimic the body¡¯s full range of motion. Even so, it still possesses mobility and strength superior to a regr physical body, and if you install an optional jump pack, you¡¯d be able to fly for short distances. In exchange, its defensive ability is drastically lower than regr power armors and is probably just a bit tougher than the lightweightbat armor I¡¯m wearing right now.

    However, it¡¯s still a power armor, so its weather resistance and environmental adaptability are very high. Since it does seem like it woulde in handy in situations like this, I might just consider buying one next time.

    ¡°But man, to think you¡¯d suggest buying expensive equipment to ovee situations like this. You¡¯re finally shaping up to be a proper mercenary, aren¡¯t you, Mimi?¡±

    ¡ºThat¡¯s right. Just go along ande to our side, Mimi.¡»

    ¡ºA-Ahaha¡­¡­ I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s a good or bad thing though¡­¡­¡»

    C¡¯mon. You don¡¯t really have to be so reluctant. Wouldn¡¯t it be easier to let yourself fall to the dark side?

    ¡ºSorry for changing the topic, but what¡¯s your n now?¡»

    ¡°Can¡¯t I just wait around here until the target¡¯s been found?¡±

    Right now, the military material projector we brought with us was furiously spitting out building materials for constructing a sturdy base camp. I don¡¯t know what kind of super-tech it¡¯s using, but it¡¯s kinda like a 3D printer - only made many times more awesome.

    I wonder how that thing works though? Well, it does make moremon sense than the main character of a crafting game that cuts down trees with his bare hands to create walls and ceilings from out of thin air. At least they¡¯re making use of high-tech equipment.

    ¡°That won¡¯t be allowed, of course.¡±

    Before Mimi and Elma could reply, a voice called out from behind me. When I turned around, I saw Lt. Col. Serena in fullbat gear. She was wearing her personal sword on her waist among various other equipment.

    ¡°Hiro, you and I are the trump cards against Geritz this time. Regr troops wouldn¡¯t be able to handle him head-on, so you wille with me in order to sniff him out. You¡¯ll be in the lead or course.¡±

    ¡°Um, lieutenant? Doesn¡¯t amander normally stay behind in the rear in order to coordinate the troops?¡±

    ¡°Which bygone era are you referring to? You¡¯d be able to coordinate the troops just fine if you have amand device, and noblemanders have improved thought speeds to facilitate multi-tasking you know. A qualified imperialmander leads the troops from the front.¡±

    ¡°Oh, okay¡­¡­¡±

    In other words, I¡¯ll have to apany Lt. Col. Serena on the front lines in order to search for Geritz under this terrible weather condition. I see I see.

    ¡°Please let me go home already.¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena smiled under her transparent full-face helmet. Goddammit!

 Chapter 215 â€“ Dust Planet

    <h4>Chapter 215 - Dust</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Hostiles iing! Twenty-two in total!¡±

    ¡°I and Hiro will go to the front. Support us.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, ma¡¯am!¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go. C¡¯mon now.¡±

    ¡°Ah, goddammit!¡±

    I jumped out into the battlefield while following after Lt. Col. Serena, who pulled out the longsword from her waist sheath and brandished it.

    My hands were already gripping my two personal swords. These weren¡¯t just simple steel swords of course. They were reinforced mono-molecr vibro-des. They looked like low-tech weapons but they would probably be able topete in sharpness with the lights*bers used by J*di knights.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take the left side.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah!¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena plunged toward the enemy group¡¯s left-wing while I plunged to the right. Our opponents looked like grotesque humanoid creatures with exposed dark-red muscle tissues. They sported a familiar rocky carapace on their hands and feet and looked like real twisted abominations.

    ¡°Ugh!¡±

    Three of them lunged at me at the same time.

    They weren¡¯t coordinated at all and just rushed at me haphazardly, but they were still troublesome since they moved weirdly even though they were humanoid in appearance.

    The one in the lead sprung at me like an arrow by using its entire body as a spring while brandishing its armored ws. I evaded to the side and used the sword I held on my right hand in order to cut it in two. The second one used its right hand like a whip and swung it at me. I sent its attacking arm flying by cutting it down with the sword on my left hand. I then evaded the third one¡¯s charge and used both swords to cut it into three parts.

    Then, using the window of time earned by me and Lt. Col. Serena, the marines got into position and used theirser rifles andunchers to finish the monsters (Tentative Name: Twisted) off. I thrust the sword I held on my left hand on the ground and pulled out myser gun from my leg holster in order to shoot at them as well. Of course, I set the power output to the maximum.

    ¡°Tsk!¡±

    I clicked my tongue when one of the Twisteds managed to slip out of theser barrage. I fended it off with the sword held on my right hand and continuously shot its defenseless back with myser gun. Man, you really can¡¯t let your guard down against these things.

    ¡°Casualty report!¡±

    ¡°A-Team, no casualties!¡±

    ¡°B-Team, no casualties!¡±

    ¡°C-Team, also no casualties ma¡¯am!¡±

    It looks like we managed to get through the attack without suffering any casualties. I put the swords andser gun back in their respective scabbards and holster and let out a soft sigh under my mask.

    ¡°Lt. Col., don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a bit dangerous to proceed further like this?¡±

    ¡°At this level, there shouldn¡¯t be any problems yet. We¡¯re getting adequate support after all.¡±

    After sheathing her sword back inside its scabbard, Lt. Col. Serena looked up at the sky.

    The dust flying around due to the strong winds made it impossible to check the sky out with the naked eye, but the HUD of my universal mask disyed Krishna hovering around above alongside the other imperialbat ships. These small-ssbat ships along with Krishna firedsers intermittently ahead of our position, producing dazzling lights and explosions each time as a result.

    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right¡­¡­ But you sure are strong, Lt. Serena.¡±

    There were six Twisteds lying around behind Lt. Col. Serena. Each of them were cut cleanly in half. In other words, she cut down twice as many as I did in that short span of time. It provided a glimpse of just how high Lt. Co. Serena¡¯s skill with a sword was.

    ¡°Our styles are fundamentally different. My sword is one that pushes forward and cuts down all in its path. Yours is a sword that lies in wait and reaps the lives of those that dare go against it.¡±

    After saying so, Lt. Col. Serena checked me out from head to toe.

    ¡°I can¡¯t predict just who between us would actually survive if we did fight it out. I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ll be pushed back in a one-sided manner, but I also can¡¯t visualize a method to take you down as well.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re getting a little too heated up there, LT. I definitely don¡¯t wanna engage you in a swordfight.¡±

    I mean c¡¯mon guys. This was a woman who just bisected six Twisteds within seconds. I definitely don¡¯t wanna be on the receiving end of her sword. I¡¯ll run away without a second thought if that ever happens.

    ¡°However, these Twisteds¡­¡­ They¡¯re quite simr huh.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll have a professional team analyze some samplester, but judging from their appearances alone, they truly are quite simr to the aggressive lifeforms we fought back then. These armored limbs are a good example.¡±

    After saying so, Lt. Col. Serena lightly kicked the section of a severed Twisted arm enveloped in rocky armor repeatedly. This rocky section looked fairly tough. Heck, it actually seems it could even fend offser rifle shots depending on the angle of the hit. But, of course, they were nothing against the sharpness of my and Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s swords.

    ¡°In any case, can¡¯t we search with a method that¡¯s a bit safer?¡±

    ¡°That would be difficult. Even a military RV would be in trouble if it gets swarmed by these things.¡±

    There weren¡¯t just heavy-armored and power armor toting marines behind us. There were also marines driving High-Mobility Reconnaissance Vehicles (RVs) too. An RV is a vehicle with armor and firepower equal to or higher than power armor, and its overall mobility surpasses that of infantry and power armor-equipped soldiers. But it would be in a bad spot if it gets swarmed by arge number of Twisteds. Twelve members of the advanced recon team we sent away earlier along with three RVs already became casualties and we promptly abandoned the idea of an RV-led recon team after that.

    ¡°It hurts that the sensors of the small-ss ships aren¡¯t effective here¡­¡­¡±

    The dust flying around due to the strong winds contained metallic particles that were byproducts of the terraforming machines, and they made our situation even more difficult because they interfered with ship sensor readings.

    Krishna certainly did mark thending point of the suppression ship earlier, but due to the influence of the metallic dust storm, it seems the position got skewed.

    Due to that, we¡¯re currently braving this massive dust storm and advancing slowly as we looked for the suppression ship while constantly having to look out for the harassment of those Twisted creatures. Hahaha¡­ Dammit.

    ¡°But if there are this many Twisted lurking around here, then maybe that, uh, corrupt noble or something is dead already?¡±

    We managed to repel the Twisted attacks all this time due to generous air support, tough equipment, and ample firepower. But those escapees definitely don¡¯t have those advantages. If they were swarmed by these Twisteds, then I¡¯m sure they would be torn apart in no time.

    ¡°It¡¯s annoying, but we have to bring back Geritz¡¯ corpse if that¡¯s the case, or at least part of it. It would serve as solid proof that Geritz was colluding with the pirates in Comatt system.¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena shrugged her shoulders and stopped kicking the severed Twisted¡¯s arm.

    ¡°And he might actually be safe if he¡¯s locked himself inside his suppression ship. Moreover, if these Twisteds and the lifeforms we fought on Comatt III really are rted, there¡¯s a possibility that Geritz has a way of controlling them. If that really is the case then we have to prepare countermeasures.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s certainly true. If that¡¯s the case, they won¡¯t have any reservations hiding out on Comatt III or here on Comatt IV.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. Well then, it looks like the troop¡¯s preparations are all finished. Let¡¯s move on.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, ma¡¯am.¡±

    The imperial marines continued their advance on the surface of the dust under Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s lead. I followed after them as well and walked right behind Lt. Col. Serena.

 Chapter 216 â€“ Battlefield Rations

    <h4>Chapter 216 - Battlefield Rations</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Our footsteps produced grating sounds as we traveled along the ground that was turned ssy due to theser bombardment. The din of explosions intermittently echoed around us. Visibility was crap thanks to all the metallic sand flying around, but even so, we still managed to make out the grotesque forms of those gigantic aggressive lifeforms we fought back on Comatt III in the distance.

    ¡°With this, we¡¯ve confirmed that those aggressive lifeforms are indeed artificially created.¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena muttered as she stood beside me while looking ahead. She was wearing a full-face helmet that covered her entire head, so we were speaking through our in-builtms.

    ¡°No matter how you cut it, those things are the same as the creatures we fought on Comatt III.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Since they look quite simr, we can roughly conclude it to be the case.¡±

    She said ¡®roughly¡¯ since we still needed to make an official DNAparison to formally establish the conclusion that they were the same creatures. Even so, what are the chances of these creatures that appeared on both Comatt III and Comatt IV having exactly the same appearance but different DNA make-up? Chances of that happening should be astronomically low.

    ¡ºLieutenant, we¡¯ve managed to catch a response that¡¯s likely to be the suppression ship.¡»

    ¡°Good. Share the info to our forces in the air.¡±

    ¡ºYes, ma¡¯am!¡»

    Before long, the information popped up on my universal mask¡¯s HUD as well. As expected, it wasn¡¯t that far from our current position. Since it was impossible to detect it from the air, we were forced to search for it on the ground.

    ¡°Are we going to walk all the way over?¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t take that long anyway. It would take us an equivalent amount of time if we opted to secure a dropship, board it with everyone along with all our equipment, and do a roll-call.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡±

    It¡¯s not really an unreasonable distance away. Let¡¯s just walk then.

    ¡ºWe¡¯ve sighted the suppression ship right ahead. It¡¯s pierced the ground and looks to be out ofmission.¡»

    ¡°Send in the drones first to perform some scouting. It won¡¯t be funny if they left us with surprise presents such as reactive bombs after all. Combat engineers, install a shield generator here and set up a simple defensive emcement.¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, ma¡¯am!¡»

    Under themand of Lt. Col. Serena, the imperial marines started briskly executing their orders. Since I didn¡¯t have anything to do myself, I just waited around while feeling bored. Uh, but I still had my guard up of course.

    ¡°Reactive bombs huh. Do they even have any leeway to set those up?¡±

    ¡°Even if they didn¡¯t ce any reactive bombs, it¡¯s also possible that they might have fiddled with the ship¡¯s energy generator. You don¡¯t wanna get blown to bits the moment you step inside, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, definitely.¡±

    If they overloaded the ship¡¯s energy generator, it would cause an explosionparable to reactive bombs going off after all. In SOL, something like that wasn¡¯t possible, but it¡¯s a very real danger in this dimension.

    After a while, the scouts operating the drones reported that there were no dangers present, and afterward, the rest of the investigation team rushed inside the suppression ship. We confirmed that the target wasn¡¯t present inside the ship, so I and Lt. Col. Serena rested within the defensive encampment for the mean time.

    ¡°Let¡¯s take this chance to eat some food.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    The metallic sand flying around couldn¡¯t get inside the defensive encampment since it was covered with a ground-use energy shield generator. Thanks to that, we¡¯re able to remove our helmets to eat some food and drink water. While I was removing my universal mask, Lt. Col. Serena instructed her men to take turns in eating their meals. As I gave her figure a sidelong nce, I took out the food rations prepared for me by Mimi and Elma-

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Uwah, what exactly is that?¡±

    What came out of my backpack was a vacuum-packed strangely-shaped creature. Uh, yeah, about this¡­ I¡¯ve actually tried this thing before. Despite appearances, this thing tastes surprisingly good. The outer shell was actually soft and felt simr to kamaboko and the insides tasted like creamy paste. I heard this was actually used as military rations in some countries.

    ¡°¡­¡­This is actually good you know.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve already tried eating one!?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yeah.¡±

    But why did this thing get stuffed in my backpack in the first ce? Suddenly, Elma making a tehepero[1] face popped up in my head. Mimi couldn¡¯t have done it, so Elma was definitely the culprit. However, the one who bought this, uh, ¡®alien foodstuff¡¯, was definitely Mimi. Mimi prepared the things inside the backpack along with Elma, so I guess there¡¯s a chance she stuffed this thing in as well huh. I¡¯m gonna have to question them thoroughly when I get back to the ship. Just you wait, guys!

    ¡°Um¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°This is simply a cute prank by my cute crew members, hahaha¡­¡­¡±

    Anyway, let¡¯s just pretend the F*cehugger didn¡¯t exist. I stuffed the thing back inside and looked for other stuff to eat. After a short while, I finally found something resembling food stuffed at the bottom of the backpack.

    It was wrapped in silver-colored metallic foil, and the front side had abel that said ¡®Penitence Kingdom Military Ration Type 3¡¯. The ingredients and nutritional values contained in one serving were printed on the back. It kinda resembled those packed caste sold in supermarkets back on Earth. It was rtively heavy for its size and looked quite filling.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Ah-¡­¡­ It looks like it¡¯s a military ration brand sold in some ce called the Penitence kingdom.¡±

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s a bit far, but that country has good rtions with the empire.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Well, this looks pretty decent. Let¡¯s check it out.¡±

    I tore the silver foil packaging open and what greeted me was something resembling a pretty hefty pound cake. It looks like the foil packaging was wrapped pretty tightly around this pound cake-looking pastry.

    ¡°It smells pretty nice, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    That it did. The aroma wafting from it had some fruity undertones. It looks like Lt. Col. Serena was also ady who couldn¡¯t resist sweets. Uh, well, there are a lot of guys who like sweet stuff too, I guess. I don¡¯t exactly hate them either.

    ¡°You want a bite?¡±

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll give you some of my rations in exchange too.¡±

    I tore off arge piece of the pound cake and handed it to Lt. Col. Serena and took a bite out of my own portion. Lt. Col. Serena handed me something that looked like a dry sausage.

    ¡°What¡¯s this here?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a military-style sausage. It tastes pretty decent.¡±

    ¡°Hm. I guess I¡¯ll have a try then.¡±

    I held the rations of the Penitence kingdom on one hand and that of the Geppels empire on the other. I wolfed down the one from the Penitence kingdom first.

    Its texture was akin to that of soft, moist bread and was on the heavy side. Its sweetness probably wasn¡¯t thanks to sugar alone. It looks like the kneaded dried fruits into the dough. I also tasted a hint of alcohol so maybe they used some sweet liquor as well.

    ¡°Mm¡­ I feel like I¡¯ve eaten something pretty simr in the past.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I wonder what it was?¡±

    Oh, right! I remember now. It¡¯s stollen. If I remember correctly, it was a type of German pastry, right? Well, Lt. Col. Serena probably isn¡¯t familiar with it anyway so I¡¯ll just keep quiet about it. Okay. Next is this dry sausage ration from the Geppels empire.

    ¡°Mm, it certainly does taste decent.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t it? There are plenty of soldiers who snack on it while having a drink as well.¡±

    Hey, that¡¯s right. This thing does taste like those cheapo dry sausages sold in convenience stores back on Earth as well. It wasn¡¯t bad, but the taste was stillcking something. It didn¡¯t feel like I was biting on something made from meat as well. But it was decently salty and fatty. These things were probably formted to be passable sources of salt and calories.

    ¡°I prefer the ration from Penitence kingdom.¡±

    ¡°Me too.¡±

    It was quite hefty so you¡¯d easily fill yourself up even without eating the whole thing. Although you¡¯d probably get tired of it pretty easily if you kept having it for your three meals for a couple of days, in terms of taste, the ration from the Penitence kingdom was still more satisfying overall.

    Well, apart from the dry sausage, the Geppels empire also included a biscuit-like calorie bar and a gel-like cold soup in their ration set, so I guess they were about on par with each other when ites to filling you up.

    ¡°Are you going to eat that thing too?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­If there¡¯s an opportunity, then yeah. But I think it would actually taste better than the rations from Penitence kingdom and Geppels empire though.¡±

    ¡°Eeh¡­¡­?¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena gave me a dubious side-eye, but as one who¡¯s already tasted that stuff, I¡¯m telling you it¡¯s legit. If this investigation continues for longer, I¡¯ll definitely find a way to have Lt. Col. Serena try it too.

    [1] TL Notes: Tehepero is a Japanese ng term that¡¯s abination of tehe (or teehee) and pero (onomatopoeia for sticking out one¡¯s tongue). So the expression is kind of abination between an embarrassed smile and sticking out one¡¯s tongue. It¡¯s pretty mainstream nowadays though, but it¡¯s been around for a while.

 Chapter 217 â€“ The True Stars of the Show Finally Appear

    <h4>Chapter 217 - The True Stars of the Show Finally Appear</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡ºOne Grappler is breaking through!¡»

    ¡ºWhat about close air support!?¡»

    ¡ºThey still have their hands full!¡»

    Zudodododo! The ground loudly shook and a monster with a height of 5 meters popped out from the depths of the dust cloud.

    It had forelimbs covered with rocky carapace armor, multiple legs that looked like they could easily trample people to the ground, an eyeless face, and a drooling mouth lined withrge human-like teeth. Its appearance easily induced a feeling of disgust.

    ¡°Hiro, we¡¯ll handle that one.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re fighting that thing with swords? Are you insane?¡±

    ¡°Any lifeform, no matter how monstrous, will die once their head is cut off. I¡¯ll attract its attention so make sure to follow after me.¡±

    ¡°Wai¡­¡­!¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena gripped her longsword with both hands and plunged straight toward the giant aggressive lifeform (Tentative name: Grappler). I immediately ran after her in a fluster. I can¡¯t possibly leave it all up to her after all.

    ¡ºGIEEEEEEE!¡»

    I don¡¯t know if Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s whitebat armor simply stood out too much, but the Grappler immediately zeroed in on her after unleashing a menacing cry and whipped out its armored forelimb. Dammit! It didn¡¯t have eyes so how could it have spotted her so easily? It looked like it was rather eager to turn Lt. Col. Serena into minced meat with a single swing.

    Its rock armored arm finally mmed onto the ground and caused soil, dust, and rock fragments to scatter around. Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s figure vanished within the dust. It won¡¯t be funny if she was done in with one swing, but through my universal mask¡¯s HUD, I managed to spot Lt. Col. Serena sessfully avoiding the monster¡¯s arm smash and running around it.

    As expected of high-tech equipment. It looks like this amount of smoke and dust is nothing.

    ¡°Hiyaah!¡±

    A sword shed and cut the creature¡¯s arm that was still buried beneath the ground. It looks like in front of a de that could easily cut open a power armor, mere flesh and bones weren¡¯t even worth mentioning.

    ¡ºGIYAAAAAA!?¡»

    The Grappler started thrashing around as ck blood spewed from its arm stump. And then, it brought down its remaining arm - the right one- straight at me.

    ¡°-Gh!¡±

    I immediately held my breath and the world around me slowed down to a crawl. It was as if time was being stretched. I moved and shrugged off the air suffused with metallic sand clinging to my body and avoided the path of the creature¡¯s arm. I then timed my sword swing so I could make use of the momentum of the creature¡¯s arm to ensure I could cut it clean off.

    I had to match the arm¡¯s movement and cut it in a specific way so my sword de wouldn¡¯t break off. Plenty of blood spilled out from the arm once again and the Grappler screamed in pain.

    ¡ºYou did great. That was a perfect score.¡»

    I heard Lt. Serena¡¯s praise through the universal mask¡¯sm. I looked around to find out where she actually was and saw her on top of the Grappler¡¯s shoulder. She probably ran up the Grappler¡¯s body earlier.

    ¡ºHaaah!¡»

    She unleashed a vigorous sh. While standing on the Grappler¡¯s shoulder, Lt. Col. Serena used her mono-molecr sword to cut off its head in one swing. The Grappler¡¯s body immediately stiffened and started falling onto the ground.

    Actually, It was about to fall right on top of me.

    ¡°Ah, dammit!¡±

    I desperately ran away and managed to avoid the Grappler¡¯s falling body. Lt. Col. Serena made a brilliantnding right beside me. Dammit. This person is really too much.

    ¡°You¡¯re still so tense even at the very end of the battle huh.¡±

    ¡°Well, you can¡¯t reallypare an uncouthmoner mercenary like me to yourself who¡¯s a refined noble daughter after all.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that to demean you. You¡¯re unmistakably a qualified warrior who can ovee your fears to go against mighty enemies. It¡¯s worthy of respect.¡±

    After saying so, Lt. Col. Serena shed me a gentle smile.

    I feel like I¡¯m just being strung along, but oh well. Even I would feel a bit embarrassed when givenpliments like that.

    ¡°Ah, yeah. So what¡¯s the current battle situation?¡±

    ¡°It looks like they¡¯ve settled it on their end as well.¡±

    The only giant creature that appeared was the Grappler we just defeated, and the other enemies consisted of dozens of Twisteds. It looks like the marines finished them off without any trouble.

    ¡°The support barrage was barely there. What the heck are you doing?¡±

    ¡ºSorry. That was my miss.¡»

    Elma¡¯s apologetic voice came through them. Well, it¡¯s not like I was seriously mad anyway. There were quite a number of enemies after all, so I guess I can forgive her for letting one pass through.

    Or rather, it wasn¡¯t just Krishna that¡¯s being piloted by Elma that was providing close air support. There were imperial military dropships and smallbat craft as well. Beside me, Lt. Col. Serena was ordering her forces to make sure that therge creatures wouldn¡¯t get through.

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit of a waste, but just use the shot-cannons. It would be better than letting one of those get through again.¡±

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about that. We¡¯ll cover the ammo you will use up during this operation.¡±

    ¡°You heard her. Don¡¯t hold back and fire away.¡±

    ¡ºRoger that. I¡¯m gonna go at it then.¡»

    Elma cut the call.

    ¡°Alright then. It looks like we¡¯ll have to endure this situation for a while more huh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, for the time being.¡±

    Ahead of us stood something that looked simr to a mountain - though clearly artificial - that was a bit obscured by the metallic dust storm.

    Afterpleting the investigation of the suppression ship, we set off once again in order to continue our pursuit, and we managed to find this ce in the end. We dealt with a lot of twisted along the way mixed with a number of Grapplers just like the one we finished off earlier. After wading through the waves of enemy creatures, we finally managed to find this manmade structure out here.

    ¡°I wonder what the heck that is? An anthill?¡±

    ¡°In any case, it definitely serves as the creature¡¯s nest. I¡¯m sure the attacks would get more and more intense the closer we are to that structure.¡±

    It resembled an anthill but scaled up to a ridiculous degree. ording to the readings disyed on my universal mask¡¯s HUD, its height was approximately 300 meters or so. It was shaped like an uneven mountain. Was it built using soil? Its color didn¡¯t really resemble the color and appearance of the ground around it. It was mostly reddish-brown in color.

    ¡°So what are we gonna do about that? It¡¯ll be simple enough to just st it to bits, I think.¡±

    No matter how huge it was, in the end, it was still made out of soil and rocks. It would bepletely helpless in front ofser cannons that smash shields and punch through densebat ship armor. It¡¯s literally a tower made of sand.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to do that if I could, but¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Do we really need to insist on capturing that guy? What was his name again? Uh, Geritz?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. Well, I¡¯m not the only one insistent on the matter. The order came from the higher-ups.¡±

    ¡°But as we are now, I don¡¯t think we have enough forces to break into their nest without the aid of close air support. Actually, it¡¯s t out impossible.¡±

    Currently, it¡¯s only thanks to the close air support from Krishna and the imperialbat ships that we are able to repel the attacks of the dangerous lifeforms crawling all over the ce. If we were faced to deal with Grapplers along with the other creature types without air support, we¡¯re basically doomed.

    But, well, unlike the colonists armed with low-poweredser rifles, we have elite imperial marines from the Gran empire with us. Their overall power, skills, andbat readiness are more than several leagues apart from the colonists. So if we were prepared to suffer casualties, we might just be able to barely pull it off.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. There are reinforcementsing very soon. Our advanced force is just responsible for finding the enemy base. The onesing over are our main attack forces.¡±

    ¡°I see?¡±

    I already think the marines apanying us are plenty strong enough, but she¡¯s actually saying the reinforcements will be even stronger? I tilted my head as Lt. Col. Serena seemingly received a transmission. She talked with the other party through herm for a short while and then looked up at the sky.

    ¡°The main forces are here.¡±

    ¡°From the sky?¡±

    I followed Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s gaze and looked up at the sky. I managed to make out the imperialbat ships and drop ships hovering above us. And beyond them was an object that seemed to be rapidly descending.

    ¡°Oi, oi. Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s an orbital bombardment?¡±

    ¡°No. As I said, it¡¯s reinforcements.¡±

    The object that was wrapped in crimson due to aerodynamic heating rapidly fell near the artificial structure ahead of us. It mercilessly crushed the earth beneath it and caused an explosion of dust and rocks. The ground beneath our feet shook from the impact.

    ¡°That¡¯s one heck of a powerful entrance¡­¡­ So, what the heck is that anyway?¡±

    ¡°Our main ground attack forces.¡±

    ¡°Ah, now I get it¡­¡­¡±

    The object that was now stuck on the ground resembled a giant metallic stake. An object fell off the stake and started to change form.

    Yes. They were soldiers made of cold, hard advanced metal alloys that shed no blood or tears and didn¡¯t have fear of injury or death. They were humanoid in shape, with a metallic skeletal frame much, much stronger than human bones enveloped in thickyers of metal alloy armor. They had muscle fibers made out of advanced metal alloys as well and could crush a regr human into meat paste with a single swing of their arm. They also wielded heavy-caliber weaponry that could never be used by regr flesh-and-blood humans.

    The heights of these humanoid killing machines ranged from those roughly as tall as an adult humanoid to ones standing to a towering 5 meters.

    ¡°So it¡¯s militarybat bots.¡±

    I was almost tempted to cry out T*tanfall![1] but I managed to hold myself back in the end.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Since we¡¯ve mopped up the ones outside, we¡¯ll just leave storming the base to them and watch from here.¡±

    The armored marines started building a sturdy-looking temporary base camp again. I followed after Lt. Col. Serena and headed toward the camp being constructed by thebat engineers and their bots.

    [1] TL Notes: Titanfall is a videogame series developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by EA that features the marriage of an FPS shooter, parkour, and giant hulking mechs called Titans. Whenever you called for your Titan, it falls from above; hence Titanfall. It was pretty fun too, though quite underrated/underyed IMO. Anyway, I¡¯ll always have fond memories of BT-7274 and Jack Cooper.

 Chapter 218 â€“ The Circumstances of the Imperial Ground Forces

    <h4>Chapter 218 - The Circumstances of the Imperial Ground Forces</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    A certain great person once said: Battles are all about numbers, aniki[1]! And the scene before my eyes right now is proof of that very concept.

    ¡°Man, our forces are pretty overwhelming huh.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re not your forces you know.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m well aware ma¡¯am.¡±

    A human-sizedbat bot firedsers (death rays) from its two weapon arms, and even when it was swarmed by Twisteds, it tore them off itself with even greater force and crushed them with ease. The attacks of the medium-sizedbat bots with a height of 2-3 meters were even more fierce. The firepower of the medium-sizedbat bots, which consisted of not onlysers but smaunchers as well, easily decimated the enemy Grapplers and the type with dense frontal armor we designated as Bulls. And the ultimate master of the battlefield was therge-sizedbat bot sporting a towering height of 5 meters.

    ¡°That big guy sure is amazing.¡±

    Even though it was huge, it was surprisingly agile. It looks like it was the lead unit. It continuously ughtered therge enemies with its ranged weapons and grappling attacks while blocking their counterattacks with a sturdy energy shield. Its energy generator sure can pump out some serious juice.

    ¡°A Titan-ssbat bot is the key unit for ground engagements after all. In fact, the imperial ground forces at present are mostlyprised ofbat bots.¡±

    ¡°Cuz they¡¯re easy to rece and even easier on the wallet huh.¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena silently shrugged after hearing my words.

    It takes at least 15 to 18 years to train an individual to be a qualifiedbat-ready imperial soldier on average. Fifteen years is still a bit too short in my opinion, but you¡¯d at least be able to build up their physical capabilities to at least a respectable degree in that amount of time. If they didn¡¯t care about their methods though, they¡¯d be able to pump out soldiers in an even shorter period.

    In other words, they can achieve that result if they were willing to go the route of using child-soldiers and clone soldiers produced by using advanced biotech. Well, I haven¡¯t witnessed that kind of thing so far. And judging from thebat bots before me, it seems that the empire hasn¡¯t gone in that direction at least¡­¡­ Or haven¡¯t they? In a sense, aren¡¯t the Twisteds proof that they¡¯ve dabbled in such research.

    The existence of the Twisteds at least proves that there¡¯s a faction within the empire that has already made use of biotechnology for military purposes.

    Anyway, I¡¯ve gone off-topic. I mentioned the bots being easy to rece and easy on the wallet, right? Well, in other words¡­ training and fielding human soldiers are simply very costly.

    However, what about fieldingbat bots? Although it also costs a lot of money to manufacture them, it was definitely cheaper than training people to be soldiers within 15 to 18 years. Not only was the cost cheaper, but the time invested was also drastically lowered.

    Forbat bots, once a production line is built, it¡¯s possible to continue mass-producing battle-readybat bots as long as the resources allow for it. Moreover, in the case of gainingbat skills, you only needed to install the requisite battle data in order for them to function effectively. Furthermore, unlike human soldiers, even if they get harmed inbat, they won¡¯t need to be given a survivor¡¯s pension. They don¡¯t need food, water, clothes, medicine, and you certainly don¡¯t need to pay them any sry, so the logistics costs are very low as well. If you think about it, fielding them truly had a lot of advantages.

    ¡°They¡¯re easy on the wallet after all.¡±

    ¡°Why did you have to say the same words twice?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I just thought the imperial military really has its own share of troubles after all.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business.¡±

    If they also employed space-usebat bots in starships instead of a regr crew, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be able to further cut the costs, but I wonder why they¡¯re not doing so? Hm. Well, the Gran empire seems to have suffered under AI in the past, so maybe they were just not too into the idea of fieldingbat bots as their mainbat force due to that. So it looks like thebat bots are only mostly used in groundbat huh. Perhaps that¡¯s because they¡¯d be able to easily take care of them via orbital bombardment if things go south for some reason? I¡¯m a bit curious now.

    ¡°But how¡¯d you prepare a force like this in such short notice?¡±

    ¡°They were originally meant to be dispatched to handle the aggressive lifeforms that attacked the Comatt III colony bases. We merely transported them here to Comatt IV.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see.¡±

    It¡¯s been a couple of days since the aggressive lifeforms like the Grapplers appeared on Comatt III. The Comatt system isn¡¯t that far from the nearest gateway, and it wouldn¡¯t take that long to contact the capital and transport the required forces over.

    Compared to the so-called frontier systems like Izrooks where we fought the crystal lifeforms and Termaine where we met Mimi, transportation was very essible here.

    ¡°But this is getting boring y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Ara. I won¡¯t try to stop you if you want to jump right in the middle of that you know?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll pass, thanks.¡±

    If I rushed in the middle of a chaotic melee between the dangerous lifeforms and thebat bots, it won¡¯t be enough no matter how many lives I had in stock. Although this dimension resembled SOL in my eyes, it was also unmistakably real. Unlike games, once you¡¯re dead here, you¡¯re dead for good. I think? Anyway, I have no intention of testing out that theory.

    ¡°Well, we still don¡¯t know how much resources our target has at his disposal. I believe this will take a bit more time to get settled, so just go ahead and try to rx for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Gee, thanks a lot.¡±

    It looks like we¡¯ll be watching the ¡®wargames¡¯ for a while more. I looked up at the new drop pods rapidly descending as I reached out for the water canteen hanging on my waist.

    ¡ºWe¡¯re also seeing everything over here! It¡¯s amazing! So cool!¡»

    ¡ºMr. Wamdo is on cloud nine after getting a lot of good footage.¡»

    ¡°That¡¯s nice.¡±

    I talked to Mimi and Elma through the universal mask. The fighting between the Twisteds andbat bots was still ongoing, but the Twisteds seemed to be constantly getting pushed back due to the seamless cooperation and intense firepower of thebat bots. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the Twisteds out here werepletely mopped up by thebat bots and they proceed to invade their base.

    ¡ºThe moment when you rushed at that huge fellow with swords was pretty intense.¡»

    ¡ºThat was just too cool! I got the data from Wamdo-san so I¡¯ll send it over!¡»

    After Mimi said so, a small window opened on the HUD of the universal mask which yed the scene of me and Lt. Col. Serena heading straight for the Grappler taken from an exquisite camera angle.

    ¡°The camera angle¡¯s pretty good.¡±

    After saying so, I moved my attention to the sphere floating around my shoulder. This sphere was an autonomous camera device that followed my every move in the same way as the Gravity Sphere we use to bring our drinks inside the cockpit. Itbines hologram tech and other advanced stuff to record our every move on the ground. First, it was the Gravity Sphere, and now this. Don¡¯t you think the humans in this dimension have a weird tech tree progression?

    ¡°So you¡¯re finally being relieved from air support duty huh?¡±

    ¡ºThe main ground attack forces from the imperial military have arrived after all. And also, ships specialized in air to surface attacks have arrived with them, so we no longer have any role to y. We¡¯re still gonna stick around to guard you and yourpanions though.¡»

    ¡°Oh, I see. Military vessels specialized in air to surface bombardment huh? I¡¯m sure their air support capabilities are top-notch.¡±

    I nodded and turned my attention to the green-colored sma bolts that just rained down from above.

    sma artillery was developed by applying energy shield tech and basically worked by trapping ultra-high temperature sma within a weak energy shield and thenunching it out. Since the projectile was slow and the range was short, mercenaries rarely equipped them on their ships since they engaged mainly in spacebat. There¡¯s also a newly developed sma elerator, but the projectile was still quite slow and it was generally hard to handle¡­¡­ Even if there was a limit to the number you can stuff on your ship, anti-ship torpedoes were stillparably more convenient. Large ships were generally slowpokes after all.

    As for sma weaponry, thebat bots battling in front of us also had them equipped. They were plenty powerful. They were equipped with both the 2nd generation sma weaponry that shoots out sma trapped within a weak energy shield and the 1st generation sma weaponry that fires a physical cannon round that causes a sma explosion the moment it hits the target.

    Their destructive power was roughly on par with each other, but one advantageous feature of the 2nd generation weapons is that there¡¯s technically no limit to their ammo. Since the sma was enclosed in an energy shield, the stress on the barrel was next to non-existent, and it had the ability to fire almost an unlimited amount of rounds as long as the generator output allowed it.

    ¡ºThis scene also has plenty of impact as well.¡»

    ¡ºThat¡¯s right. The imperialbat bots look really reliable as they y the dangerous creatures.¡»

    ¡°It really resembles a scene from an action holo-flick huh¡­¡­ There aren¡¯t that many movies wherebat bots y leading roles though.¡±

    There were also plenty of movies for entertainment avable in this dimension. In them, imperial elites often fight against alien species that are hostile and impossible to reason with, and scenes simr to the one we¡¯re currently witnessing were prettymon. But in those works, it was imperial soldiers - including non-human ones - that take on the main fighting roles. But in reality,bat bots like these yed a more active role huh.

    ¡°Well, when ites to imperial troops fighting¡­¡­ It¡¯s not like I¡¯m an imperial soldier but there were plenty of instances where imperial troops fought the creatures earlier as well, so I¡¯m sure Wamdo knows what to do.¡±

    ¡ºThat¡¯s true.¡»

    The nobles of the Gran empire tend to not leave any truly crucial work to machines and AI after all. Well, perhaps the imperial nobles only wish to avoidpletely relying on the AI and want to work hard themselves. I¡¯m not sure though.

    ¡°Once thebat bots are done with sweeping away the creatures, I wonder if it would be my and Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s turn to finish things with the boss by shing swords with him? ¡­¡­Man, it really is like an action holo-flick.¡±

    ¡ºAnd it¡¯s standard to have a fight that¡¯s either done barehanded, with knives, or swords while being surrounded by mes at the end huh.¡»

    ¡ºA-Ahaha¡­¡­ It really sounds like something like that might actually happenter.¡»

    So those kinds of scenes are also ssic staples over here huh. The final fight scenes where the main characters had to fight in the flesh I mean. But how about we go for a smarter method in reality? I mean, like, chucking a poison gas canister or two inside the boss room or something.

    [1] TL Notes: Aniki is a ng term in Japanese that¡¯s often used by Yakuza members or delinquents to refer to those above them, though it¡¯s also used by regr folk and siblings/cousins as well. Basically, it¡¯s just an informal term for ¡®big brother¡¯.

 Chapter 219 â€“ Standing By Until Total Suppression

    <h4>Chapter 219 - Standing By Until Total Suppression</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°That¡¯s not going to work.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s no good huh.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you and I have equipment that¡¯s able to fend off that kind of method as well? Of course the other party should have prepared simr equipment.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    It¡¯s certainly true that the helmet Lt. Col. Serena is wearing and the universal mask I have on both are capable of protecting us from such biochemical attacks. But in my case, my mask isn¡¯t the type that covers the entire head. It only covers my face, so it can¡¯t protect me from certain biochemical weapons that have the property of prating through one¡¯s skin.

    Should I actually buy a set ofbat armor simr to what Lt. Col. Serena is wearing in preparation for future events like this? But I was already thinking of buying a lightweight power armor, so wouldn¡¯t that be enough¡­¡­? Well, a workshop that deals with power armors should also be able to handle regrbat armors as well, so I¡¯ll just think about it when the timees.

    ¡°How¡¯s the progress?¡±

    ¡°Some of our forces are already rushing inside to secure a bridgehead. The enemy forces outside of their nest should be swept clean soon as well.¡±

    As she said that, Lt. Col. Serena was running her finger toward empty air. I can¡¯t see it myself, but she¡¯s probably manipting the interface on her helmet¡¯s HUD to issuemands to thebat bots and soldiers. She does so seemingly without effort as she carries a conversation with me. As I thought, Lt. Col. Serena truly was an exemry noble.

    ¡°Or rather, if we¡¯re going to go with something so drastic, then why not blow up the entire ce with orbital bombardment instead?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. But we need to capture the guy alive, right? Ah, damn. How troublesome.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re saying your thoughts out loud you know. Well, at worst, we need to confirm Geritz¡¯ death and get solid proof that it really is Geritz himself that died.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not going to take his head as a trophy or something, are we?¡±

    ¡°Trophy¡­¡­? What kind of barbarian do you think I am?¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s expression clouded over when I mentioned taking a trophy. Uh, someone who unhesitatingly swings her sword at her enemies saying taking trophies from defeated opponents doesn¡¯t sound so convincing you know. Or rather, you just decapitated a Grappler earlier, right?

    ¡°Let¡¯s leave the talk about decapitation aside then. Just what did Geritz escape here for anyway?¡±

    ¡°He might just be buying time. I think he forced a siege battle here in order to wait until help from Earl Ixthermal arrives.¡±

    ¡°Hm, I wonder¡­¡­¡±

    It just didn¡¯t click with me for some reason. I don¡¯t think they¡¯ve managed to prepare an escape route within that massive construct, and it feels like a bad spot to engage in a protracted siege battle against invading forces. If he gets cornered here, he won¡¯t have any way out. Well, I guess a siege is something like that, to begin with.

    Ande to think of it, the moment the enemy decided tond here on Comatt IV, they¡¯ve effectively cut off their escape routes anyway. Now that the imperial space navy and Earl Dareinwald¡¯s forces have surrounded the¡¯s satellite orbit, they¡¯d immediately get apprehended the moment they attempt to break through the atmosphere.

    ¡°Maybe they have a machine that can drill through and move underground at high speed and have already made their escape?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t heard of such a machine existing though? Have you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of something like that too.¡±

    Judging from the technological development of this dimension, maybe something like that really does exist, but I¡¯m not really sure.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s ridiculous to assume the usage of something that we don¡¯t even know exists in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. So let¡¯s think about other possible motives¡­¡­ Hey, maybe they went here to get rid of evidence?¡±

    ¡°Getting rid of evidence?¡±

    ¡°Hear me out. Our target knows he needs to avoid being captured alive or having his body recovered to prove he really is Geritz Ixthermal and that he has something to do with the Twisteds. So he purposely had himself get devoured by the Twisteds so his body won¡¯t be found and make himself get treated as ¡®missing¡¯ instead.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, that¡¯s certainly the most disgusting pattern that could happen. If we really do need to search for his remains after he¡¯s been eaten, we¡¯ll need to cut open the guts of every hostile creature in this ce. But if his goal is only to get rid of himself and any of his tracespletely, then why didn¡¯t he just plunge the suppression ship directly into a star or something to that effect?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­That¡¯s true as well.¡±

    If he plunged himself along with the ship into a star, then he¡¯d be able to cleanly get rid of any evidence. If he¡¯s really willing to forego his life in order to get rid of all evidence, then a method like that would be more foolproof. In other words, the target¡¯s goal actually being the destruction of evidence was unlikely.

    ¡°Judging from the movements of the Twisted, the other party is unmistakably unsettled. It looks like the current situation is outside of his expectations as well.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°Yes. He most likely didn¡¯t expect you guys would be able to track him down after he escaped all the way to Comatt IV. He probably expected to shake you guys off with the suppression ship¡¯s speed but ended up getting followed all the way to their hideout instead. Then our recon team managed to find the dangerous lifeform nest that serves as their main base as well. Furthermore, the ground forces that were supposed to be in Comatt III were sent here and easily gained dominance over the battlefield.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯spletely cornered. But he still isn¡¯t nning to stop his resistance and surrender huh¡­¡­¡±

    I have no idea what kind of person this Geritz guy is. However, he¡¯s a guy who managed to get through the imperial military¡¯s and run all the way to Comatt IV. I imagine he¡¯s the type who¡¯s pretty stubborn and doesn¡¯t give up easily.

    ¡°In that case, maybe he really is waiting for others to rescue him¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s my assumption, at least. Nheless, Comatt IV is still a being terraformed under the behest of the Dareinwald House and Earl Dareinwald. On top of that, we of the imperial military have also moved to apprehend Geritz. No matter what pretenses he spouts, I don¡¯t think there would be any room for Earl Ixthermal to interfere in this situation.¡±

    ¡°So that means we¡¯ve really cornered the target huh.¡±

    ¡°This situation is most likely just Geritz being stubborn. And I have no intention of ying along as he puts up useless resistance. Mobilizing the military like this isn¡¯t that simple you know.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s true¡­¡­ I see?¡±

    Maybe this is just in harassment. Since he¡¯s already pretty much a goner, he just wants to take down as many as he could and cause as much trouble to the Dareinwald House as possible. The Dareinwald House will most likely cover a significant portion of the expenses for this time¡¯s military operation after all.

    ¡°And what exactly did you understand just now?¡±

    ¡°Uh, it¡¯s about our current situation. Since he doesn¡¯t have any hope of getting through this anymore, I think he just wants to harass us and cause as much damage as he can before he croaks.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­That does sound like something the Ixthermal House woulde up with.¡±

    After hearing my thoughts, Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s expression clouded over as she let out an exasperated sigh.

    Just how rampant is that noble house anyway? To think the scenario I came up with would really be something up their alley. Anyway, it sure soundsplicated. But it¡¯s not really any of my business anyway. I better not get any more involved in the mess with the Ixthermal House. I¡¯ll make sure to keep that in mind.

    Despite our misgivings, the clean-up of the enemy structure was proceeding steadily. They breached the enemy structure, quickly built a bridgehead, and proceeded to mop up the enemies lurking within. There were somebat bots that received some damage in the middle of the clean-up operation, but it¡¯s not like they could be stopped with just that level of damage anyway. They pushed forward using their overwhelming defense and firepower, and finally managed to infiltrate the innermost area of the enemy base - an underground section.

    ¡°So the upperyers are a bust huh.¡±

    ¡°We couldn¡¯t leave anything to chance after all. We needed to perform a thorough mop-up either way.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    It won¡¯t be funny if we end up getting ambushed from behind after all. So sweeping the upperyers clear wasn¡¯t actually pointless.

    ¡°Huh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Did you find something?¡±

    ¡°Thebat bots searching the underground section of the structure managed to discover a hidden facility. It looks like we hit the jackpot.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great.¡±

    But I wonder what they managed to find anyway? Maybe it¡¯s the production nt that produces the Twisteds. But a production nt capable of birthing those monstrosities in seemingly endless numbers without requiring raw materials sounds quite farfetched, even with the advanced tech of this dimension. So the question is, just where were they getting their raw materials?

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s something that was made possible due to this still being in the middle of terraforming¡­¡­ Or rather, it would be really troublesome if bases like this one are actually littered all over the surface of the.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then it would be better to blow all the bases to kingdome with orbital bombardment.¡±

    ¡°Whoah? I didn¡¯t expect something like thating from you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the most efficient solution after all. Purposely securing the bases one by one is just a waste of time and money.¡±

    That certainly is true, but aren¡¯t you worried about stuff like environmental destruction and whatnot? Oh, right. This¡¯s still being terraformed so that¡¯s a moot point huh. Even if we blew away the environment along with the Twisteds, they can just restore itter on. It certainly seems like the most efficient solution.

    ¡°Geritz probably moved underground already. Let¡¯s head over there as well.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, ma¡¯am.¡±

    Wouldn¡¯t it be better to leave it all to thebat bots though? Well, she did say we need to capture the guy alive as much as possible. I still don¡¯t feel like going, but I suppose I need to go down there anyway.

    It would be nice if that ce is finally going to be ourst stop. I sure hope it is.

 Chapter 220 â€“ Cliche Development

    <h4>Chapter 220 - Cliche Development</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    We traversed through passages littered with Twisted corpses killed off by thebat bots and made our way to the underground section of the structure.

    ¡°This thing¡¯s ratherfy to ride huh.¡±

    ¡°Its handling has some quirks you need to get used to at first though.¡±

    We were currently riding newly developed hover vehicles in order to navigate the rough terrain. Although its speed is not that high, the vehicle can easily run on bumps, steep slopes, and cliffs with an elevation of several meters, and can amodate six passengers including the driver. It seems they made it by applying the tech they used to make the Gravity Sphere.

    ¡°There aren¡¯t any signs of enemies anywhere. It looks like they were really thorough with the clean-up.¡±

    ¡°Even if there were lucky survivors, our escort of high-mobilitybat bot will make short work of them.¡±

    A militarybat bot with a sharp silhouette apanied the hover vehicle that¡¯s running at a maximum speed of merely 30 km/h. It¡¯s a bipedalbat bot with reverse-jointed legs that nimbly navigated the terrain as it moved together with the underground structure investigation unit that included me and Lt. Col. Serena. I wasn¡¯t clear about its exact firepower, but judging from how fast and agile it was, I¡¯m sure it would prove quite troublesome if you engage it inbat. And it¡¯s not even running at full speed.

    I wonder what would happen if I were to fight it? Well, it doesn¡¯t look that sturdy, so I guess aiming for its legs to crush its mobility and running away would be a solid n. Eh? Why would I even run after crushing its legs? Of course, I would. It¡¯s an incredibly stupid move to engage in a head-on firefight with abat bot sporting extreme shooting uracy y¡¯know. Even in SOL, the uracy ofbat bots was borderline cheating. They had almost a hundred percent uracy and if you didn¡¯t have armor that could withstandser fire or an energy shield, you¡¯re basically screwed. You¡¯d just end up taking each other down at the very least. And in the first ce, a bot¡¯s reaction speed was leagues better than a human. Civilian-use bots have been tuned to have lowered performance though.

    ¡°So, what¡¯s the situation now?¡±

    ¡°They put up an energy shield and arepletely hunkering down. Well, we just have to get rid of it once we arrive.¡±

    The energy shield that was developed to protect starships from space debris during FTL navigation was quite an effective defensive tool, but it was by no means impregnable. It¡¯s rtively vulnerable to attacks by high-poweredsers, high-calorie sma weapons, missiles, and bombs that generate intense explosions and shockwaves, and the interference effect between simr energy shields.

    The anti-ship reactive torpedoes equipped on Krishna also basically neutralizes a ship¡¯s energy shield by making use of the interference effect via a device on its warhead. That¡¯s what¡¯s written in the item description in SOL anyway. I haven¡¯t checked if it uses the same method in this dimension though.

    ¡°By the way, how are we gonna get rid of the shield?¡±

    I was thinking they were probably gonna bust out equipment that could neutralize the shield. However, Lt. Col. Serena didn¡¯t answer my question and just kept mum. I see. So it¡¯s some sort of military secret huh? That¡¯s what I thought anyway.

    And what transpired in the end was-

    ¡°We only have this method at our disposal.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t find words to describe the scene unfolding before my eyes at first.

    ¡°What a simple brute-force method!¡±

    Arge number of militarybat bots were unloading continuous streams ofsers at the energy shield covering the enemy facility, and a Titan-ssbat bot with a height of 5 meters was ramming itself at the shield with all its weight. Uh, I guess it wasn¡¯t just ramming itself at the shield¡­¡­ It activated its own shield and was ramming that onto the shield covering the facility and making it crackle, I think? Though it did look like it was just stupidly ramming itself at the shield though.

    ¡°It looks like their shield was stronger than we expected, but it probably won¡¯tst long under this punishment.¡±

    ¡°After the shield goes down, it would be our turn to charge, right?¡±

    ¡°That would be a bitter. We¡¯ll have thebat bots charge in first.¡±

    As we had our exchange, the shield covering the facility finally began to fluctuate andpletely went down soon afterward. And the moment the shield disappeared, thesers being fired by thebat bots burned open a section of the facility¡¯s walls. By the way, the energy shields in this dimension don¡¯t shatter like ss when they go down like in some sci-fi shows. Just thought I¡¯d mention it.

    After they confirmed that the energy shield had gone down, the small and medium-typebat bots rushed inside the facility in an orderly manner. The Titan-ssbat bot couldn¡¯t fit in due to its sheer size so it seems it would remain on standby outside.

    ¡°First, let¡¯s search for the shield generator and main power generator. It would be bad if they trapped us inside using the energy shield and made the power generator go criticalter after all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s an excellent judgment. I¡¯m not an expert though, so don¡¯t take my word for it.¡±

    I¡¯m not a tactical expert, so I can¡¯t say for sure, but I think that was a solid decision. Securing a way of retreat was fundamental in any operation, and if we took control of the enemy¡¯s power generator, it would be possible to shut down the facility¡¯s defense systems as well.

    ¡°You¡¯re just saying whatever you want¡­¡­ Anyway, we¡¯ll be charging in soon, so get yourself ready.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, ma¡¯am.¡±

    But even though we¡¯ve used lots of automated tech during this operation, we¡¯re still gonna decide everything with swords in the end huh. In the worst case, we need to recover the target¡¯s corpse, so couldn¡¯t we just overwhelm him with arge number ofbat bots? I guess they¡¯re just being particr about honor between nobles huh.

    We waited for at least 30 minutes.

    ¡°We found our target in the innermost section of the facility. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    It seems thebat bots finally managed to corner Geritz and his other cohorts, and the imperial marines began to move at Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s orders. They were quite free earlier as well because thebat bots took care of most of the action, so they were apparently raring to go.

    Lt. Col. Serena ran ahead and the imperial marines followed after her. I also followed Lt. Col. Serena along with the marines, but I couldn¡¯t get rid of the bad feeling I¡¯ve been having since earlier.

    ¡°Is there really a way to turn things around under this situation¡­¡­?¡±

    I racked my brains in thought as we continued to head deeper into the facility. Even though I had a bad feeling about it, I still had to follow orders. This was a proper military operation after all. I¡¯m basically just a hired gun, err, sword anyway.

    The interior of the building was strangely bleached white and looked really reminiscent of a research facility. There wasn¡¯t any presence of those disgusting-looking Twisteds inside, and there were wrecks likeser turrets destroyed by thebat bots in some spots.

    ¡°So this is the central research area huh.¡±

    ¡°It likely is.¡±

    There were lots of metallic tubes lined up on the left side of the passage we were walking in that you could see through just like ss. They were all empty, but I wonder what was stuffed inside of them? Judging from the ce, I guess they should have contained Twisteds or samples of local species.

    ¡°In other words, what¡¯s beyond here is¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°The production nt, most likely. I think it¡¯s basically simr to those artificial meat nts.¡±

    ¡°Have you also taken a tour inside one of those nts before, Lt. Serena?¡±

    ¡°Yes. There have been various incidents involving artificial meat nts before after all.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡±

    It looks like Lt. Col. Serena also had her fair share of hardships as well.

    But an artificial meat manufacturing nt huh¡­¡­ We did fight against monsters that were different from the Twisteds in the Alein system back then too. But the Twisteds were more powerful and dangerouspared to those though.

    ¡°It sounds like they¡¯re engaging inbat right ahead of us.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re probably being pinned down by shots from thebat bots. Let¡¯s hurry.¡±

    I hurriedly followed after Lt. Col. Serena who already started running and arrived at a ce that resembled a wide hall.

    ¡°¡­¡­So I suppose that¡¯s our target?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes, that¡¯s the target.¡±

    The ¡®target¡¯ that was rampaging against the high-mobilitybat bots was a humanoid Twisted which sported four arms that were holding a sword each. It stood at a towering height of 2.5 meters. I turned to Lt. Col. Serena to confirm and she nodded in acknowledgment.

    Eh¡­¡­ That¡¯s him? Seriously? But it doesn¡¯t look remotely like a human anymore, right?

    ¡°And we¡¯re supposed to bring that back alive?¡±

    ¡°If possible.¡±

    ¡°But don¡¯t you think it would be useless to interrogate that thing for info even if we do manage to bring it back¡­¡­?¡±

    Its entire body was reddish-ck and covered with dense muscle fibers and rocky armor. It also had a total of four arms. That was the current state of the man once known as Geritz Ixthermal. You probably won¡¯t get any info out of that thing even if it was sessfully captured and brought back, and even if we killed it and provided it as evidence, the creature¡¯s identity as Geritz would probably be brought into question.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t its movements getting better and better?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s probably starting to get ustomed to the changes in his body and his four arms. We need to finish him off right away or it would get troublesometer.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t we just kill it withser fire?¡±

    ¡°Well, about that-¡±

    When Lt. Col. Serena turned her gaze toward the rampaging four-armed monster, thebat bots started firingsers at him all at once. Even though he had four arms, it would be impossible to defend against tens of hundreds ofser projectiles.

    ¡ºEAAAAAAAAAARLLLLLLLL!!!¡»

    It wasn¡¯t possible to defend against all of them, but he was deflecting what he could. His swords deflected dozens ofser shots right back at thebat bots that shot them and caused small explosions to go off. Thebat bots won¡¯t be taken out in just one or two shots, but they do take and umte damage.

    On the other hand, the otherser projectiles that weren¡¯t blocked managed to score direct hits.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem likesers work very well against him huh.¡±

    It¡¯s not like thesers have absolutely no effect, but the injuries the monstrosity sustained due to them all regenerated almost immediately, and the ones that hit the rocky armor were rendered practically ineffective.

    ¡°Yes. That regeneration rate is troublesome, but the rocky armor is equally as bad. It seems like sma rounds would work, but since they¡¯re slow, he¡¯d dodge them easily.¡±

    ¡°In the end, we need to cut him down ourselves huh.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Ugh. I hate this¡­¡­¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena unsheathed the sword from her waist and charged forward. I followed after her and drew the swords from my waist as well.

 Chapter 221 â€“ Monster Hunting

    <h4>Chapter 221 - Monster Hunting</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Lieutenant!¡±

    I parried a sh apanied by howling wind with the short sword on my left hand and tried to cut the rocky arm off with the longsword on my right hand, but the counter ended up shallow. It looked like the de would break if I continued shing with the armored arm, so I hurriedly pulled my sword back.

    ¡°What! Is it!?¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena just managed to duck down in order to avoid a backhand blow from one of the enemy¡¯s four arms. Sword blows from two arms on one side of the enemy¡¯s body immediately chased after Lt. Col. Serena. However, Lt. Col. Serena rolled to one side and avoided one blow while parrying the other. It looks like she was being pushed quite hard.

    ¡°In this situation! You won¡¯t suddenly tell me! We need to take this guy back with all limbs intact! You won¡¯t, right!?¡±

    I started reconsidering our battle n as I fended off a storm-like series of thrusts from the arms on the monster¡¯s right-hand side, as the arms on its left continued to assail Lt. Col. Serena.

    Although it still retained some human features, it would be virtually impossible to capture this four-armed creature which appears to be Geritz without a scratch now. The swords on his four arms seem to have integrated with his flesh and were lodged on top of his fists instead of him holding them.

    ¡ºDIEEEEEEEEEEE!¡»

    ¡°-Kh!¡±

    Maybe he decided to leave Lt. Col. Serena forter. He started focusing on me instead, and his four arms unleashed multiple shes toward me. But I managed to hold my breath at this point and returned to that world of extreme slow motion.

    I side-stepped one of the now-slowed but undoubtedly powerful shes, moved forward, and bent over to avoid the second sword that was trying to mow down my nk. The third sword that was thrusting at me diagonally from above was fended off by the short sword I held in my left hand. And finally, I altered the trajectory of the fourth sword before it reached me. Tsk. I would have loved to cut off a wrist or two while I was at it. However, after I managed to dodge all his attacks, I was now right before him.

    He must have moved instinctively. A knee strikeparable to a huge battering ram was now heading straight for me.

    ¡ºGYAAAAAAAAA!?¡»

    But that was a poor move. The longsword held in my right hand matched the timing and dug deeply into the knee of the four-armed monstrosity that was used to attack me. A fountain of ck blood spurted out of it. I jumped sideways in order to avoid being drenched by the blood and finally heard the sound of the giant copsing on the ground.

    No matter how mutated the body gets, as long as the form was still humanoid and used muscles to move, it won¡¯t be able to stand up when its thigh gets cut right to the tendon and bone. It was unavoidable as long as the opponent was a bipedal creature made of flesh, muscles, and blood.

    And with me right now was a warrior who wouldn¡¯t miss such an opening.

    ¡°Raaaaah!¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena deftly wielded her sword and cut off some of the opponent¡¯s four arms. Of course, I also used my swords to cut off his other arms.

    ¡°With this, it¡¯s over. So what¡¯s next? I think this guy will die from bleeding out if we leave him like this for long.¡±

    ¡°It looks like that won¡¯t be the case.¡±

    When I followed Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s line of sight, I saw that the stumps of the creature¡¯s arms had actually begun to stop bleeding already. Eh¡­¡­ Seriously? The wounds havepletely stopped bleeding you know.

    ¡°¡­¡­And we¡¯re supposed to bring this thing back alive? For some reason, I can only imagine a horror scenario inside a lone military transport ship though.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­We¡¯re under orders after all.¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena seems to be scowling behind her transparent full-face helmet. Well, the imperial military probably has a gadget or two used to transport dangerous creatures, right? I¡¯m not sure though. I ain¡¯t never gonna transport such a thing, and I won¡¯t help with this one either. I will firmly refuse such a request.

    ¡°Uh, this just hit me right now. Wouldn¡¯t these swords serve as proof as well?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. We might be able to trace the owner of the swords if we check their inscriptions, manufacturer, and serial numbers.¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena nodded as she ordered the marines around. They were probably gonna prepare to transport this creature that¡¯s presumed to be Geritz back.

    However, there were four swords with the creature. Even if Geritz was originally a dual wielder, just where did the extra two swordse from then? Or rather, just how many people were actually on board that suppression ship?

    ¡°Do you really think this guy is Geritz?¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t test his DNA pattern here, so I¡¯m not sure. However, it¡¯s possible that the real one is actually hiding and using this guy as a cover.¡±

    It looks like Lt. Col. Serena also had misgivings about whether or not this big guy was actually Geritz. At least, judging from the four swords, this thing was probably aposite creature made up of a noble (or nobles) and a Twisted.

    ¡°Let¡¯s look at the time frame of this incident as well. Even if they didn¡¯t suffer attacks from the Twisted when they arrived here, there was definitely no space inside the suppression ship to cram transport vehicles to traverse the¡¯s terrain quickly after getting off, and it¡¯s also doubtful if they had the equipment to function normally in Comatt IV¡¯s extreme environment in the first ce. It would have taken them quite some time to reach this structure and even further time to go all the way to this secret underground facility. But if they truly possessed a way topletely control the Twisted, then the possibility of them making use of Grapplers and Bulls in order to travel rapidly can¡¯t be dismissed as well.¡±

    ¡°Physical and time constraints huh¡­¡­ If you factor them in, it certainly seems possible that Geritz is still lurking about freely.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps. Of course, if that¡¯s the case, then we have to n on continuing to explore further as well.¡±

    Well, of course, that would be the logical next step. The moment I reached this conclusion, I had a really bad premonitione over me. No, it can¡¯t be. Ugh. I have to confirm it, at least.

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s okay for me to return to my original post, right?¡±

    ¡°No. There¡¯s a possibility Geritz is still out there after all.¡±

    After saying so, Lt. Col. Serena shed me an angelic smile. In other words, that means I won¡¯t be released from this hell anytime soon huh? It would have been better if I didn¡¯t ask.

    Afterward, we performed a thorough sweep of the secret underground facility and confirmed that Geritz wasn¡¯t hiding anywhere inside it. Well, we did manage to find the Twisted production nt behind the ce we fought the four-armed abomination earlier. We also discovered data regarding how to gain control over them. We¡¯re still in the middle of analyzing the data, but if it all goes well, it might be possible to forcibly ¡®shut down¡¯ all Twisteds present on this. In other words, we can order them to self-terminate.

    If that four-armed monster wasn¡¯t Geritz, then we need to consider the possibility of him escaping into other facilities, but the ones that would be responsible for searching for the guy would be thebat bots. Lt. Col. Serena said that, depending on the circumstances, I might get called in once again to help deal with Geritz. Honestly, I didn¡¯t wannae back to the surface of a that¡¯s under terraforming anymore.

    We spent a total of three days on Comatt IV until the investigation of all hidden facilities waspleted. After that, I was finally released from the clutches of Lt. Col. Serena and returned to my original post - Krishna.

 Chapter 222 â€“ Pirates and Social Problems

    <h4>Chapter 222 - Pirates and Social Problems</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    With the end of thending operation on Comatt IV, we returned to our usual - sometimes even boring - routines. Due to the destruction of their base, the activities of the pirates were quelled and the remaining onesid low. The analysis of the data found on Comatt IV was finallypleted after a few days, and the Twisteds active on Comatt IV and Comatt III were forcibly ordered to self-terminate. In other words, all threats have been removed and the colonization proceeded as usual.

    ¡°Thus, peace came to the Comatt system, and under the leadership of the youngdy of the Dareinwald House, she took the first step toward development.¡±

    ¡°What the heck are you on about?¡±

    ¡°An autobiography? It was rmended by Allen, right? There¡¯s quite a demand for mercenary autobiographies marketed as a type of novel for entertainment after all.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯vee across some from time to time. Most of the stuff that¡¯s written in them seems really dubious though.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­But in Hiro-sama¡¯s case, his exploits seem hard to believe no matter how you write them though, ahaha.¡±

    ¡°Ohe on.¡±

    Well, it¡¯s true that an expert in starship dogfights like meing down to the surface of a in the middle of terraforming wielding swords instead of guns really does sound dubious. And it¡¯s long been held in this world, or rather, in the Gran empire, that only nobles can actually wield swords skillfully.

    Of course, you can still swing a sword even if you¡¯re not a noble, and it¡¯s not like there would be a difference in the sword¡¯s sharpness. However, without a series of physical enhancements costing ridiculous amounts, you won¡¯t be able to perform feats like blockingser attacks with your sword and even reflecting them back to the shooters. And usually, the only ones capable of shouldering such costs and essing such procedures here are only the nobles. But it¡¯s true that I¡¯m one of the very few exceptions.

    ¡°The frequency of troublesome stuff urring also doesn¡¯t help¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I just live my life like any other merc does though. You¡¯re talking like I¡¯m cursed to constantly get hounded by troublesome stuff or something.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­ W-Well, we do manage toe across well-paying jobs often because of them though.¡±

    Yeah. We do receive more than enough rewards for our efforts, I guess. I managed to encounter excellent crew members such as Mimi and Elma, earn more than enough money, got two mechanic sisters along with a mothership purchase, awarded some fancy medals, got promoted to a first-ss citizen, and even got awarded unrestricted gateway ess. In a certain sense, we¡¯ve actually been swimming in sess. But as the person on the receiving end of all the trouble, I couldn¡¯t help but feel tired of it all at times.

    ¡°As for me, I only need some usable footage.¡±

    We¡¯re currently inside Krishna¡¯s cockpit. Fomalhaut Entertainment¡¯s Zuia, who was sitting on the sub-seat while fiddling with his tablet device, let out a slightly dissatisfied sigh. Even if you tell that to us, what are we even supposed to do about it?

    ¡°Since the pirate activity has mostly subsided, I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll have a lot of chances to film scenes of that nature anymore.¡±

    ¡°Since they¡¯ve lost their base, they¡¯ll be unable to dispose of their loot reliably even if they continued to attack civilian passenger and cargo ships after all. Right now, the only pirates still operating in the Comatt system are either those who are already down in the dumps or those who just want to snag a few spoils before moving on to another system.¡±

    ¡°Hm? What do you mean?¡±

    Zuia showed interest in Elma¡¯s exnation. Ah, I see. I guess he isn¡¯t actually that familiar with the usual lifestyle of pirates huh.

    ¡°The hideouts and bases used by pirates essentially double as ck markets. They attack mercantile and cruise ships to acquire loot and ves, bring them back to their hideouts, and then sell them there.¡±

    ¡°To be exact, they don¡¯t really sell them in exchange for Enels. Instead, they barter the stolen goods for things such as highly valuable rare metals, daily necessities, luxury items, and other stuff. The ones who trade for the stuff you can find in pirate bases and hideouts are the so-called ck market merchants, and they will then re-sell the stuff all across the gxy.¡±

    ¡°Once a hideout gets attacked and destroyed, you won¡¯t only get the pirates but the ck market merchants staying there as well. So it would also deal damage to the pirates and ck market merchants in the neighboring star systems who regard the destroyed hideout as their trading center.¡±

    ¡°I see? But judging from that story, isn¡¯t the root cause of the piracy problem these so-called ck market merchants instead? I understand that it¡¯s important to crush the pirates, but wouldn¡¯t it be better if we get rid of the ck market merchants instead?¡±

    Zuia¡¯s words did have a point. It would certainly be better to pull the problem out by the roots instead of just cutting off the tips.

    ¡°How many active merchants do you think there are in the gxy? There are countlessrge and smallpanies operating out there, and even itinerant merchant ships that go at it solo. Do you think we can effectively check each and every one of those guys to see if they are carrying goods acquired from pirates constantly?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­That would be quite difficult.¡±

    ¡°And also, aren¡¯t there a lot of stores which sell items of dubious origins in colonies? The harsh truth is, some small colonies and stations out in the frontier can only stay afloat by relying on these ck market merchants. And it seems they don¡¯t only deal with space colonies and stations, butary colonies as well.¡±

    ¡°That really is a harsh truth to hear¡­¡­¡±

    After hearing us out, Zuia scratched his me-like mane with a troubled expression.

    After all, the presence of merchants is indispensable for the operation of colonies and stations. There are only very few colonies and stations that arepletely self-sufficient. Every colony and station more or less trade with other colonies and stations in order to procure the daily necessities of their inhabitants. Of course, there¡¯s the option of choosing only trustworthy and legal trading partners. But the reality is, as long as they sell their items off at a reasonable price, most would close one eye even if the trading partners were suspicious for the sake of keeping their colonies and stations up and running.

    ¡°These sorts of social problems are too much for us mercenaries anyway.¡±

    ¡°And if you think about it, it¡¯s because of such problems that we mercenaries are able to strut our stuff.¡±

    Elma sighed and shrugged her shoulders. We mercs would be out of business once the pirates are gone after all. Well, if the pirates really do disappear one day, then we¡¯d have no choice but to switch our job scope to being monster hunters and the more traditional sort of mercenaries. In other words, we¡¯ll find a conflict zone or war-torn country and sell our skills for cash. But we won¡¯t be swinging swords and spears but firing missiles andser cannons instead.

    ¡°Gah- Alright, stop. Let¡¯s stop talking about all this lofty, idealistic stuff. Let¡¯s talk about something more realistic instead.¡±

    ¡°Realistic topics¡­¡±

    ¡°Like our total earnings this time?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what you call a realistic topic?¡±

    I¡¯ll just ignore Elma¡¯s reproachful re. At least, I think it¡¯s a much more realistic topic than discussing social issues caused or rted to the pirate problem.

    ¡°Um, we¡¯re earning 300,000 Enels a day, and if we¡¯re asked to do something else outside our contract¡¯s scope, we¡¯ll get at least another 1,000,000 Enels as an additional fee. We¡¯re on the 20th day right now, and we¡¯re supposed to be contracted for a full 30 days, so we¡¯re looking at a clean 9,000,000, at least for now.¡±

    ¡°And since we were called in to assist during the emergency on Comatt III, we¡¯re getting another 1,000,000 Enels on top of that, right?¡±

    ¡°I wonder how they¡¯ll treat the job we took on Comatt IV? Considering the risks Hiro faced, 3,000,000 can be considered cheap.¡±

    ¡°So we¡¯ll have 9 mil + 4 mil. That means a total of 13 million huh. Oh, and we also participated in the pirate subjugation operation, so that¡¯s another 1 million. So it¡¯s 14 million huh. And there are the earnings from selling off loot as well¡­¡­ I guess we¡¯re looking at about 5,500,000 from those, give or take. We managed to earn about 7 million from selling off the captured ships too. I¡¯m not sure how much we¡¯ll be able to earn in the remaining ten days, but I expect we¡¯ll be getting a lot less.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s a total of 26.5 million Enels. It¡¯s just a rough estimate, so there¡¯s still a margin of error.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a chance we¡¯ll be able to earn at least 30 million after these remaining ten days. But since the pirates have decreased, we can¡¯t count on earning much from bounties anymore.¡±

    ¡°30 million Enels in a month¡­¡­ That¡¯s a level I don¡¯t even dare to dream about. What are you nning to do with such earnings?¡±

    I puffed my chest up proudly and answered Zuia¡¯s question.

    ¡°My ultimate goal is to build an awesome detached vi in aary colony somewhere and livefortably and luxuriously!¡±

    ¡°That sounds like a grand dream for sure¡­¡­ But-¡±

    ¡°But?¡±

    ¡°Haven¡¯t you earned more than enough to achieve that dream? And didn¡¯t you just get granted first-ss imperial citizenship too?¡±

    I tilted my head after hearing Zuia¡¯s words. Uh, it can¡¯t be. It¡¯ll take at least 100 million Enels to be a first-ss citizen. And building a home on aary colony would also¡­¡­ Huh? Wait a minute. Since I got first-ss citizenship practically for free, all I need to worry about is building a home, and that¡¯s¡­¡­?

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s doable, right?¡±

    ¡°I think so.¡±

    ¡°I think so too.¡±

    Elma and Mimi answered positively to my question.

    Huh? Before I knew it, my ultimate goal was now within my reach¡­¡­? Uwah. I¡¯m really dull, aren¡¯t I¡­¡­?

 Chapter 223 â€“ Our Next Plans

    <h4>Chapter 223 - Our Next ns</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°You really didn¡¯t realize it until now?¡±

    ¡°I bet it justpletely went over his head.¡±

    ¡°Stop that. You¡¯re hurting my poor little heart.¡±

    At least hear out my excuse first, guys. Even though I did indeed get granted first-ss imperial citizenship as one of the rewards from winning the tournament, the unrestricted gateway ess drew my attention way more, and I ended up forgetting all about the citizenship until now. In fact, I didn¡¯t have much leeway to think about other stuff due to things like Mei¡¯s training from hell and Mimi¡¯s shocking true identity, so I haven¡¯t really dwelled on building a detached house with a garden on a residential, even though it¡¯s supposed to be my ultimate goal. And after that tournament, I immediately took this current job too.

    ¡°So does this mean you, a Gold Star recipient, will be retiring soon? Isn¡¯t it a bit too early?¡±

    ¡°Well, I wonder¡­¡­¡±

    What Zuia¡¯s saying is certainly feasible. I can absolutely go ahead and buy somend on someary colony after this job is over and build my dream house with a garden there. After retiring, I¡¯d probably have more than enough money to live out a rtively normal and worry-free life. It certainly doesn¡¯t sound bad to live afortable life there together with Elma, Mimi, and Mei. Yep. Not bad at all. However¡­

    ¡°It just seems kinda boring though.¡±

    ¡°I heard it is.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I think it¡¯s a little too early to settle down. I want to explore even more ces, and I probably wouldn¡¯t know what to do with myself if I start living a calm and stable life right now.¡±

    These are my true thoughts. It¡¯s certainly not bad to spend most of my time flirting around with the girls, and it would be a happy thing if I had children with Mimi and Elma as a result. But I still think it¡¯s too early to start such a life right after being done with our current job.

    ¡°Well, I still have to consult with Mimi, Elma, Mei, Tina, and Whisker about it too. And even if we don¡¯t go for that kind of life right away, it¡¯s not a bad idea to at least settle things like the ce where we¡¯ll build our dream home in the meantime.¡±

    Depending on how it goes, it won¡¯t be bad to secure a private lot first. After purchasing thend, we can build our dream home any time we¡¯d like. And since we have the money, it¡¯s better to buy something more spacious. Oh, but the more spacious the lot, the higher thend tax, right? I guess I¡¯ll need consultation regarding the particrs.

    ¡°And more importantly-¡±

    ¡°More importantly?¡±

    ¡°I still haven¡¯t managed to find c¡­¡­ Even if I settled down on a somewhere right now, it would still feel half-baked.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. You certainly were quite fixated on that ¡®c¡¯ stuff huh¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi and Elma were convinced and nodded. Uh, well, I guess you could say they were half-convinced and half-exasperated. You girls just don¡¯t know how much I crave c so you¡¯re reacting like that¡­! That stuff is equal to the water of life for someone like me.

    ¡°Uh, so, just what is this c you¡¯re talking about?¡±

    ¡°Ooh! So you¡¯re interested in c huh!? Let me tell ya-¡±

    When I tried to turn the pilot seat around to face Zuia in order to preach c gospel, Elma kicked it right back into its previous position. How cruel.

    ¡°It¡¯s no good to talk about c with this guy. He¡¯ll just talk your ears off. Uh, simply put, it seems to be a sweetened ¡®carbonated¡¯ drink with a refreshing vor.¡±

    ¡°Carbonated¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a mysterious drink that¡¯s supposed to make you feel all refreshed. However, it has a tendency to blow up whenever you open a bottle of it inside a starship or colony¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°What the heck? That¡¯s scary.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not. Definitely not. It¡¯s actually not something dangerous.¡±

    Kuh. So c, and carbonated drinks in general, are really just minor types of drinks in this dimension huh.

    Aside from that, the ability to personally cook stuff like meat, vegetables, and seafood is also treated as a rare and specialized skill. Overall, the food culture in this dimension isplicated and strange. I think it¡¯s the product of the gradual shift into living in outer space. They focused too much on preparing food with extreme efficiency that they ended up developing things like food cartridges and mostly abandoned things like cooking and carbonated drinks.

    When I told him that, Zuia dropped his head and thought for a while before opening his mouth to talk again.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then you might be able to find what the captain wants if you go to a system of a race that still retains its ancient culture, or to a remote that¡¯s just recently been incorporated to the empire.¡±

    ¡°Tell me more.¡±

    I hurriedly turned my seat around to face Zuia again. Perhaps he expected my reaction this time. Zuia made a toothy grin that showed off his sharp fangs without any surprise evident on his expression.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind giving you more details, but I need you to give me some form ofpensation as well.¡±

    ¡°Compensation huh.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­ You seemed really close with thatdy lieutenant from the imperial military. If you tell me the details about how you came to know her, I won¡¯t mind sharing more info with you.¡±

    ¡°OK.¡±

    If I can get info on c in exchange for stuff about Lt. Col. Serena, then it¡¯s well worth it. I wouldn¡¯t feel guilty at all, so I¡¯ll tell him whatever he wants to know.

    Eh? What about my promise with Lt. Col. Serena? That¡¯s nothing in the face of c! Well, I think it¡¯s fine as long as I leave out the stuff about her acting all sloppy. I¡¯ll just tell Zuia about how I met her and what things we¡¯ve been through together.

    ¡°Tell me about your info regarding c first.¡±

    ¡°Ok. In short, there are quite a few traditional dishes and specialty products still being offered in the mothers of certain races. The personal chefs of nobles and celebrities basicallye from or have studied and practiced cooking on thoses before.¡±

    ¡°I see. Yeah. The item I¡¯m seeking might just be one of those specialty products they¡¯re offering huh.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. There are several such star systems in Gran imperial territory, and there might yet be many unknown products and delicacies in the most remote sectors that have only been incorporated into the empire just recently. I¡¯m referring to the so-called ¡®Edge World¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Edge World huh¡­¡­¡±

    The so-called Edge World is different from normal remote sectors like Termaine system. They aren¡¯t just sectors out in the boonies that are located near the borders next to other space empires. Even I have no idea about what¡¯s there. It¡¯s at the very edge of explored space, and the forefront of the ever-expanding imperial territory.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll have problems finding suitable jobs even if we go all the way to Edge World.¡±

    ¡°The imperial military¡¯s presence is thin on Edge World, so there are a lot of pirates over there¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°But isn¡¯t that kind of bad?¡±

    Mimi tilted her head in response to Elma and my statements.

    ¡°There are very few imperial military forces deployed on Edge World. That¡¯s why whenever pirates find tough targets, they¡¯d immediately call for reinforcements.¡±

    ¡°Eh, but that¡¯s¡­¡­ Ah, now I understand. It¡¯s because they aren¡¯t worried that the imperial space navy will get in their way, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is.¡±

    In systems where there are proper imperial military and system garrison patrols, if pirates call theirrades for reinforcements, the military would be able to mount a response immediately to go against them. But on Edge World, they already have their hands full defending the colonies and stations, so they wouldn¡¯t be able to do that. Therefore, whenever pirates encounter tough prey over there, they would unreservedly call for reinforcements to subdue said prey with overwhelming numbers.

    ¡°It does sound profitable, but it¡¯s also quite risky.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a limit no matter how strong Krishna and Hiro are after all.¡±

    But because it was both very profitable and dangerous, merchants were also getting in on the action over there.

    Basically, there are a lot of merchants active over there, and they operate exclusively inrge fleets. Moreover, those active on Edge World aren¡¯t your normal mercantile fleets but are the so-called armedmercial fleets instead. In order to counter therge-scale assaults of pirates, they arm their ships to the teeth and employ quite a lot of escorts.

    ¡°It¡¯s definitely risky to move around there on our own, but there are plenty of escort jobs rted to the ce, so we might be able to get a job as part of a fleet¡¯s armed convoy. And if we appeal to them using ck Lotus¡¯ armaments and carrying capacity, it might evennd a job as a supply ship.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡­ We might be able tond a job as part of an armedmercial fleet¡¯s escort ships if we go to a system close to Edge World.¡±

    ¡°That all sounds well and good, but don¡¯t you think it¡¯s better to go around the mother systems of ethnic races in safe imperial territory first before anything else?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    It might sound interesting to go to Edge World as part of an armedmercial fleet, but it would be better for us to go around imperial territory first. We also need to choose a suitable to build our home on as well.

    ¡°So it looks like we will still be seeing more of your exploits huh, Captain Hiro?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. Well, I¡¯m certainly far too young for retirement.¡±

    I shrugged my shoulders after saying so.

    First, we¡¯ll need to finish thest ten days of our current contract here on the Comatt system. Given the current situation, our contract probably won¡¯t get extended, so it¡¯s good to decide on our next course of action early.

    First, we¡¯ll search for a suitable to build a home on. Then we¡¯ll search for c that¡¯s akin to the water of life for me. And after that, we¡¯ll continue going all around the empire. Our future activities would be roughly like that, I suppose.

 Chapter 224 â€“ A Calm Ten Days

    <h4>Chapter 224 - A Calm Ten Days</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    It¡¯s been ten days since we decided on our next course of action. Our days have been passing by steadily without any other unexpected incidents happening. As usual, we meticulously hunted down pirates, captured their ships, handed the surrendered pirates over to the authorities to exchange for rewards, and sold the captured ships we modified for cash. The busiest among us during these past ten days were undoubtedly the mechanic sisters.

    ¡°Do your best, guys? Do your best?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re happy that you¡¯re cheerin us on, Boss. But even we have our limits y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°The ones we¡¯ve worked on this time around were in rtively good condition with just a few damaged portions, so we had it easier than usual, I guess.¡±

    ¡°I at least have that much consideration y¡¯know.¡±

    I either preemptively destroyed a pirate ship¡¯s main thrusters before it can attempt to flee, chipped away at their will to fight by dealing reasonable amounts of damage until they decided to surrender voluntarily, or simply just crushed the cockpit block alone with pinpoint precision, so the sisters should have had an easier time fixing up and modifying the captured ships.

    ¡°The ck Lotus turns out to be a really worthwhile purchase. And thanks to you two, we¡¯ll soon recoup our investment on it.¡±

    ¡°Our pockets are fatter than they¡¯ve ever been too.¡±

    ¡°But in a way, we¡¯ve been working harderpared to when we were at Space Dwerg though¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Sorry guys. I¡¯m really sorry.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t do anything but apologize. Um, I¡¯d hear them out if they want to improve their workce environment you know? If it¡¯s just stuff like getting additional equipment or things to that effect, then I¡¯m totally cool with it. I can¡¯t do anything about reducing the workload though. That¡¯s why I¡¯d at least hear them out. Yep. I definitely will. So stop swinging around that wrench and spanner, both of you! Seriously, stop!

    After getting (physically) persuaded by the mechanic sisters, I ran away from the hangar and brought myself to ck Lotus¡¯ break room. The media guys were currently rxing in it.

    ¡°Since your job here is ending Captain, then that means this is it for our coverage as well.¡±

    ¡°So we¡¯ll be saying goodbye to ck Lotus¡¯s amodations that¡¯sparable to a high-ss luxury hotel soon huh. I¡¯m feeling kinda reluctant about it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s very spacious and has really good food after all.¡±

    ¡°You definitely won¡¯t be able to afford anythingparable to this with Fomalhaut¡¯s low sry. Poor you.¡±

    ¡°Hah?¡±

    ¡°What? You got a problem?¡±

    I ignored Fomalhaut Entertainment¡¯s Zuia and Nyaatoflix¡¯s Nia going at each other¡¯s throats and called out to Space Dwerg Entertainment¡¯s Wamdo and Moebius Ring¡¯s Allen.

    ¡°So where do you guys wanna get off? You¡¯re not gonna tell me to ferry you all the way back to the capital, right?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be fine. There are regr flights from the Comatt system to the Dexer system, and once we arrive at the system governed by the earl, we¡¯ll be able to catch a direct flight to the capital.¡±

    ¡°I see. So we don¡¯t need to worry about sending you back huh.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s regrettable though.¡±

    ¡°We did live together for a month. Once Wamdo and the rest of the guys are gone, the ck Lotus will be all quiet again.¡±

    For a month, five separate rooms were upied by four media staff each, for a total of twenty media staff. These guys spent their time either in the ck Lotus or Krishna.

    In the first ce, ck Lotus felt too spacious with just me, Mimi, Elma, Mei, Tina, and Whisker staying in it, so it felt especially lively with an additional twenty media staff staying over. There were always other people rxing whenever I went to the break room, and we often ate meals together too, so it was especially lively. Once these twenty media staffs get off, it would certainly feel a bit lonesome around here.

    ¡°Hahaha! Once we¡¯re gone, you can finally flirt with Mimi-chan and Elma-san as much as you want, so you¡¯re actually happy, right, Captain?¡±

    ¡°If you tell us there¡¯s no such thing, it would sound like you¡¯re lying you know.¡±

    ¡°As they say, great heroes have a great fondness for sensual pleasures¡­¡­ By the way, what about those two from ourpany?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not that unscrupulous you know.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? I do think the two of them are young and beautiful though?¡±

    ¡°To us human¡¯s eyes, the two of them look a little too young¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You nailed it.¡±

    Wamdo tilted his head in puzzlement as Allenughed bitterly. I immediately seconded what Allen said. It¡¯s true that those two definitely look very cute, but they really looked far too young¡­¡­ Yes, I¡¯m well aware that both of them are full-fledged adult dwarvendies, but their outside appearance just doesn¡¯t reflect their age. I admit their appearance does cater to certain, uh, unique tastes though. They had their own special charm.

    ¡°Or rather, it¡¯s not like I absolutely have toy my hands on them the moment they boarded my ship¡­¡­ And the two of them have the right to decide who they want as a partner as well.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­You¡¯re unexpectedly quite the romantic, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°To be honest, your mentality doesn¡¯t seem like that of a mercenary¡¯s at all, Captain. You¡¯re too straightced. Or perhaps describing you as ¡®pure¡¯ or ¡®innocent¡¯ might be more appropriate.¡±

    ¡°Was that really apliment!?¡±

    Wamdo and Allenughed heartily at my reaction. Oh well. It did feel lonely when I think that I wouldn¡¯t be able to talk about stupid stuff with these guys like this soon.

    ¡°So we¡¯ll be taking a quick break at the Comatt Prime colony before we leave, right?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it fine? It¡¯s not like we¡¯re in a hurry to depart or anything. We just finished a big job after all. There¡¯s nothing bad about taking a break afterward.¡±

    After leaving the break room, I headed to Krishna¡¯s cockpit next and talked about our future ns with Mimi and Elma.

    ¡°We can¡¯t just leave Wamdo and the others to their own devices once the job is over too. We¡¯ll stay in the Comatt Prime colony until they can arrange a flight to the Dexer system. And during that time, I was thinking of checking out our next possible destinations.¡±

    ¡ºI think that¡¯s a fine idea.¡»

    Mei agreed with my proposal through the cockpit¡¯s main monitor. Mimi and Elma who were with me inside Krishna¡¯s cockpit seem to have no problems with my proposal as well.

    ¡°For the time being, we¡¯ll need to decide on where to build our home¡­¡­ But we can just build it anywhere suitable, right?¡±

    ¡°What kind of ce would be easy to live on?¡±

    ¡°It would be great if we could find a ce with a good climate. I don¡¯t likes with extremely high-temperature differences between night and day. And we also need to find a ce with good public order for the entire system. You¡¯d hate to find yourselves in the middle of a pirate attack or civil strife, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. I definitely wouldn¡¯t likes where orbital bombings from pirate ships fall from the sky regrly in addition to rain and snow.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s definitely no good!¡±

    Mimi strongly agreed with my words.

    ¡°In that case, we¡¯ll have to find a properly terraformed with good security, social order, and aprehensive climate control system in ce. Well, if we make use of our connections, I think it would be easy to secure one if we ask Earl Dareinwald.¡±

    ¡ºThere¡¯s a great possibility of you receiving preferential treatment in terms of purchase cost and taxes, Master. The fact that we will be living within Earl Dareinwald¡¯s territory will also prove beneficial for both parties as well.¡»

    ¡°Beneficial?¡±

    ¡ºIf Hiro-sama decides to settle somewhere within the Dexer system or here on Comatt system and treats the ce as your home base, the earl will be able to count on your help straight away whenever they have any trouble with pirates and other rogue elements. Even if nothingrge-scale happens, you would still be able to contribute to the overall security of the star system by hunting pirates on a regr basis. The Dareinwald House would also expect you to serve them to at least some capacity in exchange for favors. In other words, it¡¯s an exchange of benefits for both parties.¡»

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Since I¡¯ve basically be a noble in all but name, things like that woulde naturally huh. Well, that¡¯s just proof that my influence is way greaterpared to before, and I do feel pretty proud about it. But it¡¯s not good to get too carried away. I have to keep it low-key. Yep. Low-key. Well, not really all that low-key though. Yosh.

    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to Chris about buying somend to put up a houseter, but do you guys have any prospects about where we could go next? Where¡¯s a good ce?¡±

    ¡°Mm, it¡¯s a bit troublesome. I did gather some information about the mother systems of several races living in imperial territory though.¡±

    ¡°Hou. So what have you found out?¡±

    ¡°The ces we still haven¡¯t visited are Refill system which is the home system of the elves, Gkis system which is the home of the dwarves, Ammerzulu system which is the home of the Repilica, and the Cirrus system which is home to the Tekters.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve been to Refill II in the Refill system before. I was brought there by my mother and father when I was little. I was born and raised in the imperial capital, but they wanted me to also get to know my race¡¯s roots, so I was brought there for a visit.¡±

    ¡°Hou-¡±

    The mother systems of the different races are special after all huh?

    ¡°I haven¡¯t really thought about the human race¡¯s mother system all that much, but I was really moved when I got to see the imperial capital.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is huh?¡±

    It was a type of feeling I didn¡¯t really get. Well, it would be a lie if I said I didn¡¯t feel anything about the possibility of returning to Earth while riding on Krishna though. But I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll cause quite amotion once we arrive. They¡¯d probably tell me to cease my approach or something. There¡¯s a chance they¡¯d chase us with fighter jets.

    ¡°Oh, and there¡¯s something I just remembered.¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    ¡°Remember the drink you got on Sierra III? You know. The one you drank with a conflicted expression on your face. You had me drink that stuff as well, right? Its smell was quite simr to the medical infusion they had me drink on Refill II in the past.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Hou.¡±

    The drink Elma¡¯s talking about is probably root beer. The prototype of modern root beer was a beverage that¡¯s basically a mixture of various herbs and spices. It was then developed further into countless original recipes to create different takes on the drink. One particr recipe was c. In other words, there¡¯s a good chance that the home system of the elves, Refill II, has the necessary groundwork for the birth of c.

    ¡°Yosh. It¡¯s decided then. We¡¯ll head straight for Refill II.¡±

    ¡°Um, that sure was quick.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have said anything. Well, since it¡¯s Hiro, then I guess it¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    I think Elma was worried about something, but for me, it was more important to worry about whether or not we¡¯ll finally be able to discover c. Was there some sort of produce that¡¯s essential for making c on Refill II? Or maybe they already have developed a soft drink that¡¯s equivalent to c there? My entire thoughts were only upied by those points.

 Chapter 225 â€“ Naughty Girl

    <h4>Chapter 225 - Naughty Girl</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Our employment contract with Earl Dareinwald this time stiptes that we would work for him for at least one month. And after that period, depending on the circumstances, we could be re-contracted for a maximum period of three months.

    In this past month, we¡¯ve defeated a great number of pirates, crushed their main base, and fought off enemies supposedly rted to the Ixthermal House that¡¯s suspected of funding the pirates in order to mess with the Dareinwald House. It was a pretty hectic month.

    As a result, the pirates havein low during thest ten days, and the overall public security within the entire system has improved by quite a bit, if only temporarily. At least, that¡¯s what the recent data indicated.

    ¡°And so, that means your contract with the Dareinwald House is now officially over. Then¡­ Hiro-sama will soon fly away to somewhere out of my reach again, right?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Yeah, I guess.¡±

    I nodded honestly in reply.

    I was currently paying a visit to Chris¡¯ office on the Comatt Prime colony. The time right now was almost evening. Chris was sitting behind herrge office desk, and therge window behind her showed a magnificent night view of Comatt Prime in all its glory. On Comatt Prime, the artificial sunlight within the colony gets turned off between 6 in the evening until 5 A.M. the next day, simting nighttime.

    ¡°My feelings for you haven¡¯t changed, you know.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Uh.¡±

    I could barely mouth a reply to Chris who just confessed to me again while looking at me straight in the eye. If I was the type to say something witty in a situation like this, then I would probably be a qualifieddy killer, but unfortunately, that just ain¡¯t me.

    ¡°When will I be able to see you again, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡­ I¡¯m not sure.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is. Hiro-sama wouldn¡¯t want to meet with a troublesome girl like me if it¡¯s not for work.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true, okay! That¡¯s a bit too much, even for me!¡±

    While entering into a rtionship between a man and a woman with Chris was an absolute no-go due to the difference in age and status, that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯d totally distance myself from her. There are various issues, but I think most guys would feel good if a beautiful girl like Chris said she loved them. That includes me, of course.

    ¡°So does that mean you don¡¯t actually hate me, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m still not staying, okay.¡±

    Somehow, I felt like Chris¡¯ shining onyx pupils took on a strange hue and I stepped back involuntarily. I wonder what that was? It kinda feels like warning bells are going off inside my head for some reason.

    ¡°By the way, you went out alone today, right?¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah. Mimi and Elma stayed behind on the ship today¡­ And Mei seems busy performing final checks on the recording data sent to her by the mediapanies.¡±

    ¡°I see. I¡¯m feeling really worried, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Worried?¡±

    Chris touched her cheek with one hand as she tilted her head and disyed a troubled expression. I ended up tilting my head as well. Her weird state from earlier was gone, and she seemed genuinely worried for me this time.

    ¡°I think Hiro-sama will have more opportunities to be in contact with nobles from now on. Some of them could possibly covet Hiro-sama¡¯s prowess and your powerful starship, and would do everything to obtain them.¡±

    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll make sure to be careful.¡±

    I nodded obediently to Chris¡¯ words. There certainly was a good chance of us attracting the attention of such individuals. As I resolved myself to be more careful and raised my head to face Chris once more, I found her smiling widely as she put her hands on her clothes for some reason.

    ¡°What are you-?¡±

    ¡°Kyaaa-!¡±

    Chris suddenly raised her voice. Uh, she¡¯s practically screaming, ain¡¯t she? But the volume and pitch of her scream were oddly in monotone.

    ¡°Y-You can¡¯t, Hiro-sama-¡±

    ¡°Eh? Eeh!?¡±

    Chris¡¯ hands slowly moved as she undid the buttons and sps of her dress one after the other. She loosened her dress and slightly revealed a glimpse of her bra and her neck, which turned a faint cherry pink in hue. Whoah! Now hold on! Hold it right there, girl!

    ¡°Ahn, that¡¯s no good, Hiro-sama. You¡¯re too rough-¡±

    ¡°Wai-!? Wha-!? The heck are you doing?¡±

    ¡°And finally, I just need to press this button to call in security.¡±

    ¡°STAAAAAHP!?¡±

    As Chris began to reach for a small egg-shaped object on top of her desk, I rushed toward her and held her wrist tightly to prevent her reckless move.

    ¡°Ufufu. If someone were to see us right now, you wouldn¡¯t be able to make excuses, you know.¡±

    Chris giggled mischievously as she looked up at my face with a provocative glint in her eyes. Her flushed cheeks, moist lips, and white neck made her seem strangely alluring for some reason and I couldn¡¯t help but turn my head away.

    ¡°Chris, a prank like this isn¡¯t funny, okay. No matter how close we are, something like this still isn¡¯t good.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m sorry. But I truly meant it when I said you need to be careful, okay?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­About what?¡±

    The instant I turned back toward Chris, she raised her free left hand and hooked it over my neck. And then, she pulled me over to nt a kiss on my lips.

    I stiffened up for a bit after being briefly assaulted with a soft sensation on my lips. Chris looked at my flushed face with upturned eyes.

    ¡°A sneaky and vile noblewoman might attempt to forcibly establish a rtionship with you like this you know. So you can¡¯t meet with any other nobledies alone aside from me, okay?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes.¡±

    What the heck? I crossed swords with nobles and won, survived battles with ferocious Twisteds and that stupidly huge Grappler, and dealt with that four-armed monster, but I actually ended up being caught by Chris like this huh.

    Perhaps she was satisfied with my obedient reply. Chris quickly separated herself from me while sporting an expression akin to a mischievous cat. She then buttoned up her dress again, but made sure to unt her actions in front of me. She was obviously provoking me, but I didn¡¯t move an inch. It would be a disaster if I get turned into a lolicon!

    ¡°¡­¡­I don¡¯t mind making our rtionship an established fact here and now, you know?¡±

    ¡°Stop tempting me¡­¡­ Sheesh. It¡¯s only been a short while since we parted ways, and before I knew it, you¡¯ve be quite a naughty girl, haven¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°A girl grows up really fast you know.¡±

    Oh, I know. Especially girls in love, I guess.

    I couldn¡¯t do anything but shut my mouth as Chris continued to smile at me.

    ¡°Girls are scary.¡±

    ¡°Is this an acute onset of gynophobia?¡±

    Mei made ament that was kinda off the mark as she tilted her head.

    Uh, it¡¯s really not all that serious y¡¯know. It¡¯s just that before I left, that girl gave me these parting words: Pleasee see me again soon, alright. If you take too long, I might just tell my dear grandfather various things hidden in my heart because of loneliness. Who knows what would happen after? See? I couldn¡¯t help but get the shivers after hearing that. Well, it¡¯s Chris, so she¡¯s probably just joking. She¡¯s joking, right?

    ¡°No, I¡¯m okay. Probably. Yep, there¡¯s definitely no problem.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? That¡¯s for the best.¡±

    Mei nodded as she proceeded to disy several videos on the main screen of ck Lotus¡¯ cockpit. The videos were of Krishna destroying an enemy pirate ship, an imperial military battleship performing a barrage, Krishna and other starships annihting Grapplers and Bulls through close air support, and Lt. Col. Serena and my figures brandishing swords in the middle of a raging sandstorm.

    ¡°I have finished checking all the video data sent for review by all four mediapanies. I have deleted everything that mightpromise our ship¡¯s security.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. It must have been hard on you?¡±

    ¡°It took some time, but it wasn¡¯t hard at all.¡±

    ¡°Maybe so, but I still want to thank you. I¡¯d even like to give you a reward, but what sort of reward do you actually want, Mei?¡±

    Basically, Mei didn¡¯t seem to have any materialistic desires, and she didn¡¯t want to get paid a sry either. So I don¡¯t have any idea how I could even reward her.

    ¡°A reward?¡±

    ¡°Yep. A reward. Even if it¡¯s in your nature to work for me unconditionally as a maidroid, since you¡¯re always doing your best, I¡¯d still like to give you a reward, Mei.¡±

    ¡°I see. Well then-¡±

    Mei spread her arms wide while sporting her usual deadpan expression. It¡¯s like she was asking for a hug.

    ¡°Please embrace me.¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    ¡°A maidroid¡¯s energy can be replenished by particles called masternium, which can be obtained whenever their masters embrace them. It also has the additional effect of improving their overall performance.¡±

    ¡°Hm? Well, if just a hug, then sure.¡±

    ¡°Please.¡±

    Was that supposed to be a maidroid joke or something? I stood up, spread my arms, and wrapped them tightly around the expectant Mei. After I did so, Mei wrapped her arms around my body as well and hugged me back. I wonder why Mei smells so good even though she¡¯s supposed to be a machine? I think her body warmthes from the residual heat given off by her power generator or something. Her muscle fibers and skeletal frame are supposed to be made out of special alloys, but her body was still as soft as that of a biological woman. In fact, I think that she might be the most mysterious existence I encountered in this dimension. Yep. Even more so than Krishna or ck Lotus.

    Mei and I hugged each other for a good while, and then naturally separated. And after our mysterious hugging session, Mei¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t as deadpan as usual. She actually seemed happy and content. The corners of her mouth were ever so slightly raised to form a faint smile.

    ¡°Have you managed to get your fill of masternium?¡±

    ¡°Yes. My processing capacity has improved by 4%.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great.¡±

    It was probably just a maidroid joke, but it would be amazing if that hugging session really did manage to improve her processing capacity by 4%. That way, if I hugged Mei every day, Mei¡¯s overall performance would probably increase by more than twofold.

    Now then, we would finally bid goodbye to this star system after the media guysplete their travel arrangements. I kinda feel like we¡¯re forgetting something, but it shouldn¡¯t be that big of a deal.

    I¡¯m a bit curious about what Earl Ixthermal will do next and whether or not that four-armed monstrosity was really Geritz, but it¡¯s not like I really need to know. The risk thates with getting a glimpse of the truth was too much, and the price was too high in exchange for simply satisfying my personal curiosity. If I do find out what¡¯s really going on somehow, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll be targeted by Earl Ixthermal. We better leave as soon as our preparations are finished then.

 Chapter 226 â€“ To Our Next Goal

    <h4>Chapter 226 - To Our Next Goal</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The media staff have all disembarked and we¡¯ve finished restocking our supplies as well. ck Lotus and Krishna were all set for departure. We¡¯ve sold all of the captured ships, and the mechanic sisters were now enjoying their well-earned break. It seems the two of them drank till they droppedst night, and they showed no signs ofing out of their room even when it¡¯s already noon. Mei said their vitals were stable, so they were simply just sleeping.

    ¡°Hm, it¡¯s kind of a waste to leave port without even buying any souvenirs or trading goods.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. Comatt Prime¡¯s booming right now so everything¡¯s more expensive than usual.¡±

    ¡°I guess we have no choice but to stop by some trading colonies along the way to look for some good items.¡±

    It would have been nice to stock up on trading goods before departing to earn some small change, but just like Elma said, the prices of goods have steeply risen in the Comatt Prime colony, so it just wasn¡¯t worth the trouble. You¡¯d profit a lot more by bringing stuff from outside and selling them here though.

    ¡°Mei, have you finished setting the route to Refill system?¡±

    ¡ºYes. Everything went smoothly. We can depart any time.¡»

    ¡°Understood. We¡¯re not in a rush, so we¡¯ll try to drop by some trading colonies along the way. Let¡¯s find some stuff that we can sell in the Refill system.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood. I shall include visits to all trading colonies we¡¯ll pass by from here to the Neeparc system¡¯s gate in our voyage schedule.¡»

    ¡°Please do. Okay then. Let¡¯s get going.¡±

    ¡ºYes. I will begin the departure procedures.¡»

    After saying so, Mei¡¯s image disappeared from the holo-disy. After a short while, ck Lotus started to move. Since there were no actual windows that would allow us to see the scenery outside within ck Lotus¡¯ break room, we checked out the images captured by the external optical sensors through the holo-disy instead.

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ara-¡­¡­¡±

    Mei should be controlling the optical sensor. The image captured by the optical sensor disyed the figure of a certain person.

    It was the figure of a woman in a white military uniform with arge sword strapped to her waist. At first nce, she seems to be sending the departing ck Lotus off with a smile, but¡­¡­ her smile didn¡¯t actually reach her eyes.

    ¡°Hiro, you didn¡¯t inform Lt. Col. Serena we were leaving¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡­ Wahaha.¡±

    I see. So that¡¯s why I felt I forgot something. I actually forgot to say goodbye to Lt. Col. Serena. Hahaha.

    Perhaps she was aware we were looking at her through the optical sensor. She mouthed some words at the camera.

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ You - owe - me - one - okay?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that just too high-handed¡­¡­?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but retort to the words Mimi interpreted from the movements of Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s lips. If anything, wasn¡¯t I the one who helped Lt. Col. Serena out this time around? Well, I do think it was thoughtless of me to forget saying goodbye, okay! Really, I do!

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, I suppose it¡¯s Hiro¡¯s fault this time.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Un, I can¡¯t make excuses for him this time. Sorry, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­?¡±

    I protested the instant verdict given by the two of them, but my objection was overruled. Dammit. To think my crew would betray me here.

    ck Lotus finally left the Comatt Prime colony, and Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s figure disappeared from the monitor. Let¡¯s just pray she won¡¯t hold me ountable and make another unreasonable demand the next time we meet.

    ¡ºThe course has been set. FTL Drive, charging start. Countdown. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1¡­¡­ FTL Drive, activate.¡»

    A booming sound rang out right after Mei¡¯s announcement, and the stars on the holo-disy turned into light streams that flowed backward.

    ¡°We¡¯ll reach the Refill system by passing through the gateways on Neeparc system, Uerick system, Ziegle system, and Melkitt system, right?¡±

    ¡°It looks like we¡¯ll have a peaceful journey this time¡­¡­ It¡¯s going to be peaceful, right?¡±

    ¡°Maybe. Probably. No, surely.¡±

    After checking the gxy map, I saw that the Refill system was one that boasts one of the highest levels of public security within the empire. In other words, the imperial military presence there was widespread, the trouble caused by pirates was minimal, and the threat of invasion from other countries or space monsters was also low.

    However, this also meant that there were few job opportunities for mercenaries like us. It wasn¡¯t an especially appealing star system for mercenaries.

    ¡°I hope it really would be okay¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s with that? Is there really something we need to be worried about?¡±

    ¡°Un¡­¡­ Well, it¡¯ll probably be okay.¡±

    Elma was being all ambiguous. It was unusual for Elma, who was normally quite straightforward¡­¡­ Well, she wasn¡¯t all that straightforward when ites to things rted to nobles and her family though. In other words, there really might be something troublesome over there, and it¡¯s likely rted to her or her family.

    ¡°We won¡¯t be meeting a siscon brother-inw or cousin this time around, are we?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing of the sort¡­¡­ Well, it would be better to see it for yourselves once we get there.¡±

    ¡°No, just tell us what¡¯s up right now, okay¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s something really hard to exin through words.¡±

    Elma smiled bitterly after saying so. Doesn¡¯t it seem that we¡¯ll encounter some really troublesome stuff again?

    I guess it¡¯s just like always, but I¡¯d like to live out a more normal and stable mercenary life though.

    I let out a resigned sigh, rested my back on the break room¡¯s sofa, and looked up dazedly at the ceiling.

 Chapter 227 â€“ Refill System

    <h4>Chapter 227 - Refill System</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I woke up due to the feeling of someone poking me on the cheek.

    I looked up at the familiar ceiling while still feeling half-asleep. The room¡¯s lighting was dim and easy on the eyes.

    I moved my neck to try and get away from the finger poking my cheek, but it was in vain. The devilish finger still continued to poke my cheek.

    I guess I have no choice. I gave up and opened my eyespletely to see who the offender was.

    ¡°Good morning.¡±

    ¡°Good morning.¡±

    The culprit was Elma. She peered at my face with a grin resembling that of the Cheshire Cat¡¯s.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about how innocent your sleeping face actually looks, Hiro. It was so cute.¡±

    ¡°Now look here¡­¡­¡±

    Well, I sure as heck don¡¯t have a face resembling a damn boulder or something, but I don¡¯t really think I¡¯m anything close to being baby-faced. Oh, didn¡¯t they say something about Asians looking younger than their age from the perspective of Westerners back on Earth? Maybe I looked younger than my actual age in Elma¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯m still just a bratpared to Elma-oneechan.¡±

    I retorted sarcastically as I got up from the bed with a yawn. No matter how you looked at her, she only seemed to be in her early twenties. Heck, she could probably pass off as a teenager even. But, as evidenced by her long and pointed ears, Elma was an elf. Contrary to her young appearance, she was actually twice as old as me. I¡¯m not sure what her exact age is though.

    In her eyes, perhaps someone who hasn¡¯t even reached his thirties like me was still just a young brat.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey?¡±

    I turned my gaze toward Elma who suddenly got all quiet and found her disying a surprised expression that was strangely frozen in ce. What¡¯s up with her? Was there something that made her all stiff like this?

    ¡°I-It¡¯s nothing. Yeah, nothing. C¡¯mon. Hurry and get up already.¡±

    Elma, whose face turned bright red, hurriedly turned away and quickly left the room. Since it was so sudden, the moment I reacted, I was only able to get a glimpse of her retreating back.

    ¡°¡­¡­What the heck?¡±

    Seriously. What the heck was that all about?

    ¡°Boss, did you have a fight with Elma or something?¡±

    Ady who looked like a young girl with bright red hair prodded me from across the table. She wasn¡¯t really as young as she looked. In fact, she was actually the same age as me.

    ¡°No. I haven¡¯t really done anything to upset her, I think¡­¡­¡±

    I took a quick shower after getting up and proceeded to have breakfast in the dining area of the break room. I was just doing my usual routine, but for some reason, Elma kept avoiding me. As soon as she catches sight of me, she would either hide quickly or leave the room.

    ¡°It was Elma-san¡¯s turn to wake big brother up today, right? Did something happen when she did so?¡±

    A blue-haireddy whose face looked simr to the red-haireddy inquired. She was the red-haireddy¡¯s twin sister. They were actually not humans, but dwarves. The women of their race all looked like young girls even as adults. Even though they looked delicate, they were physically much stronger than an adult human male, so if you hit on them thinking that they were powerless to resist, you¡¯d get another thinging.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think I did anything that would make her angry back then. ¡­Well, she did keep poking my cheek and said my sleeping face was cute, so I acted like a kid and called her Elma-oneechan. That¡¯s all I did.¡±

    ¡°Un¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°It certainly doesn¡¯t seem like something worth being angry about, right?¡±

    Well, it did involve age so I suppose that¡¯s something that might get on the nerves of some people. But in the first ce, Elma wasn¡¯t the type to get angry if you mention her age. The twin sisters in front of me haven¡¯t spent as much time with Elma as I have, but I could tell that much since we¡¯ve been together for a while.

    ¡°Right! Wasn¡¯t Elma the youngest child in her family?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡±

    Elma had an elder brother and an elder sister. She was actually the youngest daughter.

    After hearing her twin elder sister Tina¡¯s words, the little sister Whisker hit her palm with a fist as if in realization.

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t she simply surprised because you suddenly called her Elma-oneechan?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ That¡¯s a thing?¡±

    It was something hard for me to rte to. In other words, she was hit by the so-called gap moe[1] effect? Elma was? And I caused it? Really?

    ¡°Well, she¡¯ll probably get back to normal after a while. In any case, we¡¯re about to arrive, right, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. We should be arriving soon.¡±

    The mother star system of the elves, the Refill system, was just around the corner.

    ¡°Good morning, you two.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Hiro-sama!¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Master.¡±

    When I entered the cockpit of our mothership, ck Lotus, I found two women already inside. Both of them greeted me back in turn.

    The girl with light-brown hair who called me Hiro-sama was Mimi.

    I saved her from a dangerous situation while wandering around a colony a while back, and after some twists and turns, she became a part of my crew. At first, she was a total amateur. But she gradually increased her skills, and now, she not only served as a first-ss ship operator but also handled everything rted to supplies and trading with our mothership, ck Lotus. She was now an invaluable part of our crew.

    In fact, she was actually an emperor¡¯s grand-niece. In other words, she was the granddaughter of the emperor¡¯s younger sister. She could have managed to join the imperial family but said that she would rather be just a regr colony citizen from Termaine Prime instead. And now, she¡¯s still with us.

    The name of the jet-ck-haired beautifuldy who called me ¡®Master¡¯ was Mei. She looked like a regr human at first nce, but she¡¯s actually a maidroid - in other words, a maid robot.

    She was generously customized with high-end parts, and she boasted exceptional performance as a maidroid. She not only worked as a maid but also a starship pilot,bat specialist, among other things. She was my ideal vision of ¡®the ultimate maid¡¯ given form. She also served as my mentor in swordsmanship. She was a strict mentor whose training policy was the embodiment of the saying¡ºNo pain, no gain.¡»

    ¡°We will be arriving in the Refill system soon. The estimated time of arrival is twenty-two minutes from now.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha. Once we arrive in the Refill system, we¡¯ll sortie with Krishna first to facilitate quick response to possible emergencies before heading together to Refill Prime colony with the Lotus.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Mei nodded and epted my instructions without any qualms. On the other hand, Mimi tilted her head curiously.

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t we still be able to perform a quick emergency sortie in case something happens even if we stayed inside the Lotus?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we could. But that¡¯s assuming nothing really serious happens¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­ I see.¡±

    The light disappeared from Mimi¡¯s eyes as she showed signs of resigning herself to fate. I was probably making the same expression.

    ¡°Judging from the usual patterns we find ourselves in most of the time, it¡¯s very possible that we¡¯ll encounter some sort of trouble along the way. So we¡¯ll get into formation first so we can flexibly deal with anything that mighte our way. I see. It¡¯s a very rational n.¡±

    Mei concluded things on her own. Or rather, an advanced AI like Mei actually confirmed there really was a regr pattern after all. Ain¡¯t that kinda bad?

    ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s how it is. Sorry, but I¡¯ll have to leave the Lotus to you again, Mei. Head on over to Krishna to prep forunch, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Please leave it to me, Master.¡±

    I nodded back to the two of them and headed out of the cockpit along with Mimi.

    ¡°So that¡¯s why Elma¡¯s acting a little bit weird.¡±

    ¡°Un? So something like that happened?¡±

    I continued discussing with Mimi until we got to Krishna¡¯s cockpit and found Elma already standing by inside it. I did send her data terminal a message earlier so I suppose she immediately headed for the cockpit as soon as she saw it. The ck Lotus¡¯ cockpit was located near the center of the ship, so it was a bit far from the hangar that Krishna was parked in.

    ¡°I¡¯ve finished the systems check. I¡¯m now running the ship¡¯s diagnostic program.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯m d you¡¯re back to your usual self now.¡±

    ¡°It was nothing, okay. Just forget it.¡±

    Apparently, Elma didn¡¯t want to talk further about her strange behavior in the morning. Well, maybe letting things slide here is an instance of what you¡¯d call a warrior¡¯spassion huh. I¡¯m no warrior though.

    ¡°The ship¡¯s perfect. She¡¯s practically like she¡¯s brand new.¡±

    She muttered the result she got from the diagnostics program. Afterward, Tina and Whisker appeared on the cockpit¡¯s main screen.

    ¡ºWell of course she is. We¡¯re very thorough y¡¯know?¡»

    Tina ced her hands on her hips and puffed out her meager chest on the other side of the screen. The dwarf sisters Tina and Whisker were both excellent starship engineers. However, they¡¯re not official crew members of Krishna and ck Lotus but were instead sent to us by thepany they¡¯re working for, Space Dwerg, along with my purchase of the Lotus from them¡­ But they¡¯ve recently be quite familiar with life on the ships. Isn¡¯t it about time for the two of them to resign from Space Dwerg and be official crew members already? That¡¯s what I think anyway.

    ¡°I guess we have to take our hats off to you guys huh. By the way, have you guys prepared your hearts yet?¡±

    ¡º¡ºPrepared our hearts?¡»¡»

    ¡°We¡¯ll be staying around the Refill system for a while, so we might use the ship to bait pirates again.¡±

    After hearing my words, the two exchanged looks, nodded to each other, and took out a spanner and wrench from who knows where.

    ¡ºPlease do it in moderation, okay?¡»

    ¡ºDon¡¯t go overboard, okay, Boss?¡»

    ¡°Okay¡­¡±

    I sumbed to their not-so-subtle persuasion. Well, even though I spoke surrender, I don¡¯t n on holding back though. Even if they weren¡¯t official crew members, I still want them to focus their effort on working as long as they¡¯re still tagging along with us. And then we¡¯ll make more money together. Perfect, ain¡¯t it?

    [1] TL Notes: Gap Moe is when a character does somethingpletely contradictory to what their usual habits/personality/character/appearance dictates. For example, a super serious and super strict character suddenly acting like an innocent maiden. Or in this case, Hiro acting like a younger boy. It triggered Elma¡¯s inner shotacon XD

 Chapter 228 â€“ The Usual Pattern

    <h4>Chapter 228 - The Usual Pattern</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    We finally exited the multicolored hyperspace tunnel that was bad for the eyes. ck Lotus transitioned into normal space. I wonder when it was that I began to feel an inexplicable sense of security whenever I saw the twinkling sea of stars from beyond the ship¡¯s canopy. It looks like I¡¯ve gradually adapted myself to this dimension already.

    ¡°Yosh, let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Opening the hangar hatch. Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Launch!¡±

    After a short round of charging, Krishna wasunched out of the ck Lotus¡¯ hangar by the electromaic catapult into outer space. The sense of release and freedom you get the instant you jump out into the sea of stars was, for me, iparable.

    ¡°Just like what we discussed, our next destination is the Refill Prime colony.¡±

    ¡ºRoger. I will now set the course to Refill Prime colony.¡»

    ¡°Requesting FTL Drive synchronization.¡±

    ¡ºSynchronization epted. FTL Drive, charging start.¡»

    ¡°Set the radar¡¯s range to the maximum. If you spot something suspicious, notify me immediately.¡±

    ¡º¡¸Aye, aye, sir!¡¹¡»

    Mimi and Mei replied simultaneously. Meanwhile, Elma seems to be calmly performing a subsystems check next. As for me, I didn¡¯t have anything to do at the moment. That¡¯s because it¡¯s my crew members who handle the ship¡¯s navigation,munication, and control of the subsystems. My role is to takemand during emergencies and pilot the ship in order to deal with said emergencies.

    ¡ºCountdown. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1¡­¡­ FTL Drive, activate.¡»

    A roaring sound echoed throughout the cockpit, and ck Lotus and Krishna broke off into the void while leaving behind light trails.

    ¡°I sure hope nothing bad happens this time.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡­ But-¡±

    ¡°Our bad luck levels are seriously just too hardcore after all. I¡¯d find it weirder if we didn¡¯t find ourselves neck-deep in trouble, honestly.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­ Ah-¡±

    Mimi, who smiled bitterly, suddenly noticed something. She operated her console and put up the image she was looking at on the main screen. It looks like she picked up a ship signature on the subspace radar while we were using FTL navigation¡­¡­ But that signature is-

    ¡°They use that to tag criminals, right¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t there some news about a ship that went at it with the imperial military recently?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, there was.¡±

    While listening to Mimi and Elma¡¯s exchange, I quickly operated my console and canceled the FTL synchronization with the ck Lotus. I then nudged the flight stick to change course in order to follow after the ship with the criminal tag.

    ¡°Make sure to catch up with uster, ck Lotus.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood. Good luck, Master.¡»

    While navigating via FTL, a ship would be more difficult to handle, but even so, a smallbat ship like Krishna was still far more agile and responsive than ck Lotus. If we¡¯re gonna tail a ship using FTL, it would be better for Krishna to act solo.

    ¡°The other party¡¯s movements are quite sluggish. A medium-ss, maybe? Or perhaps arge-ss?¡±

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s stick to them. Have the interdictor on stand-by.¡±

    ¡°This is gonna be our first time to interdict another ship ourselves huh.¡±

    Interdiction is the act of forcibly stopping a ship while it¡¯s using FTL navigation. I¡¯m not clear about the detailed processes behind it, but interdiction is performed by grabbing the behind of a target ship via the use of a jamming device called an interdictor which makes use of gravity control technology.

    In other words, it¡¯s like performing a dogfight at faster than light speeds.

    ¡°Hahaha, and where do you think you¡¯re going, buddy?¡±

    Of course, the side on the receiving end of interdiction would try their hardest to escape being interdicted.

    In order to throw my aim off, they started speeding up and zigzagging around, but I¡¯m not the kind of pilot those kinds of tricks will work on. By the way, we¡¯d be able to interdict them sessfully the moment they reduce speed to a certain level, so if they get careless using those erratic maneuvers, it¡¯ll be an instant game over.

    ¡°It looks like we were right on the money.¡±

    ¡°No need to hold back against a ship with a criminal tag. We¡¯re engaging them inbat as soon as we catch them.¡±

    ¡°¡±Aye, aye, sir!¡±

    Shortly after Elma and Mimi¡¯s reply, we finally interdicted the opponent, and both Krishna and the enemy ship were thrown back into normal space. And right after a sessful interdiction, the target would then be put into a terrible situation.

    ¡°Ah, what a tragedy.¡±

    I activated our weapon systems as I watched therge-ss starship that looked decidedly like a pirate ship spin around in space uncontrobly.

    A ship forcibly yanked out from subspace while navigating via FTL would usually experience violent multi-axis rotations just like what¡¯s happening here. They say it¡¯s caused by the leftover kic energy after an interrupted FTL navigation, but I¡¯m not sure about the detailed theory.

    And of course, when a ship is like that, they¡¯d be wide open to attacks by their opponents. So if there wasn¡¯t a chance of getting away or if you didn¡¯t intend to run in the first ce, it would be better to just purposely drop your speed and ept the interdiction to avoid such a situation.

    Since I came to this dimension, there have been a couple of times where I was on the receiving end of interdiction, and I slowed down to ept the interdiction every time. And this is the reason why.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna punch right through their shields straight away.¡±

    ¡°That would be best.¡±

    There¡¯s no need to grant mercy onto a ship with a criminal tag. I fired a volley from all four heavy-caliberser cannons at the pirate ship that was still spinning about wildly. In that situation, other than the cockpit that¡¯s protected by an inertial control system, the other sections of the ship should be in an absolute mess.

    ¡°Enemy ship¡¯s shields are down.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s aim for the thrusters next.¡±

    After peeling off their shields, I¡¯m gonna crush their thrusters next. Once that¡¯s done, therge-ss ship will be stripped of its mobility. Afterward, I¡¯ll just have to destroy their defensive turrets from a blind spot and they¡¯ll bepletely naked.

    ¡ºS-Stop! We have hostages here you know!?¡»

    ¡°And? No matter how many of the hostages die, the bounties on your heads wouldn¡¯t decrease, right?¡±

    In the first ce, we didn¡¯t know if they really had hostages or not, and there was no guarantee of a sessful rescue in this situation.

    Whether it¡¯s a good Samaritan filled with a phnthropic spirit, an innocent child, or an imperial aristocrat with a lofty title, all will be treated as good as dead once captured by pirates.

    In fact, even if an innocent party loses his or her life after a pirate ship gets shot down, the attacking party will not be charged under gcticw. Otherwise, we would not be able to hunt pirates down if they knew using human shields would be effective.

    ¡°The only ones who would fall for such a trick are absolute amateurs.¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t really care about every little thing after all.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Elma gets me, but Mimi just gasped silently. I couldn¡¯t see Mimi¡¯s face right now since we¡¯re in the middle of activebat, but I imagine her face should have already turned blue. Well, it¡¯ll take some time to get used to things like this anyway¡­¡­ Or rather, I actually had it in me to honestly ignore the lives of the hostages huh? Perhaps I was just insensitive to the life and death of others.

    ¡°We¡¯ve crushed their arms and legs. What now?¡±

    I mulled over those thoughts as I took out all of the enemy¡¯s thrusters, missileunchers, and other secondary weapon systems. And then, Elma called my attention. Well, it¡¯s no use dwelling on stuff like that anyway. I guess that just goes to show how much I¡¯ve limatized to this dimension and my role as a mercenary. I better not think too deeply about it.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡­ Since they¡¯re a ship with a criminal tag, it would be best to hand them over to the imperial military if a patrol arrives, but-¡±

    Before I could finish my words, arge, dark silhouette appeared within the sector after a booming roar. It was the ck Lotus.

    ¡°Since the ck Lotus is already here, we should just subjugate them ourselves. I need to engage in melee fights from time to time or my skills will be rusty.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be dangerous though?¡±

    ¡°Since the enemies are pirates, I wouldn¡¯t be at a disadvantage. We havebat bots too. Also, this would be a great opportunity to train Mimi for meleebat operations.¡±

    I gave her a nce and found Mimi¡¯s expression all tensed up. Yep. She¡¯s done it more than a few times already using the simtor, but there¡¯s nothing like live practice after all. I¡¯ll have her do her best here.

    ¡°Man, what a blunder.¡±

    I nned to have Krishnae alongside the pirate ship and board it first, then have thebat bots use ck Lotus¡¯ drop pods to follow afterward, but I realizedter that I actually left my power armor inside ck Lotus.

    And so, I was going to engage in meleebat without wearing a power armor this time. Well, I do have a portable shield generator with me anyway. I even had a pressurizedbat suit that would allow me to survive getting thrown into outer space for approximately three hours, so I think I¡¯ll be fine.

    ¡ºAre you really going to be okay? There¡¯s no need to push yourself, Hiro-sama.¡»

    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. If it gets really dangerous, I¡¯ll just hide in a corner somewhere and leave all the work to thebat bots.¡±

    I replied to the worried Mimi as I checked my equipment. This time, I¡¯ll be bringing my long and short swords as well as my trustyser gun. I also brought three shock grenades, two sma grenades, and a spare energy pack. I also wore my chameleon stealth cloak.

    I was contemting whether or not to bring aser rifle along as well but decided against it since longer weapons might prove difficult to handle while performing meleebat in tight spaces. Ship interiors are generally tight spaces after all. Aser gun would be more convenient.

    ¡ºApproachplete. Breaching hull.¡»

    ¡ºThe drop pods are ready too. We can charge inside at any time.¡»

    ¡°Please have thebat bots infiltrate first. I¡¯ll take control of the cockpit while they¡¯re busy.¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir. Good luck, Master.¡»

    As we had our exchange, we finallypleted opening a breach on the enemy ship¡¯s hull in order to allow us to charge inside.

    ¡ºBreachingplete. Please be careful.¡»

    ¡°Gotcha. Commence boarding.¡±

    Krishna¡¯s hatch opened, and I made my way to the breach on the hull of the enemy pirate ship to rush inside it. The ce we opened was apparently the outer hatch of the enemy ship¡¯s cargo hold. I faced no enthusiastic weingmittee. They were probably busy dealing with all thebat bots.

    ¡°This is Snake[1]. I¡¯ve sessfully infiltrated the enemy pirate ship.¡±

    ¡ºShouldn¡¯t an infiltrator¡¯s codename be Mouse?¡»

    ¡°So it¡¯s Mouse in this dimension huh¡­¡­¡±

    It looks like it was standard for a mouse to infiltrate stuff in this dimension instead of a snake. How unfortunate.

    ¡°This looks like a cargo hold. Can we get a map of the ship somehow?¡±

    ¡ºUm¡­¡­ There¡¯s a console on the wall to your left. Please connect yourm terminal there, Hiro-sama.¡»

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    I followed Mimi¡¯s guidance and found the console. I then connected my portablem terminal to it via a data cord. Mimi then proceeded to crack the database of the pirate ship in order to get detailed info on it.

    ¡ºUm¡­¡­ I¡¯ve finished getting the info. I¡¯ll put up the info on the HUD of your helmet, Hiro-sama.¡»

    Immediately afterward, a 3D map of the ship interior was projected on the HUD of the airtightbat suit helmet I was wearing. It was definitely arge-ss ship. It was pretty huge.

    ¡°Please indicate a route to the cockpit. I¡¯ll begin the suppression operation.¡±

    ¡ºA-Aye, aye, sir.¡»

    ¡°Calm down, Mimi. Take three deep breaths and focus.¡±

    I headed for the cargo hold¡¯s exit while listening to Mimi take deep breaths three times over thems. I was curious about what they¡¯re carrying, but I¡¯ll have to take control of the cockpit first.

    ¡°I¡¯m leaving the cargo hold.¡±

    ¡ºYes. Leave the support to me.¡»

    ¡ºBe careful Hiro.¡»

    As I listened to the replies of the twodies, I pulled out myser gun from its holster and released the safety.

    [1] Notes: A reference to Solid Snake from the Metal Gear Solid franchise.

 Chapter 229 â€“ Hack and Slash

    <h4>Chapter 229 - Hack and sh</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The security inside the ship was surprisingly quite thin. Nah. Perhaps they just had their hands full dealing with thebat bots that infiltrated with me.

    ¡ºDamn tin cans! You killed Joyce!¡»

    ¡ºPull him back if he¡¯s still breathing! Leeroy! Throw a shock grenade!¡»

    ¡ºOn it- Gyaaaaaaaah!?¡»

    ¡ºGoddammit! I¡¯m not gonna get f*cked up by damn tin cans!¡»

    The information-gathering program (a Malware-likeputer virus) Mimi sent to the console I found earlier inside the hold allowed me to pick up the privatem frequency of the pirates and sent the contents of their exchanges directly to my ears.

    ¡°Man. You¡¯ve be a super-hacker before I knew it¡­¡­ Impressive, Mimi.¡±

    ¡ºI didn¡¯t. I really didn¡¯t. I just made use of the cracking tool Mei-san designed, okay?¡»

    ¡ºWell, if it¡¯s just against pirate ships, even thosemercially avable cracking tools would probably be effective. Pirate ships basically don¡¯t get any software and security updates unless done in an illegal way after all.¡»

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Well, it¡¯s true that most pirate ships are ships stolen from their victims that are modified to their tastes. So it goes without saying that security-rted software updates aren¡¯t avable to them in order to avoid them being traced back by the authorities. And so, most of their ships are vulnerable to cyber attacks like what we just did. On some asions, you actually encounter rare pirate outfits with excellent tech know-how that sport security systems on par with the military, but those are really, really rare.

    ¡°Well, in any case, it¡¯s a good thing for us.¡±

    ¡ºI¡¯m d that it proved helpful. I¡¯m gonna do my best, Hiro-sama. Um, you¡¯ll encounter a T-junction after this. Turn left and head through the door.¡»

    ¡°Is it the cockpit?¡±

    ¡ºNo, that¡¯s not what it is. It looks like a holding cell for prisoners. I¡¯m looking at the state of the prisoners through the surveince cameras¡­¡­ It looks like one of them is seriously injured.¡»

    Mimi¡¯s tense voice came through thems.

    Injured people huh¡­¡­ I did bring some medical nanomachine units for emergency use, but I only had three of them. These are my lifelines if I ever get injured myself, so I really didn¡¯t want to use them unless it was necessary.

    ¡°¡­¡­Haa. Can you rece the image feed of the surveince camera?¡±

    ¡ºYes, please leave it to me. There¡¯s a keypad used to open the door next to it. You can find a maintenance socket below the keypad.¡»

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    I quickly approached the door, extended the data cord from my portable terminal, and jacked it into the maintenance socket. The door opened after a few moments. I hurriedly slipped inside the holding cell, and the door closed soon after. It would be bad if I got myself trapped inside after this, but it¡¯s okay since Mimi¡¯s already unlocked the room.

    When I nced around, I saw about ten prisoners huddled inside the not-so-spacious room. Their hands and feet were bound by handcuffs and shackles. They seem to have been robbed of most of their mobility.

    ¡°I¡¯m a mercenary initiating an attack on this ship right now. In other words, you can say I¡¯m here to rescue you guys. More or less, anyway.¡±

    After getting a good look at them, I saw that all of the prisoners were elves. Everyone¡¯s ears were pointed like Elma¡¯s. They were all beautiful-looking as well. I see. It can be said that elves were one of the most beautiful races in this world, so they were a prime target for pirates.

    It looks like there were more women than men. They all stared at me with wary eyes.

    ¡°I already destroyed this ship¡¯s weapon and propulsion systems. Thebat bots under mymand are dealing with the pirates as we speak. Forces from the imperial space navy and the system garrison should be arriving soon, so you¡¯re all pretty much saved.¡±

    ¡°C-Can we¡­¡­ really go home?¡±

    An especially beautifuldy among the already pretty elves asked me with a soft voice. I nodded and opened my mouth to reply.

    ¡°Perhaps. But I can¡¯t say for sure since I don¡¯t know how exactly you guys got captured. But you can all at least head back to the Refill Prime colony. Anything that happens after that will be up to the authorities. In any case, there is someone who suffered serious injuries among you, right? Myrades saw it through the surveince cams. I have some emergency medical nanomachine units here. We should be able to stabilize them and preserve their lives for the time being with these.¡±

    After saying that, I showed them the gun-type emergency nanomachine unit. They all became more vignt. They might have mistaken it for aser gun or something.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. This is medicine. It closes up wounds and stops bleeding. It¡¯s used to keep seriously injured people alive. I¡¯m gonna use it on the injured person, so please make way.¡±

    They exchanged gazes and whispered among themselves for a while before making way. I walked further in and crouched down beside the injured person.

    ¡°This is terrible. He hasser-inflicted as well as blunt trauma injuries. But he should be able to pull through with this.¡±

    I pressed the emergency nanomachine unit on the arm of a man with a semi-carbonizedser wound on his left shoulder and right nk. I¡¯m clear on how medical nanomachines work in this dimension, but in the game, they were able to recover 60% of your total health. I¡¯m not sure how much the situation of the injured person would improve, but at least he should be able to pull through.

    ¡°Yosh. This ship is already in outer space, andbat is being conducted onboard. So please stay here until everything is over. I¡¯ll tag this room for priority rescue so the imperial and system garrison troops should be able to rescue you all right away once they¡¯re here.¡±

    ¡°Understood¡­¡­ What about you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to proceed with taking control of this ship¡¯s cockpit. I want to settle everything before the imperial troops arrive.¡±

    If I don¡¯t take care of everything before the cavalry arrives, my reward would decrease after all. I couldn¡¯ty my hands on the elves who are likely the main cargo of this ship, but the cargo hold probably still has a lot of other valuable stuff. Most of the items stuffed inside the cargo hold of pirate ships are things like food cartridges, low-quality alcohol, and drugs. But since this was arge-ss ship with an equallyrge cargo hold filled with items, I should still be able to make a tidy profit off selling them.

    Besides, a rtively undamagedrge-ss ship apart from the weapon and propulsion systems would fetch a fairly good price as well. I¡¯m not sure what the market price is in the Refill System or how much demand there is, but the total earnings shouldn¡¯t fall below 1,000,000 Enels.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be going then. Just stay quietly inside here until rescuees.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­ Um, can I ask for your name, at least?¡±

    The beautifuldy who seems to be the group¡¯s representative asked, so I turned around and honestly answered.

    ¡°The name¡¯s Captain Hiro. I¡¯m thebat ship Krishna¡¯s owner, and a tinum-rank mercenary.¡±

    I left the holding cell and continued heading for the cockpit, but them channel of the pirates was much quieterpared to earlier. It¡¯s probably because the number capable of usingm devices has already been thinned substantially. Our trustybat bots seem to be working hard this time too.

    ¡ºHiro-sama, you¡¯ll be reaching the cockpit soon.¡»

    ¡ºHiro, the imperial forces are here.¡»

    ¡°Roger that. I¡¯m gonna finish this right away.¡±

    I responded while running through a narrow and dirty passage where things like soiled paper scraps and broken ss fragments are scattered about. The aisles and passages of pirate ships are generally narrow, dim, and impossibly dirty. Man. I¡¯m surprised they¡¯re actually able to stomach spending their days living inside pigsties like this. At least clean it a bit, dammit.

    ¡ºThe door isn¡¯t locked.¡»

    ¡°Ok, here I go.¡±

    I took a deep breath, opened the door, and burst inside the cockpit.

    ¡°-!¡±

    ¡°Wha-!? You-¡±

    I held my breath, quickly aimed at the head of one pirate, and fired away. A lethalser shotnded square in the middle of the forehead of the first pirate who noticed me. He was blown back after a small explosion. There were two more pirates.

    Perhaps startled by the sound ofser gunfire, the pirate sitting on the captain¡¯s seat turned a sideways nce toward my direction. I rushed further into the cockpit, aimed at his side profile, and fired. His head burst open from the side, and the body of the pirate sitting on the captain¡¯s seat fell to the floor.

    The third pirate sitting on the operator¡¯s seat tried to quickly get up, but by that time, I was already in front of him. While still holding myser gun in my right hand, I pulled out my sword with my left hand and cut the third pirate¡¯s right arm clean off. I brought the sword back down and pierced his heart through his left rib cage.

    If it was just a regr metal sword, it would have been stopped by the muscles and bones inside the guy¡¯s chest, but unfortunately for him, my sword had a reinforced mono-molecr de that cuts through even power armor. His muscles and bones were pierced very easily, and the sword instantly impaled the heart of the third pirate, tearing it apart. Just to be sure, I stabbed the de further in and severed the guy¡¯s spine to finish him offpletely.

    ¡°-Whew.¡±

    I managed to kill all three pirates in just one breath and exhaled loudly afterward. Since I just ughtered three people, the cockpit was drenched in blood. This was probably gonna earn me lots ofints from Tina and Whisker. Oh boy.

    ¡°This is Hiro. I¡¯vepleted clearing out the cockpit. I¡¯m proceeding to take control of the ship¡¯s systems next. Help me out Mimi.¡±

    ¡ºYes, Hiro-sama.¡»

    I swung my sword to get rid of the blood, ced it back on its sheath, extended the data cord from my portable terminal, and jacked it into the socket located on the cockpit¡¯s main control console. I immediatelyunched the externalmunication systems and called the imperial and system garrison forces that have just arrived.

    ¡°This is Captain Hiro, a tinum-rank mercenary affiliated with the Mercenary Guilds. I¡¯ve finished taking control of the pirate ship¡¯s cockpit. Currently, thebat bots under mymand are sweeping up the remaining pockets of resistance inside the ship. Also, I found some captured civilians onboard. There¡¯s also someone who received critical injuries. I¡¯ve sent you a full 3D map of the ship¡¯s interior and am requesting an immediate rescue for the civilians.¡±

    Anyway, this incident should be more or less settled. Afterpleting the clean-up of the ship interior, we¡¯ll just have to hand over the pirates who managed to survive and the captured elves. After that, we¡¯ll perform some temporary repairs on this ship, tow it to Refill Prime using ck Lotus,plete the procedures for cashing in this captured ship¡¯s cargo among other stuff¡­¡­ Sheesh. I mean, we did jump in straight away at the first sign, but we¡¯re starting off this trip with troublesome stuff right off the bat huh.

 Chapter 230 â€“ To the Refill Prime Colony

    <h4>Chapter 230 - To the Refill Prime Colony</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    When we went to them to hand over the pirates, we were detained by the system garrison and subjected to a stringent cross-examination¡­ Well, not really.

    ¡°We owe it to you all for wiping our behinds this time. We¡¯re sorry for the trouble, and are very grateful for your help.¡±

    The leader of the Refill system¡¯s local forces was currently bowing deeply toward me.

    After handing over the surviving pirates to the Refill star system garrison forces that arrived at the scene and took temporary custody of the captured elves, we towed therge-ss pirate ship we captured with ck Lotus and arrived at the Refill Prime colony.

    As soon as we arrived, a car from the system garrison headquarters on Refill Prime came, and the soldiers told us the top guy leading the local garrison forces, General Gem Dar, wanted to meet with me. And so, that brings us to our current situation.

    By the way, General Gem Dar was a dandy-looking handsome uncle with a neatly trimmed mustache. I wonder how old he actually is.

    ¡°As I said earlier General, it was all just a coincidence, so you don¡¯t really need to mind it. And besides, I had some ulterior motives when I dealt with them anyway.¡±

    I personally didn¡¯t act with the noble intent of rescuing the hostages, but simply wanted to capture a rtively intactrge-ss pirate ship, so I even went as far as engaging in a meleebat operation, so being thanked so profusely like this was kinda making me ufortable. Things only turned out the way they did because of a whim. In fact, depending on my mood back there, I could have just as easily decided to blow up the entire pirate ship along with all the hostages.

    ¡°If you say so, then let us just leave it at that then. However, just know that we are truly grateful. Thanks to you, the innocent lives of a number of our people were saved.¡±

    ¡°I understand. I understand, alright.¡±

    I seem to be really appreciated here, and it¡¯s honestly giving me a lot of pressure. The intensity of their gratitude is super high. It was really just a whim on my part, okay. Their feelings of gratitude directed toward me were so strong that I was actually getting cowed by it a bit. C¡¯mon man. The only reason I went for a boarding action was to capture the pirate ship and train Mimi for meleebat operations, okay.

    ¡°You can expect arge bounty reward and an official letter of appreciation in addition to the prize money from the military. It will take a few days for the paperwork, so please stay and rx in this colony for the meantime.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s convenient since we were nning on staying in this colony for a while anyway.¡±

    ¡°This colony? If you don¡¯t mind me asking, what is the reason for your visit to the Refill system?¡±

    ¡°Oh, we¡¯re just on a pleasure trip. One of my crew members is an elf you see. I heard about the mother system of the elves from her and thought I might be able to enjoy some rare delicacies and drinks here, as well as find some rare trading goods. Fortunately, all three crew members including myself have first-ss imperial citizenship, so we can apply for a surface trip on the.¡±

    ¡°Hou, all three crew members you say¡­¡­¡±

    General Gem Dar stroked his chin and acted all impressed.

    The citizenship system in the Gran empire was a bit tooplicated and strange from my point of view, but first-ss imperial citizenship was surprisingly simple. Citizens with first-ss citizenship could step foot on any colony or residential and live there if they so desire just as long as they followed andpleted certain procedures and the ces they went to weren¡¯t under any special restrictions by the empire. Furthermore, as long as it was a temporary visit and not an application for permanent residency, a person with first-ss citizenship could bring one or two additional persons with him or her¡­¡­ That¡¯s basically how it works.

    In other words, since I, Mimi, and Elma all had first-ss imperial citizenship, we could bring Tina, Whisker, and Mei with us as well. No, wait. Mei¡¯s a maidroid, so maybe she¡¯ll be treated as part of our equipment instead¡­¡­?

    ¡°But that truly is convenient. In fact, among the people you helped, there was a son and daughter of a prominent n on Refill IV.¡±

    ¡°Ah- ¡­¡­I see?¡±

    When I went inside the prisoner¡¯s holding cell of the pirate ship, I remember meeting the beautiful woman who remained calm as she talked to me even in the situation she was in, and a handsome guy who was shot bysers and had life-threatening injuries. Maybe it¡¯s those two?

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll just consider the matter once they actuallye to me for a talk or something.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that would be for the best. But from what I¡¯ve seen, it¡¯s very likely that it¡¯s how things will turn out, so just keep that in mind.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    ¡°Haah- Man. That sure made my shoulders all stiff.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah. Good work.¡±

    ¡°Good work, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Nice work, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Good work, big brother.¡±

    When I got back to ck Lotus, I went straight for the break room and found everyone else waiting there. Mei stood silently behind me and gently massaged my shoulders while I rxed on the sofa. Man, Mei¡¯s service is really first-rate. As expected of my Mei.

    ¡°So how¡¯s everything progressing?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re still in the middle of processing the application forary descent. There are a lot of detailed steps we need to aplish in the application procedure after all.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re dealing with a government institution, so it can¡¯t be helped. How about you, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re sorting out the cargo of ck Lotus and the cargo we secured from the pirate ship. There are a lot of items, so it¡¯s a bit troublesome.¡±

    ¡°There was a lot of stuff in the pirate ship¡¯s cargo hold after all. If some items don¡¯t have that much value, I think it would be a good idea to just include them to ck Lotus¡¯ supplies instead of selling them.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Mimi¡¯s be such a reliable operator now. It looks like we really need to raise her cut soon.

    ¡°How about you guys, Tina, Whisker?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re in the middle of making a remodeling n for that pirate ship.¡±

    ¡°When we checked it out, it was surprisingly well-made, so we probably just need to clean the interior, make some repairs, and rece the armor tes, thrusters, and other equipment.¡±

    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll leave that to you pros then. Do the usual if you need any materials and equipment for repairs.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha Boss.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Repairs cost money of course. After all, in order topletely repair destroyed equipment, you need the appropriateponents, and it costs money to build thoseponents. And even if you bought ready-made goods instead, it¡¯ll still cost money. In this case in particr, since we only managed to encounter a single ship, it wasn¡¯t possible to strip the neededponents from the wreckage of other ships like we usually do, so it would take more effort and money to repair it. Of course, it would be bad if the total repair costs exceeded the selling price of the ship, so I believe Tina and Whisker were also factoring that in their ns.

    ¡°So I¡¯ll leave all the finer details to you guys as usual.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s fine if you helped out a bit you know?¡±

    Elma pressured me with her smile, but I ignored her. If two people meddled in each other¡¯s work, it would be totally inefficient, right?

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what I talked about with the general now. It wasn¡¯t really that much of a big deal though.¡±

    So I told them about how there were children of a prominent n on Refill IV among the people we managed to rescue.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s what¡¯sing this time¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It looks like it¡¯s your win, Whisker.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­¡±

    I¡¯m not sure what exactly they bet on, but if I had to guess, they should have bet on what kind of troublesome stuff we¡¯ll encounter this time while I was meeting with the general. Yeah, that¡¯s probably it. Mercenaries like to bet on such trivial stuff to entertain themselves often. I¡¯m sure they got the idea from Elma.

    ¡°Well, no matter how powerful and influential that n is, it won¡¯t be able topare to the imperial family.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a badparison, don¡¯t ya think, Boss?¡±

    Tina cracked up after hearing my words.

    Well, even if the n was really that powerful and influential, that¡¯s only on Refill IV. They might have received a peerage from the empire, butpared to the imperial family, that¡¯s really not worth much. An influential n on Refill IV can probably be likened to a Japanese neighborhood association or something like that.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t underestimate them too much. It¡¯s true that the Refill system is just one of the many star systems under the empire, but it also serves as the mother system of an entire race. Moreover, those are the direct descendants of a n deeply rooted in this system you know¡­ For those of us who routinely fly around space most of the time, Refill IV is just a tiny habitable within one of the myriad star systems. But for those who don¡¯t have the luxury or opportunity to leave the and go out into space, that ce is their entire world.¡±

    ¡°Hm.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    I, Mimi, and Tina each reacted to Elma¡¯s words. Whisker seems to be thinking deeply about them as well.

    ¡°Even so, we did save them after all. They probably won¡¯t treat us badly. But it¡¯s always good to be careful. That¡¯s especially true when interacting with other cultures.¡±

    I think there was an anime that portrayed humans raising a white g of surrender, only for the aliens to misunderstand it as a deration of war, and it led to a quagmire of bloody conflict¡­¡­

    ¡°We¡¯ll be counting on you then, Elma-san.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve onlye here once in the past, so I don¡¯t remember much about this ce.¡±

    ¡°If they have a unique culture here, then there should be something like a tourist guide avable, right? Mei, can you go and look it up for us?¡±

    ¡°Understood. Please leave it to me.¡±

    And so, we spent our first day in the Refill system performing the necessary procedures, searching up relevant info, and organizing our supplies.

 Chapter 231 â€“ Morning of the Second Day

    <h4>Chapter 231 - Morning of the Second Day</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    We immediately met with some troublesome stuff the moment we stepped into the Refill system yesterday, but the morning of the second day of our stay, which was spent lounging around the Refill Prime colony, was as tranquil as can be.

    ¡°Good morning¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, morning.¡±

    I got out of the bed together with Mimi, went to the bathroom with her in tow to wash our faces and fix ourselves up, and headed for ck Lotus¡¯ dining hall. We met with Elma, the mechanic sisters, and Mei when we got to the dining hall and exchanged morning greetings with them. After having our meals, we all went to ck Lotus¡¯ training room and did some light workouts. Afterward, we washed up to get rid of the sweat and officially started the day¡¯s business.

    ¡°So I, Mimi, and Elma are all free today huh.¡±

    ¡°Yep. I already finished selling off all the loot and trade goods yesterday.¡±

    ¡°I also finished sending theary descent application yesterday as well. Now we¡¯ll just have to wait until the local government unit gives us the go-ahead.¡±

    ¡°As for us, we¡¯ll be starting on the repairs and modifications today.¡±

    ¡°The work¡¯s gonna be a lot easier this time though.¡±

    It looks like Tina and Whisker are gonna start repairing and modifying therge-ss pirate ship we captured by using the parts they ordered and the ones they created using the replicator. It looks like they won¡¯t just be using the maintenance bots this time. They also nned to swap the loadout of thebat bots into general-purpose work equipment in order to finish the repairs and modifications as soon as possible.

    They got official maintenance bot software from Eagle Dynamics and will work togetherter to install it in thebat bots as a subroutine. That would make it possible for thebat bots to serve as maintenance bots as well.

    ¡°It would be dangerous if something goes wrong with thebat bots when it counts, so make sure you¡¯re careful in tinkering with them, you two.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Boss. All of them are from the same manufacturer so thepatibility is close to perfect.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll install the program as apletely independent subroutine, so you don¡¯t have to worry, big brother.¡±

    It looks like I just gotta trust that they know what they¡¯re doing. Well, Mei is also involved in the periodic maintenance of thebat bots, so I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll intervene if things don¡¯t seem right. Since Mei gave them the go-ahead, I guess it will be alright after all.

    ¡°What are you going to do today though, big brother?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡­ First, we¡¯ll go to the Mercenary Guild branch and the system garrison base in order to cash in our rewards for yesterday¡¯s incident. After that, I guess we¡¯ll just go around the city for a bit. If we manage to see some rare alcohol or something, I¡¯ll buy it as a souvenir for you guys.¡±

    ¡°Waa, really? This is the home system of the elves, so I¡¯m sure there are lots of tasty drinks out there.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Although we each have our quirks when ites to drinking, the elves also love alcohol just like us.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s for sure.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    I nodded in agreement at the mechanic sister¡¯s words and nced toward Elma. She came up close and red at me in response. She sounded angry, but judging from the angle of her ears, it looks like that¡¯s not the case after all. She¡¯s just putting up a front.

    ¡°How about you, Mei?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll remain onboard and finish up the remaining chores.¡±

    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll leave ck Lotus to you then.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please leave it to me.¡±

    And so, it was decided that I, Mimi, and Elma will go out together to tour the city.

    We were supposed to individually prepare ourselves and go out together afterward, but I¡¯ve already finished my preparations myself. All I had to do was go back to my room and equip myser gun and swords after all. I waited inside the break room for a bit until Mimi and Elma came in together. Afterward, we finally headed out.

    ¡°Since this is the home system of the elves, there really are a lot more of them herepared to other colonies huh.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. There really are more of them herepared to the other colonies.¡±

    You could probably spot about one or two among the crowd in the other colonies, but here, they were more numerous. I wasn¡¯t clear on the exact percentage, but I guess the elvesprised approximately around ten percent of the crowd around us.

    ¡°But why are we getting a lot of attention though?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s cause we stand out a lot.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    After saying so, Elma and Mimi¡¯s gazes turned toward me.

    Fumu? Well, Mimi and Elma were beauties after all. I guess I really would stand out walking around with the both of them.

    ¡°Judging from your expression, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re thinking about somethingpletely off the mark. Let me spell it out. The one who¡¯s getting all the attention is you, okay. I mean, a mercenary sporting noble-issue swords would definitely stand out a lot, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°Also, Hiro-sama¡¯s face is already well known throughout the empire after the broadcast of the tournament. That tournament was broadcasted practically nationwide after all.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see¡­¡­ So you guys are saying I¡¯ve be a pretty famous celeb now or something?¡±

    ¡°Pretty famous huh¡­¡­ Frankly, I think calling you just ¡®pretty famous¡¯ isn¡¯t nearly enough.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re currently the hottest thing in the mercenary scene, after all, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­?¡±

    Even if you tell me that, it still hasn¡¯t sunk in for me. I was merely a somewhat affluent and violent nouveau rich guy¡­¡­ Uh, that doesn¡¯t make much sense huh.

    ¡°Uh, in any case, I understand that I¡¯ve turned into some sort ofrger-than-life legendary character now.¡±

    ¡°If that wasn¡¯t the case, do you think the general would wee you that warmly yesterday¡­¡­? Sheesh. You¡¯re pretty dull sometimes you know.¡±

    ¡°But that¡¯s just your typical Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Are you guys actuallyplimenting me or putting me down?¡±

    We walked around and chatted among ourselves as we basked in the public¡¯s collective gaze for a couple of minutes. We arrived at the local Mercenary Guild branch without a hitch. Refill system¡¯s Mercenary Guild branch didn¡¯t have any special features and looked decidedly par for the course. Uh, well, maybe the size of their nts was a bit on the bigger side, I guess? But overall, the atmosphere wasn¡¯t all that different from the branches in other star systems.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to have anything particrly special huh.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s head to the counter.¡±

    We headed for the counter at Mimi¡¯s prompting. The one manning the counter we went to was a young woman, and when she noticed our approach, her expression turned somewhat miserable.

    ¡°Uh¡­¡­ Hey there. Um, sorry for scaring you, but you don¡¯t really need to be so nervous.¡±

    ¡°Auee¡­¡­ I-I¡¯m sorry- Hiuu!?¡±

    A hand grabbed her shoulder from behind which made her go all stiff. She was already on the verge of tears. How pitiful.

    ¡°You can go ahead and take a break. I¡¯ll handle things here.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yesh¡­¡­¡±

    The young receptionistdy nodded like a rickety robot and left the counter. The person who reced her - a young-looking elven male - stood confidently in front of us.

    ¡°Wee to Refill Prime. We¡¯re d to have you here, Captain Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Thanks. It seems I made the staff pretty nervous. Sorry about that.¡±

    ¡°No, please pay it no mind. She was one of our new hires, so she still hasn¡¯t gotten a hang of the job yet. Rather, we should be the ones apologizing. Sorry for the inconvenience.¡±

    The elven male¡¯s lips curved into a bitter smile as he shook his head slightly and bowed toward us in apology.

    ¡°So what is your business with us today, sir? Are you here to ept a job request?¡±

    ¡°No. We¡¯ll be staying in Refill Prime for a while, so we¡¯re here to give you guys a heads up. It would save us both some trouble if we made acquaintances as soon as we can, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. It would help us a lot if we¡¯re familiar with your general disposition as well.¡±

    ¡°Hee? And what¡¯s your verdict after seeing me in person?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d say you¡¯re what I¡¯d expect from the current number one hottest tinum ranker; a person of great integrity, I guess?¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    A person of great integrity huh. To think they¡¯d rate me so highly. Well, I guess it does make some sense after factoring in all my recent aplishments. I haven¡¯t really undertaken any particrly shady jobs either.

    ¡°A person of great integrity huh¡­¡­?¡±

    Elma gave me a scornful look. Hahaha, I¡¯d get embarrassed if you look at me like that. See, even Mimi¡¯s giving me aplicated look. I¡¯m an honest and upstanding mercenary you know?

    ¡°Your work is wless, your piloting skills are sublime, and your personal prowess is also of the highest caliber. You not only hunt down pirates unceasingly. You¡¯ve also built a tight connection with the imperial military. You do not ept any questionable jobs and do not show even a hint of collusion with pirates for personal gain. ording to the standards of the Mercenary Guild, there are no other mercenaries as upstanding and trustworthy as you. Your conduct has been nothing short of impable.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­ I guess. Hiro really isn¡¯t your typical mercenary after all. He¡¯s a unique case.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just acting ording to my beliefs you know.¡±

    If you put it in a good way, I¡¯m a person with good morals. If you put it in a bad way, I¡¯m just a person heavily influenced by Earth¡¯s social norms.

    I¡¯ve already spent quite some time in this dimension, so I already have a good idea of the typical behavior and thought processes of the average mercenary. They just don¡¯t really fit my style.

    Alcohol! Violence! S*x! It¡¯s a bit too much for a guy like me. Uh, it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t indulge in the third one, but I¡¯d like to think I do it in proper moderation regardless. Besides, I¡¯m not really fond of a life filled with anarchy like that. It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t have any ambition or greed, but since I¡¯ve been dragged into so much troublesome stuff, I didn¡¯t have the leeway to care about anything else for the most part.

    ¡°Okay, enough about me. Let¡¯s go ahead and n our activities in the Refill system.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°We came to the Refill system for leisure. I¡¯ve heard of some interesting things from my crew members, so we applied to descend onto Refill IV. In other words, we¡¯re going to spend our vacation touring Refill IV.¡±

    ¡°I see. Refill IV is rich in nature after all. So you¡¯re going there for rest and rxation, I guess.¡±

    ¡°Something like that.¡±

    Actually, I merely wanted to find c or stuff rted to c there instead of sightseeing.

    ¡°In other words, you will not be performing any mercenary work during your stay, correct?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be looking around this colony while waiting for our descent application to be processed. And if we still have some time, we¡¯d probably hunt a few pirates for some pocket money. Or maybe we¡¯ll take some escort jobs as long as it doesn¡¯t require us to go somewhere far away from this system.¡±

    ¡°I see. How unfortunate. Well, you¡¯ve already managed to take down some big fish for us anyway, so that¡¯s alright.¡±

    ¡°Big fish¡­¡­? Oh, you¡¯re talking about that ship huh. It was merely a coincidence, but it looks like I managed to save some pretty important people huh.¡±

    The elven male nodded briskly and continued the conversation.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Those pirates specialize in elven ve-trading you see. We¡¯ve been searching for their base for a long time, and we¡¯ve finally managed to pinpoint its location just recently. We organized a subjugation operation, but their lead ship managed to slip away in the heat of battle. And that¡¯s when you managed to spot and capture them. The casualties incurred when those guys kidnapped the esteemed individuals you rescued were also quite severe. The n leaders were so incensed, we were afraid they would suffer a stroke and die of anger.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Oh yeah. I think we managed to capture a few of those guys alive.¡±

    ¡°It looks like they¡¯ve been causing quite a mess. They¡¯re probably shaking in terror right about now huh?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re just getting their just desserts.¡±

    After hearing the story, Mimi gave an unusually dry response. Mimi saw the condition of the prisoners inside that ship after all. It¡¯s no wonder she didn¡¯t have any sympathy for the pirates.

    ¡°If there¡¯s anything you¡¯re curious about regarding that incident, please refer to this file. This is thetest edition of the incident report.¡±

    ¡°You sure? Won¡¯t this be considered an information leak?¡±

    ¡°The information will also be released to the media, so there¡¯s no problem. It¡¯s basically just a more detailed summary.¡±

    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll give it a readter. By the way, has there been any contact regarding our reward for the capture and rescue?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take a look. Let¡¯s see¡­¡­ Hm. It seems there¡¯s nothing yet. I think it¡¯ll take a bit more time for the system garrison, the imperial space navy, and the n leader union to discuss the particrs. Perhaps we¡¯ll get some news tomorrow¡­ no, the day after tomorrow.¡±

    The elven male checked the counter¡¯s holo disy and shook his head as he exined the situation. It seems the incident this time¡¯s pretty unique, considering they¡¯re taking quite a bit of time deciding on our reward. And there¡¯s also that n leader union thing.

    ¡°They¡¯re probably still in the middle of discussing how much each party will contribute, so it¡¯ll take some more time. The system garrison¡¯s budget is a bit thin, and the imperial navy isn¡¯t that better off either. And it¡¯s not like all the n leaders get along swimmingly either.¡±

    ¡°Hee? That sounds quite troublesome, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Compared to the mother system of other races, the influence of the local governing body here in the Refill system is a bit more entrenched after all. So please just wait patiently. The n leaders might be a bit miserly, but they aren¡¯t narrow-minded. I think they¡¯ll take their time to squeeze out every possible Enel from the system garrison and the space navy since they were the ones that allowed the ship to escape. Conversely, they all feel really grateful to you, Captain Hiro. Once you get captured by pirates, your survival or rescue would normally be next to hopeless after all. There aren¡¯t that many people who would risk their lives to take control of a pirate ship instead of just destroying it outright.¡±

    ¡°It was just a whim though.¡±

    ¡°Being able to resolve the incident in the most optimal manner while acting on a whim is also proof of yourpetence. You tinum-ranker really do have what it takes, huh. Like a certain X-factor or something.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t bring something like that up. We¡¯re kinda allergic to the term already.¡±

    I turned toward Mimi and Elma and found them disying bitter smiles as expected. I was also smiling bitterly of course. The ones who understand what having ¡®a certain factor¡¯ means the most are none other than ourselves after all.

 Chapter 232 â€“ Refill Prime Colony

    <h4>Chapter 232 - Refill Prime Colony</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After leaving the Mercenary Guild branch, we decided to cancel our n to head to the system garrison headquarters and opted to stroll around Refill Prime instead. We decided to go shopping and grab anything that looks good.

    ¡°Fumu¡­¡­ It¡¯s really different from the other colonies huh.¡±

    ¡°Right. The streets look different, but so is the overall atmosphere.¡±

    You could say it was pretty idle, but that¡¯s not exactly it. How should I call it? Slow? ¡­¡­Uh, it¡¯s not like the people around us were moving slowly or anything. I¡¯m just saying the pace of life here was slowerpared to the other colonies we¡¯ve been to.

    ¡°Refill system¡¯s elves are basically quite carefree after all. As you know, elves have quite long lifespans. So most aren¡¯t as restlesspared to humans.¡±

    ¡°I see?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re prettyid back during off days as well huh, Elma.¡±

    I and Mimi wereparably a bit more fidgety.

    I often looked at digital catalogs of meleebat weapons and other gadgets that might be useful in a fight. I also workout regrly. And if I found my crew members free, I¡¯d invite them to do something together with me. As for Mimi, she often studies ship operator-rted subjects and researches various stuff. But in Elma¡¯s case, it¡¯s only one of two things; drinking alcohol or sleeping. She does move her body around sometimes, but she spends much more time beingpletely idle.

    ¡°Hey. Calling meid back is a bit rude, don¡¯t you think? I just know how to differentiate my on and off days properly. From my point of view, it¡¯s you guys who are running around too much.¡±

    Really? We continued bantering about the topic as we walked around Refill Prime colony and checked out the shops.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t the goods strangely expensive?¡±

    ¡°They do seem oddly more expensivepared to other colonies.¡±

    The items we¡¯re checking out were the so-calledary specialty goods, souvenirs, and imported goods from other star systems. These kinds of things were basically on the expensive side anywhere, but they were even more expensive here. Compared to the stuff from other star systems, they looked to be about 50 percent to double the normal price.

    As we discussed the prices, a female elven clerk called out to us.

    ¡°Oh, everyone whoes from the other colonies points that out every time. Actually, we don¡¯t produce that many manufactured goods to be sold from Refill IV. We local folks call the ce Theta by the way. We elves have a lower poptionpared to the other races, and Refill IV is blessed with bountiful nature, so the manufacturing industry isn¡¯t that developed.¡±

    ¡°Hm¡­¡­ But this ce has been assimted by the Gran empire, right? Weren¡¯t you subjected to an industrialization boom like the rest of the empire?¡±

    ¡°Well, yes. It was around my grandfather¡¯s time that the Refill system was incorporated by the Gran empire. It seems the emperor himself spearheaded the industrialization initiative back then.¡±

    ¡°Spearheading the initiative himself¡­¡­ You¡¯re talking about the founding emperor, right?¡±

    ¡°Yep. The elves at the time refused to go into conflict with the ¡®people who descended from the sky¡¯ back then and got appointed as vassals instead. In exchange, the right to self-governance was granted to us. And it¡¯s said that the founding emperor visited Theta and became deeply moved after seeing its abundant natural wonders. He then dered that the should be left as is. Thereafter, the entirety of Theta was treated as a nature preserve, leading to our current situation. Elven civilization and culture has been mostly preserved on the mother as a result, and has remainedrgely unchanged since the time of the founding emperor.¡±

    Is it really possible for things to go that well? I had some doubts in my head, but perhaps thisdy merely skipped the moreplicated parts and divulged only the main points in her story. I¡¯m sure the real events had a lot of twists and turns.

    ¡°One of the vassals who got appointed to directly serve the founding emperor and went out to the sea of stars with him was my great grandfather. You probably alsoe from a simr lineage right, mdy?¡±

    ¡°Uhuh. My grandfather was also one of the original vassals who went out to space.¡±

    ¡°In other words, your race was divided into the elven bloodline that remained on the and continued to live traditionally, and the elven bloodline that went out to live among the stars, right?¡±

    ¡°There really aren¡¯t any major conflicts between the two. But it¡¯s true that our lifestyle and thinking are fundamentally different from each other.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. The ones who went out to space don¡¯t really have any opinions, but there are some from the other side who kinda look down on us a bit. They¡¯re the sort of people who insist we¡¯ve lost Theta¡¯s blessings after abandoning it or something. Well, some from our side also think the people living on the are old-fashioned guys clinging to a backward and moldy culture, so I guess it goes both ways. But things aren¡¯t so terrible between the two that we¡¯ll openly fight with each other about our beliefs.¡±

    The elvendy store clerk disyed a bitter smile.

    ¡°¡­¡­And you¡¯re iming things aren¡¯t that tense between the two parties after saying something like that huh?¡±

    ¡°Right?¡±

    ¡°Ahaha. But it¡¯s an interesting story for people whoe from other ces, right? Well, I¡¯ve taken the trouble to open up to you all and tell you the state of affairs of elves, so why don¡¯t you guys buy something in exchange? Our goods are just a bit more expensivepared to other star systems though.¡±

    This clerk was quite good. Well, we did get to hear an interesting story, and my wallet is currently fat with money anyway, so why not? Let¡¯s just obediently purchase some stuff then.

    We bought several things from the store managed by the shrewd female elven clerk, and I received a call through my portable terminal the moment we stepped out. When I took it out and checked the screen, I found that it was a call from Mei who stayed behind in the Lotus. Did something happen? I tapped the ept icon and took the call. I also didn¡¯t forget to switch it to speaker mode so Mimi and Elma could listen in.

    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡ºI contacted you because there was a request for a visit from someone named Tinia of the Grado n.¡»

    ¡°Grado n¡¯s Tinia-san huh. I¡¯m not familiar with the name¡­¡­ She¡¯s probably one of the prisoners we managed to rescue.¡±

    ¡ºYes, that is the case. She insists on meeting you in order to personally give her thanks. She directly visited the ck Lotus, so in order to avoid being seen as impolite, I brought her to the rxation room for the meantime.¡»

    ¡°It would be rude to turn visitors away at the door after all¡­¡­ And she¡¯s probably ady of high standing as well huh.¡±

    ¡ºYes. The Grado n possesses considerable influence among the governing ns on Refill IV and Tinia-sama seems to be the n leader¡¯s second daughter.¡»

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­¡±

    Although I¡¯ve already half-predicted such a situation, I was still surprised after hearing the info and couldn¡¯t help but look up to the heavens- Err, the colony¡¯s ceiling, I mean. I nced at the two on my left and right and found that Mimi and Elma were disying resigned, or rather, enlightened expressions akin to Buddha. Uh, don¡¯t go all Buddha on me please, you two. We¡¯rerades bound by a strong bond, right? It¡¯s no good if you disy expressions like that. We¡¯re people who share the same destiny. Let¡¯s get through this ordeal together, yeah?

    ¡°Ah, okay. We can¡¯t refuse to meet up with her, right?¡±

    ¡ºIt¡¯s possible to brush her off, but it would be considered very impolite to decline her visit without good reason. And it would serve us well during our tour of Refill IV if you built a good rtionship with the Grado n right now.¡»

    ¡°Right, right. I guess we¡¯ll have to meet with her then¡­¡­ It¡¯ll take a while for us toe back. If she doesn¡¯t have any other ns today, it might be better to have her join us for dinner. Well arrange one not with just me and her alone, but everyone from both parties together. Once you get their consent, can I leave arranging the venue to you, Mei? We¡¯re the ones extending an invitation, so we¡¯ll shoulder the expenses.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood. I will inform them of your suggestion then, Master. I will contact you with the resultter.¡»

    ¡°Please.¡±

    I cut the call with Mei. We were nning on taking a rxing stroll today, but now this happened. It wasn¡¯t good to be always rxed, but our rxing and peaceful time was shorter than expected huh¡­¡­? Anyway, let¡¯s just be careful not to be caught up in any more troublesome stuff.

    Ah, and I didn¡¯t get the chance to check out that captured pirate ship as well. I wish I¡¯ll have the time to check it outter on.

 Chapter 233 â€“ Planning Course of Action

    <h4>Chapter 233 - nning Course of Action</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    In the end, the suggestion of having a casual dinner tonight was brought up to Grado n¡¯s Tinia-san since we were currently out of the ship, and she graciously epted. She then left for the meantime. I left Mei in charge of arranging the dinner venue, but it seems she opted to have it in a high-ss restaurant that serves the native dishes of Refill IV, which the locals call Theta.

    ¡°Refill IV¡¯s traditional dishes¡­¡­ I¡¯m really looking forward to it!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. As far as I remember, there are no dishesparable to roasted giant hornworms and the like, so you can eat with confidence.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a relief.¡±

    I guess the specialty dish of Comatt III, which was roasted hornworms the size of an armful, really had that much of an impact on the girls huh¡­¡­ It was plenty tasty though. That¡¯s if you can ignore the dish¡¯s appearance.

    And so, we chatted around like that until we finally found ourselves back in the Lotus. We received more info regarding the Grado n¡¯s Tinia-san from Mei as she researched the local high-end restaurants to choose where we¡¯ll be having our dinner.

    ¡°I¡¯ve troubled you this time, Mei.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s no trouble at all, Master. Tina-sama did withdraw immediately after all.¡±

    ¡°What kind of person was she, Mei-san?¡±

    ¡°She seemed to be quite an intelligent and spirited person.¡±

    After saying so, Mei projected an image of an elvendy on the holo disy. She was probably Tinia-san huh. She was a beauty with dark brown hair that went down to her waist. I remember seeing thisdy before. She was the beautifuldy who exchanged words with me inside the pirate ship.

    ¡°So it really was her.¡±

    ¡°Are you familiar with her?¡±

    ¡°She was the one who seemed like the leader of the captured elves. She was the only one who managed to have a calm conversation with me in that situation. I also gave her my name.¡±

    ¡°I see. She¡¯s quite pretty, isn¡¯t she?¡±

    ¡°Yep. She¡¯s plenty beautiful alright.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s truly a beautiful person. As expected of big brother.¡±

    There was a hint of thorns in Whisker¡¯s tone. I definitely wasn¡¯t aiming for establishing a rtionship with the beauty when I gave out my name okay. But since they would probably say I was merely making excuses, I decided to just keep mum.

    ¡°We¡¯d like it if you¡¯d bring yourself to finally acknowledge our feelings instead of checking out every new beauty you manage toe across though, Boss.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The mechanic sisters stared at me intently after saying their piece. I turned my eyes away from them and took out my portable terminal.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to review the incident that led to our current situation with you all. Let¡¯s check out the report I got from the Mercenary Guild.¡±

    ¡°Hey, Boss. Look at us, will ya?¡±

    ¡°Big brother¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Just wait a bit longer. I¡¯m not ready yet.¡±

    I did feel affection for both of them and acknowledged they were pretty cute. They were also really nice kids. Uh, I probably shouldn¡¯t call them kids though. They were both adults who were the same age as me after all.

    But I really couldn¡¯t bring myself toy my filthy hands on them, okay! It¡¯s just that their physical appearance was¡­¡­ like that, you know! Ain¡¯t I going to be thrown in jail if I made a move on them? Anyway, that sort of feeling just wells up first. And I was also a part of the big boobies faction as well.

    ¡°Oh well. I¡¯m gonna make ya absolutely head over heels for me one of these days, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Head over heels, she says (wryugh).¡±

    ¡°What are yaughing at? Do you want me to sock ya, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Sorry.¡±

    Please lower your fist,dy. If I get seriously punched by Tina, my unreinforced bones will likely get broken easily. I kinda feel like not wanting to ruin this current state of affairs where we¡¯re able to interactfortably with each other like this. But it isn¡¯t like a guy like me to refuse to eat a meal that¡¯s freely offered to me. Hm.

    ¡°Alright, leave it at that for today, guys.¡±

    ¡°Muu¡­¡­ If Elma-neesan says so, then I guess it can¡¯t be helped. I¡¯ll let you off for today in honor of neesan.¡±

    ¡°Sorry.¡±

    Honestly, though, I feel like my hands are full with handling Mimi, Elma, and Mei already. In order to ept the sisters as well, I have to raise my caliber as a man even further. In all sorts of meanings, that is.

    ¡°Ahem. Anyway, let¡¯s take a look at the particrs of the previous incident, shall we?¡±

    I operated the portable terminal and disyed the outline of the incidents rted to therge-ss pirate ship we captured on the holo-disy.

    ¡°Nn¡­¡­ There aren¡¯t any particrly interesting points huh.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s just your ssicary raid and abduction case after all.¡±

    The incident was mostly like what Elma and I surmised. Multiple pirate ships raided Refill IV and used their superior firepower and maneuverability to subdue the locals. It¡¯s said in the report that the attack urred while a certain local ceremony was being conducted, and that led to the abduction of several young people, who were mainly young elven women.

    The ones held inside thatrge-ss pirate ship we captured were of particrly high status, and the rest of the captured elves died after the system garrison and the imperial space navy attacked the pirate base and shot down the other ten pirate ships. It looks like the imperial military was receiving a lot of k for failing to defend against theary raid.

    It was already bad that they failed to defend the against the raid, but having us, who were just passing by, deal with the escaped pirate ship just added salt to the wound. Furthermore, we managed to capture the said pirate ship intact instead of blowing it up. They¡¯re probably being criticized a lot right now.

    Anyway, judging from that general¡¯s attitude, it doesn¡¯t look like they were holding a grudge against us for being busybodies, so I guess we¡¯re fine for now.

    ¡°The asion in question was the engagement ceremony between the second daughter of the Grado n leader and the second son of the Minfa n leader¡­ Hey, so it¡¯s between Tinia-san and the son of another n leader huh.¡±

    ¡°So it was like a marriage interview to strengthen the ties between both ns huh.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a tragic incident for sure, but¡­¡­ are we sure politics wasn¡¯t involved in the attack?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. The incident itself seems prettymonce, but it does seem like a situation where shady stuff like that might be involved as well.¡±

    ¡°Another n that wasn¡¯t happy with the Grado and Minfa ns building stronger ties sending information to the pirates in order to ruin the ceremony is a reasonable theory huh.¡±

    Of course, since we outsiders were able to theorize something like that right away, the victims themselves would have been able to think of it as well. The two ns probably have some hostile rtions with other ns, and they were probably wary of other ns making trouble for them to some extent when they decided to go ahead with the ceremony.

    ¡°Well, what can I say? We managed to arrive here with some rotten timing huh. How about we cancel our ns for touring the Refill system and head to another ce for now?¡±

    ¡°That would be better I think, Boss. How bout we make fer the home system of us dwarves instead?¡±

    ¡°The Maxil system, right? It¡¯s seven hypene nodes away from here.¡±

    ¡°Right. The incident in the Comatt system was more than enough for me.¡±

    ¡°M-Mm¡­¡­ Maybe that¡¯s a good idea after all.¡±

    Apart from Mimi, it looks like the rest were in agreement with my proposal to immediately leave the Refill system. Mimi was probably feeling somewhat reluctant to leave without seeing the incident we got ourselves involved in though.

    Mei? She basically supports any decision I make unless she deems it was of a sufficiently big deal to warrant her intervention. Mei didn¡¯t really assert her own opinion most of the time.

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s check the situation out first. We¡¯ll leave immediately depending on what happens. We¡¯ve already applied for a descent permit, so I guess it wouldn¡¯t hurt to have a little peek first.¡±

    Everybody nodded to my suggestion.

    With this, we were able to unify our opinions regarding our next course of action. I wonder what¡¯ll happen at tonight¡¯s dinner? We have to be careful not to be caught up in the power struggle on Refill IV.

 EX-003 â€“ Terror! Space Tuna!

    <h4>Chapter EX-003 - Terror! Space Tuna!</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°This colony seems especially lively huh.¡±

    Mimi eximed as soon as wended inside the colony.

    This was¡­¡­ Uh, what was the name of this colony again? It was somewhere we stopped by on the way to our next destination. We didn¡¯t really need to resupply, but we just thought we¡¯d be able to find some unusual food or rare trade goods here.

    ¡°Yup. Is there some sort of event going on?¡±

    There were lots of stores and buildings with conspicuous decorations. Every store was decorated in simr colors, so it¡¯s probably some kind of event or festival. Every store had gs or banners depicting gold or silver fish-like marks.

    ¡°It¡¯s probably a New Year¡¯s festival or something.¡±

    ¡°Un, probably.¡±

    ¡°Hee? A New Year¡¯s festival huh¡­¡­¡±

    I turned my gaze toward Elma for confirmation, but Elma shook her head in reply. It looks like this event or custom wasn¡¯t something familiar to Elma.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s something derived from dwarven culture.¡±

    ¡°Nn? I wonder? We¡¯ve only ever stayed inside a predominantly dwarven colony beforeing with you, Boss.¡±

    ¡°The golden and silver markings do kind of resemble new year decorations, right, sis?¡±

    ¡°I see. But what¡¯s the meaning of those fish-shaped symbols then?¡±

    Tina and Whisker both tilted their heads at my question.

    ¡°No idea. In the new year¡¯s festival we¡¯re familiar with, we only put up gold and silver decorations while celebrating theing of the new year with food and alcohol.¡±

    ¡°The marks really do look like fish, don¡¯t they? All the decorations have the same marks, so maybe it¡¯s a bit different from the new year festival we¡¯re familiar with, sis.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Well, I guess we¡¯ll just have to ask the locals to find¡­ out?¡±

    A new year¡¯s event and fish. These two terms finally made something click inside my head. I¡­¡­ I¡¯m actually familiar with this event!

    ¡°Wai-! Where are you going all of a sudden!?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s get back to the ship! Pronto!¡±

    As Elma and the others rushed to follow me as I ran back to the ship, I called up Mei who remained on ck Lotus to keep watch.

    ¡ºHello, Master. Is something the matter?¡»

    ¡°Prepare the ship forunch! And hurry!¡±

    ¡ºPlease calm yourself, Master. Did you encounter some sort of trouble?¡»

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not like that, but hurry anyway! At least make it so Krishna will be ready forunch by the time we get back!¡±

    ¡ºI still don¡¯t understand, but alright. I shall prepare immediately.¡»

    That¡¯s my Mei. She¡¯llply even with myck of exnation.

    The sight of me dashing as fast as I could in the colony port and Mimi and the others hurriedly following behind was attracting lots of attention from the surrounding people, but I ignored thempletely. I have bigger fish to fry.

    ¡°Hey! Give us an exnation, will you!?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s tuna!¡±

    ¡°Tuna?¡±

    We finally reached the ck Lotus. Elma caught up to me while I was operating the terminal to open the hatch. Mimi was nearing us as well, but Tina and Whisker¡¯s figures were still far behind. It can¡¯t be helped since we were taller than them and had wider strides.

    ¡°It¡¯s this new year¡¯s event. Space tuna will be attacking us¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°Space tuna?¡±

    ¡®What the heck is this guy saying?¡¯ was written all over Elma¡¯s expression. I get it. Really, I do. Space tuna does sound absurd. I know. But we had this type of event in SOL you see. Yep, this event was implemented there.

    And it was a damn nightmare. I was given trauma by those damn space tuna swarms that woulde at you from all directions with speed surpassing seeker missiles. The fear of those tuna with pitch-ck gaping mouths and vacant eyes charging at me from everywhere was already seared into my brain.

    ¡°I-I caught up¡­¡­ Haa, haa¡­¡±

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s just get inside first. Hurry to the hangar.¡±

    Since the mechanic sisters were still far from catching up, the three of us entered ck Lotus ahead of them. Mimi was still panting in exhaustion but, unfortunately, we had to escape to another colony as soon as possible so I was forced to ignore her.

    ¡°So what¡¯s up with those space tuna anyway? Why do we need to hurry andunch the ships?¡±

    ¡°If we left them alone, they¡¯ll attack the colony. It would be a nightmare. The colony would be pierced by innumerable tunas and the sight of their fish tails peppering the colony walls would make you squeamish.¡±

    ¡°Tunas arerge fish, aren¡¯t they? If the tunaing are space-sized, then¡­¡­ wouldn¡¯t that mean they would be at least the size of your average starship?¡±

    ¡°They would be about a fourth of Krishna¡¯s size. And thousands or possibly tens of thousands of those guys will be attacking us.¡±

    ¡°But aren¡¯t they just your average space monsters then¡­¡­? Or rather, I haven¡¯t seen or heard about anything like them? Are you sure they¡¯reing? It¡¯s not a sham, is it?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­You¡¯re putting a dent on my confidence if you say that you know.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­¡±

    After seeing me dete, Mimi looked at me with a pitying gaze. Stop! Don¡¯t look at me with such eyes. Elma was looking at me like I was some sort of deplorable guy who was beyond saving. I feel like running away in shame.

    ¡°I thought it couldn¡¯t be anything but that event when I saw the gold and silver decorations and the fish markings¡­¡­ Uh, c¡¯mon guys. It¡¯s that, you know. It¡¯s the experience from my homeworld.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah, I see.¡±

    ¡°Well, it does make sense if you put it that way, I guess.¡±

    The two expressed their understanding. Mimi and Elma both knew that I yed a game called SOL back on Earth and that elements of that game were present in this dimension as well. They also knew that about half of the knowledge and experiences I managed to gain from ying SOL were applicable to this dimension as well.

    ¡°In any case, there¡¯s nothing wrong withunching the ships and staying alert, but we can¡¯t do anything about those tens of thousands of space monsters with just Krishna, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, about that¡­ Most of the space tuna are golden in color, but there would always be a silver-colored tuna among the swarms that serves as their leader. And if we get that leader, the golden-colored tuna would be powerless. The powerless tuna can be sold for a nice price, so we can make quite a bit of money from that. Also, they¡¯re absolutely delicious! Or so I¡¯ve heard.¡±

    ¡°Yosh, let¡¯s hunt them down.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to support you both!¡±

    Well, that was a quick change of attitude.

    ¡°Alright then! Let¡¯s set off! To the sea of stars!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s aim for a big haul!¡±

    I shook my head after seeing the two¡¯s sudden enthusiasm. I get Mimi¡¯s reaction, but why is Elma also being all gung-ho about it? Hm.

    Well, I guess it can¡¯t be helped since the two of them are already raring to go. I was the one who instigated them anyway, so I¡¯ll have to take responsibility here and sortie with Krishna. As I mulled such thoughts, I hurried for the hangar with the twodies in tow.

    ¡°That¡¯s the gist of the dream I saw.¡±

    ¡°That sounds so stupid.¡±

    ¡°It sounds like quite a unique dream. I kinda want to try it. Space tuna, I mean.¡±

    ¡°We were just relegated to secondary roles fermentary though. I propose a revision in the script!¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯m not that slow when running¡­¡­ probably.¡±

    I told everyone about the contents of the dream I saw during breakfast, but apart from Mimi, everyone else¡¯s reactions were on the negative side. How cruel. I just wanted to share the wonder I felt after seeing my first dream in this world.

    ¡°But why did you dream about tuna anyway?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea.¡±

    We did actually have a space tuna raid event in SOL, but something that silly shouldn¡¯t happen over here anyway. Right. There¡¯s no way space monsters that weird exist.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be exiting the hypene in thirty minutes. Should we pay a visit to the colony along the way?¡±

    Mei made an announcement as we downed our after-meal coffees and teas, and I nodded in consent.

    ¡°Yeah. We don¡¯t really need to resupply yet, but we might find some specialty products and trading goods worth getting, so why not? By the way, what¡¯s the name of the star system we¡¯ll be entering?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ****.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ****, Master.¡±

    The name of the star system that Mei gave was the same as the one we visited in my dream¡­¡­

 Chapter 234 â€“ To the Dinner Venue

    <h4>Chapter 234 - To the Dinner Venue</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After getting dressed, we headed to the high-ss local restaurant reserved for tonight¡¯s dinner under Mei¡¯s lead.

    It looks like we had a minor dispute with the other party regarding who would pay for the bill. It¡¯s not that both sides were trying to avoid paying. Rather, we both insisted on paying for the meal for the other party. Mei insisted that we paid for the meal because we were the ones who invited them for dinner anyway, while the other party said they would pay for the meal as part of their thanks for saving them.

    In the end, they agreed on letting us pay. And if they really minded it, they could just opt to increase the rewards they would give uster on.

    ¡°They sound kinda stiff, don¡¯t they?¡±

    ¡°Stiff, is it? It might just be as Master says. They seem to put an emphasis on following proper procedure.¡±

    ¡°Following proper procedure huh. Well, that¡¯s not really a bad thing anyway. We can also say they¡¯re very sincere.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t they just stubborn sticks in the mud?¡±

    ¡°Big sis.¡±

    As usual, Whisker retorted to Tina¡¯s blunt remark.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine for now since we¡¯re only talking among ourselves. But don¡¯t you dare say something like that in front of the elves, alright?¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, it¡¯s okay. Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    Tina cackled mischievously.

    ¡°You¡¯re really not gonna mess up, right? If you do, then no alcohol for you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna keep my trap shut, Boss!¡±

    She immediately turned serious the moment she heard about me barring her from drinking. Well, Tina¡¯s Tina after all. Whisker turning serious too was a bit amusing though.

    We all chatted casually like this on the way to the restaurant except for Mimi, who was making a difficult face.

    ¡°Is something wrong, Mimi? You¡¯re making quite a grave expression there.¡±

    ¡°Ah, no. I was just thinking about what kind of trouble we¡¯ll possibly get involved in this time based on our previous experiences. I was wondering if we could n ahead or something.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ That¡¯s true. But won¡¯t it be difficult to do that?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­ I have absolutely no idea what we should do.¡±

    Well, I can make some inferences about what¡¯s going to happen next based on previous patterns to some extent. It may sound like I¡¯m getting ahead of myself, but maybe Tinia-san got interested in me. Well, it might not be me as well. She could take an interest in any of my crew members instead. And since we managed to rescue Tinia-san and the others, we would be warmly weed in Refill IV. After that, we would get involved in the political power struggles going on in Refill IV¡­¡­ Well, something like that, I guess.

    As for how topletely avoid such a scenario, the only situation I can think of was to not visit the in the first ce. That¡¯s why I suggested we cancel our ns to tour the Refill system and go somewhere else instead.

    ¡°Well, whatever happens, happens. We¡¯ll get some profits out of it anyway, so don¡¯t worry about it too much. When pushes to shove, we can always choose to run away.¡±

    ¡°Can you really bring yourself to turn tail and run though, Boss?¡±

    ¡°I think Big Brother would rather see things through to the end instead of running away.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true, guys.¡±

    ¡°Right¡­¡­¡±

    Elma gave me the side-eye. I can do it. Really. I¡¯ve kinda said the same thing several times in the past already and failed to follow through, but I¡¯ll properly run away when it seems really hopeless, okay? It also takes courage to sound a retreat under impossible odds after all.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be arriving soon, everyone.¡±

    ¡°Okay. We walked for quite a bit huh.¡±

    ¡°An RV would be useful in times like this. Maybe we should buy one?¡±

    I experienced the hardships of descending onto a in the middle of terraforming not long ago. It was a very valuable experience. I really wouldn¡¯t want to experience that again, but since it¡¯s already happened once, it could happen again. It wouldn¡¯t be a waste to make some preparations for that possibility. There was also that incident where theary colonies were overrun by berserk aggressive lifeforms as well.

    ¡°That sounds good. An RV huh. I wanna tinker with it-¡±

    ¡°You really like fiddling with their engines and frames don¡¯t you, big sis?¡±

    I see. But I kinda feel like if I left it to Tina, she¡¯d do stuff like making the muffler unnecessarily bigger so it would make quite a racket or paint the body with aggressive colors. It might actually turn into a vehicle that wouldn¡¯t look out of ce if driven by those ¡®Hyahaa!¡¯ guys[1] from the end of the century.

    ¡°That looks like the ce. Let¡¯s hurry and get inside.¡±

    ¡°Elven food huh. How exciting!¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    The exterior of the restaurant was pretty normal, but I wonder how the interior looks?

    ¡°Wee, everyone. Yourpanions have already arrived.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. Please lead the way then.¡±

    ¡°Certainly. Over here please.¡±

    We were guided by a restaurant staff member wearing something resembling a folk costume with arabesque patterns and proceeded to the back of the building. The exterior of the building looked like it was something made of concrete and metal, but the interior was rife with wood.

    It kinda had a Japanese-style feel to it. Thick wooden beams ran up the ceiling of the building. The warm yet gentle lighting contributed to the mysterious and tranquil atmosphere.

    ¡°It has a really mysterious atmosphere to it.¡±

    ¡°This is the traditional elven style.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. It¡¯s kinda neat.¡±

    ¡°Yes. It really calms you down.¡±

    It looks like the interior design was a hit with thedies as well. Wood was apparently a super-luxury item in this dimension. Since they used plenty constructing this building, I guess that just proves this establishment really was high-ss. It looks like I can look forward to the dishes as well.

    ¡°Please take off your footwear and leave them here, then you can go up.¡±

    ¡°So we should take off our shoes.¡±

    ¡°It looks like it.¡±

    So we need to remove our shoes before stepping on top of the wooden floorboards huh. It really does resemble Japanese-style.

    ¡°So we need to take off our shoes huh. That¡¯s pretty unusual.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it?¡±

    It looks like Tina and Whisker didn¡¯t mind either, but they did find it unusual. It¡¯s my first timeing to a ce like this as well.

    ¡°This is your room. If you¡¯ll excuse me.¡±

    The restaurant staff wearing a folk costume opened what seems to be a shoji sliding door and beckoned for us toe inside. We found three people sitting inside. All three of them were women. Uh, I think. One of them was Grado n¡¯s Tinia-san, whose image Mei already showed to everyone earlier.

    ¡°Sorry to keep you waiting.¡±

    ¡°Not at all. It¡¯s us who suddenly came unannounced.¡±

    Tinia-san seems to be their group¡¯s representative after all. She took the initiative to reply as she shook her head lightly. And she looked at me with a strong-willed gaze that felt somehow familiar.

    ¡°Please go ahead and sit down. Although you might not be that ustomed to sitting on the floor directly.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Go ahead and sit, everyone.¡±

    I decided to sit directly in front of Tinia-san across the table. Considering the circumstances that led to us having this dinner meeting, this would be what¡¯s most appropriate. Mimi and Elma sat to my right and left respectively. Tina and Whisker sat next to Mimi. Mei politely sat on the cushion that was prepared diagonally behind me. Tinia-san tilted her head when she saw that Mei didn¡¯t sit near the table.

    ¡°She¡¯s a maidroid so she doesn¡¯t really need to eat.¡±

    ¡°A maidroid?¡±

    ¡°Oh. Maybe they¡¯re not that widespread in Refill IV huh¡­¡­ Her body is made of mechanical parts so she doesn¡¯t need to eat food to function.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ So a race like that also exists.¡±

    It doesn¡¯t look like Tinia-san fully understood what I said, but she nodded anyway.

    ¡°Let us properly introduce ourselves before the foodes. I¡¯m Hiro. I¡¯m the owner of thebat ship Krishna and armed mothership ck Lotus. as well as their captain. I¡¯m a member of the Mercenary Guild and am a tinum-ranked mercenary. This girl is Mimi, Krishna¡¯s operator, and manager. And this here is Elma, Krishna¡¯s sub-pilot. She¡¯s also a member of the Mercenary Guild.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m pleased to meet you.¡±

    ¡°Best regards.¡±

    ¡°And these two over here are Tina and Whisker. The one with red hair is Tina and the one with blue hair is Whisker. The two of them are excellent mechanics dispatched to us by the Space Dwerg Company.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Tina. Nice ta meetcha.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Whisker. I¡¯m d to meet you as well.¡±

    Tina smiled and waved cheerfully while Whisker gave them a polite greeting. The personalities of these sisters really show at times like this huh.

    ¡°And the one sitting a bit behind me is our maidroid, Mei. She¡¯s in charge of the overall operation and management of our armed mothership, ck Lotus. She¡¯s the one whomanded thebat bots that infiltrated the pirate ship together with me.¡±

    Mei gave them a polite bow while sitting in a perfect seiza posture. The only ones who were sitting in seiza among us were Tinia-san and herpanions, Mei, and Elma. I and Tina were sitting cross-legged while Mimi and Whisker were trying to imitate Elma. But since thetter two were unustomed to sitting on the floor, especially in seiza, they kept fidgeting ufortably while trying their hardest not to break their posture. C¡¯mon guys. You can just sit cross-legged like Tina and me if you¡¯re that ufortable. It¡¯s not like you¡¯re wearing skirts anyway.

    ¡°Thank you for introducing yourselves. Now then, let us properly introduce ourselves as well. I am Tinia, the second daughter of the Grado n¡¯s current leader. This is Miza and this is Mam. Both of them are from the Grado n, just like me. They serve as my personal attendants.¡±

    ¡°I see. So they¡¯re your attendants. So Tinia-san really is¡­¡­ No, wait. Would it be better if we called you ¡®Tinia-sama¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Please do not worry and just call me Tinia. It does not feel appropriate to have our saviors call us with honorifics.¡±

    ¡°We also feel it¡¯s a bit inappropriate to call you without honorifics though¡­¡­ But alright. If you say so. Since both of them serve as your attendants, you really are ady of high station, aren¡¯t you, Tinia?¡±

    Tinia shook her head after hearing my words.

    ¡°I was certainly born into a house of high influence, but that only applies on Theta, or as you call it, Refill IV. I would be nothing but an ordinaryss outside of Refill IV, so you do not need to mind me too much, Hiro-sama. Besides, even though they are my attendants, our rtionship isn¡¯t merely that. Both of them are my good friends who have been together with me ever since we were children.¡±

    Uh, they sure looked pretty tense for close childhood friends¡­¡­ Maybe they were just wary of us, or maybe they were simply nervous.

    ¡°Okay then. Since we¡¯ve all introduced ourselves, shall we begin sampling the food? Let¡¯s talk about Refill IV while we eat your local delicacies.¡±

    ¡°Yes, let us do so.¡±

    Tinia-san¡¯s serious expression loosened up after hearing my suggestion, and her lips curved into a soft smile. Fumu. She was already a first-rate beauty, but she¡¯s even more beautiful when she smiles¡­¡­ Wha- Ow! Oww! Stop pinching my side and thigh, guys. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m smitten or anything. Honest!

    [1] TL Notes: Refers to the Ouws from Fist of the North Star (Hokuto no Ken). Yeah, they liked to scream ¡®Hyahaa!¡¯ in the Japanese dub.

 Chapter 235 â€“ I Didnâ€™t Do Anything Wrong!!!

    <h4>Chapter 235 - I Didn¡¯t Do Anything Wrong!!!</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Refill IV¡¯s local cuisines weren¡¯t served like Earth¡¯s Western course meal where they¡¯d bring out the appetizer, soup, and so on individually. Instead, all dishes were lined up on the table from the start, and each person could take a portion of whichever dish they preferred.

    ¡°They look gorgeous. It¡¯s fun just looking at them like this.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, they sure are something alright.¡±

    There were all sorts of dishes in front of us. There was something resembling regr and wild vegetable tempura, some kind of meat steak, and a piping hot pot of soup served in a small pot. The colors of each ingredient used were rich and vibrant, and just like Mimi said, just seeing the dishes lined up in front of you is already enjoyable. They gave me the impression of the dishes served at a high-ss traditional Japanese inn.

    ¡°These are banquet dishes served to entertain guests even on Theta. They are more luxuriouspared to our regr dishes.¡±

    ¡°I see. Judging from how meticulous each meal was prepared, I don¡¯t think you¡¯d be able to achieve such results if you didn¡¯t employ at least three specialized chefs to cook and te them.¡±

    There were two kinds of tempura and stews, a soup dish, and even pickled vegetables and sweets. Moreover, the vegetables used in the stews were each cut into decorative shapes, and the color arrangement was also carefully considered. These dishes were definitely works of expert craftsmen.

    ¡°It seems you are quite knowledgeable regarding cooking, aren¡¯t you, Hiro-sama¡­¡­?¡±

    Tinia tilted her head curiously. Since she lived on a residential, she probably eats real meat and vegetables on the regr. But most people born in space ate dishes made from food cartridges from childhood. As a result, most people living in space aren¡¯t knowledgeable when ites to cooking and food preparation in general. So she must have found it curious that I was actually familiar with cooking.

    ¡°Hiro-sama knows how to cook dishes using raw ingredients.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. The dishes Hiro cooked for us back then were really delicious.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Although I¡¯m only a novice myself, I¡¯ve also been learning how to cook as well. If there¡¯s an opportunity, I would like it if we could sample each other¡¯s dishes.¡±

    Tinia turned to me and gave me a gentle smile once again.

    ¡°Well, the ones I cook are all sloppy ¡®man-meals¡¯ so¡­¡­ uh, don¡¯t expect a lot from them.¡±

    ¡°On the contrary, I think you¡¯re already quite skilled from the fact that you managed to recognize that these dishes were the work of expert chefs.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Boss. You¡¯re really great.¡±

    ¡°Big brother is really knowledgeable, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    Now it wasn¡¯t just Tinia. Even Tina and Whisker began praising me. What? What¡¯s with the excessive praise? Nothing wille out of it even if you praise me that much you know.

    ¡°Anyway, it seems all your crew members are women, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°It just sort of happened¡­¡­ I was solo at first, but Mimi ended up boarding Krishna, and Elma followed soon after. After a while, Mei joined us. Then Tina and Whisker were sent to us by the ship-makingpany we purchased our mothership from as part of a deal.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ If you don¡¯t mind, can you all tell me how you came to board Hiro-sama¡¯s ship? I¡¯m very interested.¡±

    Tinia turned her gaze toward Mimi. After receiving Tinia¡¯s curious gaze, Mimi turned to me to ask if it was alright, so I nodded in agreement.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind. I¡¯ll leave it to you, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ Alright then.¡±

    And so, Mimi started talking about herself and her circumstances. After Mimi, Elma also started talking about how she came to board my ship¡­¡­ They told their stories to Tinia as we had our meal. Maybe it was rare for them to hear stories from people who lived outside their home, so the three elves showed plenty of curiosity.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It seems we¡¯ve only been asking you to share your stories without talking about ourselves.¡±

    ¡°No, no. We¡¯re enjoying talking to you as well since you¡¯re showing such curiosity and enthusiasm. Right, guys?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. You go out of your way to tease us every chance you get though, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°C¡¯mon. Don¡¯t put it that way. It sounds like I¡¯m bullying you. I¡¯m just providing my own input from time to time, yeah?¡±

    Tinia stared at Elma and me as we bantered yfully like usual.

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m sorry, but have the two of you exchanged vows as a couple already?¡±

    ¡°Uh, what do you mean?¡±

    If what she meant by vows was the physical kind, then the answer was a resounding yes. But it would be improper to say something like that in this situation.

    ¡°We haven¡¯t made our marriage official yet. But my family already acknowledges our rtionship. I suppose you can say we¡¯re already engaged.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I see. Then what about Mimi-sama?¡±

    ¡°U-Um, err¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi¡¯s gaze was swimming around the room.

    It certainly did feel that I¡¯ve already gained the acknowledgment of Elma¡¯s family, but it was a bit moreplicated when ites to Mimi. Well, Mimi did decline to join the imperial family and stayed with me instead. And I also want to stay together with Mimi as well.

    ¡°Mimi-sama and Master are already legally married in ordance to imperialws.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡­¡­Eh!?¡±¡±

    I and Mimi yelped in surprise at the same time.

    Eh? What the heck? The ones involved have no idea though? When I turned a questioning gaze toward Mimi, she also gave me the same confused look. You didn¡¯t know, Mimi? Really? I see. Yeah, that makes sense. She wouldn¡¯t have been surprised earlier otherwise. What about Elma? Huh? She¡¯s making a face like she already knew about it?

    ¡°The two of them seem confused though.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because we didn¡¯t tell them about it.¡±

    ¡°Now just hold on a minute. That¡¯s strange. Really strange. Rather, just when did that happen anyway? Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi¡¯spletely frozen up in shock. Hey, you okay, girl? You look like you¡¯d fall over straight away if someone lightly poked you.

    ¡°¡­¡­That¡¯s news to us too.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes.¡±

    Tina and Whisker¡¯s gazes turned piercing. Well, uh, yeah. It¡¯s your first time hearing it too huh. Me too. So stop looking at me like that.

    ¡°So what is all this about?¡±

    ¡°To put it simply, it¡¯s a measure against the meddling of other nobles.¡±

    ¡°Um?¡±

    ¡°When we stayed in the imperial capital, you gained a lot of attention from various nobles due to the peculiar circumstances at the time, Mimi-sama. Your civil status is an imperialmoner. And furthermore, you no longer have any known rtives. There was a possibility of a noble using their privilege to forcibly be your guardian.¡±

    ¡°I see?¡±

    ¡°Therefore, we arranged for you and Hiro-sama to have a legal marital rtionship to prevent that from happening.¡±

    ¡°I understand now. But why didn¡¯t you guys tell Mimi and me?¡±

    ¡°It was my decision not to tell you. And it¡¯s not like anything would change whether or not you did know, right?¡±

    ¡°Just why¡­¡­ Well, I guess that¡¯s true, but-¡±

    Even if I¡¯m now legally married to Mimi, it¡¯s not like anything between us would change, and I don¡¯t think it should. I want to stay together with Elma and Mei for as long as I live, and that goes for Mimi as well. And regarding Tina and Whisker¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The pressure oozing out of their gazes was amazing. But I won¡¯t yield. Don¡¯t think I¡¯ll yield to pressure just like that. If I was so weak to pressure, I would have sumbed to Lt. Col. Serena and Chris already. I¡¯m a guy who can say NO.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t entered into that sort of rtionship with these two for now.¡±

    ¡°For now, is it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what¡¯s going to happen in the future after all. And I don¡¯t want to talk about things like that lightly. I know my limits.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Tinia-san suddenly disyed a broad grin. It seemed to say ¡®So you¡¯veid your hands on two women already, have you?¡¯ or something to that effect, but I didn¡¯tment on it. I¡¯m a man of endurance after all. Even if things turned out like this, I¡¯m someone who ces importance on picking my partners. If my decisions solely depended on the urges of my lower body, I would probably already be an imperial soldier or knight working directly under Lt. Col. Serena or a vassal of Earl Dareinwald. Or maybe I¡¯ve already be Chris¡¯s husband by now.

    But before all that, I would probably be done in by Marquis Holz and Earl Dareinwald though.

    ¡°We¡¯re also scheduled to enter such a rtionship with Boss y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°A big family is nice, isn¡¯t it, sis?¡±

    ¡°Did you guys even listen to a word I said?¡±

    Tina and Whisker began saying they¡¯ve taken inspiration from the fact that Mimi and I were already legally married. Just calm down, will you? Here. I got you some alcohol, so drink up first. Cool down a bit, okay? Tinia and her attendant¡¯s sharp gazes hurt.

    For the time being, I¡¯m just gonna keep my mouth shut.

    I didn¡¯t do anything wrong!!!

 Chapter 236 â€“ Grado Clanâ€™s Culture

    <h4>Chapter 236 - Grado n¡¯s Culture</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Alright, guys. Isn¡¯t it about time toy off on bullying me now?¡±

    Due to my earnest pleading, the topic of my female rtionships was finally dropped. Well, at least Tinia and her attendants finally understood that I, Mimi, and Elma got along really well and acknowledged each other.

    Actually, Mei should be included as well, even though she was a maidroid. And from their reaction earlier, I get that Tina and Whisker were serious in getting into ¡®that¡¯ sort of rtionship with me, but let¡¯s put that aside for the time being.

    Mei wasn¡¯t really all that assertive when ites to matters like this, and as for the situation with Tina and Whisker, they do understand my current situation and were simply expressing their favorable feelings toward me without reserve.

    Well, it does feel like I¡¯m sort of backed into a corner though.

    ¡°Now then, let us talk about ourselves as well.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯d be happy to hear all about you. What¡¯s a good topic to ask though?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m curious about the lifestyle of the elves. What does life on a look like?¡±

    ¡°What is it like¡­¡­?¡±

    After hearing Mimi¡¯s question, Tinia tilted her head and organized her thoughts for a few moments.

    ¡°We of the Grado n are a tribe of hunters. Everyone wakes up at dawn, and the women wash and cleanse themselves using freshwater from streams or watering holes. The men gather firewood in the meantime, and once the women are back, they would take their turn in cleansing themselves as well.¡±

    ¡°I see. And after performing your morning routines, the men would probably go out to hunt, right?¡±

    ¡°Correct. Our main prey are dingirs, mumbas, lezarias, pirurus, and kinjas.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell what kind of creatures they are just from their names.¡±

    Mimi tilted her head. I also couldn¡¯t imagine what those creatures would look like.

    ¡°Dingirs are ferocious creatures that would even attack people in some cases, and mumbas are usually cowardly, but are extremely dangerous when they go into a frenzy. Lezarias are dangerous beasts withrge bodies and tough scales and skin. Pirurus and kinjas are birds.¡±

    ¡°There seem to be a lot of dangerous creatures though¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, even if they¡¯re dangerous beasts, they shouldn¡¯t be as dangerous as the monsters you fought before, Hiro. You know. Those Twisted. They¡¯re all wild beasts in the long run, so they probably won¡¯t attack with no reason.¡±

    ¡°Have you won against beasts before, Hiro-sama?¡±

    Tinia tilted her head curiously after hearing Elma¡¯s words.

    ¡°The ones I fought were actually biological weapons rather than beasts. They were created with the instinct to attack every creature apart from themselves. It wasn¡¯t just limited to people. They would kill everything apart from the one controlling them.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­So they were beasts that were made to kill everything apart from their own kind?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s basically it. There are actually lots of creatures simr to those things and people who make and take advantage of them outside Refill IV, or rather, Theta.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­That¡¯s quite a frightening story.¡±

    Tinia-san gasped and drew signs in midair with her right hand. It was probably a prayer or ward of some sort.

    ¡°But even so, you still managed to fight and ovee such frightening creatures, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s basically true, but it¡¯s not like I fought them with just my flesh and blood body. I did use power armor to fight off those white abominations a while back.¡±

    ¡°But you did fight those Twisteds unassisted though. They were far more dangerous.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t exactly want to get thrown into such a situation y¡¯know¡­¡­¡±

    I definitely don¡¯t want to experience being thrown into a that¡¯s in the middle of being terraformed a second time. I¡¯m definitely gonna buy lightweight power armor once I get the chance. It might be a good idea to head to a high-tech star system specializing in those products once we¡¯re finished with our business in the Refill system.

    ¡°Hey, hey, what kinds of weapons d¡¯ya guys actually use to hunt those creatures? I think usingser weapons would do a number on the quality of the meat and stuff.¡±

    Tina, who¡¯s been listening in withoutmenting previously, finally opened her mouth to ask a question while raising up a mug of alcohol. As a tech-loving dwarf, it makes sense that she¡¯s curious about that stuff.

    ¡°Basically, we do not use non-local weapons when hunting for game. The hunters use spirit silver arrows, spears, and hatchets to hunt.¡±

    ¡°Spirit silver?¡±

    I tilted my head after hearing an unfamiliar term. It seems Tina and Whisker¡¯s eyes were also gleaming with curiosity after hearing about unfamiliar material.

    ¡°Yes. Metals are generally ipatible with spirit arts, with the sole exception of spirit silver.¡±

    ¡°Spirit arts¡­¡­ So basically, you¡¯re talking about magic, right?¡±

    Actually, Elma can also use spirit arts. She actually demonstrated it to me a while back. Well, she just conjured up a small me that was only good for substituting a lighter though. Elma said outer space didn¡¯t have a lot of the stuff that made it possible to conjure such arts, so as a result, she couldn¡¯t use anything that was reasonably powerful.

    ¡°Oh yeah. Now that you mention it, I¡¯ve heard of elves talking about psionicpatibility and stuff in the past. So that means this spirit silver stuff is some sort of PAM, I guess.¡±

    ¡°PAM?¡±

    ¡°Psionic Amplification Material. That¡¯s the long version. Its acronym is PAM. In other words, it¡¯s a material that can amplify mental and spiritual powers or something like that.¡±

    ¡°A material that can amplify mental powers huh.¡±

    ¡°Yep. Most of them have metal-like properties, and they¡¯re also produced in very limited quantities, so they¡¯re very rare. And they¡¯re also very difficult to process. They¡¯d get ruined the moment you processed them the same way as regr metals.¡±

    ¡°Even so, they have few other redeeming qualities apart from being able to amplify mental power, so they aren¡¯t really valuable as raw materials. They aren¡¯t that tough, nor are they heat resistant, despite the high difficulty of processing them. But they¡¯re still rare and mysterious, so it seems there are enthusiasts who expressly collect PAM out there.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ So Theta¡¯s inhabitants fight dangerous beats with bows, arrows, and spears made of such rare materials huh. Do you ask the wind spirits to make the arrows fly faster, ask the earth spirits to enhance the pration power of your spears, and stuff like that?¡±

    Tinia, who was listening to our exchange with great interest, showed a surprised look after hearing my remarks.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct¡­¡­ But why do you know of such things, Hiro-sama? Ah, perhaps you¡¯ve heard of them from Elma.¡±

    ¡°You can say that.¡±

    Elma then discreetly elbowed my side in protest. Ouch.

    I simply just said what was on my mind, but it looks like some of the knowledge I brought over from Earth either strangely shes or jives with a number of elements in this dimension. If I made a careless remark, it might lead to the exposure of my unique circumstances - my being suddenly thrown into this dimension along with Krishna. In order to prevent that from happening, Elma often backs me up, and constantly reminds me not to bber on carelessly. I¡¯m d she¡¯s expressing her concern for me, but can¡¯t she be gentler about it?

    ¡°Um, what do you do with the beasts you hunt?¡±

    ¡°Oh. The hunted beasts would be drained of blood, cooled with water, and brought to the settlement to serve as our food. The skin and fur are tanned and processed into various items. They haven¡¯t served any to us right now, but offal dishes are also quite delicious.¡±

    ¡°O-Offal dishes¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi, who¡¯s heard of offal dishes for the first time, got a bit blue in the face. Well, offal dishes might seem a bit iffy for those who aren¡¯t used to them, I suppose.

    ¡°Yes. The internal organs don¡¯tst very long, so they aren¡¯t widely avable, unlike meat. However, I don¡¯t hate them since they have a certain deliciousness that you won¡¯t be able to find in regr meat. It is our belief that, as much as possible, we should try not to waste anything once we take lives for our sustenance.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Well, it¡¯s something we personally can¡¯t rte to that much, but we do understand the concept.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s something unthinkable for us considering our usual lifestyle huh.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    Our lifestyle as mercenaries is far removed from the elves¡¯ ways of respecting the blessings of nature and trying to minimize waste. Well, we do go out on hunts, but it¡¯s not like we consume the flesh of our targets. Uh, but perhaps we do consume them in a sense, huh?¡±

    ¡°We have our ways and you have yours. I think there is no problem as long as there is mutual respect.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a saying that when in Rome, do as the Romans do back where I¡¯m from, so I suppose it would be better to follow the local customs as much as possible while we¡¯re on Theta. We¡¯d want to respect the local culture as much as we can.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. And I would like to try eating offal dishes as well.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I wanna drink more elven alcohol too.¡±

    ¡°Right. This alcohol¡¯s really tasty after all.¡±

    It sounds like you only care about filling your bellies, guys. Well, I suppose that¡¯s just normal tourist behavior. Or rather, I can¡¯t exactly mouth off to Mimi and the others since I¡¯m headingside for the express purpose of seeking c. I¡¯m pretty much of the same mold huh.

    The rest of the dinner proceeded in a peaceful manner, and we continued to exchange stories even after finishing off the food. Tina and Whisker have been gulping down alcohol nonstop since earlier, but they showed no signs of being drunk. Just where were they stuffing all that liquor anyway? The dwarven body sure is filled with mysteries.

 Chapter 237 â€“ The Calm Before The Stormâ€“ Or Not

    <h4>Chapter 237 - The Calm Before The Storm- Or Not</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The day following our dinner with Tinia and the others from the Grado n, a letter arrived at our doorstep. This time, it was from a guy named Nect from the Minfa n. The contents of the letter basically said that he would like to express his gratitude for rescuing him from the hands of the pirates and for saving his life. Nect said he would have liked to express his gratitude personally, and apologized that he wasn¡¯t able to do so since he was still undergoing medical treatment. And he also said that once we arrive at Theta, we can present this letter to the Minfa n. He would then do his utmost to amodate us as the second son of the Minfa n leader.

    ¡°Get a load of this, guys. It¡¯s a letter, man. An honest to goodness letter. Isn¡¯t it kinda neat to receive an old-fashioned paper letter in this day and age?¡±

    ¡°Well, paper is considered a luxury item, after all, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s a luxury item among luxury items too.¡±

    I waved the letter sent by Mr. Nect around, and Mimi and Elma nodded back to acknowledge it. In this dimension, paper was no longer used in everyday life, and it¡¯s no exaggeration to say that absolutely everything was nowpletely digitized. In fact, I don¡¯t remember seeing paper being used as a writing medium - not even small paper notes - ever sinceing to this dimension. Well, until now that is. Almost all product packages are made of synthetic materials such as stic, andbels are directly printed on the packaging itself.

    ¡°But it sure looks elegant, doesn¡¯t it, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Paper letters do give you that impressionpared to digital messages.¡±

    ¡°I wonder what kind of person this guy is. I only saw him when I was treating his injuries, so I didn¡¯t really get a read on him.¡±

    By the way, Grado n¡¯s Tinia also offered to show us around if we go for a visit to the Grado n once we arrive on Theta. She said the Grado n will give us the best wee.

    ¡°I don¡¯t really dig things being all formal, but them being this enthusiastic does seem pretty convenient for us huh.¡±

    Our objective for heading to Theta was mainly for sightseeing, and my personal reason was searching for c or things rted to it. I¡¯ll use the topic regarding medical infusions as a hook in order to ask if they have a beverage that¡¯s simr to c avable. Honestly, I believe it¡¯s okay to take on some hardships in order to get my hands on c, and I won¡¯t hesitate to use some forceful means if the situation calls for it. I¡¯m almost at my limit drinking c substitutes.

    ¡°Anyway, we have to be really careful not to involve ourselves in any power struggles. We¡¯re immediately going to escape out of this star system in case of an emergency. It¡¯ll be a problem concerning this star system alone, after all, so we should be able to avoid any repercussions once we get ourselves a few star systems away.¡±

    ¡°Somehow, I really doubt we¡¯re gonna make it, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Big brother is a trouble ma after all.¡±

    ¡°Or rather, it feels like we won¡¯t be able to avoid it no matter how careful we are.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say any further, Whisker.¡±

    Nobody would benefit even if you blurt out the truth like that you know. If you start giving up this early, then there would be no point in discussing countermeasures. People should never give up easily. Destiny is never something that¡¯s set in stone. It¡¯s something to surpass. I mean, even manga, anime, and game protagonists say such things all the time. I¡¯m not sure if that actually counts for something though.

    ¡ºMaster.¡»

    As we kept talking about stupid stuff like that, Mei¡¯s voice rang out within the break room where we were currently spending our time leisurely, and an image of her standing inside the cockpit block of ck Lotus got projected through the holo-disy.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡ºI was just informed that the Refill system¡¯sary Administration Bureau has approved our descent application. We can descend on the anytime as long as we inform them of our descent schedule first.¡»

    ¡°Eh? Isn¡¯t it a bit too early? I thought they¡¯d take longer to issue an approval though?¡±

    ¡ºYes. Apparently, there was a push from the system garrison as well as the Grado n and the Minfa n. Or rather, it was the n Leader Union.¡»

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s something we already expected.¡±

    I¡¯m not clear about the details regarding the exact power structure of the Refill system, but both the system garrison and the n leader union ended up owing us. It wasn¡¯t so difficult to assume that these two organizations carry a lot of clout in the system, so it was certainly within reason if they used their influence to have the relevant government departments speed up the approval process for us.

    ¡°That said, we still have to repair and modify the pirate ship we captured a few days back, so we can¡¯t just go ahead and start the trip immediately.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We still need three days¡­ No, two days to finish everything, Boss.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s possible toplete the sale procedures early though. The specs are more or less set in stone after all. And besides, we can stillplete the sale procedures even while we¡¯re in the middle of touring the, so it¡¯s not like we need to fast track the repairs so much, right?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s also an option to finish the repair work after we finish our business on Theta, but it would be more costly for us because it would remain anchored at the dock for several days. Even if we finish the repairs before descending, it would still need to remain anchored until we manage to sell it off. So that¡¯s why it¡¯s better to get rid of it before anything else.¡±

    Tina, Mimi, and Whisker each gave their own points regarding the handling of therge-ss pirate ship we captured.

    ¡°Alright then. We¡¯ll schedule our descent after three days. Sorry about this Tina, Whisker. But if it¡¯s possible, I want you guys to finish the repair work in two days. You can go ahead with the sale procedures now Mimi, and I want you to work together with Tina and Whisker so you can go about it more efficiently.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll adjust our descent schedule. We need to tell the authorities about ourary entry course among other things after all.¡±

    ¡°Please do. We¡¯ll be descending with ck Lotus, so you need to arrange a suitablending spot as well. Consult with Mei and work out a n.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood.¡»

    ¡°And as for me¡­¡­ Uh, actually, what should I do anyway?¡±

    I¡¯ve allocated the work to my crew members, leaving me with practically nothing to do.

    ¡°We¡¯ll consult with you if anything unexpected happens, so just sit around like azy boss for the meantime. But don¡¯t wander around outside the ship if you can help it. You might attract even more trouble after all.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­¡±

    I decided to just obey what Elma said. I¡¯m a good boy after all.

    ¡°Hmm, hmhm, hmmm?¡±

    I was a good boy, so I decided not to go out of the ship like I was told. What Elma was probably worried about was me meeting up with Tinia, Nect, or some of the other elves we rescued if I walked around the colony and got into another round of unnecessary trouble.

    Therefore, the best solution was to not go out of the ship. Umu. It makes a lot of sense, actually.

    That¡¯s why I¡¯m staying put inside the ship. But wouldn¡¯t it be safe to go out along with a ship instead? Specifically, I think it would be fine to sortie with Krishna and hunt down pirates a little bit, right?

    Yep. I¡¯ll go out with Krishna, round up some pirates, and kill time in the process. I¡¯ll be able to earn some money too. And the people of the Refill system can rest easier once the number of pirates decreases. It¡¯s perfect. Since I¡¯ll only be active in outer space where there are only pirates flying around, I won¡¯t get caught up in any more strange incidents involving the elves. Yeah, it¡¯s perfect, alright.

    I waspletely convinced of the theory from the bottom of my heart and headed for Krishna¡¯s cockpit straight away.

    ¡°Good morning. You sure are up early.¡±

    ¡°Morning. Actually, I just remembered something important.¡±

    I greeted Elma, who was actually lying in an ambush near Krishna¡¯s cockpit, and turned around. Yosh. I didn¡¯t see anything. I didn¡¯t meet anyone either. I¡¯m an honest and well-behaved boy, so I¡¯ll just keep quiet inside ck Lotus¡¯ break room. Cuz I¡¯m a good boy, you see.

    Um, I¡¯m a good boy, so can you, like, let go of my arm already? M-My shoulder! T-That hurts! Please forgive me, Elma-san! Mercy!

    ¡°That¡¯s the gist of the dream I had.¡±

    I ryed the contents of my weird dream while holding my aching shoulder. Tina and Whisker, who just returned inside the ship for lunch, red at me in admonishment.

    ¡°Big brother, can you not try to increase our workload at thest minute?¡±

    ¡°Or rather, it looks like it ain¡¯t just a dream. You¡¯re really being monitored, y¡¯know.¡±

    Mei silently stood behind me. She wasn¡¯t exactly keeping an eye on me guys. She was just doing her usual routine and following after me.

    ¡°Or rather, this isn¡¯t really like you, big brother. Just where is all that overflowing passioning from anyway?¡±

    ¡°The coercive force of the universe?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not actually thinking you want something interesting to happen, are you?¡±

    ¡°Haha. Of course not¡­ Probably.¡±

    Actually, instead of worrying about all that ¡®trouble ma¡¯ stuff, I just wanna kick some pirate and space monster behind! That¡¯s all! But judging from the flow of the conversation, I should probably just keep my mouth shut. Yeah. Even if I have that ¡®trouble ma¡¯ quality or something, doesn¡¯t a hundred percent proc rate sound rather unreasonable?

    Eh? In the first ce, basing our actions on metaphysical or ult-sounding stuff is already quite ridiculous, you say? No, just think about it guys. After getting thrown into this dimension, it¡¯s been trouble after trouble. It¡¯s like trouble¡¯s always hounding me y¡¯know. We¡¯re not talking about something that happened just once or twice. It¡¯s happened four or five times already. Mimi and Elma, who have been together with me the longest, must have the same impression.

    ¡°Just obediently stay put, Boss. In any case, I¡¯m sure something will happen once we get to the anyway.¡±

    ¡°Ah, you feel like that too huh, Tina.¡±

    ¡°Well, ever since we left the Brad system, you¡¯ve gotten yourself involved with stuff like battles with crystal monsters, the imperial family, and power struggles between nobles, big brother¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Even if we managed to pull through with your skills every time, don¡¯t ya think it¡¯s still a bit too much, Boss¡­¡­?¡±

    The dwarven sisters gave me sympathetic gazes from the left and right. Hahaha, please stop looking at me with eyes like that guys. It kinda hurts y¡¯see. But as long as you guys are with me, we¡¯re in the same lot. So let¡¯s do our best together eh? Right? I ain¡¯t gonna run away from anything! I say bring it!

    And I spent my time together with the mechanic sisters while being watched over by Mei.

 Chapter 238 â€“ A Redheadâ€™s Assertiveness

    <h4>Chapter 238 - A Redhead¡¯s Assertiveness</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I also thought I was acting really funny, so I tried my best to obediently stay put for two days. But even so, why is there always one or two of my crew members hanging around me wherever I go? Is it that? Are they worried I was gonna pull something off so they were keeping an eye on me? I¡¯m not a child, guys. You don¡¯t really need to go this far, you know? Uh, okay. I¡¯m definitely gonna mess up if you don¡¯t watch over me? I see.

    ¡°Well, no matter the reason, it kinda makes me happy that you guys are paying attention to me, so it¡¯s okay!¡±

    ¡°It feels like forever since we were able to spend time with Hiro-sama like this.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve been really busy recently after all.¡±

    It was now evening and it was our second day on stand-by in the colony. After finishing our dinner in the dining room, we proceeded to spend time rxing there as well.

    ¡°We sisters didn¡¯t have a lot of opportunities to rx these past two days though.¡±

    ¡°We did manage to finish everything somehow.¡±

    The worn-out dwarven sisters were still wearing their work overalls. Right after finishing work, they immediately headed to the dining hall to eat.

    In the end, the jobs Mimi, Elma, and Mei were in charge of had a lot more free time avablepared to Tina and Whisker¡¯s job. So basically, I spent time rxing with the former three, and on asion, all five of them whenever an opportunity presents itself.

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you nice bonuses to make up for all the trouble, okay.¡±

    ¡°A bonus is okay, but I wanna spend more time with you instead, Boss.¡±

    ¡°And if you¡¯re going to make it up to us like that, you better do so equally, big brother.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­? You wanna piece of it too, Whisker?¡±

    Tina and Whisker were kinda getting a lot more assertive after we had that dinner a few days ago. In the past, they either always took a step back or appealed to me in ways that made it difficult to tell if they were just joking or not. But now, they wereing on to me straight more and more.

    ¡°We finally realized it you see.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s counterproductive toe on to you in a roundabout way, big brother.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯ve realized that as well, huh.¡±

    Mimi and Elma nodded and grinned in acknowledgment. Sorry, but I¡¯m feeling really awkward here guys, see?

    ¡°And so, from here on out, we¡¯lle at ya straight whenever we have a chance. We¡¯re gonna crush your defenses Boss.¡±

    ¡°But you can¡¯t literally crush him, okay, big sis?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll dly wee you, Tina-san, Whisker-san.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. These two don¡¯t have a lot of troublesome ties anyway, so there¡¯s no reason not to wee them, right?¡±

    ¡°Okay, but could you stop pressuring me please.¡±

    If I said OK here, it¡¯s possible that I might find the two dwarvendies barging into my room unannounced. Maybe they¡¯d even do so tonight. I still have to prepare my heart and stuff, so please don¡¯t corner me like this,dies.

    ¡°How about you, Mei-han[1]?¡±

    ¡°Me? I don¡¯t think it¡¯s something I need to meddle in. I¡¯ll leave the decision to Master.¡±

    ¡°But Mei-san, don¡¯t you always¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true that I¡¯m constantly monitoring you two. But it has nothing to do with that. I¡¯m doing it purely as part of precautions since the two of you are still affiliated with Space Dwerg.¡±

    ¡°I see. So what if we quit Space Dwerg altogether and officially join the crew then?¡±

    ¡°Just like I said earlier, I also don¡¯t think that¡¯s something I need to meddle in. However, from an objective point of view, there would be a lot more positive points than negative ones should you decide to do so.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    After hearing Mei¡¯s answer, Whisker turned her gaze to me. Tina also looked at me intently. Ok, ok. I get it already. I¡¯m already well aware of your feelings guys. So please stop staring at me like that.

    ¡°Ok. I understand your feelings, you two. But please remember that you only changed your attitudes after that dinner with Tinia. I want you to examine yourselves and make sure that you¡¯re not just being impulsive. If your feelings are still the same afterward, then I¡¯ll resolve myself to ept your feelings properly, okay?¡±

    The gazes of everyone else all gathered on me.

    ¡°You sure are wishy-washy sometimes.¡±

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon, Boss. Shouldn¡¯t you just ept us already after hearing all that?¡±

    Elma and Tina admonished me, and Whisker stayed quiet but gave me a reproachful stare. I¡¯m not sure about Mei¡¯s reaction, but Mimi¡¯s gaze was a little ambiguous.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°No, um¡­¡­ I was just thinking, you were a lot more direct when you epted Elma-san, but why are you so hesitant when ites to Tina-san and Whisker-san?¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s, uh¡­ y¡¯know.¡±

    I turned toward Tina and Whisker while rubbing my chin in thought. Why do I keep brushing off their advances huh? I¡¯m not your typicalte-bloomer anyway, and it¡¯s not like I¡¯dnd myself into any trouble if I didy my hands on them. They aren¡¯t nobles anyway. So why aren¡¯t I willing to take the next step with the two of them?

    ¡°Hm. It¡¯s probably because I feel we haven¡¯t gotten to know each other enough, I guess. I think there¡¯s no need to hurry so much when ites to things like this.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­In other words, you already have Mimi, Mei, and Big Sis Elma, so we¡¯re not really all that appealing huh. And that¡¯s why you can¡¯t get serious with us.¡±

    ¡°No, no, that¡¯s not it at all. If that really is the case, then I would have treated you two rougher. I wouldn¡¯t have had Mei serve as an escort to you two, and I wouldn¡¯t have let you guys handle thebat bots either. If the two of you ever get harassed or abducted by unruly nobles or pirates, I¡¯d definitely risk my life to rescue you. I guarantee it.¡±

    I swore as such to Tina who gave me a harsh re and faced her directly. I can¡¯t help it if she still doesn¡¯t get convinced with this though.

    ¡°Mou¡­ What¡¯s with that? You¡¯re really serious. If you really feel that way, then why don¡¯t you ever take the next step?¡±

    ¡°That is that and this is this. Please just give me a little more time to deepen our rtionship. I¡¯m also gonna do my part too.¡±

    ¡°Haah¡­¡­ What do you think, Whee?¡±

    ¡°Un, let¡¯s just do as big brother says. If big brother says he¡¯s going to think about us seriously, then I guess there¡¯s no need to be so impatient.¡±

    ¡°Mou, that¡¯s no fair. Acting all goody-goody like that. Even though you feel just the same as me. Stupid Whee. Now it feels like I¡¯m the only one making a big deal out of this.¡±

    Tina puffed up her cheeks in frustration. Whisker giggled as she poked her pouting sister¡¯s cheek. In any case, things seem to be settled for now, but I really have to take things more seriously regarding them from now on. I also don¡¯t want to always leave them hanging after all. That¡¯s not good, and I¡¯m gonna feel really burdened if I ever let that happen.

    But I only have two arms you know¡­¡­ It looks like I really have to resolve myself in lots of ways this time.

    And so, I passed the evening thinking about such things. It was now the next day. We finally left Refill Prime to descend to Refill IV, which the locals called Theta. We¡¯re gonna enter the atmosphere with ck Lotus, so I and the rest of Krishna¡¯s crew were now lounging around the Lotus¡¯ break room. Mei was in charge of navigating the ship after all.

    ¡°So you guys are making a move right off the bat huh?¡±

    ¡°The best way to close the distance between our hearts is to close the distance between our bodies yeah?¡±

    ¡°D-Do you find it unpleasant?¡±

    ¡°Nah, I don¡¯t hate it.¡±

    Tina and Whisker sandwiched me in between them as we lounged around on the break room¡¯s sofa. They were wearing ordinary and rtively thin clothing instead of their usual work overalls today, so I felt their body heat more directly than usual.

    I nced at my left and found Tina grinning happily at me. I nced at my right and found Whisker looking a bit tense as she gazed back at me with upturned eyes and a bright red face. Yeah, both of them are really cute, but this no-holds-barred skinship is making me a bit antsy.

    And a little distance away from us, Mimi was looking on with a soft smile on her lips while Elma had a bit of a sour look on her face.

    ¡°You look like you¡¯re having fun, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe, Hiro-sama looking all embarrassed is kind of cute.¡±

    ¡°I wonder. Isn¡¯t he just ogling at them?¡±

    ¡°Elma-san is cute too!¡±

    ¡°Wai-¡±

    Mimi ended up hugging Elma in delight. It looks like they¡¯re enjoying themselves over there as well. Well, it¡¯s a hundred times better than not getting along. It¡¯s also part of my job to manage the interpersonal rtionships of my crew after all. I¡¯m basically eating my just desserts, so I have no choice but to bite the bullet and do my best.

    ¡°Boss is going to have a harder time from now on huh.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re one to talk. You¡¯re part of the reason why remember?¡±

    ¡°U-Um, I¡¯ll be alright as long as you pay attention to me from time to time¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not good¡­¡­ You tend to hold yourself back too much, Whisker. You have to be more honest. I¡¯m also gonna do my best, but as you may have noticed, I can be a bit dull sometimes.¡±

    ¡°How about me?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need to encourage you. You¡¯ll end uping at me head-on regardless anyway Tina.¡±

    After saying so, I used my left hand to stroke Tina¡¯s hair and give her nice head pats. She was telling me to stop while obviously enjoying it. How cute. Whisker then began pushing her head toward me, so I also gave her lots of head pats.

    ¡°Like I said, he¡¯s just ogling them.¡±

    ¡°But isn¡¯t that fine? It¡¯s nice that everyone¡¯s getting along.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Haah. You sure have a big heart, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    Mimi tilted her head at Elma¡¯s remark, but I feel the same as Elma too. For some reason, Mimi¡¯s mentality and adaptability were really quite impressive. I mean, she did manage to quickly get used to mercenary life and even turned down the opportunity to be part of the imperial family. She¡¯s probably the most tolerant among all of us. There¡¯s no mistake.

    As I thought about such things, ck Lotus finally entered Refill IV¡¯s atmosphere.

    [1] TL Notes: Tina speaks in Kansai-ben, so instead of ¡®san¡¯, she uses ¡®han¡¯. She refers to the others with various terms of endearment and uses ¡®han¡¯ sparingly though.

 Chapter 239 â€“ Tropical Planet Refill IV

    <h4>Chapter 239 - Tropical Refill IV</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Refill IV was generally a hot and humid, with most of itsndmasses covered byrge swathes of woonds and forests. ording to this dimension¡¯s habitable ssification standards, it was recognized as a tropical with a predominantly humid climate.

    ¡°It¡¯s quite hot and humid.¡±

    I eximed as such while looking up at the sky after wended on Refill IV, or as the locals called it, Theta. The weather wasrgely fair. But the humidity sure was terrible. The heat wasparable to summer in Japan.

    ¡°Really? This is just normal, I think.¡±

    ¡°It looks like you really don¡¯t mind it one bit, Elma-san.¡±

    She actually looks even more spirited than usual. It kinda seems like the angle of her ears was raised a little higher as well.

    ¡°This much is easy peasy.¡±

    ¡°Uhuh. It¡¯s nothingpared to a colony¡¯s boiler block.¡±

    It looks like this hot and humid environment was nothing to Tina and Whisker as well. I guess only Mimi and I were bothered about the heat and humidity huh.

    ¡°But looking at it from this angle, the ck Lotus really is huge huh?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s correct. The Skizbrazunil-ss is one of thergest mothership models after all.¡±

    Mei, who was standing right next to me, gave a follow-up remark. As you¡¯d expect, a maidroid like her wouldn¡¯t feel ufortable in the middle of the heat and humidity, and she maintained a cool andposed look even while wearing a stuffy-looking Victorian-style maid uniform.

    By the way, we anchored ck Lotus at Theta¡¯s exclusive starship port. It was a huge facility thatbined an airport and a seaport, and ck Lotus upied thergest dock within it.

    ¡°They¡¯re being awfully generous by letting us dock herepletely free of charge.¡±

    ¡°It just means that your previous actions are already showing results, Master.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m the only one who put in most of the work¡­¡­ Or maybe I did? Hm.¡±

    ¡°The only ones who infiltrated the pirate ship were you and thebat bots, after all, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Mimi served as your support, but you still did most of the heavy lifting, Hiro. You were the one who decided to capture the ship and destroyed their weapon systems and thrusters with pinpoint uracy.¡±

    ¡°Even so, I still believe I don¡¯t deserve all of the credit. We¡¯re a team after all.¡±

    Also, I basically just chuck everything that¡¯s not rted tobat to everyone too. If I was to do all the work by my lonesome at this point, I think I¡¯d have to sell the Lotus and return to using just Krishna for that to work. Thanks to us getting the ck Lotus, our profits have increased substantially. But the manpower required for loot management, sales, and docking procedures, among other things, has also increased. It¡¯s also very big, so cleaning it was an absolute chore.

    ¡°Hey, look over there, Boss. They sent something to pick us up.¡±

    When I turned in the direction Tina was pointing at, I saw a vehicle that was shaped like a bus heading over to us.

    ¡°It looks like a pretty old-fashioned vehicle. But it¡¯s running on the road smoothly and doesn¡¯t seem shaky at all. They probably maintain it regrly.¡±

    Whisker shaded her eyes with both hands as she scrutinized the vehicle that wasing toward us. She was currently wearing a white one-piece dress decorated with frills instead of her work overalls and looked quite girly. But regardless of her outfit, it looks like she still couldn¡¯t help but analyze it whenever she encounters a machine that catches her interest.

    There wasn¡¯t any evident engine noise. The bus quietly stopped in front of our group, and its door opened. A lone elven woman then came down from inside. She was an elven beauty dressed in an outfit that resembled a qipao made out of glossy green fabric. Her chest assets were fairly modest, but her sexy white thighs, which were peeking out of the high slits of her dress, were quite dazzling to the eyes. Her hair was silver-colored, just like Elma.

    ¡°Hou¡­¡­ Ouch!¡±

    When I expressed my admiration, pain welled up from my hip and nk. It was caused by Elma¡¯s elbow and Tina¡¯s p. I¡¯m sure they were holding back already, but it was still pretty painful. Or rather, any straight man would react the same way when presented with such a tititing sight, so please let me off already. It was merely a result of an effective line-of-sight guidance technique.

    ¡°We¡¯re sorry to have kept you waiting. You are Hiro-sama andpany, correct?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Thank you for going out of your way to fetch us.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s no trouble. You are our benefactor, after all, Hiro-sama. It looks like an elf is also with you as well.¡±

    After saying so, the elven guide¡¯s gaze turned toward Elma.

    ¡°I am part of the Willrose n; a branch family of the Rose n. My great-grandfather was part of those who went up to the sky.¡±

    ¡°Ah, as I thought, you¡¯re also part of the Rose n. I thought that might be the case after seeing the color of your hair. That would make you my nmate then.¡±

    The female elven guide then gave a carefree smile. I see. So the ns can be differentiated by hair color as well huh? But gics also factors in, so I don¡¯t think you¡¯d be able to make a general judgment regarding blood ties and ns just based on hair color alone. But, well, elven physiology wasrgely a mystery after all¡­¡­ Their reproduction habits were especially ratherplicated.

    ¡°Leave the talk forter and have the guests get on the bus. This isn¡¯t the ce to have a casual chat.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. Everyone, please go ahead and board the bus.¡±

    The female elven guide urged us to get on board after being reminded by a male voice that came from within the bus. We each brought our own luggage, but there was plenty of room inside the bus, so we managed to squeeze in without any problem. The contents of our luggage were generally basic necessities such as clothes and other personal belongings. In my case, there was also myser gun and my two noble-issue swords. Of course, I didn¡¯t bring any other weapons such asser rifles, grenades, and full-scalebat equipment such as my power armor andbat suit.

    I heard that it would be hot and humid beforehand, so I decided to bring chameleon thermal cloaks for each of us though. That¡¯s because they had the function to adapt to even the harshest environments. They could even function well in the atmosphere of a that was still being terraformed. They would probably prove useful while moving around outdoors on a tropical like Theta.

    ¡°Are you a noble, Hiro-sama?¡±

    The female elven guide saw my swords and tilted her head curiously.

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. These swords were given to me by a noble, actually. But I¡¯m not a noble myself.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a Gold Star recipient though, so technically, he has the same status as an imperial viscount.¡±

    ¡°But you can¡¯t expect any use from it if we¡¯re not dealing with nobles, right¡­? And even if that¡¯s not the case, I don¡¯t really feel like throwing my weight around using it as an excuse anyway.¡±

    Going around unting a status you earned as a reward just feels really cheap man. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m purposely hiding it. I¡¯ll use it when necessary, but I definitely don¡¯t feel like unting it all the time.

    ¡°By the way, can you tell us our schedule after this?¡±

    ¡°Yes. First, we will bring you to your amodation, which is located near this Theta Integrated Port Facility. After that, we will tour you around the locations of your choice, ande evening, we will bring you back to your amodation and conduct a wee banquet for you all there.¡±

    ¡°I see. I¡¯m looking forward to visiting the local sights and facilities.¡±

    Would there be a ce where you can enjoy shopping? Or maybe a museum or museum-like facility. A zoo or a theme park-like facility would be good too. Oh, and an experience-oriented education facility should be nice too. Elves likely have a pretty distinctive culture. If possible, I¡¯d like to get more info about those medicinal infusions along the way as well.

    ¡°A party¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°A party huh.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe. I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡±

    Mimi, Tina, and Whisker were already taken by the mention of an evening party huh. Aren¡¯t you guys a little bit too faithful to your desires? Uh, actually, I¡¯m not to talk since I came to the home system of the elves basically to search for c.

    ¡°Un¡­¡­¡±

    Elma, however, was making a troubled expression. I wonder what¡¯s wrong? I asked her with my eyes, and Elma opened her mouth to reply while still disying a troubled expression.

    ¡°I was just thinking of paying a visit to my n since we¡¯re already in Theta and all. My great-grandfather parted from the main house when he decided to go up to space, but they¡¯re still my blood rtives after all. I also visited them when I was little.¡±

    ¡°I see. Well, shouldn¡¯t you just go ahead if we have some timeter on? I mean, it might trouble your family if you don¡¯t handle it well, right?¡±

    ¡°Un¡­¡­ Well, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a need to worry about it that much. I¡¯m nning to be officially independent after all.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just go. We¡¯ll be able to get there quickly using Krishna, right? I also kind of want to see your roots, Elma.¡±

    ¡°Really? Alright then. Let¡¯s head there when we have the time.¡±

    Elma, who was still making a troubled expression, finally disyed a smile. Yep. We finally came to a ce that¡¯s kind of like a holiday resort, so it¡¯s better to smile andugh instead of being all distressed. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll suddenly find ourselves in a pinch after receiving such a warm wee after all. So we better take this opportunity to enjoy ourselves to the fullest. And it¡¯s fine to aplish these kinds of side errands along the way.

 Chapter 240 â€“ Experiencing Elven Culture

    <h4>Chapter 240 - Experiencing Elven Culture</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    There weren¡¯t any wild brothers-inw suddenly demanding a duel so far, and we smoothly proceeded to enjoy our tour of an elven vige, which was actually a tourist facility built near the Theta Integrated Port Facility.

    We first went to our lodging, which was arge one-story inn with an atmosphere simr to that of those well-established traditional Japanese inns I¡¯ve seen on TV. There was probably a more appropriate description for it, but I had no idea about those sorts of things. I didn¡¯t really like traveling around after all. Since I wasn¡¯t interested, I didn¡¯t bother to check up on anything rted to travel. And most of all, I was a fully devoted gamer.

    ¡°It¡¯s a really wonderful ce.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. It sure calms you down, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s got a unique charm or something.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s that aesthetics of transience[1] thing, right, big sis?¡±

    ¡°The service quality is not bad either.¡±

    Thedies seem to be really digging the traditional inn-style amodation. It looks like they also had natural hot springs welling up in the area, so the inn was also equipped with both indoor and open-air baths. Our room itself was even furnished with a moderately sized open-air bath. Thergest baths were, of course, separated by gender, but we can freely use the bath outside our room instead. I¡¯m really looking forward to tonight.

    After leaving most of our things in our room, we proceeded with touring around the nearby facilities.

    ¡°What kind of tourist facilities are avable?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. There¡¯s an archeological and historical museum that showcases the culture of the elves and products found on Theta, an art gallery that disys various elven art pieces, and a natural museum that disys the flora and fauna of Theta.¡±

    The female elven guide from the Rose n, Lilium-san, introduced each of the facilities to us. Fumu. They all sound pretty interesting. But among the three, I was most interested in the natural museum.

    ¡°I¡¯m curious about the museums.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine with anything.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m interested in the art gallery.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be okay with anything as well.¡±

    In situations like this, Mei always refrains from voicing her opinion. Well, it was probably because maidroids found it proper to leave the decision to their masters in times like these or something like that.

    ¡°Where can we buy souvenirs by the way?¡±

    ¡°You can buy elven handicrafts at the art gallery. You can also buy souvenirs at the archeological and natural museums. However, each museum is administered by a different elven n, and you can taste each n¡¯s local specialties exclusively at the museum they are managing.¡±

    ¡°I see. In that case, we can head to the archeological museum first and have a meal there and then proceed to the art gallery, and if we still have time afterward, we can go to the natural museum as well. How about it?¡±

    My proposal was unanimously epted, and it was decided that we would head to the archeological museum first. It was about time for lunch too, so it was perfect.

    ¡°You¡¯ll being with us too huh.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I and Hiishi were given the task of guiding you by the n leaders, so we will apany you during your tour.¡±

    Lilium-san replied while disying a graceful smile.

    Hiishi was the name of the young elven male who served as our bus driver. He was from the Minfa n like Nect who I saved from that pirate ship and was a quiet and taciturn person. Even so, he does his job quite well, so I guess there¡¯s no problem. Well, he¡¯d be on standby in the bus and won¡¯t be joining us inside the museumster anyway.

    ¡°You may not think much of it Hiro-sama, but we really are thankful to you for rescuing our people and bringing those pirates to justice. On top of killing a lot of our people, the pirates also burned down the forest. The ritual hall was also partially destroyed and even the sacred tree was damaged in the attack. It¡¯s only natural for us to give our utmost gratitude to our benefactors who avenged both our people and the sacred tree.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Although I wasn¡¯t familiar with the ritual hall and the sacred tree she mentioned, they were probably ces of great religious significance to the elves or even objects of worship. So during the raid, the pirates damaged them and incurred the wrath of the elves.

    Even so, for us, we merely rescued captives from a pirate ship we coincidentally encountered on a whim. That¡¯s why it felt kinda awkward to be the target of such adoration like this.

    As I kept thinking about such things, we finally managed to arrive at the archeological museum. The contents of the exhibition were pretty interesting but not particrly noteworthy. The exhibits areprised of dioramas depicting how the Thetan elves lived their lives since ancient times, what tools they used, and what changed due to the arrival of the empire.

    ¡°It looks like the lifestyle of the Thetan elves hasn¡¯t changed very much even after being annexed by the empire huh.¡±

    ¡°It seems like it. Though it looks like things such as advanced medical care and other technologies were introduced.¡±

    It seems they actively incorporated medical and infrastructure technology in some areas, but the traditional lifestyle of residing in the forests and worshipping the spirits while subsisting on hunting and farming wasrgely unchanged.

    ¡°Hmm. Their hunting techniques using bows and knives also seem kinda primitive.¡±

    ¡°They also use traps to hunt their prey, but¡­¡­ yeah, it does seem kinda primitive huh sis.¡±

    Don¡¯t you dare make the mistake of calling them savages okay, Whisker.

    ¡°For elves, hunting isn¡¯t about exterminating harmful animals. It¡¯s more about challenging their limits within the forests they worship and a sacred act of partaking in its blessings. Don¡¯t you think using modern weapons and autonomous drones orbat robots would be boorish when you look at it from that aspect?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess. But it¡¯s still a bit hard to understand for us. Isn¡¯t it more efficient to use that stuff instead of bows and knives?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not really about being efficient, I¡¯m sure. Uh, let¡¯s see. It¡¯s kinda like the sense of romance and adventure you feel when you restore and fully tune a ssic machine so it would beparable to thetest models. The elves chose their current lifestyle today due to a sense of passion simr to that, I think.¡±

    ¡°I see. I kinda get it a little now.¡±

    It looks like the dwarven sisters were finally convinced by my exnation. The dwarves generally have a great fondness for anything new and cutting edge. It seems their race in general epts new things easily, and loved making and developing better and better stuff, so they would find it difficult to understand the elven mentality of valuing tradition and all the perceived inefficiency coupled with it.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, it looks like we can try shooting traditional elven bows over there.¡±

    ¡°Hee, bows huh. I haven¡¯t tried shooting stuff with a bow and arrow yet.¡±

    I remember one being disyed in the lodge we stayed at when we visited that resort a while back, but I never even touched it. It looks a bit interesting, so why not try it?

    ¡°If you really want to try it, then you¡¯re going to have to wear a breastte, Mimi. It hurts when you identally hit your chest with the string after all.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s try it together, Elma-san.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re gonna try it too!¡±

    Everyone gathered at the bow and arrow experience corner and proceeded to y with the bows and arrows. The arrowheads were made of something resembling rolled-up cloth so it had almost no killing power, but they will still be dangerous when fired directly at a person, so it wasn¡¯t advisable to just carelessly y around with them. The museum staff member in charge of the bow and arrow experience corner exined and taught us how to safely fire the bows together with Lilium.

    ¡°I can¡¯t make it fly straight!¡±

    ¡°This is really difficult.¡±

    ¡°Ah! I missed!¡±

    It seems Mimi, Tina, and Whisker just couldn¡¯t make the arrows hit their targets. I wonder if Mimi¡¯s chest assets really are getting in the way. As for Tina and Whisker, the size of the bows wasn¡¯tpatible with the two¡¯s heights. It would be better if they got bows that were more catered to their small statures.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like I have a lot of experience using these myself. So this is how it feels huh.¡±

    Elma, on the other hand, was hitting her target at a reasonable rate. I guess those with modest chests really do have an easier time handling a bow huh.

    ¡°You¡¯re very good at this, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m kinda cheating after all.¡±

    Whenever I held my breath, my surroundings would slow down and it would feel like time had also slowed to a crawl. In such a state, I would be able to freely adjust my aim before shooting my arrows, so as a result, my uracy was very high. It somehow felt simr to how I fired myser gun. Both this ability to seemingly achieve bullet time whenever I held my breath and my unnaturally high marksmanship skills were things that someone like me should normally be unrted to, and their origin was aplete mystery.

    When I underwent a detailed check-up in the Alein system, I was pped with a clean bill of health, so I guess there¡¯s no need to be so concerned, but you really can¡¯t help but be curious due to just how weird it all seemed. Then there¡¯s the fact that I apparently don¡¯t have a universal trantor imnt inside my brain, but so far, I haven¡¯t had any trouble understanding anynguage I encountered in this dimension.

    We shot arrows in the bow and arrow experience corner until we were satisfied and had our lunch in the museum¡¯s cafeteria afterward. We then proceeded to the art gallery. Elven traditional handicrafts huh. I wonder what they¡¯re like. I¡¯m looking forward to seeing them.

    [1] TL Notes: Wabi-sabi - In traditional Japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi (÷¼Å) is a world view centered on the eptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of appreciating beauty that is ¡°imperfect, impermanent, and iplete¡± in nature. (Source: Wikipedia)

 Chapter 241 â€“ Art Galleryâ€“ Or Rather, A Folk Museum?

    <h4>Chapter 241 - Art Gallery- Or Rather, A Folk Museum?</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After leaving the archeological museum, we headed for the art gallery next. The means of transportation is, of course, the bus driven by Mr. Hiishi.

    ¡°You know, it was the same with the archeological museum earlier, but don¡¯t you think this ce feels more like a folk museum rather than an art gallery¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°A folk museum?¡±

    ¡°Uh, cuz it somehow has this rustic feel to it.¡±

    Mimi tilted her head in confusion. Maybe she just couldn¡¯t rte to my words.

    Basically, all of the elven-style buildings we¡¯ve seen until now kinda resembled Japanese-style buildings for some reason. Most of them were single-story, and the biggest we¡¯ve seen just went up to two stories. Their roofs were made out of ck tiles, and the rest were basically made out of wood. The facilities were certainly well-made, but I just couldn¡¯t help feeling that they resembled those folk museums found in the rural countryside back in Japan a little bit too much.

    ¡°C¡¯mon Boss. Don¡¯t just stand there and hurry up already.¡±

    ¡°Ok, ok, I know already, so stop pulling me! You¡¯re gonna tear my arm off!¡±

    Tina pulled me by the arm toward the art gallery. Man. Just where was Tina getting all this power from anyway? She¡¯s so small and yet so strong. Well, it wasn¡¯t just Tina. Whisker was the same as well. The strongest member of our crew was undoubtedly Mei, but the ones following after her should be Tina and Whisker. Oh, and by the way, despite the two¡¯s small size, they actually weigh¡­¡­ Oh boy. I¡¯m suddenly feeling intense bloodlust from both the front and back. I ain¡¯t thinking anything rude,dies. Nope. No siree.

    ¡°Wow¡­ These sure are pretty.¡±

    ¡°Hou,cquerware huh?¡±

    The first thing that caught our eyes after entering the gallery was an exhibit of lustrous, ck boxes resemblingcquerware decorated with golden patterns. They resembled Japanese multi-tiered food boxes, with their gleaming ck exteriors rife with golden nt motifs.

    ¡°Lacquerware?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re made by repeatedly brushingyers of resin on a wooden base, sprinkling metal powder to create decorations on the surface, then leaving it to dry. I¡¯m not sure if these are produced the same way, but they sure look simr.¡±

    After reading the exhibit description, I confirmed that they really were simr to woodencquerware. It seems they¡¯re made by applying the sap of a tree native to Refill IV to a wooden box lots of times, and then sprinkling powdered gold in order to form the decorations on the surface.

    ¡°It¡¯s just like how you described, Boss.¡±

    ¡°These boxes are really pretty¡­¡­ I think I¡¯ve never seen such a deep ck color before.¡±

    ¡°Fumu. They do give off a unique elegance, I guess.¡±

    Anyway, they certainly might be pretty to look at, but I¡¯m not sure if they were that practical. Thedies might want to use them as cosmetics or essory cases, but a boorish guy like me probably won¡¯t find much use for them. I¡¯d rather give them out as gifts. I might be able to use something like acquerwareb¡­¡­ but stic brushes are more than enough for me anyway. It just doesn¡¯t suit me, but it might suit Mei and her lustrous ck hair. I guess I¡¯ll take a peek at the souvenir shopter and buy one after all.

    Afterward, we proceeded deeper into the art gallery and found a variety of other items in addition tocquerware. There were excellent-looking silk fabric rolls that were apparently made by weaving silk-like threads spewed out by silk mothrvae the size of arge-breed dog, as well as local outfits made from the said fabric. Among them was a Chinese-style dress simr to what Lilium was wearing. As for the description, it seems these were traditional dresses worn by Rose nsmen for generations.

    ¡°Oh, hey, Boss, I think that¡¯s a spirit silver hunting de over there.¡±

    ¡°Hou¡­¡­ It kinda looks like a hatchet sword huh.¡±

    It looked like a fairlyrge single-edged knife. As the name suggested, it boasts a de made out of spirit silver. Regr silver was basically a metal that wasn¡¯t fit for making des, but it looks like that wasn¡¯t the case for spirit silver. Does that mean it was stronger and tougher than the silver I was familiar with? It had ¡®silver¡¯ in its name, but perhaps it was a metal with very different physical properties.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it dangerous to go up against ferocious creatures with such a short de?¡±

    ¡°Un. Well, as far as I¡¯ve heard, some of the animals they hunt seem quite dangerous if provoked, so maybe they finish them off from a distance by using bows and arrows instead of this? They might only be using des like this as a backup weapon or something to that effect.¡±

    ¡°Or maybe they use them as sub-weapons for instances when their prey manages to close in on them.¡±

    ¡°They might also be using them simply for delivering a coup de grace or dissecting their prey.¡±

    ¡°Ah, sis, there¡¯s an unsheathed spirit silver de we can pick up and try over here.¡±

    Whisker, who was walking a bit ahead of us, suddenly called out. As I and Tina headed to where Whisker was, I nced back and saw Mimi, Mei, and Elma talking in front of the exhibit disying the various elven folk costumes. It looks like the former two were asking Elma about something.

    ¡°Oh, Boss, this thing is a lot lighter than it looks.¡±

    ¡°Hou? Let me see.¡±

    The spirit silver¡¯s hilt was actually fixed to a stand by a sturdy wire. It was probably an anti-theft measure. The de was quite thick. Its length was probably about 30 centimeters or so. It was fairlyrge for a knife. It was a straight single-edged de that looked quite sharp. This thing would probably run a human through quite easily even if you pulled your punches a bit. It actually kinda resembled a Japanese katana, or rather, a tantou[1].

    ¡°It really is light¡­¡­ It¡¯s so light that it feels like I¡¯m holding a toy instead of a dangerous weapon.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really lightpared to iron. I think it¡¯s as light as aluminum.¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s strong enough to be used to make des, that¡¯d make it plenty useful.¡±

    ¡°But PAM metals aren¡¯t that heat-resistant though.¡±

    ¡°Their structural integrity will be instantlypromised the moment aser hits them, so they aren¡¯t suitable as materials for making starships. They also aren¡¯t that great for making monoswords either. That¡¯s because they would be practically useless the moment you blockser fire with them.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    While listening to the two¡¯s exnations, I noticed something weird was happening to the hunting de I was inspecting. Isn¡¯t this thing vibrating like crazy?

    ¡°Hey, is this hunting de actually equipped with a hyper-vibration mechanism or something? It¡¯s trembling like heck.¡±

    ¡°I wonder? It won¡¯t be strange for somethin¡¯ like that to be tacked onto it to improve the sharpness of the de, but it¡¯s weird that even the hilt¡¯s vibratin¡¯. Ain¡¯t that kinda useless?¡±

    ¡°If even the hilt¡¯s vibrating, then it¡¯s basically considered a defective product after all. I think it¡¯s better to put that away, big brother. It looks dangerous.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    But what¡¯s up with installing such a mechanism to a de that¡¯s meant for disy? Well, it was scary alright, so I tried to put the thing back to its stand. And then-

    ¡°¡±¡±Ah¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±

    The moment I ced the de back on top of the exhibit stand, it shattered to pieces. It didn¡¯t just snap in two. It literally crumbled to pieces. It was as if it got destroyed because it couldn¡¯t withstand, uh, something.

    ¡°¡­¡­Was that my fault?¡±

    ¡°I dunno¡­¡­ But it¡¯s true that you were thest one who touched it, Boss.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t do anything weird to it earlier, did you¡­¡­?¡±

    I don¡¯t think it was my fault the de broke, but it wasn¡¯t good to keep quiet about it either. It can¡¯t be helped, so I decided to call Lilium over to exin the situation.

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­? This is-?¡±

    Lilium looked pretty confused as she checked out the shattered de of the hunting knife. Yeah, of course, she¡¯d be confused. It would be a bit more normal if it was just split in two, but it¡¯s actually crumbled to pieces after all. It was definitely weird.

    ¡°I¡¯m not really sure what happened, but it broke even though we didn¡¯t do anything weird in particr.¡±

    ¡°Neither us nor Boss actually touched the de directly.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I just held it by the hilt and checked it out for a short while. Honest.¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re the one who checked it outst though, Boss.¡±

    ¡°What a sudden betrayal.¡±

    ¡°Facts are facts, Boss. Ya gotta be honest in times like these.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but still¡­¡±

    As we bantered like that, a museum staff member came running to check the situation out and was also surprised to see the shattered de. It looks like no one had any idea how it broke the way it did and why.

    ¡°Did you fire theser gun on your hip at the de¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°No, no, of course not. I really didn¡¯t. And besides, there¡¯s no reason for me to do that, is there?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Can spirit silver really be shattered like that if you fire aser gun at it with the lowest output?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s possible, but we didn¡¯t really do anything like that. Both Boss and us don¡¯t have any reason to pull something like that off anyway.¡±

    ¡°Right¡­¡±

    I don¡¯t think I was the one who broke it, but it really was suspicious that I was thest person to touch it before the thing broke. That¡¯s why I decided to just pay for the damages. They refused to ept the money though.

    ¡°The cause of the incident is currently unknown after all, and it doesn¡¯t look like you intentionally broke it, sir.¡±

    When we checked the security cameras for theft prevention, I was absolved of all suspicion since they didn¡¯t manage to witness any odd behavior from the captured footage. It seems the shattered de was going to be sent to a research facility to investigate the cause of its destruction.

    ¡°You really do cause all sorts of weird and troublesome stuff huh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not my fault¡­¡­¡±

    After all was said and done, I was red at by Elma in exasperation while Mimiughed bitterly on the side. Fine. I admit that I¡¯m a trouble ma, okay. But it¡¯s not like I could have predicted that earlier incident anyway. I mean, how would I know a tough-looking hunting de like that would actually crumble for no rhyme or reason?

    ¡°Um, this is probably a good time, so how about we return to the inn already, everyone? You can rest up a bit, and then we¡¯ll have your wee dinner.¡±

    ¡°Right, shall we, guys?¡±

    Elma agreed with Lilium¡¯s suggestion, and everyone else agreed as well. I was kinda worn out after that hunting de incident, so I also agreed with taking a break. Let¡¯s just hope and pray that no more troublesome stuff will ur during the wee dinner.

    [1] TL Notes: Tantou - a Japanese shortsword used in martial arts that were worn by samurai in addition to their tachi (the precedent of the katana).

 Chapter 242 â€“ Souvenir Shop

    <h4>Chapter 242 - Souvenir Shop</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Although there was an incident where a spirit silver hunting de shattered just after I held it in my hand, the rest of our art museum tour was still very enjoyable. Or rather, the ce was so big that we couldn¡¯t actually finish seeing all the exhibits, and we decided we¡¯de againter on during the trip.

    And so, we came in front of the souvenir shop before returning to the inn. But¡­

    ¡°You actually have a good taste for these things huh.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡±

    ¡°I kinda feel bad about this Boss. You sure?¡±

    ¡°I-Is it really fine? They all look so expensive.¡±

    Elma grinned unabashedly, Mimi¡¯s lips curved into a sunny smile, Tina was pretending to act all reserved but couldn¡¯t hide her excitement at all, and Whisker was fidgeting bashfully while looking up at me with an expectant gaze.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Mei froze up and kept staring at thecquerwareb I just bought for her as a gift. I wonder if she¡¯s happy about the gift? She just stoodpletely still as she quietly stared at theb in her hands.

    By the way, theb I bought for her was a ckcquerwareb with golden lotus patterns drawn on it. Mei manages the ck Lotus, so I thought it fit her perfectly.

    ¡°I actually don¡¯t have any confidence regarding my aesthetic sensibilities though?¡±

    ¡°Ara, I think theb you bought for Mei was perfect, you know? Just choose ones for us like you did for her.¡±

    ¡°Like it¡¯s that simple.¡±

    In the end, I bought essory cases for Elma and Mimi so they can store the jewelry I bought for them to match with their evening dresses when we went to the capital. As for Tina and Whisker, I bought them a hairpin and string essory set each. One had decorative red jewels and beads and the other had blue ones. They matched the sisters perfectly.

    ¡°Mine has daffodil patterns huh.¡±

    ¡°What are the flowers on mine, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Those are sunflowers.¡±

    ¡°You matched them with our hair color huh.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re so pretty¡­¡­¡±

    I answered Mimi¡¯s question since she wasn¡¯t that familiar with flowers and checked everyone¡¯s reactions to their gifts. It looks like they were all pretty satisfied. Mei was still frozen though. Was she really okay?

    ¡°I kinda get why you¡¯d choose that flower pattern for Mimi, but what¡¯s the reason for choosing mine?¡±

    Elma inquired as she showed me her smallcquered essory box with white daffodils drawn on it.

    ¡°I have no idea regarding ¡®flowernguage¡¯ and stuff like that. I just thought these flowers match my image of you perfectly, Elma. They¡¯re pretty, right?¡±

    ¡°Hmm? So this is actually how you view me huh, Hiro. I see.¡±

    That was kinda vague, but she looks happy anyway, so whatever! By the way, the reason why I bought one with sunflower patterns for Mimi was that it reminded me of her bright and sunny demeanor. It didn¡¯t mean anything more than that.

    It seems the mechanic sisters immediately ran up to Lilium and asked her to help them put on their hairpins.

    ¡°Oh, so you can actually wear your hair up easily with just this one stick huh.¡±

    ¡°We have to make sure to remember the steps, big sis.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a video exining the use of these essories step by step avable. I can send you the fileter if you¡¯d like.¡±

    It looks like they were having fun over there too. Umu, so my aesthetic sense wasn¡¯t as bad as I thought huh? Anyway, everything¡¯s good as long as they were happy.

    We had Mimi and Elma¡¯s gifts shipped to ck Lotus and headed back to the inn. Theb I bought for Mei also came with a case, so it seems she put it back inside the case and kept it somewhere on her maid uniform. I guess it was put in a secret pocket or something like that.

    By the way, if you talk about maid clothes and hidden pockets, I think it¡¯s a man¡¯s instinct to immediately eye for the chest portion.

    ¡°Go ahead, Master.¡±

    Mei noticed my gaze and lifted her well-shaped breasts with her hands. Though they weren¡¯t asrge as Mimi¡¯s, Mei¡¯s assets also had quite the volume. Or rather, their size should be the standard forrger than average breasts. Mimi¡¯s chest was simply too out of the norm.

    ¡°That¡¯s not it y¡¯know. That¡¯s not my intention.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    Fondling Mei¡¯s breasts in public just wasn¡¯t good behavior by any stretch of the imagination, so I absolutely won¡¯t do it here. I¡¯ll do itter instead. In a more suitable and private ce that is. Yep.

    Well, that wasn¡¯t a bad idea, but I think I¡¯d like to try brushing Mei¡¯s hair with theb I bought as well. Mei¡¯s hair was long and beautiful, so I think it should be fun.

    Anyway, we still had a little time before the banquet starts, so I decided to take a quick bath earlier and just finished up. Mimi and the others were taking their sweet time in the bath, so Mei and I were currently the only ones rxing inside the room.

    By the way, Mei didn¡¯t take a bath together with us. She was a maidroid, so she basically didn¡¯t need to take a bath. Of course, we do take baths together sometimes just after doing the deed, but usually, she just cleans her body up during her regr maintenance sessions inside her maintenance pod. Her clothes often got dirty due to the nature of her work, so she does change frequently. And since I really liked stroking her pretty hair, she also didn¡¯t ck when ites to hair care.

    ¡°By the way, are you actually investigating the details regarding the various elf ns, Mei?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Should I tell you about my findings?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, just a bit. There aren¡¯t any dangerous matters mixed in, right?¡±

    ¡°At least, not at the moment. To summarize, the elf ns can be divided into three factions.¡±

    One faction was headed by the Rose n. It was a faction that aims to actively seek out and expand into space. Specifically, they want to spread out more within the Gran empire¡¯s territories and raise more awareness regarding the elves as a major race within the empire. Elma¡¯s family, the Willrose house, and another branch, the Wisrose house, were part of this faction.

    Another faction was headed by the Grado n. They were a so-called conservative faction whose main ideal was for elves to continue living with the spirits and the sacred tree on Theta. They greatly valued their race¡¯s connection with the spirits and the forests and were perfectly happy to continue the traditions of the elves by preserving their native culture before the advent of the Gran empire on Theta, or rather, the Refill system.

    And thest faction was headed by the Minfa n. Basically, they were centrists. They acknowledge that the culture and traditions of the elves should be preserved and respected, but they also believe that the elves should enjoy the various benefits brought about by the Gran empire more and incorporate various new things from outside their mother system in order to improve the lives of the elves.

    The differences between the three factions were also evident when you look at where each of them chose to reside on. The people of the Rose faction frequently go back and forth between Theta and space, and their houses on Theta were built using a modern style and thetest building materials and technology. They also used magic, or rather, spirit arts, but they didn¡¯t ce as much importance on itpared to the other factions. Elma certainly was like that.

    She was kinda like a trendy city elf if she lived in a typical fantasy setting, I guess.

    In contrast, the faction headed by the Grado n seems to live deep within the forests by building old-fashioned tree houses. They used almost no technology and actively relied on magic in order to live.

    They were the orthodox elves or something like that.

    What about the centrists led by the Minfa n? They basically have the best of both worlds. For example, they ced thetest appliances inside traditionally built elven tree houses and used modern gadgets and equipment for hunting. They were living quite an ideal lifestyle. They were on the middle ground with regard to their stance on magic as well, with some of their people cing great importance on it while some others don¡¯t.

    ¡°I see. I imagine the Grado n and the Rose n don¡¯t exactly get along too well huh.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s correct. It¡¯s because their stances are each other¡¯s antithesis.¡±

    Yeah, of course, that would be the case. Un? But if that¡¯s what¡¯s going on, then¡­¡­?

    ¡°If I remember correctly, the incident we got caught up in this time began with pirates attacking a marriage ceremony between the Grado n and the Minfa n, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that is correct.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the situation, then one viable theory could be the Rose n, wanting to avoid the strengthening of ties between the Grado n and Minfa, resorted to employing space pirates in order to mess up the marriage ceremony.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Both the Grado n and the Minfa n strongly suspect that to be the case as well. Many of the system garrison members are from the Rose n after all. Leaking the info to the pirates. Failing to prevent the attack. It seems both ns are very suspicious toward the Rose n because of those factors.¡±

    ¡°Oh boy¡­¡­ Well, it doesn¡¯t really have anything to do with us. Yep.¡±

    We rescued the members of the Grado and Minfa ns, including their n leader¡¯s children, and managed to wipe the behind of the Rose n in the process, so all three of them should not be holding a grudge toward us. We n on leaving the system right away anyway, so it¡¯s not likely that we¡¯ll get involved in another troublesome mess.

    Uh, but maybe there¡¯s a chance we will if we go and pay a visit to the Rose n for Elma?

    ¡°Well, whatever happens, happens. Let¡¯s just go with the flow.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s for the best. If ites to it, we can always choose to leave the system in case of an emergency.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    We¡¯re mercenaries living a free and unfettered life after all. If something really does happen, we can just drop everything and run away. Yep.

 Chapter 243 â€“ Welcome Dinner and Trouble from an Unexpected Source

    <h4>Chapter 243 - Wee Dinner and Trouble from an Unexpected Source</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°How is it?¡±

    ¡°Well?¡±

    ¡°You guys look very cute.¡±

    I unreservedly praised Mimi and the others, who were now sporting traditional elven clothing, and gave them a warm round of apuse.

    Mimi was wearing a blouse and a short skirt that reached just above her knees with a long cloth draped around her body¡­¡­ Ah, I think I remember seeing such clothing somewhere. Oh, right. Doesn¡¯t India have a simr-looking traditional dress?

    The color of the cloth covering her body was quite vivid and seemed soft to the touch. I think it was also made from the silk produced by that alien silkworm asrge as a medium-sized dog.

    Tina and Whisker were wearing one-piece outfits that seemed to be made out of leather. They had a sort of Native American vor to them. They were simple costumes that predominantly used brown and dark brown as base colors but avoided looking too in through the liberal use of beads made out of smooth blue or white stones as highlights.

    ¡°¡­¡­What?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. I just think you absolutely nailed it in that.¡±

    Elma was wearing a dress that resembled a pure white qipao. It was the same type of dress as what Lilium was wearing. The dress really suited the slender Elma. Her smooth thighs that peeked right through the deep slits on her dress were absolutely dazzling.

    ¡°Yeah, that dress really suits you. Un. Absolutely wonderful.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. By the way, clothes of this color and style are only worn by those who are already married.¡±

    ¡°Seriously? They wear dresses with such deep slits even though they¡¯re married already?¡±

    ¡°It seems most elven men here can be quite apathetic when ites to stuff like that. I¡¯m not that familiar regarding the matter though.¡±

    ¡°I see?¡±

    So they wore dresses with such high slits to stimte the animal instincts hiding deep within their male partners or something like that? Seriously? Man, the elves of this dimension really are weird huh.

    ¡°But geez. You really are big, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Ahn! W-Wait, Tina-san!¡±

    ¡°Come to think of it, you two surprisingly aren¡¯tcking in that department at all.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re proper adult women after all.¡±

    They normally wore thick work overalls so it wasn¡¯t that obvious most of the time, but the mechanic sisters actually had some decent chest sizes. Actually, Tina sometimes walks around the break room right after taking a bath in light clothing, so I managed to get a good look at her chest a good couple of times already.

    I looked on as thedies frolicked with each other until an elven inn staff came to get us. It looks like the preparations for the wee dinner wereplete, and the representatives of the various elven ns have also arrived. We were arranged to appear at the venuest.

    Eh? What about my clothes? I was wearing my usual get-up. I don¡¯t really care about what clothes I wear, and we at least gotta have someone who looked like a proper mercenary in the group, right? And besides, this outfit will allow me to respond quicker just in case something happens.

    By the way, Mei was wearing her usual maid uniform as well. Mei was a maidroid, so she basically didn¡¯t change into anything other than maid uniforms. And besides, she¡¯s hidden a lot of shady stuff underneath that maid uniform of hers. Yep. She had stuff like marbles and throwing darts made out of high-density metal alloys normally used in starship armor ting for example.

    ¡°Mercenary Captain Hiro andpany have arrived.¡±

    When we got to the banquet hall, the dinner host immediately announced our arrival. We instantly became the center of attention. They had generally favorable reactions, but a few of them opened their eyes wide in surprise¡­¡­ What¡¯s up with that? Was there something on my face?

    In any case, those who had exaggerated reactions when they saw me were scattered all over the hall, so I couldn¡¯t do anything about them for the time being. I followed the elven inn staff and was guided to the best seat, or in other words, the seat of honor, and made myselffortable along with the rest of my crew. Mei stood behind me just like usual though.

    And then, the host started introducing us to the rest of the guests.

    I was introduced first. The host told them how I managed to capture the pirate ship that the system garrison regrettably failed to secure and rescued the captured elves within it, with the Grado n leader¡¯s daughter Tinia and the Minfa n¡¯s chief Nect among them. The host highly emphasized that I managed to avenge the elves who lost their lives during the attack and the damage done to the sacred tree by cutting down the pirates with my sword.

    After that, the host moved on to introducing my crew members.

    ¡°Thisdy serves as Captain Hiro¡¯s second-inmand and is also a descendant of the Willrose family, a sub-branch of the Rose n.¡±

    In Elma¡¯s case, the fact that she was rted to the Rose n was also announced. ording to Elma, it was somewhat dubious if someone like her who ran away from home without her family¡¯s consent can still be considered part of the Rose n, but she just couldn¡¯t be bothered to correct them. In any case, it was indeed true that she was rted to them by blood.

    ¡°Praise and gratitude to Mother Nature and the visitors from afar.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Praise and gratitude to Mother Nature and the visitors from afar!¡±¡±¡±

    After our introductions, the dinner banquet finally began with an unfamiliar toast by an elven higher up. I think the guy was the Grado n¡¯s leader. As for the dishes that were served¡­¡­ Yep, nothing was particrly weird. Just that fact that we weren¡¯t served insect dishes was a huge plus for me.

    ¡°They¡¯re delicious!¡±

    ¡°Fumu, elven grub really is somethin¡¯ huh.¡±

    ¡°Right. But I would have liked it better if they used just a bit more spices though.¡±

    ¡°I think they¡¯re delicious enough.¡±

    Just like Whisker said, the dishes were a little thin when ites to spices, but the vor of the dashi was quite tight regardless. Were they a bit simr to Japanese food in this aspect? Hmm, not exactly, I guess. Also, they had quite a number of stewed dishes.

    ¡°So this is their staple dish huh. Hmm?¡±

    Their staple dish was something resembling a mochi wrapped in a leaf simr-looking to those of a kashiwa¡¯s. They outwardly resembled kashiwa mochi[1], but can you actually eat the leaves as well? I looked around and saw that they weren¡¯t eating the leaves after all.

    ¡°Hou, this is pretty good.¡±

    The dish resembling kashiwa mochi was actually a rice cake filled with marinated minced meat. The springy dough was wrapped around a filling of salty-sweet vored minced meat. It was quite delicious.

    The other dishes included a root vegetable and potato-look alike stew, a soup with plenty of meat and other ingredients, roasted meat with fruit-based sauce, fried meat and veggie skewers, and so on.

    ¡°Well ain¡¯t this quite a refined liquor?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s delicious.¡±

    Before I knew it, the mechanic sisters already ended up enjoying liquor stored inside an earthenware pot. It had the aroma of grapes, so it was probably grape wine. Even though she looked like a cute girl, Tina drank like a seasoned old man. Whisker resembled an elegant littledy even when drinking liquor. They were twins, but what¡¯s with their difference in demeanor¡­¡­? Maybe it was brought about by the difference in the environment they were raised in.

    Yeah. Due to certain circumstances, Tina and Whisker weren¡¯t raised in the same household. It seems there was even a time when Tina hung out with a gang when she was living in a colony with poor public safety measures. But she did mostly get her act together when she got reunited with Whisker though.

    After that, she went and worked together with Whisker at Space Dwerg until they eventually got involved with us when we came to the Brad system. I haven¡¯t really asked them about their past much. Maybe I¡¯ll try and open the topic if we get the chanceter.

    Elma seems like she was actively trying not to stand out too much. I was already briefed by Mei regarding the rtionships between the various ns here on Theta earlier. So maybe Elma was trying not to stand out in order to avoid getting linked to the power struggle between the ns here on Theta. Well, there¡¯s no useining now, but I was really grateful for her consideration.

    And then, after we more or less finished having our meals, some elves stood up from their seats and approached us. The elves all looked like handsome young men and beautiful young women, so seeing them line up in front of me like this was quite a jarring experience. It would probably feel a bit more natural for me if the n leaders were gruff bearded middle-aged men, but they looked like your typical pretty boys and girls instead.

    ¡°Please allow me to thank you once more for saving my dear daughter. I am the Grado n¡¯s current leader, Zesh.¡±

    The Grado n leader Zesh was a handsome man with light-brown hair simr in color to Tinia¡¯s. He had a scar on one of his cheeks and had a sharp-eyed gaze. He was more well-builtpared to your average male elf. He was a lithe guy but was still quite macho. He was wearing a leather outfit simr to the one Tina and Whisker were wearing.

    ¡°I am Miriam, the current leader of the Minfa n. I would also like to thank you for saving Nect¡¯s life. Truly, thank you very much. I was told that boy might have died without your treatment.¡±

    The Minfa n¡¯s leader was a beautiful woman with lustrous blonde hair. She was wearing an outfit simr to Mimi¡¯s instead. However, her dress had a lot more decorative ornamentspared to Mimi¡¯s and looked quite extravagant.

    It looks like the Rose n leader wasn¡¯t present. Well, the rtionship between the three major ns has soured after all. It would be bad if all three of them attended only to get into an argument in front of me. But I guess they¡¯ve considered that already.

    ¡°Even though it was merely by chance, I¡¯m still d we were able to help the people of Theta. Thank you for setting up such a wonderful wee dinner for us.¡±

    ¡°Umu¡­¡­ By the way, there is something I want to ask you.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    I have no idea what he wanted to ask, but I tilted my head curiously toward Mr. Zesh. He had a serious expression on. I wonder what this is all about.

    ¡°Just what are you? The power overflowing from you is equal to that of a high-ranking spirit¡­¡­ No, it¡¯s even greater. You do look like a human, at least in physical appearance. But still¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    I tilted my head to the side again and repeated my earlier response. Overflowing power? Equal or greater than that of a high-ranking spirit? Just what are you saying, man?

    ¡°People like us who have an affinity with the spirits can sense an enormous amount of powering from your person. It is as if Refill that¡¯s shining brightly upon the firmament has descended unto the world, and it feels very pleasant.¡±

    I have absolutely no idea what this guy was talking about, so I turned to Elma for help. However, Elma shut her eyes and shook her head.

    ¡°I can¡¯t really tell because I don¡¯t have the ability to sense such things. I only learned the very basics when ites to magic after all.¡±

    ¡°This youngdy is of the Rose n, correct? If so, then it can¡¯t be helped. The Rose n is not so keen onmuning with the spirits. It is quite rare for them to achieve spiritual sight, so it is no wonder that this youngdy wasn¡¯t able to notice your power.¡±

    ¡°But no one has ever told me about something like that before we came here. I¡¯ve also undergone a thorough medical check-up before, and nothing like that came up.¡±

    ¡°The Gran empire is very much into materialism after all. Spiritmunication and magic, or what they call psionic technology, is one of their weak points.¡±

    The Minfa n¡¯s leader Miriam exined as she looked at me with a passionate gaze. I see? It¡¯s true that I was able to get in touch with stuff like advanced AI, cybeics, and biotechnology in the empire, but I had almost no chance of encountering stuff rted to magic even in the imperial capital. The imperial nobles did kinda resemble J*di, but they achieved their abilities through highly advanced cybeics and gic engineering rather than mystical powers.

    ¡°Um, so, what does this mean for me, exactly?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s hard for us to say as well. In the first ce, just where do you hail from? We have to know at least that in order to make any usible guesses.¡±

    ¡°My ce of origin huh. Yeah, about that¡­¡­¡±

    It would definitely cause an uproar if I told them I came from a different world here huh. I have no intention of doing so anyway. Absolutely not.

    ¡°I¡¯m actually suffering from amnesia you see. When I came to, I was already drifting in outer space with my favorite starship. I think it was caused by a hyperdrive ident or something, but my memory from before I got stranded in space is very spotty y¡¯see- Ah, pardon me if I sounded rude just then.¡±

    ¡°Do not worry. You are our benefactor and our guest. It is alright as long as we give each other the minimum amount of respect. However, I see¡­¡­ A hyperdrive ident, is it?¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t give us a lot to work with. However, do you not pass through a different realm from our own during interster travel? Perhaps he got in contact with the spirit world through that?¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s all that it takes, then this world should be filled with people like him already. However, that is evidently not the case. But we cannot discount the possibility that it¡¯s rted in some way. The key is his amnesia. If he really managed to reach the spirit world through a hyperdrive ident, perhaps he did something over there. And when he reemerged to the physical world, most of his memories, including his time over there, may have been left behind in the spirit world.¡±

    ¡°If so, then you¡¯re saying when he reached the spirit world, his physical body broke down and his being transformed into something more akin to that of a spirit, and when he reemerged, his physical body was reconstructed, but it still held the characteristics of a spirit?¡±

    ¡°That might be the case. Or it could be apletely different thing altogether. Either way, his current state is still highly unusual.¡±

    Uwah, these guys are seriously engaging in a discussion while using fantasy mumbo-jumbo I could barely understand.

    Anyway, the only thing I¡¯m sure of is that I managed to trigger another majorly troublesome incident. Damn. Maybe we really should high-tail outta here once this dinner is over. Yeah, let¡¯s do that. I¡¯m getting a really, really bad feeling about this.

    ¡°We¡¯ve managed to have our fill and enjoyed the hospitality of the elves, so would it be alright if we excused ourselves now?¡±

    ¡°That will not do. We still haven¡¯t properly managed to express our gratitude.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that simply will not do. You cannot continue to wastefully let your power leak out like that. I¡¯m sure even a little bit of training will serve you quite well.¡±

    Mr. Zesh and Ms. Miriam both voiced their disagreement. Yeah, I thought so. This is why we should have left earlier dammit!

    Or rather, my attributes are seriously getting out of hand. Ever since the tournament in the imperial capital, my overallbat ability has risen so muchpared to before, but now I¡¯m actually going to train to use something resembling The F*rce and really be a damn J*di!?

    I¡¯m totally content with duking it out with other starships with my Krishna, thank you very much. There¡¯s something strange about strengthening myself directly I tell ya! A development where I¡¯ll be able to strengthen Krishna with new equipment and performance upgrades would be way, waaay better.

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing, Hiro-sama! If you train, wouldn¡¯t it be like you turning into a real-life superhero?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t really think a development just like in Americanics would really happen. No, maybe it actually will¡­¡­?¡±

    Come to think of it, ain¡¯t I kinda like that guy with a special gun grafted to his left hand which shoots psychic power[2]? There¡¯s also that guy riding a paper-thin armored bipedal robot who just won¡¯t die[3]. Yeah, I might actually turn out just like them. Or rather, if things continue in this direction, I¡¯m actually gonna turn into some sort of J*di knock-off, won¡¯t I? It¡¯s the same, ain¡¯t it?

    ¡°Given your high potential Master, it might be a good idea to try it.¡±

    Mei actually gave me a push to go through with it, which was pretty rare. It was unusual for Mei because she normally doesn¡¯t voice her opinion like this unless asked.

    ¡°In the first ce, it¡¯s already very strange that you were able to go up against expert Drawn Sword faction swordsmen in the span of mere months you know. That¡¯s especially since you haven¡¯t undergone any physical enhancements.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Boss. You¡¯ve already made it this far, so why don¡¯t ya just go all the way?¡±

    Whisker, who was standing right next to the currently red-faced Tina, nodded in agreement. And her eyes were shining for some reason. Come to think of it, she was quite into those sorts of stuff huh. She and Mimi discuss things like that from time to time as well.

    ¡°Oh, fine. I guess I can do it if there¡¯s time.¡±

    ¡°That would be for the best. If you contact us, we¡¯ll prepare the best training environment for you.¡±

    Chief Miriam nodded heavily after hearing my reply.

    I heard that the Grado n was the one that ced more importance on magicpared to the Minfa n. But why was Ms. Miriam, who was the leader of the Minfa n, acting more enthusiasticpared to the Grado n guys? No, maybe the marriage between each leader¡¯s children pushed through exactly because the Minfa n¡¯s leader was like this.

    Well, in any case, we¡¯ll talk about it next time. Next time, okay. We¡¯re gonna be busy sightseeing and looking for c tomorrow after all!

    [1] Kashiwa Mochi: A Japanese confection consisting of white mochi (rice cake) surrounding a sweet anko (red bean paste) filling with a Kashiwa (Japanese emperor oak) leaf wrapped around it. (Source - Wikipedia) [2] A reference to Cobra, the titr character of the manga Cobra, and the animated movie Space Adventure Cobra. [3] A reference to Chirico Cuvie, the protagonist of Armored Trooper VOTOMS.

 Chapter 244 â€“ Exposed

    <h4>Chapter 244 - Exposed</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After the dinner banquet, our group returned to our room and sat in a circle on top of the futonsid on the floor for an impromptu meeting. Due to our request, we were all assigned to a single spacious room. We had themy out futons and nned to sleep while huddled together tonight. Well, I, the sole male of the group, was scheduled to sleep in a lonely corner of the room though.

    ¡°So what the heck was that all about anyway?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea myself you know. Just like I told you, I was only ever taught the very basics of magic. Judging from what they were saying earlier, it looks like you have the potential to master magic at a fairly high level, Hiro. I¡¯m not sure just to what extent though.¡±

    ¡°Do you have any idea about it, Mei-san?¡±

    ¡°Regrettably, no. There are many aspects of psionic technology we AI fail toprehend even now, so our research regarding the subject has not progressed for a while.¡±

    Mei calmly exined with her usual deadpan expression. She had a nk expression on her face, but I¡¯m pretty sure she was making her stern look right now.

    ¡°We sisters are certified born and bred imperial folks too, so don¡¯t look at us, Boss.¡±

    ¡°We know that elves use magic, but that¡¯s about it. There seems to be a space empire that specializes in making use of psionic technology, but it¡¯s pretty far away.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s that holy empire or whatever its name was. I ain¡¯t that familiar with it too.¡±

    ¡°I see. Oh well.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not gonna care about it anymore, just like that?¡±

    ¡°No matter how you slice it, this matter just reeks of trouble. I don¡¯t really care about my true origin and whatnot, so I¡¯ll just ignore it. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m troubled about something like that right now anyway.¡±

    It¡¯s a different story if this strange force inside my body was making me sick or was running out of control and harming the others around me, but there are no signs of that so far. The mysterious effects I¡¯m aware of were my being able to understand, speak, and write all thenguages I¡¯ve encountered so far without the need for anguage trantor imnt, and being able to alter my perception by holding my breath so that the things around me would appear to be moving in extreme slow motion.

    It¡¯s too risky to delve into something that one doesn¡¯t fully understand. It¡¯s not like I desperately want to find out about my strange abilities, and I don¡¯t particrly wanna power myself up either. I admit I got a little interested when Elma gave me a magic demonstrationst time, but I don¡¯t wanna stir up the ho¡¯s nest more than this.

    ¡°It¡¯s kinda weird. Are you actually scared or something?¡±

    After saying so, Elma turned her gaze toward me.

    ¡°I am. I¡¯m not even sure just how exactly I got sent into this dimension in the first ce. Now it kinda feels like things are way bigger than I bargained for, don¡¯t you think? Of course, I¡¯m gonna feel uneasy.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­ By the way, what did ya mean by getting sent into this dimension, Boss? What¡¯s up with that?¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Ah¡­¡±¡±¡±

    I, Elma, and Mimi all cried out at the same time. Come to think of it, I never properly told the mechanic sisters about my origins, huh. Now that I¡¯ve been noticed by the elven higher-ups, I guess there¡¯s no use keeping it from the sisters anymore.

    ¡°Ok, there¡¯s no meaning in hiding anything now anyway. I¡¯ll tell you guys everything.¡±

    And so, I told them about how I came to this dimension in full detail. In any case, I just suddenly found myself stranded here, so there¡¯s not much to say. Like I said earlier, I don¡¯t even know how exactly I got sent here, and my memories just before waking up in this dimension were still quite fuzzy. I kinda remember dozing off with the PC still running SOL and crawling to my bed to sleep, but apart from that, I waspletely stumped. But that just might be a misconception on my part, and there was a chance that those memories were actually imnted in me by, uh, someone or something.

    ¡°And so, that¡¯s why I¡¯ve been hiding the possibility that I might not be a person from this reality from you both. At least, I¡¯m not ording to what I remember.¡±

    ¡°Wahaah¡­¡­ So that¡¯s it. So in your head, Boss, it¡¯s like you got suddenly shoved inside a holo-game or somethin¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Or a world simr to the game I yed, at least. As far as I remember, alien races like elves and dwarves weren¡¯t present in SOL, the game I yed. Naturally, Space Dwerg didn¡¯t appear in it too. That goes for advanced independent AI as well. They do have some thingsmon between them, but the more time I spend in this dimension, the more things I encounter that don¡¯t exactly match with SOL¡¯s game world.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a very mysterious story¡­¡­ It¡¯s like you¡¯re the protagonist of a holo-novel, big brother.¡±

    ¡°Ara, I think Hiro already serves the part of a holo-novel protagonist even without the otherworlder angle mixed in though.¡±

    ¡°He did climb up to tinum-rank at an unbelievably fast speed, after all. He managed to get awarded a Gold Star as well.¡±

    For some reason, everyone¡¯s gazes focused on me. Nothing wille out no matter how much you guys stare at me y¡¯know.

    ¡°It¡¯s true that I¡¯m now a tinum-ranker and a Gold Star recipient, but in the end, I¡¯m just a merc who¡¯s pretty confident in my skills. That¡¯s how I feel anyway.¡±

    ¡°There are no other mercenaries who are both tinum-rank and a Gold Star recipient, you know. Furthermore, you¡¯re also someone whose skills are officially recognized by the emperor after your performance in the tournament where you even beat nobles in swordsmanship duels.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    ¡°Certainly.¡±

    ¡°Aaah, I¡¯m not hearing anything. That¡¯s why I¡¯m saying I don¡¯t need troublesome stuff like the title of hero or a mysterious power I don¡¯t freaking understand. I absolutely don¡¯t want to get involved in any of that. Just where am I heading toward with these kinds of developments anyway? Don¡¯t tell me I¡¯m destined to be a hero who¡¯s meant to save the universe from evil or something like that?¡±

    I definitely don¡¯t want any part in that. I just wanna keep flirting with everyone, drink c, and live a rxed and carefree life. A little thrill every once in a while is more than enough for me. Once I get my hands on c, I¡¯d be living my ideal life. The main reason I want to live on a is that it¡¯s the only ce I can freely enjoy c after all. If I can drink c in my current living environment, then there¡¯s no reason for me to get fixated on a detached house on a residential.

    ¡°But wouldn¡¯t it be possible for you to predict the future using your knowledge from the game?¡±

    Whisker inquired with shining eyes. She was probably asking about me being able to predict events that would endanger the universe or something like that, and that¡¯s why her eyes were shining in anticipation.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I can¡¯t, but there¡¯s no guarantee the events I know will actually happen here.¡±

    ¡°Eh! You can!?¡±

    ¡°Really!?¡±

    ¡°Ya sure, Boss!?¡±

    Elma, Mimi, and Tina all raised their voices in shock. Well, yeah. But I only experienced the ones I knew of through in-game events, and we kinda resolved everything before the crises really worsened back in the game.

    ¡°First, there¡¯s the crystal lifeforms. I was able to participate in the first contact, defense battle, investigation, and extermination events in the game.¡±

    ¡°Come to think of it, it was my first time seeing something like a Mother Crystal in thatst military operation we participated in.¡±

    ¡°I actually leaked information about it to Lt. Col. Serena. It was great that we were able to get rid of it quickly.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re already saying something totally outrageous right off the bat, Boss¡­¡­ Anythin¡¯ else?¡±

    ¡°There was an event where we encountered ravenous space monsters. It was a huge swarm of monsters that were asrge as an average small-ss starship. They were individually weak as heck, but there were a whole lot of them. They¡¯dtch onto a colony directly when given the chance and would proceed to devour it and everything in it.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Uwaaah¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±

    ¡°By the way, the remains of devoured colonies will eventually serve as their new nests, and that makes it possible for them to proliferate quite fast.¡±

    Yeah, that sure was a nasty event. More than a few colonies ended up bing infested, so we had to reduce all of them to space dust without leaving anything behind.

    ¡°H-how did you even get through that?¡±

    ¡°Just like the crystal lifeforms, there wererger ones among them which controlled the rest of the swarm. You can liken the small ones to mere ess terminals for therge ones. So as long as we finished off therge ones, the small ones would eventually self-destruct. But until we discovered that little detail, we had a really bad time trying to repel them. Eventually, we dealt with them by sending inrge-ss ships with plenty of firepower directly in the middle of the swarm using FTL Drives to engage therge-types and crushed them with concentrated fire.¡±

    ¡°And that event will possibly also happen here¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°No idea. It¡¯s possible an event like that already happened somewhere in the wide universe in a ce we don¡¯t know of and has already been resolved, so I can¡¯t really say for sure. If we eventually encounter the need to make use of the knowledge I have in my head, we¡¯d probably face them as well. Considering our luck, it won¡¯t be good to dwell on something like that any further.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. There¡¯s no reason to get so hung up on something that hasn¡¯t happened yet, so let¡¯s just forget about the matter.¡±

    ¡°T-That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Do you have anything else for us, Boss? I¡¯m really interested in tech and stuff like that.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m curious about that as well.¡±

    ¡°Un, I wonder if my knowledge in SOL can serve as references for you guys.¡±

    I obliged the mechanic sisters and told them all the ship and parts-rted knowledge I knew. Before we knew it, it was already prettyte in the night. I guess it was time to call it a day and go to sleep. We¡¯ll be visiting the various sights of Theta tomorrow after all. Staying upte is no good.

    ¡°Eeeh?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna talk to you guys more about that stuffter, okay¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You promise?¡±

    Apparently, my story really resonated with the mechanic sisters and made it hard for them to fall asleep. You guys always emphasize that you¡¯re full-grown adults, so act like one and obediently go to sleep, please¡­¡­

    By the way, I was supposed to sleep in a corner of the room but ended up right in the middle of thedies anyway. Specifically, I was sandwiched between the mechanic sisters.

    C¡¯mon guys. I won¡¯t run away so there¡¯s no need to sandwich me between the two of you.

 Chapter 245 â€“ Morning Happenings Before Going Sightseeing

    <h4>Chapter 245 - Morning Happenings Before Going Sightseeing</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I woke up to find the mechanic sisters firmly glued onto each of my arms. My arms ain¡¯t hugging pillows you know? But well, they were warm, soft, and smelled kinda nice, so it wasn¡¯t actually a bad thing, I guess. I wonder why the girls almost always smelled nice. Was it due to the shampoos and conditioners they were using? We used the same stuff in this inn so that probably wasn¡¯t it. How mysterious.

    ¡°Ara, you guys sure are getting along pretty well over there.¡±

    ¡°How nice.¡±

    After noticing I was awake already, Elma and Mimi, who both woke up ahead of us, turned back to get a peek. Both of them were still wearing their nightclothes.

    ¡°We were thinking of taking a bath before getting dressed for the day. Did we startle you awake?¡±

    ¡°No, I woke up by myself. I guess I¡¯ll take a morning bath too.¡±

    After saying so, I moved my arms in order to wake up the sleeping sisters, and they started to stir while mumbling softly.

    ¡°Mornin¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Good morni-!?¡±

    ¡°Waa-?¡±

    After realizing her current state, Whisker let out a weird-sounding yelp and frantically rolled away from me. C¡¯mon. There¡¯s no need to be that surprised y¡¯know.

    Whisker ended up rolling in Mimi¡¯s direction, so she cheerfully secured Whisker with a sunny smile on her face. Whisker was technically the older of the two but just based on physical appearance alone, Mimi was the one who looked older. And due to that, Mimi wasn¡¯t all that reserved when interacting with the sisters. In other words, she doted on them pretty naturally.

    ¡°Whisker-chan¡¯s cheeks sure are springy.¡±

    ¡°Nyaa-!¡±

    Whisker, who got caught by Mimi¡¯s evil ws, had her cheeks repeatedly poked. She turned sideways and started squirming ufortably like a small animal. I guess I better wake up her older sister as well. She was still clinging onto my arm even now. Man, she¡¯s eventched her legs onto me.

    ¡°Lemmeze around a bit more-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna take a morning bath, okay. You can go and take a bath together with Elma and the others, Tina.¡±

    ¡°Eeh, I wanna take a bath with you-¡±

    ¡°Wake up already, will you. Just the image of me washing every inch of your body in the bath already reeks of crime. Yep. That¡¯s absolutely out of the question.¡±

    ¡°But why? I already told ya I¡¯m a genuine adultdy, Boss.¡±

    ¡°In the eyes of the general public, you guys still look like kids and- What the heck are you doing?¡±

    Tina pressed herself on my arm even tighter and started squirming around. A soft and fluffy feeling got transmitted to my arm through her thin sleepwear. T-This fellow¡­¡­! She was wearing a nightie but wasn¡¯t wearing any underwear!? Ugh, she¡¯s unexpectedly stacked dammit.

    ¡°Take this! How¡¯s that? Can ya still say I¡¯m a kid after this, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Ok, ok, I give already, dammit. You¡¯re a perfectly maturedy, Tina. But this just makes bathing together with me even more of a no-go, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Really.¡±

    I heavily nodded in reply to the perplexed Tina.

    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enoughedy skits for now. Hurry up and get your morning preparations done, guys.¡±

    ¡°Okay, mama.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s your mama!?¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama! P-Please call me ¡®mama¡¯ as well!¡±

    ¡°Whoah!?¡±

    I was only joking around, but Mimitched on to the idea instantly. Uh, why are you getting so excited, youngdy? Or rather, you¡¯re getting a little too excited and Whisker¡¯s face is getting buried deep between your breasts. She looks like she¡¯s about to suffocate, so calm down already, okay?

    ¡°Good morning, everyone.¡±

    ¡°Good morning.¡±

    After getting ready anding down to the lobby, we found the silver-haired elvendy, Lilium, who served as our guide yesterday, sitting on a sofa and fiddling with a tablet terminal. She called out to us the moment she noticed us.

    She wasn¡¯t wearing her sexy native dress resembling a Chinese qipao today, but a normal-looking outfit instead.

    ¡°You¡¯re not wearing that native dress today huh.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Would you prefer me wearing that instead?¡±

    ¡°Nah, the one you¡¯re wearing is better for my heart, actually.¡±

    A man is a simple creature. Their eyes are just naturally drawn to bare legs that peak out from high-slit dresses that showcase the body¡¯s curves. I already had Mimi, Elma, and Mei of course, but even so, my eyes are still drawn to such sights. It¡¯s simply inevitable.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s better that we drop the clothes topic now. If we go any further, it might seem like I¡¯m sexually harassing you after all.¡±

    ¡°Fufu, understood. If it¡¯s alright with you, I¡¯ll be serving as your guide today as well.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯d appreciate that, of course, but is that really alright?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It was an order from the higher-ups after all.¡±

    ¡°The higher-ups huh. Come to think of it, what¡¯s your actual job anyway, Lilium?¡±

    Lilium gently smiled after hearing my question.

    ¡°I¡¯m a member of the Rose n¡¯s main branch, the Rose house. To put it simply, I¡¯m an employee working for the department in charge of foreign affairs in the Elven Autonomous Region. So I¡¯m actually a civil servant you know.¡±

    ¡°I see?¡±

    So the staff members of the Department of Foreign Affairs here also handle weing state guests and guiding them around huh? Well, Refill IV seems to be treated as an autonomous region governed by the elves, so it wasn¡¯t that strange that a specialized foreign affairs department that handles all that stuff exists.

    ¡°Basically, the Rose n handles all things pertaining to outside rtions here on Theta, or rather, Refill IV. Be it foreign affairs, the star system¡¯s defense measures, trade with the outside, or attracting tourists. We¡¯re in charge of all of them. Basically, we have a wide range of responsibilities.¡±

    ¡°Hee. But that sure sounds pretty tough though.¡±

    ¡°It is. But our gains are also equally substantial.¡±

    ¡°The risks too, I bet.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­¡±

    After all, if they mess up during negotiations with outside powers or fail to defend the system from interlopers, they¡¯d have to take full responsibility. In fact, ording to what Mei told me, they were already being heavily criticized for the recent incident.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like that has anything to do with us right now anyway. We¡¯ll be more than d to have you guide us again.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please leave it to me. Do you have some ces in mind? My personal rmendation would be the zoo and botanical garden where you can witness Theta¡¯s various flora and fauna. You still haven¡¯t managed to see all of the art gallery¡¯s exhibits as well, so you can also choose to continue your tour of it as well.¡±

    After making suggestions, Lilium turned the screen of her tablet terminal toward us. The screen disyed images of cute furball-like creatures and ferocious-looking half-reptilian beasts.

    ¡°That sounds pretty good. I do have somewhere I want to visit though.¡±

    ¡°Of course. We¡¯ll bring you wherever you wish to visit. What kind of ce would you like to visit?¡±

    ¡°I want to visit a soft drink factory if possible. It would be nice if it¡¯s the factory of a well-known brand. It would also be nice if they¡¯re offering samples to guests.¡±

    ¡°A soft drink maker¡¯s factory?¡±

    Lilium tilted her head in puzzlement. It kinda seemed like she was inwardly asking what my business was in a ce like that. But for me, it was pretty important. Yep, very very important.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then we¡¯ll need to visit an alcohol brewery too.¡±

    ¡°Ooh, a brewery huh.¡±

    ¡°That sounds pretty nice.¡±

    The heavy drinkers have made their move as well.

    Ugh, three to one is unfair guys! Since there are more of you, your request might be prioritized over mine!

    ¡°Um, then, I want to go to a ce where we can eat local delicacies for lunch. Preferably, somewhere that serves delicious food please.¡±

    Mimi raised her request in a reserved manner. Yeah, it was important to emphasize the ¡®delicious¡¯ part. After all, we tried a local specialty in the past only to find out that we got served the unprocessed contents of food cartridges. Needless to say, it was absolutely terrible.

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ Let¡¯s see. There¡¯s a food processing factory near the boundary between the Rose and Minfa ns, so we can go and pay that a visit. They offer a factory tour for visitors after all.¡±

    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s go with that n.¡±

    I better tell Lilium about my search for carbonated drinks along the way as well. Elma did say she drank a medical infusion that tasted like root beer on this before, so I¡¯m sure they have something at least simr to that here.

    Please let there be. Pretty please!

 Chapter 246 â€“ What a Bummer

    <h4>Chapter 246 - What a Bummer</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Err, anyway, like you probably expected, I didn¡¯t manage to find any c.

    Or rather, they didn¡¯t have any carbonated drinks, to begin with. Due to their peculiar history of technological development, the very concept of carbonation didn¡¯t exist on Refill IV, or Theta, as the locals called it.

    ¡°They told me you have an idea for a new type of beverage, sir. May I take some of your time to discuss the particrs?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, but I¡¯m not that knowledgeable when ites to the technical side of the process, okay?¡±

    We went for a tour of the factory of a popr beveragepany here on Theta, but the tour guide told us they didn¡¯t have any carbonated drinks. That¡¯s why I couldn¡¯t help but blurt out what was on my mind in frustration, and as a result, apany higher-up came down to meet with us. Since there was a possibility of them actually producing carbonated drinks I can enjoy, I decided to cooperate.

    ¡°Well, there you have it. I¡¯ll be talking to these guys first, so go ahead and continue with the tour by yourselves guys.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll apany you, Master.¡±

    ¡°Hm? Alright then.¡±

    And so, only Mei tagged along with me while the others continued with the factory tour¡­¡­ or rather, beverage tasting tour. They were probably enthusiastic about it because we were just about done with the non-alcoholic beverage section and the next part would be the liquor section of the tour. After all, three of the remaining four people excluding Mei and me were avid drinkers.

    As for Mimi¡­¡­ She probably won¡¯t drink herself senseless, unlike those three. After all, Mimi also wasn¡¯t that good with alcohol. She would probably reign those three serial alcoholics in, or at least try to.

    ¡°Please follow me, sir.¡±

    We were guided by the factory higher-up personally this time and were led to a ce that looked like a reception room.

    ¡°Uh, basically, a carbonated drink is a beverage with carbon dioxide added to it. It¡¯s an exciting drink that goes down the throat with a crisp and refreshing feel.¡±

    And so, I started telling them all that I knew about carbonated drinks. Unfortunately, I wasn¡¯t really familiar with how carbonated drinks were actually made in factories. Basically, I think they¡¯d first prepare a non-carbonated stock solution, pour it into a pressurized carbonation machine, and then inject carbon dioxide into it.

    ¡°I think it would be easier to infuse carbon dioxide into the stock solution if it was cooled first.¡±

    ¡°I see, I see.¡±

    As he listened to me ramble on, the factory higher-up took notes using his tablet terminal.

    ¡°There are quite a lot of fruit-vored carbonated drinks. Most soft drinks you have here are already fruit-vored, so I¡¯m sure carbonation would suit them well. Of course, you can also use other vors, but that¡¯s something I¡¯d better leave to the pros.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°Also, there¡¯s dry ice¡­¡­ If you use frozen carbon dioxide gas, you can probably make carbonated drinks easily. If you add dry ice into your existing soft drinks, they would be easily carbonated. I think it¡¯s necessary to prepare specialized equipment for mass production though, but if you want to quickly make some samples, you can probably use that method.¡±

    ¡°This has been an enlightening discussion. By the way, can this process also work for alcoholic beverages?¡±

    ¡°As far as I know, fruit liquor with low alcohol content and cocktails with strong fruit vors were probably carbonated. I think their alcohol content was mostly less than 9%. Beer, a liquor that¡¯s made from worts, is also carbonated, I think.¡±

    ¡°I see, I see.¡±

    ¡°Also, due to the nature of carbon dioxide gas when put into an enclosed space, it¡¯s necessary to use containers that won¡¯t burst from the pressure. Naturally, there¡¯s a danger of carbonated drinks bursting out in a Zero-G environment like outer space. It would be pretty troublesome to clean up the mess as well. In the first ce, carbonated beverages aren¡¯t suitable to be consumed in colonies and spacecraft. So that¡¯s why they aren¡¯t that well known at present.¡±

    ¡°I see. But conversely, it would be alright to distribute the drinks ons as long as we pay attention to the durability of the packaging, correct?¡±

    The factory higher-up was all smiles after listening to my talk. I tried asking him and found out that the guy was actually from this beveragepany¡¯s product development department, and it seems he had extensive knowledge regarding most of the beverages being sold in Theta. ording to him, carbonated drinks have not been sold on Theta up until now. I guess he¡¯s happy since this could prove to be a very big business opportunity for them.

    On the other hand, I was kinda bummed out. After all, you could say there was practically no point in meing for a tour of this Thetan beveragepany factory. What a bummer.

    Also, I was given lots of samples of thepany¡¯s most popr drinks as part of the payment for providing an idea for a new product. Actually, I was supposed to be paid money as a reward, but the amount was nothing but pocket change to me, so I asked for cases of their alcohol and juice products instead.

    We can drink them ourselves or sell them off in a colony somewhere. In any case, I feel that the info I provided wasn¡¯t really worth all that money, and it was troublesome to draft a contract for something like this too. I think it was a good decision.

    ¡°And that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    ¡°Hee.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s too bad, Boss.¡±

    ¡°What a shame.¡±

    The reactions of the drunks were as such. They definitely think it was none of their business. Well, it¡¯s not like I can deny that. Or rather, what¡¯s with this number of empty liquor bottles guys? Why are there more than tenrge bottlespletely drained?

    ¡°Ueee¡­¡­¡±

    And so, one person among the group of four already gotpletely stered and was currently squealing incoherently on top of myp. As soon as she saw me sit down, she immediately sat next to me andtched on to me like glue.

    ¡°Why¡¯d she turn out like this anyway?¡±

    ¡°I just looked away for one moment, and before I knew it, this happened.¡±

    ¡°But she shouldn¡¯t have gotten this drunk if she just had a bit of the liquor.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡­¡±

    The earnestly apologizing Whisker sure was cute. But I was already quite exhausted by everything that¡¯s happened. First, I was confronted by the unfortunate fact that carbonated drinks didn¡¯t exist on this, and when I met back up with the rest, what greeted me was apletely drunk Mimi. Meanwhile, the other three, who were notorious drinkers, were downing bottles one after another.

    ¡°Uh, sorry for showing you such an embarrassing sight, Lilium.¡±

    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s alright. Rather, I¡¯m actually somewhat relieved. This makes me feel that everyone¡¯s also just ordinary people like the rest of us after all.¡±

    Lilium, who apanied us as our guide, replied with an amused giggle. She went together with Elma and the others but, of course, she wasn¡¯t drunk. It seems she refrained from drinking liquor since she was still in the middle of work.

    ¡°Well, there you have it. My original purpose foring here fell through, so we need to adjust our ns.¡±

    ¡°Eh? We won¡¯t continue going around anymore?¡±

    ¡°We just started with the alcohol sampling tour y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­¡±

    It wasn¡¯t only the two hopeless drunks who were protesting. Whisker also disyed a disappointed expression. You guys already drank this much and you still wanna continue? Are your livers actually still okay?

    ¡°Are you guys seriously nning on drinking more?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re just warming up you know.¡±

    ¡°Elven liquors are elegant and tasty, but they don¡¯t have much of a kick. These¡¯re no different from juice to us, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Um, I want to continue touring around other ces a little more too, big brother.¡±

    If even Whisker¡¯s saying so, then I guess it can¡¯t be helped. Let¡¯s just chalk it up to employee benefits then. Yeah, I better not think of it any further.

    ¡°Okay, I understand. We dide here due to my personal motives after all. Let¡¯s go ahead and continue going around then.¡±

    After I announced that, the three alcohol enthusiasts cheered in glee. You guys really do love your liquor huh? It¡¯s not something I can rte to. Well, I also really adore c and other carbonated drinks, so I guess it¡¯s mostly the same thing.

    ¡°Let¡¯s visit an alcohol brewery next then. It¡¯s ok even if the fee is on the expensive side as long as their products are high quality.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll make the arrangements, so please wait here for a short while.¡±

    Okay then. I better take care of Mimi while Lilium was making arrangements for our next destination. And I gotta have the heavy drinker trio prepare themselves for departure as well. C¡¯mon guys. Go pick up those empty bottles and tidy yourselves up, please. Hurry up now.

    And thus, our first day of touring around Theta ended with alcohol, alcohol, and more alcohol.

    Well, I was just leisurely following the girls around anyway, and doing something like this from time to time isn¡¯t so bad either. The heavy drinkers seem to be quite satisfied, and Mimi, who borrowed a med-pod to get the alcohol out of her system, enjoyed eating the various local specialties of Theta. I also ate a bunch of things while tagging along with her and quite enjoyed it.

    But this peaceful state of things kinda feels like the calm before the storm so it seemed a bit ominous. I better keep my guard up.

 Chapter 247 â€“ Preparation Phase

    <h4>Chapter 247 - Preparation Phase</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    It was now the second day of our Theta sightseeing tour.

    Yesterday, we had Lilium bring us to a soft drink factory and an alcohol brewing factory within the Rose n¡¯s territory, and now, on the second day of our sightseeing tour, we¡¯re scheduled to visit the Grado n¡¯s territory next.

    The Grado n¡¯s territory was overflowing with nature. Well, it sounds much better when you describe it like that, but when we actually checked out the ce, all I could see was undevelopednd, or rather, sprawling primeval forests. The Grado n apparently lives here by building small settlements scattered around all over the area.

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is, so make sure you have your equipment ready everyone.¡±

    Come morning, the first thing I did was gather everyone in ck Lotus for a meeting. The inn we were staying at wasn¡¯t that far from the integrated port the ck Lotus was anchored at. That¡¯s why I asked Lilium yesterday to bring us back to ck Lotus in the morning.

    ¡°We¡¯re¡­¡­ going sightseeing, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Sightseeing. But the ce we¡¯re going to is essentially an undeveloped primeval forest in a mostly unknown to us.¡±

    ¡°It isn¡¯t exactly unknown to me y¡¯know¡­¡­ Well, I admit I haven¡¯t been to the Grado n¡¯s territory yet though.¡±

    ¡°Ain¡¯t this a bit too over the top, Boss?¡±

    ¡°I think we better just do as Big Brother says though.¡±

    Actually, I wanted to pull out the suits that could let us adapt to all sorts of harsh environments and protect us from poisonous insects, parasites, sudden temperature, and other such threats. However, they looked like SF-themed rider suits and felt far too excessive. It would be pretty unreasonable to wear them while going sightseeing.

    ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t underestimate mountains and forests guys. We¡¯re not going to a well-managed nature resort but an honest-to-goodness wild primeval forest y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Ya think?¡±

    ¡°Yes, really. Or rather, underestimating the ce is a recipe for disaster.¡±

    Aside from Elma, Mimi, Tina, and Whisker were colony-born and raiseddies after all. Those who¡¯ve lived their entire lives in an artificially controlled environment do not understand the true dangers of mother nature.

    ¡°Try to wear clothes that don¡¯t expose your skin as much as possible. Uh, for you guys, your regr work jumpsuits will probably do.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really wanna wear that during a day off Boss.¡±

    ¡°Fine. Anyway, don¡¯t wear thin and fluttery pieces of clothing. They¡¯d get ruined the moment they get caught on a tree branch. Choose clothes that are durable and don¡¯t flutter around too much. It¡¯s fine even if they¡¯re a bit stuffy.¡±

    Afterward, I distributed the chameleon thermal cloaks to everyone. After all, if you equip this, you¡¯d feelfy even if you wore stuffy clothes. The chameleon thermal cloak was pretty durable and had proven itself to cope even with the harsh environment of a in the middle of being terraformed.

    ¡°Um, we¡¯re going to be apanied by a guide you know. I think you¡¯re being overly cautious.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. That¡¯s if things proceeded normally that is. By the way, don¡¯t you think things have been far too peaceful since we arrived on this?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Elma frowned after hearing my words. Yeah, that¡¯s right. I¡¯d probably react the same if I get told such a thing. I really wanted to normally enjoy sightseeing without worrying about things like that, but I have no choice but to be cautious since, judging by our track record, it¡¯s possible that something might happen during the trip at some point.

    ¡°What did you put inside your backpack, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°A survival kit with portable food packs, a rescue signal beacon, and spare energy packs.¡±

    ¡°Survival kit?¡±

    ¡°It has things like first-aid nanomachine units and a portable molecrposition device for building temporary shelters.¡±

    ¡°Portable molecrposition device?¡±

    ¡°Uh, remember the tournament held in the imperial capital? The imperial military used a device to disassemble and reconfigure the field for the meleepetition on the spot. It¡¯s a much smaller version of that.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that.¡±

    Mimi hit one of her palms with her fist in understanding. So, in short, this high-tech device with a long name was a very advanced portable 3D printer. Trees and raw ores can be broken down into materials suitable to build structures ording to the registered presets. Anyone can easily make a temporary shelter by using this thing.

    How does it work? No idea. It¡¯s alright as long as I can use the thing. As far as my regr Earth-guymon sense knows, it wasn¡¯t possible to break down and reconstruct a substance at the molecr level with a machine essentially the size of a TV¡¯s remote control, but this thing can actually do just that, so the joke¡¯s on me I guess. I did try to look up how this thing worked in the, but I couldn¡¯t understand anything. All I encountered was a veritable parade of iprehensible tech jargon.

    Since it could break down matter, it was easy to think of more militarily inclined uses for the thing. But unfortunately, it seems it was quite easy to deploy countermeasures for it, so it wasn¡¯t that simple. Thus, in the end, it was limited to usage on naturally urring objects such as nts and ores.

    ¡°You even have a rescue signal transmission beacon? Do you really have to go that far¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°If, just in case, our local guide gets injured while we¡¯re deep within the forest, or if we got separated with him or her for some reason and we end up spending the night outside, these things wille in handy. After all, we would be within a dark primeval forest with potentially dangerous animals all around us. Even if we found ourselves in such a situation, we¡¯d be able to build a shelter and call for help with these things. We¡¯d be able to endure a night in the great outdoors in rtive safety while waiting for rescue.¡±

    ¡°But can¡¯t we just call for help usin¡¯ a portable data terminal or somethin¡¯?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s certainly more convenient if we have a nice signal. If we have one, that is.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Don¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, no, we don¡¯t.¡±

    I asked Mei to check on it yesterday, and the result wasmunication signals used by portable data terminals can¡¯t reach most of the Grado n¡¯s territory. In other words, it was out of coverage area. I thought it was ridiculous, but it is what it is. I¡¯m not familiar with the issue, but it seemed the presence of modernmunication systems had a very adverse effect on the sensing and training of magic power. I almost wanted to scream out in frustration when I first heard of it.

    ¡°You¡¯re very cautious aren¡¯t you, Big Brother.¡±

    ¡°It would be fine if I was going there alone. And maybe we¡¯d be able to deal with things somehow if it¡¯s just me, Mimi, and Elma. But this time, Mimi, Tina, and Whisker will all be tagging along, right? In that case, it pays to be extra careful.¡±

    ¡°Mmph. I¡¯m also already a seasoned mercenary¡­ is what I wanted to say. I guess that won¡¯t do this time huh?¡±

    ¡°Even if we¡¯re like this, we¡¯re still dwarves y¡¯know, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Look, I don¡¯t doubt that Mimi¡¯s already fairly gotten used to mercenary work and that Tina and Whisker are both physically strong, but I still think you have far too little experience when ites to living on a. That¡¯s what¡¯s got me worried.¡±

    Mimi cocked her head to the side and replied.

    ¡°Huh? Is Mei-san noting with us?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have Mei stay on stand-by in ck Lotus. She can quickly pick us up just in case something happenster on.¡±

    ¡°I find it mortifying, but I¡¯ll do it if it¡¯s rted to Master¡¯s wellbeing.¡±

    Mei, who was standing behind me, dered in a t tone.

    Right now, we¡¯re just talking about the possibility of something happening while we¡¯re in a forest within the territory of the Grado n, but there¡¯s also a possibility of a pirate raid onary settlements as well. Even if we did manage to capture or kill those who perpetrated the first attack, there¡¯s no reason to think it won¡¯t happen again.

    As a precaution for such things happening, there¡¯s a need for either I, Elma, or Mei to stay onboard the ship. It would not do for me, who¡¯s the leader of our group, to stay behind, and I¡¯d like Elma, who was an elf herself, to apany us. In that case, the only one who could remain on the ship would be Mei.

    ¡°I still think you¡¯re being too paranoid¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It would be nice if that really was the case. In fact, I¡¯d prefer that and then we can justugh it outter. Anyway, for now, just bring portable food packs and water bottles with you, everyone.¡±

    As long as we had food and water avable as well as a means to maintain an ideal body temperature, we would be able to survive as long as we didn¡¯t blindly move around.

 Chapter 248 â€“ Prelude to Disaster

    <h4>Chapter 248 - Prelude to Disaster</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Um, those outfits are¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°I heard we¡¯d be heading to a forest, so I made a minimum number of preparations.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ What about those backpacks?¡±

    ¡°I heard we¡¯d be heading to a forest so I made a minimum number of preparations.¡±

    I replied with the same words, but that¡¯s really the reason anyway, so it can¡¯t be helped.

    Just like yesterday, Lilium met up with us in front of ck Lotus to continue being our guide and was befuddled by what she saw. Why? It¡¯s because all of us were fully decked in survival gear, including chameleon thermal cloaks. The chameleon thermal cloaks have hex-like patterns that change color when you press the switch located below the neck that allows them to blend in with the surrounding environment. Once you activate this function, it would be pretty difficult for others to spot you if you take an appropriate distance.

    ¡°Um, well, you don¡¯t really need to be that vignt you know¡­¡­? We¡¯ll be getting a local guide once we arrive there after all.¡±

    ¡°I sure hope so.¡±

    I¡¯m sure I was disying the expression of a man who has attained enlightenment right now. My actions might seem strange to others, but in my view, this was just preparing for any sort of trouble beforehand. ording to my experiences so far, if something¡¯s gonna happen then this was practically the perfect time. Yeah. I¡¯m almost sure something or other will happen to us while we¡¯re strolling around a forest within Grado n territory. I¡¯m already quite familiar with the pattern.

    ¡°Alright then. We¡¯ll need to arrange for transportation in order toe to the Grado n¡¯s territory, so please follow me, everyone.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    In the end, we started walking just behind Lilium, who already stopped fussing about our group¡¯s current get-up. Seen from the side, I¡¯m sure we looked like quite a strange group, but it¡¯s not like I care about how other people see us anyway. After all, our lives are at stake here. So I really have to take things seriously. Very seriously.

    ¡°We¡¯re really overdoing it, aren¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re standing out a lot.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Aren¡¯t we bein¡¯ too cautious?¡±

    ¡°Even if we are, isn¡¯t it okay? I also did some research and found that there are quite a lot of dangerous insects living in unmanaged natural forests. We might get bitten by them while walking around and suffer from terrible itches, Big Sis.¡±

    ¡°Hee?¡±

    ¡°Alright, guys. If everything I¡¯ve prepared ends up being useless in the end, I promise I¡¯ll buy you all anything you like. But you guys better prepare yourselves if my concerns turn out to be right on the money. Well, except for Whisker that is.¡±

    ¡°Well, somebody¡¯s acting all smug. You won¡¯t back out, will you?¡±

    Elma, who was walking right next to me, looked up at my face and grinned teasingly.

    ¡°As long as your requests are reasonable, then sure. Don¡¯t ask me to buy you a ship, okay?¡±

    ¡°Of course I won¡¯t. I¡¯m not gonna go that far. I think I¡¯ll just have you buy me some really expensive liquor.¡±

    ¡°Well, if it¡¯s just that, then okay.¡±

    Judging from her previous purchases, it probably won¡¯t cost me more than 100,000 Enels. That¡¯s okay with me.

    ¡°Even if you say we have to stay reasonable, Boss¡¯s sense of what¡¯s actually ¡®reasonable¡¯ is far too broad though, so I can¡¯t decide what¡¯s okay.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Uh, I¡¯m fine with it if it¡¯s a hundred thousand or so, I guess?¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama, that amount is already well beyond normalmon sense.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother¡¯s sense of money value is really weird.¡±

    I only answered Tina honestly, but Mimi and Whisker ended up reprimanding me. What gives?

    ¡°Uh, okay. Then how about 10,000 Enels?¡±

    ¡°Big Brother¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re livin¡¯ the dream, aren¡¯t we?¡±

    I already reduced the amount by a lot, but Whisker was still looking at me as if I was someone hopeless. It looks like she still found the amount high.

    ¡°You guys are talking about some amazing stuff¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s just how mercenaries are.¡±

    Elma replied to Lilium, who was pretty taken aback by our conversation and shrugged her shoulders dismissively. Yep. That¡¯s just how we mercenaries are.

    ¡°So this is our ride huh¡­¡­ Well, it sure is unique.¡±

    ¡°I wonder how this thing works?¡±

    ¡°Un¡­¡­? It¡¯s probably an aircraft, right? Where¡¯s the engine though¡­¡­?¡±

    The mechanic sisters scrutinized the aircraft that would serve as our ride and started walking around it to inspect each nook and cranny.

    Lilium led us to where it was parked. It was a vehicle resembling a centipede with its segments equipped with pairs of dragonfly wings.

    Apparently, it didn¡¯t have any engine. Instead, two pairs of wings resembling those of a dragonfly¡¯s were attached to each box-shaped passenger car to provide lift. They also made the vehicle look like a centipede as well.

    ¡°Does this thing fly by using magic power?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s a magic-powered flying passenger vehicle that makes use of the specially processed wings of a creature called yenmuririu. It flies using the power of the wind spirits.¡±

    ¡°Hiyenmuririu?¡±

    ¡°Yenmuliliu?¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s yenmuririu.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±

    Lilium smiled sweetly at our reactions. Yeah, she was a beauty alright. But wait a minute. We¡¯re really gonna ride on this thing? Seriously? We¡¯re gonna fly in this unknown vehicle with fragile-looking wings made out of parts of some sort of alien creature? Ain¡¯t that kinda scary?

    ¡°Is it really alright? We won¡¯t crash partway, won¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, every first-timer reacts like that at first. But it¡¯s okay. The yenmuririu wings fly through the power of the wind spirits in the atmosphere, so this thing will never crash unless it was poorly maintained.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve definitely performed the appropriate maintenance procedures. There¡¯s no problem.¡±

    An elven guy got off the flying vehicle and reassured us. It was Hiishi, who¡¯s been serving as our driver since day one of our vacation here on Theta. He¡¯s the quiet sort, and I could count the number of times I¡¯ve heard him speak with my fingers.

    ¡°I guess it can¡¯t be helped¡­¡­ Let¡¯s get on board then.¡±

    ¡°Each passenger car isn¡¯t that big. Hiro-dono can ride with the two dwarven women in one car while the other two can ride on the next one.¡±

    ¡°Roger. C¡¯mon you two. Hurry and get on.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    I thought they¡¯d be a lot more hesitant in the face of unknown tech, but contrary to my expectations, the mechanic sisters obediently boarded the vehicle.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get on board too.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Elma was as calm as usual, but Mimi¡¯s tension was quite high. I wonder if she¡¯s excited because she¡¯ll get to ride a mysterious magical vehicle this time? As for me, I was more worried than excited.

    ¡°You¡¯re slow, Boss. C¡¯mere. Hurry.¡±

    The car truly was a bit cramped. It¡¯s kinda like sitting on train seats. Um, they were seats that faced the direction the vehicle will be moving toward. ¡­I think they called them cross seats or something like that.

    The passenger car was installed with cross seats facing ahead and the sisters already left a space open for me between them. I¡¯d be sandwiched between them again.

    ¡°Flowers in both hands huh.¡±

    ¡°Right? Aren¡¯t ya happy you¡¯ll be sandwiched by two cute girls, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Yep. Whisker sure is cute alright.¡±

    ¡°Tina-chan¡¯s also cute y¡¯know!¡±

    ¡°Hooray for the cute Tina-chan. Yay.¡±

    ¡°That sounds so fake!¡±

    ¡°Ahaha.¡±

    And so, the flying train(?) took off with us basking in a harmonious(?) atmosphere. There seems to be no particr signal used to announce take-off. Aren¡¯t they being a bitx?

    ¡°Ooh, it really does fly. I don¡¯t understand how though.¡±

    ¡°I wonder if those thin wings function the same as anti-gravity devices?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t they say this thing flies using the power of the wind spirits or something like that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a vehicle that totally ignores the principles of aerodynamics huh?¡±

    Once the flying train was up in the air, the mechanic sisters immediately started checking out the wings shining in magic light from the car windows. I also scooted over Tina¡¯s head and looked outside to check out the wings made out of yen¡­ err, whatever it¡¯s called.

    ¡°It¡¯s shining like crazy. Can we actually use this stuff for eco-lighting?¡±

    ¡°I wonder? I guess we could if they still shine brightly like this in outer space. But do wind spirits exist in outer space anyway, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Mm, I¡¯ve heard that elves can actually use magic in colonies and starships, but I don¡¯t think they would shine while casting spells. Besides, these were made from biological materials, right? It seems difficult to maintain and mass-produce them. It would also be troublesome to secure recements because of the difficulty of procuring them.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Man. Pro engineers sure can glean a lot just by getting a quick look at these iprehensible biological vehicle wings.

    We continued to fly around for a while, and when the train made half the journey and entered the territory of the Grado n, Whisker noticed something unusual while we were in the middle of flying over the vast forest.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Nn? What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    I heard Whisker gasp while looking out the window and turned toward her to ask what¡¯s wrong. By the way, Tina was currently napping while leaning against and drooling all over me. Are you a kid?

    ¡°Um, I think the wings are looking pretty weird right now.¡±

    ¡°Say what?¡±

    I immediately looked out and saw that the wings were indeed behaving strangely. The light they were emitting was far brighter than when we first took off, and the wings appeared to be shaking rather intensely and irregrly.

    ¡°I¡¯m getting a reaaally bad feeling about this.¡±

    ¡°It kinda feels like a starship thruster in the middle of being overloaded.¡±

    Whisker chuckled dryly. I also followed suit. Ahaha.

    ¡°The heck! This ain¡¯t the time tough, is it!?¡±

    ¡°B-Big Sis! Wake up already, Big Sis!¡±

    ¡°Huh!? W-What!? Are we there already!?¡±

    After being jolted awake by Whisker, the top of Tina¡¯s head bumped squarely onto my chin.

    ¡°Oow!?¡±

    ¡°Ouch!? What!? What!?¡±

    Is your head made of rock or something!? I lost consciousness for a moment there! I almost couldn¡¯t prevent myself from screaming inint.

    ¡°Big Sis! Wings! The wings!¡±

    ¡°Eh? Wings!?¡±

    Whisker pointed toward the wings outside the window on the left-hand side of the car that Tina was sitting next to.

    And the moment Tina turned her attention toward the wings, they suddenly crumbled. Yep. They crumbled into itsy bitsy pieces.

    Ah, it resembled the way the thing we saw at the art museum got destroyed.

    ¡°Boss!?¡±

    ¡°Big Brother!?¡±

    ¡°Me!? This is my fault!?¡±

    As we panicked, the wings on Whisker¡¯s side also crumbled to dust.

    ¡°One pair of wings on the cars in front and behind us are also goners!¡±

    ¡°You gotta be kidding me! Eh? Don¡¯t tell me-¡±

    This flying train was separated into four cars. The one in front was the pilot¡¯s car, while the car right behind it was where Lilium was riding in. The next car after that was where we were riding in, and thest car was where Mimi and Elma were. One train car was equipped with four wings each. There were sixteen wings in total, and half of them were already destroyed. In other words, half of the train has lost all propulsive power.

    ¡°H-Haha. We only lost half of the wings. I suppose the train won¡¯t crash just from this.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah, I guess. I¡¯m sure they have at least that much of a safety margin-¡±

    Before our eyes, the remaining wings of the car in front of us also shattered. And immediately afterward, the vehicle began to tilt down to the ground below.

    ¡°The remaining ones on the car in the back are gone too!?¡±

    ¡°This is bad! Only the ones on the front-most car are remainin¡¯!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re gonna cra-!?¡±

    Bang! After a violent-sounding crack, the passenger cars started falling straight down. What entered my vision, which seemed to be seeing stuff in slow-motion again, were the two front-most train cars flying away, with one car only barely hanging on to the pilot¡¯s car. It looks like the lead car only had one pair of wings left too.

    ¡°Kyaaaaaa!?¡±

    ¡°Hiyaaaaaaaa!?¡±

    ¡°Goddamit!¡±

    I held the screaming sister¡¯s quivering bodies with both of my arms and curled up to prepare for impact.

    Soon after, a strong shock reverberated throughout the car, and I lost consciousness as a result.

 Chapter 249 â€“ Crash! And thenâ€¦â€¦

    <h4>Chapter 249 - Crash! And then¡­¡­</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°¡±¡­¡­¡±¡±

    When I regained consciousness, I found the mechanic sisters peering at my face together. Um, what¡¯s with this situation¡­¡­? Ah.

    ¡°Are you guys okay?¡±

    ¡°As you can see Boss, we¡¯re doin¡¯ just fine. Instead of us, you might wanna worry about yourself first.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good¡­¡­¡±

    When Tina heard my words, she gently patted her chest and sighed in relief. Whisker, on the other hand, had tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. Anyway, I tried to get up, but something didn¡¯t feel right. I wondered what it was, but then, dark red fragments started falling down to the ground apanied by some dizziness.

    ¡°Whoah, is this blood? Was I really in trouble this time around?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s bein¡¯ hidden by your hair Boss, but it looks like you got injured in the head and it¡¯s been bleedin¡¯ a lot. We managed to remedy it with this thing though.¡±

    After saying so, Tina showed me a gun-type painless syringe. This was the one included in the survival kit I brought with me huh.

    ¡°Um, so, what¡¯s the situation now? What about Mimi and Elma?¡±

    ¡°Mimi-san and Elma-san have been going around to check the area. We stayed here to look after you, Big Brother.¡±

    ¡°I see. Sorry for worrying you, guys.¡±

    I patted my head to get rid of the remaining hardened blood. Ugh. It felt gross. I got the urge to take a shower, but now¡¯s not the time to get hung up on that.

    ¡°What aboutmunications?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s bad. We really are out of range.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I thought so. Alright then. Shall we activate the emergency signal beacon?¡±

    ¡°Um, about that¡­¡­¡±

    Whisker muttered hesitantly and eventually pointed toward where my backpack was, which was now badly battered. The contents of the survival kit were fine since they were stuffed inside a pretty durable case, but the same couldn¡¯t be said for the food packs. A good number of them got popped open and their contents were scattered on the ground.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­ Well f*ck-¡±

    ¡°Whoah. Watch your words, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Sorry.¡±

    As for the all-important emergency signal beacon, well, it¡¯s beenpletely wrecked. Damage wasn¡¯t just a few mere cracks. Its innerponents were spilling out already. No matter how you slice it, the thing was hopelessly broken.

    ¡°Is it possible for us to activate it for only a short while?¡±

    ¡°The activation switch was wrecked beyond repair, so it¡¯s impossible.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    Well, at least the survival kit was fine. We can just gather the food rations that were still alright to eat. Since they were aware that we got into an ident, a rescue team should being to get us soon.

    Since most of the contents of our luggage were fine except for the emergency beacon, I guess it wasn¡¯t the worst-case scenario.

    ¡°What about you guys? Did you get hurt? Are Mimi and Elma fine?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we¡¯re both fine Big Brother. Mimi-san and Elma-san are alright too.¡±

    ¡°Our luggage is fine as well. Uh, most of them, anyway.¡±

    ¡°So I was the only one who got injured and had my luggage wrecked huh. How unlucky.¡±

    I then picked up the survival kit box that was left beside me and took out the molecrposition device to check if it was in working order.

    ¡°So the contents of the survival kit are all fine huh. Man. Mr. Beacon sure wascking in guts.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a problem of guts y¡¯know. Well, it¡¯s true that it turned out pretty useless though.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s pointless to bring something like it for emergencies if it would just end up breaking down during an emergency huh.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s buy a tougher one next time.¡±

    It was tiring to sit on bare ground, so I patted my legs and stood up. When I did so, I ended up staggering a bit. It looks like I really lost a fair bit of blood while I was passed out huh.

    ¡°Wait! You can¡¯t just suddenly stand up like that, Boss¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I felt a bit dizzy but I¡¯m fine now. Where are my swords by the way?¡±

    ¡°Ah, they¡¯re still inside the train car. It¡¯s over there.¡±

    Whisker pointed toward the passenger car which now turned into a tragic wreck. There were two cars that fell, and the one Whisker pointed to was the car we rode in. For some reason, our car was a lot more damaged than the other one.

    ¡°We seemed to have hit a tree when we crashed. After that, the branches of the tree we hit fell down and hit the train car.¡±

    ¡°Both cars were still attached together at first, but the couplings came off the moment we crashed on the ground. But because of that, the car Mimi-san and Elma-san were riding in ended up falling right on top of our car¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re both okay because we aren¡¯t that tall anyway, but it looks like you hit your head on the car¡¯s ceiling, Boss. You ended up faintin¡¯ and bleedin¡¯ lots so we were really panickin¡¯ earlier.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    I don¡¯t really think apologizing would make any difference, but it looks like I really made them worry a lot, so I did.

    As I busied myself trying to pull my two swords from inside the wrecked train car, I heard the sound of parting grass from outside.

    ¡°Hiro-sama!¡±

    ¡°Hey there guys. I¡¯m d you¡¯re both alright.¡±

    ¡°You have no room to be worrying about us, mister. Honestly.¡±

    Mimi, who noticed I was up, quickly ran toward me, and Elma followed behind her with an exasperated expression on her face.

    ¡°As you can see, I¡¯m fine thanks to the medical nanomachine unit. By the way, I just remembered something.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°My concerns ended uping true. You guys better be ready once we get back.¡±

    ¡°Is this the time to be sayin¡¯ that, Boss¡­¡­?¡±

    Tina¡¯s lips curled into a bitter grin. Well, it¡¯s not like I had any room to becent in this situation, but we have to stay positive at times like this after all. Even if the rescue beacon was now broken, our driver, Hiishi, and our guide, Lilium, should know the approximate location of the crash. If they calcte using our flight schedule, they should be able to find out our approximate position, and rescue woulde soon afterward. And moreover, Mei won¡¯t sit still once she learns that we got into an ident. We should be rescued after a day or two at most.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s no use being all distressed since we¡¯ve alreadynded ourselves in this situation. The ground around here seems solid enough. Should we open the spot up a bit more?¡±

    ¡°Open it up?¡±

    ¡°The rescue team would probably search for us in the air. So we should cut down some of the surrounding trees so it would be easier for them to spot us. That¡¯s why I pulled these swords out.¡±

    While exining, I strapped the scabbards of both swords onto my waist and drew out the longsword.

    ¡°Watch out for falling trees, okay. Also, can someone look up how to use this thing? A user manual should be stashed somewhere inside the survival kit box.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    I handed the molecrposition device to Elma, who nodded to volunteer and immediately busied myself with cutting down the trees around the crash site. Their wooden trunks were no match for the de of my sword that¡¯s made out of a material that¡¯s also used to producebat starship armor. I made sure to watch out for falling trees and branches as I quickly cleared the site.

    ¡°Oh, right. Can someone chop off the branches of the fallen trees for me?¡±

    ¡°Chop off the branches?¡±

    ¡°Yep. Just like this.¡±

    I stood beside one tree I cut down and chopped the branches off of the trunk with my longsword.

    ¡°What¡¯s this for anyway?¡±

    ¡°We could turn the fallen trees into logs, but that¡¯s not what I¡¯m going for this time. What I need are the tree branches. Cut the branches into a reasonable length. About one meter should do. Collect and gather them in one spot for me please.¡±

    After giving out instructions, I pulled out my short sword and handed it to Tina.

    ¡°Alrighty then. Let¡¯s get to work.¡±

    ¡°Be careful with that. You¡¯d get your foot chopped off if you don¡¯t pay attention.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    Tina carefully received the sword and walked toward a tree I chopped down earlier. Well, Tina was ustomed to handling dangerous equipment because of her job as a ship engineer, so I suppose she¡¯ll be fine.

    Elma¡¯s work seems to be proceeding smoothly as well. She was already operating the molecrposition device to break down and reconstruct fallen trees and the like.

    ¡°Whisker, Mimi, go and join Elma to learn how to operate the molecrposition device with her. I¡¯m gonna keep alert for them, but it¡¯s possible that some dangerous animals might approach this area, so I want you guys to apany Elma and warn each other just in case there¡¯s danger.¡±

    ¡°¡±Understood.¡±¡±

    The two nodded and quickly ran over to Elma. After seeing them off, I decided to continue with my work. Man. I didn¡¯t expect logging to be this fun.

    After clearing out the area to a passable extent, I headed toward the three who were studying the molecrposition device and witnessed them crowding around a strange object. What the heck? I can¡¯t even find words to describe it.

    ¡°Uh, is that some sort of avant-garde art piece or something?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I tried to make a lookout tform but it didn¡¯t turn out so well, okay.¡±

    ¡°A lookout tform¡­¡­?¡±

    This spiral-shaped wooden object constructed from triangr and square boards was actually a lookout tform? Uh, I can feel your effort, but how about you make the structure a bit simpler next time?

    ¡°Is it really that difficult to operate?¡±

    ¡°It has a bit of a knack to it. You¡¯re gonna have it hard until you get used to this thing.¡±

    While saying so, Elma pointed the molecrposition device toward the so-called lookout tform. The device emitted a bright blue light that enveloped the wooden object. Man. This device was actually a bit scary when seen working from up close. I mean, what if it got pointed toward a person?

    ¡°Don¡¯t point that toward people, okay. It¡¯s scary.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t. In the first ce, this thing¡¯s equipped with a safety feature that doesn¡¯t allow it to activate when pointed toward a living creature of a certain size.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great, but still, be careful with that, okay? Oh, I just thought of something I wanna do with that thing.¡±

    I exined what I wanted to do to Elma and had her operate the device.

    ¡°What¡¯s the use of making holes on the ground?¡±

    What I told her to do was to break down the grasses growing in one corner of the area I just cleared of trees. And then, I had her break down the ground in order to create three slightly deep holes. I¡¯ve already cleared out the surrounding trees, so it should be fine as long as we¡¯re careful.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna burn some raw wood.¡±

    ¡°Raw wood?¡±

    ¡°Freshly cut trees are called raw wood. They give off a heck of a lot of smoke when they¡¯re burned.¡±

    While saying so, I picked up some of the branches that were chopped by Tina earlier as well as some fallen branches that seemed to have beenying on the ground for quite some time, divided them evenly, and then spread them beside the holes.

    ¡°Um, those aren¡¯t freshly cut, right?¡±

    ¡°These are already dried up. Unlike raw wood, these things burn up easily. I¡¯ll burn these first to get the fire going and then throw in the raw wood next.¡±

    I pulled out myser gun, dropped the output to the lowest setting, and used it to ignite the firewood. Having aser gun sure is convenient for igniting stuff, though it would vaporize things quickly if you fired at them under maximum output. Once the fire was sufficientlyrge enough, I picked up the branches chopped by Tina and yeeted them inside the holes! Exciting!

    ¡°Wow, it really is smokin¡¯ a lot.¡±

    ¡°This is gonna end up a disaster if you did this inside a colony.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d get yourself put behind bars immediately¡­¡­¡±

    Smoke started rising up from the three bonfires I made just as nned. Or rather, the sparks are flying around like crazy huh. I guess making the holes deep was the right call. If we burned these up on level ground, we¡¯d probably have a forest fire on our hands right now.

    ¡°This, my fairdies, is humanity¡¯s oldest wirelessmunication method - the smoke signal. By the way, where I¡¯m from, three smoke signals going up at once means SOS, or a request for immediate rescue. I don¡¯t know if it means the same on this though.¡±

    ¡°Uh, so isn¡¯t creatin¡¯ three kinda useless?¡±

    ¡°Even so, three stands out more than one, right?¡±

    While saying so, I started hacking the fallen trees that were now devoid of branches apart with my sword as well. We¡¯re gonna use these once the branches get depleted. It might be bad to burn trees in Grado n territory or to cut them down without permission, but it¡¯s their responsibility that the vehicle they provided us crashed anyway. If theyin, I¡¯m gonna insist on that in order to evade responsibility. Yep.

    Well, uh¡­ It¡¯s possible that I was the cause of the crash in the first ce, but even so, making us ride a vehicle that would crash just by me riding it was definitely no good. It¡¯s not my fault!

    ¡°I¡¯ll continue to raise the signal like this, so you guys go ahead and proceed with making a shelter for us to spend the night.¡±

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll do my best.¡±

    ¡°Sure. But remember, if you don¡¯t produce any results, we¡¯ll be sleeping outdoors. I¡¯m really counting on you, okay?¡±

    In my opinion, judging from the avant-garde lookout post she made earlier, I think it would be better to have someone else be in charge of making the shelter instead of Elma. Well, I guess I¡¯ll just have to hope for the best. I believe in everyone¡¯s effort. Yep.

 Chapter 250 â€“ Very Easy Outdoor Survival

    <h4>Chapter 250 - Very Easy Outdoor Survival</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Here you go.¡±

    ¡°Nn¡­¡­¡±

    I handed a piece of the raw firewood to Elma, who was sitting on standby beside me, and she quickly chucked it toward the burning signal fires. They should be pretty heavy, but she was strong enough to throw them with one hand. Just where was she getting all that power from those slender arms of hers?

    Eh? Why was Elma who was supposed to be building our temporary shelter, in charge of throwing firewood into the signal fires now? Uh, it seems the rest of the girls booted her out eventually, so she ended up sulking here.

    Oh, and by the way, Mimi and the others have alreadypleted building the first iteration of our temporary shelter. Well, it looked like a giant tofu block, but it was functional, so yay!

    ¡°This thing¡¯s interestin¡¯.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m next, Big Sis.¡±

    ¡°Un, after trying out all sorts of things like this, the first shelter does look a bit too in.¡±

    Tina, Whisker, and Mimi were now busy making shelter model No. 2. Apparently, they wanted to do away with the tofu design and produce a dome-shaped one. They broke down the chopped trees I set aside for materials, reconstructed them, and repeatedly made use of trial and error.

    I tried to touch a wall that was made through the molecrposition device earlier and found it somewhat strange.

    Its appearance was akin to a pitch-ck and slightly glossy stic-like material. Apparently, the wall was hollow inside, or at least, a part of it was. I tried knocking on it with my fist and found that it felt quite light. But it didn¡¯t seem like I would be able to punch a hole through it even if I swung at it with all my strength. There might be parts inside the hollow structure that serve to absorb strong impacts, and the ck material seemed pretty tough as well. Are these actually some kind of those so-called carbon materials? I didn¡¯t have a lot of opportunities to encounter carbon materials back on Earth, so I couldn¡¯t tell the difference. Well, they were made out of wood, after all, so they probably weren¡¯t the same as those.

    ¡°Learning to kindle a fire like this is sort of a rare and valuable experience too huh.¡±

    ¡°Really? Uh, it¡¯s my first time doing something like this too y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? You seem pretty used to it so I thought you¡¯ve done this sort of thing on the regr.¡±

    ¡°And what sort of era did you imagine I was living in that makes it necessary for me to raise smoke signals regrly? The warring states period or something?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the case where you¡¯re from?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. We had electricity, gas, and water avable to most households, there was the inte, online games where tens of thousands of people could log in and y simultaneously, and orbital space stations where astronauts performed scientific research and experiments. At the very least, our society was more advanced than the Grado n¡­¡­ I think. Anyway, we had a fair bit of technology avable to us.¡±

    ¡°Hee, it¡¯s a lot more advanced than I thought. Well, I guess it¡¯s no wonder you could adapt to life here so quickly.¡±

    ¡°Yep. I mean, people living in an age where you¡¯d have to regrly make use of smoke signals won¡¯t be able to make heads or tails of a portable data terminal for starters.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ironic that the data terminal you just mentioned is practically useless here.¡±

    After saying so, Elma shrugged and threw another piece of firewood at the bonfires. There were three of them, so we were pretty busy.

    ¡°Will help reallye for us?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure they will. Even if the elves of this don¡¯t, there¡¯s still Mei.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I suppose so.¡±

    She¡¯s our trustworthy Mei after all. Even if the elves of this were in the middle of an internal spat and may put our rescue as second on their priority list, Mei will surely rush to rescue us instead. Krishna¡¯s loaded with various advanced sensors, and with Mei¡¯sputing power, it should be easy for her to triangte our crash site. It might be necessary to perform recalibrations in order to allow Krishna to fly smoothly within the atmosphere, but Mei will surely do well in that area too, and if pushes to shove, she¡¯ll probably sortie forcibly if the authorities here take too long to arrive at a decision. I¡¯m sure Mei will ignore any sort of opposition in order to rescue us. There¡¯s no doubt about that.

    ¡°All things considered, we were still pretty lucky even if we got wrapped up in a crash since we¡¯re all mostly okay. Well, we did panic when we found you bleeding from the top of your head though.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Fortunately, we didn¡¯t fall from too high an altitude, and the cars hit quite a few tree branches on the way down which cushioned much of the impact.¡±

    ¡°You make sure to take a medical check once we¡¯re back on the ship, okay? An injury to the head is pretty dangerous you know.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I got it.¡±

    Thanks to the emergency medical nanomachine unit, I felt no problems so far, but it can¡¯t hurt to be too careful when ites to head injuries. It seems medical nanomachines are also capable of healing cerebral hemorrhage and contusions to a certain extent though. So far, I haven¡¯t experienced things such as fuzzy memory and physical difficulties, so I was probably fine.

    ¡°Well, right now, all we can do is wait. Wanna grab something to eat?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°Oh, this is surprisingly tasty.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s a darn shame we don¡¯t have alcohol to go with it though.¡±

    ¡°Maybe I should have packed some. This has a subtle scent of liquoring from it, so it kinda makes me want to have a drink more.¡±

    ¡°Wow. Dwarves sure are amazing for thinking of drinking even in this situation.¡±

    We entered one of the shelters Mimi and the others made and started eating the rations I brought with me. This time, the food rations I brought with me were the same as the ones I had during my stint on Comatt IV. Yep, it¡¯s the one resembling a pound cake that was fairly filling. If I remember correctly, these were the main military rations of a gctic power called the Penitence Kingdom.

    Some of the rations I brought had their packaging torn open during the crash, but some were still okay to eat. So, for now, we divided them among ourselves and ate them. Of course, those weren¡¯t enough for all of us, so we also ate the ones that didn¡¯t have their packaging torn open but were squished t as well.

    ¡°These¡¯re rations from another country, right? Why¡¯d you get these anyway, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Uh, they were kinda cheap, so I just went and bought them. It seems they have a surplus of food in the Penitence Kingdom, so they sometimes sell them off to other countries to earn foreign currency. At least that¡¯s what the store clerk who pushed these to me told me.¡±

    ¡°These are actually pretty nice as snacks.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it. Military rations have a monster-load of calories y¡¯know? If you ate these on the regr, you¡¯d get fat in a sh.¡±

    ¡°Uu, that¡¯s a bit¡­¡­ I always work out, but it feels like I¡¯m not able to get any thinner after all.¡±

    After saying so, Mimi put her hands over her tummy and sighed.

    That¡¯s actually because I was meddling with her workout menu without her knowledge, but I¡¯ll just keep quiet about that. I personally think Mimi¡¯s current build was the best. Mimi has the ideal morous Coca-C body after all.

    ¡°Us too. We can¡¯t seem to get any thinner no matter what we do.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, my hips are just¡­¡­ It makes me really envy Elma-san.¡±

    The dwarven sisters can certainly be said to have the so-called ¡®ideal child-bearing hips¡¯. Their waists, buttocks, and thighs all had just the right amount of plumpness to them. And, although they weren¡¯t noticeable when they wear their work jumpsuits, they had pretty decent chests as well.

    ¡°It¡¯s because I train often.¡±

    After saying so, Elma disyed a slight smirk. Yeah, Elma¡¯s certainly slender alright. But she wasn¡¯t overly slender, but instead had a well-proportioned body earned through constant training and workouts. How do I put it? She had virtually wless physical proportions.

    I¡¯ve already seen her naked lots of times of course, but I feel like I¡¯d be enchanted no matter how many times I witness her beauty.

    ¡°What sorta body do ya prefer a woman to have anyway, Boss?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re asking that in this situation?¡±

    It kinda feels like someone will get angry no matter what answer I give them though.

    ¡°Right. First, let me reiterate that I don¡¯t discriminate between chest sizes. Small ones and big ones are equally wonderful.¡±

    ¡°Wow. This guy¡¯s actually answering.¡±

    ¡°It kinda feels like he¡¯s put up a solid defense right off the bat.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because this stuff¡¯s important you know. Men are creatures who see dreams and romance when ites to boobs, okay? Them being big or small is just something trivial. I just want you guys to be aware of that.¡±

    ¡°I see. So?¡±

    Elma prompted me to continue.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Now then, how should I continue? Should I just honestly blurt out my preferred body type? Mimi has her own charms, and so do Elma, Tina, and Whisker after all.

    ¡°Come to think of it, you were the one who designed Mei-san, right, Big Brother?¡±

    Hahaha, Whisker just managed to hit the nail on the head. But how will the situation proceed from here? How will the girls react? I can¡¯t tell at all.

    ¡°Now that you mentioned it, that¡¯s right. Hm, I see¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi looks like she was convinced about something. Stop, don¡¯t think about it anymore.

    ¡°So, if Mei¡¯s body shape is his ideal type, I guess it won¡¯t do to be too thin, right?¡±

    ¡°Right. So that¡¯s it huh?¡±

    ¡°I see. So Big Brother doesn¡¯t like it if we¡¯re too thin.¡±

    ¡°Stop analyzing me, guys. Please.¡±

    Dammit. I was now under the scrutiny of four women I was close with. Was this a new form of torture or something?

    ¡°Okay, this topic is over. How about discussing something more meaningful, guys?¡±

    ¡°Even if you say meaningful¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°In this situation?¡±

    Whisker cocked her head while disying a troubled expression while Tina shrugged. Yeah. Meaningful discussions aren¡¯t really of use in our current situation.

    ¡°Okay. Then do you guys wanna bet on how long it would take until rescue arrives?¡±

    ¡°Is betting actually something meaningful?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of room for argument on whether or not that¡¯s actually meaningful.¡±

    Mimi cocked her head and expressed her doubt, and I agreed with her. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m against betting though.

    ¡°It¡¯s about 2:30 P.M. right now, so¡­¡­ How about betting between now and six P.M., and intervals of six hours after that?¡±

    ¡°The heck? You¡¯re really pushing ahead with betting?¡±

    ¡°Mmm, isn¡¯t six hours a bit too long? How about cutting it down to three hours? I think it would be more interesting that way.¡±

    Whisker-san¡¯s actually going along with it. Are we really doing this?

    ¡°Yep. Okey-dokey. I¡¯m gonna go with sometime between 9 P.M. to 12 midnight today.¡±

    ¡°Ah, how sly, Sis. Alright then. I¡¯ll go with between 9 A.M. to 12 in the afternoon tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°What are you betting on in the first ce¡­? Or rather, what are you guys nning to do after having our meal? I¡¯m nning on continuing to clear out this section of the forest and building some walls in order to keep the wild animals out.¡±

    ¡°Since we can¡¯t bet with money, how about owing the winner a favor instead? Oh, and I agree with building a wall.¡±

    ¡°A favor!? What are you nning to have us do anyway?¡±

    ¡°Ain¡¯t it fine as long as it¡¯s within reason, Boss?¡±

    And so, we continued to eat while talking about bets and development ns for our temporary shelter.

    By the way, I choose to bet on the period between 6 P.M. and 9 P.M. today. I think that time frame is reasonable as long as the incident report, rescue nning, preparation, and execution all proceed without a hitch. Anyway, it¡¯s a contest against time. I¡¯m sure the correct action to take in this situation was to mount a rescue as soon as possible.

    I hope nothing goes wrong.

 Chapter 251 â€“ Did I Say this was Gonna be Easy? Sorry, I Lied.

    <h4>Chapter 251 - Did I Say this was Gonna be Easy? Sorry, I Lied.</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    We kept the smoke signals burning for several hours. The sun was already starting to set.

    ¡°It¡¯s already about 6 P.M. huh. I guess this is it for today¡¯s smoke signals.¡±

    ¡°We ain¡¯t gonna keep em burnin¡¯ throughout the night?¡±

    Since the shelter was already built, everyone was now gathered around the bonfire I made separate from the ones used to send up smoke signals. Tina, who heard my words, cocked her head to the side and inquired.

    ¡°Smoke is almost invisible at night after all. On the flip side, lights on the ground stand out more when seen from above, so it¡¯s better to use a normal bonfire at night.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    I picked up the shovel, or rather, the spade I made bybining a sturdy-looking wooden pole, some tough vines, and a nicely shaped stone, broke up the ground around the holes where we kindled bonfires to raise smoke signals, and dumped the soil inside the holes to extinguish the mes. If you talk about putting out fires, amon image would be dousing it in water, but depending on the situation, burying it with soil was also viable.

    However, it was stupid to use charcoal for some barbecue on the beach and then burying the charcoal in the sand afterward. It¡¯s not gonna be funny if someone identally stepped on them after all. It¡¯s better to extinguish them with seawater and bring the dregs away to dispose of them properly.

    If we had arge amount of water avable, I¡¯d use that to extinguish the fires, but our only water source right now is a high-tech water bottle that automatically collects moisture in the atmosphere to generate potable water. Its water production function wasn¡¯t that high. ording to its catalog specs, it seems it can produce 2 liters of drinking water per day. But just in case the rescue takes a while, 2 liters just won¡¯t be enough for all of us.

    ¡°If my estimate is right, they should being for us soon.¡±

    ¡°Right. If nothing else happens anyway.¡±

    ¡°Hey, stop that, stupid. What are we gonna do if something does happen, huh?¡±

    ¡°Um, I think us ending up crashing is the worst of it this time¡­ Or, I hope it is.¡±

    ¡°If we were even a little bit more unlucky, we would have kicked the bucket the moment we hit the ground after all.¡±

    ¡°How high is the probability of an aircraft crashin¡¯ anyway?¡±

    I dunno. I think it was a really low percentage I think, but I¡¯m not sure. In the first ce, there¡¯s a high possibility that the probability of an aircraft crashing on Earth was way different from the percentage numbers in this dimension. I think the instances of ships crashing due to pirates were pretty high though.

    ¡°Well, that said, they would probably not choose to leave us alone in this situation for long after all. A passenger vehicle with people inside crashed, and only the guide and the pilot managed to avoid disaster. All the tourists crashed into the forest and it¡¯s unknown whether they¡¯re dead or alive. If they neglected this situation, and it leads to deaths among the tourists, the reputation of the elves would take a big hit.¡±

    ¡°But seriously though, you were in a pretty bad spot, Boss.¡±

    ¡°It would have been bad if we didn¡¯t have the medical nanomachine unit on hand. You could have seriously died, Big Brother.¡±

    ¡°It looks like your careful preparations really paid off, Hiro-sama¡­¡­ I better learn from this experience myself.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯d encounter situations like this all that often, but it really pays to be prepared.¡±

    It looks like everyone¡¯s learned something from this experience huh? Your big brother is happy that your awareness regarding disaster preparation and prevention has begun to sprout, everyone. But if it¡¯s possible, I wanna live a peaceful life where I won¡¯t have to worry about things like this! What? That¡¯s gonna be boring as heck? This was perfect timing? Do you guys wanna experience an aircraft crash yourselves huh? Anyway, a more peaceful and uneventful life is the way to go after all. Yep.

    As I mulled over those thoughts, Whisker suddenly looked up at the sky.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Huh? What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°I think I saw some streaks of light up in the sky just now¡­¡­¡±

    Caught by Whisker¡¯s words, I pointed my gaze up toward the sky as well. The twilight sky gradually turned darker and darker, and I managed to spot some streaks of light flit here and there as day transitioned to nighttime.

    What are those? Shooting stars? No, that¡¯s not it. Huh?

    As I continued to look up, some light streaks shed once again, and after I blinked, another round of light streaks shed from the opposite direction. They kinda looked like lots of shooting stars, but those are probably-

    ¡°Is there a battle going on up in this¡¯s orbit¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Looks like it. Pirates, maybe?¡±

    ¡°Judging from Refill system¡¯s position, it¡¯s probably not an invasion from a foreign force. But is there really a pirate group strong enough to be able to mountary raids repeatedly in this sector¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°The pirate group that has the most presence in this sector should be¡­ the Red gs, I think?¡±

    Basically, pirates usually form small groupsposed of a little less than a dozen ships, but some groups were prettyrge-scale, with several hundred pirate ships at their disposal. They are the big-name pirates who¡¯ve managed to create a base for themselves and brought others of their ilk from several different systems under their wings.

    The one Elma mentioned, the Red gs, was one such group that had a wide range of influence, including the Refill system. They were always giving the imperial military a hard time. Usually, they operate by distributing their forces over a wide area of activity, so it was really difficult to round them up in one fell swoop. Space was prettyrge after all.

    ¡°Um, isn¡¯t this bad?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, pretty much. But we can¡¯t do anything about it right now.¡±

    ¡°Our ships are far away from us after all.¡±

    ¡°If I knew this was going to happen, I would have insisted on flying to our destination on Krishna no matter what the locals say¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°No use havin¡¯ hindsight now, Boss.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s rude, Sis¡­¡­¡±

    Yeah, don¡¯t be rude! But would I really go so far as insisting on flying to the destination via Krishna even if our elven hosts graciously prepared a flying aircraft for us? Uh, it¡¯s not like I can¡¯t, but would I really? If I said I had a very bad feeling and wanted to fly Krishna instead, I¡¯m sure they¡¯d just give me weird looks. It¡¯s not like I care about the opinions of other people that much, but would I really insist on having my way like an entitled prick? It would have been bad either way.

    ¡°Hahaha, actually, they look kinda pretty, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°Is this the time tough like an idiot?¡±

    ¡°I have no choice but tough in this situation.¡±

    When misfortune was piled on top of misfortune, there was nothing I could do butugh. I wonder if a rescue party will reallye for us in this situation? As I mulled over the chances, a shooting star- No, it was far toorge to be likened to a shooting star. Anyway, a huge pir of mes erupted and pierced the sky.

    It ran from east to west. The direction it streaked toward was the same as the location of Theta¡¯s integrated port facility.

    ¡°¡±¡±Ah.¡±¡±¡±

    And then, we witnessed several crimson streaks of light flying from west to east. Those are probably anti-airser fire from ck Lotus¡¯s twelveser cannons.

    After that, several more fireballs erupted from the east and headed to the west, but they were all intercepted by ck Lotus¡¯ser cannons.

    Booooom!

    ¡°Whoah!?¡±

    ¡°Kyaaa!?¡±

    ¡°D-Don¡¯t tell me she just fired the EML inside the atmosphere!?¡±

    The integrated port facility was pretty far from our current position, but we were still inundated by a loud boom.

    Perhaps the round didn¡¯t pass over us, so I wasn¡¯t able to confirm personally, but the only thing that would produce such a powerful booming sound when fired should be the EML equipped on the Lotus.

    The EML equipped on the Lotus can seriously damage even a genuine militarybat starship as long as itnds a direct hit. So what¡¯ll happen if it was fired inside a¡¯s atmosphere?

    If it were fired carelessly, there was a good chance the surrounding buildings near the EML would get pulverized by the resulting shockwaves. This is just my conjecture, but the power of the shockwaves produced by its firing should be greater within an atmospherepared to when it¡¯s fired in outer space. A typical pirate ship with thin armor ting could be shot down all at once by the shockwaves alone.

    ¡°M-Mei-han¡¯s really lettin¡¯ it rip.¡±

    ¡°But is that really okay? What about the damage to the surroundings¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s believe in Mei. Yeah. I wanna believe in her.¡±

    If the surrounding facilities really were damaged badly by the EML, I wonder how much I¡¯d have to pay aspensation? Ugh. My stomach hurts.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure Mei knows what she¡¯s doing. She should be able to adjust the EML¡¯s power ordingly.¡±

    ¡°T-That¡¯s right, isn¡¯t it!?¡±

    It looks like only Elma hadplete trust in Mei. Mimi agreed with her, but her face was twitching slightly. How should I put it? Mei was excellent in whatever she does, but sometimes, she tends to go overboard.

    ¡°We can do nothing but pray right now. Anyway, it would be bad if the pirates spotted us from the sky, so let¡¯s put out the bonfire and retreat inside the shelter for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    I extinguished the bonfire using my DIY spade and entered the shelter with everyone. We built a fence around the camp during the day, so wild animals from Theta¡¯s forest shouldn¡¯t be able to attack us.

    Will a rescue party really manage toe for us in this situation? Water was one thing, but our food stocks were limited. Depending on how things develop, it might be necessary to consider securing food via harvesting wild vegetables and hunting.

 Chapter 252 â€“ Procuring Food

    <h4>Chapter 252 - Procuring Food</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Amidst the din of battle that was taking ce in the far distance, we huddled in a corner of the temporary shelter with only the dim light of the portable data terminal to rely upon and held our breaths.

    ¡°Uh, we really don¡¯t have to hold our breaths, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Even so, there¡¯s not much we can do in this situation anyway. Should we just sleep?¡±

    ¡°How about confirming our ns for tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°Now that¡¯s what I call a meaningful topic.¡±

    As per Mimi¡¯s suggestion, we started to talk about our ns for tomorrow.

    ¡°I think it would be best to basically just stay put and wait for rescue, but do you guys have any other opinions?¡±

    ¡°None.¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡±

    ¡°Nope, I ain¡¯t got any.¡±

    ¡°Me too.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d we all agree on that then.¡±

    Since we couldn¡¯t get online using the data terminal, we were in a situation where we couldn¡¯t even look up a decent map of the area. Since we don¡¯t know which direction we should head toward, it was far too dangerous to randomly wander around the forest. It seems that some of the native creatures on this were quite dangerous, and getting into idents while trying to navigate an undeveloped forest is really scary as well. Things like poisonous insects and other such dangerous creatures are bad news. Staying put inside the camp is the smart thing to do after all.

    ¡°The problem is food. I think the food packs we brought shouldst us a few days, but it¡¯s gonna be bad if the rescue takes much longer than expected.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. I think it would be best if we gathered all the food we have and then pace ourselves so we don¡¯t consume more than necessary.¡±

    ¡°Okay then. Let¡¯s bring them all out and ce them in one spot in the morning. Are there any other suggestions?¡±

    ¡°Um, wouldn¡¯t it be better if we gathered some food too, Boss? Forest like this has lots of edible stuff in it, right?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s also the option of hunting animals for their meat. I read that back in the museum.¡±

    Tina and Whisker were both gung-ho on food procurement. Un, they were thinking of the same thing as me huh.

    ¡°The problem with that is we don¡¯t know what¡¯s edible and what¡¯s not. We don¡¯t have the ability to tell them apart after all, and blindly eating stuff can be dangerous.¡±

    Sometimes, fruits that look delicious in appearance were actually highly poisonous to people, grasses that look like your average weeds actually hid edible tubers below, and seemingly harmless nts were actually potent skin irritants. Things like that weremonce in forests. You really can¡¯t make urate judgments through an amateur¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Oh, we¡¯re actually fine regarding that. I managed to download a scanning app that can be used offline on my data terminal before we headed out.¡±

    ¡°Why¡¯d you think of downloading such a thing anyway?¡±

    ¡°Um, we were going on a forest tour, and you mentioned we couldn¡¯t go online Hiro-sama, so that¡¯s why I got it.¡±

    Mimi replied while disying a smug smile. Well, uh, that¡¯s great and all, but¡­¡­ do you intend to scan each and every nt and creature in the area just to see if they¡¯re edible or not?

    ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t expect you to prepare such a thing Mimi, but it really would help us out a lot. Okay then. Tomorrow, Mimi and I will explore the area to see if we can gather some food. You¡¯re in charge of guarding the camp while we¡¯re away, Elma.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    ¡°What about us, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Try to improve the camp using the molecrposition device and see if you can make something useful. One of our biggest concerns right now is water. Also, can you try piggybacking that useless distress beacon to a data terminal and see if you can send out a distress signal that way?¡±

    ¡°Mm. I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s doable, but we¡¯ll do our best.¡±

    I guess that wraps it up for tomorrow¡¯s ns.

    ¡°But the battle¡¯s still not lettin¡¯ up huh.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m also worried, but it¡¯s not like we can do anything about it. Let¡¯s just go to sleep.¡±

    I¡¯m not sure howrge the force the Red gs sent out to attack, but I doubt it would turn into a situation where they¡¯d annihte the system garrison andpletely overrun the ce.

    Anyway, Mimi and the others made some simple beds earlier, so I got onto one to sleep. The bed had a simple skeleton frame with an stic sheet ced on top of it, and it wasn¡¯t bad at all. I then used the chameleon thermal cloak in ce of a nket. Yep, the temperature management was perfect.

    I woke up after noticing the presence of another person. I opened my eyes a bit and saw that someone was using some chameleon thermal cloaks as a makeshift blind to change clothes or something behind it.

    ¡°Good morning.¡±

    ¡°Hyii!? B-Big Brother!?¡±

    Whisker¡¯s voice rang out behind the makeshift thermal cloak blind. I see.

    ¡®I¡¯m gonna cover my face with my cloak for a bit. Tell me when you¡¯re done.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes!¡±

    Once I covered my head with the cloak, I could hardly hear the rustling of clothes. I was just about to fall back to sleep when someone shook my body, and I finally woke up fully.

    ¡°Fuwaaah¡­¡­ Morning.¡±

    ¡°G-Good morning.¡±

    Whisker returned my morning greeting with a red face. It¡¯s not like I saw her naked anyway, so I don¡¯t think she should be that ashamed about what happened earlier.

    ¡°Shall we get up?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Everyone¡¯s already outside.¡±

    ¡°Okay then. We better bring our luggage out too.¡±

    We grabbed our backpacks and exited the shelter. After getting outside, I saw the other three busy with transferring the contents of their backpacks into ck boxes.

    ¡°Good morning, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Morning, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Good mornin¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Good morning guys. Do you have one for me too?¡±

    ¡°Yep. We already made ones for you guys. Yours is over there, Whee.¡±

    ¡°Un.¡±

    The boxes were an armful in size. We stored our clothes and other things that we won¡¯t make use of immediately inside them. We would then gather the food inside a separate box.

    ¡°Mm. If we ate normally, we¡¯d be able to make the rationsst until tomorrow night.¡±

    ¡°Aside from Hiro, we each only brought a day¡¯s worth of food after all.¡±

    ¡°And why¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Uh, we didn¡¯t exactly expect we¡¯d get involved in a crash, Boss¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Sorry.¡±

    So I was the odd one out for stuffing a week¡¯s worth of rations inside my backpack huh. Mm. But even so, we¡¯d still be able to make themst until tomorrow night, so I guess it¡¯s fine.

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s fine. I¡¯m the one who¡¯s weird for bringing this much. Anyway, let¡¯s go ahead and do as we nned yesterday.¡±

    ¡°Right. Be careful out there, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes! We¡¯ll do our best to bring back some food!¡±

    It looks like Mimi was raring to go. I hope her motivation doesn¡¯t go to wasteter though.

    By the way, she was able to charge the data terminal using a connector to tap into the energy packs for use on the thermal cloaks, so we were fine on that front for the time being.

    ¡°Be careful guys.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t get yourselves injured.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be going now.¡±

    I n on raising signal fires today as well using the remaining raw wood we chopped yesterday, so I marked the trees as we walked along to ensure we¡¯ll be able to find our way back to camp. This made the reality of us being stuck here sink in even more and it¡¯s noughing matter.

    ¡°We¡¯re unfamiliar with they of thend, so let¡¯s proceed carefully. There¡¯s no need to rush.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Hiro-sama.¡±

    Our backpacks were almost emptied of their previous contents and only held two servings of rations and self-filling water canteens along with our equipment inside them. I had myser gun and portable data terminal in mine. I also took some spare energy packs and an emergency nanomachine unit. In Mimi¡¯s case, she brought her own portable data terminal, a tablet terminal,ser gun, and spare energy packs. It seems she also stuffed some small women¡¯s articles inside her backpack as well.

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep watch of the surroundings. You can go ahead and scan for things that might be edible, Mimi. I¡¯ll match your pace, so go nice and steady.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    After a few minutes of walking, Mimi finally managed to get a hit.

    ¡°Ah, Hiro-sama. I caught something with the scanner.¡±

    ¡°Hou, let¡¯s see. Where is it?¡±

    When I looked at Mimi¡¯s tablet terminal from the side, it seemed it was reacting to a vine that was wrapped around a tree trunk.

    ¡°Ah, there¡¯s something up there.¡±

    ¡°Fumu, it looks like some kind of gourd.¡±

    Mimi pointed the rear camera of her tablet terminal at one fruit and the scan waspleted. Apparently, the nt really was a member of the gourd family that was called kokiri, and its fruit was apparently edible. The fruit¡¯s skin had mesh-like patterns and it seemed it was fine to eat it fresh. It was just a little bit bigger than my closed fist. In my eyes, it resembled a small muskmelon.

    ¡°Let¡¯s take the ripe ones.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not collecting all of them?¡±

    ¡°The nts might not be able to continue propagating here if we take everything. It¡¯s not good to take more than necessary at times like this.¡±

    After saying so, I began harvesting the kokiri fruits my hands could reach. The vine was wrapped around a fairly sturdy tree with plenty of footholds, so I was able to harvest quite a bit.

    ¡°Yosh, this is a good start.¡±

    The fruits seem to have plenty of water content. Since we were strapped for drinking water, this was definitely great for us.

    ¡°Right! Let¡¯s continue searching.¡±

    We continued our search but didn¡¯t have much luck this time around. Well, being able to find some kokiri straight away was lucky enough as it is. I suppose this was just normal.

    ¡°We¡¯re not finding anything.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mind. Let¡¯s take a break for a bit. How about trying one kokiri fruit for ourselves?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Mimi cheering up was always a wee sight. But we didn¡¯t bring a knife with us. And so, I ended up using my short sword to carefully divide the kokiri fruit into four pieces. I had to be extra careful because one wrong step and I might lop my fingers or limbs off identally.

    ¡°Let¡¯s try to make a cooking knife when wee back to camp. Handling food with a sword is pretty scary.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right.¡±

    It might be a good idea to start carrying a utility knife aside from my swords from now on. We might not get into situations like this that often, but a utility knife was always a handy tool to have that can be used in a variety of ways apart from being used as a weapon.

    My short sword was still too long to double as a cooking knife after all. I could only use it to roughly divide fruits into four like this.

    ¡°Fumu, it¡¯s looking more and more like a melon.¡±

    Just like its outer appearance, its insides also resemble a muskmelon when I cut it open. The color of the flesh wasn¡¯t orange, however, but instead yellowish white. A white-fleshed melon huh.

    ¡°A melon?¡±

    ¡°We also had a simr fruit where I¡¯m from. Those grew on the ground though. They were alsorger. About this much.¡±

    I used my hands to illustrate the average size of an Earth melon to Mimi.

    ¡°How did it taste?¡±

    ¡°It was juicy and sweet. We only eat a melon¡¯s pulp back where I¡¯m from, but I wonder how it is for kokiri though?¡±

    ¡°It looks like you need to scoop out the seeds and eat the flesh.¡±

    ¡°About the same then. Alright.¡±

    I used my fingers to scrape out the seeds and took a bite of the kokiri¡¯s flesh. Mm, delish. It had a slight grassy aftertaste and wasn¡¯t as sweet as I would have liked, but it was plenty tasty as is. I guess this was normal for wild fruits that haven¡¯t undergone selective cultivation.

    ¡°It¡¯s not bad.¡±

    ¡°It has a bit of a grassy smell, but it¡¯s delicious.¡±

    The fruit¡¯s size was simr to arge peach, so the two of us were able to finish one up immediately.

    ¡°Yosh, let¡¯s buck up and continue searching, shall we?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Let¡¯s bring lots of food back and surprise the others!¡±

    It looks like Mimi¡¯s mood was lifted after having a snack. Let¡¯s proceed with the search while being careful not to overdo it.

 Chapter 253 â€“ Mysterious Glowing Object

    <h4>Chapter 253 - Mysterious Glowing Object</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Mimi and I finished taking a short break after eating a kokiri fruit, which resembled a mini-sized muskmelon and continued searching the Grado n¡¯s forest territory in order to procure food.

    ¡°The wild animals aren¡¯t approaching us huh?¡±

    Mimi, who was walking about while scanning the area,mented as she peered up at me.

    ¡°Unless they¡¯re carnivores, they probably won¡¯t dare to attack us. Just as we¡¯re wary of animals, they are wary of us as well.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    Of course, I¡¯m not so sure that would continue to be the case if we end up mistakenly entering a wild animal¡¯s turf. We had no way of telling if we were walking around an animal¡¯s territory after all. There are some animals that had strong territorial awareness. It¡¯s possible they might try to approach us in order to threaten us even if they don¡¯t attack us immediately.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯d like to avoid fighting with any wild animals as much as possible even if we do encounter some.¡±

    ¡°Why? We¡¯d be able to get meat from them, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true, but no one knows how to butcher animals in our group, right? At least, I can¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Butcher?¡±

    ¡°Uh, let¡¯s see. Um, remember the time when we visited that cultured meat factory? You saw how they had to butcher those mystery creatures in order to turn them into meat, right? We¡¯d have to do the same thing to wild animals if we did hunt some. But, of course, wild animals don¡¯t only have meat in their bodies. They also had internal organs and bones, and if we mess up and handle the internal organs poorly, bodily fluids and waste might spill out onto the meat, and the carcass would bepletely ruined. And we also have to drain the blood and cool the meat down to prevent it from spoiling quickly. Depending on how we handle the carcass, we might get drenched with blood, so we need a lot of water to wash it off and then cool the meat down.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ It sounds really hard.¡±

    ¡°It is. Anyone who knows how to properly handle weapons might be able to kill prey, but it takes specialized skills to turn the hunted prey into edible meat. Well, we can probably still get meat even if we just did things haphazardly. But-¡±

    ¡°But?¡±

    ¡°The meat we¡¯ll end up with won¡¯t be drained of blood properly and would be poorly processed, making the taste stale and unpleasant.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­That would feel unfair, especially since we¡¯d be taking a life to feed ourselves.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s why I¡¯m not really thinking of hunting animals for meat.¡±

    And besides, if we handled it poorly while butchering the carcass, we might attract other wild animals that were carnivores. It¡¯s too dangerous to attempt something that you¡¯repletely unfamiliar with.

    ¡°You really are amazing, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Hm? Well, I think it¡¯s just the difference in the environments we were born and raised in.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel that¡¯s all it is though. Um, I think you have this sort of innate disposition¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°No, no, of course not. I merely have some misceneous knowledge. After all, I¡¯ve only ever heard about the things I told you regarding hunting and butchering animals, and it¡¯s not like I¡¯ve experienced them myself.¡±

    It would be unusual for Mimi, who was born and raised in a space colony, to have knowledge regarding hunting and butchering animals after all. In a controlled environment like a colony, there aren¡¯t really any other creatures freely living inside them apart from humanoids, with races like elves and dwarves included of course. There weren¡¯t any stray cats or dogs. Heck, there even weren¡¯t any rats or cockroaches.

    Mimi, Tina, and Whisker were genuine space colonists, so they might know the existence and appearance of popr creatures such as pets like dogs and cats, but it¡¯s not like they¡¯ve seen them in person.

    Well, I guess Elma was an exception since she was a nobledy born in the imperial capital. And as a mercenary, she¡¯s been to various ces due to her previous jobs.

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re still young after all, Mimi. In time, you¡¯d probably be able to umte enough experience to be an even better starship captain than me.¡±

    ¡°A captain huh¡­¡­ That might be a little interesting. I can search for grandma and stuff.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I kinda want to meet her as well.¡±

    Mimi¡¯s grandmother, Celestia huh. She¡¯s the younger sister of the current reigning emperor, Geppels, and was said to have escaped the royal family and became a renowned mercenary. Her current whereabouts were unknown, but ording to Mimi, she remembers meeting her when she was young. If that¡¯s the case, then she might still be living somewhere in the wide universe.

    ¡°¡­¡­By the way, what happened to the battlest night?¡±

    ¡°Um, we weren¡¯t able to hear any more sounds when we woke up. Since the sounds of battle stopped, they must have settled it sometimest night. Since there are no signs of sporadic fighting afterward, we think the system garrison won out in the end¡­¡­¡±

    If the system garrison lost, even ck Lotus won¡¯te out unscathed. That would include Krishna that¡¯s parked in one of its hangars. I really hope that wasn¡¯t the case.

    By the way, the reason the girls were able toe to a conclusion that the system garrison won was that if they really werepletely annihted, reinforcements from the garrisons of neighboring star systems will be immediately dispatched here, and hostilities would erupt once more. Once the reinforcements arrive, they¡¯d immediately mount attacks on the pirates who should have worn themselves out from the effort of wiping out Refill system¡¯s defense forces.

    No matter howrge the Red gs were as a pirate organization, they still do not have the required strength to take on thebined forces of garrisons from neighboring systems as well as imperial military patrols. That¡¯s why their usual modus operandi was to scatter their forces in order to avoid being taken out all at once.

    ¡°Well, depending on the extent of the damage, a rescue team shoulde for us by today or tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°I sure hope so.¡±

    As we walked and chatted through the forest, we suddenly caught sight of something shining in the distance. Eh? Light?

    ¡°What the heck?¡±

    ¡°Is it a river or spring?¡±

    ¡°Nope, it doesn¡¯t seem that whatever¡¯s out there is merely reflecting light from the sun.¡±

    I hacked the bushes in front of us as we proceeded ahead. Wait, that¡¯s-!

    ¡°What the heck is this?¡±

    ¡°I wonder?¡±

    It was something iprehensible.

    No, hold up a bit. Allow me to exin why we¡¯re so bewildered. What was in front of us was an object that clearly had no ce within an untouched primeval forest. Its structure was obviously not that of a natural object.

    ¡°No, really. What the heck is this thing? A drill bit or something?¡±

    ¡°It does look simr, but isn¡¯t it a bit too big?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it is, huh¡­¡­ The heck?¡±

    Yep. It was a shining pointed object. Judging from just the part that was visible, it was at least 1 meter in length. It was just thick enough for me to sp with both hands. It was white in color and kept emitting light. As for its shape, I can¡¯t really confirm since it was buried in the ground, but it had a sharp tip and somehow looked simr to a spiral-shaped drill.

    It really didn¡¯t feel like something natural, but it also didn¡¯t seem to be apletely artificial object. Somehow, the texture of the material it¡¯s made of was simr to wood.

    ¡°Anyway, shall we try to pull it out?¡±

    ¡°Is that really okay? Aren¡¯t you worried the light it¡¯s emitting is actually radiation of some sort, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s Cherenkov radiation, but yeah, it might really be dangerous huh.¡±

    It¡¯s best not to touch something unfamiliar. It¡¯s one of the basics in order to avoid danger. Certainly, it does make good sense to not carelessly touch an unknown object such as this one.

    ¡°Maybe it was dropped by a destroyed pirate ship or some part from one of this¡¯s aerial vehicles.¡±

    ¡°In any case, I think it¡¯s still better not to touch this mysterious shining object, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Okay then. Let¡¯s just leave it here-¡±

    After dering my intent to leave the thing alone, the mysterious object started to flicker intensely. What!? Was it gonna explode!? I immediately shielded Mimi behind me and took a distance from the object. And then, the flickering subsided all at once. What the heck? Why did it even flicker in the first ce?

    ¡°This thing¡¯s starting to get creepy.¡±

    ¡°We really shouldn¡¯t touch it.¡±

    Then it started flickering again. Huh? Don¡¯t tell me-

    ¡°Uh, do you, err, actually understand what we¡¯re saying?¡±

    ¡°Eh? T-There¡¯s no way that¡¯s¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi tried to deny my words, but the mysterious object shed once as if to reply. Mimi immediately swallowed the rest of her words.

    ¡°¡­¡­If you really understand us, please sh twice.¡±

    It really did sh twice. I see.

    ¡°As I thought, this thing¡¯s creepy. We better just ignore it.¡±

    ¡°I agree.¡±

    The two of us turned on our heels and started walking away, and the mysterious object started shing intensely once more. It was as if it was desperately trying to hold us back. Uwaa, what the heck? What should I do about this?

 Chapter 254 â€“ Useful Glowing Object

    <h4>Chapter 254 - Useful Glowing Object</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°So, you picked it up after all?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because it so looked pitiful when it flickered weakly once we tried to leave it alone¡­¡­¡±

    I turned away from Elma who was ring at me with a reproachful gaze. The direction I turned toward was where Mimi and the mechanic sisters were gathered in order to check out the mysterious glowing object, which was now pierced inside the grounds of the camp.

    ¡°It¡¯s such a peculiar object. I wonder how it glows?¡±

    ¡°Un. We really can¡¯t get an urate read with only the equipment we have on hand, Sis. Its makeup is simr to wood ording to the scans, but are there actually any trees that are shaped like this?¡±

    ¡°At least, it¡¯s totally different from the trees around us. We still can¡¯t determine anything after all the scans we did.¡±

    Whisker and Mimi were scanning the thing using their tablet terminals, but the truth about it was still shrouded in mystery. By the way, Whisker seems to be using a scanning app that was specialized for analyzing the structural materials of starships while Mimi was using the edible nt scanning app she downloaded. Are you actually nning to eat that thing, Mimi? You better drop that idea. You¡¯d ruin your stomach you know.

    ¡°Can this thing really understand our words?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It shined in response to Hiro-sama¡¯s words.¡±

    ¡°Is it an intelligent lifeform of some sort? Does that mean intelligent lifeforms other than the elves exist on this? Do you know anything about this, Elma-san?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Was there really such a thing?¡±

    After Whisker¡¯s sudden question, Elma cocked her head as she mulled over the matter. Yosh. Her attention was sessfully diverted. Now¡¯s my chance.

    ¡°Let¡¯s set aside that mysterious object for the time being. We had a nice harvest guys. See, there¡¯s a lot, right?¡±

    After saying so, I opened my backpack and showed everyone the contents.

    ¡°Wow. That really is a lot.¡±

    ¡°Waa, can we really eat all of these?¡±

    ¡°ording to Mimi¡¯s scan app, all of them are edible.¡±

    After we pulled out the mysterious object from the ground, we were able to find and harvest edible stuff one after another for some reason.

    ¡°First, there¡¯s this. This is a kokiri fruit. It¡¯s has a bit of a grassy smell, but it¡¯s juicy and tastes pretty fine. We¡¯ve already sampled one, and it wasn¡¯t bad at all.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, and what about this?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s an edible mushroom called a mokoridake. Apparently, it¡¯s delicious when grilled.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I think I¡¯ve tried this one before.¡±

    ¡°Me too. It was a bit sour though. It seems to be called a millberry.¡±

    Yep, the things we found in addition to the kokiri were edible mushrooms and berries. The mokoridake looked like your typical edible mushroom with a thick white stalk and a brown cap. It seems to be pretty tasty when sliced in two and grilled.

    The millberry was a dark-purplish-colored berry that resembled a raspberry instead of the strawberries regrly seen in Japanese supermarkets. I suppose you can describe its size as a little smaller than a ping-pong ball. We gathered a lot of these berries as well.

    ¡°But grilling mushrooms ain¡¯t really appealing in our situation. We don¡¯t have any seasonings after all. They¡¯re probably gonna taste stale without those¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, about that. We can actually produce salt through the molecrposition device.¡±

    ¡°Seriously?¡±

    ¡°Seriously.¡±

    It seems that it was possible for the device to produce salt by breaking down and rposing soil, stones, and wood. Well, it¡¯s said that soil contains a lot of sodium, so I guess it wasn¡¯t that farfetched after all.

    ¡°Uh, since we can apparently get salt, I suppose we can cook up some pretty tasty grilled mushrooms after all. The remaining concern is water¡­¡­¡±

    As if in response to my muttering, the mysterious object began to shine again.

    ¡°Uwah, it¡¯s shinin¡¯ like crazy.¡±

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s fine. It¡¯s probably not something dangerous.¡±

    I soothed the panicking Tina and pulled out the mysterious object from the ground.

    Whenpletely pulled out, its total length was about 1.2 meters. Both of its ends were sharply pointed with three spiral grooves running across its entire body. However, these spiral depressions oddly fitted the hands perfectly, making the object pretty easy to hold. Its weight bnce was also quite good, and if you threw the thing, it would probably fly pretty far.

    ¡°So, where is it? Here? Or here?¡±

    As I pointed one tip of the object around, the light it was emitting eventually flickered faster in a certain direction.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s pointing to a direction where we¡¯d find water?¡±

    ¡°Probably. We already used it when we were out gathering food after all.¡±

    ¡°Eeh? ¡­¡­Seriously? Ain¡¯t that kinda creepy?¡±

    ¡°It does feel a bit creepy, doesn¡¯t it? Well, this thing¡¯s probably making itself useful so we won¡¯t throw it away.¡±

    ¡°Is it really an intelligent creature of some kind?¡±

    Whisker frowned in bewilderment as she eyed the mysterious object. As she continued to observe what was going on, Elma wrinkled her brows as if desperately trying to recall something.

    ¡°You got something for us, Elma?¡±

    ¡°Un¡­¡­ Not really, no. I only spent a short time here when I was little, so my memory¡¯s quite fuzzy.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped then. I only have fuzzy memories of my grandma too.¡±

    Mimi nodded as if convinced for some reason. Well, since Elma, who was older than me by more than a dozen years, was trying to remember her time as a young kid, it was probably more than thirty years ago. If that¡¯s the case, then it might be unavoidable that she doesn¡¯t remember much from back then.

    ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s likely that we can find water in the direction this guy is pointing toward, so I¡¯ll go and take a quick look.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯lle with you. Mimi, we¡¯ll leave the camp to you.¡±

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll make sure to protect Tina-chan and Whisker-chan.¡±

    Mimi patted herser gun which was holstered on her hip and replied excitedly. She might be all gung-ho about it, but since we can¡¯t be sure if you can really deal with this¡¯s wildlife with just aser gun, I suppose we¡¯ll just have to turn back if the water source ends up being too far away from the camp.

    I walked ahead while clutching the glowing mysterious object in my left hand and hacking away at the surrounding foliage with the sword in my right hand. I also didn¡¯t forget to ce marks on the trees so we can more easily find our way back.

    And what appeared before Elma and me was-

    ¡°A spring?¡±

    ¡°It might be a spring or a pond, but in any case, it¡¯s certainly a water source.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t that big, but we still found something which looked like a pond. The water seemed to be quite clear, and you could clearly see the sand at the bottom of the water dance about from time to time. It looks like this was the water source the mysterious object was referring to. The water that springs from the bottom splits into several streams which flowed out of it.

    ¡°It looks clear enough to drink as is.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it. No matter how pristine-looking the water is, drinking it without boiling it first is too dangerous.¡±

    After saying so, I took out a container built out of the ck polycarbonate-like material used to build our shelter from my backpack. It was made by Tina and the others while I and Mimi were out procuring food.

    ¡°Let¡¯s fill this up with water and go back. The danger should be greatly reduced after thoroughly boiling it.¡±

    ¡°Would it be better if we distilled it?¡±

    ¡°It would be nice if we can do that, but can we actually make a serviceable distiller?¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t we make one using that molecrposition device? We can just use the metal parts of the crashed train cars to make it.¡±

    ¡°I see? Well, anyway, let¡¯s bring some water back first. There should be a water quality tester in the survival kit as well, so we can use that to check if the water¡¯s potable.¡±

    I filled the ck water tank and stashed it inside my backpack afterward.

    ¡°That should do it. But I wonder what this thing really is anyway?¡±

    I raised the mysterious glowing object up and cocked my head- Huh?

    ¡°Did this thing actually suck up some water? It kinda feels like it¡¯s heavier.¡±

    ¡°Really? Well, it does resemble wood, so I guess it¡¯s not that strange that it can actually suck water¡­¡­ No, we¡¯ve been here only for a short while so it couldn¡¯t have sucked up that much to get heavier. It¡¯s bing more and more mysterious.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s weird, but I admit it¡¯s pretty convenient.¡±

    Even if it did get heavier, it wasn¡¯t that much. I should still have no problem carrying it around.

    ¡°This water¡¯s heavy too. We better go back now.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m worried about leaving everything to Mimi alone.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s for sure.¡±

    After repeated training sessions, Mimi was now able to shoot aser gun normally, but she still wasn¡¯t that skilled with it, and her personality wasn¡¯t that aggressive. I¡¯m worried if she can deal with things just in case a wild animal does attack the camp.

    And so, I and Elma walked back to camp with me hauling a fully filled water tank and the mysterious object which was now strangely heavier.

    Well, all this effort mighte to nothing if a rescue team does arrive to fetch us tonight though. That¡¯s fine too, I guess. This was merely insurance just in case no rescuees for the time being. Yeah, let¡¯s just chalk it up to that.

 Chapter 255 â€“ Rescue

    <h4>Chapter 255 - Rescue</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    We made it back to the camp and found that there was another structure was built in front of the temporary shelter. Judging from its appearance, it should be a stationary water tank.

    ¡°We¡¯re back. What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Ah, Hiro-sama. Wee back as well, Elma-san.¡±

    ¡°Oh, wee back guys. This thing¡¯s a water purifier by the way.¡±

    ¡°A water purifier? This thing?¡±

    Elma cocked her head as she eyed the new structure. The structure that Tina imed to be a water purifier was made out of a diagonal drum and vertical drum that were stuck together with adder attached to the side. It looks like a water spout was ced on top of thedder.

    ¡°Oh, a purifier huh. It¡¯s the kind where you ce a bunch of things inside that would serve as filters to separate potentially harmful matter from the water, right?¡±

    I do remember seeing some of this stuff back on Earth. This thing was probably simr to those. I think there were many water purifier types that were a lot more high-tech in this dimension though. I didn¡¯t expect I¡¯d see one like this here¡­¡­ Hey, wait a minute.

    ¡°Hey, can¡¯t we purify water without using this thing through the molecrposition device? I mean, we can just break the water down and then reconstitute it with the harmful substances already separated, right?¡±

    ¡°See, Sis. I told you things was gonna be useless.¡±

    ¡°Man. Ya guys sure caught on early huh. Ahaha.¡±

    After hearing my retort, Whisker gave Tina a side-eye. Yeah, that¡¯s right. If you think about it, if you break down and reconstitute the water with the molecrposition device, you can clear out potentially harmful pathogens and parasites in one go even without distilling or boiling the water.

    ¡°What were you thinking when you made this thing anyway?¡±

    ¡°I was bored, okay.¡±

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s possible to make something, it¡¯s the nature of an engineer to go ahead and make the thing, Boss.¡±

    Please abandon such a wasteful habit.

    And so, the unboiled water in the portable water tank Elma and I brought back with us was turned into potable water through the use of the molecrposition device. It now seemed so stupid that we were even thinking of boiling it or making an improvised distiller. Long live high-tech stuff!

    ¡°So now we don¡¯t have to worry about food and water for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Nn, it¡¯s so sour!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s sour, but I think I kind of like it.¡±

    ¡°Ara. This fruit does smell a bit grassy, but it¡¯s plenty tasty.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s roast some mushrooms next!¡±

    ¡°Are you listening, guys? Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re eating a little bit too much?¡±

    Because we managed to secure water, I tried to hold a meeting to decide our next ns while we were having our meal, but it looks like everyone else was focused on eating. Tina and Whisker were gorging on millberries, Elma ate a kokiri, and Mimi went over to the bonfire I started to roast some mushrooms on wooden skewers.

    ¡°C¡¯mon, Boss. It¡¯s not like we have anythin¡¯ else to do, right? Why don¡¯t we just focus on raisin¡¯ smoke signals and waitin¡¯ fer help?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess. That¡¯s certainly the only thing we can do for now.¡±

    I shrugged my shoulders in resignation as I sliced some mokoridake mushrooms with a knife made through the use of the molecrposition device. I thought theposite material made by the device couldn¡¯t be used to make things like knives, but the one it produced was surprisingly sharp. Maybe it even actually produced a monomolecr de for the knife? If that¡¯s how it was, then the molecrposition device was truly an impressive piece of high-tech equipment.

    I sliced the mushrooms vertically, stabbed the pieces with wooden skewers, roasted them over the bonfire, and then sprinkled some salt over them afterward. Delicious. Their taste and texture were simr to king oyster mushrooms. These things will definitely taste even more delicious with some butter and soy sauce. Well, even in salted ones were tasty enough though.

    ¡°Ah, this taste just makes me crave for some alcohol.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    The alcoholic trio was at it again. There¡¯s nothing like that here, so please just give up. Well, we might be able to distill some liquor by using some millberries and water, but we don¡¯t have the appropriate equipment for that. Actually, there might really be millberry liquor avable on this. Yeah, it¡¯s possible.

    ¡°I wonder when exactly we¡¯ll get rescued?¡±

    ¡°It feels like Mei should have run out of patience right about now andunch away with Krishna though-¡±

    The moment those words left my mouth, a ck shadow passed us by from above. When I looked up, I saw a familiar silhouette flying in the sky.

    ¡°¡±¡±Ah.¡±¡±¡±

    All of us raised our voices simultaneously. The silhouette in the air was unmistakably Krishna. For security reasons, it¡¯s almost impossible for others to fly it apart from Mei, so I was fairly certain it was Mei who was flying it right now.

    Krishna passed our position by, but it appeared in the sky above us again after a short while. Man, if you looked at her at this angle, you¡¯d really get a sense of how massive she is. Its total length alone was simr to or more than that of two Japanese railcars lined up together.

    ¡°Let¡¯s raise our hands and wave at her.¡±

    ¡°Here we are! Mei-sa?n!¡±

    After I waved toward Krishna up in the air, Mimi followed suit. It was a feast for the eyes because her chest assets were bouncing due to her jumping up and down energetically. They were going boing boing man.

    ¡°The ce is a little narrow for anding though. ¡­¡­Well, I suppose Krishna can handle it just fine.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Krishna, which was hovering in the sky, eventually attempted anding right next to the walled campsite we built. Since it headed to the ground without caring for the trees below, sounds of trees being crushed by its weight echoed out, but that was no problem for Krishna.

    Eventually, the Krishna managed tondpletely, followed by just a few seconds of silence. Yep, just a few seconds. The moment Krishna¡¯s hatch opened, a ck shadow immediatelyunched out. It literally flew out like a speeding bullet. And that shadow closed down andnded in front of me in an instant. Boom! Yeah, it wasn¡¯t a lightnding at all.

    ¡°Gueee.¡±

    ¡°Mei, Hiro¡¯s getting suffocated.¡±

    ¡°Boy, that was an extremely fast hug. Anybody else apart from us would¡¯ve missed it.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­ She must have been really worried.¡±

    The ck shadow thatnded in front of me was, of course, Mei. I was given a really powerful hug immediately. No matter how soft Mei¡¯s breasts were, it would still be painful if I was hugged with such force.

    ¡°Please forgive me, Master. I lost myposure.¡±

    ¡°So even Mei-san can lose herposure huh.¡±

    ¡°I am also a being who feels emotions. Of course, I would also feel distressed at times like this.¡±

    As she replied to Mimi, Mei was expressionlessly patting my body down, seemingly to check for abnormalities. Uh, I don¡¯t think I had injuries you¡¯d be able to detect just by patting me down-

    ¡°There are traces of wounds on your head. Did you get injured, Master?¡±

    ¡°Wow, you noticed huh. It seems I managed to hit my head on the ceiling of the train car when we crashed and-¡±

    Before I could finish speaking, Mei princess carried me and headed to Krishna¡¯s med-bay, where a medical pod was installed, with great speed. She then immediately shoved me inside the pod. I didn¡¯t even have the time to react.

    ¡°I don¡¯t really feel there¡¯s anything wrong with me, okay?¡±

    ¡ºYou might not be able to feel anything wrong after receiving head injuries, but its possible aftereffects might manifestter. There is a need for a detailed check-up.¡»

    As she said so, Mei jacked herself into the med-pod¡¯s port as she stared unblinkingly at me. Um, isn¡¯t this med-pod making sounds that it normally doesn¡¯t make, Mei-san? Are you sure you aren¡¯t overclocking it way past what its specs can handle? Is this really okay?

    ¡ºPlease rest inside the pod for a while, Master. I shall take care of everything else for you.¡»

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    I decided to just obediently follow Mei¡¯s instructions. My instincts were warning me not to go against Mei as she was right now. Yeah, somehow I feel that¡¯s really dangerous.

    I wanted to ask Mei about the circumstances after we crashed, like what that battle with what were presumably pirates was all about, and why Mei had to personallye to our rescue instead of the elves, but I guess it would be useless to inquire right now.

    And so, I gradually felt sleepy. Mei might have had the pod administer a sedative or something. I only managed to get some light sleepst night, so an afternoon nap doesn¡¯t sound too bad. I decided to close my eyes without resisting the drowsiness. There are lots of things to be concerned about, but I guess I¡¯ll just sleep for now.

 Chapter 256 â€“ Taking a Breather

    <h4>Chapter 256 - Taking a Breather</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    When I managed to wake up, I found Mei peering down at me from outside the medical pod just like she was doing before I fell asleep. After confirming that I¡¯ve regained consciousness, Mei operated the console of the med-pod and opened the hatch.

    ¡°Good morning, Mei.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Master. Do you feel any problem regarding your body? Any signs of dizziness, nausea, or headaches?¡±

    ¡°Nothing in particr. I think I¡¯m in good shape.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a relief. But head injuries are still quite dangerous. Please undergo a thorough check-up at a decent medical facility as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Roger. So, what¡¯s the situation?¡±

    I got up and asked Mei about the current situation as I slid my arms inside the sleeves of my jacket, which Mei removed when she tossed me inside the med-pod.

    ¡°We are now back inside the hangar of ck Lotus, which is still anchored at Theta¡¯s integrated port facility.¡±

    ¡°I see. What about everyone?¡±

    ¡°They have proceeded to rest up ever since we returned to the ck Lotus, but they are now all awake.¡±

    When I checked the time on my portable info terminal while listening to Mei¡¯s reply, I found that it was already a little past dinnertime. I was feeling quite hungry though. I better grab something to eat.

    ¡°I¡¯m hungry, so I¡¯m gonna grab a bite in the dining area. But I better take a bath first.¡±

    ¡°Of course. I shall apany you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve already recovered from my injuries, so you don¡¯t really need to mind me that much¡­ but do you wanna have a bath together anyway?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    I felt Mei¡¯s mood dropping when I said she didn¡¯t have to mind me, so I changed tack and asked her to take a bath with me instead. Mei seemed to have been quite distressed and worried about us after all. And she was indeed the one who came to our rescue in the end. I guess it¡¯s fine to indulge her a little this time. She doesn¡¯t normally assert herself like this after all.

    We then moved to the slightlyrger bath facility inside ck Lotus and took our time bathing. After getting out, we proceeded to the Lotus¡¯ dining hall. There, we managed to meet up with Mimi and the others, who seemed to have just finished having their meals.

    ¡°Ah, Hiro-sama. Good morning.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s prettyte for greeting me good morning though.¡±

    ¡°We basically don¡¯t pay any attention to the time of day anyway.¡±

    After saying so, Elma shrugged her shoulders after pointing toward the holo-disy installed within the dining hall. When I looked at the screen, I saw that they were watching a special program rted to the series of incidents we also ended up getting involved in this time. The screen disyed the emblem sporting a ck skull drawn on a bright red g. It was a pirate insignia, and it was the insignia of a familiar group.

    ¡°So it really was the Red g pirates.¡±

    ¡°That seems to be the case. At least, judging from the emblems pped on their ships. Arge unit attacked the system garrison forces and a small detachment descended to Theta in order to destroy the integrated port facility. It seems they also nned to wreak havoc on the ground.¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s where Mei and ck Lotus came in and ruined their n huh.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. Maybe it¡¯s because their previous attack failed and they wanted to gain some of their face back.¡±

    ¡°We really managed to find ourselves in a real mess this time huh. Well, ck does look like an unarmed transport ship from the outside, and Krishna alone could probably crush a good number of their ships.¡±

    ¡°They definitely didn¡¯t expect we would still be on this in the first ce.¡±

    As we chatted, the screen disyed the figures of some rather familiar people. They were the leaders of each n. Judging from the contents of the news report, it looks like criticisms were mounting against the system garrison for failing to prevent another pirate attack, and they might even be implying the garrison had a hand in it. As for the system garrison forces, it seems they¡¯re iming the attack wasrger in scale than your usual pirate raid, and that it was only through prudent defense countermeasures on their part that the was spared from further damage.

    It seems that in the attack this time, the pirates actually attempted to perform an orbital strike on Theta by the use of an asteroid pped with an FTL drive, so they had no choice but to devote almost all of their forces to respond to the threat, so they ended up being unable to prevent the descent of a detached pirate force on the.

    ¡°Man, that method sure sounds familiar.¡±

    ¡°It seems the pirates also have their own privatework. Maybe they share their experiences there?¡±

    The method of orbital bombardment using an asteroid pped with an FTL drive was encountered by us during our visit to a resort in the Sierra system a while back. I understand the need to prevent an asteroid drop on the surface of the you¡¯re tasked to protect at all costs, so I kinda get where the garrison forces wereing from.

    ¡°And it looks like the Rose n is cing the me on the Grado n and the Minfa n for our idental crash.¡±

    Lilium, who was part of the Rose n, did apany us as a guide, but it was the Grado n that arranged for the vehicle to transport us to their territory, and Hiishi, the pilot, was from the Minfa n. It seems the Rose n immediately asked for a search to be conducted via starships, but the Grado n, which was averse to technology, apparently refused. They basically said they wanted to wipe their own behinds by conducting a search themselves using aerial vehicles that worked on the same principle as the vehicle that crashed, but this time around, it was the Minfa n that put a damper on that idea. It was because analysis of the cause of the crash revealed that the ident was due to the vehicle being overloaded with excessive magic power, and if a vehicle that operated on the same principle were to be used for the search and rescue effort, there was a high possibility of the ident happening again.

    And that¡¯s why there was a dy in dispatching a rescue team to search for us, and then the attack of the Red g pirates happened. The mess further dyed the dispatch of any rescue efforts, and Mei finally lost her patience and forciblyunched out on Krishna to rescue us herself. She then managed to quickly find us and brought us back.

    ¡°That¡¯s politics for ya.¡±

    ¡°Even so, them leaving people who got involved in an ident alone due to petty politics does leave a bad taste in the mouth.¡±

    Whisker smiled bitterly and sighed.

    ¡°It¡¯s scary to think what would have happened if Hiro-sama didn¡¯t insist on bringing a survival kit, rations, and water bottles.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that really was an eye-opener. Well, you¡¯d easily just dismiss it as entric behavior normally though.¡±

    ¡°The ghost inside me whispered a warning after all.¡±

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon, Boss. Just admit you¡¯re already too used to trouble and can kinda guess what to expect next.¡±

    ¡°Stooop. Don¡¯ty it to me straight like that!¡±

    My level of being a trouble ma is already making me think I¡¯ve been cursed or something. Maybe I should get myself to undergo an exorcism ritual? But do they have exorcists in this dimension in the first ce? I think the elves might have them, but if they took things too seriously, I have a really bad feeling it¡¯ll just make things worse. I better not poke the grass lest a snakees out, so to speak.

    ¡°So, how will they deal with our matter anyway?¡±

    ¡°Yes. All of the ns have gotten in contact with us, and they wish to send representatives from the Grado n tomorrow to offer their apologies. I have held back on replying for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Contact them and tell them we¡¯ll ept their apologies.¡±

    ¡°Certainly.¡±

    Mei bowed her head as she replied. Since she already had her fill of thoroughly inspecting my body in the bath, it looks like she¡¯s calmed down considerably. But still. An apology huh.

    ¡°Well, they did wee us as guests, but we ended up getting into an ident in the middle of a tour, so offering apologies is just basic courtesy, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but y¡¯know, the cause of the said ident might be Boss himself though.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s that and this is this, right? It would have been hard to predict that something like that would happen, but we did end up getting exposed to danger as a consequence.¡±

    ¡°Man-made cmities really are the worst huh¡­¡­ Lilium-san did assure us the flyin¡¯ train was safe, and it looked like she really believed it would be.¡±

    ¡°And the moment Big Brother rode the thing¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Fine! It¡¯s my fault, okay? Stop ragging on me already.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Y¡¯know why we¡¯re like this, right, Boss?¡±

    ¡°I already heard what happened from Tina-chan and Whisker-chan, and I¡¯m sorry Hiro-sama, but I really can¡¯t offer any defense here¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Agreed. Well, it¡¯s not like we can do anything about it after the fact.¡±

    Elma shrugged her shoulders and sighed. How typically Elma-like. Well, there¡¯s no conclusive evidence that it was caused by me anyway. So I guess it would be best if I just stayed quiet and didn¡¯t admit to anything. Yeah, that¡¯s a good n.

    ¡°But they already concluded that the cause of the ident was a, um, magic power overload or something, right?¡±

    ¡°Looks like it. I think it¡¯s because they subjected the vehicle to extensive endurance tests before roll-out because it was intended to ferry passengers. They should have tested out just how much magic power those wings could withstand or something like that.¡±

    ¡°And due to that, they managed toe to that particr conclusion after seeing the logs. It seems the two front-most cars managed to safely arrive at the Grado n¡¯s main territory after all.¡±

    ¡°I see. Well, in any case, it¡¯s not like I did it on purpose. So they can¡¯t im it was my responsibility.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I suppose. We don¡¯t really get stuff like magic and magic power much anyway.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t really have many opportunities to get in contact with psionic technology in much of the empire after all.¡±

    The dwarven sisters nodded at my words. If tech specialists like them agree, then I guess I really ain¡¯t responsible for anything. I feel like they¡¯re still gonna manage to find someone to take the fall anyway though. In the first ce, those Grado n fellows who refuse to use normal aircraft and starships due to prejudice also share much of the me. Yeah.

 Chapter 257 â€“ Oi, Oi, Oi!

    <h4>Chapter 257 - Oi, Oi, Oi!</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    In the end, we couldn¡¯t do anything about the matter until morning came. Or rather, it was already the middle of the night, so we just quietly killed time while waiting for the next day. We could do some light workouts, training practice, take a nap, dispose of the stuff we got from the Grado n¡¯s forest territory, and so on. In short, there was a lot of stuff we could do to kill time.

    So I decided to dispose of the stuff we got from the forest after working out a bit, but-

    ¡°Uh, we actually ended up bringing this thing back huh.¡±

    Yep. It was the mysterious shining drill-shaped object. It was now sticking out of my backpack. It was shing excitedly as if expressing its joy in seeing me again.

    ¡°Uh, yeah. I thought I¡¯d leave it behind, but it was blinking weakly again so I couldn¡¯t help but pity it a bit and ced it inside your backpack, Hiro-sama.¡±

    Mimi smiled bitterly as she confessed.

    ¡°This thing¡¯s really sly for a damn shing drill¡­¡­ And we don¡¯t know what it is and where it came from, so we really can¡¯t let our guards down around it. Sheesh.¡±

    I picked up the mysterious object that was leaning against the wall. I wonder why. It feels like I¡¯m really getting ustomed to holding this thing. Judging from its appearance, it really doesn¡¯t look like something easy to wield, but I still feel that way. Hmm. And it also shes in regr intervals whenever I was holding it, as if it felt reallyfy in my hand. This thing isn¡¯t actually sucking stuff out of me, is it? Uh, like that something or other power those elven leaders talked about. They said that stuff was overflowing out of me or something.

    ¡°Hmm. It does feel easy to swing this thing around, but I really don¡¯t know how to actually use it.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t need it for dowsing anymore now that we¡¯re back on the ship after all.¡±

    Mimi took out our harvest from a backpack and disyed a wry grin. There were kokiri fruits that just rolled out of the bag, millberries stuffed inside a ck polycarbonate box, and fresh mokoridake mushrooms.

    ¡°So what should we do with this stuff?¡±

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we just eat them and finish them all off?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. We do have a container for cold storage inside the ship, right? How about putting this stuff inside to refrigerate them?¡±

    ¡°Mm. Let me consult with our chef as well.¡±

    ¡°Ah, maybe these could be used to cook some tasty stuff, right?¡±

    Yep. Tetsujin V might be able to whip up something delicious by using these. Basic automatic cookers can only make meals by using food cartridges, but high-performance luxury models such as Tetsujin V also have the function of processing raw ingredients to make dishes.

    After all, Tetsujin V¡¯s database was chockfull of countless cooking recipes collected from all over the known universe that was installed by its manufacturer, and it seems its penchant for making superb-tasting dishes was due to that dedicated attention to detail. Science really is amazing huh.

    ¡°Okay then. We¡¯ll store all the foodstuffs in the containerter. Next up is how to deal with this one.¡±

    ¡°Whisker-chan said it was better to bring it with us too, so I brought it back.¡±

    The next thing on the list was the broken rescue signal transmission beacon. This thing was damn useless!

    ¡°Well, just make sure it doesn¡¯t get mixed up with the other junk, I guess. If we end up passing by the manufacturer¡¯s factory or a major distributor during our travels, let¡¯s bring it in and show it to them.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re gonna go that far?¡±

    ¡°Sure. Maybe they¡¯ll end up offering us a better model aspensation after all.¡±

    They might be willing to give us a pretty discount as well. We had a lot of space left inside the cargo hold of the Lotus anyway, and the only other use I could think of was to sell the thing at a junkshop for dirt cheap. Well, if it doesn¡¯t get disposed of quickly, it¡¯s possible we might forget it and leave it gathering dust in a corner of the hold.

    ¡°Should we just throw this thing together with the beacon? It would kinda stand out if I just bring it around with me since it keeps shining and all.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ It looks like it¡¯s protesting though.¡±

    ¡°This thing¡¯s too bright.¡±

    Mimi and I squinted at the mysterious object that was shing violently in protest.

    ¡°It was just a joke, okay. Anyway, I better just ask the native elves if they know something about you once the representatives arriveter.¡±

    Afterward, the mysterious object began shing in much calmer intervals, as if it was relieved. Really now. Just what the heck is this thing?

    Once dawn broke, Mei immediately contacted the elves and told them we would ept their apology. It was decided that the representatives wille to visit the Lotus early in the morning. I don¡¯t really care about it myself, but Mei really flipped out this time around. Even if I don¡¯t pursue the matter, it looks like Mei wouldn¡¯t stand for it herself. Judging from how she¡¯s acting, it might be necessary to pacify Meiter.

    ¡°Mei, keep calm. Keep calm, alright.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am calm, Master.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d be fine with just a normal apology you know.¡±

    ¡°I understand. I will make sure to have those people crawl and grovel on the floor in apology.¡±

    ¡°No, no, that¡¯s not it. That¡¯s not a normal apology at all, okay?¡±

    ¡°Just one wrong step might have resulted in Master and the rest not being able to return after all. Moreover, they were so caught up in their internal spats that they ended up dying rescue efforts. They even tried to prevent me from rescuing Master myself. In the first ce, they would not have been able to deal with the pirates in thetest incident without Master lending a hand anyway. It¡¯s beyond outrageous that they would dy their benefactor¡¯s rescue just because of their petty squabbles. I believe they would need to show a sufficient level of regret and apologize ordingly for troubling you.¡±

    ¡°Thetest incident?¡±

    I don¡¯t remember doing anything though. We couldn¡¯t really do anything about the pirates while we were stuck on the ground after all. Mei was the one who took care of them, right?

    ¡°I belong to Master. The Refill Autonomous Region¡¯s government was so utterly disappointing that I had no choice but to use ck Lotus to get rid of the pirates. That¡¯s why they indirectly caused trouble for Master and need to apologize for it.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a bit too arbitrary?¡±

    ¡°I am an AI lifeform, but now, I am part of Master¡¯s properties. In other words, my actions are as good as Master¡¯s actions.¡±

    ¡°Uh, but doesn¡¯t that mean I¡¯d be held responsible if you ever identally caused a big incident, Mei?¡±

    ¡°That is correct. But there is almost zero chance of that happening.¡±

    Mei replied with her usual deadpan expression. In other words, Mei¡¯s saying she would never make a mistake huh. Really? She tends to overdo it sometimes though. Well, even if she does overdo it at times, it doesn¡¯t really develop into a big deal, so I guess it¡¯s fine. But I better not tell her what I think about her tendency to overdo things. She might get angry after all.

    I continued chatting with Mei as we waited around in the Lotus¡¯ dining hall until the elves who came to offer an apology finally arrived. I had Elma and Mimi guide them inside the ship. I was trying to defuse Mei¡¯s irritation, but it didn¡¯t work out so well. At this rate, I could only see a future where Mei batters the elven representatives with her sharp retorts.

    ¡°Anyway, just keep calm. I don¡¯t have any intention of picking a fight with the elves.¡±

    ¡°On the contrary, they are the ones who are picking a fight. Or rather, they might really have been nning for there to be casualties in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°I think the main thing to me for this situation is my incredibly bad luck though¡­¡­¡±

    It pains me to admit it, but it was probably the case after all. My unusual constitution, which I might have acquired when I got thrown into this dimension, caused the passenger vehicle we were riding in to crash. It would be unreasonable to think that the Grado n nned the crash when they provided the vehicle and that they actually wanted us dead. Nobody could have predicted that ident unless they¡¯re God or something. And I don¡¯t think the elves have sufficient motives to want me dead anyway. I think Mei¡¯s just overreacting.

    And as I was trying one final time to persuade Mei to back down, I heard amotion outside. What¡¯s wrong? It didn¡¯t seem like a scuffle, but it was noisy nheless.

    ¡°It¡¯s you, right!? You¡¯re the one who brought dirty technology to our pristine forests and thoughtlessly trampled upon them!¡±

    When Elma appeared at the entrance of the dining hall, she was pushed aside by an unfamiliar elf who immediately came after me. Mei started giving off a dangerous vibe.

    Oi, oi, oi, he¡¯s definitely going to die at this rate!

    ¡°¡­¡­Wow, what¡¯s going on here-? Whoah there, Mei. Stay, Mei! Calm down! Be cool!¡±

    I grabbed Mei¡¯s hand and tried to hold her back with all my might, but it was pretty difficult. The difference in strength between my biological flesh and her tough and powerful artificial muscle fibers andposite alloy skeleton was far too great.

    Apologize, man! Yes, you! The arrogant elf over there! Hurry up and apologize! If you don¡¯t, you¡¯d get your neck twisted right off y¡¯know!

 Chapter 258 â€“ Troublesome Stuff and More Troublesome Stuff

    <h4>Chapter 258 - Troublesome Stuff and More Troublesome Stuff</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry about earlier, Hiro-dono. I deeply apologize for his behavior.¡±

    A few moments after the earlier confrontation, I found myself face to face with the leader of the Grado n himself, Zesh, performing a splendid dogeza in apology. What happened to the elf who came at me earlier? Well, Zesh appeared while I was desperately holding Mei back from bludgeoning the guy and used his sword, which was still in its scabbard, to knock the other elf out by hitting him in the back of the head. He was then taken away by Zesh¡¯s attendants who came to apany them.

    ¡°I was really surprised earlier, but I guess I¡¯ll let it slide. So, who the heck was that guy anyway?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s the leader of a family that¡¯s especially adept in the spirit arts and magic even within the Grado n. In other words, he¡¯s the head of those among us who hate science and technology to a very high degree.¡±

    Zesh raised his head to reply to me while still kneeling in seiza on the ship¡¯s floor. Hm? So the Grado n isn¡¯t actually a united monolith? Well, I guess no faction, no matter how big or small, can actually be perfectly united. It¡¯s not really that unusual.

    ¡°¡­¡­So why did hee here in the first ce? With that kind of attitude too.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s the leader of those who opposed the Rose n¡¯s proposed rescue n. In other words, he was part of those who vehemently opposed the Rose n sending in starships to rescue you and yourpanions. It¡¯s also because of their strong insistence that we ended up providing you with our own magical vehicle as a ride instead of letting you travel here via starship. And as a result, you and yourpanions were subjected to great danger, Hiro-dono. That¡¯s why I brought him over to apologize to you himself. But, well¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it turned out, huh? Seriously? That¡¯s really what happened?¡±

    That guy was definitely raring to get into an argument with us. At the very least, he didn¡¯t seem to be willing to apologize.

    ¡°He had agreed to provide an apology when I talked to himst night, but that was how things turned out when we arrived on your ship. He blocked us with magic, so we werete to respond. I am deeply ashamed.¡±

    After saying so, Zesh deeply bowed on the floor again.

    Well, I¡¯ve felt his sincerity, and it was him who dealt with the guy in the end anyway. Of course, maybe all of this was just an borate y, but even so, he did hit his own nsman, got down on the floor, and didn¡¯t hesitate to bow low in apology. I feel like I can forgive them anyway, regardless of whether or not everything that¡¯s happened was actually fake.

    ¡°Regarding the guy who red up at me earlier¡­¡­ I guess I can forgive and forget if the Grado n takes responsibility for what happened and follows up ordingly. As for the ident¡­¡­ It would have been difficult to predict something like that would happen, but it was possible that we could have died with just one misstep, and it¡¯s a fact that the elves dyed our rescue due to being preupied with your internal conflicts. Since that¡¯s the case, I expect you to show some level of sincerity going forward.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s only reasonable. I would have expected the same if I was in your position. No, I think you are already being far too forgiving, considering what had happened.¡±

    ¡°Did you think we would ask for something a lot more unreasonable?¡±

    ¡°Honestly, yes, I did.¡±

    Zesh nodded honestly. He was still kneeling in seiza on the floor. I was sitting on a sofa though.

    ¡°You immediately bowed down without caring for your face, and even if there was a bit of unexpected trouble in the beginning, you dealt with it yourself. I¡¯m sure you¡¯d do the necessary follow-ups as well, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course. It is outrageous for someone who came to offer an apology to re up at the one he is supposed to apologize to. I will make sure he gets punished severely for this slight.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Well, actually, there are several reasons why I am not asking for any furtherpensation. First of all, I don¡¯t think you¡¯d be able to hand me thepensation I¡¯d ask for normally. You guys don¡¯t have the most advanced starship technology on hand here, right? Besides, even if I asked you for money instead, I¡¯m not exactly strapped for Enels for the time being. And considering what happened, you¡¯d have to pay me at least a few million inpensation. Right, Mei?¡±

    ¡°Yes. They would have to pay between 1.5 million and 2.5 million Enels inpensation.¡±

    When Zesh heard he¡¯d have to pay 1.5 to 2.5 million Enels, the color of hisplexion paled. Yeah, it¡¯s quite arge amount huh. Perhaps the Grado n, who rely on living together with nature, would find that amount to be an exceedingly heavy price.

    ¡°Those might seem like huge amounts of money to you guys, but for us, it¡¯s actually not impossible to earn that much in less than a month. So, if I asked you for marypensation, you guys probably won¡¯t be able to pay up anyway, and there are also legal procedures to consider as well. Those might take a number of days to process, and we¡¯d be forced to stay on this until everything¡¯s settled. I think it¡¯s a huge waste of time for us to sit on our thumbs here while waiting forpensation to be handed over.¡±

    ¡°I see. But I suppose this does not mean you are willing to let things go without any form ofpensation, correct?¡±

    ¡°Of course. If you guys actually insisted on not giving us anything because you can¡¯t afford it and expected me to forgive you after that, the mild-mannered me would have resorted to pressuring you using my privilege as an honorary imperial noble.¡±

    ¡°An honorary noble¡­¡±

    Zesh parroted my words in a daze. Yeah, I suppose that¡¯s how others would react if I suddenly revealed that I was an honorary imperial noble huh.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s because of a Gold Star award or something. I¡¯m actually considered as equivalent to an imperial viscount, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s correct. I have looked it up, and even if you and your fellow n leaders are considered high-ranking officials of the Refill Autonomous Region, you are still considered imperialmoners outside of it. In other words, it¡¯s possible for you to pass down judgment on the n leaders in your capacity as an imperial noble, Master. You can even choose to cut them down. And I mean literally.¡±

    ¡°Really¡­¡­?¡±

    As expected, they weren¡¯t aware of the fact that I was an honorary imperial noble. Well, it¡¯s not like I go around unting it every chance I get anyway. I definitely won¡¯t go out of my way dering I was imperial noble to every person I meet, and that I¡¯d cut them down if they pissed me off. I mean, that¡¯s just too much, right? It¡¯s troublesome, and I¡¯de off as some two-bit viin.

    ¡°Anyway, forget the matter with me being an honorary imperial viscount. I¡¯d be satisfied if you showed your sincerity reasonably with something other than money. For example, you can provide us free amodation in your highest-ss hotel and resort where we can rx without worries, offer us delicious and rare delicacies that are difficult to find in Theta, give us a ton of tasty foodstuffs that can be stored without spoiling for an extended amount of time, gift our three alcohol lovers rare liquors, or give thedies with me some beautiful jewelry and clothes. I¡¯d be satisfied with just those. Those are probably a lot better than asking you to directly pay up 1.5 million Enels, right? Anyway, I¡¯ll leave it up to you.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s still quite a challenge. But I understand. Please allow us to prove our sincerity.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead. Oh, and I might seem like a womanizer since all mypanions aredies, but I don¡¯t really need anypensation of that kind. My hands are full enough as it is.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    Zesh nodded heavily. Great. That cuts down the possibility of increasing the number of female crew members. In case they still insist, I¡¯d just use my agreement with Zesh as a shield.

    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s about it for our talks regarding ourpensation. I still have something to ask you about though.¡±

    After saying so, I took out the mysterious luminous object from behind the sofa I was sitting on and showed it to Zesh. When he saw the mysterious glowing drill-shaped object held in my hands, the shock was evident on Zesh¡¯s face.

    Actually, he looked rather serious. Deadly serious. It was honestly a bit scary.

    ¡°Just where did you obtain this?¡±

    Zesh turned his attention back toward me and asked me with a low tone. C¡¯mon, man. You¡¯re scaring me.

    ¡°I found this thing while we were walking around the area near the crash site¡­¡­ You seem to know what exactly this is huh. Just what is it? It just keeps glowing on and off and it even seems like it can understand what we¡¯re saying. It tries to appeal to our emotions whenever we tried to leave it behind, so we ended up bringing it with us in the end.¡±

    ¡°It is beyond ridiculous to throw something like this away!¡±

    ¡°Whoah!?¡±

    I was taken aback by Zesh¡¯s sudden outburst. Apparently, this thing was a pretty big deal here.

    ¡°This is a seed of the Sacred Tree. It is the key for reviving the Sacred Tree that was burnt down due to the attack of the pirates.¡±

    ¡°Hee¡­¡­ I don¡¯t really get it, but it looks like this is very important to you guys. I¡¯ll hand it over to you then.¡±

    It looks like this thing was of immense importance to the elves. If I opted to keep it, I couldn¡¯t really find a use for it other than serving as a funky shlight, and I¡¯m not really into taking care of nts anyway. It would be better to have the elves take care of it.

    After thinking so, I tried to pass it over to Zesh, but unexpectedly, he shook his head and vehemently refused. By the way, the mysterious luminous object, which was apparently a seed of the elven Sacred Tree, also shed violently, as if to show refusal.

    ¡°You cannot do that. It was Hiro-dono who found the seed of the Sacred Tree. Thus, you need to keep it on your person until it is able to germinate.¡±

    As if agreeing, the mysterious object shined brightly in response.

    Eh? This has turned into something troublesome again.

 Chapter 259 â€“ Special-grade Cursed Item

    <h4>Chapter 259 - Special-grade Cursed Item</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°This all came about when the pirates firstunched an attack on our.¡±

    Zesh, who was now sitting on a sofa seat opposite mine, started talking about the events that led to the seed of the Sacred Treeing into my possession.

    ¡°The pirates barged into the engagement ceremony that was about to take ce on the base of the Sacred Tree, which was located at the border between the territories of Grado n and Minfa n. The attack was terribly fierce, and many participants were either injured, killed, or taken away. Even then, the pirates still seemed unsatisfied and aimed their aggression at the Sacred Tree. The rays of light emitted from their ships burned down the Sacred Tree and turned half of it to smoldering ashes.¡±

    ¡°I see. But why did this seed end up all the way in the middle of a forest then?¡±

    The area where I picked up the glowing seed was right in the middle of the Grado n¡¯s forest territory. Its location was pretty far away from the Sacred Tree itself. So does that mean someone purposely carried it all the way to the location where we found it?

    ¡°When the Sacred Tree faces its demise, it releases a seed to the world. The seed then flies away from the dying tree and pierces a spot where the one destined to find it will appear. And furthermore, no one except for those destined can ever pull the seed out from where it lies.¡±

    ¡°The heck? Is this the Sword in the Stone or something¡­¡­?¡±

    There were simr legends circting on Earth. The sword stuck on a rock pulled out by King Arthur and the magic sword pulled out from an apple tree by the Nordic hero Sigurd are some famous examples. Only the chosen ones could pull them out, and they would be granted tremendous power, authority, prestige, and in most cases, tragic ends in exchange. Basically, none of the characters I knew of met decent deaths.

    ¡°The heck! So ain¡¯t this some kind of special-grade cursed item? I really don¡¯t need this thing, so just take it away please.¡±

    ¡°No, no, no! This is an incredible honor you know!?¡±

    The mysterious object, err, the Sacred Tree seed, also shed several times in response.

    ¡°You ain¡¯t fooling me! I¡¯m sure the ones who pulled this thing out in the past met incredibly tragic ends in exchange for power, honor, and stuff like that!¡±

    ¡°T-There¡¯s no such thing¡­¡­ Mm, yes, no such thing at all. I think?¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re gonna lie through your teeth, could you make it more convincing!?¡±

    I scolded Zesh from the top of my lungs as the special-grade cursed item flickered weakly.

    ¡°In the first ce, we¡¯ll immediately leave this star system the moment our business here is done. I even actually want to leave now, to be honest. Come to think of it, we don¡¯t really have anything left to do here, right? Okay, let¡¯s get out of here. Like, now. Immediately.¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait, wait! Please wait! Please at least give me some time to ry the fact that you have been chosen Hiro-dono, and let us think of countermeasures. Please! I only ask you to stay for a few more days!¡±

    Zesh frantically begged as he knelt on the floor again.

    ¡°It will also take some time to prepare the items topensate you all. It would take at least three days to prepare and transport them. If possible, I¡¯d like you to give us one week. I will arrange for the best amodations and service during that time, so please.¡±

    ¡°Gununu¡­¡­¡±

    If he¡¯s already gone this far¡­¡­ No, no. I can¡¯t back down now. This kind of event pattern will probably lead to even more troublesome stuff after all. I have to resolutely refuse-

    ¡°Hiro-sama, I think you really don¡¯t have to mind it that much, you know?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi turned her gaze away as if finding her next words hard to say. What is it?

    ¡°I think things will turn out the same as usual regardless of whether or not you choose to keep the seed¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi¡¯s words shut me up. Was she trying to say I was living a cursed life already, so it didn¡¯t matter if I kept a special-grade cursed item or two? Is that it?

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s how it is huh.¡±

    ¡°Yep. Definitely.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry Big Brother, but I¡¯m of the same opinion.¡±

    ¡°Master, there is a saying that goes ¡®If you¡¯ve eaten poison, then better lick the te as well.¡¯ or something to that effect.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t wanna! Who¡¯d want to eat poison anyway!?¡±

    I resisted desperately, but ultimately, we ended up agreeing to stay in Theta for another week or so. Dammit.

    In the end, we decided to continue staying at the inn near the integrated port facility where the wee party was conducted. They weed us even more respectfully than before. It kinda felt like I was their king or lord or something.

    If it was left at that, then I¡¯d have no problem with it. But that wasn¡¯t the case at all. First, there were the media. I don¡¯t know where they managed to sniff out info, but lots of them came to visit the inn and asked for interviews. We refused all of them, of course. I won¡¯t agree to interviews even if the three n leaders came personally to beg me. Since we were adamant in our refusal, they resorted to taking voyeur shots from long distances through the use of high-magnification cameras or drones.

    We couldn¡¯t rx even if we wanted to with this atmosphere, so we immediately lodged aint to the n leaders. Or rather, even if I wasn¡¯t a formal aristocrat, I was still considered as an honorary imperial viscount. Do they think taking private photos and videos of an imperial noble without permission was allowed? Huh? Anyway, we threatened the media with that sort of justification through the n leaders, and the sneaky lot immediately stopped their antics. Hooray for aristocratic privileges!

    I thought things would finally settle down. But-

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, everyone.¡±

    A beautiful woman with her two female attendants paid us a visit. Yep. It was the daughter of n Leader Zesh, Lady Tinia. Today, she wasn¡¯t just apanied by her female attendants. A handsome male elf also tagged along.

    ¡°Hello. I¡¯m Nect, the son of Minfa n¡¯s leader, Miriam. Thank you very much for your help back then.¡±

    Nect was a handsome guy with a refreshing and warm smile coupled with lustrous blonde hair. Although he was one of those damn pretty boys, I didn¡¯t find him particrly annoying. On the contrary, he seemed like a likable young man.

    ¡°I¡¯m d that you seem to have recoveredpletely.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to you. To be honest, I remember little when we were imprisoned inside that ship, but I¡¯ve heard that I would have died if it weren¡¯t for your help. I really am very grateful.¡±

    Mr. Nect bowed his head in gratitude. Yeah, it feels nice to be thanked so earnestly like this. Perhaps the fact that he can pull off stuff like this so naturally is one of the major factors that made him a refreshingly handsome guy.

    ¡°And I¡¯m sorry for my mother¡¯s behaviorst time. I was told that she caused you some inconvenience.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s alright. She did appear quite enthusiastic, but she talked with me in a warm and cordial way.¡±

    She was somewhat a little too enthusiastic regarding my unusual circumstances, but it was still interesting to hear Miriam-san¡¯s conjectures. I was still not too fond of magic, but it might not be a bad idea to pay her a visitter on since we had some time.

    ¡°And I¡¯ve also heard that Hiro-dono was actually looking for a rare drink.¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah. Well, I didn¡¯t manage to find what I was looking for in the end.¡±

    My gaze turned distant involuntarily. If even that big beveragepany wasn¡¯t familiar with it, then c most likely doesn¡¯t exist on this.

    ¡°Actually, I know of some herbal concoctions that are not generally avable to the public back in the Minfa n¡¯s territory. They are medicinal infusions that the herbalists and pharmacists living in the border area close to Grado n territory make for their use.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Hou?¡±

    That ignited my interest. Certainly, c was originally derived from root beer, which was considered a health tonic made by people like those pharmacists Nect mentioned. Hence, it was possible that a concoction that resembled non-carbonated c was actually one of those traditional medicines unavable to general distribution channels.

    ¡°I¡¯ve brought over recipes for concoctions that were quite well received in past contests, as well as some actual samples that were considered excellent inst year¡¯s contest, but¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Good job, my friend. Let us sample them immediately. Ah, would you like toe to our starship as well? You haven¡¯t had many opportunities to board a starship, right? If you¡¯d like, I can even take you on a scenic flight. Heck, you can even apany us to hunt bandits if that¡¯s what you prefer.¡±

    Nect-kun sure was a nice fellow huh! Eh? What aplete 180, you say? Well, of course. I ain¡¯t some saint or upright politician. Anyway, I¡¯m looking forward to sampling those drinks!

 Chapter 260 â€“ Elven Heroic Epics

    <h4>Chapter 260 - Elven Heroic Epics</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve got an interestin¡¯ expression on your face, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know. Well, it¡¯s not like I didn¡¯t expect this anyway.¡±

    Many of the local concoctions Nect-kun brought tasted like medicine. But some of them were kinda close, but still fell short. It felt like they were just a step away from that elusive sweet spot. But they still couldn¡¯t reach the standard of real high-quality soft drinks that I was familiar with. If I had to give an analogy, it was like someone who only managed to slightly pry open a door, and beyond the said door was true greatness.

    ¡°It looks like they didn¡¯t manage to satisfy you.¡±

    ¡°Uh, no, that¡¯s not it. It¡¯s not like that at all. I was just overwhelmed by reality for a moment. But these feel like they¡¯d be really good with some tweaking. I did manage to get a connection with a major beverage manufacturer here, so would you like me to introduce these to them?¡±

    ¡°Fumu¡­¡­ Let¡¯s see. Let me consult with the recipe owners first.¡±

    ¡°That would be for the best.¡±

    I¡¯ll just give Nect the contact details of the product development chief of the beverage manufacturer we visited a few days back. In the meantime, I¡¯ll have Mei contact him in advance. After all, he¡¯d probably get the shock of his life if he was suddenly called by the son of the Minfa n¡¯s leader.

    ¡°So this is the seed of the Sacred Tree¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It really does shine. Is it due to magical resonance?¡±

    ¡°Amazing. I¡¯ve only ever seen it in picture books when I was a child.¡±

    Tinia and her two female attendants - Miza and Mam if I remember correctly - were excitedly fussing over the special-grade cursed item, which was now ced on top of something resembling a katana rack. As for the item itself, it was now blinking at a regr rate, as if feeling quitefy. For some reason, I felt like it would be disying a sloppy expression right now if the damn thing had a face, which was kinda annoying me.

    ¡°Even so, to think you would be able to stumble upon the seed of the world tree¡­¡­ No, it was the seed of the Sacred Tree itself that found its way to you instead. How amazing.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, about that¡­ People of this regard it as a supreme honor, but for me, it¡¯s just an annoying hassle you know?¡±

    ¡°A hassle, is it? For people living on this, there could be no greater honor though.¡±

    Nect disyed a bitter smile.

    ¡°No, I get that, okay? Even I would get fired up if I picked up some legendary weapon like the Holy Sword Excalibur or Magic Sword Gram. Heck, I¡¯d probably geek out. But what am I supposed to feel when the one I managed to get my hands on was this mysterious object instead? I¡¯d even gotten stuck here as a result.¡±

    When I turned my eyes toward the seed of the Sacred Tree restingfortably on its pedestal, it shed in protest.

    ¡°In the first ce, I have absolutely no idea about what sort of thing this actually is. I¡¯m not familiar with elven folklore, so even if you tell me this is actually really incredible, it just doesn¡¯t register y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I understand. If that¡¯s the case, then you¡¯d better have Tinia tell you all about it.¡±

    ¡°Tinia?¡±

    ¡°Tinia¡¯s really familiar with ancient legends and the like. Women of the Grado n also y the role of storytellers and shrine maidens serving the Sacred Tree after all.¡±

    ¡°Hou?¡±

    When I turned toward Tinia who was still inspecting the Sacred Tree¡¯s seed, she noticed my gaze and our eyes met.

    ¡°If you¡¯re fine with me, then shall I tell you the stories about it?¡±

    ¡°Please.¡±

    When I agreed, Tinia nodded and started narrating. It was a story about the ages-old battle between elves and monsters.

    The story happened a long, long time ago, in a time predating the empire¡¯s discovery of Theta. That meant it happened several hundred years in the past. Anyway, before the advent of the imperial forces, there was another intelligent race living on Theta aside from the elves. It was a group of creatures collectively known as monsters, which consisted of several different races that had a penchant for violence.

    There were lots of attempts to try andmunicate with them, but they all failed. The elves and monsters fought fiercely, like destined adversaries. The battles raged on for countless years. The one which had supported the elves all throughout this bitter struggle was the Sacred Tree. The leaves and flowers of the tree served to heal the wounds suffered by the elves, and they had also learned to use magic from it, which they employed to great effect against the monsters. Magic also served a great role in their daily lives. The Sacred Tree was an invaluable existence for the elves.

    As expected, the monsters regarded it as their hated enemy as well. Some cunning monsters managed to sneak past the elves several times and proceeded to damage, pollute, and burn down the Sacred Tree in every incursion. Of course, something like that would have led to the elves losing arge part of their strength as a race, and the demons would take advantage of that to finally exterminate them.

    However, each time that happened, the seed of the Sacred Tree would elect a chosen one among the elves, and granted him or her its power. The chosen warrior would then be able to directly use the Sacred Tree¡¯s enormous magical powers. Furthermore, the Sacred Tree seed itself was a terribly fearsome weapon. Even the thick hides of the mightiest monsters that couldn¡¯t be pierced or cut by normal spirit silver weapons were nothing before the Sacred Tree seed.

    If the seed was used as a spear, its sharpness would pierce everything in its path, and once thrown, it would run through the bodies of dozens of monsters before finding its way back to the chosen warrior¡¯s hands. It could be said to be the very symbol of hope for the elves.

    ¡°So this thing actually possesses such dangerous abilities¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It can drill through anything huh. I think that¡¯s just an exaggeration.¡±

    ¡°Is it possible for that thing to prate ultrapressedposite alloys? How about you try it, Boss?¡±

    ¡°You know, that does sound interesting. Okay, let¡¯s try.¡±

    The special-grade cursed item shed violently as if saying ¡®Heck yeah! I¡¯m gonna show you what for, you damn bastard!¡¯ or something to that effect. There ain¡¯t gonna be time for regretter y¡¯know? I won¡¯t say sorry even if you fail to pierce through it and cry, okay?

    ¡°Anyway, I now roughly understand its history. So you¡¯re saying the one who gets their hands on this thing will y an important role as a hero of hope who¡¯d save the elves from great peril or something like that, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that is the case.¡±

    ¡°So, what eventually happened to those chosen heroes then?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Um.¡±

    ¡°Oi, what did you tantly look away for?¡±

    Or rather, it sounds like you¡¯d be practically invincible as long as you don¡¯t lose possession of the thing.

    ¡°The heroes end up pushing back the monster invasions and gain everyone¡¯s respect and adoration. But in most cases, they would lose their lives after each war once they relinquish possession of the seed, or die through assassinations carried out by the monsters.¡±

    ¡°So this thing really is no good after all!¡±

    ¡°Oftentimes, the ones who wielded the power of the seed and those around them would fight as if they were still in possession of it even after relinquishing its power, overestimate themselves, and end up losing their lives in the process¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°What the heck? Didn¡¯t they learn from their predecessors?¡±

    ¡°Well, this is treated as an open secret, but there were many past chosen ones who did not want to relinquish the power of the seed after the wars, but that would lead to the next generation of the Sacred Tree not being able to grow. The ones who would be troubled the most by that were their fellow elves, so¡­¡±

    ¡°Um, does that mean¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi¡¯s facial expression twitched. Mm, it¡¯s probably that huh.

    ¡°So they¡¯d get assassinated by their own kind!? That¡¯s messed up as heck! I really don¡¯t need this dangerous thing, so please just take it away!¡±

    The special-grade cursed item flickered violently in protest again. Shut up, you! I ain¡¯t gonna have my life targeted for something so unreasonable dammit!

    ¡°Or rather, whatever happened to those monsters then? We haven¡¯t encountered anythin¡¯ like them until now y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°The imperial militarypletely exterminated them.¡±

    ¡°Ah, right.¡±

    It was a very simple answer. I¡¯m not sure if there were already trantion imnts back then, but I guess that when the Gran empire arrived on Theta with the intent of colonizing it, they encountered the elves and monsters. And then, between the two groups, they ultimately chose to spare the elves in their capacity as the new rulers of the.

    I¡¯m not sure how long the elves and monsters have been fighting, but the elves suddenly found an unknown and extremely powerful force had arrived from the heavens. It then proceeded to exterminate the monsters they¡¯ve been at war with for ages and demanded that they submit afterward. The elves would have had no other choice but to submit. If not, they faced the fate of getting exterminated like the monsters after all.

    ¡°But they went as far as exterminating entire intelligent species¡­¡­ Was the old empire really that radical?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it the same even now? If the higher-ups judge that we wouldn¡¯t be able to coexist with a race, they¡¯d move to eliminate them in a heartbeat, intelligence be damned. It¡¯s impossible to coexist with races that view others only as food, right? Actually, the empire is already rather tolerant. They don¡¯t pose a threat to us since we don¡¯t share a border with them, but the Vuelzarus Holy Empire believes in extreme racial supremacy, and apart from those considered as pureblood Vuelzarians, all other races are considered as ves.¡±

    ¡°The heck? That¡¯s scary. We better not go anywhere near them¡­¡­ Uh, anyway, we already got sidetracked.¡±

    Afterward, I heard even more tales about heroes and the special-grade cursed item, but after all, it seems most of its previous owners met with very gruesome ends. Yeah. I¡¯ll definitely dump this thing when I get the chance. It seems that I¡¯ll have to keep this guy with me for a while cuz of magic and whatnot, but I¡¯ll definitely give it back to the elves after my care is no longer required. That¡¯s something I definitely have to do.

 Chapter 261 â€“ Whyâ€¦â€¦ (Trembling Voice)

    <h4>Chapter 261 - Why¡­¡­ (Trembling Voice)</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°¡­¡­Why did it turn out like this?¡±

    The next day, we ended up visiting the Minfa n¡¯s territory. We got along pretty well with Nect-kun yesterday and he invited us over.

    In any case, I was told to stay on Theta for at least a week more so the shining seed would have enough time to adapt itself to my ¡®magic power¡¯ in order to prepare itself to sprout into the next generation of the elven Sacred Tree. We were going to be staying at one of their best and most luxurious 5-star traditional inns for the duration of that period. We really didn¡¯t have any more urgent matters to aplish, so we decided to ept their offer, but we ended up with a lot of free time on our hands but nothing particrly meaningful to do.

    I told Tinia and Nect-kun about our current situation yesterday, and Nect-kun suggesteding to the Minfa n¡¯s territory for some sightseeing. Since he was such a likable guy, I immediately agreed.

    And right now, I¡¯m deeply regretting that decision. Why, you ask?

    ¡°You tricked me, Nect-kun!¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. You may not believe me, but I really didn¡¯t intend for this to happen. I really had no idea they were going to pull something like this off.¡±

    I am currently inside the Minfa n¡¯srge stadium- No, I better stop running away from reality. No matter how you slice it, this ce was an out and outbat arena. A spacious field of neatly ttened earth was enclosed by tens of hundreds of spectator seats, and on the opposite side of the spot I entered from, there was a good number of elven warriors who looked like they were raring to have a go at fighting me. All of them were wielding an assortment of weapons and wearing leather-like armor sets.

    ¡°You gotta be kidding me! You¡¯re telling me you had no idea something this big was gonna go down the moment I came over even if you¡¯re the n leader¡¯s son?¡±

    ¡°I understand. I really do. But please just listen to my exnation first.¡±

    Yesterday, after we agreed to pay a visit to their ce, Nect immediately contacted his mother, Miriam, who was the Minfa n¡¯s leader, on his way home. This was only natural. Nect was her son, so if he invited guests over, it was only natural to tell his mother, Miriam, about it. She was also the n leader, so that¡¯s all the more reason to have her notified.

    ¡°Alright, I understand. We will give them a grand wee for sure. Just leave everything to your mother.¡±

    Miriam replied as such. Nect¡¯s mother, Miriam, was somewhat curious- err, I mean very interested in magical research, but she was still the current n leader of the centrist Minfa n. Of course, there was nothing wrong with informing the n leader that guests were gonna visit their territory and have her make preparations. And since she insisted that he leave all the details to her, that¡¯s exactly what Nect did.

    ¡°It was really foolish of me to have entrusted everything to Mother.¡±

    Miriam ended up extensively promoting my visit. After all, this was a visit from the great benefactor of the elves, as well as the newest chosen one selected by the legendary seed of the Sacred Tree. Thus, nothing less than a grand reception would be eptable. And since we ultimately didn¡¯t manage to take a tour of the Grado n¡¯s territory due to the ident, she also invited people from the Grado n to join the festivities in their territory instead. She eventually extended an invitation to the Rose n as well, and now they were gonna entertain people from all three major ns.

    With that in mind, she immediately consulted with the Grado and Rose ns, and during the meeting, my being a mercenary was mentioned, and that I was, in their words, a ¡®formidable warrior who charged inside the stronghold of the viins all by himself, and cut them all down¡¯. And since I haven¡¯t had the opportunity to disy my prowess as a formidable warrior sinceing to Theta, why not organize a tournament and pit me against the best elven warriors the Grado and Minfa ns had to offer? Anyway, that was the suggestion. And now here we are.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    That¡¯s not what I¡¯d call ¡®a grand wee¡¯ dammit! Usually, a grand wee for state guests would have a feast with lots of delicious food, a showcase of traditional performance arts, and the like. Why did it turn into a tournament where we¡¯d have to swing weapons at each other!? Was this their idea of ¡®taking good care¡¯ of me?

    Of course, most of the elves (Well, Minfa n¡¯s Nect at least.) didn¡¯t think something like this was a shining example of ¡®warmhearted hospitality¡¯ though they did concede it would probably be pretty entertaining.

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry. My mother¡¯s bad habits got triggered again¡­¡­¡±

    ¡ºIt¡¯s the advent of the hero of legend. Just how powerful is he, really? ording to the stories, he is supposed to be unrivaled! But is that really the case? I¡¯d like to know. That¡¯s right. I want to witness the power of the legendary hero with my very own eyes!¡»

    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s roughly how her thought process went.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Once Mother¡¯s intellectual curiosity gets stimted, hermon sense just goes flying out the window, so to speak¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°But why¡­¡­? Really, why¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Um, you don¡¯t really need to y along if you don¡¯t want to¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Eh? You¡¯re not gonna do it, Boss? I mean, there¡¯s a lot of people gathered here already, so why not just get it over and done with?¡±

    Tina cocked her head as she questioned me beside the bitterly smiling Whisker.

    ¡°And why would I wanna do that?¡±

    ¡°Eh? But you¡¯re he strong, right, Boss? Ain¡¯t it gonna be easy for ya to beat up all those challengers and look down on ¡®em with a smug grin afterward? That¡¯ll liven the ce up even more for sure!¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­¡±

    No, that¡¯s definitely out of the question. Uh, I don¡¯t really like painful stuff, and I¡¯m sure most guys don¡¯t as well, but it¡¯s not like I hate the notion of fighting itself. I don¡¯t think disying one¡¯s prowess in front of others is meaningless either. It¡¯s just that I find the idea of being forced to fight by others really upsetting.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll benefit from this anyway¡­¡­ I mean, I¡¯d get lots more attention if I win, but I¡¯ll only get hurt and disappoint the elves if I lose, right?¡±

    ¡°Even so, it doesn¡¯t make sense to just turn tail and run here y¡¯know¡­¡­ As a tinum-ranker and a Gold Star recipient, the drop in reputation and trustworthiness you¡¯d suffer if you run away now wouldn¡¯t be insignificant¡­¡­¡±

    Elma also had an annoyed expression just like me. It¡¯s just as Elma said. Considering all the various factors, no matter how reluctant I was, I really had no choice but to ept the challenge. And I found that fact highly unpleasant.

    ¡°Even though they presented this asion as part of the wee ceremony for Master, they made it so you would have to ept a risky challenge with no way of refusing. Elven hospitality really is something else.¡±

    Mei expressionlessly directed a sub-zero re at Nect. He nodded with his arms raised in surrender.

    ¡°I-I understand why you would be angry. I am of the same opinion after all. I¡¯ll make sure to give Mother a proper scoldingter.¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re gonna apologize, then it would be better to show it with actions, not words¡­¡­ Or rather, aren¡¯t you guys too much? I thought you elves wanted to express your apology for all the trouble you¡¯ve caused us, but what the heck¡¯s happening now, huh?¡±

    ¡°Is this due to cultural differences?¡±

    ¡°Stop. Don¡¯t imply that all elves are muscle-brained idiots. Because I¡¯m definitely not.¡±

    Elma replied with a horribly unpleasant expression to the bitterly smiling Mimi.

    ¡°Oh, right, I kinda get that.¡±

    ¡°If you wanna say something, they say it directly to my face, won¡¯t you, dear?¡±

    Okay, okay. I get it. So stop trying to crush my hand with your grip while smiling please. And you¡¯re still iming you¡¯re not a muscle-brain with this?

    ¡°Well, I suppose there are some elves who don¡¯t find the fact that an outsider like Boss ended up being the chosen one amusin¡¯. Don¡¯t ya think this was already bound ta happen the moment Boss found that seed thingy?¡±

    ¡°Well excuse me! It¡¯s not like I wanted to find this thing in the first ce, you know?¡±

    ¡°So just chalk it up to fate, Boss. I think it¡¯s important to take your usual bad luck in stride or you¡¯d just pop a vein stressing out.¡±

    ¡°But it feels like I¡¯d lose the moment I ept such a fate though.¡±

    While sighing dejectedly, I chose a longsword and short sword that weighed roughly the same as my personal swords from the weapons the elves prepared for me and strapped them onto my waist. They didn¡¯t have sharp edges, but they still appeared to be made of iron, or perhaps, steel. Their sword points were fairly sharp though, and even with blunted edges, they¡¯d probably still be able to rend flesh as long as the swing was powerful enough. Wasn¡¯t it too savage to try and hit each other with these things? Wasn¡¯t there a less painful alternative?

    ¡°Would it count as my win if I incapacitate my opponent or have them surrender?¡±

    ¡°Um, yes. That¡¯s how it is. And even if there are injuries, we can treat them right away with healing arts.¡±

    ¡°Healing arts huh¡­¡­¡±

    From my point of view, both the magic of the elves and the emergency treatment method using medical nanomachines are pretty much the same in the sense that I found them mostly iprehensible. Well, I suppose it¡¯s fine as long as they work. Alright then. I suppose I¡¯ll just have to try my best while being careful not to get hurt.

    I probably won¡¯t have a hard time dealing with normal opponents who weren¡¯t enhanced by cybeics and advanced biotechnology anyway. Fine, let¡¯s get this over with.

    However, I¡¯ll definitely give the one responsible for this absurd ¡®wee¡¯ a piece of my mindter. Just you wait, Miriam!

 Chapter 262 â€“ I Have no Grudge Against You All, But I Wonâ€™t Show Any Mercy

    <h4>Chapter 262 - I Have no Grudge Against You All, But I Won¡¯t Show Any Mercy</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡ºNow thendies and gentlemen, the challengers seem to havepleted their preparations! Just how strong is thetest chosen one of the Sacred Tree¡¯s seed!? The bloody and flesh-rending exhibition battles shall nowmence!¡»

    What did you say wasmencing just now!? I really couldn¡¯t bring myself to get motivated about all this, but now that they¡¯ve set it up this far, I guess I had no choice but to go all-out huh. Yeah, let¡¯s do this. I¡¯m gonna show those damn challengers a world of hurt just like they wanted dammit.

    I pulled out the two blunt-edged swords I picked earlier from their sheaths and proceeded to the center of thebat arena with both arms lowered. The swords they prepared for thepetition weighed slightly different than my own monomolecr swords, but it was manageable. Even though my opponents were seasoned elven warriors, they had unenhanced normal bodies. No matter how high their mastery with their chosen weapons was, they would probably not be any faster than the cybeically and biologically enhanced Drawn Sword faction experts I¡¯ve locked swords with.

    ¡°So you are the new hero chosen by the Sacred Tree seed huh.¡±

    The one who addressed me was a male elven warrior who looked quite young, but he¡¯s an elf, so I couldn¡¯t be sure of what his actual age was. He wielded a sword that looked simr to a machete and scanned me from top to bottom with a judging gaze.

    ¡°Hello there, Mr. Elven Warrior. The name¡¯s Captain Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Ou. I am Delsh, a warrior of one of Grado n¡¯s subordinate families, the Dyna house. Best regards.¡±

    After our introductions, the elven warrior Delsh disyed a charming innocent smile.

    ¡°I¡¯m not too keen on politics and whatnot, but I¡¯m simply happy that I¡¯d have the opportunity to fight the hero chosen by the Sacred Tree seed. The chosen hero of the Sacred Tree is the idol of elven warriors- no, of all elven men after all. Most elven men pretended to be the Sacred Tree¡¯s chosen hero during ytime when they were kids. That includes me, of course.¡±

    ¡°I see?¡±

    I started putting in strength onto my ckened arms so I could move at a moment¡¯s notice and slightly lowered my stance.

    ¡°It¡¯s like a dream to be able to cross swords with the legendary hero¡­¡­ You won¡¯t easily lose just like that, will you?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry man. I¡¯m gonna beat you all down. With utmost respect, of course.¡±

    Delsh¡¯s innocent smile changed into an aggressive one in an instant.

    ¡°Go ahead and try. Let¡¯s do this.¡±

    The elven warrior named Delsh charged at me with speed and agility akin to a wild beast¡¯s. I see. His speed didn¡¯t seem to be that of an ordinary unenhanced person at all. I suppose he¡¯s powering himself up using magic.

    ¡°Guee-!?¡±

    Delsh let out a soft cry of agony as he fell face-first and slid on the arena grounds due to the leftover momentum of his charge. I lightly parried his blow and knocked him on the back of his head in retaliation.

    Yeah, it was definitely fast, but it was still no good. I mean, he just charged at me head-on after all. That¡¯s just no good man. His sword blow was rtively powerful, sure, but I simply had to parry and redirect the force to deal with it. And besides, there¡¯s no way his blow couldpare to Mei¡¯s.

    ¡ºWhoah-!? Mr. Delsh, who¡¯s said to be the Grado n¡¯s number one young warrior, was defeated in one blow!? Just what the heck happened!? Captain Hiro, the Sacred Tree seed¡¯s new chosen hero, hasn¡¯t even moved one step!?¡»

    ¡ºIt seems that Warrior Delsh¡¯s blow was parried with the minimum amount of movement. And then, he got defeated by a single counter-blow. It was a terrifyingly sharp and urate blow.¡»

    I watched as Delsh was carried away by the match officials and then turned my attention to the next challenger. The next guy who came out was bigger than my first opponent. Even though I said he was bigger, he¡¯s still an elf, so he wasn¡¯t really all that bulky. He was another of those tall, lithe, but well-built types.

    ¡°Fumu, so Delsh cannot even serve as a proper opponent huh. He definitely wasn¡¯t weak though.¡±

    As he spoke, the man walked forward and brought up his weapon - a short spear. The spear only reached up to the height of the man¡¯s ear. It was probably about 180 centimeters in length or so.

    ¡°However, he¡¯s still a young Grado n warrior after all. He might have very high potential but he still has some ways to go before reaching his peak.¡±

    ¡°The heck? So you¡¯re telling me he¡¯s the weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings[1] or something like that¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Four Heavenly Kings?¡±

    ¡°Uh, just ignore that. Enough talk. Let¡¯s get this over with.¡±

    ¡°Fumu, you seem plenty confident. I am not like Delsh.¡±

    While saying so, the short spear-wielding warrior carefully advanced forward. He¡¯s probably gauging the distance while taking our respective reaches into ount. Well, his weapon was longer, so he¡¯d surely want to capitalize on his reach advantage. That¡¯s just how effective weapons with long reaches are. Furthermore, a spear was basically a piercing weapon. It would be difficult to defend against a spear¡¯s powerful and precise attacks, and depending on the wielder¡¯s skill, they could also be blindingly fast. Besides, even if a spear is a piercing weapon, it¡¯s not like you cannot perform any horizontal sweeps with it. If swung, its range was quite wide, and if you get hit with its hardened wooden handle or metal-reinforced tip, the force could be powerful enough to break bones.

    ¡°Nuh!?¡±

    The instant I entered the opponent¡¯s range and got attacked, I immediately advanced forward. I timed it so my opponent wouldn¡¯t be able to stop his attack midway and took advantage of the opening. I didn¡¯t take the spear attack head-on but aimed at the hand that was holding the spear with apact swing instead.

    ¡°Kuh- Goooh!?¡±

    The short spear warrior¡¯s reaction was quite fast. He quickly pulled back his short spear and rotated his body to the side in order to avoid my swing. However, I followed up with an attack using the short sword in my left hand, slipped through his defenses, andnded a solid hit. When he stiffened from the blow, I spun over and finished him off with another attack.

    ¡ºThere it goes again!? Just what in the world happened!?¡»

    ¡ºWarrior Colt managed to get an attack in, but his opponent narrowly avoided it by a hair¡¯s breadth of distance. And at that moment, Mr. Hiro unleashed three consecutive lightning-fast strikes. The first one was a feint, the second one broke Warrior Colt¡¯s stance, and the third one ended the battle. Those three attacks were unleashed in practically an instant.¡»

    Wow, you¡¯re really observant, aren¡¯t you, Mr. Commentator. Are you watching a real-time match recording or something?

    I turned away from the defeated short spear warrior Colt and brought up the longsword held in my right hand. I then pointed it toward the remaining elven warriors waiting from across the arena grounds.

    ¡°Fighting you guys one by one is a waste of time. Juste at me together.¡±

    Their reactions varied. Some clearly showed difort, while others smiled in interest. Some others gripped their weapons with more strength while remaining expressionless, and the rest grinned aggressively. But there were none of them who didn¡¯t answer to my tant provocation.

    They exchanged quick nces and slight gestures. They then started to fan out in a formation while advancing forward.

    ¡ºMr. Hiro just provoked all of the participating warriors!? It looks like the warriors aren¡¯t willing to take such provocation lying down!¡»

    ¡ºThe true might of our warriors who are blessed by Mother Nature is best exhibited in groupbat. Even if the opponent is Mr. Hiro, who has shown overwhelming skill and strength thus far, I don¡¯t think he will be able to avoid a close struggle this time around.¡»

    An elven warrior wielding a machete stepped at the very front of the impromptu formation while another short spear wielder positioned himself right behind him. Groups of five warriors split into three directions and boxed me inpletely. I guess this is their best tactic huh. They probably use this formation to hunt down dangerous wild beasts in the forest. If so, there¡¯s only one option I can take.

    That¡¯s to plunge straight into one of the groups myself.

    ¡ºWhoah! Captain Hiro just jumped straight into the warrior group to his left!¡»

    ¡ºThat formation was created to stop a mad charge from a Riga Rau. Thus, our best warriors should be able to deal with such a move as well.¡»

    In response to my sudden rush, the group to my left immediately dispersed, surrounded me, and unleashed attacks at the same time. Three of them shed at me with machetes while the other two thrust their short spears at me. Usual opponents would definitely eat some attacks while blocking the others. However, I¡¯m no wild beast, and their formation was too straightforward to be able to effectively deal with human opponents.

    The spear thrustsing in from the gaps between their formation were easy to read because their attack ranges were limited, and wide swings from the machetes were equally predictable. And moreover, no matter how sharp and fast their attacks were-

    ¡°-!¡±

    To me, they were painfully slow.

    The instant I held my breath, the entire world slowed down to a crawl. I could now clearly see the trajectories of each attack and how I could move in response.

    I slipped through a sh from a machete, avoided a spear thrust, and pressed upon the elven warrior furthest to my right. I¡¯m sure that in his eyes, it would have seemed that I elerated suddenly and came within striking distance in practically an instant. I immediately made him eat a blow from the pommel of my sword right in the middle of his surprised face, used the recoil together with a flick of my wrist to swing the longsword held in my left hand, andnded a strike at the back of the head of the machete-wielding elf in the center of the formation. I stepped further in andnded a blow with the short sword in my left hand on an elven spear-wielder who was left defenseless aftermitting to an attack earlier when we passed each other by. The other spear wielder tried to attack me in a rush after seeing hisrade fall, but I easily knocked his spear out of his hand.

    ¡°Wha-!?¡±

    Astonished by the fact that three of hisrades copsed in an instant and another one lost his weapon, the remaining machete-wielder couldn¡¯t react when I knocked him down with a longsword blow. Before the disarmed elf managed to pull a dagger from his waist to try and fight back, I unleashed several attacks with both my swords and quickly incapacitated him.

    ¡ºWhoah!? Just what were those movements earlier!? The left warrior group was absolutely dismantled in the blink of an eye!?¡»

    ¡ºEven I couldn¡¯t see those moves clearly¡­¡­ I can only describe them as terrifying.¡»

    Before thest of the five copsed unconscious, I immediately charged toward the center group. Hahaha! What¡¯s wrong? You¡¯re just like paralyzed scarecrows! I ain¡¯t gonna hold back though.

    TL Notes: Four Heavenly Kings (ËÄÌìÍõ/Sh*ten¡¯nou) - a really popr (and a bit overused) trope in shounen series where the protagonist faces four bosses of progressively increasing strength. A very mainstream example would be the Elite Four from Pokemon. In fact, they¡¯re directly called the Four Heavenly Kings in Japanese. Elite Four was used only in English localizations.

 Chapter 263 â€“ Battleâ€™s End and Conclusion

    <h4>Chapter 263 - Battle¡¯s End and Conclusion</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Attack him all at once! Think of him like a wild beast even more dangerous than a Riga Rau and deal with him ordingly!¡±

    ¡°Like there¡¯s a wild beast that canpare with this guy!¡±

    I dove right into the group of elves who were frantically exchanging shouts and swung my swords. It looks like the elven warriors decided to try and not take my attacks head-on. The machete-wielders moved to the front and defended the spear-wielders behind them as they tried to chip away my stamina with attacks from beyond my range.

    ¡°Kuh¡­¡­!¡±

    The elven warrior who blocked a blow from my longsword grunted in pain.

    The machetes being swung around by the elven warriors were overall on the thicker side, and they should be as long as an average adult¡¯s forearm. They seemed to have been designed with an emphasis on toughness. They packed a hefty wallop and should be pretty easy to wield even in extremely close quarters. In other words, they were also great for defense.

    ¡°Whoah there.¡±

    ¡°Wha-!?¡±

    I halted my attacks and deftly stepped to the side. Moments after, a spear shot out and pierced the spot where my body was previously positioned. I suppose that was meant to be a finishing blow. The spear thrust with all his body weight thrown into it missed grandly, and the elven warrior was left wide open.

    ¡°Guhaaa!?¡±

    ¡°Gaaah!?¡±

    Of course, I didn¡¯t miss the opening and attacked mercilessly. I struck down the spear-wielding elf along with another elf who tried to cover for him and knocked them both out. There were already close to twenty elves that have copsed all around me.

    ¡°You guys still wanna continue?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­We are warriors. We will never surrender without a fight.¡±

    ¡°That so. Fine. Let¡¯s finish this.¡±

    I then prepared to go all-out.

    ¡ºAbsolutely overwhelming! So this is the might of the Sacred Tree¡¯s chosen hero! He knocked down all thirty of our finest elven warriors in an amazing disy of skill and strength!¡»

    After thest elven warrior keeled over in defeat, the announcer¡¯s voice echoed throughout the arena. The time it took for me to finish the fight was eptable, I guess. I felt a somewhat pleasant sense of tiredness.

    ¡ºFrom what I¡¯ve seen, it developed into quite a one-sided affair. Just how did it turn out like that?¡»

    ¡ºOne-sided, is it? It did look like that, and yes, it certainly was as you said. Captain Hiro¡¯s sword attacks were extremely precise, without even a single hint of any mistake. And that¡¯s what ultimately led to this result.¡»

    ¡ºNo mistakes?¡»

    ¡ºYes. He kept positioning himself in spots where the attacks of our elven warriors would fail to hit him, and continuously slipped past the warrior¡¯s defenses in order tond urate and powerful strikes at the same time. That led to the spectacle we saw before our eyes earlier.¡»

    ¡ºIt sounds pretty simple when you say it like that¡­¡­¡»

    ¡ºOf course not. It is absolutely not a simple feat to deal with the ever-changing flow ofbat while staying on the move withoutmitting any errors in judgment. It is akin to dancing furiously while crossing a thin tightrope. And he did that for close to ten minutes withoutmitting a single misstep. That is what I meant by him making no mistakes.¡»

    Thementator seemed pretty excited as he enthusiastically performed his live analysis.

    I see. So I didn¡¯t make any mistakes in my moves huh. That¡¯s probably true. After all, when Mei trained me in the sword, she made sure to make my body and mind remember how to move with absolute precision until it was practically instinctual. The training was absolutely hellish. I even vomited buckets of blood.

    That¡¯s right. I desperately tried to avoid being crushed into meat paste by Mei¡¯s strikes while vomiting blood. My current skills were born from the feeling of desperation to survive that hell.

    ¡ºI see. That means Captain Hiro¡¯s fighting skills have already reached the realm of grandmasters. Everyone, please give another round of apuse to the brave warriors who faced the Sacred Tree¡¯s chosen one, Captain Hiro!¡»

    After the announcer¡¯s remarks, the audience erupted into a din of cheers and apuse. I waved my hands at the audience and returned to our group¡¯s waiting area. An excited-looking Mimi came forward to wee me back.

    ¡°Thank you for the hard work, Hiro-sama! You were so cool!¡±

    ¡°Thanks. It was a little troublesome though.¡±

    ¡°You would have had an easier time if you used your own swords huh.¡±

    ¡°Elma-neesan, if Boss used those, the arena would be an ocean of blood already¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t block those with des made of carbon steel or wooden spear shafts after all. Their limbs would fly off like crazy.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say such terrifying stuff with a smiling face please, Big Brother¡­¡­¡±

    The mechanic sisters were slowly drawing away from us due to Elma and my fearsome remarks. Some people might say the elven warriors didn¡¯t fight at their best since they didn¡¯t use any attack spells, but if that¡¯s how they wanna paint it, then even I didn¡¯t give it my best shot as well. I mean, I didn¡¯t even use my monomolecr swords,ser gun,ser rifle, and power armor coupled with its hatchet guns, heavy weaponry such as itsseruncher, and grenades. Heck, if they really wanted us to go all out, then I would have brought Krishna and ck Lotus. They should already be thankful I didn¡¯t decide to bring Mei. So I was the one who held back even more y¡¯know.

    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ve already fulfilled my job here with this.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m really sorry for putting you into so much trouble.¡±

    Nect, who was acting as our host, bowed his head in apology.

    ¡°I guess all that¡¯s left is to air myints to your mother and get somepensation. It doesn¡¯t really need to be something fancy. Just give my crew some tasty alcohol or pretty ornaments and that will do.¡±

    I¡¯ve already said that to the Grado n folks. This was the second time now. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll want to avoid an ovep in their gifts, so we¡¯ll get some nice variety with this.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, don¡¯t you want anything for yourself?¡±

    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m good. It¡¯s enough for you guys to get some things in exchange for a little trouble. It¡¯s not like I can get anything I want here anyway.¡±

    If the elves had ess to cutting-edge lightweight power armor technology, I¡¯d happily ask for thetest model along with a specialized maintenance package from them, but it doesn¡¯t look like they had anything close to that. Of course, that goes for starship tech as well. Heck, they should be even worse off in that department.

    ¡°You really don¡¯t have a lot of desires, don¡¯t you, Hiro?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that y¡¯know. I do like interesting high-tech items, and if I found something that catches my attention, I¡¯d buy it in a heartbeat. Aside from material stuff like that, I also have healthy levels of the three major desires y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Three major desires¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°No, don¡¯t look at me like that, you pervert.¡±

    ¡°Ohe off it, Boss. Or rather, you immediately zoned in on Boss¡¯s crotch right after hearing ¡®three major desires¡¯ huh. You¡¯ve got a dirtier mind than I expected, Whee.¡±

    ¡°Big Sis!!!¡±

    A red-faced Whisker jumped at the grinning Tina and both of them frolicked with each other like children. Yeah, the scene looked rather heartwarming, but these ¡®kids¡¯ had the strength to easily lift a barbell weighing over 100 kilograms. I told Nect to leave for the time being so he won¡¯t get caught up in all the craziness.

    I watched the merely outwardly cute scuffle for a bit and then turned on the holo-disy that¡¯s projecting live footage of the arena that¡¯s installed inside the waiting room. It looks like my battle with the elven warriors was merely treated as an opening event, or rather, an exhibition match. And now, formal matches between elven warriors were just about to begin. So these guys were the main event and I was just some sort of bonus? Well, since lots of people were now gathered here, I guess it was just normal to hold some sort of formal event, but how did this many turn out in attendance when news about the event just came out yesterday? I really don¡¯t get elven culture.

    And so, that night, we were invited to partake in a rather luxurious dinner in the best high-ss hotel of the Minfa n territory. All of the dishes served used high-ss ingredients like all-natural meat, fruits, and vegetables.

    ¡°These are just ordinary ingredients for us though.¡±

    ¡°The situation¡¯s different in space after all. There¡¯s no way to install vast farnds inside a space colony. And as for livestock, there would be the trouble of dealing with all the biological gas emissionsing from the animals, and there¡¯s really no satisfactory solution even now.¡±

    It goes without saying for humanoids, but livestock has no qualms about belching and farting whenever they felt like it. The amount of gas emitted by the animals from the time they were born to when they finally get butchered for meat would be enormous. Naturally, therger the animals werepared to humans, or the more numerous they were, the bigger the amount of their emissions. In a ce with such limited space like a space colony, it would be very difficult to install systems effective enough to deal with such a copious amount of biological emissions.

    That¡¯s why in space colonies, it became standard to use food cartridges filled with edible paste made out of phytonkton, zoonkton, and a bit of vegetable matter to produce various food items through processing them with automatic cookers.

    There are some small exceptions, like the cultured meat nt we visited back in the Alein system. Those facilities gically bred and butchered creatures specifically created with an emphasis on reducing biological emissions as much as possible to ultimately reduce the burden on a colony¡¯s life support systems as well. That made it possible to produce protein-rich meat with high efficiency and lesser risks. Well, idents do happen asionally though. By the way, the meat products we regrly consume back on the ship aren¡¯t cultured meats but synthetic meats instead. They were basically chemically synthesized animal proteins.

    ¡°And that¡¯s why all-natural meat, fruit, and vegetable products are treated as super high-ss items out in space. Your eyeballs would probably pop out in shock if you saw how much they cost over there. I think the cheapest cut of high-ss Kobe beef goes for 1000 Enels per hundred grams.¡±

    ¡°A thousand Enels for just one hundred grams of meat¡­¡­ That truly is expensive.¡±

    And so, I enjoyed my meal while conversing with Nect.

    ¡°Nect, my dear Nect, Mother is really sorry, so please forgive me already.¡±

    ¡°Hm? I¡¯m sorry, but I couldn¡¯t quite hear you, Mother.¡±

    A beautiful elven woman was served something that looked like a dark gray mouse on a te while I, my crew members, and Nect were happily munching on Minfa-style luxury dishes. Minfa n¡¯s leader, Ms. Miriam, kept apologizing to her son with tears in her eyes.

    ¡°Come now, Mother. Why aren¡¯t you eating the food Hiro-san specially brought over from his ship? Aren¡¯t you happy? That is apparently a food item with aplete nutritional bnce. It¡¯s a precious item that you can¡¯t normally eat here in Theta, so please eat the whole teful without leaving any leftovers.¡±

    Nect was smiling, but his eyes weren¡¯t. Miriam teared up even more. She no longer had any dignity as both a n leader and a mother. Or rather, elves generally look very young for their age, so Miriam and Nect actually looked like siblings instead of mother and son.

    Eh? What¡¯s on top of Miriam¡¯s te, you ask? Oh, it¡¯s just unprocessed food cartridge paste you know.

    By the way, the drink served to her was made using one of the recipes brought over by Nectst time that had the most peculiar taste.

    ¡°Your drink is also a crystallization of the wisdom of the Minfa n. They say it¡¯s rather healthy for you. It¡¯s the perfect drink for a n leader like you, Mother.¡±

    ¡°Please, mercy¡­¡±

    ¡°No. In the first ce, you shouldn¡¯t be apologizing to me, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m really, really sorry everyone. Everything was all due to my impulsiveness.¡±

    ¡°Just what were you thinking in the first ce by doing something that lowered the reputation of the entire n?¡±

    ¡°B-But Zesh also agreed y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°And I wonder how Chief Zesh is doing under Tinia¡¯s watch right now?¡±

    It seems Nect contacted Tinia immediately the moment he found out about today¡¯s event. He revealed that Zesh sent warriors over to participate in the event as well and told Tinia to give him a proper dressing down.

    That¡¯s all well and good, but the two culprits are each leader of two of the three major elven ns, right? What about their authority or something? Was the position of n leader a lot more trivial than I first thought?

    ¡°What are we gonna do about those two?¡±

    ¡°Watching them is interesting, so just leave them be.¡±

    I answered Elma as I brought a slice of steak cooked from some unfamiliar animal¡¯s meat to my mouth. Ah, delicious. The sauce was especially exquisite.

    ¡°Tonight seems to be Miriam-san¡¯s treat, everyone. So don¡¯t hold back on her ount and eat and drink as much as you like.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please don¡¯t be reserved. I¡¯m not the one paying though. Oh, and this Millendorf white wine pairs really well with the Ram Dau steak. Please, try some.¡±

    The moment she heard the wine¡¯s name, Miriam¡¯s face paled considerably. It looks like the wine was pretty expensive huh. I don¡¯t know exactly how today¡¯s events turned out the way they did, but seeing the main culprit¡¯s face get drained of color in despair did relieve some of my annoyance.

 Chapter 264 â€“ Two-faced

    <h4>Chapter 264 - Two-faced</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°So, what did you actually want to aplish by staging that event in the first ce?¡±

    I addressed Miriam, who was feasting on an elegant-looking crepe for dessert which she had to desperately beg her son to be able to eat. She looked so wretched earlier that I was almost tempted to ask her if she still had some dignity as a n leader. She ced her knife and fork to the side, dabbed the sides of her lips with a napkin, and opened her mouth to reply.

    ¡°There is a legend about the chosen warrior of the Sacred Tree asionally manifesting tremendous magic power, you see.¡±

    ¡°So, in other words, you wanted to corner me in order to induce that magic power phenomenon or something? You know, if you really want to back me to a corner, you¡¯d have to at least send an entire imperial military fleet after me instead of just pitting me against warriors in a tournament.¡±

    Well, if I really faced such a predicament, I¡¯ll just make my escape straight away though.

    ¡°Hm. Maybe an entire toon of fully armed militarybat bots would also work?¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s a bit unfair to aim at the person directly though.¡±

    ¡°But you have to at least do that much if you want to deal with Hiro-sama after all.¡±

    ¡°Right¡­¡­ It¡¯s really hard to run Boss down usin¡¯ fair methods.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother always says he¡¯s no good when ites to fighting, but he can already win against imperial nobles with ease though.¡±

    Whisker dered so as she smiled bitterly. Basically, nobles are seen as the best of the best when ites to individualbat ability in the Gran empire. They are strengthened by advanced cybeics and biotechnology supported by their ample financial resources, and as a result, they have physical capabilities utterly unattainable by ordinary people. This enhancement in the physical ability not only involves a simple boost to their muscr strength and instantaneous power exertion. It also included improving brain processing abilities such as enhanced reflexes and parallel thinking for extremely efficient multitasking.

    The result is a super soldier that has muscr strength and instantaneous power exertion ability that¡¯s well above and beyond what ordinary unenhanced people are capable of. They also have extreme reflexes, dynamic visual acuity, and snap judgment abilities that have already exceeded the limits of the human body. They were like cyborg J*dis who could reflectser shots with their swords, capable of speeds that can¡¯t be perceived by the naked eye, and could cut down a power armor along with its rider clean in two with one swing.

    Originally, the physical enhancements were meant to help them cope with the increasing rigors of governing their territories, but nowadays, they have already be a status symbol for imperial aristocrats.

    Eh? Why was it necessary to enhance your physical body to govern a territory? Well y¡¯see, if you¡¯re an imperial noble, that means you at least govern one entire star system. In most cases, nobles govern several. In my home dimension, Earth isn¡¯t actually being governed by a single leader or centralized government body. If you¡¯re an imperial noble, you¡¯d at least need to govern a territory the size of the Sr system. Just imagine how tedious that would be. The number of tasks you¡¯d need to aplish on a daily basis would be astronomical and can¡¯t be handled by ordinary human processing abilities. So the Gran empire sought a solution through physical enhancements.

    It seems that things started with enhancing the nervous system such as expanding and strengthening the area of the brain used forputation. And as technology progressed, physical enhancements were added to the menu, and it eventually became one of the standard duties of imperial nobles to undergo enhancement. Then, it turned into a custom, and now, it¡¯s be a status symbol used to unt a noble¡¯s power.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. In any case, I¡¯ll be fine as long you¡¯re with me, Mei.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your trust, Master.¡±

    Mei slightly bowed toward me after hearing my words.

    A long time ago - before the Gran empire/AI war - autonomous AIs were active in quite a number of various fields, and in that period, they formed the backbone that supported the Gran empire¡¯s prosperity. Then a lot of stuff happened, and those led to the current status quo where the AIs have taken a backseat. Well, at least on the surface, that is. I suppose this is enough about that topic for now.

    ¡°So, magic huh. Can I really use stuff like that? I probably don¡¯t have any talent in ult stuff like that y¡¯know.¡±

    You hear of those types sometimes, right? Those people who im they can see spirits and stuff. I really don¡¯t think I have any talent regarding that stuff y¡¯know. Since I was thrown into this dimension, the most ult thing I ever encountered was my unnaturally bad luck.

    ¡°ult stuff huh¡­¡­ Magic isn¡¯t really considered as something rted to ultism you know. It¡¯s a well-organized and well-researched craft.¡±

    ¡°Can you really say that magic isn¡¯t part of the ult though? Err, I suppose I better drop the topic huh.¡±

    I shrugged my shoulders in reaction to Elma¡¯s statement. I don¡¯t care if it¡¯s called magic or psionic ability, but how else can I describe the phenomenon of people being able to create fire and water from thin air or blow away others with some sort of invisible force except for being part of ultism?

    ¡°There are devices that can urately measure psionic energy, so it¡¯s pretty legitimate. But don¡¯t they also say that psionic aptitude levels are basically innate for each person?¡±

    Miriam nodded in response to Whisker¡¯s question.

    ¡°It¡¯s true that magical talent is inborn. It seems that in the Holy Vuelzarus empire, they have a technique that can urately measure the magical talents of each individual. However, it¡¯s a fact that Hiro-sama definitely has an inherently high level of magical aptitude.¡±

    ¡°How can you be so sure?¡±

    ¡°You cannot exin the amount of power overflowing from your body otherwise. If you train properly, there¡¯s no doubt you¡¯d be a fearsome magic-user. So that¡¯s why you have to train in the magic arts under me-¡±

    ¡°No thanks.¡±

    I waved my hands and shook my head frantically in refusal. I have no time for that. No way, no how.

    ¡°-If you train in the magic arts, yourbat strength will undergo a dramatic improvement you know. With your magical output potential, you can easily blow away an entire mountain if you train enough!¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not like I really need to personally blow away a mountain y¡¯know. Or rather, if it really is necessary to blow a mountain away, I can just use reactive torpedoes or ck Lotus¡¯s EML. Those would be easier and faster methods. So those are more than good enough for me.¡±

    I then formed a cross sign with my arms and categorically refused.

    Multiple anti-ship reactive torpedoes that have enough power to prate military starship shields and blow them to pieces can be stored inside Krishna. And with ck Lotus, it¡¯s possible to blow away mountains from a very long distance. So much so that no trace of the ship can be spotted from the ground. So there¡¯s absolutely no reason for me to learn magic.

    Or rather, I don¡¯t wanna get turned into a human bomb that can blow away mountains. If something like that got found out by the authorities, it¡¯s possible that I wouldn¡¯t even be allowed to enter starports.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s no use even if you puff out your cheeks like that y¡¯know. There¡¯s a saying that you can¡¯t have too much of a good thing where I¡¯m from. I don¡¯t wanna obtain anything else that might potentially invite more trouble.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­No, no, no! I wanna see the Sacred Tree hero¡¯s magic! I wanna seee!¡±

    T-This fellow¡­¡­! She really threw away all shame and started throwing a tantrum!? A growndy like you shouldn¡¯t be hitting the table while throwing a fit!

    Nect came in to check out what¡¯s going on and brought away the crying Miriam. Maybe he used some magic to pacify her. She was crying loudly earlier, but she quieted down fairly quickly. Fumu. After witnessing a thing like that, I kinda think that magic might not really be so bad. I still don¡¯t wanna blow up a mountain with it though.

    ¡°¡­¡­Um.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say anything. The fuss earlier didn¡¯t happen. Alright?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m starting to get a headache.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, me too.¡±

    Can you believe that? That was a person who was the leader of one of the major elven ns that divided the into three factions you know. Theta should be quite a peaceful ce if even a weirdo like that can serve as a major faction¡¯s leader.

    ¡°Hey, Mei.¡±

    ¡°Yes, what is it, Master?¡±

    ¡°When you investigated the situation on this, you said we should be wary of the struggles and conspiracies between the three major factions, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°You see, I think we¡¯re actually overthinking things after all, and the pirate attack wasn¡¯t some sort of sinister plot by any of the factions, but just your regr pirate raid. I¡¯m starting to think that thetest attack by the Red g pirates is just for revenge instead of something more shady.¡±

    ¡°That is also possible, of course.¡±

    Mei nodded easily in reply. Is that so? I see.

    ¡°In other words, what are you trying to say?¡±

    ¡°Un¡­¡­ I suppose Big Brother is saying his luck is just that bad, right?¡±

    ¡°Can you not summarize everything like that? I¡¯m gonna cry y¡¯know.¡±

    In any case, our business on this is almost done. Unexpectedly, I was able to experience more of Mother Nature than I ever bargained for. And in the end, I didn¡¯t manage to find c again. But¡­ Well, I guess we should just pay another visit after a couple more years. After all, I was unexpectedly able to discuss carbonated drinks with a major beveragepany, and it looks like they were gearing up to attempt its development. All the carbonated drinks I had in the Sierra system were misses, so I hope the c I seek will be born on this someday soon.

    We¡¯d just have to sit back and rx while enjoying elven hospitality from here on out until the week is up. I suppose it¡¯s time to talk with everyone regarding our next destination as well.

 Chapter 265 â€“ Time to Decide on Our Next Stopâ€“ Or Not

    <h4>Chapter 265 - Time to Decide on Our Next Stop- Or Not</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°And so, I want to discuss our next destination with you guys now.¡±

    ¡°Waa-¡±

    After I confidently announced my n, Mimi generously gave a round of apuse while disying her sunny smile. I told our hosts we needed to discuss some mercenary-rted business so we¡¯d have an excuse to return to ck Lotus. Man, I really feel calmer and more secure in the Lotus. Although staying in a ssy hotel or traditional inn does have its good points as well.

    ¡°You guys are really gonna let this slide just like that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the same as usual, Big Sis. Don¡¯t think about it too much.¡±

    Thank you for pping even though you have a sour look on your face, Elma. You really are a good woman.

    ¡°Would it be alright for me to state my opinion about all this?¡±

    ¡°Of course. If you have any good suggestions, then go right ahead and share them.¡±

    Of course, we¡¯ll decide on whether or not to ept the suggestion depending on how the discussion goes from here, but the more options on the table, the better.

    ¡°First, I have a rough idea about what our possible next course of action should be. To put it simply, I want to upgrade our overallbat capabilities.¡±

    ¡°Combat capability upgrades huh¡­¡­ What do you have in mind specifically, Hiro?¡±

    ¡°Honestly, I think upgrading Krishna itself would be difficult. There are a lot of unknown technological ck boxes crammed into it after all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. We checked it out, but even the heavyser cannons are unique, so we¡¯d facepatibility issues if we attempt to upgrade them with parts currently avable on the market. The only stuff we can possibly upgrade would be the shard cannons and the reactive torpedoes.¡±

    ¡°We can only do stuff like recin¡¯ the torpedouncher on the lower weapon bay to a seeker missile pod. Improvements to the shard cannons depends on Boss¡¯s preferences. Upgradin¡¯ stuff like the shield generator and chassis is a bit of a tall order fer us right now though.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessary to rece the torpedounch tubes. There would definitely be times where they¡¯d be really useful after all.¡±

    We wouldn¡¯t be using them often, but those torpedoes are our ace in the hole for going up againstrge-ss ships after all. A seeker missile pod would be pretty effective against small and medium-ss targets, but I can just deal with those using the shot cannons and heavyser cannons.

    ¡°So I guess it¡¯s better to focus on upgrading the ck Lotus?¡±

    ¡°It would be difficult to find a better model to rece its EML, but I want to at least upgrade theser cannons and the shield generator to military-grade ones.¡±

    ¡°That really would increase ck Lotus¡¯s overall firepower. The power generator¡¯s output can still take it anyway, so we can probably make it work, Boss.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s all well and good to upgrade our mothership¡¯s firepower, but¡­¡­ don¡¯t you guys think you¡¯d be oversping it already if you did all of that?¡±

    ¡°Eh? What did you say? Sorry, but I couldn¡¯t hear you.¡±

    So what if my ship¡¯s overspec¡¯d? That¡¯s just how we gamers are, okay. Well, I¡¯m in reality instead of a game right now, but it¡¯s only natural for a guy to want the best for his ship, right? Upgrade maniac? Sorry, but those words aren¡¯t in my dictionary.

    ¡°Sure, it might be overspec¡¯d against pirates, but it¡¯s not like our opponents are limited to pirates.¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess that¡¯s true. I¡¯d had enough of fighting crystal lifeforms though.¡±

    ¡°We won¡¯t just be going up against space monsters you know. We might also participate in conflicts with other nations.¡±

    ¡°Will we?¡±

    ¡°It depends on the circumstances.¡±

    In fact, we already went up against the neighboring Vereverem Federation in the Termaine system where I first met with Mimi and Elma. We could have chosen to escape, of course. But at that time, we were pretty desperate for cash. Now though¡­¡­ Well, if the star system we find ourselves in is right in the middle of the conflict zone, it would be quite dicey if we choose to escape on our own. I¡¯m a Gold Star recipient after all.

    ¡°Also, I¡¯d like to buy a lightweight power armor that would allow me to swing my swords around freely even while wearing it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I thought you said you didn¡¯t want to fight in person anymore.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t like it. But I¡¯d probably die otherwise. I still don¡¯t like it one bit, okay!¡±

    This point was important, so I had to say it twice. There¡¯s been a rising trend of me fighting in persontely. I absolutely don¡¯t wish for these situations to happen, but they¡¯re happening anyway, so I had no choice but to prepare countermeasures.

    ¡°In that case, shouldn¡¯t you have epted Miriam-san¡¯s offer, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Magic training huh. Now, look here, Mimi. Just try picturing this.¡±

    Mimi inclined her head toward me.

    ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s suppose I learned and mastered how to use magic. She said I had the potential to blow away an entire mountain, you know.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°What would happen if that fact gets spread to the public?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Umm¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi pondered my question with wrinkled brows.

    ¡°If that happens, it¡¯s possible that the imperial military would go after you?¡±

    ¡°Not just the military, Mimi. It¡¯s possible that the entire empire itself woulde after me. They might ssify me as an extremely dangerous element, and who knows what kind of shady stuff they¡¯d pull off to get me. Right now, they might recognize mybat capabilities as extraordinary, but it¡¯s still within the range ofmon sense. Emphasis on the ¡®still¡¯. But what if I¡¯m now able to blow away entire mountains with my own power? In other words, I can actually blow up a colony on my own if I wanted to. That¡¯s clearly way too abnormal already, right?¡±

    If I demonstrated a power that rivals an anti-ship reactive torpedo using my magic, then that would mean it was even possible for me to take down a starship on my own, without using any weapons except my mysterious powers. That means I could even sneak inside the imperial pce to blow it up as well. I¡¯m sure the empire would never allow such a dangerous existence to drift around its territories like a stray dog. If I was one of the empire¡¯s higher-ups, I¡¯d use means to ce a tight leash on the said individual, and if that wasn¡¯t possible, I¡¯d make sure to finish him off no matter the cost.

    ¡°It does sound quite dangerous.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the fate that¡¯s gonna befall me if I ept that special-grade cursed item. That¡¯s why I¡¯m desperately rejecting the thing.¡±

    While saying so, I nced at the said special-grade cursed item that was shining in a corner of the dining hall where we were currently having a meeting. Could you stop shing like crazy already? It¡¯s annoying.

    ¡°The power to blow away an entire mountain is too crazy, but lightweight power armor¡¯s still within the bounds ofmon sense. At the very least, it¡¯s an additionalyer of safety whenever I fight in person. I don¡¯t really wanna personally fight with unknown biological weapons again though.¡±

    ¡°But didn¡¯t youe out of that uninjured, Boss?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to die and didn¡¯t even want to get injured, so I desperately avoided their attacks. If I ever ate one attack from those things, I¡¯d get turned to minced meat.¡±

    I really wanna give myself a pat on the back for surviving that hellish ce. I really don¡¯t wanna go through something like that again.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s how it is. Anyway, what I¡¯m trying to get at is us heading to a star system with highly developed tech next; preferably somewhere specialized in military tech or amercial hub where we can more easily get our hands on cutting edge stuff.¡±

    ¡°I see. Well, the nearest one would be the Garei system. It¡¯s exactly a system with highly developed tech and specializes in military technology. As for amercial hub¡­¡­ It¡¯s a bit far from here, but there¡¯s the Mira system.¡±

    ¡°What if we used a gateway?¡±

    If you made use of a gateway, you can move to a pretty distant star system in practically an instant. The Gran empire has built a highly developed gatewaywork using arge number of gateways in their vast territory. So if we use that, we¡¯ll be able to quickly reach distant star system that normally require long travel times using hypenes.

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right. Um, in that case¡­¡­¡±

    In the middle of operating her tablet terminal, Mimi disyed a bitter smile. What? What¡¯s wrong?

    ¡°In that case, what?¡±

    ¡°Um, if that¡¯s the case, then the imperial capital is the best choice.¡±

    ¡°Absolutely no way!¡±

    I don¡¯t wanna evene close to the imperial capital since I¡¯d probably get involved in something troublesome again if I do. Maybe I¡¯d get caught up in an assassination attempt on the emperor. Or maybe Princess Luciada would get kidnapped and I¡¯d be ordered to rescue her or something. Anyway, I definitely don¡¯t want to get involved in troublesome stuff like that.

    ¡°In that case, the Garei and Mira systems are the closest to us.¡±

    ¡°I see. So we have two possible destinations now. Any other suggestions?¡±

    ¡°We could head for a border conflict zone or a star system with rampant pirate activity to earn more Enels, but we can do that after upgrading our equipment first.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really have anythin¡¯ for ya Boss. How ¡¯bout you, Whee?¡±

    ¡°Un, I also don¡¯t have any ce in mind. And we can get to see plenty of stuff if we head to a system specialized in high-end military tech.¡±

    It looks like Elma and the mechanic sisters didn¡¯t have any other suggestions.

    ¡°Um, I¡¯m kind of interested in going to amercial hub¡­¡­ We can probably find a lot of rare foodstuffs there after all.¡±

    ¡°Fumu, that¡¯s true.¡±

    There¡¯s also a possibility of finding carbonated drinks if we head to amercial hub where various goods from all over the gxy are gathered and sold. Since we were able to find some carbonated stuff in the Sierra systemst time, it doesn¡¯t seem like they aren¡¯t being distributed in the market at all. I¡¯m not counting on finding some too much though.

    ¡°Well then, I wonder where we should head over to.¡±

    We¡¯d probably be able to get stuff for a cheaper price in the Garei system since it specializes in developing and producing military tech. We would find more options in themercial hub, but the shipping costs would increase the prices of the products ordingly. However, we probably won¡¯t be able to find a lot of military-grade stuff in amercial hub. Individual merchants rarely get their hands on military-grade products sincepanies sell them off to the military directly.

    ¡°So if we want quality and reasonable prices, the Garei system would be best. And if we want a wider selection, we should head for the Mira system instead.¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be fine if we just headed for the Mira system after finishing our business in the Garei system?¡±

    ¡°Hm, that¡¯s true. It would be more efficient if we looked for things that weren¡¯t avable in the Garei system in the Mira system. It would also be easier to gather some useful info in amercial hub.¡±

    ¡°Wow. You really sound like a mercenary operator now, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m constantly developing myself after all.¡±

    Mimi proudly stuck out her chest. Yep. They certainly are developing well alright.

    ¡°Alright then. It looks like our next stop would be the Garei system-¡±

    The moment I started wrapping the meeting up, my data terminal¡¯s ringtone went off. Deden! It was a ringtone reminiscent of someone eating a full-body kick or being hit with a baseball bat.

    ¡°T-This ringtone¡­¡­¡±

    I took out my data terminal from my jacket pocket and looked at the screen in trepidation.

    Yes. A name I absolutely didn¡¯t want to see was disyed on it.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Rather, what¡¯s up with that weird ringtone anyway¡­¡­? Who is it?¡±

    Since Elma asked, I held up my data terminal so everyone could have a good look at the screen.

    ¡°Geh.¡±

    The moment Elma saw the name disyed on the screen, her expression turned tantly disgusted. Mimi also disyed aplex expression. You couldn¡¯t tell what emotion she was feeling just by looking at her face. The mechanic sisters made bitter smiles as they looked up at the ceiling.

    Yeah. Of course, she¡¯d be here. Arge-scale pirate group was currently rampaging around these parts after all. I almost decided to ignore the call altogether, but I was afraid of what she¡¯d do if I did, so I gave up all resistance and pressed the ¡®ept call¡¯ icon.

    When I did so, the holo-disy installed in the dining hall was activated, and a hologram of a blonde beauty in a crisp, white military uniform was projected from it. The ornate sword strapped to her dainty waist clearly disyed her status as an imperial noble.

    ¡ºWhy, hello there, Captain Hiro. It¡¯s lovely to see you again.¡»

    She disyed a beaming smile as she gave her greeting.

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah, yes, right. Hello, Lt. Col. Serena.¡±

    This is gonna be something troublesome again. I¡¯m sure of it. There¡¯s no mistake.

 Chapter 266 â€“ Burn Down the Red Flags

    <h4>Chapter 266 - Burn Down the Red gs</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The sound of the electronic rm woke me up.

    The room with the lights turned off should be dim, but the interior was illuminated by a pale mystical light.

    ¡°Yes, yes, good morning.¡±

    A spiral spear-shaped object that was leaning on one side of my bed flickered in reaction to my words. Yep. It¡¯s the Sacred Tree¡¯s seed that¡¯s been giving me a lot of stresstely. Dammit.

    ¡°Man¡­¡­ It¡¯s morning already huh.¡±

    I covered my eyes with one arm and sighed. The fact that it¡¯s already morning meant that I had to get up already, and once I do, I¡¯d need to face what today brings. Today¡¯s schedule has already been decided, and I was really reluctant to go through with it. If I could, I would have liked to simply sleep the entire day.

    ¡°I wonder if saying I¡¯m not feeling well would work?¡±

    Nah. She¡¯d just tell me to get inside the medical pod to get myself fixed up. She¡¯d go like ¡®Five minutes should be enough, right?¡¯ or something to that effect. Yeah. I can only hope to gain a measly five minutes of a reprieve even if I called in sick.

    ¡°Haa¡­¡­ Guess I better get up now.¡±

    The Sacred Tree seed, or rather, the special-grade cursed item was blinking gently as ifforting me. But it¡¯s also one of the main causes of my stress level rising, okay! I ain¡¯t gonna be fooled even if you create that kind of mood!

    ¡°Good morning.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Big Brother.¡±

    ¡°Mornin¡¯, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, guys.¡±

    After taking a quick shower, I headed for the dining hall. My crew members were already assembled inside. Apparently, Mimi and the mechanic sisters just finished having their breakfast, and Elma was in the middle of eating arge morning steak. Man. She sure had one heck of an appetite.

    ¡°Good morning, Master.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Mei.¡±

    Mei brought me my breakfast the moment I took a seat at the table. Today¡¯s breakfast menu seems to be something resembling a grilled salmon set meal. Except for being somewhat strangely colored, it was your typical grilled salmon breakfast set, so I wasn¡¯t bothered too much and ate without hesitation. The meal made by Tetsujin V today was as delicious as always.

    ¡°You look really gloomy today, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Do you really hate going to see Lt. Col. Serena that much?¡±

    Whisker cocked her head to the side as she inquired.

    Serena Holz. A Lieutenant Colonel serving in the Imperial Military. She was a very beautiful blonde young woman, and her dignified features matched her white imperial military uniform really well. She was a young officer who has been promoted from captain to lieutenant colonel in a very short span of time and served as themander of an independent imperial military space fleet.

    ¡°Of course, I do. Especially since her aims are pretty obvious this time around.¡±

    I answered Whisker and let out another sigh.

    We¡¯ve been staying in the Refill system, the mother system of the elves, for more than a couple of days now. But before we even got here, the elves suffered arge-scale space pirate raid.

    Although pirates were merely just pirates, in the end, some were part ofrge pirate organizations that even star system garrison forces have a hard time dealing with. Unfortunately, the pirates that attacked the elves in the Refill system were members of one such organization; the Red g pirates.

    They staged aary raid on Refill IV (the locals called it Theta) and abducted arge number of elves.

    The local system garrison didn¡¯t twiddle their thumbs, of course. They managed to shoot down quite arge number of the assants. We identally detected arge-ss pirate ship that managed to slip through the cracks and captured it by performing a boarding action.

    After that, the Red g pirates attacked Refill IV again, but this time, they were repelled by the system garrison and Mei, who was piloting ck Lotus. And now, that brings us to the present situation.

    Lt. Col. Serena appeared at this timing for some reason and requested a meeting. I already had an inkling about what she wants when I pay her a visitter. It¡¯s most likely gonna be rted to subjugating the Red g pirates.

    ¡°Anyway, we really manage to meet up with her a lot huh. It¡¯s a wide universe after all, and yet here we are.¡±

    ¡°Our area of operation is basically within the imperial territory, and their fleet¡¯s job is to hunt down pirates after all¡­¡­ It¡¯s not really that strange to meet up with her a lot, given the circumstances.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess. But it¡¯s not like we came here to hunt down pirates this time you know.¡±

    The star system we visited for some sightseeing coincidentally suffered an attack from space pirates, and then we coincidentally meet up with Lt. Col. Serena as well. The coincidences were so uncanny that it almost seemed like somebody nned the whole thing. Nah. Maybe it¡¯s just my bad luck attribute acting up again.

    ¡°Sure, it ain¡¯t that strange, but it kinda feels like you guys are tied by some sort of bond or somethin¡¯.¡±

    ¡°You do run into each other a lot ever since you first met her in the Termaine system, right, Big Brother?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s true.¡±

    Come to think of it, ever since I found myself in this dimension, you could say that Lt. Col. Serena was the person who had the deepest connection to me right after Mimi and Elma. But even so, I still had no intention of bing her subordinate, or even more than that.

    ¡°It kind of seems like fate.¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re joking, then leave it at that, please. It¡¯s too scary for a joke.¡±

    I quivered in trepidation after hearing Whisker¡¯s words. The thought that Lt. Col. Serena and I were somehow tied by destiny was absolutely terrifying to me. Since I¡¯m now both a tinum ranker and a Gold Star recipient, coupled with the emperor¡¯s recognition after I won that sted tournament, it won¡¯t be strange if Lt. Col. Serena has already locked her sights firmly toward me now.

    ¡°Why d¡¯ya hate it so much though, Boss? I mean, ain¡¯t Lt. Col. Serena pretty?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t deny that. Lt. Col. Serena is certainly one heck of a beauty. She gets additional bonus points for being a ditz during her time in private and exposing lots of gaps whenever she gets drunk enough. It¡¯s really cute. But Lt. Col. Serena is a daughter of an imperial marquis. And, different from Elma, she still has strong ties to her house. So getting along more than necessary with her can be quite risky. And above all¡­¡­¡±

    I scanned everyone¡¯s faces before continuing.

    ¡°I really like the free-spirited life of a mercenary. I absolutely don¡¯t want to be a military man who¡¯s bound by lots of rules.¡±

    ¡°We really do meet up with each other often, don¡¯t we? There seems to be an inseparable connection between you and me.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I wouldn¡¯t dare to agree, mdy. I¡¯m just a in and boring mercenary you know.¡±

    I was currently inside the reception room of the Imperial Space Navy Independent Anti-Pirate Fleet gship, the Restalias, and in the middle of exchanging pleasantries and fake-soundingughter with my presentpanion. I wanna go back already.

    By the way, Mei and I were the only ones who headed over to Restalias. The other crew members remained on ck Lotus to perform maintenance, procure supplies, and collect information.

    ¡°Oh, I wouldn¡¯t say a Gold Star recipient and tinum-ranked mercenary is in and boring.¡±

    Yes, I can¡¯t deny that.

    I was promoted to the highest mercenary rank, the tinum rank, and got myself a Gold Star, or the First-ss Golden Cross medal in formal terms, but it still hasn¡¯t sunk in even after all this time. And is it just my imagination, but doesn¡¯t it feel like gaining those two had more demerits and merits for me?

    ¡°It looks like you¡¯re going wild in this ce as well. Is it just me, or does trouble ur everywhere you go?¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s just your imagination. Or rather, please say that it¡¯s just your imagination. Or else, my sanity would give out¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes, of course.¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena flinched a bit but nodded eventually. It looks like my heartfelt appeal got through to her somehow.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get the facts straight first. The first pirate attack already ended when we arrived at this star system, okay? We just coincidentally met and captured the ones who escaped the system garrison¡¯s pursuit.¡±

    That¡¯s why I insist that I wasn¡¯t the one who brought over trouble.

    ¡°In other words, rather than you bringing trouble wherever you go, it¡¯s more appropriate to say you have a strong tendency to unknowingly find yourself in the middle of something troublesome.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I really don¡¯t wanna continue with this topic.¡±

    I hate Lt. Col. Serena for reminding me of the harsh reality.

    ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s leave basking in the joy of our reunion for now and move on to the main topic of today¡¯s business.¡±

    Just how exactly did we ¡®bask in the joy of our reunion¡¯ earlier? You just toyed around with my feelings one-sided-ly y¡¯know.

    ¡°I suppose you already have an idea about why I called you, right, Captain Hiro?¡±

    ¡°I dunno¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop it with that pretentious stupid face of yours right this instant. We¡¯re having a serious discussion here.¡±

    Tsk. I guess I really can¡¯t y dumb any longer huh.

    ¡°Okay, okay. It¡¯s about the Red g pirates, right? Since you¡¯ve arrived here at this timing, I suppose they already contacted you since they suffered the first attack.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Allowing aary raid in imperial territory would negatively affect the empire¡¯s honor after all.¡±

    Speaking of which, Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s fleet was also the first to respond when pirates attacked the resort we were staying at a while back as well. Well, I suppose that¡¯s just the M.O. of Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s fleet. It was a fleet that would immediately rush toward ces with heightened pirate activity in order to put out the mes.

    ¡°By the way, is it just me, or has your fleet gotten bigger again?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s due to my promotion to lieutenant colonel. Since my rank increased, the number of my ships and personnel also increased ordingly.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    I went to the Refill Prime colony in the ck Lotus to meet with Lt. Col. Serena and noticed that the number of ships in her fleet that were stationed in the colony had increasedpared to before. The Restalias was still their sole battleship, but the number of their cruisers and destroyers had increased by a fair bit. The increase in the number of corvettes, however, was the most substantial. Maybe it¡¯s to better implement the formation specialized in fighting within asteroid clusters that I taught them a while back. It¡¯s rather difficult to fight within asteroid belts with shipsrger than a destroyer, but corvettes would be able to make it work, albeit barely.

    There¡¯s no peskier opponent for space pirates than military corvettes. First, their shields were too tough for the pirate ship¡¯s weapon systems to punch through, and conversely, the shields and armor ting of pirate ships stand no chance against military corvettes. Furthermore, corvettes were pretty damn fast and agile for their size, so it wouldn¡¯t be easy for them to escape either. And if they carelessly charged out of the asteroid field, they¡¯d just get sniped by the superior firepower and range of destroyers and higher-ss ships.

    ¡°With this level of strength, you can even mount an attack on a fortified pirate base with just your fleet alone.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Actually, we¡¯ve already crushed a few small strongholds. However, this time, the opponent is arge-scale space pirate organization. That¡¯s why I want to solicit outside help. In other words, I n to hire mercenaries again. And after deciding so, I found out that you¡¯re actually in the area as well. Perhaps it¡¯s fate.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯ll participate in the pirate subjugation mission, right?¡±

    The good lieutenant colonel shed me a bright smile. Well, yeah, I guess I¡¯ll participate.

    ¡°First, let¡¯s talk about the price. It¡¯s gonna be expensive y¡¯know. I¡¯m a Gold Star recipient and tinum-ranker after all.¡±

    After saying so, I formed a circle with my index finger and thumb and showed it to Lt. Col. Serena.

    ¡°¡­¡­Um, can you give me a friend¡¯s discount?¡±

    ¡°No way.¡±

    I ain¡¯t giving up a single Enel. Absolutely. It won¡¯t work even if you look at me with cute upturned eyes, alright?

 Chapter 267 â€“ Iâ€™m Not Gonna Fall for the Same Trick Twice

    <h4>Chapter 267 - I¡¯m Not Gonna Fall for the Same Trick Twice</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°In the first ce, it¡¯s not like you¡¯d be paying me out of your own pocket, right, Lt. Col. Serena?¡±

    I resisted the urge to t-out ask her if she wanted to haggle down the price by giving me those flirtatious looks. She had her sword within reach after all. I might lose my head if I made any carelessments.

    ¡°Hiro, The military¡¯s budget, or rather, our fleet¡¯s, isn¡¯t unlimited.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I get that. But you see, if I agreed to get hired by you for cheap, the other tinum-rankers might take issue with me.¡±

    I replied to Lt. Col. Serena, who was making a serious face, with an equally serious tone. If I agreed to get hired by the military, or rather, Lt. Col. Serena for a trifling amount, and it results in the pay for tinum ranked mercenaries getting reduced, I would probably get all of the me and be hated in the mercenary circle as a result. The military was also part of the government after all. Since unwritten rules were prevalent in these kinds of organizations, I better avoid setting a bad precedent, or I might get burned.

    ¡°In the first ce, if you came here at the behest of the imperial government, don¡¯t you have more than enough funds on hand?¡±

    When the first pirate attack took ce, an emergency request was issued by the star system garrison, which wasposed mainly of people from the Rose n, and in response to that, Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s Independent Mobile Anti-pirate Fleet was dispatched. Although the Refill system was an autonomous region, it firmly remains as part of the Gran empire. Since an imperial territory suffered a brazen attack by space pirates, there¡¯s no way the empire would stay quiet because it involved their honor as a gctic power. That¡¯s why Lt. Col. Serena and her fleet were sent here, so she probably has quite a bit of budget funded by the imperial government as well.

    ¡°¡­¡­You were so gullib- ahem, innocent when I first met you, but you¡¯ve be such a boor before I knew it.¡±

    ¡°Were you about to say ¡®gullible¡¯?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything of the sort.¡±

    Although she replied with a straight face, she definitely almost blurted that word out, didn¡¯t she? I didn¡¯t mishear that at all.

    Well, it¡¯s true that I was basically led by the nose by Lt. Col. Serena when we participated in the conflict with the Vereverem Federation back in the Termaine system. I was cajoled by the beautiful female military officer until I was basically wrapped around her finger, and that was that! I was made to participate without any say in the matter. I ain¡¯t gonna fall for the same trick twice.

    ¡°Look, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m not gonna participate this time. I¡¯m just saying you need to pay me properpensation.¡±

    ¡°I see. Alright then. How about this much?¡±

    The amount offered wasn¡¯t 300,000 Enels per day just like what Earl Dareinwald gave us, but the usual 200,000 Enels per day for tinum rankers. In addition to the daily payout, we also get the usual kill rewards and guild bounties. Not a bad deal.

    ¡°I have one more condition, but it¡¯s not about raising the price.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s hear it then.¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena nodded and urged me to continue.

    ¡°I want to upgrade ck Lotus¡¯s equipment. If possible, I¡¯d like to obtain some military-grade equipment and weapon systems from you guys. I¡¯ll pay for them, of course.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see. That¡¯s your gunship, or rather, your mothership, right? It would help us out as well if that ship¡¯s firepower is improved.¡±

    Yep, it¡¯s our mothership. It does have a wee bit more firepower than your average mothership, but it¡¯s still a mothership nheless.

    ¡°I think I told you about this next one before, but we were in the middle of an operation then so I couldn¡¯t borate much on it. Y¡¯see, I want a lightweight power armor of my own.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Let us include that in our deal this time then. Since it¡¯s a request from a Gold Star recipient, you can rest assured that we¡¯ll do our best to satisfy you.¡±

    ¡°Thanks. So I suppose you¡¯ll notify me once the schedule is decided?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I will contact you once our action n is finalized, so please be ready to sortie at any time. I don¡¯t think it would take that much time to finalize everything.¡±

    ¡°Roger that.¡±

    However, our opponent this time is the Red g pirate organization, which had eluded the pursuit of imperial forces for many years. I don¡¯t think they¡¯d go down that easily. I wonder if Lt. Col. Serena has a special strategy in mind.

    ¡°And so, it¡¯s been decided that we¡¯ll be participating in the Red g subjugation operation.¡±

    When I returned to ck Lotus, I immediately told everyone that we would be participating in the pirate mop-up operation, and everyone was cool with it.

    ¡°You acted like you didn¡¯t like it one bit, Boss, but you agreed in the end huh.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because this is a good opportunity for us. It would definitely go smoother if we left the acquisition of military-grade weapons and equipment to Lt. Col. Serena, and if we earn enough in the subjugation operation, we¡¯d be basically getting them for free. Since we¡¯d be earning a daily payout coupled with the kill and bounty rewards, it would be a shame not to participate.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s true that you were throwing a fit before, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I just lose my cool a bit whenever something that involves Lt. Col. Serenaes up. That¡¯s all.¡±

    First, there was that operation where we simply had to capture a pirate base, but we ended up getting involved in a border dispute with a neighboring country afterward. Lt. Col. Serena noticed my skills during that time and that led to her promotion, and the creation of the Independent Mobile Pirate-hunting Fleet soon after. Then, I was just supposed to y a minor role as a delivery guy but got involved in a decisive battle with crystal lifeforms instead. And because of that, I got promoted in mercenary rank, pped with an award, and made toe to the imperial capital. Then, the mess in the imperial capital happened¡­¡­ I think there¡¯s a definite pattern where I¡¯d get involved in trouble as long as Lt. Col. Serena was involved in it as well.

    ¡°Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have agreed after all¡­¡­? But if we run away now, my reputation and trustworthiness would take a huge hit.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I suppose it¡¯s already toote to escape at this point.¡±

    ¡°I should have predicted this and chose to run away the first chance I got.¡±

    ¡°It would be impossible to anticipate that much you know¡­¡­¡±

    In other words, this was another example of fate ying around with me huh. I¡¯m not really into metaphysical stuff and whatnot, but ever sinceing into this world, there are many instances that felt like they were prearranged. Or was it just me being a bit too paranoid?

    ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s how it is, so make preparations for an immediate sortie, everyone.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Roger!¡±¡±¡±

    As I watched everyone busy themselves, I gave instructions to Mei as well.

    ¡°Please create a draft n for improving the ck Lotus. I¡¯d like to say money isn¡¯t an issue, but¡­¡­ let¡¯s make the maximum budget 20 million.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I think that amount would be more than enough.¡±

    A 20 million Enel budget would ensure that we¡¯d at least be able to rece the armor andser cannons with military-grade ones.

    ¡°Ah, Hiro-sama, will we also take up a job as a supply ship this time?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a pass this time. We can expect a lot of loot since we¡¯ll be going up against arge pirate organization.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    Mimi, who remained in the dining hall while fiddling with her tablet terminal, replied cheerfully and resumed working.

    Now then, what should I do¡­¡­? Oh, I can¡¯t take the Sacred Tree seed with me, so I suppose I better make the needed arrangements. Well, I guess I can just hand it over to a person with suitable authority in Refill Prime.

    That¡¯s what I thought. But-

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but we¡¯d like you to keep it until it sprouts¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°But if I did that, I¡¯d end up bringing it away when I leave the star system.¡±

    ¡°Please, anything but that¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°No, even if you say so, I¡¯ll be participating in the subjugation operation against the Red g pirates you know? The Thetan autonomous government doesn¡¯t have the authority to prevent me from participating, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true, but¡­¡­¡±

    The Theta Autonomous Government representative stationed on Refill Prime kept talking in an evasive manner as sweat poured down from his forehead. Even if it was called an autonomous state, it was, in truth, governed by a parliamentary system made up of the three major ns. Furthermore, most of the people living in the Refill Prime colony were part of the Rose n; basically, the most technologically receptive faction among the elves that acted as the race¡¯s innovators. But apart from the Rose n, none of the other elves liked the idea of leaving their home system.

    ¡°To those shut-ins, the Sacred Tree seed acts as their mental and spiritual support after all¡­¡­¡±

    The government representative, who was a member of the Rose n, replied while disying an expression akin to that of a guy swallowing a bitter pill. Judging from his reaction, I suppose even he thinks this current situation was just a load of nonsense.

    ¡°I already said this before to the ones down below. I¡¯m very willing to just leave that thing to the elves.¡±

    What I referred to when I said ¡®down below¡¯ was the surface of Refill IV, or Theta. I¡¯m sure the people living on the surface would find the term unamusing, to say the least, but I don¡¯t have to care about their feelings right now anyway.

    ¡°I¡¯m well aware of that, of course. This is just us being willful. You really don¡¯t have to take our views on the matter into ount. It¡¯s just¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°We would really prefer it if you didn¡¯t leave the seed in our hands at this timing. The tension between the three major ns has been on a steady rise due to the things that happened recently. If you left the Sacred Tree seed in our hands at this timing, it might be a spark that lights up an even greater conflict between the ns.¡±

    ¡°In other words?¡±

    ¡°If possible, please just bring it with you. And you can bring it back to us once it sprouts.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ But wouldn¡¯t the Grado and Minfa ns raise a fuss if I did like you said?¡±

    Honestly, I didn¡¯t really want to earn any further animosity from those folks.

    ¡°We are prepared to shoulder the me on the matter, so please don¡¯t worry.¡±

    After saying so, the government representative gave a dryugh. Well, in the worst case, I can just leave it somewhere in Refill Primeter, I guess. It would be a bit troublesome toe back to Refill Prime after the operation, but I suppose I could provide at least that much extra service.

    ¡°I understand. You elves did do your best to entertain us, so I suppose I can do that much for you in return.¡±

    ¡°We are much obliged.¡±

    The representative gave me a deep bow. For him, or rather, for the Rose n, this situation was nothing but a bad draw. Anyway, as I said, the elves did provide delicious food for us and pretty nice inns as our amodations, so I guess I can give them this much in return, at least.

 Chapter 268 â€“ A Brief Rest before Sortieing

    <h4>Chapter 268 - A Brief Rest before Sortieing</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Eh? We¡¯re really bringing that thing with us?¡±

    The moment she saw me back with the constantly shing special-grade cursed item, Elma instantly disyed an annoyed expression.

    ¡°It just turned out this way. In the worst-case scenario, the Rose n is willing to take all the me, so rather than leaving it with them, they want us to bring it away instead.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ Is that really okay?¡±

    ¡°No idea. Well, it¡¯s not like this guy did anything wrong by itself, so I think it¡¯s fine. If it turns out that this thing actually affects causality and all that metaphysical BS to pull even more bad luck toward us, we can always destroy it using Krishna¡¯sser cannons.¡±

    The special-grade cursed item pulsed two times as if to deny my assumption. Oh,e to think of it, I instructed this guy to shine once if it wants to say ¡®yes¡¯ and shine twice if it wants to say ¡®no¡¯ just recently huh. Surprisingly, this guy properly remembered my instructions. It¡¯s quite the earnest drill-spear-seed thingy.

    ¡°Ah, Hiro-sama. We¡¯ve already finished resupplying. We can sortie any time.¡±

    ¡°Nice work, Mimi. Were we able to stock up on enough anti-ship reactive torpedoes?¡±

    ¡°Yes. In addition to the four we already have on Krishna, we got a dozen spares as well.¡±

    ¡°Ok. It really is convenient to have a mothership huh.¡±

    ¡°A dozen? Just what do you n on fighting against with that much firepower?¡±

    It¡¯s not like there¡¯s anything bad about having plenty of spare rounds y¡¯know. Now that we had 16 shots, including the ones already loaded onto Krishna, we can even singlehandedly turn an entire pirate base into space debris.

    ¡°The sortie schedule still isn¡¯t finalized yet, so take this chance to get a nice break. You can stretch your wings in the colony if you want, guys.¡±

    ¡°Hm. I¡¯m fine staying here, I suppose. I feel calmer staying inside the ship.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m also gonna stay on the ship. What about you, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna check up on the mechanic sisters. After that, I¡¯m gonna check up on Mei next. If there are no problems, I guess I¡¯ll take it easy myself.¡±

    The elves were very weing, but I can rest better inside my own ship. There¡¯s a certain sense of security. It¡¯s like I¡¯m staying inside my home. Nah. Maybe it¡¯s simply because the security measures were tight, and when pushes to shove, we can high-tail outta here immediately with the ship, so that leads to peace of mind.

    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll tag along too. I¡¯m free anyway.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯lle too.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? Well, I suppose it¡¯s fine.¡±

    When the three of us arrived at the hangar section, we found the maintenance bots hard at work. Whisker was sitting in a spot apart from the maintenance bots so she wouldn¡¯t get in their way while her hands were swiftly operating her tablet terminal.

    ¡°Ah, Big Brother- Oh, and everyone as well. What is it?¡±

    ¡°Ara? Did you only have eyes for Hiro, Whisker?¡±

    ¡°T-That¡¯s not it.¡±

    Whisker denied Elma¡¯s words in a fluster while her face turned a bright shade of red as the other grinned and teased her, but wouldn¡¯t her reaction cause Elma to tease her more? Mimi also had an amused smile on her face.

    ¡°We ran out of things to do since we¡¯vepleted all our tasks before the sortie, so we decided to go around the ship to check things out. How are you guys doing?¡±

    ¡°Um, there¡¯s currently no problem for now. Krishna¡¯s maintenance is alreadyplete. We¡¯re conducting a full check right now, just in case.¡±

    After saying so, Whisker turned her gaze toward Krishna, which was parked inside the hangar. Some maintenance bots and drones were floating all over Krishna and executing scans. I had no idea how it worked, but I suppose that¡¯s how they scanned Krishna¡¯s status.

    ¡°What about Tina?¡±

    ¡°Big Sis is checking up on ck Lotus. She¡¯s probably working together with Mei-san right now.¡±

    ¡°I see. You guys can take a break after finishing your tasks, okay? We¡¯ll need you sisters to work real hardter when the operation goes underway after all.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s really going to be the case?¡±

    ¡°Probably. Oh, but it¡¯s impossible to salvage every ship thates our way, so it shouldn¡¯t be that harsh. We¡¯re probably gonna be salvaging a lot of equipment though.¡±

    The number of ships we can salvage would be four at most. We can shove two ships inside the hangars and then tow the two others with Krishna and ck Lotus respectively. We¡¯d probably be limited to three small-ss ships and one medium-ss. Furthermore, in order to tow the ships, we¡¯d have to use both the FTL Drive and Hyperdrive. If the output drops, chances are we¡¯d lose the ships we¡¯re towing. That¡¯s why we can only do it after the battle with the pirates.

    Furthermore, we can¡¯t dy the rest of the fleet¡¯s work just for our own profit, so we need to be quick about it. That¡¯s why the mechanic sister¡¯s true battle would only start after the operation is concluded.

    ¡°Oh, what¡¯s up, you guys? Why¡¯re y¡¯all here?¡±

    Mei and Tina finally appeared inside the hangar area while we were in the middle of chatting. Judging from their current looks, I suppose the maintenance work on ck Lotus is alreadyplete as well.

    ¡°We already finished our tasks. That¡¯s why we¡¯re going around the ship to check things out instead.¡±

    ¡°I see? We¡¯re all done too.¡±

    When I turned my gaze from Tina to Mei, she nodded in affirmation. I see. So they were done with their tasks as well.

    ¡°Hey! Now, wait just a darn minute! What¡¯s with that earlier reaction, Boss?¡±

    ¡°I confirmed it with Mei, just in case.¡±

    ¡°Hey, hey, hey, I¡¯m also a pro y¡¯know? Don¡¯t you think that reaction¡¯s rude?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, okay.¡±

    I honestly apologized to Tina, who was giving me an annoyed re. It¡¯s because of your usual devil-may-care attitude, okay? I didn¡¯t mean anything bad by it. And I do trust your skills.

    ¡°Oh? So you¡¯re apologizing huh? If that¡¯s the case, then please turn your words into actions properly, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Eh? What are you on about now?¡±

    Was being crafty in fashion among women nowadays? Oh well. I guess I¡¯ll hear her out anyway.

    ¡°Gimme a hug.¡±

    After saying so, Tina approached me and outstretched her arms.

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°Gimme a hug. I¡¯ll forgive you if you lift me up and gimme a nice tight squeeze.¡±

    She then gave me a sunny smile. As she smiled, Tina continued outstretching her arms, as if to urge me to hurry up and hug her already. Eh? Well, I didn¡¯t really mind. A hug¡¯s nothing. If carrying her up and hugging her would fix her mood, then it¡¯s fine.

    ¡°Nfufu¡­¡­¡±

    I hugged her from the front just as she wished, and Tina immediatelytched on to me tightly by wrapping her arms around my neck. I supported her behind with my left hand and wound my right arm around her back.

    ¡°Goro nya?n.¡±

    ¡°Man, this sure is one big kitty¡­¡­¡±

    When I looked down as Tina made herselffy by resting her cheek on the side of my neck, I found Whisker staring up at me without blinking. What¡¯s with that greedy look on your face, youngdy? Do you want to be carried up and hugged as well, Whisker-san?

    When I turned toward the others, I found Elma, Mimi, and Mei giving me simr looks.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine with a normal hug you know?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine with that too.¡±

    ¡°I do as well.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s with this situation?¡±

    Eventually, I ended up carrying and hugging Whisker as well after cing Tina back down. Afterward, I moved to hug Elma, Mimi, and Mei in that order. This is fine, y¡¯know. It¡¯s refreshing to see them actively express their desires. Was this what they mean by equal treatment or something? Well, I guess equal treatment is important in a rtionship like ours after all.

    It¡¯s been a few days since we¡¯ve stationed ourselves within the Refill Prime colony. I suppose they were still in the middle of soliciting the help of other nearby star system garrisons since we¡¯re gonna be conducting arge-scale pirate subjugation operation this time around. Right now, we¡¯re waiting for all forces to arrive.

    And since we¡¯ve already finished resupplying and maintenance, we ended up with nothing, in particr, to do anymore. But even so, we had our regr daily routine, so it¡¯s not like we werepletely idle. We could still do things like physical workouts, training, and studying.

    ¡°¡­¡­Do you really undergo this kind of training routine regrly?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Why?¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    Today, Lt. Col. Serena and some of her subordinate officers who had noble backgrounds were paying us a visit. They apparently heard that I would be training in swordsmanship with Mei, and that¡¯s why they came over. It looks like they were also rtively free until all the participants were gathered up.

    ¡°Master, here Ie.¡±

    ¡°We have spectators right now, so please go easy on me.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I shall go hard on you then.¡±

    ¡°Listen to what I¡¯m saying please. I¡¯m begging you.¡±

    My desperate appeal was ignored, and Mei, who turned into a ck gale, swiftly closed in on me while brandishing her metal practice sword. I was also holding a simr metal practice sword.

    Why weren¡¯t we using a safer training sword? Well, it¡¯s because Mei can¡¯t disy her swordsmanship properly unless she¡¯s using these kinds of swords. In fact, I already lost count of just how many ¡®safer¡¯ practice swords she¡¯s ended up breaking.

    A silver sh shot out of Mei¡¯s body. If I ate a hit like this directly, I¡¯d probably end up getting some broken bones, and if I got really unlucky, my internal organs might take some damage as well. Of course, if that happened, I¡¯d end up vomiting blood again, so I really couldn¡¯t afford to get hit.

    I shuffled my feet and slid out of the trajectory of Mei¡¯s attack by a hair¡¯s breadth. At the same time, I aimed a counter at the wrist of the hand Mei was using to hold her weapon with the sword in my left hand. However, my counter hit nothing but air since she managed to pull her arm back at a speed faster than the sh I performed. The moment that happened, I already knew she¡¯d follow up with attacking my now-exposed left nk, so I immediately moved back to take some distance away from Mei.

    After that, we proceeded with an exchange of sword attacks. All the shes I unleashed with my two swords were parried by Mei using a single sword, and conversely, I endeavored to evade and parry her sword shes as well. I really couldn¡¯t afford to eat even one of those. I couldn¡¯t take them with my body, but I also couldn¡¯t directly cross swords with her either. If I forcefully received it with my swords, they¡¯d probably get broken. And even if that doesn¡¯t happen, they¡¯d probably get blown away from my hand, or I¡¯d lose my footing due to the force of the sh. All of those oues were pretty unfavorable for me.

    ¡°Gah!?¡±

    In the end, Mei won the match. I failed to properly parry one of Mei¡¯s shes and the sword in my right hand ended up getting broken. With that, it was practically checkmate. I gradually got cornered, ate a kick to my gut, and was blown all the way to the training room¡¯s wall. Since I ate a blow to my stomach and had my back crash directly against a wall, I couldn¡¯t help but writhe in pain. Once I managed to finally catch my breath, the training sword icon at the top of my head crumbled, signaling my loss.

    ¡°This is impossible man¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true, Master. Your reaction speed is now 8% fasterpared to before. You still have a lot of room to go, Master.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to go so hard on Boss, Mei-han¡­¡­¡±

    I rubbed the spot on my belly that got kicked by Mei and got up. It was he painful man! I¡¯m definitely bleeding internally.

    ¡°Oh, if you want, you guys can also undergo Mei-san¡¯s perfectly safe training program free of charge.¡±

    ¡°It totally doesn¡¯t seem safe though?¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about? It¡¯s totally, perfectly safe. I mean, look, I ain¡¯t dead, right?¡±

    After saying so, I puffed out my che- Goddamit, it hurts like hell! It looks like sticking my chest out is currently impossible.

    ¡°Sorry, but I think I need to get inside the med-pod for a bit. I¡¯ll leave entertaining our guests to you.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please leave it to me, Master.¡±

    Mei bowed toward me and turned her gaze toward Lt. Col. Serena andpany. It kinda seemed like they were all shaking in their boots, but I suppose it was just my imagination. It¡¯s alright. It¡¯s totally safe, I tell you. You guys aren¡¯t gonna die, at least!

 Chapter 269 â€“ Operation Details and Sharing my Thoughts

    <h4>Chapter 269 - Operation Details and Sharing my Thoughts</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After spending some time getting treated inside the med-pod, I made my way back to the ck Lotus¡¯s cargo hold that¡¯s been converted to a temporary training area. I then witnessed the exhausted appearance of the noble-born officers under Lt. Col. Serena. As for Lt. Col. Serena herself, she was smiling bitterly as she looked at the miserable appearance of her subordinates.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you gonna try the training as well, Colonel?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t let myself get injured before the start of the operation after all. I¡¯d be happy to take on the challenge when the operation is over.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Serena-sama.¡±

    Mei, who looked as unfazed as usual, nodded in reply. Well, of course, she wasn¡¯t bothered even after all that activity. She¡¯s a maidroid after all.

    ¡°Alrighty then. It¡¯s not much, but please follow me for some refreshments, everyone. We do have a dedicated break room here.¡±

    After saying so, I led the exhausted officers to the break room and left them to their devices.

    ¡°So, what did you reallye here for today?¡±

    I immediately got to the point and asked Lt. Col. Serena about her business with us after she took her seat.

    ¡°I came here to talk about the details of the operation with you. My men came here as my bodyguards as well as to sightsee and rx a bit.¡±

    ¡°My ship ain¡¯t some kind of tourist spot y¡¯know?¡±

    As we chatted, Mimi came in and brought us some tea and sweets.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Serena-sama.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it has, Mimi-sama.¡±

    ¡°No, um, you really don¡¯t have to address me with ¡®sama¡¯¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Is that so? Alright. I understand, Mimi-san.¡±

    ¡°Mm, please don¡¯t be so formal with me.¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena yed arge part in letting us meet with the imperial family, so she knew the fact that Mimi was actually the emperor¡¯s grandniece.

    ¡°Okay, colonel. You said something about the operation details earlier. Can you tell me about it now?¡±

    ¡°Alright. ording to the information we¡¯ve managed to obtain, it seems that the Red g pirates have built quite a number of small-scale bases in the surrounding star systems.¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s better if I didn¡¯t ask how exactly you got that info.¡±

    ¡°That would be for the best.¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena shed me a sweet-looking smile.

    Compared to battles in outer space, battles within a¡¯s atmosphere have a much higher survival rate whenever a ship gets shot down. Even if the ship¡¯s life support system gets fried, it doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯d die immediately. As long as the cockpit block, which also doubles as an escape pod, is intact, there¡¯s a high possibility of those inside surviving the crash.

    Just recently, Refill IV, or Theta to the locals, was raided by the Red g pirates again, and a good number of them were shot down, mostly thanks to Mei and ck Lotus. In other words, they should have been able to capture a reasonable number of prisoners from the downed ships.

    The imperial military, or rather, the Gran empire itself, doesn¡¯t have any mercy when ites to space pirates. The captured pirates should be ted for a lifetime of hardbor, and if they were extremely unlucky, they could be selected as specimens for mad experiments that weren¡¯t fit to be disclosed to the masses. Once selected, they¡¯d have little to no hope of surviving. Their treatment was far from humane.

    ¡°So what do you propose we do to deal with those small-scale bases? Disperse their forces and crush them all at once?¡±

    ¡°Close, but not quite. We willpletely blockade each star system and clean the bases up once the cage is closed shut.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see.¡±

    The Red g pirate organization wasn¡¯t the type that developed by building a singlerge-scale base, but instead one that built argework of small-scale bases interspersed in multiple star systems. Crushing one or two small-case bases wouldn¡¯t cause anysting damage to them. If you wanted to deal with thempletely, you¡¯d need to crush all the small-scale bases scattered throughout the different star systems all at once.

    Therefore, Lt. Col. Serena was nning to block and suppress all the rted hypene nodes of the nearby star systems which housed their small-scale bases in order to create a situation where the pirates wouldn¡¯t be able to enter or exit. Then she¡¯d order an all-out attack in order to annihte all the small-scale Red g bases within the surrounding star systems in one fell swoop. Though this still wouldn¡¯t be able topletely eliminate the Red gs, it would shave a considerable chunk of their sphere of influence within the empire.

    ¡°In order to do that, you¡¯d need urate info regarding the exact location and number of their bases, right?¡±

    ¡°We were able to secure such information, so that¡¯s why I¡¯m confident in conducting this operation.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see¡­¡­¡±

    Were they able to find a bigshot among the captured prisoners? Or did they manage to salvage the navigation data from the wreckage of one of the ships that were shot down? I¡¯m not sure which one, but in any case, it looks like they really were able to get a hold of the info needed to make the operation work.

    ¡°But wouldn¡¯t it be impossible topletely blockade all the star systems with only your independent fleet? Where are you gonna get the needed manpower?¡±

    ¡°They would be mainly from the local star system garrisons. I¡¯m also contacting imperial detachments present in the sector that are currently unengaged.¡±

    ¡°I see. So, that means the attack will be conducted mainly by your independent fleet and contracted mercenaries.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. And I¡¯ll have you y a part as an independent raid ship apart from the main attack force.¡±

    ¡°Roger that. Just the same as usual then.¡±

    If we want to take full advantage of Krishna¡¯s superior mobility and firepower, it would be more efficient to fly around freely on the battlefield instead of joining the battle line.

    ¡°What about ck Lotus acting as part of the rear lines?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯d greatly appreciate that. This ship¡¯s firepower wille in handy after all. Especially its EML. That thing¡¯s power and range are really suitable for attacking bases from a distance after all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s for sure.¡±

    Therge-caliber EML equipped on the ck Lotus¡¯s bow was extremely powerful. Normally, weapon systems using live ammunition aren¡¯t that effective against tough energy shields, but the EML has more than enough power to prate most shields. Of course, it¡¯s also very effective against regr ship armors and hulls, so it was a very effective weapon for use against stationary targets.

    Well, since its projectile¡¯s speed was understandably way slower thanser fire, there¡¯s also the drawback of its hit rate being significantly lower against moving targets. But Mei¡¯s calction speed and uncanny uracy will mostly make up for that though.

    ¡°What are you going to do with the bases? Are you gonna just destroy them with no questions asked?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the n. We have a lot of targets this time after all.¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena shrugged her shoulders and took a sip of the tea Mimi prepared.

    The main source of ie of the Red g pirates was the selling of ves illegally on ck markets. They¡¯d attackary settlements, space colonies, merchant ships, and passenger ships, abduct the residents, passengers, and ship crew, ¡®process¡¯ them, and then sell them off to their clients. I suppose there¡¯s no need for any further exnation about what kind of scum they were.

    In other words, there¡¯s a very high possibility of their ¡®special goods¡¯ being held at their numerous bases. And that¡¯s why we¡¯d destroy them without any questions. After all, there¡¯s no way those involved in the illegal ve trade would be decent folks. Those who have been ¡®processed¡¯ by the pirates into illegal ves would need considerable effort and extraordinary luck in order to regain their lives before they were abducted.

    So far, I haven¡¯t encountered any of those personally though. I¡¯ve never had the opportunity to collect a sleep pod containing a fully ¡®processed¡¯ illegal ve after all.

    ¡°You¡¯re making a long face.¡±

    ¡°Really? I suppose. It¡¯s fine. Don¡¯t mind me.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t a pleasant topic for sure, but an individual can only do so much. If there was no hope of them being saved, perhaps ending it all can also be considered a kind of mercy. In the first ce, it was something I and Lt. Col. Serena couldn¡¯t resolve on our own. Unless the empire itself gets serious about getting rid of it, the problem regarding illegal ves would never truly go away.

    ¡°Fumu, you unexpectedly have your cute side as well huh?¡±

    ¡°Please gimme a break. More importantly, how¡¯s the gathering of our forces going?¡±

    ¡°Our forces would bepletely gathered within 38 hours. Please be sure to prepare yourselves physically and mentally for the uing operation.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, ma¡¯am.¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena, who nodded in satisfaction after hearing my reply, proceeded to get her officers and led them back to their gship; Battleship Restalias.

    Oh, man. I ended up having my mood dampened by thinking about something needlessly. I guess I¡¯ll cheer myself up a bit by flirting with someone.

    While thinking so, I inputted thepletion schedule of the reinforcement gathering on my mobile terminal and decided to loiter around the ship.

 Chapter 270 â€“ In Order to Deceive the Enemyâ€¦

    <h4>Chapter 270 - In Order to Deceive the Enemy¡­</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Two hourster, I found myself preparing to sortie inside Krishna¡¯s cockpit.

    ¡°Um, thepletion time for the convening of reinforcements is after 36 hours, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°So why are we preparing for sortie now then?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. Mimi, what would you do if the roof of your house is about to fall on top of you, or if the entire house is about to burn down due to fire?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ I¡¯d escape to a safe ce?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. In other words, that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    As I replied to the puzzled Mimi who was tilting her head cutely, I ran Krishna¡¯s diagnostic program just in case. Yep. The results were all good. Our ammo supply was perfect. As expected of my crew. The work was very thorough.

    ¡°Um, in other words, we¡¯re preparing now because the pirates might decide to run away?¡±

    ¡°You got it. They¡¯re probably making preparations to escape right about now. And that¡¯s why we need to prepare for an early sortie as well.¡±

    ¡°The Refill Prime colony is a colony with a lot of elves, so it¡¯s rtively difficult for outsiders to do shady activities here without being noticed, but it¡¯s not like there aren¡¯t any of those seedy types who do business with pirates here. They¡¯re probably aware that Lt. Col. Serena, or rather, the imperial military was preparing to take action to some degree already.¡±

    ¡°Lt. Col. Serena wants to catch them off guard. That¡¯s why we¡¯re going to begin the operation way earlier than officially scheduled and get the pirates while their pants are down.¡±

    ¡°I see. But will they really fall for this? And do we have enough forces?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure those have already been ounted for. In the first ce, there¡¯s a good chance the schedule we were given was false from the start.¡±

    There¡¯s a saying that in order to deceive your enemies, you¡¯d need to deceive your allies first. Well, in other words, that¡¯s how it is. We couldn¡¯t be sure when and where an information leak might ur after all. That¡¯s why they disseminated false info to throw the pirates off. But how effective will this strategy prove to be? Well, we¡¯re about to find out.

    ¡°Well, right now, we are just hired guns. Let¡¯s just obediently follow our client¡¯smands¡­¡­ Mei, Krishna is ready to sortie any time.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood. I¡¯m in the middle of processing our departure from the port. As soon as weunch out, we¡¯ll join up with the rest of thebined fleet and begin synchronous navigation.¡»

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡±

    I cut my call with Mei and sank my body deep into the pilot seat. I found Krishna¡¯s main pilot seat reallyfortable to sit on. Perhaps it¡¯s because the ship was meant to be piloted for extended periods of time.

    ¡°In the end, we won¡¯t have anything to do until the main battle starts, so let¡¯s just rx for now. Just take it easy, you two.¡±

    That was what I thought earlier.

    ¡ºEnemy ship detected at Sector 3C. Hurry and head over.¡»

    ¡°Will do!¡±

    It was extremely busy. Who said that we wouldn¡¯t have anything to do until the main battle starts in earnest? I¡¯ll sock him good.

    Ugh. I really thought of things lightly.

    The reason it was this busy was that the ruse was working a lot better than we expected, and many fishes were biting the bait. That¡¯s why Lt. Col. Serena has been continuously making arrangements to intercept and wipe out the escaping pirates as we waited for all of ourbined forces to convene.

    ¡°They¡¯re actually using military spy satellites and anti-FTL traps for this operation. Howvish.¡±

    ¡°Those things are usually reserved for use in conflicts with other countries after all. She¡¯s one nasty woman alright.¡±

    The strategy of Lt. Col. Serena is basically as follows:

    First, she¡¯d scatter high-performance military spy satellites to the areas between the pirate bases and hypene nodes so we¡¯d be able to detect the movements of the pirate ships attempting to escape via hypene. Once those ships get near the entrance of the hypene nodes, she¡¯d activate the anti-FTL traps to interdict them and render their FTL Drives virtually useless. Finally, she¡¯d send out mercenaries like me and the corvettes and destroyers under hermand in order to capture or destroy the grounded and helpless pirate ships.

    ¡°Target spotted. You ready, guys?¡±

    ¡°Whenever you are.¡±

    I aimed Krishna¡¯s fourser cannons straight at the pirate ship currently suffering from uncontrolled multi-axis rolls due to being forcibly interdicted. Since it was next to impossible to get a steady aim in order to simply neutralize the target due to it spinning so much, them surviving my attack would depend on the pirate¡¯s luck.

    ¡°Here you go. Fire, fire!¡±

    The green-colored destructiveser rays mercilesslyunched out and directly hit the pirate ship¡¯s energy shield. Oh? It¡¯s actually pretty tough huh?

    ¡ºS-Stooop!?¡»

    ¡°Sorry, but no.¡±

    They were desperately begging for mercy, but I¡¯m not gonna hear any of it. There¡¯s not enough time to take it slow and capture prisoners, and Krishna doesn¡¯t have enough space to hold surrendered prisoners anyway. Its cargo hold is too small to contain a surrendered pirate ship¡¯s cockpit block.

    In the first ce, pirates would never choose to surrender unless they think that the situation was absolutely hopeless. After all, once they surrender, their fate would be to be used as guinea pigs in inhumane experiments, and even if they didn¡¯t die from those outright, they¡¯d still be in for a lifetime of suffering¡­¡­ Yeah, it was pretty harsh.

    ¡°Target has bailed out.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s rare. Okay then. Make sure to mark the escape pod and the ship¡¯s main body.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, sir.¡±

    Once we¡¯ve marked it, we¡¯d be able to recover the rest of the ship and its cargo as part of our loot without any danger of someone else stealing a march on uster on. The military would eventually deal with the escape pod themselves. It would be a valuable source of information after all.

    ¡°Sector 3C, clear.¡±

    ¡ºRoger. Hurry and move to Sector 7D.¡»

    ¡°Roger that. Moving to Sector 7D.¡±

    I activated our FTL Drive and started moving to the specified point. For now, the IFF systems of anti-FTL traps were working without a hitch. Well, they better be, since identally interdicting your allied forces would be a big pain after all.

    ¡°The anti-FTL traps are really amazing, aren¡¯t they? Can¡¯t we make use of them as well?¡±

    ¡°Oh, uh, I wonder. I personally have no idea regarding how to operate them.¡±

    Although anti-FTL traps did exist in SOL, their actual method of use wasn¡¯t really exined in detail. So, unfortunately, I didn¡¯t know much regarding them.

    ¡°Anti-FTL traps are designed to be deployed from military ships after all, so I think it would be difficult. Besides, it¡¯s far more powerful and has a lot more rangepared to standard interdictors, but it¡¯s not suitable for mercenary work since it¡¯s not very flexible. You can¡¯t make full use of their range unless you use them in tandem with military spy and recon satellites.¡±

    ¡°There you go, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Mimi was impressed after hearing Elma¡¯s detailed exnation. I was also really impressed with the breadth of Elma¡¯s knowledge about stuff like these. You can really count on Elma¡¯s knowledge and experience in times like these. I really didn¡¯t know a lot about this world apart from what I¡¯ve learned from SOL, so apart from game knowledge, I practically knew jack squat.

    ¡°But they were supposedly gunning to develop a more destructive weapon initially when they were developing the tech for interdictors. What did they call it again? Super-graviton cannon[1]? Gravity Burst[2]?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s bad, Elma-san! Don¡¯t go any further!¡±

    ¡°Huh? What is?¡±

    ¡°Oh, uh, nothing. Don¡¯t mind me.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but react¡­¡­ But those names though¡­¡­ Anyway, it seems that interdictor tech was originally derived from gravity or mass maniption technology, and if the tech were to be developed into more directly destructive weapon systems, they¡¯d eventually get names like that. It¡¯s inevitable, I suppose.

    ¡°Let¡¯s move on with the story then. So, they managed to vastly improve the overall range, but their power was drastically lowered as a consequence, so they didn¡¯t manage to develop destructive weaponry as they initially intended. But they were still really useful for messing with the FTL Drives of ships in an extremely wide area, so they came to be known as the anti-FTL traps of today.¡±

    ¡°¡±I see.¡±¡±

    We arrived at the target sector while listening to Elma¡¯s trivia. I deactivated the FTL Drive and discovered another pirate ship spinning out of control in the middle of outer space again.

    ¡°Target spotted. We¡¯re taking it down.¡±

    ¡°¡±Aye, aye, sir.¡±¡±

    Now then, it looks like Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s strategy was working pretty well so far. If we continue to reduce their numbers steadily like this, we¡¯d be able to wipe out the Red g space pirates hanging around in the Refill system without much fuss.

    Our forces would be fully assembled in about thirty hours more, and once that happens, we¡¯d begin a full-scale subjugation operation in earnest. Now then, I wonder how many more pirates would fall for the trap.

    Notes:

    [1] Super-graviton cannon - The superweapon used by the Fleet of Fog ships in Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio [2] Gravity Burst - one of the signature abilities of Hearts; a character that appears in Dragon Ball Super

 Chapter 271 â€“ A Brief Respite in the Midst of Something Fishy

    <h4>Chapter 271 - A Brief Respite in the Midst of Something Fishy</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°It¡¯s in times like these that I really learn to appreciate Krishna¡¯sfortable living environment.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s true. It¡¯s all thanks to Mimi¡¯s foresight that we get to enjoy this.¡±

    ¡°I-Is that so? Ehehe.¡±

    Mimi smiled sheepishly after hearing Elma and mypliments.

    It¡¯s been roughly about six hours after the blockade started while waiting for all our allied forces to gather up. The pirates finally stopped biting the bait, and we decided to chill inside Krishna¡¯s dining room for a bit. The mobilized mercenaries were allowed to dock and rest up insiderge-ss imperial military ships if they wanted to, but that wasn¡¯t necessary for us since we had Krishna already.

    ¡ºAre you guys gonna be fine without any maintenance?¡»

    Tina asked us with a tinge of worry in her voice through the holo-disy installed inside Krishna¡¯s dining room. They were also taking a break on the Lotus, so we decided to contact them like this.

    ¡°We really didn¡¯t consume that much ammo, and we basically just shot down helpless stationary targets. It¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve already performed a diagnostics check earlier, and just like Hiro said, there are currently no problems. Just focus on your work, guys.¡±

    ¡ºAlright.¡»

    ¡°Please be careful over there too.¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye.¡»

    After Tina replied, she dropped the call. It took us about half an hour topletely salvage all the loot from the tagged pirate ships. They should have their hands full sorting the salvaged ships back on the Lotus.

    ¡°We basically haven¡¯t incurred any losses during this operation so far huh.¡±

    ¡°We did make use of anti-FTL traps after all. We did well to take the initiative, and that¡¯s why we didn¡¯t suffer any damage.¡±

    ¡°And our targets were standard pirate ships after all.¡±

    In the end, only one ship proved to have some pretty tough energy shields. I wonder what¡¯s up with that. Did we actually manage to bag a Red g bigshot? Or maybe it was a ck market merchant or shady official who just happened toe to do business with the pirates at this timing. Well, they did manage to bail out their cockpit block, and we made sure to tag them, so the imperial military should have the passengers in their hands right about now and were probably being subjected to interrogation. While I was thinking that, a call came in. What¡¯s up? It¡¯s from Battleship Restalias? Lt. Col. Serena?

    ¡°Yes, this is Krishna¡¯s Captain Hiro speaking.¡±

    ¡ºOh, it seems you were in the middle of having a meal.¡»

    ¡°Hello, Lt. Col. Serena. What¡¯s up?¡±

    Just like I thought, the caller was Lt. Col. Serena. Yep. It¡¯s from our currentmander for this particr operation, Lt. Col. Serena. Even if I¡¯m both a tinum ranker and Gold Star awardee, isn¡¯t it inappropriate for a mere mercenary to have this much of a connection to ourmander?

    ¡ºI¡¯ll get straight to the point. Do you remember tagging a ship that had its cockpit block sessfully bail out?¡»

    ¡°Yes, of course. They were pretty strange for pirates. And what about it?¡±

    ¡ºCan you hand over the contents of the cockpit block without asking any questions?¡»

    I looked at Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s serious expression and eventually nodded.

    ¡°OK. We didn¡¯t see anything and didn¡¯t shoot down such a ship. Would you like us to hand over the rted logs as well?¡±

    ¡ºPlease. Well then, if you¡¯ll excuse me.¡»

    ¡°Aye, aye, ma¡¯am.¡±

    After I saluted at her image projected by the holo-disy, Lt. Col. Serena nodded curtly in response and dropped the call.

    ¡°I wonder what that was about?¡±

    ¡°No idea. Anyway, we didn¡¯t see or remember anything regarding that ship, guys. It just smells of something troublesome.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that would be for the best.¡±

    It seemed like a pretty serious affair earlier, so odds are it has something to do with nobles, or probably a scandal within the imperial military. How scary. I absolutely don¡¯t wanna get involved in something so dangerous. God forbid.

    ¡°Um, but aren¡¯t you guys the least bit curious?¡±

    ¡°Well, sure we are. But what will we do if we carelessly poke our noses and get burned as a result?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­That doesn¡¯t sound so good.¡±

    ¡°Right?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just forget it.¡±

    Its energy shield seemed a bit tougher than average, so we might be able to sell it for a pretty good price if we salvaged it. Oh well, it can¡¯t be helped. It¡¯s a favor to Lt. Col. Serena, so I¡¯m sure she would make up for it in some way.

    ¡°Hiro, what do you think about this whole operation so far?¡±

    ¡°Hm? Let¡¯s see. It¡¯s really odd. Uh, it¡¯s pretty efficient, sure. But how should I put this¡­? It just feels like some shady stuff is going on in the background.¡±

    ¡°What makes you say that?¡±

    ¡°Supposedly, the main purpose of this operation is to wipe out the Red g pirates in the surrounding systems. But y¡¯know¡­¡­ I just can¡¯t help but feel there¡¯s some other purpose to this operation than what they¡¯re letting on.¡±

    It¡¯s not like I waspletely certain, but Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s movements kinda felt suspicious to me somehow. Shepleted the blockade way earlier than what was stated in the n. Then there¡¯s that bit with the strange ship and telling us not to ask any questions. The early blockade only seeded because they purposely gave out false intel after all. Come to think of it, the Refill system¡¯sary defenses have been breached twice already and they suffered two sessiveary raids in a very short time period. It all seemed really suspicious.

    ¡°That¡¯s how I see it.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Now that you¡¯ve mentioned it, things do seem pretty fishy, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°We have no choice but to be careful not to get ourselves caught up in whatever trouble is going on and simply do our job. Somehow, I really doubt we can though.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. If you had someone on hand who can aplish whatever dangerous mission you throw at him and return in one piece, there¡¯s no way you¡¯d miss out on making use of him, huh. Anyone would do the same. Heck, even I would.¡±

    ¡°Moreover, You have enough skills to sh with Drawn Sword faction nobles and win, Hiro. There¡¯s no way she¡¯s gonna miss out on a piece who can be used to great effect in both space and meleebat.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t really wanna hear that sort of assessment. Personally, I think I specialize more in spacebat with starships though¡­¡­¡±

    In shogi[1] terms, I¡¯d be a unit that can function both as a ¡®keima''[2] and a ¡®ginshou''[3]. Once there¡¯s a chance for checkmate, I¡¯m sure I¡¯d be sent out to the frontlines without any hesitation on themander¡¯s part.

    ¡°Gah, let¡¯s just stop. Thinking about it just makes me more and more depressed. Let¡¯s just take a nice bath and chill inside the cockpit for now.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nice. Who will enter first?¡±

    ¡°You can go ahead, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Eh? You aren¡¯t nning on entering together with Hiro-samater, are you, Elma-san?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Whatever do you mean by that?¡±

    Under Mimi¡¯s scrutiny, Elma couldn¡¯t help but avert her eyes. Hou, that sounds really wonderful, actually. Yes, wonderful indeed. But it¡¯s quite difficult to choose between the two of them in this situation. It¡¯s not like they¡¯d get angry¡­¡­ but I better not say anything anyway. I¡¯ll just shut up and watch things unfold. It¡¯s better that way.

    ¡°Okay then. I¡¯ll concede the bath, but I¡¯ll take nap time in return, alright?¡±

    ¡°OK. That¡¯s a deal.¡±

    Right. Even if I don¡¯t say anything, the parties involved will just resolve the matter by themselves anyway. Well, it¡¯s not like I can do anything apart from going with the flow anyway. I didn¡¯t n on doing anything in the first ce.

    I watched Mimi¡¯s back as she cheerfully left in the direction of the bathroom while thinking of another appropriate topic to chat about with Elma. In any case, I can¡¯t tease Elma about her earlier deal with Mimi. That¡¯s no good.

    ¡°Come to think of it, we never got the chance to visit the Rose n¡¯s territory in the end huh. Since we¡¯re gonnand on Refill IV again to hand that thing back to the elvester, let¡¯s pay them a visit at that time.¡±

    ¡°Nn, right. I don¡¯t really have that much of a close rtionship with my rtives there, so it¡¯s not like we really need to pay them a visit¡­¡­ Well, since we¡¯ve found ourselves all the way to the elven mother system this time around, it would be rude not to show my face for a bit at least.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m not rted to them by blood, but technically, they¡¯re also my rtives now, so I want to pay them a visit too.¡±

    ¡°¡­Right.¡±

    Elma hid her face from view, but her pointy ears were bright red, so it¡¯s clear she was both happy and embarrassed. Even if she hides her ears with both hands, her reaction was just that obvious, so it was pretty pointless to try and hide it anyway. She should just show her face and save herself the trouble.

    ¡°What kind of people are your rtives anyway?¡±

    ¡°Un, my memory¡¯s pretty fuzzy since I was just a kid when I first came here¡­¡­¡±

    I spent time listening to Elma¡¯s stories regarding her rtives, the Willroses, who belonged to the main Rose n until Mimi finally came out of the bath. Yeah, it was good to have some time to cool down and rx like this even during an operation. Anyway, it was great that I wasn¡¯t all alone. I should treasure the fact that I was blessed with such greatpanions.

    TL Notes:

    [1] Shogi: Japanese chess. It¡¯s also called the Game of Generals. [2] Keima: Corresponds to the Knight piece in international chess. [3] Ginshou: Silver General in English. Doesn¡¯t have any corresponding piece in international chess. It moves like a King piece but isn¡¯t one.

 Chapter 272 â€“ Number One Ace

    <h4>Chapter 272 - Number One Ace</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Approximately thirty hourster, thebined forces convened as nned, and the imperial military, or rather, the independent anti-pirate fleet led by Lt. Col. Serenamenced their simultaneous attack on the Red g pirate bases in the Refill system.

    ¡°Our target is Pirate Base Bravo.¡±

    ¡°Man. To think there were actually two pirate bases on a single star system. Just how early did they n for thoseary raids?¡±

    There are various types of pirate bases, but most of them are modifiedrge asteroids. Their insides are hollowed out first, and then they¡¯d build simple residential sections within. If expansion was needed, they¡¯d bring in another asteroid or two, and connect them to the original one to make a unifiedplex.

    The reason they¡¯d go out of their way to modify asteroids is, of course, to hide their base from the prying eyes of mercenaries and military forces hunting for them. A modified asteroid base was a lot more difficult to find than a regr base. That¡¯s because there are just so many of them in star systems that it was next to impossible to scrutinize them one by one. ¡­Wait. Maybe the independent AIs can actually do such a thing. It just feels like they¡¯d have a method or two on hand. Anyway, in SOL at least, the thing I mentioned was one of the major reasons why pirates built modified asteroid bases ording to game lore.

    By the way, it¡¯s not like there weren¡¯t any special pirate bases that utilized building materials with a high degree of stealth capability. They were pretty rare though. I don¡¯t know how many yers managed to encounter one during game events in SOL exactly, but anyway, their outside appearance was very SF-like, and their high stealth capability made them very difficult to detect on radars.

    Once discovered, yers always blew them up shily using anti-ship reactive torpedoes, EMLs, or missile storms though.

    ¡°Building bases isn¡¯t exactly easy, and it takes quite a bit of time. The pirates having two bases regardless likely means they were nning to hunt elves here for quite some time now. Maybe they found a pretty rich buyer?¡±

    ¡°A buyer?¡±

    ¡°Piracy is still kind of a business after all. They were serious enough to build two bases. That means they were pretty confident that they¡¯ll be able to recoup such an investment. It¡¯s reasonable to think that they managed to find a buyer rich enough to be willing to pay an exorbitant price for captured elves.¡±

    After all, elves were generally very pleasing to the eyes, and their lives were long as well. Also, a lot of them were very skilled in psionic power maniption. Hm. Maybe they were still quite the hotmodity in the ck markets even without a rich buyer in the equation?

    ¡°Maybe we¡¯re just overthinking things. Elves do seem like they¡¯d fetch a pretty high price in ck markets after all.¡±

    ¡°There are a lot of beautiful elves after all.¡±

    ¡°Look, I know you two meant that as praise, sort of, but it just feels weird to hear your race being evaluated as having high value as ves.¡±

    Elma, who noticed Mimi and I were focused on her,ined glumly. Well, that¡¯s true, I suppose. I mean, she¡¯ll probably fetch a high sum too. She¡¯s really cute after all. But admit that does sound weird.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just drop the topic of troubles behind the scenes, guys. We¡¯ll be arriving soon.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, alright.¡±

    Soon, we¡¯ll be disengaging from synchronous navigation and arrive near the location of pirate base Bravo. The main force spearheading the attack was the independent anti-pirate fleet led by Lt. Col. Serena and mercenaries like us. By the way, a mixed forceposed of the Refill system garrison, which isposed mostly of Rose n members, and imperial detachments gathered from other systems were in charge of bringing down pirate base Alpha. I¡¯ve heard that the Refill system garrison was particrly fired up and wanted to regain their honor by making this operation a sess.

    ¡°This is a bit nerve-wracking.¡±

    ¡°Really? We¡¯d probably have it easy this time. We still shouldn¡¯t let our guards down though.¡±

    ¡°Why is that?¡±

    ¡°We did that whole blockade trap thing, right? The base probably doesn¡¯t have even half of its original forces left.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see.¡±

    ¡°What Hiro said makes sense, but we really can¡¯t afford to let our guards down just yet. There¡¯s no telling what the pirates might do since they¡¯ve been cornered this far.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Who knows. Maybe they¡¯d be desperate enough to break a Singing Crystal or something.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s gonna be really troublesome¡­¡­¡±

    After hearing my example, Mimi¡¯s cheeks twitched. A Singing Crystal was a troublesome object that would attract arge number of crystal lifeforms to the spot where it gets destroyed. In SOL, it was an item used to start a Raid event. In this dimension, it¡¯s a special-grade dangerous item that¡¯s deemed highly illegal.

    Come to think of it, just what is that thing anyway? I mean, isn¡¯t it pretty crazy that the reverberations created from destroying it can cross space-time in order to instantly generate a breakout of crystal lifeforms? If its nature can be sessfully researched further, it might lead to another major breakthrough in FTL tech.

    ¡°C¡¯mon, focus. We¡¯re about to warp out.¡±

    ¡°Oops, sorry. Let¡¯s get started then.¡±

    A thunderous boom echoed all throughout the cockpit, and the surrounding light streams turned stationary once more.

    ¡ºCommand to all ships. We will now begin the attack and destroy the enemy pirate base. Large-ss ships, silence the enemy base defense modules with precision long-range bombardment. All medium and small-ss ships will focus on directly eliminating enemy ships. Destroyers, focus on defending ourrge-ss ships.¡»

    ¡°Roger. Alright, let¡¯s do this.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, sir. Switching sensor range tobat mode.¡±

    ¡°Switching generator output from cruise mode tobat mode as well. Weapon systems, activate. Sub-systems, stand-by. Whenever you¡¯re ready, Captain.¡±

    ¡°Yosh, let¡¯s aim for number one Ace. Elma, activate the heat sink.¡±

    ¡°Wai-!?¡±

    I punched Krishna¡¯s thrusters to maximum output and charged straight at the pirate base. Yep, as expected, it was a modified asteroid type. I spotted something that looks like a maintenance dock. So was this their main base?

    ¡°Multiple energy readings detected from within the enemy base. The defense modules have activated! Anti-spacecraft fire, iing!¡±

    ¡°Chaff and res!¡±

    ¡°I know!¡±

    The emergency cooling system kicked in coupled with a beeping sound, and while the cockpit¡¯s temperature rapidly cooled down, Elma deployed the res and chaffs. At the same time, I fired the afterburners that sent the ship screaming past the high-caliberser cannon bombardment that inundated our previous position. Theser bombardment was from the defense systems of the pirate base. It looks like we managed to throw their aim off with the chaff and res.

    Oh, no, I think they actually managed to graze us a bit. It wasn¡¯t a direct hit, so we¡¯re safe.

    ¡°Hey! We just got grazed, didn¡¯t we!?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, we¡¯re fine. C¡¯mon, we¡¯re going in.¡±

    Therge-caliberser cannon arrays equipped on these bases had high power and uracy, but they weren¡¯t capable of precise and quick adjustments. It would be difficult for them to get a lock if we kept moving around and gradually shortened the distance. There¡¯s also a risk of friendly fire if they forced it. And with Krishna¡¯s superior speed and agility, once we¡¯ve thrown their aim once, we¡¯d be able to close in with no problems.

    The moment I got my groove on and prepared to unleash hell on the base, a call suddenly came in. It was Lt. Col. Serena.

    ¡ºThis is yourmander. Krishna, please maintain your current course. Countdown. 5, 4-¡»

    ¡°Are you serious!? Elma, activate the shield cell!¡±

    ¡°Aah, mou!¡±

    Even if we¡¯ve shaken off the heavy-caliberser cannons, there were still the medium and small-caliber cannons for close-range defense to worry about, as well as multi-cannon turrets, and seeker missiles. If we kept our course, we¡¯d be eating those in the face y¡¯know!?

    ¡°W-We¡¯re taking hits!?¡±

    ¡°Dammit all! Hold! Hoooold goddamit!¡±

    While keeping a straight course, I kept pushing the afterburners to rapidly close in on the pirate base at maximum speed. But, after all, since we were advancing in a straight course without making any evasive maneuvers, we couldn¡¯t help but take in anti-spacecraft fire. We were steadily getting pounded.

    Stop! We¡¯re gonna die at this rate! Wait, the shield cell barely managed to recharge in time!?

    Huh? Isn¡¯t the energy depletion less than I expected?

    ¡º3, 2, 1-¡»

    The moment the countdown finished, a storm ofrge-caliberser cannons fireunched from behind us andnded squarely on the pirate base, causing crazy explosions everywhere. It looks like therge-ss allied ships managed to destroy all the anti-spacecraft defense modules that were aiming at Krishna.

    ¡ºYou did a good job. You can move around the battlefield freely now.¡»

    ¡°You better remember this, dammit!¡±

    Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t have any more leeway to rant any further. Thatdy really was bonkers.

    ¡ºOf course, I will. I¡¯ll make sure to give you a suitable reward for your excellent services. Command, out.¡»

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant! Hey, wait-!¡±

    ¡°The transmission¡¯s been cut off.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m about to lose it too¡­¡­¡±

    I feel like this was the first time my life was truly at risk ever since I got sent to this dimension. If it wasn¡¯t for Krishna, we wouldn¡¯t have survived that.

    ¡°Anyway, just calm down for now. We¡¯re entrusting our lives to you right now after all.¡±

    ¡°I know! Dammit!¡±

    Anyway, I probably wouldn¡¯t be satisfied unless I hit that beautiful face at least once. Depending on how it goes, I¡¯m even up for a duel.

    ¡°But the shield really held out well¡­¡­ One mistake and we would have been goners.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­ It unexpectedly held out.¡±

    Elma cocked her head in wonder. What did she have to cock her head to the side for? She¡¯s the one who was in charge of the shields.

    ¡°Maybe the defense modules of the pirate base were weaker than we expected?¡±

    ¡°Ah, right. That¡¯s certainly possible.¡±

    Maybe they weren¡¯t being maintained properly so their output got drastically lowered. If the lens part of theser cannon was dirty, it wouldn¡¯t be able to properly focus theser projectile and the power would get reduced.

    ¡°Oh well. Let¡¯s just focus on the battle right now.¡±

    Although we were unfortunately used as a decoy, the defense modules of the pirate base were almostpletely destroyed as a result, and the remaining pirate forces in the base didn¡¯t number a lot due to our previous baiting tactics. Now we only needed to crush the remaining defense modules while watching out for the remaining pirate ships. Let¡¯s get this over with then. So I can sock Lt. Col. Serenater. That¡¯s a promise.

 Chapter 273 â€“ Aftermath and a Revelation from those Observing from Afar

    <h4>Chapter 273 - Aftermath and a Revtion from those Observing from Afar</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Lt. Col. Serena sent imperial marines to storm the now-defenseless pirate base.

    ¡°I thought we were going to destroy the base without any mercy?¡±

    ¡°They probably want to gather more data from the base in order to improve the uracy of the information they have on hand. That¡¯s if they don¡¯t get baited with false info.¡±

    While exining, I continued to control the drones to check out the downed pirate ships thatunched out to intercept us earlier to strip them of usable or valuable items.

    ¡°Yes, yes, simmer down already, will you? I know you¡¯re still pissed about what happened, but try to focus for now.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yeah. I¡¯ll try.¡±

    Yep, I was still pissed about that earlier stunt. Well, of course, I was. After all, if things went wrong, we would have died. And not just me. Mimi and Elma would have died too. I admit that the colonel¡¯s orders were effective. As a result, an extremely efficient bombardment was carried out, and the defense systems of the pirate base were almostpletely wiped out in one fell swoop. Since Krishna drew most of the anti-spacecraft fire, their firing lines would have been entirely exposed to the allied ships in the rear.

    And we only survived that ordeal mostly through luck. The shield wasn¡¯t prated, and even if it was, we could still rely on Krishna¡¯s armor for defense. Even if theser fire did punch through our energy shield, we wouldn¡¯t have gone down that easily due to our ship¡¯s tough armor.

    ¡°In the first ce, you¡¯re going up against a bona fide imperial military lieutenant colonel as well as the mainmander of this operation. She¡¯s also our current client. Even if her orders were reckless, it¡¯s not like you can hit or sh at her in retaliation, right? You really can¡¯t do anything drastic, so just calm down already.¡±

    ¡°Oh, believe me, I know. That¡¯s why I obeyed her order in the end, right? I only want to get at least one good hit in y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t¡­¡­ The other party¡¯s an imperial noble and the daughter of a marquis you know.¡±

    Elma sighed in exasperation. I know. I know, okay? Depending on how you look at the matter, one might not find any issue regarding Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s order. But¡­ yeah, that¡¯s right. It depends on how you look at it.

    ¡°What I¡¯m really pissed about is the fact that she willingly risked my life and the lives of my crew members by brazenly ordering us to keep our course to draw anti-spacecraft fire. And as a result, I ended up showing something unsightly to the other mercenaries, and I basically didn¡¯t have any choice.¡±

    If I get called a rookie because of that earlier fiasco, wouldn¡¯t I be unable to refute the naysayers? There¡¯s a lot of other mercenaries present after all. The fact that I took anti-spacecraft fire in the face like a stupid sitting duck would affect my reputation, okay?

    ¡°Well, yeah¡­¡­ that¡¯s true. I hope your reputation doesn¡¯t take a hit because of that.¡±

    ¡°Is it really that serious?¡±

    Mimi cocked her head to the side after seeing me acting all indignant and Elma smiling bitterly in response.

    ¡°Mimi, a tinum ranker¡¯s reputation isn¡¯t something to be taken lightly. tinum rankers are the pinnacle of elites among an already small group of extremely skilled mercenaries. They are at the very top of the pyramid. The best of the best. The absolute kings of the mercenary world. If a tinum ranker performs miserably in an operation, it could smear the reputation of all tinum rankers as a result.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ We can¡¯t afford to get underestimated, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m about 70% angry that both your lives were exposed to danger, and the remaining 30% is exactly due to being forced to disy what can be viewed as an amateurish mistake. Just thought I had to make that clear.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, I know. You¡¯re a captain who cares deeply for your crew members after all.¡±

    Elma gently patted my thigh as she gave me a consoling look. Honestly, I¡¯m still quite angry about the whole thing, but if I kept this up, it would trouble Mimi and Elma as well. Let¡¯s just try and move on then.

    Before long, the pirate base waspletely suppressed, and the fleet was ordered to return to Refill Prime. For the time being, the ships that were captured were going to be towed and ced in a temporary shipyard (which was basically nothing but empty space) near the colony. The Refill star system garrison was assigned to guard the area in order to prevent scavengers from sneakily stripping off and stealing parts of the ships.

    ¡°Well, we already stripped off the most valuable parts though.¡±

    ¡°Yep. And there¡¯s a danger of deterioration if ya just left those ships stranded in space without them bein¡¯ airtight and all.¡±

    Tina nodded while checking the ship parts she managed to salvage through her tablet terminal.

    ¡°Apart from the hull frame and armor, the other parts are basically precision instruments after all. If they degrade, it¡¯s going to be troublesome to repair them.¡±

    While saying so, Whisker also busied herself with operating her tablet terminal. Under the control of the two sisters, the maintenance bots and drones hastily moved about the warehouse, scanning, carrying, and repairing parts as needed.

    ¡°How is it? Can we use them to upgrade our ship?¡±

    ¡°Nn, it¡¯s not really that promising. Well, they¡¯re above average, sure. But that¡¯s onlypared to the parts of other typical pirate ships.¡±

    ¡°They aren¡¯t on the level of parts used by mercenaries and the military.¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s possible for them to get better parts if they really wanted to. I mean, can¡¯t they target civilian ships transporting high-grade equipment or capture merchant escort ships for the parts?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. How strange.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yeah, about that. That kind of high-quality equipment is usually reserved for the big bosses and those close to them. Unless they were forced to by certain circumstances, those types of high-quality equipment usually don¡¯t get passed down to the lower ranks.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ By the way, I have another question, Boss.¡±

    Tina stopped fiddling with her tablet and looked up at me.

    ¡°Why are there still a lot of space pirates even now? I mean, starships aren¡¯t exactly cheap. And besides, mercenaries and the military keep hunting them down, right? So why haven¡¯t they been eradicated yet?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because lots of people from space colonies end up joining their ranks and replenishing their numbers constantly. There are those desperate folks from the slums and those so-called ouws.¡±

    The degree of political corruption in the Gran empire isn¡¯t that high mainly because of the secret maneuverings of the independent AIs in the background, but despite that, there are still quite a number of people who fail and drop out. Termaine Prime, where I first went when I got thrown into this world and met Mimi and Elma, was a hotbed for such incidents. The future of the people forced to live in those kinds of slums is simply far too hopeless. There aren¡¯t that many who fell but managed to crawl their way back up. The people there would often form gangs andmit crimes to scrape a living. And the extension of that is turning to piracy.

    ¡°No matter how much they struggle, they just can¡¯t get back up. If that¡¯s the case, then they¡¯d rather be the ones who take away from others as well. The pirates also capitalize on this as much as they can and throw around a lot of money in order to buy off crucial info circting within colonies. And if the pirates deem someone useful, odds are they¡¯d try to recruit him or her. If they¡¯re not willing, they¡¯d just kidnap them. After all, no one would give a damn if people from the slums or some ouws go missing.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­ I see. Yeah, I think stuff like that happened in my old stompin¡¯ grounds too. I knew guys who built some connections with space pirates, and suddenly, we don¡¯t see ¡¯em anymore.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. They either get forced to join a pirate crew or just get scammed and sold off as ves.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s terrible¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°They still wouldn¡¯t get a good end the moment they be pirates anyway. As you guys already know, pirate ships are almost always stolen modified civilian ships. Their equipment isn¡¯t really of good quality by any stretch of the imagination. They¡¯re technically all free though. That¡¯s cause they¡¯re all stolen.¡±

    But they also had to consider manpower, energy for operating the ships, and ammo. Well, I suppose they get the parts and funds for repairs through plundering too. And also, I¡¯ve heard that some pirate inmates in prison colonies get reported as deceased and released in secret as well. It seems there were several instances where such schemes got discovered and everyone who was involved got summarily purged.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s how it is. Unless all humans in the known gxy getpletely controlled and society gets turned into a utopia or dystopia, pirates probably won¡¯t ever truly disappear. Even if a pirate organization or two gets eradicated, chances are, some other organization will just move in to take over after some time. And once that happens, everything just returns to square one.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a deep-seated problem, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Ah, I have another question, Boss.¡±

    ¡°What is it this time?¡±

    ¡°Does Krishna have some sort of special energy shield system or something? I don¡¯t remember encountering one when we perform maintenance on it though.¡±

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s a hidden ck box installed somewhere around the generator?¡±

    The two of them cocked their heads to the side as they gave me questioning looks. As far as I knew, something like that doesn¡¯t exist. Before I came to this dimension, I used to fly Krishna around a lot in SOL, but I never had a hidden system like that activate even once. Of course, that only applies to before I got shoved here.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it does, but why¡¯d you ask anyway?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Oh, well, that¡¯s cuz the anti-spacecraft fire from the pirate base got bent like crazy whenever they hit Krishna¡¯s shield, Boss.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­? I¡¯m sorry,e again?¡±

    They bent away? The anti-spacecraft fire?

    ¡°I think it¡¯s probably just limited toser shots, but they did get bent and deflected like they were avoidin¡¯ Krishna or somethin¡¯. I haven¡¯t heard or seen of a workin¡¯ser deflection shield system until now though.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Seriously?¡±

    ¡°Seriously. You didn¡¯t notice, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Weren¡¯t you flying the ship, Big Brother?¡±

    ¡°Uh, we did think the shield held up surprisingly well under all that fire, and Elma found it strange too¡­¡­ So something like that actually happened?¡±

    Just what the heck¡¯s going on here? Did Krishna truly have a hiddenser deflection shield function, and I simply just wasn¡¯t aware? Krishna¡¯s pretty mysterious after all, and it was a unique ship without anything remotely simr to it in SOL. I¡¯m not sure if a simr unit really didn¡¯t exist though.

    ¡°It looks like you really had no idea huh, Boss. If that¡¯s the case, then what the heck was that then? We¡¯re really, really curious here.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s unknown tech after all. How about we check Krishna out againter, Sis?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. We can check it out after maintenance, right?¡±

    ¡°Sure, I don¡¯t mind, but don¡¯t mess around with it too much because we might have to sortie again soon.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to us, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡±

    With that said, the two of them headed straight for the hangar where Krishna was currently parked.

    An unknown function¡­ Aser deflection shield huh¡­¡­ If there really was such a thing, it¡¯s strange that we haven¡¯t noticed it until now. No matter how it actually worked, it would take a huge amount of energy to bend and deflectser beams from cannons like the ones installed on the pirate base. If thatser deflection shield system activated, used up energy from the generator like crazy, and caused Krishna¡¯s energy output to drop rapidly, Elma and Mimi should have noticed. Of course, I would have too.

    ¡°But since it actually did happen, just where did that amount of energye from any- Ah¡­¡±

    There really was something. There¡¯s something that can probably provide the huge amount of energy required. I was even asked to bring it with me and ended up stashing it inside Krishna. I didn¡¯t stuff it inside the cockpit, of course. I should have left it in a corner of the dining room.

    ¡°It can¡¯t be¡­¡­ But there¡¯s no other possible cause.¡±

    I¡¯ve heard some distant gctic countries did make use of such tech to power their starships, so it¡¯s not imusible. Anyway, let me check it out first.

 Chapter 274 â€“ Realization and Dining Together

    <h4>Chapter 274 - Realization and Dining Together</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Ah, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama.¡±

    When I arrived at the dining room where I left the Sacred Tree seed, I met up with Mimi and Elma who were in the middle of taking a break- or so I thought. It turns out that the two of them were scrutinizing the Sacred Tree seed that was now ced on top of the dining table.

    ¡°I was about to check that thing out too. So, how is it?¡±

    ¡°Well, something did happen alright¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You can tell from one nce.¡±

    When I looked over Mimi¡¯s shoulder to check out the Sacred Tree seed sitting on top of the table, I found that something certainly was different. Its shape didn¡¯t change much, but the ¡®drill¡¯ tips have changed to look more crystalline and had a bluish hue. Are you sure you¡¯re really a nt?

    ¡°What the heck is this?¡±

    ¡°The moment we arrived, it already looked like this.¡±

    ¡°There are many things we don¡¯t know about it after all.¡±

    ¡°So you don¡¯t know what happened to it too, Elma. Yeah, I suppose you don¡¯t.¡±

    Elma might be an elf, but she was born and raised in the imperial capital. She already said that she wasn¡¯t that familiar with Refill IV¡¯s history or legends before.

    But now I was almost a hundred percent sure that this thing was the cause of thatser beam bending phenomenon. Gah, you¡¯re too bright. Stop shining dammit. Both tips, which now looked like blue crystals, shone even brighter than before.

    ¡°OK, OK, calm down already. Were you the one that caused thoseser beams to bend away from us in the earlier battle?¡±

    Mimi and Elma both got gobsmacked, but I ignored them for the time being and looked straight at the Sacred Tree seed. After a short while, the seed shed once in reply. If I remember correctly, two shes mean ¡®yes¡¯ and one sh means ¡®no¡¯. So it¡¯s a ¡®no¡¯ huh.

    ¡°Really? You¡¯re not lying, are you?¡±

    The seed shone twice. It replied immediately this time.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna change the question then. Were you involved in some form with thoseser beams bending away?¡±

    It replied with two shes immediately after my question. So it¡¯s saying it wasn¡¯t the main cause but it was definitely rted huh. So that means¡­

    ¡°I was the one who bent theser beams and you just assisted me?¡±

    The Sacred Tree seed shone twice even faster than before as if to say ¡®Yeah, that¡¯s it!¡¯ or something like that. I see, I see. I¡¯m not sure how exactly everything happened, but basically, at that point, I was praying from the bottom of my heart for the ship to withstand theser volley. I guess this guy was saying my feelings caused a miracle or something to that effect.

    ¡°It may sound unbelievable, but apparently, this thing amplified the mysterious power sleeping inside me to bend theser cannon fire during the battle.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ Doesn¡¯t that sound like the psionic shields the Vuelzarus Holy Empire employs on their starships?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but yeah, it¡¯s probably simr.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t really sure because I haven¡¯t actually seen the real thing, but I think the psionic technology employed in that empire¡¯s energy shields roughly have a simr effect.

    ¡°Um, what should we do then?¡±

    ¡°Even if you ask me that¡­¡­ I don¡¯t even know how exactly I activated that ability, and I¡¯m also not sure I can use it without this thing assisting me. We just got lucky this time. We shouldn¡¯t rely on such an ability in the future. That¡¯s about all we can do, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. If you want to master it, I believe you have to take special training or something, and if you can¡¯t use it unassisted, then there¡¯s no point in training in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. But still, I gotta give my thanks where it¡¯s due. Really, thank you. We survived that ordeal because of you.¡±

    Seemingly epting my gratitude, the Sacred Tree seed shone twice as if saying ¡®It was nothing.¡¯ or something like that. It looks like my gratitude was appreciated huh.

    For the time being, it will still take a bit more time until the next sortie order is issued. Now that reinforcements were rushing to join up with us, various adjustments would need to be done to keep the fleet in line such as re-organization ording to roles and overall skills, so they should be pretty busy right about now.

    ¡ºMaster, Lt. Col. Serena has invited you to dinner.¡»

    ¡°¡­¡­I see?¡±

    Mei¡¯s noticepletely broke my earlier assumption.

    Did she really have that much free time? Or maybe she¡¯s just intentionally cking off? I don¡¯t really care either way, and I don¡¯t feel like joining her for dinner right now either. However, an invitation from the daughter of an imperial marquis was akin to an order. Unless you had a very good reason, you couldn¡¯t afford to decline it.

    ¡°If there isn¡¯t any particr dress code, then tell her we¡¯ll attend. If she agrees to that, then just notify me about the time and venueter.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood.¡»

    Mei cut the call.

    ¡°There you have it. Go ahead and prepare yourselves.¡±

    ¡°Yes. But are you gonna be okay, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Not sure. I¡¯ve already calmed down a bit at least.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s no good to re up at a client, so please control yourselfter, okay? It¡¯s not worth it.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know. Even if Iined and argued with her regarding whether or not she was in the wrong, it¡¯s not like anything would change.¡±

    It didn¡¯t feel too good, but what Elma¡¯s saying is true. There was no point inining after the fact. Since the other party already invited us to have dinner together, that at least shows that she has no intention of sweeping her actions under the rug and wants to make up for it in some way. Since she already made a move to reconcile, it would be a bit too childish of me to push her away simply because I was miffed.

    ¡°Thank you for your invitation tonight, colonel.¡±

    ¡°This is just a small show of appreciation to you for aplishing to reduce the damage to your allies in this subjugation operation so far. Please do not mind it too much.¡±

    I was told to take a seat, so I did so obediently.

    We were having our dinner inside the exclusive dining room of the Independent Anti-Pirate Mobile Fleet¡¯s gship, Restalias. To be exact, this was a dining room reserved for the captain and other high-ranking officers onboard like the XO, chief gunnery officer, and chiefmunications officer. I remember hearing these details from Lt. Col. Serena herself a while back.

    ¡°These are dishes that make use of fresh meat and vegetables from Refill IV. They were still prepared by our automatic cooker through.¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena began introducing tonight¡¯s menu as the soldiers brought out one dish after another.

    ¡°These may not be enough for you all since you¡¯ve already tasted Refill IV¡¯s authentic cuisine, but these dishes are the best ones we can prepare for tonight.¡±

    ¡°We appreciate all your effort, colonel.¡±

    When I bowed my head toward her, Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s expression turned awkward.

    ¡°You¡¯re really angry, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I cannot afford to get upset at you, ma¡¯am. After all, I¡¯m just a mere mercenary. And furthermore, I¡¯m currently under the colonel¡¯s employ. Hence, I can only obey your orders no matter what.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I get it. I get it already, so please stop being all formal with me. Only Robbitson and I are present tonight, so just talk to me like you usually do.¡±

    I crossed my arms without picking up the knife and fork and shrugged my shoulders in response.

    ¡°Fine, as you wish then. Honestly, I really thought about giving you a good smack in the face at one point, but when I calmed down and thought things through, I really didn¡¯t have to go that far, so don¡¯t worry about it.¡±

    ¡°Since you said you didn¡¯t have to go so far, I suppose you still feel indignant about it to some extent, right? I¡¯m not sure about how you feel, but I personally think that you¡¯re someone who¡¯s truly hard toe by. That¡¯s why I invited you over like this so we can speak frankly with each other without reserve.¡±

    ¡°I see. That¡¯s nice and all. But frankly, there¡¯s no need for you to care so much anyway, Lt. Col. Serena. You have full control over every aspect ofbat as ourmander, so it¡¯s natural that we have to obey yourmands. Even if yourmand might lead to my ship getting shot down and exploding, if you judged that it would reduce our overall losses, it¡¯s my job to follow through.¡±

    ¡°Do you really think that way?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I perfectly understand in my head. My heart is another story.¡±

    I leaned back on the surprisinglyfy backrest of the dining chair. If you think about it logically, it¡¯s exactly as I said. Since Lt. Col. Serena was ourbined fleet¡¯smander, we can¡¯t reallyin no matter how she¡¯d like to make use of us. Of course, since hermand ced us in danger of dying, you really can¡¯t fault me for having ill feelings about her order as well.

    ¡°If you have something to say, I¡¯d appreciate it if you just go ahead and say it without holding back.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll just lead to us being ufortable with each other even more though.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d really hate it if you distance yourself from me because of this. I can¡¯t do it officially, but I¡¯m willing to bow my head and apologize in private.¡±

    When I saw Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s ambiguous expression, it really made me think she was one heck of a femme fatale. Being beautiful really is convenient huh.

    ¡°¡­¡­Haa. You know, a small ship charging straight ahead while being showered in anti-spacecraft fire for five seconds is nothing but suicidal. A military corvette with military-grade hardware and armor ting might barely pull it off, but something like that is normally impossible. Any other ship would melt in just three seconds.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­ It¡¯s as you say.¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena meekly replied and sighed. Judging from her reaction, her subordinates might have told her off regarding the matter huh. And that¡¯s why she hastily organized this dinner.

    ¡°Well, it all turned out okay in the end, so I suppose your judgment wasn¡¯t wrong after all. However, we can¡¯t reliably use the method that allowed us to deflect theser fire, so we really were just lucky this time. If you make us do the same stunt again, we¡¯ll probably get shot down and explode, so please just keep that in mind while giving out orders.¡±

    ¡°I understand. However, you still obeyed my order despite the danger, right? I thought mercenaries valued their lives more than obeying orders.¡±

    I looked straight at Lt. Col. Serena, who cocked her head to the side curiously, sighed, and exined why I still followed through with her order.

    ¡°If I made any other maneuver after you ordering us to maintain our course, there was a danger of getting hit by the allied ship¡¯sser cannon fire from behind¡­¡­ That¡¯s why I had no choice but to fly straight.¡±

    At that time, if I flew in any other direction other than straight ahead, we were nearly guaranteed to get hit by friendly fire. In that particr situation, attempting evasive maneuvers against orders was highly dangerous.

    ¡°Ah, I see¡­¡­ But even I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d really fly straight ahead in that situation.¡±

    ¡°You hired me as a mobile raider, right? In that situation, my job was to attract enemy fire and smoke out their firing lines, so- Ah, so that¡¯s it.¡±

    So that¡¯s actually it huh. The standard tactics of yers when attacking a pirate base in SOL aren¡¯t thatpatible with Lt. Col. Serena and the imperial space navy¡¯s standard tactics when they assault a pirate base. Thergest ships the yers can actually own in SOL are cruisers. And those who owned cruisers were just a few of the top yers, so essentially, a destroyer was thergest ship an average yer can use when attacking a pirate base.

    However, the imperial space navy can deploy arge number of cruisers and battleships that have much longer range and much more firepowerpared to standard destroyers. They are absolutely capable of reducingrge chunks of the enemy numbers from outside their range.

    When Lt. Col. Serena was still a major, the force at her disposal was still rtively small, so I could still work alongside them using the tactics I employed in SOL. However, since her rank increased, Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s ships also increased ordingly. So that¡¯s why our tactics didn¡¯t really mesh with each other at present.

    ¡°No, it looks like you really don¡¯t have anything to apologize for, colonel. My tactics were simply not up to snuff. I¡¯m sorry that things had to develop to this point.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ U-Umm?¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s eyes darted around as she got flustered by my sudden apology. Yeah, I guess her reaction¡¯s natural. It was just too sudden, so I suppose she doesn¡¯t get why I actually apologized.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. While we were talking, I simply realized that I didn¡¯t view things from the correct perspective. I¡¯m really sorry about my earlier attitude. I¡¯m so embarrassed that I even feel like crawling into a hole right about now.¡±

    This dimension does resemble SOL a lot, but there are also plenty of things that aren¡¯t simr at all. I should have realized it way earlier when I got dumped into this dimension, but I was simply too used to the standard tactics in SOL, even if those tactics might not be the best ones to use in certain situations. That¡¯s why I haven¡¯t noticed such a thing until now.

    This won¡¯t do at all. Being hung up on prior experiences and stereotypes is the same as drinking poison on an ever-changing battlefield. I have to reflect on this. I really dropped the ball this time.

    ¡°Um, so does that mean we¡¯re good now¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, of course. Or rather, there was no need to get upset with you in the first ce. My stupidity just led to some pointless resentment on my part. Actually, I¡¯m the one who needs to apologize here. Sorry.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­? Well, if you yourself say so, I suppose¡­¡­?¡±

    Lt. Col. Serena still looks like she didn¡¯t get what was going on, but she nodded in response anyway.

    Yeah, she really doesn¡¯t get it huh. But if I exined my reasoning in detail, I can¡¯t avoid spilling the beans about how I possibly came to this dimension from a different one, so that¡¯s not an option. Anyway, it looks like Lt. Col. Serena already agreed to put everything behind us, more or less, so what¡¯s left is me reflecting on my mistaken view and update my tactics ordingly.

    I won¡¯t say it to her directly, but I¡¯ll consider this as me owing Lt. Col. Serena one. She made me realize something crucial, so I can at least agree to one unreasonable request from her in exchange.

    I¡¯m not gonna do it if her request was something far too crazy though.

 Chapter 275 â€“ Getting Provoked

    <h4>Chapter 275 - Getting Provoked</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Afterward, we had a nice and peaceful meal and then returned to our ship - specifically, ck Lotus. It would take some more time for the imperial military to reorganize the forces after all.

    ¡°So, what have you been checking out the moment we came back?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m reading the report for today¡¯s pirate base raid. I also asked Mei topile reports of past pirate base raids conducted by the imperial military.¡±

    ¡°Why are you looking those up¡­¡­?¡±

    Elma gave me a funny look when she found me inside the dining hall reading the reports. What¡¯s that look for? How rude.

    ¡°I have to always brush up my knowledge after all. I also have some tactical manuals of the imperial navy to read up on.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s gotten into you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because of my earlier discussion with Lt. Col. Serena. I can¡¯t put you guys in danger again due to myck of knowledge, right?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re sometimes so earnest when ites to the strangest things¡­¡­¡±

    While saying so, Elma sat opposite me and started sipping some liquor bit by bit. Before long, the mechanic sisters also entered the dining hall. They weren¡¯t invited by Lt. Col. Serena, so they stayed behind on the Lotus while we were having dinner.

    ¡°Hiya, Boss. We¡¯re gonna borrow the shower for a bit¡­¡­ Ah, you¡¯re drinking some good stuff, neesan!¡±

    ¡°How nice¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re gonna be quick, right? I¡¯ll treat you guys.¡±

    Elma brought the liquor bottle up and showed it to them, making the sister¡¯s faces light up in glee.

    ¡°As expected of neesan! You sure know how to make a dwarf happy!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be borrowing the shower then.¡±

    The two sisters headed for the shower room with really cheerful expressions. They¡¯re gonna enter together? Well, they were pretty small, so I guess they¡¯ll have no trouble fitting inside. I mean, I also have rtively no trouble going inside together with Mimi or Elma.

    As soon as the sisters exited the dining hall, Mimi, who just finished taking a shower, came inside to rece the sisters. She took a bath earlier than the sisters, so she looked pretty refreshed.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, what are you reading there?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m reading today¡¯sbat report among other stuff. Well, I just figured I should read up on the imperial military¡¯s standard starshipbat tactics.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Are you nning on joining the military?¡±

    ¡°No, no. It¡¯s just that we¡¯re gonna be working with them a lot more in the future, so I thought I should study and prepare.¡±

    ¡°I see. Can I join you?¡±

    ¡°Sure. I¡¯m just in the middle of reading reports right now though.¡±

    Mimi sat next to me, leaned over, and looked at the screen of the tablet terminal I was using. Maybe it¡¯s because she just finished showering, but she smells really, really nice. I felt her body temperature through her thin sleepwear and it¡¯s awesome.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    And after a little bit, Elma silently sat next to me as well. I¡¯m not sure why, but it seems she was burning with fighting spirit and wanted to go head to head against Mimi. Was she actually drunk? Yeah, I bet she was. She was drinking after all.

    ¡°Are you really interested in this?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s better than drinking on the side and feeling left out, at least.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to do that, okay.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, you¡¯re so cute, Elma-san.¡±

    ¡°Be quiet, you.¡±

    And so, we flirted around while reading today¡¯s battle report until the mechanic sisters finally came out of the shower room.

    ¡°Ah, Boss is flirting around again.¡±

    ¡°Great, huh? Hey, aren¡¯t you guys wearing my shirts?¡±

    ¡°When we got out of the shower, I remembered that we threw our jumpsuit inside the washing machine before going in. Your shirts were handy, so we borrowed ¡¯em to wear instead.¡±

    ¡°S-Sorry¡­¡­ We¡¯ll properly wash them and give them backter.¡±

    ¡°Nah, I don¡¯t really mind.¡±

    I shook my head in response to the red-faced Whisker.

    Both sisters were wearing my t-shirts¡­¡­ They were too big for them, so it looked like they were wearing one-piece dresses instead. Well, they do look good in them. It¡¯s just that their current appearance somewhat reeks of a crime in the making¡­¡­ Hm? Wait, washing machine?

    ¡°What are you guys wearing underneath?¡±

    ¡°Uh, nothin¡¯? We threw everythin¡¯ inside the washing machine.¡±

    ¡°Hey¡­¡­¡±

    No wonder Whisker was so red in the face. When I turned my gaze toward her, Whisker shyly pushed the hem of my t-shirt down in embarrassment. Uh, if you¡¯re that embarrassed, then maybe you shouldn¡¯t have gone with your sister¡¯s idea in the first ce? Or rather, if you pushed down that much, my t-shirt will get all stretched out, so please stop.

    ¡°Hey, hey, we¡¯re both naked underneath, y¡¯know? Don¡¯t tell me you still don¡¯t feel anythin¡¯ after this, Boss?¡±

    Tina flirtatiously pulled off a sexy pose.

    ¡°Haha, that¡¯s funny.¡±

    ¡°You wanna get socked in the face?¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t. I¡¯d die y¡¯know.¡±

    I held up my hands in surrender and she gave me an eye-roll. As expected, even I won¡¯t be immune to some temptation when seeing girls wearing nothing but thin t-shirts.

    ¡°Hey, neesan, howe Boss hasn¡¯tid his hands on us yet?¡±

    ¡°Even if you ask me, I wouldn¡¯t really know. Anyway, here.¡±

    ¡°Mmph, I¡¯m not convinced. Hey, Boss?¡±

    As she caught the bottle of liquor thrown by Elma, Tina proceeded to sit opposite me and looked straight at my face. She looked like a little kid, but the way she carried herself wasn¡¯t particrly childish at all.

    ¡°Even if you say that¡­¡­¡±

    Whenever shees at me straight like this, I just couldn¡¯t help but scratch the back of my head. I¡¯m not sure what to tell them, but it¡¯s just that their outward appearance was¡­¡­ No, uh, I do find them cute y¡¯know.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already said this a couple of times before, but it feels like a forbidden door will open the moment Iy my hands on you guys.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re both honest-to-goodness adults, okay.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­We¡¯re older than Mimi-san too.¡±

    ¡°Or rather, we¡¯re the same age as Boss. Well, it¡¯s not like we can do anythin¡¯ if you don¡¯t like petite women like us though.¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it y¡¯know? Uh, it¡¯s just that I¡¯m stillcking in resolve or something like that.¡±

    Even though I said so, I also don¡¯t know the exact reason why. It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t find the two of them attractive. Maybe I¡¯m just that much of a hopeless good-for-nothing¡­¡­

    ¡°We¡¯ve already entrusted our lives to you entirely though, Boss?¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s¡­¡­ Uh, aren¡¯t you guys being a bit too straightforward?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re sayin¡¯ that at this point?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    Mimi smiled bitterly after hearing Tina replying with a straight face. Elma also shrugged her shoulders, and it looks like she already talked it over with the two of them. They probably discussed things with Mei as well.

    ¡°Come to think of it, it actually is a bit strange. You already have no problems doing it with Mimi, Mei, and me, but you just can¡¯t make your move when ites to these two. It¡¯s not like they¡¯re nobles like Lt. Col. Serena or Chris. Even though you did misread things a bit when ites to me, that¡¯s fine. You didn¡¯ty your hands on me without proper resolve after all.¡±

    Elma began poking my cheek with her shot ss as she grilled me. Now that she mentioned it, she¡¯s right. It¡¯s certainly like that huh.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s just drop this topic! I¡¯m pretty tired today, so I¡¯m going to sleep!¡±

    The smartest thing to do in this situation is a strategic retreat. Feeling cornered by the girls, I stood up from my seat and prepared to leave, but Tina immediately provoked me.

    ¡°What, you¡¯re gonna run away?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Uh, yeah?¡±

    I got a bit hot and bothered for a moment, but I controlled myself. Calm down. Don¡¯t get provoked- Nah, maybe it¡¯s fine to just go with the flow here? Now that it¡¯se to this, I really can¡¯t back down anymore huh?

    ¡°¡­¡­Are you really going to run away?¡±

    Whisker looked up at me with teary eyes. She was acting a bit, wasn¡¯t she? I see. So that¡¯s how you guys wanna tease me huh? Okay, I gotcha.

    ¡°Fine then. I¡¯m gonna take you guys back to my room just like you want. Don¡¯t regret this. I¡¯m gonna make you guys understand thoroughlyter.¡±

    I walked up to them and carried Tina and Whisker up with each arm. Maybe it¡¯s because their bone and muscle density was different from humans, but it felt like they were heavier than they looked. I can¡¯t say something like that out loud though.

    ¡°Eh, wai- Boss?¡±

    ¡°B-B-Big Brother?¡±

    They began to act all flustered after all that bravado, but it¡¯s already toote guys. Yeah! Let¡¯s do this dammit! I ain¡¯t afraid of dwarves!

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is.¡±

    ¡°Fine, fine. Just do it in moderation, okay.¡±

    ¡°Do your best guys!¡±

    Elma waved her hand in dismissal while Mimi excitedly cheered for Tina and Whisker for some reason. The sisterspletely froze up in my arms as I walked out of the dining hall. Maybe they got nervous despite the fact that it was them who provoked me first.

    I feel like I heard someone say ¡®How gullible.¡¯ behind me, but I¡¯m sure it was just my imagination. Yeah, that¡¯s it.

    Alright! Let¡¯s do this!

 Chapter 276 â€“ Re-sortie

    <h4>Chapter 276 - Re-sortie</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The next morning, I carried the still-weak-in-the-knees sisters and entered the bathroom together. The bathroom seemed a bit narrow if I entered together with Mimi, Elma, or Mei. But since the mechanic sisters were on the small side, the three of us were able to fit in somehow.

    ¡°You look like you¡¯re enjoyin¡¯ yourself, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Course I am. It¡¯s the best.¡±

    The scene reeked of crime at first nce, but once you get used to it, or rather, once you resign yourself, it¡¯s really nothing to get too concerned about. And besides, the two of them were really cute anyway.

    ¡°Why are you goin¡¯ all red now after all that¡¯s happened, Whisker?¡±

    ¡°B-But Big Brother¡­ Nn¡­ Big Brother keeps rubbing my belly¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Your skin is so silky smooth and nice to touch after all.¡±

    As we soaked inside the bathtub, I kept caressing Whisker¡¯s belly as she sat on top of myp, making her protest in a sexy voice.

    ¡°When Boss does somethin¡¯ like that¡­¡­ I think he¡¯s rarin¡¯ for another go.¡±

    ¡°I only do this asionally.¡±

    In fact, it wasn¡¯t that rare for me to have another go while taking a bath in the morning together with Mimi, Elma, or Mei after going at it all night.

    ¡°But I¡¯m not gonna go as hard as I did yesterday. I promise.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not that convincin¡¯ if you keep touchin¡¯ us like that Boss. Do you really remember what you did to mest night?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not touching anything especially delicate so I¡¯m safe. As forst night¡­¡­ I, uh, just went with the flow?¡±

    ¡°I think there was a difference between how you treated Whisker and me though?¡±

    ¡°In other words, I wanna treat Tina like I treated Whiskerst night.¡±

    ¡°E-Even if you say somethin¡¯ like that- Uh, it¡¯s not like I¡¯d hate it or anythin¡¯¡­¡­¡±

    This time, it was Tina whose face turned red as she turned away from me. What the heck? She¡¯s just so adorable.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­¡±

    Whisker, who was fidgeting bashfully on top of myp, seemed to have noticed something and raised her voice. Now, now, Whisker-san. That¡¯s not right. Uh, but her reaction wasn¡¯t exactly off either. If you react like that, you¡¯re gonna put me even more in the mood y¡¯know? And when Tina seemed to have guessed something after seeing Whisker¡¯s reaction, she grinned provocatively even as her face turned even more bright red.

    ¡°Yesterday, we got done in by Boss, so it¡¯s our turn now, right?¡±

    ¡°Heh. You wanna go? Bring it on then. I¡¯m gonna show you how much of a difference experience can make.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re gonna make you eat those words, Boss.¡±

    Afterward, we made out like crazy again.

    ¡°So, what about those two?¡±

    After taking a nice, long bath, I tossed the tired Tina and Whisker on top of my bed and went to the dining hall for breakfast, where I met with Elma who immediately greeted me with a reproachful gaze. Don¡¯t look at me like that, Elma-san. I get embarrassed easily.

    ¡°I decided to give them a full day off.¡±

    The troop reorganization should get finished by today, but even if it does, it¡¯s not like we¡¯ll sortie immediately afterward. First, we¡¯ll need to move thebined fleet to our next target star system, and after moving there, we¡¯ll need to make various adjustments again. Well, I guess they already took something that into ount in the initial nning phase, so it might not take all that long anyway.

    Unlike the fleet-footed mercenaries who usually fly around on a single ship, a military fleet was sluggish as heck inparison. Something like that was unavoidable when building up a considerable force, so it can¡¯t be helped. After all, even if you assembled arge force if you don¡¯t perform coordinated maneuvers, having that many ships was practically meaningless.

    In any case, there was no problem for the mechanic sisters to take a break until the next day.

    ¡°Muu¡­¡­ How nice.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll do it next time we have a long break.¡±

    ¡°You promise?¡±

    ¡°Hey, what about me?¡±

    ¡°I will do my very best as long as time permits, mdy. Please y nice and share you two.¡±

    Although it¡¯s been the case for quite some time, now I was well and truly a bona fide harem bastard in both name and substance. Granted that it wasn¡¯t that unusual for a mercenary living in this dimension though. There was a strong feeling of crossing that one final line.

    ¡°Share, huh. Fine then. I¡¯ll take you up on that. I suppose it would be best to have Mei manage the schedule.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I can be at ease if Mei-san handles it.¡±

    Mimi nodded in agreement with Elma¡¯s words. Before I knew it, Mei has developed a mysterious air of trustworthiness, special among the girls. I wonder what they were talking about with each other without my knowledge- On second thought, it¡¯s probably best if I don¡¯t find out. Having knowledge of something I might not want to know in the first ce can possibly hurt my fragile heart after all.

    ¡°So, what are our ns for today?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll wait until new orders get handed down, but I think it¡¯s about time for the fleet to make a move. I¡¯m not sure if we¡¯ll immediately blockade the target star system and move to destroy the pirate base the moment we arrive though.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It feels like something that colonel would actually do though.¡±

    ¡°It all depends on how far they¡¯ve prepared for the operation, I think. Though Serena-sama is certainly shrewd enough to make arrangements like that though.¡±

    ¡°I see? Well, yeah, I suppose so.¡±

    She was a lieutenant colonel serving in the imperial military at such a young age after all. It wasn¡¯t that strange to think that she¡¯d made prior ns to expedite the operation of thebined fleet in order to quickly smoke out and destroy the space pirates.

    ¡°In any case, there¡¯s nothing we can do right now but wait. We can¡¯t just sortie on our own after all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Well, I suppose I¡¯ll hand today over to those two. Make sure to take good care of them.¡±

    ¡°Right. We¡¯ll call you if something happens, so please take your time, Hiro-sama!¡±

    ¡°Take my time huh¡­¡­ Well, okay then. I guess I¡¯ll leave it to you guys to keep watch and take care of those two in the meantime.¡±

    They haven¡¯t had breakfast yet, so I¡¯m sure those two are already quite hungry. In any case, both of them don¡¯t have enough strength to move around for the time being, so I guess I¡¯ll have to nurse them around today.

    Eh? Was it okay to be soid back even though we were in the middle of an operation to eliminate space pirates, you ask? It¡¯s exactly because we¡¯re risking our lives that we need to treasure these downtimes. They help to maintain a positive mentality too. Yep. A peaceful and fulfilling life is essential to maintain a healthy spirit.

    The imperial military moved faster than we expected. I took the sisters, who lost strength due to our morning bath activities, to the ck Lotus dining hall for breakfast, and by the time we finished having our meals, a new sortie order was issued. Well, it¡¯s not like we have to do anything after the order got issued since Mei was in charge of piloting the Lotus for the move to the next battlefield, but since the military moved faster than expected, it was more than likely that we¡¯ll take immediate military action the moment we reach the target star system. Since that¡¯s the case, we¡¯ll have to stand by inside Krishna so we¡¯ll be ready tounch at any time.

    ¡°Things sure are busy.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped, Big Sis. But can we really take a break for the entire day, Big Brother?¡±

    ¡°Ourbat readiness and maintenance are perfect. You guys can just rx and rest up.¡±

    ¡°We have our tablet terminals, so we can still operate the bots and drones to recover the loot and stuff. We¡¯ll just get bored sittin¡¯ around here, so don¡¯t worry about us too much. Just leave it to the amazin¡¯ Tina-chan.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Be careful out there, Big Brother.¡±

    After saying so, Whisker hugged me and kissed me on the cheek. I also returned a kiss on Whisker¡¯s cheek.

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s sly. Me too! Me too!¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. Here you go.¡±

    I hugged and kissed Tina who made a racket. If this were a manga or anime, this was more than enough to constitute a death g, but it¡¯s not like this was the first time for me to encounter such a g anyway. Well, I guess I¡¯ll just have to do my best not to die.

 Chapter 277 â€“ Empty Shell

    <h4>Chapter 277 - Empty Shell</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After the sortie order was issued, thebined fleet split into the star system blockade fleet and assault fleet and immediatelymenced the operation afterward. After arriving at the Shinoskia system, which was right next to the Refill system, we headed straight for the space pirate base together with the assault fleet.

    ¡°How do you think things are gonna go down this time?¡±

    ¡°I wonder. We probably won¡¯t encounter much resistance, I think.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? They should have gotten some info regarding our movements in the Refill system, so shouldn¡¯t they have made some preparations?¡±

    ¡°I think we¡¯ll probably encounter a near-empty shell of a base though. What about you, Elma?¡±

    I answered Mimi who cocked her head to the side in puzzlement and turned to Elma. She mulled over the question for a bit and opened her mouth to answer.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll bepletely abandoned, but I do agree that we¡¯ll probably encounter little resistance.¡±

    ¡°So Elma-san and Hiro-sama both think it would be like that huh.¡±

    ¡°No matter how many people and ships the Red g pirates have at their disposal, they won¡¯t be enough to deal with a well-equipped military fleet. If I were them and knew an attack wasing, I¡¯d hurry up and gather all the supplies I can before making my escape.¡±

    ¡°I see. So that means we¡¯ll be in for an easier time today, right?¡±

    ¡°That would still depend. Again, if I were in ce of the pirates, I wouldn¡¯t escape before leaving some nasty stuff to harass the enemies first.¡±

    ¡°Harassing us?¡±

    ¡°For example, once the military rushes inside the base, I¡¯d set it so a self-destruct sequence would get triggered, or scatter some proximity mines in spots where the enemy fleet would likely stop to organize its formation. Well, I think it¡¯s more likely for us to encounter stuff like those in the subsequent target star systems though.¡±

    ¡°Right. Even if they decide to do those, they¡¯ll have to prepare the manpower and materials needed. They¡¯re probably gonna use some ready-to-use harassment methods this time around.¡±

    ¡°Ready-to-use harassment methods?¡±

    ¡°Mimi, there¡¯s a ton of illegal stuff inside a pirate base. Some of them are of the extremely dangerous kind.¡±

    ¡°Uh, I have a bad feeling about this.¡±

    ¡°Singing Crystals are pretty damn rare so I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll have some in stock, but you never know¡­¡­¡±

    I pity the vanguard ships that are gonna rush right in. Normal BC weapons are cute, but some among them are more than dangerous enough. There are a lot of those types of weapons even in SOL, and I¡¯m sure there are far more dangerous things in this dimension too.

    What kind of dangerous stuff exactly, you ask? Well, things like energy creatures that parasitize the corpses of humans and other lifeforms with intelligence, remodel their bodies and turn them into grotesque monstrosities for one. Those pale blue things can replicate the feats of movie zombies since they multiply by killing lifeforms and parasitizing their bodies. Perhaps they were implemented in SOL as a homage to a certain older game of that particr genre, but due to the sh*tty difficulty, the yerspletely gave up on taking them on in meleebat and instead chose to blow up the infestedrge-ss mining ship that served as the stage for that particr event.

    There are more examples like highly lethal space spiders, murderous aliens with body fluids corrosive enough to melt starship armor and hulls, etcetera¡­¡­ Oh, and regr zombies were present too. But as one would expect, the yers dealt with those by usingser weapons and power armor with high physical and biochemical defense capabilities.

    ¡°They¡¯ll most likely use biological weapons. The worst thing they can use are victims who are loaded with booby traps.¡±

    ¡°Victims?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ll set up bombs, poisonous gas, and even more dangerous stuff inside people who have been turned into their ¡®products¡¯ after getting abducted. Then when those guys get rescued, the pirates will trigger the traps and kill the victims along with whoever was near them.¡±

    After saying so, Elma shrugged.

    ¡°That¡¯s nasty¡­¡­ But they¡¯re pirates after all.¡±

    Anything goes for those guys. They aren¡¯t gonna get held back by things like reason or ethics.

    ¡°The marines are going to have a hard time, aren¡¯t they?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s why no matter what Lt. Col. Serena says, I ain¡¯t participating in a melee operation again.¡±

    Aside from their ships, you never know what sort of surprises would pop up in your face once you¡¯re inside the pirate base. No matter what, I¡¯m not gonna join the raiding team. Well, most of the time, things end with only some biological weapons being unleashed though.

    -Approximately two hourster-

    ¡°There goes some dirty fireworks again¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really like what we thought earlier.¡±

    ¡°Uwaa.¡±

    The main cockpit screen disyed footage of the pirate base being destroyed by intense explosions and mes.

    Yep, it was exactly like we expected.

    The space battle was swiftly wrapped up with our forces overwhelming the enemy. Most of the pirate ships have already escaped, and only the anti-spacecraft cannons installed around the base gave us a bit of trouble. There was no need for small and medium-ss ships to participate since the bombardment from therge-ss ships was enough to get rid of all resistance.

    The problems began when the marines rushed inside the base. They really seemed to have administered a drug or virus that turned their ¡®products¡¯ into irrational monsters.

    The imperial space marine corps quickly encountered mutated biological weapons made out of humans and other sentient species when they rushed inside the base. After about an hour of fighting, Lt. Col. Serena chose to make all troops withdraw andpletely destroyed the base through long-range artillery bombardment. It looks like she came to such a decision since she didn¡¯t want to meaninglessly expend troops in a battle with little to nothing to gain.

    Well, since they could afford to set up such traps, I¡¯m sure they would have thoroughly destroyed the equipment which stores critical data along the way as well. And that¡¯s why Lt. Col. Serena had the marines pull back. I also think it was the right call.

    As a result, the current impromptu stationary target practice session was conducted. The sight of arge asteroid remodeled into a pirate base exploding shily while emitting dazzling brilliance under the intense barrage ofrge-caliberser cannon fire was quite spectacr.

    ¡°That¡¯s one shy explosion. Did they manage to hit the oxygen tanks or ammo depot?¡±

    ¡°Is that actually alright? The nasty stuff inside would get scattered all over the ce.¡±

    ¡°Is there any biological weapon that can still infect stuff after getting exposed toser cannon fire and scattered into outer space?¡±

    ¡°Dunno? And even if there is, it would be impossible for that stuff to breach the hulls of ships since it would get blocked out by energy shields. Won¡¯t it getpletely wiped out once it hits an energy shield set to cruise output?¡±

    ¡°Now that you mention it, I guess that¡¯s true.¡±

    If you identally get in contact with a ship¡¯s energy shield while it¡¯s set to security output when the ship is moored inside a starport or something, you can only get numbed a bit if you¡¯re lucky and suffer burn injuries at worst. But if you get in contact with the energy shield while it¡¯s cruising in outer space, you¡¯d be vaporized. The only exceptions are crystal lifeforms and other creatures that are capable of space navigation. Oh, and Mei can possibly survive getting in contact with it once too. But her clothes, artificial skin, and hair would probably all get burned away.

    ¡°But this time¡¯s a bust huh.¡±

    ¡°Since there were only a few pirate ships, we couldn¡¯t earn that much kill rewards and bounties.¡±

    ¡°Well, at least we¡¯ll still get our daily sry. It¡¯s not that bad. We just have to think of it as earning while doing nothing, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true, but¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you worried about something?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m worried about what¡¯s waiting for us in the next star system. Even if the opponents are pirates, those guys aren¡¯t stupid. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll have something in store for us. They wouldn¡¯t want to just keep getting underestimated and beaten up after all.¡±

    ¡°I see. That¡¯s true.¡±

    The question is what sort of stuff the pirates are gonna use to wee us. It wouldn¡¯t be strange if they used a method that¡¯s usually not implemented in a battle between regr troops.

    ¡°How would you deal with us if you were in the pirate¡¯s shoes, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d immediately escape, but if I only did that, my pirate associates might think I was just a coward who ran with his tail between his legs. Even if that was the best move possible, I¡¯d have to take into ount how it would affect my position in arge pirate organization like the Red gs. And that¡¯s why I have to at least leave a nasty surprise for the military¡­¡­¡±

    Even so, there¡¯s no chance that the Red gs can take the military in a head-on sh. So some underhanded means were a must.

    ¡°I¡¯d use a Singing Crystal and destroy it in the middle of the enemy forces like what we did against the Vereverem fleet if I were them, but it¡¯s not like those things are easily avable.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s an option, but unless you can destroy it in the middle of an enemy fleet, that thing is practically meaningless. Using something like that is too difficult unless the pirates have a pilot capable of flying straight inside an enemy formation just like you, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. How about the mine trap Hiro-sama mentioned earlier?¡±

    ¡°They might use proximity mines equipped with reaction charges to deal damage to the fleet. They might also use seeker missiles equipped with reaction warheads for an all-out saturation attack.¡±

    Reaction warhead tech was already quite mature after all. The manufacturing methods have long since spread everywhere, and as long as you had the proper tech standards, know-how, materials, and tools, it was pretty easy to produce them en masse.

    But it seems that as a countermeasure, most of the essential materials used for their production weren¡¯t that easy to obtain due to several sanctions limiting their distribution in the market. But pirates can probably obtain them easier through illegal means anyway. If one really had the mind to do it, it¡¯s very possible to mass-produce reaction warheads akin to the most manufactured assault rifle that¡¯s used in almost all conflict zones on Earth.

    Even if that¡¯s the case, space pirates still don¡¯t favor using reaction warheads. That¡¯s because, with their power, they¡¯d blow away the pirate¡¯s prey entirely along with all the loot. It¡¯s also the reason why I don¡¯t usually use reactive torpedoes when taking on pirates.

    However, there¡¯s a good chance the pirates would not hesitate to use them once they get cornered by a powerful enemy - like the imperial military for example. When ites to that there¡¯s a real risk of getting showered with missiles sporting powerful reaction warheads. There¡¯s nothing scarier than that.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think the imperial military will allow the wanton mass production or procurement of reaction warheads under their watch anyway. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll face an attack of that magnitude.¡±

    Of course, if such a wanton attack was truly employed, the imperial military will likely use all means topletely annihte the Red g pirates. And they wouldn¡¯t be just facing a hastily cobbled upbined fleet just like the one employed by Lt. Col. Serena here at that point. They¡¯d be going against the full might of the imperial military. Once that happens, there¡¯s no way for the Red g pirates to escape annihtion. It¡¯s possible that they¡¯d hang the leader¡¯s heads on disy as an example to the other space pirate organizations. Of course, that¡¯s only figuratively speaking. On second thought, they might really do something like that. It¡¯s the Gran empire after all.

    ¡°Anyway, even if we had it easy this time, we¡¯ll have to be on our guard in the next system. Let¡¯s just hope they don¡¯t go up against Lt. Col. Serena with a method that would make the empire get serious. I¡¯m sure she¡¯s also taken that into ount and is trying not to provoke the enemy to such an extent.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. And it¡¯s not like all pirates are stupid.¡±

    ¡°Normally, they only seem like dudes with crazy mohawks going all ¡®Yahaa!¡¯ and stuff though.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Those guys are easy marks¡­¡­ But, well, I¡¯m sure that there are at least some pirates with brains in arge pirate organization. If there are none, then it¡¯s next to impossible to run arge-scale space pirate organization after all.¡±

    ¡°Is that the case?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s how it is. Anyway, just don¡¯t let your guard downter on guys.¡±

    Unlike SOL, the space pirates here were living, breathing, and intelligent¡­¡­ Uh, I¡¯m not so sure about the ¡®intelligent¡¯ part, but they¡¯re living, breathing people anyway. They might have set up some nasty traps for us to fall into, so there¡¯s a need for caution. At least, we should try to personally not get caught up in them and die in the process.

 Chapter 278 â€“ Countermeasures against Countermeasures

    <h4>Chapter 278 - Countermeasures against Countermeasures</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The Red g pirate base in the Shinoskia system has beenpletely wiped out, and this time around, we were gonna depart for the next target system the following day. We managed to clean up the Shinoskia system faster than expected so we got about half a day of rest, but if that wasn¡¯t the case, then we would have departed for the next system - the Shore system - without any breather in between.

    ¡°They sure are in a rush.¡±

    ¡ºLt. Col. Serena doesn¡¯t want to give the pirates that much time. The longer we take, the more trouble we¡¯d face.¡»

    ¡°That¡¯s a convincing reason.¡±

    Mimi, who was checking the sensor systems, nodded in agreement. A few hours ago, a holo-video recording of the battle with the pirates in the Shinoskia system was sent over to us. The content of the recording was the battle of the marines against the half-humanoid mutant creatures that have already lost all reason. It showed the marines peppering them full of holes as the mutants rushed at them in a frenzy.

    I told her that she didn¡¯t have to force herself to watch it, but Mimi ended up sticking with it until the end of the video. Well, I didn¡¯t insist that strongly anyway. After all, if you experience something like this even via holo-video, you might be able to react more calmly if you end up getting involved in something simr. In the end, she said something like ¡®Space pirates really are hopeless fellows, aren¡¯t they?¡¯ and sighed. Her sense of pity for space pirates might have gotten worn down a bit as a result. Usually, even if you show mercy to space pirates, chances are they won¡¯t appreciate it and even snap at you, so this might have been a good thing.

    ¡°What¡¯s our estimated arrival time at the Shore system?¡±

    ¡ºWe are going to warp out approximately 15 minutes from now, Master.¡»

    ¡°Roger that. We better prepare so we canunch right away then. You can go ahead and take this chance to go to the toilet, guys.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m good here.¡±

    ¡°Me too.¡±

    ¡°Okay then. Let¡¯s take a quick break first before warp out.¡±

    I¡¯m not inclined to do my business inside the toilet right now either.

    By the way, after a full day¡¯s rest, the mechanic sisters have already managed to revivepletely. Well, they would have recovered in one shot if they went inside the med-pod for treatment though. They didn¡¯t feel like it was necessary, so they didn¡¯t undergo treatment in the end. Come to think of it, Mimi and Elma were also the same. Maybe it was a tacit understanding or some sort ofmon sense unique to this dimension that I wasn¡¯t familiar with.

    Was it Elma who said that pirates weren¡¯t all stupid? I was also of the same opinion, and likewise, the imperial military soldiers weren¡¯t stupid either. Or rather, soldiers and the officers whomand them can be considered as elites among the people.

    Of course, most of them were smart. There are some disappointments asionally, but at the very least, Lt. Col. Serena was a verypetent officer andmander.

    ¡°And this is the result.¡±

    The pirate base assault fleet didn¡¯t directly rush to attack the pirate base in the Shore system the moment we came out of FTL navigation.

    ¡°Well, of course, this was gonna be the result.¡±

    ¡°They sure are going at it.¡±

    Therge-ss ships such as battleships and heavy cruisers mercilessly wiped outrge swathes of mines withser cannons set to rapid-fire mode. Their guns had much longer rangespared to those sported by small and medium-ss ships, so they can effectively clear minefields using rapid-fire barrages from a great distance.

    In other words, the pirates scattered tons of mines in advance at the warp-out point, but Lt. Col. Serena predicted that, maneuvered the fleet to a different spot, and was now splendidly destroying the trap.

    Of course, doing things this shily practically announced our presence to the enemy pirates. But their escape routes have already been blockaded by the second fleet, so it wasn¡¯t that much of a problem.

    ¡°In the end, hastily deployed mines can only amount to this much. I¡¯m not sure if they only have normal charges or reaction charges, but this move simply sweeps all of them away with absolute force.¡±

    ¡°It kind of feels like this is something only the imperial military can afford to employ effectively.¡±

    ¡°Won¡¯t they end up missing some though?¡±

    ¡°Even if they do, the ones going up first would be the battleships and heavy cruisers. I don¡¯t think those mines have energy shield neutralizers like reactive torpedoes, so even if they end up triggering some, they probably won¡¯t suffer much damage. After all, even Krishna¡¯s shield can barely block an anti-ship reactive torpedo explosion once.¡±

    The shield capacity of battleships and heavy cruisers was much higher than Krishna¡¯s. In fact, their total output can be more than three times that of Krishna¡¯s, and even ck Lotus, which can be treated as a nearlyrge-ss ship. Furthermore, military battleships and heavy cruisers were equipped with energy shields sporting even more output than standard ones. It was very difficult to deal damage to them unless you used weapons that are capable of directly disabling or piercing their shields like anti-ship reactive torpedoes or the shot cannons Krishna sported.

    ¡°Does this mean we won¡¯t have anything to do again?¡±

    ¡°I wonder.¡±

    After all,rge-ss ships like battleships and heavy cruisers are absurdly powerful when conducting a group attack. They weren¡¯t suitable to use in dense asteroid fields since they were ponderously slow and couldn¡¯t turn fast for the life of them, but apart from that, they were pretty much unrivaled. That¡¯s especially true when assaulting a fixed target like a base. Their overall range and firepower are simply leagues beyond small and medium-ss ships.

    In the first ce, they¡¯ll be facing off with ships capable of firing difficult to avoidrge-caliberser cannons from extremely long range. Most enemies would get destroyed on the spot. That¡¯s what these ships were designed to do after all. Eh? What they¡¯re doing was basically simr to seafaring warships unloading their ammo on the sea? Yeah, that¡¯s basically it, I guess. In the end, all that matters is how capable they were to urately destroy their enemies from long range.

    Missiles weren¡¯t widely used during spacebat because of three critical weaknesses: slow projectile speed, short range, and extreme susceptibility toser interception fire due to not having any shielding.

    Missile-type armaments were no match forser cannons in terms of range, projectile speed, and uracy against moving targets. But since they were still fairly destructive and had the ability to lock an opponent¡¯s movements by firing swarms of them, they were still popr to use in battles between small-ss ships or chaotic outer space melees. But in long-distance bombardments like this, they weren¡¯t all that useful.

    There were also special missile types equipped with miniature FTL drives in SOL, but those were treated as tactical weapons exclusively used by NPCs. I wonder if they were also avable in this dimension? Since they had stuff like suppression ships and reactive torpedoes, maybe they had those too.

    ¡°If the pirates canunch a destructive saturation attack against Lt. Col. Serena¡¯srge-ss ship formation, maybe there¡¯s a chance they can still turn things around, but¡­¡­¡±

    While saying so, I kept a watchful eye on the asteroid field toward the port side. There¡¯s a possibility of an ambushing from there. Maybe we¡¯ll get to y a part in this battle after all.

    ¡°Huh? The vanguard¡¯s secondary guns are all turning toward the port side.¡±

    ¡°Whoah, are they really gonnae from there?¡±

    ¡°They might have deactivated their generators and hid inside there. At this distance, we can expect some toe barrelling in andunching torpedoes at the fleet.¡±

    Although Krishna¡¯s sensors haven¡¯t detected any enemies yet, judging from the movements taken by the battleships and heavy cruisers serving as the vanguard, they might have caught on to something.

    ¡°This is shaping up to be a defensive battle. Let¡¯s be careful and avoid getting caught up in friendly fire.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, sir.¡±

    After Mimi and Elma¡¯s spirited replies, the vanguard finally reported the presence of enemies to the entire fleet, and an interception order was given out.

    I wasn¡¯t that used to defensive battles, but I guess I¡¯ll just have to do my best.

 Chapter 279 â€“ An Ambush following an Ambush

    <h4>Chapter 279 - An Ambush following an Ambush</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡ºYeeeehaaaaaaaaw!¡»

    ¡ºI¡¯m gonna smash ya¡¯ll to biiiiiits!¡»

    The pirates sounded like they were high on illegal substances as they screamed crazily and rushed straight toward the fleet. They came out of the asteroid field in great numbers¡ª Err, well, not exactly. But there were still quite a few of them.

    ¡°Since our sensors didn¡¯t catch them, were they waiting with their power generators down the entire time?¡±

    ¡°I suppose. They sound like a crazy mob right now, but that was still a pretty calcting move.¡±

    ¡°Maybe they¡¯re just barely holding on to reason, and only got high enough to forget their fear? That¡¯s pretty nasty.¡±

    Even for pirates, isn¡¯t it too much of a waste to throw away their lives like this? I¡¯m sure there are various circumstances on the side of the pirates as well, but an attack like this was practically suicide. I wonder what kind of standing these guys held in the organization for them to be treated as sacrificial pawns like this.

    ¡ºAttention all ships. Immediately intercept the enemy shipsing in from Sector 3. Small-ss ships, be careful not to enter the line of fire of the medium andrge-ss ships.¡»

    The moment Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s transmission was over, the secondary guns of Restalias spat out fire, or rather, highly destructive beams, and started intercepting the pirate ships that came out of the asteroid field. The otherrge-ss ships also began firing interception barrages.

    ¡°No matter how many times I see this stuff, it¡¯s still damn amazing.¡±

    ¡°I definitely don¡¯t want to try plunging headfirst into a barrage like this.¡±

    The secondary guns of arge-ss ship were basically the same caliber as the main guns of medium-ss ships. In other words, even Krishna¡¯s shield would bepletely saturated after taking just a few hits. So what about pirate ships with abysmal defenses? It¡¯s not that hard to imagine what would be of them.

    ¡°Nn, so unless it¡¯s a perfect surprise attack, it really is no good.¡±

    It seems like the pirates were trying to throw off the aims of therge-ss ships by scattering chaff and res, but this was simply trying to put out a raging inferno with a single bucket of water. I mean, sure, chaff and res can be used to throw off the automatic aiming systems of starships by disrupting their sensors to some extent, but they can always aim manually. Chaff and res are convenient, but not universally effective in each and every scenario.

    ¡°Yeah. Mimi, direct the active sensors opposite of where therge-ss ships are firing at. Set it to maximum range.¡±

    ¡°Eh? U-Understood¡­¡­ Huh?¡±

    ¡°So something¡¯s reallying from over there huh. Prepare forbat, and send the observation data to Restalias to warn them.¡±

    ¡°A-Aye, aye, sir!¡±

    It¡¯s amon tactic. Basically, it¡¯s like making a big swing with your right first to attract the attention of your opponent andnding the critical blow with your left fist, a weapon, or a kick. In this case, both the minefield and the earlier ambush from the asteroid field were merely used as decoys.

    While listening to Mimimunicating with Restalias, I pointed Krishna in the direction of the suspicious readings and set the active sensors to maximum output.

    ¡°There¡¯s something there alright.¡±

    ¡°Yup, definitely.¡±

    An extremely cold object was steadily approaching the fleet. Probably, after elerating at maximum speed, they activated the emergency cooling system to drastically lower the temperature of their starship, and let it approach the fleet exclusively through the use of inertia. It¡¯s simr to the stunt I pulled off during the battle with the Vereverem Federation a while back. Yep. It was thermal stealth.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave the adjustment of the FCS to you.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Of course, Krishna also sported a thermal sensor among its equipped modules. It¡¯s not impossible to lock onto a starship using thermal stealth by simply tweaking the fire control system settings a bit.

    ¡°Settings are A-OK. Target locked. Twelve bogeys approaching. No reaction on the IFF.¡±

    ¡°OK. Those are enemies then.¡±

    The opponents were still approaching us with their power generators under minimum output. Of course, that meant they don¡¯t have any shields up and they were practically blind. They probably haven¡¯t even noticed we already got a lock on them.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, Lt. Col. Serena says we are permitted to freely engage.¡±

    ¡°Roger that. Let¡¯s do this.¡±

    I pulled back the control stick, squeezed the firing trigger, andunched a salvo from the fourrge-caliberser cannons as I rapidly closed in on them. And, of course, once they directly hit a ship without energy shields deployed-

    ¡°That¡¯s one down.¡±

    The suspicious ship of unknown affiliation that got bathed by theser cannon salvo exploded without any suspense. Eleven ships left.

    ¡°Unknown ships have reactivated their generators.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s reduce their numbers as much as we can before they get their shields up.¡±

    Even if their energy shields get turned on immediately after powering up their generators, there¡¯s still a bit of a timeg before the shields get fully deployed. I¡¯m gonna shoot as many of them down before that happens.

    ¡°They¡¯re tougher than your average pirate ships. Their maneuverability is good too.¡±

    ¡°Maybe these guys are the Red g pirates¡¯ elite squadron.¡±

    Most pirate ships are basically civilian models forcibly modified intobat ships, but when ites to the core strength ofrge pirate organizations like the Red gs, the story is different. Sometimes they made use of second-hand military ships, even though those are mostly old models, as well as the ships of mercenaries they managed to defeat.

    I fired at another ship. It attempted to make a hasty evasive maneuver, but it was still torn up by the shot cannons and exploded to pieces.

    ¡°I don¡¯t recognize the ship model these guys are using.¡±

    ¡°They probably aren¡¯t ships produced within the empire. Maybe they¡¯re Federation models.¡±

    ¡°Maybe Tina-san and Whisker-san can recognize them.¡±

    ¡°Keep a record of them in our database.¡±

    The unknown ships had a streamlined form that was unfamiliar to me. They were using ship models I haven¡¯t encountered in SOL. All their starships were painted a vivid shade of red. There¡¯s a notion that red stuff is stronger and fasterpared to regr stuff where I¡¯m from, but were these guys going to be up to snuff?

    One ship endured our barrage. I fired two more salvos. I only grazed it, but the shield¡¯s finally down. Let¡¯s finish it with the shot cannons¡­ There we go.

    ¡°In situations like this, having the initiative really helps a ton huh.¡±

    When you¡¯re up against an unknown enemy, scoping them out first was a bad idea. It would be better if you attacked relentlessly to drag the enemies into your own pace. Instead of risking being blindsided by something unexpected, it¡¯s better for you to simply crush them from the get-go.

    ¡°Those guys probably have weapons that can be used to bring downrge-ss ships. Be careful.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    Well, they were all small-ss ships. There are only a limited number of ways small-ss ships can deal considerable damage torge-ss ships such as battleships and heavy cruisers. And most of those methods aren¡¯t very effective when going up against a simr small-ss ship. Hitting a small-ss ship with an anti-ship reactive torpedo was difficult even for me after all.

    But I¡¯m not saying I can¡¯t though.

    ¡°Let¡¯s finish them all off before ally reinforcementse.¡±

    These are very nice prey. Since they¡¯vee to us, I¡¯m just gonna bag ¡¯em all for ourselves.

 Chapter 280 â€“ The Situation Just Keeps Escalating More and More

    <h4>Chapter 280 - The Situation Just Keeps Escting More and More</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    It was a great hunting opportunity since our prey was rtively high-quality, but the movements of our opponents changed after I downed the fourth ship.

    ¡°Are these guys nning to run away?¡±

    ¡°Looks like it.¡±

    Three of the remaining ships were heading straight for us while five were attempting to head away from the battlefield. The escape routes to the adjacent star systems have been sealed up via the blockade, but they can¡¯t bar the way indefinitely. If they hid in a remote sector where people rarelye and go through and waited it out until the blockade gets lifted, they would earn a chance to make a clean get-away.

    ¡°What are we going to do, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, our hands are tied. We can choose to ignore the iing enemies to shoot down some of the escaping ships, but it would be a problem if the three ships up ahead actually have something like anti-ship reactive torpedoes that they could use to light up our behind.¡±

    As expected, even Krishna wouldn¡¯te off unscathed if it took a hit from an anti-ship reactive torpedo, especially without an energy shield up.

    ¡°That¡¯s certainly a problem.¡±

    ¡°If we called for reinforcements¡­¡­ No, they probably wouldn¡¯t make it in time.¡±

    While listening to Mimi and Elma¡¯s conversation, I pretended to aim for one of the enemy ships and slipped past when they least expected it.

    ¡ºWha-!?¡»

    ¡ºThe heck was that¡­¡­!?¡»

    I also slipped past the anti-ship torpedoes the enemy ships fired at us from three different directions. Mm, these guys are pretty good. They had great cooperative maneuvers. They look pretty used to group battles. Their style actually resembles military-use tactics.

    ¡°Maybe there are people rted to the military among the members of the Red g¡¯s elitebat unit.¡±

    ¡°Eh? But that¡¯s¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°They might be retired military veterans who turned to piracy or deserters.¡±

    Is this why Lt. Col. Serena wanted things to be kept hush hush? Well, it doesn¡¯t matter anyway. In any case, I only had to focus on bringing down the enemies before me.

    ¡°Whoah there.¡±

    I turned the flight assist off while evading the enemy attacks, made the ship perform a tricky twist maneuver, and slid out of the way. I pounded the pirate ship that went to chase after us with the shot cannons, turned the flight assist back on, and ignited the afterburners. I kept performing tricky and unexpected maneuvers to throw the enemy¡¯s aim as I endeavored to pick them off.

    ¡°Uuuh!¡±

    ¡°Kh!¡±

    Mimi and Elma groaned due to the Gs, but I had to be extra careful since the enemies knew how to coordinate with each other well, and their attacks with anti-ship torpedoes left very few openings I could exploit. The ship I hammered with the shot cannons seems to have be incapacitated. Maybe I got lucky and hit its cockpit?

    The remaining two ships that suddenly lost theirpanion in the blink of an eye seemed to have be upset, but I¡¯m not one to let up once I¡¯ve grabbed the advantage. Since we were engaging in a close-range dogfight, I put the shot cannons to good use.

    The destructive power of the shot cannons at this range was considerable. It easily prated energy shields and mercilessly destroyed the enemy¡¯s armor ting and hull. But move away even a little and they would turn into weak pea shooters that are easily blocked by energy shields. Thus, they can only be used to intercept seeker missiles except when engaging enemies from extremely close range. They worked well enough on space monsters that didn¡¯t have energy shields though.

    ¡°That¡¯s two down. And there goes the third one. ¡­The other five got away as expected huh.¡±

    The moment the three decoys got defeated, the other five ships fled away coupled with a roaring sound. Did they activate their FTL Drives? There¡¯s a method to track them via their wake signatures, but now¡¯s not the time for that.

    ¡°Mimi, make sure to mark their FTL Drive wake signatures. I¡¯ll report it to Lt. Col. Serenater. If she thinks it¡¯s necessary, she can send a pursuit team on her end.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, sir!¡±

    The wake of FTL Drives could be tracked. In SOL, we were able to scan a ship¡¯s wake signature and track it over a fairly wide area. I¡¯m sure they had some simr tech in this world as well.

    ¡°What¡¯s the currentbat situation?¡±

    ¡°It seems the fighting power of the pirates has mostly been dealt with.¡±

    ¡°Those crazy guys who charged in without a n huh. ¡°Did they get almost wiped out by artillery fire?¡±

    ¡°That seems to be the case. Ah, there¡¯s a transmission from Restalias.¡±

    ¡°Patch it through.¡±

    After I gave my go-ahead, Mimi nodded and opened them line. Immediately afterward, an image of Lt. Col. Serena got projected on Krishna¡¯s main cockpit monitor. Lt. Robbitson was right behind her.

    ¡ºIt looks like you were able to intercept a surprise attack.¡»

    ¡°I have to put in work equivalent to my pay after all. I managed to capture some enemies. There¡¯s only one ship though. The others ended up getting destroyed by shy explosions.¡±

    ¡ºCan you leave them to us as well?¡»

    ¡°Sure. Just as long as you give us adequatepensation for our trouble that is.¡±

    I then made a circle with my thumb and index finger. Lt. Col. Serena smiled bitterly in response.

    ¡ºUnderstood. Can you also send us thebat datater?¡»

    ¡°That¡¯s within the scope of the contract, so no problem.¡±

    Thebat data and logs during this operation were to be provided to the military as stipted in the contract, so I didn¡¯t have any trouble agreeing.

    ¡°Honestly though, the way these guys fought really resembled military tactics.¡±

    ¡º¡­¡­Is that so? Well then, I¡¯ll send a recovery team overter.¡»

    ¡°Roger that. We¡¯ll mark the coordinates and send them to you.¡±

    The transmission was cut afterward. Hm. She seemed a little upset when I mentioned the way the pirates fought was simr to military tactics. Maybe the Red gs really did have something to do with the military.

    ¡°Hiro, didn¡¯t you say it was better not to stick our necks in something like this?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess. But I just couldn¡¯t resist the urge to poke around y¡¯see.¡±

    I was curious about those unfamiliar starships, but only one of them didn¡¯t explode into a wreck. Anyway, the other five wrecked ships were part of our loot, so I suppose we¡¯d better salvage what we can and show them to the sisterster.

    ¡°Nn, these sure are some rare ships.¡±

    Tina eximed as she looked up the rtively intact wreckage of one of those red pirate ships that Krishna brought back. Even though she said they were rare, she was acting like she was actually familiar with them.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen a ship model like this anywhere else. You¡¯re familiar with them?¡±

    ¡°Yep. This is a ship model manufactured by a ship-makingpany based in the Virginia Star System Coalition. I think they¡¯re called Rutera Company or somethin¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Virginia Star System Coalition.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a close ally of the Vereverem Federation. They don¡¯t share a border with the empire and are located on the opposite side of the federation-controlled sectors, so we usually don¡¯t have much contact with them.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s an ally of the federation, so they aren¡¯t exactly chummy with the empire. It¡¯s not like we don¡¯t have any info at all about them though.¡±

    While exining, Tina proceeded to operate her tablet terminal in order to make the work bots and drones start analyzing the ship wreckage.

    ¡°There are more simr shipwrecks out there, right? Can you gather em all up for me, Boss? Maybe we can restore a working ship by cobbling parts together.¡±

    ¡°Hee? Is there any point in doing that though?¡±

    ¡°The manufacturer of this baby is located far away from the empire, and there¡¯s almost no diplomatic rtions between our nations, so this model is particrly hard toe across. We might achieve a small breakthrough in ship design knowhow if we gather enough data after restoring it.¡±

    ¡°I see?¡±

    ¡°Um, Sis is saying that it¡¯s possible Space Dwerg might buy the restored starship for a high price¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That sounds pretty good. Sure, let¡¯s have a go at it.¡±

    Are we not worried about copyrights, err, I mean patent rights, you ask? Of course, there¡¯s a certain risk, but I¡¯m sure a bigpany like Space Dwerg will be able to exploit a loophole or two.

    ¡°But this does feel really suspicious huh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­ it¡¯s abat starship from a hostile foreign power that¡¯s possibly being flown by people who are somehow rted to the military after all¡­¡­ Um, this is a properbat starship, right?¡±

    ¡°Yep. I forgot its official model number, but this should be a pretty decentbat starship model. It¡¯s in apletely different leaguepared to those retrofitted civilian models used by most pirates.¡±

    Tina nodded in response to Mimi. Beside her, Whisker was disying a subtle expression.

    ¡°Um, by saying they¡¯re rted to the military¡­¡­ are you referring to the imperial military?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no concrete evidence though. Just treat it as a random guess for now and don¡¯t mind too much.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do that¡­¡­ If not, it feels like it¡¯s gonna be real troublesome. Um, will it be really okay for us to restore this thing?¡±

    ¡°Unless there are some special circumstances involved, the loot from defeated pirate ships belongs to the mercenaries who shot them down, and dealing with the loot ispletely up to the mercenaries. Anyway, that side will probably contact us if there¡¯s any problem, so don¡¯t worry about it.¡±

    ¡°Is it really gonna be okay¡­¡­?¡±

    Whisker was still apprehensive. Well, wouldn¡¯t it be more convenient for Lt. Col. Serena if Space Dwerg got involved and buried the truth of the matter for her? Space Dwerg is gonna end up reverse-engineering the ship anyway, so I imagine they¡¯d keep a really tight lid and wouldn¡¯t be able to openly talk about the existence of the original ship they took ¡®inspiration¡¯ from.

    This model felt like a small high-speedbat ship with good bnce. Space Dwerg seems to be developing a simr small high-speedbat craft as well, so this thing would be a pretty good point of reference.

    ¡°Once you¡¯ve analyzed its weapons, functions, and overall specs, make sure to tell me about them, okay?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Boss. We¡¯ve got this.¡±

    ¡°Please leave it to us.¡±

    The two sisters replied while giving me a confident thumbs-up at the same time. Yeah, they really looked like sisters whenever they acted like this.

    ¡°By the way, you ended up pulling out early, Boss. Is the battle already over?¡±

    ¡°Our turn is, anyway. By this time, the interior of the pirate base should have be a battlefield filled withser sts and explosions already.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so they¡¯re movin¡¯ in to take it over huh. It would save a lot of trouble if they¡¯d just blown up the entire thing though.¡±

    ¡°I think the higher-ups are currently in a situation where they can¡¯t exactly afford to do that.¡±

    The Red g pirate organization. If members of the imperial military really were involved with them in some way, and if they even had ties with a hostile country, the Vereverem Federation, as well, then this could really be a big heap of trouble for the empire. It was a two-out. Maybe things would escte even further too. If that¡¯s the case, then things really are gonna get serious.

    ¡°Well, it sucks for the soldiers, but let¡¯s just rx and chill out for now.¡±

    ¡°We might get sent out again pretty soon you know.¡±

    I responded to Elma with a shrug and headed back to Krishna. Anyway, we have to recover all of the wrecks first.

 Chapter 281 â€“ Trade-off

    <h4>Chapter 281 - Trade-off</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    We finally finished collecting all the pirate starship wrecks, and the mechanic sisters started repair and restoration work while disying troubled expressions from time to time.

    ¡°Man, I don¡¯t get any of this.¡±

    ¡°Me too.¡±

    ¡°Of course, you don¡¯t, guys. Sheesh.¡±

    We were overlooking the ship wreckage being repaired by Tina and Whisker from on top of Krishna¡¯s gangway. The sisters were busily operating the drones and maintenance bots while doing something or other, but I didn¡¯t get what they were doing at all.

    By the way, the pirates inside the base seemed to have put up quite a decent fight this time around, so it was taking some time for the imperial marines topletely secure it.

    Things seemed to be proceeding smoothly now though, and they were in the middle of mopping up the remaining pockets of resistance. We¡¯re staying on standby just in case pirate reinforcements arrive.

    ¡°This operation is a lot moreid back than I expected. Don¡¯t you feel so too, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s pretty standard. Therger the force, the more adjustments, and preparations are needed to be made before everything¡¯s ready. Look, even though we¡¯re in the mop-up phase now, the marines are still busy fighting inside the asteroid base. We can¡¯t just leave them behind to attack the next pirate base.¡±

    ¡°If we don¡¯t keep a unified pace, we¡¯ll end up with a lot of holes in our troop formation. Going up against a hundred enemies with a hundred of your own makes a load of differencepared to taking them on with just five or twenty, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Others would definitely have trouble if they¡¯re ganged up by a hundred enemies, but if it¡¯s Hiro-sama, it kinda feels like he can actually deal with those numbers if they fought him one at a time. I¡¯m not so sure if they went at him all at once though.¡±

    ¡°Uh, I think it¡¯s kinda overdoing it if I went up against a hundred enemies at the same time¡­¡­¡±

    Well, maybe I could actually manage it, but I sure as heck don¡¯t ever wanna try it out for real. In the first ce, I don¡¯t like engaging in meleebat all that much. It won¡¯t end well if I ate aser directly to my face after all.

    The mercenary gear and underclothes I always wear seem to be made of special synthetic fibers that are treated with antiser protection, but I¡¯m not sure how effective that treatment actually is. And I definitely don¡¯t want to try it firsthand.

    ¡°Well, anyway, that¡¯s how it is. The bigger the scale, the less light-footed a fleet is. There are some definite advantages when mobilizing on such arge scale though. In other words, it¡¯s a trade-off.¡±

    ¡°I see. The more ships you have, the more loot you can collect, and you can cover each other in a pinch as well.¡±

    ¡°Right. For example, if Krishna gets shot down, we¡¯re basically screwed. ck Lotus is also an excellent ship, but it can¡¯t really perform quick and tight turns.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. I suppose it¡¯s about time to get a ship for Elma huh.¡±

    When she heard my words, Elma turned to me with a surprised expression on her face. Wow, she got really surprised by that huh.

    ¡°Eh, um, but that¡¯s¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the owner of all our ships. I¡¯m also your captain. And since I¡¯m the owner, anything that would make our jobs go more efficiently will benefit me in the long run.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you thinking about that bit where you¡¯re gonna leave us once you get your hands on a ship? I personally don¡¯t want to let you go, but you do have the right.¡±

    Elma¡¯s ended up owing me a lot since I first met her aftering to this dimension, and conversely, I owe her a lot too. In other words, we¡¯ve been supporting each other all this time. At least, that¡¯s how I personally feel. No, maybe I¡¯m the one relying on her more and more? Elma does tend to spoil me a lot after all.

    ¡°O-Of course, I don¡¯t n on going anywhere at this point¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°So think about it. If it¡¯s you Elma, I feel like I can definitely leave my back in your care.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I understand.¡±

    Elma¡¯s lips curled into a pretty smile. She looked really happy. I felt a fervent gaze directed to my back. When I turned around, I saw Mimi¡¯s expectant expression.

    ¡°You¡¯re gonna get promoted to sub-pilot as well, Mimi. Can you do it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my very best!¡±

    Mimi made fists in front of her chest as she breathed out roughly in excitement. Mimi¡¯s experience as an operator should be more than enough by now. It¡¯s about time for her to step up a notch. By the way, I and Elma can also perfectly serve as ship operators. Or rather, while I was ying SOL, I did everything basically on my own. I controlled all of a ship¡¯s sensors and sub-systems. I could have hired an NPC to do the job, but I ultimately chose not to and did it all manually. That¡¯s because I could perform far more precise operations if I did them personally.

    ¡°Let¡¯s proceed with that in mind from now on then. We¡¯ll have to start browsing for a good starship model as well.¡±

    We might have hunted down a lot more prey if there was another ship supporting Krishna that could have prevented the rest of the pirates from escaping. After all, if our only mobilebat craft was Krishna, we¡¯ll inevitably expose gaps. There have been other instances in the past where the prey escaped because we couldn¡¯t pursue them in time after all.

    ¡°I want a Swan!¡±

    ¡°Rejected. Don¡¯t tell me you still haven¡¯t learned your lesson¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Gununu¡­¡­¡±

    The starship that Elma used to pilot - the Gctic Swan - was a machine with very high specs. But it had the fatal w of going out of control and exploding in a ze of glory if you pushed it past a certain point. It was obviously a defective machine that should have been recalled, but for some reason, it¡¯s being distributed without any reserve in this dimension. ¡­¡­No, maybe it actually isn¡¯t being sold openly. I mean, I personally haven¡¯t encountered any shops selling the thing until now. Perhaps it¡¯s actually a pretty rare ship. Just what kind of back channels did Elma use to buy that thing anyway?

    ¡°I¡¯m going to be the new ship¡¯s owner as well, you know. So I have the right to decide which model to purchase.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. I¡¯ll just follow your lead, Boss. But is this really okay? You¡¯ll be set back from your goal again if you purchase a ship for me, you know?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I and Mimi already obtained first-ss imperial citizenship anyway, and you¡¯ve been one since childhood, right, Elma? We¡¯ll have to think up something when ites to the sisters, but we have some pretty influential backers to lean on anyway.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s true.¡±

    We can rely on Earl Dareinwald for help, and even though I don¡¯t wanna rely on her all that much, there¡¯s also Lt. Col. Serena. We can even ask for His Imperial Majesty¡¯s help through Mimi. Though that¡¯s kind of ill-advised.

    In any case, if we keep earning at our current pace, we¡¯ll be able to re-earn the money we¡¯ll be using to purchase Elma¡¯s new ship in no time. Being able to operate a ship apart from Krishna and ck Lotus will expand our options by quite a bit. We¡¯ll be able to take on a wider variety of jobs too.

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s shop around for Elma¡¯s ship after we¡¯re finished with our current job. It¡¯s perfect timing since I n on going to a system with advanced tech industries to purchase lightweight power armor as well.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Since we can use the gates, it¡¯s also possible for us toe directly to a ship-makingpany¡¯s main headquarters to purchase a ship.¡±

    If you go to a system with a highly developed tech industry, it would be easier to obtain info regarding thetest cutting-edge tech. In other words, it would be easier to get info on thetest ship models as well. There would be plenty of ship-makers and dealers after all.

    ¡°Now I¡¯m really looking forward to finishing this job and heading to our next destination.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll have to do our best so we can finish our current job quicker then.¡±

    ¡°Right. Well, at this rate, we¡¯ll be done after crushing one or two more bases. Let¡¯s get this done, you two.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡±

    The twodies seem to be really motivated as well. Great. It¡¯s always nice to have high morale. What about my morale? Mine is always clocked at a hundred percent y¡¯know. I¡¯m not kidding.

    There¡¯s Mimi, Elma, Mei, and now there¡¯s Tina and Whisker as well. There¡¯s no guy in existence who won¡¯t get fired up when surrounded by such breathtaking beauties. Men are simple creatures after all. WAHAHAHA!

    I¡¯ll have to work hard to make sure I live up to their expectations.

 Chapter 282 â€“ Life Doesnâ€™t need Dramatic Twists

    <h4>Chapter 282 - Life Doesn¡¯t need Dramatic Twists</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    We targeted another two star systems, but we ended up drawing nks this time. There were pirate bases, sure. But we didn¡¯t encounter any form of resistance. The bases werepletely emptied out.

    Of course, a system blockade was still conducted. Lt. Col. Serena expected the reaction of the pirates would be much quicker this time, blockaded the target star systems with the help of the imperial military forces and the local system garrisons much earlier than the nned arrival of the main force. However, the Red g pirates somehow managed to disappear from under everyone¡¯s noses despite the tight and swift blockade. No useful information about their whereabouts was found in the pirate bases we recently raided. The data storage devices and terminals were firstpletely reformatted and then physically destroyed. It was pretty thorough.

    ¡°It¡¯s kind of anti-climactic, isn¡¯t it, Hiro-sama? I was expecting a decisive battle or something.¡±

    Mimi muttered listlessly while slumped on top of a table inside the dining hall of ck Lotus. It seems she was pretty disappointed because this was supposed to be her first crack at being a sub-pilot.

    ¡°This is fine. Well, it¡¯s a bit underwhelming, sure. But this is still a reasonable ending.¡±

    After saying so, I took a sip of tea that had already turned a bit lukewarm.

    In the first ce, the pirates didn¡¯t have the ability to fight with our forces head-on. The quality of ships, equipment, and personnel are several leagues apart. There¡¯s absolutely no contest. After all, their modus operandi was to attack private civilian ships that were, for the most part, unarmed. They¡¯re aware that they¡¯d lose badly if they went head to head with a military fleet.

    ¡°I wonder where those guys from the Red gs escaped to?¡±

    ¡°They didn¡¯t get caught in the system blockade, right?¡±

    The mechanic sisters were also taking a break while still wearing their work jumpsuits. Well, it seems the maintenance bots and drones were still busy working even if their masters were here on break. In fact, the sisters were checking out their tablet terminals from time to time in order to supervise the work¡¯s progress remotely.

    ¡°They must have escaped to deep space.¡±

    ¡°Deep space? So does that mean they¡¯re nning on spending time locked in FTL cruise until they spot a chance to escape to the neighboring star system?¡±

    ¡°Maybe. Or maybe they n on hiding all the way until the heat finally dies down. Either way, we probably won¡¯t get even a peep from those guys for quite some time.¡±

    Deep space. It does sound rather vague. It actually refers to the regions of space located outside a star system where there are no hypenes. Previous studies had shown that hypenes nodes only existed with a certain range from a star, and space beyond that range was called ¡®deep space¡¯. At least, that¡¯s ording to SOL lore. But it should be practically the same in this dimension as well.

    ¡°Lt. Col. Serena might find this result a littlecking since she was aiming topletely crush the Red gs, but the fact that she was able to chase away a considerablyrge pirate organization from the surrounding star systems is still a big enough achievement. After all, there¡¯s no precedent to an operation like this that was able to sessfully damage arge pirate organization to this degree.¡±

    Mei, who was sitting at an angle just behind me, said so in a soft tone while pouring a new helping of tea to my now-empty cup.

    ¡°Lt. Col. Serena, the imperial space navy, and the local star system garrisons have sessfully achieved a dazzling military victory, and we¡¯ll be receiving ample rewards for a job well done. Everyone¡¯s happy, so all¡¯s well that ends well.¡±

    ¡°A happy endin¡¯ huh¡­¡­ The only guys who should be unhappy are the pirates.¡±

    While saying so, Tina disyed a subtle expression. Well, even though some of the parties involved are happy, the pirates did end up with a lot of casualties and were even chased out of theirirs. It¡¯s true that not everyone¡¯s happy in that sense, I suppose.

    ¡°You don¡¯t like how things went down?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I can do anythin¡¯ about it. Y¡¯know I¡¯ve been on the other side of the fence for a bit a while back, Boss. Even viins have certain circumstances that led to them doin¡¯ bad stuff. I¡¯ve seen lots of decent folks turn to crime back in the day after all.¡±

    ¡°Big Sis¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°But that and this are different matters, right? There¡¯s no reason to grant mercy ta pirates, was it?¡±

    ¡°Yep. Well, if you think of it from a moral standpoint, we¡¯re still on the side of justice for protecting the people from their clutches. As for whether or not killing pirates with no questions asked is just¡­¡­ Well, I suppose it is.¡±

    ¡°But that just leaves ¡®em with no way out, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Uh, they¡¯re pirates after all¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Uhuh. They¡¯re pirates, so yeah¡­¡­¡±

    Tina retorted, but I and Elma are pretty set on our ways y¡¯see. There would be no end to the discussion if we started talking about how cruel and merciless pirates actually were. And for those who were born into a life of piracy, it¡¯s the only way they knew how to live, so they can only act as pirates for the rest of their lives. There¡¯s no helping it. That¡¯s just how it is.

    ¡ºIs that so? Then I pray you would be reborn as anything other than a pirate in your next life.¡»

    There¡¯s no choice but to kill them while saying so in our hearts. Because, well, they only knew such a life, so they¡¯re able to attack innocent civilian ships, steal cargo, ¡®process¡¯ the kidnapped crew and passengers, and then sell them to customers without feeling even an ounce of remorse. In the Gran empire, at least, piracy is a felony that immediately warrants death.

    ¡°Un. That¡¯s right. That¡¯s right, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t have at least that much resolve, you can¡¯t live as a mercenary. That¡¯s why mercs like us are really careful when ites to dealing with pirates.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    Whisker tilted her head to the side.

    ¡°Yup. That¡¯s why Hiro-sama and Elma basically don¡¯t walk around alone when they¡¯re outside. They at least take Mei with them whenever they step inside colonies whenever wee to port. That¡¯s also the reason why the main priority when we first visit a Mercenary Guild branch or military garrison is to ask about the public order situation of the colony we¡¯re visiting.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true that it¡¯s a bit more dangerous when you get off the ship than when you¡¯re on board. We¡¯re in a business that pirates highly loathe after all. We also need to be careful around the local colony gangs and the space mafia that might have ties to pirates as well. They might suddenly jump you in a secluded alley or something after all.¡±

    After saying so, Elma disyed a slicing gesture with her index finger and ran it over her neck.

    ¡°That¡¯s scary¡­¡­ Now that you guys mentioned it, Mei-han does tag along whenever Boss or neesan goes out of the ship huh.¡±

    ¡°Since we¡¯re all staying in the same ship, you guys might get targeted as well. That¡¯s why Hiro¡¯s always tried to shore up security whenever he has the chance. He bought Mei and thebat bots primarily for that purpose after all.¡±

    ¡°Come to think of it, whenever we go outtely, you always tell us to take somebat bots along as escorts and luggage carriers.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ain¡¯t that bein¡¯ a tad bit overprotective?¡±

    The sister¡¯s gazes focused on me. Overprotective? No, no, of course not. I mean, you guys wouldn¡¯t want to get caught by strange people and experience cruel stuff, right? That¡¯s why I¡¯m doing all I can to prevent that from happening. Isn¡¯t that natural?

    ¡°Oh, Boss. And here we thought you didn¡¯t care about us, but you¡¯ve always had our safety in mind, huh?¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother¡­¡­¡±

    Tina was grinning happily for some reason, and Whisker¡¯s gaze was filled with passion. What the heck? What¡¯s with this awkward atmosphere all of a sudden?

    ¡°Right, that¡¯s about enough. This topic is over. Let¡¯s talk about our next ns instead.¡±

    ¡°You just tantly forced us to change topics huh.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s trying to push things aside again, Elma-san.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t hear you. Anyway, let¡¯s grab our rewards as soon as this job is finished and head back to the Refill system. We need to return this guy after all.¡±

    After saying so, I grabbed the Sacred Tree seed that was leaning against my chair and lifted it up. The crystal tips glowed in protest, but I ignored that.

    ¡°I can¡¯t just bring away the object of worship of the elves after all. I¡¯m not sure what exactly happened to this guy, but I¡¯ll return it for the time being. And then let¡¯s try to stay away until the heat¡¯s died down.¡±

    ¡°That should be appropriate. The Minfa n chief seems really interested in you, after all, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Well, we need to visit the Rose n territory first before going on our way. Since we have the opportunity, let¡¯s go and see Elma¡¯s family¡¯s roots.¡±

    ¡°That sounds really fun, Hiro-sama.¡±

    For some reason, we¡¯ve enjoyed hospitality from the Grado and Minfa ns but rarely came in contact with people from the Rose n. We haven¡¯t talked about it much with our guide Lilium either.

    ¡°After that, let¡¯s look for a suitable high-tech star system so we can find a lightweight power armor for me and a new ship for Elma. If you have any further suggestions, let¡¯s hear it now, guys.¡±

    ¡°Mm, if you haven¡¯t decided where to go next, I¡¯d like toe to a ce where there¡¯s a Space Dwerg branch office please.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. There are a lot of things to do, such as handing over the restored ship and various other procedures¡­¡­ You wouldn¡¯t mind, right, Big Brother?¡±

    ¡°Sure thing. I was actually nning on letting Elma have the ship instead if its performance specs are reasonably outstanding. But it doesn¡¯t look like that¡¯s the case huh.¡±

    It seemed to be a pretty high-performance shippared to what pirates usually use, but it was a bitcking as a professional mercenarybat ship. And since it was a ship model from a hostile nation, there might be a limit to customizing it with parts avable in the Gran empire alone.

    ¡°Alright then. You can consult with Tina and Whisker about our possible target destinations, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Right. This meeting is over. We¡¯ll stay on standby for the time being just in case there¡¯s an emergency sortie. Please continue to manage and pilot ck Lotus, as usual, Mei.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, sir.¡±

    ¡°Understood, Master.¡±

    With this, the pirate fiasco should being to a close. Afterward, we¡¯ll be returning to our usual leisurely ways.

 Chapter 283 â€“ After the Festival

    <h4>Chapter 283 - After the Festival</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Therge-scale space pirate group Red gs were dealt a heavy blow resulting in them withdrawing into deep space, so the operation to destroy the Red gs spearheaded by Lt. Col. Serena was to be halted for the time being.

    Although the operation did manage to deal a considerable amount of damage to the Red gs, the main leaders and other executives managed to slip away, and in the second half of the operation, the rest of the Red gs got up on their bums and escaped, so the ending was a little anti-climactic. However, it was still an impressive feat to drive away arge-scale space pirate group that had widespread influence without incurring much damage.

    ¡ºI¡¯m personally not content with the oue though.¡»

    Lt. Col. Serena said such a thing when we parted ways. However, it looks like the evaluation of the military top brass and general public opinion wasn¡¯t too bad, and if things continued going the way they were, she might be up for another promotion. Perhaps the next time we meet, she¡¯ll be Colonel Serena Holz instead of Lieutenant Colonel.

    ¡°Well, it looks like they¡¯re going with this official story huh.¡±

    I sighed as I propped up my chin with one hand while reading the article disyed on my tablet terminal inside the dining hall of ck Lotus.

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not nning to leak ssified info out to the general public, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course, not. Do I look like someone who¡¯d do something so terrifying?¡±

    What was written in the article was only a superficial summary of events coupled with a glowing tribute to the youngmander who led the operation. Well, in other words, the military was trying to package Lt. Col. Serena as a hero, or rather, an idol. She had the looks, demeanor, and pedigree after all. Her parents and the noble house she¡¯s from were very influential. They also had fairly deep pockets. Although she¡¯d probably just serve as their publicity mascot most of the time, I¡¯d have to hand this one to the imperial military. It¡¯s not a bad n at all. Furthermore, she hated injustice and corruption, so I think she¡¯ll eventually be an indispensable asset to the imperial military in the future.

    ¡°I wonder what really went on back there? Judging from our previous experiences, the imperial military stinks a bit, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a fairly huge organization after all, so it¡¯s only natural that they¡¯re not an absolute monolith. It¡¯s said that three people can already form a faction or something like that.¡±

    ¡°As an imperial citizen, I feel a bitplicated about it.¡±

    Elma was a genuine aristocratic daughter who had a wealth of experience as a mercenary under her belt, so she seemed to be generally used to such things. Mimi, however, was just amon(?) imperial citizen, albeit an upstanding one, so she felt a bitplicated after witnessing the dirty linen of the imperial military that she probably looked up to. For the imperial subjects, the imperial military that protects the empire¡¯s domain and people¡¯s lives from invasions from other countries, space pirates, and space monsters, was probably akin to heroes of justice.

    We had witnessed several things that pointed to a very high possibility that some people connected to the space pirates were also connected to the imperial military.

    There was the murder of Chris¡¯s father and the plot to take over the position of patriarch of the Dareinwald house. What was that guy¡¯s name again? Anyway, it was Chris¡¯ own blood-rted uncle, and somehow, he managed to get his hands on a secret weapon of the imperial military. And even beyond that, traces of corruption within the ranks of the imperial military could be smelled in most of the cases we encountered that involved the nobility as well. In thetter half of the operation, the Red gs made their move so quickly and decisively that you wouldn¡¯t be able to avoid suspecting that someone might have been leaking information from within the military to them. The maneuvers of that special squadron also highly resembled imperial militarybat tactics.

    ¡°That squadron might not be from the imperial military at all, but the Vereverem Federation.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s possible. Well, that would mean that Vereverem Federation engineers have been able to prate deep into the imperial territory and are performing sabotage operations.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s quite the terrible prospect¡­¡­ We really can¡¯t reveal this stuff to others huh.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why they included hush money in the rewards you know.¡±

    The reward money paid by the imperial military this time around was quite substantial. That said, it wasn¡¯t enough to buy another custom ship like the ck Lotus. Even so, if webined it with the savings we¡¯ve made so far, we can probably afford a smaller custom starship for Elma.

    ¡°Will they tell us the results of the investigation on those unknown ships?¡±

    ¡°They probably won¡¯t, and it¡¯s not like I¡¯m interested in knowing either. There¡¯s nothing good that¡¯lle out from knowing too much.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I honestly don¡¯t want to get involved in the shady working within the military.¡±

    ¡°[1] Should you or any member of your crew be caught or killed, the authorities will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This holo-data will self-destruct in five seconds or something like that.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to be involved in that for sure¡­¡­ Or rather, those lines kind of sound familiar, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯re from some retro movie of some sort. It¡¯s Hiro after all.¡±

    Correct, my dear Elma. When I wandered around the colonies we visited, I would sometimes find retro movie holo-data stored in data chips selling for very cheap prices. Since you could view them on portable data terminals and tablet terminals at your leisure, it¡¯s recently been my private hobby to collect data chips containing retro movies. I also sometimes stumble upon iprehensibly bad low-budget movies, but oh well.

    I¡¯ve seen quite a lot of them together with Mimi and Elma. After all, we had a lot of free time when traveling through the hypenes. I also y some when we unwind and rx in the break space or when I retreat to my room. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m all work and no y even when we have some free time. It¡¯s also important to rx and spend time together with the girls.

    ¡ºMaster, we will soon be entering the Refill system.¡»

    We had nothing to do while ck Lotus was navigating the hypene so we were fooling around in the dining hall, but it looks like we¡¯ve finally arrived. I really can¡¯t thank Mei enough for controlling the ship by herself while we¡¯re rxing like this. When we get back to the Refill system, I¡¯ll take some time to spoil her.

    Though somehow, it almost always turns into her spoiling me instead of the other way around. Anyway, let¡¯s just ignore that little detail, shall we? By the way, the mechanic sisters were busy repairing that unknown ship we captured after demanding some hugs. They were trying to put together a single working ship by salvaging parts from the wreckage of multiple ships. It seems they were about to finish it soon.

    ¡°Let¡¯s head to Krishna. So we can sortie at any time.¡±

    ¡°Yes. But you¡¯re being awfully cautious, aren¡¯t you, Hiro-sama?¡±

    Mimi tilted her head cutely as she stood up and followed after me.

    ¡°Just in case. We socked it to the Red gs this time, right? As a result, we¡¯ve stood out a bit too much to my liking.¡±

    Actually, although it wasn¡¯t treated with much importancepared to Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s aplishments, our activities were also mentioned in the article. They simply wrote that Captain Hiro, a tinum-rank mercenary who became the grand champion of the war games recently held in the imperial capital, also actively participated in the operation.

    But we did personally deal with that fishy special squadron after all. The survivors should have already reported our details to the Red g higher-ups. The senior executives who¡¯ve received their report might have already pulled up relevant information about us.

    ¡°You mean there¡¯s a chance they would go after us for revenge?¡±

    I shrugged my shoulders in response to Mimi, whose face had turned a bit blue.

    ¡°We can¡¯t discount that possibility. The full strength of the Red g pirates still wouldn¡¯t be able to match up with the imperial military, but they would be more than enough to prove troublesome to a single mercenary, even if one¡¯s tinum-rank. ¡­¡­Maybe that¡¯s what they¡¯re thinking you know.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re really newsworthy too. After all, we, or rather, Hiro, won the recent war games, and that event was broadcasted all throughout the empire too.¡±

    ¡°Yep. And nabbing us while leaving a message that goes ¡®The Red gs were here.¡¯ or something like that would be a pretty good show of strength for them.¡±

    ¡°B-But isn¡¯t that really bad!? Or rather, that¡¯s why we¡¯ve been on high alert all this time, right!?¡±

    ¡°Yep, that¡¯s right. Well, we don¡¯t really need to change our routine and just continue like usual, Mimi.¡±

    Elma seemed pretty chill about the whole thing, but having my ships destroyed or captured along with the entire crew were situations I didn¡¯t even want to imagine. That¡¯s why I made sure to stay on high alert.

    ¡°We¡¯re about to arrive back in the Refill system soon, so keep that matter in mind, you two.¡±

    ¡°Aye, sir.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    I called out and briefly greeted the mechanic sisters who were busy working in the hangar and boarded the Krishna. Those two won¡¯t be let off lightly as well if I mess up, so I better make sure not to let my guard down.

    I briefly nced toward Mimi, who was checking the sensor andm systems like usual, albeit with a slightly nervous expression, and proceeded to perform a routine diagnostics check of the ship together with Elma. Tina and Whisker performed regr maintenance on the Krishna, so she was practically in perfect condition.

    ¡°¡­¡­Come to think of it, we wiped the space pirates lurking within the Refill system first, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°So does that mean there¡¯s a low chance we¡¯ll get attacked here?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I suppose. But the chance isn¡¯t 0%, okay?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why we still have to be on guard.¡±

    I operated Krishna¡¯s console and projected the footage disyed by the ck Lotus¡¯s main screen onto Krishna¡¯s main screen. Since ck Lotus was still currently navigating the hypene, the main screen projected an image of a multicolored tunnel that flowed backward.

    ¡°This scenery is as impressive as usual. Mei, keep alert and scan the surrounding area immediately the moment we jump out of the hypene. Also, make sure you¡¯ll be able to deploy the ship¡¯s armaments at a moment¡¯s notice. Set the hangar hatch and electromaicunching catapult on standby.¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir.¡»

    As I listened to Mei¡¯s prompt reply, I fired up Krishna¡¯s main generator so we could sortie immediately if needed. We¡¯ll be out of the hypene in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1-

    ¡ºHypene exitplete. No reaction indicating nearby hostiles.¡»

    ¡°Got it. Proceed to the Refill Prime colony while maintaining alert status.¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir. Activating FTL Drive.¡»

    I nced sideways at Mimi once more and found her sighing in relief. I also exhaled lightly. Things are gonna get pretty stressful for a while.

    Notes:

    [1] This is a parody of the famous and iconic Mission Impossible briefing lines. You know. The one with Tom Cruise and stuff going up in smoke or exploding in his face.

 Chapter 284 â€“ Lucky Looter Marie

    <h4>Chapter 284 - Lucky Looter Marie</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    _______________________________________________________________

    ¡ºWe wee your arrival to our port, Captain Hiro.¡»

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    While giving out an appropriate response to the transmission from the Port Administration Bureau, I operated Krishna¡¯s console to check out the situation inside the port area of the Refill Prime colony.

    ¡°There are a lot of unfamiliar ships parked around huh.¡±

    ¡°Unfamiliar?¡±

    Mimi curiously tilted her head to the side after hearing myment.

    Mimi¡¯s confusion about myment was certainly reasonable. For those of us who didn¡¯t have a fixed home colony, almost all the ships moored inside port areas of colonies are basically ¡®unfamiliar¡¯ ships. It was unusual to encounter ships you knew like Lt. Col. Serena¡¯s Restalias while traveling from colony to colony.

    ¡°Ah, you mean models you aren¡¯t familiar with? There certainly are ship models I don¡¯t recognize out there.¡±

    ¡°Are they mercenaries or maybe a deep space exploration fleet?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure because there are a good number of models I don¡¯t recognize, but it seems like theirbat ability is a little too high for an exploration fleet or a standard armed convoy. If I had to say, they kinda look like a mercenary fleet.¡±

    What caught my eye the most was the bright red small-ss starship anchored in the middle of the unfamiliar ships. It was a small-ss ship on therger end. It was probably on par with Krishna when it came to size. That meant it was scraping the upper limit of small-ss starship size. As for its armaments¡­¡­ I¡¯m actually not sure. At first nce, you could only spot something that looked like arge-caliber cannon mounted on top of the ship¡¯s fusge.

    ¡°That starship sure stands out.¡±

    ¡°Uhuh. I feel like it kinda resembles Krishna a bit.¡±

    It kinda had the same design aesthetic, so to speak. The overall shape was different due to therge-caliber cannon mounted on its fusge, but there was definitely a resemnce.

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    Elma asked while looking at the unfamiliar fleet lined up inside the port area. What do I think of this? In other words, do I think they have some sort of rtion to the Red g pirates huh? I suppose that¡¯s what she¡¯s asking.

    ¡°Not sure. Maybe I¡¯m just being too sensitive y¡¯know. But it¡¯s still better to be vignt. As they say, it¡¯s always the darkest under the lighthouse.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s always the darkest under the lighthouse¡­¡­ If that¡¯s really the case, then they¡¯ve gone and done something pretty bold, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Well, they¡¯re the type to pick fights with the imperial military after all. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ve got the balls to pull off at least this much.¡±

    The Refill system was the first system where we wiped out Red g pirate influence during therge-scale subjugation operation spearheaded by the imperial military. It¡¯s usually unthinkable that pirates would dare to just boldly waltz into the port of a star system¡¯s main colony, but the brain circuits of space pirates are generally fried anyway, so I wouldn¡¯t put it past them. It wouldn¡¯t be strange no matter what absurd n theye up with.

    ¡°Mei.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve checked the security-rted information of Refill Prime for thest two weeks, but there don¡¯t seem to be any major problems. No evidence of deception has been found so far. Due to the recent subjugation operation, public order and security appear to have improved as well.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    There wasn¡¯t any suspicious info, huh. Absolutely nothing. But I just can¡¯t shake the feeling that something¡¯s definitely up.

    ¡°Your face says it all. Do you think there really is something going on here?¡±

    ¡°I just have a very bad feeling about all this. It¡¯s like a really strong premonition of loads of troublesome stuffing our way.¡±

    ¡°Ah- ¡­¡­So that means they really are bad news.¡±

    ¡°Definitely. Let¡¯s act more carefully than usual guys.¡±

    Mimiughed bitterly while Elma sighed in resignation. It¡¯s not like I got this bad feeling because I wanted to y¡¯know?

    _______________________________________________________________

    Mimi decided to remain on the ship and continue processing theary descent application to Refill IV, or Theta as per the locals.

    We¡¯re going to be heading to therge starport located in the Rose n¡¯s territoryter on. Unfortunately, there won¡¯t be enough space for ck Lotus tond, but Krishna can do so without any problem. We could go to the integrated port facility that we used before, but there was a good chance we¡¯d get swamped and pestered by the Minfa and Grado ns. The purpose of our descent this time around was to pay a visit to the Willrose n, which was one of the subordinate ns of the Rose n, so I¡¯d like to keep a good distance from the Grado and Minfa ns.

    ¡°Would those girls be fine?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯d face any trouble as long as they stayed inside the ship. We activated the energy shield before we left anyway. And even if some hostiles manage to breach it and the hull, there are still thebat bots to handle them.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m constantly monitoring the condition of ck Lotus, Master. So there¡¯s no need to worry so much.¡±

    The security measures of ck Lotus were perfect today as well. They were especially tighter now that there¡¯s a danger of being targeted by those Red g guys. I made sure to act 50% more carefully than usual. It wasn¡¯t just me and Elma who headed to the Mercenary Guild this time. Mei also tagged along as well.

    ¡°The situation in the colony doesn¡¯t seem to have changed that much.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±

    We carefully observed the surroundings as we walked out of the port area where ck Lotus was parked and made our way to the Mercenary Guild branch. A lot more ships were parked inside the port area than thest time we were here, but overall, there doesn¡¯t seem to have been a lot of changes to the overall situation, and the port area operated like usual. But, as expected, that strange fleet didn¡¯t seem to be amercial one that could haul a lot of goods for trade.

    ¡°They look pretty disciplined. They remind me of soldiers.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s as you say, Elma-sama. A good number of them are keeping a watchful eye on our group, but they are making sure not to be too obvious about it.¡±

    ¡°They resemble soldiers eh. They¡¯re practically oozing with suspicious vibes.¡±

    That mysterious squad that made full use of military-stylebat tactics crossed my mind. I absolutely didn¡¯t want to be too involved in any shady military stuff. That goes for both the imperial military and the Vereverem forces.

    ¡°It looks like they contacted someone. It was just for an instant so I couldn¡¯t intercept it properly, but it looks like they gave a sign of some sort to another party.¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡­ This is getting more and more fishy by the moment. Let¡¯s go and finish what we came here for and get out of here fast.¡±

    The reason why we exposed ourselves so openly in this manner was to see the reaction of the people from that unknown fleet. Was this move too risky after all? But unless we know how the other party would react, it would be difficult to decide on what further countermeasures to employ.

    ¡°Should we have just holed up inside ck Lotus after all?¡±

    ¡°I wonder. Well, at least we¡¯re now sure that they¡¯re interested in us, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡±

    After walking for a while more, we finally managed to arrive at the Mercenary Guild branch building and promptly entered the ce without anyone, in particr, bothering us. The guild seems to be more rxed than usual, which was probably due to the recently concluded pirate subjugation that wiped out a lot of pirates from the system.

    The eyes of the female elven receptionist, who seemed a little bit too free, shone when she spotted our group.

    ¡°Wee!¡±

    ¡°Uh, what¡¯s with that super plucky wee? Did we actuallye to a diner or something?¡±

    ¡°This is probably my first time getting weed like this in a Mercenary Guild branch¡­¡­¡±

    I and Elma grinned at each other in amusement and headed straight for the reception desk where the cheery female elven staff member was waiting for us. By the way, Mei was silently following after us with her usual stoic expression. She didn¡¯t seem to have anyments regarding the guild staff¡¯s behavior.

    ¡°Ahaha. Sorry about that. No one¡¯s paid a visit to our branch these past few days you see.¡±

    ¡°Is this branch really okay?¡±

    ¡°This ce serves half as a guild affairs office anyway, so I guess it¡¯d be fine. Or rather, hasn¡¯t there been any worktely, Miss?¡±

    ¡°None whatsoever. About four days ago, all the trading ships that got stranded here due to the pirate mop-up operation left all at once. They didn¡¯t even hire any escorts. And pirate activity has almost gonepletely silent as well.¡±

    After saying so, the female guild staff shrugged her shoulders.

    ¡°The pirates in the surrounding star systems have basically also been wiped out, so it¡¯s only natural that there won¡¯t be any work left huh.¡±

    ¡°In a little while more, new trading ships will probably arrive at this ce, so it¡¯ll be lively once again.¡±

    ¡°I see. So, uh, is the fleet currently parked inside the port area some sort of mercenary corps waiting for thosemercial trading ships to arrive?¡±

    ¡°Right. It¡¯s a mercenary corps named Crimson Lance. Their leader is a Gold-ranker.¡±

    ¡°Gold-ranker huh. So they¡¯re higher ranked than Elma.¡±

    ¡°Well, excuse me for being a mere Silver ranker.¡±

    Elma kicked my shin as she rolled her eyes at me. That really hurts y¡¯know. Well, it¡¯s only natural that the leader of an entire mercenary corps rose the ranks faster than Elma who¡¯s always acted as a lone wolf previously.

    Uh, it¡¯s not like I know the exact evaluation percentages of the achievements earned through more normal means anyway.

    Eh? Am I suspicious of Crimson Lance, you ask? Well, yeah. I don¡¯t have any evidence, but I do feel there¡¯s something up with those guys. Because the timing of their appearance was just too perfect. They had an excuse to sit around in the colony, and their leader was even a Gold-ranker. It was way too clean and perfect. Of course, I¡¯d be suspicious if such a group happened to cross my path since I have this supposedly strong tendency to attract trouble. I might sound a bit too paranoid here, but judging from all my previous experiences, I just can¡¯t help it y¡¯know¡­¡­

    ¡°Oh, it looks like the rumored Gold-ranker has just arrived.¡±

    When I turned around to follow the gaze of the female elven staff, I saw a beautiful woman giving off an intense impression who was nked by two burly and strong-looking men.

    She was quite the shy woman. She had bright magenta pink hair that really stood out. Her attire was also quite eye-catching. She sported a blouse, corset, and skirt, with twoser guns strapped on her slim waist. Uh, how should I put this? While everyone around her was sporting attire fit for an SF setting, only she was wearing something rtively normal. Or rather, it was more of a medieval fantasy-style attire than anything else. Theser guns strapped on both sides of her waist were the sole exceptions though.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡­?¡±

    The woman also gave me a once-over, as if she was evaluating me. It kinda felt like a snake determining if the one before it was suitable prey or not.

    ¡°To think I¡¯d be able to meet a famous celebrity in such a ce. You¡¯re Captain Hiro, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. I¡¯m not that familiar with you though.¡±

    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m also quite well-known around these parts you know? Well, I suppose I really am not as famous as you though.¡±

    The woman confidently took a step forward and gave me her name.

    ¡°I¡¯m Captain Marie. Just like you, I¡¯m a mercenary who made her name by hunting down pirates. I¡¯m also known by the moniker Lucky Looter Marie.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for that polite introduction. You already know of me, but let me introduce myself in kind. I¡¯m Captain Hiro. We don¡¯t really need to exchange handshakes, do we?¡±

    I was hit by a strong hunch when I exchanged gazes with the grinning Captain Marie.

    This woman was definitely my enemy.

 Chapter 285 â€“ Combat Strength Analysis

    <h4>Chapter 285 - Combat Strength Analysis</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t want to shake hands with me?¡±

    ¡°Sorry. I¡¯m a bit of a shy man, you see.¡±

    I thought about what our next move would be while secretly measuring the distance between us and the grinning Marie. They were currently blocking the entrance to the Mercenary Guild branch. It¡¯s unlikely that we¡¯d be able to get out of the building without getting past them first.

    ¡°Hey, Hiro?¡±

    Elma nudged my nk with her elbow as she called out to me, probably because she noticed I was acting a bit strange. But I kept my eyes on Marie as I held Elma¡¯s hand, shifted half a step to the right, and pointed to the reception counter with my free hand.

    ¡°We¡¯re done with our business. You came all the way here because you have some business with the guild as well, right? Please go right ahead.¡±

    ¡°Ara, you¡¯re quite the gentleman despite being a mercenary, aren¡¯t you? You better learn from him, you guys.¡±

    ¡°Yes, anego.¡±

    One of the grim-looking men who seemed like bodyguards replied to Marie with a t tone. Underneath their thick leather-like clothes were seemingly well-trained muscr bodies. No, their muscles could have also been the result of bionic or cybeic enhancements rather than being natural. At least, it looked like they¡¯ve undergone cybeic enhancements to me. They also seemed to have high closebat ability. They should really be Marie¡¯s bodyguards. Well, it¡¯s not like Mei wouldn¡¯t be able to deal with them though.

    ¡°But isn¡¯t it fine to talk a bit more? After all, we¡¯ve managed to chance upon each other here, so that might mean we have some fate with each other. At least that¡¯s what I think. What about you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but the rest of my crew members are waiting for us back in my ship. We also have some other ns and are pretty busy you see.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡­? Well, it can¡¯t be helped then. I pray that we meet each other again soon.¡±

    After saying so, Marie withdrew her grin, instead opting for a faint smile on her lips as she passed us by with her group and headed for the counter. When Marie passed by me, a sickeningly sweet smell wafted over, making me inadvertently knit my brows.

    ¡°¡­¡­Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°O-Okay.¡±

    Elma seemed to have been quite shaken by the tense atmosphere earlier as she followed after me along with Mei, who was the same as always.

    ¡°Mei, keep a good eye on the areas surrounding ck Lotus. Use all of the ship¡¯s avable sensors and make sure not to miss anyone or anything suspicious.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Also, find as much information as possible about that woman. But make sure you won¡¯t be traced.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please leave it to me.¡±

    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s wrong with you? You were acting really weird since earlier.¡±

    Elma finally couldn¡¯t hold herself back after she heard my ominous-sounding exchange with Mei and pulled my jacket lightly to get my attention. Well, I can¡¯t exactly me her for reacting this way though.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just say it¡¯s due to intuition.¡±

    ¡°Intuition?¡±

    ¡°That woman was bad news. Very bad news.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­?¡±

    Something like intuition sounded pretty vague, didn¡¯t it? And taking that kind of prickly attitude simply due to intuition alone sounded pretty silly as well, so I¡¯d understand if she found my behavior iprehensible.

    ¡°But Hiro¡¯s intuition is¡­¡­ Yeah, we can¡¯t exactly dismiss it lightly.¡±

    Wow. She was more receptive to the idea than I expected.

    ¡°Anyway, I get that we need to be extra cautious. The fleet she leads looks pretty good in a fight, and it¡¯s a toss-up if we can take all of them with Krishna and ck Lotus alone.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll figure something out. I don¡¯t feel like I¡¯d lose in a dogfight.¡±

    ¡°Krishna mighte out fine, but ck Lotus could be downed by a concentrated attack. Isn¡¯t that the same as losing?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡±

    Krishna can probably shake off even the most dogged pursuit, but the considerably slower ck Lotus couldn¡¯t. In other words, we should definitely avoid fighting them.

    ¡°Well, this is troublesome. No matter how you look at it, their ships seem faster than ck Lotus.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because their fleet isposed of small and medium-ss ships. The medium-ss ships also seem to be the type that emphasizes firepower and speed.¡±

    I continued to discuss with Elma while checking out the currently anchored ships of Marie¡¯s fleet as we made our way back to ck Lotus.

    The ships might have had their original shapes changed significantly due to extensive modifications, or perhaps they simply were of an unknown model. In any case, it was difficult to determine their equipment and performance through just outside observation. However, one thing they all had inmon was the presence ofrge main thrusters, so it appears that all of them were pretty quick on their feet. Judging from their characteristics, Marie¡¯s ships might possibly specialize in blitzes, tracking, and hit and run tactics.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s impossible for us to get rid of up to three times their current number. We can probably do it with Krishna.¡±

    ¡°As far as I can see, they have five medium-ss ships and seven small-ss ones. This is probably thergest mercenary fleet I¡¯ve ever encountered.¡±

    If the small-ss ships focused on holding Krishna back and concentrated the firepower of five medium-ss ships on ck Lotus, she probably wouldn¡¯t be able toe out unscathed. ck Lotus had a thick energy shield and armor ting, but its speed and mobility weren¡¯t that much to speak of. It¡¯s virtually impossible for it to avoid most enemy attacks.

    ¡°Let¡¯s leave thebat strength analysis at that. Anyway, it¡¯s definitely dangerous to take them head-on without a n.¡±

    ¡°Right. And we¡¯re not sure if that woman would really make a move on us anyway.¡±

    ¡°And it¡¯s not so easy for them to make a move either.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯d be out with one strike if they got reported to the authorities after all.¡±

    It would be more viable in a ce without much imperial military presence like the Edge World, but it would be very risky for a ship that¡¯s been officially ID¡¯d to attack another officially ID¡¯d ship in a star system with a well-organized and functioning imperial military garrison like the Refill system. Once one gets reported, a criminal record would immediately get created, and once that happens, the party thatunched the attack would find themselves joining the pirate and criminal bounty list.

    As a result, they wouldn¡¯t be able to legitimately enter most colonies, and if they can¡¯t enter ports, they wouldn¡¯t be able to resupply things like oxygen, water, and food. And that would lead to possible death by suffocation, dehydration, or starvation. And since their ships wouldn¡¯t be able to undergo any decent maintenance, they would eventually break down, leaving their crews helpless. Once that happens, their chances of joining a pirate group to live as space pirates would be shot.

    In other words, Marie would lose all her status and fame as a Gold-ranker.

    ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t be so wary of her if I thought she would be bothered by those consequences though.¡±

    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t she?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I hope she actually does.¡±

    It¡¯s not like there wasn¡¯t a way to prevent them from getting reported. The point is that they would just have to make it impossible to send a report to the system, and there were surprisingly many ways to do so. One can simply justunch a powerful enough jamming signal during the battle preventing transmissions, or if you want a sneakier method, you can intercept the transmission and convert the content into meaningless data. You could also choose to deal with the receiving side. You can attack a colony¡¯smwork and bring it down in advance so that they would be unable to receive a report.

    It¡¯s not like a criminal record would be created automatically through an act of God once onemits a crime after all. Since one is up against a human-made system, there were bound to be some factors that weren¡¯t exactly perfect. Although it was listed as a banned item, there was also a portable satellite that emitted a powerful jamming signal within a certain range in SOL. In other words, there were many methods as long as one had the mind to look them up.

    ¡°In any case, we can¡¯t walk around outside for the time being. We¡¯ll stay indoors until the descent application to Refill IV gets approved.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, sir. I hope nothing really happens.¡±

    ¡°Truth is I¡¯ve already half-given up on that.¡±

    If I knew this was gonna happen, it would have been better if we postponed going back to the Refill system. Should we have just gone to a technologically advanced system somewhere first to purchase Elma¡¯s ship and a new power suit¡­¡­? Well, it¡¯s not like we can do anything about it now. It can¡¯t be helped. The best we can do right now is to remain vignt and pray that nothing really serious happens.

    I had a sneaking suspicion our prayers would be useless though.

 Chapter 286: Just Canâ€™t Catch Them by the Tail

    ¡°So we need to shut ourselves inside the ship again?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ Can you tell me what exactly did you find dangerous about that woman? Um, Marie-san, right?¡±

    ¡°Hm, let¡¯s see¡­¡­ It¡¯s a bit difficult to give a definite exnation, Mimi.¡±

    How should I exin that feeling? The sense of interest and the ufortable hint of sadism in her eyes the moment our gazes met, her unsettling smile, the overall atmosphere about here¡­¡­ It¡¯s akin to a predator trying to tease its prey or a child¡¯s propensity for cruel acts against insects or small animals. When I described it to them with those allusions, Elma nodded in agreement.

    ¡°I also thought her grin was a bit creepy, but¡­¡­ I was more surprised that Hiro actually responded coldly to a beautiful woman.¡±

    ¡°Was she really that beautiful, Elma-san?¡±

    ¡°She was a really shy woman. Now that you mentioned it, her features were certainly quite striking, I guess. But my attention waspletely taken up by that intensely unsettling feeling she gave off, so I didn¡¯t even notice back then.¡±

    She had a shy hair color and strangely out-of-ce clothing. Come to think of it, she was also wearing essories, wasn¡¯t she?

    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t say anythin¡¯ about your intuition Boss, but she didn¡¯t really do anythin¡¯ aside from greetin¡¯ you, right? So we can¡¯t exactly report her to the guild or imperial military just based on a hunch.¡±

    ¡°All we can do right now is to stay put inside the ship huh.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t it seem like we¡¯re hidin¡¯ because we¡¯re scared of her? It¡¯s a bit uncool.¡±

    ¡°Even so, what if we went outside and someone ended up getting captured? If my worst assumption turns out to be right on the money, I don¡¯t even dare to think of the consequences.¡±

    ¡°By worst assumption, are you implying¡­ that woman really is connected to the Red g pirates? Isn¡¯t that a bit of a long shot? That woman¡¯s a Gold-ranker you know?¡±

    Elma, who read my thoughts, wrinkled her eyebrows.

    ¡°About that, Elma. She¡¯s nicknamed the Lucky Looter, right? I bet the reason she¡¯s been given that nickname is either because she¡¯s lucky enough to often encounter pirates who have loads of plundered goods stashed inside their ship¡¯s cargo holds after a sessful raid, or that she often finds ces or coordinates where pirates have hidden their umted treasures.¡±

    ¡°Even if that¡¯s the case, maybe she just has a knack for sniffing out treasure, or she simply is just that lucky. I think it¡¯s a bit premature of you to judge that a person is connected to pirates just because of intuition.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s certainly true. What I¡¯m spouting right now may just be baseless usations. But that¡¯s why I had Mei conduct an investigation on her.¡±

    Mei, who had been waiting behind me without getting in the way of our conversation, was busy collecting and analyzing information rted to Captain ¡®Lucky Looter¡¯ Marie by making use of her powerful processing speed and multitasking capability.

    ¡°The people managing the Mercenary Guild aren¡¯t stupid. They always do a good job of analyzing the information of all the mercenaries affiliated with them, so I doubt they¡¯d promote someone suspicious to Gold rank.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m waiting for Mei¡¯s analysis before making any conclusions. Just call it insurance.¡±

    However, Elma did have a point. As Elma said, the guys running the Mercenary Guild weren¡¯t stupid. They should have evaluated one¡¯s personality as well before promoting mercenaries, right? ¡­¡­Uh, on second thought, maybe not. After all, I shot off from Bronze rank all the way to tinum like a runaway starship without facing much scrutiny.

    Well, my achievements against space pirates and crystal lifeforms were basically difficult to y down, especially with Lt. Col. Serena as the witness. There should be a record about my saving Chris in the Port Administration Bureau¡¯s central database, and my overall conduct should have also been reported by the Dareinwald House to the relevant authorities. So maybe that¡¯s why the guild wasn¡¯t that strict regarding my promotion. It was the imperial family that directly awarded the Gold Star to me as well. I evenpeted in a tournament directly sponsored by them and won.

    ¡°That¡¯s just because you¡¯re a special case you know?¡±

    ¡°Dammit, can you please stop reading my thoughts?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because you¡¯re just too easy to read, Hiro. So I can¡¯t really help it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    ¡°I agree.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s harsh guys.¡±

    The heck? Can you stop ganging up on me,dies? Well, I guess I just appeared too worked up so they were joking around a bit to calm me down. I hope. That¡¯s how it is right? Right?

    As we continued to joke around, Mei finally opened her mouth to announce her findings.

    ¡°Master, I havepleted my investigation on Captain Marie.¡±

    ¡°Well, that was fast. Give it to us then.¡±

    ¡°Yes. As Master correctly surmised, Captain Marie was given the nickname ¡®Lucky Looter¡¯ due to her often finding umted pirate loot and supplies hidden in deep space and asteroid belts. In fact, her Crimson Lance mercenaries have been known to bag more loot than average during pirate hunting operationspared to other mercenaries.¡±

    ¡°She should have at least been suspected of being connected to pirates, right?¡±

    Mei silently nodded in response.

    ¡°Yes. There are indications that the Mercenary Guild was also suspecting her and had performed investigations on Captain Marie and her activities several times. However, it seems they just couldn¡¯t get ahold of any incriminating evidence. Also, Captain Marie makes sure to properly hunt down space pirates regrly apart from plundering hidden stashes. As a result, she has a solid track record as a bounty hunter. The total pirate capture and kill records of the Crimson Lance mercenaries rivals or possibly even exceeds yours, Master. Furthermore, they have also managed to uncover the locations of many space pirate bases by interrogating captured pirates and analyzing their ship¡¯s data storage. Their achievements on this front are also well above that of most mercenaries.¡±

    ¡°In other words, despite being really suspicious, the Crimson Lance mercenaries generally take the job of pirate hunting pretty seriously, so they seemed to be pretty upstanding mercenaries, all things considered, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The discovery rate of hidden umted pirate loot and hidden space pirate bases are both much higher than average for the Crimson Lance mercenaries. They have been constantly hitting numbers that can be said to be abnormal, so the Mercenary Guild had tried to ask if she had any tips or valuable know-how that led to such astonishing results. Captain Marie was recorded to have given the following reply: They¡¯re not that hard to find once you get the hang of it.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­ That¡¯s all?¡±

    ¡°Strangely, I can¡¯t really outright dismiss her words as nonsense¡­¡­¡±

    There were also treasure hunting events in SOL where yerspeted to uncover hidden pirate stashes. Basically, the event had you analyzing the data storages of destroyed pirate ships to obtain the coordinates of those hidden treasures, but the probability of sessfully getting the coordinates of those stashes was actually quite low. So purposely aiming for such a thing would be very difficult, to say the least.

    ¡°But that¡¯s not something you can intentionally aim for, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Well, it¡¯s possible that there¡¯s some secret to their resounding sesses, like special equipment designed to aid them in their search¡­¡­ But honestly, it¡¯s far simpler and more believable to surmise that those guys are rted to a space pirate group.¡±

    ¡°But doesn¡¯t that seem strange? They¡¯re connected to pirates but they still hunt down pirates.¡±

    ¡°Space pirates aren¡¯t a monolithic lot, so it¡¯s possible that they were just dealing with other pirate groups that were getting in the way of the Red gs.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see.¡±

    Whisker gave her take on Mimi¡¯s question. That¡¯s certainly possible. Perhaps, the bit about finding hidden loot was simply a bare-faced lie, and in truth, they obtained those stashes by killing off rival space pirate groups. Or maybe they were just presenting the loot their piraterades have umted for them.

    In other words, the Crimson Lance mercenaries might be running a racket of taking illegally plundered goods from civilian victims and presenting them as their ¡®lucky finds¡¯ to cash them out legally. Basically, it was moneyundering.

    ¡°But we can¡¯t just use these to pin somethin¡¯ on them. In the end, all we found out was that the mercenary corps of that Marie woman was discoverin¡¯ hidden loot and pirate bases at a rate that even made the Mercenary Guild suspect somethin¡¯ else was goin¡¯ on, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. After all, even the Mercenary Guild wasn¡¯t able to catch the snake by its tail, so to speak¡­¡­ But even so, I still want to bet on my intuition.¡±

    How should I describe it¡­¡­? This might sound like I¡¯m spouting nonsense, but my intuition this time was kinda close to divine premonition. Err, something like that anyway. It felt like my entire body, heart, and soul were rejecting that woman with all their might. And I, for one, don¡¯t think it¡¯s exactly normal to have such an intense feeling that a person you¡¯ve met for the first time was your enemy.

    ¡°You really are a bit too tense, aren¡¯t you? Are you okay? You wanna fondle my chest to rx?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    After hearing Elma¡¯s offer, I discarded all my other thoughts in seconds and decided to bury my face on her breasts. Well, they sure didn¡¯t have the sheer volume of Mimi¡¯s assets, but they still felt really nice. They smelled really good. Great, even. My heart was slowly being healed.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you too faithful to your desires, Big Brother?¡±

    I can¡¯t help it y¡¯know. I¡¯m a healthy young man after all.

    Well, we discussed at length, but there wasn¡¯t anything conclusive in the end. I hope my suspicions really turn out to be false.

    Well, in any case, they won¡¯t be able to chase after us once we¡¯re back down on Theta. And even if they dide down to Theta themselves, they wouldn¡¯t be able to make much of a mess while on the surface. If they did try to pull something big, there¡¯s a good chance they¡¯d be discovered. The surface of a was just too smallpared to the huge expanse of outer space. As soon as aser cannon set to anti-ship output gets fired on the surface, the star system garrison in charge ofary defense would immediately mobilize.

    In the end, we couldn¡¯t get out of the ship, and we wouldn¡¯t be able to leave the colony either before our descent application gets approved, so we just spent the entire time lounging around inside ck Lotus.

 Chapter 287 â€“ Movie Viewing Party

    <h4>Chapter 287 - Movie Viewing Party</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    -The Next Day-

    Not being able to go against the somewhatnguid atmosphere drifting about inside the ship, I spent time rxing on a sofa inside the break space. Mimi sat on the floor just below me, using my stomach as a backrest, while the mechanic sisters sandwiched me between the two of them. By the way, Mei was hugging my neck from behind the sofa. Hence, the soft sensation enveloping my head felt quite good.

    ¡°¡­¡­Aren¡¯t you guys feeling stuffy or something?¡±

    Elma, who was already drinking beer even though it was still daytime, rolled her eyes as she sat a little ways away from the rest of us.

    ¡°Uh, not really.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯m adjusting the temperature to be morefortable for you, Master.¡±

    Right. Mei¡¯s body that was touching the back of my head and neck was refreshingly cool. It looks like her in-built cooling system was running at full capacity. As expected, she was the perfect maid. She constantly does things no ordinary maids are able to do.

    By the way, we¡¯re currently having a retro movie viewing party inside the break space using the data chips I¡¯ve collected so far. It seems there were a lot of horror movies inside the data chip I tried out this time around. We were all lined up on the sofa normally as we watched at first, but before I knew it, they were all stuck to me like glue.

    By the way, the movie that was currently ying was a suspense horror-thriller in which crew members of a starship were killed one after another as the ship was navigating the hypene. The remaining crew members ended up suspecting one another to be the murderer, and in the end, they resorted to holding a vote. Those who had the most votes were then chucked outside into the hypene. Of course, if you¡¯re expelled within a hypene, you¡¯d most likely die or be considered as missing, without anyone being sure of your ultimate fate.

    ¡°The culprit should be Blue. He¡¯s just a tad bit too desperate to prove that he ain¡¯t the murderer.¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s Green, Big Sis? Because Blue was always with ck at the time of thest murder, right?¡±

    ¡°But isn¡¯t it suspicious that ck has been too aggressive in pushing for the reduction of the number of the crew after Purple got expelled?¡±

    ¡°It did feel like he was egging the others on to expel other crew members. He hid his mouth when Purple was expelled from the ship, but it seemed like he was hiding a smile instead of being sad about what happened.¡±

    ¡°You sure notice a lot of small details¡­¡­ I didn¡¯t notice anything at all.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that because you¡¯re already drunk from beer¡­¡­?¡±

    Blue, Green, and ck were the names of the characters. Or rather, they were their codenames or callsigns. It was actually quite easy to remember because they all wore uniforms that matched the color used as their codenames.

    By the way, Mei hasn¡¯t participated in our amateur detective roley as we tried to deduce who the real culprit was. After all, if Mei seriously analyzed this kind of thing, there¡¯s a very high chance she¡¯d solve the mystery in an instant.

    By the way, when it appeared that they were finally able to get rid of the real culprit during thest act of the movie, it was revealed that there was another traitor lurking among them. The final scene depicted the remaining murderer killing the rest of the remaining crew one by one. The movie ended while the expressionless murderer was in the middle of heading off with weapon in hand in order to finish off thest surviving crew member.

    ¡°So there were actually two culprits.¡±

    ¡°ck really was a traitor, just like Hiro-sama said.¡±

    ¡°That was nice. They made Green seem like an obvious viin that the rest managed to defeat after a tense action sequence, only to give us that final twist in the end.¡±

    ¡°The scenes where the crew members were killed off one after another were scary, and the desperate pleas of the expelled people were amazingly acted as well.¡±

    ¡°Maybe they really were thrown out to the hypene during the filming of the movie you know. And that¡¯s why it was so realistic.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say something so scary. It¡¯s giving me goosebumps.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t a snuff film y¡¯know¡­¡­ Well, the filming equipment in this world had developed a lot, so it wasn¡¯t too farfetched to think that what we watched wasn¡¯t a movie but an edited version of real events. Anyway, judging from the credit roll, this was definitely a movie¡­¡­ Oh, and I also like watching blooper scenes as the credits roll. Yep.

    ¡°What¡¯s the next movie after this one?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡­ The title is ¡®Terror! Space Spiders!¡¯ apparently.¡±

    ¡°Judgin¡¯ from the title, it sounds like a low-budget B-movie¡­¡­ No, it kinda smells like a C-movie.¡±

    ¡°How could you tell without even checking it out first, Big Sis?¡±

    ¡°Mm. I¡¯m not good with creepy creatures that have lots of legs crawling about, honestly¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Come to think of it, you screamed like heck when we saw a Gura back when we were stranded in the forest, didn¡¯t you, Mimi?¡±

    The Gura Elma mentioned was an insect endemic to Refill IV. It was asrge as an average-sized grass snake and resembled a centipede. It moved very quickly using its many legs, unlike regr centipedes back on Earth. But it was apparently a beneficial creature that doesn¡¯t bite humans or elves. Rather, it had a habit of hunting down toxic creatures within forests. But I wasn¡¯t good with it either because it just looked really creepy.

    By the way, the movie in question was actually a cross-species love story between a human main lead and a space spider disguised as a horror thriller. The scene where the main lead risked his life to protect the female space spider from the rest of the crew was really moving.

    By the way, all the human characters other than the main lead died, and he even managed to have a ¡®crystallization of love¡¯ with the female space spider in the ending. Just what woulde out when that egg finally hatches¡­¡­?

    ¡°It feels like this would appear in my dreams for a while¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Err¡­¡­ At least their love was pure, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­In a sense, I guess.¡±

    ¡°You say it¡¯s love, but was the guy really okay after being strung around like that? It looked pretty tight you know.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I was wondering about that too.¡±

    ¡°The content was truly interesting. I¡¯d like to try it out if given the chance.¡±

    Mei, it doesn¡¯t sound like a joke when you¡¯re the one saying it, so please spare me from that. I mean seriously.

    ¡°Master, the Refill System local administration has given us permission tond on Refill IV.¡±

    ¡°Really? That was faster than I expected. Shall we make our way down then?¡±

    I originally nned to directlynd in the Rose n¡¯s starport with Krishna, but I changed tack and decided we¡¯dnd in the integrated port facility we used before with ck Lotus.

    This is mostly due to Marie. I judged that it would be far too dangerous to split up. I don¡¯t think they¡¯d be able to easily make a move on us, but they might make use of some unexpected means. So, just in case, it was better to descend with ck Lotus instead of just Krishna.

    After all, if we descended with Krishna alone, we¡¯d have to leave ck Lotus in the Refill Prime colony. We¡¯d just be giving them a great chance to invade the Lotus through some method or other. After all, no matter how much we¡¯ve strengthened the security measures, there wasn¡¯t a guarantee that there wouldn¡¯t be holes they could exploit.

    ¡°I personally think you¡¯re being a bit too careful.¡±

    ¡°It would better to be extra careful even if nothing really happens. And besides, the enemy might decide to back off after seeing just how vignt we are.¡±

    The problem withnding in the integrated general port facility is that we might be pestered by the Grado and Minfa ns again¡­¡­ Well, this time around, we came to return the Sacred Tree seed and to visit Elma¡¯s rtives so I¡¯m sure they¡¯d let us off if we ask them nicely. Yeah. Perhaps. Maybe.

 Chapter 288 â€“ Planetary Descent Once More

    <h4>Chapter 288 -ary Descent Once More</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡ºWe will be entering Refill IV¡¯s satellite orbit soon.¡»

    ¡°We willnd in the integrated port facility at the Minfa n¡¯s territory. Please watch out for a possible enemy ambush within the¡¯s satellite orbit and beyond as we descend.¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir.¡»

    I gave instructions to Mei, who was piloting the ck Lotus, while I waited with Mimi and Elma inside Krishna¡¯s cockpit so we would be able to sortie any time in case of an emergency. I kept my eye on the data collected by ck Lotus¡¯ various sensors as well.

    ¡°There really is something out there huh.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, there sure is.¡±

    ¡°Uhuh.¡±

    Elma and Mimi, who were paying attention to the sensor readings as well, raised their voices in agreement. ck Lotus¡¯ sensors picked up readings of a small ship moving at high speed within the¡¯s satellite orbit. It belonged to a mercenary unit and wasn¡¯t affiliated with the star system garrison. When I looked it up, I found that it really was a scout ship belonging to the Crimson Lance mercenaries.

    Of course, since we managed to detect it, Mei should have detected it as well. There wasn¡¯t any ce to hide out in satellite orbit, so it wasn¡¯t even trying to hide its presence and just brazenly followed after us.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s a high-speed scout ship specializing in electronic warfare?¡±

    ¡°It does look the part.¡±

    ¡°Can you really tell that just from its appearance?¡±

    ¡°To a certain extent. Although the ship seems to be small and light, it has two main engines. The number of its attitude control thrusters is also quite smaller than usual. So we can tell that it isn¡¯t a ship built for dogfights from those details. Rather, it¡¯s a configuration that allows the ship to rush to a target coordinate at really high speeds and escape immediately once something disadvantageous happens. There are also various unnatural protrusions across the body of the ship, right? Those are probably additional sensor arrays.¡±

    ¡°The shapes of radomes are almost the same, so they¡¯re quite easy to spot.¡±

    All starships basically have protective energy shields, but even so, if delicate sensors were left exposed, there was a high possibility of problems urring. That¡¯s why radomes that offered additional protection to those sensors were indispensable. And when you install a lot of additional sensor arrays, you¡¯d have to install radomes together with them as well. The surface of the ship would be peppered with bulging radomes, and inevitably look a bit clunky as a result.

    ¡°I thought it was a decoy that would make us let our guards down before they swoop in for an ambush, but it looks like there isn¡¯t any indication of themunching any attacks at us, at least for now.¡±

    ¡°Right. Well, if theyunched an obvious attack in a ce like this, the system garrison forces patrolling geosynchronous orbit would get alerted immediately and rush here.¡±

    ¡°But this is a good spot tounch an attack if they¡¯re aiming to shoot us down regardless of the consequences, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s if they¡¯re prepared to throw everything away and go down with us. But I wonder what sort of pretext they used to send out a ship like that to Refill IV¡¯s satellite orbit.¡±

    ¡°I wonder? Maybe they took on an official security assistance mission from the system garrison.¡±

    ¡°Ah, right. There¡¯s that method huh.¡±

    Maybe that¡¯s what Marie went to the guild for yesterday. She might have offered the services of their convenient high-speed recon spacecraft that had electronic warfare capabilities to support Refill IV¡¯s defense forces through the Mercenary Guild. If she set the price low from the get-go, the system garrison was more likely to ept her offer. This is especially true now that they¡¯ve been on the receiving end of space pirate raids twice in a row. So they were probably more than willing to do anything in order to improve their efficiency.

    ¡°They didn¡¯t seem to have followed after us when we left the Refill Prime colony, so that really might be the case.¡±

    ¡°Right. Well, in any case, they can¡¯t pull anything against us. At least, not yet.¡±

    ¡°It looks like we have no choice but to ignore them huh.¡±

    I¡¯m not sure how good the information gathering capability of that ship really was, but it can¡¯t be helped. Neither ck Lotus nor Krishna had the ability to enter stealth while entering a¡¯s atmosphere, after all, so they should have a clear idea about where we¡¯re going already. Maybe they¡¯ve even found out the fact that we n to head to the Rose n¡¯s territory with Krishna. But we really don¡¯t have any methods to resolve this situation right now. We¡¯d be treated as the instigators if we took the initiative to attack them after all.

    ¡ºMaster, we¡¯ve sessfully entered satellite orbit. We¡¯ll be entering the¡¯s atmosphere in two minutes.¡»

    ¡°Roger that. We¡¯ll probably be okay for the time being, but stay alert.¡±

    ¡ºYes. Please leave it to me.¡»

    Shortly after Mei¡¯s reply, ck Lotus began entering the atmosphere. The heat generated by adiabaticpression caused sma to form on the outer side of ck Lotus¡¯ energy shield, emitting a bright glow.

    ¡°It¡¯s really beautiful, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°I guess¡­¡­?¡±

    I¡¯ve seen a lot of creative works portraying stuff blowing up in a ze of glory during atmospheric entry due to various reasons, so instead of finding the current sight beautiful, I was feeling a bit anxious instead. But if one looked at it from a pure perspective, then it certainly was beautiful, so I didn¡¯t want to put a damper on Mimi¡¯s innocent impression.

    ¡°You really have a weirdly mysterious taste for stuff sometimes huh, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Eh!?¡±

    After hearing Elma¡¯s tastelessment, Mimi became teary-eyed. Well, I guess Elma had a point though. I couldn¡¯t really bring myself to reprimand Elma because I was basically thinking the same thing. I just didn¡¯t voice it out.

    ¡ºMaster, we¡¯vepleted atmospheric entry. I am now proceeding to head to the target destination while decelerating. We will arrive in about 5 minutes.¡»

    ¡°Got it. Thanks for all your hard work piloting the ship, as always, Mei. We¡¯ll remain on stand-by inside Krishna.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood. I will also notify Tina-sama and Whisker-sama.¡»

    ¡°I leave it to you.¡±

    Mei¡¯s transmission from ck Lotus was cut off. Recently, Mei had begun addressing Tina and Whisker respectfully with ¡®sama¡¯ as well. She addressed them with ¡®san¡¯ before, right? What was the reason for such a change? Well, uh¡­¡­ I guess it¡¯s because I finallyid my filthy hands on the two of them too.

    ¡°We¡¯re finally heading to Elma-san¡¯s home¡­¡­ Err, I guess it¡¯s a bit different huh. How should we put it?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it fine to just say we¡¯re paying a visit to my rtives?¡±

    ¡°Right! We¡¯re paying a visit to Elma-san¡¯s rtive¡¯s home! I¡¯m really looking forward to it!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really nothing special. Nothing special, okay. There¡¯s actually not much difference between a colony home and one on a.¡±

    ¡°Is that rea?lly the case, Lady Elma?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s kind of annoying, so stop.¡±

    The Rose n was particrly close to the empire among the three major ns, and the Willrose n, a branch of the Rose n, was actually recognized as an official imperial noble house. Elma insists on downying it, but I bet her status was a pretty prestigious one. In the first ce, she was a true blue daughter of an imperial noble house. She may have lived outside the aristocratic circle for a good number of years while working as a mercenary, and her outlook was closer to that of amoner than a noble as a result, but her outstanding lineage and upbringing couldn¡¯t be denied.

    As I mulled about such thoughts, I received a request for ess to Krishna¡¯s hatch, and I epted. After a short while, a loud voice echoed out from behind us.

    ¡°Heyo! I¡¯m bargin¡¯ in fes-!¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re just gonna get in the way, then get out.¡±

    ¡°Why!?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t make so much noise, Big Sis.¡±

    A free-spirited older sister, who made a fuss after hearing my sharp retort the moment she entered the cockpit, was admonished by her serious and responsible younger sister. Yep. Just the usual.

    ¡°Or rather, why¡¯re ya familiar with a ssic downtown dwarf joke, Boss?¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s actually a ssic dwarven joke huh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Wow. It¡¯s even more amazin¡¯ if you really didn¡¯t know about it.¡±

    Well, I guess this is some sort of cross-species culture appreciation or something. I¡¯m a little surprised that amon joke back in Japan also existed in dwarven society though.

    ¡°Fufufu, it¡¯s finally time ta set fire to the newly modded sub-seat.¡±

    ¡°Um, I know that¡¯s just a figure of speech Big Sis, but doesn¡¯t the cockpit catching fire sound a bit too ominous?¡±

    As they bantered back and forth, the sisters unfolded the modified sub-seat and sat down. A while back, Tina modified it so two people can actually sit on the originally one-seater sub-seat. It¡¯s also been equipped with seat belts, and ording to Tina, its durability was also upgraded.

    ¡ºWe will bending soon. Please be mindful of the impact when we touch down.¡»

    ¡°Roger that. C¡¯mon you two. Go and fasten your seatbelts.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    Shortly after the two responded to me, the hull of ck Lotus shuddered a bit. Yep, that was a perfectnding, as always.

    Now then, I guess we¡¯ll immediately head out after Meies over.

 Chapter 289 â€“ To the Rose Clan Territory

    <h4>Chapter 289 - To the Rose n Territory</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Apologies for the wait.¡±

    ¡°No worries. You¡¯re the one always working hard piloting the ck Lotus. Now it¡¯s time for you to experience my piloting techniques next.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡±

    As she replied, Mei made her way to the sub-operator seat. After safelynding on Refill IV, or Theta, we nned to directly take off from ck Lotus with Krishna and head for the Rose n¡¯s territory. We¡¯ve already submitted the flight n to the relevant authorities when we applied forary descent.

    ¡°Mimi, please ask for takeoff approval from air traffic control.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, sir!¡±

    Mimi applied for takeoff approval from the air traffic control tower of the integrated port facility. It was basically much the same as when applying for entry or departure from colonies, but the timing for takeoff andnding was strictly monitored and guided. Well, the airspace where you can fly freely in a¡¯s atmosphere was undoubtedly more constrainedpared to the vast reaches of outer space. You also had to take gravity into ount. It was very dangerous if you don¡¯t fly ording to the ATC¡¯s guidance. idents were more likely to ur during takeoff andnding after all.

    However, due to the aircraft made with thetest tech being equipped with low-power shields, idents due to external factors such as bird strikes and icing have been significantly reduced.

    Eh? What about that flying train we rode in previously? That wasn¡¯t built with science and technology but magic instead, so I¡¯m not sure. In fact, if I get the opportunity, I¡¯d like to suggest making improvements to passenger safety measures in the event of a crash, especially after that ident we got caught up in previously.

    ¡ºThis is air traffic control. Krishna, you¡¯re clear for takeoff. Please make sure to follow the guide beacon.¡»

    ¡°Roger. Krishna,unching.¡±

    I followed the instructions of the ATC and slowlyunched out from the hatch of ck Lotus. I just moved the ship ording to the guide beacons disyed on the cockpit¡¯s main screen. It was pretty simple and easy.

    ¡°Mimi, activate ck Lotus¡¯ lock and energy shield.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, sir. Hatch, locked. Shield is online.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll entrust monitoring the ship to you, Mei. Tell us immediately if something happens.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Please leave it to me.¡±

    I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anyone on Theta who would dare to do anything to ck Lotus, but there was always a certain chance. If you n on leaving your ship for an extended period of time, you need really strong security measures.

    ¡°Whoah. Unlike outer space, the scenery on the surface of a really is nice and refreshing, ain¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that because it has a definite top and bottom half, Sis?¡±

    While listening to the mechanic sisters who were sitting side by side on the sub-seat chatting happily, I continued to follow the guide beacon and left the air traffic control area of the integrated port facility. Once you¡¯vee out to this point, you can already fly freely to a certain extent. Well, there were some speed and altitude limits though. After all, even if it¡¯s just cruising, Krishna can easily reach Mach 2. If you fly near the surface at such a speed, you¡¯d cause quite a ruckus due to the sonic booms.

    ¡°How long will it take before we arrive?¡±

    ¡°A little less than two hours at cruising speed. I guess that¡¯s around 5,000 kilometers.¡±

    ¡°5,000 kilometers¡­¡­ After hearing that, it really gives you a sense of just how big this is, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Colonies don¡¯t evene close huh.¡±

    Colony sizes vary, but it¡¯s said that thergest colonies - the so-called mega colonies - can only house around a million people. It seems that if a colony was toorge, it would be hard to reliably supply and maintain it, so in the Gran Empire, colonies with a resident poption of around 500,000 or less were the standard.

    When traveling through various star systems, we basically stop by trading colonies, but there were other colony types as well, such as resource mining colonies, R&D colonies, food production colonies, and defense stations of the imperial military. Since we generally don¡¯t have any business with those other colony types, we simply don¡¯t pay them a visit.

    Well, in summary, colonies constructed in outer space couldn¡¯t really amodaterge poptions. Therefore, each gctic empire and nation werepeting with each other to secures suitable for terraforming and colonization and were actively exploring the so-called Edge World, aiming to expand their spheres of control.

    That¡¯s why the Gran empire paid quite a lot of attention to the terraforming project carried out by Chris, or rather, Earl Dareinwald, and dispatched the military to assist in securing new habitables that would eventually lead to an increase in the national power of the Gran empire itself.

    So why then do they still continue to construct lots of space colonies and stations if they were incapable of amodatingrge poptions? It¡¯s because when they procure precious raw material resources from asteroid fields and gas giants, sending them tos to be processed and sending them back into space again was a very costly and inefficient process.

    They opted to collect resources in outer space, secure the energy required to process the resources from efficient sr generators, and move on to the actual processing afterward. This is especially true when manufacturingrge starships and the like. A zero-G environment was simply more suitable.

    Basically, that¡¯s all I could understand. There were still various contributing factors such as the development of things like hyperdrive tech and the maintenance of gatewayworks. And it looks like they were also actively researching the feasibility of eventually building a megastructure to house arge number of people.

    There were lots of differing opinions within the upper ranks of the Gran empire¡¯s leadership though. Some wanted to focus on transforming the habitables under their control to ecumenopolises just like the imperial capital, while others proposed the daring idea of building a single huge megastructure using the entire resources avable in a star system. Yet another faction insists on focusing on discovering and terraforming new habitables instead of engaging in flights of fancy. Anyway, it was quite a mess.

    These were all taught to me in detail by Mei when she spotted me reading about the subject while inside the break space of ck Lotus. For some reason, she already knew what I was researching beforehand, appeared at the perfect timing, and was very proactive in teaching me.

    Mm, I actually had an idea why she was able to do so but merely chose not to pursue the matter. I don¡¯t intend to poke the bush and lure out the snake, so to speak, so I don¡¯t intend to dig into the matter too much. Yep. She wasn¡¯t monitoring me constantly. She was merely warmly watching over me. If I interpret it that way, my peace of mind would be maintained.

    Time flew by as we chatted within the cockpit, and before we knew it, we had already flown for two hours. Krishna had safely reached the central airport of the Rose n.

    ¡°Somehow, the atmosphere here seems to be really different from the Minfa and Grado ns, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s actually full of skyscrapers. It¡¯s not that there isn¡¯t any green, but it¡¯s been fully integrated into the modern cityscape.¡±

    I piloted the ship ording to the central airport¡¯s air traffic control tower¡¯s instructions and started bringing Krishna down to the designatednding area. Auto-docking was still really useful even within an atmosphere huh. Once you enter the airport¡¯s control range after requesting approval fornding, the ship will automaticallynd the moment permission was given.

    ¡°What will we do next once we get down at the airport?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve already contacted the Willrose house. They told me they¡¯d be sending someone to pick us up.¡±

    ¡°Hee. It kinda feels like we¡¯ve be VIPs huh.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not just a feeling. We really are getting treated like VIPs.¡±

    For Thetan elves, we, or rather, I was held in a rather special regard. First, I ended up saving the children of important figures from the Grado and Minfa ns who were previously kidnapped by space pirates. After that, due to some crazy twist of fate, we found the seed of the Sacred Tree that the elves worshipped, and I was told that I fulfilled the requirements for bing the legendary hero of the elves. In fact, the Sacred Tree seed was still in my possession right now.

    ¡°In any case, let¡¯s remain humble and try not to act rudely toward them. We¡¯ve already been eyed by some shady folks, so I don¡¯t really want any further trouble if I can help it.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯d get involved in that sort of trouble here. This turf ispletely under the control of the Rose n.¡±

    ¡°Calling this ce a turf kind of reminds me of the past.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a term used by old-timey gangsters after all.¡±

    ¡°Shut it you.¡±

    As we bantered around, the auto-docking functionpleted its job and performed a perfectnding. Now, all we had to do was get ready to get off the ship. We¡¯re nning on staying here for a few nights, so we need to bring a good number of things.

 Chapter 290 â€“ Reunion

    <h4>Chapter 290 - Reunion</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°I have been waiting for you all.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so it¡¯s you, Lilium. It¡¯s been a while.¡±

    The one who weed us when we got off from Krishna and walked inside the airport was Lilium; an elven woman from the Rose n who apanied us as our guide when we first visited Theta.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­ It looks like you¡¯re not on guard today, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Lilium gave our baggage a once-over and muttered.

    Today, the only things we brought with us were small bags. The contents were just some spare clothes and energy packs. It wasn¡¯t likest time when we brought big backpacks filled to the brim with stuff like survival kits and food rations.

    ¡°After hearing you say that, I suddenly feel the urge to be more vignt.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t. I was almost demoted because of the previous incident you know?¡±

    Lilium made an X sign with both arms while sporting a serious expression. I¡¯m not really interested in you being almost demoted- No, maybe I should be. But it¡¯s not like that crash was entirely our fault y¡¯know. In the first ce, I don¡¯t really think I was the one who caused the crash, but even if I was, it¡¯s not like I knew anything about psionic power and stuff, so you really couldn¡¯t me me.

    ¡°So if they went ahead and punished you, that would be equal to cing the me squarely on the Rose n huh. That¡¯s why your punishment has been deferred.¡±

    ¡°Hoe?¡­¡­ So it¡¯s actually about politics.¡±

    Regarding the case where the passenger vehicle that was prepared by the Grado n crashed, the Rose n questioned the safety of it right from the beginning and tried to push for us to be ferried by a standard small-ss starship. After all, the passenger vehicle didn¡¯t even possess at least a low output energy shield, and itsmunication capabilities were also very minimal. Moreover, the body of the vehicle wasn¡¯t that sturdy due to an emphasis on weight reduction, so the risk level was quite high if an ident happened.

    They also proposed using small-ss starships for the search and rescue efforts after the ident. However, that also failed due to the fierce opposition of the Grado n leaders who absolutely despised science and technology. Well, in the end, Mei snapped and piloted Krishna in order to rescue us.

    It seemed she got fed up by the slow response of the top elven ns. Well, of course, she would. That time, we were supposed to be VIP guests going for a visit to the Grado n territory. And unfortunately, the passenger vehicle we rode in crashed, and we got stranded. The rescue efforts proceeded at a snail¡¯s pace due to the spat between the top elven ns, and Mei eventually decided to rescue us herself. In other words, she decided the ns weren¡¯t reliable and took matters into her own hands.

    Naturally, the Rose n admonished the Grado n that they im were at fault for the ident due to insisting on using their own apparently unreliable passenger vehicle, as well as the Minfa n that supported the idea. On the other hand, the Grado and Minfa ns heaped the brunt of their criticism on Lilium, the guide dispatched by the Rose n, who they med for leaving us to fend for ourselves while staying safe in the only remaining car of the passenger vehicle.

    Well, they were being pretty unreasonable. Back then, the lead car was only hanging by a thread, and the pilot of the flying passenger vehicle was a male elf named Hishi who was from the Minfa n. He wouldn¡¯t have had any choice but to try his best to fly the craft to the main settlement of the Grado n in order to report the crash, especially since he wasn¡¯t sure how long the vehicle would be able to stay in the air due to the damage it received.

    Of course, the Rose n should have dismissed such attempts to pass the me. They would have insisted that there was nothing wrong with Lilium¡¯s response. And so, there was no way the Rose n would dismiss Lilium due to the matter. As a result, her proverbial neck managed to stay on her shoulders with just a single piece of skin holding it in ce.

    ¡°So what happened to the rtions between the ns after that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s now as cold as the coldest reaches of outer space, unfortunately. Moreover, the mutual dissatisfaction between our n¡¯s leaders and the top leaders of the Grado n has reached a critical point.¡±

    ¡°Oi, oi. I better tell you this beforehand. I ain¡¯t nning on getting ourselves involved in your n spats any longer, okay?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. Even if I said things have reached a critical point, that¡¯s only between our leaders. They will still disy superficial smiles toward one another whenever they meet and things won¡¯t devolve into a physical scuffle at least.¡±

    ¡°Um, how am I supposed to take that¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon. It¡¯s way better than them killin¡¯ each other in a shootout and stuff.¡±

    Tina just said something disturbingly violent. A shootout¡­¡­? They ain¡¯t mafia or criminal gangs y¡¯know.

    ¡°We should find it easiest to get along with the Rose n. Elma-sama, who has blood ties with them, is a member of our group, and our outlooks toward science and technology match, for the most part, Master.¡±

    The Rose n was the most technologically advanced faction among the three major elven ns. They emphasized the use of science and technology to improve their lives and advocated the idea of advancing into space. In other words, they were the most pro-empire faction in Theta.

    They also had the greatest mary wealth among the three factions due to their focus on external rtions and the defense of the entire Refill system, which led to them taking the lion¡¯s share of economic transactions with other systems within the empire. However, their views were fundamentally ipatible with the Grado n that emphasized tradition,muning with the spirits, and magic culture, as well as the Minfa n that insisted on having the best of both worlds, although their current n head seemed to be a huge fan of magic.

    ¡°Well, I suppose that¡¯s how it is. I¡¯m sure you and the others would be surprised, Hiro. Surprised at how normal this ce is, I mean.¡±

    ¡°Normal huh¡­¡­ Err, well, the people of the Grado and Minfa ns were either kinda arrogant or entric after all.¡±

    Images of a macho handsome elf, prim and proper princess-y elf, magic otaku elf and so on shed inside my head. The only one who seemed rtively normal was Nect, the son of the Minfa n chief.

    ¡°We¡¯ve already prepared transportation for you. Please follow me. It¡¯s a luxurious vehicle fit for VIPs such as yourselves, so don¡¯t worry.¡±

    ¡°Oooh, sounds good. Hey Boss, she said we¡¯re VIPs. VIPs ya hear? I¡¯m sure there will be some high-ss booze and snacks avable.¡±

    ¡°Did you watch too many holo-movies, Tina? Or rather, are you really nning on drinking at this timing? We¡¯re gonna be meeting with the higher-ups of the Rose nter you know?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Boss. For dwarves like us, most alcoholic drinks are just the same as grape juice.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not the point Big Sis¡­¡­¡±

    Of course, it ain¡¯t fine. In fact, it¡¯s problematic. Or rather, aren¡¯t you actually holding some expectations yourself even if you sound like you¡¯re admonishing your sister, Whisker? You can¡¯t fool me. See. The corners of your mouth are twitching a bit.

    ¡°Luxury snacks¡­¡­¡±

    Mm. I feel like Mimi polished her glutton persona a little bit too much. There¡¯s a time and ce for that, youngdy. But, well, it¡¯s good for her to eat more, I guess. She should eat and develop her assets more. Yep. I ain¡¯t gonna say that out loud though.

    ¡°Alright, stop fooling around, guys. We can¡¯t let the other party wait long for us. Let¡¯s get going.¡±

    ¡°Right. Come on then, Mei.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master.¡±

    We left the airport with the excited sisters and Mimi following after us. I¡¯ve actually never traveled long-distance ovend before, so I¡¯m looking forward to the experience. We either used Krishna or something simr to a high-speed railway to get around the imperial capital after all.

    _______________________________________________________________

    ¡°So the ground vehicles on this are like this huh.¡±

    We boarded a so-called hover-car. It was about the size of arge truck but was still much smaller than Krishna. However, its interior truly was quite luxurious. It resembled the lounge of a 5-star hotel. Comfortable seats where three people can sit side by side were arranged in an L shape, and there was even a fully stocked bar counter with various kinds of drinks, snacks, and fruits. Moreover, the vehicle appeared to be fully automated as well.

    ¡°We don¡¯t get a lot of opportunities to travel like this huh. I suppose this is how people get around in the urban areas of the, right?¡±

    ¡°What about non-urban areas then?¡±

    ¡°In ces where autonomous driving systems aren¡¯t widespread, you would have to manually drive a vehicle with a pilot seat just like a starship. SVs that can run on both the ground and in the sky are mainly used.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Mimi nodded after hearing Lilium¡¯s exnation as she ate the sweets that were rmended to her. Eh? The mechanic sisters? They already started sampling the fine wines in the bar counter. Should we just leave them here while we meet up with the leaders, I wonder.

    ¡°Master.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°What are you nning to do with that item?¡±

    After posing her question, Mei turned her gaze toward the special-grade cursed item that was shining brightly - the Sacred Tree seed.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna hand it over to the Rose n.¡±

    ¡°I see. If that is your decision, then I suppose that would be for the best, Master.¡±

    ¡°Do you have any other thoughts, Mei?¡±

    ¡°No. That item appears to have the ability to amplify and strengthen Master¡¯s psionic power. I merely thought keeping it for ourselves could be another option. However, doing so will undoubtedly worsen our rtions with the elves of the Refill system, so I have misgivings about such a development.¡±

    I see? Well, it¡¯s true that keeping this thing might make my mysterious power even stronger.

    ¡°No, no. No matter how you slice it, that won¡¯t lead to anything good. I¡¯m definitely gonna hand this over to the Rose n.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m truly d to hear that.¡±

    I turned to Lilium, who was listening in on Mei and my conversation and saw her stroke her chest in relief. It would certainly cause major problems for the Refill system elves if I ended up bringing this special-grade cursed item away with me. This was especially true for those who practiced spiritualism.

    The Rose n didn¡¯t seem to attach that much importance to spiritualismpared to the other two ns, but they still generally practiced it. And moreover, I was someone who was brought here by a daughter of the Willrose house, which was a branch of the Rose n. If my image falls to rock bottom among the elves after taking away the Sacred Tree seed, the position of the Rose n would be in danger as well. That¡¯s why my decision caused her to feel a sense of relief.

    ¡°We will reach the central assembly hall of the Rose n soon.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha. Hey, you two. Could you stop drinking now? We¡¯re about to arrive.¡±

    I took away the wine bottle from the hand of a drunk Tina and started to prepare for getting out of the car. But can this thing really be called a car? Anyway, we got ready to get out of the vehicle.

    Now then, I wonder what the Rose n¡¯s people are gonna be like? I chatted with their delegation a bit during that dinner banquet, but I didn¡¯t have much of an impression.

 Chapter 291 â€“ Clan Assembly Hall

    <h4>Chapter 291 - n Assembly Hall</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    With Lilium in the lead, we entered the Rose n¡¯s Assembly Hall, which was a fairly imposing high-rise building, ignored the elevator, and walked all the way to what seemed to be a conference room.

    It had a prominent-looking meeting table ced right in the middle of it. The table kinda reminds me of something back in Japan. Y¡¯know. It¡¯s those tables various government delegates use whenever they held a conference. They get shown a lot in the news.

    ¡°I am Nazaris ri Rose, the patriarch of the Rose n and an honorary viscount. Indeed, I am technically considered an imperial noble, but mine is just an honorary title. So please do not be so formal with me. Let us freely speak our minds, shall we?¡±

    ¡°Much obliged. I¡¯m Captain Hiro, Thank you for taking some of your time to meet with us. By the way, what exactly is this meeting about anyway? We just followed after Lilium, but I didn¡¯t think we¡¯d be meeting with the n chief directly right from the get-go.¡±

    We were urged to take a seat, and I asked what was on my mind the moment I made myselffortable. Our goals for this time¡¯s trip were to visit the Willrose n members based here on Theta and go sightseeing a bit in the Rose n¡¯s territory. Meeting with the Rose n patriarch wasn¡¯t included in our ns at all.

    ¡°Hahaha, you really are being quite direct. As expected of a tinum-rank mercenary. Well, I received word from House Willrose you see. It¡¯s regarding your visit. Even though the one with you is a daughter of House Willrose¡¯ branch family, they are still obliged to report when said daughter will be bringing in visitors from others. So please do not me House Willrose for this matter. They merely fulfilled their obligations to the main n. I am the one who insisted for this meeting to happen and take full responsibility.¡±

    ¡°I see. ¡°So?¡±

    I prompted the chief to get to the main point. Well, if their chief insisted on the meeting directly, I guess there¡¯s no way House Willrose could have refused. The chief is at the very top of the Rose n leadership pyramid after all. It¡¯s rtively difficult for an individual or group to refuse the whims of their leaders after all.

    ¡°Hm. I would once again like to apologize for practically forcing this meeting on you. We Thetan elves have really caused so much¡­¡­ so much trouble for you all, Hiro-dono.¡±

    Mr. Nazaris suddenly disyed a stressed-out expression akin to a Tibetan fox, and his gaze turned hollow. Ah- Mm. From the looks of it, he should have faced a lot of troublesome stuff himself. But your young-looking and handsome face is going to waste with an expression like that y¡¯know, chief.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that I really, really wished to apologize to you personally. I¡¯m sorry for imposing.¡±

    After saying so, Mr. Nazaris deeply bowed toward us. The other elves inside the conference room also bowed together with him. As he said, the method they used was a bit forceful, but I liked the fact that they were very willing to apologize on behalf of all the Thetan elves and sincerely bowed their heads. To a certain extent, that is.

    ¡°I¡¯ll ept the apology. But let me just say that this apology alone won¡¯t change my impression of the Thetan elves.¡±

    ¡°But, of course. In any case, I am already grateful that you have decided to ept our apology for the time being. We of the Rose n will pay for all your expenses during your stay, so please do enjoy yourselves to the fullest.¡±

    ¡°Let me give you some advice, Chief Nazaris. You better not resort to offering something like this to mercenaries in the future for any reason. Ourmon sense regarding money and expenses is apparently far removed from most other folks. Don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you.¡±

    ¡°If this will allow us to atone for all the problems we¡¯ve ended up causing you, then the costs will be well-spent.¡±

    Mr. Nazaris chuckled and shrugged his shoulders in a rxed manner. Well, the Rose n is the most wealthy faction here on Theta anyway. So does this mean we can let ourselves go and party hard? Since they¡¯re the ones who offered, then it would be a waste not to ept their goodwill.

    ¡°Well then, I suppose we¡¯ll leave it at this. It won¡¯t do to keep you from your sightseeing after all. I¡¯ll continue to have Lilium act as your guide, so please do tell her if you have any requests and we¡¯ll try our best to fulfill them for you.¡±

    I turned toward Lilium whose name was mentioned and saw her bow toward me with a serene expression on her face. It would certainly be helpful if she continues to be our guide since we¡¯re already quite familiar with her. She would be able to anticipate what would interest us easier than another new guide.

    ¡°Oh, and before I forget, let me hand this over to you guys.¡±

    After saying so, I ced the Sacred Tree seed that was leaning beside my chair on top of the meeting table. The Sacred Tree seed on top of the table looked like a double-ended spear with spiral drill-shaped points. Parts of it were transformed to some sort of blue-green crystalline material.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡­ That holds an extremely special significance to us elves¡­¡­ Are you sure about giving it to us so- so easily?¡±

    ¡°It might be irreceable to you Theta-dwelling elves, but not for me. Just having it with me makes me feel like I¡¯ll get caught up in a lot of troublesome stuff. And besides, we¡¯ll be leaving the Refill system soon. I can¡¯t take it with me, of course. So the best course of action I coulde up with is leaving it with you guys.

    Or rather, I just wanna get rid of this cursed item quick. The sooner, the better. But I won¡¯t say this out loud because that would probably upset the elves.

    ¡°Understood¡­¡­ If you yourself insist, Hiro-dono, then we will humbly receive it. We will take responsibility for looking after the Sacred Tree seed.¡±

    ¡°Please do. I¡¯ve been encountering one trouble after another since I managed to find that. Be sure to handle it with care, alright? I mean seriously.¡±

    ¡°We are quite aware. We¡¯ve had a long and storied history with the Sacred Tree seed after all.¡±

    _______________________________________________________________

    ¡°You really handed it over just like that, Hiro-sama. Was that really okay?¡±

    Mimi suddenly asked while we were riding inside a car that was on the way to the estate of House Willrose.

    ¡°I talked about it a little with Mei, but no matter how you slice it, we absolutely can¡¯t chose the option of taking it with us. It¡¯s better to return it to the ce where it should be. I can¡¯t exactly exin why, but it kinda felt like I¡¯d be saddled with some sort of heavy responsibility if I continued keeping that thing for just a little longer.¡±

    There was nothing concrete, but I do have a spection as to why that is. There was a good chance that the seed turning crystalline was part of its germination process or something to that effect.

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s stop talking about that special-grade cursed item. I totally wash my hands of any further involvement. That¡¯s final.¡±

    ¡°If you say so, Hiro-sama¡­¡­¡±

    For some reason, Mimi looked glum. Well, it¡¯s probably because we found that thing together, and Mimi spent a lot of time interacting with it as well. She might be feeling a little lonely because it was somewhat like parting with a friend. Probably.

    ¡°Hey, neesan. What¡¯re the people from House Willrose like?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, let¡¯s see. They seemed like pretty normal folks, I guess. I only visited them once when I was little, so I don¡¯t actually remember much. ording to the story I heard from my father, the main family of House Willrose is one of the oldest and most venerable families under the Rose n.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­ Did you have any rtives you managed to get along with when you visited them, neesan?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I managed to be that close with anyone in particr because all of them were trying to be as considerate as possible back then. I do remember ying with an older female rtive though.¡±

    ¡°I see. It would be nice if we could meet that big sisterter.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s long be a proper adult, so there¡¯s a good chance she¡¯d already taken an opportunity to widen her horizons and see more of the world you know. Who knows? She might be a sessful career woman already.¡±

    Elma, who kept being questioned by Tina and Whisker, tilted her head to the side before giving them her response. That should certainly be the case, but I wonder at what age can an elf be considered an adult? I think I¡¯ll ask Elmater.

    ¡°I wonder what kind of food we¡¯ll get to eat this time.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it!¡±

    ording to my personal impression of elven food, it was closer to Japanese cuisine than Western cuisine. I haven¡¯t really gotten a lot of opportunities to sample it back on Earth, but I think it¡¯s the most simr to Taiwanese cuisine.

    By the way, after our visit to House Willrose and giving our greetings, we n to check in at a good inn to chill out and rx. We¡¯ll go sightseeing the following day. That said, we don¡¯t n to stay too long. As long as those suspicious people remained up in space, it would be dangerous to overstay our wee. Who knows what kind of devious trap they¡¯re possibly cooking up for us. After having our fill of sightseeing, we n to use the gatewaywork to perform an ultra long-distance jump straight to a high-tech star system. Only a small number of privileged people and the imperial military are able to use the gatewaywork, so they shouldn¡¯t be able to follow us after jumping.

    Of course, it¡¯s possible that they have already anticipated our n to use a gateway. There¡¯s a good chance that they have, actually. If that¡¯s the case, then they would probably set their up along the route to the gateway to catch us. So what should we do then? Unfortunately, it would be really difficult topletely give them the slip due to the rtively slow speed of ck Lotus. And so, it would be best to head straight for the gateway using the shortest route, trap or no trap.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I was just thinking a bit.¡±

    Because there was a difference between our fighting power and theirs, we can¡¯t choose to confront them head-on. If we fought, I could probably destroy quite a number of their ships, but ck Lotus would most likely get shot down from a concentrated barrage. Krishna would be able to escape, but losing our mothership would be the same as getting defeated. Of course, there was the choice ofpletely abandoning the Lotus and escaping with Krishna with the mechanic sisters and Mei in tow, but¡­¡­ I don¡¯t want to do that. No way. It would be a huge loss to just throw away the Lotus, and moreover, it would feel like I was running away with my tail between my legs after getting my behind handed to me. That would be the same as defeat.

    ¡°Well, there are still some cards I can y.¡±

    Yep. If you can¡¯t take them head-on, then just go about it another way.

    The rest would depend on when and how exactly they¡¯d attempt to go after us.

 Chapter 292 â€“ People of the Willrose Main House

    <h4>Chapter 292 - People of the Willrose Main House</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Ara, you were just a cute little girl when you first came here, but look at you now. You¡¯ve grown into such a finedy.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s be a gant-looking beauty, hasn¡¯t she?¡±

    ¡°So that person is Elma¡¯s one true love huh?¡±

    ¡°Found it. Take a look, everyone. This is the holo we took when Elma-chan first came here.¡±

    ¡°Wai- No, stop. Please don¡¯t show them that.¡±

    When we, or rather, Elma arrived at the residence of the Willrose main house, she was immediately surrounded from all sides by her aunts and cousins and became just like a meek housecat in theirpany. She tried to resist at first, but her efforts proved futile, and her figure seemed quite pitiful.

    ¡°Wow. You¡¯re amazing.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t help but remember the time when I was still a strapping youngd and the envy of all other men my age¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You have my respect.¡±

    I, however, got surrounded by the male members of the Willrose head family. Right across from us were Mimi and the mechanic sisters who were eating the snacks that were brought out one after another while watching holo-videos of a young Elma, with Mei watching over them from behind.

    ¡°Flying around freely in space as a mercenary is truly a man¡¯s dream.¡±

    ¡°And it¡¯s even better in thepany of such beautiful women.¡±

    ¡°You elves have fairly long lives, so it¡¯s not really toote for you, right?¡±

    When I made such a remark, the elven men exchanged looks and shook their heads helplessly.

    ¡°It¡¯s true that we yearn for adventure, romance, thrills, and beauties. But honestly, I doubt any of us here truly have the resolve to leave behind everything in order to pursue such a dream.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. You¡¯ll need to abandon your hometown, family, and a stable life after all¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why we really do respect guys like you who made it as sessful mercenaries.¡±

    ¡°I see. But why do you guys keep checking out my girls like a bunch of horny teens?¡±

    ¡°How rude. We¡¯re certified gentlemen, I¡¯ll have you know.¡±

    ¡°I already have a wife.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Should I really just go ahead and be a mercenary?¡±

    The youngest elven male muttered under his breath. I¡¯m not sure how much trouble you¡¯d have to face if you go ahead with that n but do your best, man. But just make sure you don¡¯t haunt me if you end up dying out there, alright? I wash my hands of all responsibility.

    ¡°But, um, please pardon me for asking¡­¡­ but isn¡¯t it tough having so many?¡±

    ¡°Well, a bit, I suppose¡­? I just make sure to train myself regrly so I can handle anything thrown at me.¡±

    You don¡¯t just need to train your lower body. You also have to build up your stamina. Well, I ended up training my lower body plenty as a result anyway.

    ¡°You do look like you¡¯ve put in quite some work.¡±

    ¡°Like I thought, the key is stamina¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°What in zes are you all harping about in front of my son-inw?¡±

    Just as our discussion about lewd stuff was about to escte even further, an authoritative baritone voice called out from behind us. It sounded like we were getting admonished, but it wasn¡¯t that harsh. It was more akin to exasperation.

    ¡°You¡¯re quitete aren¡¯t you, family head?¡±

    ¡°I just had to say a word or two to Nazaris regarding what happened today. I¡¯m sorry, my dear son-inw. Actually, I was opposed to having such a meeting, but it was already toote when I realized what was happening. Honestly. Just how did they get wind of your visit¡­¡­?¡±

    This nice middle-aged elven man who calls me son-inw is probably the current head of the Willrose main house. Come to think of it, I think I saw him among those gathered inside the n assembly hall during the meeting.

    ¡°I¡¯m Neush. I¡¯m the current head of the Willrose main house¡­ But I suppose you don¡¯t really need to mind such a thing, son-inw. In any case, since you are going to marry a daughter of the Willrose house, you are also part of the family. Please feel free to treat me as your father or uncle-inw, my goodd.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much. We¡¯ll only be staying for a short while, but we¡¯ll be in your care.¡±

    My first impression of the family head was that he was quite a broad-minded person. In any case, I sincerely offered my thanks and bowed my head in respect. It was my personal creed to repay kindness with kindness and offer thanks when it¡¯s due. Of course, that also goes for the opposite.

    ¡°Umu. You truly seem like a good man, son-inw. I want you all to feel at home and rx while you¡¯re here. Please do stay the night.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m truly grateful for the offer, but they¡¯ve already booked an inn for us, you see.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. You can just ignore the ce prepared by that damned money-grubber. I¡¯m sure he prepared a room in a hotel under his ownership after all. We don¡¯t know what lengths he¡¯ll go to in order to make sure he gets on your good side, son-inw.¡±

    Neush-san spat out while making a disgusted expression.

    ¡°Your mood sure is sour today, family head.¡±

    ¡°Of course, it is. Son-inw and Elma-chan went out of their way to pay a visit to us specifically, you know? And they forcibly made a big deal out of it and involved the entire n instead. They might be the head of the Rose n, but meddling in our private affairs like this is a gross misuse of authority.¡±

    Neush-san grew angrier and angrier as he talked, and a vein popped up on his forehead. I, however, couldn¡¯t get over him calling Elma ¡°Elma-chan¡±. Elma-chan¡­ So she¡¯s still Elma-chan around here huh.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, Hiro-sama! Look! Isn¡¯t the young Elma-san just adorable!?¡±

    ¡°Hey-!¡±

    ¡°Come take a look at this stuff too, Boss. Nee-san¡¯s really cute.¡±

    ¡°She looks just like a doll. So cute.¡±

    I was invited by the girls, so I left the men behind and went over to check out Elma¡¯s childhood videos and pictures together with them.

    ¡°W-Wait! Stop right there! You absolutely can¡¯t look, Hiro!¡±

    ¡°Arara, just look how shy she¡¯s being.¡±

    ¡°L-Let go of me!¡±

    Elma tried to stop me froming over, but she was captured and held down by the Willrose family women. Now¡¯s the chance¡­¡­!

    ¡°Here, Hiro-sama. Look at these.¡±

    ¡°Uwah, she really is damn cute.¡±

    The childhood photos and videos of Elma that Mimi showed me using her tablet terminal was a collection of fluffy adorableness. The young Elma¡¯s fine silver hair went all the way to her back, and her big, bright eyes enhanced her cuteness even further. She was truly a beautiful child. She was wearing a frilly princess dress.

    ¡°Don¡¯t ya guys think nee-san would still totally rock a princess dress like this even now?¡±

    ¡°Elma-san has this elegance and grace about her, after all.¡±

    ¡°You know what? That actually sounds pretty good. Yosh, I¡¯ll make sure to buy a few nice dresses just like this one next time.¡±

    ¡°Do you want to check out the store chain we bought my clothes from previously, Hiro-sama?¡±

    Hm? Speaking of which, I did visit a store that seemed like they would have clothes like what¡¯s shown in the video recording when I went on a date with Mimi a while back. Mimi doesn¡¯t really wear the lolita-style dresses I bought for her all that much though. What a waste. Well, I suppose it¡¯s not good to force her into wearing them if she doesn¡¯t like it.

    ¡°Hey, here¡¯s an idea. Why not buy dresses like this for all you girls?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Us too, Boss?¡±

    ¡°But I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll look good on midgets like us, big brother¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I beg to differ. Do you want to wear one too, Mei?¡±

    ¡°If that is your wish, Master.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m definitely not gonna wear one, you hear!?¡±

    Elma screamed in protest, but it would be pretty easy to achieve my aim if I enlist the help of the Willrosedies. Fufu, I¡¯m a man who won¡¯t hesitate to use such means in order to achieve my goals. If ites to it, I¡¯m prepared to bribe the Willrosedies if it leads to sess.

    Anyway, I guess we¡¯ll stay in the estate of the Willrose family for now and talk about our ns for tomorrowter. And in order to y the hand I thought of previously against those guys, going about things nice and slow is also a good option. The more time we spend out here, the more advantageous it would be for them. At least, that¡¯s what they¡¯d think. But surprisingly, that might not actually be the case.

 Chapter 293 â€“ Shopping and Countermeasures

    <h4>Chapter 293 - Shopping and Countermeasures</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Well then, shall we go ahead with these arrangements?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, please. We have enough funds, right?¡±

    It was the morning after we spent a night in the Willrose estate. We decided to go shopping in the capital city of the territory held by the Rose n. Of course, our goal was to buy a frilly princess dress for Elma to wear. I employed the strength of Willrose house¡¯s big sisters and youngdies in order to forcibly drag Elma away.

    I decided to leave thedies to their own devices so they can enjoy their time shopping around and went straight to the shop¡¯s waiting area. I then got in contact with the Mercenary Guild.

    ¡°Yes, you have more than enough. But these arrangements will still cost a lot. Are you truly fine with it?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind. I¡¯d be letting down my tinum rank if I don¡¯t splurge at least this much.¡±

    ¡°True¡­¡­ Understood. We will proceed to advertise ording to the agreed-upon conditions then.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡±

    After hearing the confirmation from the other party, I cut the call. With this, the preparations are set.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, Hiro-sama! What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Oh, it looks really good on you. Very cute.¡±

    It was a little different from what I had in mind, but regardless, Iplimented Mimi who was now wearing a cute dress. What I imagined she¡¯d wear was your regr frilly and cutesy princess dress, but what Mimi ended up getting looked more like a uniform. Yeah. It kinda looked like it was based on a military uniform design.

    But it was a pretty tight fit, so it ended up emphasizing Mimi¡¯s chest a lot. Big. It was going all boing boing man.

    ¡°Mou, just where are you looking at?¡±

    ¡°Well, y¡¯know. I can¡¯t help but look.¡±

    ¡°Mou? Hiro-sama you pervert.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t help it, really. Men are creatures who can¡¯t help but be fascinated by breasts you see.¡±

    I raised my hands and let Mimi lightly punch my chest in admonishment. She was hitting me, but she didn¡¯t seem like she was angry anyway.

    ¡°Why does Mimi get to wear something like that while I end up with this?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, nee-san. It looks good on ya.¡±

    ¡°You really look like a princess.¡±

    Elma moaned inint as she walked out of the fitting room together with the mechanic sisters.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°It really suits you. I can¡¯t even find words to describe just how good it looks on you. You look gorgeous, Elma.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s no use even if youpliment me like that.¡±

    Elma¡¯s face turned bright red as she replied in a soft voice while turning away from me.

    Elma was wearing a verdant green dress. Her shoulders were exposed, and the plunging neckline was somewhat risque, but a small semi-transparent cape served to offset that¡­¡­ The dress somehow had a mystical feel to it.

    ¡°Hey, hey. What about us, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Big Sis¡­¡­¡±

    The dresses Tina and Whisker were wearing were of a simr feel to Elma¡¯s. They were made of soft-looking and glossy fabric, and also had exposed shoulders covered by semi-transparent capes.

    ¡°You two look really cute as well. Well, rather than cute, I suppose pretty would be a better word huh?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine with bein¡¯ called cute. C¡¯mon Boss. Say ¡®Tina-chan¡¯s the absolute cutest¡¯ won¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Fine, fine. Tina-chan¡¯s really cute. Yay.¡±

    ¡°That sounds really sloppy.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re cute too, Whisker. You look like a fairy.¡±

    ¡°Oh. This is so embarrassing.¡±

    ¡°Getting all lovey-dovey while leaving me out is no good, you two.¡±

    I stroked the head of Tina who stepped between Whisker and me in protest. She was ruffling her dress by jumping around, but it looked like she didn¡¯t mind at all.

    As we yed around like that, Mei also appeared from the back of the shop.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to have kept you waiting, Master.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­ You look amazing as well, Mei.¡±

    Would it be fitting to describe the color as that of dusk? She wore a luxurious dress made of bluish-ck fabric. ck dresses were often associated with death and mourning, but the one Mei was wearing was undoubtedly a proper one. The frills that were tastefully ced in several sections of the dress as well as the jewel ornaments that resembled stars in the night sky enhanced its beauty and elegance.

    ¡°I do think this is too luxurious for a maid though, Master.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. It¡¯s more than fine. We¡¯re gonna buy it for sure.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­? If that is your wish, Master.¡±

    Mei closed her eyes and ced her hand on her chest as she replied. It seemed like she was smiling as well since the corners of her mouth were slightly raised. It was difficult to notice the changes in Mei¡¯s facial expressions if you didn¡¯t pay enough attention.

    After that, the big sisters and youngdies of the Willrose house also appeared one after another. The singledies were fine, but I feel it¡¯s gonna be troublesome if I praised the married ones too much, so please pardon me for exercising some restraint, everyone. I¡¯m sure their husbands will shower them with more than enoughpliments when they get back to their homes. But in any case, the elves were really a raceposed of beautiful people huh.

    ¡°Hmph¡­¡­ I¡¯ll make sure to slim down a bit too.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s no good, Mimi. Don¡¯t say something like that. You¡¯ll hit a nerve you know?¡±

    ¡°Moo!?¡±

    Mimi let out a strange-sounding frightened yelp. Ah, she got carried away by the otherdies as I thought¡­¡­ Stay strong Mimi.

    Actually, the elves don¡¯t seem to develop much when ites to a certain bodily area. I¡¯m not telling which one though. Big ones were good, but it¡¯s not like modest ones didn¡¯t have their good points as well. I don¡¯t discriminate when ites to breasts.

    Oops. I ended up saying it after all.

    ¡°Phew¡­¡­ This is honestly a bit exhausting.¡±

    ¡°Something like this is good every once in a while. I¡¯m sure this will serve as a nice memory down the line.¡±

    ¡°Why are you suddenly talking like an old uncle? You¡¯re not really that old, right?¡±

    ¡°I guess. Don¡¯t you want to join them as well, Elma?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll pass. I¡¯m bushed. More importantly, it seemed like you were being all sneaky earlier. What are you up to?¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t really acting all sneaky y¡¯know. I just made some arrangements since I was free.¡±

    ¡°Hm? Did youe up with a good countermeasure against those guys?¡±

    Elma leaned over toward me and asked in a whisper. I nodded to her question and borated further.

    ¡°If we don¡¯t have enough strength to go up against them, then all we have to do is to recruit some, right?¡±

    ¡°Recruit some¡­¡­ I see. Come to think of it, you¡¯re right. We don¡¯t really need to go up against them on our own.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. The blockade of the Refill system should be lifted soon, so those guys should being back in droves once the borders are opened up. Along with their escorts, that is.¡±

    If our strength isn¡¯t enough, then we¡¯ll just make up for it using other means. I made sure to offer a pretty substantial reward too.

 Chapter 294 â€“ I Didnâ€™t Lie You Know

    <h4>Chapter 294 - I Didn¡¯t Lie You Know</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Refill IV ¡ª a few days after descending to Theta. A lot has happened since we first arrived. We deepened our rtionship with the people of the Willrose main house, repelled(?) the advances of the chief of the Minfa n, had the daughter of the Grado n chief Tinia-san and her two attendants who unexpectedly arrived incognito join us in our sightseeing tour around the Rose n¡¯s territory, and so on. Anyway, things have been pretty lively these past few days.

    And so, we finally bid farewell to the people of the Willrose family today and boarded Krishna in order to head to our next destination, but¡­¡­

    ¡°You seem like you¡¯ve taken quite a liking to that huh.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t it make me look like a sessful career woman?¡±

    Mimi disyed a self-satisfied expression while wearing her recently bought military uniform-style dress. She even made an effort to make herself look smarter by wearing non-prescription fashion sses.

    ¡°Well, I guess. Somehow, you kinda resemble a receptionist working for the Mercenary Guild though.¡±

    They wore a roughly simr style of uniform after all. Mimi¡¯s outfit also had a pretty distinct military uniform styling, so she did look the part of an intellectual career woman or a female military officer. I personally found her get-up with minimal exposure appealing as well.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s not bad to change things up a bit from time to time. I personally feel the same after all.¡±

    ¡°I definitely want to see you sporting that innocent and pure get-up again, Elma.¡±

    ¡°No way.¡±

    Elma, who was sitting on the sub-pilot seat, stuck her tongue out at me. Her cheeks were slightly red. Did she get embarrassed after remembering herself as an innocent and pure child? Well, she did eventually run away from home and lived life as a mercenary despite being a genuine aristocraticdy after all. She must have faced a lot of troubles when she started out. But I still think she¡¯s pretty impressive since she managed to climb up to Silver rank in just a few years.

    ¡°Master, I¡¯ve finished loading the luggage.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Mei. Where¡¯s Tina and Whisker?¡±

    ¡°They will probably arrive here soon as well.¡±

    After saying so, Mei sat down on the sub-operator seat. Well, she wasn¡¯t actually assigned any work in the cockpit though, so she was merely using the seat as a passenger chair. Krishna was a ship that one can pilot solo with little to no problems after all, so having Elma as sub-pilot and Mimi as the main operator was more than enough to operate her smoothly.

    ¡°Sorry fer makin¡¯ ya wait guys.¡±

    ¡°Sorry.¡±

    A little bitter, Tina and Whisker finally arrived and sat down on the sub-seats they personally modified.

    ¡°So, how was it?¡±

    ¡°Preparations are goin¡¯ pretty smoothly.¡±

    I already told everyone about the request I made to the Mercenary Guild. Well, the contents of the request were simple enough. I sent out a request to escort a VIP out of refill IV and wanted to recruit a suitable number of ships for that purpose.

    Mercenaries often epted private requests without going through the Mercenary Guild, and in order to more reliablyplete such requests, mercenaries can opt to recruit other mercenaries affiliated with the guild after forking out a suitable remuneration and giving the guild amission fee for their service. I made use of that system to increase our fighting power by hiring reinforcements.

    As a condition, the contract fee will be increased by 50% for mercenaries who are Silver rank and below. If a pirate ship gets shot down, the bounty money will go to the merc ship that shot it down. Any loot recovered by them will also be theirs. Also, since we had a mother ship, the ck Lotus, I also offered to lend the cargo hold to the mercenaries free of charge if their own cargo spaces proved too small to store all the loot they would manage to recover.

    ¡°But they¡¯re just a rag-tag mishmash of different mercenaries in the end, right? So those Crimson Lance guys or somethin¡¯¡­ Ya sure the mercs we¡¯ll hire will be able to keep up with them, Boss?¡±

    ¡°That depends on how many we¡¯ll be able to hire, but I guess it¡¯s a pretty tall order.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s no good then.¡±

    The Crimson Lance was a Gold rank mercenary fleet, and they¡¯ve been active as a fleet for quite a while, so they should have polished up their coordination inbat to a considerable degree. Even if we supplemented our strength with Silver rank mercenaries or lower, it¡¯s honestly doubtful if we can actually win by taking them head-on. Though there¡¯s also the possibility of overwhelming them with numbers depending on how many mercs we¡¯ll be able to hire.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like we absolutely have to beat them head-on in this situation. Isn¡¯t that right, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. As expected of Mimi. You have a good handle on things.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe.¡±

    Mimi smiled cutely after hearing mypliment. She has already gotten quite ustomed to my style as a mercenary. She¡¯s most likely been thinking about a lot of stuff since first hearing about the request I submitted to the Mercenary Guild.

    ¡°What do you guys mean by that?¡±

    ¡°Um, our win condition this time is to use the gateway to shake off Crimson Lance. In order to do that, we don¡¯t have to go head to head and beat Crimson Lance. It would be enough if we can make Crimson Lance hesitate to pick a fight with us.¡±

    ¡°Hmm-?¡±

    Tina tilted her head in confusion after hearing Mimi¡¯s exnation. It looks like she couldn¡¯t reconcile the info of us being unable to win in a head-to-head sh against Crimson Lance despite hiring mercenary reinforcements and them hesitating to actually fight with us in the first ce.

    ¡°Ah, I got it. Even if they do beat us, it¡¯s still technically gonna be a big loss for them if their ships suffer damage in the battle. And if even one mercenary we hired ends up escaping and reporting their attack to the Mercenary Guild and the system garrison, it would spell the end for Crimson Lance as a mercenary fleet.¡±

    ¡°Yep, that¡¯s absolutely correct.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­? I see?¡±

    It looks like Mimi¡¯s exnation clicked for Whisker. But it seems Tina still wasn¡¯t clear about everything yet.

    Well, it¡¯s exactly as Whisker said. Even if we¡¯re inferior in overallbat strength, if even one of us makes it out to report to the Mercenary Guild and the system garrison, Crimson Lance would essentially be over. Their captain¡¯s status as a Gold rank mercenary will be stripped from her, and they will be prime targets for other mercenaries, local star system forces, and the imperial military as a whole.

    The Mercenary Guild especially loathes people under their wing targeting their fellow members. In addition to the prize money from the empire, arge bounty is also offered by the Mercenary Guild for the necks of former mercenaries who¡¯ve gone rogue. Back when I was still ying SOL, one of my biggest money-making methods was hunting down big bounty targets for loads of Enels. Ever since I got sent to this ce, I only checked them out but never actively pursued them yet. It¡¯s because doing so was pretty dangerous.

    Most of the big bounty targets were former mercenaries and ex-military. Their ships were powerful and were a cut several levels above your average pirate ship. Of course, that means many of the parts they had equipped on their ships were high-quality and powerful as well, so they were also pretty valuable. But that also meant their equipment and weapons were on par with most yers, or if you were unlucky, even better. So hunting them down was really dangerous. They also had a knack for running away when the odds turned against them.

    Of course, if yers keep doing shady stuff in-game, they¡¯d also get branded as bounty targets. If you identally sink an NPC or a neutral yer¡¯s ship, you¡¯d usually just be asked to pay somepensation, but if you double down on it and perform repeated assaults, you¡¯d find yourself on the bounty list pretty quickly. People called it cringy stuff like ¡°falling to darkness¡±. There are people who prefer that style of y. Of course, that would lead to them not being able to ess stations. They would be fired upon by the station¡¯s powerful defense if they attempted to approach one with a bounty on their heads, and they would get hunted down by the system garrison, military forces, and other yers. But even so, there were still masochistic yers who got off from getting hunted down from all sides.

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. I¡¯m trying to ovee the situation with the help of our courageous mercenary friends. There¡¯s no need to fight with the enemy head-on with our own strength.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ But isn¡¯t that kinda underhanded Boss?¡±

    ¡°Tina.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°The one who survives, in the end, will be the winner. Dying for honor and pride is just in stupid.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true, I guess. But isn¡¯t what you did basically lyin¡¯ to the Mercenary Guild?¡±

    ¡°Lying?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. The part about escortin¡¯ a VIP outta Refill IV.¡±

    Tina tilted her head again, but I just grinned in response.

    ¡°What are you saying, Tina? Isn¡¯t there a genuine daughter of a noble family right next to me? I didn¡¯t lie, see?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Uh, I guess you technically didn¡¯t lie, yeah.¡±

    Tina rolled her eyes at me for some reason, but I didn¡¯t mind it one bit. Yep. Not one bit. Everything¡¯s fine as long as we win in the end.

 Chapter 295 â€“ The Results of the Ploy

    <h4>Chapter 295 - The Results of the Ploy</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    We docked Krishna inside ck Lotus, left Refill IV and went up to space, then headed straight for the Refill Prime colony.

    ¡°Are they following us?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s very faint, but the Lotus¡¯ sensors did pick up a reaction. Right here, see?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. They¡¯re definitely following us.¡±

    The hyperspace sensor is, as the name suggests, a sensor that can detect other ships or objects even while in hyperspace. That sensor was now picking up something. It was probably that small-ss recon ship. It was tailing us again. Unfortunately for them, I had Space Dwerg supply the Lotus with ¡°the best equipment they have avable¡± when we bought it. No matter how small and stealthy their ship was, it still wouldn¡¯t be able to escape detection.

    ¡°They really are persistent. I was hoping that maybe I was just overthinking it previously, but it looks like my gut feeling was right on the money after all.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I was hoping that was the case as well. But seeing how persistent they are when tailing us, it looks like there¡¯s no doubt now.¡±

    ¡°Uhuh. We really can¡¯t dismiss it as a coincidence anymore¡­¡­¡±

    ording to the info caught by the hyperspace sensor, the ship tracking the Lotus was affiliated with the Mercenary Guild and was currently cooperating with the system garrison as a recon ship. In other words, it was the recon ship that belonged to Crimson Lance.

    By the way, we were staying on stand-by inside Krishna for any eventuality. You can call it being overcautious. Letting your guard down against an opponent that clearly has the ability to y you is something only fools would do.

    ¡°But with this, it¡¯s gonna be hard on us. Are we gonna have to stay on our toes like this all the time from now on?¡±

    ¡°Nah. Things will go back to normal once we¡¯ve used the gateway. Then we just have to set it so we¡¯ll immediately get alerted once a Crimson Lance ship is detected by the sensors. Or rather, haven¡¯t we always stayed on alert for any ship that might be tracking us even before this?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    This was a habit I gained from my days spent ying SOL. SOL was an MMO, so naturally, there were a lot of yers hanging around. There were guys like me who preferred to take it nice and easy while enjoyingpetition between other yers, while others liked to form teams in order to explore the far reaches of the universe in the game.

    Of course, there were also people who formed teams to act as space pirates, PKing, and looting other yers. The usual method used by those people was to ce seemingly innocent and harmless reconnaissance ships with lowbat ability but high speed near a colony to scout prey for them, analyze the behavioral patterns of the target with multiple people, set an appropriate ambush point, finish off the prey in the shortest amount of time with maximum firepower, loot anything of value, and finally make their escape before the local system garrison or worsees after them.

    Judging from the movements being made by the scout ship hanging right behind us, we¡¯ve definitely been designated as prey by those Crimson Lance guys. It looks like preparing a countermeasure was the right call.

    ¡ºMaster, we will be arriving at the Refill Prime colony soon.¡»

    ¡°Roger that. Well then, let¡¯s go and meet up with our cavalry, shall we?¡±

    _______________________________________________________________

    ¡°Three Irons, four Bronze, and two Silver. So that¡¯s a total of nine people. Well, it¡¯s good enough, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Iron and Bronze rankers can only serve as distractions at best though.¡±

    ¡°But they¡¯re still much stronger than your average pirate, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. But we¡¯re gonna go up against Crimson Lance this time after all. Well, if worsees to worst, it would be good enough already if someone other than us makes their escape, or if they can serve as proper shields so we can escape ourselves.¡±

    Even though I¡¯m aware that I was proposing to use an underhanded method, it¡¯s actually expected among mercenaries to be treated as such in the event of an emergency. It wasn¡¯t all that unusual. Of course, I was going to do my best not to let thingse to that, but I won¡¯t hesitate to do so if the situation calls for it either.

    By the way, the official rewards for the request were 30,000 Enels per day for Iron-ranked mercenaries, 50,000 Enels per day for Bronze rankers, and 80,000 Enels per day for Silver rankers.

    Our departure time was just four hours from now, and the number of days we¡¯ll be hiring them for was two full days, including the time navigating the hypene. In other words, a total of 48 hours. If no incident happens along the way, we can arrive at our destination in as early as 24 hours, but even in that event, we¡¯ll be paying them for two days in full. Furthermore, if we encounter pirates along the way, the ones that shoot down their ships will get full custody of the resulting loot. The conditions offered were pretty good considering that we also offered free use of the Lotus¡¯ cargo space to store any excess loot for them.

    The system housing the nearest gateway was just five systems away from our current location via hypene, and the traffic and trade between it and the Refill system was pretty lively because the Refill system was rich in nature and resources. Since they primarily traded for crops and handicrafts made from natural materials, the merchants normally took about one or two weeks trading with the locals to obtain the best deals. The merchants usually don¡¯t keep employing mercenaries while they¡¯re busy trading with the locals, so those who served as escorts to private merchant ships often took up requests that brought them outside the Refill system. I anticipated such a demand for requests and ced my own through the Mercenary Guild.

    Most of the star systems housing gateways serve as activemercial trading hubs, and the imperial military had a substantial presence within them, so the security situation was pretty good. Good security and public order coupled with lots of economic activity meant that private merchant ships frequent them. And for Iron and Bronze rankers, these star systems offered plenty of opportunities to cut loose and have a good time. This is due to the abundance of low-difficulty escort requests.

    Escort requests from neighboring systems near the one with the gateway were also prettymon. They hadparatively worse security situations, so the jobs offered from them were perfect for Silver rankers. In fact, in SOL, the systems around the gateway were pretty lively with activity. There were many yers who have ced their roots in such star systems. Hunting pirates normally was a bit more leisurely, so I decided not to actively seek out such systems and jobs first and endeavored to get used to things before anything else.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t being treated as disposable shields a bit too cruel¡­?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s basically what¡¯s to be expected if you take on an escort request. A mercenary¡¯s job is to at least buy enough time for the client to escape. If all goes well, you can easily earn tens of thousands of Enels doing the escort gig without any incident happening. And even in the event of an attack, the system garrison shoulde running to the rescue once you¡¯ve bought enough time.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I see.¡±

    ¡°A Bronze ranker will most likely get promoted straight away if they manage to fend off an attack in the event that the system garrison forces fail to arrive right away.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Um, but given the situation, isn¡¯t the request we made this time pretty ck?¡±

    Oops. It looks like Mimi noticed huh. Right. The request I made this time was actually a pretty dangerous one since there was a chance that a mercenary fleet led by a Gold ranker mightunch an attack against us rather than just regr space pirates. But it wasn¡¯t even sure that they¡¯dunch an attack, so I didn¡¯t put it in the request details. It was still all up in the air. In the first ce, it was still possible that we, or rather, I, might just be overthinking things.

    ¡°Mimi, this world is basically filled with unfairness.¡±

    ¡°In other words, there¡¯s always a catch to seemingly good deals.¡±

    ¡°Is that really okay¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re no heroes of justice after all. We¡¯re just trying everything in order to survive. Well, with us increasing our numbers like this, they might not even attempt tounch an attack in the first ce.¡±

    If we were to get attacked, the Iron rankers would probably run straight away to alert the local garrison or the imperial military patrols anyway. If they were aiming to capture us instead of finishing us off, they probably won¡¯t use stuff like anti-ship reaction torpedoes or reactive warhead missiles against us. If so, then we only had to endure until the Iron rankers manage to escape and call for help. There were also some other countermeasures we can employ as well.

    In the end, it would be enough if the star system garrison or imperial military detects an anomaly in order for them to sortie and check things out. Getting in contact with them directly wasn¡¯t the only way to bring the military over, and I¡¯m prepared to use everything at my disposal in order for us to get through this predicament.

 Chapter 296 â€“ Departure

    <h4>Chapter 296 - Departure</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I exchanged a few words with the mercenaries who will be joining us before departure.

    Come to think of it, this was the first time I¡¯d act as the leader of a fleet sinceing to this world huh. Well, it¡¯s not like they¡¯re fresh rookies or anything, so there¡¯s probably no need for me to babysit them.

    ¡°Just like what¡¯s indicated in the request particrs, our goal is the Eineolus system where the nearest gateway is located. It¡¯s 5 systems away from our current location. I¡¯ve sent you all the navigation data, so please make sure to input it in your nav systems.¡±

    They each replied in the affirmative. There were also some who stayed silent, but it¡¯s not like they were obligated to respond anyway. But I¡¯ll make sure to report them to the Mercenary Guild if they end up not following orders.

    ¡°You¡¯ll be synchronizing with the ck Lotus that has the highest hyperdrive output among all our ships when we enter FTL navigation. The ck Lotus will send out a synchronization request to all ships, so once you¡¯ve epted, it¡¯s fine if you leave the navigation to us. However, there¡¯s a risk of being interdicted during FTL navigation. So just be prepared to respond immediately in the event of an emergency. Otherwise, it¡¯s possible you¡¯d just end up as casualties during a battle.¡±

    Some of the mercenaries raised questions after I said my piece. Basically, they all wanted to know if there was a possibility of an attack being performed by a party other than your usual space pirates and if that¡¯s what forced us to gather reinforcements.

    ¡°You¡¯ve probably heard of it already, but arge-scale subjugation operation was conducted against the Red gs after they performedary raids on Refill IV. No matter how you slice it, they just got what wasing to them, but the remnants of the Red gs might be nursing quite a grudge against the elves of the Refill system. And since I yed an active part in the subjugation operation, they might have it out for me as well. In other words, the possibility of some of them trying to get payback wasn¡¯t zero, so I did this just in case.¡±

    Most of the group was convinced by my exnation. There were still some who were suspicious of the whole deal, but that¡¯s to be expected. Those guys simply have a good nose for detecting trouble.

    In any case, I made the reward pretty generous in order to reduce their suspicion, and since we formed a fleet, the risk faced by the mercenaries who epted our request was reduced. In addition, we¡¯ve given them free reign regarding bounties and loot, so if we get attacked by pirates, they¡¯ll make quite a bit of money.

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ It feels like we¡¯re tricking them, Hiro-sama.¡±

    After I cut the transmission, Mimi turned toward me with wrinkled brows.

    ¡°We didn¡¯t trick them. Or rather, it¡¯s a bit risky to openly use Crimson Lance of foul y at this point.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like we¡¯re sure of it ourselves after all.¡±

    Mimi¡¯s heart seems to be screaming inwardly under the pressure of involving others in danger, but for me and Elma, it was just another day doing the usual mercenary work. If anyone does end up dying at the end of this job, then that just means their luck has run out.

    It doesn¡¯t matter whether they¡¯re Iron, Bronze, or Silver rankers. Everyone was a pro, so they¡¯re well aware that making a living as mercenaries entailed risking their lives.

    Of course, even if it¡¯s just a temporary thing, I¡¯ll be serving as the leader of our hastily assembled fleet, so I don¡¯t n on letting them die meaninglessly if I can help it. I will try my best not to let any one of them get shot down. However, their lives are eventually theirs to protect. The best I could do was try not to make mistakes while leading them. In any case, I¡¯ve already resolved myself to do that much when I decided to hire reinforcements.

    ¡°Mimi, I¡¯m not some legendary hero you often encounter in stories. I¡¯m just a mercenary. I¡¯m not exactly a saint either. That¡¯s why I won¡¯t hesitate to sacrifice the lives of others if it means protecting mine and all of your lives. Also, it¡¯s not like I was nning on heartlessly using the mercenaries we hired as throwaway sacrificial pawns in the first ce. If we do get attacked, I¡¯ll do my best to resist and fend them off without any losses.¡±

    ¡°I understand¡­¡­¡±

    No matter how you look at it, she still doesn¡¯t seem convinced yet. Mm. We¡¯ve been winning battles easily all this time, so I guess that led to her impression of me being skewed a bit. I wonder how I should exin it better.

    ¡°Mimi, you seem to be getting the wrong idea here, so I¡¯ll give it to you straight. No matter how skilled Hiro is using abnormal maneuvers and how good Krishna¡¯s performance as a ship is, fighting Crimson Lance led by a Gold ranker like Marie head-on is still basically impossible, okay? You¡¯ve only seen Hiro easily win against enemies like the Vereverem Federation military, crystal lifeforms, andpetitors in matches, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Hiro has been able to win in such situations until now because he¡¯s basically always yed the role of the attacker. He¡¯s always dictated the flow of battle due to the surprise and confusion caused by his weird and abnormal maneuvers. That¡¯s why we were able to get the upper hand on even the Vereverem Federation fleet back then.¡±

    We made use of a super-dangerous and illegal Singing Crystal in order to attract a swarm of crystal lifeforms from the void back then after all. Without it, we certainly wouldn¡¯t have been able to repel the Vereverem Federation fleet with just the strength of the system garrison and the mercenaries present in the Termaine system at the time.

    ¡°But in this case, our opponent is a fleet led by a genuine Gold-rank mercenary. We are going to be fighting ships that have exponentially better performances than your average pirate ship coupled with skilled and experienced pilots and crew members used to coordinated maneuvers. No matter how weird and abnormal Hiro¡¯s maneuvers are, he probably won¡¯t be able to win against them head-on. That¡¯s the kind of opponents we¡¯re facing right now.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for the detailed exnation, Elma. But did you really have to emphasize that my maneuvers are abnormal?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I had to.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t really retort after getting answered with such conviction. I see. So it was necessary huh. Can¡¯t be helped then. Yeah, it can¡¯t be helped.

    ¡°But it looks to me like Hiro-sama is still confident in taking them on though.¡±

    ¡°I wonder. This might sound a bit arroganting from me, but I personally don¡¯t think I don¡¯t have a chance of squeezing out a win if I do go up against those Crimson Lance guys.¡±

    After hearing my words, the twodies fixed their gazes on my face.

    ¡°I specialize in taking on groups of enemies, you see. But since I¡¯m not clear about the exact strength of the enemies and can only get a rough estimate of their ship¡¯s performance, I can¡¯t really say for sure that I¡¯d be able to win.¡±

    Honestly speaking, I wouldn¡¯t be able to get a clear picture until I¡¯ve actually fought them. If we¡¯re justpeting in total firepower and durability, it¡¯s obvious that we wouldn¡¯t be able to win. Even though Krishna¡¯s energy shields are pretty high-performance and tough, they wouldn¡¯t be able tost long against a constant barrage ofser cannon fire. There¡¯s also the armor ting as thest line of defense, but Krishna¡¯s still considered a small-ss ship, so it wasn¡¯t that reliable in the long run.

    ¡°It would still be best if we avoided a fight against them altogether.¡±

    ¡°Right, that would be the best oue.¡±

    ¡°I wonder if it will really turn out like that though.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a real toss-up.¡±

    To be honest, I¡¯vepletely given up that notion. That¡¯s why I ended up hiring mercenaries to give us even a little bit more of an edge. I wouldn¡¯t have such a hard time if I could just take them all on with Krishna alone¡­¡­ But not everything in life goes the way you want it to after all.

    ¡ºMaster, we¡¯re about to leave port shortly.¡»

    ¡°Roger that. All ships, request permission to depart and assemble at Point Alpha. Go ahead and ask for clearance, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    I turned away from Mimi after seeing her cheerfully respond to my instruction and proceed to get departure clearance. I then moved my line of sight toward the section of the port where the ships of Crimson Lance were anchored. The spot was already devoid of any of their ships, with others taking their ce. They apparently left port the day after I posted a request through the Mercenary Guild.

    However, when we came up to space from Refill IV four hours ago, the small recon ship was still loitering around on the¡¯s satellite orbit. They should haveunched out to orbit at least two days ago and waited for us all this time.

    ¡°I wonder if they¡¯ll give up after seeing our numbers.¡±

    ¡°It would be really great if they did.¡±

    Elma responded to my muttering and shrugged her shoulders. It seems she really thought so from the bottom of her heart.

 Chapter 297 â€“ The Anticipated Trap

    <h4>Chapter 297 - The Anticipated Trap</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Confirmed the arrival of all ships. ck Lotus is sending the synchronization request¡­¡­ Synchplete.¡±

    ¡°Roger. Maintain Krishna¡¯s generator output tobat level.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, sir. But will they reallyunch an attack?¡±

    ¡°I wonder. They wouldn¡¯t have a lot of leeway in the event that they do, so they¡¯ll probablye at us one after another aggressively.¡±

    The Eineolus system where the nearest gateway was located was five systems away. Generally, systems near a gateway had really good public order and security. That¡¯s because the gateways that are capable of transporting ships to distances equivalent to dozens ofne nodes in practically an instant served as extremely important economic and military assets to the empire, so they wouldn¡¯t allow any threats to exist in the systems surrounding them.

    It was also a matter of maintaining the empire¡¯s honor and prestige. After all, if they fail to maintain the order and security in the areas around the gateway, chances are they¡¯d be the subject of ridicule in the international scene. So that¡¯s why the areas around the gateways were very safe. If a battle were to ur within the star systems close to a gateway, the elite forces of the imperial military will almost certainly arrive within minutes to quell the trouble.

    That¡¯s why the Crimson Lance guys can onlyunch an attack either while we were still in the Refill system and have yet to depart, or in the neighboring Mirabreeze and Holmie systems. In any system beyond those three, the imperial military elites will respond within minutes the moment they detect an incident, and the assants would probably get detained and punished soon after.

    ¡°Starting countdown. Commencing FTL Drive activation sequence.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha. Well, try not to stress yourselves out too much guys. Let¡¯s just see how it goes from here.¡±

    3, 2, 1- The countdown number disyed on Krishna¡¯s main monitor quickly wound down, and once it reached zero, the stars that appeared as points of light began to flow backward and transformed into light streaks in the wake of a loud boom. The outside scenery while navigating via FTL Drive was as beautiful as always. In contrast, the scenery you¡¯d see while inside a hypene was too chaotic and headache-inducing.

    ¡°Are there any reactions detected by the hyperspace sensor?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­¡­ I¡¯m looking at the sensor readings of ck Lotus, but there are no reactions so far.¡±

    ¡°Has that recon ship rejoined their main force?¡±

    ¡°I wonder. Well, they¡¯ve probably been acting on their own for at least three to four hours already, so them moving out of this system isn¡¯t that surprising.¡±

    Well, even if they did join back up with theirrades, they probably won¡¯t be participating in the event of an attack, so I suppose it doesn¡¯t matter. In any case, we¡¯ve made our move, so there was no point to continue surveince on us. But if they¡¯ve decided there¡¯s no point to continue observing, what would their next move be? Will they reallyunch an attack? Or perhaps the info brought back by that recon ship will convince them to abort their ns.

    ¡ºWe¡¯ll be arriving at the entrance to the hypene node soon. Commencing hyperdrive activation procedures.¡»

    Mei sent a notice while we were in the middle of our discussion. And shortly after, we finally rushed inside the hypene.

    ¡°But you know, even if wee to systems with lower imperial military presence, they¡¯d probably still respond to any sign of trouble eventually, so is it really possible to mount an attack on us at all? There certainly are devices that can interfere withmunication, but using them is still risky, isn¡¯t it? I mean, it would still stand out one way or another.¡±

    ¡°You do have a point, Mimi.¡±

    As far as I know, the jamming devices in SOL simply emitted high-output waves that canceled out the frequency band used bym devices for transmissions. Of course, using such a device would definitely leave traces that the military would eventually detect, so the assants would have to finish off their targets quickly before the garrison forces or imperial patrols arrive. That¡¯s basically the reason why I hired mercenaries to serve as decoys and buy as much time as possible, but¡­¡­

    ¡°If their aim wasn¡¯t like what we thought in the first ce¡­ This is bad.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t like what we thought?¡±

    ¡°If they actually don¡¯t have any intention of capturing us or our ships at all and only want to kill us in the most miserable and cruel way possible without leaving any evidence of their involvement, then it¡¯s gonna be really bad. I have a bad feeling about this. Maybe I really misread their intention right from the start¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s certainly an unpleasant possibility, but is there really any way to do that apart fromunching an attack on us with their own ships?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, there is. There¡¯s a way to ruthlessly kill us all off without them making a move personally.¡±

    Dammit. That bad feeling is just getting stronger and stronger.

    ¡°Is there any way to turn back in the middle of hypene navigation¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s none¡­¡­ Or rather, just what are you exactly worried about, Hiro-sama? I¡¯m getting really scared here you know.¡±

    ¡°You and me both, Mimi. So, just what exactly did you think of this time?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any hard evidence, but the two of you are already familiar with it yourselves¡­¡­ Mimi, contact Mei for me.¡±

    ¡°U-Understood.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re already familiar with it¡­¡­?¡±

    Elma tilted her head with a confused look on her face, but I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll figure it out soon. Yeah. There¡¯s definitely a way to get rid of a target without getting your own hands dirty.

    *****

    After navigating through the hypene, our fleet finally returned to normal space with the huge form of the ck Lotus at the head. The moment we did, something exploded right ahead of us. Goddammit! They really went through with it!

    ¡°Ugh!¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°Oh, geez!¡±

    An eerie wail echoed inside our heads. The sound went through apletely airless vacuum, our ship¡¯s energy shields, and thick armor ting. They definitely used a Singing Crystal. It was probably not normal sound. It was more akin to a psionic phenomenon.

    ¡°Can we make it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s difficult to say¡­¡­ No, it¡¯s probably impossible already, Hiro-sama.¡±

    I ignored the painful throbbing of my head and turned to Mimi, but her answer wasn¡¯t encouraging. I also checked the sensor readings Mimi was looking at and saw that there were already huge tears in space, with crystal lifeforms starting to appear one after another. Their numbers were pretty huge. Defeating all those crystal lifeforms with our strength alone was a very daunting prospect.

    ¡°Can¡¯t be helped¡­¡­ Mei, we¡¯re going for n B. Order all other ships to continue guarding the Lotus.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood. 30 minutes to finish recharging the FTL Drive.¡»

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    The charging time of the FTL Drive increases in proportion to a ship¡¯s total mass. ck Lotus was a huge ship with mass dwarfing that of Krishna¡¯s, and now it¡¯s even being apanied by other escort ships, so the charging time got heavily extended. If its shields and armor get breached and it suffers damage direct through its hull within that time, the charging of the FTL Drive might even get canceled.

    The original n was to jump via FTL Drive as soon as we can after warping out to normal space in order to escape immediately, but it wasn¡¯t feasible as expected. So, as n B, it was decided that Krishna will hold back the threat while the rest continue preparing to escape. We held a meeting with the rest of the mercenaries and told them of the n while we were still within the hypene. The mercenaries agreed to continue escorting ck Lotus in the end.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do this thing.¡±

    I activated the weapon systems and canceled the FTL Drive synch with the Lotus. Let¡¯s make the opening move super shy. We need to attract the attention of the enemies after all.

    ¡°Understood. Locking on to the crystal lifeforms directly barring the fleet¡¯s navigation route.¡±

    ¡°Subsystems are a-ok, as always. But it really is crystal lifeforms again huh¡­¡­ I would have liked not to get involved with them anymore though.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s like we have some sort of fate with them.¡±

    I set the detonation range of the anti-ship reactive torpedoes while elerating Krishna. If we fired all we¡¯ve got in one salvo, we wouldn¡¯t be able to deal with therger ones anymore. But we¡¯ll just have to leave those to the system garrison forces that willeter. Their numbers weren¡¯t that overwhelming, so there was no problem as long as we got rid of all the small and medium-types in the way of the fleet¡¯s escape route.

    ¡°Eat this!¡±

    Two anti-ship reactive torpedoes were fired off from Krishna. And after elerating further, another two wereunched. Their detonation point was the route directly in front of the Lotus and the rest of the fleet. First, let¡¯s open up the escape route for ck Lotus and the mercenaries.

    ¡°The crystal lifeforms have started mobilizing!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll prioritize getting rid of the enemies that are more likely to bar the escape route. Let¡¯s deal with them steadily and get their attention.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, understood! I¡¯ll handle the heavyser cannons!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave them to you.¡±

    I was in charge of ship maneuvers and the two shot-cannons on the bow while Elma took control of the four heavy-caliberser cannons. Krishna¡¯sser cannons have a wide range of fire, so it was possible to lock onto four targets simultaneously. In standard battles, it was more advantageous to concentrate firepower, so that function wasn¡¯t used much. But it was pretty useful in battles like this where you want to attract as much attention as possible.

    ¡°Reactive warheads, detonating!¡±

    The first anti-ship reactive torpedo exploded and obliterated arge swathe of crystal lifeforms, and the remaining torpedoes exploded in session soon after, causing the surrounding space to light up. The crystalline remains of the enemies reflected the light of the stars and formed a strangely beautiful spectacle.

    ¡°Now that¡¯s how you start an awesome party!¡±

    ¡°Nothing¡¯s awesome about this at all, you idiot!¡±

    Haha, it¡¯ll be your loss if you don¡¯t try to enjoy these kinds of things, Elma.

 Chapter 298 â€“ Fatal Predicament

    <h4>Chapter 298 - Fatal Predicament</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°You¡¯re not gonna scream ¡®No, no!¡¯ like usual, Mimi?¡±

    I gracefully avoided the crystal lifeformsing at us from all directions. Er, actually, ¡®graceful¡¯ might not be the proper description, since what I was doing was basically firing the main and attitude control thrusters in short and controlled full-power bursts. So it was more of zipping and jerking all over the ce than anything.

    ¡°This is already my third time you know¡­¡­¡±

    I was concentrating on the battle, so I couldn¡¯t see what kind of expression Mimi had on currently, but she did sound rather calm despite our situation. Well, it¡¯s not like I was having it easy myself.

    This was a crystal lifeform swarm that had enough numbers to cause massive damage to an imperial military fleet depending on the situation after all. If we shed with them head-on, Krishna, which was a small-ss ship, wouldn¡¯t stand a chance. It would be game over if I made even just one mistake since they would quickly assimte and absorb Krishna.

    Under such circumstances, the ck Lotus and the mercenaries escorting her finally made their escape via FTL jump earlier. I was able to anticipate this situation before we jumped out to normal space, so we were able to devise a n of action beforehand. But if I hadn¡¯t, then we would have faced the same fate as the invading Vereverem Federation fleet back in the Termaine system.

    ¡°You¡¯re moving too much! I can¡¯t get a good lock!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you don¡¯t really need to lock on to them y¡¯know. Just fire away and you¡¯d eventually hit something.¡±

    ¡°Stop joking around and just get us out of here already! The shield cells aren¡¯t gonnast forever!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best mdy.¡±

    Just like Elma said, since ck Lotus and the rest had already made their escape, there was no need for Krishna to stick around either. If we were facing just a small swarm of crystal lifeforms, we could choose to try and eliminate them in order to get a reward from the military. But since we¡¯re facing a swarm of possibly more than 500 small, medium, andrge-types, it would be an extremely tall order for Krishna to take them all on alone. I¡¯m not saying it¡¯s impossible, but going on a killing marathon for five to six hours without breaking concentration even once was just too damn tedious.

    So why were we still here, you ask? It¡¯s simply because escaping while surrounded by numerous enemies from all sides was difficult, even for me. Right now, Krishna was akin to being stuck in the middle of a maze of murderous - or perhaps ravenous - crystal lifeforms. Moreover, the structure of the maze changes incessantly, making it even more difficult to find an exit.

    ¡°Well, help wille over eventually, so it¡¯s fine if we don¡¯t rush it.¡±

    ¡°That might be the case, but this situation is really bad for the heart you know¡­¡­¡±

    As I listened to Mimi¡¯s anxious grumbling, I fired the shot-cannons to crush several small-type crystal lifeforms in front of us and slid Krishna through the small gap that opened up in order to avoid being boxed in.

    As for reinforcements, I detonated a total of four anti-ship reactive torpedo warheads, so that ought to get some attention. Also, ck Lotus and the other mercenaries who escaped from this ce will make a report to the nearest star system garrison base, so theming is mostly a given. The local star system forces should be paying close attention to hypene entrances as well.

    ¡ºYou look like you¡¯re having a hard time, big boy¡­¡­ You want some help?¡»

    As I continued avoiding the attacks of the crystal lifeforms while hoping for reinforcements to arrive soon, I heard a familiar-sounding voiceced with yful malice. It was undoubtedly the voice of the Crimson Lance¡¯s leader, Captain Marie.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure where you¡¯re watching us from, but ever heard of the saying ¡®ying with fire will get you burned¡¯?¡±

    ¡ºOh? Well, this is surprising. Are you worried about little old me?¡»

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m pretty nice to beautiful women.¡±

    I¡¯m lying through my teeth, of course. It would be really dangerous if an attackes flying across and agitates the crystal lifeforms after all. Well, I won¡¯tin if they seriously did take on at least half of this damn swarm, even though that¡¯s just wishful thinking.

    ¡ºHahaha, you don¡¯t really mean that at all, don¡¯t you? Being treated like this is quite refreshing, actually.¡»

    I suddenly felt an incredibly unpleasant premonition, and I quickly activated Krishna¡¯s side-thrusters to bump into the nearest crystal lifeform. The inertial control system wasn¡¯t able to fully mitigate the sudden eleration, and as my neck was about to snap to the side, the repulsive force caused by the ship¡¯s energy shield bumping into the crystal lifeform caused it to snap right back. It was pretty rough and reckless, but I confirmed that my judgment had been correct when a bright multi-colored streak of light pierced through the spot Krishna was located in previously.

    ¡ºOh? Sorry about that. We tried to give you some support but nearly caused a friendly fire incident because there are just too many crystal lifeforms.¡»

    ¡°This damn b*tch¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°W-What was that just now!?¡±

    ¡°The power output was at least equal to a cruiser¡¯s main cannon. It might even rival a battleship¡¯s.¡±

    That attack was probably from therge cannon protruding from the bow of that crimson ship that somewhat resembled Krishna. I see. So the concept wasbining high mobility and firepower as well. pping a weapon equal to a battleship¡¯s main cannon on a fast and maneuverable small-ss ship huh? It¡¯s basically something like that, I guess.

    I¡¯m not sure how powerful that cannon really is, how far its range goes, and how mobile the ship itself is, but depending on how it¡¯s handled, it should prove to be a pretty strong ship. But since they went to the trouble of building a fleet around it and assigning dedicated escorts to apany it, the ship¡¯s maneuverability and dogfighting capability shouldn¡¯t be too high.

    But even if I knew that I still had my hands tied in this situation! Goddammit!

    ¡°How¡¯s the shield?¡±

    ¡°It didn¡¯t go down, but a shield cell got drained.¡±

    ¡°Dammit!¡±

    The shield cells were modules used to rapidly recharge a depleting energy shield. You had to use them before the shieldpletely went down, so if you miss the timing, it could really bite you in the rear. That made them quite difficult to use properly. Naturally, they¡¯re consumables, and the number that can be equipped onto a ship is also limited. I checked the indicator for the remaining cells at the corner of my field of view. There were only three left.

    ¡°Ah, but due to that earlier attack, a hole has opened up in the encirclement!¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t use it. We¡¯d just be targeted the moment we jump into that opening.¡±

    The lock-on rm didn¡¯t go off. They must be sniping us manually. Sh*t. There won¡¯t be any trace of an attack if they aim at us manually without getting a lock-on. Even if we got sniped, they can just pass it off as ¡®an ident caused by a stray shot¡¯.

    Moreover, the sensors weren¡¯t functioning properly because we¡¯re surrounded by crystal lifeforms. Even if we can triangte the rough direction of the shot, we wouldn¡¯t be able to find the enemy¡¯s current position and how far they actually were from us. Seriously, man. Sniping us using a cannon that can prate a wall of murderous alien creatures. That woman¡¯s seriously bad news.

    ¡ºNn, what should I do, I wonder? I want to perform some support fire, but it would be bad if we identally hit you instead, right? Our sensors aren¡¯t working properly either. They¡¯re being blocked by that wall of crystal lifeforms. Dear, oh dear.¡»

    ¡°Just how shameless can you get!?¡±

    ¡ºNfufu¡­¡­ Alrighty then. We¡¯re gonna perform support fire again, so make sure you dodge properly, m¡¯kay?¡»

    Marie¡¯s voice that no longer hid her cruelty and malice echoed out from thems. It caused shivers to go down my spine. This is bad. This truly was a fatal predicament.

 Chapter 299 â€“ I Barely Escaped Death

    <h4>Chapter 299 - I Barely Escaped Death</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°¡­¡­This certainly doesn¡¯t feel so good.¡±

    My target managed to evade yet another sniping attempt. That makes it eight times now. Eight damn times. They managed to avoid getting sniped a total of eight times even though I¡¯ve cornered them into a kill zone by trapping them in the middle of a crystal lifeform swarm and having their movements restricted.

    ¡°It¡¯s not as simple as me missing my shots.¡±

    No, on the contrary, I was right on the mark each time. The moment before I fired each shot, I was sure I¡¯d be able to score a direct hit. However, strangely, that man seemed to see the attacksing and managed to evade them every single time.

    The Rainbow equipped on my ship, the Andal, was a unique weapon - the only one of its kind. Its range is pretty long, and its power is equally great. Naturally, its projectiles weren¡¯t as fast as those of aser cannon¡¯s that travel at lightspeed, but in exchange, it has a higher rate of fire and excellent prating power. Theser cannon was a weapon that rapidly evaporates the surface of an object in order to generate an explosion in order to destroy it. However, my Rainbow just melts right through a target without causing any explosion.

    Although it was inferior in raw destructive power, it had high prating power instead, so it was possible to aim for one-hit kills as long as you can hit vital areas like the engine, cockpit, main thrusters, and ammunition depot.

    ¡°It¡¯s like the guy has the ability to sense killing intent¡­¡­ Don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s like those espers in that old mecha anime.¡±

    I remembered scenes of those espers sensing danger through some sort of electric sh on their foreheads andughed bitterly. I didn¡¯t really want to believe that who I¡¯m up against was a monster who had the ability to preemptively take evasive action even before getting shot like in that mecha anime.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to believe that¡¯s true, but¡­¡­ Tsk.¡±

    That was my ninth shot. I missed again. No, rather, the target evaded again. Was the man piloting that ship - Krishna, was it - really an esper? That was the only exnation I coulde up with.

    If I merely missed a shot or two, then I could still chalk it up to me not being able to aim at the target as urately as possible due to the situation, and the overall distance not being that ideal for manual sniping.

    I can even concede that I was having a streak of bad luck after missing a third or fourth shot. I¡¯m not perfect after all. I do miss and experience rotten luck sometimes.

    But missing the fifth and sixth as well? Of course, I¡¯d start feeling something was wrong. It can be said that I made a name for myself in the business as an excellent sharpshooter and sniper.

    I suddenly found myself in this world without knowing left from right and managed to survive this far by putting the knowledge and skills I gained ying Ste Pirates Online to good use. I prided myself in my skills quite a bit.

    Then the seventh, eighth, and now, ninth shot all missed. Of course, I¡¯d have misgivings.

    ¡°Is he using some sort of cheat engine or something¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡ºWe¡¯re running out of time, Young Miss.¡»

    ¡°Aw geez¡­¡­ Can¡¯t be helped. I suppose we¡¯ll y the part of well-meaning coborator for now.¡±

    At my age, being called ¡®Young Miss¡¯ just didn¡¯t seem applicable anymore. Gives me the shivers each time. But these guys just didn¡¯t want to stop calling me that. Well, it¡¯s not like I was old enough to be called ¡®Big Sis¡¯ by these guys either anyway. Being called Leader was just too on-the-nose, so I just settled for ¡®Young Miss¡¯ in the end.

    ¡ºAye, aye, ma¡¯am.¡»

    Since I wasn¡¯t able to finish them off after going this far, then it can¡¯t be helped. I¡¯ll give up this time. I¡¯m gonna make sure to get some paybackter though. Since I couldn¡¯t finish them off using this method, then I¡¯d have to go back to the drawing board again and consider things from a fresh perspective. After all, it was too dangerous to face off unprepared against an opponent who was able to avoid my shots nine times in this situation. Worsees to worse, I might not be able to win if I went up against him head-on, and even if I did, I imagine I¡¯d need to pay a huge price. If I suffered too much damage while bringing down the target, then it wasn¡¯t worth the trouble.

    ¡°He¡¯s strangely sharp¡­¡­ It might be better if I didn¡¯t get involved with him from now on, actually.¡±

    Come to think of it, he was already strangely wary of me from the time we first met. I¡¯m pretty sure we haven¡¯t encountered him before that, but it seemed like he already saw through our true identity the moment heid eyes on us. I don¡¯t know what¡¯ll happen if I continued poking my nose in this matter. I might even end up grabbing the proverbial tiger¡¯s tail.

    As I inwardly mulled things over, the system garrison fleet finally arrived. The sight of arge number of military warships warping out while making shy noises was really bad for the heart, but we¡¯ve made sure that no trace of our involvement in this incident would be found. So there was nothing to be afraid of.

    ¡°So they¡¯re here huh¡­¡­ Oh well. Alright, boys. Let¡¯s work with the military and clear out the crystals.¡±

    ¡º¡º¡ºAye, aye, ma¡¯am!¡»¡»¡»

    ***

    ¡°Goddammit!¡±

    ¡°Waaaaa!?¡±

    ¡°Gyaaah!?¡±

    I punched the side and attitude control thrusters to full throttle and changed the ship¡¯s direction while getting battered by powerful Gs due to performing an unreasonable maneuver in order to avoid another one of that f*cking Marie¡¯s shots by a hair¡¯s breadth. Krishna¡¯s inertial control system was a very high-performance one, but even it had its limits. If it wasn¡¯t for the thing, all of us would have long cked out. We would have even gotten our internal organs damaged if we were unlucky.

    ¡°Shield cell!¡±

    ¡°We only have two left!¡±

    ¡°Are the reinforcements still not here-!?¡±

    We scraped against a medium-type crystal lifeform after thatst evasive maneuver. And no, I wasn¡¯t speaking in a metaphorical sense. We literally did scrape against the outer shell of one. Well, it wasn¡¯t the hull that made direct contact but our energy shield instead though. However, thanks to that, our shield got greatly depleted, and only oneyer was left. It would be bad if we didn¡¯t use a shield cell to replenish it right away. If itpletely went down, it would take some time to deploy it again.

    ¡°This is the ninth shot! I¡¯ll never forgive that damn b*tch!!¡±

    ¡°Her uracy is getting better and better with each shot.¡±

    ¡°Herst one managed to graze us, didn¡¯t it¡­? Or rather, I¡¯m surprised that you managed to cleanly avoid all those shots.¡±

    ¡°As long as I put myself in the enemy¡¯s shoes, I can pretty much imagine when she¡¯ll take her shots.¡±

    But honestly, I wasn¡¯t that confident in avoiding the next one. I still wasn¡¯t sure about the distance, but I managed to sniff out the direction where the shots wereing from after avoiding the second one. As long as I knew the direction where the shots would fly out from, all I had to do was get the timing right and avoid them. So every time a situation perfect for a clean shot presented itself, one would definitelye flying. The pattern was actually pretty simple and straightforward. So all I had to do was perform an emergency evasive maneuver every time that happened.

    The problem was that the surroundings were filled with crystal lifeforms, so if we performed unreasonable maneuvers, there was a pretty good chance ofing in contact with them, which was pretty dangerous too. Eh? I¡¯m saying weird stuff again? C¡¯mon. Just roll with it, guys.

    ¡°Ah.¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡±

    ¡°T-They¡¯re here! The system garrison fleet is here!¡±

    ¡°Aw yeah! That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about!¡±

    Krishna¡¯s sensors picked up the signals of military ships warping out one after another.

    ¡ºI¡¯ll open up an escape route for you, Master.¡»

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    A transmission came from ck Lotus that came together with the star system garrison fleet. Wait, don¡¯t tell me she was going to open up a hole in the swarm by firing the Lotus¡¯ EML? Mei-san? Are you serious, Mei-san?

    ¡ºBallistic trajectory calctionplete. I will now send the data to you.¡»

    ¡°Wai-!?¡±

    A bright red firing line indicator from ck Lotus directly to Krishna¡¯s current position was projected on the cockpit¡¯s main monitor. She really was nning on opening fire huh!?

    ¡ºFiring.¡»

    Something shed in the middle of the ckness of space in the distance. I saw it from a gap between the crystal lifeforms swarming around us. Yeah, that was definitely ck Lotus. No doubt about it.

    ¡°EML, iing!¡±

    ¡°We should just be thankful that the trajectory got sent to us beforehand.¡±

    ¡°I know, but still!¡±

    We¡¯re still gonna get messed up if we got hit though! Well, unlike that woman¡¯s sniping, dodging an EML shot wasparably easier. If we took advantage of the gap opened up by the EML shot, there was a good chance we could make our escape.

    ¡°It¡¯s here!¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t hit us by mistake, you guys¡­¡­¡±

    I don¡¯t think the star system forces wouldmence their bombardment straight away since they pretty much just arrived, but I made sure to rush out of the opening the EML shot just created in the crystal lifeform swarm as fast as I could, just in case. Shortly after, the bombardment by the military finallymenced, and the crystal lifeform numbers began to visibly decline at a rapid pace. Their attention had probably switched to the star system forces, since the number of lifeformsing after Krishna decreased as well.

    ¡°We managed to get through that somehow.¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama, Marie¡¯s Crimson Lance also seems to be participating in the attack against the crystal lifeforms.¡±

    ¡°That b*tch. Just look at her. Acting all goody-goody after all the crap she put us through¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve seen you make that kind of face, Hiro-sama¡­¡­¡±

    I probably had my brows wrinkled in frustration right about now. But unfortunately, we didn¡¯t have any piece of evidence to use that damn b*tch of foul y. There was no trace of that hag using a Singing Crystal, nor was there any record of her trying to snipe us and take us out. And since Krishna and that hag¡¯s ship didn¡¯t fight directly, there wasn¡¯t any record of engagement either. We could try to argue that it was too unreasonable for her shots to be judged as attempts to support us if we submitted the sensor logs, but¡­ she¡¯ll probably just get away with a simple warning. In the first ce, it wasn¡¯t that umon to get hit by stray shots from allies during a chaotic battle.

    Back then, I was constantly performing pretty aggressive maneuvers while in the middle of the crystal lifeform swarm, so it was rtively difficult to pick up my exact position with a ship¡¯s sensors. She could just im she was shooting at areas with the highest concentration of enemies and didn¡¯t have any malicious intent.

    And since the star system garrison fleet was here now, I couldn¡¯t take a shot at her in revenge and pretend it was a misfire either.

    ¡°He looks like he¡¯s about to lose it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen Hiro-sama get so angry¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Look, I understand how you feel, but we can¡¯t do anything about it right now. Just give it up, okay?¡±

    Dammit! I¡¯m definitely gonna make that woman cry miserably one of these days. I swear.

 Chapter 300 â€“ Interrogation and Holo Message

    <h4>Chapter 300 - Interrogation and Holo Message</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    In the face of the overwhelming power of the star system garrison fleet, all the summoned crystal lifeforms eventually got annihted.

    And now that they¡¯re gone, this matter is over!

    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s no way that¡¯s happing huh.¡±

    The crew of Krishna and ck Lotus along with the mercenaries we hired as escorts were detained by the Mirabreeze star system garrison forces. Well, even if we got detained, we didn¡¯t disy any resistance and obediently went with them to their system¡¯s main colony, so we weren¡¯t bound like prisoners, and the treatment wasn¡¯t too bad.

    ¡°Then you guys just got caught up in the mess and didn¡¯t illegally possess a Singing Crystal, correct? Is that what you¡¯re saying?¡±

    I was now sitting face to face with my interrogator from across a table. I was now inside a gray-colored and dimly lit interrogation room, where a crisply dressed military police officer from the star system garrison was questioning me.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. If you wanted to make a profit by using a Singing Crystal to hunt a crystal lifeform swarm, you wouldn¡¯t do it right before a hypene node with heavy traffic passing through it, right? And you certainly wouldn¡¯t use one if it would get your mothership and the mercenaries you hired as escorts along with yourself trapped in the middle of a crystal lifeform swarm, let alone stay behind in order to buy enough time for them to get away. Anyone other than me would have died ten times over you know. And you already checked the logs of all our ships, right?¡±

    ¡°But of course. However, we still need to hear the statements of all parties involved after all. I also personally think that acting all suspicious of a Gold Star recipient like yourself is a bit improper, but this is just protocol you see. So ording to the statements of your crew members as well as the mercenaries you hired, you said something about possibly being caught up in a crystal lifeform swarm mid-transit within the hypene, and that you devised a concrete n of action and ryed it to them afterward. What exactly led you to this development?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to say it was nothing but unfounded intuition, but I ended up actually being dead-on. However, it would take quite some time to rte the process of how I got to such a conclusion, and it might even include subjective paranoid and as-of-yet unfounded suspicions that would possibly throw some shade on the reputation and honor of a certain group. Even so, do you still want to hear it?¡±

    ¡°Yes. And do make it concise, please.¡±

    ¡°I did say it was gonna take some time y¡¯know?¡±

    So I proceeded to tell the military police officer the entire story that could even get published as a full-length novel and finally got released afterward.

    _______________________________________________________________

    ¡°It sure took you a while in there.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for the hard work, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m bushed.¡±

    After getting released from the star system garrison¡¯s interrogation room and returning to the Lotus, I was weed by Elma and Mimi. It looks like the mechanic sisters were busy performing maintenance and repairs on Krishna. The ck Lotus also fired its main cannon and all its armaments during the battle, so they were nning on performing a thorough maintenance on it as well.

    ¡°What are we going to do after this, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Since we already got cleared of all suspicions, let¡¯s just get ourselves out of this colony first. Let¡¯s just perform maintenance on the ships after passing through the gateway.¡±

    ¡°Right. We got held up a bit, but it looks like we¡¯ll be able to reach the Eineolus system, where the gateway is, roughly on schedule.¡±

    ¡°Since we got them in trouble, I suppose I better give those guys a reasonable bonus.¡±

    Luckily, we managed to earn some extra ie this time. Since we got cleared of any suspicion, we were able to turn the ship¡¯sbat logs in for some nice rewards. Since I managed to defeat a considerable number of crystal lifeforms with a single ship, I earned more than enough to cover the cost of the four reactive torpedoes I used up.

    Also, rare crystals could be obtained and processed from the remains of the crystal lifeforms, so the Resource Management Department of the Mirabreeze system happily bought them off our hands. In total, I earned more than enough to cover all the expenses we incurred, including the employment rewards of the mercenaries. Since we did get them involved in something so dangerous, I suppose a nice bonus is the least we could do.

    And ording to the reports, the mercenaries also hunted quite a few crystal lifeforms, so they did earn some extra as well. Well, that is that and this is this.

    ¡°Okay then. I¡¯ll go inform everyone that we¡¯ll be leaving soon. Would 30 minutes from now be fine, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Sure. Thirty minutes should be enough for those guys loitering around inside the colony to make it back to their ships anyway.¡±

    I won¡¯t wait up for those who arete though. I¡¯ll leave them behind with no hesitation, and that means no pay, let alone a bonus.

    And so, I went with Mimi and Elma to the Lotus¡¯ hangar so we can get onboard Krishna, and right when we arrived there, my portable data terminal¡¯s ringtone went off. It wasn¡¯t a simple voiced message but one with video. Hm? I wonder who could it be. Was it Chris? Was she taking a breather and then decided to message me? I took out my terminal from my jacket pocket and looked at the screen. I immediately frowned when I saw who it was that sent a message to me.

    ¡°What¡¯s up? You¡¯re making a really ugly expression again, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s this.¡±

    When I showed the two of them my terminal¡¯s screen, they both wrinkled their brows as their mouths twitched involuntarily. Yeah. I get that reaction. I really do.

    ¡°Just how did she manage to get her hands on your contact address¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°No idea. I certainly didn¡¯t give it to her.¡±

    ¡°Maybe she got it by asking the Mercenary Guild or the mercenaries we hired¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°In any case, we can¡¯t just ignore this.¡±

    To be on the safe side, I contacted Mei and had her check if something strange like malware was attached to the message.

    ¡ºHi. You probably won¡¯t agree to meet with me in person, so I took the liberty of messaging you instead. You¡¯re fine with this, right?¡»

    Was it taken from her ship¡¯s cockpit? Marie¡¯s entire upper body was disyed on the terminal screen looking all rxed. Just look at this hag. Grinning and giggling all creepy-like.

    ¡ºWell, it¡¯s not like we have a lot of stuff to talk about, but¡­¡­ I figured I had to say hello at least, yeah?¡»

    Marie¡¯s hologram performed a theatrical but flirtatious side-nce.

    ¡°If you have nothing good to talk about, then don¡¯t send me a message in the first ce, dammit!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no point getting angry at a holo-message you know¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I also find this person strangely unpleasant.¡±

    Mimi unusually puffed her cheeks in distaste as she looked at Marie¡¯s hologram. I¡¯m not sure why exactly, but seeing Marie this time seems to have gotten on Mimi¡¯s nerves.

    ¡ºYou were really great, you know? You held your ground against that crystal lifeform swarm with just one ship. It was something little old me can¡¯t hope to imitate¡­¡­ Thanks to that, you were also able to avoid an idental friendly fire incident. Sorry about that, by the way.¡»

    ¡°This shameless hag¡­¡­ You were obviously aiming for us on purpose dammit.¡±

    ¡ºI really wanna get along with you better the next time we meet y¡¯know¡­¡­ We¡¯d really appreciate someone as skilled as you have an amicable rtionship with us. Anyway, for the time being, I¡¯d be d if you can consider all that¡¯s happened between us water under the bridge. We¡¯ll at least treat it that way on our end.¡»

    After saying so, hologram Marie disyed a suggestive but nasty-looking grin.

    ¡°What do you think she means by this?¡±

    ¡°If we take it at face value, it looks like she¡¯s saying the grudge held against me by the Red gs will be ¡®water under the bridge¡¯ so to speak. But it¡¯s pretty risky to take her words as true.¡±

    ¡°She didn¡¯t really make any clear-cut statements after all. Not that we should be expecting any from people like them.¡±

    The twodies seem to havee to the same conclusion as I have regarding Marie¡¯s words, yet epted that it would be dangerous to believe them just like that. After all, she might pull something like saying she forgave me personally but doesn¡¯t guarantee that the rest of herrades would too.

    ¡ºSo there you have it. Let¡¯s get along the next time we meet, kay? I¡¯m fine with taking it even further you know. If you catch my drift.¡»

    ¡°No way.¡±

    ¡°The hell is this ugly hag saying!? You¡¯re so dead when I get my hands on you!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s absolutely no good.¡±

    Yeah, this just earned her everyone¡¯s ire. Well, of course, it would. I personally don¡¯t want to have anything to do with a woman who¡¯s like a carnivorous nt that would devour anything that it manages to ensnare. She was dangerous in a different sense from Lieutenant Colonel, or rather, Colonel Serena.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just forget about her. This universe is vast. Anyway, we¡¯ll probably never run into her again once we make it past the gateway.¡±

    ¡°Right. The empire is huge after all.¡±

    ¡°I really hope that¡¯s the case.¡±

    Elma muttered while disying a faraway gaze. Stop that, you! I refuse to get a repeat of someone like Col. Serena who we always manage to encounter even after jumping around through gateways. Speaking of which, I wonder if we¡¯ll encounter her again soon¡­¡­ Just what¡¯s the heck is the deal with us and that disappointing beauty anyway?

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s switch gears, guys. Anyway, right now, we have to focus on getting to the gateway and jumping to another ce.¡±

    ¡°It kinda feels like we¡¯re just running away though.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. We can¡¯t deal with arge-scale organized pirate group by ourselves after all. We¡¯re not heroes. We¡¯re just in old mercenaries.¡±

    ¡°Um, hearing you saying that just sounds so wrong for some reason, Hiro-sama¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Right. After all, a in old mercenary can¡¯t possibly survive after plunging right in the middle of an enemy nation¡¯s fleet or a swarm of hostile crystal lifeforms, can¡¯t fight and beat nobles with swordsmanship even while not undergoing any biomodification procedures, and certainly not have the emperor himself award him with a Gold Star when he got promoted to tinum rank in record time.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t heaaar you!¡±

    I¡¯ve made my ears unable to hear anything inconvenient. Amazing, right? I endeavored to forget the matter with Marie as we continued to head inside ck Lotus¡¯s hangar. The mechanic sisters noticed us immediately.

    ¡°Ah, hi there, Boss. Congrats on gettin¡¯ released.¡±

    ¡°Congrattions, Big Brother.¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t actually put in prison, you know? So can you not act like I¡¯ve just tasted the air of freedom again after doing some major jail time?¡±

    ¡°¡±Kyaaa!¡±¡±

    I ground my fists on top of the work helmets of the two sisters who were clearly in the mood for ying around. They were wearing seriouslyme-looking helmets with the Space Dwerg logo printed on them. Yep. It was the logo depicting an old dwarven guy straddling a retro-futuristic cartoon rocket.

    ¡°We didn¡¯t take that much damage, right? Just finish up replenishing the equipment and ammo for now. We¡¯ll be departing soon.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re already done with that, so no worries, Boss. We can head out anytime.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯d really like to do a full check after such an intense battle even if we didn¡¯t take any damage though.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do that after getting to a safer ce. Thanks for the maintenance work as always, you two.¡±

    I then gently stroked the top of their helmets and headed for Krishna.

    Phew. We¡¯re finally saying goodbye to this ce and heading to our next destination.

 Chapter 301 â€“ Relax Time

    <h4>Chapter 301 - Rx Time</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I woke up from the sensation of something poking my cheek.

    What greeted me was a familiar ceiling. It was the ceiling of my bedroom in ck Lotus. I felt warmth on both sides of my body. Ah, that¡¯s right. I slept together with Tina and Whiskerst night huh. So it was probably one of the sisters who was poking my cheek. I gently grabbed the thing poking my cheek while being careful not to wake up the two sleeping next to me.

    Hm? What¡¯s this?

    ¡°¡­¡­A foot?¡±

    It was actually a small foot that was poking my cheek. Fumu. It was small and cute but surprisingly not that squishy. Perhaps it¡¯s due to all the work she does standing on her feet? But she sure has a bad sleeping posture¡­¡­ So this is Tina¡¯s foot huh?

    ¡°Nn¡­¡­ Is it time to get up already?¡±

    Surprisingly, I heard Tina¡¯s voice from the opposite direction of the foot I grabbed. When I turned toward where the voice came from, I found Tina, whose eyes were still half-asleep, adjusting her head¡¯s position on top of my arm. So that means the owner of this foot was actually-

    ¡°Foot¡­¡­ Whisker sure has some bad sleeping habits.¡±

    ¡°I think that¡¯s an understatement.¡±

    Just how did the position of her head and her legs get reversed while we were sleeping? Whisker seemed the more sensible of the two, but she can also get pretty weird sometimes.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just ignore Whisker for now. Mornin¡¯ Boss.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Tina.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t move my upper arm since she was using it as a pillow, so I just bent my elbow a bit in order to touch Tina¡¯s hair with my fingertips. Yeah, I just barely reached her head. Since I was only barely touching her, I couldn¡¯t actually pat her head. I settled for running my fingertips through her hair.

    ¡°Mou, can¡¯t be helped.¡±

    Tina rubbed her cheek on my arm. Was she imitating a cat or something? Well, it was cute, so there¡¯s no problem. Now then, I suppose we better get up now.

    ***

    ¡°Oh, that was so embarrassing¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That was just how Whisker actually is y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Big Sis¡­¡­¡±

    We were now inside the dining hall of ck Lotus. Whisker was sitting side by side with her sister and red daggers at Tina. The two of them seemed to have ordered the same breakfast set. They really were very close sisters.

    ¡°You guys sure are lively so early in the morning.¡±

    Elma was sitting beside me and watched the two¡¯s banter listlessly. She didn¡¯t look all that energetic, but that¡¯s probably because she drank her fill of alcoholst night again. Her breakfast set was unusually light, so she really might be feeling a bit under the weather. She regrly ate heavy stuff like steak and mashed potato for breakfast after all.

    ¡°Are you okay, Elma-san?¡±

    Mimi, who was sitting next to me as well, anxiously called out to Elma in concern. Her breakfast set was, as always, that sweet porridge-like cereal meal. She actually told me the name of the dish a while back, but I was unfamiliar with it and eventually forgot. It was kyuke-something-or-other.

    ¡°It¡¯s unusual for you to be that sick in the morning.¡±

    ¡°The liquor I drankst night was probably too poor in quality, I think? It was a waste not to drink it though, but I ended up getting a nasty hangover¡­¡­ My head hurts.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you head to the medical bay after having breakfast?¡±

    ¡°Nn¡­¡­¡±

    Elma leaned against me and groaned in response. Was she feeling so sick that she couldn¡¯t muster a proper reply? It might be better to just finish up breakfast straight away and take her to the medical bay.

    ¡°Poor-quality alcohol huh?¡±

    Tina, who was sitting across from us, grinned cheekily as she looked at Elma. Whisker was also gazing at Elma warmly as well.

    ¡°¡­¡­What?¡±

    ¡°Oh, nothin¡¯. I ain¡¯t implyin¡¯ anythin¡¯, okay?¡±

    ¡°Heading to the medical bay is good, but I think it would be nicer for you to head to the break space and spent some alone time with Big Brother instead. You¡¯d be able to rest and recover better that way.¡±

    Elma red at the grinning Tina, but Whisker quickly mediated the situation. Fumu, I ain¡¯t that dense, so I already had an idea of what was going on. But maybe it would be better to spoil Elma by pretending I haven¡¯t noticed.

    ¡°Alright then. I think I¡¯ll head over and rx with Elma just like you suggested.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to Krishna¡¯s cockpit and train using the simtor.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re gonna work on writin¡¯ the periodic report we¡¯re gonna hand over to thepany.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    Mimi had already finished her training as an operator, so she was now starting training on how to work as a sub-pilot. She also needed to study reference materials and digital textbooks when ites to training on how to be a qualified sub-pilot, but getting actual experience through a simtion was also important. She had been heading to Krishna¡¯s cockpit whenever she had free timetely.

    As for the mechanic sister¡¯s report. They seem to have finished the restoration of the foreign high-speedbat ship that we salvaged during the operation to destroy the Red gs, and now they were putting together a report about its particrs to send to their employer, Space Dwerg.

    Well, we were currently taking it easy like this, and the reason was that we were waiting for our turn to use the gateway.

    We were caught up in a maliciously induced crystal lifeform swarm on our way here, but we ended up getting through it safely and finally made it to the Eineolus system where the gateway was located.

    So I brought out the gateway usage license personally granted by His Majesty the Emperor in order to get approval to use the gateway, but it¡¯s not like we can go through it immediately just like that.

    After all, it was a device that could transport matter tens of thousands of lightyears ahead in practically an instant. Since it used a great deal of energy in order to do so, a certain amount of time and effort is required to activate it. Even if you had a special permit handed by the emperor, it doesn¡¯t mean that you can perform a jump immediately after applying.

    In other words, it was more efficient for multiple ships to perform a jump rather than sending them out one by one, so you had to wait for a certain number of ships heading to the same system before a departure clearance is authorized. And that¡¯s why people often used the Eineolus system as a rest stop and dropped quite a bit of money their way. Of course, it wasn¡¯t like they implemented such a system with only profit in mind, but it was still working out pretty well for them.

    ¡°Okay. We¡¯re finished with breakfast, so let¡¯s head to the break room to rx, shall we?¡±

    ¡°Nn¡­ Carry me.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, here we go.¡±

    Mimi gestured to me signaling that she¡¯ll take care of cleaning up, so I princess carried Elma, who was now in full ¡®Spoil Me Rotten¡¯ mode, and headed to the break room as nned.

    Sheesh. This one sure is one handful of a princess.

 Chapter 302 â€“ To a New Land

    <h4>Chapter 302 - To a New Land</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I sat down on therge sofa set up in the spacious break room, ced Elma¡¯s head on top of myp, and started patting it. I then began looking up info using my portable data terminal. We¡¯ve decided on which star system we¡¯ll head to next using the gateway, but we haven¡¯t decided on our specific itinerary after we arrive there.

    ¡°What are you looking up there?¡±

    ¡°Hm? I¡¯m checking out a list of advanced techpanies based in the Windas system.¡±

    Elma moved her head to look up at my face directly, so I tried to show her my terminal screen, but she shoved my arm to the side and continued quietly staring at me.

    ¡°Why are you checking out your data terminal when you have me lying on top of yourp?¡±

    ¡°Uwaah. Just look at you. Being all troublesome. But it¡¯s cute, so I like it.¡±

    ¡°And just what do you mean by me being troublesome?¡±

    I gently stroked the pouting Elma¡¯s head and threw my data terminal to the side. She¡¯s in full ¡®Spoil Me Rotten¡¯ mode after all, so I suppose I¡¯ll just y along.

    ¡°Well, you¡¯ve always been taking good care of me, Elma. So I¡¯ll bepletely at your disposal today mdy.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, that¡¯s it. That¡¯s how this is supposed to go.¡±

    Elma, who was acting all smug and self-satisfied, was really too darn cute. Now then, how should I go about this? Well, we had plenty of time, so let¡¯s just y it by ear and do whateveres to mind.

    I used the data terminal to adjust the settings of the break room a little, activating the holo-disy, and ying a holo-video of forest sceneryplete with rxing audio.

    ¡°¡­¡­Your taste is like that of an old man. It even feels like moss will grow on me.¡±

    ¡°Fine then. You want me to put on Mimi¡¯s death metal ylist instead?¡±

    ¡°No, you dummy.¡±

    Oh, and by the way, Mimi doesn¡¯t exclusively listen to death metal and rock you know. Some of the tunes are certainly weird from my point of view, but she actually has a pretty wide selection of music tracks under various genres. It¡¯s just that Mimi¡¯s sensibilities were rather, um, unique.

    ¡°C¡¯mon. Even if it¡¯s old-fashioned, it helps you rx, right? I think one of the greatest luxuries of life is to spend time whiling away like this without doing anything in particr.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps.¡±

    Afterward, I spent time rxing while flirting around with Elma. She really was absurdly cute.

    ***

    After waiting for a few more days, we were finally cleared for departure to the Windas system.

    Eh? How did I spend these past few days? Do you even need to ask? I had plenty of fun with everyone inside ck Lotus, of course. We¡¯ve constantly been on edge for quite a while before getting here after all. Since we now had the opportunity to rx, we really capitalized on it.

    Well, let¡¯s set that topic aside for now and talk about our new destination, the Windas system. It was actually quite close to the capital and held thergest concentration of shipyards, weapon factories, and dealers in the entire empire. Even the central HQ of the imperial military was in the Windas system, and it was regarded as one of the foremost military and economic hubs in the Gran empire.

    It held a pretty great geographical advantage (even though we¡¯re in space). Its asteroid belt and resources held an abundance of mineral raw materials. Many of the neighboring systems connected to it via hypene also produced abundant quantities of rare metals and other raw materials. Windas system also housed quite a few habitables. Add the fact that it was close to the imperial capital, and you had the perfect recipe for massive development.

    ¡°Mm, the military¡¯s central HQ huh¡­¡­¡±

    I muttered while looking at the info of our next destination on the holo-disy while lounging inside the break room.

    ¡°Will we get to meet up with that person again?¡±

    ¡°Timing-wise, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if we did, actually.¡±

    Mimi and Elma, who were sitting on the same sofa as I was and looking at the information, disyed bitter smiles and shrugged their shoulders in resignation.

    As for who we¡¯re referring to, well, it¡¯s our lovable newly promoted Col. Serena after all. It seemed we have some sort of mysterious connection after all. The one who led the subjugation operation against the Red gs was her, and it¡¯s been several weeks since that operation got concluded. She should have already made her report to the top brass in the military, so it wouldn¡¯t be strange if she and her men were now in the middle of replenishing their supplies and performing maintenance on their ships and equipment.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s no use worrying about something like that now, I guess. If we meet her again, then it¡¯s business as usual¡­¡­ That¡¯s what I think, at least.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m already pretty sure we¡¯ll encounter her again though.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s this nagging feeling that would be the case, right, Elma-san?¡±

    ¡°How many times have we had this sort of conversation again?¡±

    Honestly, it was a great mystery how we keep meeting up with Col. Serena despite the vastness of space. Even I was starting to believe there was some sort of fate between us. Well, it wasn¡¯t absolutely set in stone that we¡¯ll be meeting each other again this time though.

    ¡°So, this time¡¯s Ms. Main Lead. Do you already have ships you¡¯re eyeing in mind?¡±

    ¡°Nn, I have a few picks. But you¡¯ll be the one with the final say regarding which one we¡¯ll get in the end anyway, right, Hiro?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah, I suppose. I do have some ns in mind, but we can¡¯t make concrete decisions before getting there after all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. We have Tina and Whisker with us this time, so it would be good to hear their professional opinions as well.¡±

    ¡°I see. I¡¯ve also been studying up a lot, but I guess I still have plenty more to learn huh.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t look solely at the spec sheet when choosing a ship after all. You¡¯ll have to take things like weight bnce, thruster positioning, and ease-of-use into ount as well. It¡¯s certainly important for you to get experience handling all sorts of ships using the simtor, Mimi. But it¡¯s crucial for you to get real hands-on experience as well.¡±

    We have several goals foring to the Windas system, but one of our main reasons for going there was to find and buy a new ship for Elma¡¯s use.

    Considering the long term, it would be nice to prepare a ship for Mimi as well. But the hangar of the Lotus can only amodate up to two small-ss ships. If we want Mimi to have her own ship as well in the future, then we might need to consider recing our mothership. Well, it wasn¡¯t time for something like that yet anyway.

    ¡°But we¡¯re not just buying a ship this time, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I also want to buy a lightweight power armor model. Honestly, I don¡¯t want to go through something like that again, but¡­¡­ you never know after all.¡±

    Memories of me getting dropped in the middle of a being terraformed and attacked by bioengineered monsters came flooding back. Since our enemy back then was formerly an imperial noble, it was difficult to finish him off without using swords. However, only I and then-Lt. Col. Serena were able to fight with swords back then. That¡¯s why I ended up fighting with a bloodthirsty bioengineered monstrosity without using power armor but only my own flesh body. It was seriously insane. I don¡¯t really wanna go through that again.

    Anyway, I wanted to steer clear of incidents like that from now on, but the possibility of getting caught up in something simr wasn¡¯t zero. I had the money and extra storage space anyway, so I wanted to buy power armor that would allow me to still wield my swords.

    However, I wasn¡¯t sure if there really was a power armor model that meets my needs. Many among the nobles like the Drawn Sword faction strengthen their bodies through advanced biotechnology and cybeics, so they basically don¡¯t bother using power armor in the first ce. Also, most power armors weren¡¯t able to defend against attacks made by the exclusive weapon of nobles, the monomolecr sword.

    ¡°I wonder if we¡¯ll actually find anything good though.¡±

    ¡°It would be better to fight without one than wearing unsuitable power armor after all.¡±

    ¡°He can definitely do it if it¡¯s Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°C¡¯mon guys. I¡¯m not that special¡­¡­ Actually, I really can¡¯t say that huh. Sheesh.¡±

    My perception of the flow of time slows down to a crawl whenever I hold my breath, and I end up performing feats that no normal human was capable of. Recently, I also felt like my instinct toward sensing danger was getting sharper and sharper.

    I wonder what¡¯s happening with me? Was I leveling up or something? Should I try opening a status window?

    ¡ºMaster, we¡¯ll be going through the gateway soon.¡»

    ¡°Roger. I¡¯ll leave the navigation to you.¡±

    ¡ºYes, please leave it to me.¡»

    The screen switched from disying the information of the Windas system to a real-time image of the huge gateway. Yep. It sure was absurdly gigantic. It was evenparable in terms of sheer size to that Mother Crystal we managed to bring down back then. Maybe it was even bigger? I wasn¡¯t too sure. Anyway, it was big. Very, very big.

    ¡ºCommencing advance.¡»

    Intense light gathered at the center of the gateway, and a huge distortion in space was formed. It seemed to be an artificially generated wormhole or something. I don¡¯t get the detailed theory and mechanics of the gateways at all, but in any case, we¡¯ll soon pass through one ande out to a ce thousands of lightyears away in practically an instant. I don¡¯t get it, but it¡¯s fine as long as it works!

    We proceeded forward along with the other ships heading to the Windas system and sessfully entered the artificial wormhole created by the gateway.

    Onward to a newnd.\

 Chapter 303 â€“ A Totally Tongue Twisting Name

    <h4>Chapter 303 - A Totally Tongue Twisting Name</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Wow, amazing. There arerge-scale colonies everywhere!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s even more impressive is that all these colonies have shipyards. Or rather, the traffic volume sure is crazy huh.¡±

    ¡°The imperial capital also attracts a lot of traffic, but Windas system is even more bustling. How nostalgic.¡±

    Elma muttered such words while looking at information about the star system gathered through ck Lotus¡¯ sensors which were now being projected on the break room¡¯s holo-disy.

    ¡°You¡¯ve been here before?¡±

    ¡°When I was just a newbie mercenary, I based myself here in the Windas system. I stayed here until my brother gave up investigating my whereabouts.¡±

    After saying so, Elma lightly shrugged her shoulders. I see. This was indeed a star system that was rtively close to the imperial capital, so you didn¡¯t have to use a gateway in order reach it from there. Also, there were lots of colonies and an equallyrge amount of traffic, so it wasn¡¯t that difficult to blend in with the crowd if you were trying to go under the radar. If you changed your name, ship, and worked as a mercenary without specifying your sex, you wouldn¡¯t be caught so easily.

    ¡°Wow. You did pretty well for a runaway.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because I had a reliable bible to follow.¡±

    ¡°Ah, you mean Mimi¡¯s grandmother, right?¡±

    ¡°My grandma huh.¡±

    Mimi¡¯s grandmother was actually the younger sister of the current ruling emperor, and she ran away from the imperial family on a smallbat ship she secretly prepared when she officially reached adulthood at the age of fifteen. She was an amazing maiden who sessfully hid her true identity and avoided the pursuit of the imperial family. She then made a name for herself as a very skilled mercenary. Tales of her exploits have been widely circted through various mediums like novels and movies, and the said novels have be the official bibles of practically all adventurous tomboydies in the empire, including our resident viscount¡¯s daughter who just shrugged her shoulders nonchntly earlier.

    ¡°Most only dream of being like her, and folks like me who actually put what they read into practice are few and far between.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re one of the few sessful examples huh, Elma.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. Even now, at least two aristocratic daughters run away from the imperial capital each year. Most end up being caught and taken back to the capital though, and a good number of them faced even worse fates than what they ran away from.¡±

    ¡°Worse fates¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi¡¯s expression didn¡¯t look so good. She must have imagined something dreadful after hearing Elma¡¯s words. Well, if those aristocratic daughters who didn¡¯t know left from right got deceived by nasty fellows, or if their ships get shot down by pirates and they end up getting captured, saying they¡¯ll suffer worse fates is probably putting it lightly.

    However, if their families ever got wind of what happened to their precious princesses, I imagine those conmen or pirates would be on the receiving end of a merciless counterattack that makes use of all a noble house¡¯s financial might and influence, so they won¡¯t have good ends either. What goes aroundes around.

    ¡°Aah¡­¡­ Boy, I¡¯m beat.¡±

    As we chatted while admiring Mei¡¯s smooth piloting maneuvers, Tina and Whisker entered the break space looking all worn out. They were cooped up inside their room for a couple of days writing their report, but it looks like they were already done with it. Tina tottered toward me and plopped herself on top of myp.

    ¡°We¡¯re finally done. Praise me, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, you did great, Tina. There, there.¡±

    I gently stroked Tina¡¯s head. Hm? Did she juste out from the shower? Her hair feels silky-smooth. She acted all worn out, but maybe she made sure to fix herself up beforeing here.

    ¡°Mou, Big Sis.¡±

    ¡°You did great too, Whisker. There, there.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, thank you.¡±

    I also called Whisker over and stroked her head as well. So both of them were fresh from the bath huh. Well, I suppose there¡¯s no point in calling them out, so I¡¯ll just keep quiet.

    ¡°Where are we headin¡¯ this time, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Ah, did I not tell you guys yet? It would be good to head to somewhere with a Space Dwerg branch office first, so we¡¯ll be going to the Windas Tertius colony. By the way, the name Windas Tertius is kinda hard to say, isn¡¯t it? It feels like it would be easy to fumble if you talk fast.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    Tina nodded with a straight face. If you quickly say the name Windas Tertius three times in a row, you¡¯d probably end up garbling the words eventually. Well, anyway, it¡¯s the Windas system¡¯s third colony. The system¡¯s primary colony, Windas Prime, was where the imperial mlitary¡¯s starport was located and was essentially built as a military colony. The second colony, Secundus, gathers and distributes the ores mined from the asteroid belt within the Windas system as well as various other supplies collected from other star systems. The third colony, Tertius, was amercial colony where the branch offices of variouspanies such as major private starship manufacturers were located.

    The other colonies were the fourth colony Quartas and the fifth colony Quintas where the private ship manufacturers built their shipyards. In any case, we n on finishing all our business in the Tertius colony. After all, we can remotely ce an order for a starship from any of the other colonies from within the Tertius colony. As long as it¡¯s within the same star system,munication was a breeze.

    ¡°In other words, depending on how things go, we¡¯ll immediately get to business as soon as we arrive huh.¡±

    After saying so, Whisker bent down her head in thought. This time around, I was nning on selling the foreign small high-speedbat ship that I managed to snag from the Red g pirates to Space Dwerg. Tina and Whisker will basically act as our intermediaries during the deal.

    ¡°We¡¯ll go with you guys so they won¡¯t beat down the price too much. But it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t trust you two, okay? It¡¯s just that since you¡¯re directly rted to them, they probably won¡¯t restrain themselves when bargaining.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Dwarven merchants are pretty tough customers, so we can¡¯t let our guard down.¡±

    Mimi, who was in charge of trading with other parties for us, nodded in agreement to my words. In fact, she seems to have purchased a lot of specialty products from the Refill system - mainly fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, clothing manufactured from natural materials, and spirit silver - with the help of the Willrose family and the Rose n. All of them were luxury items out in space and sell pretty well in trading colonies.

    ¡°We can¡¯t let them beat down the prices of the souvenirs we got from the Refill system.¡±

    ¡°We really need to be careful.¡±

    It¡¯s naturally gonna be a pretty tall order to earn enough profit to buy a new starship with just the amount of goods that can be loaded inside the Lotus, but it¡¯ll probably be more than enough to cover our stay. In any case, I want Mimi to do her best just like this.

    ***

    ck Lotus reached the Windas Tertius colony smoothly and safely made port after a bit of waiting time.

    ¡°Good job out there, Mei.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Master.¡±

    Mei performed her maid duties perfectly like always. She already made an appointment for us in advance, so we¡¯ll head straight for the local Space Dwerg branch office as soon as we get off the ship. All of us will be heading there together.

    That¡¯s because unless we sold that foreign ship to Space Dwerg, we won¡¯t be able to get enough funds to secure a new starship for Elma. Hence, selling that ship is our first priority, then we¡¯ll buy Elma¡¯s new ship andstly buy my new power armor. In the worst case that we aren¡¯t able to find a suitable power armor here, we¡¯ll just head to another star system and try our luck there.

    ¡°Are you tired? ¡­Err, I guess that¡¯s kinda a weird question to ask you huh, Mei.¡±

    ¡°Yes. But thank you. I¡¯m more than happy that you¡¯re concerned about me, Master.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­? I¡¯d feel more at ease if you requested a little more from me though.¡±

    ¡°I will consider doing so.¡±

    Mei disyed a soft smile after replying.

    ¡°Aa¡­¡­ Goin¡¯ there is such a pain.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, Sis. C¡¯mon, buck up.¡±

    ¡°Oww.¡±

    It seemed like Tina didn¡¯t really like the idea of heading to the Space Dwerg branch all that much and was acting all listless until Whisker pped her back to get her to shape up. Tina was averse to reporting to the office even though she enjoys heavy manual work like performing maintenance on our ships and does them withoutint.

    ¡°So we¡¯re heading to Space Dwerg first. What¡¯s next after that?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t we going to check out the ships being sold by Space Dwerg?¡±

    ¡°Uh, Space Dwerg is a bit iffy when ites to small-ss high-speedbat ships so¡­¡­¡±

    I got the chance to test pilot a prototype small-ss high-speedbat ship by Space Dwerg in the Brad system, but even if it was a prototype, it was still a bit disappointing. Space Dwerg¡¯s starships tend to be less maneuverable than other ships of the same ss in exchange for better loading capacity and armor, so honestly, when ites to small-ss high-speed ships, the models from otherpanies were better options. In the first ce, they didn¡¯t have any small-ss ship models that can be considered as high-speed ships avable.

    ¡°It kinda feels like ourpany¡¯s getting dissed, Big Sis.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t be helped. It¡¯s true that we ain¡¯t good when ites to that field after all.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s also ease of maintenance to consider, so we¡¯ll ask you two¡¯s opinion when choosing, okay?¡±

    ¡°Keep it a secret from thepany though, Boss.¡±

    ¡°If they get wind of us rmending ships from otherpanies, we¡¯d probably get pped with harsh warnings even if they don¡¯t penalize us directly so¡­¡­¡±

    The two smiled bitterly. Well, yeah, that would probably be the case. They¡¯d probably get scolded a lot for not promoting theirpany¡¯s own products.

    Well, in any case, we better hurry up and get to Space Dwerg.

 Chapter 304 â€“ Space Dwerg Windas Star System Branch

    <h4>Chapter 304 - Space Dwerg Windas Star System Branch</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Thanks for all the hard work. I¡¯m Whisker. We contacted you earlier.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Tina. Here are our IDs.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    We finally arrived at the Space Dwerg Co. Ltd. branch office that sported their strangely cornypany logo, and for the time being, we decided to take a step back and let Tina and Whisker handle arranging things with the receptionist. The sight of two small girls who looked quite young and a gruff but equally small uncle interacting politely with each other was a bit strange, but it certainly felt like they weren¡¯t ying around and was pretty formal. All of them were proper adults after all.

    ¡°Is that gentleman the owner?¡±

    ¡°Right. That¡¯s the shipowner, Captain Hiro. He¡¯s a tinum-ranked mercenary and a new rising hero of the empire who personally got awarded by His Imperial Majesty with the Gold Star.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s also an honorary imperial viscount, so please mind your manners when interacting with him.¡±

    ¡°But, of course. He¡¯s here for a consultation, right?¡±

    After saying so, the male dwarven receptionist turned his gaze toward me. Tina and Whisker have already informed Space Dwerg about today¡¯s visit, so they already know the details.

    ¡°Sorry for the wait, everyone. Please follow me.¡±

    Soon after, a female dwarf dressed in a so-called business suit appeared and led the way for us. I¡¯ve already seen it a couple of times before, but even so, disregarding the stern-faced bearded male dwarf, the female dwarves who looked decidedly like junior-high-school or even primary school students wearing formal business suits kinda felt like they were cosying or something¡­¡­ However, most dwarven women were merely short in height. The other parts that were supposed to grow were suitably ample and this made them weirdly sexy in a way. They really were such a strange race. You can sense the vast mysteries of life just by observing them.

    ¡°Hey Boss, d¡¯ya prefer that sorta dress?¡±

    ¡°Do you want us to wear one next time?¡±

    ¡°Pipe down, you two.¡±

    They may have lowered their voices, but other people might still hear them after all.

    ¡°Hmmm?¡±

    ¡°Mm, we haven¡¯t really tried wearing those types of clothes before.¡±

    The otherdies at the back were whispering among themselves as well. C¡¯mon guys. We¡¯re gonna be talking about some serious business today, alright? I apologize for giving the dwarvendy walking ahead of us - who hopefully hasn¡¯t noticed the ruckus we were making - a rude look, okay? So please drop this topic already.

    We continued walking and eventually boarded something resembling an elevator. After a few minutes, we finally reached a pretty posh-looking reception office.

    ¡°Excuse me, sir. I¡¯ve brought Hiro-sama and his party over.¡±

    ¡°Good work. Please bring out some refreshments for the guests.¡±

    ¡°Right away.¡±

    ¡°Please, have a seat, everyone.¡±

    The Space Dwerg employees waiting inside the office urged us to take our seats, so we took them up on their offer and promptly made ourselvesfy. I sat right in the middle of our group, right across from the Space Dwerg employees. On my left-hand side were Elma and Mimi. Tina and Whisker sat to my right. Mei stood right behind me as always.

    ¡°I¡¯m his maid, so I shall remain standing here.¡±

    ¡°Will¡­¡­ Will that be fine?¡±

    A male dwarf who seemed to be the main facilitator on the Space Dwerg side inquired, so I nodded in response. If Mei herself has decided on doing so, then I have nothing to say. Shortly after, the female employee who had been instructed to bring out refreshments came back with a pitcher and sses. She then began pouring drinks for everyone.

    Hm? The drink wasposed of a slice of fruit submerged in iced water. Was it something like fruit juice or lemonade? If they used natural fruits, then this beverage would be quite a luxury item.

    ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s go ahead and get on with the discussion. I like to get straight to the point when ites to stuff like this.¡±

    ¡°Of course. First, let us introduce ourselves. My name is Ergot and I will be the main representative of ourpany in this negotiation. And this lovelydy is Teresa from our technical department.¡±

    Teresa, who was introduced by Mr. Ergot, silently bowed to us. Mr. Ergot was¡­¡­ Err, it was really hard to tell the ages of dwarven males. Though judging from his voice, I think he should be in his thirties or forties, but that¡¯s just an unreliable guess. Teresa was a dwarvendy, but it was equally hard to tell her age from her appearance alone. However, seeing that she was quite calm andposed, she seemed to be older than Tina and Whisker.

    ¡°Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Hiro, a mercenary. I don¡¯t n on unting my honorary viscount title around, so just treat me as your regr old mercenary please.¡±

    We only bought theirtest mothership model at a bargain price, took an interview once, and asionally provided some operational feedback data, so we probably weren¡¯t regarded as big customers for Space Dwerg. It would be a different story if we made bulk orders or epted a lot of requests from Space Dwerg.

    ¡°No, no. You are regarded as a very important customer by ourpany, Hiro-sama. Due to your resounding feats, the sales of our motherships are on the rise, and ording to thetest report, the orders are ramping up at an astonishing rate. Modifying the mothership as a heavily armed transport carrier is a really novel idea. Thanks to your example, ns for an attack-type transport ship with improved cargo capacity while maintaining ample firepower are being drafted-¡±

    ¡°Ahem.¡±

    It looks like he was about to spout some ssified info. Teresa-san cleared her throat loudly and stopped Ergot¡¯s rambling.

    ¡°A-Ahahaha¡­¡­ L-Let us move on with the discussion then. Whisker and Tina¡¯s reports have already been analyzed by our engineering department.¡±

    ¡°The contents were quite interesting. You want to sell a restored sample along with the leftover parts to us, correct?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the n. I think this deal will benefit both of us.¡±

    On our end, we¡¯ll be able to sell off a ship with a dubious origin. Space Dwerg, on the other hand, will get their mitts on aplete machine sporting lots of tech that they probably don¡¯t have, and even if the original manufacturer¡¯spany were to try and sniff around for the ship¡¯s acquisition route, they¡¯d have no choice but to give up in frustration. Furthermore, the ship¡¯s control system software was in practically perfect condition.

    Of course, severalyers of security measures would have been applied so it won¡¯t be easily analyzed by other parties, but since that thing was originally employed by the Red g pirates, those security measures should have long been taken down. I expect the analysis would bepleted rtively early if they had the help of an AI consultant, and once that¡¯s done, Space Dwerg¡¯s research on small-ss high-speedbat ships that hasn¡¯t been going well until now will probably get a major boost. It really was a good deal that benefited both our parties.

    ¡°So how much are you willing to pay?¡±

    ¡°Actually, if you have a proposal in mind, I¡¯d like to hear it first, sir.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d prefer hearing how much of a price you¡¯d pay for the goods myself too. I guess you can say the one who quotes a price first would be at an advantage in this sort of situation, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°It depends, I suppose. Then how about this? Let us quote a price simultaneously. If ours is higher, then we¡¯ll finalize the deal immediately. If yours is higher, we¡¯ll proceed with further negotiations. What do you think, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Is that really okay with you? You¡¯d be giving up the chance to drive the price lower, you know?¡±

    ¡°A-Ahahaha, you must be joking, Hiro-sama. How could we ever¡­¡­¡±

    Ergot¡¯s forehead started breaking into a cold sweat. What¡¯s up with him? Err, can you cut it out, man? What¡¯s with that attitude? It¡¯s like he¡¯s absolutely terrified of me getting upset or something. I¡¯m not that sort of troublesome customer, okay. I think. Well, there was the time when Whisker crashed into me and that time when I got pissed at those mass media folks, but those incidents were clearly Space Dwerg¡¯s fault, alright?

    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s do it.¡±

    ¡°Of course. Well then¡­¡­¡±

    Mr. Ergot raised three fingers and gradually reduced it to one.

    ¡°7,500,000.¡±

    ¡°12,000,000.¡±

    I quoted a price of 7.5 million while the other party offered 12 million. Hmm. It¡¯s higher than I thought.

    ¡°Well, that was a bit of a surprise. But if you¡¯re alright with that, then sure.¡±

    ¡°Yes. We¡¯ll go with this price then. Oh, and we¡¯d have Whisker-kun and Tina-kun stay with us for a few days to hand over the data they¡¯ve collected so far. Would that be fine with you?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind, but limit their working time to eight hours a day at most, alright? It seems they were forced to go on lots of overtime when we visited your branch in the capital a while back. That was a bit too much.¡±

    Back then, the two of them looked quite haggard when they returned to us¡­¡­ There¡¯s no way I¡¯d allow them to be like that again.

    ¡°Also, the both of them do work for Space Dwerg, but I treat them as my family. If something happens to them while they¡¯re here¡­¡­ You get it, right?¡±

    ¡°W-Wahaha¡­¡­ Of course, sir.¡±

    ¡°Just to be clear, I¡¯m not saying they should be treated specially. It¡¯s just that I see them as part of my crew. I just want you to keep that in mind.¡±

    I think this is enough hinting. Well, we¡¯ve already advanced to that sort of rtionship anyway, so I think this much is justified. Oh, there¡¯s one more thing I almost forgot to mention.

    ¡°That ship is gonna be sold to you for 12 million, so the two of them have a share of 3.6 million. Just give them 1.8 million each.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Eh!?¡±¡±¡±

    There were three people who raised their voices in bewilderment. The first two were, of course, Tina and Whisker. Thest one was Teresa-san.

    ¡°Err, um, 1.8 million?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve entered into a contract with them. They¡¯re entitled to 30% of the profits gained from ships we manage to capture.¡±

    I shrugged my shoulders nonchntly as I replied to Teresa-san. Mr. Ergot¡¯s mouth hung open in shock. It looks like he was really surprised. As for Tina and Whisker¡­¡­ Oh, they have that derpy distant look in their eyes again.

    ¡°Was there really a need to mention that now, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Money is power y¡¯know. If something happens, I¡¯ll just whack the other party with a ton of money. Also, this clearly shows how much I value you, girls, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡­ true, I suppose.¡±

    Whisker let out a soft sigh. Well, we¡¯ve only been involved with Space Dwerg¡¯s Windas system branch for just a few days. It might have made the other party ufortable, but with this, I¡¯ve strongly impressed that it would be really bad if they messed with the sisters.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s that, I guess. Let¡¯s talk about the ship¡¯s transfer procedures and these two¡¯s shift schedule next, shall we?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­¡±

    I proceeded with more detailed discussions with Mr. Ergot, who looked like his soul was seeping out of his body from the pressure. Anyway, this should do it for our business with Space Dwerg. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m not curious about why they quoted such a high price, but since they¡¯re the ones who proposed it, I¡¯ll more than dly take it. I¡¯ll put the extra money to good use as funds for purchasing Elma¡¯s new ship.

 Chapter 305 â€“ Discussion Regarding the New Ship

    <h4>Chapter 305 - Discussion Regarding the New Ship</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After sessfully selling off the foreign high-speed small-ssbat ship we snagged from the Red gs to Space Dwerg, we next made our way to the shipyard.

    ¡°Boss really had them on the ropes huh?¡±

    ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t even know what I¡¯d do with 1.8 million¡­¡­¡±

    The mechanic sisters whispered to each other while trailing after us.

    I thought that Tina and Whisker would need to stay behind in thepany for work, but it seems that it will take some time to analyze the starship we brought in, select the personnel who will conduct the research, and review the report submitted by the sisters. So, for now, they were told to continue their original assignment - working as my ship mechanics.

    I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s really due to assigning personnel and allocating tasks taking some time or my threats taking effect though¡­¡­ Well, having pro mechanics apany me when choosing a new starship is a nice oue, in any case. The two of them are industry insiders after all. I can expect expert advice from them from a different perspectivepared to mercenaries like me and Elma.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t we going to visit the branch offices of other ship makers?¡±

    ¡°That would be more advisable in ces where Space Dwerg has an overwhelming presence like the Brad system, but in ces where thepetition betweenpanies is going strong, it¡¯s more convenient to go to the shipyard directly.¡±

    Elma exined the situation to Mimi after hearing her question. In SOL, you simply needed to browse a game menu while inside a colony to ess the shipyard stock for buying and selling ships, but in this world, we¡¯d have to go around and visit them ourselves.

    Eh? Why don¡¯t we just transact using holoms or something inside our ship? Well, it¡¯s not like you can¡¯t do that, but it looks like very few folks buy ships that way.

    ¡°Un, considering Elma-san¡¯s piloting preferences, we should be getting a highly mobile ship, right?¡±

    ¡°Yep. Basically, what folks look fer in small-ss ships are speed and maneuverability.¡±

    ¡°The downside is the trade-off between those and overall firepower. There¡¯s also the power output to consider.¡±

    Tina and Whisker seemed to have shifted the discussion to the ship Elma will be piloting.

    Just like Tina said, what¡¯s generally sought for in small-ss ships are speed and maneuverability. How much firepower you can stuff in them withoutpromising those has been a constant issue for ship makers. Since you naturally can only fit a small power generator inside a small-ss ship, the energy output will consequently be limited, so bncing between maneuverability (thrusters and boosters) and firepower (ser cannons and the like) has always been a headache-inducing problem for ship makers.

    ¡°There¡¯s the option of supplementing firepower by usin¡¯ ballistic and explosive weapons though.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true that multi-cannons, seeker missiles, and torpedounchers require less energy to operate, but they can be pretty heavy after all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty big issue fer small-ss ships. And aside from the weight, the maximum loadout is also a problem.¡±

    ¡°Krishna¡¯s such a huge cheat in that respect.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, pretty much.¡±

    I responded to Elma¡¯s reproachful gaze with a shrug.

    Well, it¡¯s true that Krishna¡¯s a high-performance ship that¡¯s pretty close to cheating. Even though it¡¯s considered as only one of thergest small-ss ships, the power output of its special generator actually surpasses most medium-ss ships.

    Thanks to that, it has more than enough mobility thanks to its powerful thrusters, it¡¯s equipped with equally powerful energy shields, and there¡¯s also plenty of room left to handle multiple heavyser cannons. Of course, even though it boasts pretty exceptional performance among small-ss ships, it still wouldn¡¯t be able topete with imperial battleships and cruisers in a head-to-head confrontation. It also wouldn¡¯t be able to match up in terms of energy shield performance. Krishna is definitely a pretty powerful small-ss ship, but it¡¯s by no means invincible.

    ¡°What kind of ship do you prefer, Elma-san?¡±

    ¡°Performance is important, of course. But aesthetics is also important.¡±

    ¡°That so?¡±

    ¡°I kind of get that.¡±

    ¡°Is that really the case?¡±

    Tina and Mimi tilted their heads to the side after hearing Elma¡¯s words, and Whisker nodded in understanding. I¡¯m more of a performance guy instead of a looks guy, but I don¡¯t have any problem with Elma¡¯s im that looks are also important. I¡¯d also rather pick a cool-looking ship if I didn¡¯t consider performance after all.

    ¡°How about you, Big Brother?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not really my style to focus on appearance, but I think it won¡¯t do good for motivation if you simply pick a ship with good performance but doesn¡¯t match your taste.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty wishy-washy answer y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s just how it is. If you really like the looks of your ship, then you probably wouldn¡¯t like to see it damaged. Conversely, if you don¡¯t like its looks, you¡¯d probably handle the ship pretty roughly and wouldn¡¯t care if it gets damaged.¡±

    ¡°I see. Come to think of it, that does seem to be the case.¡±

    It looks like Tina was convinced by my exnation. Actually, the feeling you get when looking at a ship after it getspletely assembled and repainted and going all¡ºThe heck, this is really cool. It¡¯s the best, ain¡¯t it?¡»can¡¯t be made light of. I think the feelings sailors have for their ships is also very important.

    We continued to discuss such stuff while moving within the colony (mostly through the transportation system instead of actually walking) until we finally arrived at the shipyard.

    ¡°Hee, so it¡¯s this kinda ce huh.¡±

    Tina eximed while sounding quite impressed after looking around. To be honest, I was kinda pleasantly surprised too. It was a swankier ce than what I initially expected after all.

    ¡°It kind of gives off a vibe simr to the ck Lotus¡¯ break room, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I was wondering why it seemed kinda familiar. So that¡¯s it.¡±

    Whisker nodded in understanding after hearing Mimi¡¯s remark. The beautiful-looking sofas and long tables, the ornamental nts and terrariums installed in various spots, and the holo-disys that yed starship advertisements were all reminiscent of the break room of the ck Lotus.

    ¡°The booths for eachpany are located at the back huh.¡±

    It¡¯s kinda like the motor shows I see on the news back on Earth.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. You can check out the ships over there, and you can discuss deals at the back. Do you wanna look around first?¡±

    ¡°Un, wouldn¡¯t it be better if we had a consensus about what type of ship we¡¯re aiming to purchase first?¡±

    ¡°Oh, yeah, that¡¯s true. I¡¯ve also been considering it a lot, so let me hear your opinions too.¡±

    _______________________________________________________________

    And so, we decided to have a quick discussion at the customer lounge space near the front before going over to thepany booths.

    ¡°I want a ship that¡¯s both fast and packs a decent amount of firepower¡­¡­ What do you guys think?¡±

    After she finished ordering drinks and got to her seat, Elma started the discussion.

    ¡°I see. Well, that does make sense if you¡¯re going solo, and even more so when you¡¯re gonna work as part of a team.¡±

    I nodded at Elma¡¯s words. However, Mimi and the others didn¡¯t seem to get it and they all tilted their heads to the side.

    ¡°In other words¡­¡­ what does that mean?¡±

    ¡°In other words, if we want to stick to our current style, we should choose a ship with a clear concept that would effectively fill the gaps in our formation and supplement our strengths. Conversely, if we want to change things up, we need to choose a ship that wouldplement the new style we¡¯re going for.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­?¡±

    Mimi still didn¡¯t seem to get it after hearing Elma¡¯s exnation, but Tina and Whisker seemed to have been convinced - or rather, they seemed to have understood what we were getting at. This is the difference between the sisters who have been involved in designing and remodeling starships for many years from a technical point of view and Mimi who has never been involved in such things until she boarded my ship.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t our current pirate hunting style basically fishing for them using bait? ck Lotus is used as a decoy, and the pirates who get attracted would be ambushed by Hiro¡¯s Krishna, with the Lotus deploying its weapons to pincer them and provide support fire.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the usual flow.¡±

    Mimi nodded in agreement. It sounds easy enough, but if ck Lotus gets detected before I¡¯ve finished setting up an ambush, the operation would be a bust, so it actually takes skill to pull it off.

    Well, let¡¯s leave out that topic for now.

    ¡°That¡¯s why, currently, we can hardly prevent pirates from slipping away whenever a gap appears.¡±

    ¡°True. Come to think of it, that does seem to be how it is.¡±

    If only one or two ships run away, we can probably still catch up to them after some time. But if four, five, or more ships make a run for it, it would be difficult to take down all of them. They scatter all over the ce when trying to make their escape after all. As if conspiring beforehand¡­¡­ though it¡¯s actually how the situation is in any case, we advanced our discussion.

    ¡°So if we want to patch up the hole in our current set-up, we need to consider procuring a ship that has good pursuit capabilities, and if we want to be more thorough about it, we should aim for shooting down every target before they even attempt to escape in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°I understand now.¡±

    ¡°Now that Mimi¡¯s finally convinced, let¡¯s proceed to exactly what type of ship we¡¯re gonna go for. If you wanna have both pursuit capabilities and ample firepower at the same time, I think a missile ship equipped with missile pods is a good way to go.¡±

    ¡°But the maximum operation time will take a hit because of the extra weight the missile pods will add to the ship.¡±

    ¡°True. But since the missile pods require less energy to operate, you can use the rest to power the thrusters. Wouldn¡¯t that ensure a certain level of mobility?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Also, firing the missiles will gradually reduce the weight, so you can speed up even more.¡±

    The more ammunition is expended, the lighter the craft gets, so as a result, the craft would go faster even with the same thruster output. It¡¯s possible to purge the missile pods after you¡¯ve expended all their missiles, but¡­¡­ those things are expensive, so that¡¯s usually not considered. Yep. Though doing so is kinda a man¡¯s romance in a sense.

    If you purged those missile pods in the middle ofbat maneuvers, chances are they¡¯d get blown away to the far reaches of space at high speeds, making it next to impossible to retrieve them. No matter how much budget you had, purging the missile pods each and every time you engage inbat will result in decimating your wallet at Mach speed. The missiles themselves are already costly enough as it is.

    ¡°In that case, it¡¯s the running costs that we need to be concerned about, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We don¡¯t really engage in drawn-out battles anyway, and we can always return to ck Lotus for resupplying and refueling in between engagements, so we don¡¯t need to focus much on uptime. Just like Mimi said, it¡¯s the cost of the seeker missiles that we need to consider.¡±

    ¡°Those things are surprisingly expensive after all.¡±

    After saying so, Elma put one hand on her cheek and sighed. The price per shot of amonly used seeker missile type ranges from roughly 500 to 800 Enels. If converted to standard Japanese Yen, the price seems extremely cheap, but this is mainly due to the reduction in manufacturing costs due to the use of replicators, reduction in material costs due to improvements in asteroid belt mining and other space mining tech, and the subsidies provided by the Mercenary Guild. It¡¯s the result of these several factors.

    The biggest contributor to the lowering of ammo prices is the existence of replicators that can create most things with the touch of a button, including advanced guidance devices, as long as there was enough basic data and materials. But it¡¯s not like you can create anything with it. Without the requisite data, it¡¯s impossible to reproduce things with a replicator, and there are certain materials that are ipatible with a replicator as well. Hence, replicators aren¡¯t omnipotent.

    ¡°Even if it¡¯s only about 500 to 800 Enels per shot, if you fire an average of 20 shots per battle, you¡¯d be looking at an expense of 10,000 to 16,000 Enels. We would be making a loss instead of profiting more often than not.¡±

    Compared to the anti-ship reactive torpedo that costs 500,000 Enels per shot, the cost was significantly lower, but it¡¯s not like we fire those torpedoes like there was no tomorrow. If your only concern was surviving or winning inbat, it was fine to expend all the firepower you could, but mercenary work is basically a business after all.

    ¡°Blowing up pirates with seeker missiles will cause a lot of damage to the exterior of their ships, so there¡¯s a good chance of damagingser cannons, multi-cannons, thrusters, and such that are equipped on their ships, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. And as a result, the costs will pile up and we wouldn¡¯t be able to get as much returns as usual.¡±

    ¡°It sounds like there are more downsides than advantages though¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi groaned while scrunching her eyebrows.

    ¡°Man, those things are really troublesome. Those darn missiles. Explosions can easily saturate energy shields, so if a ship takes a hit directly, the hull gets damaged a lot. That means the stuff attached to it like weapon systems and thrusters get wrecked as well, bringing down its overallbat capability. That¡¯s why using them yourself is troublesome, and I definitely don¡¯t wanna get hit by them so I gotta make sure to dodge or shoot them down.¡±

    ¡°I gotta say this though. Only weirdos like you dodge seeker missile barrages while humming and whistling without care, Hiro. We can¡¯t just choose a ship with speed enough to shake off seeker missiles as its sole advantage. Also, I definitely can¡¯t shoot down an entire barrage of missiles withser cannons alone, and even if there are energy shields, a small-ss ship will be wasted instantly the moment it eats just two direct hits.¡±

    Getting ¡°wasted¡± means the shields gettingpletely saturated and brought down in mercenary-speak. In other words, it¡¯s the state when a starship ispletely defenseless after losing its shields. Krishna¡¯s armor is particrly high-quality so even if its shields are brought down, it can still take one or two direct hits, but more than that would definitely be dangerous. In the case of a general lightweight small-ss starship that emphasizes speed at the expense of toughness, two direct hits of seeker missiles will definitely bring it down.

    ¡°Un, I see. So, are we getting a missile ship then?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. In terms of overall range, firepower and speed, it does seem to make the cut.¡±

    ¡°Also, the target wouldn¡¯t be able to easily activate the FTL drive while being chased by seeker missiles. A strategy where Hiro with Krishna serves as the main attacker while I concentrate on pinning the target down with missiles doesn¡¯t sound bad at all, I think.¡±

    Elma then added that she also wanted someser cannons as secondary weapons. Shortly after, drinks were finally delivered to our table, so we took the chance to have a short breather.

    ¡°Come to think of it, is there any particr reason why we need to stick to choosing a small-ss ship?¡±

    Mimi suddenly asked such a sharp question.

    ¡°Un, that¡¯s quite sharp of you. I also think we don¡¯t have to be particrly focused on small-ss starships, actually.¡±

    I agreed with Mimi¡¯s opinion. Judging from her unsurprised expression, it seemed Elma was also thinking the same thing. The mechanic sisters tilted their heads to the side in tandem.

    ¡°ck Lotus¡¯ hangar is only fer small ships y¡¯know. Ain¡¯t it impossible to stick a medium-ss ship inside it?¡±

    ¡°But it will work on the premise of not heading to the Lotus¡¯ hangar for maintenance, right? Sure, a small-ss ship can undergo maintenance inside the Lotus. But then, we wouldn¡¯t be able to stuff and restore a captured ship inside it just like we did this time because the new ship will be taking up the space.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see. We¡¯d only be able to store one captured ship at a time if we buy a small-ss ship, so if we captured two, the ship will need to vacate the hangar in order to free up space. If that¡¯s the case, then buying a medium-ss ship and not worrying about parking it inside the hangar in the first ce does make sense.¡±

    The two quickly understood where we wereing from. Mimi was making an expression that seemed to say ¡ºI see!¡», but I bet she was only curious about why we were so focused on small-ss ships earlier and didn¡¯t think of the particr details like the sisters.

    ¡°Alright then, shall we discuss medium-ss ships next guys?¡±

    And so, we moved from discussing small-ss ships to medium-ss ones.

 Chapter 306 â€“ A Salesman Appears

    <h4>Chapter 306 - A Salesman Appears</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°The main merits of medium-ss ships is that they possess better firepower and armorpared to small-ss ships.¡±

    ¡°Right. Also, small-ss ships arergely high-speed ships, but medium-ss ships can range from high-speed ones to heavy firepower ones, so there¡¯s a greater set of options to choose from. And customizing them will heavily alter their performance to tailor one¡¯s needs as well.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. But ain¡¯t they objectively worse as pursuit ships and interceptors? I mean, we can customize them to be faster, but they probably still won¡¯t be able to match small-ss ships when ites to speed and eleration.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the case in terms of pure specs, but since medium-ss ships possess greater range and firepowerpared to small-ss ships, don¡¯t you think they can cover more ground depending on how they¡¯re used?¡±

    ¡°Un, it would be nice if we could use an Anti-FTL trap too.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s military equipment, so only specialized military ships can use it.¡±

    The Anti-FTL trap Mimi mentioned is basically a type of wide-range interdictor that can forcefully deactivate FTL drives and prevents them from reactivating. It serves as a pretty troublesome interference device. Well, unfortunately, its energy efficiency is basically crap, and only a specialized ship thatcks firepower is able to keep it active for extended periods. That specialized ship is exclusively manufactured and provided to the military, so it isn¡¯t avable in the market.

    ¡°That thing¡¯s ability to pin down targets is top-notch after all. It¡¯s not like we need to activate it for long periods of time, so why don¡¯t we find something roughly simr in the market?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, activating that kind of effect in short bursts is more than enough. It guzzles a crapton of energy, so how about throwing in a capacitor for good measure?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s technically possible Boss, but findin¡¯ one in the market¡¯s gonna be pretty hard, ain¡¯t it? It¡¯ll be pretty nasty if pirates get their hands on some after all.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it will be ugly if pirates used FTL traps to stop civilian ships in their tracks.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then it probably isn¡¯t going to be easy to find¡­¡­¡±

    It will definitely be a nightmare if pirates started using such equipment to hunt down civilian ships. It would only take roughly three minutes to destroy the thrusters of their victim in such a defenseless state after all.

    ¡°Well, if there¡¯s none, then it can¡¯t be helped. Alright, let¡¯s talk about the demerits of medium-ss ships next. The main one is definitely operating costs.¡±

    ¡°It would cost more to maintain itpared to a small-ss ship, and we need to pay the mooring fee for it in addition to the Lotus, so we need to consider that as well.¡±

    ¡°On the performance side, it¡¯s definitely its speed. Um, like, it would be difficult for it to avoid attacks and such.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a bigger targetpared to small-ss ships after all. Since it¡¯s heavier, you wouldn¡¯t be able to pull off tight maneuvers with it. I suppose we just have to resign ourselves to that to an extent.¡±

    ¡°But it can equip much better shieldspared to a small-ss ship, right? If we gave it enough firepower, wouldn¡¯t it be able to take on typical pirate ships easily?¡±

    ¡°A well-equipped medium-ssbat ship will definitely make short work of the customized civilian ships that most pirates use. The problem is that some pirate ships are also equipped with a good amount of seeker missiles.¡±

    ¡°The pirates aren¡¯t that stupid after all. That¡¯s why they employ seeker missiles to specifically deal with medium-ss ships. A medium-ss ship¡¯s shields can withstand five or six hits of seeker missiles without any trouble, but taking ten or twenty hits would be tough.¡±

    ¡°You can shoot down some of the missiles usingser cannons, so you¡¯d be able to trim down the number of hits to a minimum.¡±

    ¡°But those guys will probably take the opportunity to escape while you¡¯re busy shooting down the missiles. But we have Krishna and ck Lotus, so I think we¡¯ll be fine even if that happens.¡±

    It¡¯s true that they can deal with the newly added medium-ss ship with that tactic, but it¡¯s fine since they still have to face Krishna and ck Lotus afterward. No matter which of our ships gets focused on, the other two will swiftly be able to switch to attack. Once that happens, the pirate ships would probably not be able to withstand it. Those who are skilled in running away are the most troublesome after all.

    As we continued with our discussion, silhouettes from thepany booths at the back headed toward us. I gave them a quick nce and discovered that it was a smartly dressed young man who looked like the shining example of your typical businessman apanied by an equally well-dressed beauty - or rather, an android.

    ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m very sorry for barging in on your discussion, sir. I¡¯m Autumn from the Ideal Starway Company. This is mypanion, Milly.¡±

    The man called Autumn politely introduced himself, and hispanion female-type android Milly gave us an elegant bow.

    ¡°You are Captain Hiro-sama, correct?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. So?¡±

    ¡°I shall be frank then. I wish to offer you ourpany¡¯s products. Milly here has particrly sharp ears, you see. Thus, she couldn¡¯t help but overhear the contents of your conversation, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like I mind a little eavesdropping. We¡¯re not talking about anything particrly confidential anyway.¡±

    This guy said it wasn¡¯t on purpose, but I bet it definitely was. His female androidpanion was equipped with high-performance audio sensors, after all, so her job was definitely not just serving him as an assistant but information gathering as well.

    ¡°So? What does the great Ideal Starway want to offer a poor mercenary like me?¡±

    The Ideal Starway Company was an ultrarge ship-making semi-government firm that manufactured ships for the imperial military. Their ship designs were well-polished and elegant, and their performance was just about above average. The speed and armor of their ships were just about above-average too. Same for their customizability. They were also priced wellpared to the otherpany¡¯s ships. Putting it nicely, their ships were reliable all-rounders. Putting it badly, they were half-baked. They were that sort of ship maker.

    ¡°Surely you jest, sir. Isn¡¯t it a little too humble of you to call yourself a mere ¡®poor mercenary¡¯, Hiro-sama? After all, you are a Gold Star recipient and tinum rank mercenary who has even been specially recognized by His Imperial Majesty himself.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°Yes, certainly.¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    Everyone agreed with Mr. Autumn¡¯s remarks except for me. Even Mei, who was standing behind me, nodded. Am I ying an away game here or what?

    ¡°Ok, ok, my bad. Sheesh. Anyway, you wanna discuss a deal with me, right? Have a seat then.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡±

    When I offered him to take a seat, Mr. Autumn sat down across the table, right in front of me. Milly stood behind Mr. Autumn.

    ¡°So, I suppose Ms. Milly here already has a good idea about what type of ship we want from our conversation earlier, right?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. So I was wondering if you¡¯d be interested in one of ours.¡±

    After saying so, he ced a tablet-type information terminal on the table and pushed it toward me.

    Hm? This table was equipped with a holo disy, so it should be able to project the contents of the tablet terminal if the data was sent to it. Going out of his way to show me the tablet screen directly was somewhat suspicious.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mind if I do then.¡±

    I picked up the tablet terminal and looked at the screen.

    What was disyed was a medium-ss ship with a sharp-looking profile typical of the Ideal style. It was an elegant and streamlined design with a pointed bow. However, the stern looked quite sturdy and had a rugged feel to it. The heroic design thatbined both grace and ruggedness was definitely Ideal-quality.

    I rotated the 3D model disyed on the screen and found that the main thrusters wereposed of threerge ones and two small ones. Its eleration performance seemed to be quite good. It had plenty of side thrusters, and it looked like its turning capability was surprisingly good as well. Well, I¡¯m still not clear about its power to weight ratio, so it might be unexpectedly heavy. Maybe this ship was actually only fast in a straight line.

    ¡°What are the mechanisms attached to the center and both sides of the ship?¡±

    There were spherical parts on both sides of the ship, but I didn¡¯t recognize what type of devices they were, exactly. At least, I¡¯ve never seen option parts like them before.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen these before either¡­¡­ Judging from their appearance, they seem to be some sort of electronic warfare equipment though.¡±

    Elma peeked at the screen and cupped her chin as she tilted her neck in wonder. They did look a bit like ECM generators or amplifiers.

    ¡°Those are the centerpieces of this ship. It¡¯s a rather aggressive prototype, design and performance-wise.¡±

    ¡°Oi, oi. Don¡¯t tell me you want us to test this prototype of yours?¡±

    ¡°It has already passed the quality control and reliability tests perfectly, though it¡¯s true that it¡¯s not officially released in the market yet.¡±

    ¡°So that means you want practicalbat data huh¡­¡­ So, what the heck are these anyway?¡±

    ¡°We call them Gravity Jammers over at thepany. To put it simply, they arepact versions of the equipment called FTL trap.¡±

    After saying so, Mr. Autumn disyed a conspiratorial grin. I see. Now I know why he¡¯s so confident after listening in on our discussion.

 Chapter 307 â€“ Gravity Jammer

    <h4>Chapter 307 - Gravity Jammer</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Mr. Autumn had a self-satisfied look on his face as he observed our reactions. We quickly exchanged nces silently and turned our attention back to Mr. Autumn.

    ¡°Honestly, this is such convenient stuff at such a convenient timing.¡±

    ¡°We definitely don¡¯t wanna take part in any shady deals though.¡±

    ¡°I wonder if they¡¯re nning on proposing some unreasonable exchange conditions?¡±

    ¡°Or maybe this newfangled ship has a big w or somethin¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Like exploding all of a sudden?¡±

    ¡°No, that isn¡¯t the case, I assure you. I¡¯m a genuine Ideal Starway sales agent and I¡¯m definitely not trying to deceive you all. I¡¯m proposing an above-board and absolutely legitimate business transaction.¡±

    Mr. Autumn, who received a round of skepticalments from all of us, hurriedly waved his hand and denied our suspicions.

    Are you serious, man? Fine, let¡¯s assume you¡¯re simply an agent who¡¯s pretty confident in yourpany¡¯s product. But isn¡¯t it way too convenient to offer us a prototype ship with confidential equipment that¡¯s not even officially released in the market yet at this timing?

    ¡°Sorry, but I can¡¯t help but feel suspicious about a merchant who suddenly brings what I want exactly when I want it.¡±

    ¡°As expected of a tinum ranker, how cautious of you.¡±

    After Mr. Autumn disyed a bitter smile, Mei opened her mouth and spoke.

    ¡°I¡¯ve finished confirmation. Mr. Autumn is truly someone who belongs to Ideal Starway.¡±

    ¡°I see. I suppose we can trust him to an extent then.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not unusual to engage in business deals in this ce anyway.¡±

    Mr. Autumn gave out a strainedugh after hearing our exchange.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sir. It¡¯s just that we seem to attract trouble often you see, so¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Uhuh. We seem to get into troublesome stuff even without us doing anything in particr, so we¡¯ve developed a habit of being really cautious. Sorry.¡±

    ¡°No, no, I don¡¯t mind at all.¡±

    Mr. Autumn quickly changed from a bitter smile to a perfect business smile, as if he really didn¡¯t mind our earlier vignce. Un, he sure is quick to change gears. Impressive.

    ¡°So, Gravity Jammer, right? You said it¡¯s a miniaturized version of the Anti-FTL trap, and it really is impressive that you managed to shrink it to this size. But due to how much energy it needs to operate, I heard you¡¯d require therge-ss ship generator of a destroyer at the very least in order to use it properly.¡±

    After hearing Whisker¡¯s question, Mr. Autumn quickly opened his mouth and replied.

    ¡°Due to itspact size, its functions are somewhat limited. The FTL trap was basically developed by reapplying the technology used in a type of gravitational wave convergence cannon called Gravity st. Simply put, it works by emitting high-powered gravitational waves that enable it to effectively put a stop and hinder the activation of FTL drives. Since it was originally intended for use as a battleship¡¯s main gun, it required a massive energy output, and thus, was difficult to miniaturize.¡±

    ¡°I see. So how exactly is it limited?¡±

    ¡°Gravity Jammers are unable to put a stop to ships whose FTL drives are already active and are navigating at faster-than-light speeds. The FTL trap interferes with the mass of the target directly via emitting powerful gravitational waves, resulting in forcibly deactivating the FTL drive. The Gravity Jammer, however, tricks a ship¡¯s sensors into detecting an object with arge mass in the immediate vicinity, thereby causing the safety system of the FTL drive to malfunction.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see. Instead of actually changing a ship¡¯s mass, it makes it so the ship¡¯s sensors are tricked into detecting objects like arge asteroid, colony, or ship nearby, and that leads to hindering the activation of the FTL drive. If that¡¯s the case, then it definitely won¡¯t consume that much energy.¡±

    Whisker and Tina kept asking Mr. Autumn some technical questions, but I could only understand about half of what they were talking about. They were even probably dumbing it down so usymen would be able to follow the conversation as well.

    ¡°In short, you can¡¯t stop a ship that¡¯s already traveling at faster-than-light speeds, but you can preemptively stop ships from activating their FTL drives to escape midbat.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s basically it. The effective range is about a radius of 50 km.¡±

    ¡°A radius of about 50 km huh¡­¡­ It¡¯s not that wide.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    In a general sense, 50 km seemed like a pretty extensive distance, but considering the fact that ships can reach average speeds of 1000 m/s with their thrusters at full st, and particrly fast ones can even reach up to 5000 m/s, that 50 km doesn¡¯t sound particrly extensive after all. Well, it wasn¡¯t particrly small either.

    ¡°Well, the effective range will move together with the ship anyway, so it¡¯s plenty usable.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. The next problem is about the ship¡¯s specs.¡±

    Just like Elma said, even if the Gravity Jammer was a pretty useful piece of equipment, it wouldn¡¯t do us any good if the mobility, firepower, and defensive strength of the ship it¡¯s equipped on weren¡¯t up to par. If that¡¯s the case, then it would be better if we equipped the Gravity Jammer on the ck Lotus instead.

    ¡°Of course, we haven¡¯t madepromises on the overall performance of the ship. It¡¯s equipped with a state-of-the-artrge generator and energy capacitors to power the Gravity Jammers, but due to that, livability and cargo capacity were a bitpromised instead.¡±

    As far as I could confirm by checking out the model on the tablet terminal, the ship¡¯s living space was certainly small, and the cargo space was also set to the minimum. However, the generator certainly was prettyrge and seemed to have more than enough power output, and since it was equipped withrge capacitors as well, it was possible to fire high-output energy weapons instantaneously. Well, since the capacitors were mainly meant to be used to operate the Gravity Jammers, using them to power energy weapons will affect the run time of the Jammers.

    ¡°Therge generator, capacitors, and Gravity Jammers are all stuffed in the rear block. If that¡¯s the case, can the front block be freely reced?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Ideal makes use of their patented Ideal Block System that divides their ships into front blocks and rear blocks, enabling you to mix and match blocks freely.

    The power generator, shield generator, thrusters, cargo space, and such were mainly located in the rear block. There were many variations ofbinations of generator size, the number of main and sub thrusters, cargo space, living space, cargo space, and equipment storage space depending on the size of the rear block. There was also a varied selection of front blocks with different sets of hardpoints for weapons and equipment such asser cannons, missile pods, torpedo tubes, sensors, and so on.

    The main advantage of this block system is that if the ship gets damaged, the blocks themselves can be easily reced. If the front block gets damaged, it was possible to just quickly rece it with a new one and immediately return to the fray duringbat. The overall durability of the hull does suffer a bit as a consequence, but starships mainly tank attacks using their energy shields anyway. Hence, the hull durability tends to be a secondary concern.

    ¡°We¡¯ll keep the rear block. As for the front block¡­¡­ the current configuration has six ss II cannon slots and two missile pod slots for a total of eight weapon slots.¡±

    ¡°The overall firepower is just so-so. How about this block? This seems better.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yeah, you¡¯re right. Two ss III and two ss II slots do seem better overall. We can also equip two seeker missile pods as well.¡±

    By the way, you can just think of ss I weapons as small arms, ss II as medium guns, and ss III asrge guns.

    ss I guns are usually used by small high-speed recon ships and are usually sufficient to deal with civilian ships. However, they can be considered practically useless in battles between properbat ships. Pirates often employed such guns on their ships.

    ss II weapons are your standard cannons and are the most popr armaments employed by most starships. Therefore, there is a very extensive selection and you can easily choose something ording to your needs.

    Lastly, ss III guns were thergest caliber cannons for starships avable on the market. Due to theirrge size, their power was quite high. However, they also consumed plenty of energy. But since they had high firepower, it also meant that they were capable of saturating the energy shields of starships in a short amount of time. Hence, as long as the energy reserve holds up, ss III guns were pretty devastating weapons.

    There was a lot of debate in SOL regarding whether it was better to equip many ss II weapons or just a few high-power ss III weapons onbat ships, and I was on the side of ss III fans who loved them for their excellent power and range. I was all for high burst power instead of sustained damage.

    After all, in dogfights, you wouldn¡¯t be able to constantly keep a lock on your enemies to take full advantage of that sustained barrage. I think it¡¯s advantageous to have sustained firepower against stationary targets, but against mobile ones, you definitely needed to be able to destroy them instantly with punchy high-powered weapons.

    ¡°ording to the data here, the overall mobility isn¡¯t bad at all. It also has enough leeway to stuff an additional two shield generators.¡±

    ¡°In terms of firepower, it¡¯s in a good ce among medium-ss ships. If youbine its mobility with the Gravity Jammers, its overall performance is quite high. In other words-¡±

    ¡°¡±It¡¯s a very ideal starship!¡±¡±

    Elma and I were totally in sync as we raised our voices together. Aside from the Gravity Jammer, its other performance specs were just okay. It didn¡¯t particrly excel at anything, but it had an overall bnced performance coupled with the Ideal Block System.

    ¡°Now it all depends on the price.¡±

    Will it fit our budget? That is the question.

 Chapter 308 -?ISCX-317 Antlion?

    <h4>Chapter 308 -¡¾ISCX-317 Antlion¡¿</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°I see.¡±

    The offer presented to us was about 12 million Enels. For a medium-ss ship, the price was rather reasonable. In fact, it could be considered to be fairly cheap.

    ¡°This is the price of the base model, right?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. It¡¯s what you mercenaries call a¡ºBase¡»or¡ºVani¡»variant.¡±

    In other words, customizing the ship will incur additional fees. The so-called¡ºBase¡»or¡ºVani¡»variant was the standard unmodified ship model offered by ship makers. Usually, buyers would rece the stock generators with more powerful ones, rece or add shields, armor, and armaments, as well as arrange stuff like the life support system, medical pods, and other interior amenities. Recing the power generator and armor was particrly expensive.

    ¡°Even so, the generator provided is a high-output military-grade product, and both the Gravity Jammers and capacitors are exclusive equipment, so I think this is still a good deal.¡±

    ¡°Right¡­¡­ Especially that generator. ording to this, it has higher performance than most other high-output generators on the market¡­¡­ Or rather, isn¡¯t this actually thetest type developed for use by military corvettes?¡±

    ¡°That is indeed the case. Furthermore, Captain Hiro has been allowed permission to purchase and sell military equipment, so we will have no trouble providing him with those.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been given permission to purchase and sell military equipment? Well, I suppose it ain¡¯t that much of a surprise.¡±

    Perhaps the license came included with the Gold Star award. Or maybe Lt. Col. Serena pulled some strings when I said I wanted to purchase militarybat bots back then? Either way, I¡¯m d I¡¯ll be able to freely purchase military equipment from now on.

    Usually, military-grade equipment had higher performance specspared to simr products out on the market. And even if the performance was more or less simr, they were still generally more reliable in the long run. However, they do tend to make use of older model equipment often, so there¡¯s a tendency to draw a losing hand from time to time. I gotta remember to pay attention when dealing with them.

    If I went all giddy and recklessly purchased military equipment, I might suddenly end up with decades-old tech. Well, they might be old, but they were tough and reliable, so there¡¯s that too.

    ¡°We can prepare genuine imperial military equipment for you, sir. Armor, weapons. You name it, we¡¯ll provide it.¡±

    ¡°Wow, you sure have some serious connections.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Ideal after all.¡±

    The mechanic sisters disyed bitter smiles. Ideal Starway was the empire¡¯s premier ship-maker and was the wholesaler of many ships used by the imperial military. It goes without saying that they had solid connections with armor, weapons, and other gear manufacturers as well. They probably had direct lines to the bosses of saidpanies.

    ¡°Alright then, shall we purchase as much as our budget can afford?¡±

    ¡°Fine with me, but are you sure we can earn back the expense?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d have better chances of survival in battle if you have good equipment. That in itself is already profitable.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­? Well, I suppose you¡¯re right.¡±

    You¡¯d get to save more in the long run if you purchased a high-performance starship with high survivability rather than using a cheap ship that gets wrecked every time. And Elma¡¯s ship getting shot down because we tried to save money is definitely a no-go. Getting shot down after doing one¡¯s very best was one thing, but I¡¯ll regret it for the rest of my life if I lost Elma just because I was too stingy.

    ¡°By the way, what¡¯s the name of the ship?¡±

    ¡°Its development code is¡¾ISCX-317 Antlion¡¿.¡±

    ¡°Antlion¡­¡­ An antlion huh. Makes sense.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re familiar with the creature?¡±

    Mr. Autumn disyed a surprised expression after seeing my reaction. Of course, I knew a thing or two about antlions. Why is he so¡­¡­? Oh, right. People who were born and raised in colonies usually weren¡¯t familiar with bugs, and even among those born inary colonies, there weren¡¯t many who knew about them. That¡¯s because the biodiversity on terraformeds was pretty limited. In the first ce, I¡¯m not sure how known the antlion was in this world, but judging from Mr. Autumn¡¯s reaction, I guess it¡¯s pretty rare.

    ¡°It¡¯s an insect that creates a funnel-shaped hole on the ground to trap and eat other insects. Well, its appearance isn¡¯t all that pretty to look at, but it does look graceful in a sense when it emerges and flies off.¡±

    But I don¡¯t really remember the antlion being all that good at flying though. Was I overdoing it?

    ¡°You really are quite familiar with it. Do you perhaps have an interest in biological sciences?¡±

    ¡°I just happened to know a thing or two about it. So, the Antlion huh. The name doesn¡¯t sound bad at all. What do you think, guys?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. Sure, we can keep the name Antlion for the ship. What are we gonna get for the armaments, assuming the armor and thrusters will be the highest military-grade level?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t the loadout of two seeker missile pods, two ss IIser cannons, and one ss IIIser cannon fine already?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a pretty stable loadout.¡±

    Thebination of powerful military-grade ss III and ss IIsers and seeker missile pods capable of wide-area suppression and covering fire was pretty solid.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessary to deliberately choose umon equipment just because.¡±

    ¡°That does sound pretty convincing, especially since we have Hiro here who¡¯s a perfect example. I mean, shard cannons and anti-ship reaction torpedoes? Talk about over the top.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have you know that my final loadout was the result of extensive research and nning to achieve the most suitable equipmentbination for my ship.¡±

    Elma just shrugged her shoulders in response. Shard cannons that had a short effective range but raw punching power and anti-ship reactive torpedoes which were rtively slow, making it hard to get hits with them, were loaded on Krishna mainly due to the characteristics of the ship itself. While you definitely could choose to rece the shot-cannons with medium-caliberser cannons and the torpedo tubes with seeker missile pods, that would drastically reduce Krishna¡¯s effectiveness againstrge-ss ships. The four heavyser cannons were more than enough to deal with most small and medium-ss ships.

    ¡°Well, if we find that this standard loadout configuration isn¡¯t that effectiveter, we can always just customize it again. Anyway, the design concept of this starship isn¡¯t particrly geared toward high-speedbat in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°If anything, it¡¯s more of abat support ship. It¡¯s not a ship meant to zip around the frontlines and fight directly, so it¡¯s not necessary to be so particr about its firepower, right?¡±

    ¡°Mm. But I think it¡¯s better to equip a ss III slot with a more high-powered weapon instead of a standardser cannon because of therge-capacity capacitors. Something that would allow it to deal with other medium-ss ships from long range. Doing so will increase itsbat effectiveness significantly. How about it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s certainly a good idea.¡±

    Elma¡¯s suggestion was pretty good. The only way to quickly bring down a medium-ss ship with Krishna¡¯s equipment was to hit them with the shot-cannons or an anti-ship reactive torpedo, and both of those methods can be regarded as overkill, especially the torpedo. ck Lotus¡¯ firepower allows it to easily bring down medium-sized ships, but it¡¯s mostly up to luck whether or not those ships would end up within its range in the first ce. Not to mention shooting them with the EML was still overkill. So it would be really useful to give the new ship enough means to bring down other medium-ss ships from a reasonable distance.

    ¡°Two seeker missile pods and two military-grade ss II high-powerser cannons are sufficient for defense against small-ss ships. I¡¯m thinking of equipping it with a sma cannon. What do you think, Hiro?¡±

    ¡°A sma cannon¡¯s not bad, but can you really get consistent hits with that thing?¡±

    The sma cannon certainly packed a powerful punch, but its projectile speed was rtively slow, making it hard to hit stuff with it. Even sufficiently mobile medium-ss ships would be a challenge, and onlyrge-ss ships were somewhat easier targets. As for small-ss ships, it would be nigh impossible to hit them unless you get super-close and personal.

    ¡°I can always practice. On the other hand, if you want it to specialize in dealing with small-ss ships, I think aser beam emitter would be nice.¡±

    ¡°That thing certainly has range and is hard to avoid, but both energy and heat management will be troublesome¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t mind it. I used it in the Swan too.¡±

    Theser beam emitter is a type ofser cannon that¡¯smonly known in SOL as the ¡®gerobi¡¯ (vomit beam). Generally, mostser cannons are a type of pulseser cannon which irradiates targets with a powerful light beam in short bursts, causing the target¡¯s surface to spontaneously evaporate, leading to explosions and major damage. That¡¯s how the weapon works. At least, that¡¯s the way I understand how they worked. Different exnations might be offered if I asked either the mechanic sisters or Mei.

    Compared to the pulseser, theser beam emitter irradiates targets with a continuous stream of lower intensityser that leads to burning, melting, and in some cases,pletely liquefying them.

    When ites to in firepower, a standard pulseser cannon trumps over it, but the troublesome point of theser beam emitter was that energy shields can¡¯tpletely defend against them. I¡¯m not clear about the exact theory behind it, but in SOL, about 30% of the attack output goes through the shields and directly damages the armor and hull.

    This was a very troublesome yet convenient characteristic that allowed it to deliver fatal damage to fast but thinly armored targets. It was extremely difficult to avoid since the beam shoots out at light speed, and scenes of ships getting done in by gerobi from range were not a rare sight back in SOL. It also made short work of pirate ships which had abysmally weak energy shields and thin armor. It¡¯s also suited for intercepting rtively slower flying projectiles such as seeker missiles and torpedoes - though I¡¯m not sure if those can really be regarded as ¡®flying¡¯ out in space.

    On the flip side, it¡¯s weak against ships with strong defenses against heat andsers. It was weak to the point of nonrelevance. The opponents would go ¡®The heck¡¯s up with that peashooter, man?¡¯ and proceed to kick your behind for a counter kill. It¡¯s no exaggeration to say that it would be almost utterly useless against ships simr to the Lotus.

    ¡°It¡¯s up to anti-ship reactive torpedoes and the EML of ck Lotus to deal with big targets, so you want to deal with the small fry huh¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s also enough to deal with medium-ss targets from long range. Small ships would be instantly roasted. The life support systems and fire extinguishing equipment of pirate ships are really poor, so they¡¯d be incapacitated immediately if I roast them a bit.¡±

    ¡°If so, then how about getting a high-poweredser beam emitter used by imperial battleships for weapon interception? It¡¯spatible with standard hardpoints, so it can also be equipped on the Antlion.¡±

    Mr. Autumn started promoting one of his wares again. The specs do look good, so I guess it wouldn¡¯t hurt to get one. With that in mind, we proceeded with the price negotiations, including armor and thruster upgrades.

 Chapter 309 â€“ Noisy Peanut Gallery

    <h4>Chapter 309 - Noisy Peanut Gallery</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Thank you very much for your purchase. I will arrange it so we can deliver the product as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Sure thing. I do value quality work over speed you know.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I will absolutely ensure that there will be no defects in the product.¡±

    After saying so, Mr. Autumn returned to hispany¡¯s booth with a beaming smile on his face. This time around, the total cost of purchasing Elma¡¯s new ship - the Antlion - was about 13 million Enels. As it¡¯s a medium-ss ship, it was quite a bit cheaper than the Lotus. I suppose you can say the cost was just about averagepared to the other medium-ss ships out on the market. But it¡¯s equipped with military-grade stuff, so I suppose it¡¯s a great deal overall.

    The base price was 5 million Enels, an additional 4 million for upgrading to military-grade armor ting, another 1 million for military-grade thrusters, 1.5 million for the military-grade high-poweredser beam emitter and other armaments, and a final million for equipment such as life support, med pods, interior furnishings and the like.

    I also decided to get the weapons and generator of ck Lotus reced by military-grade ones as well. Due to therge number of items needing to be reced including the most expensive power generator, the total cost went up to about 12 million, which was about on par with Elma¡¯s Antlion.

    The Antlion¡¯s generator was military-grade from the get-go, and the prices of the Gravity Jammer andrge-capacity capacitors were already included in the unit¡¯s base price, so we really got it for a nice bargain. In exchange, we needed to submit the ship¡¯s operational data to Ideal Starway periodically, but that wouldn¡¯t be much of a hassle because Mei will be taking charge of the task. I really have to make it up to Mei when I get the chance.

    ¡°We somehow made a deal already, but was it really okay not to look at the otherpany¡¯s products?¡±

    ¡°Well, the guy did offer us apletely new and unique equipment, so it was pretty hard to pass up.¡±

    ¡°In the worst case, if the ship turns out more useless than expected, we can always sell it off and buy another one.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ Is that really okay?¡±

    Mimi got perplexed after hearing Elma¡¯s nonchnt remark.

    ¡°Well, the guy did sell it to us openly out in public, so I¡¯m guessing the otherpanies are already aware of their newly developed equipment to some extent. But his im about the thing not being distributed to the general public is most likely true, and due to its nature, I¡¯m not sure if it really ever will be made avable in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps it was developed especially for the military¡­¡­ Unconventional warfare-use, maybe?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s inly meant to ensure that targets won¡¯t be allowed to escape so they can be sessfully finished off. It¡¯s surprisingly a great fit for Col. Serena¡¯s independent anti-pirate fleet, so it might actually be for them. Or maybe the imperial military brass decided to emte them after the fleet¡¯s various achievements, and this equipment will be exclusively provided to the rest of their fleets.¡±

    ¡°A new section¡¯s exclusive equipment? Well, it does seem usible.¡±

    I¡¯m not sure about how exactly the rest of the imperial military views Col. Serena and her independent mobile anti-pirate fleet, but as far as we knew, they had already umted a good number of achievements and disyed a certain level of good results. Were they nning on developing other fleets using the same concept andbining them into a new section of the imperial military? A new corps? Yeah, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it does turn out like that. Hence, it¡¯s also quite possible that the Gravity Jammer will be the new section¡¯s specialized equipment.

    It also makes sense to supply the new equipment to mercenaries, whose main targets are pirates, first in order to efficiently collect relevant data. I¡¯m only specting about what Ideal Starway and the imperial military are up to, but I¡¯m willing to bet I¡¯m not too far off the mark.

    ¡°Anyway, since the equipment is already known to others to some extent, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem to sell them off. Heck, we can even try to sell them back to Ideal.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Compared to letting a rivalpany get their hands on them, I suppose repurchasing the equipment themselves would be more agreeable to Ideal. Well, it does seem like pretty useful equipment, so I¡¯m willing to close one eye regarding the ship¡¯s performance.¡±

    After saying so, Elma performed a resigned shrug. In fact, aside from the special Gravity Jammers andrge-capacity capacitors, the overall performance of the Antlion can be said to be middling as far as medium-ss ships were concerned. There were many other models with higher firepower, faster speed, tougher defenses, and more substantial upgrade options. However, the unique advantage brought by the Gravity Jammers can¡¯t be ignored, and the performance of the ship itself didn¡¯t have any particr issues aside from not being a standout. It had a decent amount of firepower, decent speed, and decent defenses.

    Because it was equipped with specialized equipment, its customizability was a bit on the poorer side, but that tradeoff was still eptable, considering the advantages offered by the specialized equipment.

    ¡°Well, I suppose we¡¯ve settled for the Antlion guys. Though I admit that the timing was a little bit too convenient. It¡¯s kinda creepy to be honest.¡±

    ¡°Agreed.¡±

    ¡°Well, I suppose we can just chalk it up to your trouble-ma attribute again if something goes wrong, Boss.¡±

    ¡°We can also say there are actually still perks like this even if we do tend to always attract trouble, right?¡±

    ¡°Is it just me, or did you just casually diss me¡­¡­?¡±

    I involuntarily frowned after hearing the mechanic sister¡¯s remarks. I mean, wouldn¡¯t that mean after the good luck, bad luck will immediately follow or something? Alright, now I¡¯m scared about what¡¯s gonna happen after such a convenient lucky event. Should we just lock ourselves inside Krishna or the Lotus to tide things out?

    No, it probably won¡¯t end with just secluding ourselves if we did so. I refuse to be a ve to pleasures of the flesh.

    ¡°Since we¡¯re done with my new ship, shall we look for Hiro¡¯s new power armor next?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine too, but I think we better look for a hotel to stay at for a few days first since the Lotus is scheduled for modification.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I think that¡¯s a very good idea.¡±

    ¡°So we need to pack our things and arrange for a hotel stay, right? Leave the hotel arrangements to me please!¡±

    Mei nodded to my words, and when Mimi heard me mentioning staying in a hotel, she immediately volunteered herself with outstanding momentum.

    ¡°Ooh, can ya arrange for a ce where we can get to work without much hassle?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re being shameless, Big Sis¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Please leave it to me!¡±

    Mimi and Tina excitedly started looking for a nice hotel, and Whisker scooted over after making an exasperated expression. She proceeded to check out the tablet terminal with the other two. Mei still had her usual cool andposed expression on as she continued to stand behind me, while Elma had a rather troubled look on her face.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°No, well, um¡­¡­ Now that I thought about it, we spent quite a bit of money huh.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. And?¡±

    It was a matter of fact so I nodded honestly in response. 13 million Enels was indeed a ratherrge amount of money, just like Elma said. To be honest, I¡¯m not sure how long it¡¯ll take for us to break even and make a profit again. Considering the operating costs, it will probably take a good while. Still, it will definitely be more efficient to fight with three ships instead of just ck Lotus and Krishna, and will eventually be more profitable in the long run. Running three ships will not only make it easier to hunt down pirates but also take on different types of requests as well. It was certainly an expensive purchase, but it was definitely money well spent.

    ¡°I mean, you¡¯re the one who paid for it, Hiro¡­¡­ but it¡¯s gonna be my ship, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. So?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure how to put it, but¡­¡­ just how can I ever repay you?¡±

    ¡°Repay me? For what? The ship? Why?¡±

    Elma¡¯s iprehensible remarks filled my head with question marks. What the heck was this girl on about?

    ¡°No, not the ship¡­¡­ I mean all the favors and stuff. You always end up helping me out Hiro, and I haven¡¯t even paid my debt to you yet.¡±

    Elma waved her arms to the side while making a troubled expression as if to vent herplicated emotions. The heck. Really, what is this girl thinking?

    ¡°Mm¡­¡­ Well, it¡¯s true that you haven¡¯t repaid your debt to me, but I don¡¯t really care about something like that anymore, honestly.¡±

    ¡°Y-You don¡¯t care anymore¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. What I want is to keep being with you, Elma¡­¡­ I mean, being together and having silly adventures like always and stuff. Anyway, I just want to continue life as a mercenary. That¡¯s more than enough for me. That¡¯s why I don¡¯t really care about debts or favors and whatnot. I¡¯m more than happy with what I got right now.¡±

    We stared at each other for a bit and then groaned in embarrassment afterward. Both of us were probably making the same expression right now.

    ¡°What¡¯s up with that? Is that some sort of advanced flirting routine or something?¡±

    ¡°A-Advanced?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll just stay here. This situation calls for watching over them quietly¡­¡­¡±

    Hey, peanut gallery! You guys are quite noisy over there. And why are you closing your eyes like you¡¯re trying to achieve enlightenment, Mimi?

    ¡°Anyway, don¡¯t care about that stuff too much. Let¡¯s just act like usual, okay?¡±

    ¡°Like usual huh.¡±

    ¡°Oh, treating me nicely or acting all sweet are more than wee too.¡±

    ¡°Pfft¡­¡­ If I feel like it.¡±

    Elma giggled happily and gave my cheek a quick peck. The gallery at the back was annoying, but it looks like my feelings were sessfully conveyed. Great! Now I just need to pray that she¡¯ll feel like spoiling me sooner rather thanter. Elma-san can be really moody after all.

 Chapter 310 â€“ Pure White Young Girl AD

    <h4>Chapter 310 - Pure White Young Girl AD</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After finalizing the order for the new ship, we began to prepare to move our base of operations to a hotel. Well, not really. We¡¯ll only be staying in a hotel from a few days to a week at most, so we just need to pack ordingly. All I packed were some clothes and a few personal effects, but I bet Mimi and the rest of the girls won¡¯t be like me. Well, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessary to carry that much luggage because we can always procure stuff that we need in the ce we¡¯re staying at in case of emergencies.

    ¡°When ites to staying in a hotel, we can¡¯t forget about preparing enough security measures.¡±

    After quickly packing her stuff, Mei moved to the break space of ck Lotus and muttered softly.

    ¡°That might be true, but you can¡¯t just bring aseruncher, hatchet gun, power armor, or militarybat robots you know.¡±

    While saying so, I patted the spot right next to me on the sofa I was sitting on. Mei, who was behind me, said ¡®Pardon me¡¯ and proceeded to sit down beside me. If I didn¡¯t do this, Mei wouldn¡¯t take the initiative to sit next to me.

    ¡°I¡¯m always troubling you, Mei. You¡¯re always taking care of us, so it¡¯s fine if you act a bit more selfishly from time to time you know?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve given me more than enough, Master. You¡¯ve upgraded the weapons and equipment of the ck Lotus to military-grade ones and even bought militarybat robots. And you also treat me the same as you treat Mimi-sama and Elma-sama. More than that is just too much.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ But I want Mei to act more spoiled and then spoil me in return though.¡±

    ¡°I can spoil you any time you like, Master. Just like always.¡±

    ¡°Ok, ok, let¡¯s stop with that topic already. My bad, alright? But I¡¯m serious about you acting a bit more spoiled, okay? If I said that¡¯s actually a wish of mine, will you be willing to fulfill it, Mei?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯ll consider it.¡±

    It was a gentle and unassertive response that wasn¡¯t like the usual Mei. Usually, she¡¯d just answer with a simple yes or no. It must be because my smooth-talking was challenging her usual sense of values and policies.

    Imunicated with Mei like so until Elma and the others finally appeared.

    ¡°It looks like only Mimi brought a lot of stuff huh?¡±

    ¡°Elma-san and the others just packed too little¡­¡­¡±

    Elma, Tina, and Whisker didn¡¯t pack a lot of stuff to take with them. They each only stuffed some of their personal effects in Boston bags that weren¡¯t thatrge and were just half of what Mimi had packed. Well, due to their small physiques, Tina and Whisker¡¯s bags did seem a bit big. Mimi, on the other hand, brought arge suitcase in addition to two filled Boston bags.

    ¡°Mimi-sama, I can carry that for you if you¡¯d like.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Mei-san.¡±

    Mimi handed over herrge suitcase to Mei, who easily lifted it without any fuss. Well, that¡¯s no surprise since it¡¯s Mei we¡¯re talking about.

    ¡°Would you allow me to carry your bags as well, mdies?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s with you? You¡¯re being creepy y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t ¡®creepy¡¯ a bit too much?¡±

    ¡°Boss¡¯s antics are off like usual.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­¡±

    Even the usually supportive Whisker wasn¡¯t following after me. Did acting like a gentleman really not suit me that much? C¡¯mon guys. Okay, fine. I admit it was pretty out of character.

    ¡°Well, it looks like we¡¯re all ready to go. Shall we then? You¡¯ve already booked a hotel for us, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯ve already finished making a reservation so we just need to check in!¡±

    Mimi snorted confidently while carrying her substantial amount of luggage.

    ¡°If you¡¯re gonna guide us there, then it¡¯s better to free up your hands you know. I¡¯ll carry that for you. C¡¯mon.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take one too then.¡±

    ¡°Auu¡­¡­ Then please do. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    I and Elma each took one of Mimi¡¯s bags off her hands, so Mimi¡¯s arms werepletely freed up. The guide should travel light after all. Since we probably won¡¯t get suddenly assaulted in the city, it didn¡¯t matter if my, Elma¡¯s and Mei¡¯s arms weren¡¯t free. And in case of an emergency, we can always throw the luggage on the ground.

    ¡°Everything¡¯s locked and secure! Shall we?¡±

    After preparing our luggage and gathering up, all we had to do next was depart. Krishna was taken out of the hangar of ck Lotus and parked inside the colony port while the Lotus itself will be transferred to a dedicated hangar to undergo refurbishment.

    ¡°We can quickly reach the hotel by taking the tram.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha. Make sure not to get separated, everyone.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not kids so we won¡¯t get lost you know¡­¡­¡±

    The colony¡¯s high-speed transportation system - the tram - had a station located close to the port area. Since the Windas Tertius colony was the main trading colony of the Windas system, it was inevitable that its poption would increase to arge size. Due to this, the transportation system for goods and people was well developed and maintained. Well, calling it the colony high-speed transportation system is a hassle, so let¡¯s just call it the tram instead.

    By the way, ¡®tram¡¯ was a word that refers to a streetcar or cable car. I believe it¡¯s an English word? By the way, the first time I¡¯d encountered the word was in a game about the strongest engineer in the universe traveling around to dismantle monsters for parts.

    Anyway, we moved from the tram station near the port area to one in themercial area. There were quite a lot of people that were taking the tram to move from the port area, which was the gateway of the trading colony, to themercial center. I kept an eye out for possible encounters with pickpockets and molesters, but no one really approached us due to the two swords strapped to my waist. Actually, arge space was opened up between us and the rest of the passengers. Man, the authority of nobles, or rather, nobles equipped with swords sure was amazing.

    ¡°I¡¯m not really a noble though.¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re carrying two swords on your waist, so of course, it¡¯ll turn out like this. And aren¡¯t you an honorary viscount, Hiro?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡±

    I did pin the Gold Star medal and Silver Sword Wings Assault medal on my jacket as well just in case. Weren¡¯t average citizens familiar with them? Well, I suppose them in addition to the swords would make people try harder to keep their distance instead huh. I see. It¡¯s not so bad since I wanted to avoid trouble anyway, so I¡¯ll try not to mind it.

    ***

    After we reached our stop, we got off the tram and walked out of the station.

    ¡°Wow, that sure is a big crowd.¡±

    ¡°Everything is so big, and the ceiling is so high. It¡¯s a luxurious use of avable space.¡±

    As soon as we got out of the station, the mechanic sisters looked around in admiration. The main colony of the dwarves in the Brad system had narrow roads and a low ceiling, so it kinda felt oppressive.

    Just then, I felt a gaze trained toward me, so I turned away from the sisters and searched for the source of the gaze. I then found a figure that stood out from the rest of the crowd. It was a young girl who I could only describe as ¡®white¡¯. She had white-colored hair - or perhaps it was silver? She also wore white clothes. They somehow resembled a monk¡¯s habit or a shrine maiden¡¯s gown¡­¡­ Anyway, it was a fluttery religious-looking outfit.

    The ¡®white¡¯ girl who met my gaze sprinted toward me with a look of pure joy on her face. She was definitely looking at me, but I had no recollection of ever meeting her previously whatsoever. I wondered if she was actually looking at someone behind me instead and turned back, but I only found Mei, who had a nk expression like usual, standing there.

    To be on the safe side, I tried to shift a few steps to the side, but the ¡®white¡¯ girl immediately changed her direction ordingly and kept rushing headlong toward me. At this point, Mimi and Elma also noticed what was going on.

    ¡°An acquaintance?¡±

    ¡°Nope, no idea who she is.¡±

    ¡°But isn¡¯t that girl heading straight for you, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°That does seem like it.¡±

    ¡°Did you just manage to lure in another poor girl?¡±

    ¡°Oh, c¡¯mon. Don¡¯t imply that I¡¯m always trying to hook up with young girls, okay.¡±

    Basically, I just got to know them naturally and I never actively pursued any girl. Well, it was a bit different for Mei, but in her case, I was just at the mercy of an incredibly pushy sales droid.

    ¡°So, what are we gonna do about her?¡±

    ¡°I suppose we¡¯ll just have to see how it goes, right?¡±

    The distance between the ¡®white¡¯ girl and us was already shortened to about 10 meters. She¡¯d be able to reach us soon while we engaged in banter. It¡¯s gonna be difficult to escape from her already. Or rather, I wonder what would happen if I did make a run for it? We needed to head to the hotel, and ording to Mimi, it was just next to the station. And we were also carrying our luggage. There were also Tina and Whisker whose small statures only allowed them to take short strides.

    I¡¯m not sure how good her physical abilities were, but as I said, it was quite difficult to get away from her. As for why, it¡¯s because the crowd mysteriously parted like the red sea in her wake, though I had totally no idea how she¡¯d made them do so. Just seeing the scene made me suffer heartburn. She¡¯s trouble. I bet the lemon-vored carbonated drink case I stuffed inside Krishna that she¡¯s gonna be trouble.

    ¡°I¡¯ve finally managed to meet you! My Lord!¡±

    ¡°M-My lord?¡±

    The ¡®white¡¯ young girl peered up at me with tears of apparent happiness shining from the corners of her eyes. I didn¡¯t notice when she was still at a distance earlier, but she was obviously fairly young. Judging from her appearance, she could be about Mimi¡¯s age or younger. Her irises were bright yellow. You can even say they were golden. And she was also quite the young beauty. And most notably, she had fluffy animal ears on top of her head. I see. Animal ears huh. They¡¯re quite impressive.

    ¡°Umm¡­¡­ anyway. Just calm down first. I¡¯m not sure what this is all about, but I think it isn¡¯t something we can solve by just standing around here.¡±

    ¡°Yes! If that is your will My Lord, then I have absolutely no objections.¡±

    She wiped the edges of her eyes with her dainty fingers and made a truly relieved expression. It was like a lost child who finally managed to reunite with her parents.

    Oh, c¡¯mon guys. I really don¡¯t know her. I¡¯m serious. I ain¡¯t familiar with such a white-colored animal-eared girl. So stop looking at me with those judging stares, okay? I¡¯m really innocent here.

 Chapter 311 â€“ A Priestess from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire

    <h4>Chapter 311 - A Priestess from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°¡±¡±¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Stay! The three of you, stay!¡±

    We were now inside the lounge of the hotel Mimi made a reservation in. I was now trying to keep the ¡®explosive¡¯ situation from boiling over.

    Anyway, we proceeded to check in with the white animal ear girl who doesn¡¯t seem to want to let go of me in tow. By the way, thedy receptionist kept looking at me like I was a disgusting piece of human garbage the whole time. Afterward, we went over to the hotel lounge. I immediately went and sat down on a sofa, but the young girl sat down beside me like it was just natural for her to do so.

    Mimi, Elma, and Mei looked at the two of us with nk expressions akin to that of a noh mask. Tina just grinned along as she enjoyed the drama, and Whisker had a troubled look on her face as if wondering what she should do. This was the current situation.

    ¡°For now, can you scoot away for a bit first? Then exin exactly what¡¯s going on to us. I definitely haven¡¯t met you before, and I don¡¯t know why you insist on sticking close to me.¡±

    ¡°T-That¡¯s¡­¡­¡±

    The white-colored animal-eared young girl peered up at me with puffy eyes that seemed close to tears. The ears on her head plopped down dejectedly. Stooop. Don¡¯t arouse my feelings of sympathy youngdy. I couldn¡¯t help but pat her on the head to console her.

    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough. Can you hurry up and talk already?¡±

    Mimi addressed the white-colored girl with a colder-than-ice expression and voice that I¡¯d never seen and heard her use before. This is turning into quite a headache. But I do get where she¡¯sing from.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s proper to impose yourself one-sidedly against another person without even exining the circumstances and ignoring everyone else, miss. Any decent person would do otherwise.¡±

    Elma doesn¡¯t seem to be as angry as Mimi, but she simply seemed to be exasperated regarding the whole situation. No, she should be angry. She¡¯s just using solid arguments to disy her distaste.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Mei remained silent. But my instinct, or rather, mybat sense was tingling. It was telling me she was prepared to take the girl down immediately the moment she makes any dangerous moves.

    ¡°Y-You¡¯re right. I just couldn¡¯t help myself and lost all sense of reason¡­¡­ I¡¯m so sorry, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­ Mm.¡±

    I had no idea what reaction I should be making so I just gave an ambiguous response. It¡¯s not like I found it a pity that she¡¯s stopped sticking close to me or anything. So can you guys quit it with those painful gazes already?

    ¡°My name is Seijou Kugi. Oh, that¡¯s right. The custom here is to put one¡¯s name first followed by one¡¯s surname, correct? Let me do it over. I am Kugi Seijou. I¡¯m a priestess from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire and¡­¡­ Um, what¡¯s wrong, My Lord?¡±

    I facepalmed and looked up toward the ceiling of the lounge. Ah, dammit¡­¡­ So this is the price for conveniently securing a ship like the Antlion huh. Mimi looked like she¡¯d bitten several bitter bugs, and Elma massaged her temples as if enduring a headache. Mei was expressionless as usual. Both mechanic sisters disyed bitter smiles.

    ¡°No, please don¡¯t mind us. We have our own circumstances. So, why did someone like youe all the way from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire to the Gran Empire then suddenly call out to me and hugged me? I don¡¯t get the situation at all.¡±

    The Holy Vuelzarus Empire was another gctic empire that was located pretty far away from the Gran Empire. The rtions between it and the Gran Empire couldn¡¯t be said to be too good or too bad, and there was at least some diplomatic contact between the two. I think it¡¯s safe to assume that rtions between them and Gran were much better than hostile nations such as the Vereverem Federation and its allies like the Virginia Union. I¡¯d heard that it was possible to reach it via gateway too.

    And their most distinctive quality is being regarded as one of the so-called psionic civilizations. What are psionic civilizations, you ask? Err, actually, I¡¯m not too sure myself. Anyway, as far as I knew, it seemed they were civilizations that made ample use of and ced great importance on mystical phenomena such as psychic abilities and magical powers.

    ¡°It¡¯s because you are an existence who hase down from the upper world, so my duty is to offer this body, heart, and soul to you and serve you to the best of my abilities.¡±

    The girl¡¯s unclouded golden pupils filled with sincere feelings stared directly at my own. Aha, I see. ¡­¡­I still don¡¯t get it.

    ¡°Have you understood?¡±

    ¡°No, not at all.¡±

    ¡°I have no idea what this girl is talking about.¡±

    ¡°Anyway, all I got from that is the part where she¡¯s supposed to offer her body to you, Boss.¡±

    ¡°O-Offer her body?¡±

    ¡°My policy is to eat meals offered to me as much as possible, but something like this is a bit-¡±

    ¡°Now you¡¯re just in lyin¡¯.¡±

    Tina red at me reproachfully, but I ignored her. C¡¯mon. I just hesitated because of your appearance y¡¯know. If they were humans and were at least as physically developed as Mimi, then I wouldn¡¯t have hesitated at all.

    Eh? What about Lt. Col. Serena and Chris? Making a move on those two is like willinglymitting suicide y¡¯know. Even though eating what was offered to me was my policy, there were still limits to just how far I would go. By the way, Kugi-chan waspletely A-OK in my book. When ites to looks at least. It¡¯s just that I still needed to be careful here because was mostly sure that troublesome stuff would follow once Iid my hands on this girl from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire.

    ¡°First, I don¡¯t quite get what that stuff regarding the upper world and whatnot is all about. Can you exin it toymen like us in simple and easy-to-understand terms please?¡±

    ¡°Hm? You¡¯re not a native of this world but are instead a visitor who came from the upper world, right? I had thought you would be more familiar with this fact than anyone¡­¡­? And above all, the power overflowing from your body is obvious proof of how special an existence you are.¡±

    ¡°Ah-¡­¡­ I see. So that¡¯s it.¡±

    I give. Apparently, this girl was totally convinced that I wandered from another world to this one. Come to think of it, Miriam-san, the leader of the Minfa n, talked about something simr as well back then.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s assume that I really am such a powerful spiritual existence or whatever. What has that got to do with you, exactly? I mean, why would you suddenly devote yourself to me just because of that?¡±

    ¡°It is definitely my concern. After all, it is ultimately because of us that visitors from the upper world like you had appeared in this world.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the cause? What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°Simply put, our people had once caused a hole to open in the fabric of this world.¡±

    ¡°A hole¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes. It was a great big hole that went all the way from the upper world to this one. As a consequence, more and more existences from multiple universes - including the upper world - were drawn into this one, and theirbined power and potential once put this world to the brink of copse.¡±

    ¡°A-Au¡­¡­¡±

    What the heck? What¡¯s with this totally fantasy-themed backstory? It¡¯s just like those secret ck history writings tucked inside the notebooks of junior high students. When I looked around, I found that everyone except Mei was giving Kugi-chan suspicious gazes. Well, of course, they would. That¡¯s a normal reaction. I think it¡¯s ridiculous too.

    ¡°But with the intervention of the greatest beings of this world, the dangerous situation was settled, and the hole was finally closed. However, the potential that had already flowed into this world from the hole left many smaller tears and cracks on the dimensional fabric, and some existences still manage to wander into this world from those cracks from time to time.¡±

    ¡°And you¡¯re saying I¡¯m one of those visitors?¡±

    ¡°There can be no mistake. The power that is constantly emanating from you-that potential is definitely not of this world. In fact, you should be capable of bending thews of this world to your will if you so wish it. Have you ever experienced something of the sort?¡±

    ¡°M-mm¡­¡­¡±

    It¡¯s not like I haven¡¯t. I mean, just holding my breath seemed to have the effect of slowing down time from my perspective, I could seemingly read and understand allnguages without the use of a universal trantor imnt, and just a short while back, I was suspected to have deflected aser cannon barrage aimed at Krishna. Heck, I think my strange ability to attract trouble wherever I went was also pretty abnormal.

    ¡°Let¡¯s assume that your story is true and that I have an inkling of what you¡¯re talking about. How does that lead to you offering yourself to me then?¡±

    ¡°Our aim is to correct the mistakes of the past. Our duties are to eliminate harmful existences that made their way into this world when the dimensional hole was opened, take custody of those who have found themselves in this world through the dimensional cracks, and serve them wholeheartedly.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty grand undertaking¡­¡­ Or rather, if that¡¯s true, then wouldn¡¯t it make more sense if guys like me actually got treated as archenemies of the entire gxy and beaten up?¡±

    ¡°When the great ones restored order to the world, all knowledge about the matter was forgotten by everyone except for us. And from the moment we were born, this knowledge was etched into the very depths of our souls. It is the punishment the greater beings have imposed on us in order for us to atone for our transgressions.¡±

    The girl¡¯s golden irises still remained unclouded and sincere as she continued to gaze straight at me. Really, I give up. I don¡¯t think I can make my way out of this one. Even if Ipletely rejected her, given her strong sense of mission, I bet she¡¯d still follow after us no matter what. Then there¡¯s a chance she¡¯d disappear in some out-of-the-way back-alley someday, and end up a victim of the scum lurking around such ces.

    ¡°¡­¡­What do you guys think?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true that the Holy Vuelzarus Empire has a reputation as a very altruistic nation. I heard they are extremely well-mannered and reasonable as long as you don¡¯t go over the line and vite their territory, and also often participate actively in actions against dangerous crises such as space monster attacks.¡±

    ¡°And they still manage to run the country smoothly even with such policies¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°It seems that they do. At least, the nations neighboring them only ever have good things to say about them, and nations that are further away from them like Gran consider them as a country that would do neither harm nor good.¡±

    ¡°But there still has to be some ambitious guys aiming for them, right?¡±

    ¡°All of them bent their knees in surrender to the psionic technology of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. I¡¯ve only heard this from rumors, but it seems the ships of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire are capable of using psionic technology to perform space jumps.¡±

    ¡°Jumps¡­¡­? Um, you mean instant teleportation? With a starship?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s said that entire fleets are capable of jumping to somewhere several star systems away without making use of a hyperdrive.¡±

    ¡°Entire fleets¡­¡­¡±

    There¡¯s no way to win against something like that. It would be nigh impossible for a normal fleet to deal with an opponent who can move between star systems instantly without using hypenes.

    The wars between gctic empires in this world were basically like a camp capturing game in which theypeted in capturing and defending territories through the use of the hypenework. Basically, the ¡®yers¡¯ were generally aware of how the hypeneworks between various nations were connected, and they would endeavor to either capture or defend hub systems where hypene nodes converged - the so-called chokepoints - in order to maintain or increase their influence over the ¡®board¡¯. This was the general strategy. This goes for both the attacking and defending side. However, it seemed like the fleets of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire couldpletely ignore the hypeneworks and jump to any spot they liked at will. Of course, ordinary gctic empires wouldn¡¯t be able to win even if they fought their hardest. Even if they managed to keep their chokepoints, the other party could simply attack ces with thinner defenses with impunity.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s leave the matter about their ships aside for now¡­¡­ But geez. What are you gonna do if I refuse?¡±

    ¡°T-That¡¯s¡­¡­ If that is your will, My Lord¡­¡­ I- I will have no choice but to obey¡­¡­¡±

    After saying so, Kugi-chan began to shed tears while still looking at my face. Isn¡¯t this cheating? Attacking my conscience directly is definitely cheating y¡¯know?

    ¡°¡­¡­What¡¯s going to happen to you afterward? You¡¯ll need to report that you weren¡¯t able to fulfill your duty, right?¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯ll probably be disposed of¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Disposed of? Like getting your sry deducted or being demoted from your current post?¡±

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll be removed from the role of a priestess¡­¡­ Not being able to serve the person I¡¯ve managed to meet means that I¡¯m not a qualified priestess. As for what will happen after that¡­¡­¡±

    Kugi-chan answered Mimi and Tina¡¯s questions with a quavering voice and peered up at me once more with a face filled with tears. Please stop it already! That face and those drooped animal ears just gave me a critical hit, dammit.

    ¡°I have a question.¡±

    As I and the rest of the girls were at a loss about what to do, Mei suddenly raised her voice.

    ¡°Y-Yes¡­¡­ What is it?¡±

    ¡°You keep saying such ambiguous terms like devoting yourself, but just what kind of benefits can you specifically offer Master in the first ce? What do you and the Holy Vuelzarus Empire seek from Master? I find the act of sending away personnel to far away countries in order to look for these so-called ¡®visitors from the upper world¡¯ without any clear targets or nning for the purpose of unterally offering your service and dedication to them far too inefficient and wasteful. Do you not have a concrete and rational reason for doing so?¡±

    ¡°I offer literally my everything. I dedicate this very body itself. My life, soul, and physical body. Everything. As long as My Lord wills it, I can freely give up my life for him. This body was born and lives for that very purpose. A-And if My Lord deems me unnecessary¡­¡­ then it cannot be helped¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I see. If so, then what do you seek from Master? Is there something you want from him?¡±

    ¡°T-That¡¯s¡­¡­ Due to the mistakes made in the past, My Lord had lost everything and suddenly found himself in this world. He had lost his previous rtions, his wealth, and his social position. Any and all connections between him and his former world were abruptly taken away from him. It might not be enough to ount for all of that, but we hope that serving him would allow us to atone for such a sin, even if just a little.¡±

    ¡°Is there really nothing else you want? Is the Holy Vuelzarus Empire not thinking of using Master as a convenient power source? ording to your story, Master is in possession of a high level of potential. Isn¡¯t the Holy Vuelzarus Empire just making use of youngdies like you to tie down these¡ºvisitors from the upper world¡»in order to use them for the Empire¡¯s prosperity?¡±

    ¡°There is no such thing! It is true that we are prepared to wee those visitors who choose to reside within our country, but the choice is by no means forced upon them. There are indeed times when we plead for their assistance, but we would never use those who get lost in this world like My Lord for our own ends. Please take back those words.¡±

    Kugi-chan¡¯s tails bristled in agitation. Ah, her tails sure are fluffy. Man, she even has three. She also had splendid animal ears. Was she a fox-girl or something like that?

    ¡°I see. It is impossible to believe your ims with your words alone as evidence, but my inferences are also only mere inferences. Please allow me to take back my words then.¡±

    After saying so, Mei bowed slightly to Kugi-chan. In response to the apology, Kugi-chan sat back down on the sofa again and calmed down. It seemed she got embarrassed by her previous outburst.

    ¡°¡­¡­So, what are we going to do? About this girl, I mean.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re asking me¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°I also think only you can make the final decision, Hiro-sama.¡±

    Both Elma and Mimi red at me. How scary. I turned to Tina and Whisker for some backup, but Tina just shrugged her shoulders while Whisker shook her head. They were probably signaling that it would be a problem if I left the decision up to them.

    ¡°¡­¡­If I¡¯m not gonna get forced to head to the Holy Vuelzarus Empire and work for them or something then¡­¡­ then let¡¯s just try being with her for the time being. But you have to try and get along with everyone. I¡¯ll leave her to you, Mei.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes! Thank you very much! I will absolutely prove to be of use to you, My Lord!¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Kugi-chan peered up at me and disyed an expression beaming with happiness with her cheeks still wet with tears. The fully erect ears on her head indicated her tion. Mei was expressionless as usual, but in any case, leaving things to her should be for the best. It should be. I believe in Mei.

    As for Mimi-san and Elma-san¡­ Let¡¯s have a nice long chatter, okay. I¡¯ve been sighing a lot inwardly, but I do think this was beyond my control. In any case, I don¡¯t think I can bear to refuse herpletely, so it can¡¯t be helped.

 Chapter 312 â€“ Excuses and Penthouse

    <h4>Chapter 312 - Excuses and Penthouse</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    For the time being, I asked Kugi-chan where she was currently staying, or rather, whether or not she¡¯d already booked a room at an inn or something.

    ¡°There is an embassy of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire in this colony, so I¡¯ve arranged for a stay there.¡±

    ¡°A stay huh¡­¡­ Since when?¡±

    ¡°I only managed to arrive at this colony yesterday.¡±

    Kugi-chan cheerfully answered my questions with her tails cutely swaying back and forth. I see. Yesterday huh. So that would mean we managed to arrive at this colony practically at the same time, and then this girl actually managed to find me rtively quickly afterward, right?

    Just in case, I signaled to Mei so she¡¯d perform a quick check. Was it really so easy and simple to perform a background check, you ask? Well, us mercenaries have our means. Since it was part of a mercenary¡¯s job to track down and hunt criminals (mostly pirates) active in various star systems, we¡¯re able to obtain stuff like personal files and security information such as colony entry and exit records as long as we followed the proper procedures set by the Mercenary Guild.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ So what are you nning on doing now? Will you be staying with us after this?¡±

    ¡°If it isn¡¯t of any trouble to you My Lord, I would really like to be by your side from now on.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s what you want, then you¡¯d better bring your luggage over. We¡¯ll need to go through the procedures so you can check in with us.¡±

    The room we were staying at wasn¡¯t exactlyparable to a presidential suite, but I think it more than qualified as a pretty luxurious penthouse. We rented a room on the top floor, so adding one more guest to the list shouldn¡¯t be too much trouble. It should be fine after handing the hotel receptionist some extra fees. Probably.

    ¡°Thank you very much, My Lord! Then I shall depart now and prepare to move posthaste.¡±

    ¡°Sure. Go and apany her as an escort, Mei.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Mei nodded promptly and followed after Kugi-chan. With this, I think I¡¯ve arranged everything that can be arranged for now.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Jii-¡­¡­¡±

    Elma was dead silent, and Mimi was staring at me hard with a reproachful gaze. Both of them seemed to not like Kugi-chan very much. Man, what a headache. Well, I suppose all I can do right now is perform the appropriate follow-through. You can do this, me.

    ¡°Let me say this first, guys; it¡¯s not like I believe in the words of that girl a hundred percent. To be honest, I still suspect about 70 or 80% of her story is just BS.¡±

    ¡°Reaaally? And here I¡¯d thought you¡¯d be totally fine with epting Kugi-chan cause she¡¯s cute.¡±

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯d be lying if I said that isn¡¯t the case. At least part of it is. I mean, hearing stuff like ¡®being disposed of¡¯ just rubs me the wrong way y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°I suppose. Even so, I think it was a bit underhanded of her.¡±

    I smiled bitterly and nodded in response to Whisker¡¯s words. Was she really so easily ovee with emotion, or was that girl just really good at acting the part?

    ¡°¡­¡­So what about the remaining 20 to 30%, Hiro-sama?¡±

    Mimi asked while pouting. How cute.

    ¡°There are just too many unknowns regarding the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, right? Normally speaking, dispatching a young girl like Kugi-chan to search for these so-called ¡®visitors from the upper world¡¯ without so much as a guarantee of even finding one doesn¡¯t really make much sense. It¡¯s just too inefficient. But the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, with their well-developed psionic technology, seems to be capable of aplishing something so unlikely. Since even someone like me seemingly has the weird ability to somehow attract bad luck, I think it isn¡¯t within the realm of impossibility that someone or something out there is capable of stuff like precognition or messing with fate.¡±

    ¡°Uh, have ya watched one too many holo-movies, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Maybe. And yet, maybe not. That¡¯s why I wanna go and check things out first, guys. Things would be easy if all of this is just an borate scam. Since all we have to do afterward is to throw that girl out.¡±

    I shrugged my shoulders after saying my piece. No matter how cute that girl was, I had absolutely no intention of letting someone get close to me with the intent of deceiving me.

    ¡°What if it¡¯s not a scam?¡±

    ¡°You mean if she¡¯s proven to be a hundred percent genuine priestess of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire? If her duty is to get close to me and serve me, then I suppose I¡¯d have no choice but to let her¡­¡­¡±

    I gave Mimi and Elma a quick nce to check out their reactions. And the result was¡­¡­ Well, that¡¯s a surprise. Instead of sulking even further, Elma looked like she was already somewhat resigned. Mimi was still a bit miffed, but it seemed she didn¡¯tpletely reject the idea.

    ¡°You guys don¡¯t have anyints?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s true that I¡¯m here only due to that sense ofpassion and decisiveness of yours Hiro, so¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°We really can¡¯t say anything further.¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯d actually like it if you told me if you¡¯re still dissatisfied. I mean, it would be bad if you guys let all of those bad feelings umte y¡¯know.¡±

    Rtionships getting ruined due to bottled-up feelings of dissatisfaction erupting all at once was quite a well-known story. I¡¯d like to learn from such cases and endeavor not to make the same mistakes if possible.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t have anyints, but more than that, I believe in your judgement, Hiro. We¡¯re just testing her for now, right?¡±

    ¡°Right. No matter what her status actually is, it¡¯s important to see whether or not she can sessfully get along with all of us. Even if first impressions might not be so easy to overturn, I hope you guys can try tomunicate with her for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll try not to overdo it and act naturally.¡±

    ¡°Understood. What about you, Tina-san, Whisker-san¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°We ain¡¯t got any problems here either.¡±

    Tina waved her hand nonchntly as she replied, and Whisker nodded next to her. It seemed that these two didn¡¯t have any negative feelings toward Kugi-chan from the start.

    ¡°We¡¯re just second-fiddle to Elma-neesan and Mimi anyway, right?¡±

    ¡°S-Second fiddle¡­¡­ I don¡¯t really intend to treat myself that way y¡¯know, Sis.¡±

    ¡°Okay, just leave it at that, you two. Why don¡¯t we head to our room now? We still have to unpack our things.¡±

    ¡°Hmph¡­¡­¡±

    With that, we somehow concluded the talks in an ambiguous manner. Well, it¡¯s true that I¡¯ve alreadyid my hands on all of thedies who boarded my ships, and I had no words of gratitude enough to express my thanks to thesedies who were always amodating me and going along with my whims, but¡­¡­ I really ought to take responsibility somehow. I wracked my brains toe up with something as I followed after the girls.

    _______________________________________________________________

    Before going up and heading to our room, we first informed the front desk about the increase in the number of guests. The receptionistdy probably scolded me inwardly for having the gall to bring in another girl. We paid the extra fees and took the elevator to the penthouse.

    ¡°Hee, it¡¯s pretty spacious and beautiful.¡±

    Elma checked the room out in a good mood. Yeah, it was pretty spacious alright. The furniture inside also looked quite luxurious andfortable. It was one level above an ordinary suite room huh. So this was a penthouse apartment.

    ¡°I still feel a bit weird staying at ces like this.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I totally get that. What¡¯d they call it again? Bourgeoisie?¡±

    ¡°Bourgeoisie¡­¡­ Well, I suppose I understand.¡±

    Mimi, Tina, and Whisker were all overwhelmed by the size and luxury of the room. I actually do get where they wereing from too. Anyway, the rate we needed to pay for such luxury was 5,000 Enels per person for a week¡¯s stay. With the addition of Kugi-chan, we had a total of seven people, so the final amodation fee was 35,000 Enels.

    When we stayed at the holiday resort on Sierra III, we had to fork up 560,000 Enels for a two-week stay. We only had four people back then, so the fee per person was 70,000 Enels per week. The fee for a single person back then was actually twice this time¡¯s total fee for all of us.

    ¡°But you gotta admit, this is way cheaper than staying at aary resort.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­ that¡¯s true, I guess.¡±

    ¡°Just look at these bourgeoisie, Whee. We definitely have a bunch of bourgeois here. They¡¯re even casually sayin¡¯ somethin¡¯ aboutary resorts an stuff.¡±

    ¡°Well, Big Brother and the rest are mercenaries after all, so they definitely have plenty of money to spend.¡±

    ¡°No, aren¡¯t you guys quite rich now too?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yeah, we are, aren¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°I thought I¡¯d already forgotten all about it¡­¡­¡±

    The sisters just recently received 3.6 million Enels from the sale of the starship we captured. They were entitled to a 30% cut of our earnings after all. That¡¯s 1.8 million Enels per sister. It was an amount of money that was hard to use up if one just lived a bit luxuriously. But it¡¯ll be gone in a sh once you bought a starship though.

    ¡°What¡¯re we gonna do about taxes? Do we just treat it as a side job or somethin¡¯? But we were sent to Boss through apany order, so do we treat it as job-rted earnings instead?¡±

    ¡°I think it would be better to consult thepany about it¡­¡­ or maybe the tax bureau?¡±

    Somehow, the two actually started talking about headache-inducing stuff midway. In my case, I held first-ss citizen status in the Gran Empire, but before that, I¡¯m a mercenary so¡­¡­ Hm? Was I also obliged to pay taxes since I¡¯m technically a Gran Empire citizen? I¡¯ll just ask Meiter. A mercenary was a bit of a special profession, so I wasn¡¯tpletely sure about the particrs regarding its tax obligations. I think the official reward money from the government gets tax deducted automatically before it ends up in our hands, but the individual bounties for pirates don¡¯t get taxed. However, I¡¯m not sure if this rule still applied once you¡¯re registered as a first-ss citizen of an empire. Tax bureaus are scary after all. I had to cover my bases properly, or else. Mei will promptly take care of it for me if I asked anyway, so I wasn¡¯t really all that worried.

    ¡°Alright, stop spacing out over there and unpack your stuff already mister.¡±

    ¡°Kay. I don¡¯t have a lot of stuff to unpack anyway.¡±

    After all, I only brought one bag. I wasn¡¯t even sure if it even was necessary to unpack my stuff in the first ce. Mimi definitely had to unpack hers since she brought a lot of luggage, but it¡¯s not like I can casually help her out with that. After all, they say that women had things they definitely don¡¯t want the opposite sex to see or touch, even if they were very close to them. Unless I was asked to help directly, I guess I¡¯ll just watch over them for now.

 Chapter 313 â€“ This Ainâ€™t an Interrogation Okay

    <h4>Chapter 313 - This Ain¡¯t an Interrogation Okay</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After unpacking our stuff, we went to the living room to rx. A short while after, Mei and Kugi-chan arrived at the penthouse through the private elevator.

    ¡°Wee back. Your room is beyond that door over there, so unpack your things inside first.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord. Thank you very much.¡±

    Kugi-chan politely bowed to me before entering the room i pointed to. The luggage she brought with her only consisted of a single cloth-wrapped parcel. It was quite small. It¡¯s like she was traveling with almost no other possessions other than the clothes on her back.

    ¡°Mei?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I shall now give my report. In conclusion, the probability of her being a genuine citizen and official priestess of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire is almost 100%.¡±

    ¡°You do have enough of a basis for that evaluation, right?¡±

    If Mei says it¡¯s almost 100%, then she should have a solid basis.

    ¡°Yes. First of all, she downyed the matter earlier by saying that the ce she lodged in was merely a small embassy of the holy empire, but it was actually what you¡¯d call a temple or cathedral. I checked the facility¡¯s construction records and confirmed that it is officially registered as property of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¯s main governing body. At the very least, the Gran Empire recognizes their im on it.¡±

    ¡°In other words, the chances of her being an unscrupulous scammer or a coborator of ouws are slim.¡±

    ¡°That appears to be the case.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ So I suppose we should treat her as the genuine article huh.¡±

    I expected that about 70 or 80% of it was BS, but to think it was most likely real. Well, this sure is awkward¡­¡­ Now I wasn¡¯t sure just how far I should entertain her. Given what she said about her duty, she¡¯s probably nning to be with me for life huh? Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s too heavy a responsibility?

    I nced at Mimi who was sitting next to me. She seemed to be thinking about something with a troubled expression on her face. Un, how cute. No, that¡¯s not it dammit!

    ¡®Nn-¡­¡­¡±

    Now that we¡¯ve confirmed her ims, I didn¡¯t know how to react except for groaning in worry. I mean, that girl just suddenly offered her entire body, heart, and soul to me y¡¯know. It¡¯s true that Kugi-chan was cute, but I honestly already had my hands full. There¡¯s Mimi, Elma, Mei, and recently, Tina and Whisker. I think I¡¯m already way over my head byying my hands on five girls, but¡­¡­ Well, I¡¯ve already gone and done it, so I guess worrying was just natural. I suppose I¡¯ll just go with the flow like always then.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to have kept you waiting. It was a very beautiful room¡­¡­ I honestly feel it¡¯s a bit too much for someone like me.¡±

    ¡°Just try to get used to it. We¡¯re almost always going around like this after all.¡±

    ¡°If that is your wish, My Lord.¡±

    After saying so, Kugi-chan let her gaze wander around with an embarrassed expression on her face. I was currently sitting in the middle of the sofa in the living room with Mimi to my right. Elma was to my left. There were no longer any spaces where she could squeeze herself in.

    ¡°Over here, Kugi-chan.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead and sit here.¡±

    When the mechanic sisters, who were sitting on another sofa right across from us, made some space and called her over, Kugi-chan went and sat down between them with a grateful expression.

    ¡°First, let¡¯s work on establishing a mutual understanding of one another, Kugi-chan. So let¡¯s do some quick introductions. I¡¯m Hiro. I often introduce myself as Captain Hiro. I¡¯m a mercenary affiliated with the Mercenary Guild and am ranked tinum, which is basically the highest rank you can achieve as a mercenary. I yed an active role in several high-profile jobs for the Gran Empire and was awarded a medal of honor as a result, along with getting recognized as a First-ss citizen. Also¡­¡­ Err, was there anything else I missed?¡±

    ¡°Master has gained peerage as an honorary viscount of this empire and was awarded the prestigious First-ss Star Cross medal.¡±

    ¡°I see. As expected of My Lord.¡±

    I¡¯m not sure what exactly she¡¯d supposedly understood from all that, but it did look like she already gained her own personal impression of my various achievements and was impressed.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go next then. I¡¯m Elma. As you can see, I¡¯m an elf. I¡¯m also a mercenary affiliated with the Guild like Hiro. I¡¯m a Silver ranker. Due to a number of reasons, I¡¯m now working together with Hiro here. I¡¯m his partner, basically.¡±

    ¡°Partners in both a public and private sense, mind you.¡±

    ¡°Now look here¡­¡­ No, I suppose that¡¯s true. Since we¡¯re gonna be living together from now on, I guess there¡¯s no point in hiding it. Just like Hiro said, we¡¯re partners. Not just as fellow mercenaries but as lovers as well.¡±

    It looked like Elma got embarrassed by openly saying we were lovers. Her ears became bright red. I was getting an impulse to touch them, but I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll give my nk a killer pinch if I did so, so I held myself back.

    ¡°I see. I understand.¡±

    It was quite a bold and straightforward introduction, yet Kugi-chan still nodded in response without even batting an eyelid.

    Hmm? It¡¯s kinda different from what I was expecting her reaction to be like. I expected her to at least act somewhat more perplexed after hearing about the stuff regarding male-female rtionships.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go next then. I¡¯m Mimi. I owe Hiro-sama my life and am now staying by his side as a ship operator. I also handle trading and procuring loot and supplies. Also, I¡¯m officially Hiro-sama¡¯s legally-wedded wife. His wife, okay.¡±

    It¡¯s important so she said it twice eh? I get that. And then, Mimi proceeded to press closely onto me and hug my arm tightly. Un, my right arm is experiencing pure bliss. But it looks like Mimi¡¯s acting all wary of Kugi-chan huh. Her reaction this time is kinda simr to how she acted when we first met Mei.

    ¡°Yes, I shall address you as Mimi-sama then. I will be in your care.¡±

    Kugi-chan acted quite calmly again and took Mimi¡¯s self-introduction in stride with a gentle smile on her lips. Un, I don¡¯t get it. I really don¡¯t get it. Apparently, Mimi felt much the same way I did and disyed a somewhat disappointed expression on her face.

    ¡°Hm, it should be Mei-san next, right?¡±

    ¡°I am Master¡¯s exclusive maidroid. Nothing more and nothing less. Therefore, I think there is no need to give a lengthy introduction.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? We¡¯ll be goin¡¯ next then. Sup, I¡¯m Tina. This is my twin sister, Whisker. I¡¯m the older sister by the way. We¡¯re employed by Space Dwerg, and due topany orders, we¡¯re working as mechanics for Boss right now. Me and Whee here are also Boss¡¯s mistresses!¡±

    ¡°B-Big Sis¡­¡­!¡±

    Whisker¡¯s face turned red as a ripe tomato after hearing Tina¡¯s rather bold and open introduction, and thetter onlyughed nonchntly in response.

    ¡°I see. In other words, all of you are receiving the favor and affection of My Lord.¡±

    ¡°F-Favor¡­¡­ Well, I suppose you can put it that way, yeah.¡±

    Now that Kugi-chan pointed it out, I really went and did quite an outrageous thing, didn¡¯t I? It would take one heck of a miracle to pull something like this off back on Earth without any resulting messyplications. Was it due to that peculiar sense of values that applied to those living long-term inside starships that I wasn¡¯t really clear on? It all does feel kinda strange and mysterious, doesn¡¯t it?

    ¡°How wonderful. The bnce of this world is being kept stable thanks to all of you. I hope I will be able to partake in those efforts in the future as well.¡±

    Kugi-chan said some iprehensible stuff and sped her hands together, as if in prayer. She then bowed her head.

    ¡°¡±¡±???¡±¡±¡±

    We all tilted our heads to the side because we just couldn¡¯t make sense of her recent words and actions. What do Mimi and the other¡¯s rtionships with me have to do with keeping the world in bnce or whatever? Just what the heck was this girl saying?

    ¡°In other words, thanks to all of you, My Lord has not fallen to a negative state, so the current situation is preserved.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t get it at all. I honestly didn¡¯t understand a word you¡¯ve said.¡±

    ¡°Simply put, everyone¡¯s existence has be essential for My Lord. It is because everyone is with you that you are able to be your current self, My Lord. And it is because of My Lord they were able to be their current selves as well.¡±

    ¡°Basically, you¡¯re saying our rtionship with Hiro was something predestined, am I correct? Are the teachings of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¯s faith system centered around fatalism?¡±

    Elma furrowed her brows as she analyzed Kugi-chan¡¯s words. Fatalism huh¡­¡­ I didn¡¯t really like it since it kinda felt like people would just look at the results and simply dismiss everything as fate or something. If there really was some sort of uber-mystical scroll that records all past, present, and future events, then I suppose that would fly somehow, but if something as ridiculous as that doesn¡¯t exist in the first ce, then it¡¯s gonna be like the chicken or the egg dilemma huh?

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m not interested at all in all this philosophical and metaphysical talk, but let¡¯s shelve those for now. I suppose that should be about it for introductions, right? So let¡¯s move on to a simple question session next. Just a casual chat.¡±

    ¡°I see. So you are going to interrogate a neer like me now, are you? I do not mind. I have nothing to hide.¡±

    I shook my head in denial and looked straight at Kugi-chan who was disying apletely obedient attitude.

    ¡°It¡¯s not an interrogation, okay? We¡¯re just gonna have a chat. We¡¯re not all that familiar with the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, so I was thinking or asking you all about it. Since we¡¯re gonna be living with you from now on Kugi-chan, it¡¯s an existence we can¡¯t possibly ignore, right?¡±

    ¡°I see. That really might be the case. We do not require anything from you My Lord, but if knowing more about us will be of help to you, then, by all means, feel free to ask. And My Lord, please address me simply as Kugi. I¡¯m not that young anymore, so being called ¡®chan¡¯ is a bit-¡±

    ¡°That so? Well, if that¡¯s what you want, Kugi. Now then, can you tell us more about the Holy Vuelzarus Empire?¡±

    ¡°Of course. Please ask away.¡±

    Kugi nodded confidently in response. Her confident look was pretty cute.

    ¡°I¡¯ve only heard this in passing, but they say the Holy Vuelzarus Empire ces great importance on being pure-blooded, and other races that aren¡¯t deemed as pureblooded citizens are treated as ves. If that¡¯s true, then I believe we would have trouble getting along.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s just a big misunderstanding. There are certainly some who value lineage among us, but we have no policy of rejecting other races at all.¡±

    Kugi replied with a very serious expression. I see. Well, it was a pretty distant country, so the rumors about it might really have been distorted along the way and became removed from the actual reality of the situation.

    ¡°Then what about very?¡±

    ¡°I think this misconception originated from others witnessing our handling of prisoners who are undergoing the indoctrination program.¡±

    ¡°Indoctrination program huh¡­¡­ It practically gives off dangerous vibes, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°U-Um, can you borate more about that¡­¡­?¡±

    Elma and Mimi started drawing away from Kugi as they nervously asked questions. Un, I¡¯d like to hear more about that as well. Depending on how things go, I might find myself on the receiving end of such an indoctrination program after all.

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that the participants of this program are taken from problematic elements whomit unteral incursion and aggression against our country, such as terrorists and pirates. We inform them about our great mission so they would not make such grave mistakes again, and also offer them a chance at redemption by allowing them to participate in our undertakings.¡±

    ¡°Err, isn¡¯t that no different from brainwashing¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°In a sense, that might be the case, and it can¡¯t be helped. However, sinning requires punishment. I think it is just proper for them to atone for hindering our mission through their own actions. At the same time, it is also important to impress upon them the importance of our mission so that they will not make the same mistakes.¡±

    ¡°It¡­¡­ does make some sense, I guess?¡±

    Whisker tilted her head as she reacted to Kugi¡¯s assertions.

    Well, they were just being made to take responsibility for getting in the way and causing damages after all. And at the same time, they were also being made to understand and eventually sympathize with the thoughts of their captors. It does seem somewhat appropriate for dealing with problematic elements like hostile parties and pirates, I guess? It feels like I¡¯m just trying to convince myself here.

    ¡°In the case of this empire, captured pirates are either sentenced to life imprisonment or subjected to human experimentation, so Vuelzarus does seemparatively more humane, right¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Pirates are fine¡­¡­ but what about the prisoners from other countries?¡±

    ¡°I guess that would depend on the treaties between countries fer the handlin¡¯ of war prisoners or somethin¡¯.¡±

    ¡°ording to what we¡¯ve heard, it doesn¡¯t seem to be as scary a country as what the rumors paint it out to be, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s probably due to the differences in racial and national customs¡­¡­ It¡¯s a nation that apparently has no intention of expanding its territory and actively supports other nations in dealing with threats and disasters such as space monster attacks. It can be said to be a fairly mild-mannered nation, but it also ces emphasis on pure lineages and racial exclusivity. Its reputation regarding dealing with other races is that of a very rigid and strict country. Actually, apart from our usual notion of a country, it can also be regarded as a nationpletely led by a single sovereign race.¡±

    ¡°We do not ce as much importance on pure bloodedness as others might think, and we also do not subscribe to the idea of exclusionism. However, we have a solemn and important mission to fulfill and are united in working toward it, but other races, unfortunately, do not possess such a sense of duty toward our cause.¡±

    After hearing Elma¡¯s summary, Kugi reasserted her viewpoints with a resolute attitude. In the end, I suppose the reason why the citizens of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire like Kugi were seen as a closed and exclusive race was due to this so-called mission and the single-minded attitude of the popce toward it.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ve gained some understanding regarding your home country now, so let¡¯s leave it at this. Anyway, let¡¯s take a break for today. I¡¯m rather tired, so I¡¯ll just rest up while looking up info on lightweight power armor models to decide which shop we¡¯ll visit tomorrow. Either way, it would take some time for them to prep the Antlion for delivery andplete the refurbishment of ck Lotus, so let¡¯s take it easy for now guys.¡±

    ¡°Right. Kugi¡­¡­ Can I call you that?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Please call me anything you¡¯d like.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. Anyway, since we¡¯ll be living and working together from now on, I believe we should work on getting to know each other better, and I also agree on taking it easy for now. You¡¯re fine with that, right, everyone?¡±

    Mimi and the mechanic sisters nodded in agreement to Elma¡¯s words. Mei remained silent, but that just meant she had no objections either.

    ¡°That¡¯s it then. Let¡¯s get some grub first, shall we? It should be about time for lunch, right?¡±

    The colony has no proper day and night cycles, but it¡¯s been a while since I ate myst meal in the Lotus, so I was getting quite hungry. It¡¯s not exactly like the proverb ¡®eating rice from the same pot¡¯, but having meals together is still a nice way to facilitatemunication between our group.

 Chapter 314 â€“ Welcome Party (Provisional)

    <h4>Chapter 314 - Wee Party (Provisional)</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    It would just be a hassle to go somewhere outside, and since we were gonna stay in the hotel for a week, we decided to dine in the hotel¡¯s dining hall, or rather, restaurant.

    ¡°Oh, they have actual chefs working in this restaurant huh.¡±

    ¡°Ara, there¡¯s a dwarf.¡±

    The kitchen in the back of the restaurant can be seen from the diner¡¯s seats, where a male dwarf and what seemed to be a human were working as chefs. They were busy cooking dishes.

    ¡°In the Gran Empire, when you say ¡®chef¡¯, you¡¯d think of dwarves right away, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the same all throughout space, I think. People who have continued to live ons for a long time still have a diverse cooking culture, but most citizens of the empire just make use of auto-cookers instead. How about the Holy Vuelzarus Empire? What¡¯s the situation regarding food culture over there?¡±

    ¡°I was raised in a facility under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Divinities, so to be honest, mymon sense regarding general societal norms iscking. However, as far as I know, there should be many of our citizens who at least know how to cook simple dishes. Although meager, I also know a bit of cooking.¡±

    After saying so, Kugi proudly puffed out her chest. The animal ears on top of her head also perked up. I don¡¯t know just how skilled she was at cooking, but it does look like she was pretty confident despite her humble act.

    ¡°I see. Then you¡¯ll be the fourth person who knows cooking among our group apart from Big Sis, Mei-san, and Big Brother.¡±

    ¡°Oh, how wonderful. It¡¯s amazing that more than half of our group knows how to cook.¡±

    ¡°There are probably only one in a few hundred people who know how to cook in this empire. People like us who don¡¯t have any cooking skills to speak of are the majority.¡±

    While saying so, Elma operated the holo-disy on the table to bring up the menu. It looked a little messy since they sort ofbined the style of an elegant-looking high-end restaurant menu with that of an izakaya¡¯s. What the heck?

    ¡°It¡¯s abination of an empire-style menu and a dwarven-style menu.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s it. It¡¯s because they have a dwarven chef huh.¡±

    The empire-style menu had quite an extensive selection, and the items resembled stuff from Western cuisine. Well, since it was a gctic empire that upied many star systems and had quite a long history, it seemed that empire-style cooking ended up absorbing and incorporating various culinary cultures into its own. From what I could tell, the dishes were a mixture of stuff resembling French and Italian cuisine.

    On the other hand, dwarven dishes had a strong image of food that would be perfect as snacks to apany flour-based dishes and alcohol. There were also some hearty-looking grilled and stir-fried dishes. It felt like a lot of the dishes were spicy too. It¡¯s like a mixture of Chinese and ethnic cuisine. Elven cuisine mostly resembled Japanese stuff, but it didn¡¯t seem to be considered part of imperial-style cuisine.

    ¡°What will you have, Kugi?¡±

    ¡°They are all items I¡¯m not familiar with so¡­¡­¡±

    She was making a troubled face. Since she was from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, which was pretty far away, it¡¯s no wonder that she¡¯d find this restaurant¡¯s menu, which mainly served imperial and dwarven dishes, unfamiliar.

    ¡°Alright then, why don¡¯t we just order some of the less-adventurous dishes? Let¡¯s try and order several helpings, shall we?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit ill-mannered, but I suppose that¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Then I¡¯ll ask for individual tes as well.¡±

    After saying so, Mimi operated the tabletop holo-disy to select items from the menu. She seemed to be ordering pretty substantial helpings, but I¡¯ll just pretend I didn¡¯t see.

    ¡°In this empire, it¡¯smon to eat food prepared by automatic cookers through processing food cartridges, but what about the Holy Vuelzarus Empire?¡±

    ¡°Whenever possible, I cook food prepared from fresh ingredients myself, and if that wasn¡¯t possible, I¡¯d partake in preserved food. However, with the continuous development of preservation technology, you are able to eat delicious dishes without going through the trouble of cooking them yourself, so the number of people who are able to cook using fresh ingredients is decreasing. Eating food prepared using auto-cookers and food cartridges is not very popr among our citizens.¡±

    ¡°I see. What kinda stuff d¡¯ya eat?¡±

    ¡°There are many kinds of processed beans. We also often eat Chs shellfish.¡±

    ¡°Chs shellfish?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a cephalopod with a shell. It might seem somewhat creepy to people from other ces, but it¡¯s a food item that is both vorful and filling. There¡¯s also a processed fish dish called Chico, and a root vegetable called Caro which is easily cultivated and is very nutritious. Caro leaves can also be eaten, so no part of the nt is wasted.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Cephalopods with shells? Like an ammonite or a nautilus? And they also had processed bean products¡­¡­ You can actually use beans to make a lot of stuff. For example, soybeans can be used to make soymilk, fresh or fried tofu, natto, or just eat them in boiled. The soybean is already like that, so there were a tremendous number of cooking variations when ites to beans. Moreover, they also ate fish and root vegetables huh.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you guys eat meat?¡±

    ¡°We do, but it¡¯s quite expensive.¡±

    ¡°So the situation¡¯s the same for the Gran and Holy Vuelzarus Empire huh.¡±

    Before long, the food we ordered was served to our table. We mainly orderedrge baked tbreads with various ingredients piled on top just like pizza, mashed potato-like stuff, roasted meat-like dishes, and so on. By the way, there was no soup dish. The closest ones had thick paste-like consistency like ankake rather than your usual soup.

    ¡°This¡­¡­ Isn¡¯t this meat?¡±

    Kugi¡¯s eyes were shining in delight as she looked at the skewered grilled whitish meat on a serving te.

    ¡°¡­¡­So, which type is this thing, exactly?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s cultured meat.¡±

    Mimi sheepishly answered my question.

    ¡°Ah-¡­¡­ Well, I suppose we¡¯re already used to it.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    We went to a factory manufacturing cultured meat a while back and became a bit traumatized by the experience. But now, we ate cultured meat without making a fuss. Even if it was originally sourced from¡­ those things, processed meat was still processed meat at the end of the day. Anyway, it certainly tasted great, so it would be our loss if we kept being bothered by that stuff.

    Or rather, it seemed we eventually got used to it thanks to Mimi often ordering rather questionable imported specialty foods and gathering us for tasting parties. So what if the meat was from a creepy eldritch tentacle creature? There was stuff in the world that were a lot grosser than that. Yeah, there certainly were. I have firsthand experience y¡¯know.

    ¡°It¡¯s cultured, but it¡¯s no doubt genuine meat. If you want more, feel free to ask for seconds.¡±

    ¡°Is it truly fine¡­¡­? Isn¡¯t this quite extravagant?¡±

    ¡°Ya better get used to stuff like this, Kugi. With Boss here, stuff like this can only be treated as appetizers.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m still floored by Big Brother¡¯s outrageous sense for money sometimes¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m getting used to it, but I haven¡¯t reached the realm of Hiro-sama and Elma-san yet.¡±

    Can you drop that topic already, guys? You make it sound like I and Elma were weirdos or something. We¡¯re quite normal, thank you very much. As mercenaries, that is. As regr folks? I wouldn¡¯t know about that even if you asked!

    ¡°Then, let¡¯s eat before the food gets cold guys.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Oh, I¡¯ll portion it for you guys.¡±

    ¡°Ah, let me help as well.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re today¡¯s guest of honor, Kugi. So just sit tight. Hiro says you¡¯re still a provisional member, but this is still your wee party after all.¡±

    After saying so, Elma held Kugi down and started helping Mimi serve portions of each dish on everyone¡¯s tes. And before I knew it, Mei was also helping out. The way she mixes in naturally without making a sound was really uncanny.

    ¡°Right. Then, a toast to Kugi¡¯s wee party.¡±

    ¡°Cheers!¡±

    Tina happily toasted her ss and immediately chugged down her drink. Of course, it was alcohol. Whisker also discreetly ordered alcohol as well¡­¡­ Elma too huh. I did say we¡¯re gonna rx today, but you guys ain¡¯t holding back at all huh.

 Chapter 315 â€“ Body Strengthening Treatment and Increasing Potential

    <h4>Chapter 315 - Body Strengthening Treatment and Increasing Potential</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    It was now the day after the wee party. We ate breakfast after getting out of bed and then proceeded to chill inside our rooms.

    Eh? What happenedst night? Well, the girls ended up having a slumber party and left poor me all alone, so I just slept it out. It kinda felt like they would be talking about things they¡¯d rather not let me hear, so I just let them have their way.

    ¡°There are surprisingly not a lot of lightweight power armor models to choose from huh.¡±

    ¡°Right. And if you narrow it down to ones that can allow you to fight with swords, the number decreases further.¡±

    Elma and I were currently rxing on a sofa in the living room while browsing lightweight power armor catalogs, but so far, nothing¡¯s clicked with me. How do I put it? None of them really match my requirements.

    What I require from a lightweight power armor is for it to not hinder my natural movements, maintain my uracy, reinforce my physical strength and agility, give me a bit of additional armor protection (from both physical and energy rounds), and enhance my environmental adaptation ability. That¡¯s about it.

    However, after checking them out, all we found were armors that were more than passable when ites to survivability, agility, and strength enhancements, but fail when ites to allowing me to move naturally and maintaining precise control over my body. Precise bodily control is extremely important when using a sword (for me at least) so I didn¡¯t want topromise on that front.

    ¡°Well, I suppose it¡¯s because nobles don¡¯t really need to wear power armor.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess¡­¡­¡±

    The Gran Empire¡¯s nobles basically all receive physical enhancement treatments at an early age. As a result, they can exhibit superhuman strength and speed even without relying on stuff like power armors. The only things that power armors can offer them are environmental adaptability and flexibility enhancements, so whenever nobles go into battle, a suit with environment adaptation functions along with some antiser capability coupled with a portable shield was more than enough for them.

    ¡°Manufacturers won¡¯t make something if there¡¯s no market for it. That¡¯s just how things roll.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re being pretty blunt, Big Sis. But I suppose that¡¯s really how it is. Ah, don¡¯t move around, Sis.¡±

    Tina, whose hair was being styled by Whisker, sat on the sofa next to ours. When she shrugged her shoulders, Whisker told her off. The sisters arrange each other¡¯s hairstyles from time to time. It looks like Whisker was styling Tina¡¯s hair into a bun this time around.

    Also, Mimi and Kugi were having a nice chat while sitting around the table a little further away from us. She didn¡¯t seem to be worried about the other party this time around, unlike when we first started living with Mei, but I was a bit curious about what the two girls were discussing enthusiastically. Well, I suppose I should just be thankful that Mimi has already begun to warm up to Kugi, and they can now have casual chats like this.

    ¡°I wonder if I should just go ahead and take physical enhancement treatments?¡±

    ¡°Well, I suppose you could. But we won¡¯t be able to leave here for at least a few months if you undergo those treatments you know?¡±

    As expected from someone with firsthand experience. Elma, who was actually from the house of Viscount Willrose, was a genuine noble¡¯s daughter, and she had actually undergone physical enhancements herself. That¡¯s exactly the reason why her seemingly thin and dainty arms were packing a lot more power than mine. However, in Elma¡¯s case, she had only taken treatments to enhance her physical strength and reaction speed. She didn¡¯t seem to have undergone the advanced treatments such as enhancing the processing power of one¡¯s brain that other nobles were given.

    ¡°Actually, what exactly do they do in those physical enhancement treatments anyway?¡±

    ¡°First, it depends on whether you take bionic treatments or cybeic treatments. Both treatments are irreversible and both result in dramatic improvements in your overall physical abilities.¡±

    ¡°I see. But each has its own merits, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not that familiar with them either y¡¯know? Well, generally speaking, bionic treatments offer somewhat lesser results, but are less burdensome on the body in exchange and are easier to maintain. The more you train, the better your abilities will be. However, it takes quite some time to get used to your newly enhanced body after the treatments, and the time required to undergo the treatments is equally long as well. Conversely, cybeic treatments offer a higher degree of enhancements, and you can exert most of your enhanced abilities almost immediately after taking them. However, unlike bionic treatments, you can¡¯t improve your abilities further through training. In exchange, it¡¯s possible for you to rece your imnts with higher-performance parts. Also, the parts aren¡¯tpletely maintenance-free, so maintaining those parts can be troublesome.¡±

    ¡°I see, I see. You took bionic treatments, right, Elma?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. In the empire, bionic treatments are more mainstream. It seems recing your body parts with machines doesn¡¯t suit the noble¡¯s tastes.¡±

    Elma shrugged as she replied. Oh, I see. It seemed that imperial nobles either straight-up hate machines, have slight misgivings against artificial intelligence, or are just not good with them. So many among them may not like the prospect of recing their body parts with cybeics.

    As we continued to discuss such matters, Mimi and Kugi came over. Then, Mimi had Kugi sit beside me - opposite of Elma - and followed by sitting right next to thetter.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°Kugi-san said she was interested in what you were talking about, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Hm? What about it?¡±

    When I turned my attention to Kugi, who looked a bit hesitant at first, she eventually spoke out, albeit still with a timid tone.

    ¡°Um, I overheard that you were nning to undergo some kind of enhancement surgery¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to eavesdrop.¡±

    ¡°Nah, I don¡¯t really mind.¡±

    After saying so, I turned my attention to her big and fluffy animal ears. Well, with those ears of hers, it wasn¡¯t surprising that her hearing was better than humans. I wonder who has better hearing ability between her and Elma.

    ¡°I heard from Mimi-sama that you¡¯re looking for something called a power armor to improve your fighting ability and survivability.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. But I can¡¯t seem to find anything satisfactory, so I was considering taking enhancement treatments instead.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Um, this might sound presumptuous of me My Lord, but I do not think you require such treatments at all.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­? Why though? Can you borate?¡±

    ¡°Certainly. At present, the potential constantly surging out from My Lord¡¯s body isn¡¯t being utilized properly. If you learned to control it, then the effects will be countless times better than wearing power armor, I think.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Ah-¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±

    I wasn¡¯t the only one who got surprised. Everyone except Mei and Kugi reacted the same way.

    ¡°Umm¡­¡­? Did I say something strange, My Lord?¡±

    Kugi tilted her head with an anxious expression on her face.

    ¡°No, not at all. It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve already decided not to pursue that direction a while back.¡±

    ¡°You decided not to pursue it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I mean, just think about it. I¡¯d be able to use my strength to overwhelm power armors, shoot mystical attacks that can erase entire mountains, and even repelsers and ballistic projectiles flying at me. Wouldn¡¯t showing off like that attract unnecessary trouble eventually? Then it would be better not to go in that direction and just use things like power armor that¡¯s more within the bounds ofmon sense. I think it¡¯s way safer that way.¡±

    After I exined my reasons, Kugi nodded her head in acknowledgment and began to talk again.

    ¡°I¡¯ve only heard about them from Mimi-sama, but it seems these so-called power armors can only allow one to match the soldiers of my country when they are devoid of any equipment. No, perhaps our soldiers will still be able to best them even then. I do not think that kind of strength is contrary tomon sense at all.¡±

    ¡°Eh, what the heck? That¡¯s kinda scary.¡±

    ¡°I believe you will be able to exert power enough to overwhelm even a group of our soldiers with ease, My Lord. If you are concerned about standing out, then wouldn¡¯t it be more reasonable to practice and learn to properly control and adjust your power?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s-¡­¡­ Err, you do have a point.¡±

    I wavered under Kugi¡¯s pure gaze. Come to think of it, it¡¯s certainly against my style to abandon power that can be obtained and not do my best just because I was afraid of standing out. One should make good use of whatever was avable to them. I understand that principle. I do.

    ¡°But ain¡¯t I gonna be something like a Super Sa*yan if I did that!? Honestly, there really was a time when I also wanted to fly in the air and fire off ka*eha*ehas! But never in my dreams did I expect to get to do those for real y¡¯know!¡±

    ¡°Super Sa*yan¡­¡­?¡±

    Kugi disyed a confused look after my rant. Yeah. Of course, she wouldn¡¯t get it.

    ¡°I am not sure what that kame-something exactly is, but I think blowing up an entire mountain¡­¡­ is a bit inefficient, honestly. Instead of vainly wasting your potential doing that, it would be a lot more efficient to incapacitate your enemy with a high-intensity psychic shock.¡±

    ¡°Whoa, that¡¯s some dangerous-sounding stuff. What exactly is that high-intensity psychic shock?¡±

    ¡°It is a technique that puts a heavy load on a target¡¯s mind and either significantly disturbs their concentration, stuns them, or directly destroys the target¡¯s mind depending on the strength used. With My Lord¡¯s strength, I think it is possible to spread the effects to this entire colony.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s he dangerous man. I don¡¯t wanna be some toxic wave generator.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re strayin¡¯ from the topic already, Boss. Well, regardless of your preferences, doesn¡¯t Kugi actually make sense? Before, we didn¡¯t wanna stay fer a long time in the Refill system just so you could train in that mystical stuff, so we eventually decided not to pursue that direction. But since Kugi will stay with us from now on, wouldn¡¯t it be fine if you just trained with her?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. You can get your power armor Big Brother, but wouldn¡¯t it be fine to train that psychic power of yours too? It¡¯s not like you¡¯d definitely get in trouble if you learned it.¡±

    Surprisingly, the dwarven sisters, who were obviously on the science side of things, were pretty enthusiastic regarding this superhuman training n. Doesn¡¯t it directly conflict with your chosen field, guys?

    ¡°Actually, we¡¯re also a bit interested. In psionic technology, that is.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s apletely different technology system after all. I think we might make some interesting discoveries if you acquire that kind of supernatural power, Boss.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re prioritizing your interests huh. Aren¡¯t you guys worried about me at all?¡±

    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t your body already givin¡¯ off powerful waves and stuff all the time, Boss? Though it¡¯s just Kugi who says so. Ain¡¯t training yer powers actually better than havin¡¯ your body undergo some weird modifications?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. When I took those enhancement treatments when I was a kid, I felt really bad for a long time until I managed to get used to my enhanced abilities. It was pretty nasty. At worst, you wouldn¡¯t be able to move a muscle for three months, and it also costs way more than buying power armor.¡±

    ¡°Gununu¡­¡­¡±

    So do I really have no choice but to train in controlling that potential or whatever to increase my survival rate in this world? Well, I guess I can just take my time to train since Kugi will be apanying us from now on. I only need to pay attention and restrain myself to avoid standing out. So there¡¯s no problem, right? Right?

    ¡°OK, I understand. I will go in that direction then. I won¡¯t undergo any strength enhancement treatments. But I¡¯ll still buy a power armor. I¡¯ll just go with that.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s as nice a n as any.¡±

    ¡°In that case, we definitely need to find a lightweight power armor model that suits you, Hiro-sama.¡±

    Yeah, that¡¯s another problem we¡¯ve yet to solve. If we can¡¯t find a suitable product in the market, do I have no choice but to get a made-to-order custom? I don¡¯t even know where tomission such a thing. I guess I¡¯ll just have to ask suitable power armor manufacturers or think of other ways. Hmm.

 Chapter 316 â€“ Reliable Person AD

    <h4>Chapter 316 - Reliable Person AD</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡ºSo that¡¯s why you ended up reaching out to me huh.¡»

    ¡°That¡¯s right, brother-inw.¡±

    When I said those words with a grin on my face, the expression of the pretty boy on the other side of the screen turned into a grimace.

    ¡ºI really don¡¯t want to be called brother-inw by the likes of you.¡»

    ¡°Now, now, don¡¯t say that. Your cute younger brother-inw didn¡¯t have anyone else to rely on, so I called a reliable person like you.¡±

    ¡ºNot cute. You¡¯re not cute at all, dammit.¡»

    The name of the pretty boy whose forehead veins were popping out in vexation on the other side of the screen was Ernst Willrose. He was Elma¡¯s older brother who was residing in the imperial capital.

    The Windas star system was a high-tech industrial system located near the imperial capital, so if one made use of hyperspacems, one could easilymunicate with people in the capital in real-time. If one went a little bit further out, long-distance real-time hyperspacemunication would be rendered impossible unless one made use of the gatewaywork. Using the gateways would incur really high fees, so most people rarely used it.

    If one wasn¡¯t concerned withmunicating in real-time, one could always opt to send messages as holo-message data that will reach the recipient¡¯s data terminal after a number of days, depending on the distance. One could also send the medium that recorded the holo-message itself. Interstermunication in this world can also be quite a hassle sometimes.

    ¡ºNheless, I suppose helping you out wouldn¡¯t be so bad if it ends up helping Elma as well and keeping her safe¡­¡­ After all, you dying will definitely make Elma sad.¡»

    ¡°As expected of you, dear brother-inw. You¡¯re really dependable, just like I thought.¡¹

    ¡ºCan you please stop calling me brother-in¡­¡­ Haah, forget it. In any case, there really are power armor makers that serve as purveyors to nobles who mainly use swords to battle.¡»

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great news.¡±

    Basically, the Drawn Sword Faction was a group made up of staunch traditionalists who continue to pursue their perceived ideal image of a powerful aristocrat. The sword was the main symbol of the Gran Empire nobles, but it was said that good swords needed to be paired with good armor.

    For the Gran Empire nobles, the sword was a symbol of martial power while armor was a symbol of financial might. I do remember something about the aristocratic armor worn by medieval knights back on Earth being really expensive. Was the situation in this world an extension of that?

    ¡ºHowever, on top of refusing first-time customers, they wouldn¡¯t do business withmoners as well.¡»

    ¡°What absurd business practices.¡±

    ¡ºHowever, if you have a letter of introduction in addition to being a noble yourself, the story will be different.¡»

    ¡°Will my honorary noble title do?¡±

    ¡ºMost likely. You are an honorary viscount, you fully disyed your abilities in that tournament, and even got personallymended by our dear emperor himself. I¡¯m sure there won¡¯t be any problems.¡»

    Brother-inw Ernst sent some data over while exining. Apparently, this was the letter of introduction he was talking about. In addition, map data showing the location of the shop in question was also provided. Even if he acts all surly, my dear brother-inw is actually very considerate. If I were a girl, I might have fallen for him.

    ¡ºTheir main shop is in the capital, but they do have a branch in the Windas system as well. There are many aristocratic soldiers over there after all.¡»

    ¡°Are there actually noble military officers who wear armor while inbat?¡±

    ¡ºThere are plenty of realists even in the Drawn Sword Faction. No matter how one struggles, there are limits to avoiding lethalser shots with just one¡¯s own body, and once you do get hit, you probably wouldn¡¯t be able to avoid severe injuries. The defensive capacity of personal energy shields has a limit after all. No matter how strong a noble is after enhancements, they wouldn¡¯t fight while carrying a heavy power generator on their backs without any mechanical assistance. So wouldn¡¯t it make more sense to use power armor to make full use of said generator?¡»

    ¡°I¡­¡­ suppose? Yeah, that does make sense.¡±

    Should I just give up fighting with swords in the first ce? Nah. Depending on the situation, there are times when swords might be more effective than aser gun or rifle.

    ¡ºWell, you can hash out the details with themter. I am actually quite busy, so I¡¯ll be excusing myself now.¡»

    ¡°Thank you very much for your help, brother-inw. I owe you one.¡±

    ¡ºHmph¡­¡­ If so, then bring Elma and visit the imperial capital from time to time. Father and Mother will probably be relieved when they see her as well.¡»

    ¡°I will do my best.¡±

    After I saluted him, brother-inw Ernst sighed audibly and cut off the call. Now, just what was with that sigh in the end? Well, just as brother-inw said, it would be nice to pay a visit to the capital from time to time. We might be called upon by the princess or by that damn emperor though. But let¡¯s just deal with it when it happens. I¡¯m a young man who knows how to properly repay favors after all.

    ¡°Now then¡­¡­ I guess I should call the rest.¡±

    By the way, I was all alone in the hotel room right now. Where did thedies go, you ask? They went shopping for Kugi¡¯s daily necessities. They felt that she had far too little on her, so they decided to go shopping for her sake. Well, the mechanic sisters needed to report to work, so they didn¡¯t get to participate in the shopping spree. Being apany ve sure is harsh.

    _______________________________________________________________

    ¡°And so, I managed to snag a letter of introduction and information about the shop from brother-inw.¡±

    ¡°Ooh-¡±

    ¡°I was wondering what you were up to, but to think you called my brother¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi pped readily while Elma disyed a bitter smile. It seemed that the task of buying Kugi¡¯s daily necessities was pretty urgent, so after some considerations, it was decided that I¡¯d stay behind in the room while they shopped. As for those considerations, they were things like serving as escorts and mutually looking out for each other, and covering each other¡¯s backs while out and about.

    Actually, I haven¡¯tpletely trusted Kugi yet. The same was true for Elma and Mei. From yesterday¡¯s story, it can be inferred that the Holy Vuelzarus Empire readily employed psionic technology and techniques, including powerful mental interference. We weren¡¯t sure if Kugi had such an ability, but if she did, she might attempt to use it on us to mess with our heads.

    Therefore, I decided to let Mei, who was the only one among us who won¡¯t be affected by such a technique, stick together with Kugi. Mei does have her own sentience and personality, but she doesn¡¯t seem to have a ¡®spirit¡¯ that can be interfered with by psionic techniques.

    But on the off-chance that it does work on her after all, Mei had already performed several self-checks yesterday and even made a memory back-up just to be sure. So even if she does get subjected to mental interference, it will be possible for her to recover quickly. Hence, she was perfect for keeping an eye on Kugi.

    Mimi and Elma tagged along because it made sense for Kugi to be apanied by other women when shopping for personal effects, and if she did attempt something, it would be easier for Mei to notice anything wrong.

    Mimi was just too straightforward and honest, so we didn¡¯t tell her though. I feel bad that we¡¯re basically having her act as bait, but¡­¡­ if we confirm that Kugi can be trusted, I¡¯ll just have to spill the beans and make it up to her somehow.

    ¡°Are you going to head to that armor smith now, My Lord?¡±

    ¡°I was thinking of doing so.¡±

    ¡°I see. I¡¯m looking forward to seeing power armor made by imperial armor smiths.¡±

    While nodding, I took a sip from the contents of a cup made of a stic-like material I didn¡¯t recognize.

    The drink had a peculiar taste. It resembled sweet milk tea, but it was also strangely spicy. I wonder if they actually used spices when making this? I¡¯ve never tried it before, but maybe this drink was simr to chai that¡¯s drunk in India.

    ¡°H-Hot¡­¡­ Fuu-, fuu-¡±

    Apparently, Kugi was cat-tongued, and she frantically blew on the tea to cool it down. That¡¯s kinda cute man. But fox earsbined with cat¡¯s tongue huh. Interesting.

    Mimi kept on ncing toward such a Kugi. She wasn¡¯t acting hostile or suspicious. It felt more like she was troubled about how to best interact with the other party.

    ¡°Alright then. We¡¯ll head to the shop after a short rest. I¡¯m feeling up for some bubuzuke after drinking this though.¡±

    ¡°Bubuzuke?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a dish from my hometown.¡±

    And so, I described bubuzuke to thedies. Well, it might seem strange to talk about bubuzuke at this time, but it¡¯s an easy-to-understand and feel-good topic after all.

    We continued to chat and killed time until the cat-tongued Kugi finally finished drinking her tea.

 Chapter 317 â€“ Noble Purveyor Armor Shop

    <h4>Chapter 317 - Noble Purveyor Armor Shop</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    And so, we made our way to the shop introduced by brother-inw.

    ¡°Wee.¡±

    The one who greeted us was a man dressed as a butler. The atmosphere of the ce was more like a luxury tailor shop than a power armor shop. The floor was covered by a carpet of muted colors, and you couldn¡¯t even see a single speck of dust on its surface. There were many wooden furnishings (or at least ones made from material resembling wood) inside the shop. It didn¡¯t sport many holo-disys that were amon sight in other shops.

    Well, the only shops I set my foot in were things like gun shops after all. The gun shops I¡¯ve visited sported lots of holo-disys showing different guns from various manufacturers. Their interiors were pretty busy, so the calm scene inside this shop made me a bit uneasy.

    ¡°Forgive me for asking, but you are a first-time customer, correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes. But I have a letter of introduction here.¡±

    Having said that, I operated my portable data terminal and sent the data of the letter of introduction I got from brother-inw to the other party. The man, who seemed to be the shop clerk, confirmed the details on his own terminal.

    ¡°I see, so you were referred by someone from the house of Viscount Willrose.¡±

    After saying so, the clerk (or maybe he was actually the shop owner) nced toward Elma. Elma met his gaze and lightly shrugged in response.

    ¡°I am well aware of your fame, Captain Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    ¡°That tournament was also broadcasted here on Windas in real-time. There were even some regr customers of this shop among the participants.¡±

    ¡°I see. Did I cause you some trouble?¡±

    In the end, I won all the matches in that tournament in andslide. In other words, the customers of this shop either got defeated by me or by the other participants.

    ¡°It was the result of fair matches, so I have nothing toin about. I just purely admire your skills.¡±

    ¡°I see. Well, I suppose that¡¯s enough pleasantries. Let¡¯s discuss business now. As you know, I¡¯m just a crude mercenary. So I¡¯m not good at making small talk like this.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Please make your way inside as well,dies.¡±

    After saying so, he led us to a consultation space in the back of the shop. Although it definitely wasn¡¯t as luxurious as the rooms in the imperial pce, it was still very high-ss. The lounge of the shipyard we visited before also had a luxurious atmosphere, but the theme was a bit different. The theme used in that lounge was modernforts, but this shop¡¯s theme was a ssical antique luxury.

    ¡°Since you havee to our shop, do you already have an idea about our products?¡±

    The man led us to us sit onfortable sofas and sat on a chair opposite us. I shook my head in response to his question.

    ¡°No. The only ones I¡¯m familiar with are power armors used by regr infantry. I have no idea about power armors tailored for nobles, so I¡¯d appreciate it if you gave me an introduction to them.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    He nodded and operated his tablet terminal. Then, a holo-disy came out of the antique-style table that seemed to be made from wood. It looked like a regr wooden table, but it was equipped with a holo-disy inside huh. Neat.

    ¡°What we offer here are order-made power armors. We take pride in our efforts to deliver a product that perfectly matches the needs and physiques of our customers.¡±

    ¡°I see. But they¡¯re pretty expensive, aren¡¯t they?¡±

    I only said that as a joke, but the other party nodded seriously.

    ¡°Of course, their prices will be on the expensive side. They won¡¯t go below 200,000 Enels.¡±

    ¡°Hm¡­¡­ Well, that¡¯s not too bad, I guess.¡±

    I sighed in relief. I was worried they¡¯d charge something to the tune of 2 million Enels, but with 200,000 being the price, I can cram as many functions as I want without any worries. The man¡¯s eyes opened wide after hearing my words.

    ¡°To think you are able to make that much money. Well, I suppose the price isn¡¯tparable to that of a starship¡¯s, correct?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah. If you wannapletely remodel even the lowest ss ship, the price will easily be ten times that or more.¡±

    ¡°My word¡­¡­¡±

    After hearing Elma and myments, the man couldn¡¯t hide his astonishment. The best-in-ss regr power armors out on the market can generally reach up to 100,000 Enels. If you didn¡¯t mind second-hand goods, you can get one for as low as 10,000. Considering those prices, 200,000 Enels does soundparatively expensive. If you brought out that much, you can buy two of thetest high-performance mass-produced power armors, and if you went for standard quality ones, you can get four or five. If you turned a blind eye to overall quality, you can even supply ten people with power armors easily with that much.

    ¡°That¡¯s why you don¡¯t have to worry about our budget. So I¡¯m gonna have to ask you to provide me with the very best, alright?¡±

    ¡°Understood. Unexpectedly, this is turning out to be a pretty significant deal.¡±

    After saying so, the man disyed a genuinely happy smile.

    ¡°The basic functions of our products are much the same with regr power armors. In other words, they protect your body and will allow you to obtain enough strength to move around unimpeded even while wearing such heavy equipment. Depending on the requirements, we may also add a jump unit, optical camouge function, or equip the armor with additional fixed weaponry.¡±

    The man operated his tablet terminal and showed us various power armor designs through the holo-disy on the table. Every power armor model he showed us looked fairly sleeker than regrmercial power armors.

    ¡°They¡¯re all pretty slimpared to regr ones.¡±

    ¡°Because they are made to closely fit the wearer¡¯s body. Normalmercial power armors can generally be worn by people with different physiques without much trouble, but that doesn¡¯t go for custom-made power armors like the ones we offer. In other words, they arepletely tailored to their user alone.¡±

    ¡°I see. It looks like you¡¯d find it difficult to equip them if your physique suddenly develops drastically.¡±

    The most likely example is when one gets fatter. Well, I don¡¯t think I need to worry about that because I regrly exercise. And I¡¯m long past my growth period, so it¡¯s not like I¡¯m gonna get any taller.

    ¡°The bodies of nobles don¡¯t really suffer from such drastic changes, so we do not have to worry about such a thing.¡±

    ¡°One of the benefits of enhancement treatments, I suppose¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Hiro-sama, I want to undergo enhancement treatment.¡±

    Mimi looked at Elma¡¯s slim and sexy waist and muttered enviously. Mimi was constantly putting in a lot of effort when working out. At first, she wasn¡¯t strong enough toplete five reps of push-ups, but now she can do twenty easily with plenty to spare. Her overall exercise intensity now should be iparable to when she just started out. Mimi was very serious about losing weight, but I think she¡¯s fine as is. Or rather, I¡¯d like it if she had a bit more flesh in some ces¡­¡­ Ahem. Let¡¯s drop the topic of Mimi¡¯s body shape for now.

    ¡°Since they are used by nobles, they should be tuned for wielding swords, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We are constantly applying thetest technologies in order to ensure that the movements of each and every joint will not be impeded and can remain as natural as possible. So you n on wielding swords as well, I suppose.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. I have abat-use power armor, but it¡¯s not suited for swinging swords around. I need one that allows precision movements.¡±

    ¡°Certainly, regr power armors can¡¯t allow one to perform sword techniques that require fine control and precise movements. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be very satisfied with our products then.¡±

    The guy was pretty confident. I wonder what I¡¯d do if I spent so much money and still end up with something unusable.

    ¡°So, how does the order process go?¡±

    ¡°First, we will decide on general specifications, then we will have to take your measurements and trace your body movements.¡±

    ¡°Trace my movements?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We have to trace yourbat movements in advance so we can input the motion data to the armor for greater assistance. Doing so will increase the armor¡¯s overall efficiency.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    I kinda get it but don¡¯t at the same time. Well, if that will make the armor more useful, then let¡¯s do it then. Anyway, we have to decide on the specifications first.

 Chapter 318 â€“ The New Power Armorâ€™s Direction

    <h4>Chapter 318 - The New Power Armor¡¯s Direction</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    It didn¡¯t take long to decide the specifications of the armor. That¡¯s because I was very clear on what exactly I wanted the power armor to be.

    First of all, my minimum requirements were environmental adaptability and precision operations.

    Environmental adaptability will ensure you can survive and work in extreme environments such as on the surface ofs in the middle of being terraformed, the interior of ships and colonies that have had their airtightnesspromised, extreme weather conditions that are harmful to the human body, and toxic atmospheres. It can be said to be a basic requirement for any decentbat-use power armor.

    Precision operation indicates how urately a power armor can emte the wearer¡¯s movements. If a power armor¡¯s reaction in response to the wearer¡¯s movements is slow, it will be evaluated as a ¡ºsluggish¡»power armor, and conversely, if the armor¡¯s response time is so fast to the point that it ends up overwhelming the wearer, it will be categorized as an¡ºoversensitive¡»power armor.

    In either case, it¡¯s possible for the wearer to somewhat get used to their quirks eventually, but sluggish ones still have dyed reaction times, and oversensitive ones cause the precision to drop. In other words, power armors that have the right bnce between those two extremes are the ones with the best precision operation capability.

    ¡°Those are what most of our customers demand as well. Do not worry. We will do our best to meet your expectations.¡±

    It looks like this is the main purpose of the movement tracing the man mentioned earlier. So they not only adjust the hardware but the software as well huh.

    ¡°Ease of maintenance is also important.¡±

    ¡°Ignoring the more technical details, products that make use of state-of-the-art materials often prove to be a bit troublesome. That¡¯s just how it is.¡±

    ¡°If so, then do you stock up on spare parts in advance so they can be easily purchasedter?¡±

    ¡°That is an option. We can alsopromise on the materials a bit in the aid of better maintainability.¡±

    While the shopkeeper and I were discussing the details, Elma, Mimi, and Kugi were busy looking at the sample power armor images on the holo-disy.

    ¡°My impression of power armors are them being rough and bulky, but these are pretty slim, aren¡¯t they?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It looks like they also pay a lot of attention to aesthetics since these are for nobles.¡±

    ¡°They look like fine pieces of armor indeed¡­¡­ But won¡¯t you be sluggish when wearing them because of the extra weight?¡±

    ¡°Power armors are equipped with artificial muscles to prevent that-¡±

    Mimi began to exin the characteristics of power armors to Kugi who didn¡¯t know much about them. Un, the sight is somehow quite adorable. I was reminded of the first time Mimi boarded Krishna. During that time, I also exined Krishna¡¯s various functions and amenities to Mimi.

    By the way, I was actually quite pleasantly surprised about the design choices for custom-made power armor. There were no such things as custom-made power armors in SOL, so this was my first time encountering them.

    ¡°Assuming that these are the basic functions, what options can be added on to the armor? The power armor I always use is equipped with a number of fixed weapons, so it can enterbat even if it was unarmed. It has enough firepower as is.¡±

    ¡°Of course, using our proprietary technology, it is possible to add firepower while maintaining precision operations. But, of course, there is also a limit. If we equip it with too many fixed weapons, the weight might end up being too much. That would hinder its performance.¡±

    ¡°I see. But considering the situations where you¡¯d sortie with a power armor on, isn¡¯t a certain level of firepower necessary¡­¡­?¡±

    In the first ce, in normal situations, there was no problem with using the RIKISHI. Unless the situation requires the use of swords, using RIKISHI was preferable due to its firepower and toughness. In other words, what I ultimately required in the new power armor wasn¡¯t firepower or defensive strength, but quickness and stealth.

    ¡°Let¡¯s change our approach a bit. I want to focus on stealth and speed in addition to environmental adaptability and precision operation.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    You can¡¯t expect stealth and speed from RIKISHI at all. If I insisted on going in the same direction as RIKISHI, I might end up with a half-baked product, and that would be a real waste.

    ¡°However, stealth and speed, is it? That¡¯s quite a reckless configuration.¡±

    After saying so, the shopkeeper disyed a bitter smile. I tilted my head in confusion at the shopkeeper¡¯s reaction.

    ¡°Reckless? Doesn¡¯t insisting on addingser guns, smaunchers, or grenadeunchers seem a lot more reckless?¡±

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon. Depending on how you look at it, a noble-use power armor specialized in stealth and speed can be considered as more geared toward assassination right¡­¡­? Of course, it¡¯s gonna be evaluated as reckless.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    The heart of the matter was pointed out by Elma, who also sported a bitter smile. My confusion was instantly cleared up. Certainly, sneaking past the guards and killing the target silently with a sword by making use of stealth and speed was definitely a method employed by assassins.

    ¡°But if you go in that direction-¡±

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t seem keen on changing his mind.¡±

    ¡°Because there¡¯s no reason to.¡±

    Mimi tried to object, but I just shrugged her off.

    Honestly speaking, I really don¡¯t know a lot about how this world works. I¡¯m not a nobleman who values honor and pride, but a mercenary who trades lives for money. Being called cowardly or dirty sound more likepliments to me. The one who ultimately survives, in the end, is the winner. Insisting on proper rules and methods inbat is pointless if it leads to you losing your life.

    And so, we finalized the armor specifications. First, it will adapt antiser ting. It¡¯s thetest armor ting devised to prevent evaporation-induced explosions when hit bysers. It can even withstand up to three shots on the same spot by aser rifle or something of simr firepower. Actually, it makes use of plenty of rare crystals whose mining rate had increased significantly.

    ¡°Rare crystals? It¡¯s that stuff, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, most likely.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    I, Mimi, and Elma probably thought of the same thing. It¡¯s the stupidly huge crystal sea urchin that shone brightly under the dazzling light of a pulsar.

    Anyway, the artificial muscles that will be used on my power armor will be of the highest quality currently avable. Due to their quantity not equaling the ones used in the RIKISHI, the armor will have less raw strength, but it will still possess power that easily surpasses bare flesh by several times. It was a product that not only excels in power but also explosiveness, and it seems it was possible to continue running with it on for extended periods of time at a speed of about 80 km/h, even when fully equipped. Its servos were also perfectly whisper-quiet.

    ¡°It looks like I¡¯ll need quite a bit of training to be proficient with it.¡±

    ¡°That will be necessary to some extent. However, once we capture your motion data in advance and incorporate it into the armor, your troubles will be considerably reduced.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    The armor will also be equipped with a small but high-output generator and an energy shield function. It will also sport optical camouge capability. It will be even more sophisticated than the Chameleon Thermal Cloak I bought back then, and was apparently also capable of deceiving infrared, electromaic waves, and various other detection methods aside from regr optical camo.

    ¡°However, if you continuously perform extreme movements, the camouge effect will be significantly reduced.¡±

    ¡°So that means it¡¯s impossible to turnpletely invisible.¡±

    But seeing this world¡¯s level of technological advancement, more potent optical camouge tech could have already been developed and put into practical use. Well, even if this was a shop catering to nobles, it was still a civilian one after all. So they might not be allowed to handle top-secret military tech or something.

    ¡°You really turned it into a piece of equipment fit for an assassin, didn¡¯t you¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Ain¡¯t it cool?¡±

    By the way, I also had them incorporate a high-power grappling hook shooter and antiser smoke emitters.

    ording to (self-conducted) research, a hook shooter is the number one tool that¡¯s unlikely to work in reality. It¡¯s basically that tool that pulls you up by first shooting a grappling hook at a wall or roof. The wire itself was made of very touch artificial muscle bundles, and it seemed a high-power motor was used to enable it to pull one up quickly, power armor and all. In other words, it was a machine that seeminglybined the function of a chameleon¡¯s tongue and a high-powered automatic reel.

    The antiser smoke emitter was a device that releases a special smoke screen capable of significantly attenuating the power ofser weapons. It can be used a total of four times, with two ced on each shoulder of the armor. Since the number of uses was limited, one needed to consider the most effective timing to deploy the smoke.

    ¡°It does look cool!¡±

    ¡°Um, well¡­¡­ D-Doesn¡¯t it look pretty, um, viinous?¡±

    Mimi highly praised the custom power armor¡¯s design, but it seemed Kugi wasn¡¯t a fan. I mean, sure, I made it look a bit evil and ninja-like, but I don¡¯t think it looks that bad. Or rather, in my opinion, typical knight-in-shining-armor designs just didn¡¯t suit me and my character.

    ¡°Actually, the color can be changed through the Chameleon camo function.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not about the color¡­¡­ No. It is quite presumptuous of me to object to your preferences, My Lord. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°Nah, you don¡¯t need to apologize for that. It¡¯s fine.¡±

    I definitely won¡¯t change the design, okay? Sorry. But to think my armors ended up being designed after a sumo wrestler and a ninja. Well, they do kinda have the same theme, right? Should I take it further and order a samurai-form power armor next?

 Chapter 319 â€“ Encounter with Someone Familiar

    <h4>Chapter 319 - Encounter with Someone Familiar</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Well then, shall we get started with capturing your motion da- Hm?¡±

    The shopkeeper, who was about to proceed with the next step of the purchasing process, suddenly paused. He put his left hand on his left ear and seemed like he was listening to something. Did he put a smallmunicator inside his ear?

    ¡°I¡¯m very sorry. Although a bit early from the appointment they made previously, it looks like a customer that made a prior reservation has already arrived at the shop. Will it be alright for me to take some time to entertain the customer?¡±

    ¡°Oh, sure, go ahead. I personally didn¡¯t make an appointment anyway.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. Well then, please excuse me for a while.¡±

    After saying so, the shopkeeper bowed his head toward us, left his seat, and headed outside the consultation room.

    ¡°With this, we can get out of here after I get my motion data taken. Do you guys need to shop for anything?¡±

    ¡°Mm, let¡¯s see. We don¡¯t really need to get anything in particr, but maybe we can go for some window shopping.¡±

    ¡°Window shopping. That¡¯s nice.¡±

    ¡°Window shopping?¡±

    It seemed that Kugi didn¡¯t get what window shopping meant, so she tilted her head in a questioning manner.

    ¡°Window shopping is basically walking around shops and looking for interesting items without any particr goal. Well, if we do find anything really interesting, we might decide to buy it on the spot though.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    We continued chatting for a while until I noticed that the shopkeeper seemed to being back- Hm? There seems to be another set of footsteps though?

    ¡°Please excuse me, everyone. This customer insisted on-¡±

    ¡°Geh.¡±

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Haah.¡±

    When I saw the person who appeared together with the shopkeeper, I couldn¡¯t help but raise my voice. Mimi also disyed a surprised reaction, and Elma sighed as she ced a hand on her forehead.

    ¡°What the heck is with that ¡®geh¡¯ the moment you see my face, huh? Out with it.¡±

    A beautiful blonde-haired red-eyed woman dressed in a crisp white military uniform appeared before us with her arms crossed in front of her chest in a sullen manner as she looked down on us. It was a really familiar face. It kinda feels like the military cap she¡¯s wearing is a little bit more luxurious-lookingpared to before.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡°Actually, it really hasn¡¯t. We really do manage to encounter each other fairly often, don¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true isn¡¯t it, Lieutenant Colonel?¡±

    ¡°Actually, I¡¯m no longer a lieutenant colonel and am already a full-fledged colonel instead. Rising in the ranks this fast does bring its own set of troubles though.¡±

    After saying so, Colonel Serena wrinkled her eyebrows as she flicked the brim of her military hat with her fingertip. It looks like I didn¡¯t make a mistake. So that¡¯s why her military hat looks fancier than before.

    ¡°Congrattions on your promotion. So, what did youe here for, Colonel?¡±

    ¡°Do you think there¡¯s any other reason foring here aside from ordering a custom power armor? I managed to get a little free time so I decided to stop by for a bit, but then I found the shopkeeper in the middle of entertaining a walk-in customer. Considering the kind of shop this is, I found it strange for them to agree to entertain a walk-in customer without any prior appointment, and when I inquired a bit, the shopkeeper told me the customer was a mercenary.¡±

    ¡°I see. There aren¡¯t that many mercenaries who need a custom-made power armor tailored for nobles and have some sort of connections to be entertained by a shop like this huh.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s exactly what went through my mind. And so, I asked the shopkeeper to introduce us. The moment I asked if the customers were you guys, I was able to confirm things right aw-¡­¡­¡±

    Colonel Serena¡¯s line of sight focused straight on Kugi. It seems that Kugi was also staring straight at Colonel Serena. The two¡¯s gazes intertwined.

    ¡°Did you actually increase the number of girls apanying you again¡­¡­? Really, a man like you is truly-¡±

    Colonel Serena turned her gaze toward me and looked at me as if I was some sort of human-shaped garbage.

    ¡°H-Hey! It isn¡¯t like that at all¡­¡­ It really isn¡¯t. There are a lot ofplicated reasons for this y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°Complicated reasons huh¡­¡­ Well, it¡¯s you after all, so that might really be the case.¡±

    Hey, stop that! Don¡¯t look at me with that pitying gaze. Stop giving me a look that says ¡®this guy managed to get himself caught up in some sort of trouble again¡¯ will you? I¡¯m really gonna cry here.

    ¡°Do you need my help?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re fine for now. There aren¡¯t any particr problems.¡±

    ¡°I see. That¡¯s good then. By the way, can you introduce me to this youngdy?¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. Her name is Kugi Seijou. She is a priestess of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, and seems to have traveled all the way from there to the Windas system to meet with and take care of me.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    Yeah, I get it. I really do. I¡¯m only spitting facts here, but I get why she¡¯s reacting that way. Even we, the party directly involved, haven¡¯t really processed the situationpletely yet, so it must sound quite absurd to a third party.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t quite get the situation from that. Can you organize it into something more understandable?¡±

    ¡°Like I said, she¡¯s a priestess of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, and she insists that I¡¯m some sort of special being. She says it¡¯s her sworn duty to serve special beings like me.¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    She looks like she really didn¡¯t get what I was talking about. Well, this is a pickle. I really don¡¯t get the situation all that much myself, so I can¡¯t exin it well to others.

    ¡°Please just don¡¯t think about it too deeply. Anyway, she seems to be staying by my side for her own purposes. Right now, we¡¯re working on getting to know each other better first.¡±

    ¡°I really didn¡¯t understand a thing you said, but anyway, I¡¯m convinced, I guess. However, the Holy Vuelzarus Empire huh¡­¡­¡±

    Col. Serena looked at Kugi with her arms folded in front of her chest.

    ¡°He is a frence mercenary, but he¡¯s also regarded as a celebrated hero awarded by His Majesty The Emperor Himself with the First-ss Silver Sword Wings Assault medal and the First-ss Star Cross medal. He¡¯s also been made an honorary viscount of this country. Just be aware that any attempt of bringing him over to your country permanently could result in severe diplomatic issues between your country and our own.¡±

    ¡°I understand. I shall only devote myself to serving My Lord. I will never force My Lord to do things he does not agree with.¡±

    Kugi dered with a solemn expression while looking straight back at Col. Serena. Well, for now at least, Kugi¡¯s words and actions have remained fairly consistent. She really seems to be prioritizing following my lead. She did say they were ready to wee me in her home country with the greatest hospitality, but she won¡¯t force me toe over anyway.

    ¡°I take note of those words of yours. However, why did the Holy Vuelzarus Empire go through the trouble of dispatching her all the way to here, exactly? You said something about being some sort of special existence, but I don¡¯t quite understand what that means.¡±

    ¡°Ah-¡­¡­ Well, it seems I have some sort of huge potential for mastering psionic power or something like that. And she also seems to be tasked with observing me. Anyway, it¡¯s rted to those things. To be honest, we still don¡¯t quite understand it ourselves.¡±

    ¡°I see. In other words, it¡¯s just your usual penchant for attracting trouble at work. You¡¯re also having it hard huh.¡±

    ¡°You sound like it has nothing to do with you, but ain¡¯t some of those troublesome situations closely rted to you, Colonel?¡±

    ¡°By the way, you ordered a custom-made power armor, didn¡¯t you? What kind of armor did you get?¡±

    This woman! She just quickly changed the topic with a smile¡­¡­!

    ¡°This is it.¡±

    ¡°It looks really cool!¡±

    Elma operated the holo-disy on the table to show the armor design I ordered. Col. Serena smiled bitterly the moment she saw the design.

    ¡°It¡¯s a very, err, sharp design, I suppose¡­¡­ Well, this is just like you, I guess.¡±

    ¡°A heroic knight-in-shining-armor design really doesn¡¯t fit me, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    Of course, the armor I ordered was fully environmentally adaptable, so it was the kind that literally covers the entire body from top to toe. The color of the helmet visor is red. I mostly modeled the design after a ninja, but I wonder if the people of this world would get that.

    By the way, you can also choose and employbinations of the many exterior add-ons avable. It was really simr to the time when I designed Mei, except for theck of some options like face modeling. It seems they will tailor the exterior add-ons to match the general design. The most important point was the inside of the power armor. In other words, the armor¡¯s main body itself. When the exterior is peeled off, you¡¯d get to see a chassis underneath that¡¯s packed with artificial muscles and various sensors. Well, since the chassis was considered the main body of the armor, it seems it was possible to change the exterior appearance if you wanted to.

    ¡°By the way, why are you here again, Colonel¡­¡­? Err, it¡¯s definitely something power armor-rted huh.¡±

    ¡°Because I was promoted to colonel, I received a power armor from home as a celebration gift. Since I can¡¯t exactly leave it with just the bare chassis, I went here to have it adjusted and get some exterior parts installed. Oh,e to think of it, you¡¯re supposed to get your motion data recorded, right?¡¹

    ¡°That¡¯s the n.¡±

    ¡°Then this is perfect timing. Shopkeeper, how about recording both our motion data at the same time? You can do that, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that is possible. If both of you are alright with that, then by all means.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what he said. You don¡¯t need to hold back on my ount. Shall we?¡±

    After saying so, Col. Serena patted the handle of the sword on her waist in a challenging manner. Err, we¡¯re not really gonna use real swords, right? If we are, I¡¯m just gonna run away from here, okay?

 Chapter 320 â€“ Sparring with Colonel Serena

    <h4>Chapter 320 - Sparring with Colonel Serena</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The shop had a basement, or rather, an underground floor specialized for collecting motion data, and I and Col. Serena were set to engage in a spar in it.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been curious about your skills for a while. We¡¯ve already fought side-by-side after all.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    On her part, Col. Serena just took off her military coat. I still wore my usual mercenary outfit, and both of us picked up practice swords made out of reinforced resin. The room itself functioned as arge motion scanner, and it seemed it was already recording Col. Serena and my every move, including the act of choosing practice swords for ourselves. In other words, recording our natural movements and habits apart from our motion data duringbat would allow them to further reduce the sense of difort when wearing the custom-made armor.

    ¡°You don¡¯t seem to be that interested in this spar?¡±

    ¡°I think anyone wouldn¡¯t like getting hurt you know¡­¡­¡±

    I chose two practice swords of just the right length and weight. I then turned my attention to Col. Serena. Ah, mm. She¡¯s definitely raring to go. Does she really find it fun to push me around with a practice sword?

    ¡°If you¡¯re already disying an attitude like that before a match, you¡¯d end up losing something perfectly winnable you know. You have to put more spirit into it-¡±

    ¡°And I¡¯m also reluctant to beat up a beautiful woman like you, Colonel Serena.¡±

    ¡°-Excuse me? You? Beating me up?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll turn out like that.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­That¡¯s some nerve you have. Now I¡¯m even more interested.¡±

    Col. Serena¡¯s lips curled into a smile. Mm, it was a pretty aggressive smile. Oh, how scary.

    Well, Col. Serena was really looking forward to kicking me around, so this match probably won¡¯t go so smoothly. I definitely have no intention of going easy on her, and I don¡¯t intend to lose either. Unless Col. Serena turns out to be a lot more skilled than Mei, my win was basically assured.

    ¡°Well then, shall we begin?¡±

    ¡°Ok. Please go easy on-¡±

    Col. Serena made her move before I even finished talking. Or rather, she¡¯d already closed the distance between us and was already brandishing her practice sword above her shoulder with both hands.

    ¡°Whoah there.¡±

    I blocked Col. Serena¡¯s swing by crossing my swords and used the force of the blow to jump back and gain some distance again. It¡¯s dangerous to sh head-on with an opponent who trumps you both in power and speed. If you take a series of powerful shes that you can¡¯t parry that well, you won¡¯t be able to escape the onught, and eventually, your defenses will crumble, and you¡¯d end up spitting blood.

    ¡°Are you not going to attack?¡±

    Col. Serena gave me a sharp re while holding her sword aloft.

    ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯m actually a pacifist.¡±

    ¡°What an amusing joke.¡±

    The moment after she said those words, Col. Serena¡¯s appearance suddenly turned into a blur for an instant. No, that¡¯s not it. She merely stepped in at a tremendous speed. We should have been separated by a distance of more than 10 meters, but she was already right in front of me. Yeah, that¡¯s not a speed that can be attained by a regr human, right? Enhanced nobles really are scary.

    ¡°-Kh!¡±

    ¡°Huph-!¡±

    I held my breath and activated slow-motion perception, allowing me to avoid Col. Serena¡¯s sh by a hair¡¯s breadth. I then quickly shed her abdomen and right knee with my two swords. If this were a real battle, my attacks would have hacked her stomach open and severed her right leg below the knee.

    ¡°I see. How troublesome.¡±

    Col. Serena jumped forward to take distance, turned around, and stroked her abdomen with her left hand.

    ¡°Do you still wanna go?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll have you apany me until I¡¯m satisfied.¡±

    ¡°Ugh.¡±

    Col. Serena smiled ferociously and brandished her sword again. Apparently, I really needed to apany her until she¡¯s had enough.

    ¡°Here I go!¡±

    Col. Serena closed the gap at a speed that made her entire body seem blurry again, but this time around, she didn¡¯t carelessly get too close and attacked from out of my range. Her earlier attacks were that of an aggressive style that aimed to blow away the opponent¡¯s defense, but this time, her attacks were a flurry of blows thatcked the earlier power, but made up for it with sheer frequency. It was swordsmanship of finesse mixed with devious feints.

    ¡°Muh!?¡±

    However, the more the attacks, the more gaps I can exploit. Normally, the sheer frequency of attacks would be enough to cover those gaps, but for me who can slow down my perception of time, piercing those gaps was all too easy.

    ¡°Kuh, just why-!?¡±

    It was just a slight gap between the rapid shower of attacks. But the moment I urately pierced that gap, the colonel¡¯s attacks lost their earlier momentum, and the tempo of attack and defense was eventually reversed. Once you focus more on defense to make up for the gap that was struck, you won¡¯t be able to follow up with the next attack, and your rhythm will eventually get disrupted. Once that happens, the number of exploitable gaps will increase even further.

    ¡°There, it¡¯s over.¡±

    I lightly poked the middle of Col. Serena¡¯s chest with the tip of my practice sword. If done for real, it would be a fatal blow that goes straight through the heart. No matter how powerful nobles have be through enhancements, if their heart, which is the center of the circtory system, gets destroyed, their deaths would be inevitable. But it seems some nobles actually go so far as to transnt a second heart into their bodies.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Hm? Col. Serena¡¯s state was¡­¡­?

    ¡°One more match! I don¡¯t ept this!¡±

    ¡°Uwaah! Is this really something to cry about!?¡±

    Col. Serena, who was quivering with a bright red face, kinda looked cute. But with the practice sword in her hand, the resulting image was a lot more violent than cute. Our swords were made of blunt reinforced resin, so it¡¯s not like they¡¯re able to cut, but they still hurt like heck when you get hit by them. That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t hold back at all. Absolutely.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it strange!? There¡¯s definitely something wrong with you, right!? Why did I lose to such a slow sword!?¡±

    ¡°Now, now. Don¡¯t say that, Colonel. I personally think the results speak for themselves.¡±

    When asked whether I was cheating or not, I couldn¡¯t actually deny it, so I just ignored the question. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m lying y¡¯know. I¡¯m just not telling her the truth.

    ¡°I¡¯m not convinced! One more match! One more match!¡±

    Col. Serena stomped her feet and swung her sword in a tantrum. She¡¯s just like a child!

    ¡°You¡¯re gonna end up crying again y¡¯know? You¡¯re gonna owe me one, okay?¡±

    ¡°Gununu¡­¡­ Understood! I¡¯ll be in your debt! En garde!¡±

    In the end, I just gave up after about five more matches. I won every match, but my stamina wasn¡¯t gonna hold out much longer.

    ¡°Running away after winning is unfair! I think it¡¯s very unfair!¡±

    ¡°As if I¡¯d go along with your whims any longer than this! We¡¯ve fought seven matches already dammit! It¡¯s enough, right?¡±

    After saying so, I held my swords in a reverse grip. It was a sign that I wasn¡¯t willing to continue anymore.

    Col. Serena seemed to be still full of energy, but I was already exhausted. Closebat using swords really takes a toll on your mental strength and concentration. Perhaps Col. Serena was gradually getting used to my movements because I had to breathe in and slow down time a lot more frequently in the second half of our matches. I¡¯ve only ever used the ability this frequently during my matches with Mei. Well, unlike the matches with Mei, I wasn¡¯t vomiting blood every few moments, so it was a lot easier to deal with Col. Serena.

    ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve been humiliated like this¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Humiliated¡­¡­? This is just a spar, right?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nobody who beat me seven times in a row during all my previous spars!¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Do I need to take responsibility or something?¡±

    ¡°Mu-! I haven¡¯t said anything of the sort you know!?¡±

    Col. Serena¡¯s face turned bright red as she pointed the tip of her practice sword toward me. Oh, no, no, no. I won¡¯t resist ma¡¯am. I¡¯m firmly against violence. I sandwiched my practice swords inside my armpits and raised both hands as a sign of surrender.

    ¡°They should havepleted recording our motion data. We¡¯re done here then. Let¡¯s pack up!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna ask you for a spar again next time I have the chance¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes, yes. Next time, alright?¡±

    Under Col. Serena¡¯s heated gaze as she trembled due to a sense of humiliation, I headed to the shelf installed near the wall to ce the practice swords back. Somehow, I feel like Col. Serena was even more set on mepared to before though¡­¡­ Is this the so-called force majeure? Is it? Fine, let¡¯s just think of it that way. It feels like my tendency to attract trouble reared its ugly head again, but it¡¯s probably just my imagination. Yeah, I¡¯m sure that¡¯s it. I decided not to dwell on it any longer.

 Chapter 321 â€“ Miss Tag-along

    <h4>Chapter 321 - Miss Tag-along</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°I¡¯m off-duty today.¡±

    As soon as we got out of the armor shop that catered to nobles, Col. Serena immediately dered so as she stared straight at my face.

    ¡°I see. So you n on tagging along huh.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­That¡¯s right.¡±

    She was surprisingly honest about her intentions. Well, it¡¯s not like this was the first time she¡¯s bothered us while she¡¯s off-duty. Back then, she even rushed inside Krishna and eventually got dead drunk. As a result, she exposed a lot of her less-ttering sides to us.

    ¡°So, what¡¯s the n?¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­¡­ Anything should be fine except for drinking alcohol, right?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. How about having a meal without drinking any alcoholic beverages? You two just moved around a lot, so you should be feeling hungry now, right?¡±

    ¡°Now that you mentioned it, that does seem like the case.¡±

    After having breakfast in the hotel, I called brother-inw Ernst while the women went out shopping. After that, I met up with the girls outside, had a bit of tea with them, went to the armor shop, and eventually ended up sparring with Col. Serena. So I really haven¡¯t had the chance to eat lunch yet. It might be a little bit early for lunch, but since we still needed to find a ce to dine in first, the timing was pretty much perfect.

    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go with that. Would that be fine with you, Colonel?¡±

    ¡°Yes, certainly.¡±

    ¡°Ok. How about you, Kugi?¡±

    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s fine with me as well, My Lord.¡±

    Since Col. Serena and Kugi had also agreed, we decided on looking for a nice restaurant. Mei? Mei just nodded in response when I turned to her. She was practically the perfect maid, so she just quietly sticks to close us like a shadow at times like this.

    ¡°Mm. Since Col. Serena is here, should we look for something a bit fancier this time?¡±

    As we were about to head out to the main street, Mimi took out her tablet terminal from her waist and held it aloft as she walked. Walking while looking at smartphones or tablets is dangerous y¡¯know, Mimi.

    ¡°Right. It might be nice to eat at a ce that¡¯s a little more ssy.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really mind where we eat though?¡±

    Since they¡¯ve known each other for quite a bit already, Mimi, Elma, and Col. Serena started to discuss about where we¡¯d eat in a rxed and familiar manner. Since Col. Serena was the daughter of a marquis, Mimi was hesitant when interacting with her in the past, but ever since she saw Col. Serena drowning her frustrations in alcohol in a sloppy manner, she seemed to turn a lot more rxed in her presence.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to join in on the discussion, Kugi?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with the eating habits of this country yet, and I¡¯m not familiar with the restaurants here either in the first ce¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Oh, right. Come to think of it, we haven¡¯t exchanged contacts yet, haven¡¯t we? Should we do it now?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes. Umm¡­¡­¡±

    Kugi searched inside a bag-like essory pouch slung on her shoulder and took out a small data terminal. It looked brand new.

    ¡°Actually, I haven¡¯t gotten used to this yet¡­¡­ Our country still uses coins and banknotes as currency, and we also don¡¯t need to use such devices formunication.¡±

    ¡°I see? Then let¡¯s start with turning on the terminal first¡­¡­ Oi, oi. I think it¡¯s better to enable the identification function of the device first.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s this identification function?¡±

    Kugi tilted her head to the side. Ah, this girl really didn¡¯t know anything huh. Well, I sure didn¡¯t expect to encounter a person who was absolutely no good with technology in this sci-fi world. Just how did she make her way to the Windas system if she¡¯s like this? I wonder if someone else escorted her here.

    ¡°Yosh, let¡¯s put that back inside your bag for now after all. I¡¯ll teach you step by step once we get back to the hotel. Be careful not to let others get their hands on it though.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord!¡±

    Kugi obediently heeded my words and gently ced the small data terminal back into her shoulder bag. Just like she said, she really was a sheltered girl. It looks like having her adapt to our lifestyle is gonna take some time.

    Mei watched over us quietly while Kugi and I were having our exchange. Why did it seem like she was staring a bit too hard? I turned toward her, but Mei just shook her head lightly in response. It kinda feels like Mei¡¯s a little strange. I wonder what¡¯s wrong?

    ¡°Hiro,e over here for a bit. You too, Kugi. We¡¯ve narrowed down our options, so let¡¯s decided where we¡¯re going to eat among these shops.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha. C¡¯mon Kugi.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    When we finally reached the main street, we got called out. So I and Kugi caught up with the threedies who were walking ahead while engaging in small talk. We then gathered near the wall of a building right around the corner to discuss our final destination. We wouldn¡¯t get in the way of the other pedestrians here.

    ¡°So, how many candidates are there?¡±

    ¡°Yes! This is my personal rmendation!¡±

    Mimi showed us her tablet terminal¡¯s screen. What it disyed were mysterious glowing spheres, as well as pink-colored noodles- No, they weren¡¯t noodles. They were some kind of worm orrvae. Anyway, it was basically an image of a te of mysterious long and slim creatures with some sort of powder sprinkled on top of them. What appeared to be meatball soup was made out of some sort of four-legged bug¡­¡­ Err, crab? Was it a crab? No, it¡¯s probably something else. Anyway, there were lots of images of some pretty hardcore-looking dishes that were not for the faint of heart.

    ¡°It¡¯s apparently a specialty restaurant that serves authentic Pippiperoni native dishes.¡±

    ¡°Un, I see¡­¡­ Let¡¯s see the others.¡±

    When I nced to the side, I saw that Kugi¡¯s ears were drooping as she lightly trembled while looking at the screen. It kinda looked like her three bushy tails were puffed up slightly as well. It seemed that Kugi¡¯s sensibilities also found native Pippiperoni dishes to be unptable. Or rather, just what kind of ce was Pippiperoni anyway? Was it somewhere in the Gran Empire? I feel like I definitely don¡¯t wanna try going to that ce though.

    ¡°I chose a safer option.¡±

    Elma dered and reached for Mimi¡¯s tablet terminal to disy her choice of restaurant. Apparently, it was a restaurant that mainly serves imperial cuisine. It also seems that they didn¡¯t use synthetic ingredients made from food cartridges in their dishes, but real vegetables and meat instead. Yeah, it was safe alright. Definitely safe.

    If I had to find fault with it, then I¡¯d point out that the dishes they served were a little bit too simr to the food served at the hotel.

    ¡°And thest one is¡­¡­ Eh?¡±

    Thest one was a fast food shop chain that had a lot of branches spread across the empire. It was directly managed by thergest auto-cooker manufacturer in the empire, and the number of staff employed was minimal. A wide variety of auto-cookers were installed inside the store, and customers could order food using their favorite auto-cooker models to dine.

    ¡°¡­¡­What?¡±

    ¡°I just think it¡¯s quite an unexpected choice for you.¡±

    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be fun to keep eating in fancy restaurants you know.¡±

    I see. That¡¯s true. Kugi did say she¡¯s rarely eaten dishes made by auto-cookers, so it might not be a bad choice, all things considered. We¡¯ve recently only been eating at high-end shops whenever we dined outside after all.

    ¡°I want to go with Colonel Serena¡¯s suggestion. Sometimes, it¡¯s nice to enjoy vors catered more to the masses, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, doing so from time to time might be good.¡±

    ¡°There was also a branch of this chain store back on Termaine Prime. I used toe there with my friends often. It¡¯s¡­¡­ a bit nostalgic.¡±

    Mimi disyed a slightly forlorn expression. For Mimi, it should be a ce that reminded her of both happy and painful memories. For Mimi, Termaine Prime was both her hometown and a ce where no one extended a helping hand to her when she needed it the most.

    ¡°Alright, don¡¯t make a face like that. You¡¯d lose out if you don¡¯t enjoy your meal y¡¯know?¡±

    Elma seemed to have sensed Mimi¡¯s mood and pped her back to cheer her back up.

    ¡°Yes. That¡¯s right! I¡¯m looking forward to what kind of menu they¡¯re offering now. Other than the standard menu, some other items get offered depending on the season.¡±

    Mimi pulled herself together and disyed a cheerful smile. Well, at times like these, it¡¯s better to focus on having fun together to rece those sad memories with happy ones rather than just cheering people up with words alone.

    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s go ahead and enjoy the taste of junk food. The food prepared by auto-cookers isn¡¯t half-bad at all.¡±

    ¡°Right. I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡±

    It looks like Kugi was also looking forward to the experience, so we better hurry up and head out already. I¡¯m gonna enjoy a cheap hotdog or hamburger for the first time in a while.

 Chapter 322 â€“ Gossip (The Contents of Which are Pretty Dangerous-sounding)

    <h4>Chapter 322 - Gossip (The Contents of Which are Pretty Dangerous-sounding)</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°How is it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s delicious. It¡¯s amazing that all these tasty dishes were actually made by machines.¡±

    Kugi¡¯s fluffy tails were swaying back and forth as she happily ate a hamburger. The ¡®hamburger¡¯ was made of a white bun, a vividly vermillion patty, and a dark-green vegetable-lookalike that didn¡¯t really resemble lettuce. Its shape was decidedly that of a hamburger, but its color was strange. But, well, it did taste like a hamburger, so it probably was one. Yeah.

    Also, the color of a hamburger apparently changes depending on the food cartridges used to make it. Even though they tasted mostly the same, their colors were different. Maybe the difference was caused by the types of raw materials used.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, Hiro-sama, this one¡¯s also delicious.¡±

    ¡°Oh, which one? Mm? This certainly is pretty tasty. I guess is something like curry.¡±

    Mimi was eating bread that sandwiched some sort of yellow-colored filling. The paste was delicious, spicy, and tasted like curry. The dish resembled curry-filled naan bread.

    ¡°¡­¡­Muu.¡±

    Col. Serena was eating something resembling french fries with a sulky expression on her pretty face. Even if the sticks were green, they tasted decidedly like potato french fries.

    ¡°Why do you look so miffed anyway?¡±

    ¡°Oh, nothing¡­¡­ You guys sure look like you¡¯re having fun.¡±

    ¡°Uwaah. How troublesome.¡±

    ¡°Can you stop calling me troublesome already?¡±

    ¡°Hey! Can you two stop getting in each other¡¯s cases in a ce like this? We¡¯re standing out a lot already without you guys getting everybody¡¯s attention.¡±

    Elma emitted a disturbing aura as she scolded Col. Serena and me in exasperation.

    Mm, that¡¯s true. We do stand out a lot huh. We¡¯re a groupposed of a man who looks like a mercenary, four beautiful women, and an equally beautiful maidroid. One of the women in our group was even wearing a military uniform of the imperial space navy and had a sword strapped to her waist. The mercenary-like man also had swords strapped to his waist. Nobles? How scary. Of course, anyone would try to stay away from a group like us.

    As a matter of fact, the tables around us werepletely empty. Un, I¡¯m truly sorry, everyone. But we also wanna eat as we liked and not be bothered, so please bear with it for a bit. Well, it¡¯s not like we specifically had the rest of the diners vacate their seats or anything like that. They just maintained a distance from us on their own due to fear, so I guess we didn¡¯t really need to pay much attention to them.

    ¡°How long are you guys gonna be staying in this colony anyway?¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t move from here for at least a week. We¡¯re waiting for the delivery of a newly purchased ship, and ck Lotus is also getting overhauled and refurbished. Krishna is free to move, but we can¡¯t just leave the new ship and the Lotus here.¡±

    I ate something resembling a hotdog as I answered Col. Serena¡¯s question. The texture of the sausage wasn¡¯t that good, but other than that, I had noints. The color was still funky though.

    ¡°Come to think of it, what are you doing here, Colonel Serena? Oh, but I don¡¯t have any intention of snooping for military secrets.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been here ever since I got promoted to colonel. Please try and guess the rest.¡±

    ¡°Fumu?¡±

    I supposeding to the Windas system was necessary after she got promoted. In other words, as a consequence of Ms. Serena being promoted to colonel, the Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet under her leadership was going to increase in size ordingly? I see. So, that¡¯s why Col. Serena and her fleet were staying here in the Windas system, which was home to the empire¡¯s premier shipyards. Maybe they¡¯re in the process of procuring a variety of new ships here.

    ¡°It looks like it¡¯s gonna be a lot of work. Procedures and stuff, I mean.¡±

    ¡°Well, I suppose¡­¡­ I¡¯m happy to be evaluated so highly, but getting promoted too fast alsoes with its own share of troubles. Some jealous people keep saying I¡¯m just using my parent¡¯s power and influence to get my way after all.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not exactly untrue to some extent, right? But more than that, it¡¯s your flexible mindset and decisive judgment that got you to where you are now, Colonel. Of course, luck is a part of it too.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I can¡¯t exactly deny that I¡¯ve been pretty luckytely.¡±

    Colonel Serena gave me a quick nce. Mm, right. If ck Lotus and I didn¡¯t intervene in time, Colonel Serena could have been killed in action during the battle with the crystal lifeforms. Or maybe she would have been badly wounded during the ground battle in the Comatt system. Even if she had the support of the imperial marines, facing off alone with that mutated monster still wouldn¡¯t have left her unscathed.

    ¡°But you¡¯ll get even busier from now on huh. Your subordinates are also going to increase, right?¡±

    ¡°Right. There will be a lot more of them than before. Well, I¡¯m from the house of a marquis, so I¡¯m not exactlycking in the leadership and organization department you know.¡±

    ¡°You sure are confident.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m from a viscount house, so I got away with simple physical augmentation treatments, but members of a marquis house not only need to strengthen their physical capabilities but also their brain¡¯s processing abilities as well. She¡¯s confident because she has every right to.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. I don¡¯t really want to use the enhanced processing abilities too much though since it really takes a lot out of you.¡±

    After saying so, Col. Serena put arge amount of sweetener into the coffee-like beverage she was drinking. Does she need sugar to recharge her brain or something? It¡¯s none of my business if you get diabetes y¡¯know, Colonel.

    ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t look like we can help much with anything though.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Since their fleet¡¯s going to increase in size, a small mercenary fleet like us wouldn¡¯t be worth much, and I¡¯m sure they¡¯ve already formed their own anti-pirate tactics, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, I suppose. Recently, we¡¯ve been having trouble making the targets take the bait, so we¡¯ve put more effort into the disguise¡­¡­ Like assigning an unassuming small-ss ship that¡¯s actually armed to the teeth with military equipment as an escort to traders.¡±

    ¡°Uwaah. How malicious.¡±

    ¡°It would be a total nightmare for pirates to face off with a small-ss ship that only rookie mercenaries pilot that¡¯s actually packing advanced military weapons and equipment.¡±

    After pointing that out, Elma disyed a bitter smile. I wasn¡¯t sure about exactly what model of ships they were using for their operations, but I can make an educated guess. It was probably either a Space Manta (nicknamed Zabuton) or a Spearhead (nicknamed Carrot).

    Both were the smallest of small-ss ships and obviously weren¡¯t capable of housingrge energy generators. Theirbat performance also left a lot to be desired. However, if they were upgraded with state-of-the-art military weapons and equipment, those rtively fast and agile ships will have sufficient firepower to handle pirate ships.

    Come to think of it, I do kinda remember the colonel mentioning that they increased the number of bait transport ships a while back. And whenever pirates attacked those helpless-looking transport ships and mercenary escorts, they¡¯d find their targets armed to the brim with military weapons and equipment. Then the reinforcements from the rest of the Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet will immediately make their intimidating entrance. That¡¯s scary, man.

    ¡°You¡¯re the one who taught us all about these ¡®malicious¡¯ tactics you know?¡±

    Then Colonel Serena elegantly brought a chicken nugget-like piece of food to her mouth. It¡¯s honestly amazing how refined and elegant she looked even though she was eating with her hands. Now, this was a real high-born aristocraticdy, Elma-san. You really don¡¯t resemble her at all. Ow, oww. Please stop pinching my upper arm mdy.

    ¡°Can you please refrain from flirting in front of me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just educating this fellow about delicacy.¡±

    ¡°It hurts a lot though¡­¡­ Anyway, you¡¯re probably gonna undergo training after your fleet increases in size huh. Seems tough.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s probably going to be the case. Since our scale has grown, we¡¯re going to have to retrain our tactics and fleet maneuvers.¡±

    Colonel Serena had a troubled look on her face.

    Actually, the Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet wasn¡¯t just tasked with taking down pirates, but also other threats like crystal lifeforms. I think Colonel Serena¡¯s actual idea was to operate a force that¡¯s able to maintain domestic security and steadily gain poprity while also being freely able to go to areas where they were most needed in case of emergencies.

    Because they often engaged pirates, they had a lot morebat experience under their beltpared to regr imperial military fleets.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know if we¡¯ll actually be of use, but we¡¯ll be free once we¡¯ve gotten our new ship and the refurbishment of the Lotus ispleted. Depending on the conditions, we can probably take on a request from you guys. But since the number of our ships has increased in addition to me achieving tinum rank, the price is gonna be higherpared to before.¡±

    ¡°Right. I won¡¯t stand on ceremony and get in contact with you if anythinges up then. If I do contact you, don¡¯t act like this conversation never happened, okay? You promised.¡±

    ¡°As I said, it depends on the conditions.¡±

    I shrugged my shoulders as I replied to Col. Serena. After all, with this, I can just say I don¡¯t fancy the conditions and then bail on herter. In other words, depending on the situation, I can just simply refuse her. Gahaha, I¡¯m so smart.

 Chapter 323 â€“ A Tranquil Lull

    <h4>Chapter 323 - A Tranquil Lull</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    It¡¯s been three days since we¡¯ve had lunch together with an off-duty Colonel Serena. I was afraid Col. Serena would immediately throw a request with conditions too good to refuse our way, but there was no such thing, and we continued spending our days in peace.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think mercenaries were actually so, umm¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Laid back?¡±

    ¡°Umm, yes. It might be rude of me to say this in front of you, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s not rude at all.¡±

    I shrugged my shoulders in response to Kugi, who was currently sporting body-hugging training wear, and took a sip of my protein-rich energy drink.

    Hm? It¡¯s really aromatic. Kinda tastes like kinako (roasted soybean flour). It¡¯s pretty nice.

    ¡°We¡¯re having our ships maintained, so we¡¯re a lot more rxed than usual. There are almost no pirates active in the Windas system, so there basically aren¡¯t that many jobs we can take on in this system aside from basic escort requests. Escort requests normally take a few weeks and can take up to a few months sometimes, so they¡¯re a little bit too much to handle for Krishna alone.¡±

    ¡°And we also can¡¯t afford to leave ck Lotus and Antlion here.¡±

    ¡°As a result, we currently can¡¯t move away from here, and since we also can¡¯t take any jobs, we can just busy ourselves with working out, eating, and sleeping.¡±

    We first saw off the mechanic sisters who went to work early in the morning after eating and getting dressed. Then the four of us who were left went to the sports gym near the hotel. The hotel itself didn¡¯t have a dedicated gym, so we went out of our way toe here. After all, if we only ate and slept all the time, our bodies would be dull.

    ¡°By the way, did you have a general impression of mercenaries before, Kugi?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve seen a good number of holo-movies, novels, andics about the activities of mercenaries.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s unexpected. Judging from your words from before, I kinda had the impression that the people of the Holy Vuelzarus empire didn¡¯t really care about such things.¡±

    ¡°Of course, we do. Certainly, people like me do value our duties a lot and prioritize them whenever appropriate, but in order to aplish them, a fulfilled and healthy lifestyle is also needed. And to have a fulfilling and healthy lifestyle, entertainment is, of course, essential. Our country also has many forms of entertainment avable.¡±

    Kugi proudly stuck her chest to the front as she exined.

    ¡°I kinda get it but kinda don¡¯t too¡­¡­ Well, it¡¯s certainly not realistic for everyone to just focus on their duties and spend their entire lives without having any fun.¡±

    No man¡¯s an ind, I suppose. The mission Kugi keeps mentioning sounded really grand and far-reaching. The scale was a little too big for me to understand. I can¡¯t really imagine working hard all my life for such a thing.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna change the topic for a bit. You have a lot of stamina, don¡¯t you, Kugi? Or rather, aren¡¯t you really athletic?¡±

    ¡°Is that so? I haven¡¯t really noticed.¡±

    Kugi tilted her head to the side cutely after hearing what I pointed out. The sight of the animal ears on her head moving from time to time was really adorable.

    ¡°I thought that too. She¡¯s practically on par with you, isn¡¯t she, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Not exactly. I think she¡¯s actually better than me when ites to muscle strength and instantaneous power.¡±

    Judging from the data disyed by the running machine, I had more stamina than Kugi, but all her other physical abilities were either on par or above mine. As expected, it seems she wasn¡¯t quite able to match Elma who had undergone physical augmentations though.

    ¡°Do all the locals of the Vuelzarus Holy Empire have ears and tails like yours?¡±

    ¡°Well, there certainly are many people who have ears and tails like mine. But some have ears and tails of many different shapes and sizes. Some have ears like yours, My lord, but have horns too.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­?¡±

    I wonder. I can only imagine what they¡¯re like, but don¡¯t they sound pretty much like beastmen? And some had ears like humans but possessed horns on their heads? Kinda like oni? I dunno.

    Kugi¡¯s usual clothes kinda resembled a miko¡¯s get-up, so my current impression of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire was a kemonomimi empire with a sort of Japanese-style atmosphere, but since there were people who seemed oni-like as well, was it more of a youkai empire instead? The Holy Vuelzarus Empire huh. How unfathomable.

    ¡°If Kugi isn¡¯t particrly gifted physically among her people, then they might all have higher basic physical abilitiespared to humans like Mimi and me.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°Tina and Whisker¡¯s race is also naturally strong, so it might really be like that.¡±

    Because those two were dwarves, their overall power and grip strength was amazing. Their livers were also especially hardy, judging from the copious amounts of alcohol they drank every day.

    ¡°By the way, what are we gonna do afterpleting our workout menu for today? We don¡¯t have anything nned in particr, right?¡±

    ¡°Mm, let¡¯s see. It looks like there aren¡¯t any ces that seem great for sightseeing around here¡­¡­¡±

    In thest three days, we¡¯ve basically visited all themercial and entertainment areas avable here in the Windas Tertius colony. There weren¡¯t any particrly interesting ces, but the shops in themercial area had pretty good selections of goods.

    Come to think of it, Mimi bought a lot of stuff from that imported goods store back then¡­¡­ She does sometimes hit the jackpot, but most of the food Mimi buys from stores like those are basically pretty grotesque.

    ¡°Oh, right. The items I ordered will arrive on the Krishna today guys.¡±

    ¡°The items you ordered?¡±

    ¡°Yes! They¡¯re all specialty foods brought here from various ces by trading ships! Are you interested, Kugi-chan?¡±

    Mimi disyed a bright smile toward Kugi. Oh boy. Don¡¯t rush to agree, Kugi. If you get baited by that smile, you¡¯d probably experience something unthinkable. That smile is a trap that invites you to a hell-like food tasting party.

    Mimi continued to preach the splendor of imported specialty foods to Kugi, who was listening with great interest. As I watched the two¡¯s antics, my portable data terminal¡¯s ringtone suddenly went off. It was probably Tina. She¡¯s supposed to be working right now though. Did something happen?

    ¡°Yes, hello? What¡¯s up?¡±

    I switched the terminal to speaker mode, and Tina¡¯s voice went up from it.

    ¡ºAh, Boss? We only needed to work half-day today, so we¡¯re off work now. You wanna hang out with me and Whisker fer a meal?¡»

    ¡°Sure. But just the three of us?¡±

    I nced at Mimi and the others. Why did they only ask for me and not the others? This was the first time something like this happened.

    ¡°I and Mei are here, so just go ahead.¡±

    Elma, who had been looking at me, gave her consent. Mimi also turned toward me and nodded. Hm? This kinda feels like it¡¯s been nned in advance, doesn¡¯t it?

    ¡°What are you guys up to¡­¡­? Well, alright. Where should we meet up?¡±

    ¡ºThanks a bunch. Umm, I¡¯ll send the location data right now. We¡¯re gonna head there immediately after this.¡»

    ¡°Got it. See you bothter.¡±

    When I hung up the call, the map data of our meet-up spot was sent to my terminal immediately. Hm? It looks like a restaurant with a somewhat high-ss feel to it.

    ¡°It¡¯s better not to ask about the circumstances, right?¡±

    ¡°Just have the two of them tell you directly.¡±

    ¡°Ok. I¡¯ll leave them to you.¡±

    ¡°No problem. You owe me one though.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not Colonel Serena you know. Gimme a break.¡±

    I retorted to Elma while smiling bitterly and nced over to the corner of the training room where Mei was standing. She nodded in response. Now then, I wonder what will happen.

 Chapter 324 â€“ A Serious Discussion

    <h4>Chapter 324 - A Serious Discussion</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Oh, over here Boss?¡±

    When I arrived at the meeting ce via tram, I found Tina and Whisker already waiting for me. The two of them almost always stuck together like glue, so it was only natural that they were together now as well.

    ¡°It looks like you two put in a lot of effort for today¡¯s date huh?¡±

    Both of them weren¡¯t in their usual work jumpsuits. They were wearing rather fashionable casual clothes instead. I think they were still in their usual get-up when they left for work in the morning though¡­¡­ Come to think of it, they did bring extra baggage. So, they went out of their way to bring a change of clothes to work. It feels more and more like this was all nned beforehand.

    ¡°Fufun! Ya always see us wearing those stuffy jumpsuits after all. How ¡¯bout it? Did ya fall fer us all over again? This Tina-chan¡¯s super cute today, eh?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re pretty cute, or rather, kinda cool today. It¡¯s quite a fresh look.¡±

    I gave Tina a straightforwardpliment without spouting any BS. Tina was wearing a dress and pants ensemble that emphasized her body¡¯s curves. Rather than cute, she looked pretty stylish. She was rather short because of her race, but she still exuded the sex appeal of a maturedy because of her ample curves.

    ¡°But isn¡¯t Whisker looking a little too nervous though?¡±

    ¡°Oh, yeah, I guess. Let¡¯s just talk as we eat.¡±

    After saying so, Tina took the lead and entered the restaurant. Since it wasn¡¯t good to just continue standing in front of the entrance, I held the nervous Whisker¡¯s hand and pulled her along as we also entered the restaurant. By the way, Whisker¡¯s get-up was quite feminine instead of cool like Tina¡¯s. Or rather, it was an ensemble that emphasized her girlishness. She wore abination of a fluttery one-piece dress with blue stripes of the same shade as her hair coupled with a white wide-brim hat. Combined with Tina¡¯s mature get-up, they presented¡­¡­ a rather striking pair of two opposite natures.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry¡­¡­ I¡¯m alright.¡±

    Whisker didn¡¯t seem to be alright at all. But she insists she is, so that¡¯s that, I suppose. But I can feel her small hand sweating a lot, so I can tell she¡¯s actually quite nervous. Since she¡¯s this nervous, I¡¯m starting to feel nervous as well. Just what kind of topic will lead to Whisker getting this nervous anyway?

    When we finally made it inside the restaurant, Tina had already called a staff member to lead us to our seats. Apparently, they¡¯ve already made a reservation in advance.

    ¡°I¡¯ll guide you to your seats. Please follow me.¡±

    ¡°Thanks. Over here, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha. Can you walk, Whisker?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Yes, totally fine.¡±

    Err, you don¡¯t seem fine at all y¡¯know. Well, both Tina and Whisker seemed nervous, but they didn¡¯t seem to be radiating a sad atmosphere, so I don¡¯t think the matter they want to talk about was gonna be anything bad.

    As I mulled over the situation, the restaurant staff guided us to a secluded spot at the back of the restaurant. Partitions prevented the other diners from seeing us, and the spot was obviously devised to offer a certain degree of privacy while still retaining a feeling of openness.

    ¡°This restaurant has a pretty nice atmosphere.¡±

    ¡°That it does. The dim lightin¡¯ also sets the mood.¡±

    The interior of the restaurant wasn¡¯t dark, but it made liberal use of indirect lighting, making it exude a peaceful and calming atmosphere. The reason why it didn¡¯t give out a gloomy impression might be the jazzy slow tempo music ying unobtrusively in the background.

    ¡°Shall we order some drinks first? I¡¯m fine with something non-alcoholic.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll go with non-alcoholic drinks too. It looks like we gotta get this over with fast, or Whisker¡¯s going to pass out from all the stress.¡±

    Tina operated the tablet terminal menu to ce our orders while smiling bitterly. It does look like Whisker wouldn¡¯t be able to taste anything in her current state. But they¡¯re going out of their way not to drink any alcohol? I was getting even more curious about the topic they¡¯re gonna bring up.

    ¡°You guys went fer a workout today, right? Did anythin¡¯ major happen?¡±

    ¡°There wasn¡¯t anything particrly notable. Oh, but we did discuss how Kugi was actually pretty athletic. It seems she hasn¡¯t really undergone any special training before, but she can already keep up with us who train regrly.¡±

    ¡°Hee-, so that girl¡¯s a lot stronger than she looks huh. She does look like yer typical slim, cute, and girly girl though.¡±

    ¡°We theorized that it might have something to do with her race. You guys are also pretty strong despite your appearances, right, Tina?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I suppose we¡¯re quite a bit strongerpared to you humans. Actually, from our perspective, humans are unexpectedly weak despite their appearance.¡±

    As we chatted, a server appeared, carrying our drinks on a tray. They looked like wine, but they were apparently simr to grape juice. Juices made from real fruits are considered luxury items in colonies like this one.

    ¡°So, what¡¯s going on today? You guys seemed to have nned for things quite a bit.¡±

    ¡°Oh-, Um? It¡¯s that, y¡¯see. Um, Whee?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s, um, err¡­¡­¡±

    Tina suddenly passed the buck to Whisker, who got miserably flustered. It looks like this is gonna take a while.

    ¡°Ok, ok. For now, can you tell me if it¡¯s good news or bad news?¡±

    ¡°U-Um, that actually depends on you, Big Brother.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡±

    Things were really strange. It¡¯s something that would make these two lose their cool this much. They even went out of their way to prepare a ce for us to talk and came all dressed up¡­¡­ And moreover, whether it¡¯s good or bad news depends on me?

    All of a sudden, a current ran through my spine. Don¡¯t tell me¡­ Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s really something like that?

    ¡°Did I manage to hit the bullseye? For both of you?¡±

    ¡°¡±Bullseye?¡±¡±

    The two tilted their heads in a questioning manner. Hm? They don¡¯t get it?

    ¡°Well, I was asking if I actually got the two of you pregnant. That¡¯s definitely good news y¡¯know-¡±

    ¡°N-N-No! Me and Whee always make sure to take contraceptives whenever we do it!¡±

    Tina¡¯s face turned bright red as she vehemently denied my guess. Oh, is that so? Well, yeah, of course. It did seem that the girls discussed topics like this among themselves from time to time. I was worried it would put some strain on their bodies so I offered to do something on my end, but from aprehensive perspective, it would be better for the girls themselves to take their own measures. After all, they knew their bodies best.

    ¡°So, what is it then? I really don¡¯t have any idea.¡±

    I can¡¯t think of any reason they¡¯d be this jittery other than me hitting an unexpected jackpot. They¡¯ve recently been busying and going to the Space Dwerg branch office here on Windas Tertius to handle the hand-off and research of the unidentified ship we captured, so I couldn¡¯t think of any event that would warrant their current actions. Ah, maybe it¡¯s something like employee reshuffling? That¡¯s certainly gonna be troublesome. But if that¡¯s the case, then wouldn¡¯t t be fine to call it bad news? So it¡¯s not that as well?

    ¡°Mm, I have no idea. I give up. Can you tell me already, guys?¡±

    ¡°Um, well, y¡¯see¡­¡­ we¡¯re thinkin¡¯ of quittin¡¯ thepany.¡±

    ¡°Hou.¡±

    I see.

    ¡°In other words, you no longer wanna be with us due to the contract with Space Dwerg, but wanna join us as official crew members instead?¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes. Um, if that¡¯s fine with you, Boss¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s fine with me. Rather, I wee you with open arms. Heck, I would have brought this up eventually if you guys didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°R-Really?¡±

    ¡°Really. I was just trying to find a good time to bring it up.¡±

    I¡¯m being honest here. But since there weren¡¯t any obvious inconveniences with our arrangement for the time being, and the two of them seemed to not be bothered by it either, I ended up putting it off.

    ¡°If you guys were asked by yourpany to get off the Lotus one day, I was going to ask you to quit and work for me instead as members of my crew. I was really just trying to find a good time to talk about it with you guys, but you ended bringing it up first.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Haah-¡±

    It seemed like Tina¡¯s taut nerves finally rxed, and she exhaled deeply. Whisker acted in much the same way her sister did.

    ¡°I was worried about what we¡¯d do if you¡¯d refused, Big Brother. I¡¯ve been discussing it with Big Sis since several days ago.¡±

    ¡°We finally told thepany about our intentions today.¡±

    ¡°You guys told yourpany about quitting first before discussing it with me? Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯d refuse you guys anyway.¡±

    I think the order waspletely reversed, but maybe they already consulted Mimi, Elma, and Mei about it first. So maybe that¡¯s why they did it while confident that I wouldn¡¯t refuse them. They both still seemed quite nervous though.

    ¡°Are you okay there, Whisker?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m- not okay¡­¡­ I¡¯mpletely drained¡­¡±

    Perhaps because she was just too tense earlier, Whisker ended up slumping weakly on the table and seemed drained of strength. She might have suffered unnecessary mental and emotional strain by arbitrarily raising psychological hurdles on her own. Honestly, they didn¡¯t even have to go through all this trouble. I would have agreed immediately even if they brought it up normally.

    ¡°Haah-¡­¡­ Well, since that¡¯s finally settled, how ¡¯bout havin¡¯ a toast again, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Sure. What are we gonna toast about?¡±

    ¡°To you and our brilliant future together, I suppose.¡±

    Tina then raised her ss. Our bright future huh. Sounds nice. Let¡¯s do our best to realize that brilliant future then.

 Chapter 325 â€“ Date with Kugi

    <h4>Chapter 325 - Date with Kugi</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    It¡¯s been a few days since Tina and Whisker were officially admitted as members of our motley crew.

    Eh? What happened after our talk? We ate our meals and I was forced to drink some alcohol by the two since we were celebrating. When I came to my senses, the three of us were already inside the¡ºresting area¡»near the restaurant.

    Well, maybe there were parts I do remember. Even so, those two bad girls really needed to experience some punishment. And so, I ¡®lectured¡¯ them for a while.

    ¡°Do we have something important going on today?¡±

    After having breakfast with everyone and getting decently dressed, I called out to Mei.

    ¡°We¡¯ve recently received word. It¡¯s from that specialty armor shop. It seems they have already finished your power armor, Master.¡±

    ¡°So, we¡¯ll have to pick it up today huh.¡±

    Mimi, who heard Mei¡¯s report, said with a smile.

    These past three days, I¡¯ve taken Elma, Mei, and Mimi on dates in that exact order. In other words, yesterday was Mimi¡¯s turn. We enjoyed eating out, walking together, enjoying the virtual aquarium, and basically just flirting with each other. That¡¯s why Mimi was in such a good mood today.

    ¡°Then, it¡¯s Kugi-chan¡¯s turn today, right?¡±

    ¡°Me?¡±

    Kugi reacted to Tina¡¯s words and disyed her surprise through her expression and raised fox ears.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Boss has been dating us in turns, so it¡¯s your turn now.¡±

    ¡°You ended up being thest one, but we have to be fair with stuff like this after all.¡±

    Elma followed up on Tina¡¯s words. Mei was expressionless as usual, making it difficult to read her feelings, but if she objected, then she would have spoken out directly. And since she hasn¡¯t, it looks like she didn¡¯t have any problem with it either. Whisker and Mimi also nodded, so there was no one who objected to the date with Kugi.

    ¡°I understand. Then I shall be apanying you today, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s go and have fun.¡±

    I replied to Kugi and then briefly sent Elma a nce. Elma nodded in response. I went and nced toward Mei next, and she also nodded back. For the time being, after living together with her for a while, it seems the girls have decided that Kugi posed no danger. I wouldn¡¯t say they came to that conclusion too early, but I still have to put up some appropriate measures just in case. For now, I told myself to try my hardest not to get involved in any sort of trouble while we were out on the date.

    I got dressed in my usual get-up - a sturdy jacket, my trustyser gun, and my swords - and left the hotel with Kugi.

    ¡°First, let¡¯s head to the armor shop and pick up my order.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord. However, is it alright to not have asked Mei-sama for help in carrying it?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t armors heavy? I think it¡¯s going to be difficult to carry it back.¡±

    Kugi disyed a worried expression as she walked beside me. Ah, I see. So that¡¯s what she means huh.

    ¡°These colonies have efficient goods delivery systems, so we don¡¯t really have to carryrge packages ourselves. You¡¯re familiar with the trams used to get around the colony, right? There are basically small versions of those in stores, and they allow for the direct delivery of goods straight from the warehouse to the client address.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ So why are we going out of our way to- Ah, I see. You have to try it on first before epting it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Well, they¡¯ve taken my sizes and motion data properly anyway, so I don¡¯t really think there would be any problems though.¡±

    We chatted like that until we arrived at the tram station and boarded a tram together. The tramwork was widely spread inside the colony, so you couldn¡¯t really feel any inconvenience when moving from ce to ce, but the distances between station to station were still pretty long.

    Long-distance travel was conducted via trams. And while we were walking to the station, I noticed that vehicles like cars weren¡¯t widely used. Or rather, it seemed the only vehicles in use were military ones, fire-fighting vehicles, and medical emergency vehicles.

    ¡°M-My Lord, that tickles.¡±

    ¡°Hm? Oh, sorry, sorry.¡±

    The inside of the tram was crowded, so I ended up sticking really close to Kugi, and it seems my breath was directly hitting the animal ears on top of Kugi¡¯s head. I thought her ears were fluttering more than usual. So that¡¯s how it is. Uh, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m breathing excitedly like some sort of pervert y¡¯know. I was just breathing normally. I really didn¡¯t have any sneaky intentions. It was purely an ident.

    After such an incident, we finally reached our stop and got off the tram. We then started walking toward the armor shop.

    ¡°Have you gotten used to the lifestyle here?¡±

    ¡°Yes, all thanks to everyone. I¡¯d like to express my gratitude somehow.¡±

    ¡°I see. Well, our ships will get delivered in a few days, so you¡¯re gonna have to get used to new things again. Or rather, that¡¯s when you¡¯ll really experience our regr lifestyle, so you have to get used to it too.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I will do my best to earn everyone¡¯s trust as soon as possible.¡±

    I nodded in response to the earnest Kugi while inwardly smiling bitterly. It looks like Kugi herself realizes that we haven¡¯tpletely ced our trust in her yet. Well, I suppose that¡¯s to be expected.

    ¡°Uh, sorry, Kugi.¡±

    ¡°No, do not apologize, My Lord. We are used to people from other countries not understanding our mission. And we are able to manipte the power ofw, so that also adds to their alienation and mistrust.¡±

    ¡°Power ofw. Does that refer to magic or psionic power?¡±

    ¡°Yes. There are many ways of calling it, but the root is essentially the same. It is a technique that allows one to temporarily twist thews governing this world with mental waves. There are many ways of applying the technique such as controlling physical elements like fire, lightning, and the like, as well as interfering with the mind and spirit. In our country, the arts of manipting time, space, and fate are considered to be particrly advanced techniques.¡±

    ¡°Err, doesn¡¯t that mean once I finish my training with you, I¡¯d be a super-dangerous fellow who can freely manipte space-time and fate?¡±

    When I voiced my concern, Kugi looked up to me with a smile.

    ¡°Yes. And that¡¯s why someone like me is necessary. Our mission is to support special existences like you and sometimes act as your teachers and guides. All to preserve the peace and bnce of this world.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Then, depending on how you interpret it, that actually sounds like you guys would be willing to eliminate guys like me if you judge that we¡¯d be a threat to the world¡¯s bnce.¡±

    ¡°I am here so something like that will note to pass. As long as I am by your side, I will never let you walk such a path, My Lord. No matter what.¡±

    Kugi grabbed the sleeve of my jacket and looked up at my face with eyes filled with a strong will. Mm, I see. She¡¯s really serious about this. Whether or not her mission was true or just a sham, Kugi herself was fully convinced of it. Exactly what had made this girl so determined¡­¡­? No, she¡¯d already told us all about it a while back. She held a determination in her heart to fulfill the mission that she and the people of her country have been imposed upon since they were born.

    Honestly, I wasn¡¯t really big on stuff like religion. So, I think it would be honestly impossible for me topletely understand her. But I should be able to ept the kind of person she is. I¡¯ll just believe the rest when I see and experience them for myself.

    ¡°It would be difficult to do it right away, but I¡¯ll do my best to try and believe you, Kugi. I¡¯ll give my best effort.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much. Please see for yourself whether or not I truly can be trusted. I, in turn, will do my best to earn your trust and never betray it.¡±

    Right after she said those words, Kugi¡¯s ears suddenly perked up. She then stopped in her tracks and sniffed the air. Her brows knitted together as she disyed an expression of difort.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I sense an ominous presence, as well as the smell of blood.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    The armor shop is just around the corner though. ¡­¡­Another troublesome incident? Can¡¯t a guy just catch a break!?

 Chapter 326 â€“ I Really Canâ€™t Seem to Get Away From Trouble

    <h4>Chapter 326 - I Really Can¡¯t Seem to Get Away From Trouble</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Wee. ¡­¡­What¡¯s wrong, sir?¡±

    I kept my guard up and made sure I was in a position to draw myser gun and sword right away if necessary when we entered the store, and the middle-aged store manager immediately noticed.

    ¡°My Lord, it doesn¡¯t seem to being from this building.¡±

    Kugi sniffed the air and informed me of her findings in a whisper.

    ¡°I see. Uh, there¡¯s a bit of a situation. Mypanion here says she smelled blood in the air. I was on alert because I thought some kind of trouble happened inside this shop.¡±

    ¡°The smell of blood? How dangerous-sounding. It should be safe inside here, but¡­¡­ let me call security just in case. Even if it wasn¡¯t really blood, strange smells are still a very important point of concern.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that would be for the best.¡±

    Needless to say, the interior of a colony was apletely enclosed and airtight environment. Poisonous gasses and infectious diseases are stuff that could lead to the destruction of a colony, so disregarding a possible corpse that could be a carrier of disease was out of the question. Of course, the air conditioning within a colony was quite thorough, and if something did go wrong, the security and decontamination teams would rush to the problematic site right away. The smell of blood Kugi detected was a major problem in colonies like this one public hygiene and health-wise.

    ¡°Yes, indeed. A customer smelled something they suspect was blood. Yes. Thank you.¡±

    It seems that the shop clerk immediately contacted security through his data terminal, and a security and decontamination team will be soon dispatched to this area. I don¡¯t think the response would be this quick if the basis was just a report, so there probably was something wrong with the air quality monitoring data after all. Or maybe they caught something on the security cameras.

    ¡°There is no longer anything we can do on our end. Let us move on to business, shall we?¡±

    ¡°You really are a true merchant, sir.¡±

    ¡°I am honored by yourpliment. We have already prepared the article, so please follow me.¡±

    After saying so, the shop clerk invited us to the back of the shop. When I turned back to Kugi just in case, she still had her brows knitted as her ears fluttered in agitation.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It seems that the ominous presence has left for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Ominous presence huh¡­¡­¡±

    I have no idea what this so-called ominous presence was, which made me uneasy. Well, I guess this wasn¡¯t the ce to ask her for more details. I don¡¯t think she¡¯d appreciate the shop clerk hearing about some of the things she would talk about after all.

    ¡°I still have no idea what exactly that ominous presence is, but let¡¯s keep our guard up just in case. I¡¯d like it if you exined stuff regarding it to me in detailter.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Please leave it to me. I will alert you immediately if there is danger.¡±

    Kugi nodded while sporting a very serious expression. It would be nice if we were able to avoid getting involved though¡­¡­ Well, I guess that¡¯s impossible anyway. Yeah, definitely impossible. Judging from all the stuff that¡¯s happened in the past, it was unavoidable. Even if we did try avoiding it, it¡¯ll still find a way to get to us anyway.

    ¡°Over here please. We believe we were able to make it exactly ording to your design. What do you think, sir?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it looks great. A perfect recreation.¡±

    The room we were led to was the room where they took Col. Serena and my motion data, and what greeted us within was a power armor that looked exactly the way I designed it. It was a jet-ck ninja-like design. Now that I¡¯ve gotten a good look at it, the armor was a good two sizes smaller than the RIKISHI. I think that makes it look pretty stylish.

    Its visor was still ck as well because it wasn¡¯t turned on yet, but once the power armor starts up, it will glow a nice shade of red. Of course, it can also be turned off when entering stealth mode. As for the color of the armor itself, it was equipped with a chameleon system, so it can actually turn into any color.

    Its armor was thinner than the RIKISHI, but it still sports higher defense than regrbat armors and has superb environmental adaptability. Its ranged firepower was low because it wasn¡¯t equipped with fixed weapons, but its capable of wielding power armor-use heavy weaponry and ordinary infantry weapons. Above all, it¡¯s capable of using swords, so it wouldn¡¯t lose out to RIKISHI in terms of attack capabilities regardless of itsck of fixed ranged weapons. And, of course, it also has a power assist function that can improve overallbat ability.

    ¡°Kugi, could you hold myser gun and swords for me.¡±

    ¡°Yes, let me hold on to them for you.¡±

    I removed the multi-purpose belt that doubles as both a sword belt and a gun holster from my waist and handed it to Kugi. I then moved to the back of the power armor and entered it with my jacket still on. It recognized my biometric information and automatically opened up for me.

    ¡°It¡¯s veryfortable to wear and feels quite light. It¡¯s like I¡¯m not wearing any armor at all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because the armor is made to hug your body tightly, sir customer. The feedback system that makes use of your motion data is also functioning well, so it should feel morefortable wearing it than not.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ This sure is amazing. Kugi, hand me back my swords and gun.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    I received my weapons back from Kugi and tried attaching my swords to the waist, shoulder, and back hard points. I repeated the action of pulling the swords out from all hard points so I could check the feel. Fumu. Feels great. Whenever I pulled the swords out, the hard points automatically positioned themselves to make the action as smooth and easy as possible. Myser gun could be attached to the armor¡¯s waist, or rather, thighs.

    ¡°Fumu. Considering the use of optical camouge, it seems better to use the shoulder hard points.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. I also think it is ideal to make use of the shoulder hard points to hold your swords unless there is a need to equip additional heavy weapons.¡±

    Hard points were installed around the position of the shoulder des. Whenever I pulled my swords out, the mechanical arm-shaped hard points moved and brought the sword hilts to an easily reachable position. They were pretty convenient.

    As I continued checking my new power armor out, Kugi¡¯s ears suddenly shot upright.

    ¡°My Lord, that ominous presence is approaching this ce.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right¡­¡­ And I was hoping we could avoid trouble this time around. I guess it¡¯s good timing, in a sense.¡±

    I can use that ¡®presence¡¯ for the basic operations check and perform additional adjustments afterward. The shop clerk tilted his head when he heard our exchange.

    ¡°-What are you two talking about? I have a really bad feeling that something is about to go terribly wrong.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you this in advance, man. I¡¯m not at fault here.¡±

    At the same time as my retort, a greenish light flickered in a corner of the room, and the structural material disappeared within moments. I couldn¡¯t feel it because I was wearing power armor, but judging from the states of Kugi and the shop clerk, it seems that jets of hot air were blowing from the direction of the newly-opened hole in the wall.

    ¡°W-What¡­¡­!?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s either a sma grenade or a smauncher ¡­¡­It¡¯s dangerous here so hurry and run to the center of the shop, you two.¡±

    The moment I said that something jumped inside through the hole in the wall.

    ¡°What the heck is that¡­¡­?¡±

    It was a ck sphere. Judging from its luster, it should be something metallic, but I couldn¡¯t tell what it actually was. Its size was¡­¡­ quite big. It was a spherical object that stood at a height of about 1.5 meters. ording to the power armor¡¯s sensor readings, its temperature was quite hot.

    ¡°My Lord, that is the source of the ominous presence.¡±

    ¡°That seems to be the case, but what exactly is it?¡±

    The ck sphere continued to stand still- No, it actually moved. The body of the sphere transformed, and many elongated legs simr to a spider¡¯s legs stretched out of it. Nah, they weren¡¯t just simr. The thing actually transformed into a spider. A jet-ck giant metallic spider, that is.

    ¡°Is it abat robot from some crazy manufacturer?¡±

    The Windas Tertius colony was thergest shipyard colony in the empire. Naturally, weapon manufacturingpanies of various sizes also based themselves on it. Some of them werebat robot manufacturers.

    ¡°No, that¡­¡­ I believe that is actually a living creature.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a living creature? You gotta be kidding me!¡±

    ¡°I am detecting mind wavesing from it, so I believe that is truly the case.¡±

    If that¡¯s true, then that was a creature that could easily shrug off direct hits from a sma grenade or smauncher.

    ¡°My Lord, it¡¯sing!¡±

    ¡°Ah, dammit! Get back!¡±

    As the metallic spider creature rushed toward me while making jarring noises, I pulled out my swords and brandished them. It seems to be quite tough though. Were my swords going to be effective? I wasn¡¯t sure, but only an idiot would rush up to something like that right from the front.

    The metallic spider raised one of its sharp-looking forelegs up and quickly swung it down toward me.

    ¡°Sei!¡±

    I aimed a sh at the connecting joint of the forelimb that was swinging down on me. It would be more effective to attack spots like that instead of the rest of the creature¡¯s body that seemed thickly armored.

    ¡°¡­¡­!?¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    Even though there was some resistance, I seeded in cutting off the creature¡¯s forelimb from the joint. Given the sharpness of my sword, it seems the creature¡¯s body was at least as tough or even tougher than the standard armor of a starship. And it seems to be quite difficult to cut its torso which had plenty ofrge, smooth surfaces.

    ¡°¡­¡­!¡±

    Perhaps finally regarding me as a dangerous threat, the metallic spider raised its body up and simultaneously swung five of its legs down on me. It¡¯s fast! However, it wasn¡¯t something I couldn¡¯t deal with.

    ¡°-Huph!¡±

    I held my breath, and the world slowed to a crawl. Now then, I¡¯m gonna take this thing apart in an instant!

 Chapter 327 â€“ Decisive Engagement

    <h4>Chapter 327 - Decisive Engagement</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The creature¡¯s five sharp ws shed out to tear my body apart. If nothing was done, the ws may very well tear me up, armor and all. However, I had no intention of testing out the defensive capabilities of my new power armor against an attack like that. After all, it was a fairly expensive purchase.

    ¡°-Huph!¡±

    I quickly dodged to my left. I cut off one of the creature¡¯s right forelegs earlier, so there were fewer ws in this position. When I passed the creature by, I shed the joints of another two legs and cut them off as well.

    ¡ºEEEEEIG!?¡»

    Hm? I was a little worried earlier, but it seems my new power armor is able to properly keep up with my movements when I hold my breath. Maybe this ability of mine also affects my equipment? There¡¯s no way to verify that right now though. Well, I guess it¡¯s fine as long as it¡¯s usable.

    However, what exactly was this metallic spider anyway? Kugi said it was a living creature, but it sure looks like abat robot to me. Maybe my perception of it is skewed because I saw its spherical form when it was still inactive.

    ¡°Rush in!¡±

    ¡°Everybody down on the floor! Down!¡±

    The instant I turned to face the metallic spider that had already lost three of its four right legs, another event happened.

    Soldiers wearing power armor rushed through the hole in the wall. They were armed with heavy weapons and sported plenty of firepower. It looks like the cavalry¡¯s here.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave this thing to you guys.¡±

    If people other than me were willing to face danger and fight, there¡¯s no reason for me to take risks myself. With my swords still in my hands, I quickly moved to the entrance of the room where Kugi and the shop clerk were hiding. Yeah, this armor is good. Its mobility is several times greater than RIKISHI.

    ¡°Who are you?¡±

    While the rest of the power armor-equipped soldiers conducted a concentrated bombardment on the metallic spider that had already lost three of its legs, the only person who didn¡¯t participate in the attack suddenly called out to me. Only he had a different power armor color scheme from the rest. Was he theirmanding officer?

    Well, I suppose this is only natural. When they rushed into a building in pursuit of their target, they found that a mysterious person wearing unfamiliar power armor had already engaged the target first. Even I would be wary if I were in their position. I think anyone would, actually.

    ¡°Just a customer who came to pick up his order-made power armor in this shop. Should I reveal my name and affiliation?¡±

    I shrugged my shoulders and replied while still holding my swords.

    ¡°¡­¡­Are you a noble, sir?¡±

    The power armor-equipped officer saw my swords and asked in a somewhat humbler tone. Well, only nobles fought with swords like these in the empire, so his reaction is understandable.

    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m not a noble. ¡­¡­Ah, well, an honorary noble, I guess. Anyway, I¡¯m not a true aristocrat. I¡¯m just a mercenary.¡±

    ¡°Mercenary¡­¡­? Are you the famous Captain Hiro who became the champion of the tournament?¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah, that¡¯s me ¡­¡­Err, is it okay for you to ignore what¡¯s going on behind you?¡±

    A fierce battle was underway while the officer was busy questioning me. The metallic spider had lost three of its legs already, but it was still very fierce. The heavy weaponry sported by the power armor-equipped soldiers scored hits on the spider, but none of them were decisive hits. Or rather, that metallic spider really is withstanding sma andseruncher attacks from those power armors.

    ¡°Just what is that thing made of¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°You can say that again. Oh, its movements are getting slower.¡±

    ¡°So, it¡¯s finally overheated.¡±

    Theser weapons used in this world had very high outputs. Their outputs were so high that they could evaporate the surface of their targets at the moment of impact, causing small explosions that were both hot and destructive. That normally would be the case when taking direct hits from high-outputser weapons. However, that didn¡¯t seem to apply to the metallic spider. Even after taking direct hits, the surface of its body didn¡¯t explode, and outwardly, theser attacks seemed to have no effect.

    sma weapons such as smaunchers caused damage to targets by instantly heating them to tens of thousands of degrees. Substances without proper countermeasures to that heat would melt or evaporate in an instant, but that metallic spider withstood that heat without taking any obvious damage. Perhaps it had an abnormally strong resistance toser and thermal weapons.

    However, the metallic spider finally stopped in its tracks and gradually fell to pieces after taking lots of directser and sma attacks. Hmm. It looked like each joint had broken cleanly apart from one another. Did its internal structure get burned off or something?

    ¡°It looks like you guys have managed to finish it off, but do I need to apany you for questioning or something like that?¡±

    ¡°Ah- ¡­¡­No, it¡¯s fine if I just take your statement here. I¡¯ll have to put your name on my report though. But that¡¯s it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d actually like to avoid that too though¡­¡­ Or rather, who are you guys anyway? The colony security team? Or imperial marines?¡±

    I think it¡¯s thetter, judging from their equipment, but I asked anyway. After all, their power armors and heavy weapons were too high-performance for a colony security team.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but that information is confidential.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I got it.¡±

    In other words, they really did belong to the imperial military. I wasn¡¯t sure if they were marines, but maybe they were a special ops group or something.

    ¡°But you sure are impressive, sir. It withstood that muchser and sma bombardment, but you just cut its legs cleanly off.¡±

    The soldier d in power armor was looking at the legs I cut off from the metallic spider. It¡¯s true that despite its overwhelming heat resistance, sword attacks were pretty effective against it.

    ¡°Maybe physical attacks are more effective on itpared toser or sma. Like physical rounds and such.¡±

    ¡°Physical rounds huh ¡­¡­EML weapons aren¡¯t exactly easy to use.¡±

    ¡°I can imagine why.¡±

    There were EML weapons designed for power armors, but they weren¡¯t very popr. There were several reasons, but the biggest was the difficulty involved in effectively wielding them due to their exceedingly high destructive and prative powers.

    If such things were used in battles conducted inside colonies or ships, there was a high danger of them punching gaping holes in the colony or ship structure, leading to loss of structural integrity and airtightness. This can be fatal to structures in outer space, so ballistic weaponry was eventually phased out as standard close engagement weapons.

    Also, they were simply too big, bulky, and heavy. Their firing interval was also quite long. They were extremely difficult to use in close engagements.

    ¡°Then I guess you¡¯d have no choice but to bring out gunpower-type antiques.¡±

    ¡°There should be no more such antiques in the armory of a well-equipped army.¡±

    Despite his face being covered by his power armor helmet, I could imagine the officer disying a bitter smile. Guns using gunpowder-type live ammunition were already considered several hundred-year-old antiques in this world.

    Shielding technology was developed to protect spacecraft from space debris during faster-than-light navigation. Of course, it was impossible to break through energy shields with the power of the smaller gunpowder weapons. It seemed there were lots of things that happened during the transition period, but in the end, infantry-use gunpowder weapons became obsolete due to the prevalence of energy shield technology.

    Well, starships were still actively using such weapons though. The rounds fired by ship-use ballistic cannons are incorporated with anti-shielding technology after all. Krishna¡¯s shot-cannons and the EML of ck Lotus benefit from such anti-shielding technology.

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll excuse myself then. Please make sure to properlypensate this shop.¡±

    The power armor-equipped soldier shrugged his shoulders in reply to my words. After all, they did end up involving civilians. He would likely have to write a mountain of reports after this.

    I wonder if I can still have my new armor delivered to the hotel after such an incident though. I hope things don¡¯t turn out too bothersome.

 Chapter 328 â€“ New Destination and Escort Request

    <h4>Chapter 328 - New Destination and Escort Request</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    In the end, the order-made lightweight power armor was¡­¡­ man, that¡¯s a damn long name. I¡¯ll just call it the ninja armor. Anyway, the ninja armor was sent to the hotel without any problems. The shop clerk was still agitated by the entire incident, but his professionalism won out, and he performed his duties without a hitch. He even included data needed for the armor¡¯s maintenance.

    We said goodbye to the shop clerk who seemed to be having a headache and decided to go straight back to the hotel so we wouldn¡¯t get caught up in any stranger incidents.

    ¡°Why did you get yourself into trouble straight away after just going outside for less than two hours¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°As expected of Hiro-sama¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t you guys stop saying I¡¯m a trouble ma all the time? It wasn¡¯t my fault we got into trouble this time, right?¡±

    We just coincidentally got caught up in trouble this time around, okay? Ugh. Well, a lot of the prior incidents were kinda simr, but still.

    ¡°But you said you encountered a ¡®living¡¯ spiderbat robot with its own will, Master. That¡¯s quite interesting.¡±

    Mei, who heard Kugi and my recollection of the earlier events, showed a somewhat unusual interest in that metallic spider.

    ¡°That¡¯s rare. Do you really find that thing interesting, Mei?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Specifically, it¡¯s the ¡®mind waves¡¯ Kugi-sama mentioned. You cannot detect them from me, correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I cannot detect any mind waves emanating from you.¡±

    ¡°I see. Then it is even more likely that the metallic spider you encountered really was a living creature. To the best of my knowledge, there are no simr creatures that can withstand continuous attacks from military-gradeser weapons. That goes the same for sma weapons.¡±

    ¡°If that was really a living creature, then it would be a great discovery. Just where did ite from anyway¡­¡­? Not good. I have a really bad feeling about all this.¡±

    ¡°Hey! Can you stop it with that!?¡±

    The moment Elma yelled inint, my portable data terminal¡¯s ringtone rang out. I silently took it out of my pocket, nced at the caller¡¯s name, and couldn¡¯t help but look up to the ceiling in resignation. Elma covered her face with her right hand and Mimi smiled bitterly. Perhaps they already had an idea about who the caller was. Mei was acting like usual, and only Kugi hadn¡¯t gotten the situation and tilted her head to the side.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hello.¡±

    ¡ºThank you very much for that enthusiastic greeting. It really warms my heart.¡»

    As you¡¯ve probably guessed, it was Col. Serena on the other end of the line. The voice that resounded from the data terminal sounded so t that you couldn¡¯t help but tell that she was in a very bad mood.

    ¡ºWell, it¡¯s like we¡¯re in a rtionship that requires perfunctory greetings though. So, I¡¯ll get straight to the point. I called you for work.¡»

    ¡°Sorry, but we can¡¯t take your request right now because our ship is still under maintenance. It¡¯s really unfortunate.¡±

    ¡ºOf course, the job can wait until the maintenance work on your ship isplete. We¡¯ve already taken your circumstances into ount. We haven¡¯t contacted the Mercenary Guild yet, but my higher-ups have already decided that we¡¯ll be putting up a request with three times the usual reward money. You¡¯re going to take it, right?¡»

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m obligated to ept it since it¡¯s not a mandatory mission. I have the right to veto.¡±

    ¡ºYou¡¯re going to ept the request, right?¡»

    ¡°No. Like I said, it¡¯s not a mandatory mission, so I have the right to refuse-¡±

    ¡ºYou¡¯re. Going. To ept. The Request. Right?¡»

    ¡°Why the heck are you just looping the same response!?¡±

    That t and emotionless tone of yours is scary, so can you please stop that,dy? Or rather, she was acting more forceful than usual. And I¡¯m scared because my bad feeling seems to be right on the money again. There hasn¡¯t been a single instance where I managed to avoid trouble when getting these sorts of premonitions before.

    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll hear you out at least. I¡¯ll switch the call to holo-image mode, okay?¡±

    ¡ºPlease do.¡»

    With Col. Serena¡¯s consent, I switched the call over from the portable data terminal to the holo-disy installed inside our hotel room. The image of a very sullen Col. Serena was projected from the holo-disy.

    ¡°You look like you¡¯re in a very bad mood again¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°But Col. Serena always manages to look pretty in any expression, right¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s a fellow woman of ss.¡±

    The girls quietly whispered to each other. I¡¯m not sure if Col. Serena can hear them, but just leave it at that, guys. Well, it¡¯s not like they¡¯re ndering her anyway, so I don¡¯t think there would be a problem even if she heard them.

    ¡°So, what are the details of this request?¡±

    ¡ºThat¡¯s confidential.¡»

    ¡°Are you kidding me? I¡¯m gonna cut the call.¡±

    ¡ºRight now, that¡¯s the only response I can give. Please wait for the official request to get sent by the Mercenary Guild.¡»

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then what¡¯s the point of you calling me right now? If you can¡¯t even talk about it, how am I supposed to respond?¡±

    ¡ºDo you understand what I felt when I was told to persuade you in advance because we have a supposedly ¡®close personal rtionship¡¯?¡»

    Col. Serena smiled. But it was scary because her eyes weren¡¯t smiling at all.

    ¡°My condolences, but you¡¯re already a colonel, right? Are they still pushing those kinds of jobs for lower-ranking officers to you even after you got promoted?¡±

    ¡ºYou¡¯re a Gold Star recipient, tinum ranker, and an honorary imperial viscount, so you¡¯re a lot more powerful and influential than you think. It¡¯s to an extent that even high-ranking imperial military officers hesitated to contact you themselves and went to the trouble of pushing the job to someone like me who has a ¡®personal friendship¡¯ with you.¡»

    ¡°Is that so? Well, I suppose this is better than someone I don¡¯t know suddenly dropping something like this on me.¡±

    ¡ºWell then, I take it that you¡¯re going to take up this time¡¯s request?¡»

    ¡°That¡¯s a different story altogether, colonel.¡±

    ¡º¡­¡­¡»

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Both the colonel and I fell silent. We gazed at each other expressionlessly. But no matter how much she stares at me I won¡¯t budge until I hear the details of the job.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care if it¡¯s confidential. I won¡¯t be able to decide whether or not I¡¯d take the job until I know the details of the request and the offered rewards. That¡¯s justmon sense.¡±

    It¡¯s not like we were like other mercenaries who often didn¡¯t know whether or not they¡¯d be able to earn enough for a decent meal. We had more than enough funds to stay at a decent hotel for a few months, and once the maintenance of the ships is done, we can just choose a suitable star system and travel there. Then we¡¯d be able to make as much money as we like by hunting space pirates. There¡¯s no reason to ept a mysterious request from the military that had unknown risks.

    ¡ºThat¡¯s true. Actually, I think so too.¡»

    ¡°So, this talk is over then.¡±

    ¡ºIt can¡¯t be helped. By the way, did you know that a murder case urred in the upper-ssmercial district of this colony?¡»

    Was this rted to that metallic spider I fought earlier? Even if it wasn¡¯t, hearing information like this always doesn¡¯t lead to anything good.

    ¡°Hee¡­¡­ So?¡±

    The direction of the talk has changed. I wonder what kind of story would pop out from here.

    ¡ºIt seems the security team had managed to suppress the criminal eventually, but by then, as many as seven colony citizens have already been killed. I¡¯ll need to change to another topic for a bit. It seems a research vessel that had recently returned from an exploration mission conducted on the Edge World arrived at the port of this colony a few days earlier and brought back a lot of interesting items. And it seems one of those items was bought by a store in the upper-ssmercial district. And the citizens who ended up being murdered include the employees of that store, the shop owner, and some customers who happened to be shopping there when the crime happened.¡»

    ¡°Ugh. It instantly turned into something really shady.¡±

    No matter how you slice it, this matter was probably rted to that research vessel, and by extension, the Edge World. So, in other words, the contents of this time¡¯s request were probably rted to the Edge World as well.

    The Edge World was the so-called furthest imperial frontier and was just recently incorporated into the empire. It was the site of the current expansion efforts of the Gran empire. It was also an area where imperialw was still loosely imposed, and as a consequence, was a haunt of many dangerous space pirates and space monsters. Other than those, there were other dangers such as secret interference by other hostile nations, undiscovered (and possibly hostile) alien lifeforms, and illegal ouw ¡®kingdoms¡¯.

    ¡°I see. So, they¡¯re trying to build up the Mobile Independent Anti-pirate Fleet in order to send it all the way to the Edge World to establish imperial control all at once huh. And furthermore, they managed to find some interesting alien artifacts there, so you guys were also told to collect anything and everything that seems worth collecting, right?¡±

    ¡ºYou sure have a very active imagination, Captain Hiro. For now, let¡¯s just say my superiors believe that the imperial army, or rather, I, have figured out how to make effective use of someone like you.¡»

    ¡°I see.¡±

    So, she wouldn¡¯t be able to disclose any more details huh. However, judging from the flow of the conversation so far, if I decide to ept the request, I¡¯ll be ced under themand of Col. Serena again.

    Well, Col. Serena should be more or less ustomed to how I operate, and I was also used to her style as well. She probably won¡¯t order me to do overly crazy stuff¡­¡­ No, she actually might huh. Anyway, they probably wouldn¡¯t be too unreasonable. I hope.

    ¡°I¡¯ll consider it. The rest depends on the conditions. I did promise you after all.¡±

    ¡ºFor the time being, I¡¯ll just ept this response. Well then, if you¡¯ll excuse me.¡»

    Col. Serena cut off the call.

    ¡°So? Are you going to ept the job?¡±

    ¡°I wonder. Just like I said, it depends on the conditions. If it¡¯s gonna let us earn a lot of Enels, there¡¯s no reason to go out of our way to decline.¡±

    I shrugged my shoulders and replied to Elma.

    Doing a job where we¡¯ll get a steady sry even if we just stayed on stand-by and earn extra depending on how much work we do was certainly a lot better than just chasing around small-fry space pirates. Since we¡¯ve splurged quite a bit during our stay in this colony, it wasn¡¯t a bad idea to earn some big money at this point.

    ¡°What preparations do we need to make if we¡¯re going to the Edge World, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll need to worry about the replenishment of ammunition, armor, structural materials, and the minimum amount of food needed for our day-to-day lives since we¡¯ll be working for the imperial military. But we might run out of other daily necessities and luxury items if we end up staying there for an extended period of time.¡±

    ¡°I see. Then, depending on the details of the request, I¡¯ll consult with Mei-san and procure the appropriate number of needed supplies.¡±

    ¡°Please do.¡±

    ¡°I think I need to go ahead with my pilot proficiency training for the Antlion. I wouldn¡¯t want to deploy without any practice.¡±

    ¡°Um, I will¡­¡­ Uu. Whatever should I do?¡±

    Mimi and Elma were already ustomed to making their own judgments about what to do to prepare for each new request, but the rather inexperienced Kugi wasn¡¯t able to make such decisions. Well, of course, she wouldn¡¯t. That¡¯s only natural.

    ¡°Well, do you want to train as an operator first so you can support Mimiter on?¡±

    Mimi was nning to gain experience as a sub-pilot in the future. Eventually, she will switch from operator to sub-pilot, so we needed someone to take over the vacant operator position.

    Well, that still depends on Kugi¡¯s affinity for the job¡­¡­ Mimi was able to learn how to be a proper operator in just a short time due to her efforts, but it might not turn out that way for Kugi. There¡¯s also the possibility of Mimi having no talent for being a sub-pilot. In that case, it might be possible to consider having Kugi train to be a sub-pilot instead. Man, there¡¯s a lot I need to consider huh.

 Chapter 329 â€“ A Sweet Morning

    <h4>Chapter 329 - A Sweet Morning</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    I felt someone¡¯s warm and soft presence beside me and woke up. Breathing, a slight rustling of clothes¡­¡­ and a soft, warm hand that¡¯s touching my cheek. I didn¡¯t feel any hostility, killing intent, or malice. Just gentleness.

    ¡°It¡¯s time to wake up, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Nn¡­¡­¡±

    When I opened my eyes and turned toward the direction of the voice, my gaze met two bright, golden irises staring back at me. The owner of those beautiful irises joyfully squinted her eyes and smiled gently at me.

    ¡°Good morning, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, good morning.¡±

    I exchanged greetings with the other person, closed my eyes again for a bit, and eventually got up from the bed. Un, my clothes weren¡¯t disheveled. Well, I always slept in just my boxers, so yeah. Anyway, there weren¡¯t any signs that I¡¯ve engaged in anything sexualst night.

    Kugi, the silver-haired, fox-eared girl with golden irises who woke me up, blushed red when she saw my current appearance. Un, I¡¯ve ended up exposing my upper body when I got up from the bed after all. It seems Kugi blushed due to seeing my naked upper body. Hahaha, how innocent.

    By the way, Kugi was also properly dressed. Obviously. She doesn¡¯t have that kind of rtionship with me yet. Given Kugi¡¯s apparent devotion to me, there¡¯s a good chance she wouldn¡¯t refuse if I did ask for something like that. Or rather, she probably would agree unconditionally. Well, it¡¯s not like I feel like doing something like that right now anyway.

    ¡°M-My Lord? Please don¡¯t stare at me so seriously like that. Um, I cannotpose myself if you do¡­¡­¡±

    Her fox ears fluttered above her head as she turned away from me, but she did throw some sideward nces from time to time. What is with this utterly cute creature? She makes me feel like bullying her. It¡¯s not like I would though. I¡¯m a rational and gentlemanly person after all.

    ¡°Sorry. Since I already woke up, I¡¯ll go ahead and get dressed.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes¡­¡­ I shall take my leave.¡±

    Kugi bowed her head and ran out of the room. Un, she left a lingering scent. It was a kind of ¡®fluffy¡¯ and nice smell. Rather than perfume, it smelled close to incense. Just how do girls manage to smell so good? Well, a man like me who doesn¡¯t have a speck of fashion sense wouldn¡¯t probably understand anyway.

    ¡°Well, since Kugi already woke me up, I guess it¡¯s time to get out of bed.¡±

    It was a pretty nice start to a new day.

    _______________________________________________________________

    ¡°Morning guys.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°Morning.¡±

    I put on some clothes, fixed myself a bit in the bathroom, and went to the dining room. Mimi and Elma were already in the middle of preparing breakfast. Well, all they needed to do was take out some drinks though. The tableware woulde together with the meals after ordering them from the auto-cooker.

    ¡°Huh? Kugi didn¡¯te here yet? I thought she went ahead of me.¡±

    ¡°Did you do something naughty to her?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t. I¡¯m a well-behaved gentleman.¡±

    ¡°A gentleman huh¡­¡­?¡±

    Why are you looking at me like that, Elma-san? Well, I did get my ws on Mimi and Elma straight away after all. And then, I weed Mei, Tina, and Whisker one after another and did ¡®this and that¡¯ with them without any reserve as well. So, it couldn¡¯t be helped if she doubted my im of being a well-behaved gentleman.

    ¡°Well, her circumstances are a bit special after all. I think I should observe her for a little while longer.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? Well, if Hiro thinks so, then I suppose that¡¯s how it is. For you anyway.¡±

    ¡°I also need time to resolve myself you know.¡±

    ¡°You sure didn¡¯t need time to harden your resolve in my case though?¡±

    ¡°I guess. I wonder why? I¡¯m not sure why, but I didn¡¯t feel any of that sort of hesitation when it came to you, Elma. Maybe I was sure you¡¯d take good care of me, so I just went for it.¡±

    ¡°What the heck are you going on about, mister?¡±

    Even though she retorted sharply, Elma¡¯s expression told me she couldn¡¯t get enough of me buttering her up.

    Mimi seemed like she would just up and die if I didn¡¯t take her in back then, or maybe she would have faced an even worse fate. So I was prepared when I responded to her feelings, and Mimi herself also knew what she was getting into, so we were both resolved from the start. That¡¯s how I and Mimi were able to enter into an intimate rtionship right away.

    Then how about Elma? I helped her out when she was absolutely cornered and didn¡¯t have any more options, but once she¡¯d ovee her troubles, she was a strong and reliablerade who also had a lot of experience under her belt. That¡¯s probably why I didn¡¯t need to resolve myself and just looked forward to her spoiling me.

    ¡°I can also spoil you a lot, Hiro-sama!¡±

    ¡°Waaah, Mama-¡±

    ¡°What a big kid we have here¡­¡­¡±

    I jumped into Mimi¡¯s outstretched arms and plunged right into her ample chest. Ah, how amazing. Truly wonderful. Overwhelming. I was absolutely overwhelmed. So this was motherhood¡­¡­ It felt like I was about to regress into a toddler and cry out.

    ¡°Mornin¡¯ everyone¡­¡­ Whoah, gettin¡¯ hot and heavy this early in the mornin¡¯ huh.¡±

    ¡°Muu-¡­¡­¡±

    A cheerful voice echoed around the dining room followed by a grumpy groan.

    ¡°Hey. Good morning you two. It¡¯s a great morning huh.¡±

    ¡°Can ya stop burying your face on Mimi¡¯s breasts first before ya greet us?¡±

    ¡°Big Brother, me too. Let me do that to you too!¡±

    The owners of the voices approached me. One lightly pped the back of my head and the other began to pull on my arm. But Mimi didn¡¯t let go of me. She continued to hold me tightly. Un, how wonderful. It felt wonderful, but also a bit stuffy. I could still take my breath thanks to the fabric of Mimi¡¯s clothes though. Ah, but how wonderful. It smells so good and feels so soft. It makes me wanna stay like this forever.

    ¡°C¡¯mon. Stop messing around over there and eat your breakfast already guys.¡±

    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am. Good morning, Tina, Whisker. Thanks Mimi.¡±

    Because Mama Elma got angry, I obediently left Mimi¡¯s embrace and greeted the dwarven mechanic sisters Tina and Whisker. I also thanked Mimi properly for the early morning pampering. A whiff of breasts a day keeps the doctor away. It might even serve as a cure for cancer one day¡­¡­ Well, I suppose something like cancer should already have a proper cure in this world though. Maybe even a med-pod would do the trick.

    ¡°Yes, yes, good mornin¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Good morning. Please let me hug and stroke your headter as well, Big Brother.¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    After the three responded, we went over to our trusty auto-cooker, Tetsujin V. By the way, Elma had already started eating her breakfast meal. She¡¯s eating food resembling chunky steak and mashed potatoes so early in the morning. Her stomach was strong as always.

    ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry I¡¯mte.¡±

    When I got in front of the auto-cooker, Kugi also arrived in the dining room. Hm? It kinda felt like she just took a bath, didn¡¯t she? Well, the baths installed in the ck Lotus were fully automatic from bathing to drying, so you wouldn¡¯t appear moist after taking one. Even so, I¡¯ve already spent a lot of time in this world so I could kinda already tell if a person had just taken a bath from their atmosphere and stuff.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like you made us wait for you so you don¡¯t have to apologize.¡±

    Well, purposefully pointing something like that out was a tasteless act. So, I just let it be and beckoned to Kugi so she can order breakfast from Tetsujin. I nned toe to the training room after this for a workout, so I entered that info on Tetsujin V¡¯s interface. By doing so, Tetsujin V will be able toe up with the optimal meal set by analyzing data such as my physical condition and then picking appropriate dishes to prepare from its massive library. Science really was amazing huh.

    I enjoyed the delicious meal Tetsujin prepared for me with everyone, then went to the training room for a light workout. So far, it was just my usual morning routine. Oh, and just to rify, my usual morning routine also includes the next thing I¡¯m about to do.

    ¡°Good morning, Mei.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Master.¡±

    When I stepped inside the cockpit of the ck Lotus, a beautiful woman in a maid outfit standing in the middle of the cockpit turned toward me. She was a beautiful woman with long, ck hair that reached her waist. She also wore red-framed sses. The white mechanical devices that extended from the spots on top of her ears were polished to a shiny finish as usual. Un. The strongest maid I came up with was doing fine today as well.

    ¡°How¡¯s the ck Lotus doing?¡±

    ¡°Good. The overhaul and upgrades have improved its total firepower by 28%, its shield performance by 31%, and its maneuverability by 12%.¡±

    ¡°Sounds great. There are no downsides to improving the performance after all.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just as you say.¡±

    Mei nodded while a thick cord stretched out from the back of her neck. The cord was connected to the ck Lotus. That meant that Mei and the Lotus were directly interfacing with one another. The purpose, of course, was to allow Mei to take control of the entire ship. The entire ck Lotus was easily managed and operated by Mei alone.

    ¡°Any other problems?¡±

    ¡°None so far. Thanks to the overhaul, I cannot detect any problems. The detailed checks performed by Tina-sama and Whisker-sama also showed that there were no problems.¡±

    ¡°I see. That¡¯s good. I¡¯m always troubling you, Mei. You also put in some work processing Tina and Whisker¡¯s official transfer of employment.¡±

    ¡°No, this much is no trouble at all. Above all, I am simply happy to be of service to you, Master.¡±

    Mei lightly shook her head and replied with her usual deadpan expression. Well, for an AI with immense data processing power like her, I suppose it would be a piece of cake to process Tina and Whisker¡¯s official transfer of employment from Space Dwerg to our crew.

    ¡°Even so, I want you to ept my feelings of gratitude at least. Do you want a reward? You¡¯re always working hard for us, so I¡¯d like to thank you in some way.¡±

    ¡°No, I do not particrly need anything. I am already satisfied with you purchasing ck Lotus and allowing me to manage it, Master.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°But if you still wish to give me a reward¡­¡­¡±

    Mei stretched her arms out while still sporting her deadpan expression.

    ¡°Can I also ask for an opportunity to spoil you, Master?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Do you really treat that as a reward, Mei?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    But wasn¡¯t that more of a reward for me? However, Mei nodded with a resolute attitude.

    ¡°I have some ns after this, so just a bit, alright?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I am well aware, so you do not have to worry.¡±

    Mei stretched her arms further as if she was beckoning me to hurry up. Well, don¡¯t mind if I do then.

    Afterward, I found myself within a veritable paradise and almost fell asleep. Mei¡¯s spoiling was really dangerous, as expected.

 Chapter 330 â€“ Aptitude

    <h4>Chapter 330 - Aptitude</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    Let¡¯s see. We had such a rxed and elegant morning, but was our actual situation right now, you ask? Well, we were still staying within the home of the empire¡¯s premier shipyards, the Windas system.

    However, the overhaul and upgrading of the ck Lotus has already beenpleted, so we checked out from the hotel and returned to living inside the Lotus. The dwarven sisters, Tina and Whisker, have alsopleted the required procedures and formally resigned from Space Dwerg. They officially became members of our mechanic squad. Well, there were just the two of them, so I wasn¡¯t quite sure if they qualified as a squad though. Elma¡¯s Antlion had rolled out from the production line and promptly delivered to us.

    ¡°Elma-san is going to pilot the Antlion?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It seems she really wants to pilot her own ship.¡±

    After spending time with Mei, I returned to the break space of the ck Lotus and found Mimi and Kugi sitting side by side while checking out their tablet terminals. A short while ago, Kugi was aplete amateur when ites to operating a portable data terminal, but she showed great adaptability and was now capable of operating portable data terminals and tablet terminals without a hitch.

    ¡°Are you doing alright with the operator training, Kugi?¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord. It¡¯s quite difficult though. However, I n to train well and gradually umte experience.¡±

    ¡°Mm. Don¡¯t overdo it-¡±

    I suddenly had an idea. It was necessary for her to study being an operator, so I¡¯ll have her continue that. But how about I also test her suitability as a pilot and sub-pilot as well.

    ¡°Studying is important, but why don¡¯t we go out for a bit first?¡±

    ¡°Go out?¡±

    Mimi tilted her head. It was quite a sudden suggestion, so it was natural for her to have some doubts. Kugi just quietly looked at my face with a calm expression. In any case, she¡¯d probably agree with whatever I suggest anyway.

    ¡°We¡¯ll head to the Mercenary Guild. Let¡¯s go there so you guys can experience the starship simtor.¡±

    _______________________________________________________________

    ¡°This ce seems to have a bit of a frantic atmosphere.¡±

    ¡°Hm? Maybe it¡¯s rted to the matter of heading to the Edge World.¡±

    ¡°I wonder. Will other mercenaries apart from us be taking up the escort mission too?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a good chance some will. After all, it¡¯s the Edge World. The military would want as much strength as possible.¡±

    The Edge World. It was the outer edge of the empire¡¯s borders and was a term that literally refers to the most remote areas recently incorporated under the empire¡¯s rule.

    That ce was home to pirates, the mercenaries who hunt them down, criminal elements very simr to pirates who went underground there, so-called¡ºadventurers¡»whoe there with the hopes of uncovering ruins and artifacts of alien civilizations by exploring unknowns and hitting it big in one shot, as well as scammers who¡¯d sell off even the most worthless junk they could find by branding them as genuine artifacts. Depending on luck, one might even encounter space monsters or agents from hostile nations doing shady stuff. It was a chaotic theme park filled with those sorts of attractions.

    Due to the emperor, or perhaps the military higher-ups, worrying about the state of the Edge World, Col. Serena was assigned to take a look at it, and mercenaries like us were requested to apany her. Since it was such a ce, you¡¯d like as much strength you can muster in order to take it on. So, it¡¯s no wonder that the Mercenary Guild that didn¡¯t have enough staff as a result of the convening of mercenary forces through the efforts of Col. Serena, seemed so bustling¡­¡­ Well, that was just what I inwardly spected as we headed for the receptionist.

    ¡°Wee. Are you here to ept a request? You are, aren¡¯t you? Say no more. Please leave it to us. We will prepare the best request suitable for you. Now then, please show me your ID.¡±

    I took out my data terminal and handed it to the receptionist who talked nonstop like a machinegun. Was appearance actually included in the employment requirements of the Mercenary Guild? All the receptionists we¡¯ve met so far were all beautiful.

    ¡°Here¡¯s my ID, but I just came here to borrow the simtor. By the way, I¡¯ve already epted a designated request, so I can¡¯t ept any more requests for now.¡±

    ¡°Tsk.¡±

    T-Thisdy just clicked her tongue without even hiding it¡­¡­! She sure has a nice personality. I like her. I¡¯m not gonnay my hand on her though.

    ¡°You¡¯re very rude.¡±

    ¡°Now, now.¡±

    Kugi squinted and disyed her displeasure. I see. So people being rude to me was an ¡®out¡¯ for her huh. Mimi smiling bitterly while trying to pacify Kugi was kinda a fresh sight. Kugi seemed older than her, but Mimi, who had worked as a mercenary ship operator for a good while now, may have a more flexible mentality. Un, she¡¯s really grown a lot, hasn¡¯t she?

    ¡°You¡¯ve been approved to use the simtor room. Please.¡±

    Thedy pointed to the simtor room as if shooing us away. She seemed to havepletely lost interest in us. She seemed to be a pretty gutsy receptionist too because she didn¡¯t even flinch when she saw my mercenary rank. Maybe she even had the potential to be a pretty good mercenary herself.

    ¡°Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing. Shall we?¡±

    I pulled the hand of the still fuming Kugi and headed to the simtor room with her and Mimi. For now, let¡¯s retest Mimi¡¯s pilot aptitude and confirm Kugi¡¯s aptitude as well.

    _______________________________________________________________

    Mimi had already tried a simtor out before¡­¡­ but I can¡¯t exactly say her results were good, even as ttery.

    ¡ºAaaaaaaaaaaaah!?¡»

    And the result was the same today as well. The virtual Zabuton Mimi was piloting lost control and haphazardly shot itsser cannons while spinning irregrly. Mm. She was fine when piloting the ship normally, but as soon as she tries to performbat maneuvers, it turns out like this.

    Kugi¡¯s maneuvering was quite stable. Since it was her first time trying out the simtor today, her operations were naturally a bit awkward, but reaching such a level of control during her first time piloting was already quite an achievement. Even though it hasn¡¯t even been an hour since she first touched the simtor, she controlled the ship without any excess orcking movements and destroyed the stationary targets with her ship¡¯sser cannons. She also did well against moving targets too. Judging from her results, she might be able to be quite a decent pilot with some training.

    Hmm. Perhaps it¡¯s better to have Mimi stop her sub-pilot training and have her focus solely on being a ship operator while training Kugi to be a sub-pilot instead. Of course, Mimi might still be able to be a decent pilot with more training, but performing that bad can also be said to be a talent in a sense. ¡­¡­Nah, probably not. I guess I just have to admit reality.

    ¡°Okay, Mimi. Let go of the flight stick for a bit and leave stopping the ship to flight assist mode. You can go ahead and proceed to the next step Kugi.¡±

    While coaching the two during simtor training, I was inwardly mulling over how to break the news to Mimi. Mimi seems to have been looking forward to her transition as a sub-pilot after all. Well, since it¡¯s obvious that she didn¡¯t have talent in that direction, that would be a no-go. Even if she was just a neer, it looks like we¡¯d have to rely on Kugi instead. Telling that to Mimi straight certainly wouldn¡¯t be good. She might even get angry. Well, it was Mimi, so she probably would follow my arrangements, but her rtionship with Kugi might get awkward again.

    Mm. Maybe it¡¯s better to consult Elma about a matter like this. Yeah, let¡¯s do that.

 Chapter 331 â€“ Consultation

    <h4>Chapter 331 - Consultation</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°You¡¯re just overthinking it.¡±

    I was currently inside the cockpit of Elma¡¯s ship, the Antlion. She smiled bitterly while sitting on the main pilot seat of the ship.

    ¡°You¡¯re our captain, the owner of the ships, and our group¡¯s leader Hiro. You can just do as you wish.¡±

    ¡°But ain¡¯t I being a bit too arbitrary?¡±

    I sat on the sub-pilot seat as I consulted with her. I don¡¯t wanna act like the boss of a ckpany.

    ¡°You¡¯re unexpectedly pretty naive when ites to things like this. Even though you don¡¯t have a problem charging headfirst against a swarm of pirates or crystal lifeforms.¡±

    ¡°This is a different matter, right? There¡¯s no reason to back out of a fight I can win.¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s exactly why you get called dangerous-sounding nicknames like¡ºCrazy Hiro¡»you know¡­¡­? Well, in any case, she really can¡¯t serve as a pilot if she can¡¯t performbat maneuvers well. Actually, I think she knows that better than anyone.¡±

    ¡°But she might improve her skills through training. I mean, she¡¯s be able to fire a gun normally now.¡±

    ¡°Sure, she can already fire at targets in the firing range, but will she actually be able to fire at real living people?¡±

    ¡°You have a point.¡±

    Anyway, Mimi¡¯s personality really wasn¡¯t suited forbat. She was just too nice. In a certain sense, she might be even more sheltered than the daughters of nobles or princesses. She was originally the only daughter of a colony¡¯s middle-ss family, so she was raised in a ce that was far away from violence and conflict.

    ¡°That girl is also bad at hand-to-handbat.¡±

    ¡°It really seems like she¡¯s bad at fighting in general. Though it doesn¡¯t look like she finds physical training unpleasant.¡±

    ¡°Instead of a sub-pilot, maybe the position of engineer or navigator might be more suited for that girl.¡±

    An engineer was a professional who manages the engine, shield, and sub-systems apart from mechanics such as Tina and Whisker. In SOL, it was an NPC-exclusive profession that couldn¡¯t be reced by the skills of yers. It provided a slight boost to a ship¡¯s basic performance, shield strength, and a passive ability to automatically use sub-system functions such as shield cells and chaff. That was an engineer.

    The navigator was an NPC crew member that improved a ship¡¯s maximum speed and mobility during FTL navigation, shortened the activation time of the FTL drive and hyperdrive a little, and also slightly shortened the time needed to navigate through a hypene. That was a navigator.

    ¡°Hmm. I was actually nning to buy Mimi a transport ship eventually and leave all our supply and trading needs to her.¡±

    ¡°That might be a good thing in the future. However, I think it would be good for that girl to umte training and experience as an engineer and navigator right now. If she does move on tomanding her own transport ship in the future, experiences in both professions will serve her well.¡±

    ¡°I see. That¡¯s true.¡±

    I guess it¡¯s fine as long as it will be good for Mimi¡¯s career progression. And if needed, we can also opt to hire a skilled pilot and have Mimi focus onmanding the transport ship. Rather, that might be more suitable for Mimi, given her temperament.

    ¡°Tell Mimi everything we discussed today, including your intention to buy a transport ship for her and have her officially handle our supplies. On second thought, let mee with you as well.¡±

    ¡°Thanks. You¡¯ll be a great help. You really are very reliable, Elma.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s only natural, right? I have more experiencepared to you after all.¡±

    After saying so, Elma disyed a proud expression. Yeah, what a perfect smug look. But she really was someone you can count on, so I couldn¡¯t exactly call her out for that smugness.

    ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t feel bad to be relied on by you in situations like this. I kind of feel proud that you came to consult me instead of Mei.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Don¡¯t tell me you actually feel a sense of rivalry against her?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not something that grand. I¡¯m just happy you¡¯re relying on me. Now then, shall we? Strike while the iron is hot, as they say.¡±

    Elma sat up from the pilot seat and reached her hand out to me. I took her hand and got up from the sub-pilot seat as well.

    She¡¯s right. It¡¯s better to get things like this over with as soon as possible. Alright. Let¡¯s go and talk to Mimi.

    _______________________________________________________________

    ¡°That¡¯s basically it.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    I and Elma moved to the dining area of the ck Lotus and told Mimi, who was drinking tea with Kugi, about everything that we discussed. Mimi muttered, closed her eyes, and hung her head down in response.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to always stay with me, aren¡¯t you, Hiro-sama?¡±

    Mimi, who had quickly raised her face again, threw a heavy question at me with a serious look. Heavy indeed. But my heart already knew the answer, so I didn¡¯t hesitate to reply.

    ¡°Of course, I will. Unless Mimi doesn¡¯t want me anymore, I¡¯ll always stay with you.¡±

    ¡°Then it¡¯s fine. I want to do things that will be most convenient for you, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m happy you feel that way, but I want you to think about your future too, Mimi¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°My future is to always be together with Hiro-sama. That¡¯s why I want to train and gain skills that will be useful to you.¡±

    Oh¡­¡­ Heavy. Truly too heavy.

    ¡°OK. Then from here on out, try both the engineer and navigator training programs, then choose whichever you feel is more suited for you. Since you already have plenty of experience as an operator, transitioning to a navigator might be easier for you, but I¡¯ll leave the final decision to your judgment, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Then Kugi-chan will be the one training to be the sub-pilot, right?¡±

    After saying so, Mimi turned toward Kugi who was looking at her from a spot a little distance away. The stuff we were talking about wasn¡¯t particrly confidential anyway, so she should have heard it all. When Mimi mentioned her name, Kugi turned toward her as well with her ears jerking to-and-fro on top of her head. How cute.

    ¡°That¡¯s basically how it¡¯s going to be. With that, there will be a clear distinction between your roles.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I will continue to do my best.¡±

    Mimi disyed a refreshed smile.

    If we were to continue working as a mercenary corps, it would be necessary to spend time thinking from a long-term perspective. Well, if I recklessly increased the number of our crew members, I might not be able to handle them all. And honestly, I don¡¯t really feel like increasing their number any time soon. There was also the issue of trust when epting newrades.

    ¡°Mm. Don¡¯t try to overdo it-¡±

    Before I could finish my words, an easygoing voice echoed within the dining area.

    ¡°Hiya guys!!! Boy, am I tired as heck. Good work everyone.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re being too hyper, Big Sis.¡±

    Tina and Whisker made their entrance. They seemed to be pretty energetic ever since yesterday, but that might be because they finally quit their former job and let go of some of their burdens. On second thought, I think it¡¯s mostly Tina who¡¯s all gung-ho. Don¡¯t tell me she was actually drinking alcohol while working?

    ¡°Huh? You guys kinda seem to be talkin¡¯ about somethin¡¯ serious.¡±

    ¡°We were.¡±

    ¡°Uh, sorry?¡±

    ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll let you off this time.¡±

    ¡°Yay! Boss is really magnanimous!¡±

    Tina raised both her arms and whooped in joy. Man, her tension really is high. Did she really drink alcohol? Are you drinking? Why don¡¯t you try breathing out for a bit?

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry guys¡­¡­ I¡¯m really sorry. Big Sis has been like this recently.¡±

    ¡°Just make sure to be careful during work so you won¡¯t get hurt.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    The good little sister Whisker seemed to be having a hard time due to her big sister¡¯s current state. Good luck, little sister.

 Chapter 332 â€“ A Hiro with Lots of Free Time

    <h4>Chapter 332 - A Hiro with Lots of Free Time</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The training direction for Mimi and Kugi has been finalized, Elma¡¯s starship has been procured, and the overhaul and upgrade of ck Lotus have beenpleted. I haven¡¯t had the opportunity to fly around freely out in space for a good while now, so I would have liked to do just that. But unfortunately, the imperial military, or rather, Col. Serena¡¯s Independent Mobile Anti-pirate Fleet has given us a designated request, so we were ordered to stay on stand-by inside the colony until the fleet is ready for sortie. It wasn¡¯t worth it to disobey orders and willfully leave the Windas Tertius colony without permission, so, unfortunately, I had no choice but to wait around while being bored out of my mind.

    Well, this system was one of the key star systems of the empire anyway and right under the home turf of the imperial military. So, you have to head at least three systems away to get a chance to encounter space pirates. And if you want a tidy profit, you¡¯d have to move at least five or six times away via hypene. If so, even a one-way trip will already take days. It wasn¡¯t a distance that you can just dismiss as a little far away.

    Or rather, something like that would probably get treated as deserting during an official military mission.

    ¡°So, that¡¯s why you came to watch us work.¡±

    ¡°Ya really have a lot of free time, Boss.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fun to rx while watching people hard at work you know.¡±

    ¡°Nice guts ya have there, Boss. It makes me really wanna pick a fight with ya.¡±

    ¡°Sorry.¡±

    I immediately surrendered the moment Tina held up a sma cutting tool that could even easily dismantle space monster bodies. Isn¡¯t it dangerous to point that thing toward a person, missy?

    ¡°But your work sure is in.¡±

    ¡°Course it is. The Krishna, ck Lotus, and Antlion¡¯s maintenance are all practically perfect already.¡±

    ¡°So, right now, we¡¯re only stockpiling easily exhaustible items orponents that would take some time to replicate. Next would be performing maintenance on the maintenance bots and thebat bots, sorting out the tools, or maintaining the maintenance facility itself.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Right now, maintenance bots of various shapes and sizes were gathered around the two sisters. There were only a few humanoids, and most were multi-legged, one-armed, or multiple-armed work bots. There were also drone-like bots that were in charge of working on elevated spots. They seem to be floating around by using anti-gravity technology. It was basically the same device used by those spherical anti-gravity drink holders.

    ¡°Well, maintenance bots are actually capable of performing maintenance on each other, and the militarybat bots can make use of their dedicated maintenance systems to conduct automatic maintenance, so these kids don¡¯t really need much attention anyway.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Honestly, maintainin¡¯ our tools is a lot more of a handful than them.¡±

    ¡°Uh, is there something you guys need to manually work on yourselves though?¡±

    If there were this many maintenance bots, I can¡¯t imagine the two of them having enough chances to swing their tools around themselves.

    ¡°It¡¯s not necessary for performing maintenance on Krishna, ck Lotus, and Antlion. But we do have to get our hands dirty when ites to strippin¡¯ equipment from captured pirate ships or puttin¡¯ usable ones together into a workin¡¯ ship that we can sell. Anyway, ain¡¯t that our main job around here, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. That¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°We did need to perform some manual maintenance on Krishna at first. But that¡¯s just because we had no avable manual to base on.

    ¡°Ah, yeah. I suppose there really isn¡¯t one avable.¡±

    ck Lotus was manufactured by Space Dwerg, and Antlion was manufactured by Ideal Starway, but Krishna appeared together with me when I got thrown into this world. Its manufacturing details werepletely unknown, and some of itsponents were mysterious ck boxes.

    Fortunately, it had a certain degree ofpatibility with the shipponents of this world, and although we haven¡¯t encountered any problems maintaining it yet, there¡¯s a high risk of it being unrepairable if any of those ck boxes were to be damaged. In truth, Krishna was the most problematic ship I owned.

    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve been gradually getting some headway on the analysis. We¡¯ve created a working temte for basic maintenance, so unless the Krishna gets seriously damaged, maintaining it is manageable.¡±

    ¡°Fer now, we¡¯ve prioritized the maintenance of theponents that get worn out easily like the thrusters and the arm-type weapon mounts. We¡¯ve also analyzed the other parts and can already perform maintenance on a lot of them, but the generator¡¯s still one big puzzle.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be fine Big Brother, but still, try your best not to let the generator take a hit or it¡¯ll be really bad.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Once the power generator gets hit, it¡¯ll be checkmate.¡±

    Obviously, the power generator was the most notable weakness of a starship. Well, the only time it would get directly damaged would be when the energy shields and armor have beenpletely prated and a ship¡¯s vital part gets a hole punched through it, so the lives of the crew inside probably can¡¯t be guaranteed anyway. The best oue in that situation would be to sessfully escape in the cockpit block before the rest of the ship explodes.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s leave the matter of Krishna aside first, Boss. When are we gonna sortie outta this colony anyway? We¡¯re already about to run outta topics fer small talk to kill time.¡±

    ¡°What are you guys gonna do once we run out of topics then?¡±

    ¡°Mm. Studying, maybe? We¡¯ve already been doing that every day though.¡±

    ¡°Studying?¡±

    I wasn¡¯t expecting Whisker to bring up studying, so it made me curious.

    ¡°We have to keep studyin¡¯ about thetest state-of-the-art materials, shipponents, and engineering techniques. A ship mechanic who can¡¯t keep up with thetest and greatest ain¡¯t a qualified mechanic at all.¡±

    ¡°I see. So, you guys are constantly updating your knowledge and skills huh.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is.¡±

    ¡°If you dere the cost of studying that stuff under our expenses, I¡¯ll properly shoulder it all, so make sure you do that. But you can¡¯t spend money on things that are simply your hobby, alright?¡±

    ¡°Really? Thanks a bunch, Boss!¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡±

    Tina and Whisker disyed overjoyed smiles.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna let Mei scrutinize every expense, alright?¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­ T-That¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    I had to give them a bit of a warning just in case. It¡¯s because a non-expert on that stuff like me wouldn¡¯t be able to judge if the expenses were justified. It would be better to leave that to Mei. I¡¯m gonna end up burdening her again, but it was a necessary measure.

    ¡°By the way, are you really that free right now, Big Brother?¡±

    ¡°Very.¡±

    Elma waspletely busy with adjusting Antlion, and Mimi and Kugi were studying under Mei regarding their new professions. So, right now, I have no choice but to wait for the designated request to officially go underway, and that¡¯s why I went over and ended up bothering Tina and Whisker. Well, I could watch a movie or work out a bit in the training room, but it would just feel empty to watch a movie or work out alone.

    ¡°Ya actually have a tendency to easily get lonely huh, Boss. That¡¯s pretty cute.¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­¡­? Well, maybe.¡±

    When I first came here, I spent my days alone. But after I picked Mimi and Elma up, that wasn¡¯t the case anymore. And so, I found myself always spending time with Mimi and Elma. And then, Mei joined us as well. Tina and Whisker came too. So, more often than not, I was always spending time with someone. Though I did spend a lot of time alone back when I was still on Earth.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like we have anythin¡¯ urgent to do, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Big Sis. What do you want to do, Big Brother?¡±

    The two of them were giving me gentle smiles. Can you stop that, you two? Stop emitting that natural aura of motherhood. It makes me feel really embarrassed.

    After that, I spent a nice time watching holo-movies with the two of them.

 Chapter 333 â€“ Spending Time with The Sisters

    <h4>Chapter 333 - Spending Time with The Sisters</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Hey, hey, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    Tina called out to me after we finished watching our second holo-movie, so I responded. The one we watched chronicled the adventures of a researcher cum adventurer who crashnded on a popted by a so-called primitive civilization that didn¡¯t possess interster navigation technology. He formed bonds with the natives of the after interacting with them before eventually making it back to space. It was made in the style of a documentary film.

    Though you couldn¡¯t exactly call it a non-fiction work, it was apparently based on true events. Basically, contact with those designated as primitive civilizations is strictly prohibited by the Universal Culture Preservation Law, but it won¡¯t be considered a crime if what led to it were so-called unavoidable circumstances such as an ident. Still, people were still encouraged to minimize contact as much as possible in order to not affect the natural development of such civilizations.

    Well, let¡¯s leave the exnations at that and hear out what Tina has to say first.

    ¡°Ye¡¯r from a primitive civilization yourself, right, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Oh- ¡­¡­Well, yeah, I suppose. In the world I¡¯m from, or rather, the I¡¯m from, stuff like stars and outer space were still incredibly distant concepts for most people. Interster navigation technology was only found in science fiction works.¡±

    They might have alreadye up with some theory, but I wasn¡¯t that knowledgeable when ites to stuff like that. I¡¯ve at least heard of the International Space Station and that rocket development was taking ce in various countries around Earth, but things like that weren¡¯t important to a former average sryman like me.

    ¡°So, is yer current situation OK with the Universal Culture Preservation Law?¡±

    ¡°I think so. I mean, I¡¯m already recognized as an official Gran imperial citizen anyway. Are they still gonna bother me after all this time?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. But don¡¯t ya miss yer home, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Mm, well¡­¡­ Due to various reasons, I¡¯ve already long given up on going back.¡±

    ¡°Various reasons?¡±

    Whisker, who was silently listening to my and Tina¡¯s conversation, finally joined in and raised a question of her own. Yeah, I was currently sandwiched between the two sisters from the left and right. I wasn¡¯t able to properly think about it when I first came to this world, but what virtuous deeds did I exactly do in my previous life to find myself in my current situation? Uh, judging from all the troublesome stuff I¡¯ve encountered this far, maybe I wasn¡¯t actually virtuous but evil instead.

    ¡°My home is known as Earth. It¡¯s the third of the Sol system. So, in other words, it¡¯s basically Sol III.¡±

    ¡°But if ya know the name of yer system, wouldn¡¯t it be easy fer ya to find yer way back home, Boss?¡±

    ¡°The name was one the native Earthlings came up with. In other words, it was named by a so-called undeveloped primitive civilization that doesn¡¯t even have working interster navigation technology. Will that kind of name really be registered on any official star maps?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­ Oh¡­¡­¡±

    The two of them should have probably realized what I was getting at. From Earth¡¯s point of view, Earth was the third in the Sr system. But for mature interster civilizations, the Sr system might not be called the Sr system at all. In other words, there was no way for me to search for my native Sr system on any avable gctic map. In fact, as soon as I came into this world, I already looked up not only the Sr system but also the Sirius system, the Alpha Centauri system, and the Tau Ceti system which were rtively close together, but there were no hits.

    ¡°If I were an ultra-genius astronomer, I might have been able to figure out the position of the Sol system from the arrangement of innumerable stars out there, but unfortunately, I¡¯m totally ignorant regarding that field. This is the first reason.¡±

    ¡°I see. Can we please also hear your other reasons, Big Brother?¡±

    ¡°Okay. If we take everything Kugi says as true, I somehow found myself from a high-potential world into this one. I¡¯m not exactly sure what¡¯s up with this high-potential world stuff, but anyway, you can just chalk it up to me somehow crossing space-time through some sort of supernatural power or something like that.¡±

    ¡°From an engineer¡¯s point of view, we aren¡¯t really that convinced of that ¡®mysterious supernatural event¡¯ stuff though.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s called mysterious because it¡¯s hard to understand.¡±

    I shrugged my shoulders in response to Tina who sported a somewhat unconvinced expression. Just exactly how was I sent to this world, and why? I probably won¡¯t be able to find any more leads apart from that supernatural stuff Kugi keeps insisting about.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get back on topic. If this universe and the one I¡¯m from really aren¡¯t one and the same, exactly how far apart in space-time is the ¡®me¡¯ now with the ¡®me¡¯ back in my home world?¡±

    ¡°¡±???¡±¡±

    It seems that the sisters couldn¡¯t understand what I was trying to get across this time around. Both of them tilted their heads in confusion.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not bother about whether or not I¡¯m from another universe then. If my home world really exists in this universe, I really have no idea how far apart my current ¡®present¡¯ is from my ¡®present¡¯ back when I was still on Earth. It¡¯s possible that I might havee to the far future or maybe even the ancient past. On a cosmic scale, thousands or even tens of thousands of years are like mere moments, right? This is the second reason.¡±

    ¡°Oh. In other words, when Big Brother jumped over here, you might not have only jumped through space but also time. And whether it¡¯s a plus or minus direction, it¡¯s measured on a cosmic scale, and you aren¡¯t even sure if your star system still exists anymore.¡±

    ¡°Ah-¡­¡­ I ain¡¯t even gonna know what to do if I suddenly found myself disced in time fer ten years. Not to mention a hundred, or even thousands.¡±

    Even in this era where your life span can be greatly extended due to the development of medical technology, hundreds of years were still a pretty long time. It was long enough for several generations of changes.

    ¡°So, even if I could return to my original universe, will there still be a ce for me to return to? That¡¯s the problem¡­¡­ And, if by some miracle, I eventually manage to find my home system in this universe, actually heading back is still a big problem.¡±

    ¡°A big problem?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve already attained official Gran empire citizenship, remember? And like I told you guys earlier, my home¡¯s civilization can be considered a primitive one. Since the Universal Culture Preservation Law exists, I¡¯m no longer allowed to return to my home system in the first ce. And even if I was allowed permission to visit the system, I probably won¡¯t be granted permission tond on my home itself. That¡¯s the third reason.¡±

    Krishna was still a fairly big starship. If no proper countermeasures were taken, it was possible for those on Earth to detect it even with the low technological level through the use of things like artificial satellites. If that happens, the world would be thrown into chaos. After all, it was the descent of a UFO. There¡¯s no way it won¡¯t turn into a super big deal.

    ¡°Un, I see. Given those reasons, it certainly does seem difficult¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. Well, it¡¯s not like I had many rtives back on Earth in the first ce. I would be lying if I said I have no regrets, and I feel sorry for suddenly disappearing on them, but I honestly don¡¯t feel like throwing my current life away just to go back there anymore.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ But don¡¯t you get lonely?¡±

    Tina looked up at my face with a worried expression.

    ¡°It does feel sad to not be able to return to my home town, but now I treat Krishna and ck Lotus as my homes more. And there¡¯s also Tina and Whisker who worry so much about me. For the ¡®me¡¯ right now, this is the ce where I belong, and the ce I should return to. And I¡¯m more than fine with that.¡±

    If I were thrown to another universe again together with Krishna, you can bet I¡¯d try my hardest to return to ck Lotus where everyone was no matter what. Well, I don¡¯t think something so ridiculous would happen repeatedly, but it¡¯s not like it¡¯s impossible for it to happen since it¡¯s already happened once. I already have my hands full attracting all sorts of trouble in this world¡­¡­ So, please spare me from that.

    ¡°¡­¡­You spout some pretty cheesy lines with a straight face sometimes, Boss.¡±

    Tina, whose face and ears have turnedpletely red, began to poke my thigh with her fingertips. That tickles, you know? Or rather, even Whisker snuggled over even closer.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t really aim for it, but¡­¡­ are you two thinking what I¡¯m thinking right now?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­That¡¯s tactless, Big Brother.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll serve as the anchors so you won¡¯t suddenly go wanderin¡¯ around somewhere again, Boss.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Yeah, it turned into that kind of development. Please just imagine the rest.

 Chapter 334 â€“ Kugi and Hyperspace

    <h4>Chapter 334 - Kugi and Hyperspace</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°It¡¯s finally time.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, finally.¡±

    While agreeing with Mimi¡¯s words, I drank my tea inside the dining area of ck Lotus.

    It¡¯s been three days since I spent an intimate time with the mechanic sisters, and now, it was finally time to depart. While I¡¯m well aware that you can¡¯t expect the same speed of organization from the militarypared to mercenaries, they still took quite a bit of time.

    ¡°It feels like we¡¯re still passing the time quite leisurely though.¡±

    Kugi gave such a remark as she sipped her tea. Yeah, that¡¯s true. We¡¯re actually still spending a leisurely time like this even now. In truth, even if it technically was time for the fleet to sortie, we still won¡¯t have roles to y for a while. After all, we¡¯ll be acting in concert with the Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet which now has a lot of ships at its disposal. And many other mercenaries apart from us have joined up as well. In other words, we were now a flock of regrbat ships centered around the militarybat ships of the imperial military. There probably would be no pirate stupid enough to pick a fight with a group like us, so we probably won¡¯t face any enemy attacks until we arrive at the Edge World.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I was this excited.¡±

    ¡°Look, I know you¡¯re excited, but spare me from getting that new ship of yours critically damaged straight away, alright?¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    Elma¡¯s fighting spirit seems to have been stoked due to being able to pilot her own ship for the first time in a while. I just pray that her fighting spirit doesn¡¯t go to waste in the end. We did repeatedly check and confirmed that there were no problems with her ship though. She was already familiar with how Krishna and ck Lotus operate, so I¡¯m sure there will be no problems in terms of ship cooperation. We¡¯ve also confirmed it by using the simtor. I would have preferred to hunt actual live space pirates down when practicing ourbination tactics though, but it was a shame that the situation didn¡¯t allow it.

    By the way, ck Lotus was now currently towing Antlion. She was now navigating by connecting with the towing joint of ck Lotus. And because that joint was also equipped with a pathway to go back and forth between both ships, Elma was currently rxing with us inside the dining area of the Lotus.

    ¡°My Lord, we are navigating in subspace right now, aren¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°I cannot feel it at all.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s just how it is.¡±

    ck Lotus departed from the Windas Tertius colony about 30 minutes ago, synchronized with the Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet, and switched to FTL navigation together with them. Afterward, all ships simultaneously entered a hypene, and were now navigating within it.

    If you enter the cockpit of the ck Lotus, you¡¯d be able to see the scenery inside the hypene, but to be honest, that psychedelic light show really hurts the eyes, so I don¡¯t rmend staring at it for very long. I don¡¯t rmend it, but-

    ¡°Do you want to go see it? Hyperspace, I mean.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Kugi¡¯s animal ears shot up as her face glowed with excitement. Kugi was a girl with a healthy sense of curiosity. Maybe it¡¯s because of her sheltered upbringing.

    ¡°What about you two?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll pass.¡±

    ¡°Me too.¡±

    Elma and Mimi don¡¯t seem to be interested in seeing hyperspace.

    Actually, it was also possible to see the hyperspace scenery in the dining area by ying the live footage captured by the ship¡¯s external sensors into the holo-disy, but seeing it through the bridge screen was still a more authentic experience.

    I and Kugi left the dining area and headed to the bridge of the Lotus.

    ¡°How¡¯s your sub-pilot training going?¡±

    ¡°There are a lot of things to remember, and I¡¯m worried because you have to make quick decisions on the spot.¡±

    ¡°Even I couldn¡¯t do it perfectly in the beginning. At first, just remember the terms and focus on getting the sub-systems up and running under my instructions.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I will do my best to meet your expectations.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, don¡¯t be so stiff. Even if you make some mistakes, I¡¯ll make sure to cover for you, so don¡¯t worry too much.¡±

    It¡¯s good to have a serious attitude toward work, but it also wasn¡¯t good to be too tense. Combat is quite stressful after all. I¡¯m not sure why though, but it seems I personally don¡¯t feel stressed out at all. Maybe because it still doesn¡¯t feel that real to me. Did the part of my brain that¡¯s making me feel fear get messed up when I got sent to this world?

    I mulled over stuff like that as I chatted with Kugi until we reached the bridge.

    ¡°Wee, Master. Kugi-sama.¡±

    ¡°Sorry for intruding.¡±

    ¡°Please excuse us.¡±

    Kugi and I greeted Mei Back. The bridge ck Lotus was like Mei¡¯s private room. Or rather, it was more akin to her territory or castle. Being a maidroid, she hasn¡¯t personally imed the bridge for herself, but everyone except for the neer Kugi already agreed that it was. Mei herself doesn¡¯t seem to have any ns to acknowledge that though.

    ¡°You are not intruding at all, so please be at ease. Did youe here to observe hyperspace?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Put the screen up for us, Mei.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    The multicolored hyperspace scenery was projected on the bridge¡¯s main screen. It was still a pretty funky sight, but its appearance today was a little different. Since there were many ships that entered hyperspace together through hyperdrive synchronization, the other ships also appeared under the backdrop of the usual hyperspace scenery of colors chaotically blending together in irregr patterns.

    ¡°Sure is a lively sight.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Kugi was staring silently at the hyperspace scenery disyed on the screen. Was something up? She kinda seems to be staring at just one point on the screen though¡­¡­ There¡¯s nothing there, right? There wasn¡¯t a ship there or anything.

    ¡°Did you see something that caught your interest?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not interesting at all.¡±

    Even as she said so, Kugi still kept staring at that one spot. Uh, even if it wasn¡¯t interesting, she was definitely seeing something, right? I¡¯m getting a bit scared here y¡¯know? I nced over to Mei, but it looks like she hasn¡¯t detected anything unusual either and expressionlessly shook her head. This video was being picked up by the external sensors of the Lotus, so Mei can also view the exact same visual data. If even Mei couldn¡¯t detect an anomaly, then there shouldn¡¯t be anything strange out there.

    ¡°I¡¯m satisfied.¡±

    After saying so, Kugi took her eyes off the screen and walked back toward Mei and I. It seems that she¡¯s totally lost interest in hyperspace.

    ¡°Y-Yeah¡­¡­ Did you see anything out there?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a trifling thing, My Lord.¡±

    Kugi smiled as she replied. The atmosphere around her doesn¡¯t seem normal, but it also kinda felt like I shouldn¡¯t pry too much. To put it straight, it was a dangerous atmosphere.

    ¡°I see. So, what should we do now? Do you want to chat with Mei for a while?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡­ If it¡¯s no bother, I¡¯d like to hear all about how you met My Lord and the time you spent with him until now, Mei-san.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I shall tell you all about it then.¡±

    Mei then talked about how she was first introduced to me back on the resort in the Sierra system. Though it might be an interesting story for Kugi¡­¡­ it was very embarrassing for me to hear about our encounter from Mei¡¯s point of view.

    Stop. I¡¯m not that great of a person. Please give me a break already.

 Chapter 335 â€“ Frontier Territory

    <h4>Chapter 335 - Frontier Territory</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet left the Windas system and reached the frontier via gateway. Even though it was a remote area, it wasn¡¯t that different from the ce where I first met Mimi and Elma.

    ¡°How is this ce different, My Lord?¡±

    Krishna¡¯s cockpit. Kugi inquired as she sat on the sub-pilot seat.

    Since we were approaching Edge World, we prepared ourselves to perform an emergency sortie even while the Lotus was still navigating at superluminal speed.

    ¡°From here onward, we¡¯ll be entering the Edge World, which is also described as the remotest area of the empire, and beyond it is unexplored space. This ce isn¡¯t actually near any borders with neighboring nations even though it¡¯s on the edge of imperial territory. In other words¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°In other words?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the boonies.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­ How blunt.¡±

    Mimiughs bitterly after hearing my exnation. Well, this ce really was like the remote countryside with very few, if any, sights to see. Right now, it wasn¡¯t strategically important, and no special resources have been found within it. In other words, that also means that there weren¡¯t anys suitable for humans to live on untouched. Unless there was a special reason like a shortage of habitables in the distant future, this system, which I believe is called the Vostok system, will continue to be a sleepy remote countryside system.

    Well, as far as I can tell from the system information on the screen, it seems that there were no worthwhile resources that could be obtained here at all. However, it¡¯s not like there were no resources. It¡¯s just that those avable were somon that they could be obtained practically everywhere else, so they weren¡¯t exactly thatpetitive demand-wise. In the future, when the empire finally decides to develop the Edge World in earnest, this ce will probably serve as a ry point.

    ¡°Actually, these kinds of star systems are prime pirate hunting grounds for mercenaries like us.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°Because it isn¡¯t close to any border, the number and overall quality of the imperial garrisons assigned here are very poor. That¡¯s why space pirates find it easy to operate here. It¡¯s amon pattern for pirates to use unassuming systems like this one as their base of operations and then worsen the public security of the neighboring systems.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Kugi listened to my exnation with a lot of interest. However, ces like this were also inconvenient for mercenaries because it wasn¡¯t possible to keep your ships well-stocked and in good condition in such star systems. The Termaine system was also remote, but it still was part of a border with another nation, so there were plenty of imperial military forces deployed within it, and there were also ample weapons, ammunition, and maintenance facilities to service their military¡¯s ships. But in truly remote star systems like this one, those facilities were exceedingly rare. Well, in our case, we still had ck Lotus so we wouldn¡¯t have trouble maintaining Krishna in the short term.

    However, the problem was Antlion. A mother ship that¡¯s able to house a medium-ss ship is part of the ss of so-called capital ships. They were typically asrge as an imperial military destroyer or as small as an imperial military cruiser.

    The only mercenaries capable of operating ships of those sizes wererge mercenary corps that usually had a mix of at least ten small and medium-ss ships. That number was already overkill for us who only operate one small and one medium-ss ship.

    ¡°Are frontier systems ces with nothing to be found in them?¡±

    ¡°Oh, no, that¡¯s not actually the case.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    I answered Kugi¡¯s question, and Mimi followed up with a question of her own.

    ¡°I can¡¯t say for certain because I haven¡¯t seen our destination yet myself, but it should have enough facilities for a fleet of this size to dock. And merchants will soon gather in ces like that. It¡¯s safe after all. And when that happens, mercenaries and adventurers who are intent on surveying unexplored areas will also gather. In turn, more merchants will arrive to take advantage of those mercenaries and adventurers.¡±

    ¡°I see. That¡¯s basically how trading colonies are formed, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah. But it¡¯s probably notplete yet in this case.¡±

    ¡°But how will the merchants conduct their trading if the colony isn¡¯tplete yet?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ll probably make use of ¡®that¡¯, but it would be more interesting for you guys to actually see it for yourself. I¡¯m sure you guys will be really surprised.¡±

    I haven¡¯t seen the imperial military, or rather, the Gran empire¡¯s version of¡ºthat¡», so I was looking forward to seeing one myself.

    The fleet rushed inside a hypene again as we chatted. We¡¯ll be heading to the star system in question next, and since it will just take a short time to travel there through the hypene, we just waited inside Krishna¡¯s cockpit as is. Meanwhile, Mimi and Kugi seem to have decided to study the handling of sub-systems together. I just listened to the two¡¯s discussion quietly from the side. There were some parts that I could supplement and exin in more detail, but it¡¯s important to learn things like that by themselves. Unless they were learning something obviously wrong, it was good to just listen in silently.

    Even so, Mimi and Kugi seem to be getting along quite well, which was for the best. At first, Mimi was cautious around the other girl, so I was a bit worried. But judging from what I¡¯m currently seeing, they seem to be on very good terms now. At least, in my eyes they were. I thought it was necessary to carefully keep an eye on the rtionship between the two¡­¡­ but Mei, who was piloting the Lotus from its bridge, contacted me.

    ¡ºMaster, we are about to arrive at the target star system.¡»

    ¡°Roger that. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll encounter things like crystal lifeforms but stay on guard just in case. And please inform Elma too.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood.¡»

    The transmission from Mei was cut off. Shortly afterward, I received a notification that ck Lotus had left the hypene and returned to normal space.

    ¡°We¡¯ve finally arrived. There doesn¡¯t seem to be any danger for the time being.¡±

    I operated the console and checked out the data picked up by the sensors of the Lotus. For the time being, it seems no attack warnings or anything like that has been issued. Mei was able to analyze the contents of superluminalmunication picked up by the subspace sensor and make a more reliable judgment, but that was far beyond a human like me.

    The fleet reorganized itself, synchronized their FTL drives, and moved as a whole toward the center of the star system at faster-than-light speeds.

    ¡°The interior of a hyperspace tunnel is too chaotic and ufortable to look at, but the scenery while navigating at superluminal speed is interesting, or rather, pretty huh.¡±

    I personally think the sight of stars turning into flowing lines of light was simply beautiful. Swimming around the sea of stars like this made one feel a great sense of freedom.

    ¡°Eh? I think the inside of a hyperspace tunnel is also pretty, though.¡±

    ¡°Your sensibilities are really a bit off sometimes, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Muu, how cruel.¡±

    Mimi showed a glum expression as she pouted at me.

    Well, Mimi¡¯s basicmon sense was fine, but her artistic or visual taste was a bit peculiar.

    ¡°Oops, it looks like we¡¯re about to reach our destination. Alright, guys. Focus.¡±

    ¡°Did you just change the topic, Hiro-sama¡­¡­? We¡¯ll talk about this properlyter.¡±

    ¡°Sure, if we still remember about it.¡±

    I think she¡¯ll get so surprised by the thing we¡¯re about to see that she¡¯ll forget all about such a topic though. If it doesn¡¯t turn out that way, I¡¯ll be in a pinch. C¡¯mon Gran empire. Please show us something amazing.

    ¡°FTL drive deactivating in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1¡­¡­Now.¡±

    The image sent back by the external sensors of the Lotus changed at the same time as Mimi¡¯s count ended. The ship switched from FTL navigation to normal navigation. The stars returned from flowing lines of light into points again.

    ¡°Whoah, what exactly is that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s big¡­¡­ isn¡¯t it?¡±

    After confirming that we¡¯ve returned to normal navigation, the image picked up by the external sensors of the Lotus changed several times until, finally, it projected the image of a gigantic object on the main screen.

    It was a gigantic twin-boom starship. I haven¡¯t really researched much about this ss of starship so I couldn¡¯t tell which manufacturer it was from at first nce, but it definitely was everything I expected it to be, and then some. It didn¡¯t look like a new ship at all, at least in terms of external appearance, and its hull showed clear signs of age.

    ¡°That stupidlyrge ship is called a military supply mothership. It¡¯s like a mobile base that¡¯s able to carry arge number of supplies, equipment, and troops. It can also serve to resupply and maintain starships of various size sses - from small-ss ones torge-ss battleships.¡±

    Although it was ridiculously gigantic, it should still be fully capable of both FTL and interster navigation. But since it was so big, it was really difficult to chart a course to ces just within a single system.

    ¡°It¡¯s bigger than the colony ships we saw back in the Comatt system.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Well, they had about five colony ships filled with people back then, so in terms of the overall poption, those ships still had more.¡±

    ¡°I wonder just how many people are able to live in that ship¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi had already seen colony ships before, so she wasn¡¯t that shocked by the mothership, but Kugi was thoroughly impressed by just how ridiculously big it was. Her cute mouth was agape in surprise.

    ¡°We¡¯re probably gonna stay on that ship for a while. I hope you get used to it fast.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    So, the name of this supply mothership was¡ºDauntless¡»huh. We¡¯ll be staying over for a while. I hope the rest of the crew gets used to living inside it quickly.

 Chapter 336 â€“ Kensan System

    <h4>Chapter 336 - Kensan System</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The Kensan system was a star system that has just been incorporated into the Gran empire. Its existence itself has been recognized for a while already, but it took quite a lot of steps and time in order for it to be recognized as official Gran imperial territory internationally. That¡¯s why, technically, it was just newly incorporated.

    ¡°Well, that seems to have happened only three months ago.¡±

    ¡°That is considered recent?¡±

    ¡°Um, maybe it is?¡±

    Whisker responded to Kugi¡¯s question with another question. Well, on an international scale, I suppose three months can be considered as something recent.

    ¡°So, what¡¯re we gonna do now, Boss?¡±

    Tina, who wasn¡¯t wearing her usual work overalls but casual room wear instead, inquired. Her get-up didn¡¯t seem out of ce because we were currently rxing inside the dining hall of the ck Lotus. It didn¡¯t look out of ce, but just wearing a thin tank top was still a bit too defenseless.

    ¡°For now, we¡¯ll do stuff like recon and info gathering.¡±

    Elma responded while sipping a mysterious drink from a straw extending out of a cup-shaped container. She was always drinking it when working out, so I assumed it was some kind of protein drink, but I¡¯ve never confirmed my conjecture with her. Was it tasty? Maybe I¡¯ll ask her about itter.

    ¡°Specifically, we¡¯ll gather info rted to hunting pirates. It seems there are many cases of pirates aiming for transport and adventurer ships around these parts. The imperial space navy is checking out the surrounding star systems, thinking there¡¯s a pirate stronghold in them.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why we mercenaries are going to split up and hunt down space pirates in order to get information out of them. We need to either capture live prisoners or secure data caches.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    It seems that Tina, Mimi, and Elma were convinced by my exnation.

    We need to take prisoners because whenever space pirates surrender, they basically erase all avable information inside their database before purging the cockpit block from the rest of their ship. If they didn¡¯t do that, they¡¯d end up selling out their fellow pirates. It seems that even pirates have a certain code they abide by. Either way, they¡¯d still die miserably in the end, so I wish they would at least prove useful though.

    If a data cache couldn¡¯t be found, it was just a matter of interrogating the prisoners, but that would cost the imperial military some time and effort. In this world of super-advanced technology, it just wasn¡¯t possible to hinder information collection for long. And besides, human rights weren¡¯t applied to space pirates in the first ce. In a way, it was an extremely scary world.

    ¡°In other words, it¡¯s just business as usual.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    In short, we were tasked with filling in for the military that wasn¡¯t able to conduct effective small-scale operations. Presently, it seems that the defense garrison against pirates in this star system was woefullycking in the required numbers.

    There was no problem with protecting the supply mothership Dauntless itself. And the Dauntless was equipped with arge number of defensive turrets and interceptor fighters. Its being called a supply mothership might sound like itsbat capabilities were low, but in reality, it¡¯s more like a mobile fortress.

    However, when ites to protecting the entire system, the Dauntless by itself wasn¡¯t enough. Although fighter interceptors had all thebat functions a properbat vessel needs, they were basically unable to operate too far away from the mothership. So, whenever a rescue requestes in, they¡¯d need to send a fleet to respond instead of sending fighters, but the Dauntless escort fleet alone just won¡¯t be enough. That¡¯s why we who were hired by Col. Serena and her Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet were sent all the way to this Kensan system.

    However, as far as I could tell, the actions of the pirates active in this system were refined and troublesome. Their raids were quite swift, and they¡¯d already be long gone way before the system garrison and the imperial space navy¡¯sbined fleet could even arrive.

    Pirates weren¡¯t stupid after all. If they judged that they couldn¡¯t win, they¡¯d have no qualms running away. Even I couldn¡¯t prevent some from escaping from my sights several times already.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s just a coincidence, but now we¡¯ll need to go up against slippery space pirates who tend to run away right after we purchased the Antlion that¡¯s equipped with a Gravity Jammer.¡±

    ¡°I understand what you¡¯re getting at, but Antlion¡¯s Gravity Jammer was developed to be a bane to space pirates in the first ce. It¡¯s inevitable that we use it to deal with space pirates, right?¡±

    I responded to Whisker¡¯s words and shrugged.

    We¡¯d probably get the same impression even if we hunted down space pirates like normal without epting Col. Serena¡¯s request. There was no equipment more suited to mercenaries like us who make our living hunting down pirates than something that¡¯s able to interfere with the activation of a pirate ship¡¯s FTL drive.

    Well, if I asked Kugi, she¡¯d just tell me it¡¯s a result of my innate predisposition for bad luck or something like that, but anyway, we made the decision to purchase the Antlion that day ourselves, so simply chalking it all to fate didn¡¯t sit that well with me.

    ¡°They say the bounties ced on the heads of the pirates are getting higher and higher. Let¡¯s act carefully yet boldly and earn lots of money¡­¡­ Well, it¡¯s our day off today though.¡±

    ¡°Thanks to Tina and Whisker, our ships are in perfect condition, and we¡¯ve alsopleted stockpiling supplies in the Windas system. Do you guys want to check out the Dauntless? We¡¯re going to be staying in it for a while after all.¡±

    ¡°Ooh, that sounds good. It looks like a pretty old ship, but I¡¯m curious about its interior.¡±

    ¡°It should be fun walking around a ship this big.¡±

    Tina and Kugi look very up to my suggestion. Tina was just acting as usual, but Kugi was also disying a strong sense of curiosity. It¡¯s probably because she was brought up in a sheltered environment. Her three tails were wagging back and forth cutely.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go and check it out then, everyone.¡±

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll call Mei-san over too.¡±

    Mimi operated her tablet terminal and sent a message to Mei who wasn¡¯t present. It seems we¡¯re gonna be staying here for a while, so let¡¯s do some sightseeing first.

 Chapter 337 â€“ Local Specialty Shop

    <h4>Chapter 337 - Local Specialty Shop</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    We¡¯re really standing out. Well, I suppose it can¡¯t be helped. After all, we were a groupposed of a single man being followed by six beautifuldies. Of course, we¡¯re gonna stand out. Moreover, Mei was in her maid uniform and Kugi was wearing her miko-like outfit.

    But it wasn¡¯t like there were only males staying inside the Dauntless. There were a lot of people in military uniform, of course. And the number of males was just a bit higher than the females. Even so, our group still stood out like a sore thumb. More than 70% of the people were wearing uniforms, or rather, in-looking but durable shirts and pants after all.

    ¡°We are being stared at a lot.¡±

    ¡°Our outfits stand out from the rest after all. But I think it¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡±

    Kugi and Mei, whose outfits stood out the most among all of us, chatted with each other. I had Mei stick to Kugi with the intention of keeping an eye on her, but it looks like Kugi has opened up a lot to Mei. I was worried that Kugi¡¯s serious belief in psionics and Mei being an advanced autonomous AI would make them sh somehow, but it seems that Kugi didn¡¯t show any signs of rejecting Mei¡¯s existence.

    ¡°Ah, the atmosphere of this ship is kindafy.¡±

    ¡°The height of the ceiling is just like a dwarven-style colony after all. And the aged look kind of makes you remember Brad Prime.¡±

    Tina and Whisker seemed to be having fun as they looked around the scenery while walking. Certainly, the ceiling of this block doesn¡¯t seem to be that high just as they said. Generally, the residential blocks of most colonies had pretty high ceilings. That¡¯s in order to significantly reduce the stress felt by the residents. But this was a military ship after all, so they¡¯d rather focus on space-saving measures thanfort.

    ¡°It¡¯s kind of interesting that they have tourist sightseeing guides here even though it¡¯s a ship.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s probably often used as a frontline base toward the Edge World just like this time. Maybe that¡¯s why there¡¯s a need to cater toward the merchants, mercenaries, and adventurers that are gathering here.¡±

    Even though this ce had a tourist guide, it was a lot more modestpared to that of a colony. Only essential things like the locations of eateries, goods exchange shops, and where toplete the necessary procedures and obtain permits were indicated in the guide.

    ¡°I was surprised that there was an entertainment district inside the ship though.¡±

    ¡°Soldiers are still people after all. It¡¯s necessary for them to have a ce to de-stress themselves.¡±

    ¡°It already feels like a colony. Or rather, this ship even feels a bit safer than ordinary colonies.¡±

    ¡°That does seem to be the case.¡±

    There were slum-like areas in a lot of colonies, and in some cases, they were the haunt of a lot of dangerous criminal elements. However, this ship - the Dauntless - didn¡¯t seem to have such an area inside it. The public order and discipline seemed perfect in every corner. Themander of this ship must have incredible charisma.

    ¡°Would you like to go shopping first?¡±

    ¡°We might find some unexpected bargains. Shall we then? We¡¯ll have a meal after.¡±

    After deciding on our n, we first went to themercial area near the dock area where ck Lotus and Antlion were parked. There were many private stores in the area, and it seemed to be very bustling. There were a lot of people too. There were quite a few who looked like mercenaries, so it seems that the mercenaries who came together with us to this ce have also gone out for some R&R.

    ¡°There is a lot of military police keeping watch.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s only natural since there are a lot of peopleing in from other ces.¡±

    The probability of trouble urring in the area where many people are likely to gather was high, especially when you had mercenaries who were always risking their lives and fighting in the mix. So, this arrangement was reasonable.

    ¡°Ah, Big Brother. Can we take a look at that shop over there?¡±

    Whisker called out and pulled at the hem of my jacket, so I turned toward the ce she was pointing at. That¡¯s¡­¡­ What? What is that shop selling anyway? It kinda looks like it was only selling some mysterious-looking junk though.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind, but what kind of shop is it anyway?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a shop that deals with artifacts brought back by adventurers.¡±

    ¡°Artifacts huh?¡±

    The artifacts brought back by adventurers were, in other words, remnants of unknown civilizations. In fact, those who yed as adventurers in SOL primarily made money by finding and surveying unexploreds in order to nab and sell artifacts, but I haven¡¯t really done anything like that in the game or in this world, so I only knew stuff like that existed but wasn¡¯t familiar with them at all.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine to just take a look, but don¡¯t buy any of that stuff, okay? I¡¯ve heard of cases where things like that ended up being carriers of weird diseases.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ That¡¯s scary.¡±

    Elma warned Whisker with a serious look, and Mimi recoiled in fear after hearing her words. This is the first time I¡¯ve heard of something like that as well. Man, artifacts sure are scary.

    ¡°It seems that some aren¡¯t exactly diseases but stuff that directly mess with the mind. You guys are familiar with singing crystals that make sound directly echo out inside your head instead of your ears, right? It¡¯s something simr to that.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m kinda scared of going there now.¡±

    Whisker, who initially suggested checking out the shop, also got frightened by Elma¡¯s story. However, such a shop could only be found in Edge World, and we might be able to find some interesting stuff, so we decided to check it out anyway.

    ¡°Wee.¡±

    A short young man sat behind the counter of the small shop. It seemed that his eyes were reced with cybeic lenses that shone a faint green. Mm. This ce was brimming with a suspicious atmosphere alright.

    ¡°This thing¡¯s got an interestin¡¯ form. What the heck is it though?¡±

    ¡°Un, I can¡¯t imagine what it¡¯s for at all. It does look like some sort of figurine.¡±

    Tina and Whisker began to check out a mysterious object that was inside a transparent disy case. I followed suit and checked it out together with the girls, but even I couldn¡¯t tell what it was. It kinda resembled a yagen, which was an ingredient crushing toolposed of a wheel and a receptacle used in Japan, and was made of some sort of shiny material. It¡¯smon in this world for materials to be unidentifiable if judged solely on their outer appearance, but the material the artifact was made of felt more like an organic substance than an inorganic one. It kinda resembles white porcin, but it really didn¡¯t feel like an inorganic substance. Well, it was certainly strange.

    ¡°Wow, how is this glowing?¡±

    ¡°How mysterious. It looks like some sort of green me is swaying inside it, but¡­¡­ is it some sort of dangerous substance?¡±

    ¡°Its energy signature isn¡¯t that strong. It¡¯s about the same as one energy pack¡¯s worth.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s kind of pretty.¡±

    Mimi and the others gathered around some kind of green jewel disyed on top of a golden pedestal. Energy equivalent to one energy pack? That thing ain¡¯t some sort of borate fake, right?

    ¡°Isn¡¯t there anything you¡¯re curious about, Kugi?¡±

    ¡°None, My Lord. Let¡¯s see. I don¡¯t see any items with unusually high potential or emit mental waves.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    In that case, I suppose there weren¡¯t any mysterious objects that got sent over from another world like me or dangerous objects that messed with the mind here.

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s fine to buy some stuff if you guys really find them interesting. I don¡¯t really hate mysterious objects anyway.¡±

    ¡°Come to think of it, you did keep that inert crystal lifeform core, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I kinda like it because it¡¯s so shiny.¡±

    That thing shines in seven colors even in the dark and was pretty beautiful. I was still afraid of something happening, so I sealed it inside a sturdy shield case. I didn¡¯t want to touch that thing with my bare hands even though it was already inactive.

    ¡°Un, I do kind of want this¡­¡­ How about it?¡±

    ¡°Where are we gonna put somethin¡¯ like that? Choose somethin¡¯ a bit smaller.¡±

    Whisker pointed to a twisted triangr pyramid that was as tall as herself, but Tina immediately objected. Just what the heck was it anyway? It¡¯s made of ck metal-like material, and there were some red streaks that glowed from time to time on its surface. It kinda felt like some sort of cursed item. It probably wouldn¡¯t look out of ce if it was put inside a demon king¡¯s castle.

    We continued chilling inside the shop and eventually left without buying anything. To be honest, I wasn¡¯t exactly fascinated by the prospect of buying junk with unknown uses¡­¡­ Well, there seemed to be other simr shops, so it wouldn¡¯t hurt to take a quick peek at them too.

 Chapter 338 â€“ Large Food Court

    <h4>Chapter 338 - Large Food Court</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After going around and visiting the dubious artifact shops, we headed to the dining area of the Dauntless next.

    ¡°So, this is therge dining hall huh¡­¡­ I¡¯m getting really excited.¡±

    The dining hall of the Dauntless was veryrge. The impression it gave was that of arge food court. Auto-cookers that served all kinds of food were lined up by the wall, and it seems that people ordered food from them and dined at the prepared tables in the middle of the hall.

    Thisrge dining hall had a higher ceilingpared to the other areas, making it have an open andfortable atmosphere. There were also lots of ornamental nts and terrariums ced in various spots inside the hall, and you can clearly feel the intent of reducing stress as much as possible.

    ¡°I don¡¯t really think we should expect much from military meals though.¡±

    ¡°I wonder. That¡¯s true forbat ships, but I think you can expect some decent meals on a supply mothership that¡¯s deployed on a long-term mission.¡±

    Elma wanted to temper Mimi¡¯s expectations a bit but I responded otherwise. There should be a difference in the quality of meals provided by a battleship that¡¯s only expected to be out on the field for a few days to a few weeks at the longest and a supply mothership that¡¯s going to be active for a few months to possibly even a few years.

    Also, the meals provided for the officers assigned to the Restalias were great in both taste and quality, but the ones served in the regr dining hall were a bit more questionable. They did say only the tea was strangely delicious.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like they have alcohol.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s still the middle of the day inside the ship timewise after all. And I don¡¯t think they¡¯d serve them in a military dining hall in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°The mess halls of civilian ships have bars though.¡±

    ¡°So, you can find alcohol over there huh.¡±

    ¡°Tina-san really loves alcohol, doesn¡¯t she?¡±

    ¡°I ain¡¯t the only one. Whee also loves em.¡±

    ¡°Even I wouldn¡¯t drink at this hour. You should pay attention to TPO more, Big Sis.¡±

    We continued to have friendly conversations led by Tina and Whisker. Kugi seems to have already gotten quite familiar with the rest of the girls. I kinda want her to drop the deferential tone when speaking to me¡­¡­ but it looks like it¡¯s gonna be hard to persuade her.

    ¡°Okay then. Go ahead and order your meals then gather together after. There are still a lot of avable seats so I don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessary to secure a table in advance.¡±

    Because we just arrived at the Dauntless earlier in the day and checked out those artifact shops first, we missed lunchtime, so there were plenty of vacant tables in the hall. Or rather, there sure were a lot of tables and seats in here. Plenty of them werepletely vacant.

    ¡°Right. Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Mimi took my arm and started walking toward the auto-cooker area. I nced back at Elma and saw her shrug her shoulders and wave us away. She seemed to be telling me it was fine and to just go ahead. Whisker and Kugi tried to follow after us with expectant expressions, but they were stopped by Tina and Mei respectively. It looks like today was Mimi¡¯s turn.

    ¡°There sure are a lot of different auto-cookers!¡±

    ¡°I wonder if there are some from thepany that made Tetsujin too? I don¡¯t think they have a Tetsujin model here though.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if they have thetest V model, but maybe they have the previous IV model instead.¡±

    ¡°Well, we¡¯re always eating meals prepared by Tetsujin anyway, so how about trying out meals from something else for a change?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    They were all auto-cookers, but they each had their own specialties. The Tetsujin series was positioned as high-end machines aiming for above-average specs and overall quality, but other manufacturers make machines that specialize in preparing meat dishes, sweets, nutritionally rich meals, meals with a high degree of novelty, and so on.

    ¡°Oh, that one looks promising. It looks like a machine specialized in fast food.¡±

    ¡°It does seem like it. Let¡¯s order different dishes.¡±

    We found an auto-cooker specializing in hot dogs, hamburgers, tacos, and pizzas, so we decided to order from it. Tetsujin wouldn¡¯t normally prepare these kinds of fast food, or rather, junk food unless you specifically order them from it. But in my case, it does prepare a few junk foods for me as side dishes.

    Curiously, if you leave the menu decisions to it, Tetsujin¡¯s menu choices actually differ from person to person. It supposedly has the ability to provide the most suitable meals by analyzing stuff like the amount of exercise one did in the training room and one¡¯s brain waves. It was a wastefully high-tech auto-cooker.

    I ordered a hot dog while Mimi ordered a taco roll. We selected the shared menu option, and the food came out in slices that you can easily share with yourpanions. It was pretty considerate.

    ¡°Oi, Boss! Over here!¡±

    Mimi and I carried a tray each and looked for the rest. Before long, we heard Tina¡¯s voice calling out to us. It seems they¡¯ve already secured a table and were already around it. I couldn¡¯t see Mei with them, but she was probably ordering drinks for everyone.

    ¡°See. I told you Big Brother and Mimi-san will choose the shared menu, Big Sis.¡±

    ¡°But this is pretty rare so I wanted to try it out.¡±

    Whiskerined to Tina who was fanning her lips after eating a mouthful from a bowl of something resembling curry udon. That¡¯s fine and all, but be really careful when eating that stuff, alright? It¡¯s gonna be a disaster if some of it gets sshed onto your clothes. Oh, right. The washing machines of this world were really high-performance, so I suppose they can get rid of those kinds of troublesome stains as well.

    ¡°That¡¯s gonna taste bad if you let it sit for too long and the udon grows, so you better eat it fast, Tina.¡±

    ¡°Grows?¡±

    ¡°The noodles will suck the soup up and swell, so the texture will be too soggy. Go ahead and eat it all up before that happens.¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Ya sure know a lot about this even though it¡¯s unusual, Boss. Ah, does this also exist in your hometown?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s exactly the same dish though. Oh, and be careful when eating. If you don¡¯t pay attention, the soup might ssh onto your clothes and mess them up.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, somethin¡¯ like that is easy-peasy.¡±

    It looks like it¡¯s no good. I¡¯ll just pray for the happiness of Tina¡¯s clothes in their next life.

    ¡°Please look, My Lord. I managed to find a dish from my home country.¡±

    After saying so, Kugi showed me a dish that looked very much like inarizushi. A fox girl and inarizushi were definitely a standardbination, but this world also had something like this? Or rather, the Holy Vuelzarus Empire had inarizushi huh¡­¡­ Don¡¯t tell me even their cuisine was Japanese-style?

    ¡°It looks delicious. I and Mimi chose some safe dishes.¡±

    ¡°I ordered dwarf-yaki.¡±

    Whisker showed the dwarf-yaki that really resembled okonomiyaki. In fact, even the taste highly resembled okonomiyaki. Kugi found a dish from her country, so maybe Whisker followed suit as well.

    ¡°I ordered this.¡±

    ¡°Something that goes well with alcohol?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s delicious so it¡¯s fine, right?¡±

    Elma ordered arge amount of something resembling karaage. I wasn¡¯t sure about what type of meat was used (or if it was even real meat in the first ce since it came from an auto-cooker), but its appearance resembled chicken karaage. Staple food? Are you really fine with just ordering arge batch of that, Elma-san? She sure is impulsive sometimes.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to have kept you all waiting.¡±

    Mei finally arrived holding a tray of drinks. Just where did she get that tray?

    ¡°Well, now that we¡¯re all here, shall we dig in? There¡¯s nothing, in particr, to toast about, but anyway, cheers guys.¡±

    ¡°Cheers!¡±

    I picked up my drink bottle to lead the toast, and Tina, whose mouth had already turned yellow from slurping the curry-like soup, hurriedly raised hers. Tina really acts fast when ites to stuff like this.

    We taste-tested each dish and the consensus was that most of them were pretty delicious. However, except for me, no one else felt particrly taken with the inarizushi.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like it isn¡¯t delicious, but to consider it as a main dish is a bit¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I think it ain¡¯t bad as a standalone snack.¡±

    ¡°But it kind of doesn¡¯t go well with the rest of the dishes¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll go well with alcohol either.¡±

    It was aplete loss. I didn¡¯t have any problem with it, but Kugi got dejected.

    ¡°I think it is quite delicious though¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I do like it. But it might taste a bit strange to those who aren¡¯t used to thebination of vinegar rice and deep-fried tofu.¡±

    ¡°How unfortunate.¡±

    Kugi with her ears drooping down in dejection looked quite pitiful, but I think inarizushi was an acquired taste.

    Well, aside from Kugi acting all depressed for a bit, the meal was generally enjoyable and high-quality.

    Also, Tina¡¯s clothes encountered a disaster just like I expected.

 Chapter 339 â€“ Encounter

    <h4>Chapter 339 - Encounter</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Uu-¡­¡­ My clothes¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll just spread the stains even more if you fiddle with it like that, Big Sis¡­¡­¡±

    In the end, the soup of the curry udon-like meal sttered onto Tina¡¯s clothes, and she was now fiddling with it with teary eyes. That mess will be really difficult to clean up normally. Well, this world does have high-tech washing machines, so I suppose there won¡¯t be a problem. And if it still doesn¡¯te off, she can always cry to Mei for help. Mei will probably find a way.

    ¡¸Since Tina¡¯s clothes are already like that, shall we go back now?¡¹

    ¡°Right. I wanted to look around the entertainment facilities too, but I can just do that next time. There¡¯s no need to hurry anyway. I guess it¡¯s better to head back for today.¡±

    I think we¡¯ve done more than enough sightseeing for the day since we¡¯ve already visited shops selling interesting wares and ate at therge food court. We¡¯ll be staying inside the supply mothership Dauntless for a while, so we¡¯d naturally be able to familiarize ourselves with its interioryout eventually.

    ¡°Here are some shots I took today.¡±

    ¡°Oh-¡­¡­¡±

    As I discussed about going back with Elma, Kugi¡¯s eyes sparkled as Mimi showed her the pictures thetter took. It looks like she snapped some shots using her tablet terminal while we were eating. Mimi has a habit of snapping pictures of the food she eats for the first time and collecting said pictures. Apparently, she took pictures of Tina slurping up curry udon and Kugi eating inari sushi this time around. She also gave up of taking a picture of Elma because thetter ordered a ton of food.

    ¡°Did you not take a picture of My Lord as well?¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama was eating ordinary fast-food meals so¡­¡­¡±

    Sorry for choosing a safe menu. I¡¯ll choose something more interesting next time, so please forgive me, Ms. Gourmet.

    We left therge food court and entered themercial block again.

    ¡°Somehow, the atmosphere is¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s be pretty tense.¡±

    Just like Elma said, you could cut the sense of tension within themercial block with a knife. Lots of fully armed imperial marines were roaming all over the ce.

    I caught sight of military police just like the ones who I encountered in the armor shop sporting lightbat armors andser rifles, or rather,ser carbines. However, they can be considered as the most lightly equipped among the military guys present. There were also a lot of marines wearing more standardbat armor andser rifles. A good half of them were sporting heavy power armor and weapons.

    ¡°Oi, oi, don¡¯t tell me there¡¯s been a mutiny or a coup d¡¯etat¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Will ya quit saying stuff like that, Boss. It might actuallye true¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s no joke if you¡¯re the one saying that stuff, Big Brother.¡±

    ¡°How cruel. Well, it really doesn¡¯t feel like it¡¯s a coup.¡±

    Even though the military guys were heavily armed, they weren¡¯t giving off any hostility. A battle probably hasn¡¯t broken out. But if that¡¯s the case, just what exactly was going on?

    ¡°Master, I believe it would be best if we made our way out of this ce as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. Let¡¯s get out of here.¡±

    After saying so, I started walking ahead of the others, but some soldiers quickly approached me.

    ¡°Excuse me, but are you Captain Hiro?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes.¡±

    It was over the moment I halted in ce. Stocky military guys covered from head to toe in power armor soon surrounded us. Uh, actually, it was possible that there were females inside the power armors too, but you really can¡¯t tell from their current outer appearances.

    Or rather, what the heck is going on? What¡¯s up with those bulky-looking mace-like weapons? They were mounted on the waist hard points of the soldier¡¯s power armors, but they seemed like they were put together in a hurry. But even so, they were plenty intimidating. If those things got swung with the strength of power armors, they could easily turn someone into meat paste in one blow.

    ¡°What¡¯s your business with me? I don¡¯t remember doing something that warrants being surrounded like this-¡±

    ¡°You simply passed by at a good time.¡±

    I was just about to protest, but Col. Serena suddenly appeared. Now, I really wanna run away from here. It¡¯s definitely going to be something really troublesome.

    ¡°¡­¡­What brings you here, Colonel?¡±

    ¡°Oh, we¡¯re just conducting a crackdown operation. We¡¯re trying to check if dangerous artifacts are being hidden around the area.¡±

    ¡°I see. That sounds rough. Please do your best.¡±

    ¡°You managed to cut down something quite interesting in the Windas Tertius colony, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    I wanted to just cut the conversation off and leave, but Col. Serena quickly interjected. I had an idea about what she was referring to. It¡¯s probably that killer metallic spider.

    Ah, I see? The dangerous artifact was probably that metallic spider huh. Well, that thing certainly was troublesome. Laser and sma weapons didn¡¯t seem to be particrly effective against it, so it can be regarded as the nemesis of the imperial marines who mainly employed such weapons.

    .

    ¡°You¡¯re well-informed as always, Colonel. Well, I did openly introduce myself to those guys, so I guess it¡¯s natural.¡±

    Because we were in front of her subordinates, I responded to her in a more polite manner. Since I¡¯m already an honorary noble now, I actually didn¡¯t need to mind stuff like this as much, but she¡¯s still my current employer. And she¡¯s a colonel after all.

    ¡°I was able to make my own guesses regarding the matter, but I actually didn¡¯t get anything significant out of those guys I encountered. They kept harping on about the matter being ssified. So I didn¡¯t withhold information from you in bad faith, Colonel. I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut.¡±

    ¡°I know. Well, that¡¯s fine. How was it? I already looked up the relevant data, but I¡¯d like to hear from you directly.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you wanna know about my experience cutting that thing down? It was hard, but probably not as hard as super-heavy metals. It felt more like cutting through a battleship¡¯s standard armor te. It was incredibly resistant toser and sma attacks, so I think physical weapons might be more effective against itpared to thermo-optical weapons. I told those guys I encountered as much.¡±

    ¡°I see. ¡­¡­Then, do you think this thing will be useful against it?¡±

    After saying so, Col. Serena pointed toward the crude-looking blunt weapon mounted on a power armor¡¯s waist.

    ¡°I think most things would get scrapped if you hit them with those chunky rods using power armors. ¡­¡­How did you guyse up with something like that anyway?¡±

    ¡°We analyzed the remains of that thing and hastily prepared these as an immediate countermeasure. Just like you said, it was less resistant to physical attackspared toser and sma. However, I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d actually need to equip my subordinates with something as primitive as a metal pole in this interster era¡­¡­¡±

    After saying so, Col. Serena rubbed her brows as if she was having a headache. The soldiers around her chuckled dryly. Yeah, I get that. It did seem awkward for soldiers used to fighting withser and sma weapons to suddenly get provided with blunt weapons made out of battleship armor material instead.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t consider providing them with des simr to this?¡±

    I pped the hilt of the sword hanging on my waist, but Col. Serena shook her head in response.

    ¡°They might seem rtively simple, but swords like ours are still products infused with thetest cutting-edge technology and precious materials. Procuring a dozen might be doable, but hundreds or thousands are another story altogether. Besides, swords can¡¯t be used effectively without corresponding sword skills and training. You should be aware of this already, correct?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    The swords wielded by nobles and I are edged weapons, so you can¡¯t just cut stuff with them without any proper training. They are certainly tremendously sharp, but if you don¡¯t wield them properly, they might chip or even break if you mess up. I haven¡¯t personally experienced breaking my sword though.

    ¡°Withser and sma weapons, soldiers seldom engage in close quartersbat after all¡­¡­ And now, they suddenly got provided with melee weapons.¡±

    ¡°Right. And with power armors, we don¡¯t even need any weapons to deal with flesh-and-blood opponents.¡±

    The force generated by a full-power blow from a power armor¡¯s limb is more than enough to kill a person. It¡¯s like getting mmed head-on by a speeding car.

    ¡°That¡¯s about all that I can say about the matter. We¡¯ll get going then, Colonel.¡±

    ¡°Are you not going to help out?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯d like to excuse ourselves from this.¡±

    Colonel Serena brightly smiled in a teasing manner. There¡¯s no way I¡¯d wanna encounter another murderous metallic spider. Just what the heck is she on about? Besides, I¡¯m not even wearing my ninja power armor right now. I do think I¡¯d be able to win against that sort of opponent even without power armor, but I have no intention of taking such a risk. I mean, what would I do if my wless skin gets scratched or something?

    ¡°Tsk¡­¡­ Well, that¡¯s fine. But you¡¯re going to have to properly deal with pirates from tomorrow onward, alright?¡±

    ¡°Aye, ma¡¯am!¡±

    I gave her a crisp salute. I¡¯ll just pretend that the tongue-click didn¡¯t happen. Or rather, just what did she expect? The contract was for dealing with space pirates with my ships. Dealing with unknown artifacts or hostile aliens wasn¡¯t part of the job scope.

    ¡°Well then, we¡¯ll excuse ourselves now-¡±

    The moment I tried to leave, red and green shes suddenly lit up themercial block. At the same time, explosive sounds generated by high-powersers impacting objects and heat particr to sma weapons surged forth.

    ¡°G*ddammit!¡±

    ¡°That was quite vulgar, Captain Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me.¡±

    Someone¡¯s terrified shriek and smashing sounds echoed out. Before long, a familiar killer metallic spider appeared from behind a store a little further away from our position.

    And there were three of them.

    ¡°Sh*t!¡±

    ¡°Mind yournguage, Colonel Serena.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me.¡±

    As I bantered with Col. Serena, I quickly drew the swords from my waist. This was outside the contract, but it wasn¡¯t good to leave Col. Serena to her own devices in this situation. It would leave a bad taste on my mouth.

    ¡°Mei, please support us. Take care of the others, Elma.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    It would be nice if I didn¡¯t need to fight. But I suppose that¡¯s an impossible wish at this point. The moment I tried to get away from Col. Serena, this situation happens. As usual, my destiny is ying a dangerous prank on me again.

 Chapter 340 â€“ Battle

    <h4>Chapter 340 - Battle</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°Mei, make sure not to head to the front.¡±

    There were no Orient Corporation branches in this frontier territory after all. Orient was Mei¡¯s manufacturer. Regr maintenance is managed by the maintenance pod they provided to me, but performing repairs would be difficult if she ever gets severely damaged. It would be a different story for a militarybat robot. But Mei is an ultra-luxury custom-made machine, so there¡¯s a need to be extra careful.

    ¡°Yes. I will fight by throwing projectiles from a distance.¡±

    After saying so, Mei took out a hefty pointed metal stake from who-knows-where. Oh, that¡¯s the ultra-hard and heavy throwing spike she got back then. It probably belongs to the same category as throwing arrows or stick shurikens, but it¡¯s too heavy to be called a throwing arrow and too hefty and long to be a stick shuriken. Or rather, just where the heck was she keeping something like that anyway?

    ¡ºEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIK!¡»

    ¡°Whoah!?¡±

    The killer metal spider let out a high-pitched shriek as it rampaged about, and the imperial marines frantically dodged its attacks. The ones equipped with power armors somehow managed to pin the spiders down, butser and sma weapons still seem to be ineffective.

    ¡°What now?¡±

    ¡°We have no choice but to confront them ourselves- Wait, are you fine with this?¡±

    ¡°Course not. But it¡¯s not my style to abandon you and run away either.¡±

    ¡°You know, I really like that part of you.¡±

    ¡°Why thank you, Colonel.¡±

    Well, if I abandoned her and ran away in this situation, I¡¯ll lose Col. Serena¡¯s trust. That¡¯s definitely not good. From a mercenary¡¯s perspective, I mean.

    After all, mercenaries are basically part of the service industry, so losing customers due to ack of credibility is a no-go. Staying here and helping out will conversely earn me lots of brownie points. So I really can¡¯t afford to run away in this situation.

    Moreover, if I run away, I¡¯ll get made fun of by my fellow mercenaries. I don¡¯t want to be branded as a coward who chickens out in emergencies. Well, if the situation really is hopeless, then I¡¯ll choose to retreat. I only have one life after all. Insisting on fighting a battle you have no hope of winning isn¡¯t being brave. It¡¯s being reckless.

    ¡°I¡¯ll get its attention, so match the timing and m it with your maces!¡±

    I shouted to the soldiers around me and rushed to the front, surprising the killer metal spider that was rampaging around. Did the spider judge that I, who wasn¡¯t wearing power armor, wasn¡¯t a huge threat, or did it actually feel some danger from my swords? It quickly charged toward me as well.

    ¡°Whoah there!¡±

    I avoided its all-out charge and leaped sideways.

    The killer metal spider wasn¡¯t exactly gigantic, but it was still the size of a forklift or golf cart. Moreover, since its entire body was made of an unknown metal, it seemed to be heavier than it looked. I wonder if my bones would get instantly crushed if I ate a direct hit from its charge.

    ¡ºEEEEEEEEIG!¡»

    Maybe it didn¡¯t like the fact that I was able to avoid its charge. The killer metal spider stood up using only its two rear legs and attacked me with its remaining four arms. I mean legs. Limbs? Anyway, it swiped at me with four of them. I brandished my swords as I thought of my next move. And if this thing had six legs, then wasn¡¯t it an insect rather than a spider? Well, I guess it doesn¡¯t matter.

    Or rather, it¡¯s actually harder than I expected. I don¡¯t remember thest one being so hard. Or maybe it¡¯s just because I wasn¡¯t wearing power armor right now. I guess the info I told Col. Serena earlier was a little off huh.

    ¡ºOOOOYG!?¡»

    A tremendously loud noise echoed out, and the killer metal spider¡¯s body keeled to the side. I don¡¯t know exactly what happened, but this was a good nice opening, so I rushed toward the spider and cut off three of its legs from their joints.

    Ah, I guess you can¡¯t exactly call them joints. I mixed up those parts with the joints of des or armor huh.

    As expected, even something like the killer metal spider got wary of me now that it suffered such damage in my hands. It was probably trying to decide between trying to eliminate the immediate threat in front of it or being wary of that long-range attack that came flying from nowhere. Mm, it indeed seems like a living creature when it acts all confused and panicked like this. Kugi was the one who said these guys were actually alive, and that might actually be true from the looks of it.

    ¡ºAAAYIG!?¡»

    Boom! That loud boom rang out again, and the metal spider toppled over on its side. Hmm, it should be those, right? Mei¡¯s throwing spikes, I mean. Did they prate the spider¡¯s body from the side? Its movements have obviously gotten a lot more sluggish.

    .

    ¡°Attack!¡±

    ¡°Raaah!¡±

    ¡°Take this!¡±

    The power armor-equipped imperial marines rushed toward the fallen metal spider and began walloping it with their crudely-made maces. Wow, how violent. Before long, the spider¡¯s body got utterly crushed and its limbs all got broken off. Its miserable-looking scraps leaked out eerie-looking purple liquid. Like I thought, surrounding it and hitting it with those maces was really effective.

    I turned my gaze toward Mei and saw her getting ready to throw another throwing spike. Before I knew it, she¡¯d already thrown the spike, and the killer spider Col. Serena was facing staggered due to the resulting impact. Yeah, you¡¯d get a huge hole opened through your body if you got hit with something like that directly. Mei really was strong.

    ¡°Master, how should we deal with the remaining one?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I wanna get anywhere close to that.¡±

    Thest one seemed to be slowing down due to the barrage ofser and sma weapon fire. It seemed that even though the surface of the spider didn¡¯t explode or melt due to the high-intensity thermo-optical weapons, the resulting heat was still prating its insides.

    Well, due to that, the area they were fighting in was wrapped in hellish heat. Uh, was the air conditioning of the Dauntless really gonna be able to handle something like that? I hope it doesn¡¯t break down due to all that heat.

    ¡°Haah!¡±

    Col. Serena performed a spirited sh and cut off one-half of the killer metal spider¡¯s body, and itpletely stopped moving. Did she actually cut down that thing right from the front? Was she a gori or something? Well, it didn¡¯t seem like you can cut that thing down by relying on power alone, so she might have used a specific technique.

    ¡°Captain Hiro, I think it was harder than what you described.¡±

    ¡°The joints of the limbs were just as I remembered, but the body was harder than I expected. I think I might have given you faulty info. Sorry. I only tangled with it for an instant before cutting it down back then after all.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped then. It looks like they¡¯re about to finish the remaining one off as well.¡±

    Thest metal spider that was struggling under the intense heat finally copsed and fell apart.

    ¡°It looks like they¡¯re done¡­¡­ But why are you and your men handling this stuff anyway, Colonel? Isn¡¯t this the jurisdiction of another department?¡±

    After hearing my questions, Colonel Serena shrugged her shoulders while sporting aplicated expression. It looks like that info¡¯s confidential huh.

    ¡°Well, these things do seem like they would serve as nice raw materials for armor¡­¡­ Ah, so that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    ¡°Our main assignment is to deal with the space pirates operating around this system and make them behave.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Their main job was dealing with space pirates, but maybe they were also saddled with work rting to these metal spiders. After all, their resistance to thermo-optical weapons was considerable. If the armor, err, shell of those things can be utilized in manufacturing ships, power armor,bat armor, and the like, I guess it would be pretty beneficial. There was still a need to employ measures to deal against heat though.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like it¡¯s any of my business though. Anyway, just do your best. Or rather, please just don¡¯t get me involved.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡±

    Judging from her reply, she¡¯s definitely nning on getting me wrapped up in this mess huh. Please let me off, Colonel.

    That being said, she was sort of my temporary boss right now, so my bad luck was probably gonna force me to get involved with her whether I liked it or not. In other words, it was checkmate. Let¡¯s just give up.

    ¡°Master.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Mei. Nice support. Is there anything wrong with your body?¡±

    ¡°There is none. Thank you for your concern. Are you injured anywhere, Master?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Anyway, let¡¯s get back to the ship and rest for the day.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    We rejoined with Elma, Mimi, and the rest and were able to safely return to the ship without getting involved in any more incidents. It¡¯s just the first day and it¡¯s already like this. I¡¯m getting uneasy¡­¡­

 Chapter 341 â€“ Staring at the Star System Map

    <h4>Chapter 341 - Staring at the Star System Map</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    After parting with Colonel Serena and returning to the ck Lotus, we decided to split up and spend time as we wished. We were on break inside the Dauntless until 8 am tomorrow.

    Mei, who participated in the earlier battle by throwing projectiles, returned to the cockpit which was practically her private room. She said she¡¯d enter her maintenance pod just in case.

    ¡°What are you going to do after this, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Me? I was thinking of nning our activities tomorrow while looking up the star system map in the break space.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re as earnest as ever huh¡­¡­ I¡¯ll just go for a drink.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m drinkin¡¯ too.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s still daytime, Big Sis.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. We¡¯ll get busy from tomorrow onward after all.¡±

    ¡°We should properly take a breather during our off-days. Let¡¯s drink, alright, Whisker? I¡¯ll bring out my special stash.¡±

    The two drunkards enticed Whisker with sweet whispers. Whisker probably won¡¯t be able to resist the two of them. It looks like we¡¯re gonna have a drunk trio soon.

    ¡°What about you, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡­ Can I stay with you, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Sure. Kugi-¡±

    ¡°Kugi¡¯s right here.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s drink together.¡±

    ¡°Oi, don¡¯t force her to drink with you guys.¡±

    Kugi was taken away by the three drunkards. Or rather, can Kugi actually hold her alcohol? Well, I guess they probably won¡¯t make her overdo it. I hope.

    ¡°Mei, sorry for disturbing you during maintenance, but please look after them for me.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood, Master.¡»

    Mei was still in full control of ck Lotus even while undergoing maintenance. And so, everything inside the ship can be monitored by her. If Mei was looking after her, I¡¯m sure Kugi would be fine.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get started then.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    I saw off the four who headed to the dining area and sat on a sofa inside the break space with Mimi. I then activated the holo-disy.

    ¡°In a regr star system, the things you should be concerned about are the location of the colonies, which asteroids can serve as good hiding spots, and the routes used by trading and mining ships. But things are a bit simpler in the Edge World.¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡±

    First, I marked the location of the Dauntless on the system map.

    ¡°This is where the Dauntless is. So, the hyperspace entrances of the Kensan system are here, here, and here.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    One entrance connects the frontier to the Gran Empire, and the other two led to unexplored star systems.

    ¡°So, these three make up the main route.¡±

    I drew a line connecting the Dauntless with the three hyperspace entrances on the star system map. Merchant ships basically go back and forth between the Dauntless and the hyperspace entrance connecting the frontier to the empire. Loot such as artifacts brought back from the unexplored star systems by adventurers and explorers were all gathered inside the Dauntless, and since there were no other colonies present, the Dauntless served as the trade center.

    The routes to the unexplored systems were used by the adventurers and explorers in order to head to work. They head to an unexplored system, bring back map data and resource info, and then sell it to the Gran imperial government. In addition, they also explored the surface ofs in search of potentially valuable artifacts.

    However, most of these artifacts were ores with slightly unusual forms. It wasn¡¯t that easy to find relics left by unknown alien civilizations. But if they did manage to find some, the stuff would be worth a ton.

    ¡°Are adventurers and explorers also attacked by pirates?¡±

    ¡°Only if there are no other suitable prey or if the other targets are too tough to attack. However, their ships are typically more armored and armedpared to the transport ships used by merchants, so they are risky opponents for space pirates. Because they are active in ces that are not under the management of the imperial navy or a star system garrison, they make sure they have ample means of self-defense.¡±

    In some cases, they not only needed to contend with space pirates but space monsters as well. Adventurers and explorers typically had better equipment andbat skillspared to rookie mercenaries, so they were rtively tough.

    ¡°However, there are pirates who make it a point to specifically hunt guys like them in order to plunder their equipment in the frontier. That¡¯s why the pirates active here are mostly higher in qualitypared to those we¡¯ve faced before.¡±

    ¡°I see. We also need to watch out for enemy reinforcements, right?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you remembered that huh? That¡¯s right. If we get caught up in a prolonged battle in the frontier, its very unlikely to get reinforcements from the imperial navy or the system garrison. That¡¯s why pirates active in the frontier are tough opponents for mercenaries. In some cases, they might call theirrades in order to crush their prey with overwhelming numbers.¡±

    If this was a star system with a high security level, the imperial navy or system garrison will quickly rush in at the sign of trouble, but that¡¯s not the case in the frontier.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then we¡¯re facing a lot more dangerpared to before, right?¡±

    ¡°That would be true if it¡¯s just us. But we also have Col. Serena¡¯s Mobile Independent Anti-Pirate Fleet with us, plus a good number of fellow mercenaries. So we don¡¯t need to worry too much about being overwhelmed with numbers.¡±

    ¡°I see. Then, how should we proceed from tomorrow onward?¡±

    ¡°Usually, we just fish for prey in asteroid belts using the ck Lotus. This time, I think it would be better to put up a near the hyperspace entrance.¡±

    After saying so, I marked the areas around the hyperspace entrances leading to the unexplored star systems.

    ¡°We¡¯ll pretend to suffer a hyperdrive malfunction, attract pirates, and then sortie out from ck Lotus after they get baited.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s like a peak-a-boo tactic, right?¡±

    ¡°Peak-a-boo tactic huh. Sounds good. And if they try to escape, the Antlion will get in their way.¡±

    It might get dangerous if enemy reinforcements came before our allies did, but I think we can manage with the firepower of Krishna and ck Lotus. However, if the pirates are equipped with anti-ship reactive torpedoes, ck Lotus would be in danger, so I¡¯ll have Mei exercise maximum caution. In any case, no matter how high-quality the pirates are, I still think it would be difficult for them to fire a torpedo head-on against the ck Lotus.

    ¡°Can youe up with a strategy of your own, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Me? Umm¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi ced a hand on one cheek as she pondered about my question. Thinking about ways to effectively deal with pirates like this was an essential step toward bing a first-rate mercenary ship operator. That¡¯s why I¡¯ll ask Mimi toe up with strategies like this from time to time.

    While listening to the faint sounds of Elma and the rest drinking happily, I continued to stare at the star system map together with Mimi for a while.

 Chapter 342 â€“ Canâ€™t Exactly Say it Was All According to Plan

    <h4>Chapter 342 - Can¡¯t Exactly Say it Was All ording to n</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    The next day. We were finallyunching out from the Dauntless. I woke up, dressed, had my breakfast, and worked out for a bit. It was afy sortie preparation after performing my usual routine.

    ¡°It looks like there¡¯s no longer any alcohol in your system huh. That¡¯s good.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for troubling you¡­¡­¡±

    Kugi looked pretty listless while sitting on the sub-pilot seat. As a result of getting caught up in the pace of the three heavy drinkers, she got drunk fairly early on and was knocked out. She slept until morning, but it looks like she got stricken with a hangover.

    When morning came, Mimi noticed that Kugi didn¡¯t wake up early like usual, and when we went to check up on her, we found Kugi groaning in bed. I managed to bring her to the med bay with Mimi¡¯s help, and she rested inside the med pod until it was time to sortie.

    ¡°I no longer wish to drink alcohol like that.¡±

    ¡°Actually, I¡¯m happy we have another lightweight here aside from me.¡±

    Mimi wasn¡¯t really a good drinker, but she at least had average alcohol tolerance. But Kugi was the same as me and seemed to be really weak to alcohol. I always felt kinda inferior due to me being a terrible drinker, so I¡¯m d I found arade who can share my woes. I¡¯ll drag her down the rabbit hole of carbonated drinks instead.

    ¡ºSo, what¡¯s the n today?¡»

    Elma asked through the main screen. I already decided on a n together with Mimi yesterday.

    ¡°There¡¯s a point where the asteroid belt covers the route between the hyperspace entrance leading to the Tescarope system and the Dauntless. We¡¯ll conduct our usual ambush operations there. The Antlion will power down and hide behind an asteroid, and once space pirates get baited, the Krishna will sortie from the ck Lotus, so please keep an eye on their movements and deploy the anti-gravity jammer when necessary.¡±

    ¡ºRoger that.¡»

    Elma nodded in response.

    The Tescarope system was one of the two unexplored star systems adjacent to the Kensan system. Although it was still being surveyed, it¡¯s already confirmed at this point that it was possible to collect useful gas resources from its gas giants. They¡¯ve also named the system beyond it, but it was still in the early phases of getting surveyed.

    ¡ºMaster, we¡¯ve gotten clearance to sortie. We willunch soon.¡»

    ¡°Understood. Please navigate the ship safely.¡±

    It looks like the other mercenaries were alsounching out one after another. We have to be careful since some of them might be reckless pilots, so there was a risk of a crash. Well, they¡¯d probably be the ones suffering if they collided with the Lotus. After all, ck Lotus was highly armored and tough.

    ¡°I¡¯ll send the coordinates of our destination to you now, Mei-san.¡±

    ¡ºCertainly, Mimi-sama. Thank you very much.¡»

    I checked out Krishna¡¯s condition while listening to the exchange between Mimi and Mei. I trusted in Whisker and Tina¡¯s work, but it doesn¡¯t hurt to double-check anyway. After all, we might get tripped up if we were careless and took everything for granted.

    ¡°Kugi, let¡¯s check the status of the ship together.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    Information about the ship¡¯s condition was disyed on the main screen. I ran the self-diagnostic program and checked the results together with Kugi. This was also part of her training as a sub-pilot. There was a good number of things to check out, but what the sub-pilot needed to pay particr attention to was whether or not the sub-systems such as the chaff, res, emergency cooling, and shield cells were operating normally, as well as the generator¡¯s power output and distribution.

    The ammo of each weapon also needed to be checked in order to maximize efficiency. This was especially important for live projectile weapons. The operation of the ship¡¯s various thrusters also needed to be checked.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already performed a check prior to this, of course. Tina and Whisker also performed a check even earlier. Even so, we still have to perform another one prior tounch. That¡¯s because it would lead to possibly fatal circumstances if there was actually something wrong with the sub-systems, power generator, or thrusters.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    Even if the weapons ended up malfunctioning, there was still a good chance of making it out of a battle alive as long as the subsystems and frame were still working properly. However, things would be difficult if it was the opposite. You basically used sub-systems such as chaff and shield cells whenever you got cornered to some extent, or during defensive maneuvers. If you ended up being unable to use them in such emergencies, it might lead to your demise.

    I exined as much to Kugi and she nodded honestly in response. Mimi, who was sitting beside her, also nodded her head. Those were the basics for an operator after all. In other words, all three of us who were present inside the cockpit checked out every detail of the diagnostic results. Since it¡¯s rted to our survival, it was worth being extra meticulous even if you had to sacrifice some efficiency.

    As we were doing so, ck Lotus finallyunched from the Dauntless. Soon after, the Antlion that was being piloted by Elma docked with the Lotus.

    ¡ºMaster, I shall now proceed to head to the target coordinates.¡»

    ¡°Roger. Max out the passive radar sensitivity as always, and if a reinforcement request or SOS signal gets picked up, please prioritize those.¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir.¡»

    The usual method we use to hunt pirates is¡ºfishing¡»for them, but if we encounter a pirate attack incident along the way while moving around, intervening and hunting them down is more efficient. Fishing can be performed whenever, but sudden and unexpected encounters with pirates only happen asionally. That¡¯s why we can¡¯t afford to miss such delicious opportunities whenever theye around.

    _______________________________________________________________

    We were about to arrive at the target coordinates when we happened upon an incident.

    ¡ºMaster, I¡¯ve picked up an SOS signal. It¡¯s from the Screech Owls - an explorer fleet.¡»

    ¡°Just when we¡¯re about to arrive huh. Alright, let¡¯s head on over.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood. Approximately 120 seconds until contact.¡»

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. You guys ready?¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir. I¡¯m gonna make sure the Antlion has a glorious debut battle.¡»

    ¡°Just make sure it ain¡¯t glorious in a different sense, okay?¡±

    I cautioned Elma who rushed ahead and turned my attention to Mimi and Kugi. Kugi seemed to be quite nervous since this was her first battle, but Mimi was calm as a cucumber.

    ¡°Set generator output tobat mode. Activate weapon systems.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Generator output set tobat mode. Weapon systems online.¡±

    Kugi carefully started to operate the subsystems ording to my instructions. Mm, she wasn¡¯t exactly fast, but her operations were pretty precise. While it¡¯s not the most ster performance, it¡¯s good that she¡¯s meticulous in her work. I¡¯m sure she can improve her speed through constant practice.

    ¡°Mimi, designate threat levels ording to firepower.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    Since we now had the Antlion at our disposal, we didn¡¯t need to worry so much about rtively fast pirate ships making their escapepared to before. It was easier and simpler to designate enemy threat levels using firepower as a metric.

    ¡ºWe will be making contact soon. I shall eject Krishna out immediately after contact. That will be fine, correct?¡»

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    A loud boom echoed out while I was in the middle of responding to Mei, and the ck Lotus warped out to normal space.

    ¡ºOpening the rear hatch. Activating catapult. Launching ship.¡»

    ¡°Okay. Here we go, guys!¡±

    ¡°¡±Yes!¡±¡±

    After Mimi and Kugi¡¯s energetic replies, the electromaic catapult activated and Krishna was ejected from the hangar of the Lotus into outer space. Now then, it¡¯s been a while since ourst scrap. Let¡¯s do this with a bang.

 Chapter 343 â€“ Melee

    <h4>Chapter 343 - Melee</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    ¡°This is Krishna, a ship affiliated with the Mercenary Guild. We¡¯ll be assisting you from here on out. Do your best to hold out.¡±

    ¡ºAppreciate it! Damn! These guys sure are persistent!¡»

    I changed the ship¡¯s heading as soon as we ejected out of the hangar and immediately headed to the area where the battle was taking ce. From what I can see for now, the ones getting attacked were two medium-ss ships and¡­ uh, three or four small-ss ones. I wasn¡¯t exactly sure because it¡¯s already turned into a chaotic melee.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, I¡¯ve picked up the IFF signals. I¡¯ll disy them on screen.¡±

    ¡°Roger that.¡±

    Of the ships shown on the main screen, the friendlies were indicated in green. The enemies were highlighted in red.

    ¡°Let¡¯s reduce the enemy numbers first and attract their attention. You handle support, Elma. I¡¯ll leave the timing of firing off the gravity jammers to you¡­¡­ Oh, but if you think you can bring them down, go right ahead. We¡¯d get more profit that way. And there¡¯s no need to worry about resupplying, so just go nuts.¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir. It¡¯s been quite a while, so I¡¯ll rampage to my heart¡¯s content.¡»

    After replying, Elma¡¯s Antlion broke off from Krishna. I was heading straight for thebat zone, but it looks like Elma was circling around it. She was probably nning on bringing down the ships that would decide to take some distance after Krishna begins attacking. In other words, she was gonna hunt those pirates who¡¯d retreat to a supposed safe zone after suffering an intense attack.

    ¡°There sure are a lot of scrubs. Please participate in the attack as well, Lotus. Make sure to keep an eye on those carrying torpedoes.¡±

    ¡ºYes, Master.¡»

    The overall firepower of ck Lotus was much higher than Krishna¡¯s. Of course, it would still be in a disadvantage if it takes on a properbat ship of a simr ss, but it¡¯s able to overwhelmingly suppress small-ss ships. In this sort of situation, it was better to have the Lotus participate actively in order to annihte the enemies faster.

    ¡°My Lord, we¡¯ll be engaging the enemies soon.¡±

    Even so, it will still take a bit of time for the Antlion and ck Lotus to participate in the battle. That¡¯s why it¡¯s our and Krishna¡¯s turn first.

    ¡°Yosh, we¡¯re heading in!¡±

    I rushed straight into the middle of the chaotic melee between the explorer fleet and the pirates. Whoops, one small-ss explorer ship was in trouble. The explorer ship was getting ganged up by three pirate ships and looked like it was about to get shot down, so I decided to help it first.

    ¡°Sooi!¡±

    ¡ºUoaaaaaaaaa!?¡»

    ¡ºWha-¡­¡­¡»

    ¡°Hyah-!?¡±

    ¡°Waaah-!?¡±

    I rammed one of the three small-ss pirate ships pelting the explorer ship¡¯s rear end withser fire at full speed and immediately hit another one with the heavy-caliberser cannons and shot-cannons. However, the ones who screamed in surprise and fear after experiencing strong shockwaves as a result of the collision weren¡¯t the pirates alone. Mimi and Kugi also let out terrified shrieks. Oh,e to think of it, this was the first time I performed such a rough maneuver huh?

    ¡°Kugi, activate a shield cell. Focus, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°O-Okay!¡±

    ¡°U-Understood!¡±

    The two started performing as instructed even though they were still slightly shaken. It seems like the ship that ate Krishna¡¯s ramming attack got its energy shieldpletely saturated and ended up half-destroyed and incapacitated. The one that ate shots from close range got brought down instantly. The remaining ship attempted to escape, so I chased after its behind and hit it with twoser cannon shots in a row.

    Krishna¡¯s shield, which also ended up getting considerably attenuated by the collision, began to rapidly recover. The targeted explorer ship also seems to have managed to escape the crisis and reinitialized its shield. I was about to finish off the remaining pirate ship when something flew at it from the side and scored a direct hit, bringing it down.

    ¡ºSorry. I thought it was about to escape.¡»

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. You¡¯re doing great.¡±

    Apparently, Elma¡¯s Antlion brought it down with a seeker missile first. I suppose even a veteran like Elma didn¡¯t expect me to bring down a ship by ramming it. Mimi never experienced it, so it¡¯s only natural that Elma hasn¡¯t experienced it as well. I guess that¡¯s how it is.

    ¡°It¡¯s an all-you-can-eat buffet. I¡¯m gonna eat my fill.¡±

    The pirate ships that were previously absorbed in attacking the explorer fleet were thrown into confusion. Even though the quality of the Edge World¡¯s space pirates was generally a bit better than your average ones, most of them were still using patchwork ships that have been forcefully cobbled together using the wrecks of their victims. Once their energy shields get brought down, their hulls were easy pickings.

    ¡ºDammit! Are the other guys not here yet!?¡»

    ¡°It looks like we can wipe you guys out before your reinforcements arrive huh.¡±

    ¡ºDon¡¯t act all cocky, bastard!¡»

    The pirates began focusing their attacks on Krishna. Oh, that¡¯s no good, customers. Oh, dear, dear, dear. That¡¯s really no good you know?

    If you only focus on me, something bad will happen.

    ¡ºAlert!? Uwaaaaah!?¡»

    ¡ºGeh!? Somethin¡¯ enormous just popped out!?¡»

    ¡ºUwah! Time out! Noooo!?¡»

    Arge amount of seeker missiles andser fire came from behind Krishna and blew the pirate ships to smithereens.

    ¡ºSuppressionplete.¡»

    While I was rampaging and attracting the pirate¡¯s attention, the Lotus fired a barrage and destroyed them all at once. Mm, a barrage from arger ship really is brutal.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, unidentified ships iing. They will be warping out soon.¡±

    ¡°Got it. There¡¯s a high chance these are enemy reinforcements, so stay alert.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir.¡»

    Boom! Many ships warped out following a loud boom. None of them sported the same look, and many of them had plenty of gaudy decorations that may or may not serve important purposes. They also sported sloppily painted skull and crossbones symbols on their hulls¡­¡­ No matter how you slice it, the ships that warped out were all pirate ships.

    There were only five of them.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let them get away, Elma.¡±

    ¡ºOf course. Gravity jammer, activate.¡»

    A deep bass echo rang out. Nothing actually seems to have changed on the surface, but the jammer did sessfully manage to prevent both us and the pirate ships from activating our FTL drives. The activation switch of the FTL drive dimmed in an instant and became unusable. The safety lock seems to have applied.

    ¡ºW-What the heck!? We can¡¯t use the FTL drive!?¡»

    ¡ºI can¡¯t release the safety lock! Stop! Don¡¯te over!¡»

    ¡°Hahaha, just where were you guys nning on going?¡±

    I chased after the pirate ships that scattered like baby spiders in an attempt to get away and brought them down one by one. We shot down four of them, and thest one was finished off by an explorer ship.

    ¡ºHahaah! I got em! You damn bastards!¡»

    ¡ºW-We survived¡­¡­ I thought we weren¡¯t gonna make it this time around.¡»

    The explorers seemed to be very excited and relieved. But for us, this was just the start of our work.

    ¡°Okay. ck Lotus,mence recovery work. Krishna and Antlion will stay on watch.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood.¡»

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir.¡»

    We have to perform our work quickly. It would be lucky if another round of reinforcements came while we were recovering the wrecks. Oops. I almost forgot about that explorer fleet.

    ¡°Let me introduce myself again. I¡¯m Captain Hiro. I¡¯m a mercenary affiliated with the Mercenary Guild. You guys are¡­¡­ uh, was it the Screech Owls?¡±

    ¡ºYeah, that¡¯s right. Thanks for your help. I¡¯m the main representative of these guys, Captain Souls. As for your reward for the rescue, is it fine if we discuss it after returning to the Dauntless?¡»

    One of the medium-ss explorer ships responded. It was a man¡¯s voice. He sounded middle-aged.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind. These guys have a bounty anyway, and we were hired by the military to take care of pirates like them in the first ce. So, you got our services for cheap. Ain¡¯t that lucky?¡±

    ¡ºCan you call getting attacked by these bastards lucky? Well, I suppose we should at least be thankful for small mercies.¡»

    Captain Souls replied and let out a sigh. Well, the small-ss explorer ship that suffered concentrated fire from the pirates earlier did look like it was about to fall apart, so I suppose its repair costs would cause them some headaches. I wasn¡¯t personally affected, so I could only feel that it was a pity.

    ¡°Okay then. You should take some more spoils to cover your losses. You have custody over the ship you shot down anyway. I¡¯ll throw in the ones that will appear from here on out as extras.¡±

    ¡ºI¡¯m so happy I could cry. Alright, let¡¯s do that. Oi, send out recovery drones. Get Hector¡¯s ship back here before any idents happen.¡»

    It looks like they were gonna switch to postbat work as well. We should start working too. I and Elma only needed to keep watch and look out for possible enemies though.

 Chapter 344 â€“ Sensitive Fox

    <h4>Chapter 344 - Sensitive Fox</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    A mercenary fleet arrivedte and left straight away as soon as they confirmed that the pirates had already been dealt with. We¡¯d do the same if we were in their position, so there was nothing strange about it. Firste, first served, as they say.

    ¡°I see. You got stuck in the asteroid belt and forced out of FTL state.¡±

    ¡ºWell, not exactly. It was actually my mistake. The uracy of this star system¡¯s map is stillcking you see.¡»

    The operator bro of the Screech Owls was currently pouring out his troubles onto Mimi. She was diligently serving the role of a good listener. I suppose the guy was simply happy about the opportunity to chat with such a beautiful young girl. But just don¡¯t overdo it, man. Mimi¡¯s mine.

    ¡°Tina, how¡¯s the progress of the recovery work.¡±

    ¡ºNot bad. The quality of the parts really is a bit better just like you said, Boss. Their maintenance is another story though.¡»

    ¡°No matter how good the parts are, if the maintenance is poor, the original performance will suffer¡­¡­¡±

    ¡ºLaser cannons can shoot without worrying so much about ammo, but you have to properly maintain them.¡»

    ¡ºThe problem is if we don¡¯t spend effort sprucing up this supposedly good equipment, they would probably just get sold for cheap. And the demand for them here isn¡¯t that high in the first ce.¡»

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    I agreed with Elma¡¯s remarks. It was true that the equipment these pirates sported was of a slightly higher quality. Compared to the pirates operating in other star systems, their condition was a league apart. However, their quality was stillcking for mercenaries whoe to this frontier system for work. And as for explorers, they had the same performance as the equipment their ships were already using.

    They were also practically useless to the civilian trading ships thate to the Dauntless for business. Well, taking them is better than returning empty-handed. Regardless of the rtively poor maintenance, they were of reasonable quality anyway, so we¡¯ll just treat them as disposable junk items.

    ¡ºFolks will probably drive a hard bargain fer this stuff.¡»

    ¡°Let¡¯s just fix them up and take them to a ce where they¡¯d sell wellter.¡±

    ¡ºI have a suggestion, Boss. We¡¯ll just focus on makin¡¯ these almost-junk items look all shiny and new. We don¡¯t really need to cobble up a whole ship this time around, right?¡»

    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s no need for that this time. There isn¡¯t much demand for those kinds of ships here anyway.¡±

    Unless it was in a special environment where people only need to travel rtively short distances, a chimera ship made out of parts cobbled together from pirate shipwrecks normally doesn¡¯t sell well. It was fine to use such ships simply for ferrying cargo, but it was too troublesome to incorporate an advanced fire control system and sub-systems into them. And even if you did, their overall service reliability was iffy at best. Using such ships forbat or exploration roles wasn¡¯t advisable because you don¡¯t know if or when their weapon and sub-systems would suddenly malfunction. That¡¯s why such chimera ships are only used by space pirates or rookie traders who are just starting out.

    There were practically no rookie traders in this frontier system. The explorers and traders active here all had decent escorts apanying them, and the trader fleets themselves were rather heavily armed. And other than traders, mercenaries, and explorers, there were only military personnel and civilian staff working for the military present in this system. Hence, there was no demand for a chimera ship.

    ¡ºGot it. Just a bit more and we¡¯ll be finished with the recovery work.¡»

    ¡°Okay. Contact me once you guys are done.¡±

    After concluding the discussion with Tina and the others, I turned to the sub-pilot seat next to me. I found Kugi seemingly performing meditation while sitting on the sub-pilot seat. It didn¡¯t seem like she was sleeping because her ears fluttered from time to time. Un, if they kept moving cutely like that, I¡¯d get more and more tempted to touch them. But just what is she doing anyway? Is it some kind of image training or something?

    It looked past Kugi¡¯s fluttering ears and met gazes with Mimi. It looks like she¡¯s done talking with the operator bro. It looks like Mimi was also curious about Kugi¡¯s ears¡­¡­ Now I was feeling more and more mischievous.

    I carefully nudged my face closer to Kugi¡¯s ears while making sure that she didn¡¯t notice and gently blew on them.

    ¡°Hyaaaahn!?¡±

    Kugi shrieked and frantically shook her head. She must have found it incredibly ticklish. She pressed her ears down with her hands and turned her bright-red face toward me.

    ¡°M-My Lord¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Uh, they were fluttering about so cutely, so that stimted my mischievous instincts a little too much¡­¡­ Err, sorry.¡±

    ¡°Me too! I want to do that too!¡±

    ¡°N-No! My ears are very sensitive!¡±

    Kugi vehemently refused Mimi¡¯s request, but thetter was rather determined to get her way. If the ears were no good, then I¡¯ll go for the tail instead. I started to reach out for Kugi¡¯s tail, but Kugi quickly escaped my clutches. I thought she waspletely distracted by Mimi, but her reaction was pretty fast.

    ¡°T-The tail is no good too¡­¡­! No, if it¡¯s My Lord¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Uh, haha. Sorry. I won¡¯t do it if you don¡¯t want to.¡±

    I apologized to Kugi who meekly handed her tail over while still pressing down on her ears. I didn¡¯t think it would bother her this much. Sorry for trying to touch it without permission.

    ¡°Uh, so, your ears and tail are sensitive huh.¡±

    ¡°S-Sensitive¡­¡­ Um, yes, that¡¯s how it is. I end up shivering whenever someone touches them so suddenly.¡±

    ¡°Please allow me to touch it someday if possible. It looks pretty fluffy and nice to touch.¡±

    ¡°Me too. Pretty please.¡±

    ¡°I-If you really want to, My Lord, then I¡¯ll let you touch it next time¡­¡­¡±

    It looks like she¡¯ll let me touch them next time. I did it. However, did Kugi properly understand that I¡¯ll be touching her ears as well? I decided that I won¡¯t back down even if she ends up chickening outter.

    ¡°Now then¡­¡­ Let¡¯s escort these guys back to the Dauntless after finishing the recovery work.¡±

    I suppose this much after-service is fine. Besides, if Tina and the others actually end up finding data caches, it would be better to get them analyzed first rather thanunching out blindly again.

    That¡¯s because those caches might contain valuable intel like the pirate¡¯s attack and gathering points or even their main base. We can hunt space pirates more efficiently with that intelpared to fishing for them.

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    There was no sign of any additional pirate reinforcements. It would have been nice if some more of them showed up, but it looks like that ain¡¯t happening huh.

 Chapter 345 â€“ I Get How You Feel but It Ainâ€™t My Fault

    <h4>Chapter 345 - I Get How You Feel but It Ain¡¯t My Fault</h4>

    Trantor: SFBaka

    We returned to the Dauntless while escorting the Screech Owls fleet and decided to contact Col. Serena for the time being.

    ¡º¡­¡­Can you run that by me again?¡»

    Col. Serena¡¯s stressed voice echoed around the break space of the ck Lotus.

    ¡°We managed to get multiple data caches that might lead to the discovery of the location of the pirate¡¯s base from the wrecks of the pirate ships we encountered earlier. Mei¡¯s still in the middle of analyzing them, but if you want, we can immediately hand you our results so far along with the decryption keys and the physical data storage devices.¡±

    As a result of helping out the Screech Owls and stripping the pirate ship wrecks of loot, we seeded in recovering multiple data caches in addition to the various junk equipment. Mei immediately got busy analyzing the data storage devices, and I contacted Col. Serena to exin the situation.

    ¡º¡­¡­Are you sure you aren¡¯t actually connected with pirates? One just doesn¡¯t usually bring such crucial intel right at the start of a subjugation operation you know?¡»

    ¡°Of course, not. C¡¯mon, that doesn¡¯t even make any sense¡­¡­ Anyway, we already got our hands on them, so it can¡¯t be helped. I¡¯m not at fault here.¡±

    You can also say it¡¯s just my usual propensity for trouble twisting my fate, but I don¡¯t really wanna rely on such a metaphysical exnation. That said, I do recognize that I¡¯m a trouble ma to some extent.

    ¡ºHaa¡­¡­ Well, that¡¯s fine, I suppose. It¡¯s good that we¡¯re making progress. There¡¯s no downside to being able to destroy the pirates sooner.¡»

    ¡°As expected of you, Colonel. I¡¯m d you¡¯re pretty reasonable.¡±

    ¡ºPlease send the data storage devices to us. I¡¯ll transmit the port number to you.¡»

    ¡°Aye, aye, ma¡¯am.¡±

    I gave her a crisp salute and ended the transmission. I quickly received the port number that¡¯s used by the ship-wide goods delivery system, so I forwarded it to Mei. Mei will handle sending the data storage devices to Col. Serena.

    ¡°What shall we do next?¡±

    ¡°The military will probably announce a job to subjugate the pirate base before long, so I suppose we¡¯ll just have to wait until then.¡±

    ¡°Will that be alright? If we don¡¯t work, won¡¯t Colonel Serena scold you, My Lord?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve already done plenty by discovering and delivering those data storage devices to them, and we can earn more by participating in the base subjugation anyway.¡±

    Tina and Whisker will be busy polishing up and performing maintenance on the equipment we¡¯ve managed to recover for a while, and the hangar of the Lotus was close to full already. The equipment we got surprisingly took up a lot of space because most of them wereser cannons.

    ¡°It¡¯s important to work hard, of course. But it¡¯s also important to avoid taking unnecessary risks. It would be fine as long as we can earn our fair share of money.¡±

    We weren¡¯t heroes of justice on a mission to destroy evil, but mercenaries who hunt down pirates and the like for a living. It would be fine as long as we can make money in the end. It¡¯s not like I was hungry forbat merits in order to aplish some sort of goal. I¡¯ve already achieved tinum rank which was the highest rank avable to mercenaries, so I didn¡¯t really need to pay a lot of attention to contributing to the guild.

    ¡°And besides, even if you try avoiding trouble, it will juste to you anyway.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say something like that¡­¡­ Anyway, good work out there.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Thanks.¡±

    I knocked fists with Elma who just finished taking a shower in the ck Lotus. She then sat beside me on the sofa. Mimi and Kugi were already sticking to my left and right though, so Elma ended up sitting beside Kugi.

    ¡°So, how was it? Your first battle piloting your own ship after a long time.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s kinda lonely and stressful being alone to be honest. I have to do everything by myself, so it¡¯s quite stressful. I ended up calling Mimi several times during the battle.¡±

    ¡°Fumu. Do you want Mimi to apany you for a while? I think it will be a good experience for Mimi as well.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Thanks for the suggestion, but I¡¯ll pass for now. I¡¯ll probably get used to it after some time.¡±

    ¡°That so? Well, it¡¯ll serve as good training for Mimi, so try it sometime.¡±

    I pretended not to notice Elma exchanging nces with Mimi and the intense gaze piercing my left cheek. I think it¡¯s necessary to raise her skills though. As I was thinking about such things, my portable terminal¡¯s ringtone suddenly rang out. It¡¯s Captain Souls of the Screech Owls huh. I exchanged contacts with the guy before we parted ways.

    ¡°This is Hiro. What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡ºSouls here. Well, uh, I¡¯m treating my crew for a meal and I was wondering if you wannae too. You did save our behinds back there, so let me treat you guys to a drink or something.¡»

    ¡°Sounds good. But I¡¯m actually a real lightweight so I¡¯ll pass on the drink. Three of my crew members are heavy drinkers though. You sure you can handle them? It¡¯ll probably cost you.¡±

    ¡ºI don¡¯t mind. We do have some extra budget from selling off the loot we got from those pirates. And it¡¯s not like we returned empty-handed from our expedition.¡»

    In other words, the Screech Owls managed to acquire some kind of loot in the unexplored star system¡­¡­ Man, I¡¯m getting a really bad feeling about this. Please just let it be my imagination. Anyway, I feel that I really have to get that cargo off the hands of the Screech Owls as soon as possible.

    ¡°We¡¯ll take you up on the offer then. We have seven people on our end¡­¡­ Uh, but only six of us will be eating and drinking. One of us doesn¡¯t need to eat or drink at all.¡±

    ¡ºDoesn¡¯t eat or drink¡­¡­? Well, alright. I¡¯ll send you the meeting point.¡»

    Information on one of the restaurants inside the Dauntless was sent over by Souls. Hm. Well, it doesn¡¯t seem to be the shady kind of restaurant. But the possibility of them pretending to be friendly while setting up a trap wasn¡¯t zero, so we still had to be careful. After all, as their captain, I was responsible for the safety of my crew.

    ¡°Ok. We¡¯ll see you there. We need to get ready first, so it¡¯ll take a bit of time.¡±

    ¡ºAlright. How about meeting up after half an hour?¡»

    ¡°Let¡¯s go with that¡­¡­ We¡¯re getting treated by the Screech Owls guys.¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­¡­ I¡¯m a bit uneasy about it though.¡±

    Mimi was slightly hesitant.

    ¡°Oh, their operator seemed to be quite taken by you huh? It¡¯s gonna be fine. Just don¡¯t leave my side.¡±

    ¡°Then we should all stick close to Hiroter.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s stick to him closely. Like, really close. You have to stick to him too, Kugi-chan.¡±

    ¡°C-Closely? Like this?¡±

    Mimi and Kugi snuggled even closer to me. Mm. I¡¯m happy about it, but doesn¡¯t it feel a bit too eye-catching? I mean, aren¡¯t we overdoing it a bit?

    ¡°You sure have it hard, Hiro. You¡¯ll have to take care of Tina, Whisker, and me in that stateter after all.¡±

    ¡°Please ease up a bit on the drinking, guys¡­¡­¡±

    Because I already felt an unpleasant premonition about those guys¡¯ cargo, please don¡¯t add to my troubles. I mean, seriously.

 Chapter 346: Premonition Coming True

    ¡°We finally met face to face¨C But you sure are amazing,d.¡±

    We finally met up in person with Captain Souls instead of just through the holo-screen, but¡­¡­ his cheeks cramped as soon as he saw us. Mimi and Kugi were hugging my arms and sticking closely to me just like they said earlier. Elma was standing nearby with a smirk on her face, apanied by Tina, Wiska [1], and Mei.

    ¡°You¡¯re living every man¡¯s dream huh? Impressive. As expected of a tinum ranker. You sure like to y big.¡±

    ¡°We have our own circumstances¡­¡­ Anyway, nice to meet you. I¡¯m Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Souls. It¡¯s nice to meet you as well.¡±

    Mimi and Kugi let go of my arms so I can shake hands with Captain Souls.

    He was a dapper middle-aged guy, and was quite handsome even from the perspective of a fellow guy like me¡­¡­ In other words, he was a so-called ikeoji or handsome uncle. He had gray pupils paired with silvery gray hair. His clothes weren¡¯t anything special, but his build was pretty good. He was neither too muscr or too skinny. However, he didn¡¯t seem weak. His body was pretty well-bnced.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not just stand here then. Let¡¯s go ahead and take our seats.¡±

    Captain Souls entered the shop along with his crew and prompted us to follow. ording to Mimi¡¯s research, this shop wasn¡¯t a regr restaurant but a sort of bar that¡¯s operated as part of the entertainment facilities within the Dauntless. It seems this ce was intended to be used to deepen the friendship between different squads and toons, and it looked like it could amodate dozens of people.

    ¡°We don¡¯t often get to invite other guys to these kinds of get-togethers. So some of my crew were actually pretty excited about this, but¡­¡­¡±

    Captain Souls nced toward a young male crew member of his whose expression now resembled a Tibetan fox. It feels like negative aura was about to overflow from the guy. Was this guy really okay?

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a good wake-up call for this guy who easily gets the wrong idea. So please go ahead and show them the difference in your levels.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really like getting caught up in troublesome stuff though¡­¡­¡±

    Captain Souls repeatedly pped my back in amusement and took his seat. Curiously, it looks like this ce actually serves food buffet-style. You can freely pick and choose what to eat from all the food that was prepared and sit wherever you please to chat. Do we have to do self-service for alcohol as well? Oh, it looks like you can get the drinks yourself or ask for some from the waiter robots. It can be dangerous for drunk people to get drink refills by themselves after all.

    The dinner party started that way, but it didn¡¯t lead to a vtile atmosphere.

    ¡°Man, you have to deal with jealousy and all sorts of other emotions constantly huh. I really respect you for that.¡±

    ¡°Uhuh, uhuh¡­¡­ It¡¯s like, like¡­ Anyway, you¡¯re amazing, Hiro-san.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah.¡±

    For some reason, the young male Screech Owl crew members were crowding around me instead of Mimi or Kugi. Apart from Mei who was a maidroid, it looks like they ended up really respecting me for managing to surround myself with five different women.

    ¡°It¡¯s my first time seeing such a harmonious harem.¡±

    ¡°And every single one of them is freaking cute¡­¡­ Can you let us in on your secret?¡±

    The male crew member who was previously crushing on Mimi asked me with a straight face.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing like that, guys¡­¡­ I just went with the flow. The flow. As for advice, I suppose all I can tell you is not to miss the timing when an opportunity presents itself and be prepared to take responsibility no matter how things turn out in the end.¡±

    Technically, the only girl I specifically aimed to get on my ship was Elma, so I wasn¡¯t exactly lying. I impulsively helped Mimi and that led to her boarding my ship as a result. Elma was the only one I specifically pulled into the ship with the intention of making her into part of my crew.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you still have the energy to get involved with a maidroid even when you¡¯re surrounded with five beautiful girls already¡­¡­ And that maidroid is even a high-end custom product, right?¡±

    This time, a gangly young man wearing sses was the one who spoke out. Un, he looks like your typical nerdy type. It¡¯s a stereotype! Well, his sses kinda looked mechanical, so it was probably some sort of wearable device.

    ¡°Yeah. If you wanna get something at the level of our Mei, you¡¯re gonna have to shell out at least a couple hundred thousand Enels.¡±

    ¡°A couple hundred thousand! It¡¯s cheaper than a ship, but¡­¡­ Uh, how should I say this? ¡­¡­Err, do you have enough stamina?¡±

    A gaudy-looking crew member rocked his hips back and forth as he posed his question.

    ¡°Uh¡­¡­ I do work out a lot, I guess. And our chef is pretty good too.¡±

    I tensed my abdominal muscles and hit my stomach with my fist. In fact, Tetsujin V, the automatic cooker installed in my ship, analyzes my work out data in order to provide me with the optimal meals. It¡¯s been regrly scanning my health data using the med pod, my portable data terminal, the exercise machines in the training room, and even receives data from Mei in order to determine what nutrients I need the most each day. It was honestly too high-performance.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been dealing with pirates almost every day, gotten myself involved in the shady plots of nobles, plunged into swarms of crystal lifeforms, fought bioweapons using power armor, got shed at with swords by nobles, and even experienced a crash when the flying machine we were riding fell from the air. If you get yourselves into those sorts of situations, maybe you¡¯d experience encounters with the fairer sex like me as well.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s definitely impossible for me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d probably die.¡±

    ¡°Well, I only turned out the way I am today after experiencing those kinds of troublesome stuff. Please understand.¡±

    I really went through some crazy stuff huh. Just how did I survive all that anyway?

    ¡°But it¡¯s not like I encounter dangerous stuff all the time. Like today for example.¡±

    ¡°But today was really dangerous though.¡±

    ¡°If Hiro-san and the others didn¡¯te, we probably would have died you know¡­¡­ Our ship¡¯s shield would have been taken down eventually and our hull would have been pierced, so I was kinda already preparing myself for death back there.¡±

    Oh? Apparently, sses-kun here was the pilot of one of the small escort fightersunched by the explorer fleet during the previous battle. He looked so spindly, so it was a bit of a surprise.

    ¡°I see. In other words, today¡¯s encounter really is a chance for us lonely guys¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Oh? What¡¯s this? Are you gonna challenge me?¡±

    ¡°I was joking. It¡¯s impossible for me.¡±

    ¡°But maidroids are nice¡­¡­ They can also support you duringbat, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, if you ignorebat ability and just focus on a high-performance positron brain, you can probably buy a custom one for only 100 thousand or so.¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s only that much then¡­¡­ Un.¡±

    Megane-kun, whose name was apparently Hector, ignored his food and started thinking in a daze. Now should be a good time to pry for info, right? I¡¯ll try poking around a bit.

    ¡°By the way, your captain mentioned that you found something during your expedition to the unexplored star system. What exactly did you discover over there anyway?¡±

    ¡°Oh? So you¡¯ve heard from the captain? Yeah, that¡¯s right. It was some sort of¨C Uh, can I really spill the beans about it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a mercenary y¡¯know. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m in the same trade. I¡¯m not really interested in the ce you got that treasure. I¡¯m just really curious about the treasure itself. I mean, it¡¯s a treasure. You get it, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. This is off the record, okay?¡±

    After saying so, Hector used his portable data terminal to disy the image of an explorer-use power armor standing next to a mysterious sphere.

    ¡°We found this strange sphere. Lasers just bounced off of it and it¡¯s pretty tough. It clearly doesn¡¯t seem like a natural object. Moreover, the ce where we found it looked artificial too. It didn¡¯t look like naturally urring terrain. We¡¯re hoping it might be some sort of artifact.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­ Okay. By the way, are there any crew members left on your ships?¡±

    ¡°No. All of us were starving so we all came here.¡±

    The gaudy-looking crew member turned his gaze toward the back of the shop. Oh, it looks like Captain Souls and the three drunkards were already drinking their fill huh. Mimi and Kugi were apanied by Mei and seemed to be having fun chatting with the sailors who were a little older than the ones crowding around me.

    ¡°Excuse me for a bit.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    I took out my portable data terminal, selected Col. Serena¡¯s number from my address book, and called her up. Before long, Col. Serena answered my call.

    ¡ºWhat is it? The data storage devices just arrived¨C¡»

    ¡°Uh, colonel, I managed to find more of those spheres. The Screech Owls brought one with them, and all of the crew members are out right now.¡±

    ¡º¡­¡­¡»

    ¡°Um, colonel?¡±

    ¡ºPlease shut up for a moment. I¡¯m focusing all my mental strength to control my emotions right now.¡»

    ¡°¡­¡­You seem to be really irritated, but it¡¯s not like I meant to trouble you intentionally y¡¯know. Really. I swear to all the gods of heaven and earth.¡±

    ¡ºI know already, so just shut up please?¡»

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    She¡¯s definitely snapped! Scary! I¡¯m not at fault y¡¯know!

    [1] TL Notes: The official romaji name of our blue-haired dwarf girl is Wiska. I¡¯ll be using this name from here on out to stay true to the JP romanization. It does make a lot more sense, doesn¡¯t it? That¡¯s the trouble with tranting Western names spelled out in katakana. Common ones like Tina are easy, but Wiska¡¯s name is written the same as Whisker (as in animal¡¯s whiskers) in katakana (¥¦¥£¥¹¥«) so it¡¯s trickier.

 Chapter 347: Itâ€™ll be a Long Story

    ¡°So, Hiro. Captain f*cking Hiro-san. Just what the heck is going on here?¡±

    It¡¯s been thirty minutes since I contacted, or rather, reported to Col. Serena. We and the Screech Owls crew made our way to where the Screech Owls fleet was parked inside the docking area of the Dauntless.

    The two medium-ss ships that served as the mother ships of the Screech Owls fleet were already surrounded by the military and was now underpulsory inspection. Their cargo hatches were thrown open and all their cargo containers were being carried outside in order to get checked.

    ¡°From what I¡¯m seeing, soldiers are upying my beloved ships and are carrying out all our precious cargo. What the heck is happening here?¡±

    Perhaps it was due to the alcohol, or perhaps he was just that angry. Or maybe it was both. The face of Captain Souls was already red. He looks just about ready to burst at any moment¡­¡­ Now then, what should I do? If I was a heavy smoker, I would have already lit one cigarette and taken a puff, but I wasn¡¯t good with either alcohol or tobo.

    Well, smoking was strictly forbidden inside colonies and starships due to the air pollution hazard, so there basically weren¡¯t a lot of heavy smokers in this world in the first ce.

    ¡°It¡¯s gonna be a long story.¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t start talking now, I¡¯ll ventte your face. Using thisser gun.¡±

    Captain Souls pointed to theser gun strapped to his waist. Stop, stop! If you attempt to fire at me from this range, Mei will probably clobber you before you do.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say I wouldn¡¯t talk. I just said it¡¯s a long story. This matter actually started in the Windas system. You¡¯re familiar with that system, right?¡±

    ¡°It houses the empire¡¯srgest shipyards. What of it?¡±

    ¡°Before we came here, we stayed there for some business. And one day, I got involved in a certain incident. I got attacked by something that looked like a murder machine. Fortunately, I¡¯m able to hold my own in a fight, and that thing was already being chased down by the military. While I was fighting with it, the military caught up and we managed to get rid of it. But it seemed that there were already casualties before I fought that thing.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t see the connection. What does that story have to do with my ships being raided by the imperial military?¡±

    Captain Souls urged me to hurry up and exin further with his arms crossed in front of his chest. As expected, battle-hardened veteran explorers were capable of quickly regaining their cool. No, maybe he just decided that threats of violence wouldn¡¯t work on someone like me.

    ¡°I already said it was gonna be a long story, right? In other words, the problem lies in those casualties and the thing I first thought was a killer robot. The casualties were the clerk of a shop that sells rare articles in the Windas Tertius colony and the customers who happened to be present when the incident happened. The initial form of that killer ¡®robot¡¯ was actually arge metallic sphere. A pretty mysterious one. And the subsequent military investigation found that it was originally brought out from the Edge World. You might not be aware of this recent incident, but shortly after we arrived and docked inside the Dauntless, an artifact shop operating here was raided by the military. They found spheres simr to the one in the Windas Tertius colony inside the shop, but they ended up going on a rampage.¡±

    And I was actually there when it happened as well¡­¡­ But there¡¯s no need to tell him that. I¡¯ll just keep quiet about it.

    ¡°I just didn¡¯t want to see you guys featured in the news tomorrow as thetest victims of those killer spheres. That¡¯s why I immediately reported it to the military. Believe it or not, I didn¡¯t have any malicious intent at all.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not wet-behind-the-ears rookies. We¡¯ve always faced all sorts of danger in our job. We know the risks.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, the opponent is just too dangerous this time around. Are you sure you can deal with a murder machine that can tank direct hits from military-grade smaunchers and high-outputsers without taking any damage? It¡¯s an opponent that even marines equipped with heavy power armor,serunchers, and smaunchers had lots of trouble dealing with you know. Even I would have died if I didn¡¯t have these.¡±

    I patted the hilts of the swords strapped to my waist. I¡¯ll keep quiet about the marines getting supplied with crudely made maces for the sake of their honor.

    ¡°¡­¡­Damn. I understand what this is all about now, but it doesn¡¯t change the fact that they¡¯re messing up my ships. Dammit!¡±

    ¡°Uh, captain? What¡¯s gonna happen to our earnings this time around?¡±

    ¡°The military is confiscating all of our stuff so there¡¯s no helping it. Well, all we can do is negotiate with them and make them pay for at least some of them. I¡¯m also gonna charge them for messing up the interior of my ships. Let¡¯s go, you lot.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Aye, aye, sir!¡±¡±¡±

    Captain Souls and his crew headed straight for the Screech Owls ships that were being raided.

    ¡°So, what about us?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have any business outside anymore. Let¡¯s just head back to the ship. Colonel Serena will probably contact us sooner orter anyway¨C¡±

    ¡°Hey Boss. I kinda still wanna drink.¡±

    When I suggested going back, a spoiled (drunk) Tina pulled my arm while making a pitiful expression. Ow, oww. My arm¡¯s gonna get dislocated. She¡¯s small but she sure is strong. Wiska also pinched my jacket¡¯s hem and gently pulled at it. This one¡¯s reserved and cute.

    ¡°But you guys can just continue drinking when we get back to the ship, right?¡±

    ¡°Huh? No! Drinkin¡¯ in the ship ain¡¯t the same as drinkin¡¯ in a proper bar!¡±

    ¡°Eeh¡­¡­?¡±

    Tina started acting bolder and stomped her feet in protest. Uh, please don¡¯t step on my foot, okay? My bones would probably break. I surveyed Wiska, Elma, Mimi, and Kugi¡¯s expressions.

    Mm. Well, the party did get cut short after I made my report, so I understand where they¡¯reing from.

    ¡°Mimi, can you find out if there¡¯s any other nice bar we can go to? I don¡¯t mind if it¡¯s more expensive than thest one.¡±

    ¡°Please leave it to me!¡±

    Mimi smiled and patted her chest. Un, how lively! After seeing Mimi being so full of cheer, my mood was lifted a little bit. And you don¡¯t have to look at your own chest with such a serious expression, Kugi. I¡¯m fine with all sizes, big or small. They are all precious in my eyes. Uh, I ended up blurting it out. Well, I guess that¡¯s fine.

    ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s go eat and drink our fill today. After all, we¡¯re probably gonna be really busy starting tomorrow.¡± So let¡¯s go all out. All out.¡±

    It¡¯s nice to spend money without a care like a typical mercenary from time to time. Well, it¡¯s not like we¡¯ll be able to spend all the money we managed to earn today anyway.

 Chapter 348: Silver Gray Major General

    The next day, Col. Serena contacted us and summoned us to the bridge of the Dauntless. We were being called in to give a report.

    ¡°We¡¯re being employed directly by the military this time around, so mercenaries like us are obligated toply in situations like this.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Kugi, who was walking beside me, nodded in understanding. Perhaps she was still paying attention to her surroundings even as we walked because her animal ears twitched from time to time. It was pretty cute.

    ¡°Even so, it¡¯s rare to be specifically summoned by a major general of the imperial space forces though¡­¡­¡±

    Elma, who was walking opposite of Kugi, shrugged as shemented. I was being apanied by Kugi and Elma today. Mimi was with Tina and Wiska. They were busy selling off the loot in the Dauntless and procuring supplies.

    Mimi handled those jobs mostly by herself before, but if Tina and Wiska learned to do them as well, it will lighten the burden on Mimi quite a bit. This meant that Mimi was now in a position to teach others about mercenary-rted work. Mei was keeping an eye on them. Mei could have apanied me as well, but just in case those spheres end up attacking the ck Lotus for some reason, she¡¯d be able to handle them. I also think I¡¯m being a bit paranoid here, but¡­¡­ well, considering my penchant for attracting trouble, it can¡¯t hurt to be extra careful. After all, there¡¯s no telling when troublesome stuff would happen.

    ¡°As expected of you, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Err, I don¡¯t think something like this is particrly praiseworthy¡­¡­ It¡¯s just a bother. And I don¡¯t find being summoned by some high-rankingmanding officer that much of an honor anyway.¡±

    ¡°C¡¯mon. Being able to meet up with a person of authority can¡¯t be that bad¡­¡­ Well, it¡¯s not exactly good either.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. I think you can already imagine how things will turn out after Colonel Serena got us wrapped up in this kind of troublesome stuff.¡±

    ¡°That might be the case. But I think this is also a result of your ability to influence fate, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°That might be the case, but I really don¡¯t wanna acknowledge it though¡­¡­¡±

    It doesn¡¯t feel right to me to chalk everything up to fate.

    Saying it¡¯s just bad luck is one thing¡­¡­ But saying everything was fated to happen or, in other words, predestined just rubs me the wrong way. I¡¯ve been doing my best to avoid trouble but trouble still keepsing after me. It¡¯s pretty messed up that my fate was apparently tied to trouble.

    ¡°Save the metaphysical for tonight, guys. Look, we¡¯re about to reach the restricted block.¡±

    After being called out by Elma, I put aside my misgivings for the meantime and focused on the matter at hand. Well, even if this ce was normally off-limits to unrted personnel, I¡¯ve been given a temporary ID. I¡¯ve also informed them that I¡¯ll be joined by twopanions, so we were allowed in without any problem. We passed through the gate protected by guards without incident and headed for the bridge while being guided by an imperial soldier.

    ¡°Hee, it¡¯s pretty spacious.¡±

    ¡°It is.¡±

    Before long, we reached the Dauntless¡¯ bridge which was quite spacious. The cockpit of the Lotus was spacious already, but the one on the Dauntless was on another level. It wasn¡¯t just the size of one floor but maybe an entire office building. The central part of the bridge was raised and many holo-screens were deployed around it. That¡¯s probably the control center huh? Oh, I see Col. Serena over there so I should be right on the money. She stands out a lot even when seen from a distance.

    ¡°Over there, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll bring you and yourpanions over, sir.¡±

    An imperial soldier with a macho build wrapped in a tight military uniform led the way to the control center of the bridge. I tried to check out the information being disyed on the holo-screens as we passed them by but I couldn¡¯t make head or tails out of them. The Dauntless was a colony-sized mothership after all, so the information being handled by its bridge should bepletely different from that of mybat ship¡¯s bridge. It might be possible for me to understand the workings if I analyzed them for a good while, but this was no time to test that out.

    ¡°So, you¡¯ve arrived.¡±

    Col. Serena squinted her eyes as she gazed at us while we were climbing up the stairs to the control center. Somehow, she seemed a bit fatigued. Her tone sounded somewhat listless.

    ¡°Allow me to introduce you. This is the captain of the supply mothership Dauntless, Major General Anselm Esreben. General Esreben, this is Captain Hiro. He¡¯s a tinum ranker affiliated with the Mercenary Guild and the troublemaker who somehow managed to find critical pieces of information for us.¡±

    ¡°That sure was a sloppy introduction¡­¡­ Pleased to make your acquaintance, Your Excellency. I¡¯m Captain Hiro. Thesedies are two of my crew members, Elma and Kugi.¡±

    ¡°Anselm Esreben. There¡¯s no need to call me ¡®Your Excellency¡¯. Just address me using my military rank.¡±

    Maj. Gen. Esreben stretched his arm for a handshake so I obliged.

    He was a middle-aged man with silver-gray irises. They were a deeper shadepared to Captain Souls¡¯ irises, and his steely gaze made him seem quite cold. His hair was in the same silver-gray shade as his irises, and his slightly long hair was tied in a small ponytail behind his head. He had quite the presence. Like Col. Serena, he also had a sword strapped to his waist, and his overall impression suggested that this major general was also a noble.

    ¡°So, why did you call us over?¡±

    ¡°I asked her to.¡±

    After dering so, Maj. Gen. Esreben red at me with his silver-gray irises.

    ¡°Fumu¡­¡­¡±

    Next, he turned his attention to Elma and Kugi. Elma red back at him while Kugi just politely smiled.

    ¡°I still find the notion of them obtaining such crucial information so quickly by chance ridiculous, but it seems they aren¡¯t hiding anything just like you said, Colonel.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d you think so, General.¡±

    ¡°Huh. What the heck? Wait, was I actually under suspicion?¡±

    ¡°The colonel did not suspect you in the least. She did get quite taken aback though. I was the one who was suspecting you. Unfortunately, I personally do not have any reason to believe you unconditionally.¡±

    The major general¡¯s silver-gray irises focused on me once more. It was like his gaze was capable of seeing through all pretenses. Did his eyes function as lie detectors or something?

    ¡°Humans will definitely show a reaction no matter how much they try to suppress it if they¡¯re hiding something. Be it through one¡¯s pulse, blood pressure, breathing, facial muscle contraction, and so on. At the very least, you and yourpanions did not show any such reaction. That¡¯s how it is.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Nobles sure are scary.¡±

    In other words, the major general was capable of judging someone thoroughly by just gazing at them. He probably utilizes his brain¡¯s enhanced processing power coupled with enhanced senses such as sight, hearing, and smell in order to do so. That sounds pretty inconvenient during daily life though.

    ¡°I can consciously turn my enhanced senses on and off, so it¡¯s not a problem.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ E-Eeeeh!?¡±

    ¡°I can also tell things like that using my abilities, young man.¡±

    Maj. Gen. Esreben lightly shrugged. In other words, he was able to sense my feelings of sympathy for him as well? Damn. That¡¯s outrageous.

    ¡°Since we¡¯re done with the introductions, let¡¯s move on to the main point of today¡¯s meeting. We¡¯ll be discussing anti-pirate countermeasures.¡±

    Col. Serena waited for the right timing and interjected in order to advance the discussion. Well, uh, thanks, but¡­¡­ Man, I really can¡¯t underestimate nobles. Let¡¯s try not to get involved too much with them in the future.

 Chapter 349: Pirate Countermeasures Meeting

    ¡°The data storage devices you took from the pirate ships allowed us to pinpoint the location of their main base. It¡¯s located in this sector. It¡¯s in a spot opposite the Dauntless¡¯ location, past this system¡¯s parent star. To be specific, it¡¯s in the outer edge of this system¡¯s asteroid belt, near one of the hypene nodes leading to an unexplored start system.¡±

    Col. Serena indicated a spot on the star system map disyed on the holo-screen. I see. It¡¯s true that the Dauntless would find their location difficult to detect because the system¡¯s parent star and the asteroid belt were in the way. The location also made it fairly easy for the pirates to catch the movements of the exploration ships returning from the unexplored star system. I wasn¡¯t sure if their base was already located there from the start or if they built it in consideration of the Dauntless¡¯ position. In any case, it was a well-thought-out location.

    ¡°Our scouts have already sent us the detailed coordinates of the base along with information about their equipment. It looks like they are already preparing to make their escape. Hence, we need to hurry up and subjugate them before they get away.¡±

    Maj. Gen. Esreben¡¯s face was illuminated by the light of the holo-screen. Mm, he definitely looks the part of a handsome protagonist. I suppose you can say that he¡¯s giving off the charisma of a general.

    ¡°I see. We can sortie any time, but what about the rest of the force?¡±

    ¡°The fighter squadron of the Dauntless can sortie at any time as well.¡±

    ¡°Fortunately, our Independent Mobile Anti-pirate Fleet is just about ready for sortie as well. We had to deal with some things after finishing fleet maintenance and resupplying, but we¡¯re just about done with them. Some of the mercenaries are already out hunting so we won¡¯t be able to assemble the entirebined force, but we¡¯ll be fine if the fighter squadron of the Dauntless participates in the operation.¡±

    When Col. Serenamented about having to deal with some things, she briefly nced toward me. I¡¯m sorry, okay? I really didn¡¯t do it on purpose y¡¯know?

    ¡°Then it looks like we need tounch as soon as possible and quickly destroy them. Considering the scale of ourbined forces, I think we¡¯re fully capable of pushing all at once and crushing them with force. But if we want to prevent them from escaping, we¡¯ll have to split up. The Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet will serve as the main force and will be tasked with attacking them head-on from the outer edge of the asteroid belt. Then, the mercenary ships and the Dauntless¡¯ fighter squadron will spring an ambush from within the asteroid belt and hunt them down. The support ships equipped with gravity jammers will prevent them from retreating and keep them within the vicinity of the asteroid belt.¡±

    After saying so, I operated the holo-screen and ced icons that visually indicated my n of attacking the pirate base from two directions. It might be a bit dangerous to fight inside the asteroid belt if the Dauntless fighter squadron wasn¡¯t trained in such operations, but carrier-based fighters that were even smaller than small-ss starships were basically designed to handle fighting in such environments and overwhelm enemies with numbers, so I think it¡¯ll be fine. It¡¯s a strategy that makes good use of the advantages of ourbined force.

    ¡°Just why are you aware of the existence of the GJ¡­¡­? Come to think of it, the number of your ships seems to have increased by one huh.¡±

    ¡°So, they really provided your fleet with that equipment huh, Colonel. It looks like my guess was right on the money.¡±

    I said so and shrugged my shoulders. The use of the gravity jammer was tailored to specific situations, so I told Elma that they might get provided to Col. Serena¡¯s fleet. After all, even if its use was limited to a few specific situations, the star system garrisons and the Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet will surely find the gravity jammer extremely handy. If the jammer was deployed just as pirates initiate their attack on a civilian ship, it would be easier to catch or destroy them.

    ¡°We¡¯ll use Captain Hiro¡¯s n as a reference. We¡¯ll iron out the details ourselves.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, sir. We¡¯ll get ready to sortie then.¡±

    ¡°Please do so. Needless to say¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I know. I won¡¯t leak anything until the operation starts. I¡¯m aware of that much, at least. Make sure to keep it to yourselves as well, you two.¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    I turned my gaze toward Elma and Kugi, and they nodded in response. Well, even if information about the operation leaks out, I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll have much effect on the situation. But it was still better to prevent any leaks, in any case. Let¡¯s be careful.

    ¡°Oh, right. What happened to that sphere you confiscated, Colonel?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re keeping it under tight watch for the time being. We¡¯ve also proceeded with interrogating and negotiating with the rted party, but it isn¡¯t as urgent as dealing with the pirates. We¡¯ve already secured the actual item.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I hope a containment breach doesn¡¯t happen.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure why you¡¯re worried about that, but the item has remained dormant, and we¡¯ve ced it within a shielded container. Even a Titan-ssbat bot will find it impossible to break out.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good. We¡¯ll be excusing ourselves then.¡±

    I was internally questioning if everything was really fine, but I don¡¯t dare to blurt out my true thoughts. If I blurted it out and it ended uping true, Col. Serena will either faint due to stress or pull out her sword and try to cut me down.

    We obediently left the restricted block and returned to the Lotus. We don¡¯t exactly know when the operation will be announced, so we took no detours this time.

    ¡°We¡¯re back.¡±

    ¡°Wee back, Hiro-sama. That was rather quick, wasn¡¯t it?¡±

    When we arrived back at the Lotus, we found Mimi and the mechanic sisters all staring at a tablet terminal inside the hangar. Were they checking the supplies or something?

    ¡°The talks proceeded quickly after all.¡±

    We¡¯ve been dealing with Col. Serena for quite some time now, and Maj. Gen. Esreben was also a pretty straightforward guy. So the discussions didn¡¯t take long.

    ¡°Let¡¯s start preparing to sortie. We could receiveunch orders any time now, so if there are still some supplies that will take time to get delivered, just pay for them first and have them get set aside first.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s quite sudden. But we¡¯re fine, Boss. We didn¡¯t have that many supplies to replenish so we¡¯ll be done soon.¡±

    ¡°Are we going to subjugate the pirates?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. The data storage devices we retrieved proved really useful.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ What about that sphere?¡±

    ¡°It looks like they¡¯ve temporarily put it aside. Since they¡¯ve secured the item itself, it seems they¡¯re proceeding with questioning the involved party. The level of urgency dropped because they were able to quickly secure the item.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Anyway Boss, what kinda conclusion is Colonel Serena aimin¡¯ for anyway?¡±

    ¡°I have an inkling about her objective, but I¡¯m not sure what kind of arrangements she¡¯ll opt for in order to achieve it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    Tina and Wiska tilted their heads to the side. I also did the same.

    I still didn¡¯t have any idea about what kind of arrangements the colonel will settle for. The best oue is the military being able to freely process and manufacture the shells of those sphere creatures due to their excellent properties as armor material, but will Col. Serena¡¯s fleet that primarily hunts down pirates really be capable of achieving that goal? Her fleet basically specializes in hunting pirates, so I think they¡¯ll be out of their element when surveying and researching an unexplored star system.

    Well, the Restalias was a pretty big ship anyway. It should have enough space. If they put their mind to it, I think it¡¯s plenty possible for them to set up a temporary research area and housing research staff.

    ¡°Colonel Serena will probably move on to that matter after the pirates are dealt with. It¡¯s a matter that doesn¡¯t have anything to do with us, so I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll need to worry about it¡­¡­ I hope.¡±

    ¡°You know that¡¯s basically impossible, Boss.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll definitely get involved at some point.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    ¡°I think so as well.¡±

    Tina, Elma, Mimi, and Wiska immediately retorted. Only Kugi, who only met Col. Serena recently, tilted her head and disyed a puzzled expression.

    I really don¡¯t wanna get involved though. I mean, I already experiencednding on a in the middle of being terraformed previously. Now you¡¯re telling me I¡¯d probably have tond on a mysterious (and possibly dangerous) unexplored nt with unknown (possibly fatal) surprises lurking about. We¡¯d at least encounter those deadly metal sphere creatures. I absolutely don¡¯t wanna go. Landing on a mysterious housing hostile alien creatures or killer robots was amon plot of action-horror SF flicks.

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s focus on discussing the countermeasures for the pirates first. The ck Lotus will most like get assigned to direct bombardment duty from the front. The Krishna will probably be part of the force that will attack from the inner depths of the asteroid belt, and the Antlion will be part of the force that will prevent the pirates from escaping. The Antlion will probably get assigned with escorts and ced together with the anti-pirate fleet ships equipped with gravity jammers, but you still have to be especially careful, Elma. The chance of the ck Lotus or Krishna not being able to support you right away if you get yourself in a pinch is quite high. So make sure you don¡¯t overdo it.¡±

    ¡°I know already. You¡¯re so overprotective, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Of course. The ship can get destroyed for all I care, but make sure you don¡¯t die. You can start over as much as you want as long as you¡¯re alive after all.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah. I understand. Safety first, right? I won¡¯t take any unnecessary risks, so don¡¯t worry.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s good that you understand. However, the Antlion won¡¯t be able to earn much this time around huh¡­¡­ I guess I¡¯ll negotiate for a special reward or something.¡±

    Actually, our original concept can¡¯t be performed unless Krishna and Antlion work in concert. But since the Antlion will be using special equipment to perform a role that other ships won¡¯t be able to, asking for a little special reward was plenty reasonable.

    ¡°That sure was a quick doubletake, Boss. Why the sudden change of heart?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no such thing. I just don¡¯t want to sell the services of our skills and equipment for cheap. It¡¯s consistent with our usual policy. I also imedpensation when they made use of you sister¡¯s maintenance skills during an operation back then, remember?¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­ that¡¯s true.¡±

    Wiska disyed a faraway look when she remembered that time when they busied themselves repairing damaged mercenary ships in the middle of a great battle with crystal lifeforms. We didn¡¯t offer the sister¡¯s skills and the facilities of the Lotus for free back then and properly demanded payment. It¡¯s pretty much the same thing for the Antlion.

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is, so please prepare forunch guys. Our policy is to keep ourselves safe as always. Alright?¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Aye, aye, sir!¡±¡±¡±

    Most of the crew members replied together. Kugi being a bitte to respond was cute.

    Preparations huh¡­¡­ I guess I¡¯ll check out my new ninja power armor. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll get a chance to use it today, but I have a feeling I¡¯d be needing it soon. Oh, boy.

 Chapter 350: Fighter

    The supply mothership Dauntless was capable of providing supplies and maintenance to almost all types ofbat ships; from small-ss ships torge-ss battleships or cruisers. It¡¯s regarded as a strategic ship due to its ability to perform these important roles.

    It¡¯s also a considerable defensive asset. Its huge number of defensive turrets were able to deal with approaching enemy ships with overwhelming firepower, and itsplement of fighters made the Dauntless even more formidable.

    Space fighters were quite small. They¡¯re usually half the size of a typical small-ss starship, if not smaller. Even so, their overall firepower still rivaled that of a small-ssbat starship, and their mobility was many times better.

    However, because of their size, it was impossible for them to mount a powerful energy shield emitter, and their armor was also rather thin, so small-ssbat starships were a lot more durable. Even with these drawbacks, fighters were still roughlyparable to small-ssbat shipsbat ability-wise.

    The Dauntless was capable of deploying arge number of such fighters. I¡¯m not sure about the exact number though.

    ¡°How many fighters got deployed?¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­¡­ A total of 180 units.¡±

    ¡°That sure is a lot. You think they deployed their entire fighterpliment?¡±

    ¡°They should have kept some to defend the ship, so¡­¡­ maybe they only deployed half?¡±

    Weunched out of the Dauntless earlier, and we were now watching the fightersunch from the Dauntless one after another. It seemed that the Dauntless was equipped with six fighter catapults, or rather, sixunch tubes, and the sight of six space fighters being simultaneously shot out from them was an impressive spectacle. It only took less than a minute for the 180 fighters tounch. It was a ridiculous deployment capability.

    ¡°Mercenaries only use small-ssbat ships, right? Why don¡¯t they use space fighters, My Lord?¡±

    ¡°Basically, it¡¯s a problem of habitability and theck of the ability to travel between star systems. There¡¯s also the problem of not having enough space to store loot. A fighter¡¯s survival rate is also rtively lower, and you can¡¯t load as much live ammunition such as multi-cannon rounds and seeker missiles onto thempared tobat ships. It would probably work if you employed them in tandem with a mothership like the ck Lotus, but mercenaries still find small-ssbat ships easier and more convenient to use.¡±

    ¡°A fighter is mostly limited to abat role. And since it¡¯s pretty small, its sensors are pretty weak as well.¡±

    ¡ºThey¡¯re a littlecking for use in mercenary work.¡»

    Elma participated in the conversation through thems.

    When working as a mercenary, you¡¯d have to travel constantly between different star systems, and the interior of your ship basically bes your home. Even if you hunt down pirates, you won¡¯t be able to earn enough money for all your needs by relying on the bounty rewards alone, so you¡¯d have to collect loot. In some cases, you might get embroiled in an extended battle, so your ship has to be capable of operating and fighting for extended periods. Of course, making it out alive was still the utmost priority, so you need to ce emphasis on defense and survivability above all else.

    A space fighter was abat unit meant to be deployed directly into activebat zones.

    Itcked the ability to track down and chase after pirates around a star system. Just like Mimi said, fighters were basically employed only inbat roles.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    After listening to my and Mimi¡¯s exnations, Kugi disyed a pondering gesture. What¡¯s up? Was she thinking of piloting a fighter in the future or something? It¡¯s certainly possible for us to employ a fighter since there¡¯s enough space in the small hangar of the ck Lotus. But as I was mulling over the feasibility of this idea, we received a transmission from the Dauntless informing us of the start of the operation. It was a text notification and not a voiced transmission. The transmission included the operation start time and the coordinate data of the star system.

    ¡°It looks like the operation¡¯s starting.¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir. Don¡¯t get shot down.¡»

    ¡°That¡¯s my line.¡±

    Elma disconnected from thems. Now then, we better get going as well.

    ¡°Mimi, I¡¯ll leave the navigation settings to you.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll also set the arrival time.¡±

    Mimi inputted data into the automatic navigation system in order to so we¡¯ll warp out at the target coordinates exactly when the operationmences.

    Because warping out of FTL navigation always gives off a strong energy signature, it was basically impossible to perform a surprise attack without getting detected. Therefore, in the case ofrge-scale surprise attacks, or rather, assaults like this current operation, the method used is to input the coordinates and warp-out time in advance and warp out all at once near the enemy base¡¯s location then immediatelymence the attack.

    The tactic of warping out outside of the enemy base¡¯s sensor range and then slowly and stealthily closing in on it can also be employed, but it was decided that today¡¯s operation will be a short decisive battle utilizing superior firepower and numbers, so this tactic didn¡¯t match.

    ¡°Shall we?¡±

    ¡°¡±Yes!¡±¡±

    After hearing Mimi and Kugi¡¯s energetic replies, I activated the automatic navigation system. Now then, let¡¯s do this thing.

    The lights of the surrounding stars were flowing backward like brilliant arrows. Then, the flow suddenly stopped at the same time as the boom of the warp-out echoed within the ship.

    ¡ºDammit! A lot of enemies just warped out from behind us!?¡»

    ¡ºDon¡¯t head to the inner sector! You¡¯re gonna get crushed!¡»

    ¡ºSo what are we supposed to do then huh!? Continue flying around inside the asteroid belt?! We won¡¯t be able to escape at this rate!¡»

    ¡°It looks like it¡¯s going pretty well for now.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    The Restalias and the rest of the ships of the Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet had already begun the bombardment along with ck Lotus. The pirates that managed to survive the initial bombardment began to head deeper into the asteroid belt. It¡¯s going just as nned.

    ¡°Commencing data link¡­¡­ We can practically see everything with this.¡±

    ¡°The recon units of the Dauntless sure are thorough.¡±

    Krishna¡¯s radar indicated the position of each pirate ship moving around the asteroid belt.

    When the recon spacenes from the Dauntless scouted this area, they also deployed an intelligence-gathering artificial satellite equipped with advanced radar functions. The satellite was activated at the same time as the battle began, and as a result, every move the pirate ships made was nowpletely visible to us and our allies.

    ¡°My Lord, preparations for the activation of the sub-systems are nowplete.¡±

    ¡°OK. Let¡¯s get started.¡±

    I activated the weapon systems and piloted Krishna deeper into the asteroid belt.

    The Dauntless fighter squadron had already entered the asteroid belt¡¯s depths and had begun to fight it out with the pirates. Were we a bitte to the party?

    ¡°Where should we aim for?¡±

    ¡°Right in the middle. Let¡¯s do this.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t that clear about just how powerful the fighter squadron of the Dauntless was, but judging from the radar reactions, it looked like the pirates were being steadily shot down. If we hunted from the sidelines, we wouldn¡¯t be able to get satisfactory results. That¡¯s why it would be better to plunge straight into the middle of the melee and wreak havoc.

    I fired up the thrusters, and Krishna elerated. I quickly navigated between the asteroids floating freely in space.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Kugi suddenly went all quiet. Was she okay? I nced toward her for a second and found her ears ttened on top of her head as she turned increasingly blue in the face. It also took Mimi some time to get used to high-speed maneuvers inside asteroid belts.

    ¡°Enemy contact imminent.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha.¡±

    Krishna rushed out behind an asteroid three times its size and engaged four pirate starships navigating at low speed. I aimed at one of them and fired all four heavy-caliberser cannons.

    ¡ºHuh!? What!?¡»

    The shield of the pirate starship got saturated in an instant, and the part near the center of the ship¡¯s hull exploded. I wasn¡¯t able to down it in one blow huh? The pirates in this ce really were a bit better equippedpared to their counterparts active in other systems.

    ¡ºIt¡¯s an enemy! A mercenary ship!¡»

    ¡ºDammit! Crush it!¡»

    Their reaction was surprisingly quick. Three ships excluding the one that took damage fought back using theirser turrets and multi-cannons.

    ¡°Whoops.¡±

    Using the momentum of my initial charge, I slipped through the gap between the asteroids the pirates were using for cover and jumped behind anotherrge asteroid to avoid the attacks. Hm? The shield got grazed a bit, but it looks like this works.

    ¡°Kugi, prepare to activate a shield cell.¡±

    ¡°O-Okay!¡±

    Krishna jumped out from behind the asteroid and headed straight for the pirate starships. I quickly fired the four heavy-caliberser cannons and the two shot-cannons. Of course, getting hit was inevitable because I performed a straightforward charge, but it was preferable to quickly crush the opponent even at the cost of Krishna¡¯s shield taking damage.

    ¡ºThis bastard¡¯s firepower is¡­¡­ Uwaaaaah!?¡»

    ¡ºGii¨C!¡»

    After eating two barrages from the four heavy-caliberser cannons, one ship exploded, and another one had its cockpit block crushed from taking shot-cannon fire at point nk range.

    ¡ºWait, we surr¨C¡»

    ¡ºS-Stop!!! My ship can¡¯t move alrea¨C¡»

    Thest of the three still-mobile ships stopped in its tracks after witnessing the other two get destroyed in session. I mercilessly destroyed it along with the ship that was rendered immobile by my initial attack. My bad. I really don¡¯t have any mercy for pirates like you guys, and I waspeting for kills with the Dauntless fighter squadron as well. I don¡¯t have any time to deal with you guys if you do surrender.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go for the next one.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Since the final ship ceased its attack earlier, there was no need to use up a shield cell. I nced at Kugi once more to check her condition, and her ears andplexion remained the same as earlier. It looks like it will still take more time for her to get used to all this.

 Chapter 351: No Mercy

    ¡ºDon¡¯t split up! Gather around! We¡¯ll break through together!¡»

    ¡ºHow are we supposed to group up in this situation!? Huh!?¡»

    ¡ºAnyway, let¡¯s just get outta here! Don¡¯t bother with those bastards! Use the asteroids as cover and proceed carefully.¡»

    The exchanges between the pirates could be heard on thems. Most of them were stupid so they oftenmunicated using unencrypted channels, but the pirates this time around were using properly encrypted lines. That alone showed that their equipment really was a bit more decent than the ones employed by pirates active in other star systems. However, the encryption strength was too low, and we were still able to tap into theirm lines.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, a good number of them are going to get away at this rate.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. With my skills and Krishna¡¯s firepower, we¡¯re still able to chase after and bring down pirate ships even if they run deeper into the asteroid belt. But there will eventually be some ships that the military space fighters won¡¯t be able to bring down with their firepower. Pirate ships with good mobility and decent shields will eventually be able to get past the ambush.¡±

    That¡¯s why our formation had already ounted for this matter.

    ¡ºThe FTL drive ain¡¯t working! I can¡¯t lift the safety!¡»

    ¡ºIt¡¯s another ambush! Uwaaaaaah¨C!¡»

    It looks like the pirates who managed to pass through the asteroid belt were caught by the gravity jammer-equipped military ships and their escort fighters. Due to us chasing the pirates around within the asteroid belt, they wereing out in smaller batches and not all at once.

    If twenty space pirate ships rushed out all at once, the jamming ships and their escort fighters probably won¡¯t be able to intercept them all. But if they rushed out in small groups, interception would be easy.

    ¡ºHey? There¡¯s quite a number of theming our way though?¡»

    ¡°There were a lot more of them than we expected. Or rather, I¡¯ve been doing my best already. You should tell the fighters to work harder.¡±

    ¡ºIt¡¯s a bit unreasonable to tell them to work just like you though, Hiro¡­¡­ Alright, that¡¯s one down.¡»

    Elma had already engaged the pirates inbat on the inner side of the asteroid belt. Since even Elma was fighting, did a lot more of them get away than expected? No, maybe Elma was just taking the initiative to earn more money.

    ¡°In any case, I guess we¡¯ll have to make our move to get the situation under control. We¡¯re going after them.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    I kept hunting pirate ships one after another while closely skimming the surfaces of asteroids.

    It would be troublesome if one of them stayed behind to buy some time in order for the others to escape, but pirates really don¡¯t have that sort of self-sacrificing spirit.

    ¡°Man. sting the backsides of pirate ships desperately trying to escape feels like a chore.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s also a strange sense of guilt because of how one-sided it is.¡±

    ¡°But they¡¯re still pirates after all.¡±

    It¡¯s not like I think nothing of my actions when blowing them up. However, I¡¯m aware of exactly how these pirates operate. That¡¯s why I don¡¯t feel any sympathy for them in the end.

    ¡°My Lord, we¡¯re about to exit the asteroid belt.¡±

    ¡°I was thinking it was about time to assist the others.¡±

    I checked the data sent out by the information satellite while shooting the backsides of the fleeing pirates and found that the battle inside the asteroid belt was just about over. The pirates that fled their base made it out of the asteroid belt and got intercepted by our allies equipped with gravity jammers.

    ¡°Wow, it¡¯s turned into one big melee.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re charging in.¡±

    After getting past the asteroid belt, the pirate ships engaged the jammer ships and their fighter escorts that were deployed by the Dauntless in arge-scale battle. It would be fairly difficult to find the Antlion in this mess.

    ¡°We¡¯re heading to support the Antlion. I¡¯ll leave the navigation settings to you.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Make sure you can activate the sub-systems at any moment, Kugi.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    I continuously defeated the pirate ships along the way while heading to the Antlion. Arm-mounted weapons with wide firing angles were incredibly easy to use in situations like this. The pirate ships that suddenly get attacked by Krishna¡¯sser cannons wouldn¡¯t even know what hit them.

    ¡°Hey, I found it.¡±

    I followed Mimi¡¯s navigation and soon saw a pirate starship emitting an intense glow. It was being roasted by the Antlion¡¯s high-outputser beam emitter. Beam emitters quickly expend or ¡®throw up¡¯ a capacitor¡¯s energy in continuous bursts, so that¡¯s why they¡¯re nicknamed gerobeams or ¡®vomit beams¡¯. It¡¯s really annoying if you get hit with them. Ships with weak shields and thin armor would instantly get destroyed.

    ¡ºStoooop!? Surrender! I surrender dammit!¡»

    The pilot of the pirate ship was screaming desperately and wanted to surrender, but Elma kept firing on it without a care. The ship eventually exploded to bits. Either the beam finally reached its energy generator or ignited its oxygen supply system.

    ¡°How merciless.¡±

    ¡ºAra? You guys are here. There¡¯s no need to feel any mercy for guys like them, right?¡»

    ¡°True. Scatter seekers and restrain them please.¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir.¡»

    The Antlion quicklyunched seekers from its two missile pods. This will have the pirates prioritize evading the missiles and will make it even more difficult for them to attempt an escape. Pirate ships were usually slower than seeker missiles even when flying in a straight line.

    ¡°Let¡¯s keep going.¡±

    ¡ºOkay. Let¡¯spete on kills, Hiro.¡»

    ¡°Uh, it would be no contest, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡ºPretty confident, aren¡¯t you?¡»

    That¡¯s because there¡¯s a prettyrge gap in the mobility and overall firepower of our respective ships. Well, she¡¯s raring to go, so I suppose I¡¯ll just y along.

    The progress of the entire operation was going quite well. The Dauntlessunched arge portion of its fighter squadron in order to make up for the mercenaries that weren¡¯t able to make it back for the operation, so we were able to obtain victory in the space battle without any incident. I was exercising caution because we were facing pirates active in the Edge World, but it looks like our forces have only taken minor damage.

    ¡°What¡¯s the current progress of the subjugation operation?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve finished eliminating the enemy¡¯s main force. We¡¯re now moving on to achieving total area control.¡±

    ¡°This part is always rather troublesome¡­¡­ Let¡¯s make sure to take care of the marines¡¯ mental and emotional health after this.¡±

    Most of the marines will probably witness some gruesome stuff while searching the pirate base. The pirate¡¯s break area was still fine, but areas like the ¡®processing nt¡¯ or ¡®merchandise warehouse¡¯ will be¡­¡­ Ugh. Just remembering that stuff was making me depressed.

    ¡°The new equipment we got provided with seems to be pretty effective.¡±

    ¡°Yes. The fighter squadron of the Dauntless also yed a big part in the battle, but it¡¯s indeed very advantageous to be able to prevent the activation of the enemy ship¡¯s FTL drives.¡±

    While listening to Robbitson¡¯s reply, I checked thebat results of Hiro and hispanions. As expected, that man isn¡¯t just missing one screw on his head, but two or three. It looks like Elma-san was doing well too. With theirbat results, they should have some leeway when ites to reward negotiations. My pride does not allow me to make any concessions just because we¡¯re acquainted and on good terms, but there¡¯s nothing wrong with making a proper evaluation.

    ¡°Now, we just need toplete the suppression without any issues and¨C¡±

    ¡°Colonel, there seems to be a problem.¡±

    ¡°¨CWhat is it?¡±

    ¡°It looks like they managed to find a number of those mysterious spheres. They¡¯re all in an inert state though.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s certainly troublesome¡­¡­ Send in additional marines along with a containment team.¡±

    Nothing was going smoothly for ustely. Perhaps it¡¯s due to the influence of that man¨C No, I might just be overthinking it. Things always go in a crazy direction with him involved after all¡­¡­ Perhaps he knows something crucial about this matter just like that time with the Mother Crystal. I better meet him in person and wring him¨C I mean, ask him politely for information.

 Chapter 352: Kugiâ€™s Opinions Regarding the Mysterious Spheres

    ¡°Well then, a toast to the sess of this time¡¯s operation. Cheers.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Cheers!¡±¡±¡±

    Three¨C err, four drunkards raised their cups and downed their contents. It¡¯s kinda like seeing guys go ¡®Skol!¡¯ eh? Well, that¡¯s kinda a Scandinavian Viking thing, so I suppose it doesn¡¯t really suit this asion. And in the first ce, we¡¯re the ones who fought and defeated the pirates and not the other way around.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Captain Hiro? You¡¯re not drinking your portion.¡±

    Col. Serena who finished her drink first quickly got into my case.

    What¡¯s with our current situation? To put it simply, we¡¯re having a victory party. In order to celebrate having quickly destroyed the pirate base without a hitch and turning lots of pirates into space debris, the good colonel prepared food and alcohol for all the participants of the operation.

    Of course, one shop wouldn¡¯t have nearly enough space to amodate each and every participant, so in order to realize thisrge-scale banquet, they got in touch with several shops and had them deliver food and drinks to the ships of the Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet that served as makeshift venues.

    I¡¯ve ended up witnessing Col. Serena¡¯s management skills firsthand. Some might see this as a waste of her talents, but someone like Col. Serena wasn¡¯t one to do pointless things. I¡¯m sure she set all of this up because she judged that it was necessary.

    ¡°You¡¯re really going at it, but please don¡¯t let loose too much. If something happens today, I ain¡¯t gonna be able to look after you all.¡±

    By the way, I and the rest of my crew were invited to the Restalias, the gship of the Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet. This venue was reserved for those who yed a particrly active part in the operation, so we were invited here.

    ¡°I know.¡±

    The beautiful red-eyed blonde colonel cutely puffed her cheeks a bit in response. Mm, how should I put it? The gesture seemed a bit too calcted in my eyes. Was she nning something? I inwardly raised my ¡®Col. Serena Alert Meter¡¯ by two levels.

    In the first ce, I actually tried to decline to participate in this event. I would have preferred it if we simply celebrated among ourselves. But it would reflect poorly on my character if we, who actually gained the most merit in the operation, didn¡¯t attend this celebration party. Col. Serena invited me personally, so it was hard to refuse. In the end, I gave up resisting and decided toe with everyone, but Col. Serena¡¯s attitude was kinda strange.

    ¡°¡­¡­Is it just me, or don¡¯t you seem to be a lot more guarded than usual?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just you.¡±

    After saying so, I took a sip of a sweet-tasting tea-like drink with a straw. Un, I¡¯m familiar with this. It¡¯s that so-called sweet tea. I¡¯ve heard that there were also lemon or citrus-vored versions of the drink. However, I don¡¯t think they actually used real fruit juice to vor this.

    ¡°My subordinates are also present today, so I won¡¯t do anything drastic. There¡¯s no need to be on guard, so please rest assured.¡±

    ¡°Logically speaking, that sounds about right. But I think situations like this pose the most risk y¡¯know. What are you nning?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not nning anything. Aren¡¯t being a little bit too suspicious?¡±

    Reaaally? Seems pretty suspicious to me. Pressuring the current me using one¡¯s authority won¡¯t work, but this person was actually a muscle-brain despite looking like a schemer. She might just use a brute force method to get what she wants the moment I let my guard down.

    ¡°Okay, I understand. Let¡¯s speak openly. I promise not to lie. So don¡¯t try to lie to me as well, Colonel. Let¡¯s be fair here.¡±

    ¡°Did you not listen to what I said?¡±

    ¡°But it really looks like you¡¯re nning something. I treasure my life and I also have a crew to support.¡±

    ¡°Before we discuss what I want to know, how about we talk about your perception of me first?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do that next time. So?¡±

    I picked up a chicken(?) nugget and urged Col. Serena to talk. Anyway, it¡¯s Col. Serena. It¡¯s probably work-rted. Maybe it¡¯s something regarding pirates or those mysterious spheres.

    ¡°Just like always, things develop too fast whenever you¡¯re involved. You¡¯re not secretly orchestrating all this stuff, are you?¡±

    ¡°The pirates were already active here in the Edge World without my involvement, and those spheres were brought out from an unexplored star system by explorers¡­¡­ How exactly did I manage to orchestrate those?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. I¡¯m well aware. But it¡¯s exactly because I understand that I¡¯m curious as to exactly why things turn out this way with you in the picture.¡±

    ¡°Kugi says it¡¯s kinda my ability or something.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re talking about that matter you told me back then. Well, it¡¯s true that you¡¯re a rare remarkable character¡­¡­¡±

    Col. Serena gazed intently at me.

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, let¡¯s put that matter aside first. What I want to hear are details concerning those spheres. Do you know something about them?¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­¡­? I saw one for the first time after I got suddenly attacked while I was out fetching my custom power armor. I know nothing about them except for my impressions after fighting them. In the first ce, aren¡¯t you guys supposed to know more about them since you¡¯ve been collecting their remains and analyzing them?¡±

    Why did she think I knew more about those spheres in the first ce? Oh, maybe it¡¯s because of that? I did give crucial information regarding the Mother Crystal of the crystal lifeforms back then. Maybe she thinks I know something crucial about the spheres as well because their origins were also unclear just like the Mother Crystal.

    ¡°Unlike the case regarding the Mother Crystal, I really don¡¯t know anything about those spheres this time around. I just happened to remember some info I heard about the Mother Crystal back then and shared them with you guys.¡±

    ¡°Just happened to hear crucial info huh¡­¡­?¡±

    Col. Serena¡¯s stare seemed to hold suspicion. Or rather, she definitely was suspecting me. Even though the origin of the Mother Crystal and the crystal lifeforms was unknown, I had info that no one in this world was aware of yet, so it can¡¯t be helped if she thinks I know something about those mysterious killer spheres as well.

    ¡°I¡¯m telling the truth y¡¯know? Oh, but maybe there is one who can offer us a clue about them¡­¡­ Hey, Kugi. Can youe here for a moment?¡±

    Col. Serena tilted her head to the side when I called Kugi over. She was probably confused about why I called Kugi. The things Col. Serena knew about Kugi were that she was some sort of priestess from the Holy Vuelzarus empire and that she tagged along with me due to some sort of mysterious reason. She couldn¡¯t connect Kugi with those mysterious spheres.

    ¡°Yes, My Lord. A good day to you as well, Your Excellency Serena.¡±

    Kugi quickly walked up to me and bowed respectfully to Col. Serena. Kugi had this mysterious air about her, but she was basically a good girl who was honest and polite.

    ¡°Come and sit with us. It¡¯s actually about those mysterious spheres we encountered. You said you felt thought waves emanating from them back then, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord. I did feel mental waves from those existences. They mainly disyed confusion, fear, and anger.¡±

    ¡°H-Hold on a moment. I can¡¯t keep up with this. What mental waves? Are you saying you can read minds, Kugi-san?¡±

    Col. Serena acted unusually flustered and withdrew a little. Huh? Would it be really bad if her thoughts get read? Well, that¡¯s understandable. Anyone has one or two things they wouldn¡¯t want others to know about.

    ¡°No, I cannot employ the art of mind reading. What I am good at is the art ofmuning using the mind, which is a little different from mind reading.¡±

    ¡°Communing using the mind¡­¡­ So, you have telepathic abilities?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It is apparently called telepathy in other countries. Basically, what I am good at is conveying my thought waves to another person and receiving their thought waves in return. It can bepared to how one receives and sends signals usingmunication equipment. The mind reading art is equivalent to hacking in technological terms.¡±

    They do sound like different techniques. I don¡¯t think Kugi will lie to me, so I¡¯m sure what she said was true.

    ¡°I see. So, those spheres possibly have the ability tomunicate telepathically. In other words, it¡¯s possible that they¡¯re intelligent lifeforms thatmunicate using their minds?¡±

    ¡°My apologies. The thought waves I received from them were filled with fear and confusion, so I cannot make a definite judgment regarding that matter. However, I can assert that the thought waves I felt from them were considerable. To be honest, this is the first time I have ever felt such heartbreaking thought waves. At the very least, I can confirm that their main way ofmunicating with one another is through thought waves.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­My head hurts.¡±

    Col. Serena, who was listening to the exchange between me and Kugi, groaned while holding her head. Well, it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t understand her feelings. I mean, there¡¯s a possibility that those mysterious spheres, which we thought of as mechanical or biomechanical weapons presumably created by a mysterious alien civilization the whole time, were actually intelligent lifeforms who mainlymunicated telepathically.

    ¡°Our equipment is practically useless regarding telepathic abilities. What should we do about this, I wonder.¡±

    ¡°I suppose you have no choice but to consult your superiors, right? Or maybe just pretend you didn¡¯t hear anything.¡±

    After all, the only one who asserted that the spheres were telepaths was Kugi. And the only ones aware of that possibility were the three of us.

    ¡°I¡¯ll think about what to do¡­¡­ For now, please do not reveal this matter to anyone else.¡±

    Col. Serena hung her head and let out a sigh that was as heavy as a ck hole. I sympathized with her plight, but this stuff really doesn¡¯t have anything to do with me. No matter what the opponent¡¯s circumstances were, if they ever attack me with the intent to kill, I¡¯m going to do everything necessary to protect myself.

    Well, I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be able to temporarily forget about her troubles after drinking a bit more. Probably.

 Chapter 353: A Troubled Blonde Beauty

    The next day.

    ¡°Good morning¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­ Good morning. Uh, do you want to have breakfast? If you¡¯re not feeling up to it, how about drinking some coffee?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have tea please¡­¡­¡±

    Col. Serena, who gave off a listless aura, visited ck Lotus early in the morning. I just finished dressing up and haven¡¯t had breakfast or performed my regr morning exercises yet.

    I don¡¯t remember allowing her to board the ship, but Mei was here anyway. With her keeping watch, she¡¯d be able to deal with things easily even if Col. Serena does have some kind of malicious intent. That¡¯s probably why Mei allowed Col. Serena onboard under the condition that she would apany thetter.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to have kept you waiting.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Mei brought me my breakfast and Col. Serena¡¯s tea. My breakfast today consisted of arge helping of rice, stir-fried meat and veggies, tamagoyaki, and boiled greens. It was a hearty Japanese-style breakfast without any soup.

    I got busy with Elmast night, so that¡¯s probably why the portions of today¡¯s breakfast wererger than usual¡­¡­ Just how did Tetsujin V get ahold of that info in the first ce? Perhaps it got Mei involved? Yeah, that¡¯s probably it. By the way, Elma was still sleeping peacefully.

    ¡°You sure have a good appetite even though it¡¯s just morning¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯m gonna go work out after this. And even if that wasn¡¯t the case, isn¡¯t it normal to eat a hearty breakfast in order to improve your energy levels throughout the rest of the day? So? It¡¯s rare for you to visit this early in the morning.¡±

    Was she simply just too free that she has the leeway to loaf around here so early in the morning? I looked at her suspiciously. Col. Serena took a sip of the tea Mei prepared for her, sighed heavily, and spoke after a pretty lengthy pause.

    ¡°¡­¡­Please lend Kugi-san to me.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­? Well, it¡¯s Kugi, so she¡¯ll probably agree obediently if I do tell her to cooperate with you, but I personally don¡¯t have any reason to simply go along with what you want, Colonel.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t bully me¡­¡­ I really am quite troubled right now.¡±

    ¡°I have nothing against helping out an acquaintance, but I also have to consider the safety of my crew members. I¡¯m their captain after all.¡±

    I didn¡¯t have any intention of bullying her at all. Or rather, this woman really did seem quite desperate if she¡¯s cornered enough toin cutely about me bullying her in this situation.

    ¡°It does bother me seeing you so weak-willed, but tears aren¡¯t gonna be enough to persuade me. Since this matter is rted to a ssified military mission, there need to be proper procedures if you want to involve civilians, even if we¡¯re working as mercenaries. After well, won¡¯t we get disposed of if we mess up?¡±

    ¡°I know, I know, okay¡­¡­ However, this world isn¡¯t so reasonable that things can always proceed in an open and aboveboard manner. That¡¯s why I came here in secret in order to beg for your cooperation.¡±

    ¡°Is that really something a high-ranking military officer should say¡­¡­?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly. Well, Kugi and I have already pretty gotten ourselves involved in all this shady stuff in the first ce, and there¡¯s a saying that if you¡¯ve already swallowed poison, just swallow the te as well. To be honest, I don¡¯t really see any benefits for us in this matter and don¡¯t wanna get involved any further. Even if you can chalk it up to being unable tomunicate with the other party due to how unique theirmunication method was, the empire still did end up seizing those spheres that may possibly be members of an intelligent race, and even destroyed several of them.

    If those spheres really were proven to be intelligent lifeforms whose means ofmunication was telepathy, the Gran empire would be charged with viting the Universal Culture Preservation Law. It would be a huge international issue for sure. There was no guarantee that the empire won¡¯t decide to get rid of me and Kugi in order to prevent that from happening.

    ¡°I do understand what you¡¯re worried about, but you¡¯re still a tinum ranker of the Mercenary Guild and an honorary imperial viscount. You¡¯ve even been awarded a Gold Star by the empire. There is no way the empire would be able to get rid of you without serious consequences. That¡¯s why please rest assured.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I haven¡¯t said anything yet y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°I more or less understand how you think. We¡¯ve already known each other for quite some time now¡­¡­ You really do hold strong suspicion toward the empire, or rather, the authorities in general.¡±

    ¡°I make it a point to never underestimate another party after all.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s good not to underestimate other people or institutions, but I think you also need to have better self-awareness.¡±

    Col. Serena stared at me with reddened eyes. Being careful was one of my strong suits. So, get off my case,dy.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine with cooperating, but it definitely won¡¯t be for free. Also, I won¡¯t allow Kugi toe with you alone. At the very least, I or Mei should apany her. In addition, this particr matter is gonna cost you a lot. I propose a daily payout of 50,000 Enels including a non-disclosure agreement.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Isn¡¯t that a bit too outrageous?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s already quite cheap in my opinion. The cost of hiring a tinum ranker can go up to 200,000 Enels per day you know? And while Kugi is working with you guys, either the Krishna or the ck Lotus wouldn¡¯t be able to sortie. In other words, the whole team would be stranded here.¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯re already being paid a lot by the Mercenary Guild, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s that and this is this. Considering the confidentiality fee and the loss of our regr earnings due to being unable to sortie, I think 50,000 per day is pretty reasonable. Or rather, wouldn¡¯t paying 50,000 per day as hush money make your higher-ups feel a lot more reassured?¡±

    The reward money for hunting down pirates in the Edge World was set a lot higher than the amounts offered in other star systems. You¡¯d earn 50k in no time by just shooting down three ships.

    ¡°¡­¡­You do have a point.¡±

    Col. Serena disyed a hesitant expression and eventually sighed in defeat.

    ¡°It would be better if you pay me using something untraceable. Like rare metal ingots.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­My head hurts.¡±

    ¡°Being a high-ranking officer sure is tough huh.¡±

    Col. Serena was mostly an honorable and upright person. She wasn¡¯t your typical noble who¡¯s used to more underhanded methods to get their way, so I suppose she wasn¡¯t that agreeable to this kind of back-door deal.

    That said, this would serve as a good experience for her since she¡¯s going to encounter more of these sorts of situations while serving as a colonel of the imperial military. Probably, anyway. I¡¯m not really sure though.

    ¡°Those spheres are currently secured and restrained, right? Are they inside the Restalias?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, yes, that¡¯s right. We modified a part of the Restalias¡¯ cargo hold and put up a temporary containment, analysis, and research facility. We¡¯ve also invited researchers onboard.¡±

    ¡°I see. Then we¡¯ll head over once we¡¯re ready.¡±

    Kugi and Mimi woke up earlier than me and should be working out in the training room right now. I¡¯ll contact them and tell Kugi to get ready. We¡¯ll then head to the temporary research facility together. Oh, ¡®that thing¡¯ mighte in handy so I guess I¡¯ll bring ¡®it¡¯ with me as well. Tina and Wiska may be able to give some meaningful opinions about the sphere as well, so if Col. Serena gives permission, why not take them with me too?

 Chapter 354: Unexpected Reunion

    ¡°We¡¯ve seen it from afar lots of times, but now we¡¯re finally gonna have the chance to set foot inside that beauty.¡±

    ¡°I wonder if they¡¯ll let us see the engine room?¡±

    It was now about one hour after my discussion with Col. Serena. I, Kugi, Tina, and Wiska made our way to the Restalias, the gship of the Independent Mobile Anti-pirate Fleet. I and Kugi were wearing our usual get-ups, but Tina and Wiska came fully equipped.

    They brought all their engineer equipment with them such as their work jumpsuits, various tools, data tablet terminals, and the like. They weren¡¯t fully equipped forbat. They didn¡¯t specialize inbat in the first ce.

    ¡°Sorry for making you go along with this, Kugi.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, My Lord. I am very honored to be of use to you.¡±

    Kugi¡¯s ears stood up as she snorted proudly. Her three fluffy tails also swung back and forth energetically. She really was such a good girl.

    Before long, we finally arrived at the docking bay where the Restalias was moored. I shed my I.D. in front of a small security terminal and passed through the security gate with the girls. Of course, this was a high security area, so if we wandered around without permission, we¡¯d probably get arrested. You¡¯d get shot at with aser rifle if you resisted, and even if you managed to somehow handle the sentries, burly oniisans and oneesans d in military power armor and heavy-caliber weapons would quicklye running in as reinforcements.

    Of course, the worst-case scenario would be being targeted by the naval artillery of the Restalias and the other moored military starships. I would never attempt to sneak into this ce even if you paid me tons of Enel to do so.

    ¡°Hello, Captain Hiro. We¡¯ve troubled you again this time.¡±

    ¡°Hey there, Lieutenant Robbitson. Thanks for being our guide today.¡±

    Lt. Robbitson, Col. Serena¡¯s aide, was waiting for us at the gangway of the Restalias.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be in your care today.¡±

    ¡°We look forward to working with you all.¡±

    Tina and Wiska offered polite greetings, and Kugi gracefully bowed her head.

    After exchanging greetings, Lt. Robbitson quickly invited us inside the Restalias.

    ¡°This is my first time going to the cargo hold.¡±

    ¡°Because the bridge, officer dining hall, and meeting space are all located in the central block, you didn¡¯t have the chance toe to the hold until now. The lower block is mainly where the crew¡¯s living quarters and the supply hangar are located.¡±

    ¡°I certainly didn¡¯t have any business there in the past.¡±

    I¡¯ve been able to get along well with some of the crew members serving inside the Restalias. It was mostly when I went here with Mimi and Elma back then in order to teach them effective methods to hunt down pirates. However, we haven¡¯t gotten so close that they¡¯d befortable inviting me inside their private rooms in the living quarters.

    But that¡¯s understandable. One¡¯s personal space is kind of like a sanctuary. Inside a starship or structures such as space colonies, personal spaces can basically be regarded as luxury goods. It seemed that inviting others inside them wasn¡¯tmon, even among close friends. To be honest, I don¡¯t really get it.

    I did equip my ships with prettyrge break spaces, training rooms, and decently sized private rooms, so it seemed that I was deemed a generous captain who gave super high treatment to his crew members.

    ¡°It¡¯s just ahead. I hope nothing explodes today.¡±

    ¡°Whoah! Now just hold on a moment. I seem to have heard some pretty ominous words just now?¡±

    The moment I tried to protest, Lt. Robittson already opened the airlock leading to the research area, and the sound of an explosion along with pressure immediately rushed out.

    ¡°Buoooh!?¡±

    ¡°Uou!?¡±

    ¡°Oh boy.¡±

    ¡°Kyah!?¡±

    Lt. Robbitson and I staggered under the pressure caused by the explosion, but Tina and Wiska acted quickly as if they¡¯ve already anticipated it and moved to the left and right of the airlock. Kugi hadn¡¯t reacted, but Wiska pulled her away, so she was able to avoid the pressure for the most part.

    ¡°Again huh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°My ears feel weird¡­¡­ Ugh.¡±

    Neither I nor Lt. Robbitson were injured, but my ears felt really weird. Was it because they were exposed to a sudden change in pressure within a closed environment? Though I was probably fine because of the damage control system included in the life support system of the Restalias.

    ¡°Is it always like this?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately.¡±

    Lt. Robbitson, who was struck directly by the pressure that rushed out of the research area, lightly brushed his uniform and sighed. It¡¯s probably that, huh? The scientists and researchers working here were most likely pretty entric.

    Speaking of entric scientists, I was reminded of the beautiful sses-wearing Dr. Shouko¡­¡­ I wonder how that person is doing right now? She does have the tendency to be airheaded at times, so I was a bit worried that she got herself into some sort of trouble.

    ¡°You said the estimate of the shield strength was already good. Just look at what happened. If Lieutenant Robbitson or Colonel Serena found out, wouldn¡¯t it be bad?¡±

    ¡°I admit that my estimate was off. But no one was injured and no equipment was broken. Also, we did manage to get some nice data so it¡¯s fine.¡±

    Two people were arguing inside theb that was in a messy and tragic state. Scratched and dented robotic spheres equipped with mechanical arms were floating all around them, rushing about to clean up the mess. They were probably roboticb assistants.

    ¡°What do you think, Lieutenant Robbitson?¡±

    ¡°Please exin what happened here. I am trying my best to remain calm right now.¡±

    I felt like I saw the aura of a fierce bearing out of the back of Lt. Robbitson as he confronted the female researcher. It looked like she¡¯ll get knocked out with a single blow the moment she says something stupid¡­¡­ But then, I noticed that the female researcher was staring at me.

    She was wearing a full-face mask, so I couldn¡¯t recognize her.

    She was quite tall ¨C probably as tall as I was ¨C and the ample bulges particr to women were pushing up the chest part of her full-body protective suit. That¡¯s how I knew she was a woman.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d get to meet you here. It¡¯s been a while huh. But why do you have different women following you this time around?¡±

    The female researcher walked up to me and stared at my face. What? She¡¯s wearing a mask, so I wasn¡¯t sure, but it felt like she was ring at me.

    ¡°Huh¡­¡­ Wait, don¡¯t tell me¡­ Is that you, Doc Shouko?¡±

    Her voice was just too simr to the voice of the one in my memories.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. To think you wouldn¡¯t recognize me in one nce. How heartless¡­¡­ Oh, wait. I¡¯m wearing a mask huh.¡±

    She then removed her full-face mask. It was undoubtedly Doctor Shouko who we met in the Alein system under the mask. Her dark brown long hair, slightly unfashionable sses, and sleepy-looking eyes were all just as I remembered.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Hiro-kun. I¡¯ve heard all about your escapades.¡±

    ¡°It really has been a while¡­¡­ But why are you here?¡±

    I don¡¯t understand. Why was someone like her working for the military as a researcher? When west met in the Alein system, she was still working for Inagawa Technology as a medical doctor.

    I do remember her mentioning that she was more of a researcher, but I didn¡¯t think she¡¯de aboard the Restalias and participate in the research of those mysterious spheres. No matter how I think about it, I couldn¡¯t imagine what led to her being here.

    ¡°Well, things happened. Um, in short, it¡¯s a promotion. I was then assigned to work with the military, and due to some stroke of fate, I ended up joining the expedition into the Edge World¡­¡­ But enough about me for now. Why don¡¯t you answer my question first?¡±

    ¡°Oh, okay. Mimi and Elma stayed in the ship. These three came here to serve as technical consultants. I simply came with them due to my duty as their captain.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I see¡­¡­¡±

    Perhaps she was satisfied with my exnation. Doc Shouko¡¯s gaze turned toward the mechanic sisters and Kugi, then turned back toward me.

    ¡°It looks like you¡¯re the same as usual huh.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you mean by that, but yeah, I suppose I¡¯m the same as always. Oww.¡±

    Doc Shouko grinned teasingly and pped my rear. Please don¡¯t do that. Doc Shouko touching my behind just reminded me of an unpleasant memory I¡¯d rather consign to oblivion.

    ¡°¡­¡­It looks like introductions aren¡¯t necessary.¡±

    Lt. Robbitson muttered as he watched the interaction between me and Doc Shouko with interest.

    ¡°Hiro-kun and I do know each other after all. Allow me to go ahead and introduce myself to thesedies though. I¡¯m Shouko. I¡¯m a scientist working for Inagawa Technology and I got to know Hiro-kun back when he visited the Alein system. Nice to meet you guys.¡±

    After introducing herself, Dr. Shouko disyed an elusive smile.

 Chapter 355: Containment Room

    ¡°Let¡¯s put aside my situation and talk about proper business first. It doesn¡¯t look like both of us have a lot of free time.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°Oh, by the way, the guy being grilled by Lieutenant Robbitson is Wells. He¡¯s a civilian scientist like me. He works for Eagle Dynamics as a bot designer.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, Eagle Dynamics huh? I employbat bots manufactured by Eagle Dynamics myself.¡±

    They were also regrly used by Tina and Wiska as maintenance bots. They were also installed with Eagle Dynamics maintenance bot data so they were pretty versatile, or so they said.

    ¡°It¡¯s you we¡¯re talking about Hiro-kun, so I bet you purchased some pretty expensive ones.¡±

    ¡°I got the full package including maintenance systems and all optional equipment.¡±

    ¡°That does sound expensive.¡±

    I raised my index finger as I replied, and Doc Shouko ced her hand on her mouth as she giggled in response. She seemed to be trying not to break into aughing fit.

    ¡°Oh, I also heard you actually had a talent for psionics. Is that true?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I¡­¡­ can¡¯t exactly deny that, but the expert on that topic is actually this girl. She¡¯s my newest crew member, Kugi. She¡¯s from the Vuelzarus Holy Empire.¡±

    ¡°Hee, she¡¯s from the Holy Empire huh¡­¡­ I see. By the way, can I touch your ears and tails for a bit? Please?¡±

    Doc Shouko approached Kugi and circled around her. She closely observed her entire body. Actually, I think she was getting a bit too close.

    ¡°Umm¡­¡­ I¡¯m fine with it if it is just the ears.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. Fumu¡­¡­ Her skeletal structure is close to that of a typical humanoid¡¯s, but her cranium¡¯s shape is a bit different huh? Is it possible for your race to reproduce with humans, Kugi-san?¡±

    ¡°H-Huh? U-Um, yes, it is.¡±

    Doc Shouko didn¡¯t hold herself back and touched Kugi¡¯s ears as much as she liked. Kugi¡¯s cheeks turned bright red as she answered Doc¡¯s question while shivering. I had no idea why the good doctor asked such a question.

    ¡°Interesting. Are all the citizens of the Vuelzarus Holy Empire just like you? And there are plenty of psionics among you, correct? Can I take a DNA sample from youter?¡±

    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough Doc. Get back. Get back, please. Touching her more than this is no good, ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡°Aaah, the key to human evolution is¨C¡±

    The doctor did look disappointed, but she was probably half-joking. Err, that did mean she was half-serious though. If I ignored her actions, she might really press Kugi to provide her with a DNA sample.

    ¡°You said we need to talk about proper business, right, Doc Shouko? You¡¯re straying from the topic y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡°Oops, you¡¯re right. I¡¯m sorry. I just found her too interesting¡­¡­ Anyway, let¡¯s take a look at the specimens first. Please follow me.¡±

    With that said, Doc Shouko turned on her heels and started walking ahead. Mr. Wells, who was inputting something on his tablet terminal under the supervision of Lt. Robbitson, sent Dr. Shouko a reproachful gaze, but she simply ignored him. He was a grown adult, so he had to take responsibility for the mess he caused.

    ¡°We¡¯ve been trying tomunicate with¡ºthem¡»for a while now, but we haven¡¯t had any breakthroughs so far. They showed no response to any transmission waves including sound.¡±

    We passed through a doubleyered shield and came inside a vast space.

    ¡°Whoah¡­¡­ This is pretty amazin¡¯.¡±

    ¡°You really didn¡¯t hold back when putting up this space. The equipment¡¯s pretty high-end too. As expected of the imperial military. You guys sure are loaded.¡±

    There were more than twenty of those spheres inside the vast research space. They were contained within individual energy shields. Some stayed in the form of a sphere, some have already transformed into their killer spider forms but were inert, while some repeatedly mmed the energy shield imprisoning them with their sickle-like appendages.

    ¡°The inert ones are fine, but the ones that keep hittin¡¯ the shields sure are intimidatin¡¯.¡±

    ¡°They sure are, Big Sis. But no matter how much they hit them, there¡¯s no way they¡¯d break those energy shields.¡±

    ¡°Their physical makeup is really interesting. Their resistance to energy weapons in general is especially extraordinary. When we analyzed some samples, we found that their bodies wereposed of crystal structures that we¡¯d never seen before. The energy transmission efficiency of the material is quite significant. Even when exposed to high-outputser or superheated sma, the energy is transmitted and diffused before evaporation or disintegration urs, greatly reducing the damage incurred.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­In other words?¡±

    ¡°Energy weapons basically concentrate a huge amount of heat energy on one point in order to cause damage via instantaneous evaporation, right? The bodies of these spheres disperse that heat energy all throughout them, greatly diminishing the energy¡¯s intensity.¡±

    ¡°I think I get it.¡±

    It¡¯s kinda like forcefully converting a high-damage single-target attack into a weaker AOE one.

    ¡°It¡¯s kinda like a physical version of an energy shield.¡±

    ¡°That description really hits the mark. The problem is that when the material is used as starship armor, it¡¯s incredibly durable against energy weapons, but there¡¯s also a high chance of it breaking down all at once when the attacks exceed its tolerance level. It really resembles an energy shield getting saturated and going down.¡±

    ¡°Even so, it still sounds pretty useful.¡±

    Even if they weren¡¯t used as armor material, their unique property of energy dispersal still has a lot of value. After all, machines often had problems due to overheating.

    ¡°If it can be artificially synthesized, it can prove useful in a wide variety of fields. When viewed as armor material, its hardness and durability are inferior to the current armor materials, but its unique property makes up for that weakness.¡±

    While exining away, Dr. Shouko brought us in front of a sphere that was transformed into its killer spider form.

    ¡°This one is the most behaved among all the specimens here. However, it¡¯s too quiet and shows no sign of responding to our attempts atmunication at all.¡±

    I looked at the killer spider-mode sphere behind the transparent energy shield. This is the first time I¡¯ve taken a close look at this mysterious creature(?) It had six legs and was ck in color. Its armor or carapace was smooth and shiny-looking.

    ¡°Come to think of it, these things actually let out weird cries during battle. So, doesn¡¯t that mean they canmunicate through sound after all?¡±

    ¡°Oh, the marines who fought them also mentioned that in their report. Our scans revealed that they actually have what seems to be a degenerated vocal organ inside their bodies. However, we haven¡¯t observed themmunicating using sounds so far.¡±

    While Dr. Shouko and I talked, Kugi stared intently at the killer spider-mode sphere, and the mechanic sisters went around the istion shield and began checking the sphere out from various angles.

    ¡°Is it possible for you tomunicate with them, Kugi?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I am very sorry, My Lord. I have been rejected. It appears that it is because I am not of their kind.¡±

    ¡°But since you got rejected, that means you¡¯ve gotten a response, right? This can be considered as good progress. Mmhm.¡±

    Kugi apologized with her ears drooping down, but Dr. Shouko nodded satisfactorily beside me. I get why Kugi¡¯s depressed, but why did this person look so happy instead? I don¡¯t get it.

    ¡°Can you really call that progress?¡±

    ¡°Confirming that theirmunication method uses the same thought waves that psionics employ is plenty good enough. But the problem is that without psionic amplification equipment, there¡¯s no way for non-psionics like us tomunicate with them.¡±

    ¡°Oh, we actually prepared those just in case. Hey, Tina.¡±

    ¡°Hoi hoi. Oh, but you can¡¯t touch these, okay, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡±

    After all, they might shatter to pieces if I touched them. Yeah. My power was apparently too strong for them to handle. And because of that, I ended up destroying exhibits in that elven museum and even caused a flying vehicle to crash, so I really need to be careful.

    ¡°Y-You prepared some¡­¡­? Eh? What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°We had the chance to visit the Refill system before. Elma¡¯s an elf, right?¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. So, you got those from the elven home? But I thought it was pretty difficult to bring out those sorts of materials from their home system?¡±

    ¡°Well, a lot happened¡­¡­ In short, I ended up getting along pretty well with the elves of that system.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­ Well, I guess it¡¯s better not to ask you about the details right now. But you have to tell me all about it when we have the chance, okay?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Tina lowered the hard case she was carrying on the floor and opened it.

    ¡°Oooh?¡±

    ¡°Oya oya?¡±

    The moment the case was opened, the sphere that was previously inert approached closer with tremendous momentum. The sphere creature(?) got as close to the energy shield as much as possible without touching it. It seemed quite taken with the contents of the case. And it looked like the other spheres also showed interest in them. Even the ones that were hammering the shields containing them with their sickles stopped and turned their attentions toward us.

    ¡°Now this is quite interesting.¡±

    Dr. Shouko observed the situation and grinned in delight. It resembled a viin¡¯s smile.

 Chapter 356: Technical Discussions Between Scientists and Engineers

    After confirming the sphere¡¯s reaction to the mental wave amplification materials, we decided to settle down, organize, and exchange the information we managed to glean so far. In any case, deciding on our action policy from here on out will lead to more efficient progress regarding the investigation and research.

    ¡°For the time being, we¡¯ve basically confirmed that the spheres exchange information telepathically and that they are extremely interested in mental wave amplification materials.¡±

    ¡°Right. That stuff really got their attention. But what exactly were they gonna do with em? Eat em or somethin¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Can that stuff really be eaten though¡­¡­?¡±

    The mechanic sisters tilted their heads as they mulled things over. I was curious about that too. I couldn¡¯t spot anything equivalent to eyes or any kind of external sensory organ on their bodies, and it didn¡¯t seem like they had mouths either. Well, they were originally metallic spheres after all, so those organs might just be tucked away inside them or something.

    ¡°Forgive me for changing the topic, but what exactly is gonna be the policy for dealing with those things now? More importantly, what¡¯s gonna be the research direction? If the purpose of the research is simply to use their carapace for military purposes, it would be fine if you guys just researched their bodyposition and whatnot. But now that Kugi confirmed that they actually are capable ofmunication, will there be changes?¡±

    ¡°We have been trying to establishmunication with them even before we invited Kugi-san here. We originally worked under the assumption that they are some kind ofbat weapon made by an unknown alien civilization after all. If they¡¯re indeed weapons, then there must be some sort of protocol in order to gain ess to them.¡±

    Mr. Wells who got grilled by Lt. Robbitson earlier shrugged his shoulders exaggeratedly after responding. By the way, Lt. Robbitson had already returned to his original duties.

    ¡°But to think they actually had psionic abilities. I¡¯m not very knowledgeable regarding that field. How about you, Dr. Shouko?¡±

    ¡°It is a bit rted to my specialization, so I do have some knowledge about the subject. However, I still specialize in gic and nanomachine engineering. I have some knowledge pertaining to materials engineering, but I have no idea regarding mechanical engineering. It¡¯s impossible for me to analyze or build mechanical equipment, okay?¡±

    ¡°I also mostly specialize in materials engineering as well. Youdies are mechanical engineers, right? Are you able to design and build equipment from scratch?¡±

    ¡°It depends on the type of equipment. I think we can manage as long as we have a direction to work with.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve researched mental wave amplification equipment to some extent, so making one should be possible. However, it¡¯s gonna be tricky if you want us to create amunication protocol using mental waves from scratch.¡±

    ¡°I think we can manage if we work together. Nanomachine engineering can supplement that aspect.¡±

    The researchers and engineers were having a technical discussion with each other. However, I and Kugi, who have no knowledge in those areas, werepletely out of the loop.

    ¡°The tea here is very delicious, isn¡¯t it, My Lord?¡±

    ¡°The food made by the auto-cookers installed in imperial military ships generally don¡¯t taste that good, but apparently, the tea alone is ster. I think the soldiers who came aboard our ship back then said something to that effect. Or was it actually Colonel Serena?¡±

    ¡°I see. I have heard that people of this empire really do value tea.¡±

    ¡°Really¡­¡­? Come to think of it, that really might be the case.¡±

    I haven¡¯t really taken note of it till now, but it¡¯s true that Mimi and Elma tended to take tea breaks every now and then. Tina and Wiska weren¡¯t really big on tea, but maybe it¡¯s just cultural differences due to their race.

    ¡°Telepathy huh¡­¡­ I can¡¯t really pick up their thought waves or whatever though. Will I be able to do so as well with some training?¡±

    ¡°In your case My Lord, your power is just too strong, so you have to learn to control it first. Unless the other party can unleash powerful mental waves as well, it is impossible for another to reach out to you telepathically, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Uh, does that mean the power overflowing from me is so strong that it can even bounce off telepathy?¡±

    ¡°That is the case. Conversely, I believe you will have an easy time learning how to convey your thoughts to another, My Lord. However, if you do not control your output, your thoughts will be broadcasted within a wide range and not just to a single person due to how powerful your mental waves are¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°So, it¡¯s basically the same as shouting from the top of my lungs huh¡­¡­ That doesn¡¯t sound too convenient.¡±

    ¡°Nothinges easily, as they say.¡±

    When I disyed a bitter smile, Kugi giggled in amusement.

    ¡°I will help you in your training as much as I can. I am an official shrine maiden of the Ministry of Divinities after all. I am fully qualified to teach this subject.¡±

    After saying so, Kugi patted her chest proudly. Her animal ears stood up cutely. I¡¯ve just gotten to know it recently, but it seemed that Kugi also had a yful and innocent side to her. It¡¯s just that she doesn¡¯t break her attitude as a devoted attendant in front of me all that often.

    ¡°Right. I do think it¡¯s a waste not to use what you¡¯ve been given with in the first ce¡­¡­ It¡¯s just¡­ It¡¯s just that it kinda feels like I¡¯m gradually bing something other than human.¡±

    Because I¡¯ve been told that I would be able to blow away an entire mountain with my own power, I was reluctant to train my psionic ability. If I went that far, I won¡¯t just be a Je*i knight. I¡¯d be a Dra*onball character. Uh, but I do think being able to freely use psychokinesis is pretty convenient and cool. Maybe I can even unleash lightning from my hands. Uh, but that¡¯s just like a S*th lord huh.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Please tell me whenever you want to start training, alright?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, once I feel like it.¡±

    When I saw Kugi¡¯s ears drooping down, I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. She was so easy to read.

    ¡°Can we have your attention for a bit, you two?¡±

    ¡°Oh, okay.¡±

    Dr. Shouko called out to us, so I turned my gaze toward her.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to hear your opinions. Can those spheres actually be considered as intelligent creatures? Also, what will you ssify them under? Biological weapons or naturally urring organisms? Well?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea. It¡¯s your call, Kugi.¡±

    After all, I wasn¡¯t capable of picking up their mental waves. From my personal point of view, they just seemed like dangerous killing machines.

    ¡°Well, um¡­¡­ I cannot say for sure, but I think their mental waves more closely resemble those of an animal. I have never encountered a biological weapon before, so I am not clear regarding that matter. However¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°However?¡±

    ¡°The mental waves emitted by those¡ºcreatures¡»have almost the same wavelength, which is quite unusual. Normally, even if they are the same kind of creature, wavelengths vary between each individual.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ And?¡±

    ¡°Um, the other point I am curious about is that they are constantly¡ºconnected¡» to one another via mental waves. Furthermore, they seem to be attempting to link with¡ºsomething else¡»as well¡­¡­ However, it appears like they have lost sight of that ¡®something¡¯¡­¡­ I am sorry. I cannot exin it well. Um, in other words, maybe they are just a part of an evenrger whole.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±???¡±¡±¡±

    Dr. Shouko and the others tilted their heads to the side after hearing Kugi¡¯s words. I also tilted my head. I think she just said something really important, but my understanding hasn¡¯t caught up yet. An evenrger whole¡­¡­?

    ¡°They are part of arge-scalework using the samemunications protocol? In other words¡­¡­ they are a collective simr to an AIwork?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s within the realm of possibility. It might be simr to the artificial intelligencework that¡¯s active in the empire. Kugi-kun, what is the range of the mental waves they are emitting? Can the waves travel between star systems?¡±

    ¡°Mental waves can jump over time-space under the right conditions, but that requires considerable power. Given the intensity of the mental waves they are emitting, they can probably cover this star system but will not be able to reach out any further.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ If that¡¯s the case, I suppose it would be best to find a way to somehow prevent their mental waves from leaking out before this ship goes to explore the star system where they found the spheres. After all, it would potentially be quite troublesome if that so-calledrgework¡»activates all at once the moment we step into that star system after picking up the mental waves. We have to report this to the Colonel.¡±

    The thought of simply destroying them all so they won¡¯t be able to send out any more mental waves crossed my mind, but I guess that¡¯s no good. Well, I think it¡¯s better to proceed carefully when ites to stuff like this. After all, less-than-ideal first encounters eventually leading to full-scale war was amon development in movies and TV shows. Anyway, it¡¯s better to just leave this kind of stuff to Col. Serena.

 Chapter 357: Iâ€™ll be Praying for You

    Another professional discussion between the scientists and engineers began after that. Kugi answered their asional questions, and I continued to stare at them stupidly.

    It seems like they were going to use spirit silver, a mental wave amplification material, to create a mental wave measuring device. They were also gonna make a mental wave jamming device by incorporating spirit silver into a shield generator. They decided on a jamming device instead of a physical blocking device because Kugi said it was almost impossible topletely block mental waves using physical methods. She suggested that it would be more realistic to offset mental waves by¡ºcrushing¡»them with even more powerful mental waves.

    Fortunately, the wavelengths of the spheres were mostly identical, so it shouldn¡¯t prove difficult to cancel them out after measuring the specific values.

    What was I doing while everybody else was talking about technical gibberish, you ask?

    ¡°Banana. [1]¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re makin¡¯ a really stupid-lookin¡¯ face y¡¯know, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Is that your attempt at a joke?¡±

    Tina and Doc Shouko unleashed merciless tsukkomis. But it can¡¯t be helped, right? All that technical jargon is nothing but mumbo jumbo to me. What I understood from the discussion was that if you use spirit silver, which was a mental wave amplification material, you¡¯d be able to create a device that will be able to catch psionic waves called thought or mental waves and induce some sort of reaction. That¡¯s about it.

    If Dr. Shouko had some free time, I would have liked to dig more into the reason why she ended up working as a civilian contractor in this ce, but she seemed to be quite busy. Kugi¡¯s head was also covered with some sort of suspicious-looking headgear in order to measure her telepathy values or something, so I waspletely left out.

    ¡°Big Brother, make absolutely sure that you don¡¯te near here, okay?¡±

    ¡°I know. I wouldn¡¯t want to destroy your precious P.A.M.¡±

    Wiska and Mr. Wells forbade me from approaching the machines that were processing spirit silver and the ones that were installed with it. Right now, the only area I could freely walk around inside theb was the rest area near the entrance.

    ¡°Come to think of it, shouldn¡¯t I charge the colonel for the spirit silver?¡±

    ¡°Oh, we¡¯ve already gotten the colonel¡¯s approval regarding that matter. She keptining that it was too expensive though.¡±

    ¡°Huh? I haven¡¯t decided on the price yet though?¡±

    ¡°Ah, sorry Boss. We already put a price on em.¡±

    It seemed like they sold the spirit silver for 50,000 Enels per kilo. We should have brought five kilos of spirit silver, so that made it 250,000 Enels.

    ¡°¡­¡­Ain¡¯t that a bit too expensive?¡±

    ¡°The market price for the material¡¯s high in the first ce, Boss. Spirit silver sourced from the Refill system costs a lot because the amount that can be taken out of the main is pitifully small. The market price is about 38,000 Enels per kilo. The price gets raised to about 30% if it¡¯s sold in remote systems. 50 thousand is just right.¡±

    ¡°30% is quite the profit, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Dr. Shouko giggled in amusement.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s actually a bargain. If we, or rather, Boss didn¡¯t have any spirit silver on hand, the fleet would have been stuck here fer some time. Moreover, the price would¡¯ve been even higher if they bought it outside due to the transportation cost. Ain¡¯t it pretty convenient that the fleet was able to buy several kilos of spirit silver at a reasonable price without any wait time?¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ You finally look a bit more reliable now, Tina.¡±

    ¡°I wanna have a nice long talk with yater regarding how ya usually see me, Boss¡­¡­ Well, just chalk it up to my past experiences from way back.¡±

    After saying so, Tina shrugged her shoulders and mmed up. Her experiences from way back huh? Come to think of it, Tina and Wiska were together all the time now, but they apparently lived apart in the past and were raised in different environments. Tina lived in a ce where public order was a bit bad¡­¡­ She should have picked up her bargaining and negotiation skills from her time there.

    ¡°Your ships sure are manned by excellent crew members, Hiro-kun.¡±

    ¡°They sure are. I can¡¯t really do anything apart from fighting, so I¡¯m thankful for everyone¡¯s help. Oh, but we don¡¯t have a doctor yet by the way. How about it, Dr. Shouko? We now have a mothership with plenty of space, so I can actually prepare a medical office andboratory for you.¡±

    ¡°Is it really okay to invite me so casually? I might take you seriously, you know?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re very wee to join us, Dr. Shouko¡­¡­ After all, you¡¯re already aware of my situation to some extent.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡±

    Dr. Shouko grinned mischievously. Dr. Shouko was actually a verypetent medical doctor and also seemed to be an expert in nanotechnology, so I believe she¡¯d be very reliable.

    Unlike when we first met her, we now have the ck Lotus which had plenty of room avable, so I can easily prepare a private room for her, a medical office, and even a researchb. Our situation has changed a lotpared to the days when we were just wandering around star systems with Krishna.

    Because every single one of my crew members was female, it would be very helpful if there was a doctor who can manage their physical conditions and support them physically and mentally. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll benefit from that arrangement as well.

    ¡°I heard that! How about you hire me as well!?¡±

    Mr. Wells, who snuck up behind me, suddenly pitched himself with great fanfare. I already noticed him earlier, but it looked like Tina and Dr. Shouko didn¡¯t because they got startled. They both had the exact same reaction, and it was honestly a bit cute.

    ¡°What do you think you can offer our team, Mr. Wells?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­ maybe I can improve the armor ting of your ships? I can do that if we discover new materials.¡±

    ¡°Our two mechanics and Mei are able to do that as well, I believe¡­¡­ Hence, I pray for your continued sess in your chosen career, Mr. Wells.¡±

    ¡°Can you stop speaking in that tone, please? It feels like my heart is gonna break¡­¡­¡±

    Mr. Wells startedining about the difficulties faced by a materials engineering researcher and the ck nature of his current job with a gloomy aura. I was actually worried that Mr. Wells would spell trouble down the line because he looked like the type to be tasked with a secret military mission or something like that, but it looked like that wasn¡¯t the case.

    ¡°Well, I did get this job through one of my connections. My best friend, my childhood pal, has a decent rank in the military. Of course, I¡¯m not an ipetent researcher who just relies on my connections to bumble along, okay?¡±

    When I voiced my doubts, he answered readily. The other researcher and the two engineers nodded in response, so his skills in materials engineering seemed to be the real deal.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s that and this is this. We really don¡¯t have a good spot avable for a materials engineer right now.¡±

    ¡°Of course¡­¡­ Haah. I guess I have no choice but to produce some good results and somehow get hired as a full-time military materials engineering researcher.¡±

    Mr. Wells sighed heavily. Researchers sure have it hard as well.

    ¡°So, do you think you can produce some results?¡±

    ¡°Looks like it for now. At the very least, the mental wave jamming device should work as intended. In theory, that is.¡±

    ¡°I am going to go around the ship to check if it really is working properly.¡±

    ¡°I see. I¡¯lle with you then. I¡¯m free after all.¡±

    It would be better than just sitting here, in any case. Also, it looks like Kugi wasing along too.

    [1] TL Notes: In case you guys didn¡¯t get it, this is a Minions reference XD

 Chapter 358: Pitiful Captain

    Wiska led the way while carrying the mental wave measuring device that looked like it was made in a rush as we walked around the interior of the Restalias. Whenever a mental wave¡ºleakage¡»was detected, we¡¯d contact theb so they can adjust the settings of the jamming device. After repeating said tedious work andpletely preventing the mental wavesing out of theb from leaking out of the ship, we decided to report our current findings to Capt. Serena.

    ¡°There¡¯s a possibility of the spheres being some sort of collective intelligence entity connected to each other via mental waves, so you¡¯ve made a jamming device to interfere with said connection huh¡­¡­ There are no problems with the effectiveness of the device, right?¡±

    Capt. Serena¡¯s dignified voice echoed throughout the captain¡¯s quarters. Only I, Dr. Shouko, and Capt. Serena were present.

    ¡°We¡¯ve seeded in containing the mental waves. At least for now, there doesn¡¯t seem to be any problems.¡±

    Dr. Shouko replied in her usual cheeky and rxed tone. It looks like her attitude remained the same even when the other party she was facing was a colonel of the imperial military.

    ¡°For now?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve deduced a good safety margin based on the current strength of the mental waves being emitted by the spheres. However, the true extent of their abilities is still unknown to us. That¡¯s why I can¡¯t give any guarantees.¡±

    After replying, Dr. Shouko shrugged her shoulders as she deflected the pressureing from Capt. Serena¡¯s crimson irises.

    ¡°¡­¡­Is it possible tomunicate with them?¡±

    ¡°For now, we still haven¡¯t seeded in doing so. But they¡¯re constantly exchanging information via mental waves so we don¡¯tck samples. It¡¯s a transmission that¡¯s unfamiliar to us because they¡¯re using an unknownnguage. Also, there aren¡¯t any aliennguage researchers who can perform cryptanalysis in this ship.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s impossible for us to arrange additional personnel for now.¡±

    Capt. Serena massaged her temples while disying a bitter expression, as if enduring a headache.

    ¡°You look pretty troubled, Miss Captain. You got burdened with a job that¡¯s outside of your specialization.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a soldier after all.¡±

    Capt. Serena mmed up after that one reply. Originally, her Mobile Independent Anti-pirate Fleet, as the name implied, was a fleet for conducting operations against space pirates independently from the strategic policy of the imperial military. On the flip side, one can also look at it as a useful pawn that can be used to achieve any other purpose as long as it¡¯s entwined with operations against space pirates. That¡¯s from the perspective of the military brass.

    Well, considering what happened in the Crystal Campaign, I guess they had no qualms about sending them out even without such a premise. That was a matter that had nothing to do with space pirates after all.

    ¡°The schemes within the military, or rather, the politics sure can be troublesome huh. Well, as long as we¡¯re involved in it, we can¡¯t treat it as somebody else¡¯s problem.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Even so, it¡¯s not feasible to continue the research inside the Dauntless indefinitely, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, thanks to a certain someone, we¡¯ve managed to take care of the pirates quickly, so we have some leeway. However, it¡¯s a fact that we can¡¯t let the fleet stay here for long. At best, we can only stretch it out for¡­¡­ less than a week, I guess.¡±

    ¡°In other words, we have to achieve results in less than a week huh. And that¡¯s against alien lifeforms that use unknownmunication methods and an unknownnguage.¡±

    ¡°Just because they have their own uniquemunication method, it doesn¡¯t necessarily mean that they¡¯re intelligent lifeforms though.¡±

    If the criteria for creatures to be considered intelligent lifeforms was having a unique form ofmunication alone, even animals such as birds would be considered as intelligent life. Well, the definition of intelligent life was basically vague anyway.

    ¡°Rather, what¡¯s the angle the military is going for anyway? The objective was new armor material, right? I think we¡¯ve collected more than enough samples already, so wouldn¡¯t the goal be achieved after you properly analyze them?¡±

    ¡°In terms of developing new armor material, the research is being conducted not just inside the Restalias, but also in militarybs located in the Windas system. We¡¯ll be able to find out all about them in due time. The problem lies in the raw materials. If the raw materials needed to manufacture that new type of armor only exists on the the spheres originated from, the empire would have to take control of that ¨C or rather, the entire star system.¡±

    ¡°And the Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet was dispatched to the Edge World for such a reason? Isn¡¯t that the job of the regr troops? Or rather, don¡¯t they have a specialized department that handles this kind of stuff?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s indeed the case.¡±

    ¡°You have it hard¡­¡­ In other words, you need to identify where the sphere samples came from while taking care of space pirates operating within the Edge World, which is supposed to be your main mission. Then you¡¯d have to collect and analyze as much info as possible. You guys are really being treated as convenient pawns huh.¡±

    The military higher-ups might have simply treated this as killing two birds with one stone, or gave such orders for the sake of efficiency. But for Capt. Serena who got saddled with work that she and her fleet didn¡¯t specialize in, it was quite a hassle.

    ¡°On top of that, you¡¯d also have to report that there¡¯s a possibility of the spheres being intelligent lifeforms, or perhaps a collective intelligence entity simr to an AIwork. Of course, you¡¯d get a major headache.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­That¡¯s why it would be really helpful if you can produce some results as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Since we¡¯ve taken measures against the leakage of mental waves, I think we¡¯ve at least achieved minimum results. The rest depends on the results of the analysis using a cryptanalysis device and the trantion imnt database.¡±

    ¡°I sure hope it goes well. From the very bottom of my heart.¡±

    Capt. Serena muttered with a bitter expression. I feel you, Captain. I really do.

    TL Notes: As you may have noticed, I¡¯ll be using the navy officer ranking system instead of the army one from here on out since it¡¯s closer to the intent of the author. I only maintained the previous ranking system since I¡¯ve been using it for so long. But Weasalopes offered to help with editing the s, so I went ahead with changing it. Go thank Weas guys. He¡¯s awesome.

 Chapter 359: Invitation

    We¡¯ve finished taking all the measures we can currently employ against the leakage of mental waves for the time being, so after reporting to Capt. Serena, we were allowed to take a break. Or rather, our work was done for today and we were allowed to go back.

    The next step would be to collect data samples using the mental wave measuring device and cross-reference them with thenguage trantion imnt¡¯s database.

    ¡°Most of the work¡¯s gonna be done by machines huh? At most, we just need to tweak the algorithm a bit, right?¡±

    ¡°We also fiddle around with the algorithms used by the maintenance bots, but the scale of this job is a bit different, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Just thinking about messing around with that trantion algorithm is making my head hurt¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°But it shouldn¡¯t be that hard since you have experience adjusting the maintenance bot¡¯s algorithm, right?¡±

    On the way back to the ck Lotus, one researcher and two mechanical engineers were still immersed in discussing technical topics. It seems like the three of them really hit it off. Was it because their respective fields of specialization were rted to each other?

    ¡°Are you tired, Kugi?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, My Lord. I find the opportunity to walk a good distance after quite some time fun.¡±

    Kugi¡¯s expression conveyed just how satisfied she was. Her fluffy tails were swaying from side to side energetically as well, so she must really have found walking fun. We walked around the interior of the Restalias quite a bit in search of mental wave leakages after all.

    ¡°That¡¯s good then. I was worried that you got exhausted from using telepathy for an extended period.¡±

    ¡°That much is no problem. I would quickly get exhausted if I were to use telepathy seriously though.¡±

    ¡°What happens when you use telepathy seriously¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Sending mental waves to another person from a great distance or sending thoughts only to specific people gathered in one ce is very exhausting. Also, even though I do not want to use the technique if I can help it¡­¡­ I can release a concentrated and powerful mental wave attack that can stun, torment, or even force out information from the mouths of enemies.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­ It seems that telepathy really has a variety of uses huh.¡±

    ¡°I do not want to use it for violence if possible, but I still need a method to protect myself after all¡­¡­¡±

    Speaking of which, Kugi doesn¡¯t carry around weapons likeser guns, but for her, perhaps telepathy itself was a weapon akin to aser gun.

    ¡°By the way, is it really fine for me to tag along with you guys?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s Boss, after all, so a beautiful woman like Dr. Shouko is very wee. Right, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say it like that. It¡¯s not like I¡¯ll wee any woman just because they¡¯re beautiful. I pick and chose who to invite, you know.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­ That¡¯s certainly true. You¡¯re pretty cold to Captain Serena after all, Big Brother.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not just Captain Serena though.¡±

    I certainly wouldn¡¯t want to invite over Nia from Nyaatoflix again even though she was certainly an exotic beauty, and that poisonous snake-like woman Marie was absolutely no good.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure the rest will wee you as well, Doc Shouko. So please rest assured. Mimi and Elma will probably be surprised.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be happy if that¡¯s the case.¡±

    Dr. Shouko¡¯s lips formed a genuine smile. We¡¯ve never interacted with her in a private setting before, so seeing her like this was rather refreshing.

    ¡°Huh? You¡¯re¡­¡­ Dr. Shouko, right?¡±

    ¡°Why are you in a ce like this¡­¡­?¡±

    Mimi and Elma were very bewildered when they first saw Dr. Shouko. Of course, they would be. After all, Dr. Shouko, who was supposed to be working at a corporate hospital in the Alein system, suddenly came to the ck Lotus together with us. I¡¯d be pretty surprised myself if I was in their shoes.

    ¡°Hey, guys. It¡¯s been a while huh? Mm, it looks like you both are in good health. Great.¡±

    For a moment, I seemed to have seen a number of question marks fly over the two¡¯s heads as Dr. Shouko cheerfully greeted them. And then, the gazes of the two turned toward me.

    ¡°One of the researchers working in theb was Dr. Shouko. I have no idea why she¡¯s working there though. I still haven¡¯t heard the reason yet myself.¡±

    I said so and passed the buck to Dr. Shouko.

    ¡°It¡¯s not really that big of a deal y¡¯know¡­¡­ It¡¯s a bit embarrassing to say it to you in person though.¡±

    Dr. Shouko, who received my gaze, smiled bitterly. Hmm? What does that mean? Mimi and the other¡¯s gazes went toward me once more, but I shook my head in response. I shouldn¡¯t have that deep of a rtionship with Dr. Shouko yet though. At least, I shouldn¡¯t have caused any events that heavily influenced her life.

    ¡°Everyone, if you do not mind, why not continue discussing things while having a meal? I will prepare the food immediately.¡±

    Mei¡¯s voice broke the somewhat subtle atmosphere.

    ¡°You are¡­¡­?¡±

    Dr. Shouko¡¯s gaze went toward Mei.

    ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you, dear guest. I am the maidroid Mei.¡±

    ¡°Ah, mm, yeah. Nice to meet you too. I¡¯m Shouko.¡±

    ¡°Greetings, Shouko-sama. My best regards. I shall now go prepare meals in the dining hall.¡±

    With that said, Mei quickly retreated into the dining hall. Dr. Shouko, who saw her off, suddenly turned her attention toward me. What is it?

    ¡°That maidroid¡­¡­ Mei-kun, was it? Doesn¡¯t she look a bit like me?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Really? I wonder.¡±

    Come to think of it, I couldn¡¯t say there really weren¡¯t any simrities. Well, Mei¡¯s chest size was smaller than Dr. Shouko¡¯s though. After all, Dr. Shouko¡¯s size rivaled that of Mimi¡¯s. They really were pretty big.

    ¡°Well, she does have long hair and wears sses, but her overall atmosphere is quite different, right?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡­ If you say so, Hiro-kun.¡±

    What¡¯s with that ambiguous reaction? Did I actually raise a g with Dr. Shouko without meaning to? No, no, that can¡¯t be. Yeah, of course not¡­¡­ No way. Yeah.

    ¡°By the way, is that all of them? You¡¯re not hiding away any more girls in here, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s all of them. Or rather, I¡¯m not the kind of person who surrounds myself with women¡­¡­ Err, no. I¡¯m not supposed to be, but¨C I really can¡¯t deny it huh. It ain¡¯t like that though.¡±

    ¡°Ain¡¯t like what?¡±

    ¡°I really can¡¯t defend you this time around.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ Hiro-sama is kind after all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not much of a defense though¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I think this much is expected for someone like you, My Lord.¡±

    It might be just as everyone said, but I really can¡¯t ept Kugi¡¯s justification. What did she mean by that anyway? Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯mining though.

    ¡°It looks like you¡¯re the same as usual, Hiro-kun.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of unexpected stuff when doing mercenary work. I¡¯m serious.¡±

    I ain¡¯t particrly aiming to increase the number of female crew members¡­¡­ Err, okay, this time around, I actually am. But we just happened toe across each other by chance y¡¯know. It¡¯s that kind of thing. In that sense, I do wee Dr. Shouko. Yeah. She¡¯s very wee. Ugh. I don¡¯t care anymore.

 Chapter 360: Dr. Shoukoâ€™s Circumstances

    ¡°Well now, this is quite different from what I expected¡­¡­¡±

    Dr. Shouko muttered as she looked around the spacious and clean dining hall of the ck Lotus.

    ¡°That¡¯s what everyone whoes to our ship for the first time says. The media people who came to interview us, the imperial soldiers who boarded us for a routine inspection, and the big shots from the imperial capital all reacted the same way.¡±

    ¡°The image people have of typical mercenary ships is that they¡¯re dreary, crude, and filthy after all! I aimed to go in the opposite direction from the norm.¡±

    Mimi smiled proudly as she boasted. Well, we did use Krishna¡¯s interior, which was apparently on par with a high-end luxury liner, as the benchmark for ck Lotus¡¯s interior, so she wasn¡¯t wrong. Of course, I was the one who approved of Mimi¡¯s n. After all, it was much better to live inside a clean and spacious interior than a messy and dreary one. It was good for mental health as well.

    ¡°So, why exactly are you in a ce like this anyway, Dr. Shouko?¡±

    Elma, who took out a well-chilled beer from the cooler installed in a corner of the dining hall, asked Dr. Shouko in a straightforward manner.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­ About that¡­ Un, it¡¯s a bit hard to talk about it.¡±

    Dr. Shouko, who received the cold beer from Elma, disyed a bitter expression on her face. She really didn¡¯t seem to be the type to hold back like this. It must be a really hard topic to talk about then. I wonder what circumstances she found herself in. Was it rted to money?

    ¡°If you find it hard to talk about it, then we won¡¯t force you. We¡¯ll be d to help if you¡¯re in some sort of trouble though.¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not the case¡­¡­ Or rather, you just offered to help naturally just like that? Is that one of the tricks you use to attract so many women?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d earn benefits if you¡¯re nice to beautiful women after all. Well, enough joking around. I¡¯m more than willing to at least listen if a friend is facing some sort of trouble. I can¡¯t guarantee that I¡¯d be able to help out though. It depends on the circumstances.¡±

    ¡°You say that, Boss. But I bet you¡¯d help her out anyway.¡±

    ¡°There hasn¡¯t been any instance of Big Brother refusing to help out so far after all.¡±

    That¡¯s not true. I think there are certainly some situations where I won¡¯t be able to do anything. You guys wanna hear examples? Let¡¯s see¡­¡­ It would be impossible for me to rescue the inhabitants of a that¡¯s about to explode in three days. Or rather, I think that would be impossible for most folks as well.

    ¡°Ah¨C¡­¡­ Well, I¡¯d find it even more ufortable not to tell you guys, so I¡¯ll talk. You see¨C¡±

    ¡°Mm, go on.¡±

    I was honestly pretty interested so I urged her to continue.

    ¡°Well, after you guys left the Alein system, I somehow got really interested in this mercenary stuff, so I researched a bit about it and ended up admiring the kind of life you guys live. I basically ended up longing for the mercenary life as well. It¡¯s embarrassing to confess this stuff to you guys though.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I see?¡±

    Her current situation and Dr. Shouko¡¯s words just now didn¡¯t really match. Smart people act like this sometimes. They tend to not care much about the details and just rushed ahead.

    Um, so after we left the Alein system, Dr. Shouko ended up getting interested in the mercenary life, or maybe just the general idea of cruising freely around space. I do get that.

    ¡°So, why did you be a civilian employee assigned to the imperial military then?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s gonna take a long time if I start from the very beginning y¡¯know. In short, I did well at work and was able to take an extended leave, so I took a temporary job at the imperial military with the intention of advancing my career and going on a trip on the side. Ourpany has a lot of researchers and doctors who specialize in gic engineering and nanomachine engineering, so we get job offers from the military rted to those from time to time. Ourpany will be able to gain the military¡¯s favor and will earn a good track record of contributing to the empire. The personnel who take these kinds of jobs earn good sries in addition to a nice internal assessment record. And the military will be able to gain excellent doctors and researchers in turn. Thus, outsourcing is a win-win-win situation for thepany, military, and us employees.¡±

    ¡°I see. And you just happened to get assigned to Captain Serena¡¯s ship huh.¡±

    ¡°Yep, that¡¯s how it is. I actually applied to work as a ship¡¯s medical doctor, but the military took a look at my records and assigned me as a researcher instead. I¡¯m a medical doctor, gic, and nanomachine engineer right? It seems like the military thought that my know-how in the field of nanomachine engineering will be of great use to the research being done here. After all, you also need knowledge on materials engineering in order to be a certified nanomachine engineer.¡±

    Dr. Shouko shrugged her shoulders after exining. She assigned to a job she originally didn¡¯t apply for, but she did get to meet us again as a result.

    ¡°It was a huge coincidence that we were able to meet again in this wide universe¡­¡­ The world can seem to be surprisingly small sometimes.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s Hiro after all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s Hiro-sama after all.¡±

    ¡°Can you guys stop making it sound like I¡¯m some sort of singrity that attracts such low-probability events?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­ Isn¡¯t it difficult to deny that now?¡±

    Dr. Shouko, who heard the words of Elma and the others, giggled as she teased me.

    ¡°So, you¡¯re usually like this huh, Hiro-kun. So, does that mean meeting me again is the work of fate?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think a word like ¡®fate¡¯ would actuallye from the mouth of someone like you, Dr. Shouko. You¡¯re unexpectedly a romantic huh?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a silly young woman who ended up working outside thepany while longing for the unfettered life of a mercenary after all.¡±

    Ugh. I¡¯m trying to tease you back and you deflect it just like that? She¡¯s tough. A silly young woman? How old was she anyway? No, I can¡¯t retort with that. It¡¯s a trap. Talking about a woman¡¯s age is taboo.

    ¡°So, what do you n on doing now? I¡¯m serious about inviting you to join us y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°Mm, it¡¯s certainly a tempting offer. This ship is spacious and clean, and the interior looks good overall. It¡¯s even morefy than ourpany houses. But I¡¯m still employed by Inagawa after all, so there are various procedures to go through if I want to board this ship as a crew member¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Mei will help you go through all of them.¡±

    ¡°Please leave it to me. I will provide the best support.¡±

    Wiska mentioned Mei, and thetter followed up with her usual proud but deadpan expression. Yeah, I know ¡®proud¡¯ and ¡®deadpan¡¯ seem contradictory, but even though Mei looked expressionless most of the time, she did give off this proud atmosphere somehow. Her tone was equally deadpan, but I wonder why I¡¯m able to determine her emotions even though that¡¯s the case. I honestly find it curious as well.

    ¡°In any case, I can onlye over after my current contract ends. I can¡¯t just jump ship midway, and I do have an obligation to Inagawa and owe them at least that much. It¡¯s not that simple.¡±

    Dr. Shouko disyed a bitter smile as she replied to Wiska and Mei¡¯s offer. Well, it¡¯s true that upholding contracts was important, and even if she wants to join us as soon as she can, it can¡¯t be at the expense of her current employer. And we¡¯d have to prepare a number of equipment and facilities first if Dr. Shouko were to join us as well.

    ¡°Then, once our job here is done, I suppose we can take the chance to visit the Alein system again. I¡¯m not just spouting lip service here. But that¡¯s only if you really are willing to join us, Dr. Shouko.¡±

    ¡°Um, that¡¯s¡­¡­ Is that really okay? I¡¯m really gonna take you seriously y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°I really am serious about this. We can maintain our health with med-pods, but it¡¯s still a lot more reassuring to have a good medical doctor onboard. I don¡¯t mind putting in some effort for that. That¡¯s what I think anyway.¡±

    I then turned toward Mimi and Elma to ask for their consent, and the two of them nodded in response. Kugi and the mechanic sisters haven¡¯t experienced getting checked up by Dr. Shouko, but Mimi and Elma already have, so it was best to ask them.

    ¡°I¡¯m really, really gonna take you seriously, y¡¯know? Is it really fine?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a habit of going back on my words. Uh, it might happen asionally, but I won¡¯t do that this time around, so rest assured.¡±

    I extended my hand toward Dr. Shouko, and she took it in response. We exchanged a firm handshake.

    ¡°I dly ept your offer then. And to that end, we really have to resolve our current problem.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    It was great that Dr. Shouko finally epted my invitation to join our crew, but we still have to resolve the mysterious sphere case first. Well, we can¡¯t do anything about it right now, so we just have to wait for the results of the analysis.

 Chapter 361: Kugiâ€™s Duty

    And so, a bit less than a week has passed. It was a challenging couple of days for me. Why was it challenging? Because I was bored out of my mind, that¡¯s why. Even if I apanied Kugi to theb, there was practically nothing I could do there, and the pirates in the system have almost been wiped out, so there was no point in heading out with the ship as well.

    And so, I spent half of those days having Mei apany me, and had Mimi and Elma apany me to theb as well because they also wouldn¡¯t have anything to do there. I had to go shopping with them in the Dauntless in exchange though.

    ¡°So, we somehow managed to decipher the contents of the information exchanges between those spheres, Boss.¡±

    ¡°I see. It¡¯s great that you managed to get some results.¡±

    And I had to spend time with Tina and Wiska in turns during the evening untilte at night. If they needed toe to theb during the day, the schedule was reversed.

    ¡°We didn¡¯t have anything to do with the deciphering process in the second half, so we helped with the research on the sphere¡¯s outer shell instead. But Shouko-san sure is amazing. She specializes in nanomachine programming and making algorithms, but she¡¯s able to apply her knowledge in things not rted to her specialization.¡±

    ¡°We have to learn from her example.¡±

    The three of us were sitting on the sofa, with Tina to my right and Wiska to my left. They snuggled really close to me, so it felt very warm and cuddly. The room temperature was adjusted to be on the lower side to facilitate snuggling together, so they were quite prepared.

    ¡°What about ya and Kugi, Boss? ¡±

    ¡°What about us? Uh, let¡¯s see¡­¡­ Honestly, it¡¯s a bit hard to make a move on her since she¡¯s just so well-behaved.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I kinda get that. That girl¡¯s really well-mannered and stuff.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s kinda like she¡¯s a delicate flower I shouldn¡¯t sully with my dirty hands¡­¡­ Get it?¡±

    ¡°I get the nuance at least, Big Brother.¡±

    How should I put it? I won¡¯t go so far as to want her to be like Elma or Tina, but I wouldn¡¯t hesitate this much if she was at least close to Mimi or Whisker in demeanor. However, that girl was 100% like a flower grown in a carefully maintained greenhouse. She says stuff like doing her best to fulfill her duty or doing anything I want, but I just couldn¡¯t bring myself to make a move on her after getting hit dead-on with that pure and earnest aura. I¡¯m not a true love fanatic, nor am I averse to eating what¡¯s already served in front of me, but her purity was just so dazzling that I end up backing away instead of getting motivated.

    ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean you won¡¯t make a move on her at all, right, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah. I¡¯ll probably get to it eventually.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell if you¡¯re quick at this sort of stuff or just slow as heck, Big Brother¡­¡­ It took a lot of time before youid your hands on us after all.¡±

    ¡°That can¡¯t be helped y¡¯know. So, please cut me some ck.¡±

    It took plenty of courage for me toy my hands on these two. In various meanings. But once we¡¯ve done the deed, it wasn¡¯t such a big deal anymore.

    ¡°Don¡¯t make her wait too long, okay? It¡¯s sad to be the only one left out you know?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best.¡±

    I kinda want a good chance to present itself first though¡­¡­ No, it¡¯s because I think that way that nothing ever happens in the first ce. You don¡¯t wait for a chance toe to you. You have to make it yourself.

    I was thinking of how to create a chance for me and Kugi to take the next step in our rtionship, but when the other party presented a chance herself, I honestly didn¡¯t know what to feel about it.

    ¡°My Lord, let us begin your training.¡±

    ¡°Training huh.¡±

    ¡°Yes, training, My Lord.¡±

    Kugi called me over to her room, and now, we were facing each other. And I was sitting in a seiza position for some reason.

    Well, it seems that the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¯s culture was quite simr to Japan¡¯s in some ways, so her room¡¯s floor was actually covered by tatami-like mats. Naturally, shoes weren¡¯t allowed on a tatami mat, and there was a bit of space near the entrance to her room to ce shoes on.

    When I entered her room, she already had some floor cushions prepared, so I went with the flow and sat in seiza. By the way, Kugi was also sitting on a floor cushion in a seiza position directly opposite me.

    ¡°What are we gonna do during training? Meditation?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s an effective method as well. Meditation is very good for training to tap into the powering from within you and exercise control over it. However, the current you will probably find this method quite difficult, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. You have already developed extremely powerful abilities such as spatiotemporal control and fate maniption, but they are all activated without conscious input from you. In order to control them consciously, you need to first be able to perceive your own power.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    I remember being told before that I was in a state of uncontrobly releasing psionic power, which was also known as potential. I wasn¡¯t aware that such a thing was going on, but it looks like perceiving this process was the first step in controlling psionic powers.

    ¡°I get it now. But I wanna ask a question first.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Why did you also prepare futons?¡±

    Also, why are you so lightly dressed, Ms. Kugi? Moreover, the fabric of your clothes is kinda thin and somewhat see-through. Mmm. Well, it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t have any idea about what¡¯s going on. I do get it. I¡¯m not that dense or stupid, so I can already predict what¡¯s gonna happen next. Still, I couldn¡¯t help but ask.

    ¡°If you are an ordinary person, My Lord, then it is rather simple to open your¡ºeye¡»in order to ¡®see¡¯. However, opening the¡ºeye¡»of someone with as much potential as you entails a number of dangers, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Opening my ¡®eye¡¯ huh? Are you referring to the third eye or something like that?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is something to that effect. To put it simply, it is the ability to perceive psionic power. If one is a regr practitioner, it is simply a matter of using external stimulus to open their ¡®eye¡¯. Generally, races with inborn psionic abilities do not need such a stimulus, but¡­¡­ in rare cases like yours My Lord, your ¡®eye¡¯ is not open even though you have extremely strong psionic abilities.¡±

    ¡°But do we really need to use the futons in order to open my third eye?¡±

    ¡°It will take a long time to exin in full, but basically, yes. I would like you to leave everything to me.¡±

    Kugi stared up at my face with a very serious expression. Mm, how dazzling. She was positively burning with a sense of duty.

    ¡°There aren¡¯t any dangers, right? If there are, then I don¡¯t really think it¡¯s necessary to insist on training.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord. It is very dangerous.¡±

    ¡°I see. If that¡¯s the case¨C Wait, there are!?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but do a spit-take. If it¡¯s dangerous, then I don¡¯t think we need to go through with this after all.

    ¡°Yes. It is indeed very dangerous. Depending on the circumstances, it might even lead to the demise of the life forms within this star system.¡±

    ¡°Do we really need to cross such a dangerous bridge?¡±

    ¡°Considering what we are going to face from here on out, I think it is very necessary, My Lord. If you unexpectedly fall into a situation where your¡ºeye¡»gets forcibly opened without any precautions in ce, there is a very high risk of a disaster urring. And because there is a high risk of being exposed to powerful psionic interference in the star system we are heading to next¡­¡­ this might cause your¡ºeye¡»to suddenly open.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Those spheres huh.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡±

    Because those spheres exchange information through telepathy, it can be said that there¡¯s indeed a possibility of me getting subjected to psionic interference. And because of that, my¡ºeye¡»might suddenly get opened even without me meaning to.

    ¡°But I¡¯ve been fine so far. Nothing happened while we were in the Refill system too.¡±

    That special-grade cursed item didtch onto me, but nothing really dangerous happened anyway.

    ¡°Just because you have been fine until now does not mean you will be fine in the future, My Lord. At the very least, under my guidance, the chances of any danger happening will be significantly reduced. There is no need for you to worry about me either, My Lord. It is exactly for the sake of these sorts of situations that someone like me has been selected and sent to your side.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re being really assertive about this y¡¯know¡­¡­ OK, I got it. I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡±

    She didn¡¯t show any signs of backing down, so I decided to just give up and ept what wasing. I wasn¡¯t against it, but I wonder if she was doing this only because of that sense of duty of hers¡­¡­ No, this might be a chance to further deepen our rtionship.

    Alright,e on! I¡¯ll show this sheltereddy exactly how it¡¯s done, baby!

 Chapter 362: Pink-colored Poisonous Mental Waves

    It was the start of a new day.

    ¡°Good morning, My Lord.¡±

    I was greeted by a gently smiling Kugi when I woke up. Maybe it¡¯s just me, but her skin kinda looks a lot glossier and suppler than before.

    ¡°Let me sleep more.¡±

    ¡°Good. Morning. My Lord.¡±

    I tried to cover myself with the futon, but Kugi proceeded to try and pull it off of me. Man, she really was strong. I decided to give up hiding under the futon since it might eventually get torn in two.

    ¡°Morning, Kugi.¡±

    ¡°Yes, good morning.¡±

    The smiling Kugi was already wearing her clothes. I¡¯ll refrain frommenting on the details of what happenedst night, but let¡¯s just say that her telepathic ability was close to cheating. If I had to give an analogy, it would be like two people engaging in a fistfight and dealing equal damage to one another, so there just wasn¡¯t any chance for any one of them to snatch a win.

    ¡°So, My Lord, has your perception of the world changed?¡±

    ¡°Mmm, uh, it kinda feels like it did but also didn¡¯t at the same time.¡±

    My¡ºeye¡»got opened without a hitch. It was opened, but it¡¯s not like my perception of the world changed dramatically. I certainly do feel some kind of wave or flow of energy swelling from within me, and I sense the same thing from within Kugi, but that¡¯s about it.

    Uh, no, it¡¯s not just that huh? It kinda feels different, but it looks like I can also sense the presence of Mimi and Elma within the ck Lotus. It¡¯s a little different from seeing with your physical eyes. I can feel their presence itself. The feeling gets transmitted to the center of my head or something to that effect.

    ¡°Anyway, it looks like I won¡¯t be blindsided by surprise attacks from now on huh.¡±

    ¡°If you get used to it little by little, you will eventually be able to fully control your power, My Lord. First, just try to gradually get ustomed to the power that exists within you. If you have any concerns, please share them with me immediately.¡±

    ¡°Understood. But for now¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°I wanna take a shower first.¡±

    After taking a quick shower, I went to the break space where everyone was gathered together with Kugi, and everyone¡¯s gaze turned toward me as soon as I stepped foot inside. Mimi¡¯s face was red and it somehow seemed like she was sulking. Elma¡¯s face was also beet red as she pointedly red at me. Tina was grinning from ear to ear and Wiska seemed to be avoiding looking at me directly. Mei wasn¡¯t present. It looks like I wasn¡¯t able to sense Mei¡¯s presence. Was it because a maidroid wasn¡¯t a biological organism?

    ¡°Good morning, everyone.¡±

    ¡°G-Good morning, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Morning.¡±

    ¡°G¡¯mornin¡¯ Boss.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Big Brother.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s reactions were strange. I turned to Kugi, but she just smiled and said nothing. What the heck is with this subtle atmosphere? Doesn¡¯t it seem like something major happened? Uh, judging from their reactions, I do have an idea about what¡¯s going on though.

    ¡°Umm, did something leak outst night?¡±

    ¡°Forget a leak. It was pouring out like crazy, Hiro-sama¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re already aware of what the source was, so we more or less tolerated it, but I bet those who weren¡¯t in the know were pretty surprised.¡±

    ¡°Kugi-san?¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    ording to Kugi, she received the enormous psionic power released when I opened my ¡®eye¡¯, converted it into harmless mental waves, and released them inrge quantities in order to prevent any idents that might lead to the demise of lifeforms living within the star system.

    ¡°If I didn¡¯t do so, there was a risk of a phenomenon that would lead to the destruction of the star system urring. In your case My Lord, your abilities include the maniption of space, time, and fate, so¡­¡­ In case something did go wrong, the time in this star system would havepletely halted, and the resulting spatiotemporal distortion may have led torge-scale destruction that would epass the entirety of the star system. It is also possible that something even worse would have happened. I do not even dare imagine what would happen if your ability to manipte fate went out of control.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I get it. I get it, but wasn¡¯t there a more reasonable way?¡±

    ¡°That was the only way for me to safely ept the power you released¡­¡­ Did you not like it?¡±

    ¡°No, I did. It¡¯s just that the result is¡­¡­¡±

    In other words, the l*ve l*ve wavespletely leaked out of the ship and onto the surroundings. For most people, they would have just taken it as a strange phenomenon of unknown origin, but for those who knew of my and Kugi¡¯s psionic abilities, the source was as clear as day. Specifically, Capt. Serena, Dr. Shouko, and Mr. Wells all should have known whatst night¡¯s incident was about. Oh, Lt. Robbitson too, I suppose. It felt like my honor and dignity had taken a serious hit, but I did fully awaken my psionic abilities in exchange. So, I guess that¡¯s a plus point.

    ¡°I mean, y¡¯know¡­¡­ It was a bit, err, too hasty. Wasn¡¯t there a more modest and steady method avable?¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord. There is one.¡±

    ¡°There is!?¡±

    If that¡¯s the case, then why did we have to do ¡®that¡¯st night?

    ¡°Yes. However, you would have had to undergo rigorous training under the right teacher in a proper location for at least five years.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re amazing for aplishing it in one night then, Kugi.¡±

    Hey, you sure changed your tune really quick huh? Oh well. It ain¡¯t possible for me to undergo training for five years anyway.

    ¡°One of the greatest duties of a shrine maiden like me is to open the¡ºeye¡»of someone like My Lord as safely and as fast as possible. I am truly happy to have fulfilled my duty sessfully.¡±

    Kugi disyed a very satisfied expression as she said those words. However, seeing her expression made me feel uneasy.

    ¡°Are you sure you didn¡¯t harm yourself when you received my power, Kugi? You said my power is extremely strong, so you didn¡¯t shorten your lifespan or anything like that when you converted it to harmless mental waves, right?¡±

    ¡°There is no need to worry. Rather, I am in great physical condition. If something like that were to happen, My Lord might have ended up cursing the world after all. I was trained and chosen as a shrine maiden exactly to prevent something like that from happening.¡±

    Kugi proudly patted her chest with an increasingly ecstatic expression, probably because of the sense of aplishment she earned from fulfilling her duty as a shrine maiden. I don¡¯t think she¡¯s lying, so I suppose she¡¯s really fine.

    ¡°Can I interject now?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes, go ahead.¡±

    Elma suddenly called out to me while I was talking to Kugi. Judging by her tone, she seemed to be angry. She was, right? No, maybe she actually wasn¡¯t? It kinda feels like her emotions were being transmitted to me. This is probably due to my¡ºeye¡»being opened huh.

    ¡°I think you should properly apologize for exposing us to your pink-colored poisonous mental waves for the entire night, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°P-Pink-colored poisonous waves?¡±

    Elma¡¯s naming sense was truly unique. HA HA HA!

    ¡°I truly apologize forst night¡¯s inconvenience.¡±

    I bent forward at a perfect ny degrees and bowed with all the sincerity I could muster. I raised the white g without hesitation. It was a situation where I couldn¡¯t help but apologize because I really was at fault.

    ¡°Words alone can¡¯t convey your sincerity, mister.¡±

    Elma stood up quietly and approached me. Her eyes were zed over. How scary!

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Boss.¡±

    Before I knew it (err, I actually did notice beforehand) Tina came over as well and grabbed my left arm while Elma grabbed my right. H-Hey. Aren¡¯t you guys grabbing a bit too tight? I can¡¯t match even one of you in raw physical power, so what¡¯s up with you guys double-teaming me!?

    ¡°Hold on a minute, guys. Let¡¯s calm down first, okay? We¡¯ll probably be sortieing outter today, so this really isn¡¯t the time to y around.¡±

    ¡°Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mimi, who was following after me, Tina, and Elma, showed me the screen of her tablet terminal. Wait, what? A mysterious phenomenon disturbed public morals in various parts of the Dauntless? The Dauntless authorities announced that the phenomenon was possibly caused by an artifact brought into the ship and were now conducting arge-scale investigation? I see.

    ¡°The aftermath of this incident will probablyst one or two days before it dies down, so Captain Serena¡¯s stuck until then. Just ept your fate.¡±

    ¡°Please be gentle.¡±

    Even if I trained my body regrly, there¡¯s still a limit to my stamina y¡¯know.

    There ain¡¯t no way I can win against four opponents all at the same time. Please use somemon-sense guys.

 Chapter 363: I Didnâ€™t Lie You Know

    ¡°Ahahahaha! You sure caused a big mess the night before yesterday and this morning huh.¡±

    The next day. What greeted me when I visited Dr. Shouko in theb was herughing in my face.

    ¡°It¡¯s noughing matter y¡¯know¡­¡­ Were you okayst night, Dr. Shouko?¡±

    ¡°I was running tests on the prototype psionic discer at the time y¡¯see. I and Mr. Wells were too absorbed in the research so we didn¡¯t even notice the big fuss going on outside.¡±

    ¡°Thankfully, we managed to make sure that the prototype works as intended as a result.¡±

    After saying so, Mr. Wells shrugged his shoulders. I couldn¡¯t sense any feeling of regret emanating from him. Was Mr. Wells not interested in Dr. Shouko in that way? I think Dr. Shouko was plenty beautiful though.

    Someone came inside theb while the three of us were chatting. Oh, it was actually Capt. Serena and Lt. Robbitson. I see. So their presence feels like this huh? I¡¯ve taken note of it. By the way, why was Capt. Serena giving off such a ferocious aura? Not only did she look like she would pull her sword at any moment, but veins also popped up on her forehead. Hey, smile Captain. Smile.

    ¡°If you say something unnecessary, I¡¯m gonna jam a sma grenade inside your mouth and sew it shut.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, ma¡¯am!¡±

    It really looked like she would attack me if I fooled around, so I just saluted obediently. What was she so angry about? Well, I guess there¡¯s only one possible reason huh?

    ¡°If you have an excuse, then out with it.¡±

    ¡°About what, exactly? ¨CUh, I also had a hard time during the incident the night before yesterday and this morning you know.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t lying. I had to deal with Kugi the night before yesterday and then had to take on everyone except for Mei afterward. I was ¡®fighting it out¡¯ with Elma and the others until early this morning.

    ¡°¡­¡­So, you¡¯re saying you didn¡¯t cause that incident?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a criminal, and it¡¯s unthinkable for me to intentionally cause an incident like that.¡±

    I spoke with a very serious and sincere expression. I didn¡¯t lie. I just didn¡¯t tell the whole truth.

    Capt. Serena stared at my face in suspicion but eventually sighed as if she¡¯d given up.

    ¡°Right, of course, you wouldn¡¯t go that far¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I was just too worked up due to the incident.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­You guys in the Restalias, or rather, the Independent Mobile Anti-pirate Fleet sure had a lot to deal with huh.¡±

    ¡°Indeed¡­¡­ Fortunately, everything was settled as mere incidents. They didn¡¯t escte to the level of a serious case¡­¡­ Yes, indeed.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t really sure about the criteria they use to ssify stuff as incidents and serious cases though. Did they differentiate them through the inclusion of criminal intent or inherent risk? In any case, good for them.

    Now, I just need to make sure not to admit that we were the cause. At worst, I¡¯d probably get detained as a result. It was something akin to hypnotic terrorism after all. I wouldn¡¯t have had to worry if it was contained within my ship, but I¡¯d be lucky if I just get pped with a fine since we made a mess of the entire interior of the Dauntless.

    ¡°Oya? What¡¯s wrong, Kugi-kun? You¡¯re sweating buckets y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°N-No, it is nothing.¡±

    Kugi¡¯splexion was pale as she got drenched in cold sweat. Kugi-san? Can you tone down your reaction, please? Youpletely look like the guilty party y¡¯know?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Capt. Serena¡¯s gaze turned suspicious once more. No, no, no, we don¡¯t know anything.

    ¡°Sorry, Kugi. I talked so openly about it¡­¡­ I need to dispel the suspicions toward us after all.¡±

    ¡°I-It¡¯s fine, My Lord.¡±

    It was a delicate topic, so I signaled Capt. Serena with my eyes so she wouldn¡¯t pry too much. She red back at me in a displeased manner, but Capt. Serena still had no business prying into the personal affairs of me, Kugi, and the other crew members. It was quite personal after all. So I didn¡¯t care no matter how much she red at me.

    By the way, mypanion today was only Kugi. The mechanic sisters were exhausted and feltzy due to yesterday¡¯s stuff. Mimi and Elma had no business in theb in the first ce, and Mei needs to stay and manage the Lotus.

    ¡°¡­¡­Alright, fine. We¡¯ve managed topletely quell the uproar, so we¡¯ll be leaving in 12 hours. The Screech Owls will be apanying us as guides.¡±

    ¡°Roger. Well, we better prepare for departure then. Let¡¯s go back to the ship, Kugi.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    I actually wanted to ask if the spheres were affected by the pink-colored mental waves that I and Kugi unleashed and whether or not they disyed some abnormal behavior afterward, but I missed my chance. Well, neither Dr. Shouko nor Mr. Wells mentioned anything about it, so I suppose there weren¡¯t any notable changes. I¡¯ll ask them properly next time.

    ¡°So, we¡¯re finally going huh.¡±

    Elma muttered while disying a slightlynguid atmosphere, perhaps because she still hasn¡¯tpletely recovered from yesterday¡¯s ¡®exercises¡¯. However, her skin was smooth and shiny though. It didn¡¯t really look like she was sick at all.

    ¡°Um, why is Kugi-chan getting smaller and smaller over there, Hiro-sama?¡±

    Mimi, who was sitting in a corner of the break space, asked worriedly as she looked at Kugi who was sitting on the floor while holding her knees in front of the terrarium.

    ¡°Oh, uh¨C¡­¡­ Y¡¯know. It¡¯s about what happened the night before yesterday.¡±

    ¡°The pink-colored poisonous mental waves?¡±

    ¡°Can you stop calling it that already? But yeah, it¡¯s about that. It leaked out there because we didn¡¯t put up any countermeasures, right?¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    ¡°That stuff is treated as an embarrassing thing in the Holy Vuelzarus Empire too, but basically, you can get away with it if you can properly justify yourself, and you wouldn¡¯t get ostracized for it.¡±

    ¡°Oh¨C¡­¡­ I see.¡±

    Elma, who realized what was going on with Kugi, disyed a bitter smile.

    ¡°And, well, it¡¯s actually treated as an act of terrorism here in the Gran empire. So, on top of doing that without considering the consequences too much, she¡¯s feeling down because it could have led to me getting in trouble with the authorities here.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ It does seem like a bit of a terrorist act.¡±

    Kugi¡¯s ears, which were drooping down, suddenly stood up. Maybe it was due to Whisker¡¯sment.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Kugi. There¡¯s no evidence anyway, and even if they¡¯re suspicious of us, it¡¯s impossible to prove our guilt. It¡¯s a different story if they have an interrogation method that can directly pry into what¡¯s in our heads, but they won¡¯t do anything drastic with just some unfounded suspicions.¡±

    Unless you were a dangerous criminal such as a space pirate, you won¡¯t be subjected to methods that can directly hack into your brain and dredge your memories. And after all, the Dauntless apparently have any equipment rted to psionics, so our crime ¨C if it can really be called a crime ¨C probably won¡¯t get found out.

    ¡°But y¡¯know, you¡¯d get in trouble sooner orter if you keep doing stuff like that.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s probably fine already. I think.¡±

    I should be able to control it if I trained properly with Kugi for a bit. She did say the amount of potential that¡¯s flowing out of me has sharply decreased after my¡ºeye¡»was opened.

    ¡°Anyway, we¡¯ll be heading out soon, so make sure you¡¯re in your best physical condition, everyone.¡±

    ¡°I understand that, but¡­¡­ Come to think of it, you sure look pretty energetic huh.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m somehow full of energy today.¡±

    Elma, Mimi, Tina, and Wiska seemed to be quite tired after yesterday¡¯s romp, but I seemed to be fine for some reason. I wonder if this was also due to me taking control of my psionic powers. Did it also have an effect on physical strength and stamina?

    ¡°We need to prepare for leaving port, but we¡¯ve already finished replenishing our supplies and performing maintenance on our ships, so there¡¯s basically nothing left to do. If you have that much energy, then gofort Kugi and spend time with Mei. We¡¯ll be fine here.¡±

    ¡°Roger that.¡±

    Lifting up the mood of one¡¯s maidroid partner might seem like a strange concept to a lot of the people in this world, but I owe a lot to Mei after all. That¡¯s why I make sure not to make light of herpany. In any case, I¡¯ll cheer Kugi up first, then go and see Mei.

    Recently, I apanied Kugi and the others to theb while Mei had to stay behind, so I wasn¡¯t able to spend much time with thetter. She also needed to look after ck Lotus these past two days, so she wasn¡¯t able to join the rest of us. That¡¯s why I have to make it up to Mei.

 Chapter 364: To the Riche System

    After weunched, the fleet quickly transitioned to operation mode. As expected of the Independent Mobile Anti-pirate Fleet. Since pirates were quick to run away if they dilly-dallied, the entire fleet was ustomed to acting briskly in order to not miss their quarry. The pirates will escape if they took their sweet time after all.

    ¡°I had an image of the Edge World being really dangerous, but there doesn¡¯t seem to be anything particrly noteworthy out here huh.¡±

    ¡°Of courser, there¡¯s none. Once you leave the vicinity surrounding the Dauntless, what would be waiting for you are vicious space pirates and space monsters, so even veteran explorers don¡¯t reallye out here if they can help it.¡±

    I was currently lying on Mei¡¯sp as she stroked my head while Mimi and Elma were chatting leisurely in one corner within the break space of ck Lotus. Today was Mei Appreciation Day, so I made it a point to have Mei spoil me as much as she wanted. Or rather, I was really adored by Mei huh.

    During joint fleet operations with the Independent Mobile Anti-pirate Fleet, the Lotus is switched to semi-automatic navigation with the Anti-pirate Fleet at the helm, so there¡¯s no problem with Mei taking care of me like this.

    Krishna was parked inside the hangar of the Lotus, and the Antlion was being towed, so there¡¯s no need to pilot it. There¡¯s basically no chance of pirates attacking the fleet, and even if space monsters came out, they would be easy pickings with the fleet¡¯s firepower.

    ¡°My Lord, is it really fine to be soid back?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s really not much we can do at this point in the operation, so it¡¯s fine, Kugi.¡±

    We¡¯ve already performed maintenance on the ships and confirmed that the weapons and equipment were working properly, and in the first ce, we¡¯re not gonna be ying the leading role this time around. We¡¯re basically here as additional insurance and special consultants regarding psionic abilities, so there wasn¡¯t any n of us going down to the target unexplored¡¯s surface ourselves and fighting it out with those killer spheres. If we were ever called in to fight, it would be to provide close air support with Krishna at most.

    ¡°This current job doesn¡¯t have anythin¡¯ interestin¡¯ goin¡¯ on fer us huh.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have to go out there personally after all, Sis.¡±

    ¡°And even if we got some mysterious alien artifact from an alien civilization, it¡¯s outside our expertise.¡±

    Tina and Whisker specialize in starship-rted technology, which has a well-established technological system, so even if they acquire an alien artifact of unknown origin, handling it would be a bit too much for the two to handle.

    ¡°Well, I do have high hopes for the new armor material based on the shells of those spheres though. I think it¡¯s a pretty interestin¡¯ material.¡±

    ¡°But the cost will be¡­¡­ It would be nice if they can find a way to mass produce it.¡±

    ¡°Recing armor materials is pretty expensive after all.¡±

    ¡°Yup.¡±

    The most expensive starshipponent is actually its armor. The lowest quality armor materials were ridiculously cheap, but conversely, the high-grade ones were ridiculously expensive. Even when used to armor small-ss ships like Krishna, the difference in the cost when using high grade military standard armor materialpared to regr armor material is pretty steep. Right now, I still can¡¯t imagine just how much the price of the armor material manufactured using those sphere¡¯s shells would be.

    ¡°Our target destination is one star system away, right, Boss?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the Riche system. It¡¯s two hypene nodes away from the Kensan system where the Dauntless is located.¡±

    ¡°Do we have information about the system?¡±

    ¡°I checked earlier, but there¡¯s almost no information about it. It¡¯s a systemposed of fours centered around a B-type star. There¡¯s an asteroid beltposed of rocks and ice on the outer edge of the system, and all fours are rocky ones.¡±

    ¡°An asteroid belt mixed with icy bodies huh¡­¡­ Sounds like a perfect spot for space pirates.¡±

    They can source water from the ice masses in the asteroid belt, and since they¡¯re able to do that, it¡¯s possible for them to supply themselves with food and water if they get their hands on a serviceable energy source. That would make it easier for pirates to build a base within such ces. Well, it¡¯s basically the same thing as what the Gran empire does with its colonies.

    ¡°So, the problem is whether or not they¡¯ve already taken root huh? It seems there have been no reports of space monster sightings so far, so it¡¯s possible that pirates have at least already built a ry station there.¡±

    ¡°Well, even if that¡¯s the case, it won¡¯t be a problem for us this time around. After all, the ce is ted to be officially incorporated into the empire as part of its territory due to those spheres. So, that kind of thing will cease to be a problem once colonization efforts begin in earnest.¡±

    Even if the pirates really built a base in our current destination, the Riche system, it was highly unlikely that they would take the initiative to attack the Independent Mobile Anti-pirate Fleet during the course of the investigation. I¡¯m sure they¡¯d rathery low and hide.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t we going to look and hunt for pirates?¡±

    ¡°That depends on Colonel Serena. The purpose of this investigation is those mysterious spheres, so I don¡¯t think she¡¯d want to spend resources on unnecessary stuff. We aren¡¯t even sure if there really is a pirate base there.¡±

    I answered Whisker¡¯s question and waved it off.

    An asteroid belt with ice bodies is conducive to self-sufficiency, so the possibility of pirates taking root in one is pretty high, but whether or not they have taken root is another matter.

    ¡°We are about to enter the final hypene node soon.¡±

    ¡°How long will it take to navigate this hypene?¡±

    ¡°It will take about an hour and a half.¡±

    ¡°Then I can stillze around for another hour.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mei continued to stroke my head and stomach while giving me ap pillow. Even though Mei¡¯s body was basically mechanical, she was still warm and soft. How mysterious. I gotta hand it to Orient Industry. How impressive.

 Chapter 365: HA! NA! SE! (LET! GO! OF ME!)

    ¡°Hiro-sama, Captain Serena asked you toe over to the Restalias.¡±

    ¡°Huuh? What for?¡±

    After arriving at the Riche system and forming up in the orbit of the target, Riche III, Mimi reported something strange, and I couldn¡¯t help but retort in a dubious tone. Cuz calling me up and wanting to meet me face to face at this time is really suspicious y¡¯know?

    ¡°It looks like she wants you to apany her in power armor proficiency training. She said she hadn¡¯t had the opportunity to practice operating her new power armor ever since she received it.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Is that woman nning on descending to the surface personally again?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s an imperial noble after all¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°But isn¡¯t it bad for themanding officer to rush to the front lines¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s due to tradition.¡±

    After saying so, Elma shrugged her shoulders. I can make sense of the logic behind saying that themander wouldn¡¯t be able to avoid being shot at anyway even if they stayed in the back in an outer space fleet battle, but amander personally going to the front lines during a melee was dangerous and inefficient no matter how you slice it¡­¡­ Well, I can¡¯t really criticize it that much since it¡¯s tradition.

    ¡°Okay then. I¡¯ll bring my power armor ande over¡­¡­ You shoulde with me as well, Elma. Though it¡¯s unlikely, it¡¯s still too early for Mimi and Kugi to handle Krishna if I somehow mess up and get injuredter.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. Well, Antlion can¡¯t be used for close air support here anyway.¡±

    The Antlion¡¯s main weapon was a high-outputser beam emitter, and its sub-weapons were seeker missile pods, so it really wasn¡¯t suited for the role of close air support here in the Riche system. That¡¯s because thermo-optical weapons didn¡¯t work well against those spheres. Krishna¡¯s shot-cannons were most likely a lot more effective. But since the thermo-optical weapons equipped on starships have much higher outputspared to those used by infantry and power armor troops, wasn¡¯t it possible that they¡¯d actually work better on the spheres? Still, the shot-cannons were probably a safer bet.

    And so, I partnered with Mimi and Elma partnered with Kugi as weunched out and headed to the Restalias with almost all members together to meet up with Capt. Serena. However¨C

    ¡°Would you minding down to the¡¯s surface with me?¡±

    Capt. Serena smiled sweetly and acted in a coquettish manner. I smiled back at her.

    ¡°I¡¯m outta here.¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait! Don¡¯t just suddenly decide to leave like that!¡±

    When I turned on my heel, Capt. Serena grabbed my clothes and held on to me with all her might. Eei, let go, woman! Don¡¯t use your enhanced physical strength to do stuff like this. You¡¯re freaking strong!

    ¡°Of course, I won¡¯t agree! You guys are definitely gonna get into a damn scuffle against the leader of those killer metallic spiders! I still remember how miserable it was when you dragged me to that that was in the middle of being terraformedst time!¡±

    ¡°But you were really reliable back then! Other nobles are also going to apany me this time around. However, you¡¯re the only one I feel I can entrust my back to! And besides, only the two of us have custom-made power armors!¡±

    ¡°I! WILL! NEVER! DO IT! LET! GO! OF ME!¡±

    I was nning on watching from above inside Krishna! You really think I¡¯d agree to do something like leaping headfirst into that deathtrap!?

    ¡°Reward! I¡¯ll pay you a handsome reward! I¡¯ll make sure to provide you with amplepensation as themander of this fleet!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­How much are we talking about?¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­¡­ About 50,000 Enels or so?¡±

    ¡°My life isn¡¯t that cheap dammit! At least give me ten times that amount!¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you being too greedy!? You¡¯re already receiving pay fit for a tinum-rank mercenary!¡±

    ¡°Starshipbat and providing close air support are included in the scope of the contract, but descending to a wearing power armor and having a deadly battle with those freaky killer spiders using swords isn¡¯t! I dare you to read the contract a million times and then tell me I¡¯m wrong!¡±

    Elma sighed and got between me and Capt. Serena.

    ¡°Yes, yes, stop it, you two. Quit yelling at each other like brats. We¡¯re all grown adults here.¡±

    ¡°Gunuu.¡±

    ¡°Tsk.¡±

    It¡¯s true that I got a bit emotional¡­¡­ Uh, more than a bit, I guess. Of course, I would. I tried to justify myself, but Elma held me back.

    ¡°I get why you¡¯re so dissatisfied, Hiro. You don¡¯t like fighting in the flesh in the first ce. And it¡¯s a high-risk mission outside of the contract we agreed on.¡±

    I folded my arms and heavily nodded in response to Elma, who urately expressed my dissatisfaction. Of course, wearing power armor was a lot safer than going in unprotected, but its armor was still as thin as paper whenpared to Krishna¡¯s cockpit, which was protected by a triple energy shieldyer and special extra-thick military-grade armor. It was naturally still dangerous. If I let my guard down even for a moment, my limbs or head could end up saying bye-bye forever, along with my life.

    ¡°But y¡¯know Hiro, you also hate things leaving a bad taste in your mouth, right? Are you sure you won¡¯t regret it if youpletely ignore Captain Serena¡¯s request and she actually ends up dying?¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s¡­¡­¡±

    But isn¡¯t that a bit unfair? It¡¯s true that we have a good rtionship with Capt. Serena. and I would certainly feel regretful if she ends up dead or missing after I turn down her request, but this and that are different, okay? We¡¯re mercenaries y¡¯know? Everything would be over if I died as well, right?

    ¡°Who would look after you guys if I end up dying as well? I have a duty to take care of you guys as the captain of our crew. That¡¯s why I would never willingly cross a dangerous bridge. It¡¯s because my life isn¡¯t solely mine anymore. I also have you guys to consider.¡±

    ¡°Then you just have to insist that Captain Serena take the lead. It¡¯s not like we want you to go to the front lines personally you know? But if they¡¯re nning on doing the same thing asst time, then there¡¯s no need to consider it.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve already identified the points to be explored and will usebat bots as the vanguard force, so even if I¡¯m going down there myself, I have no ns of personally fighting in the front lines as well.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure about that¡­¡­?¡±

    You¡¯re not lying, are you? You¡¯re saying that now, but you won¡¯t take to the front lines anywayter on, right?

    ¡°It¡¯s true. If I break my promise, you can privately demand whatever you want of me.¡±

    Capt. Serena ced her hand on her chest and disyed a self-satisfied look. Did you know, Captain? That¡¯s called raising a g. Also, I have absolutely no intention of demanding anything from you privately, so no thank you.

    So, in the end, I put on my power armor and descended to the surface of the with Capt. Serena. Well, it¡¯s true that I won¡¯t be able to sleep easy if I abandoned her now, but¡­¡­ somehow, I still ain¡¯t convinced y¡¯know? It feels like I was wheedled into this situation. I guess I owe Elma one.

    ¡°The atmosphere isposed mostly of carbon dioxide¡­¡­ The atmospheric pressure is extremely low, and basically, it¡¯s not an environment where humans can survive unassisted.¡±

    I muttered as I looked at the data disyed on my HUD. The gravity seems to be pretty weak, and it¡¯s kinda scary to move around too much before getting used to it. And so, proceeded to familiarize myself with the environment.

    ¡ºOya, you¡¯re performing a movement check even without my reminder huh? Impressive.¡»

    ¡°Thanks, I guess.¡±

    Capt. Serena, who was wearing her white knight-like power armor, called out to me, and I replied nonchntly. Need I remind you that you were whining and clinging to me so desperately just an hour ago,dy? It¡¯s no use trying to make yourself look cool andposed again. Your image is already in tatters.

    ¡°I¡¯m definitely not gonna head to the front line this time around.¡±

    ¡ºI know already. Unless something extraordinary happens, there would be no need for us to actively participate in the operation.¡»

    Stop saying stuff like that already. I¡¯m starting to feel that we¡¯re really gonna get forced to go out there.

    ¡ºCaptain! Arge number of unidentified objects havee out of the target ruin-like structure!¡»

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡º¡­¡­¡»

    The captain¡¯s and my gaze met through the visors of our power armors.

    See!?

 Chapter 366: Difficult to Describe Tetrahedron

    ¡ºSend me the recording.¡»

    Inside the simply constructedmand post built from parts printed out by a material projector and protected by an energy shield, Capt. Serena groaned as if nursing a painful headache. If she wasn¡¯t wearing power armor, she would have already pressed down on her temples or the spot between her eyebrows.

    ¡ºHaah. I¡¯ll show you the footage as well.¡»

    The holo-disy installed inside the simplemand post first showed the image of a man who appeared to be a front-linemander. Then, the recording switched to his perspective. Capt. Serena would have lost it if they only sent back a sound recording and demanded that they make a more detailed report. But with the technology avable to the imperial military, taking clear footage of the object was easily achievable.

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, it certainly looks the part of an unidentified mysterious object.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but mutter.

    It was an object that¡¯s difficult to urately describe. I suppose you can describe it as a tetrahedron or triangr pyramid. It was a towering lead-colored tetrahedron that was actually moving about using dark grey-colored limbs of some sort. A pattern that resembled an eye could be seen on one of its surfaces, but whether or not it really was an eye or some sort of sensory organ, in general, was unclear.

    ¡º¡­¡­Do you think this thing is perhaps apanion of those weird spheres?¡»

    ¡°It could be their father, mother, or maybe even brother or sister, Captain.¡±

    ¡ºIt looks like there really is something wrong with your head. Anyway, try to get in contact with it using the equipment we brought over.¡»

    ¡ºMa¡¯am!¡»

    The marines of the Independent Mobile Anti-pirate Fleet prepared the special equipment which resembled a hand-carried parabolic antenna and pointed it toward the tetrahedron. The machine was the one developed by Dr. Shouko, the mechanic sisters, and the other researchers tomunicate with the spheres using mental waves by making use of the database of thetest multilingual trantion imnt.

    Unfortunately, the spherespletely rejected everymunication attempt, but they did seed in deciphering the mental waves used by the spheres formunicating among themselves to some extent. They alsopletely seeded in using the machine to telepathicallymunicate with Kugi.

    It was the very first device in Gran empire history that uses psychic waves formunication instead of the usual scientific methods such as electromaic or radio waves, and Mr. Wells was gushing a lot about it, but I can¡¯t really judge if that¡¯s amazing or not personally. Also, it seems like Kugi¡¯s home country has something even more amazing.

    ¡ºIt looks like this is the first time the Screech Owls have seen that thing as well.¡»

    ¡°The appearance of that thing is really unforgettable after all.¡±

    In other words, the fact that we haven¡¯t gotten any information at all regarding that giant mobile tetrahedron meant that the other party had taken some sort of special measures in response to our arrival.

    ¡°In other words, it¡¯s an object that has the required intelligence to grasp the situation with some degree of uracy and take some kind of special action in response, or perhaps a pawn of such an intelligent entity, Captain.¡±

    ¡º¡­¡­My stomach¡¯s starting to hurt.¡»

    The sight of Capt. Serena donned in her white power armor stroking her stomach and making ttering noises as a result was somewhatedic. Your brand new power armor will get scratched if you keep that up, Captain.

    ¡ºCaptain, the target has moved again.¡»

    After hearing the power armor-wearing Lt. Robbitson¡¯s warning, we quickly turned our attention back to the holo-disy. A portion of the giant tetrahedron pyramid split from its body and floated up in the air. Perhaps it was actually akin to a colony made up of smaller tetrahedrons.

    Well, right now, instead of making such observations, it would be better to get our guards up, because we didn¡¯t know what exactly the action meant. It would be nice if it was actually a friendly gesture, but I somehow doubt that.

    ¡ºDeploy the shield. Maximum output.¡»

    ¡ºD-Deploying energy shield!¡»

    The instant the marines activated the portable base defense-use shield generator, we were overrun by a powerful psychic shockwave.

    It was apanied by one single thought:¡¾Begone.¡¿

    ¡ºGaah¨C!?¡»

    ¡ºGuu¨C!?¡»

    The image projected on the holo-disy fluctuated violently from the shockwave, and it soon affected the ground as well. Capt. Serena, and the other soldiers inside themand post all held their heads and fell to their knees. The soldiers who were directly facing the pyramid in the front line all copsed, and the people stationed around themand post that was 3 kilometers away also fell to their knees due to the impact.

    Except for me, that is.

    ¡°¡­¡­Are you guys alright?¡±

    ¡º¡­¡­Why weren¡¯t you affected?¡»

    ¡°It¡¯s probably due to my special constitution.¡±

    It was the truth after all, so I could only answer like that. As a result of my ¡®eye¡¯ getting opened, I was able to withdraw and restrain the psionic power that constantly leaked out of me in the past, and my resistance to psionic-type attacks increased significantly as a result. Apparently. I still haven¡¯t gotten used to it myself.

    ¡ºWhat was that, just now?¡»

    ¡°I have a good guess. Since I heard it saying ¡®begone¡¯ as it unleashed that shockwave, it was probably a high-output telepathic shock.¡±

    I replied to Capt. Serena who propped herself up using the table where the holo-disy was installed and shrugged my shoulders. To think I¡¯d be able to easily make such gestures even while wearing power armor. As expected of a high-quality made-to-order custom product.

    ¡ºBegone? How haughty¡­¡­ Or rather, you actually understood that grating noise it made?¡»

    ¡°Noise? Didn¡¯t it talk like normal earlier¡­¡­? Oh.¡±

    Come to think of it, my head seemed to be specially wired to be able to understand mostnguages even though I didn¡¯t have a multilingual trantion imnt. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was a cheat privilege of a guy isekai-d to another word or something to that effect, but it looks like the multilingual trantion imnt didn¡¯t seem to be able to trante that thing¡¯s mental waves.

    ¡°Mine¡¯s a bit special, y¡¯see.¡±

    I poked the helmet part of my power armor with a fingertip, and Capt. Serena let out an exasperated sigh in response.

    ¡ºYour constitution and imnt are special, you can rival and even win against imperial noble swordsmen even though you are unenhanced, and you¡¯re also an incredibly skilledbat starship pilot on top of all that. Are you actually aic hero in the flesh or something? Well, now¡¯s not the time to be focusing on that though.¡»

    ¡°Thanks for the praise, I suppose.¡±

    If you have time to fool around, why don¡¯t you check the status of the front-line troops first, Captain? Unfortunately, the soldiers stationed on the front line all seemed to have passed out, and none of them responded to our transmissions. Judging from the readings made through their power armors, their vital signals were in the safe range, so their lives weren¡¯t in immediate danger for now, at least.

    ¡ºActivate the discer. Wake those soldiers up.¡»

    ¡ºDiscer activated. Rousing the soldiers using their power armor¡¯s medical device¡­¡­ Failed. Their vital signs are normal, but they¡¯re all in aa.¡»

    ¡ºHow troublesome¡­¡­ I heard that the Holy Empire uses supernatural powers in order to destroy the consciousness of its enemies. Was that attack earlier something simr?¡»

    Destroying consciousness? How scary¡­¡­ So, it¡¯s basically causing another party¡¯s mind to copse? Wasn¡¯t that too brutal?

    ¡ºIt can¡¯t be helped¡­¡­ Captain Hiro.¡»

    ¡°I don¡¯t really wanna ask, but what is it anyway?¡±

    ¡ºIt looks like you are the only one present who can confront that thing. Please head to the front line and try to converse with it.¡»

    ¡°¡­¡­Thebat bots are still functioning, right? Why not blow it up to kingdome?¡±

    The image shown on the holo-disy switched from the perspective of the soldiers on the front line to that of thebat bots apanying them. Thebat bots seem to b working without any problems so far, and we could still fully control them, so wouldn¡¯t it be better to let that pyramid thing know the terror ofrge super alloy robots?

    ¡ºYou guys were the ones who hinted about the possibility of those things being sentient intelligent beings in the first ce. If they really are intelligent beings, then the Gran Empire has no choice but to try and establish peaceful contact with them. Unfortunately.¡»

    ¡°Even so, it doesn¡¯t make sense for a hired mercenary like me to undertake such a crucial task, right?¡±

    ¡ºYou may not be a soldier of the Gran Empire, but right now, you are still a mercenary formerly hired by the imperial military in exchange for substantial pay. Therefore, you have an obligation to follow your client¡¯s demands.¡»

    The knight in pure white armor asserted strongly.

    Goddammit. I really should have resolutely refused this request.

 Chapter 367: Close Encounter of the Third Kind

    Soldiers were first and foremost trained to obey the orders of their superiors. Well, that was only natural, of course. For example, if the soldiers were ordered to defend Point A, but they instead gave up all resistance and retreated on the spot, it could lead to ruining an entire operation.

    It¡¯s even easier to understand if you think about it in terms of video games. If your character doesn¡¯t jump when you press the jump button, doesn¡¯t attack when you press the attack button, and uses debuff magic even though you clearly ticked the recovery magicmand, the game would basically be unyable.

    In other words, it¡¯s a must for soldiers to be able to carry out themands of their superiors without a hitch, or they¡¯d just be garbage. They must serve as an organized and well-oiled machine out on the battlefield. Basically, they need to be the perfect pawns. And right now, that very same quality is being required of me, a mercenary.

    ¡°This is why I really don¡¯t like being hired by the military¡­¡­¡±

    I inwardlyined as I made full use of my ninja power armor¡¯s mobility and rushed to the front line that was 3 kilometers away. I jumped over craggy rock formations, kicking up gravel in the process, and passed by imperial soldiers apanied by medium-sizedbat bots.

    ¡°Captain, what¡¯s the situation on the front line?¡±

    ¡ºI suppose you can say it¡¯s currently a stalemate. We haven¡¯t observed any further movements from the subject.¡»

    ¡°In other words, it isn¡¯t showing any intention to interfere with the withdrawal of the soldiers huh.¡±

    ¡ºOr perhaps, it¡¯s simply observing our actions first. We still have no idea where that thing¡¯s sensory organs are located.¡»

    For the time being, the seemingly sentient pyramid remained quiet after that first outburst. Unfortunately, it was difficult for a human like me to actually decipher the thoughts of that pyramid. Too difficult.

    ¡°I wonder if this means it doesn¡¯t really have an overly hostile attitude toward us¡­¡­¡±

    By the way, the effect of the mental shockwave emitted by the tetrahedral pyramid on the Krishna which Elma was currently piloting, and ck Lotus which was under Mei¡¯s control seemed to be very minimal. Capt. Serena and the other soldiers stationed 3 kilometers away from the source of the shockwave were only brought to their knees but didn¡¯t pass outpletely, so it seemed that the further away one was, the lesser the effect.

    ¡°In any case, I have no choice but to get in contact with that thing huh.¡±

    After jumping over a small reddish-hued hill, I finally saw what seemed to be ruins buried in dust, the temporary imperial outpost being defended bybat bots and an energy shield, and the huge tetrahedral pyramid sitting just beyond it. Un, it really was pretty big. It was about the same size as a Titan-ssbat bot. In other words, it was around 10 meters or so.

    ¡°Huh¡­¡­?¡±

    The moment I saw it, the thing also picked up on my presence. I don¡¯t know why I felt this way, but I was sure it was the case for some reason. I sighed inwardly at my bing more and more of a superhuman and moved toward the imperial encampment.

    ¡°How efficient.¡±

    As expected, the encampment waspletely empty. The soldiers who passed out after getting hit by the shockwave were all evacuated bybat bots. All that¡¯s left were bots that solely specialized inbat and weren¡¯t suited to transporting soldiers such as the Titan-ss. I was currently the only human inside the ce.

    Now, as per Capt. Serena¡¯s orders, I need to try and establishmunication with the tetrahedral pyramid using the psionicmunication device while enduring its presence.

    She did say thebat bots were ready to deploy in case of an emergency, so I should make sure I¡¯d be able to retreat smoothly if things go south.

    Eh? Was it really okay to retreat in the face of the enemy? I have no obligation of dying in battle for the imperial military after all, and I only agreed to do this because Capt. Serena promised I could use thebat bots as decoys and escape in case of danger. I would have firmly refused toe to the front line no matter what if I wasn¡¯t promised at least that much.

    As a mercenary, it was necessary to respond to a client¡¯s orders as much as possible, but the client was also obligated to minimize the threat to a mercenary¡¯s life as much as possible. In other words, it was against the rules to purposely send mercenaries into highly lethal situations as sacrificial pawns. I fought for the right to retreat at my discretion using that rule as a shield. Long live this world¡¯s ¡®advanced¡¯ human rights policy and the Mercenary Guild.

    ¡°I¡¯ve arrived at the site.¡±

    ¡ºWell, that was fast. Please begin trying to establish contact immediately.¡»

    ¡°Roger that.¡±

    I linked up with the psionicmunication device that was left inside the camp and started operating it. Well, it wasn¡¯t that difficult to operate it. I just needed to connect my power armor to the psionicmunicator using a standard port and speak normally. The psionicmunicator automatically reads and trantes the mental waves released when one speaks, and then transmits them telepathically. And when it picks up a telepathic response from another party, the psionicmunicator trantes the content and disys it on the inbuilt holo-disy.

    Quite simple and easy. No problems whatsoever. Well, that should be the case if anyone other than me was using it.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    After I connected my armor to themunicator¡¯s port, I remembered something crucial. The psionicmunicator primarily uses spirit silverponents in order to read the thoughts of the user.

    A loud hiss echoed out, and the connection port popped off. I quickly pulled out the connector cord the moment I remembered that little detail, but it was already toote.

    ¡ºWhat was that sound? What happened?¡»

    I heard Capt. Serena¡¯s voice from thebat bot that was standing beside me. Oh, so she was monitoring the situation remotely huh?

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything weird to it, but it looks like it broke.¡±

    ¡ºAre you freaking kidding me!?¡»

    ¡°I¡¯m not. I didn¡¯t do anything wrong, okay?¡±

    Of course, I didn¡¯t mention the fact that Ipletely forgot how spirit silver and I had the worstpatibility.

    ¡°Well, at least the reception function¡¯s still working fine¡­¡­ Do you want me to try andmunicate with it using bodynguage?¡±

    ¡ºCan you make use of your usual devil¡¯s luck to somehow awaken the ability tomunicate telepathically or make the subject speak ournguage?¡»

    ¡°Don¡¯t demand something so unreasonable¡­¡­¡±

    I wouldn¡¯t have as much of a hard time if I could consciously control those kinds of surprise developments y¡¯know.

    ¡°Hmm. Hey, Pyramid-san. We want to have a dialogue with you, but are you willing?¡±

    I tried calling out to the tetrahedral pyramid from within the camp for the heck of it. When I did so, the small floating tetrahedron that separated from the main body suddenly pointed its tip toward me. Huh? An attack? I put my guard up, but what came wasn¡¯t an attack but a powerful mental wave instead.

    ¡¾Affirmative.¡¿

    I couldn¡¯t help but furrow my brows when that mental wave pierced through the depths of my mind.

    ¡°That¡¯s great. But your voice is a bit too loud. I¡¯m fine, but the others won¡¯t be able to take it. Can you please decrease the output of your telepathy a bit?¡±

    ¡¾Acknowledged.¡¿

    The mental wave¡¯s strength this time around was more eptable. Or rather, I was actually able to have a normal conversation with it. Was it capable of hearing my voice?

    ¡¾Negative. Method learned from those who appear to be yourrades.¡¿

    ¡°Are you saying you extracted the necessary information tomunicate with us from the imperial soldiers that fainted earlier?¡±

    ¡¾Affirmative.¡¿

    ¡°In other words, you¡¯re able to read my thoughts directly and don¡¯t require physical speech formunication. That¡¯s convenient right now, but humans basically don¡¯t find it pleasant for someone else to read their minds without consent. You might find the concept difficult toprehend, but I suggest that you refrain from doing so in the future.¡±

    ¡¾In consideration.¡¿

    Now then, thankfully, it looks like the pyramid was willing to amodate me to some extent. I have a strong feeling that this was gonna be a pretty difficult dialogue, but for now, contact was established rtively peacefully. It would be great if the uing negotiations go smoothly as well.

 Chapter 368: Intelligent Alien

    Negotiations with the other party, or rather,municating with ¡®him¡¯ in general proved to be quite troublesome.

    ¡¾What is the Gran Empire?¡¿

    ¡°The Gran Empire is the gctic empire that exists closest to this star system, and is an interster nation that rules a great number of star systems.¡±

    ¡¾What is a gctic empire? What is a star system? What is an interster nation?¡¿

    ¡°Err¨C¡­¡­¡±

    It seemed that while the other party was able to extract a certain degree of basic conversational ability from theatose imperial soldiers, the information it was able to obtain was still very iplete. Hence,municating with ¡®him¡¯ was a slow and arduous process, with me having to exin a lot of terms and concepts.

    Fortunately, Mr. Tetrahedral Pyramid-san¡¯s brain ¨C if it even had an actual brain in the first ce ¨C appeared to be quite excellent, and he was able to remember everything I told him after just one exnation. That was the only silver lining.

    ¡°Do I really have to do this on my own? My heart¡¯s about to break y¡¯know.¡±

    ¡ºWe have no choice. Anyone apart from you would pass out the moment they get close to the subject.¡»

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you guys do something about that first?¡±

    If I wasn¡¯t present, there was no way to effectivelymunicate with Mr. Tetrahedral Pyramid, and now I¡¯m worried about what¡¯s gonna happen after this. I had absolutely no intention of serving as an exclusive interpreter for Mr. Tetrahedral Pyramid.

    And so, while grumbling to Capt. Serena from time to time, I continued tomunicate with Mr. Tetrahedral Pyramid while receiving support from the Independent Mobile Anti-pirate Fleet in the form of supplemental knowledge.

    With the goal of achieving mutual understanding, I exined our position and asked Mr. Pyramid about his own circumstances.

    ¡°In other words, you¡¯re saying you don¡¯t even know where you came from?¡±

    ¡¾Correct. We have no knowledge about exactly how we came to this ce.¡¿

    ¡°Does that mean there are other beings simr to you in this?¡±

    ¡¾Incorrect. We are we. In other words, we are a collectiveposed of what you refer to as¡ºtetrahedral pyramids¡»and¡ºspheres¡»¡¿

    ¡°In other words, you and those spheres are different parts of the same existence¡­¡­ Uh, just like our arms and legs?¡±

    ¡¾Affirmative.¡¿

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    Uh, many of those spheres have been taken out of this, sold, destroyed, or treated as experimental subjects though.

    ¡°Even though we didn¡¯t know, that¡¯s still pretty bad huh.¡±

    ¡¾We are aware that the collective¡¯s number is decreasing. Requesting immediate release.¡¿

    ¡°That¡¯s what he said, colonel.¡±

    ¡ºI¡¯ve confirmed the situation. However, it would be a problem for us if the spheres acted violently while we¡¯re releasing them, so it would be helpful if they could stay in their sphere state until we¡¯vepleted the process.¡»

    ¡°How are you gonna bring them out? Are you gonna have Restaliasnd on the?¡±

    Although the¡¯s gravity won¡¯t cause the fleet to get damaged or break, are they gonna be able to escape the¡¯s gravitational fieldter afternding on the?

    ¡ºIt¡¯s not impossible, but the risks are high. So, we¡¯ll have to send them down via drop pod.¡»

    That¡¯s why they need all the spheres to be docile while they¡¯re loading them onto the drop pod, apparently.

    Afterward, the mental wave interference shield deployed around theb was deactivated, and Mr. Tetrahedral Pyramid took control of the spheres inside theb of Restalias, calming them down. Marines under themand of Capt. Serena loaded the now-inert spheres onto a drop pod and sent it down to the¡¯s surface.

    ¡°That sure is surreal.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but quip while watching the ck spheres rolling out of the drop pod without missing a beat. Or rather, they actually didn¡¯t deploy their legs to move about this time around huh. Was this some sort of power saving mode or something?

    ¡°Is that all of them?¡±

    ¡¾Negative. The remaining collective is only 20% of the peak number.¡¿

    ¡°People already brought away so many huh¡­¡­¡±

    Of course, not all of them should have been brought away, and some might simply have encountered idents of some kind and became incapacitated as a result, but still, only 20% were left huh?

    ¡¾Question.¡¿

    ¡°Yes, go ahead.¡±

    ¡¾We would like to ask about the substance we encountered within theboratory.¡¿

    The substance Mr. Pyramid was referring to should be the spirit silver. Or rather, Mr. Pyramid was able to obtain info from the spheres in practically an instant huh.

    ¡°It¡¯s a special material called spirit silver. It¡¯s highly prized on a that¡¯s located far away from here. What did they call it¡­¡­? Right, it was called a kind of psionic amplification material. It apparently has the effect of responding to and amplifying psionic power.¡±

    ¡¾That material is what we are looking for!¡¿

    A new mini-pyramid separated from therge pyramid and released mental waves akin to a scream of excitement. Well, look who¡¯s all excited.

    ¡°Whoah, calm down a bit, please. I¡¯m alright, but the others might pass out again.¡±

    ¡¾Apologies. But we have been looking for that kind of substance for so long.¡¿

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ You weren¡¯t able to find something simr on this, I suppose.¡±

    ¡¾After we awakened on this, we have spent countless years searching for such material. Acquisition of such a resource is our earnest desire.¡¿

    ¡°What are you gonna use it for? Are you guys gonna consume it or something?¡±

    ¡¾Partially correct. By taking in such materials, we are able to increase our numbers.¡¿

    In other words, breeding ¡ª or rather, self-replication huh? So, they need psionic amplification materials in order to do so. But what are they gonna do after they increase their numbers?

    ¡¾We also possess a self-preservation instinct. Securing such substances is essential for our survival.¡¿

    ¡°Is that so? Your parts are eventually gonna get worn out due to various factors, and as long as you don¡¯t have the ability to replenish your numbers, it would eventually decline to dangerous levels huh.¡±

    ¡¾Affirmative.¡¿

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about what conditions they¡¯re going to put forward, but I think the empire would be willing to negotiate for a rtively fair deal in exchange for enough benefits. But the problem is that apart from me, there appears to be no one among them that can endure your telepathy. I suppose you have no choice but to train to modte your telepathic output to a level where they wouldn¡¯t faint from it.¡±

    ¡¾Agreed. However, experimentation and verification are needed for sess.¡¿

    ¡°Yeah, of course. It looks like we have no choice but to conduct practical tests huh.¡±

    And so, it¡¯s now the turn of the empire¡¯s indomitable marines. And so, even though many of them ended up fainting, Mr. Tetrahedral Pyramid eventually managed to adjust his telepathic output to an appropriate level, and I was finally relieved of the role of a negotiator.

    But man, am I d that there was no need for my ninja power armor to y an active role. It would be nice if every incident I got involved with ended peacefully like this one.

 Chapter 369: Whining and Assault

    369 ¨C Whining and Assault

    ¡°Why¡­¡­ Just why¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡ºPlease stop whining already.¡»

    It was now about 30 minutes after I was released from the heavy responsibility of being the exclusive interpreter of Mr. Tetrahedron. I was currently wallowing in despair inside Krishna¡¯s cargo hold. Right next to me was Capt. Serena, who was wearing her knight-like power armor. Imperial marines in power armors also filled up the cargo hold along with us. It was packed like a can of sardines. 100% upancy. What is this,muter rush hour or something, you ask? Well, in a way, that might be an apt description.

    ¡ºYour Krishna was the most suitable fast-moving ship that was also capable of transporting soldiers.¡»

    ¡¸Ain¡¯t it fine to just destroy those guys with aser bombardment from orbit? Just any oldser attack wouldn¡¯t work on them anyway.¡¹

    ¡ºThat would just make their entire hideout copse and crush everything within it. That¡¯s no good. You really don¡¯t know when to give up, do you?¡»

    ¡¸Goddamit.¡¹

    We were currently riding Krishna and rushing straight for the pirate base on Riche III.

    The fastest carrier-based space fighters of the Independent Mobile Anti-pirate Fleet were serving as our wingmen. They couldn¡¯t transport soldiers though because they had next to no cargo space.

    ¡ºWe¡¯ll be reaching our objective soon. We willnd immediately after suppressing their anti-air weapons andser turrets.¡»

    ¡ºRoger that. Please fly safely.¡»

    ¡ºI¡¯ll try my best.¡»

    Elma and Capt. Serena were having a disturbingly normal-sounding exchange in spite of myints. Why did things turn out like this?

    ¡¾We are making a request again since mutualmunication has been achieved. We demand our immediate release.¡¿

    After many sacrifices (though they didn¡¯t actually die), Mr. Tetrahedron began to make such demands after we establishedmunication. Hmm?

    ¡¸Those should be all of the spheres we captured and brought over, right?¡¹

    ¡ºThat should be the case.¡»

    ¡¾There is a structure on the that seems to have been built by you. We are imprisoned within that structure.¡¿

    ¡ºOn the? The only structure we built is ourmand outpost located 3 kilometers away from here. There is actually another structure built on this¡¯s surface?¡»

    ¡¾Affirmative.¡¿

    The Riche system was located outside of the Edge World. It was a so-called unexplored area. Hence, such a ce ¨C especially one that sounds like aary base ¨C had a high chance of being something certain shady elements who couldn¡¯t freely ess stations normally would build.

    In other words, there was an extremely high probability that it was a pirate base. Oh, right. Come to think of it, the pirate base in space also had spheres stored inside it.

    ¡ºDo you know the exact location? The coordinates? How far is it from your position?¡»

    Capt. Serena anxiously asked Mr. Tetrahedron about the location of the aforementioned structure. Hmm. It¡¯s a little far from our current location huh? Well, it¡¯s not too far, I guess. That kind of distance can be easily covered by a starship.

    ¡¾We have a question.¡¿

    ¡¸What is it?¡¹

    ¡¾Why does a structure that you are not familiar with exist?¡¿

    Capt. Serena and I both tilted our heads to the side after hearing Mr. Tetrahedron¡¯s question. Well, it¡¯s naturally because it was probably made by pirates. Rather, why did this guy ask such a question in the first ce? Is it really that weird if we¡¯re not familiar with that structure?

    ¡ºThat¡¯s because, unlike you, we¡¯re not parts that make up a collective consciousness. Just as how you and we are different, there are also those among us that are of a different group.¡»

    ¡¾¡­¡­In other words, you mean to say that you are not one with yourpatriots, correct? Does that mean the possibility of conflicts arising between you exists?¡¿

    ¡ºWhen you talk about the history of humanity, conflicts between brethren have always been present.¡»

    Mr. Tetrahedron fell silent. Hm. Maybe it was dumbfounded. It kinda seems like its conveying a bitter or negative feeling.

    ¡°You¡¯re probably we¡¯re surprisingly quite barbaric, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡¾¡­¡­Withholding answer.¡¿

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The empire¡¯s, well, a rtively decent partner. In any case, associating with it isn¡¯t a bad choice.¡±

    At the very least, them not being your typical empire that liberally uses tyranny and violence to quell the popce and antagonize other countries is worthy of praise. Judging from Capt. Serena¡¯s actions so far, the empire seems to be quite cautious and reserved when ites to dealing with primitive civilizations and unknown lifeforms.

    ¡ºSend out some scouts. As for thending force¡­¡­ It can¡¯t be helped. Captain Hiro.¡»

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡ºYour Krishna has a rather decent amount of cargo space, correct?¡»

    ¡°Huh? Well, yeah. I suppose. We have the ck Lotus now, so its cargo hold is practically empty¡­¡­ Wait. Are you nning to stuff anding force inside Krishna?¡±

    ¡ºExactly. It¡¯s feasible, right?¡»

    ¡°Well, it is. But¡­¡­ you¡¯re actually nning on bringing me along, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡º¡­¡­¡»

    Capt. Serena silently turned away from me. Yeah, how obvious. It¡¯s so obvious even if you¡¯re wearing that full-body knight-like power armor. And somehow, I could imagine Capt. Serena¡¯s teasing grin under that visor. Dammit.

    ¡ºEnemyser turrets eliminated.¡»

    ¡ºWell, that was easy. I¡¯m gonnand now.¡»

    The anti-aircraft guns and turrets of the mysterious structure built on Riche III (that was actually a secret pirate base) were annihted by the Krishna and the carrier-based fighters of the Independent Mobile Anti-pirate Fleet. Elma then proceeded tond the Krishna on the ground.

    It was quite an easy battle. We basically just crushed theser cannons and multi-cannon turrets in a one-sided manner. They were basically helpless against my Krishna and the imperial fighters. And there was also a great difference in strength between our energy shields.

    ¡°We can just observe from outside once wend, right?¡±

    ¡ºOf course, not. I¡¯m gonna cut you down to size, you know?¡»

    ¡°H-Hold on, will you? I mean, don¡¯t we havebat bots and stuff?¡±

    I hurriedly reasoned with Capt. Serena, who had ced her hand on the hilt of her favorite sword, and she shrugged her shoulders in response. Wow. Her power armor sure was flexible. As expected of a high-end custom-made product.

    ¡ºUnfortunately, we already sent them all out back there.¡»

    ¡°¡­¡­Isn¡¯t it basic to leave a reserve force during operations?¡±

    ¡ºIn a situation where we didn¡¯t know the exact strength of our possible opponents, it didn¡¯t make sense to send in our forces in parts. And we also had sufficient air cover, so we ended up going all out. After all, we weren¡¯t expecting something like this in the first ce. However, this is ultimately just a pirate base. We¡¯re more than enough to take it down, correct?¡»

    Did she just raise a g? Well, it¡¯s true that pirates weren¡¯t exactly known for their close-quartersbat ability, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt to take extra precautions.

    ¡°Mei, are you able to confirm our current coordinates?¡±

    ¡ºYes, Master.¡»

    When I contacted Mei using my power armor¡¯sm function, I immediately received a reply from her. Since it¡¯s Mei we¡¯re talking about here, she must have been following our movements perfectly.

    ¡°You can also monitor the pirate base, right? Please deploy ourbat bots. Set them to suppressionbat operations mode.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood. Shall Imand them on my end?¡»

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you. Make sure not to damage those spheres.¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir. Please leave it to me. I will aplish everything and deliver the spheres to you in 180 seconds.¡»

    I cut off the transmission with Mei. I resolved myself to do what I could, however reluctant I was. But when I turned around, I found Capt. Serena staring hard at me for some reason. I couldn¡¯t exactly see her eyes since they were hidden behind her power armor¡¯s visor, but I could tell from her bodynguage that she was staring hard at me.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡ºOh, nothing. Nothing at all.¡»

    After saying so, Capt. Serena averted her gaze. What the heck? I couldn¡¯t see her expression because of the power armor she was wearing, so I really had no idea about what was going on. Uh, I could at least tell that she was somewhat dissatisfied. No. Maybe she was actually jealous or something like that.

    ¡°Maidroids sure are great huh? Oi, stop that, you idiot! You¡¯re gonna damage my armor!¡±

    For some reason, she was hitting me repeatedly on the stomach. What¡¯s up with her? Sheesh.

    Ultra-high heat was generated by adiabaticpression when a drop pod entered the¡¯s atmosphere. The pod containing our militarybat bots created a ming trail as it made its descent. ¡­¡­Wait, hold on. Ain¡¯t that a direct course for the pirate base?

    Consecutive impact noises loudly rang out. The drop pod carrying ourbat bots pierced through the outer shell of the structure that was disguised as a rock and rushed right in.

    Did Mei calcte it so the pod wouldnd near the entrance and not in the middle of the base? It would be crucial if the spheres were actually stored near theirnding zone.

    ¡°Mei, is that thing alright? Or rather, is it possible to retrieve the podter?¡±

    ¡ºIt¡¯s fine, Master. I will send in a separate drop pod next, and retrieval operations will be performed by that. The one I initially used was an assault drop pod meant for attacking surface facilities. It¡¯s a sample item provided by Eagle Dynamics.¡»

    ¡ºIt was just takin¡¯ up space anyway. It¡¯s great that it finally came in handy.¡»

    Tina barged into the conversation. Oh, is that so? Well, I did buy the entire package back then, so it wouldn¡¯t be strange if they also bundled in some extra items, I guess. But I didn¡¯t have any idea we had such a thing. Well, I left managing all of that stuff to Tina and the others, so it¡¯s no wonder I was clueless.

    ¡°Are there any other surprise machines left?¡±

    ¡ºYa purchased theplete package Boss. Ya really think they only included one extra item?¡»

    ¡°Uh, please tell me all the detailster¡­¡­¡±

    Yeah, I was too irresponsible. Well, it¡¯s really not something bad, but I just didn¡¯t like surprises all that much.

    ¡°They¡¯ve already registered our IFF signals, so shall we get going too, Captain?¡±

    ¡ºYes. Yes, of course. But why do things always end up getting too shy whenever you¡¯re involved?¡»

    ¡°Honestly, I wanna know why too.¡±

    It absolutely wasn¡¯t intentional. I swear. Really.

 Chapter 370: Mission Complete

    ¡°Hey.¡±

    ¡ºWhat is it?¡»

    ¡°Can¡¯t you do something about this custom of themander rushing headfirst into the frontlines?¡±

    I earnestly gave my honest opinion as we stood within the pirate base¡¯smand room which had turned into a sea of blood.

    The remains of what was formerly pirates were lying all around us. I think it would have been possible to capture them alive, but Capt. Serena made a swift decision to not take prisoners. And so, this was the result.

    ¡ºNo can do. This way is the fastest and most efficient after all.¡»

    After saying so, Capt. Serena flicked the blood off her sword and ced it back into its scabbard. Unlike Japanese swords that were made of steel, the swords wielded by the nobles of the Gran Empire don¡¯t rust, and their scabbards were equipped with purification and maintenance functions through the use of nanotechnology. So, they didn¡¯t have to mind them too much. Well, they still needed to periodically remove and dispose of the blood residue that¡¯s been broken down by the nanomachines though.

    Well, what can I say? The battle to capture the pirate base was rather swift and simple. After all, they faced the tremendous suppressive firepower of imperial marines wearing cutting-edge military-grade power armor. And Capt. Serena and I also joined the fray and cut pirates down before they could even blink. We simply needed to do those repeatedly. There wasn¡¯t even a sliver of difficulty.

    Pirates who hadn¡¯t undergone enhancement procedures, had themselves equipped with advanced prosthetics and didn¡¯t even wear power armors faced fully armed imperial marines and imperial nobles sporting custom-made power armors. There was no way for them to win. And there¡¯s also me and my cheat-like abilities.

    ¡ºMaster, we¡¯ve achievedplete suppression of the base.¡»

    ¡°What about those spheres?¡±

    ¡ºThey are stored in a section that looks like a warehouse in the north block of the base. They were neatly lined up next to one another. The pirates seemed to be quite meticulous.¡»

    ¡°Meticulous pirates huh? Well, I suppose there should be some who are like that. In any case, great job. We¡¯ll proceed with securing data over here. Please prepare to retrieve thebat bots.¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir.¡»

    Apparently, the ck Lotus itself would descend from orbit to the lower atmosphere and recover thebat bots through the use of a regr drop pod.

    ¡°How are you and your troops gonna withdraw from here?¡±

    ¡ºThe fleet¡¯s destroyers and drop pods are already heading this way to transport the spheres, so we¡¯ll be boarding those.¡»

    ¡°I see. Alright then. I¡¯ll just return to my ship as soon as we finish up here.¡±

    ¡º¡­¡­The innocent young maiden in me finds it difficult to let you go, but my rational side as an officer of the imperial military cannot find any valid reason to stop you, so I¡¯ll reluctantly allow it.¡»

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean you¡¯d personally hold it against me?! You¡¯re really troublesome,dy!¡±

    Just gimme a break, Captain. Well, this might just be her way of fawning over me or something like that. But I really found it hard to appreciate her fawning over me while we were standing in the middle of this bloody pool filled with corpses that no longer resembled humans.

    After takingplete control of the pirate base, I rode the Krishna back to the ck Lotus. The mechanic sisters had to treat my power armor with disinfection procedures to prevent contamination risks first before I could finally take a breather.

    ¡°Yay.¡±

    As soon as I sat down on a sofa in the break space, Tina immediately jumped onto myp. I took a shower together with the mechanic sisters, so all three of us were fresh from the bath.

    ¡°You want me to y with you huh? Here you go.¡±

    ¡°Nyoaaa¨C¡±

    Since she changed her position to face toward me, I ced both of my hands on Tina¡¯s cheeks and began kneading them. Then I squished them. Fufufu. Oh, these sinful springy cheeks. It feels like I can y around with them forever.

    ¡°Nn.¡±

    ¡°What is with this cute creature?¡±

    As I did whatever I wanted to Tina¡¯s cheeks, Wiska scooted over and pressed her cheek on the back of my hand. What is she, a dog? There, there.

    ¡°Nyunyunyu.¡±

    Mimi, Elma, and Kugi dropped me off to ck Lotus first and sortied again in order to continue providing close air support to the remaining troops on the surface. So, right now, only I, Tina, Wiska, and Mei were on board the Lotus. Mei couldn¡¯t join us in the break space because she was focusing on piloting the ship inside the cockpit.

    ¡°Have you guys finished maintenance on thebat bots?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re made by Eagle Dynamics, so there ain¡¯t much we can do.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother purchased the full package after all, so maintenance is almost fully automated. Of course, we still need to perform a manual check after the automatic maintenance procedures.¡±

    ¡°I see. Come to think of it, you aren¡¯t hiding any more surprise machines, right? I was really surprised by that assault drop pod.¡±

    ¡°You really have to check the items properly whenever you make a purchase, Boss.¡±

    ¡°I just skimmed the list and decided to go with it, so¡­¡­¡±

    I don¡¯t get difficult technical stuff anyway. In the end, I only decide to get things based solely on their specs and versatility. I suppose I should get the sisters to teach me about that technical stuff a bit at least.

    ¡°Even though it wasn¡¯t cheap at all¡­¡­ Big Brother strangely has both a very cautious side and a very careless side to him, doesn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s the type to splurge until his wallet¡¯s near empty whenever he has money. I guess we need to tighten the purse strings fer him ourselves.¡±

    ¡°Putting you aside Tina, Wiska definitely won¡¯t do, right? After all, she nearly bought that mystery object d¡¯art back in the artifact shop.¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­ T-That was just a smallpse of judgment.¡±

    While we were chatting, a message from Elma saying that they¡¯ll be returning to the Lotus was sent to my portable data terminal. Apparently, the contact with Mr. Tetrahedron ended peacefully, so the alert was lifted.

    ¡°Elma and the others said they¡¯d be returning.¡±

    ¡°So, our monopoly of Big Brother is about to end.¡±

    ¡°It was really short. Well, let¡¯s just enjoy it until neesan and the otherse back.¡±

    I stroked Tina¡¯s head as she rubbed her cheek against my thigh. This one¡¯s ying a cat now, eh? There, there.

    And so, our contract in the Edge World which I thought would be hugely troublesome, waspleted more smoothly than I expected.

    It¡¯s highly unlikely that any more surprises will turn out. Gahaha. I won.

 Chapter 371: Waking Up in a Med Pod

    I was awakened by the faint sounds of a machine that was running. I felt a slight chill that directly touched my bare skin.

    My gradually awakening brain had recognized that I was currently not wearing any clothes and expressed a feeling of helplessness, and my rate of awakening faintly sped up as a result. I wasn¡¯t the kind of person who found being nakedfortable.

    ¡°You¡¯re awake. I¡¯m going to open the case now.¡±

    A calm,forting voice greeted me. Case? I¡¯m¡­¡­ Oh, I see.

    The sound of air being let out of the case, or rather, the med pod rang out, and a sense of freedom along with slightly warmer air gradually enveloped me.

    ¡°Was I really that tired? I ended up sleeping soon after I entered.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Maybe it was umted fatigue coupled with a high stress level. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any need to worry, but just in case, I rmend taking a break today.¡±

    After saying so, Dr. Shouko, who was holding a tablet terminal, disyed a gentle smile.

    I dressed in my usual mercenary get-up and gave the med bay of the Lotus a once-over. Until recently, it was a drab room with only a simple med pod and a shelf containing various medicines. But now, the room had a desk that functioned as a holo-terminal andfortable-looking lounge corner with ergonomically designed seats. Nice-looking chairs, machines that I couldn¡¯t really figure out, decorative nts, a fragrance machine, and Dr. Shouko¡¯s belongings were neatly arranged inside the room, giving it a livelier atmosphere.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s bad manners to ogle ady¡¯s private room?¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s not your private room Doc. This is a public facility inside the Lotus y¡¯know? We cleared out a storeroom just next door so you can use it as your private room instead.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll mostly spend my time inside here anyway, so I¡¯ll just sleep here as well. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯ll do nicely if I ced a bed in here too?¡±

    ¡°This isn¡¯t supposed to be your private room, okay? And we¡¯ll end up renovating it again once we get to a colony with arge dock anyway.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s true, I guess. But I just can¡¯t calm down unless I¡¯m in a room with this kind of research and medical equipment.¡±

    ¡°So, it¡¯s an upational disease huh¡­¡­?¡±

    I sat on a chair facing Dr. Shouko, who was smiling wryly. The chair was meant for visitors, or rather, a stool meant for patients. Facing Dr. Shouko like this really reminded me of a hospital scene back on Earth.

    ¡°I¡¯m done with the diagnosis and there are basically no problems. Like I said earlier, your stress level seems a bit high, but it¡¯s still within the scope that doesn¡¯t affect daily life. Your body itself is quite healthy. Your internal and external functions are as fit as can be. Even in this day and age, there aren¡¯t many medicines that can really beat moderate exercise and a proper diet.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good. How about the other crew members?¡±

    ¡°Even if you¡¯re the captain of this ship, as a doctor, I¡¯m still obligated to uphold my patient¡¯s privacy, so I can¡¯t tell you the details. Well, as your ship¡¯s doctor, all I can say is that everyone is in good health and there are no apparent problems.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s for the best. However, if you do find any problems with their health, please make sure to inform me or Mei as well. Err, well, I think Mei will do a better job of settling things, but just inform me anyway. Otherwise, I¡¯ll feel like I¡¯m being left out.¡±

    ¡°Kufufu¡­¡­ Aye, aye, sir. Did I get that right?¡±

    ¡°You nailed it!¡±

    ¨CBeyond the Edge World¡ª

    After concluding our initial negotiations with the unknown intelligent lifeforms in the Riche system in a mostly peaceful manner, we took a brief break and headed straight for the Alein system after finishing up our remaining business.

    We went around destroying most of the pirate bases lurking within and near the Edge World, and the problem with the spheres was settled by negotiating with that mysterious tetrahedron-shaped silicon lifeform cluster. The empire officially recognized it as a new intelligent lifeform and took it under its wing in exchange for big hints regarding the production of a new type of armor material. In other words, our contract was basically fulfilled without a hitch.

    ¡ºI¡¯m still gonna be stuck here you know?¡»

    The frightening visage of an angry Capt. Serena with bluish veins bulging on her temple shed through my mind, but it¡¯s not like I was obligated to stay with her until shepletes her duties in the Edge World as well. We¡¯re freedom-loving mercenaries after all. It¡¯s simply our style to take a nice time off and do our own thing afterpleting a request and receiving rewards.

    ¡°¡­¡­Aren¡¯t you afraid of what¡¯ll happen the next time you encounter her?¡±

    ¡°Nah. I make it a point to not worry so much about that sort of stuff. Or rather, I¡¯d just get caught in her pace if I did that.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    When I went to the break space mess after the health checkup, I found Mimi and the others casually rxing and discussing something.

    ¡°Oh, Boss. Checkup¡¯s over?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. No problems, apparently. So, what are you guys talking about?¡±

    I raised my hand to acknowledge Tina who noticed me first, sat down, and joined the rest. I normally refrain from barging in on discussions between the girls because I can more or less read the atmosphere and know if they¡¯re talking about topics that they don¡¯t want me listening in on, but it doesn¡¯t seem to be the case this time around.

    ¡°Umm, we¡¯re talking a bit about Capt. Serena.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­ Well, it¡¯s not like we¡¯re obligated to always adapt to her circumstances. Or rather, if we showed signs of doing so, just like Elma warned, I have a feeling she¡¯d just try to take advantage of it as much as she could.¡±

    ¡°Right. After all, she¡¯s a genius who climbed to the rank of captain in the male-dominated imperial space navy. There are aspects of her that seem clumsy and disappointing, but she¡¯s also quick-witted and skilled in taking advantage of her opponents. Her being a marquis¡¯ daughter definitely isn¡¯t just for show.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ But it also kind of feels like we only aplished our duties halfway before we left.¡±

    ¡°It might feel better if we stuck around to the end. But since we¡¯re mercenaries, we can¡¯t just keep staying in a ce where prey is already running out.¡±

    ¡°And we also need ta consider our supplies. We can¡¯t afford runnin¡¯ out of channels to procure supplies.¡±

    ¡°We also can¡¯t ess thetest technological developments there either.¡±

    Tina and Wiska, who were in charge of maintaining our ships as mechanics, pointed out the difficulties of staying in the Edge World from an engineer¡¯s point of view.

    ¡°I am still not very familiar with how mercenaries do things, so I will just follow everyone¡¯s lead, but¡­¡­ I think it would be more fun to travel around and see more new ces as well.¡±

    Instead of wearing her usual shrine maiden outfit, Kugi was wearing a simple one-piece dress. She gave her opinion as her fox ears cutely moved about on top of her head. Well, it¡¯s true that the Edge World didn¡¯t offer much in terms of entertainment or creatureforts. It¡¯s not like there was absolutely nothing of the sort there, but there was just a bare minimum of such facilities located within the supply mother ship Dauntless. Also, the ceiling inside it was rather low and felt somewhat oppressive.

    ¡°We need to head to the Alein system to arrange Dr. Shouko¡¯s matters anyway.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    Dr. Shouko was hired as a temporary researcher by the imperial space navy, but she was discharged early due to her achievements in sessfully analyzing the potential new armor material and developing psionic-rted tech that was used tomunicate with Mr. Tetrahedron. That¡¯s why she immediately boarded our ship after applying for her discharge and went with us to the Alein system. Her objective was to officially resign from her current position at Inagawa Technology in order to be our ship doctor.

    Actually, it was still possible for her to participate in our mercenary activities without going through such troubles. After being discharged early from her post as a temporary researcher in the imperial space navy, she¡¯d simply go missing. But in truth, she¡¯s gonna join us in our mercenary work.

    However, if we went with that option, there¡¯s a high chance that Inagawa Technology would end up reporting her as MIA or deceased to the Gran imperial authorities. Once that happens, she¡¯d likely lose her status as an imperial citizen.

    She¡¯ll lose various rights and privileges afforded to imperial subjects, and there was a high possibility of her bank ounts getting frozen and her doctor¡¯s license getting revoked or invalidated. If she loses her doctor¡¯s license, she wouldn¡¯t be able to procure advanced drugs, pharmaceutical materials, research equipment, and more stuff that ordinary citizens like us wouldn¡¯t be able to normally ess. That would be really bad. It was bad for her and for us as well.

    That¡¯s why we have no choice but toe to the Alein system again. Well, I¡¯m almost certain that troubles are bound toe our way, but Dr. Shouko was both an excellent ship doctor and researcher. She was definitely worth such trouble. Talented people like her were hard toe by after all.

    ¡°Speaking of which, the Termaine system is quite close to the Alein system.¡±

    ¡°The Termaine system¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi made a strange expression after hearing Elma¡¯s words. The Termaine system was formerly her home system after all. I¡¯m sure she had plenty of good memories of the ce, but there were definitely a lot of bad memories as well.

    ¡°It kinda feels like I both want and don¡¯t want to go back there.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I understand. Well, just tell us if you feel like visiting the ceter. Don¡¯t hold back. It¡¯s not good to hold yourself back. It¡¯s a promise, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I understand. Thank you, Hiro-sama.¡±

    A smile returned to Mimi¡¯s slightly clouded expression. Yeah, a smiling Mimi definitely was the best. That¡¯s better.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. It¡¯s for your sake anyway, Mimi. This goes for you all as well. Don¡¯t hold back and tell me if you ever feel like visiting your home systems, okay? It¡¯s not like we¡¯re short on money. We can earn enough to get by while hunting pirates along the way.¡±

    ¡°Normally, navigating outer space is a pretty perilous affair you know?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s Boss, so yeah.¡±

    That way of saying it is a bit off-putting y¡¯know? I admit that I tend to deviate from this world¡¯smon sense from time to time though. It¡¯s unfortunately a fact, so I can¡¯t exactly deny it.

 Chapter 372: From Here on Out

    Now then. The routes we can take from the Edge World to the Alein system are¡­¡­ Hmm. There aren¡¯t that many. That said, it¡¯s absurdly far away if we traveled there normally, so we¡¯re gonna use a gateway instead.

    And if we¡¯re going by gateway, there¡¯s almost no room for route selection.

    ¡°So, we¡¯re gonna navigate to the nearest gateway from here and take that to the gateway nearest to the Alein system huh?¡±

    ¡°Uh¨C ¡­¡­Yeah, basically.¡±

    I replied half-heartedly to Dr. Shouko who was currently operating her tablet terminal beside me on the bed. It was pillow talk, sure. But it certainly doesn¡¯t have an ounce of eroticism whatsoever.

    Err, yeah. As you can see, I already got my grubby hands on her.

    ¡°You look like you wanna say something?¡±

    Dr. Shouko, who had taken off her sses, ced her beautiful face near mine. She really was gorgeous.

    ¡°I ended up making a move on you the moment you gave me an opportunity, and I was thinking if this really was okay or something like that.¡±

    ¡°Hm? Of course it is. Having you see me like thatst night was embarrassing though. Well, I guess it can¡¯t be helped, since there¡¯s a big difference in experience.¡±

    After saying so, Dr. Shouko disyed a content smile.

    ¡°Thanks for the meal¡­¡­ Wait, no, that¡¯s not it. It¡¯s, uh, that y¡¯know? Um, I mean, shouldn¡¯t we have gone step by step first?¡±

    After hearing my words, Dr. Shouko disyed a nk expression for a moment. Then, her mouth formed a teasing grin soon afterward.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like we¡¯re teenagers who are first experiencing the bittersweet pangs of love y¡¯know? So, isn¡¯t this fine? I was personally quite satisfied, but don¡¯t you feel the same, captain?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I¡¯m also really satisfied. But, I mean, didn¡¯t you feel like engaging in a bit more romance before we reached this point?¡±

    ¡°Romance. Romance huh¡­¡­? I don¡¯t really get stuff like that. I don¡¯t have any parents, and I don¡¯t remember experiencing such feelings or getting in contact with it ever since I was born.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Did this just turn into a really heavy topic all of a sudden?¡±

    ¡°Some people might feel that way. But to me, it isn¡¯t anything out of the ordinary, and I don¡¯t really care in the first ce because I really can¡¯t say anything about such matters. This is just how I am.¡±

    After saying so, Dr. Shouko ced her tablet terminal on the bedside and slowly changed her position so that she could face me directly.

    ¡°You see, I¡¯m actually an android. In a broad sense anyway.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°Un. The structure of my body is actually no different from that of a regr human female. This body is also fully capable of giving birth. However, I was born from a womb made out of metal and ss. On a certain that no longer exists, at a certain research facility of a certain intersterpany.¡±

    And so, Dr. Shouko talked about her own origins. In summary, she was a child created by a certain intersterpany for the purpose of mass-producing excellent researchers, and she was basically a designer baby created by integrating the gic information of various smart and talented humans.

    Oh, so it¡¯s kinda like those guys huh? Those unfortunate characters who starred in a certain mobile robotic weapons anime franchise. A seed went poof and then they would disy amazing abilities[1]. I see, I see. Well, it¡¯s not like Dr. Shouko would manifest a seed that¡¯ll go poof though.

    ¡°However, thepany that manufactured me was actually engaging in illegal life-creation research or something like that. They made a big mess and were eventually taken down. The empire took custody of me, and after undergoing various tests, I eventually ended up getting taken in by Inagawa Technology.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. So, you also led quite an eventful life huh, Doc?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Is that all you wanna say?¡±

    ¡°Un? Uh, I suppose I now get why you don¡¯t really understand love and romance. And, well, I guess it¡¯s okay to simply take our time and gradually nurture our feelings for one another while uniting our bodies or something like that.¡±

    She¡¯ll probably get upset if I openly told her this, but I think Dr. Shouko being a gically engineered and modified biological android was kinda cool. In the first ce, the Gran empire nobles including Elma were already engaging in the use of cybeics and bionics to strengthen their bodies. I mean, ain¡¯t that kinda simr? So, there¡¯s no reason for me to get ufortable regarding Dr. Shouko¡¯s origin.

    Or rather, honestly speaking, a guy like me who wandered in from a different dimension due to some unknown reason was a lot creepier and weirder inparison, right?

    ¡°Most people get creeped out when they hear my story you know?¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯m not one of them. If you think entering into this kind of rtionship with me without taking the usual steps is okay, then I guess that¡¯s fine for now. Let¡¯s just let nature take its course, so to speak.¡±

    Come to think of it, it took me a lot of time toy my hands on Tina and Wiska, but I didn¡¯t have any particr misgivings when it came to Dr. Shouko. She was an independent and mature woman like Elma after all.

    Speaking of which, Tina and Wiska actually didn¡¯t lose out to the two of them when ites to being mature and independent. It¡¯s just that their appearances were¡­¡­ Yeah. I¡¯m already used to it though. It kinda feels like I opened a dangerous door, but it¡¯s toote to regret anything now.

    ¡°Ah, I know that face you¡¯re making. You were thinking about the other girls, right? Well, that¡¯s not good. You¡¯re with me right now after all. Right?¡±

    Dr. Shouko gently pinched my cheek and pulled it a bit. A certain elf would have pinched me a lot harder to the point that I felt my cheek would get torn off. What a difference¨C Oops. Not good, not good.

    ¡°What a hopeless man¡­¡­ Why don¡¯t you make a bit more of an effort to make me fall in love with you?¡±

    ¡°Okay. I ept that challenge.¡±

    Let¡¯s just treasure this warmth without thinking too much. Yeah, let¡¯s do that.

    ¡°I suppose it¡¯s a good thing that it went well between the two of ya, but it still kinda feels a bit frustrating, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Jii¨C¡­¡­¡±

    The next morning, Dr. Shouko and I found ourselves confronted by two little gangsters when we went to the break space of the Lotus after waking up and getting out of bed. They were disying an intimidating, or rather, a dissatisfied atmosphere, but it didn¡¯t look like they were seriously angry or anything like that.

    ¡°You tell ¡¯em off too, Kugi.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ Well, I do not have any particrints about it.¡±

    Kugi, who got addressed by Tina, disyed a rare wry grin. After all, Kugi prioritized me above anything else. I guess it just wasn¡¯t in her character to criticize and show her dissatisfaction towards me.

    ¡°In regard to the two of you, I was hesitant because of the racial differences between us, or rather, the gap between your physical appearances and your actual ages. As for Kugi, I just thought that getting into that kind of rtionship with her was a bit dangerous, so forgive me and just let me off, alright?¡±

    ¡°Dangerous?¡±

    ¡°Ah¨C¡­¡­ I¡¯ve been thinking about this recently as well, but you¡¯re now fully devoted to me, right, Kugi? I mean, it kinda feels like you¡¯ll simply agree even if I said something ck is actually white or something like that¡­¡­ Get it?¡±

    ¡°Mm. Mmm¨C¡­¡­ Well, I do kinda get that, but I think she won¡¯t actually just blindly agree to anythin¡¯ you say. Right, Kugi?¡±

    After hearing Tina¡¯s words, Kugi nodded repeatedly in response.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, My Lord. Of course, I still have to fulfill my duties. However, other than those, I now also love My Lord from the bottom of my heart.¡±

    ¡°It kinda feels embarrassing to get told something like that directly though¡­¡­¡±

    It still kinda felt like I haven¡¯t gotten so close to Kugi to the point of making her truly fall for me though¡­¡­? Wait. Don¡¯t tell me¨C

    ¡°Was it telepathy?¡±

    Kugi didn¡¯t answer my question and simply smiled. While she couldn¡¯t directly peer into other people¡¯s heads, Kugi was quite good at reading the mental waves that people emit unconsciously. Before Kugi awakened my abilities, my power and mental waves kept leaking out uncontrobly, so Kugi was able to pick them up. So, I suppose it¡¯s no wonder that she had quickly gotten familiar with me.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that cheating?¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s fine now, correct?¡±

    As I was having a discussion with Kugi, Wiska suddenly jumped on top of myp. Oops. Did I ignore her for too long?

    ¡°¡­¡­Nya?n.¡±

    ¡°Gahaaah!¡±

    Wiska, who was now on top of myp, changed her position and faced me directly. She then mimicked a cat and meowed cutely. W-What is this cute creature?!

    ¡°W-Whee¨C¡­¡­ How sneaky¡­¡­! And kinda terrifyin¡¯!¡±

    ¡°I find something like this really embarrassing too, okay¡­¡­¡±

    Wiska¡¯s face turned bright red as she covered it with my hands after hearing Tina¡¯s reaction.

    Meanwhile, Mimi, Elma, and Dr. Shouko were looking at us from the mess area. The three of them gathered around and it seemed that they were discussing something. ¡­¡­It didn¡¯t feel like there was a tense atmosphere between them though, so there apparently don¡¯t seem to be any problems.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get so obsessed by Dr. Shouko and end up ignorin¡¯ us. I think equality and fairness is important in this sort of rtionship y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°Ok, ok. I get it. In other words, you wanna get it on tonight, right?¡±

    ¡°That ain¡¯t it¡­¡­! I-I won¡¯t refuse though¡­¡­ Muu¨C!¡±

    ¡°Guhoo!? Wai- Easy with the punches! They seriously hurt, okay?!¡±

    Tina¡¯s blows that tried to cover up her embarrassment were quite heavy. Well, at this rate, it doesn¡¯t look like I¡¯ll get bored while on the way to Alein. But let¡¯s make sure to do it in moderation.

    TL Notes:

    [1] A Mobile Suit Gundam Seed reference.

 Chapter 373: It Kinda Feels like Something Similar Happened Before

    So far, the trip was pretty smooth.

    We arrived at the nearest gateway without getting into any sort of trouble, and we didn¡¯t have to wait long to pass through the gateway itself. We didn¡¯t get ourselves involved with other mercenaries, thugs, or local gangsters in the colonies we stopped by along the way, and trading and resupplying also went without a hitch. It was truly smooth sailing.

    ¡°I think things are going well so far, but why do you guys look so tense every day?¡±

    While we were having our dinner, Dr. Shouko couldn¡¯t hold back her curiosity anymore and inquired. So, she already noticed huh? The change in our behavior, I mean.

    ¡°Y¡¯see Doc, Boss has this unfortunate tendency ta attract all sorts of trouble ta himself.¡±

    Tina began exining the situation while sporting a wry grin. Yeah, I¡¯ll just leave it to her.

    ¡°I believe I¡¯m already aware of that though¡­¡­ Ah, in other words, this is something like the calm before a storm, right?¡±

    ¡°As expected of ya, Doc. Yer pretty sharp. We already experienced somethin¡¯ like this before¡­¡­ Oh yeah. It was back when we were in the Refill system.¡±

    ¡°Please stop. I really don¡¯t wanna remember.¡±

    It was truly terrible back then. It wasn¡¯t that rare to encounter a pirate ship as soon as you enter a star system, and the elves did give us a rtively warm wee. But after that, I ended up getting involved in stuff like a vehicle crashing down onto an unexplored forest, the we were staying in getting raided by pirates, getting found by Capt. Serena, getting roped into arge-scale pirate subjugation operation and getting targeted by a snake-like woman who was likely rted to the pirates whose local base we just subjugated. Anyway, it was really awful.

    Having arge-scale pirate group set their sights on us was especially dangerous. I wouldn¡¯t have felt as uneasy if I was their only target, but I was worried that they¡¯d also target my crew members. It was at that time that I felt truly powerless ever since I found myself in this dimension.

    ¡°Us getting so tense can¡¯t be helped¡­¡­ Well, whatever happens, happens, I guess.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like we can n out countermeasures ahead of time either. We have no idea about what would actually happen after all.¡±

    Elma shrugged her shoulders and Mimi smiled wryly.

    Yeah, that¡¯s right. Since we can¡¯t predict what would happen, we can¡¯t really do anything about it right now. It¡¯s just that the longer this smooth sailing periodsted, it felt like the bigger the trouble we¡¯d encounter would be.

    ¡°Kugi, is there something I can do to make things go in a better direction by using my powers? I think this is the right time to use my power to manipte fate or something.¡±

    ¡°My Lord, it would be best if you could do so. But I think it would be quite difficult.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Basically, the question now is whether or not you can consciously perceive the flow of fate, My Lord. Right now, you are using your ability to manipte fate unconsciously, so¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°In other words, even if Captain has the power to manipte the flow of fate, he himself can¡¯t perceive that flow, so he has no way of actually using that power. Un, how interesting. I wonder what principle drives this power to manipte fate. Can we quantify it scientifically?¡±

    Dr. Shouko was quite receptive to such topics. Maybe the recent incident sparked her interest in psionic technology. She was simply just interested in researching something that she currently couldn¡¯t understand. She was a researcher through and through after all.

    ¡°I do not know much about fate maniption abilities. There were only a handful of people who seemed to have manifested such abilities in the past, so our research on the matter has not progressed much¡­¡­ I can only rte what little I heard about the topic.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good. It¡¯s worthy of getting researched. I¡¯d like to hear about the topic moreter.¡±

    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll tell you what I know.¡±

    Dr. Shouko was gradually building good rtionships with the other crew members in this manner. She talked about our lives as mercenaries with Mimi and Elma, discussed about matters rted to technology with Tina and Wiska, and discussed about psionic matters with Kugi¡­¡­ I wonder what sort of topics she talks about with Mei though? Come to think of it, I don¡¯t see the two of them hanging out with each other much.

    ¡°I know there¡¯s no point in worrying about it since there¡¯s nothing much I can do, but it still bothers me a lot¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°The feeling of helplessness at least until we finally get to our destination is really unpleasant, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°The only thing we can do is make sure our supply stockpile isn¡¯tcking and keep our equipment in tip-top shape.¡±

    I, Elma, and Mimi ¨C the three crew members who served the longest in our group ¨C all let out a resigned sigh. Because the three of us were like this, the atmosphere around the ship became a little heavy, and we ended up worrying Dr. Shouko as a result. But judging from past events, we really couldn¡¯t help but sigh repeatedly. But I do understand that nothing good wille out of worrying like this.

    ¡°Yosh, let¡¯s just switch gears. We¡¯ll keep our guards up, but we can¡¯t keep sighing like this.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s easy to say, but¡­¡­ do you have a good suggestion?¡±

    ¡°There are many advanced food manufacturingpanies in the Alein Tertius colony, right? When we arrive there, let¡¯s buy some alcohol, other beverages, and all sorts of food. We¡¯ll have a party. Since Dr. Shouko will be an official member of our crew, let¡¯s treat it as her wee party as well.¡±

    The color of Elma¡¯s eyes changed. By the way, the color of Tina and Wiska¡¯s eyes also changed. Ah, Mimi¡¯s eyes were shining brightly as well¡­¡­ Well, I suppose it¡¯s fine.

    ¡°How much will we buy? What¡¯s our budget? It¡¯s gonnae out of your own pocket, right, Hiro?¡±

    ¡°Alcohol.¡±

    ¡°Liquor.¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama! I want to try the Kobe beef we sawst time we were at Alein Tertius!¡±

    ¡°Scary, scary, scary! This pressure is no joke.¡±

    The three drunkards and one glutton immediately jumped on me. It¡¯s not like you guys arecking when ites to food or alcohol, right? Why are you acting all desperate?!

    ¡°¡±¡±Because nothing tastes better than free alcohol bought with someone else¡¯s money!¡±¡±¡±

    ¡°Oh, okay.¡±

    I don¡¯t feel like responding anymore. Well, even if they end up buying stuff that¡¯ll cost tens of thousands of Enels, it¡¯s still gonna be cheap if it boosts their morale¡­¡­ Well, not exactly cheap, but it¡¯ll be nothing mercenaries like us can¡¯t afford. Mm.

 Chapter 374: Alein Tertius Colony Revisited

    The Alein system¡¯s habitable zone consisted of two inhabiteds, three research stations, and one trading station.

    It seemed that one of the habitables had a warm and temperate climate all year round, and agriculture was thriving there. Efficient agriculture using advanced technology was conducted there, and it seemed that many high-end ingredients were produced regrly.

    The other had a harsh environment with frequent storms, but it seemed that the environment also served as something that was necessary for some kinds of scientific experiments, and all sorts of research projects were conducted there. Well, structures made with imperial tech would be able to adequately withstand harsh environments, and their shield technology was pretty advanced as well, so staying there wasn¡¯t really much of a problem.

    Eh? What about the colonies? Well, it seemed like the only ones who gathered in the research colony were tried and true research fanatics, so it didn¡¯t have even one half-decent entertainment facility. All that was ording to Elma by the way.

    ¡°Well now. It kinda feels nostalgic.¡±

    Dr. Shouko, who finally set foot within the Alein Tertius trading colony once more, looked around the port area while disying a cheery expression. The first level of the colony where the dock section containing the hangar bay was located was perpetually wrapped in night-like darkness. I had no idea why that was the case.

    That¡¯s why I asked Dr. Shouko who was a former resident about it.

    ¡°Ah, this level is always pitch ck like it¡¯s nighttime because some races don¡¯t enjoy bright ces. There are so-called night owls among humans, right? This ce is like this in order to make those sorts of people and races live morefortably. Those who like to run their mouths and gossip around call them moles or anti-social people, but many of those who prefer this kind of environment are actually pretty nice and thoughtful individuals. A lot of them also have gentle temperaments.¡±

    ¡°I see. So they are trying their best to meet everyone¡¯s needs huh?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t see something like this a lot anywhere else, right?¡±

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s a policy unique to the Alein system where research is the main industry.¡±

    We walked around in a group while discussing such topics. Today was a rare day when everyone was able to go out and rx, including Mei. The Alein Tertius colony was a colony with a high public security level, and since we already visited it once, we knew what to expect. Well, there was that ridiculous incident where monsters rampaged inside this colony back then, but such incidents don¡¯t happen that often anyway.

    ¡°As expedited of a high-tech system.¡±

    ¡°The ceiling is a bit too high though, so it feels kinda ufortable.¡±

    Wiska looked up at the ceiling of Alein Tertius with some uneasiness, while Tina seemed to be in high spirits. I don¡¯t often hear people say they feel ufortable with high ceilings though¡­¡­ Well, there are those who are ustrophobic, I suppose. Agoraphobia was also a thing, right? But Wiska¡¯s case was a bit different from those. Maybe dwarves instinctually dislike spaces with high ceilings.

    ¡°We need to renovate the interior of ck Lotus, procure and install full-scale research and medical equipment, prepare for the party, and have various equipment including myself undergo official maintenance procedures. There are a lot of tasks ahead of us, Master.¡±

    Mei seemed quite excited by the prospect of working on a mountain of tasks. By the way, when she mentioned various equipment with her included, she was actually referring to thebat bots made by Eagle Dynamics. They were modified by Tina and Wiska so they can also be employed as maintenance bots, so I was a bit worried if they¡¯d still be able to receive official support from the manufacturingpany.

    Also, since it would be difficult to stay inside the ship while it¡¯s being refurbished, we decided to book a hotel room during our stay here instead. Actually, the Krishna and Antlion would be able to amodate us all as long as we split up, but in any case, we decided to stay at a good hotel instead so we can have some proper R&R.

    The high-tech Alein Tertius colony was indeed a very prosperous colony. In other words, it had developed quite a bit. That also meant that it was a colony where you can live in luxury as long as you had enough money to splurge.

    We couldn¡¯t really spread our wings much in the Edge World after all. The Dauntless only sported a minimum number of entertainment facilities on board, and the break space of the Lotus was a lot more rxing, so we ended up cooped up inside our ship most of the time while we were staying there.

    ¡°This is a nice ce to go shopping.¡±

    ¡°There are so many stores.¡±

    ¡°As expected, it can¡¯t exactlypare to the imperial capital, but the Windas system was a bit more catered toward military types. There seems to be a lot of interesting stuff here.¡±

    ¡°Hiro-sama, let¡¯s visit that shop with everyone.¡±

    ¡°That shop¡­¡­? Oh, you mean that shop huh? That¡¯s a good idea, Mimi. Thanks for reminding me.¡±

    What Mimi was referring to was probably that shop with arge selection of goth-style clothes. Mimi only wore the dresses I bought for her there every once in a while, but if everyone else would dress like that, then¡­¡­ Mm. Nice. Nice indeed. I¡¯m sure Elma¡¯s gonnain a lot, but I really wanna see her wear that type of dress. Tina and Wiska were small and cute, so those dresses would probably suit them. They would definitely look good on Kugi as well. As for Mei and Dr. Shouko¡­¡­ Will those suit them? No, I¡¯m sure they will. The possibilities were endless.

    ¡°I suddenly have a bad premonition.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it just your imagination? Anyway, let¡¯s go and get ourselves checked in first.¡±

    For the time being, we¡¯ll reserve a room for two weeks. Since our stuff had already been sent over via the colony¡¯s cargo cirction system, all that was left was for everyone to check in and have the electronic key registered at the guest¡¯s terminal. We told the staff that we might extend our stay depending on our situation, and they agreed without a fuss. It looks like my name¡¯s value has gone up by quite a bit.

    ¡°Before I knew it, I¡¯d be quite a big shot.¡±

    ¡°You really don¡¯t pay much attention to your reputation huh¡­¡­? Well, it doesn¡¯t look like you have a particrly bad reputation at least. As a tinum ranker, you¡¯re considered as generally mild-mannered and also rarely causes trouble for ordinary people.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but turn toward Elma, who was sporting an exasperated expression, in surprise.

    ¡°A good person huh? They said I rarely cause trouble, but didn¡¯t I make those guys from Space Dwerg grovel a lot back then?¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t unreasonably assault them physically or threatened them with violence, right? You also don¡¯t go on drunken fits, don¡¯t pick fights with civilians without good reason, and don¡¯t force girls to board your ship to harass them either.¡±

    ¡°Of course, I won¡¯t. The heck¡­¡­? I ain¡¯t some mohawk-sporting thug from the end of the century.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s basically why you¡¯re regarded as a good guy.¡±

    Just how bad do other mercenaries behave anyway? I¡¯m only acting based onmon sensibilities but I¡¯m already beinguded as a good guy. Are there a lot of guys who immediately pick fights if you merely looked at them funny? How scary.

    But the mercenaries I¡¯ve encountered so far don¡¯t seem to be like that for the most part though.

    ¡°If you act too unscrupulously, the guild will issue harsh punishments. Also, pirate hunting has been our main ie source so far, and the jobs we take on are issued by either the military or imperial nobles, right? The ones who ept those kinds of request usually are the more decent types.¡±

    ¡°Hee¨C¡±

    I actually didn¡¯t know much about this dimension¡¯s mercenaries and their norms. It¡¯s at times like this that I really appreciate Elma¡¯s wealth of knowledge and experience.

    ¡°By the way, even Mimi knows at least this much.¡±

    ¡°Se¡­¡­ Seriously¡­¡­?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but get taken aback by Elma¡¯s shocking reveal.

    ¡°Compared to the earnest and studious Mimi, you really are¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I mean, each person has affinities for different kinds of stuff, right¡­¡­?¡±

    Stop looking at me like I¡¯m some sort of hopeless person. It hurts, you know?

    ¡°My Lord, how will we proceed after securing a room?¡±

    I thought about Kugi¡¯s question for a moment before answering.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. I think it would be good to divide ourselves into three groups and have I, Elma and Mei act as individual escorts. Did you already make an appointment with Inagawa Technology, Dr. Shouko?¡±

    ¡°Yep. I already prepared the documents rted to my resignation with Mei-kun¡¯s help, and I¡¯ve already informed thepany about the situation and made an appointment.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll go to Inagawa Technology with Dr. Shouko. She¡¯ll be boarding my ship, so I have to apany her as her captain.¡±

    ¡°I will be apanying you as well, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Okay then. I¡¯ll go and get stuff for the party. You wanna tag along, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯min¡¯ along too!¡±

    ¡°Then I shall stay in the hotel room and arrange the renovation work on the ship, Master. But perhaps I would need to directly negotiate with the dealer as well.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll stay with Mei-san and help her with the renovation arrangements.¡±

    And so, Dr. Shouko, Kugi, and I would be going to Inagawa Technology. Elma, Mimi, and Tina will procure stuff for the party. And Mei and Wiska will make arrangements for the renovation of the Lotus.

    ¡°Make sure to keep in touch and get in contact right away if something unexpected happens.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Aye, aye, sir.¡±¡±¡±

    I suppose I should help out with the ship renovation arrangements after we finish our business with Inagawa Technology. I¡¯ll have to check the budget and give my approval. Well, in any case, let¡¯s check-in at the hotel first.

 Chapter 375: People Person

    ¡°Wahaa, so expensive rooms actually look like this huh¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°This is supposedly what most rooms in noble estates look like.¡±

    After we unpacked, Dr. Shouko walked around the hotel room with great interest, and Wiska followed along. Wiska was also an excellent mechanic like Tina, but she was more of an engineer, researcher, or inventor type; the type that ced more emphasis on research and development of new technology rather than tinkering with existing ones. And so, she seemed to get along really well with Dr. Shouko who was a genuine researcher and scientist. Recently, I often see her following Dr. Shouko around like a dutiful student.

    ¡°How do you feel as her sister?¡±

    ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s a little lonely. But I also think this is a good thing.¡±

    As she sat on top of myp while I sat on the sofa, Tina, who was watching the two walking about the room along with me, said so while sporting a soft smile on her face.

    Because Tina had a bold and fearless personality, she quickly became friends with the other crew members, but Wiska was more reserved and shyer. Of course, it¡¯s already been quite a while since they first boarded my ship, so she¡¯s already managed to get along with the others as well, but in the end, she still spent most of her time apanying her big sister, Tina. When not with her sister, Wiska would usually retreat to her room or the hangar to study or work. But now, she often went to Dr. Shouko¡¯s room and did things together with her.

    ¡°Yeah, I think it¡¯s a good thing as well.¡±

    ¡°Now that Whee¡¯s graduatin¡¯ from her big sis, you should fill up the loneliness in my heart instead, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Fine, I got it. Here you go.¡±

    I stroked Tina¡¯s head as sheid it on top of myp, and she disyed a contented smile.

    ¡°It¡¯s simr to the other hotel we stayed in.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the so-called imperial style. Those from other countries might not find it that interesting though.¡±

    Kugi and Elma, who were sitting opposite me and Tina,mented as they checked out the luxurious and spacious hotel room. Kugi was referring to the interioryout of the room. We also booked arge room in a hotel at the Windas system where we first met Kugi. It was a suite room, or rather, a penthouse with several rooms inside it. There were some small differences between that one and the one we¡¯re currently staying in, but their floor ns were generally simr.

    ¡°I guess you could say it¡¯s mainly to disy the same atmosphere and temperament as imperial nobles. After all, saying that it¡¯s to respect formality and tradition sounds rather positive.¡±

    ¡°I see. I do not dislike the aspect of uniformity though.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. You can even say that it¡¯s practical. That¡¯s especially true in colonies. After all, there¡¯s a limit to how much space can be used inside a colony, and that also applies to nobles.¡±

    If the residence was built on a, you were free to use whatever space that was avable to you. As long as you had enough money to spend, anything¡¯s possible. However, in a colony that had limited space, the nobles technically weren¡¯t allowed to use up that space in avish manner. Of course, it would be a different story as long as there was enough money involved, but nobles who spent a few days or weeks at minimum and a month at the longest at a hotel while on a trip were quite rare. Even so, hotels that were catered to nobles or those who could afford to live like nobles popped up to satisfy such demands.

    ¡°Pickup¡¯splete!¡±

    Mimi, who was sitting alone in front of the table while ying with her tablet terminal, suddenly eximed and left her seat.

    ¡°Alright then. Shall we head out too?¡±

    We could have left the hotel separately, but there was still plenty of time until Dr. Shouko¡¯s appointment with Inagawa technology, and there was no need to rush the renovation of the ck Lotus either. That¡¯s why we decided to go our separate ways after Mimi¡¯s group was done looking for a store to procure food and beverages for the party.

    ¡°We¡¯ll make sure to get good alcohol and foodstuffs!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great, but please, no more of those strange¡­¡­ No, it¡¯s nothing.¡±

    A lot of the weird stuff Mimi buys do turn out tasting quite delicious in the end despite their unappetizing appearances. The other crew members, including myself, have already gotten quite used to it, so it should work out somehow. It might present a challenge to Kugi who only joined the crew for a short time and Dr. Shouko who was just about to join as an official member.

    Kugi¡¯s reaction when she first encountered those weird-looking food products was honestly a bit amusing. Her fox earsid t on her head and her tails bristled exaggeratedly. Even her mouth tensed up, and her fangs popped out as a result. When I reminded her of that event, Kugi pressed her ears down and blushed in embarrassment.

    The mainpany headquarters of Inagawa Technology was a different building and not the hospital that I, Mimi, and Elma previously visited and where we first met Dr. Shouko. Well, it was located pretty close to that hospital though.

    ¡°What kind of things does Inagawa Technology mainly deal with?¡±

    We boarded an intra-colony transit system vehicle in order to head to Inagawa Technology¡¯s main headquarters, and I asked Dr. Shouko about a topic I was curious about while on the way.

    ¡°Hm? Let¡¯s see. Basically, they deal with cutting-edge medical equipment and biotechnology in general. It also deals with nanomachine technology. It¡¯s a so-called bionicspany.¡±

    ¡°A bionicspany?¡±

    Kugi tilted her head to the side, disying her unfamiliarity with the topic. I didn¡¯t know much about it either, but I guess I do have a bit of an idea. I was reminded of the nobles undergoing physical enhancement treatments.

    ¡°It¡¯s apany that deals with biological science as its main research subject and product. Stuff like bio-enhancements using gic maniption and drugs. On the other hand,panies that mainly deal with cybeic imnts and enhancements are called cybeicspanies. Bionicspanies like Inagawa deal with pharmaceuticals and chemicals as side products, and cybeicspanies deal with electronic devices and robots instead. Of course, there are also products like nanomachines and medical devices that are troublesome to categorize as well.¡±

    ¡°I see. I understand now. If that is the case, then is psionic technology listed under the bionics field?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a tough question. But I believe it¡¯s more bionics-oriented.¡±

    Kugi was surprisingly such a schrly person. Or rather, she possessed a strong sense of curiosity and desire for new knowledge¡­¡­ From what I¡¯ve heard about her upbringing, she seemed to have been raised in a pretty sheltered environment. It¡¯s no wonder she seems hungry for knowledge about the outside world.

    I looked at Kugi¡¯s side profile as she engaged in a discussion with Dr. Shouko, and she blushed in embarrassment when she noticed my gaze.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, My Lord. I ended up getting ahead of myself.¡±

    ¡°No, there¡¯s no need for you to apologize. Mm. Actually, I think it¡¯s great that you¡¯re so curious and willing to learn. Don¡¯t worry about it and just go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­¡±

    Kugi replied as her face turned even redder. Uumu, she¡¯s just too reserved. Anyway, I¡¯ll just keep watching over her for now.

    ¡°Fufu. Well, since Captain already approves, then there¡¯s nothing to worry about. I¡¯m okay with it as well, so feel free to visit me anytime if you feel like having discussions like this. Even though I¡¯m the ship¡¯s doctor, everyone seems to be in good health, so I¡¯m actually quite freetely. Let¡¯s learn about various stuff together, okay?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes!¡±

    The fox-like animal ears on top of Kugi¡¯s head stood straight as she responded. Immediately afterward, she looked at me for permission and smiled happily when I nodded in approval. That¡¯s right. I wanted her to learn for herself and not simply for my sake. It might also turn out useful for me and for the others around her as well.

    As I was thinking about such things, the vehicle seemed to have arrived at our destination already since I felt it gradually decelerating. Before I knew it, my body had be quite sensitive to eleration and deceleration.

    ¡°It looks like we¡¯re here.¡±

    ¡°Hm? Oh, it looks like we are. Don¡¯t forget our promise, Kugi-kun.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Now, Kugi seemed to have gotten attached to Dr. Shouko just like Wiska. Was Dr. Shouko one of those super charming people? A social butterfly, so to speak. Well, it¡¯s a good thing for the ship¡¯s doctor to get along with the rest of the crew members anyway. And it¡¯s not like I¡¯ll entrust our bodies to a person who I wasn¡¯t confident in.

    Anyway, let¡¯s do our best so that Dr. Shouko can officially join the crew without any problems.

 Chapter 376: Foster Father

    ¡°¡­¡­Are you really going through with this no matter what?¡±

    ¡°Yep. No matter what.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    We arrived at Inagawa Technology¡¯s main headquarters a little earlier than the scheduled appointment time, but it seemed that they¡¯d already made arrangements beforehand, so we were able to go in for a meeting almost immediately.

    The meeting ce was a reception room, or rather, a room that seemed like apany executive¡¯s private office. Within the room was an office desk that seemed to be equipped with a built-in holo-disy. In front of it was a pair of sofas that looked prettyfy to sit on. Right in the middle was a ss table that matched the height of the sofas. Actually, I wasn¡¯t sure if the table really was made of ss or some other simr futuristic material instead.

    And now, our group was facing a lone man who was sitting across the table. It was an elderly man who sported a solemn look on his face. Somehow, his atmosphere resembled that of Chris¡¯s grandfather, Earl Dareinwald. ording to what Dr. Shouko told me beforehand, he was both her direct superior and someone she treated as her foster father.

    And he was now directing his gaze toward me. Or rather, he was practically ring at me.

    ¡°You sure fooled me.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t really mean to, but that¡¯s how it turned out anyway. Still, I don¡¯t n to apologize.¡±

    I matched gazes with the man and didn¡¯t flinch away.

    ¡°I am well aware of your situation and status. However, do you not think that humbly apologizing now would pave the way for a smoother rtionship?¡±

    ¡°That might be true, but I also have to respect Dr. Shouko¡¯s intentions as much as possible. If I apologize here, I¡¯d end up disrespecting her determination and will. That¡¯s why I won¡¯t apologize. However, since things already turned out this way, I will use all of my strength to protect Dr. Shouko and make sure that she doesn¡¯t end up regretting her decision or be disappointed with me. That¡¯s a promise I intend to keep no matter what.¡±

    After hearing my words, the elderly man, whose name was apparently Dixon, narrowed his eyes before eventually sighing in resignation.

    ¡°¡­¡­I did expect that there woulde a time when I would have to send Shouko-kun off to someone else in marriage. However, I didn¡¯t think that someone would actually be a mercenary.¡±

    ¡°A bride¡­¡­ Um, Father, Hiro-kun and I are actually¡­¡­ Um, are we actually like that?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind at all. Or rather, I already n on takingplete responsibility you know?¡±

    I nodded in response to Dr. Shouko who inquired while tilting her head to the side.

    I had to do that much, at least. There¡¯s that strange unwritten rule whenever a woman agrees to board a man¡¯s starship as well, so I fully intend on epting Dr. Shouko as my woman. I had to take responsibility.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ I see. Mm, I see. Right. It¡¯s kinda embarrassing.¡±

    A blushing Dr. Shouko was really cute. In her mind, I wonder if she previously just treated our rtionship asrades who would travel across the gxy in the same ship. I guess she did, huh? Actually, she shouldn¡¯t have given it much thought in the first ce.

    ¡°Even so, I¡¯m not suddenly gonna act-all husband-like after this. We should take it step by step and savor every moment.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha. You know, for a mercenary who often jumps from system to system on a starship, you sure have a prudent and steady personality, Hiro-kun.¡±

    As he watched the exchange between me and Dr. Shouko, Mr. Dixon¡¯s expression loosened up a bit.

    ¡°To think a man who would make Shouko-kun react like that would really appear¡­¡­ In any case, both of you seem pretty determined about this, so nothing I say would deter you from going through with it. All the relevant documents have been processed already, so I suppose that¡¯s it.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Father. By the way, Hiro-kun, what¡¯s my position in the wife hierarchy now that we¡¯re getting hitched?¡±

    ¡°¡±Huh?¡±¡±

    Mr. Dixon¡¯s and my reaction ovepped.

    ¡°Mimi-kun¡¯s the first wife, right? No, in terms of social status, it would be Elma-kun huh? Either way, they would be your number one and number two, and after them would be Mei-kun. You fully intend on treating her as your wife as well even if she¡¯s an autonomous AI, right?¡±

    ¡°Uh, Dr. Shouko¨C?¡±

    The more Dr. Shouko spoke, the more Mr. Dixon¡¯s expression clouded over, so I tried to reign her in before things got worse, but it was no use.

    ¡°Then it would be Tina-kun and Wiska-kun next. And the newest addition before me was Kugi.¡±

    ¡°That is correct, Shouko-sama. I was only epted recently.¡±

    Beside me, Kugi nodded in agreement.

    ¡°That means I¡¯m the seventh huh? The seventh wife. Wow. There aren¡¯t that many nobles who have seven wives.¡±

    Dr. Shouko smiled obliviously after saying her piece. Mr. Dixon also disyed a smile.

    ¡°Now then, even if we are going to be inws from now on, I wonder if it¡¯s alright for a father who is marrying away a daughter to be a lecherous man¡¯s seventh wife to punch his son-inw in the face at least once? No, I feel like I absolutely must do so. There is no mistake.¡±

    ¡°Please let me off, Father-inw.¡±

    I raised my hands in surrender against the fuming Mr. Dixon. What Dr. Shouko said might technically be correct, but I personally don¡¯t n on ranking my partners like that. I¡¯m gonna work hard to love all of them equally. I¡¯m definitely gonna take full responsibility in my own way. So, please forgive me already, Mr. Dixon.

 Chapter 377: Hostility

    ¡°They were surprisingly amodating regarding your resignation, weren¡¯t they?¡±

    After exiting Inagawa Tech¡¯s building, I whispered so that only Kugi and Dr. Shouko could hear my remark.

    Mr. Dixon kept making snide remarks regarding my rtionships with multiple women, but he didn¡¯t really try to dissuade Dr. Shouko from joining us.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already submitted all the relevant documents and properly handed over all my tasks before I was sent to work for the military, so they shouldn¡¯t have anything to nitpick about. You already know of my origins, right? The empire is surprisingly tolerant of people with backgrounds simr to mine. Or should I say sympathetic¡­¡­? Well, the point is they treat people like us quite fairly. We¡¯re mostly free to choose our own careers.¡±

    ¡°I honestly wasn¡¯t expecting that.¡±

    ¡°Basically, they¡¯re worried that if they treat people like me poorly and push us to the brink, we might bite back. We¡¯re designed to be geniuses after all, so it would be really bad if we escaped, went off the grid, and conducted some weird and harmful research or something like that.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­? But shouldn¡¯t there be more than a couple of ways to force someone to be obedient pawns?¡±

    This was a world where there is such a thing as surgical enhancements that would allow someone to surpass human limits. It wouldn¡¯t be surprising if there was technology that would allow others to imnt a chip into a person¡¯s brain in order to freely manipte their actions.

    ¡°Of course there are. But if ways to forcefully manipte people exist, there are also ways to effectively nullify their effects, as well as methods to avoid getting controlled without being found out. And people like me are really good at stuff like that.¡±

    ¡°So, instead of forcefully making you guys submit, they try their hardest to make you feel weed and needed instead so you¡¯d swear allegiance voluntarily.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. Well, it¡¯s not like this empire is paradise for people like us, so they¡¯d still monitor your actions for a certain period, and a certain degree of mental adjustments are mandatory.¡±

    ¡°Mental adjustments?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s basically simr to taking a questionnaire. You¡¯d be led to a private room and undergo something akin to a psychiatric evaluation. Various investigative equipment are hidden inside the room, so they¡¯d be able to get a mostly urate reading of your thoughts.¡±

    ¡°Ugh.¡±

    What about free thinking? And what exactly are they gonna do if you didn¡¯t pass that evaluation? Scary stuff.

    ¡°Speaking of which, what about confidentiality regarding Inagawa Technology¡¯s info andpany tech? You good with those?¡±

    ¡°I already returned all the devices containing relevant data. I can¡¯t do anything about the stuff that¡¯s already inside my head, but there¡¯s a non-disclosure agreement.¡±

    ¡°So, it¡¯s not possible to tamper with the contents of your head huh?¡±

    ¡°Well, not exactly. They can do that, but it¡¯ll greatly affect one¡¯s memories and personality¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s freaking scary.¡±

    In other words, if they tampered with your head to erase certain memories, your personality will also be greatly affected. You might even turn into someone else entirely. That¡¯s seriously terrifying.

    ¡°So it is like that.¡±

    ¡°Is it not the case with your country, Kugi?¡±

    ¡°I have heard that my country also has a device that seals memories.¡±

    ¡°Hee? So, psionic technology can also do something like that huh? It¡¯s not memory deletion but sealing instead huh¡­¡­? Is something like hypnosis?¡±

    ¡°I have only heard of the device¡¯s existence from someone else, so I am not so clear regarding the details¡­¡­ It is apparently a measure used when expelling people from other countries who we have previously detained.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    So, it should be a way to prevent foreigners from freely talking about the country¡¯s inner workings huh? No matter how I think about it, the Holy Vuelzarus empire really seems like a pretty insr, or rather, exclusive country.

    ¡°So, what should we do now? Are we gonna join up with Mei-kun and the others as nned?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do that. Your opinions regarding medical and research equipment we¡¯re gonna get is also¨C¡±

    Before I could say ¡®important¡¯, I paused and warily looked around. I wasn¡¯t sure what exactly happened, but my back suddenly felt all tingly. I also think I felt a chill on the back of my neck. It¡¯s simr to the feeling I get whenever a tricky opponent gets behind me in a space dogfight.

    ¡°Hiro-kun?¡±

    ¡°I feel like I¡¯ve been marked by something or someone really dangerous.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Hostility. And quite an intense one at that. It was only for a moment, but it certainly was there.¡±

    Kugi seemed to have felt it as well. She also scanned the area warily, with her fox ears jittering on top of her head.

    ¡°Hostility huh? Doesn¡¯t working as a mercenary carry a risk of making quite a few enemies?¡±

    ¡°Even so, I¡¯m actually quite reservedpared to others in this line of work. I haven¡¯t done anything that would make anyone resent me except for space pirates and the like.¡±

    Well, aside from pirates, only nobles came to mind. After all, I beat down a fair share of knights and nobles during that imperial tournament I was forced to participate in, so the possibility of being resented because of that wasn¡¯t exactly zero. There¡¯s also the possibility of the source being the nobles who messed with the Dareinwald house.

    ¡°What are we gonna do?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s usually better to run away and escape during situations like this, but¡­¡­ let¡¯s join up with Mei and the rest first. If there¡¯s a risk of engaging in battle outside of the ship, joining up and moving together with Mei would be the next best thing.¡±

    The best thing is, of course, sessfully evacuating to one of our energy-shielded starships, but the ck Lotus was about to undergo refurbishment and an overhaul, and Krishna wouldn¡¯t be able to adequately amodate all of us inside it. Err, I suppose we can still make it work somehow if we all squeezed in. Anyway, that would be ourst resort.

    ¡°Dr. Shouko, please send a message to Mimi and the others. Tell them that there¡¯s a possibility we¡¯re being targeted by an unidentified party, so they should finish up their shopping and join up with Mei¡¯s group as well.¡±

    ¡°Nn, I got it.¡±

    As I watched Dr. Shouko take out her portable data terminal from her pocket and began operating it, I made sure I¡¯d be able to draw the sword andser gun strapped to my waist at a moment¡¯s notice. I don¡¯t think they¡¯dunch an attack on us in the middle of such a crowded city block, but it¡¯s not like the possibility was zero.

    The man and the girl with fox ears ¨C probably someone from Vuelzarus ¨C began to scan the surroundings cautiously almost at the same time, so I couldn¡¯t help but click my tongue in annoyance.

    ¡°Tsk¡­¡­ That¡¯s some intuition. How troublesome.¡±

    I only leaked out bloodlust for a short instant, but they were immediately able to pick up on it. Their sense of vignce was out of the ordinary. Even nobles who¡¯ve received full physical enhancements shouldn¡¯t have been able to notice at this distance.

    ¡°Are they psychics? How troublesome¡­¡­¡±

    Even though this gxy is quite vast, there aren¡¯t that many people who have managed to awaken psionic abilities. There are some species with innate psionic abilities like the elves, but there are only a handful of individuals in the known gxy who are able to notice hostility from this far away.

    ¡°Even so, he sure is making quite a ssh¡­¡­¡±

    I muttered while checking my target¡¯s background information on my tablet terminal.

    I thought he was just a small-time viin, but he turned out to be quite the bigshot. I should have checked with the Mercenary Guild straight away. Owing to his rtively reserved personality, eyewitness reports are hard toe by.

    ¡°Beingte to act sure cost us¡­¡­¡±

    I was away for just a couple of years, but to think something like that would happen within that short time period. That ce wasn¡¯t exactly safe, and being close to the center of the empire was inconvenient for me¡­¡­ Also, all the people involved have already been purged, so it took a while to gather vital information.

    ¡ºCaptain, Target Alpha has begun to move.¡»

    ¡°Make sure to keep an eye on him. But don¡¯t let him notice you. That bandit might be a psionic. Use anti-psychic equipment while monitoring him.¡±

    ¡º¡­¡­How troublesome. I¡¯ll take some from the ship.¡»

    ¡°Alright. For now, a mental wave-blocking helmet should be enough.¡±

    I¡¯m not sure what kind of abilities he has exactly, but since he was able to detect my killing intent from this far out, it should be telepath-rted. If that¡¯s the case, then mental wave-blocking equipment should prevent one from getting detected by him as well as prevent the target from messing around with the head of my subordinate.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you get away¡­¡­ I¡¯ll definitely make you pay the price for what you¡¯ve done.¡±

    I muttered to myself while watching the bandit, Captain Hiro, from afar.

    Just hold on dear. I¡¯ming to rescue you soon.

 Chapter 378: Meeting Up and Tails

    For some reason, the hostile intent seems to have subsided, so we rushed to the shipyard near the port area where Mei and Wiska were supposed to be.

    The Alein Tertius colony wasn¡¯t a colony that focuses on manufacturing and selling starships, but it does focus on selling modules for advanced starships that make use of thetest tech. As a result, its starship market was rtively active, and it was equipped with a fairlyrge shipyard.

    Naturally, various dealers gathered in such ces, so Mei and Wiska went over to look for new equipment that would meet our requirements.

    ¡°I wonder what that was?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea. It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t have a few guesses though.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you were someone who had good moral character, Hiro-kun?¡±

    ¡°I do have good moral character. That¡¯s why those guys with bad moral characters tend to hate me.¡±

    At the very least, it shouldn¡¯t be guys with respectable dispositions. I wasn¡¯t exactly sure if it¡¯s pirates, delinquent nobles, or maybe even another unknown party. Well, Dr. Shouko¡¯s matters have now been settled, so even if we want to rece our ship equipment, we didn¡¯t really have to do that in the Alein Tertius colony. They might turn out to be a bit more expensive, but we could also get stuff with equal or better quality in the Windas system.

    Well, there¡¯s the thing about it being close to the imperial capital though. If we get too close to the capital, I¡¯m afraid that f*cking emperor would mess around with me again.

    ¡°In any case, we have to be vignt. Judging from how intense that feeling of hostility was, I¡¯m almost sure they¡¯d try to pull something against us eventually.¡±

    ¡°Hee? So you¡¯re able to tell that much?¡±

    ¡°Well, ever since my ¡®eye¡¯ was opened, I¡¯ve be a little more sensitive to the feelings of other people around me. I wouldn¡¯t mind if it was just a bit of jealousy, but this is the first time I¡¯ve felt such a strong feeling of hostility or murderous intent directed toward me. It kinda felt like the other party was dead set on tearing me a new one.¡±

    ¡°Well, then there¡¯s still a chance that it was just your misconception, right, Hiro-kun? This was the first time you felt it after all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s possible, but I¡¯m probably right on the money this time.¡±

    I can¡¯t imagine that sense of hostility that felt like the other party would rip my throat out if given the slightest chance would be just my misconception. Well, it¡¯s true that nothing¡¯s been confirmed for now. After all, even if I did feel hostility, it was nothing more than my intuition working.

    ¡°Forgive me for being presumptuous, but I believe it is better not to let our guards down for the time being¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Right. I shouldn¡¯t overly worry about it, but it would be a disaster if an incident happens the moment I let my guard down.¡±

    Before long, we finally arrived at the port area. It was as dark as night like usual, but the area where the ship dealers were gathered was brightly lit. Well, the lights were artificial though. But still, the ce was pretty bright.

    ¡°Mei and Wiska are¡­¡­ inside that dealership huh?¡±

    Ahead of my gaze was a store that upied a particrlyrge space among the many starship dealers in the area. In a colony where space was limited, store size was usually a good indicator of how well a business was doing. That¡¯s because the maintenance costs for suchrge stores were generally higher than average.

    ¡°Are you familiar with the reputation of this particr dealership, Doc?¡±

    ¡°Even if this is my home colony, I don¡¯t have info on stores I don¡¯t have any business frequenting¡­¡­ And besides, I¡¯m kind of a shut-in type.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    I get that. I also never cared about the reputation of the local car dealers back on Earth. That¡¯s even if I regrly rode cars.

    ¡°Let us enter, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    Surprisingly, even if it was her first time encountering such a shop, Kugi didn¡¯t seem to shy away from it. Or rather, she was modestly proactive. Judging from the movements of her ears and tails, she seems to be enjoying herself quite a bit. I suppose you could call her a bundle of reserved curiosity.

    ¡°Hou.¡±

    ¡°Hee. It¡¯s actually pretty impressive.¡±

    When we entered, we saw a counter staffed by people in front, a workshop on the left through a ss partition, and a showroom-like space on the right. The young man behind the counter already noticed us, so we decided to quickly head over.

    ¡°Wee, dear customers.¡±

    ¡°Mm. There should have been a maidroid and a dwarven woman who came to your shop earlier. Could you please guide us to them? They¡¯re my crew members.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I will go ahead and check, so please wait a moment.¡±

    The man bowed slightly and immediately started operating the holo-terminal on the counter. Apparently, he was able to confirm right away, and he turned his attention back to us after a slight nod.

    ¡°I¡¯ve confirmed their whereabouts. Yourpanions are negotiating with a person from ourpany in consultation room B, on the inner left wing of our showroom to our right. I shall guide you¨C¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. Consultation room B huh? It¡¯s not like this shop¡¯s built like a maze, right?¡±

    ¡°Err, well, yes, it isn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Then there¡¯s no need to bother with guiding us. Ah, but three more of ourpanions should be arriving here soon, so please amodate them instead. They are a human, an elf, and a dwarf. All of them are women.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    I raised my hand in response to the shop clerk manning the counter who bowed toward us and headed toward the back of the showroom along with Dr. Shouko and Kugi.

    ¡°Oh, they also have one of ourtest models in stock huh?¡±

    ¡°Hm? Which is it¡­¡­? Whoah. It¡¯s huge.¡±

    Dr. Shouko pointed toward a med pod that was on disy. It was a simple but professional-looking device. The basic med pods installed inside the Krishna and ck Lotus were about the same size as a bed, but the med pod Dr. Shouko was pointing toward was easily more than three times bigger. But it didn¡¯t actually take up much space because it wasn¡¯t that wide but was tall instead, so maybe its size did make sense.

    ¡°Since it isn¡¯t wider than other models, they would only obstruct the view a bit when lined up inside arge space, but they can be installed in much the same way as other models. It¡¯s actually pretty popr you know?¡±

    ¡°But this thing¡¯s expensive, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, yes. It is.¡±

    Dr. Shouko shifted her gaze. Well, I didn¡¯t really mind buying it if she truly wanted the thing. It shouldn¡¯t be too expensive.

    No, but aren¡¯t medical equipment usually quite expensive? But the market price situation of medical equipment in this dimension should be different from that of Earth¡¯s¡­¡­ After all, precision equipment is cheaper to manufacture here because of the existence of replicators.

    ¡°Let¡¯s include that item in the list then. We have more than enough budget anyway. Don¡¯t hesitate to tell me if there¡¯s any other equipment that interests you two.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    Kugi peering up at my face while wagging her tails was such a cute sight. If Dr. Shouko also had a cute tail, it would be¡­¡­ No, that can actually work. Yep. I really wanna try it out now. I¡¯m really interested in what kind of expression she¡¯ll make when she puts on artificial animal ears and a tail in front of me.

    Eh? There¡¯s a risk of being attacked but I¡¯m acting all carefree? Well, I don¡¯t think the other party wouldunch an attack in the middle of a crowded city after all. Elma should be aware of that too, and she¡¯d probably make it here safely even if she and the rest take a bit of a detour.

    Even so, my head hurts when I think of what would possibly happen from here on out. I wonder what that was really all about. Sheesh.

 Chapter 379: Itâ€™s Not Like We Have to Resolve Every Problem Ourselves

    Before we were able to enter the consultation room ourselves, the door opened on its own and Mei went out to wee us.

    ¡°Hey there, Mei. How¡¯re the negotiations?¡±

    ¡°Hello, Master. We have finished conveying our requests and were about to pick up the items we chose.¡±

    ¡°I see. Then let¡¯s just focus on this matter first.¡±

    ¡°Alright, Master.¡±

    Regarding that sense of hostility or murderous intent, if it¡¯s directed solely at me, then I¡¯m pretty sure I can deal with whatever happens. I¡¯ve also thought of n while we were heading here. Well, it¡¯s nothingplicated though.

    ¡°Thank you for choosing ourpany, sir. My name is Terada from the Okamoto Company.¡±

    ¡°Hello. The ones who chose your dealership are these two though.¡±

    I have absolutely no sense when ites to choosing a good shop, so there¡¯s really no need to thank me. For the time being, I epted his holo-business card on my portable data terminal and sat down at Mei¡¯s urging.

    But Okamoto Company and Terada-san huh? There really are a lot of Japanese-sounding names here on Alein Tertius. That includes Dr. Shouko and Inagawa Technology as well. Is there some reason for this?

    ¡°Since the ones who will use the research equipment would be thesedies, Wiska and Shouko, we¡¯ll basically just go with whatever they fancy. As for budget, I will leave it to Mei here.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Alright, Master.¡±

    I¡¯ve managed to rake in quite a bit of money after all. We¡¯ve hunted down quite a few pirates whenever we moved from ce to ce, and we¡¯ve also earned quite a bit of cash from our daily payout while taking on jobs for the military. I gave my ount bnce a quick check and found it¡¯s currently at about 50 million Enels. Mimi¡¯s made pretty good earnings in trading goods, and the profit from selling off the booty that the dwarven sisters have stripped off of downed pirate ships was also considerable.

    Well, even if our targets were pirates, what we did was simr to bandits piging others for loot. But we¡¯ve only ever targeted pirates you know? I¡¯m sure it we¡¯re in the clear for doing that much.

    ¡°You should have a chamber scanner made by Shundai Metric avable, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d also like a replicator that can make slightlyrger parts¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°We indeed do have those products in stock.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s renovate the space like this.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you also have our, I mean Inagawa Technology¡¯stest medical pod model in stock, right?¡±

    The researcher, engineer,pany representative, and maidroid discussed renovation ns around arge number of holo-disys that projected stuff like holograms of the ck Lotus and product catalogs. As we watched them fuss about, Kugi and I enjoyed the tea and sweats provided by the dealership¡¯spanion gynoid. I wasn¡¯t sure if she was manufactured by Orient like Mei though.

    ¡°These are quite delicious, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Yup. The tea and snacks are pretty good.¡±

    I don¡¯t know just how Mei and Wiska managed to find this shop, but they had pretty good customer service. I couldn¡¯t tell if the tea was brewed from natural tea leaves, but it was rather fragrant and didn¡¯t seem cheap. The sweets that were provided with the tea resembled rakugan, and this was the first time I¡¯d eaten them ever since finding myself in this dimension. They weren¡¯t that good when eaten alone, but were pretty nice when paired with tea.

    ¡°Are Elma-sama and the others safe?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯d probably be here soon.¡±

    Just after Kugi¡¯s question, I received a message from Elma on my portable terminal. We have to move quickly once Mimi and the others arrive here. It would be great if we could make some arrangements without a hitch.

    ¡°I¡¯m d you guys are okay.¡±

    When I called out to Elma and the others when they arrived at the Okamoto Company dealership, Elma responded with an exasperated tone.

    ¡°We¡¯re not you, so we won¡¯t simply get in trouble inside a safe colony like this without any warning.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say it like that, Elma. It stings.¡±

    When you say it like that, it directly pierces my heart.

    ¡°Are you alright, Hiro-sama?¡±

    On the other hand, Mimi immediately expressed her concern for me. Mimi was an angel after all. Well, even if she was acting all harsh, I believe Elma was also worried about me in her own way.

    By the way, Tina rushed over and checked if I was okay before I even managed to call out to them, then said ¡®Alright!¡¯ afterward. She then immediately joined in on the discussion regarding the ck Lotus renovation n. What the heck?

    ¡°It¡¯s not like they¡¯ve already done something, so it¡¯s still fine. It would be nice if it was just me being paranoid.¡±

    As I said that, I nced toward Kugi, and she shook her head in response. Since Kugi also felt that sense of hostility or murderous intent just like I did, it would be premature to dismiss it as me being paranoid.

    ¡°So? What are we gonna do about it? We can just go ahead and get out of here if you want.¡±

    ¡°Well, I at least wanna confirm the other party¡¯s identity.¡±

    It¡¯s difficult to make appropriate judgments without confirming the true extent of the potential threat. We¡¯d justugh about it if the source was just a thug who was in over his head, but judging from the intensity of that resentment, I really feel that it ain¡¯t that simple.

    ¡°Do you have any ns in mind, Hiro-sama? I think this situation might be dangerous.¡±

    ¡°I do. If it¡¯s dangerous, then we can just outsource it.¡±

    After saying so, I showed what was on the screen of my portable terminal. Disyed on it was information about the active security service firms in the Alein Tertius colony.

    ¡°Oh, I see. That¡¯s definitely an option. It¡¯ll cost us though¡­¡­ Are you sure we have enough budget for it?¡±

    ¡°It should be fine. We can just earn some more fundster if needed.¡±

    Because the Alein system was a high-tech system, many trade goods with highmercial value frequented its market. Due to this, pirate activity was also rtively high. Furthermore, many wealthy people tended to visit the system. That¡¯s why the hostage business was also thriving. In other words, it was a great hunting ground for mercenaries like us.

    ¡°Let¡¯s check them out right away then! What kind of security servicepany should we look for?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if they¡¯re expensive to hire. Anyway, it would be nice if they had a customer service counter like this shop. Assuming that there really is a hostile party that¡¯s going to attack us soon, it would be best if the security firm is capable of casting a and reeling in the assants.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll look for thosepanies that satisfy those conditions then.¡±

    After saying so, Mimi took out her tablet terminal from its pouch and began to search for info on security service firms. I should just leave it to Mimi. Then I¡¯d just let Mei scrutinize the informationter and it would be perfect.

 Chapter 380: The Crafty Schemer Drowns in Their Own Scheme

    I left the job of selecting a suitable security servicepany for Mimi and Elma to deal with. I then took Kugi and the girls and went back to the ck Lotus to check out the progress of the refurbishment ns.

    ¡°It looks like everything¡¯s pretty much decided.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. We didn¡¯t even have ta say anythin¡¯.¡±

    We looked around the interior of the ck Lotus, which was in the middle of the renovation, together with Tina. About half of the living quarters, which were basically empty until now, were converted into arge research area. Even so, several vacant rooms were still left, so it was still possible to house a reasonable number of people. However, it was no longer possible to amodate four media crews together like before. There might be enough room for onepany, or maybe two if they didn¡¯t mind squeezing in.

    ¡°A sub-generator for the research equipment huh¡­¡­? Wasn¡¯t the capacity of the Lotus¡¯ generator more than enough?¡±

    I frowned when I saw a small power generator installed inside the research room. Why? Because something like this was dangerous. Even if it was a sub-generator, it was still a generator, so if this section ever took a direct hit, the ck Lotus might possibly blow up in one shot. Spaceships were quite vulnerable to losing pressure from the inside.

    ¡°Master¡¯s concern is understandable. However, it is essential to secure a separate power supply system when employing research equipment. It has been installed in the section of the ship where the armor is thickest and is least likely to suffer critical hits probability-wise. We have taken steps to ensure that possible damage will be kept to the absolute minimum in case of an incident.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that the power capacity of the main generator is insufficient, but this was installed just in case¡­¡­ I mean, we can¡¯t be certain that we won¡¯t encounter a situation where the ship consumes an unexpectedlyrge amount of power in an instant, leading to the equipment ceasing all functions.¡±

    ¡°If that happens to the main generator of the ship while it¡¯s actively navigating, in the worst case, the shield might suddenly go down while traveling at superluminal speed, and the ship will end up being filled with holes due to debris as a result. Or it might get thrown out into a crazy ce if the hyperdrive suddenly goes down¡­¡­ Well, it¡¯ll probably be fine, but still.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s scary, man. Fine, I approve the instation of this sub-generator.¡±

    I don¡¯t like the fact that the Lotus gained an additional weak point, but it¡¯s a different story when the main purpose is to prevent possibly fatal idents.

    ¡°You¡¯re not gonna demand we stop conducting research huh, Big Brother?¡±

    ¡°It sure is great to have such an understanding ship captain.¡±

    I don¡¯t really know just what kind of research Dr. Shouko and Wiska were nning on doing. But it would certainly be difficult to conduct proper research if there¡¯s a limit to the power that can be used. This means that the sub-generator was necessary in order to have the two conduct research freely. It was a cheap price to pay if it meant having an excellent ship doctor named Dr. Shouko as part of our crew¡­¡­ I think? Well, I do believe their research will eventually turn out profitable for us in some wayter down the line, so it¡¯s fine. Yeah. I suppose everything¡¯s gonna be fine as long as the ck Lotus doesn¡¯t get hit. It¡¯ll work out somehow. Yep.

    ¡°I know it¡¯s best ta leave this kinda thing ta the specialists and just let the head honcho take full responsibility, but¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    I nced toward Tina. She does get carried away and go crazy sometimes, but Tina¡¯s usually quite professional when ites to work.

    ¡°Alright then. You should serve as the head of the engineering team, Tina. Make sure to hold the reigns of these two and not let them act recklessly.¡±

    ¡°Wait, are ya serious, Boss? Yer not kidding, are ya?¡±

    Tina, who was suddenly forced to take care of Dr. Shouko in addition to Wiska, immediately raised her voice in protest, but I ruthlessly disregarded her objections.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna prioritize having good alcohol as the technical chief¡¯s allowance.¡±

    ¡°Ya promise? It¡¯s gonna get pulled out if ya lie, okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid to ask what exactly you¡¯re nning to pull out¡­¡­¡±

    Whether its limbs, hair, or even a man¡¯s most important symbol, any one of them getting pulled out was he scary. With Tina¡¯s ridiculous strength, her pulling them out just like that really was possible. Well, instead of them getting pulled out, they might actually get crushed instead.

    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m fine with the generator, but¡­¡­ Mm, I don¡¯t get it. Why do we have twoboratories?¡±

    ¡°We divided them into abined nanotechnology and biotechnologyb, as well as ab for conducting other types of research. They both need a clean room, but we have to be extra careful with leaks when ites to the nano and biotechnologyb.¡±

    ¡°I feel like I heard something quite scary, but I¡¯ll just let it slide¡­¡­ I¡¯m not gonna tell you guys to only conduct research that¡¯s beneficial to us, but please take us into consideration when choosing research topics, okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best.¡±

    Dr. Shouko and Wiska replied with the same words while disying refreshing smiles, but I couldn¡¯t help but feel that something was off. Well, it¡¯s not like I was expecting to immediately gain returns from this investment, and it would be tactless of me to demand that of them.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have you guys tell me about your future ns in more detailter¡­¡­ Anyway, it looks like the med bay¡¯s also gotten expanded huh?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master. I had the facilities expanded in lieu of a doctor with specialized skills joining the crew.¡±

    ¡°I promise that I¡¯ll get you back in shape no matter what condition you guys find yourselves in as long as you¡¯re still alive. Though it would be better if things don¡¯te to that in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°That certainly sounds reassuring.¡±

    With this world¡¯s technology, it seems that you can get revived from any state as long as you didn¡¯t outright die. So Dr. Shouko wasn¡¯t simply boasting when she made such a deration.

    ¡°So, is all this within the budget?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Just barely though.¡±

    ¡°Just barely huh¡­¡­?¡±

    I told Mei that she could use up to 30 million Enels, so if she says that much just barely made the cut, then it should have been quite close. A deal worth 30 million would probably be treated as pretty big business. You get what you pay for, so to speak.

    But I had no idea if this price was expensive or cheap. That¡¯s because the pricing of goods and services here is just too different from Earth¡¯s¡­¡­ I remember hearing that one electron microscope actually costs tens of millions of Yen. No, perhaps it was billions? I don¡¯t really remember it that clearly.

    Now, we only had to care about how much it was gonna cost us to hire the services of a security firm¡­¡­ Well, it probably won¡¯t cost more than 10 million Enels. I also wasn¡¯t familiar with the market prices when ites to security services.

    ¡°Well, I suppose it¡¯s fine as long as it¡¯s within the budget. We won¡¯t get anything done if we keep fussing about such details.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. We¡¯d be able to do more things if we have an unlimited budget though.¡±

    ¡°Please cut me some ck here. This is already expensive even from the point of view of a mercenary.¡±

    ¡°Uh, I think I just realized how much money we ended up spending, and now I feel a little scared.¡±

    Wiska¡¯s smiling face suddenly turned pale, but since she was one of those who made the purchase, I think some self-awareness was just appropriate. After all, part of the money used was earned through Tina and Wiska¡¯s blood, sweat, and tears.

    Also, you don¡¯t really need to hide your uneasiness behind a smile, Terada-san. We¡¯ve alreadye this far, so I won¡¯t just suddenly back out at this point.

    After entrusting the renovation work to Terada-san of Okamoto Company, we decided to go back to the hotel. For the time being, we decided to get a good rest andplete the arrangements for hiring a security servicepany.

    ¡°Once we finish arranging for a security service, let¡¯s go shopping or sightseeing.¡±

    ¡°Right! We dide here before, but there were still lots of ces we weren¡¯t able to check out, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°I definitely wanna take Tina and the others to that ce as well.¡±

    ¡°That ce?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s a very fun ce.¡±

    ¡°Yer makin¡¯ a really suspicious face though, Boss.¡±

    Hey. How rude. I¡¯m just nning to take you for a tour of theb-grown meat factory in order to broaden your horizons.

    ¡°Ah, I think I got it. Yer referring to that cultured meat factory, right? No way I¡¯m goin¡¯ there.¡±

    ¡°Tsk. I already mentioned it to you guys before huh?¡±

    What a failure on my part. Come to think of it, I guess I did talk about that cultured meat factory on Alein Tertius at some point. I¡¯ve talked about the events before I met Tina and Wiska with them on several asions. We also shared stories before going to bed.

    ¡°A cultured meat factory?¡±

    Kugi curiously tilted her head. Oh yeah. I haven¡¯t mentioned it to Kugi yet.

    ¡°In other words, it¡¯s a factory that produces meat.¡±

    ¡°A factory that produces meat! I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡±

    After saying so, Kugi looked at me with a hopeful gaze.

    ¡°I already went there before, so maybe I won¡¯t go this time around!¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­?¡±

    Kugi¡¯s mood noticeably dropped. Her ears and tail drooped down. Ugh. That¡¯s just unfair you know? Well, it¡¯s not like she did it on purpose.

    ¡°If there¡¯s an opportunity¡­¡­ No, let¡¯s just make an opportunity.¡±

    When I saw Kugi getting even more depressed, I ended up making a promise to go anyway. And then, I grabbed the arm of a grinning Tina who was right beside me.

    ¡°Tina and Wiska will alsoe with us. They haven¡¯t seen the factory yet too.¡±

    ¡°Eh¨C Wai¨C¡±

    ¡°Me too!?¡±

    Wiska disyed a shocked expression, but I pretended not to see it. If I¡¯m going down, then we¡¯ll all go down together. It looks like I¡¯ll end up aplishing my initial n after all.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna pass. I¡¯m sure Hiro-kun knows the reason why.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    I¡¯m not sure if Inagawa had any dealings with the factory we visited back then, but they should have done plenty of research on those white monstrosities after that outbreak incident. Dr. Shouko and her colleagues made nanomachines to counter those monsters back then, so she must have also been involved in the investigation of that incident. If that¡¯s the case, then she must already be familiar with the origin of those monsters.

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s just go back to our room first.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    Elma responded with a clearly exasperated tone. I¡¯ll just pray that Kugi ends up simply forgetting about this entire dealter on.

 Chapter 381: Igasek and Kouga Security Services

    After returning to the hotel, we changed into morefortable clothes and gathered in the spacious living room. It had afortable sofa set, a beautiful coffee table, and chairs that looked very much like antiques. They were partly made of a material that looked like wood, but Mei said it wasn¡¯t actually wood but a well-made imitation instead. Using cutting-edge science and technology just to synthesize highly convincing wood imitations didn¡¯t quite make sense to me as one who used to live on a.

    ¡°So, uh, you mentioned something about us being possibly targeted by someone or something, right?¡±

    Elma, who was now wearing a tank top and hot pants, asked while opening a can of non-carbonated beer.

    ¡°Right. It would be nice if I was just overthinking things, but the problem is that doesn¡¯t seem to be the case.¡±

    ¡°This one also sensed the hostile intent My Lord felt, so I believe there is no mistake. However¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°However?¡±

    I urged the hesitant Kugi to continue, and she opened her mouth once more after a short pause.

    ¡°I believe that the hostile intent was solely aimed at you, My Lord, and no one else among us, including me.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I see?¡±

    I began ruminating Kugi¡¯s words. Assuming that what Kugi said was true, just why am I being targeted then? I had absolutely no idea. Of course, I wasn¡¯t in any position to say that no one had any reason to target me, but even so, I really couldn¡¯t think of a party that would be willing to kill me directly.

    Why is that? It¡¯s because my fighting strength was already widely known in the empire. Not only was I apparently quite skilled with a sword to the extent of being able to go toe to toe with Drawn Sword faction nobles, but I was also a good shot withser weapons. And, needless to say, I had already proven my strength in spacebat during the imperial tournament. I don¡¯t think there are many folks out there who will actively pick a fight with me.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s something like making a name for oneself by killing me?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a bit of a stretch, right¡­¡­? At the very least, I don¡¯t think mercenaries and nobles would go out of their way to act on something like that. It would be a different story if they went and challenged you openly to a duel or something to that effect, but going for assassination in the middle of a city is a bit too much.¡±

    ¡°I see. So it¡¯s either pirates or simr types huh? Or maybe it¡¯s someone willing to kill me even by using dishonorable means. But if that¡¯s really the case, then it¡¯s quite weird.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s weird, Boss?¡±

    ¡°It took them too little time to pinpoint my location and even emitted murderous intent toward me.¡±

    It was murderous intent that was from such a distance that both Kugi and I failed to locate the source. In other words, they had made arrangements to monitor me from a considerable distance beforehand.

    ¡°We just arrived at this colony today, right? There¡¯s no way a surveince system would have been in ce if it wasn¡¯t set up beforehand. However, we only decided oning back here while we were still at the frontier, and we used a gateway toe here directly. Don¡¯t you guys think it would be impossible for the other party to cast such a well-prepared even if, hypothetically, they¡¯ve been monitoring us since we were at the frontier and have stuck to us like glue?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­In other words, are you implying that there¡¯s a spy among us?¡±

    Elma wrinkled her eyebrows as she said so. However, I shook my head.

    ¡°Even if that¡¯s the case, I don¡¯t think they would be able to outwit and avoid Mei¡¯s surveince in the Lotus to conduct spying activities. Or rather, I wasn¡¯t considering something like that at all in the first ce.¡±

    I shook my head once more. I didn¡¯t want to doubt my crew, and frankly, I don¡¯t really think there¡¯s a need to in the first ce.

    ¡°What I¡¯m getting at is that the other party has already set up a surveince and had made all the arrangements beforehand.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ I see?¡±

    Mimi¡¯s response was subtle as if she both understood and didn¡¯t. The otherdies had simr reactions.

    ¡°In other words, what kind of people are we dealing with here?¡±

    ¡°We wouldn¡¯t be going through all this trouble if I knew. In other words, what I¡¯m trying to say is that the other party ain¡¯t ¡®normal¡¯. I think it¡¯s likely that they aren¡¯t the type of people we can judge throughmon sense and are more prone to do stuff that¡¯s beyond expectations.¡±

    It probably wasn¡¯t mercenaries, nobles, or even space pirates that hold a grudge against me. The possibility that it¡¯s an unknown party we have yet to encounter was pretty high in my opinion.

    ¡°But doesn¡¯t that mean we don¡¯t know jack about them after all, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah, I guess. I only wanted to voice out my suspicions. Anyway, they should be a pretty strange bunch.¡±

    After all, if we were aware from the start that they¡¯re the kind that doesn¡¯t conform tomon sense, it would likely lessen the chances of us getting blindsided by them. For now, let¡¯s hope that the other party doesn¡¯t resort to unleashing sma or other highly destructive weapons within the colony in broad daylight without any regard for potential coteral damage and casualties.

    ¡°I would like you guys to select a security service with what I said in mind.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Well, we¡¯ve already narrowed it down to just two candidates though.¡±

    After saying so, Mimi operated her tablet terminal and activated the holo-disy installed on the coffee table at the center of the living room.

    ¡°It¡¯s the Igasek Service and Kouga Service.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­You look like you¡¯re suffering from constipation, Hiro.¡±

    Those guys are definitely ninjas¡­¡­ I haven¡¯t actually seen them yet, but somehow, I just knew they were. They definitely were going to be ninjas. I¡¯m even willing to bet one case of non-carbonated c. They were ninjas. No doubt about it. And I had a sneaking suspicion that the twopanies don¡¯t exactly get along all that well.

    ¡°Igasek has a biotechpany behind it, and Kouga has a cybeicspany behind it instead. Both of them seem to be prettypetent in what they do. But due to that, they charge pretty high for their services.¡±

    ¡°By the way, Inagawa Technology actually has a contract with Igasek. Maybe we¡¯ll even meet with someone I¡¯m familiar with. Igasek personnel often apanied me as escorts during my time working for Inagawa.¡±

    ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s go ahead and get in contact with Igasek.¡±

    Since they both provided quality services that seem to be on par, I think it would be better to get in contact with the one that already had some sort of connection with one of our own. If Dr. Shouko who long had dealings with Igasek people was present, negotiations with them might turn out easier for us.

    ¡°But looking at their service catalog¡­¡­ are these guys really a security service firm?¡±

    They not only offered the typical personal security services but other, err, less-mainstream ones, and shadier ones such as counterintelligence and item recovery.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about otherpanies. But the ones here are mostly simr to them.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Anyway, let¡¯s contact them first.¡±

    ¡°As they say, the anxiety that results from inaction is worse than any danger one might face.¡±

    What about our current predicament? Does that saying¡­ apply to it as well? Well, in any case, we better contact them as soon as we can. There¡¯s no point in worrying like this, so let¡¯s go ahead and do so.

 Chapter 382: Two People in Business Suits

    After we got in contact with Igasek, they quickly dispatched representatives to the hotel we were staying at.

    ¡°I thought we were gonna conduct the negotiations through a holo-call.¡±

    ¡°An analog method like this best ensures confidentiality. Transmissions can get intercepted or subjected to cracking after all.¡±

    ¡°Come to think of it, you chose to send the holo-message recorded by Chis to Earl Dareinwald through a courier back then, didn¡¯t you, Elma?¡±

    So that was due to security considerations as well. It¡¯s because data sent through awork might get intercepted and tampered with before it reaches the intended recipient.

    ¡°You sure brought up an old story¡­¡­ Which reminds me, you were quite amazing back then, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°That sure takes me back.¡±

    Elma disyed a wide grin while Mimi¡¯s lips curled into a sunny smile. They were both smiling, but it kinda felt like what they were getting at was different. How curious.

    ¡°Eh, what¡¯re ya guys talkin¡¯ about? Tell me about it too.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m also really curious!¡±

    ¡°T-This one is curious as well¡­¡­¡±

    Tina and Wiska¡¯s reactions were just as expected, but even Kugi joined in on themotion¡­¡­ Dr. Shouko was grinning as well. It looks like I have no ally inside this room huh? Mei¡­¡­ doesn¡¯t look like she would intervene either. I suppose she doesn¡¯t think the matter needed her intervention in the first ce. Also, her expression was as deadpan as usual, but she did seem curious as well.

    ¡°Okay, stop! Let¡¯s just drop that topic! Or maybe just leave it forter. C¡¯mon guys. The people from Igasek should be arriving soon.¡±

    ¡°Alright, Master. I shall ask Mimi-sama and Elma-sama about the matterter then.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Fine.¡±

    I shouldn¡¯t have said that we¡¯ll leave it forter. At this rate, even if the others didn¡¯t follow up on the topic, Mei absolutely will.

    Well, I suppose there¡¯s no use crying over spilled milk. What¡¯s done is done, so I¡¯ll just resolve myself. What? I simply couldn¡¯t control my impulses back then due to anxiety and acted like a knight vowing to protect the princess¡­¡­ It wasn¡¯t really all that embarrassing.

    As I inwardly reassured myself, the hotel staff called to inform us that we had visitors waiting at the hotel lobby. I confirmed with the staff if the visitors were people from Igasek and gave them permission to go up to our room.

    ¡°It looks like two people came over.¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Are they acting in a two-man cell just in case something happens?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t they just a sales representative and a field officer?¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s actually both.¡±

    While Elma, Mimi, and Dr. Shouko chatted away, Tina and Wiska sat together quietly in a spot a little further away, and Kugi was also sitting quietly beside them. The mechanic sisters remained quiet when ites to situations like this. If anything, Kugi also tended to act timidly when first getting in contact with strangers.

    The sisters simply remained quiet, while Kugi tended to use her telepathic ability to secretly spy on the other party¡¯s actions from an inconspicuous spot. I only noticed such a fact recently.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Kugi¡¯s and my eyes met, and her tails wagged energetically as she disyed a bright smile. It was as if she was saying ¡®Just leave it to me, My Lord. I will see through them and find out if they hold any ill intentions.¡¯ How reliable.

    As I mulled over such things, Mei, who was standing behind me, approached the door of the room and opened it.

    ¡°Wee. Please go ahead ande in.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. If you¡¯ll excuse us.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Thank you.¡±

    The two people entered the room. One was a slender man in a business suit who wasn¡¯t very tall, and the other was arge and well-built man who was also wearing a business suit. However, it looked like his suit was having trouble containing the second man¡¯srge frame. His arms, legs and waist were practically bulging with muscles.

    Was his suit the correct size? Is that really okay? It kinda seemed like his suit¡¯s buttons were dangerously close to popping right off.

    ¡°I¡¯m Captain Hiro, a mercenary.¡±

    ¡°I am Igasek¡¯s Ohta. This is Kiram.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The man who introduced himself as Ohta politely greeted me and also introduced his machopanion.

    The macho guy had one more characteristic that stood out. The guy didn¡¯t have a face. No, rather, the guy did have something like a face, but itcked any features. It was as if his face was a helmet.

    ¡°His entire body had gotten converted into prosthetics.¡±

    Perhaps noticing my gaze, Ohta promptly borated on hispanion¡¯s condition.

    ¡°I see. He looks quite strong.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I wonder.¡±

    After muttering in response, the huge guy with an apparent prosthetic body called Kiram scanned me and Mei in turn ¡ª or, at least, he seemed to scan us. I mean, his face was round, smooth, and seemed tock eyes after all, so it only felt like he scanned us with his gaze. Perhaps that nk ¡°face¡± was just a cover or something and a mechanical lens or lenses were hiding behind it.

    ¡°Kiram.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I won¡¯t be able to win against this man or that maidroid.¡±

    Kiram responded to Ohta¡¯s rebuke and his upper body shook. He had apparently shrugged.

    ¡°That might be the case if we fought head-on, but that¡¯s not what we¡¯remissioning you guys for.¡±

    With that in mind, I proceeded to talk about the details of our request.

    ¡°To cut to the chase, there¡¯s a possibility that we, or rather, I, am being targeted by another party. However, we need to stay in this colony for a while because our ship is getting refurbished. That¡¯s why I want to ask you to escort us during this period.¡±

    ¡°It seems it¡¯s quite a simple and straightforward escort request.¡±

    ¡°That appears to be the case at first, but the situation is a bit strange. We¡¯ve only arrived at this colony today.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I see?¡±

    Ohta¡¯s expression turned suspicious. Well, of course, he¡¯d have his doubts. No matter how you looked at it, hiring a security servicepany to act as escorts the day one arrives at a colony was pretty unusual.

    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s also possible that I¡¯m just being paranoid, but I just can¡¯t dismiss my suspicions. Well, I can¡¯t exactly tell you the details, but there¡¯s a degree of certainty to this matter.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t exactly exin that my suspicions were backed by my and Kugi¡¯s psionic abilities, so I just bluffed. I was a tinum-rank mercenary after all, so I was hoping that would help make things sound convincing enough.

    ¡°Do you have any idea about who or what you¡¯re up against?¡±

    ¡°If I did, then I would probably be able to do something about the matter myself. Unfortunately, that¡¯s not the case. Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m absolutely clueless, but we were at the empire¡¯s frontier area until recently, and we used a gateway toe here. I don¡¯t believe the ones I¡¯m suspecting would be able to put up such aplete surveince on such short notice. That¡¯s why I¡¯m pretty troubled.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­In your estimation, what is the caliber of the opponent?¡±

    Ohta inquired with an extremely serious expression. The caliber. Caliber huh¡­¡­?

    ¡°I have no proof, but I believe we¡¯re up against an experienced professional or group of professionals. It would be a joke if it was just some thugs or the local mafia. Well, if that does turn out to be the case, then I¡¯m simply just a paranoid idiot.¡±

    The other party was able to monitor us from a great distance after we got caught in their in such a short amount of time. It would be reasonable to think of the other party as a pro.

    ¡°I¡¯m nning to leave the escort methods to you guys because you¡¯re pros at what you do. But, well, I was thinking that instead of simply defending ourselves from the other party¡¯s attacks, I want to smoke them out and give them a counterblow. Oh, but that¡¯s only if you ept this request, of course.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­This matter is going to cost you quite a bit, you know?¡±

    ¡°I have more than enough money. Also, I¡¯ll be satisfied as long as I don¡¯t suffer an attack while staying in the colony.¡±

    It would be fine as long as the other party is prevented from targeting me or my crew directly outside of our ships. I¡¯d probably win if we engaged in spacebat after all.

    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s what that fellow is thinking.¡±

    ¡°In a way, his guesses are kinda on point. What are we gonna do?¡±

    Hmm. I wonder. I didn¡¯t want to get dragged into a space dogfight if I can help it.

    ¡°Igasek huh¡­¡­? Those fellows are troublesome. I believe they had a rivalpany?¡±

    ¡°Kouga Service. Are we gonna fight fire with fire?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re not the only ones with money. For now, let¡¯s go with that.¡±

    It would be troublesome if they escaped to the imperial capital, but they probably don¡¯t know our exact intentions. It was lucky that we decided toy in wait here. It looks like I haven¡¯t used up all my luck yet.

    ¡°Boss, wouldn¡¯t it be better to just get in contact with them normally?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t make such a gamble if it concerns that girl. It would be really troublesome if that fellow turns tail and runs away after all. Anyway, have you finished investigating that fellow?¡±

    ¡°We haven¡¯t gotten anything solid. We know that his first confirmed activities urred at the Termaine system, but even the Mercenary Guild doesn¡¯t seem to know his exact background or origin.¡±

    ¡°He appeared in the Termaine system with seemingly perfect timing, immediately got in contact with that girl, and then brought her into his ship. Besides, how could someone go from Bronze to tinum in a few months if they didn¡¯t have the backing of someone like the emperor? I¡¯m sure there¡¯s someone behind that fellow.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡­ nothing¡¯sing up, Boss. And there are traces of the imperial intelligence division investigating him as well¡­¡­ If we slip up, we might also get caught in their.¡±

    His usual whining is acting up again. This kid is always like this.

    ¡°You should be able to deal with that. Just work harder.¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­ You old hag.¡±

    ¡°You wanna get a taste of my fist?¡±

    The kid shut up quickly when I rolled up my sleeve. Honestly.

    In any case, that guy sure is hard to read. I thought he was more of the overconfident type, but¡­¡­ Well, no matter. I just have to do the usual. I won¡¯t let him get away.

 Chapter 383: UwU

    ¡°A lot sure has happened today.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    Since Ohta and Kiram had already left, we proceeded to take turns having showers or baths and rxed in thefortable living room.

    I, simply who took a quick shower, and Tina and Wiska who won the rock-paper-scissors game among the girls in order to decide the order for using the bath, were the first toe out. This room had multiple showers, bathrooms, and toilets, so it¡¯s quite convenient for housing arge group like ours.

    ¡°Hey, hey, Boss. When are we gonna have that wee party for the Doc?¡±

    ¡°Hm? Well, I was thinking we should have it after the renovation of the Lotus. Wouldn¡¯t it be better to have a party in the mess hall of the Lotus?¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    After she heard my answer, Tina seemed to lose energy as she proceeded to lean against me. Maybe she¡¯s disappointed that she wouldn¡¯t get to drink that alcohol we bought yet. Wiska leaned against me just like Tina. What¡¯s with you guys all of a sudden?

    ¡°That was so refreshing!¡±

    ¡°It felt really good.¡±

    It seems that Mimi and Kugi took a bath together. Elma was right behind them.

    ¡°So Dr. Shouko¡¯sst huh?¡±

    ¡°She seems to be taking her time with enjoying the bath.¡±

    ¡°Woah¨C¡±

    Elma lifted Tina up and sat down next to me instead. She then plopped Tina right beside her. By the way, Tina and Wiska may be rtively small in size, but their bones and muscles were quite dense, so they were both fairly heavy, but¡­¡­ just look at how easily she lifted Tina. Elma¡¯s strength was as impressive as always.

    ¡°Go ahead and sit here, Mimi-san.¡±

    ¡°Is it really okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve had my fill, so it¡¯s fine.¡±

    Wiska voluntarily handed over her spot to Mimi. She then carefully brushed Kugi¡¯s tails with ab she took out from who-knows-where.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for always troubling you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m doing it because I like to, so don¡¯t worry about it.¡±

    Wiska continued to carefully and gentlyb Kugi¡¯s tails. Does Wiska like furry stuff too¡­¡­? Maybe I should prepare a brush myself. I also want to fluff those voluminous tails to my heart¡¯s content.

    ¡°What are we going to do tomorrow, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. We won¡¯t be able to use ck Lotus, but Krishna and Antlion are fine, so it should be possible to hunt some pirates a bit. We¡¯ve used up a chunk of our funds after all. I suppose it¡¯s kind of like a leisure drive?¡±

    ¡°That sure sounds real dangerous for a leisure drive¡­¡­ Well, I guess it¡¯s definitely our style.¡±

    ¡°A mercenary¡¯s style!¡±

    Mimi sounded ted. Elma also seemed receptive to the idea.

    ¡°Hey, guys? We can also just hang around in the room and rx all day y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound bad either.¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s important to give our bodies a good rest from time to time for the sake of our health.¡±

    That sounds nice and all Wiska, but I think Tina and Elma both only want to drink andze around all day, right?

    ¡°I want to visit the meat factory¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°The meat factory¡­¡­ Err, well, we still have to deal with our situation first.¡±

    ¡°How unfortunate¡­¡­¡±

    The fox ears on top of Kugi¡¯s head plopped down weakly. Not wanting to walk around the colony because of our mysterious assants was just an excuse. Honestly, I simply just did not want to visit that factory. I¡¯ve already seen it once so I¡¯ve probably built up some level of resistance, but it still wasn¡¯t something I¡¯d want to see repeatedly.

    ¡°Haa, that was really refreshing. Baths are truly wonderful.¡±

    ¡°Buhooo!?¡±

    While we were discussing tomorrow¡¯s schedule, Dr. Shouko finally came out from the bathroom. And she was only wearing a pair of panties. She looked quite sloppy with a towel hanging on her shoulder. And even if she was wearing panties, her top was bare. Her assets were in full view are were going ¡®boing boing¡¯.

    ¡°Doctor¡­¡­ As expected, it would be better to have a little bit more modesty.¡±

    ¡°Eeh? It¡¯s fine, isn¡¯t it? We¡¯re all just like sisters anyway, and it¡¯s not like Hiro hasn¡¯t seen everything already, right?¡±

    After saying so, Dr. Shouko shrugged her shoulders. Boing. Boing boing. Un, wonderful. How utterly magnificent, I eximed loudly in my heart. Mimi got on her knees, grabbed my head, turned it toward her, and blocked my view by pressing my head to her equally ample chest. Whoah. Is this paradise? I wanna stay here forever.

    ¡°Mou, even your hair isn¡¯t properly dried yet. You have such wonderful long hair, but it¡¯s always such a mess. Wiska, help me out here.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Eeh? You don¡¯t really have to¡­¡­ H-Hold on. Aren¡¯t you a bit too strong, guys? Ow, oww!?¡±

    It looks like Dr. Shouko was grabbed by Elma and Wiska. I was also banished from paradise.

    Oh, God. Why have you forsaken me?

    ¡°¡­¡­I guess bigger really is better when ites ta one¡¯s milkers.¡±

    Tina muttered as she touched her own chest. That¡¯s not true y¡¯know? Even small ones have their own charms. I do not discriminate! But things will probably get worse if I ever voiced that out loud, so I just kept it to myself. Stuff like that might get one seriously hurt if they were careless.

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon, guys¡­¡­ I¡¯m not a kid y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s even worse. At least wear some proper clothes.¡±

    ¡°Eeh? Aren¡¯t mercenaries supposed to be all gung-ho, reckless, and free?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is for others. We have our own style.¡±

    Meanwhile, Elma and Wiska finishedbing Dr. Shouko¡¯s hair and dressed her in what appeared to be a negligee with a modest design.

    ¡°So she does have a nightgown.¡±

    ¡°This is actually Mei¡¯s.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit tight on the chest.¡±

    After saying so, Dr. Shouko pinched the chest area of her negligee with her fingertips and pulled on it. Un, it¡¯s going all boing boing again. Thank you very much!

    ¡°Big Brother, let¡¯s go and shop for Dr. Shouko¡¯s clothes tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Eh, that sounds so troublesome. I don¡¯t really need more clothes.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure having only two sets of clothes is nowhere near enough for most folks.¡±

    It looks like Dr. Shouko really didn¡¯t have enough clothes. ording to her, she can just shove them inside the washing machine whenever she takes a shower or a bath, and they would be clean and dried by the time she gets out, so she didn¡¯t see any problem. Also, she apparently sleeps naked.

    ¡°There¡¯s still that mystery party to worry about though¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s necessary.¡±

    ¡°Absolutely.¡±

    ¡°Um, it should be necessary?¡±

    Apart from the Doc herself, it looks like everyone wants to go. I guess I better contact Ohta about tomorrow¡¯s security arrangements in advance. Honestly, I think it¡¯s dangerous to go out and shop at this time, but¡­¡­ I suppose we can also take this opportunity to grab our enemy by the tail, so let¡¯s think positively.

    TL Note: The title of the chapter is actually different in the raw, but I won¡¯t be able to post this chapter if I used it due to how WordPress works so I opted for a close enough workaround. Here¡¯s the original for those who are curious:

    383 ¨C ( ©b?©b)oáê©b

 Chapter 384: First Time Hiring a Security Service

    ¡°Hello.¡±

    ¡°Good morning.¡±

    The next day. After getting dressed, we all went down to the hotel lounge and found Ohta waiting for us along with other Igasek personnel. I made an action nst night and sent it to them. I¡¯m grateful that they responded quickly and assembled an escort team to apany us even on such short notice.

    ¡°Sorry for the unreasonable request.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s our job after all.¡±

    Ohta was wearing work gear today. In other words, he wasn¡¯t in a business suit. Instead, he wore gear fit for special security personnel. Specifically, he was equipped with a lightweightbat armor and helmet.

    But what¡¯s up with that? His lightbat armor and helmet¡¯s designs kinda felt like they had a subtle ninja motif, and the helmet even came with something resembling a menpo mask with that iconic scowl¡­¡­ As I thought, are these guys really ninjas?

    ¡°In total, there are twelve of us that have been dispatched. There will be four apanying you, and another four will be acting separately but will be ready to quickly offer support in case of an emergency.¡±

    ¡°What about the remaining four?¡±

    ¡°They will act when an opportunity tounch a counterattack against the enemy arises.¡±

    I see. Eight of the twelve will focus on defense, and the remaining four will be in charge of offense. I¡¯m not sure if this arrangement was the most ideal, but I won¡¯t voice any opinion on the matter. After all, stuff like this was better left to the pros.

    ¡°However, I must say¡­¡­ That¡¯s quite an impressive lineup, sir.¡±

    ¡°Please just leave it at that.¡±

    I cut off Ohta who was smiling wryly as he looked at Mimi and the others. I get what you¡¯re trying to say man. Mimi, Elma, Mei, Tina, Wiska, Kugi, and Dr. Shouko. All of them were beautiful young women who gave off different impressions.

    ¡°Well, uh, I merely meant to express my admiration.¡±

    ¡°Should I be thanking you then?¡±

    I¡¯m doing well because everyone was supportive and tried their best to get along with one another, but if that wasn¡¯t the case, then my mental health would probably be in jeopardy due to too much stress. I think Mei actively working to bnce everyone¡¯s rtionships was a major help in keeping things as they are. I really owe her too much.

    However, I couldn¡¯t exactly tell because they were all wearing helmets, but it felt like the Igasek personnel were looking at me curiously. Or rather, it felt like everyone in the lounge was paying attention to me due to Igasek¡¯s presence. It was a big group of twelve people including me, and the four Igasek members were dressed in eye-catching professional gear, so we really stood out.

    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t do us good to cause even moremotion, so let¡¯s go ahead and get out of here.¡±

    ¡°Understood. We will guard you all from an appropriate distance.¡±

    After saying so, Ohta and his men left the hotel lounge first. Guarding us from a distance huh? Well, I and the girls are also making sure to keep our vignce, and the mystery party would probably find it hard to make a move with eight security personnel keeping an eye out.

    ¡°If this ends up as just a baseless worry, then it would really be a stupid joke.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you go to this extent because you thought that isn¡¯t the case?¡±

    ¡°Your intuition is a little too urate to be dismissed as paranoia after all, Hiro-sama¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi and Elma, who have been with me the longest, had already half-resigned themselves. For them, it was almost certain that a mystery party was targeting us, or rather, me.

    ¡°Uh, wouldn¡¯t it be better to just turn back and stay in the hotel room?¡±

    ¡°I ain¡¯t too hot on shoppin¡¯ fer clothes myself, but we should really do somethin¡¯ about yer wardrobe, Doc.¡±

    ¡°Since it¡¯s Big Sis saying so, it sounds a lot more convincing.¡±

    Tina and Wiska were standing on each side of Dr. Shouko who was hunched over and looked pretty listless. It was a heartwarming sight for sure, but there actually weren¡¯t that many who can resist being pulled by two dwarves. Perhaps even nobles who¡¯ve undergone body strengthening would find it difficult to resist the two tiny powerhouses.

    ¡°Huh? Where¡¯s Kugi?¡±

    ¡°It looks like she¡¯s already heading outside.¡±

    Following Mimi¡¯s line of sight, I spotted Kugi¡¯s back as she went out of the hotel. She seemed to be paying attention to the surroundings with her ears pricked up on top of her head. And it looked like Mei was also with her.

    ¡°Are they conducting advanced recon or something¡­¡­? Anyway, let¡¯s get outta here as well.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    After giving a quick nce toward our escorts, we stepped outside of the hotel, with Tina and Wiska dragging Dr. Shouko along.

    ¡°Hm¡­¡­ Things are pretty quiet today, huh?¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord. I do sense traces of probing from time to time, but other than that, it is the same as usual.¡±

    ¡°Right. I guess that¡¯s not surprising.¡±

    We really stood out from the rest of the crowd after all. Leaving me aside, all the girls were quite eye-catching. That¡¯s especially true for Kugi who had a pretty unique appearance.

    There were some ¡®beastfolk¡¯ among the crowd who looked like bipedal lions or tigers, but besides Kugi, I wasn¡¯t able to spot other folks who looked almost human apart from animal ears and tails. Maybe those characteristics are unique to the people native to the Holy Vuelzarus empire. Well, they may not be amon sight in this empire, but maybe they were a lot more present in other countries?

    ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with quick, Hiro-kun. If I can¡¯t escape such a troublesome matter, then it¡¯s better to get it done as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°It would be better for you if this ended early huh?¡±

    I sent Dr. Shouko, who was steeling herself, a lukewarm gaze. After all, it took Mimi, Elma and Chris a lot of time to finish choosing my outfits back then. The number of our members has grown since then, and we were also heading to arge establishment that was packed to the brim with fashion and apparel-rted shops. So I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll get her wish anytime soon, but¡­¡­ Dr. Shouko might end up throwing a tantrum if I told that to her straight, so I decided to just keep quiet about it. Also, that particr shop was located there too. Y¡¯know. That shop.

    ¡°It won¡¯t be good if we dawdled too much, so let¡¯s get going.¡±

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll lead the way!¡±

    After saying so, Mimi started walking ahead while holding her tablet terminal. Mimi was in front, while Kugi and I followed behind. Elma followed after us, with Tina and Wiska dragging Dr. Shouko trailing behind. Mei was at the very back of our group.

    ¡°Our escorts are keeping a respectable distance from us, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    They were hard to make out in the crowd, but four presences were paying close attention to us. They were moving in pairs of two. It seemed that the furthest pair was changing their position often as they followed us down the street. That looks like a lot of trouble.

    ¡°They seem to have it hard¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It does seem pretty tough¡­¡­¡±

    However, there were no signs of them standing out from the crowd. They remained pretty inconspicuous. ¡®They really are ninjas, aren¡¯t they¡¯, I inwardly thought as I and Kugi followed behind Mimi.

 Chapter 385: I Wonder What Kind of Jutsu is Optical Camouflage?

    ¡°This is the budget for today¡¯s shopping. Go ahead and use it as you like.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master.¡±

    When we arrived at the building, I immediately switched to rest-mode. After handing the money to Mei, I left everything up to her. As for why, it¡¯s because the main goal for today¡¯s outing is to buy clothes for Dr. Shouko, including lingerie. I refrained from joining thedies because there will definitely be many times when it would feel quite awkward for me if I tagged along.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you go wandering around, okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a kid y¡¯know. I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s you we¡¯re talkin¡¯ about, after all, Boss¡­¡­¡±

    Though regrettable, judging from my record until now, I¡¯ve never failed to attract trouble even if I didn¡¯t mean to. It was true, so it was hard to refute the girls. Just what did I do in the past to deserve this¡­¡­?

    ¡°We¡¯re in a windowless enclosed space, and things will probably be fine as long as the other party doesn¡¯t resort to blowing up the walls, so please prioritize guarding them.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    I took a seat at the break corner where some vending machines for snacks and drinks were installed. There was no one beside me when I called out, but I still received a prompt response. I couldn¡¯t see them at all, but I felt the presence of a cautious gaze being directed at me. Were they using optical camouge or something like that?

    ¡°By the way, is there any new info?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, we still haven¡¯t found any leads¡­¡­ However, it seems like guys from Kouga are interfering with our efforts to conduct a counterattack.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­They aren¡¯t the kind of people who¡¯d get in the way of your job just because they¡¯re your rivals, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. They were probably hired by the enemy.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s already pretty good info.¡±

    In other words, there definitely was a mysterious party that was keeping an eye on us, and they even found out that I hired Igasek. On top of that, they had more than enough financial strength to hire Igasek¡¯s rivalpany, Kouga Service, to work for them. It shouldn¡¯t have been an insignificant amount, since hiring these guys was quite expensive.

    Furthermore, it can be surmised that the reason they hired Kouga Service was primarily to neutralize Igasek, and that they had no intention of going at it without regard for coteral damage within the colony.

    No, is that really the case? After all, there¡¯s no guarantee that Igasek and Kouga Service won¡¯t resort to going at it with the intent to kill.

    ¡°Are they keeping their interference within a reasonable range, or do they go as far as drawing blood?¡±

    ¡°They haven¡¯t gone that far yet.¡±

    ¡°I see. So I¡¯m not necessarily off the mark huh¡­¡­?¡±

    My mutterings probably didn¡¯t make sense to the Igasek personnel who were listening.

    ¡°Hey, is it possible to get in contact with the guys from Kouga Service?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    I heard a surprised voice that seemed to pierce through the void. Well, of course, they¡¯d get surprised if their client suddenly proposes something like that. I might react the same way if I was in their position.

    ¡°If the aim of those Kouga guys is my and my crew¡¯s lives, then there¡¯s no room for negotiation. But if that¡¯s not the case, then maybe it¡¯s possible for us to avoid fighting entirely, right? And at least, there would also be a chance to get in touch with the mysterious party that hired them. If that¡¯s the case, then don¡¯t you think my proposal is worth a try?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a high chance of getting caught in the other party¡¯s trap.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll deal with it when it happens. At least, there¡¯s a chance to work something out without resorting to a direct sh. Just inform them of my intentions one-sidedly. If they¡¯re willing to respond, then they¡¯d take the initiative to get in contact with you¡­¡­ Oh, and I¡¯m still gonna pay you guys the full amount for the request even if it gets resolved early, so don¡¯t worry about that.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Understood. I will inform my superiors.¡±

    With a soft poof sound, a person who was wearing what seemed to be full-body tights suddenly appeared before me. As expected, they were using optical camo or something to that effect¡­¡­ Fumu. I already suspected it earlier because of her tone of voice, but the one responding to me was a woman after all. Fumu¡­¡­ That skintight suit of hers sure is something. I won¡¯t borate though.

    But, well¡­¡­ I haven¡¯t seen Mimi and the others wear this type of suit yet. The jumpsuits Tina and Wiska wear might seem simr, but the thinness of the material and the overall tightness of the suit were different. This kind of suites up often in SF manga and anime. But anime and manga images really are different from the real thing huh?

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m sorry, but your gaze is a bit too tant, sir.¡±

    After ending the transmission with her superior, Ms. Kunoichi turned to me and protested. Well, I couldn¡¯t exactly tell what kind of expression she was making because her head was covered with a full-face helmet.

    ¡°I¡¯m simply marveling at the wonderful line-of-sight guidance technology.¡±

    ¡°As expected, you didn¡¯t even flinch and attempt to look away even after being reprimanded. That¡¯s an impressive poker face.¡±

    The possibility of suddenly getting attacked by this optical camo-using kunoichi wasn¡¯t zero after all. I¡¯m an experienced guy, so I won¡¯t make an amateur mistake like taking my eyes off a possible threat. Umu. What a perfectly reasonable argument.

    ¡°Well then, I shall return to guarding you.¡±

    I heard another soft poof, and Ms. Kunoichi vanished just as suddenly as she appeared. Hmm. Unlike certain games back on Earth, the optical camo effect didn¡¯t look slightly distorted. It was practically perfect, and I couldn¡¯t see her at all. Well, I can still somehow feel her presence though.

    ¡°¡­¡­Can you actually still see me?¡±

    ¡°No, of course not.¡±

    When I involuntarily followed Ms. Kunoichi¡¯s movements with my gaze, her bewildered voice resounded from the void. However, I¡¯ve already be capable of using vague stuff like aura and presence to detect someone equipped with a perfect optical camo suit huh? I¡¯m bing more and more inhuman. Is that a good or bad thing, I wonder¡­¡­? Well, it¡¯s useful in any case.

    ¡°That¡¯s what happened.¡±

    ¡°I see. It looks like you were deeply moved by that skintight suit, Hiro-kun.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t deny that it captured my attention, but that¡¯s the only thing you got from all of that???¡±

    I talked to Dr. Shouko (whose eyes already turned ssy from all she was put through) about the entirety of my interaction with the optical camo-d Ms. Kunoichi, but she seemed to have focused on something strange. That¡¯s not the main point, Doc.

    ¡°But you should have been able to try the clothes on using the preview function on the store¡¯s terminals after getting your physical data scanned, so why do you look so exhausted?¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t really do that when trying out underwear you know. Of course, the scan does take urate size measurements, but you also have to make sure they really fit you and such¡­¡­ I¡¯m exhausted from trying out underwear.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have the courage to barge into a lingerie shop without getting assaulted by my sense of shame, but I sure wanted to see that underwear dress-up event dammit¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll get to see them all sooner orter anyway. Look forward to them, Hiro-kun.¡±

    Dr. Shouko dered with a teasing grin. Uumu. Very well. That does sound wonderful. I shall look forward to them with bated breath.

    ¡°So, are the rest still in the middle of shopping?¡±

    ¡°Ah, Mimi brought them to another shop she highly rmended. And for some reason, she had this really suspicious smile.¡±

    ¡°A rmended shop huh¡­¡­? I see.¡±

    She must have taken the rest to the shop that was well-stocked with Lolita-style fashion items and clothes. It had a very wide selection of Lolita-style clothes. I¡¯m sure those skilled store clerks will do a very good job introducing them.

    ¡ºElma and Tina might try to run away, so make sure to stop them in their tracks.¡»

    ¡ºUnderstood, Master.¡»

    I sent a message to Mei using my portable data terminal. I was already used to her near-instantaneous response. After all, Mei didn¡¯t even need to operate a terminal in order to reply.

    ¡°Then shall we go there as well after you¡¯re done resting, Doc? I¡¯ve visited that ce once already.¡±

    ¡°You did, Hiro-kun?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah. I came there with Mimi once when we visited this colony back then. I guess that¡¯s why it ended up on Mimi¡¯s rmended list.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡­? Well, if you say so, Hiro-kun. Why not?¡±

    Dr. Shouko seemed to have noticed something was off, but she agreed in the end. Of course she won¡¯t be able to find out what exactly was off. If she¡¯s able to see through the matter, then she¡¯d be an esper. Unless she awakens a telepathic ability greater than Kugi¡¯s, she wouldn¡¯t be able to see through my true intentions.

    However, I do wonder what the tall and morous Dr. Shouko would look like if she wears those kinds of clothes. No, there must be something there that would really suit her. Fashion is pretty deep after all. Maybe that ssic look Mimi wears from time to time would suit her.

    ¡°You¡¯re not thinking of something perverted, are you?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. Or rather, is that how you see me, Doc Shouko? A shameless womanizer?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you one though?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡­ actually can¡¯t refute that.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s good to be honest. How cute.¡±

    Dr. Shouko giggled in amusement. Even I wouldn¡¯t believe myself if I denied it after all. I had no choice but to admit it. One always has to face the consequences of their actions after all. How unfortunate.

    ¡°Well, in any case, it¡¯s good that there¡¯s some progress regarding our predicament. Facing an opponent that you know nothing about, including their actual purpose, is pretty scary. But it¡¯s no longer the case once you gain enough understanding of the other party. In the end, a person¡¯s greatest fear is the unknown.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    It¡¯s certainly true that stuff you don¡¯t understand was pretty scary. This also applies to spacebat, because facing an unpredictable enemy is always a terrifying prospect. Such opponents should always be prevented from making their moves and defeated as soon as possible. However, it wouldn¡¯t go that well all the time, especially if the other party was quite skilled.

    ¡°Okay then. Let¡¯s go and meet up with them. I¡¯ve already recovered some of my energy anyway.¡±

    ¡°Roger that.¡±

    Are they gonna ept my invitation or are they gonna set up a trap instead? Either way, things are already in progress. Let¡¯s proceed with caution, shall we?

 Chapter 386: That Side and This Side

    ¡°He sure is a hasty fellow.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh after hearing about the message that fellow sent to the guys from Kouga Service.

    ¡°Is he a coward or a confident guy¡­¡­? He¡¯s really hard to read.¡±

    ¡°What are we gonna do, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Call me Captain. Now then, I wonder. This would be a good chance to finish him off.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­? If we did something like that, she¡¯d probably hold one heck of a grudge though?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I just wanted to point that out, alright?¡±

    I¡¯m sure I¡¯m making a really bitter expression right about now. That child, Mimi, is already so attached to that guy. When we looked into her, we found that she was already registered as that guy¡¯s wife in the public records, and no matter how you look at it, she was already madly in love with him. She also seems to be getting along pretty well with the rest of that guy¡¯s women, and her expression is always bright and happy.

    ¡°The only thing I don¡¯t like about him is that his background is unclear¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°No matter how much we investigate, nothinges up.¡±

    This kid is quite talented. As far as I¡¯m aware, only a handful would be able to match this kid when ites to hacking and cracking. At least on the individual level, that is. This kid wouldn¡¯t be able to fare well against organizations or sentient AI though.

    And even this kid wasn¡¯t able toe up with anything while investigating that guy¡¯s personal history. It¡¯s almost as if he just popped out of thin air in the Termaine system all of a sudden. ording to the Star System Garrison¡¯s database, he was suddenly thrown out into this system due to a hyperdrive ident, which is one heck of a pathetic excuse.

    Afterward, he locked himself inside his ship for a while, registered at the Mercenary Guild, and then began working as a mercenary. And on that very same day, he made contact with a girl named Elma who¡¯s apparently a Silver-rank mercenary, and met Mimi as well. He then brought Mimi on board his ship. Ain¡¯t it far too convenient?

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this fine already? Your granddaughter almost hit rock bottom once, but luckily, she was picked up by a skilled mercenary. She then fell in love with the mercenary and went from an amateur to a professionalbat ship operator, and she¡¯s now enjoying a carefree and rich mercenary life with the man of her dreams. Ain¡¯t everything fine as long as she¡¯s healthy and happy, Boss?¡±

    ¡°I told you to call me Captain. Anyway, I don¡¯t acknowledge that guy yet.¡±

    ¡°Mou. It¡¯s not good to be too stubborn. And I believe that as long as she¡¯s happy and wants to be with that person, nothing you say will be able to change her mind, right?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s the Boss¡¯s granddaughter after all.¡±

    ¡°Right¨C¡±

    ¡°Hey, do you two really wanna have a taste of my fist?¡±

    The moment I clenched my fist, the two of them ran away like panicked spiderlings. Good grief. Only their escaping techniques were on par with veteran mercenaries.

    When I first saw Mimi together with that guy, blood rushed into my head and I felt like killing him. But even if he had an ulterior motive, the fact remains that he saved Mimi from hitting rock bottom. When my head cooled down, I thought things through again. Just like what those kids said earlier, my granddaughter¡¯s current situation really isn¡¯t all that bad.

    The more we look into it, the more the details paint that fellow as a good guy.

    ¡°Well, in any case, I still have to meet with him face to face. At least once, in any case.¡±

    ¡°Wonderful. Truly wonderful. Amazing. It¡¯s so amazing that I now find myselfcking in vocabry.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±

    Elma was wearing a pure white frilly dress, Tina was wearing a pink one, and Dr. Shouko was dressed in a ssic-style Lolita outfit that was both cute and cool.

    ¡°You¡¯re so cute, Elma-san!¡±

    ¡°You look really adorable, Big Sis!¡±

    ¡°That dress really suits you as well, Dr. Shouko.¡±

    Standing near me was Mimi who wore a ck gothic lolita dress, Wiska who wore a blue frilly dress, and Kugi who wore something that surprisinglybined gothic lolita and Japanese style in one seamless package.

    ¡°Kuh¡­¡­ She¡¯s so perfect right from the beginning that changing anything feels like sacrilege¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°As expected of Orient¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°They really are one heck of apany.¡±

    By the way, even though those enthusiastic store clerks were surrounding Mei, it appears like they were helpless before her impably designed maid outfit. To think even the clerks of this shop were left in awe of her maid outfit. It looks like Orient Industries was good in both making maidroids and maid outfits.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna take a holo-pic and send it out.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Where are you gonna send such a thing?¡±

    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s to the Willrose Family back in the imperial capital.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare.¡±

    ¡°Gaaaah¨C!?¡±

    Elma, who managed to close the gap in an instant, ced me in aplete armlock. But you miscalcted,dy! I¡¯m just a decoy. The true sender will be Mimi¨C is what you thought I¡¯d say! It¡¯s actually Mei! She might be able to deal with me and Mimi, but there¡¯s no way she¡¯d be able to stop Mei. We¡¯ve already won right from the start. It¡¯s game over already, so just let go of me please! I¡¯ll do anything you want, okay!?

    ¡°This definitely doesn¡¯t suit me¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true! You look really cute in it, Big Sis!¡±

    ¡°Really¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    Wiska was busily taking pictures of Tina in her dress using her portable data terminal¡¯s built-in camera with passion and energy that you usually don¡¯t see from her. It looks like seeing Tina in a lolita-style dress really fired her up.

    ¡°Well, what can I say¡­¡­? This kind of thing really isn¡¯t my style.¡±

    ¡°Oh, but your dress really suits you too, Doctor! You look really cool!¡±

    ¡°That is truly the case. You are quite tall, Shouko-sama, so you look very dignified in that dress.¡±

    ¡°Eeh? Really¡­¡­?¡±

    Despite getting heaps of praise from Mimi and Kugi, Dr. Shouko¡¯s expression still seemed a bit miffed when she turned toward me, so I gave her a prompt and energetic thumbs-up in response. By the way, Elma-san. My arm¡¯s really hurting a lot, so could you release me already?

    ¡°We¡¯ve gotten a reply from that side.¡±

    The moment Elma finally released my arm, a voice suddenly echoed out from somewhere. It was Ms. Stealth Kunoichi. Maybe she waited until Elma released me from her armlock before she went ahead and called out.

    ¡°Ow, ow¡­¡­ Well, that was fast. What did they say?¡±

    ¡°It seems they wille to the lounge of the hotel you are staying in tomorrow at 13 hundred hours, colony standard time.¡±

    ¡°So they¡¯ve epted huh¡­¡­? Hmm.¡±

    What does this mean, I wonder. Did their intentions suddenly change despite directing such murderous intent at mest time? They said they¡¯d be meeting us in the hotel lounge, so they probably aren¡¯t thinking of doing something reckless. Since we were staying in a pretty high-ss hotel, it had armed guards at the ready, and they were also probably equipped with a means to directly report to the colony¡¯s security department. They may even have security bots or non-lethal riot suppression turrets tucked away somewhere in the building.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not a bad deal for us as well. Please let them know we¡¯ve epted on our end and will be waiting for them if possible. But you don¡¯t really have to go out of your way since they seem to be closely monitoring our movements anyway.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    After responding, Ms. Stealth Kunoichi turnedpletely silent again and proceeded to move away. Of course, I couldn¡¯t actually see her, but I could feel her presence. Kugi seemed to be following her movements as well, so she most likely was able to detect Ms. Kunoichi¡¯s presence too.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? It kinda feels like things are progressing much further ahead before I knew it.¡±

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll exin everything¡­¡­ After enjoying this private fashion show, that is.¡±

    After saying so, I turned my gaze to the spot behind Elma. Elma followed my gaze with a dubious expression on her face, which quickly cramped up. Right behind her were the squealing store clerks holding new dresses for her to try on.

    ¡°I think I¡¯m already a bit too old for this stuff you know.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. They really, really suit you after all.¡±

    I gave the grumbling Elma a thumbs-up.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it fine? You always look like the typical mercenary with your usual tank top and hot pants. It isn¡¯t so bad to dress up every once in a while, right?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re thest person I wanna hear that from.¡±

    ¡°Me? Nothing woulde out of a man like myself dressing up, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll definitely put you through something simr, so you better prepare yourself.¡±

    Elma disyed a terrifying smile as she got dragged off by the store clerks.

    How scary¡­¡­ I better lock the door to my room after this.

 Chapter 387: A Person Who was Good at Getting Spoiled

    ¡°Talk about acting out of line.¡±

    ¡°Sorry.¡±

    After that really enjoyable fashion show, we went to a high-end restaurant next with the security personnel following closely behind us, and I now found myself getting pinched in the cheek by Elma as we sat around our table. It hurts.

    ¡°I get ya neesan, but Boss is our captain after all, yeah?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true, but¡­¡­ Well, alright. It¡¯s not like he¡¯s let his guard down.¡±

    After saying so, Elma let out a brief sigh. Of course, I haven¡¯t let my guard down. It would be premature to do so even if the other party has disyed a willingness to have a discussion with us.

    It would be a massive joke if I suddenly found myself getting stabbed in the back the moment I lost all vignce. So we won¡¯t be absolutely safe until we actually have a discussion with the other party and work things out, and we shouldn¡¯t feel that we¡¯re safe until then.

    That¡¯s actually why I didn¡¯t cancel the n to have lunch at this high-end restaurant. This follows the itinerary I submitted to Igasek yesterday.

    ¡°I wonder who the other party actually is?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a damn clue¡­¡­¡±

    We¡¯ve brainstormed about this topic several times, but we haven¡¯te up with a single satisfactory theory. The fact that they were able to preemptively set up a surveince in the Alein system meant that they knew that we were gonna stop by or were tipped off by someone who did.

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember making an enemy who would go as far as putting up a in the Alein system during our time hopping from Termaine, Alein, and the Sierra system back then¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi and I tilted our heads to the side.

    Was it due to the whims of fate or the intervention of some higher being we were unaware of? I wasn¡¯t sure about what exactly led to it, but I did first appear in this universe in the Termaine system.

    I woke up inside the Krishna that was drifting in an area of outer space within the Termaine system. I shot down the space pirates that tried to rob me and arrived at the Termaine Prime colony where I was interrogated by the authorities, helped out by Capt. Serena (who was still a lieutenant back then), and met Elma and Mimi.

    I then fought with space pirates and the invading Vereverem Federation forces. After that, I went to the Alein system together with Elma and Mimi. As soon as I arrived, I ended up rescuing an Inagawa Technology ship that was being attacked by pirates, made an appointment for a physical examination, and met Dr. Shouko.

    I then got reunited with Capt. Serena, who was newly promoted to lieutenantmander back then, and put in charge of the Independent Mobile Anti-pirate Fleet. She hired me to teach them the ins and outs of pirate hunting. I then got involved in a bioterrorism incident perpetrated by some artificial lifeform rights advocate group. After routing the disgusting bio-weapon monsters unleashed by that group using power armor, we set off for the Sierra system.

    ¡°Based on what you said, we can narrow it down to three possible candidates. First is, of course, pirates. In other words, those who were formerly based in this system or the Termaine system. The second one is the Vereverem Federation. And thest one would be that bioterrorism group. But the problem is¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°If any of those three would actually be able to hire Kouga Service, correct?¡±

    ¡°It ain¡¯t possible, right?¡±

    ¡°I also think it is not usible, My Lord.¡±

    I also think so.

    That¡¯s because they were respectively a criminal group, operatives of a hostile nation, and a terrorist organization. I don¡¯t think a proper security servicepany like Kouga Service would ept getting hired by such people.

    Igasek easily agreed to offer their services to me precisely because I was a tinum-rank mercenary and an honorary viscount of the empire who also received a Gold Star. If not for that, there was a good chance that my request wouldn¡¯t have been epted no matter how much money I threw at them.

    ¡°As soon as we hired Igasek, the other party immediately countered by hiring their rivalpany, Kouga Service. That means that the other party has both the financial strength and reputation to sessfully hire them, right?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­ Realistically, it can only be a fairly high-ranked mercenary based on that criteria.¡±

    Nheless, they still stationed personnel here on Alein Tertius in order to find and monitor us even if us returning here wasn¡¯t exactly a sure thing. Just who would actually go through all that trouble? I still can¡¯t figure this matter out.

    ¡°Well, it looks like you¡¯re unconvinced. Then, how about we reverse our thinking? It¡¯s not that the other party particrly chose to cast a here on Alein Tertius, but rather, they had no choice but to cast a here.¡±

    ¡°They had no choice huh?¡±

    Elma¡¯s eyebrows wrinkled as she pondered the information we currently had. I was also thinking hard about the situation, but nothing, in particr,es to mind.

    ¡°I really can¡¯t figure it out. Anyway, let¡¯s just eat delicious food and forget about that stuff for now.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be meetin¡¯ em tomorrow anyway. Can we have some booze, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Just make sure you guys don¡¯t get overly drunk.¡±

    ¡°Yay!¡±

    Tina operated the holo-disy installed on the table and began to check out the restaurant¡¯s alcohol selection. As for food, I¡¯ve already ordered a new type of dish that¡¯s recently be popr in the capital for everyone to try.

    ¡°I wonder what kind of dish will get served. I¡¯m really looking forward to it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s apparently quite the popr item in the capital.¡±

    It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t have some guesses, but I wonder if it¡¯s something that can be easily reproduced? Before long, the dishes were finally brought over and served to us. The dish was a pure white cuboid served on a te.

    ¡°This is¡­¡­!¡¹¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s that huh.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s definitely that.¡±

    Mimi and I, who have eaten this dish before, and Elma all matched gazes. The dish looked quite simple. It was a pure white rectangr cube after all. Specifically, it kinda resembled silken tofu or milk agar.

    ¡°What the heck is this?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s quite a simple dish.¡±

    ¡°Is this tofu, perchance?¡±

    ¡°Oh, so this is the rumored item.¡±

    It looks like Dr. Shouko was familiar with the dish. Or rather, Kugi actually knew about that kind of tofu dish? Now I¡¯m even more curious about the food culture of the Holy Vuelzarus empire.

    ¡°Tina, Wiska, Kugi¡­¡­ Go ahead and try it. It¡¯s gonna blow it all away.¡±

    ¡°Eh, that¡¯s kinda scary Boss¡­¡­ Is itced with some kinda fishy drug or somethin¡¯?¡±

    ¡°What exactly is gonna get blown away?¡±

    ¡°Memories¡­¡­ I guess.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that dangerous¡­¡­?¡±

    Tina and Wiska were at a loss.

    The technical name of the dish in front of us was the fully-functional food item. It was said to be a dish that perfectly harmonizes both functionality and taste, and I had the chance to sample it in the imperial capital back then. Before I knew it, I had finished the dish and even licked the te clean. It led to me only thinking about the fully-functional food item for a while after that.

    ¡°Mmm¡­¡­ This is¨C¡±

    After cutting off a piece of the fully-functional food item dish and putting it in her mouth, Kugi was at a loss for words. And then, she silently continued to eat with gusto. Her tails seem to be wagging in joy. It looks like she found it quite delicious as well. Dr. Shouko was silently moving her knife and fork to eat as well.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go ahead and eat up too.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    I cut off a piece of the white rectangr cube that was neither too firm nor too soft and brought it to my mouth with my fork. The next moment, a torrent ofplex vors and aromas exploded inside my mouth. Yeah, it¡¯s damn amazing. It didn¡¯t have as much impactpared to when I first ate it, but I still couldn¡¯t stop moving my knife and fork. I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯ve simply be more ustomed to it, but I found the dish served to be slightly inferior to the one I had in the imperial capital. However, it was still delicious enough that I nearly lost myself.

    After the dinner, we witnessed a rare case of Tina and Wiska only taking one sip of the alcohol they ordered before pushing their sses away, and when we got back to the hotel, they came to their senses and wallowed in frustration.

    The next day. I waspletely drained.

    ¡°I already told you guys that taking you all on at the same time is unreasonable¡­¡­¡±

    As I groaned in bed, Dr. Shouko clung to me and whispered near my ear.

    ¡°Should I prepare a performance enhancer for you next time?¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t. I¡¯ll die. Seriously.¡±

    It felt like the girls were glossy and healthy-looking while I was the only one who was weak. Dr. Shouko was also practically glowing, of course.

    Last night, Dr. Shouko, who was dead drunk, suggested something that led to this disaster. Other than Mei and I, everyone more or less had alcohol in their systems. Thanks to that, this kind of thing happened.

    ¡°Skinship is important in fostering rtionships.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a saying that only applies when takingmunal baths, and it definitely doesn¡¯t apply to what happenedst night.¡±

    ¡°Did you hate it?¡±

    ¡°It was freaking awesome.¡±

    Dr. Shouko smiled in amusement at my honest response. Surprisingly, Dr. Shouko was the most proactive among all the crew members when ites to stuff like this.

    ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with the concept of a family after all. I suppose I¡¯m simply indulging in the warmth of another person¡¯s skin.¡±

    I¡¯m not sure if she¡¯s actually serious or not when she¡¯s grinning like that, but¡­¡­ Well, I suppose that can be counted as a good thing since it does lead to better rtions between the crew members. Though I¡¯m not sure if it was entirely healthy.

    ¡°Well, I suppose it¡¯s fine as long as you¡¯re happy Doc. I¡¯m pretty satisfied myself.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a win-win, right? Shall we get up then?¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    The others have already gotten out of bed one after another and finished taking their morning baths earlier. There was still some time before the face-to-face meeting with our mysterious party, but it¡¯s probably better to get dressed early and eat something light first.

    ¡°Carry me, Hiro-kun.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­? Oh well, it can¡¯t be helped.¡±

    I picked up Dr. Shouko who had stuck her hands out and was begging to be spoiled and headed straight for the bathroom. I was feeling hungry, but we should take a bath and get dressed first.

 Chapter 388: S-san from the Imperial Capital

    After tidying up, we had a light brunch and spent a leisurely time inside our room. When it was time for our appointment with the mystery party, we all headed down to the hotel lounge. However¨C

    ¡°Are they¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Probably.¡±

    One corner of the hotel lounge was enveloped in a heavy atmosphere. Three people were sitting there while being guarded by guys who were probably from Kouga Service. The reason why I knew that the guards were from Kouga Service is because they were wearing uniforms with thepany logo and name clearly emzoned on them.

    ¡°It looks like they have already arrived, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re quite early¡­¡­ Are they that impatient to meet us?¡±

    ¡°I wonder¨C Hm? That person looks kind of familiar¡­¡­?¡±

    Mimi tilted her head to the side in wonder after she saw our guests (Was it really proper to call people who directed killing intent at me guests?) who have already made themselvesfortable. One of the three people was looking at Mimi as well. She was an older woman who looked like a pretty seasoned and skilled mercenary.

    ¡°Do you know each other, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I wonder¡­¡­ Maybe it¡¯s just my imagination.¡±

    Mimi replied with her head still tilted to the side. It seemed like she was trying hard to recall if she had already met the woman before, but couldn¡¯t.

    ¡°We¡¯ll find out when we talk to her anyway.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡­¡±

    When I held the pensive-looking Mimi¡¯s hand and walked toward our guests, the madam who was sitting with her legs crossed suddenly red at me.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    There¡¯s no doubt about it. It was this woman. This old hag was the one who bared killing intent at me from a crazy long distance. She had brown hair simr to Mimi¡¯s that was framed with a visor shaped like triangr cat¡¯s eye sses. She was wearing a fairly weathered mercenary outfit and had aser gun strapped to her waist. And she also had a big sword that was leaning against the sofa. Its de was slightly curved. A cuss?

    ¡°What are you gawking over there for? Hurry up and sit down already.¡±

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡±

    I gave the old hag a sloppy-looking salute and sat down opposite her. Mimi sat on my right and Elma sat on my left. Mei and Kugi stood behind us. Kugi, who was standing behind me, ced her mouth close to my ear and whispered.

    ¡°My Lord, almost no mental waves are flowing out of those three people. There is a good chance that they are wearing equipment that blocks the emission of mental waves as a countermeasure to us.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    I gave Kugi a short response as I watched the mechanic sisters and Dr. Shouko sit on the sofa to the left. I then turned my gaze toward the damn hag in front of me.

    ¡°Thank you for graciously epting my invitation. My name is Captain Hiro.¡±

    ¡°I know. We investigated you thoroughly after all. So much that I¡¯m already tired of seeing your damn face.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for making you go through all the trouble then. I would have answered any question you had if you just asked directly though. By the way, can you tell us your name, madam? From the looks of it, we should be working in the same industry.¡±

    After hearing my words, the old hag disyed an annoyed expression and clicked her tongue. She was acting overly aggressive. Or was she always in a bad mood like this?

    ¡°The heck is with that ¡®madam¡¯ bit? Stop calling me something that makes ones behind itch.¡±

    ¡°Okay. So, it looks like you already know me well, so how about introducing yourselves too? I¡¯m not asking you to spill everything about yourselves. Just tell me why the heck you targeted us.¡±

    ¡°Only if you answer my questions first.¡±

    ¡°Oi, oi, ain¡¯t that kinda shameless of you¡­¡­? Oh well. I¡¯m an understanding guy. Alright, shoot.¡±

    It would be fine once we find out what their actual purpose was and prevent them from targeting us, err, me. I¡¯ll just make some concessions here.

    ¡°Who the heck are you, exactly?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s kinda difficult to answer you know¡­¡­? You already investigated me, right? I¡¯m a tinum-rank mercenary working for the Mercenary Guild, and was lucky enough to be granted the Gold Star or something like that. Then I became an honorary viscount of this empire.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care about such superficial info. Give me something more concrete. Where were you born, how were you raised, how did you get that ship of yours, and how did you appear in the Termaine system? I wanna hear all about those.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but fall silent when I heard the question the old hag threw at me. Well, this is a pickle. This old hag sure knows how to throw some critical questions.

    ¡°I can¡¯t answer those questions. Everyone has a thing or two in their pasts that they would like to keep secret from others, right? Or rather, I don¡¯t actually know much about the answers to some of those questions myself.¡±

    ¡°What the heck do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°First, I don¡¯t even know how exactly I got to the Termaine system. When I woke up, I was already inside my ship Krishna¡¯s cockpit, with its power generator down. I fought off some pirates that tried to rob me, salvaged data from their ships, and learned the coordinates of Termaine Prime from that data. I was immediately interrogated by the military when I got to Termaine Prime, and after I got back to my ship, I shut myself inside it for a few days in order to gather info because I had absolutely no damn clue about where I was. I then decided to work as a mercenary after that. Fortunately, I still more or less remembered how to pilot my ship.¡±

    ¡°When I first met him in Termaine Prime, Hiro was in quite a precarious state because he was absolutely clueless about a lot of things. I can testify that this definitely was the case. Well, hismon sense is still dodgy even now though.¡±

    Elma supplemented my story and shrugged her shoulders. The sharp-eyed old hag seems to be mulling over the truthfulness of our statements with furrowed brows.

    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty unbelievable story. In other words, someone from who-knows-where who had a very suspicious background was actually promoted to tinum-rank? Since when did this empire be so tolerant of people like you?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea about that. Maybe some higher-ups had some ns in mind that I wasn¡¯t aware of, or maybe I was just lucky. Whatever the case, I¡¯m able to work as a mercenary in this empire without any problems. By the way, why are you so interested in that sort of stuff anyway? I really don¡¯t get what¡¯s your agenda here.¡±

    ¡°I hold information about you in great importance. But I agree that this is just beating around the bush. I¡¯ll ask you straight then.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s your purpose in approaching Mimi? Did you get paid to do so? Who was it that paid you? If you dare to tell someme-sounding lies, I¡¯ll make sure to blow your head clean off even if it¡¯s thest thing I do.¡±

    The old hag dered something outrageous in a scary tone. She seemed to be greatly interested in Mimi and my rtionship. Mimi and I turned toward each other.

    ¡°¡­¡­What the heck are you staring at her for? Answer my questions!¡±

    ¡°Well, uh¡­¡­ no one really asked me to get close to her or anything like that. As for my purpose¡­¡­ Mimi and I actually metpletely by chance. And as for why I helped her, well, I can only answer that I couldn¡¯t just abandon her back then¡­¡­ And, well, Mimi¡¯s quite cute too.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe, it¡¯s like it was destiny!¡±

    Mimi disyed a bright smile as she hugged my arm. Umu. How wonderful. I would probably respond simrly if I ever found myself faced with such a situation again. But even so, good job, ¡®me¡¯ from back then.

    ¡°Answer me seriously.¡±

    ¡°But I really am serious¡­¡­ A cute girl like Mimi was getting dragged into a back alley by some evil-looking thugs, so it would only make sense toe to her rescue even if I had to push myself a bit. As a man, I felt obligated to do so. Any other decent guy would probably do so as well.¡±

    ¡°Regardless of whether or not they could really pull it off, I do agree.¡±

    The man who was together with the old hag nodded in response after keeping quiet for most of the conversation thus far.

    ¡°See? I admit that I sorta had ulterior motives, but they were within the bounds ofmon sense. It was 30% righteous indignation, 30% me not wanting to get a bad taste in my mouth if I abandoned Mimi, and 40% ulterior motives.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re kidding, right? Your ulterior motives should be 50 or 60%, ain¡¯t they?¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah. Maybe. But still think righteous indignation and not wanting to wake up badly yed a big part in my decision to help back then.¡±

    When I nced at Elma after saying that, she awkwardly averted her gaze. I still wasn¡¯t close to Elma back then, and she was treating me as a mercenary and not as Hiro, so she simply advised me to not stick my neck into such things. Well, it can¡¯t be helped because we were all practically strangers to one another back then, but Elma should be feeling quite awkward about trying to advise me to basically abandon Mimi to her fate back then.

    ¡°¡­¡­In other words, there was no one who put you up to it or any other shady reason, and it was just a coincidence that you met Mimi and had her board your ship?¡±

    ¡°Basically, yeah. I had no clue about what it exactly meant to have a woman board a man¡¯s ship back then. I had Mimi board my ship after I rescued her from those thugs, and my jaw dropped when I found out about itter on.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ehehe. It¡¯s kind of nostalgic.¡±

    Mimi¡¯s cheeks blushed slightly in embarrassment. This is quite a sensitive topic.

    ¡°Or rather, why do you keep asking about Mimi? What are you to her anyway?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What do you think?¡±

    Don¡¯t answer my question with a question, dammit! I swallowed those words and started to think. She was a middle-aged woman who was likely a mercenary, and she even has a cuss or something resembling one, so she should be fairly well-versed in imperial swordsmanship. The man and woman sitting next to her were both rtively young, but they also exuded auras befitting mercenaries.

    She seems to personally know Mimi, and she was a female mercenary ¡ª I can only think of one possibility. Eh? Seriously? Ain¡¯t she a bit too young-looking? Uh, but if she really was a member of the imperial royal family, then there¡¯s a high possibility of her being given the highest grade of physical enhancements and anti-aging treatments since she was young, and if she was anything like the rumors about her, then she should be quite loaded with cash as well. She should be able to easily afford those sorts of surgeries using thetest technology. In that case, the possibility of her being who I think she is even if she only looks like a slightly middle-aged woman was pretty high.

    ¡°I¡¯m a little hesitant to say the name I¡¯m thinking of out loud. Could you be S-san who¡¯s famous as the heroine of action-adventure dramas that are very popr throughout the empire?¡±

    ¡°Why do you think so?¡±

    ¡°I went to the imperial capital when I received the Gold Star. I faced a lot of troublesome stuff back then. The famous S-san¡¯s brother apparently took a great interest in me. And the trigger for that was apparently Mimi.¡±

    ¡°I actually suspected that you getting close to her was that person¡¯s plot.¡±

    ¡°That definitely ain¡¯t the case. If possible, I don¡¯t wanna get too involved with that person. That¡¯s why I don¡¯t wanna approach the imperial capital if there¡¯s no particr reason to¡­¡­ Oh, I see. So that¡¯s it. That¡¯s why you could only choose to set up a surveince here.¡±

    This was the answer to what Dr. Shouko suggested yesterday when she told us to reverse our thinking. Basically, the reason for not approaching the capital was the same as mine.

    The surveince didn¡¯t specifically target the Alein system. Rather, they could only put it up in the Alein system. In other words, this woman didn¡¯t want His Imperial Majesty the emperor to find her after stepping inside imperial territory.

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. There¡¯s no shortage of jobs here, and we¡¯re able to get in touch with cutting-edge tech even though it¡¯s a rtively remote corner of the empire. It wasn¡¯t a bad ce to wait things out.¡±

    After saying so, the old hag took off her visor and turned her gaze toward Mimi. Now that I¡¯ve gotten a good look at her, she does resemble Mimi in some aspects of her appearance. No, it¡¯s the opposite huh? Mimi actually resembled her instead.

    ¡°It¡¯s been ten years since west met face-to-face, Mimi. I¡¯m Serestia[1]. Your grandmother.¡±

    After saying so, the corners of Grandma Serestia¡¯s mouth, who unleashed such killing intent at me previously, lifted up and formed a grin. Man. This sure is one heck of a grandma.

    TL Notes:

    [1] Previously tl¡¯d as Celestia. Japanese Katakana strikes again.

 Chapter 389: As Expected, You Two Really are Siblings!

    ¡°It looks like¡­¡­ I don¡¯t have to exin much about myself huh?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. We even have a passionate fan right he- Gufuu!?¡±

    Elma¡¯s elbow strike with record-breaking speed cleanlynded on my ribs. It hurts so much that it ain¡¯t even funny. My ribs weren¡¯t cracked, were they?

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not exactly clear on the details, but I¡¯m aware of just what kind of position you were in before. Mimi is too. But Mimi only found out about it when we came to the imperial capital.¡±

    Mimi was looking at her grandmother, Serestia, with aplicated gaze.

    ¡°I remember now. I met you only once when I was little. I think you said you were my distantly rted aunt back then.¡±

    ¡°As you can see, my physical appearance doesn¡¯t really match my actual age. That¡¯s why I introduced myself as your aunt when you were a kid, Mimi. I also didn¡¯t wanna meddle too much in Fort¡¯s life.¡±

    Fort should be the name of Mimi¡¯s father. Mimi sometimes talks about her past, and I remember hearing her dad¡¯s name at one point.

    Eh? When exactly was this? Of course, it was during one of our pillow talks in bed. We sometimes share our pasts with one another during those times.

    ¡°I think what we¡¯re gonna talk about from here on out will be private matters. Will it be okay to talk about such topics here?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna be leaving the empire again anyway, so I don¡¯t particrly care. Well, it might cause you guys some inconvenience though¡­¡­ How about going to your room?¡±

    ¡°There won¡¯t be any problems there, I think. But¡­¡­¡±

    The problem was what to do with the Igasek and Kouga Service guys who were currently keeping one another in check, and whether or not it was really okay to invite people who weren¡¯t the hotel¡¯s guests to our room in the first ce.

    ¡°Mei, can you check with the front desk?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master.¡±

    After instructing Mei, I called Igasek¡¯s Ohta over.

    ¡°Just as you heard, we would like to talk in private.¡±

    ¡°We won¡¯t take responsibility for anything that happens while we¡¯re unable to provide adequate security.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any intention of ming you guys if that happens, so don¡¯t worry. They don¡¯t seem to be that hostile anyway¡­¡­ Though we still can¡¯t afford to let our guards down around them.¡±

    I still don¡¯t get why Serestia-san was hostile towards me in the first ce. However, if the presence of others will get in the way of our discussion, I have no choice but to enter the tiger¡¯s den.

    Well, it looks like only Serestia is adept in closebat among the three. Mei and Elma will also be present anyway, so we can probably deal with it if things turn out violent.

    It took a while, but we were able to get consent from both securitypanies and the hotel, so we left the security service personnel of both firms in the lounge and headed to our room with Serestia-san andpany in tow.

    ¡°Hm. It isn¡¯t so different from a room in a noble¡¯s mansion.¡±

    ¡°I-Is this really okay? I-It looks really expensive¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Man, it sure is a nice room. I also wanna stay inside a room like this with a beautiful girl someday.¡±

    As soon a we got off the elevator, Serestia-san and her crew members immediately gave their impressions regarding our room. Serestia-san and her crew members somehow all gave the impression of being closer tomoners. Was that her policy?

    ¡°Just go ahead and make yourselvesfortable. Mei, please prepare some drinks.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master.¡±

    We all sat down on the sofa and chairs in the living room and started our talk soon after.

    ¡°So, where were we again?¡±

    ¡°We only just found out that the mysterious watcher was actually Mimi¡¯s grandmother.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. So, the reason why she kept asking about my background is probably that. She suspected me of approaching Mimi because I was eyeing her bloodline or something like that.¡±

    In order to talk about Mimi¡¯s ancestry, we have to first talk about her grandmother, Serestia¡­¡­ But things really weren¡¯t thatplicated. Mimi¡¯s grandmother, Serestia, was a tomboy who ran away from the Gran empire royal family in the past, and her older brother was actually the current ruling emperor.

    She¡¯s the little sister of that damn emperor, and Mimi was her granddaughter. In other words, Mimi was actually the emperor¡¯s grandniece. This means Mimi is able to barely call herself a direct blood rtive of the Gran empire¡¯s royal family.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ I¡¯ve also seen Her Highness Princess Luciada in holo-vids, but she does certainly resemble Mimi-kun. There were even some rumors regarding her being the illegitimate child of His Imperial Majesty. So this is actually what¡¯s going on huh?¡±

    First, we shared information in order to get Dr. Shouko, who was our newest member, up to speed. Grandma Serestia didn¡¯t deny anything in particr, so the uracy of our info should be quite high. Or rather, they should be all but confirmed. Well, we¡¯ve already confirmed Mimi¡¯s case when she took that genome analysis in the imperial capital though.

    ¡°So, let¡¯s get back on topic. Why did you emit such vicious killing intent toward mest time? It was as if you were gonna kill me no matter what.¡±

    ¡°When I came to see how Fort and his family were doing for the first time in three years, I suddenly found out that he and my daughter-inw died in an ident. Mimi had gone missing. When I gathered more info, I found out that Mimi was actually brought away by a shady mercenary, and top it all off, that mercenary made some waves in the imperial capital. I thought you were trash who used Mimi in order to get close to the emperor.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, info about me should becking even if you directly inquired with the Mercenary Guild. And it¡¯s not like I¡¯m a saint or anything myself.¡±

    I suppose it did make sense that she came to such a conclusion. It¡¯s kinda irritating to be thought of as a bastard who took Mimi in for my own gain, but the truth of the matter is only known by those of us who were directly involved after all. Moreover, no matter how they investigated about my origins, they should have found nothing about me from before I appeared in the Termaine system. From Grandma Serestia¡¯s point of view, someone who was in a position powerful enough to erase such traces ¨C In other words, a high ranking imperial noble who possibly was under the influence of the emperor ¨C conspired to murder Mimi¡¯s parents and banished Mimi out to the streets. That¡¯s why I can¡¯t exactly me her for thinking I took in Mimi with a shady goal in mind.

    ¡°Also, I was simply too irritated. A damn bastardid his hands on Fort and Maina, and even made Mimi cry, but that bastard was already dealt with before I even got my hands on him. I had no one else to vent all my anger but you.¡±

    ¡°So that ended up leading to all this fuss huh? Gimme a break¡­¡­¡±

    Maina was the name of Mimi¡¯s mother. Fort-san, Mimi¡¯s father, was the biological son of Granny Serestia.

    ¡°You¡¯re way too sensitive to danger. Normally, one wouldn¡¯t notice any killing intent at that distance.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re saying it¡¯s my fault¡­¡­?¡±

    I made a dumbfounded expression, and Mimi suddenly opened her mouth to speak.

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ Serestia¨C sama.¡±

    ¡°What is it? It feels weird to be called ¡®sama¡¯ by my own granddaughter.¡±

    ¡°Uh, yes. Um¡­¡­ Why?¡±

    Confusion, anxiety, and a little anger. Mimi directed a gaze at Grandma Serestia filled with suchplex emotions as she asked ¡®Why?¡¯

    ¡°Why, huh? In a nutshell, Fort was already a full-fledged man with his own life to live, and I merely respected that. That¡¯s it. It¡¯s just that Fort wasn¡¯t so lucky. That goes for Mina, and you as well.¡±

    ¡°He wasn¡¯t so lucky huh¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Right. He was just unlucky. I was unlucky too. If I had gone to that colony before Fort and Mina died¡­¡­ No, even if I only made it there right after they died, then you wouldn¡¯t have had to experience such grief. Unfortunately, I was thousands of light years away back then, between the borders of three countries. It was only a month ago that I received news of your parent¡¯s deaths.¡±

    After saying so, Grandma Serestia shrugged her shoulders. The fact that obituaries were delivered even if the recipient was located so fast away means that there is a system in ce for getting in touch with those rted whenever such incidents happen. Due to her circumstances, granny can¡¯t openly work within the empire, and Mimi¡¯s father Fort-san must have left his mother¡¯s protection due to his own reasons and settled down in the Termaine Prime colony¡­¡­ Based on that, Grandma Serestia saying they were all just unlucky was actually somewhat on point.

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. That¡¯s just how the world works, dear. Unfortunately. In instances like this, there ain¡¯t a lot that those who were left behind can do. Other than finishing things off and making those responsible pay, there¡¯s really nothing much one can do.¡±

    ¡°Finishing things off and making them pay.¡±

    ¡°Finishing things off means epting the burden of those who have left. Making them pay means taking revenge.¡±

    ¡°Wow. Things sure took a violent turn there, granny.¡±

    Grandma red at me after I teased her. I wasn¡¯t really that scared, but her re sure had quite the impact.

    ¡°In any case, it looks like His Imperial Majesty has already put those responsible out of their miseries. It looks like a strict purge was enforced before we even managed to set foot in the Termaine Prime colony. Including the bastard whoid his filthy hands on Fort and Maina, it looks like quite a few government officials and the like were sent to prison colonies and punished ordingly. It seems that the baron who was entrusted with ruling that star system in behest of the earl in charge of the entire area was also punished severely and was deposed from the lord¡¯s seat. As a result, the public order and safety of that colony seems to have improved considerably.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­But ain¡¯t that an abuse of authority?¡±

    ¡°It was done at the emperor¡¯s will after all. No one would be able to afford raising anyint.¡±

    Granny shrugged her shoulders again. Well, that makes sense, I suppose. Nothing woulde out of it if there really was nothing wrong in the first ce. But since a lot of folks were sent to prison and punished, then it means illegal stuff really was urring behind the scenes.

    Actually, that slum-like ce ¨C the third block, I believe? ¨C had little to no public order. A lot of people in that colonycked proper jobs and were just scraping by. So the dismissal and reshuffling of those in charge of that ce did make a lot of sense. That ce was practically located in one of the empire¡¯s borders after all.

    ¡°So after confirming that, we set up a surveince in this colony, and then you guys showed up.¡±

    ¡°And then, just after the emperor made his move, leaving Boss with no way to lower her raised fist, Hiro-san appeared flirting with her granddaughter without a care.¡±

    ¡°Ain¡¯t that just venting her anger on someone unrted!?¡±

    ¡°Like I said, I was really irritated back then, okay? I¡¯m satisfied that I got to see some of your skills though.¡±

    The old hag disyed a teasing grin and gracefully sipped the tea Mei had prepared.

    This damn old hag really is the little sister of that damn emperor!

 Chapter 390: Itâ€™s Not Suitable to Use Me as a Reference

    ¡°Man, that was tiring.¡±

    Even though I frantically scrambled to employ countermeasures against the mysterious assant, it turned out that the assant in question was actually Mimi¡¯s grandma. And she was only venting her anger on me to boot.

    I sank into that sofa as I watched Mimi, Elma, and the mechanic sisters have an enjoyable talk with the damn old hag. Since the discussion was practically over, Dr. Shouko retreated to one corner and was apparently looking something up using her tablet terminal. She really does move at her own pace.

    ¡°My Lord, please go ahead and enjoy my tail.¡±

    ¡°Aah?¡­¡­ I¡¯m getting healed¨C¡±

    I caressed one of Kugi¡¯s fluffy tails. Their fluffiness was certainly wonderful, but Kugi¡¯s tails sure smelled nice too. It felt like I can get absorbed in them forever.

    Oh, we already contacted the bunch from Igasek and Koga and asked them to return for now, leaving only a minimum number of personnel. We¡¯ve already reconciled with Granny and his crew after all, and it looked like she won¡¯t continue going after me.

    ¡°Master, allow me to massage your shoulders.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Mei¡­¡­ Ah, yeah, right there. That hits the spot.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m definitely gonna make it big like you.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll be able to go as far as this guy though?¡±

    The young man and woman who apanied Granny were looking at me curiously. Come to think of it, I haven¡¯t heard their names yet.

    ¡°Uh, sorry about this. I just felt so relieved because of being released from all that stress. By the way, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard your names yet.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m Nichs. I was picked up by Seles-san to be her mechanic and gofer.¡±

    ¡°My name¡¯s Lattice. I was also picked up by Seles-san, and I serve as her ship operator.¡±

    Nichs and Lattice huh? They both looked to be normal humans. Nichs was a somewhat gangly guy sporting a soft Mohican haircut, and Lattice was a young woman who had a gentle atmosphere about her. Her chest size was average. Her face was somewhat on the iner side, but her overall features were attractive enough. It didn¡¯t feel like they¡¯d been training their bodies in particr, and they didn¡¯t seem to have high hand-to-handbat skills either.

    ¡°Wow. It looks like we¡¯re getting really evaluated.¡±

    ¡°Your gaze is quite tant, sir.¡±

    ¡°Sorry. It¡¯s like an upational disease for me. But I do admit I¡¯m not able to get a good measure of your skills as a mechanic and operator.¡±

    ¡°Oh, uh, I¡¯m probably pretty good on average. Lattice is the one who¡¯s pretty amazing at her job.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not that good, you know? At least, I¡¯m not a match for that maidroid-san.¡±

    ¡°I think people who can beat Mei with their own abilities have basically surpassed the limits of humanity though¡­¡­ I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to beat her in anything except starship spacebat.¡±

    In fact, I¡¯ve yed several matches in the simtor with Mei, with both of us using the same craft. She definitely controlled her ship like a precise machine, but that¡¯s also why her actions were rtively easy to read. She always performs the most efficient maneuvers for each situation, so, as long as I kept that in mind, it wasn¡¯t so hard for me to win against her by predicting her moves.

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­? Mei-san is a full-featured machine intelligence equipped with a high-performance miniature positron brain, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. What about it?¡±

    For some reason, Lattice seemed to be taken aback.

    ¡°Are you really able to win against her? In simted spacebat¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡¸So far, I¡¯ve won all twelve matches I¡¯ve had with her.¡¹

    ¡°Indeed. I lost twelve consecutive times against Master.¡±

    ¡°You gotta be kidding me¡­¡­?¡±

    Lattice waspletely shocked silly. What wrong, you guys?

    ¡°Is something like that really all that impressive?¡±

    ¡°Uh, you know, winning against machine intelligence without resorting to overwhelming them with numbers and instead engaging them in a one-on-one mirror match is considered extremely perverted¡­¡­ I mean, it¡¯s like clearing a game on Hell difficulty where your enemy continuously changes attack patterns and makes no mistakes. Winning against that is crazy.¡±

    ¡°Eeh¡­¡­ I can¡¯t even imagine something like that. By the way, which is more difficult between facing Mei-san and the Gold Star test program?¡±

    ¡°Oh, Mei¡¯s definitely a lot trickier to deal with. That test program¡¯s just way too easy.¡±

    I was told to take the test in order to have my abilities checked when I first registered as a mercenary at the guild. I remember that test being so dull and boring that it made me wanna yawn.

    ¡°Wow. Now I got it. You¡¯re an extreme pervert.¡±

    ¡°Yes, he¡¯s indeed extremely perverted.¡±

    ¡°Putting getting called that by a girl aside, hearing that from a guy like you is pretty annoying.¡±

    I mean, you guys do get a bit excited if a pretty girl calls you a pervert, right? You don¡¯t? Oh¡­¡­ No, wait. Kugi! Mei! It¡¯s not like that, okay? I don¡¯t really wanna engage in that sort of humiliation y.

    ¡°Hey bro, how do I get to flirt with lots of girls like you?¡±

    ¡°Who the heck is your bro? But how does one get to flirt with lots of girls, huh? Mm¡­¡­ Luck and timing, I guess?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not helpful at all!¡±

    I replied to Nichs, but he didn¡¯t seem to like my answer much.

    ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know myself because it¡¯s not like I particrly aimed for this sort of situation. But, if I have to say anything, then I suppose having the courage to make a move when an opportunity presents itself is important. I told you guys about how I first met with Mimi earlier, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°An innocent girl was rescued by a passing mercenary when she was in a pinch, and then she got taken into his ship and was forced to¡­¡­ but they eventually ended up falling for each other. It¡¯s like a typical plotline from a holo-novel.¡±

    ¡°Hey, I definitely didn¡¯t force her, okay? Or rather, I was the one who got surprised when I took her in. Well, anyway, what I did in Mimi¡¯s case is a good example of taking action once an opportunityes. And as for Elma¡­¡­ Well, she was in deep trouble, so I just felt like I had to help her out.¡±

    ¡°But how exactly can you encounter cute girls or beautiful women in a pinch, bro?¡±

    ¡°Err, it depends on luck, I guess?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not helpful at all!¡±

    I felt that my luck with women was rted to my fate-maniption abilities that Kugi mentioned, but it¡¯s not like I¡¯m doing anything consciously. So I could only chalk it up to luck.

    ¡°Well, in Elma¡¯s case, I had to basically shell out almost all the money I earned at that time in order to save her. It was a pretty huge amount at that.¡±

    ¡°So, financial ability is important, is it?¡±

    ¡°It all boils down to money after all.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s true that you can do a lot of things if you have enough money.¡±

    It¡¯s not like money can solve everything though. If the other party isn¡¯t interested in money or other forms of wealth, then that¡¯s that.

    ¡°I¡¯m aware that my luck is different from most people, but that¡¯s not always a good thing y¡¯know? In fact, it¡¯s really easy for me to get into some sort of trouble¡­¡­ Yeah. Real easy.¡±

    ¡°Your eyes went all dark for a moment, bro.¡±

    ¡°A military officer keeps tabs on me and often pesters me to be her subordinate. After destroying a pirate base, I returned to a colony only to find it overrun with strange monsters and its interior got turned into a hellscape. I also got into a mess between imperial nobles and was shed at with swords, and on top of getting dragged by that officer who keeps pestering me into a in the middle of getting terraformed, I also had to fight a mutated monster that was over ten meters tall. ¡­¡­You¡¯re envious of me, right? How about we switch ces?¡±

    ¡°No way. Even if I got multiple lives, I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll be enough to survive all that.¡±

    Nichs refused with a straight face. Yeah, I get him. I would¡¯ve answered the same if I was in his shoes.

    ¡°I believe there was also a time when you plunged into a crystal lifeform swarm with just one ship.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that. I don¡¯t think that was particrly dangerous, to be honest.¡±

    ¡°This guy definitely has more than a few screws loose.¡±

    ¡°It looks like he really deserves his ¡®Crazy Hiro¡¯ moniker.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I heard someone mention that. Don¡¯t you think they gave me that moniker just to make fun of me?¡±

    I cuddled Kugi¡¯s tail as I reproached Lattice. Hey, don¡¯t you look away,dy. Doesn¡¯t that mean you agree with what I said about that moniker?

    ¡°Err, umm, what about Kugi-san over there? How did you end up together¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well, that topic change sure sounded forced¡­¡­ Anyway, Kugi huh¡­¡­? Uh, how should I put it?¡±

    ¡°It was fate.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what she said.¡±

    ¡°Once again, that doesn¡¯t help at all. Err, what about those dwarves over there?¡±

    ¡°When I went to have my ship checked and maintained, one sister threw the other sister straight at me.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Can you say that again?¡±

    ¡°When I went to have my ship checked and undergo maintenance, the older sister threw her younger sister straight at me. One thing led to another, and they were eventually assigned to our ship by the shipbuildingpany they were working for as an apology and became our mechanics.¡±

    ¡°One thing led to another?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t go into details for the sake of their honor, but let¡¯s just say some stuff happened¡­¡­ And another factor was money.¡±

    ¡°Money?¡±

    ¡°Skilled starship mechanics make quite a lot, right?¡±

    ¡°Really? Well, it certainly beats working for apany. I heard that you won¡¯t even make 5000 a month.¡±

    Because he himself was a mechanic working as a mercenary, it looked like Nichs was pretty familiar with stuff rted to that sort of thing.

    I¡¯m not sure about what sort of equipment these guys had on their ship, but even if theirs wasn¡¯t as well-equipped as ck Lotus¡¯s hangars, as long as they had the bare minimum of the right tools, they¡¯d be able to tear off equipment modules from pirate ships, repair them, and sell them afterward. You could make quite a bit of money doing that. A mercenary group¡¯s ie varied a lot depending on whether or not they hadpetent mechanics onboard their ships.

    ¡°Of course, it wasn¡¯t just about money. In the end, it¡¯s still mostly luck andpatibility with one another.¡±

    ¡°Izzat so¡­¡­?¡±

    Sorry, man. I don¡¯t really have any particrly useful advice to give you. But, in any case, I think it¡¯s better to start by taking good care of the people close to you. At least, that¡¯s how I went about it. I didn¡¯t voice those thoughts because it might sound a bit inconsiderate.

 Chapter 391: Avoiding Trouble

    ¡°I¡¯ll be going now, Mimi. Be sure to contact me right away if that guy does something that makes you cry, okay? I¡¯ll make sure he gets what¡¯sing to him.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­ I¡¯ll be fine. Hiro-sama treats me very well.¡±

    ¡°Hmph¡­ I really wanted to take you with me though.¡±

    I waved at Granny Serestia who was ring at me, hoping that she¡¯d hurry up and leave already.

    She seemed to have been satisfied after talking with Mimi and the rest of the crew members and told us she¡¯d be leaving, so we all went down to the hotel lobby to see her and her crew off. Oh c¡¯mon Granny. I¡¯vee all the way here to see you off, so could you hurry up and get outta here already? Well, it looks like my feelings were properly conveyed to her since Granny Serestia finally headed toward the hotel entrance¨C

    ¡°Oh, right.¡±

    ¨CBut before she took a step outside of the door, she suddenly turned back toward me while acting like she just remembered something.

    ¡°There are actually some other rats snooping around you aside from us. So make sure to keep your guard up.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­? Ugh. Gimme me a break already.¡±

    Finding out that there¡¯s more troubleing our way the moment I thought everything was resolved already wasn¡¯t funny at all man.

    ¡°Was the public order of this colony always this bad?¡±

    ¡°It should be rtively decent, but¡­¡­¡±

    Even Dr. Shouko disyed a bitter smile after hearing Granny Serestia¡¯s info. It¡¯s not something that will get solved by just smiling wryly though. In any case, we need to find out who exactly was sniffing around, what their purpose was, and deal with them ordingly.

    And this had to happen just when we had to stay in this colony for an extended period because we can¡¯t stay inside the Lotus. We only had to pay attention and be careful whenever we needed to go outside if we were staying on the ship, and we could always activate the energy shields if pushes to shove. And even if enemies did manage to invade the ship, we still hadbat bots to deal with them.

    ¡°Well, I guess we just need to go with our current countermeasures¡­¡­ In any case, Igasek will protect us until the renovation of the ck Lotus isplete, and this hotel should have pretty good security measures as well, since it¡¯s pretty high-end.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re so easygoing¡­¡­ Don¡¯t do something stupid like going off on your own to check things out and messing up, y¡¯hear?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m no bloodthirsty berserker, so I ain¡¯t gonna go that far. I¡¯m not that free.¡±

    ¡°You just wanna get spoiled by the women around you, right?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s much more worthwhile than rushing into danger. That¡¯s justmon sense. I prefer not getting caught up in any troublesome stuff. It would be best to brush off and snuff falling sparks before they cause a fire.¡±

    Even though I seem to have a tendency to easily attract trouble, I still wouldn¡¯t go out of my way to purposely poke my head into that stuff. I¡¯ve only ever been caught up in trouble and didn¡¯t go looking for it on my own volition after all. I didn¡¯t really go looking for trouble myself¡­¡­ right? Uh, let¡¯s just stop thinking about this too deeply. Yeah.

    ¡°How pathetic¡­¡­ Are you really okay with this guy, Mimi? Won¡¯t he bring in a lot more women at this rate?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll make sure to get along with all of them!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what she said. It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t overdo it, but don¡¯t ever make her cry, y¡¯hear? That¡¯s if you don¡¯t wanna get your balls ripped off and vaporized with aser gun.¡±

    ¡°You really say some crazy scary stuff, Granny¡­¡­ I¡¯ll pay close attention to make sure that doesn¡¯t happen.¡±

    ¡°Hmph¡­¡­ Let¡¯s get going, you two.¡±

    ¡°Gocha Boss. See you again, Bro.¡±

    ¡°Bye bye.¡±

    Nichs lightly bowed his head toward us while Lattice waved at us in farewell before leaving together with Serestia. Will we actually meet again in the future? I had a funny feeling we actually will. That olddy, apart from being on the same category of a pain in the behind as that damn emperor, apparently liked to freely travel around lots of ces. I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll bring some sort of trouble our way sooner orter.

    ¡°Man, I¡¯m sure d everythin¡¯ ended peacefully.¡±

    ¡°It actually didn¡¯t end peacefully at all¡­¡­¡±

    As soon as Serestia left, I retorted to the remark of Tina who¡¯d gotten dressed in casual clothes and nabbed herself some booze. Or rather, all of the girls were now wearing casual clothes.

    ¡°Are we just gonna stay and rx inside our room today?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true that there might still be people sniffing around, but it¡¯s not like it¡¯s necessary for us to go out there and deal with them.¡±

    Elma handed me a bottle of soft drink while saying so. That¡¯s certainly true. If one can really avoid trouble by staying indoors, then one should just do so. Fortunately, we¡¯re quite used to staying indoors a lot, so we weren¡¯t really bothered by this sort of situation. Well, the same can be said for all the people who live in outer space in this dimension though ¨C in space colonies and the like.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Let¡¯s just watch some holo-movies while drinkin¡¯ booze.¡±

    ¡°I also think it¡¯s important for us to have rxing breaks like this, Big Brother. We¡¯ll get worn out easily if we¡¯re always on edge.¡±

    ¡°I have a feeling you girls are only acting like this so you can drink booze to your heart¡¯s content though?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s just your imagination.¡±

    Elma half-forced me to sit on the sofa, and she herself sat down beside me. Wiska sat on the opposite side, and Tina sat on top of myp. What the heck? I was now surrounded by the drunkard trio.

    ¡°It¡¯ll be my turnter, Sis.¡±

    ¡°And I was hopin¡¯ you wouldn¡¯t remember Whee.¡±

    ¡°Mou.¡±

    Wiska and Tina started messing with each other like usual. By appearance alone, they looked like children ying around, but they were actually both adult women of drinking age casually chugging alcohol. It¡¯s fine if you frolic about like that, girls. But make sure not to spill your drinks.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go and y, Kuu-chan!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mimi-san.¡±

    Recently, Mimi has taken to calling Kugi the nickname ¡®Kuu-chan¡¯. It seemed like the two of them have been gradually getting closer to each other. Since the two of them took out tablet terminals, I suppose they were gonna y some sort of battle game.

    ¡°Oh, this sure looks interestin¡¯.¡±

    ¡°What is?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a movie about monitorin¡¯ a man-eatin¡¯ mascot robot workin¡¯ part-time at a fast food restaurant prowlin¡¯ aboutte at night.¡±

    ¡°Is the genre supposed to be horror¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°That kind of mascot should usually have been scrapped already though.¡±

    ¡°Yer just no fun sometimes, neesan.¡±

    ¡°A normalpany wouldn¡¯t make a mascot robot like that, so it must have been built by a third-rate underground engineer. Maybe it was even built by pirates?¡±

    Wiska pondered over the mystery while looking at the synopsis and the preview images shown on the holo-disy. If Wiska¡¯s logic was applied, the movie would be about a twenty-four-hour illegal robot extermination marathon or something like that.

    Anyway, we did pay them quite a bit of cash, so it¡¯s only right for Igasek to work hard while we¡¯re taking it easy like this. However, I once again had no idea what or who the ones snooping around were¡­¡­ The only thing that came to mind right now were the people involved in ¡®creating¡¯ Dr. Shouko, but that¡¯s a story from a long time ago already. I wonder what we¡¯re gonna find outter.

 Chapter 392: Ambush

    We spent several days simply rxing inside our room. There were no particrly notable incidents during these past few days. Perhaps it¡¯s due to us holing up in the hotel. The escort personnel dispatched by Igasek was kept to a minimum, and I had the rest of them try to find out more information about the rats that were still snooping around.

    ¡°Remnants of the Artificial Lifeform Liberation Union huh¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes. In any case, they¡¯re just small fries.¡±

    Two days before the scheduledpletion of the renovation of the Lotus, Igasek¡¯s Ohta came to our hotel room and delivered his report regarding their investigation. ording to Ohta, a day after they began actively sniffing out rats, they quickly found an individual who was acting quite suspiciously.

    Afterward, they used various tricks ¨C the details of which he did not disclose ¨C to sessfully investigate this individual and his exact background. They hadpleted their investigationst night and even tracked down the hideout of the suspicious individual and his conspirators, so Ohta came to report their findings today.

    By the way, Kiram, the full-body prosthesis guy, apanied Ohta today. As usual, it looked like he was about to burst out of his ill-fitting business suit.

    ¡°How do you wish for us to handle them?¡±

    ¡°Those guys huh? They¡¯re the group who caused that bioterrorism incident inside this colony back then, right?¡±

    Artificial Lifeform Liberation Union was the name of the group behind that incident where bizarre white monsters rampaged inside this colony.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Their group has been officially designated as a terrorist organization.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then wouldn¡¯t it be better to report them to the relevant authorities and have them deal with the matter instead? I¡¯m a mercenary. I ain¡¯t gonna go through the trouble of going after those guys without a request and sufficient rewards.¡±

    ¡°Really, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Is that how it is?¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    The mechanic sisters both tilted their heads hesitantly, but I can confidently back up my words. Well, it¡¯ll be a different story if theyid their hands on my friends or loved ones, but it¡¯s not really the case this time around. And besides, instead of pirates, they seemed to have a certain sense of honorable purpose to their actions¡­¡­ or maybe not? They were a terrorist organization after all. Maybe they and the pirates were ultimately cut from the same cloth after all.

    ¡°I will make the proper arrangements to that effect.¡±

    ¡°Please do.¡±

    Ohta and Kiram bid goodbye and left. Man. Is everything resolved with this?

    ¡°Why were we being monitored by those people anyway? Did they hold a grudge about me rampaging around in my power armor back then?¡±

    ¡°Mm, I wonder. If that¡¯s the case, then they should be holding more of a grudge against me for making the extermination nanomachines. Oh, maybe they found out that I¡¯m a designer baby?¡±

    ¡°Is that possible?¡±

    ¡°Well, we certainly can¡¯t dismiss the possibility. There were quite a few people in thepany who knew about my situation.¡±

    So, in other words, the people from the Artificial Lifeform Liberation Union were biding their time and waiting for the right moment to invite Dr. Shouko into their group?

    Or rather, what did they exactly mean by liberation anyway? Dr. Shouko seemed quite free and unrestrained to me, so what exactly were they nning to free her from in the first ce?

    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t this fine? The rest will be handled by the colony security forces and the military.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. In any case, we¡¯ll be stuck in this room until the renovation of the ck Lotus gets finished.¡±

    I nodded in agreement to Elma¡¯s words, but at this moment, Kugi and Mimi shot me some pleading looks. What¡¯s up, guys?

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ Is it alright for us to go outside now?¡±

    ¡°Even if information regarding those guys gets passed by Igasek to the authorities, they probably won¡¯t act on it immediately. At least, it¡¯s better for us to be cautious until newses in regarding that group¡¯s arrest.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­? That is a pity.¡±

    Kugi disyed a disappointed look with her fox ears ttened down on top of her head. It pained me to see her so down, but still¡­¡­ We really don¡¯t know how those fellows are gonna act, and we also weren¡¯t sure just how much they were capable of. In a way, they were more troublesome than being targeted by Granny Serestia.

    And for the record, I wasn¡¯t simply making excuses just so I can avoid bringing Kugi to that cultured meat factory. Honest.

    ¡°The renovation of the Lotus will be finished in two days, so we¡¯ll be saying goodbye to this indoor life soon. Just endure it for a bit more, okay?¡±

    ¡°I understand, My Lord.¡±

    Kugi nodded as her ears straightened up. Somehow, I could feel her gaze imploring me to take her to that meat factory after the two days were up. Don¡¯t stare at me with those innocent and hopeful eyes. Simply imagining how gloomy and disgusted those eyes were gonna turn out once she witnesses the horrors waiting for her inside that ursed factory hurts my heart.

    The renovation of the ck Lotus was finallypleted without a hitch.

    The terrorist group? They got arrested without any trouble as well. I wasn¡¯t sure if they managed to nail the entire group with this arrest, but it was reported on the colony¡¯s local news channels yesterday.

    And so, we all went down to the hotel lobby to check out.

    ¡°You sure made us wait. Hurry up, will you?¡±

    ¡°Why¡­¡­?¡±

    We found Granny Serestia waiting for us in the lobby. Naturally, Nichs and Lattice were with her as well.

    ¡°I¡¯ve only ever heard about your past exploits, kid. I haven¡¯t personally witnessed your abilities yet.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­So?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s only one way for mercenaries like us to prove ourselves, right? It¡¯s a job.¡±

    After saying so, the old granny disyed a taunting grin. Ugh, it¡¯s familiar. That grin¡¯s awfully familiar. You guys really are siblings, dammit.

    I cursed inwardly as I gazed up helplessly at the lobby¡¯s ceiling.

 Chapter 393: Job

    ¡°Wow, this ship sure is rocking a nice interior.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just like a luxury passenger cruiser.¡±

    Nichs and Lattice showed typical reactions while gawking at the interior of the ck Lotus, but Granny Serestia disyed an uninterested expression.

    ¡°Hmph. How tacky. You should make the interior more appropriate for a mercenary.¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s totally stupid to purposefully make your ship¡¯s interior less convenient to live in for the sake of posturing as a hard-boiled merc even though you have enough money to spend.¡±

    Or rather, was Granny¡¯s opinion regarding an interior more appropriate for mercenaries one of the reasons why imperial mercenaries had sloppy ship interiors? If that¡¯s the case, then she¡¯s quite guilty of making them have such a stupid misconception.

    ¡°You just gotta have an answer for everything, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the one who criticized our ship interior first¡­¡­ Well, going on about this is pointless, so let¡¯s just talk about business.¡±

    While saying so, I led Granny Serestia and her crew members to the break space.

    ¡°I will prepare some refreshments, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Alright. Thanks, Kugi.¡±

    After looking at Kugi¡¯s departing back, Granny red at me in suspicion.

    ¡°Thatss is from the Holy Empire, right? Why is someone like her following after you? She even calls you ¡®My Lord¡¯.¡±

    ¡°It would take too long to talk about the exact circumstances, and it¡¯ll also be somewhat personal, so noment. Actually, it¡¯s hard to say that I have an urate grasp of Kugi¡¯s circumstances myself.¡±

    ¡°And you had the guts to let her board your ship despite that¡­¡­? Is it because she¡¯s your type?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t deny that such a thing was also a factor, but the main thing was that she told me she might get in trouble with her people if I didn¡¯t ept her¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re pretty gullible when ites to women¡­¡­ It looks like Mimi will have a hard time.¡±

    ¡°Get off my case, granny. Anyway, just sit wherever you like.¡±

    I gestured toward the seats around the table equipped with a built-in holo-disy within the break space and took a seat. Aside from me, the only ones who¡¯ll be joining the meeting from our side was Elma and Kugi, who was currently preparing drinks. Mimi, Mei, the mechanic sisters, and Dr. Shouko were currently checking out the ship sections that have been renovated.

    ¡°Where¡¯s that maid girl?¡±

    ¡°I left checking the handover procedures to her. We would have been long done if you guys hadn¡¯te though.¡±

    ¡°My bad. Old people like me are a rather hasty bunch.¡±

    This damn old hag didn¡¯t seem sorry at all. While we were exchanging verbal jabs, Kugi came back with bottled water for each of us. In fact, in water was a lot more expensive than soft drinks in this dimension.

    ¡°Now then, since we have our drinks, let¡¯s go ahead and talk about that job you mentioned.¡±

    ¡°Right. Well, it¡¯s not thatplicated, actually. We¡¯ve been staying in this system for quite a while, you see. We had to earn money for our daily expenses, and doing nothing was boring as heck, so we went and periodically hunted down pirates.¡±

    ¡°I see. Or rather, you guys are actually registered with this empire¡¯s Mercenary Guild?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, in a sense. I¡¯m currently posing as the Silver-ranked Granny Farin.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What the heck is the Mercenary Guild doing?¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯ve lived as long as I have, you should already have more than a few backdoors prepared just in case.¡±

    She was saying it so matter-of-fact-ly, but it just made me doubt the Mercenary Guild¡¯spetence. But, well, the Mercenary Guild was essentially an organization that used the lives of mercenaries as merchandize, so it wasn¡¯t exactly a righteous and heroic organization in the first ce. So it was only natural that it also had a shady side.

    Well, it¡¯s useless to get hung up on something like this, I suppose. No matter how shady the Mercenary Guild actually was, as long as it paid well ording to the items stipted in contracts, it was an indispensable organization for mercenaries like us. As long as we were careful not to poke our heads into the more questionable stuff, we should be fine. For the time being, let¡¯s just assume that everything¡¯s fine as long as they didn¡¯t collude with space pirates.

    ¡°Oh well. We¡¯ve gone off-topic. And then?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯d end up recovering stuff while shooting down pirate ships, right? Naturally, that also includes their data storage devices.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I think I know where this talk is going. Are you serious?¡±

    ¡°Oh? What? Are you scared?¡±

    The old hag grinned maliciously.

    In other words, this granny wanted to work with us in order to raid and destroy the pirate¡¯s main base. And we¡¯re going to do that ourselves, without cooperating with the military. They should have managed to recover data storage devices from most of the pirate ship¡¯s they¡¯d shot down. It wasn¡¯t that difficult to figure out the location of a pirate base once you¡¯ve collected enough data storage devices.

    ¡°There¡¯s too little info for me to make a decision. You weren¡¯t expecting me to just nod and say okay, were you?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Lattice.¡±

    ¡°Okaaay. Can I use the holo-disy for a bit?¡±

    After getting permission, Lattice operated her tablet terminal device and used the table¡¯s holo-disy to project an image.

    ¡°This is the target?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Of course, we¡¯ve already scouted it out beforehand.¡±

    While listening to Granny boast about herpetence, I checked out the image being projected ¡ª a pirate base that seemed to have been modified from an asteroid.

    It wasn¡¯t that big. Rather, it was actually on the smaller category. It was rather lightly armedpared to the Red gs base we went up against before. There were moreser batteries than missile pod batteries, but their ss seemed to be fairly low, and moreover, there weren¡¯t that many of them in the first ce.

    ¡°It looks like you really found a pretty good target. We should be able to handle this much.¡±

    ¡°Hee? And how would you take that thing on?¡±

    ¡°It would be easier to take down all the small-fries that woulde flying out after getting provoked in one go. This should be the easiest method for mercenaries who are usuallycking sufficient CQC capabilities in enclosed spaces.¡±

    Fortunately, the positions of the defense turrets were unevenly distributed. We would first st the densely packed defense turrets with anti-ship reactive torpedoes and the ck Lotus¡¯s EML, destroying most of them. After that, we¡¯ll smash the pirate ships that wille rushing out from the front. As a result, fewer people would be remaining in the base, making it easier to take control of it.

    Whenever the imperial space navy cleared out pirate bases, they¡¯d first use long-range artillery fire to attack the base¡¯s hangar where the pirate ships were moored. This was a tactic to cut off avenues of escape to ensure that they didn¡¯t miss a single pirate. In front of the well-trained imperial marines, the pirates barricading themselves inside bases were nothing more than moving practice targets.

    On the other hand, in order for mercenaries like us with poor CQC capabilities to take over a pirate base, it was important to minimize engaging in on-foot meleebat as much as possible. Even if we won the battle in space, it would be a joke if we were defeated in meleebat inside the base. And so, we would go with not destroying the hangar and reducing the pirate numbers as much as possible through space starshipbat instead.

    Of course, there would always be some who would run away the moment the sense that they¡¯re no match for us. We would probably still miss some even after using the Antlion¡¯s gravity jammer, but the damage we¡¯d cause to their forces should be enough to take down the base itself.

    And, of course, there would be plenty of rewards. The stockpiled pirate loot would all be ours, of course. And we¡¯d also get a huge reward for clearing out a pirate base once we report it to the local star system forces or the imperial military.

    ¡°It would be easier to smash them with a frontal assault, huh? You sure are confident.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re more than capable of pulling it off. What about you guys?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m thinking of doing the same, of course. It would be the same no matter how many pirates there are. My kids are pretty good at taking on many opponents after all.¡±

    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll be looking forward to seeing your skills then.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s my line, kid.¡±

    Elma and Kugi gave Granny Serestia and I, who were grinning provocatively against one another, exasperated looks, and didn¡¯t seem to want to bother interjecting. I was actually pretty interested in seeing Granny Serestia strut her stuff, and my wallet was getting a bit too deste as well. It was surprisingly not that bad a deal for us.

    ¡°I take it that you¡¯re in?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. But first, let¡¯s talk about the distribution of loot and rewards. Since we have more ships and ours are probably bigger overall, we¡¯d get more share of the loot, right?¡±

    ¡°Why you greedy bastard. We¡¯re the ones who provided the info about the base in the first ce, so, naturally, we¡¯ll get the bigger cut. In the first ce, what made you think we have less ships than you guys?¡±

    ¡°I really don¡¯t think you came here with arge fleet. If I¡¯m wrong, then show me your prided fleet then.¡±

    ¡°This bastard¡­¡­¡±

    I¡¯m not sure just how fast she rushed over to this ce when she heard about what happened to Mimi, but even if she was originally leading a bunch of ships, she shouldn¡¯t have had the leeway to bring all of them here. She should have brought over three ships at most. They were also probably all small-ss ships. Since she was rushing, slower-moving medium andrge-ss ships wouldn¡¯t be suitable.

    Kukuku, this should be fun.

 Chapter 394: Grannyâ€™s Ship

    ¡°Ok, it looks like we have a deal.¡±

    ¡°Fine. You win, kid.¡±

    Granny Serestia shrugged her shoulders in concession.

    As for the details of the loot and reward distribution, we first agreed to the rule that the loot, guild bounty, and military reward money for individual pirate ships all going to the ship that shoots them down. In other words, it would be a race to see who shoots down the most prey.

    The prize money for taking over the pirate base itself would be shared equally amongst both participating groups. Granny only had two smallbat ships currently on hand, and it would be difficult for them to take down the base without our help. However, the coordinates of the pirate base and the recon info will being from them, and it¡¯s true that we wouldn¡¯t be able tounch a well-nned attack directly on the pirate base without those. Combat strength was important, but information was equally as important. That¡¯s why I decided to agree to an even split.

    Lastly, we agreed to a 7/3 split for the loot. Ours was 7 and theirs was 3. Needless to say, the ck Lotus and Antlion were both medium-ss ships, so they had more cargo capacity than smaller ships even if their cargo bays were already stuffed with special equipment. This was a basic feature of medium-ss ships.

    And since Krishna now relied on ck Lotus for supply and equipment storage, its own cargo bay was almost empty. We had an overwhelming advantage when it came to cargo capacitypared to the other side¡¯s two ships. And that¡¯s how this split came about.

    It even seemed like I¡¯d be able to squeeze out 7.5, if not 8, out of them if I persisted in negotiating further, but that would admittedly be too greedy. It¡¯s not like we¡¯repletely unrted too since she¡¯s Mimi¡¯s grandma.

    ¡°Still, you have a pretty interesting ship, Granny¡­¡­ I don¡¯t recognize the model at all.¡±

    ¡°These kinds of legacy ships pop up from time to time.¡±

    Elma¡¯s eyes were glowing with a strange light as she stared intently at Granny Serestia¡¯s ship, the Annihtor, that was projected on the holo-disy. The Annihtor huh? What a damn grandiose name.

    By the way, the term ¡®legacy ship¡¯ referred to an old ship that has been remodeled so much that it¡¯s already lost all semnce of its original model. Some of them were ragged ships that were already running on fumes, and some were turned into monster ships that far exceeded their original specs. Granny¡¯s ship was definitely thetter.

    It was equipped with Stalker missile pods that boasted high guidance capability, two heavyser cannon turrets with wide firing angles, and two multi-cannons facing directly in front of its bow. In terms of firepower alone, it was alreadyparable to Krishna.

    And just like Krishna, its size almost scraped the limit of what could be ssified as small-ss ships. The reason why it mainly used live ammunition weapons such as missile pods and multi-cannons was probably that it didn¡¯t have as much generator output as Krishna does. Krishna was better than it in terms of overall defense capabilities, including mobility, energy shields, and ship armor.

    ¡°Well, my bad for it being a legacy ship.¡±

    In response to Elma¡¯s words, Granny Serestia¡¯s lips pouted. Nichs hurriedly chipped in to soothe the peeved Granny Serestia.

    ¡°But its internals can still keep up pretty with newer models y¡¯know. It also has a high degree of customizability. Its main w is being a bit hard to maintain.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine since we take good care of both its hardware and software.¡±

    Lattice also gave a follow-up.

    ¡°Well, if you guys can freely control a ship with thisbination of armaments, you definitely would be insanely effective in anti-piratebat.¡±

    Stalker missiles were less powerful than normal seeker missiles, but they were still more than effective against pirate ships¡¯ thin armor and flimsy energy shield. With this machine, even when you encounter arge number of pirate ships, you¡¯d be able to engage them all head-on without taking a single step back.

    ¡°The other one is a fast recon ship huh?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing particrly special about it.¡±

    ¡°Well, it ain¡¯t a ship that¡¯s geared forbat anyway.¡±

    It was a type of ship that you didn¡¯t see that often in the Gran empire, but you could anticipate its performance to a certain extent just by looking at its outer appearance. It boasted a lot of thrusters on a small hull. It had a ss IIser cannon on its bow, and two small seeker missile pods on its hull. It didn¡¯tck offensive capabilities, but it was clearly not a machine suited forbat. It was evidently a reconnaissance ship since it seemed to be equipped with a lot of sensors. It didn¡¯t appear to have any hidden surprises of any sort.

    ¡°But I can¡¯t ce the model of your ship as well, kid. So we¡¯re simr in that regard.¡±

    ¡°True. Its exact origin is a secret though.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­? Well, that¡¯s fine. As long as it performs ording to the specs, I have noints.¡±

    After saying so, Granny shrugged her shoulders once more. She just fired back with something simr to what I said earlier huh? Well, I guess that¡¯s fair. Krishna was also the kind of ship that required a lot of maintenance¡­¡­ Fortunately, nothing has gone wrong with the ship¡¯s generator, which was aplete ck box, so far. And I also somehow managed not to take any big hits during our past battles, so we¡¯ve been managing so far.

    In fact, if Krishna were to suffer a great deal of damage, especially to its generator, it would be extremely difficult to repair it. Maybe I¡¯d have to consider switching ships by then. We can¡¯t fix it after all.

    ¡°Now that the conditions for cooperation have been set and we¡¯ve seen the extent of each other¡¯s strengths, let¡¯s move on to nning our attack.¡±

    ¡°Alright. That said, we don¡¯t need to n anything overlyplicated, right? Your Krishna, ck Lotus, and our Annihtor will attract their attention by attacking head-on. Once we¡¯ve baited most of their ships out of their base, you¡¯ll crush the base¡¯s defense batteries with a reactive torpedo. After that, we¡¯ll just go with the flow. Oh, why don¡¯t you just focus on crushing all of the base¡¯s defense batteries instead?¡±

    ¡°Hey. You can¡¯t just push all the troublesome stuff to me and take all the pirate bounty. And besides, it would definitely be quicker to wipe out the defense turrets with your stalker missiles instead.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯d get shot down if we headed straight for the base. No, thank you.¡±

    ¡°So quit it with pushing that stuff onto me.¡±

    This old bag really had quite the personality huh? Well, all things considered, it would definitely be more efficient for Krishna, that would already be nearer to the base at that point after firing off a reactive torpedo, to deal with the rest of the turrets.

    ¡°Guess you have a point though. We definitely would be nearer to the base at that point after all.¡±

    ¡°Good boy. You catch on quickly. Just do your best and take care of them as fast as possible.¡±

    ¡°I know that. This should go without saying, but make sure to protect ck Lotus.¡±

    ¡°Of course we will. You didn¡¯t have to remind me. Once we attack their base, those guys wille out to seriously try and crush us as well.¡±

    ¡°We just have to be wary of reactive ammunition.¡±

    ¡°Getting hit by that stuff won¡¯t end pretty after all.¡±

    Elma and Nichs, who were listening to the exchange between me and Granny Serestia, assented with serious expressions. Pirates usually didn¡¯t use any overly destructive weapons whenever they were out for ¡®work¡¯. That¡¯s because if they used excessive firepower on their prey, the loot, including passengers, would be in danger of getting harmed.

    However, it was a different story if their base was attacked. They would resist in earnest. In other words, they wouldn¡¯t have qualms to fire continuous volleys of seeker missiles at you, and in the worst case, they might even use anti-ship torpedoes andrge missiles tipped with reactive warheads. There¡¯s a danger of suffering severe retaliation if you underestimated them.

    By the way, if a reactive warhead were to directly hit Krishna, it would definitely suffer critical damage despite its tripleyered energy shield array. ck Lotus wouldn¡¯t be spared either. And in the unlikely event that the ammo was actually an anti-ship reactive torpedo equipped with a shield saturation module, Krishna would be vaporized without a trace, and even ck Lotus would explode in one blow if it got hit in a critical spot. That¡¯s why one had to be careful not to take any hits from missiles and torpedoes tipped with reactive warheads if possible.

    ¡°We¡¯ll head out once the checks on the Lotus are over.¡±

    ¡°Oh? You¡¯re fine with that?¡±

    ¡°Since we¡¯ve already decided tounch an attack, we have to do it as soon as possible. There¡¯s no reason to waste any time.¡±

    When she saw me shrug my shoulders after hearing my words, Granny Serestia disyed a satisfied smile.

    ¡°Good. I like that kind of attitude, kid.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, I guess.¡±

    It looked like Granny Serestia had taken a liking to my proactiveness. That¡¯s well and good, I suppose.

    Well, we better prepare for the sortie now. I¡¯ll contact Mimi and the others first.

 Chapter 395: Battle Start

    ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re going to sortie as soon as possible huh?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    I initialized the Krishna¡¯s systems and ran the self-diagnostics program as I responded to Mimi. The mechanic sisters were performing constant maintenance on Krishna, so it should be fine. But I always made it a point to run the self-diagnostics program every time before a sortie to check its condition for myself. I can¡¯t just assume that since it¡¯s being maintained by the highly skilled mechanic sisters, everything¡¯s always gonna be fine and dandy. They were only human, err, dwarves after all. That¡¯s why it¡¯s also possible for them to make mistakes.

    ¡°Um, Hiro-sama. Sorry. I¡¯m really sorry for always causing you trouble like this¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not bothered by it at all, and even if you do cause trouble¨C¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Even if I did?¡±

    ¡°Well, y¡¯know. It¡¯s for your sake anyway, Mimi. So I¡¯m fine with anything.¡±

    ¡°Mou. Why did you suddenly turn all shy? Ahaha.¡±

    Mimi let out a cheerfulugh. Actually saying something so cheesy like that to another¡¯s face felt really cringy y¡¯know? Gimme a break.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    When I nced at the sub-pilot seat, I saw Kugi disying a forlorn expression, so I stroked her fluffy fox-eared head. Kugi¡¯s tails swayed in delight as I did so, which was a really cute reaction. But since I¡¯m not really a natural-borndy-killer, I¡¯m already at my limit from doing this, so please don¡¯t be too hard on me guys.

    I¡¯m sure you guys wanna say I¡¯m just suffering from the consequences of my own actions, but I probably would act simrly even if things started over again¡­¡­ That¡¯s why I¡¯ve simply epted this as my fate, or something like that. Yeah. Let¡¯s just ept it all and move on. Yep.

    ¡°Um, are we going to perform the thermal stealth tactic again this time?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to, but that¡¯s gonna be difficult to pull off this time around. The base we¡¯re after this time is also in an asteroid belt, but judging from the data Granny Serestia sent, it seems like it¡¯s impossible to approach it using thermal stealth.¡±

    While exining, I projected the data that Granny Serestia handed over onto Krishna¡¯s main screen. As I said earlier, the target base was situated in an asteroid belt, but the asteroid density was pretty high except for the area directly in front of the base. In other words, it was necessary to avoid all those asteroids in order to sessfully approach the base.

    And using thrusters will instantly make the ship drop thermal stealth, so we can¡¯t make use of that tactic this time around. Unfortunately.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then how will we¡­¡­ Oh, right. I guess we¡¯re doing that huh?¡±

    ¡°Yup.¡±

    ¡°What exactly are we going to do?¡±

    Kugi was the only one who was clueless. What will we do? There¡¯s only one thing we can do, and that¡¯s¨C

    ¡°My Lord! Crash! We will crash!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    Kugi raised a panicked voice as if the world was ending, but I think she was overreacting. It¡¯s true that we¡¯re now hurtling straight through the asteroid belt at almost the ship¡¯s maximum speed, but I wasn¡¯t the type of pilot to crash onto an immobile space rock. I think.

    I couldn¡¯t take my eyes off the main monitor, so I couldn¡¯t see what kind of face Kugi was making, but I bet she was all teary-eyed, and her fox ears were probably lying t on top of her head.

    ¡°Instead of worrying about this, keep in mind that we¡¯re gonna go straight into battle as soon as we break through here, so make sure to concentrate and do your job properly. Concentrate, okay? Concentrate.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes!?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Kuu-chan. There¡¯s no way Hiro-sama will collide with an asteroid that can¡¯t chase after him. In fact, he was fine even when we were in the middle of a crystal lifeform swarm that was even denser than this.¡±

    It kinda felt like Mimi¡¯s tone was strangely t as she was reassuring Kugi though. Are you guys really okay? But, as expected, I had to fully concentrate in order to break through this dense asteroid belt at this speed, so I couldn¡¯t really give them that much attention.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, I¡¯m picking up some sensor reactions.¡±

    ¡°Well, it looks like they¡¯re notpletely defenseless after all.¡±

    Even if pirates were usually crazy and reckless bastards, they would still pay attention to the security of their base. There were plenty of them who remained rtively sloppy even in base security though, but it looked like these guys weren¡¯t of the sort.

    ¡°They should be here soon¡±

    ¡°Yes. Not long now¨C They¡¯re here!¡±

    In the corner of my field of view, a point of light indicating an allied ship appeared on the radar screen. There were still ten-odd seconds before Krishna sessfully leaves the asteroid belt. It was impable timing. It was just like Mei to pull off a warp-out from FTL navigation with such precise timing.

    Krishna¡¯s sensor indicated that the newly warped-out allies and the forces of the pirate base have already engaged one another inbat. The first shot should be from the EML of the ck Lotus.

    The pirates, who were initially preupied with Krishna which was breaking through the asteroid field at high speed, werete in responding to the sudden arrival of the ck Lotus, Antlion, and Granny Serestia¡¯s Annihtor.

    And since they already went at it on their end¨C

    ¡°Anti-ship reactive torpedoes 1 and 2,unch! Or something like that.¡±

    Two anti-ship reactive torpedoes were fired out from Krishna¡¯s lower hatch, passed through the asteroid belt, and flew straight toward the bunched-up defense turrets of the pirate base at high speed.

    The anti-ship reactive torpedoes themselves didn¡¯t have that much propulsive power. If fired normally, they¡¯d be as slow as heck, but it was a different story if they were fired from a ship rushing forward with this much momentum. The fired torpedoes will make use of the resulting inertia and will fly forward at tremendous speed.

    ¡°Prepare to use the shield cells at any time, Kugi.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes.¡±

    The moment I heard Kugi¡¯s flustered reply, a ball of light expanded on the surface of the pirate base directly in front of Krishna. A huge amount of light and heat was generated by the explosions caused by the reactive torpedoes. The powerful heat and force caused by the explosions engulfed the asteroid¡¯s surface, including most of the defensive turrets installed on the pirate base, and reduced the turrets to shreds. The resulting debris peppered Krishna¡¯s energy shields.

    ¡°I-I¡¯ve used a shield cell!¡±

    ¡°Okay. Good job. Next, we¡¯ll be heading straight for the base to take care of the remaining defensive turrets.¡±

    About 70% of the turrets deployed around the pirate base should have been blown to bits by our initial attack, but we should also take care of the ones remaining. I suppose I should prioritize taking out the missile-type turrets that posed a higher danger to starships.

    ¡°Mimi, link up with our allies and pinpoint the locations of the missile turrets.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Krishna¡¯s sensors were of the high-performance category for use on small-ss ships, but they still lost out to the ones equipped on ck Lotus and Antlion. So it was better to link up with them to get more urate data.

    ¡°Brace yourselves, guys. We¡¯re going for the second round!¡±

    ¡°¡±Yes!¡±¡±

    I heard two energetic replies. It seemed that Kugi had somewhat recovered herposure already. That¡¯s good. Now then, let¡¯s gradually pick off the prey, shall we?

 Chapter 396: Amidst the Explosions

    ¡°Well, well. That kid¡¯s quite skilled.¡±

    ¡°Now¡¯s not the time to be all impressed, captain!¡±

    As I admired that kid¡¯s ship as it zipped about on the surface of the asteroid that had been converted into a pirate base and urately crushed its remaining defense turrets, Nichs called out to me in a desperate tone.

    ¡°You¡¯re acting like a jittery mess again. That¡¯s why you¡¯re not popr with girls, Nichs.¡±

    ¡°You think I can keep myposure while we¡¯re being smothered with a barrage ofsers and seeker missiles!?¡±

    It¡¯s true that the pirate ships were firingsers at us, but they were all rickety old models that didn¡¯t seem to have undergone proper maintenance, so we should not have any problems taking some hits from them as long as we focus our energy shield output on the front of the ship. As for seeker missiles, that maid¡¯s doing a great job intercepting all of them with her ship¡¯ssers, so they didn¡¯t even have a chance of hitting our shield. This sure is a pretty easy job. Honestly.

    ¡°We have multi-lock.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha. Alright then. Number one to number four,unch.¡±

    Arge number of stalker missiles fired out from their pods and swiftly chased after the enemy pirate ships.

    ¡ºWhat!? Missile alert!¡»

    ¡ºThey aren¡¯t seeker missiles!? They¡¯re too tiny to hit!¡»

    ¡ºSo fast! We can¡¯t intercept¨C Uwaaaa!?¡»

    The confused pirates were desperately shooting theirsers and multi-cannons to intercept the stalker missiles, but they wouldn¡¯t be able to hit those missiles at that rate. The stalker missile warheads were about one-third the size of a standard seeker missile, so they were pretty small targets, and their propulsion was set to staggered intervals, so they were difficult to catch both optically and thermally.

    ¡°Ooh, that¡¯s nice. Hearing prey scream like that never fails to make my day.¡±

    ¡°What a twisted hobby¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°What are you saying? It¡¯s amon hobby of mercenaries to intercept piratems and listen to their dying screams. It¡¯s called battlefield music.¡±

    ¡°Eeh¨C¡­¡­?¡±

    Lattice¡¯s sensibilities regarding mercenary work still weren¡¯t up to standard. Well, I admit that it does seem in poor taste when seen from amon person¡¯s perspective. I had no intention of stopping to enjoy it though.

    ¡°Impact confirmed. One ship¡¯s gone down.¡±

    ¡°Such dirty fireworks.¡±

    Three stalker missiles had directly hit one pirate ship. This was the Annihtor¡¯s usual recipe for bringing down pirates. The first missile will blow their shield away, and the second will shatter their hull. The third one was insurance just in case one of the first two missiles misses. If they manage to survive the missiles, we¡¯d finish them off with our heavyser turrets.

    ¡°But we¡¯re really having it easy here, captain. We don¡¯t even need to move from our spot.¡±

    ¡°It looks like the kid¡¯s having a harder time though.¡±

    ¡°Shield cell!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Seeker missiles iing!¡±

    ¡°Release chaff and res!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    The resistance of the pirate base was stronger than expected. It¡¯s not like Granny Serestia¡¯s info was wrong, but¡­¡­ was the person in charge of the base¡¯s defenses actually prettypetent in his or her job?

    While confusing the iing seeker missiles with chaff and res, I elerated Krishna andpletely shook them off. Naturally, the missiles that were shaken off went and hit the surface of the pirate base instead, but¡­¡­ should I consider damaging the pirate base like this after getting chased by those seeker missiles a small mercy?

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna turn the ship around!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°Yes!? Ugh!?¡±

    While pulling away from the surface of the pirate base with the thrusters fully open, I switched flight assist off and flipped the ship around using the side thrusters. As expected, another swarm of seeker missiles were alreadying after us. Missile alerts have been going off for a while now.

    After wiping out the iing seeker missiles by firing the shot-cannons consecutively and heading straight into the resulting ming explosions, I switched the shooting mode of the heavyser cannons from automatic aiming to manual.

    ¡°¨C!¡±

    I held my breath, and the bursting explosions surrounding Krishna began to slow down in my eyes.

    While getting annoyed by the frustratingly slow aiming movements, I locked onto the seeker missile pods that were pointing at us with theser cannons.

    That¡¯s one, two, three, four, five, six, seven¨C Alright.

    ¡°Haa¡­¡­! With this, it¡¯s over!¡±

    ¡°The seeker missile pods of the enemy base have all been destroyed!¡±

    ¡°W-We only have three shield cells left!¡±

    ¡°Three¡¯s plenty. We¡¯re gonna take care of the remainingser turrets next.¡±

    ¡°¡±Aye, aye, sir!¡±¡±

    ¡ºGood work out there, Master.¡»

    After we destroyed all the defense turrets of the pirate base and stripped off all means of resistance from it, a transmission came from the ck Lotus.

    ¡°Yeah, nice work as well. Did you encounter any problems on your end?¡±

    ¡ºNo. We have incurred no damage, Master. However, our coborators have managed to make off with most of the prize money for shooting down the pirate ships.¡»

    ¡°That can¡¯t be helped. That ship¡¯s specialized for hunting down pirate ships and is a bad matchup for you and the Lotus.¡±

    ¡ºIt was amazin¡¯ Boss. Maybe we should p some stalker missiles on Antlion too?¡»

    ¡°That does sound good, but the problem is the increase in ammunition cost. Those things are expensive.¡±

    Their destructive power was rtively weak, so it was necessary to fire arge number of them to cause sufficient damage, but the cost-per-unit actually wasn¡¯t much different from regr seeker missiles. Which one was easier to use between them? Personally, I¡¯d go with the stalker missiles, but considering cost-effectiveness, they didn¡¯t actually offer much of an advantage against regr seeker missiles.

    ¡°So, how¡¯s the battle going?¡±

    ¡ºWe are aiming at the critical parts of the base apart from the power generator. We will be able to fully incapacitate it soon.¡»

    ¡°Okay. Just keep the bombardment up.¡±

    The bow of the ck Lotus glowed brightly, and soon after, an explosion went off on the pirate base. What were we doing right now, you ask? We were reducing the remaining personnel inside the base with artillery fire.

    In other words, in order to safely salvage the supplies within the base, we were punching holes all over it with long-range bombardment to ruin its airtightness. Naturally, the average ¡®person¡¯ ¨C in the broadest sense of the term ¨C can only survive in an environment filled with properly pressurized, breathable air.

    It¡¯s said that there were actually rare species out there that can safely operate even in outer space without the use of special equipment, but in most cases, this was practically an impossible feat. Humans will die in less than a minute if they were thrown alive into outer space. The same will happen in space structures that have lost their airtightness.

    Humane treatment? What¡¯s that? Is it delicious?

    Yeah, I know. I get it. As someone born in modern Japan, it¡¯s not like I didn¡¯t feel any sense of difort about this. But being honorable and humane wouldn¡¯t protect you from lethalser fire. Our lives were more important than the lives of pirates and the unlikely innocent victims that this bombardment might cause.

    ¡ºWell done. That was a pretty good dance.¡»

    ¡°Thanks, I guess. Did you guys do well?¡±

    ¡ºWe ended up using up a ton of ammo. This kind of job with quick returns but small profits is hard for my heart.¡»

    I imagine that the person on the other end of the transmission was still disying her signature grin though. They might have to fork out a pretty hefty amount to cover the cost of ammunition replenishmentter on, but once we¡¯ve taken this base down, they¡¯d be able to pocket the subjugation reward in addition to the bounty money for downing individual ships. If that¡¯s the case, then the profits they¡¯d eventually make wouldn¡¯t really be small, right? Oh well. After all, we will also get 70% of the profits from selling off the loot salvaged from the pirate base. I suppose we¡¯d be earning about the same amount of money.

    ¡ºWe¡¯re gonna go take a break until the base is done getting softened up. You do know the position of the storage area of the base, right?¡»

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Mei wouldn¡¯t mess up.¡±

    ¡ºThat¡¯s fine then. I¡¯ll contact you once we¡¯ve had enough rest, so you can rest up as well by then.¡»

    ¡°Roger that.¡±

    It looked like we wouldn¡¯t allow ourselves topletely let our guards down. At this point, we¡¯ve already eliminated all resistance from the base itself, but it¡¯s still possible that some pirates who were out hunting would hurriedly return once they¡¯ve noticed that their base has fallen. That¡¯s why it was still dangerous to let our guards down at this point.

    ¡°We¡¯re gonna focus on the job until we return to the colony. Don¡¯t let your guards down, you two.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    It looked like Kugi had already regained herposure. Also, it appeared that Mimi was rather unaffected by all that action. Or rather, she seemed to have gotten used to such situations. I¡¯ll have to seriously consider raising her reward rate. It might seem hasty, but I¡¯m talking about her share of the earnings from this time¡¯s job, of course.

 Chapter 397: Stuff to Look Forward to After the Battle

    The pirate base became literally riddled with holes due to the bombardment of the ck Lotus and waspletely suppressed. The only areas that remained unscathed were the warehouse block and the power generation block.

    It¡¯s possible that people in the base with even a little bit of cleverness realized that the warehouse block and power generation block wouldn¡¯t get attacked and took shelter inside those ces. Well, even if that¡¯s the case, they¡¯re already like rats trapped in a bag though.

    However, those who managed to take shelter in those ces might be aiming to turn things around by engaging us in close-quartersbat. They would certainly have a chance to turn things around if they manage to defeat us in CQC andmandeer our ships.

    ¡ºAssault pod has beenunched.¡»

    ¡°Okay. Now we just have to wait for things to finish up.¡±

    This goes without saying, of course, but there was no need for us to go along with that scenario. We had excellentbat bots on hand, so all we had to do was to let the bots rush inside the base through an assault pod.

    Us not caring about carefully breaching the walls and just directly breaking through them with thebat bots, resulting in rapid pressure loss, would be a literal nightmare for those surviving pirates.

    ¡°You¡¯re not looking well, Kuu-chan.¡±

    ¡°Yes, well¡­¡­ I was merely wondering if there was no other way.¡±

    ¡°Those as pirates after all¡­¡­ Well, I won¡¯t discount the possibility that there might be some ¡®good¡¯ pirates among them.¡±

    Sure, there might be some rtively decent individuals among their ranks. But even so, they¡¯re still pirates¡­¡­ I don¡¯t think I¡¯d want to get along with people who engage in trafficking other people. If their victims were simply drugged or had their limbs maimed before getting shipped, then fine. But their victims would often actually end up in far worse states, so yeah.

    That¡¯s why no one eats any food items looted from pirates that didn¡¯t have anybels on them. And even if someone offered them to me, I¡¯d just refuse. Those guys wouldmit atrocities like that without batting an eye after all.

    ¡°It would be easier to think of them as different creatures from us that only resemble us in appearance.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­?¡±

    Kugi was a sheltered maiden after all. Since she¡¯s now tagging along with me, she would have no choice but to get exposed to stuff like this whenever we take on mercenary jobs. Pirates were wicked and viinous, so there¡¯s no need to grant them any mercy might seem like overgeneralizing, but I believe it¡¯s the job of someone like the emperor to do something about the more nuanced stuff. It¡¯s a problem that¡¯s beyond the scope of mere mercenaries like us.

    ¡ºMaster, the warehouse block has been cleared.¡»

    ¡°Got it. Krishna will continue to stay on guard, so please begin sorting out and collecting the loot together with our allies.¡±

    ¡ºYes, Master. Shall I get in touch with the military?¡»

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯ll take up time, but please do.¡±

    ¡ºYes, please leave it to me. Well then, if you¡¯ll excuse me, Master.¡»

    Mei terminated the transmission. She¡¯s aspetent and downright helpful as always.

    ¡°Send out a recovery drone and transfer the control authority to ck Lotus.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    While Krishna was keeping watch on the surrounding area, loot collection logs were constantly being sent by ck Lotus and Antlion. The ones that stood out the most were the various listed high-tech goods.

    They were all called high-tech materials, but there were various kinds. For example, nanomaterials that were the building materials for manufacturing nanomachines, substances that were used to manufacture various chemicals, specialized armor materials that were resistant to various kinds of attacks such assers, and evenpact positron brains that were used to manufacture androids like Mei.

    All of them were quite expensive and in demand. The loot this time seemed to be quite promising.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. I¡¯ll be upping your share of the reward money from now on, Mimi. In other words, you¡¯ll be getting a sry raise.¡±

    ¡°Eh!? N-No, I¡¯m fine even if you don¡¯t raise it though? I already have more than enough money, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°No, we can¡¯t have that, Mimi. This is only right, considering the quality of the work you provide. Anyway, once we¡¯re back at the colony and finish preparations for selling off the loot, we¡¯ll go to the Mercenary Guild and renew the distribution rates for all of you. I think it¡¯s about time.¡±

    In this dimension, the calendar system used was different from system to system, there¡¯s no day and night cycle while out in space, and on top of that, we also often navigated hyperspace using the hyperdrive, so it was hard to keep a sense of time. But I believe it¡¯s already been about a year since Mimi came to board my ship¡­¡­ right? I¡¯m sure it has. Probably.

    ¡°Is that so? But, well, aren¡¯t we¡­ h-husband and wife, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not usually all that conscious about it, but yeah, we are.¡±

    ¡°Muu¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi puffed her cheeks up inint. No, that¡¯s not it. She¡¯s cute, but that¡¯s not it.

    ¡°I¡¯m just saying that whether we¡¯re married or not, I¡¯ll always treasure you, okay¡­¡­? We went off-topic there. So?¡±

    ¡°Muu¡­¡­ I¡¯m just wondering how people usually deal with reward distribution if they¡¯re married.¡±

    ¡°I see. Good point. In the empire, is itmon for married couples to jointly take care of their finances and share amon budget?¡±

    ¡°Un? I wonder. I don¡¯t remember hearing about that stuff from papa and mama. Are you familiar with it, Kuu-chan?¡±

    ¡°I am not familiar with the customs of this empire. Though I am also not that familiar with the situation in my country.¡±

    Kugi, who was addressed by Mimi, tilted her head to the side in response. Yeah, it looks like we really need to discuss this matter with the others. Who should we ask about this topic though? Elma? Or maybe Dr. Shouko? Tina and Wiska¡­¡­ I wonder? Hmm. All of them seemed a bit off, to be honest.

    After all, we should just consult the Mercenary Guild. Let¡¯s pay them a visit once we get back to Alein Tertius.

    The loot collection waspleted without a hitch, and the patrol unit of the system garrison soon arrived.

    Their purpose was to investigate the site and secure various materials from the pirate base. After all, if you recycled the materials that made up the pirate base such as the power generator, stations and colonies could make pretty good use of them. As expected, we wouldn¡¯ty our hands on that sort of work. Dismantling a base or station required the use of special equipment after all. So we¡¯ll just leave dealing with this base to the authorities.

    ¡°Today¡¯s on me, kids. Cheers!¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Cheers!¡±¡±¡±

    And as soon as we got back to Alein Tertius, we ended up partying with Granny and her crew in a local bar. Why?

 Chapter 398: Drinking with Granny

    ¡°We aren¡¯t even done with organizing the loot or performed maintenance on our ships¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You sure get hung up on such minor details. Drinking booze and eating good grub is a must after a job. That¡¯s justmon sense for us mercs, y¡¯know? Let¡¯s just do all that other stuff after this.¡±

    Granny Serestia, who was sitting beside me, responded as she drank alcohol. The alcohol looked pretty strong. Are you sure you¡¯re gonna be fine drinking that, Granny?

    ¡°We have our own way of doing things. Also, I¡¯m a lightweight. So gimme a break from drinking booze, okay?¡±

    ¡°Hah! A lightweight, you say!? And you call yourself a proper mercenary? Aren¡¯t you ashamed for yourself?¡±

    ¡°I ain¡¯t ashamed at all. I don¡¯t even think those things are all that tasty.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s cause you haven¡¯t even drunk delicious booze yet. And even if you¡¯re a lightweight, you can get used to drinking with time, right?¡±

    It¡¯s true that I wasn¡¯t familiar with the taste of booze because I didn¡¯t drink much, but it¡¯s also because my memory always ended up fuzzy after fainting every time I had alcohol.

    ¡°That might be the case, but I still don¡¯t feel like drinking all that much¡­¡­¡±

    I mean, would you normally want to force yourself to drink something that you didn¡¯t really find appealing? But due to the advanced tech of this world, stuff like being lightweight could be easily remedied by undergoing some body modifications though.

    ¡°You sure are a spoilsport, kid. Seriously, what is it that she actually likes so much about you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure myself. But I do take Mimi¡¯s feelings very seriously.¡±

    ¡°Men are usually weak to women with big boobs after all.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true that Mimi¡¯s boobs are wonderfully ample, but that¡¯s not the only thing I like about her.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t exactly tell Granny about my particr preferences, so I refrained from borating. Anyway, a girl like Mimi who¡¯s both brave and straightforward is quite rare. I wouldn¡¯t hesitate risking my life for her sake.

    ¡°Hmm? You say that, but you¡¯re not exactly the faithful type, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m quite aware of that already.¡±

    Believe me, I do try not to let things develop in that direction. But sometimes, things just couldn¡¯t be helped. After all, one couldn¡¯t really tell what the world had in store for them.

    ¡°Well, as long as she¡¯s that serious about you, there¡¯s nothing I can say. Even if I forcefully take her away, I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll do everything in her power to return to your side after all.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t let you take her away in the first ce, y¡¯know? Though it would be a different story¡­ if Mimi herself wants to leave.¡±

    Personally, the thought of Mimi leaving¡­¡­ Ugh, even thinking about it made my chest all stuffy. But if Mimi did insist on leaving of her own volition, I would respect her will. Of course, I¡¯d still try all in my power to persuade her not to go through with it. But if she still insisted, then¡­¡­ Gah, I feel like my heart¡¯s gonna die just thinking about it.

    ¡°Judging from that face you¡¯re making, it does look like you ain¡¯t simply ying around. That¡¯s fine then. If you were actually just toying with that girl¡¯s feelings, I was thinking of ripping your member off and incinerating it to ashes with myser gun.¡±

    ¡°The heck¡­!? You¡¯re one scary granny alright.¡±

    What¡¯s really frightening was that this granny would really go through with such a thing without hesitation. But anyway, despite how things eventually turned out, I was actually no Casanova material, so there¡¯s no chance of such a situation happening.

    ¡°I suppose everything turned out alright in the end. It¡¯s a pity about Fort and Mina, but now, Mimi¡¯s free to fly across the universe. Mimi lost the peaceful life she was leading with her parents, but in exchange, she encountered you and is now leaving a more exciting life. You win some, you lose some, as they say.¡±

    ¡°I wonder if that¡¯s really the case. But I¡¯ll do my best to let Mimi think so.¡±

    ¡°Good. You do that. If you make her cry, this granny wille gunning straight for you, alright?¡±

    ¡°How scary.¡±

    In fact, it would really be a bad idea to engage in an all-out fight to the death with this wild granny. I asked Mei about their performance during the battle with the pirates, and it seemed that Granny¡¯s ship was actually pretty powerful. Their ability to freely make use of a deflector shield made them a formidable foe to deal with.

    A normal energy shield emitter deployed multipleyers of shields that covered the entirety of a ship. However, a deflector shield wasn¡¯t omnidirectional. Instead, its output was concentrated into a single direction, resulting in an energy shield array that was several times stronger than a standard one. It was pretty difficult to handle, but if used well, even a small ship that was equipped with it would be quite formidable due to its ability to quickly concentrate its defense on one specific area ording to the situation.

    Krishna often engages in close-range dogfights, so a deflector shield wasn¡¯t really suitable for it. After all, during chaotic melees, it would often get shot at from all directions. If anything, a deflector shield was suitable for the types of ships that kept a certain distance from enemies and steadily picked them off.

    ¡°So, kid, there¡¯s actually something I wanna ask you right now.¡±

    ¡°Shoot.¡±

    ¡°When will I be able to see my great-grandson or granddaughter?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re still considering it. Right now, we¡¯re still in the middle of enjoying a free and easy mercenary lifestyle.¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Well, it¡¯s true that giving birth and raising kids can be pretty hard. But you guys already have a very capable maid, a qualified ship doctor, and arge medical facility inside your mothership, right? So, it shouldn¡¯t be long now.¡±

    ¡°Noment.¡±

    As a matter of fact, the recent renovation of the Lotus was indeed partly in preparation for such situations. Proper medical equipment, and not the basic med pods we were previously using, would make it easier to deal with such things. As for babysitters, we already had Mei, but it would be nice to hire more maidroids to serve as her subordinates. But aside from during work, we usually often had plenty of free time on our hands, so I think we¡¯d be able to manage taking care of our children if we properly took turns though.

    Anyway, the renovation this time was carried out due to Dr. Shouko joining the crew, but even if she hadn¡¯t, I would still have eventuallymissioned something simr. Then, I would have bought maidroids (Or perhaps they should be called doctoroids or nurseroids in this case?) that were specialized in such medical matters.

    ¡°Well, be sure to get in touch with me immediately once a baby is born, kid. I¡¯ll at least show my face to my great grandchild.¡±

    ¡°If I feel like it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure that Mimi will get in touch with me even if you don¡¯t.¡±

    So, what¡¯s the point of reminding me then? I really was bad at dealing with this granny.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, Seres-san, the food is ready!¡±

    Mimi called out to the both of us with perfect timing. It felt like it would end up really troublesome if I talked to Granny any longer than I had. It was truly perfect timing.

    As for the food¡­¡­ It was probably the ones chosen by Mimi. Great. Here¡¯s my chance to see Granny sweating for once.

    ¡°That¡¯s what she said. It¡¯s the dishes your cute granddaughter prepared. Go ahead and enjoy.¡±

    ¡°Mm? What¡¯s with that face? Are you plotting something?¡±

    ¡°Heavens, no. I am simply looking forward to the meal. Alright, Granny. Let¡¯s go ahead and dig in.¡±

    I pushed the olddy toward the table where Nichs and Lattice, whose faces already turned quite pale, were already sitting at. We were already used to Mimi¡¯s entric taste to some extent, but what about her dear old granny?

 Chapter 399: Cleaning Up and Next Objective

    ¡°Don¡¯t think you¡¯ve already won with this, kid¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I think already have though.¡±

    The next day, we finished cleaning up the mess caused byst night¡¯s party after seeing off Granny, who left while spouting such cliche parting words, and her crew.

    After that, we decided to discuss about our next destination.

    ¡°We don¡¯t really have any particr objective right now, so you guys can freely suggest where you want us to go next.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have any particr goal in mind?¡±

    I responded with a nod to Dr. Shouko¡¯s inquiry.

    ¡°Nothing specific. That being said, we¡¯re a mercenary group, so you could say our usual course of action is to chase after pirates and hunt them down for money. We did earn quite a sum from our recent job, but I kinda want to earn a bit more, personally.¡±

    That¡¯s cuz we spent quite a sum for renovating the ck Lotus. We almost blew all our earnings from our time at the Edge World. We¡¯re barely managing to keep ourselves from being in the red. Though it¡¯s not to the extent of having trouble putting food on the table.

    ¡°It¡¯s also an option to hunt down pirates along the way while flying around different ces in search of a lucrative job offer.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine and all, but I personally would prefer a more concrete n.¡±

    ¡°But y¡¯know Boss, I¡¯m almost sure we¡¯d end up encounterin¡¯ somethin¡¯ or other even if we just wandered around here and there. I mean, it¡¯s you we¡¯re talkin¡¯ about here.¡±

    ¡°Ohe on, that¡¯s¡­¡­ actually usible,e to think of it.¡±

    Stop it, you two. That always deals super-effective damage to me. Stop implying that I¡¯d get into trouble even if I didn¡¯t intend to. It¡¯s a harsh, harsh truth.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you can call this a n, but I do have a suggestion, Hiro-sama!¡±

    Mimi enthusiastically raised her hand. It was pretty rare for Mimi to take the lead in our discussions regarding our money making ns.

    ¡°Okay. Go ahead and give it to us, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Yes! It¡¯s about the loot we got from the pirate base raid. I feel it¡¯s a bit of a waste to dispose of them here in the Alein system.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see. You do have a point.¡±

    Elma agreed with Mimi¡¯s words. I see. I also agreed with Mimi. Judging from their expressions, not only Tina and Wiska, but even Dr. Shouko was convinced. It looked like only Kugi didn¡¯t get it.

    ¡°It¡¯s the basics of trading, Kugi. The items we¡¯ve plundered from the pirate base this time around are all products made from this colony. In other words, despite their value, we wouldn¡¯t be able to earn much from them if we sold them here on Alein. They¡¯re all practically local products after all. They have plenty of that stuff here already.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ In other words, you would not earn much if you sold meat to a butcher, so it would be better to sell it to a meat shop or restaurant instead.¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah, basically.¡±

    But why did you specifically use meat as a metaphor? You really like meat, don¡¯t you, Kugi? Oh, by the way, I ended up visiting that cultured meat factory together with Kugi anyway, but she didn¡¯t seem to mind the grotesque sights at all. She sure had quite the mental fortitude¡­¡­ I was still utterly disgusted though.

    Also, I failed to bring any additional victims with me as well. Dammit.

    ¡°Do you have a prospect in mind?¡±

    ¡°Yup! I heard it from Grandma!¡±

    After saying so, Mimi activated the table¡¯s built-in holo-disy and projected a gxy map.

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit far away from here, but there seems to be signs of a pandemic outbreak on a star system around this area. If we headed for it now, maybe the pandemic has already started to spread.¡±

    Mimi pointed to a star system more than ten hypene nodes away from the Alein system. From the looks of it, there wasn¡¯t even a usable gateway nearby, so we¡¯d have no choice but to steadily move along the hypenes if we do choose to go there.

    ¡°Pandemic huh¡­¡­? Isn¡¯t that dangerous though?¡±

    It would be reckless to head to an area experiencing a pandemic outbreak without even knowing what the pandemic exactly was. Contracting stuff simr to the flu wouldn¡¯t pose a threat to one¡¯s life if one was rtively young and healthy, but a potentially very dangerous unknown virus or bacteria was a different story altogether.

    ¡°Including me, all the crew members on this ship have already been vinated against most infectious diseases, so I think we¡¯ll be fine. And even if we do encounter a new pathogen that the vines aren¡¯t effective against, the danger of us catching a disease would be reduced to the minimum as long as we take proper infection prevention measures.¡±

    ¡°That might be the case, but still.¡±

    Since starship interiors were closed environments, they¡¯re equipped with various mechanisms to prevent such viruses and bacteria from infiltrating them in the first ce. It could be an airlock or sterilization module, and the air conditioner system itself should be equipped with a high-performance sensor that¡¯s able to detect an increase in virus and bacteria levels. If someone from among the crew were to contract an infectious disease, the sensors would react even before they showed any visible symptoms.

    In the worst case, everyone could wear protective suits or the like, and in the first ce, I already considered such an incident and included countermeasures for it when we had ck Lotus renovated this time around.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­ Well, it wouldn¡¯t be bad to field-test the results of this time¡¯s upgrades.¡±

    ¡°Right. At least, this will confirm if we¡¯re able to operate in such star systems without suffering any problems in the future. I also think it wouldn¡¯t be a bad way to increase our rep in the Mercenary Guild.¡±

    ¡°I believe that we will also be able to increase our merit if we provided aid to those who are suffering from disease.¡±

    Elma¡¯s words were given from the point of view of a mercenary, and Kugi¡­¡­ Actually, I wasn¡¯t exactly sure where Kugi wasing from. I wasn¡¯t some saint. Well, it would be good to help people out though. I¡¯ll still properly charge them for our services, of course.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go with that n then. Let¡¯s cancel the sale arrangements for the loot, talk to Granny about revising the details of the loot split and prioritize medical supplies and equipment, and while we¡¯re at it, buy as many additional medical supplies and equipment we can. The demand for medical supplies and equipment is fairly high everywhere anyway, so we wouldn¡¯t be losing out even if there¡¯s no pandemic.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Medical supplies do sell out really quickly. Leave the selection of the supplies and materials to Mimi and me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you guys then. Tina, Wiska. Seek advise from Dr. Shouko and proceed with making preparations rted to infection control. Prepare the airlocks, decontamination rooms, sealed environmental suits and the like.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha Boss!¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Tina and Wiska replied snappily. Now then, that left only me, Kugi and Elma.

    ¡°We¡¯ll discuss the details regarding the loot with Granny, and then go to the Mercenary Guild and star system garrison base to receive the subjugation reward and bounty money. After that, we¡¯ll consult them about the sry distribution rate for Dr. Shouko and Mimi.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­ Yes.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be in your care.¡±

    In contrast with Mimi who disyed aplicated look, Dr. Shouko, who was smiling while waving her hand nonchntly, was pretty amazing in a way. Actually, I wasn¡¯t really sure about the correct rates if we considered Mimi and my status as a married couple. I definitely had to ask about itter.

    ¡°Alright then. That¡¯s the n. Everyone, go ahead and begin preparations.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Aye, aye, sir!¡±¡±¡±

    The negotiations with Granny went rather smoothly.

    ¡°The one who told that girl about that stuff is me after all. I was already expecting this to happen.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like we¡¯ll lose out on profits anyway.¡±

    Granny and her crew will be taking all the non-medical supplies and equipment, sell some off at Alein Tertius, and then bring what they can to another star system and sell them off there to make some more profits. We decided to go with what we discussed in advance regarding the distribution of the subjugation prize money and bounty rewards, so there were no problems with that either. We¡¯ve already confirmed the conditions with one another and sent them to the guild for approval. They should be already in the middle of processing it.

    Eh? I was leaving a lot of stuff to others, you say? Of course, I was. It made sense to leave all that stuff to pros, right? I¡¯m just a guy who¡¯s a bit skilled in piloting starships. What were you guys expecting from me regarding that stuff anyway?

    ¡°Alright then. We¡¯ll go ahead and head to the Mercenary Guild. Stay well.¡±

    ¡°You guys too. I¡¯ll be sure to inform you again if we find another big target.¡±

    ¡°Please go easy on me.¡±

    Just how big was the target Granny was gonna aim for anyway? Please gimme a break, Granny. I¡¯m afraid she¡¯d suggest bringing down the main base of a major pirate organization with just us next. How terrifying.

    When I dropped the transmission, I found Elma and Kugi, who had already finished preparations to go out, staring at me.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Oh, nothing. You really are pretty diligent when ites to work.¡±

    ¡°I think it is a wonderful attitude to have, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°What are you guys suddenly praising me for¡­¡­? It¡¯s kinda scary, actually. All I did was assign most of the work to others y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°But didn¡¯t you take on the work you¡¯re capable of taking on anyway? Even though you could have left that stuff to Mei or me.¡±

    ¡°But ain¡¯t that just normal?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, of course. Now then, let¡¯s go to the Mercenary Guild.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ What¡¯s with that reaction?¡±

    My arms were grabbed by Elma and Kugi, and I was dragged away. I do believe I wasn¡¯t particrly thickheaded, but I seriously didn¡¯t get what they were going on about. Just howzy were the mercenaries of this dimension that stuff like this was already considered being diligent or serious when ites to work¡­¡­? Y¡¯know what? I¡¯m actually afraid to ask. I better just let sleeping dogs lie.

 Chapter 400: Numbers Are My Mortal Enemies

    ¡°It feels like my brain¡¯s about to explode.¡±

    ¡°We should have just left this stuff to Mei.¡±

    Following the talk about changing the percentage Mimi receives from our ie, we started working on calcting the distribution rates for her, who would now be treated as my spouse, and the sry for our new ship doctor, and it was giving me one heck of a headache. Perhaps Elma was having problems with it too since she was disying a strained smile.

    ¡°???¡±

    As for Kugi, she didn¡¯t get a thing about what we were doing and was behaving like a lost space cat. Stuff that has to do with numbers and calctions really wasplicated after all¡­¡­ I don¡¯t really get them all that much myself. I only got part of the discussion.

    Anyway, in summary, given her current skills, it was decided that it would be appropriate to raise Mimi¡¯s share from 0.5% to 1.5%. Then, it was suggested that Dr. Shouko¡¯s base sry would be 20 to 30,000 Enels. It would be handed out every end of the month, and a bonus would be given to her for her work as a ship doctor and whenever she contributes to our profits by making use of her skills as a researcher.

    ¡°Hmm. Don¡¯t you guys think Dr. Shouko¡¯s share is a bit too small?¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it work out if we just made up for it by adjusting her bonus pay?¡±

    ¡°I believe 30 to 40,000 Enels per month is a high enough sry, but¡­¡­ Is that still a too little for a tinum ranker?¡±

    The Mercenary Guild onee-san gave us an exasperated look. Well, it certainly wasn¡¯t a paltry sum, but it still feltckingpared to the money the other crew members were already receiving. Well, it¡¯s not like my current funds were exactly bountiful anyway. I suppose 20 to 30k wasn¡¯t that bad after all.

    As for the thing about conjugal property, mercenaries, and their crew members were subject to special treatment to a certain extent ording to general imperialw. So, as far as I was able to pick up from what was told to us about the topic, it was suggested that Mimi should keep receiving her share of the rewards just like before, and if certain changes in the situation ur such as Mimi deciding to quit mercenary work and concentrating more on taking care of our children, it would be best if we could discuss property distribution once more and put it into writing.

    ¡°Well, stuff like people irresponsibly getting others knocked up and then getting themselves unceremoniously killed somewhere is prettymon.¡±

    ¡°Sounds kinda harsh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Or rather, that¡¯s actually the usual pattern. Mercenaries often hop from star system to star system after all. Compared to the others, you, Captain Hiro, who actually surrounds yourself with them and gets properly apanied by your partners, is a lot better off. Mm, better off indeed.¡±

    The onee-san¡¯s lips curved in a smile as she said so, but her eyes certainly weren¡¯t smiling. Even if Mei was excluded since she was a maidroid, there were Mimi, Elma, Tina, Wiska, Kugi, and Dr. Shouko. I was certainly surrounded by women. Six of them at that. I also think this was a bit too much, but there were certain really deep reasons that led to this situation, so please cut me some ck, onee-san.

    ¡°Regardless of our number, this guy is actually quite sincere most of the time, so there¡¯s no need to worry. And unlike other mercenaries, he doesn¡¯t drink, frequent brothels, or take strange drugs.¡±

    ¡°Also, My Lord is a very kind person.¡±

    ¡°Oh my¡­¡­¡±

    Please stop looking at me like I¡¯m some sort ofdy-killer. I ain¡¯t at fault in the first ce, so I have nothing to be ashamed of.

    ¡°Ahem. Well then, since Captain Hiro-sama and the others sessfully subjugated pirates and destroyed their base this time, your total remuneration, including the sale value of the resources recovered from the pirate base, is calcted to be 23,060,000 Enels.¡±

    ¡°I expected as much. That base was pretty small after all.¡±

    ¡°Right. Most of the base was still unmodified asteroid.¡±

    ¡°But we still made a decent profit, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, I suppose.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. We did manage to earn a decent amount.¡±

    I checked out the item breakdown of that 23,060,000 Enels, and thergest item was the reward for actually destroying the pirate base, followed by the purchase of the raw materials recovered from the base, and then the rewards for shooting down the pirate ships and the bounties for the pirates themselves. In addition to all that, there¡¯s also the profit we¡¯ll make from the sale of the loot, so if we added everything up, I think we¡¯d make a little over 30 million Enels. However, since we decided to hold off on selling the loot here, they haven¡¯t been converted to cash yet. So, depending on the situation, we might just make a bit more profit.

    ¡°Also, the local authorities of the Alein system have just gotten in touch with the Mercenary Guild, and it appears you are trying to purchase arge number of medical supplies?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that. It would be more profitable to dispose of the loot we got this time around somewhere else rather than selling them off here. And since there were already plenty of those types of goods included in the loot we got, we wanted to leave with a full load and sell all the goods elsewhere for a higher price. Or rather, do they actually need to make an inquiry about this kind of stuff?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because the items in question aren¡¯t regr medical supplies, but advanced ones. Depending on how they are used, they can serve as materials to manufacture highly addictive and dangerous drugs, so their distribution is monitored and restricted. Some of them require a specialized license in order to trade, but since you have someone properly qualified as a member of your fleet crew Captain Hiro, there should be no problem.¡±

    ¡°Dr. Shouko huh? Come to think of it, there was a small-scale manufacturing nt in theb.¡±

    In other words, since we had the equipment and a person with the required skills, our fleet can actually engage in the manufacture and sale of drugs if we wanted to. So, the local authorities of Alein wanted to make sure that we were actually ¡®clean¡¯ and made that inquiry.

    ¡°If you ever make use of your position as a tinum-ranked mercenary in order to distribute dangerous illegal drugs, you will be stripped of your rank, and the Mercenary Guild will issue a dead-or-alive bounty for your head, so please take note. That is also a ss-1 felony under imperialw.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a good guy, okay? No need to worry. Earning money using that method is way too risky in the first ce, and there are a lot of other ways for me to make as much money as I want even without resorting to that.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. But on behalf of the Mercenary Guild, I¡¯d still like to remind you not to undermine your status as a tinum ranker.¡±

    The receptionist onee-san then disyed a broad smile.

    Un, that smile. You want to remind me not to smear mud on the reputation of tinum rankers, right? I get it.

    ¡°In any case, we¡¯ll leave responding to the authorities to the Guild. Please transfer the reward amount to my personal ount as soon as possible.¡±

    I¡¯ll leave the actual reward distribution to Mei. She¡¯s really good at crunching numbers after all.

 Chapter 401: To The Next Destination

    ¡°It kinda feels like we¡¯ve caused you some trouble. Sorry about that.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re sorry¡­¡­¡±

    We went straight back to the ship after our consultation with the Mercenary Guild and didn¡¯t bother going anywhere near the system¡¯s military base. The moment we arrived, Dr. Shouko and Mimi immediately expressed their apologies. It seems they were apologizing for the thing about alerting the authorities and causing them to inquire about our team due to our purchase of medical supplies¡­¡­

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Considering the circumstances, it¡¯s only natural for them to be concerned, so there¡¯s no need for you guys to apologize. In any case, this sort of stuff will probably happen again in the future anyway. So, it¡¯s okay as long as you guys report to me whenever this stuffes up! We just happened to be in the guild this time around, so we got word about it right away.¡±

    It was only natural for the authorities to be mindful of a group with a doctor that¡¯s skilled in pharmacology coupled with equipment suited for drug manufacturing. And we weren¡¯t some mercantile fleet but mercenaries instead, so it was reasonable for them to hold suspicions about us. The license held by Dr. Shouko was meant for avoiding such fears, but our particr circumstances were probably just too eye-catching.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if we attract a bit of suspicion or trouble as long as we make a tidy profit in the end. And besides, our activities could lead to saving lives, so it¡¯s fine.¡±

    It¡¯s not like I¡¯m trying to make up for the bad karma resulting from making a living out of killing other folks. Anyway, if doing this business will lead to profit and help people out at the same time, then why not? Getting into a bit of trouble with the administrative process ain¡¯t such a big deal.

    In the first ce, pirate hunting, which is our main source of ie, also results in saving the lives of innocent victims, so I¡¯m sure I get plenty enough good karma from that!

    Eh? Pirates are humans too? Okay, then we¡¯ll be good if I just promise not to lop off their limbs, grind their innards, and process them using our chemical manufacturing equipment, right? We can also use them for other more eco-friendly purposes officer! Yeah, right.

    ¡°That¡¯s true. I¡¯m a doctor, so I¡¯m all for doing work that would result in reducing the number of people suffering from injuries and illnesses, even if just a bit.¡±

    ¡°But just remember that we are mercenaries who are all about earning money. It¡¯s fine as long as we get paid and don¡¯t do things for free.¡±

    ¡°Of course. I personally don¡¯t want to offer my services for cheap either. The only ones who can afford such charity work with plenty to spare are rich nobles.¡±

    ¡°That said, Hiro¡¯s an honorary imperial viscount y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°Come to think of it, that honorary title¡¯s supposed toe with a small annuity¡­¡­ That said, I don¡¯t even own a territory in the first ce. There¡¯s no reason for them to go through the trouble of sending that money to some honorary noble without an estate, I suppose. Anyway, we just need to refrain from earning money through unscrupulous or illegal means.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but think back to the matter Elma pointed out though. How much pension should I be receiving anyway? I guess I¡¯ll check with Meiter. To be honest, I didn¡¯t even pay any attention to that pension previously because it should just be a small amount.

    ¡°So, um, right. Can you really manufacture dangerous drugs, Dr. Shouko?¡±

    ¡°Theoretically, it should be possible for me. Why? Are you interested?¡±

    ¡°Nah. I only wanted to confirm it as the captain. We can¡¯t engage in distributing them outside, and we also can¡¯t use them ourselves because that¡¯s also illegal. If there¡¯s medical equipment that you think is absolutely necessary for us, then you don¡¯t have to get my permission in order to procure one, but just make sure you report to me about it afterward. I¡¯ll leave managing the medical equipment and supplies to you, Doc.¡±

    ¡°Roger that. Can I have Mei help me out with the management?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s actually a good idea. Is that fine with you, Mei?¡±

    ¡ºOf course, Master. Please leave it to me.¡»

    Mei¡¯s voice echoed out of the speakers installed in the mess hall where we were having our discussion. It should be fine to leave that stuff to Dr. Shouko and Mei.

    ¡°But there¡¯s a wide range of prohibited drugs y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave those matters to your discretion, Doc. If you have some misgivings, then just consult with Mei whenever possible. I¡¯m just an amateur when ites to stuff like that, so it¡¯s better for me to leave them to a specialist like you. Just make sure to make a proper report and we¡¯re all good.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, those are some heavy responsibilities alright¡­¡­ I¡¯ll make sure to try and live up to your trust, captain.¡±

    Dr. Shouko disyed a wry smile as she answered. I felt someone¡¯s passionate gazeing at me from the side and turned to Tina. I nodded to her in acknowledgment. Yes, yes. You and Wiska are our crew¡¯s ship engineering specialists and I trust your judgments and professionalism as much as I trust Dr. Shouko¡¯s.

    ¡°Are we done with our business here in the Alein system once the supplies get loaded into the ship?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Have you said goodbye to your grandma, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Yes! We¡¯ve even exchanged contact info!¡±

    Mimi held up her tablet terminal and showed us the screen. I see, so they exchanged contact details huh? Electronic messages can take from a few days to a month to arrive depending on where one was in this vast gxy, but you can be sure they¡¯ll reach the recipient eventually. They would probably feel more at ease now since they have a way to keep in touch.

    That being said, I myself also exchanged contacts with some people I¡¯ve met. Chris, for example. We do exchange emails quite frequently. I also asionally receive emails from a grumbling Captain Serena and even from some of the press members who boarded our ship back then. They don¡¯t email me as often though.

    ¡°Great. How about you, Dr. Shouko?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine on my end. I already said my goodbyes when we visited, and I have all their mail addresses handy.¡±

    ¡°I see. Shall we depart straight away once all our stuff is loaded up?¡±

    ¡°Righto. Oh yeah, Boss. Where are we headin¡¯ to next anyway?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I haven¡¯t told you guys yet huh? Our next destination is the Reemay system. ording to Mimi¡¯s grandma, there seem to be signs of a pandemic caused by a new type of virus or something in that system.

    ¡°Reemay system!?¡±

    After hearing my reply, Tina suddenly stood up and cried out in surprise. What¡¯s with her?

    ¡°Are you familiar with that star system?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­ You can say that.¡±

    Tina was acting evasive for some reason. I turned to Wiska and found her acting the same way as her sister.

    ¡°It looks like the two of you have some history with that ce. There¡¯s no need to force yourselves if you have a good reason to avoid that ce, but we¡¯ll cut it close if we change our destination at this point, okay?¡±

    Medical supplies can practically be sold in any star system, so it¡¯s fine to just sell them off steadily as well. However, it would be more profitable to sell them all at once to a star system that needs arge amount of them for some reason or other. If the matter wasn¡¯t really that big of a deal, I still nned on going to Reemay.

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, I do have a bit of history with that ce. But it won¡¯t make sense to suddenly change our destination just because of our circumstances, Boss. We¡¯ll be fine, so don¡¯t mind us.¡±

    ¡°If you say so, Tina. Are you fine with that, Wiska?¡±

    ¡°If Big Sis says she¡¯s fine with it, then¡­¡­ Big Sis.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not really that big of a deal. And I don¡¯t intend to keep it from you guys anyway. Um, y¡¯see, Reemay system is kinda my old stompin¡¯ grounds. Before I reunited with Wiska, that is.¡±

    Tina confessed while sporting an awkward expression.

    Her old stomping grounds huh? I see¡­¡­ Come to think of it, Tina did mention that before she reunited with Wiska, she hung out with a bad crowd in a colony somewhere. When she met her sister again, she cut her ties with those people and braved the dangers to flee to the Brad system.

    ¡°¡­¡­In other words, it smells like trouble again huh?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­ Sorry, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s fine.¡±

    I consoled the depressed Tina. It¡¯s kinda a given at this point that we¡¯ll always encounter some sort of incident no matter where we go anyway.

    ¡°You look like you¡¯ve just gained enlightenment there¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­ It¡¯s always like this anyway.¡±

    It¡¯s just as Mimi said. It¡¯s always like this. So, there¡¯s no problem. Yep.

    ¡°Is it really always the case with you guys?¡±

    ¡°I have only been with them for aparatively short period, but¡­¡­ I suppose that is the case as of now.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ I hope it won¡¯t be that big of a deal.¡±

    You¡¯re talking like it¡¯s not your problem Doc. But make no mistake, you¡¯ll also get dragged into whatever is waiting for us there. You can¡¯t get away y¡¯know? Also, you sure adapted to things quickly, Kugi. Not that that¡¯s a bad thing, mind you.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s how it is. I¡¯ll be counting on you again this time, Mei.¡±

    ¡ºPlease be at ease, Master. I will ensure that thebat bots are prepped and ready to sortie at any time.¡»

    That certainly sounds reliable, but also a bit aggressive. I¡¯ll just pray that all that preparation simply won¡¯t be needed.

 Chapter 402: A Really Sticky Bur (Strength-type)

    <strong>402 ¨C A Really Sticky Bur (Strength-type)</strong>

    I woke up due to someone¡¯s uneasy groans. I felt the warmth of two people beside me. My body kinda hurts. Did I get hit when they were changing positions in their sleep or something?

    ¡°Nyunununu¡­¡­ Gyununu.¡±

    ¡°What the heck is with that sleep talk¡­¡­?¡±

    I poked the cheek of the red-haired girl whose brows were currently wrinkled and who was crying out some weird-sounding sleep talk, then I bent my arm a bit and proceeded to lightly stroke her head. Then, the wrinkles between her brows, which had been tightly drawn together, loosened slightly. She doesn¡¯t seem to be having a particrly good dream from the looks of it.

    ¡°Mm¨C¡­¡­¡±

    Unlike her older sister, who was noisy even in her sleep, the blue-haired girl was actually a lot calmer. She¡¯s sleeping soundly with her body pressed close to mine. Like her sister, her smooth skin and warm body felt quitefortable.

    Actually, putting aside their young appearances, they were both legal adults. If that wasn¡¯t the case, then I¡¯d find myself in really big trouble. Well, can¡¯t do anything about the physiology they were born with, I suppose. But if judged just based on our appearances, I wouldn¡¯t be able to justify myself if someone called the cops on me. ¡°That¡¯s him officer!¡± or something like that.

    ¡°¡­¡­Guess I should get up now.¡±

    I didn¡¯t have any particr reason to wake up early, but it¡¯s also not good to oversleep. Eventually, I managed to wake up the two who were tightly holding my body with a lot of effort.

    ¡°Good morni¨C¡­¡­ Eh?¡±

    I somehow managed to get myself dressed and showed up at the break space of the ck Lotus, our mothership, but the other crew members pulled away the instant they saw me.

    The bewildered girl with a chestnut-colored bob was Mimi. She was the first crew member who boarded my ship and an excellent ship operator. She was short in stature, but the fullness of her knockers that were pushing up the chest part of her clothes was battleship-ss.

    In fact, she actually had the bloodline of royalty, but she really didn¡¯t care about it. Or rather, she treated it as a hindrance to being together with us, so she decided to simply ignore it. Well, it¡¯s not like I had any intention of letting her go just because of her lineage. At the very least, I¡¯ll keep her by my side as long as she herself wanted to stay with me.

    ¡°What¡¯s up with that?¡±

    The one who asked while looking bbergasted was a beautiful woman with silver-colored hair and pointed ears. Her name was Elma. She¡¯s an excellent starship pilot and a Silver-ranked mercenary. In addition, she had undergone body strengthening surgery at a young age due to being the daughter of an imperial viscount, so her physical abilities were akin to a super soldier despite her slender and dainty appearance.

    Her chest size was no match for Mimi¡¯s though.

    ¡°It looks like she had a bad dream.¡±

    The red-haired girl who was clinging tightly to my torso like a ko was Tina. I was supporting her body with my left hand and patting her back with my right.

    She was usually our group¡¯s energetic mood-maker who somehow spoke in a pseudo-Kansai dialect, but she was currently behaving like a shy little girl that befitted her physical appearance. By the way, she really did look like a little girl. Or rather, her height was that of a little girl¡¯s. However, her body was plump in all the right ces, and she was heavier than she looked due to the high muscle and bone density typical of dwarves like her.

    If I pointed out how weird she was behaving, I had no doubt my ribs and spine would be in danger of breaking due to her bear-like strength, so I refrained from saying anything. I¡¯ve been working out on a daily basis, so this much weight was fine.

    ¡°Big Sis¡­¡­¡±

    Wiska looked at her older sister Tina with aplicated gaze. Unlike her sister Tina, her hair was blue in color. But apart from that, the dwarven sisters did resemble each other. Well, even if their faces looked simr, the atmosphere about them waspletely different, so it was unlikely to mistake them for one another.

    Compared to her older sister, she was quite reserved and usually had a calm personality, but she was prone to going off the rails whenever her intellectual curiosity was stimted. That being said, both her sister and she were excellent mechanics, and their ws were part of their charm.

    ¡°Would you like me to check on her?¡±

    Kugi, whose fox ears were twitching and fluffy fox tail was swishing from side to side, walked up to me and offered her services.

    She was a person, or rather, a beast girl from the Holy Vuelzarus empire that was located thousands of lightyears away, and had the status of a shrine maiden in her home country. The rest of the crew, including me, still didn¡¯t quite get why she traveled so far to find me, and why she was blindly following me as well. But there wasn¡¯t any trace of malice in her actions so far. Also, I couldn¡¯t bear to leave her to her fate of being ¡°disposed of¡± if I refused to let her follow me, so I eventually agreed to let her join my crew.

    In fact, she was a fast learner and a hard worker. She had acquired skills as a sub-pilot in a short period of time. She was also a specialist when ites to psionic abilities, or what you¡¯d call psychic power. I had a rtively close rtionship with psionic ability-rted phenomena due to my own bizarre circumstances, so her presence was a great help to us. When she offered to check on Tina, she was probably referring to using her special telepathic ability in order to see through Tina¡¯s current condition, and if possible, improve it.

    Actually, there were a lot of things I needed to settle when ites to her, but since there was a mountain of other things I had to do, I had constantly put the matter on the back burner. ording to her, she and the Holy Vuelzarus empire have achieved their aim just by her being able to be by my side, so I didn¡¯t really worry about the matter so much.

    ¡°Hold on. As this fleet¡¯s doctor, taking care of the crew¡¯s mental and physical condition is my job, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    The person who interjected was Dr. Shouko, a medical doctor and scientist who I had recently recruited as a crew member.

    She had long ck hair that was a bit messy, wore clothes that emphasizedfort instead of fashion, and had a whiteb coat draped over those clothes for good measure. And when ites to chest size, hers rivaled that of Mimi¡¯s. She was a pretty distinctive woman.

    The circumstances of her birth were also troublesome in some ways, but it was toote to worry about that now.

    And besides, I¡¯m a guy from a different dimension, and it¡¯s doubtful if I can even be considered a regr human due to my strange abilities.

    Mimi was a member of the Gran empire¡¯s royal family, and she can also barely be considered a princess.

    Elma was the daughter of Viscount Willrose, a high-ranking imperial noble.

    Tina and Wiska didn¡¯t appear to have any special circumstances, but Kugi seemed to be a high-ranking priestess in the Holy Vuelzarus empire.

    Since almost all of us had pretty special backgrounds, Dr. Shouko being a designer baby whose genes were specially modified in order for her to be born a genius didn¡¯t seem to be that much of a big deal after all.

    In the first ce, imperial nobles all underwent postnatal enhancement procedures in order to enhance their brain¡¯s processing and memory capabilities. In my eyes, there wasn¡¯t much of a difference between Dr. Shouko and those imperial nobles other than her being born with her abilities and not needing to undergo any postnatal enhancements.

    ¡°Is not mental health outside the scope of your expertise, Doctor? Master, I shall take a look at her if you¡¯d like.¡±

    Mei suddenly appeared inside the break space. She was a super high-spec maidroid ¨C that is, a maid-type gynoid. And moreover, she wasn¡¯t just any gynoid. She was a member of the so-called machine intelligence race. In other words, she was actually an absurdly advanced AI. So advanced that she had her own distinct personality and sense of self.

    In fact, even though machine intelligence had a concept of ¡°individuals¡±, it seemed that they were ultimately a group of existences that was always connected through a high-level informationwork, or rather, they were existences close to what you¡¯d call collective intelligence.

    In any case, she was someone who showed absolute loyalty and affection toward me, who was both her designer and owner. She handled all of ck Lotus¡¯s operations and was a super maid who possessed both electronic warfare capabilities based on her extraordinaryputing power andbat capabilities surpassing those of most power armors.

    When I designed her, I thought it was better to make the strongest and most excellent maid I could possibly imagine, so as a result, her entire body was made of the highest quality parts and she was installed with all sorts of different skills. She was our wildcard.

    Eh? What does she look like? She¡¯s a maid with long, glossy ck hair, wore half-rimmed red-framed sses, and constantly sported a cool and collected expression. She was about the same height as me, and her chest size wasn¡¯t quite up to Mimi¡¯s standard but was still fairly big. She was a maid who incorporated all of my hopes and dreams. Her range of expressions was low, but her degree of affection for me was really high. In other words, a kuudere maid. Yeah.

    ¡°I appreciate your concern everyone, but I think it¡¯s better to wait and see for now¡­¡­ Well, let¡¯s just watch over her until she calms down.¡±

    Actually, the strength Tina was using to hug me has slightly increased since earlier. Perhaps she finally became aware of her surroundings and was hiding her embarrassment. As evidence of that, when I tried to tear her away from me, she hugged me even tighter. It kinda hurts.

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, I guess that¡¯s fine. Tell her not to overdo it.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, ma¡¯am.¡±

    I responded to Elma, who seemed to have guessed the circumstances, with a salute. For now, let¡¯s eat something in the mess hall¡­¡­ Well, I had to do something about this sticky bur first. Good grief.

    ¡°So, you ended up dreaming about the past and your mental stability took a dive as a result?¡±

    ¡°Well, uh¡­¡­ that¡¯s it, I guess.¡±

    ¨CAn hourter. After somehow managing to tear Tina off me, I got breakfast from the mess hall¡¯s auto-cooker, went over to Tina and Wiska¡¯s room, and ate together with Tina.

    I asked Wiska to join us, but she said her sister would probably find it easier to talk to me if she wasn¡¯t present and declined. She really cared a lot about her sister.

    ¡°You look like you¡¯re fine now, but I¡¯m no psychiatrist. I can¡¯t offer any professional help, but it does look like it wasn¡¯t that much of a big deal.¡±

    ¡°Ya sure are blunt, Boss.¡±

    Tina chuckled in response, but her smile looked somewhat forced. I guess she really was quite affected by her nightmare.

    ¡°But you¡¯ve calmed down, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll just say this straight out then. No matter what happens, I¡¯ll protect you, Tina. I have no intention of letting you go.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Are ya okay with sayin¡¯ somethin¡¯ like that without askin¡¯ fer my circumstances?¡±

    ¡°Yep. Compared to the circumstances of people unrted to me, I value you more.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Are ya sure ya won¡¯t have a change of heart?¡±

    I shrugged my shoulders in response to Tina.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m totally clean. I mean, there¡¯s already blood on my hands anyway. There might have still been victims inside the pirate ships I¡¯ve blown up, but it¡¯s not like I can let that hold me back, or else, I¡¯d be the one getting blown up instead.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true, but¡­¡­¡±

    Tina disyed a bitter grin. I suppose she was thinking her and my circumstances were different.

    ¡°Anyway, don¡¯t worry about a thing. What was the name of that star system again?¡±

    ¡°The Reemay star system.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Reemay. Anyway, it¡¯s just a matter of selling off the medical supplies in the Reemay star system and leaving quickly, right?¡±

    In the first ce, all thismotion was the result of us deciding to head to the Reemay star system, which was Tina¡¯s ¡°old stomping grounds¡±.

    After Dr. Shoukopleted the official procedures for joining our crew in the Alein system, we ended up purchasing arge amount of high-quality advanced medical supplies through her. We mainly worked as mercenaries, but we also moonlighted as traders of a sort. Unlike mercenary work, the empire collected taxes from trading. But even so, who would pass up the chance to buy items for cheap and sell for significantly higher prices elsewhere?

    Then, after receiving info from Mimi¡¯s grandma, Serestia-sama, about a pandemic urring at the Reemay system, we decided to head there next in order to make a profit.

    ¡°But Boss, have we ever sessfully made it out without any incidents in the past whenever you said somethin¡¯ like that?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Anyway, let¡¯s eat the food before it gets cold.¡±

    ¡°Boss?¡±

    ¡°C¡¯mon. This is a delicious meal prepared by Tetsujin y¡¯know? Here you go. Aah.¡±

    I forcefully avoided the topic and ate breakfast with Tina. I¡¯ve ignored it for now, but we were probably gonna get into some sort of trouble again. Anyway, Tina¡¯s mental and emotional carees first.

    For the time being, I suppose I should check with Dr. Shouko and Mei about the disease prevention equipment and the quarantine and disinfection systems of the Lotus. It would be stupid toe to a colony where a pandemic is urring only to let the pathogens causing said epidemic loose inside our ship.

 Chapter 403: Meeting

    <strong>403 ¨C Meeting</strong>

    I left Tina in Wiska¡¯s care and moved to the mess hall where everyone else was gathered. We were gonna have a meeting about our uing activities in the Reemay star system. The first thing to be concerned about was probably¡­¡­ this one.

    ¡°Is our anti-epidemic equipment all good?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re all good! There are no problems!¡±

    Mimi answered my question with an assertive nod. I wonder. This exchange kinda made me feel uneasy for some reason. Just in case, I turned toward Dr. Shouko.

    ¡°It¡¯s just as Mimi-kun said. There are no problems. We¡¯ve secured medical supplies for our personal use in addition to the ones we¡¯ll sell, and it appears this ship is equipped with solid epidemic prevention equipment.¡±

    ¡ºThere will be no problems within the ship¡¯s interior. However, please make sure to take the appropriate infection control and prevention measures while acting inside the colony.¡»

    In addition to Dr. Shouko, Mei also provided her input through the mess hall¡¯s speakers. Mimi snorted a bit as a show ofint because it seemed that I didn¡¯t ce enough trust in her words, but I apologized while poking her puffed-up cheeks, and she quickly forgave me.

    ¡°By the way, is Tina alright now?¡±

    ¡°Probably. I have no idea what happened to her on Reemay in the past, but we¡¯ll deal with it somehow¡­¡­ No, we¡¯ll definitely deal with it.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? That¡¯s fine then.¡±

    We had enough money, influence, and personal power at our disposal, so we can probably handle whatever happens over there. Of course, I had no intention of letting my guard down either.

    When ites to it, it¡¯s hard to imagine any sort of trouble urring because of Tina if she doesn¡¯t leave the ship in the first ce, and we¡¯ll also have Wiska stay inside the ship as well, just in case. Tina and Wiska had different hair colors, but because they were twins, their faces looked pretty simr. If we brought Wiska with us, others might mistake her for Tina while thinking that she simply dyed her hair blue. Due to that, it seemed better just to have them both stay on the Lotus this time around.

    ¡°My Lord, with all due respect, if avoiding trouble is the priority, then wouldn¡¯t it be better not toe to the Reemay system in the first ce? Can we not sell the supplies somewhere else instead, just to be safe?¡±

    ¡°You do have a point, but as a doctor, I¡¯d like to deliver the supplies to those who need them the most, especially people who are suffering from a pandemic.¡±

    Dr. Shouko smiled wryly after hearing Kugi¡¯s words but countered them from the point of view of a doctor¡¯s professional ethics. What Kugi said was true. However, from an ethical viewpoint, Dr. Shouko¡¯s words also had merit.

    For earning profit, ethical considerations, and increasing our favorable reputation, it would be best to sell medical supplies to the Reemay system. We¡¯ll make money, the people of the Reemay system would be saved, and word of how we brought medical supplies to a star system gued by a pandemic and saved the lives of many people would spread. The fact that a tinum ranker would do such a thing would go over favorably with the Mercenary Guild as well.

    So, it¡¯ll be good for the seller, good for the buyers, good for publicity, and would ultimately be a win-win-win situation.

    ¡°Well, the trouble we¡¯d face will probably just amount to fighting with a local gang or criminal ring. If they pick a fight with us, then all we have to do is respond in kind and solve everything with force.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­That logic does seem a lot more mercenary-like.¡±

    ¡°Of course. I¡¯m a professional after all.¡±

    ¡°I think that¡¯s not something to be particrly proud about though.¡±

    When I responded confidently to Dr. Shouko, Elma scowled at me for some reason. If a criminal offends me, then I¡¯ll just kill them. Isn¡¯t that how mercenaries were? Was it a bit unclear if local gangs and criminals should be treated the same as space pirates? Would there be legalplications if they were treated as imperial citizens¡­¡­? No, I¡¯m technically an imperial noble, and they would probably be treated asmoners, so I guess there shouldn¡¯t be any problems huh?

    ¡°Hey, Mei. Assuming that the other party was a subject of the empire, and if they attacked us with weapons, there would be no issues with using my right as a noble to execute them at my discretion, right?¡±

    ¡ºJudging by prior cases, there should be no problems. As a matter of fact, within the Gran empire, there have been asional cases of noble swordsmen getting rid of gangs and criminal organizations that are difficult to crack down on legally.¡»

    ¡°That¡¯s fine then. In that case, would it be better to get in touch with the local nobles who are in charge of the Reemay star system? Mei, if necessary, you can go ahead and use what¡¯s inside the safe, so please make arrangements ordingly. Mimi, go with Mei and learn how to properly deal with nobles from here.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood.¡»

    ¡°Y-Yes. I got it.¡±

    Mimi nodded with a surprised expression. Hm? Why was she acting so surprised though?

    ¡°Did you suddenly decide to change your policy, Hiro?¡±

    ¡°Hm? I don¡¯t think so. Or rather, what do you mean by that anyway?¡±

    ¡°Until now, you¡¯ve tried really hard not to get involved in anything rted to the nobles. And now, you¡¯ve decided toy the groundwork by dealing with the local lord first, so I was simply wondering if you¡¯ve changed your policy.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? I didn¡¯t really intend to change anything about how I do things, but¡­¡­ my motto is to take what I can get and use what I can use. It¡¯s simply a matter of making use of my right to cutmoners down as an imperial noble. I just didn¡¯t have to do so until now.¡±

    I¡¯m not stupid, so if there¡¯s an opportunity to make use of such a right in order to avoid any potentialplications, then I¡¯ll go ahead and do so.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ By the way, what was that about the thing inside the safe?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that. It¡¯s something like a trick to be used in closing troublesome deals. Whenever we defeat pirates, we can not only get their bounties but also various types of loot as well. And among that loot are quite a few valuable and rare items that are pretty hard to get normally. Rare metals, for example.¡±

    The currency used in this world was Enel, and whenever you transacted with it, a detailed transaction record remains in the system database. In other words, you had to use other means toplete transactions that were, shall we say, under the table. Rare metals and other high-value items were pretty useful in such cases.

    As the name suggests, rare metals were really precious metal ores with low production volume but extremely high market value. Specifically, an ingot weighing 1 kg was worth about 100,000 Enels. When converted to Japanese Yen, that¡¯s about ten million. When I first arrived in this dimension, I didn¡¯t have much trouble securing initial funds thanks to my having arge amount of them stashed away inside Krishna.

    Other rare items included jewelry, works of art, and depending on the rarity of the item in question, alcohol. Spirit silver, which can be sourced only in the Refill star system, the mother system of the elves, was also considered a rare item. It seemed that there weren¡¯t that many people in the Gran empire who were interested in it though.

    ¡°I¡¯ve saved up quite a few of those items just in case we needed them in the future. They¡¯re basically my secret stash.¡±

    ¡°In other words, they are an emergency source of funds as well as items that can be used for bribes and such. Is that even allowed?¡±

    ¡°Of course. We¡¯re mercenaries, not heroes of justice.¡±

    ¡°Fumu, I see.¡±

    Dr. Shouko nodded in understanding and fell silent as if mulling over something.

    ¡°My Lord, what do you n to do exactly after we arrive at the Reemay system?¡±

    ¡°First of all, we¡¯ll go to the main colony of the star system, the Reemay Prime colony, and gather info. Well, in most cases, the main colony of a star system also functions as the main trading hub, so we¡¯ll probably sell our cargo there as well.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s probably the case. The problem is who to sell them to, but I think the surest way to go about it is to go through the local Mercenary Guild branch. There are probably going to be requests rted to procuring medical supplies in the guild.¡±

    ¡°It would be easy if there really was a request. Going through the Mercenary Guild will decrease our profits a bit, but that would be the least troublesome route.¡±

    ¡°I think it would be more profitable to sell them in the market normally, but it would be good to try the Mercenary Guild first.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s best to stick to the proper channels.¡±

    The Mercenary Guild ced profits above all, so ignoring them wouldn¡¯t reflect well on our reputation. We can¡¯t afford to overlook the guild. And we¡¯re also somewhat indebted to them, so we had to give them some face at least.

    ¡°Mercenaries have a lot more obligations than I expected.¡±

    ¡°Putting aside the small fry, I¡¯m a tinum ranker after all. Hence, I have to serve as a role model to my fellows of the same trade.¡±

    ¡°Hiro¡¯s just too serious for his own good sometimes.¡±

    ¡°I think that way of thinking is wonderful. As expected of you, My Lord.¡±

    Hahaha, Kugi really was such a good girl. Compared to her, Elma was too uncooperative sometimes. Why couldn¡¯t she just praise me honestly as well? I had no idea.

    ¡°Anyway, the n is to head for Reemay Prime, collect info, and pay a visit to the Mercenary Guild once we arrive at the Reemay system. Depending on the info we get, we might need to get in touch with the ruling lord as well. Got that, everyone?¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Aye, aye, sir!¡±¡±¡±

    My crew members readily responded.

    Now then, I wonder how the Reemay system was doing. I do hope the casualties haven¡¯t reached an rming number yet.

 Chapter 404: Widespread Pandemic

    <strong>404 ¨C Widespread Pandemic</strong>

    ¡°We¡¯re here, huh?¡±

    The Lotus passed through subspace and arrive at the hypene entrance near the edge of the Reemay star system. Basically, the hypene entrance was located at the outer edge of the star system, so it will take about two hours for the Lotus to travel from here to the system¡¯s habitable zone where the colonies and inhabiteds were located.

    It will be a little faster using Krishna, but it didn¡¯t make much sense to do so.

    ¡°Let¡¯s take out the protective equipment in preparation for heading out there.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    We went to the ship¡¯s cargo hold and prepared our protective suits. They were basically jumpsuits¡­¡­ Or rather, coveralls. Coupled with tough and airtight helmets, they were capable ofpletely shielding an individual from harmful substances and pathogens.

    At first nce, they looked like rather low-tech equipment with a retro-futuristic aesthetic, but they were equipped with mechanisms that allowed them to perfectly conform to the wearer¡¯s physique. They also had several hard points for equipping a variety of optional parts so they can be converted for use in outer space. All in all, they were actually pretty high-performance.

    ¡°The only w of these things is that they don¡¯t leave much for the imagination. Theypletely show your curves.¡±

    ¡°You do seem like you¡¯re enjoying this quite a bit though.¡±

    Elma¡¯s body lines were truly akin to works of art. She was, overall, quite slender. However, the delicate curve from her waist to her thighs and her modest but perky chest were truly¡­¡­ beautiful. Just in beautiful.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind seeing this for myself. But it¡¯s a waste for other guys to see something so wonderful. And so, here you go.¡±

    ¡°Oh, a chameleon thermal cloak.¡±

    I handed Elma one of the cloaks I bought in the Brad system. In addition to their optical camouge system, they were also capable of regting body temperature. I remember being told that they were a waste of money back then, but they eventually dide in handy. When the optical camo function was turned off, they looked like predominantly white hex-patterned cloaks. However, when the optical camo function was turned on, they were able to freely change their pattern and colors in order to match the surrounding scenery.

    If they wore these, the women in our group won¡¯t be exposed to invasive nces when we¡¯re out and about.

    ¡°My Lord, would it not be more troublesome to sterilize ourselves if we wear this much equipment.¡±

    ¡°Well, it probably will, but just think of this as a measure to prevent a different sort of trouble.¡±

    It will be a lot more troublesome if they didn¡¯t wear cloaks and ended up attracting unwanted attention. Even more so if they attracted the attention of particrly shady folks. I¡¯d feel a lot more secure with the cloaks on them as well.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Um, My Lord. It seems that I cannot wear it after all.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ It can¡¯t be helped. It would be nice if we can find a protective suit that you can wear at the Reemay Prime colony, Kugi.¡±

    I was wondering if Kugi can wear the suit since she had her fluffy tails to ount for, and it looked like it really was no good. The protective equipment we prepared couldn¡¯t amodate Kugi¡¯s tails. Of course, poking a hole in the suit was a no-go. In other words, Kugi will have to stay behind for now.

    ¡°Well, that didn¡¯t exactly go as smoothly as we hoped, but for now, it seems that everyone¡¯s fine except for Kugi. Let¡¯s get back to our posts, guys.¡±

    ¡°Roger that.¡±

    ¡°Alright, My Lord.¡±

    Afterpleting the final checks on our protective equipment, we changed out of them and went back to our respective posts.

    The chances were pretty low, but it never hurts to be prepared for pirate raids. After all, even if there was a pandemic going rampant in the Reemay star system, pirates wouldn¡¯t necessarily pass up the chance to attack passing ships.

    The ck Lotus also outwardly resembled an ordinary cargo ship for the most part despite its more rugged look, so it was a bit of a pirate ma. Well, that was actually the point, but it does get a bit annoying during times when you don¡¯t particrly wanna get entangled with them. Well, it can¡¯t be helped, I suppose.

    We were now in the middle of traveling to the Reemay Prime colony. After checking up on Tina to see how she was doing, I went straight to Krishna¡¯s cockpit to stay on standby there just in case there was an emergency. However¡­¡­

    ¡°This is terrible.¡±

    I disyed the information gathered by Mei on Krishna¡¯s main screen and started browsing it, and honestly, Reemay Prime¡¯s situation didn¡¯t look good at all.

    First, the epidemic was primarily an air-borne disease. However, it didn¡¯t infect people through sneezing or coughing. Instead, it was actually spread through exposure to the air-borne spores of a certain type of fungus.

    The symptoms begin with fever and coughing, and as the disease progresses, the patient experiences acute chest pains and ends up coughing out bloody phlegm. Ultimately, the lung tissues of the patient die out, and they end up suffocating to their deaths. If they were unlucky, their central nervous system might get infected instead. Either case will eventually lead to death if the patient was left untreated.

    The troublesome thing about the disease is its rapid proliferation after the patients die. If the corpses weren¡¯t properly treated, they will be new sources of infection. To be more specific, if a corpse was left on its own, mushrooms will start to grow on it within two hours and will immediately start scattering spores afterward.

    Moreover, the spores had the capability to infect seemingly any living creature, not just people. In other words, they were able to infect and kill rats and other animals that roam within venttion ducts, sewers, and maintenance passages, and then turn them into mushroom-spawning nurseries that will threaten the entire colony.

    ¡°If it¡¯s like this, then isn¡¯t this disease already on the level of a bio-weapon?¡±

    ¡°It appears to indeed be approaching those levels¡­¡­¡±

    The mushrooms didn¡¯t look like the edible kind at all. They had umbre-shaped caps on top of thin stalks¡­¡­ They looked kinda simr to waraitake, which is one of those so-called magic mushrooms.

    ¡ºThe fungi are the source of the pathogen, but after looking up theirposition and gic information, they seem to originally be raw materials for a certain narcotic. However, they also seem to already be quite different from the original strain.¡»

    ¡°In other words?¡±

    ¡ºPerhaps some idiot brought those mushrooms into the colony and tried to cultivate them, only to fail spectacrly. Or maybe someone who used the drug refined from those mushrooms suddenly died and ended up bing the initial source of the contagion¡­¡­ I can¡¯t be sure regarding what exactly happened, but it¡¯s probably something along those lines.¡»

    ¡°Either way, they ended up harming a lot of other people¡­¡­ How will we handle this situation?¡±

    ¡ºWhat about purifying all the infection sources and and giving appropriate treatment to all those who were infected? Well, I suppose that¡¯s gonna be pretty hard.¡»

    The Reemay Prime colony was quiterge and old, and it¡¯s reasonable to assume that there were already tons of dead animals that have turned into infection sources. It certainly seemed quite difficult to exterminate and purify all of them on top of treating the surviving colony inhabitants. Even with the advanced tech of this world, such an undertaking will be impossible without spending a lot of time and money.

    ¡ºWell, you¡¯ll be fine as long as you don¡¯t allow any spores to enter your body and don¡¯t bring them inside the ships. There seem to be no small animals that can serve as potential infection sources inside the ships anyway.¡»

    ¡ºYes. The quarantine systems are wless.¡»

    Mei hadplete control over the interior of the ck Lotus, and since she didn¡¯t allow even a single rat to infest the ship, there will be no problems as long as we¡¯re sufficiently careful out there. That¡¯s quite reassuring.

    ¡ºOh, this goes without saying, but please don¡¯t sneak around buying any weird drugs out there. As I said earlier, drugs that were processed using those mushrooms as ingredients can cause a breakout.¡»

    ¡°We don¡¯t have any crew members with that kind of hobby. But I¡¯ll give everyone a warning, just in case.¡±

    ¡ºPlease do. And if you ever feel like trying something like that out, just consult me instead.¡»

    ¡°Will you quit saying such disturbing stuff, Doc?¡±

    Did she mean she was gonna do something to curb our desire for taking such drugs, or was Dr. Shouko actually offering to concoct something for us herself instead of us trying out potentially dangerous substances? Either way, it was still disturbing, so no thanks.

    However, does that mean there was a possibility this matter was actually rted to illegal drugs? This was Tina¡¯s old nest as well¡­¡­ I have a bad feeling about this. But it¡¯s not like there¡¯s any way to prepare for such a thing¡­¡­ For now, I better just suck it up and resolve myself for whatever¡¯sing.

 Chapter 405: Deserted Port

    ¡ºMaster, we will be arriving at the Reemay Prime colony soon.¡»

    ¡¸Gotcha. In any case, just make sure not to cause any idents. Safety first, alright?¡¹

    ¡ºYes, Master. I will pay apt attention to the surroundings while docking.¡»

    Imunicated with Mei while inside Krishna¡¯s cockpit and utched my seatbelt from the pilot seat. After all, it was virtually impossible to encounter any pirate attack now that we¡¯vee this far.

    But actually, the areas around a colony were surprisingly dangerous in a different sense. This is because ships of all kinds and sizes were usually crowded around the vicinity of a colony. Among them were trulyrge ships simr to the Restalias with a total length of more that 1 kilometer, as well as ships simr in size to the ck Lotus, which was no slouch either. The Lotus easily exceeds 400 meters in length after all. Anything past that will be bigger than Earth¡¯s nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

    Well, suchrge ships being fully capable of being controlled by even a crew as small as ours was simply a testament to how advanced this world¡¯s technology was though. Of course, in our case, we also had someone like Mei, so controlling such a ship was even less of a problem. She was simply just that capable.

    ¡°I¡¯ll send out the docking requestter as usual.¡±

    Mimi, who boarded the Krishna quitete, activated the holo-interface in front of the operator¡¯s seat and began typing out a docking request.

    ¡°If you note that we¡¯re transporting supplies all the way from the Alein system, I think they¡¯ll give us docking priority.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. I¡¯ll do that then.¡±

    Mimi¡¯s fingers danced over the holo-keyboard. It was kinda neat that they were still using the keyboard as an input interface despite this world¡¯s technological advancements. Well, the fact that it¡¯s a holo-keyboard instead of a physical one does give it a lot more of a high-tech feel.

    ¡°The situation inside the colony seems quite worrying though, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Even though I nodded in response to Kugi, I wasn¡¯t actually that worried. The disease in question seemed to have a high fatality rate if left untreated, but it didn¡¯t seem particrly difficult to cure. As long as the colony¡¯s inhabitants received adequate treatment, they wouldn¡¯t fall into a critical state, and a Gran imperial colony probably wouldn¡¯t be managed so poorly¡­¡­ No, the Termaine Prime colony where Mimi lived previously did have a slum-like block within it huh? And from what I¡¯ve seen so far, there were quite a few of such colonies. Considering that, it does feel worrisome huh?

    ¡°We can¡¯t make any definite conclusions for now. But it might really be dangerous inside.¡±

    Come to think of it, despite this world¡¯s advanced medical technology, rumors of a pandemic were still circted, and there really was a pandemic after all. Even though we did take solid measures so we wouldn¡¯t fall into the same predicament as the rest of the system, the situation may really not be that optimistic after all.

    ¡°It will be nice if the medical supplies we brought over prove useful.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know which idiot caused this disease to spread out in the first ce, but the rest of the colony¡¯s inhabitants were just innocent victims and didn¡¯t deserve such suffering. It really will be great if the medical supplies we brought with us prove useful to them.

    ¡ºWe need to gather info first, right, Hiro?¡»

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Let¡¯s hit up the Mercenary Guild first to get a hold of the situation from them. Mimi, Kugi, please cooperate with Mei in order to gather more info from other sources as well.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    Now then, shall we get going?

    Boom! A thunderous roar resounded, and even without looking at the main screen, I was made aware that the ck Lotus had ceased its FTL navigation state. It looks like we really made it to Reemay Prime without encountering any problems along the way.

    ¡°Send out the docking request. I¡¯ll contact the local Mercenary Guild branch through Elma¡¯s Antlion.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood!¡»

    I headed for the Antlion, which was currently connected to the Lotus via its hatch. The Antlion, which was ssified as a medium-ss ship, wasn¡¯t able to fit inside the hangar of the ck Lotus, so whenever we travel great distances, it connects to the Lotus via the outer hatch instead.

    ¡°Knock, knock.¡±

    ¡ºI¡¯m opening the hatch now.¡»

    After reaching the outer hatch, I issued an ess request and entered the Antlion. Actually, I can also contact the Mercenary Guild through the break space of the Lotus, but it was kinda embarrassing to contact the guild staff with the spacious and luxurious break space in full view. That¡¯s why I decided to contact the guild inside the Antlion¡¯s cockpit instead. I left Mimi and Kugi inside Krishna¡¯s cockpit instead.

    We nned to collect info from various sources such as private news agencies, the colony¡¯s PR agency, and local forum sites.

    ¡°Nice work.¡±

    ¡°You too. I¡¯m d we¡¯re able to arrive at the colony without any incidents.¡±

    Elma weed me as I entered the Antlion¡¯s cockpit. Well, she didn¡¯t get up from the pilot seat though. She just rotated it to face the cockpit entrance.

    ¡°Look. There are only a few ships out there.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think there are gonna be many ships that¡¯ll go out of their way to visit a colony experiencing a widespread pandemic.¡±

    If they mess up, they could bring the pathogens causing the pandemic aboard their ships after all. Thus, it¡¯s normal to choose to head to a safer colony instead of one that presented such a huge risk. The scene disyed on the Antlion¡¯s main screen was seemingly proof of this.

    ¡°It¡¯s almost deserted.¡±

    ¡°There seems to be a lot of ships docked inside the colony itself though. It¡¯s possible that they weren¡¯t allowed to leave after docking huh?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, the chances of that are high. They¡¯d have to get a safety certification in order to prevent the pathogens from spreading outside of the colony, but they probably didn¡¯t have enough manpower to perform the necessary work in order to issue such a certification, so the ships were prevented from leaving as a result.¡±

    ¡°Maybe this was intentional.¡±

    ¡°As long as the ships remained docked, money for buying water, air, and food will continue to flow into the colony. If that¡¯s really the case, then I¡¯ll just use my special privileges as a tinum ranker or an honorary viscount so we¡¯ll be allowed to leaveter on.¡±

    Power and influence should be used for such situations after all. I won¡¯t hesitate to use whatever¡¯s at my disposal when necessary.

    ¡°So, shall we dock as nned?¡±

    ¡°If we don¡¯t dock, we wouldn¡¯t be able to sell off our medical supplies. In any case, let¡¯s contact the Mercenary Guild first.¡±

    I sat on the sub-pilot seat next to Elma and operated the terminal in order to contact Reemay Prime¡¯s local Mercenary Guild branch. Communication was soon established.

    ¡ºThis is the Reemay branch of the Mercenary Guild.¡»

    A female guild staff with a smart-looking countenance was projected through the holo-disy. It was another beautiful guild staff member. Most of the guild staff we met so far were pretty good-looking. They were the face of the Mercenary Guild after all. Well, they still lost outpared to my crew members though.

    ¡°Hello. This is Captain Hiro speaking. Here¡¯s my ID.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Elma. Here you go.¡±

    Elma and I used our portable info terminals to send our ID details over. We wouldn¡¯t be able to talk to the guild properly without confirming our identities first.

    ¡ºAllow me to confirm¡­¡­ Wee, Captain Hiro-sama. Elma-sama. It¡¯s my honor to serve a tinum ranker and an excellent member of his crew.¡»

    The female staff¡¯s expression didn¡¯t even twitch as she delivered her spiel. She was probably on par with Mei when ites to making a poker face.

    ¡°We¡¯re carrying a lot of medical supplies from the Alein system. We¡¯re nning to divest them here, so please mediate for us. There should be an official request for these, right?¡±

    ¡ºAs expected of a tinum ranker. You have very keen insight. And here I thought people like you only concerned yourselves with hunting space pirates, bounty hunting, and escorting merchant ships.¡»

    ¡°As long as we can earn money while saving lives, then why not? Whether it¡¯s fighting like a mercenary or conducting trades like a merchant, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that you¡¯re earning Enels at the end of the day.¡±

    ¡ºTrue. No matter how one earns them, Enels are Enels. And a mercenary¡¯s primary concern is to earn Enels. Can you send us an inventory of your cargo?¡»

    ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll send it now.¡±

    I operated the interface and sent an inventory of our cargo to the guild.

    ¡º¡­¡­This is quite a lot. However, aren¡¯t some of the items of the troublesome variety?¡»

    ¡°We have a licensed ship doctor on board. I¡¯ll also send you her license details now.¡±

    It was illegal to carry and handle some of the supplies we brought over without a special license. This person was pretty good since she was able to quickly notice such a matter. I made Dr. Shouko participate in the call as well, and once the guild staff confirmed her license details, we immediately moved on to negotiations.

    ¡ºWe¡¯ll be able to cover all the goods in the request using your goods. There will still be a remaining surplus though. Shall we handle those as well?¡»

    ¡°It¡¯s fine for now. We¡¯re nning to get in touch with the governor, so we might need them when negotiating with him. If there¡¯s anything left after that, can we leave them to you?¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood. As long as we can ount for all the requested goods, the guild will be satisfied. Thank you very much.¡»

    ¡°No problem. I¡¯d like to get some information from you as well. Would that be fine?¡±

    ¡ºYes. You can ask us anything, as long as it¡¯s information the guild has ess to.¡»

    Great. It looks like my discussion with the guild was proceeding quite smoothly.

 Chapter 406: Disastrous Situation

    ¡°The situation¡¯s worse than we expected.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    As I read through the information provided by the female guild staff, I couldn¡¯t help but frown. Elma seemed to be feeling the same as me, and her eyebrows were slightly wrinkled.

    First of all, there was no doubt that there was a pandemic spreading within the colony. However, the ratio of those afflicted among the colony¡¯s poption was highly skewed.

    ¡°This is a colony with a particrlyrge disparity between social sses huh?¡±

    ¡°Right. There¡¯s a clear divide between those on top and those at the bottom.¡±

    Approximately 95% of the colony¡¯s inhabitants were deemed as¡ºlower-ss¡»citizens, so I suppose they¡¯re equivalent to the working ss. Well, there were still distinctions among the lower-ss citizens, but all in all, the quality of life didn¡¯t seem to differ much between them. A majority of those infected were among the lower ss. They also suffered the most casualties.

    On the other hand, the remaining 5% consisted of the¡ºupper-ss¡»citizens,prised of people such as corporate elites and government officials. In other words, the rich and famous. However, the disparity between these two major social sses was particrly pronounced in this colony. Thetter group received the most advanced treatment immediately even after getting infected, and there were almost no casualties among them.

    The Reemay Prime colony was arge colony with a poption of approximately 500,000 people. Of that half-million, 95% were highly exposed to the risk of infection, and deaths were mounting day by day, making the situation quite precarious.

    ¡°At this rate, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if riots urred eventually.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s certainly a high chance of that happening¡­¡­ There might even be people who would try to stow away on ships if given the chance.¡±

    ¡°Guess we have to watch out for that as well huh?¡±

    The situation was further exacerbated by the fact that the use of the dangerous drug that caused this entire disaster was actually quite prevalent among lower-ss citizens. The colony¡¯s local government has identified it as the source of the problem and issued warnings about the dangers of taking the drug to the entire colony, but so far, there were no signs of the drug¡¯s spread stopping any time soon. In other words, this pandemic will only grow even worse.

    In addition to its psychotropic effect, the drug made out of the pandemic-causing mushroom also had a strong analgesic effect that eases pain and induces a feeling of euphoria when taken, so its use was quite rampant among the majority of the popce.

    ¡°No, no, no¡­¡­ This ain¡¯t right.¡±

    ¡°Humans will grasp any straw when cornered. Besides, there will always be people who¡¯ll act contrary to reason andmon sense in these types of extreme situations, people who¡¯ll spread conspiracy theories, and so on.¡±

    ¡°Even an outsider like me is already having a headache after seeing this stuff. Is the lord of this colony also at his wits end?¡±

    ¡°I suppose so.¡±

    No matter how advanced science and technology be, people will always be people. Even if tools became increasingly more convenient, and even if people managed to leave their homes and started exploring space, their nature as people fundamentally wouldn¡¯t change, I suppose. Yeah. At the very least, my own mentality didn¡¯t seem to have changed much since I came to this world.

    Well, I suppose being mostly okay with taking lives when necessary was already a big change. But maybe I actually hadn¡¯t changed at all, and I already had such a mentality, to begin with. Japan was mostly peaceful, so there weren¡¯t many opportunities to take the lives of others there. I suppose I have no way of verifying my nature any longer.

    ¡°ording to Dr. Shouko, the fatality rate without proper treatment is about 70%. A death toll of just roughly 10,000 people so far means they¡¯re doing surprisingly well huh?¡±

    ¡°It looks like they are spending quite a lot of money in order to control the spread of the pandemic. However, it seems that not everyone is getting proper treatment. It also seems that people don¡¯t actually develop any immunity toward the disease, so there are many who end up getting re-infected.¡±

    ¡°This is too messed up¡­¡­ Can we actually do something about this?¡±

    ¡°I wonder. You have to ask Dr. Shouko about something like that.¡±

    Elma shrugged her shoulders in response. She was acting like the matter wasn¡¯t actually her problem. Well, I suppose it really wasn¡¯t huh? I guess all we can do was to drop off the medical supplies and pray that the local lord and his administration will be able to resolve the situation eventually. It¡¯s basically impossible for mercenaries like us to actually resolve this sort of situation, and we weren¡¯t in a position to do so in the first ce.

    ¡°Let¡¯s consolidate the info we managed to gather for now.¡±

    We shared the information we obtained from the Mercenary Guild with the others.

    In hindsight, our actions at this time were still pretty careless. But the regrets willeter.

    ¡°So, you really want to check the safety of your acquaintances in the colony?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­¡­¡±

    Tina, who was standing in front of me, nodded shyly. When I shared the info I got from the Mercenary Guild with the rest of the crew, Tina found that the situation was a lot direr than she expected, so she couldn¡¯t help but worry and wanted to head to the colony herself.

    ¡°Denied. It¡¯s already risky for you to roam around the colony even without factoring in the pandemic in the first ce, and now, there¡¯s also the drug matter to consider. That¡¯s why I can¡¯t grant you permission to head out.¡±

    ¡°I agree with Hiro.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m of the same opinion. Well, actually getting infected is one thing, but the stress one will experience from the constant threat of dying from an epidemic shouldn¡¯t be discounted. The public order inside the colony should have deteriorated quite a bit.¡±

    I, Elma, and Dr. Shouko all denied Tina¡¯s request. I mean, of course we would. After all, it was just too risky. Besides, there really wasn¡¯t anything much Tina can do after confirming the safety of her acquaintances. Aside from providing them with some medical aid, there was nothing else we can do for them.

    I suppose Tina can spend her own money to take some kind of action for their sakes as well. I believe her funds have increased quite a bitpared to when she was working for Space Dwergr. But even if she spent all her earnings until now, she wouldn¡¯t be able to help them all move from the colony on her own. She¡¯ll probably manage five or so people at most.

    ¡°Mumumu¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi seemed to be wracking her brain trying toe up with something to help Tina. Kugi, on the other hand, was simply content with observing how the situation develops. It seemed that Wiska was also trying toe up with some ns just like Mimi.

    ¡°Well, I suppose you¡¯re not the type to back down even if we tell you that it¡¯s dangerous, Tina. You¡¯re nning to sneak out anyway, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s better for me to head out there instead. Just link up with my helmet¡¯sm system so you can see andmunicate with your acquaintances remotely. This is as far as I¡¯m willing topromise when ites to this matter, okay?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s gonna be dangerous to head out there on your own. I¡¯ll apany you.¡±

    ¡°Master, I¡¯ming with you as well.¡±

    ¡°In this situation, wouldn¡¯t it be better to take a doctor with you?¡±

    ¡°My Lord, I shall apany you as well.¡±

    ¡°Stop, stop. Let me continue first!¡±

    The girls started volunteering one after another, but as expected, I can¡¯t afford to bring everyone with me this time around. Or rather, heading out in arge group was just getting our priorities backward.

    ¡°I also wanna go¡­¡­! I wanna go, but¡­¡­!¡±

    Mimi, who was well aware of her weakness when ites to fighting, was shaking in frustration. Mm. As expected of the clever Mimi. She was able to objectively evaluate the situation and herself. Good, good.

    ¡°First of all, Dr. Shouko and Kugi can¡¯te. I want you to perfect the ship¡¯s disease prevention systems just in case, Doc. And you don¡¯t have protective equipment that can fit your body type in the first ce, Kugi.¡±

    ¡°Muu, how regrettable.¡±

    ¡°To think my tails will actually get in the way¡­¡­ How frustrating.¡±

    The two openly disyed their disappointment. It will certainly feel reassuring if they apanied me, but Dr. Shouko will be aplete liability if we ever got ourselves into a sticky situation, and Kugi couldn¡¯t even meet the conditions in order to safely get off the ship in the first ce. Well, she can also just wear a protective mask and then thoroughly sterilize her entire body and clothes whenever shees back to the ship, but that¡¯s just too troublesome.

    ¡°You need to take charge of controlling and supervising the Lotus, Mei. So, you¡¯re also rejected. You¡¯re the only one I can rely on to keep things running smoothly and make sure nothing¡¯s wrong with our mothership.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Please leave the ship to me.¡±

    Mei puffed out her chest and nodded briskly. Mei wasn¡¯t in any danger of getting infected by the pathogens due to her nature as a maidroid, so she waspletely safe, and she was also dependable in all aspects, includingbat, so she was perfect for guarding our ships. Also, Tina wouldn¡¯t be able to sneak out of the Lotus on Mei¡¯s watch.

    ¡°And so, I¡¯ll be counting on you, Elma.¡±

    ¡°I kinda have a problem with the elimination process, but this is still the most reasonable decision.¡±

    Elma outwardly pouted, but her twitching elven ears gave away how she really felt. It was pretty obvious that she was quite happy.

    Elma had a lot of practical experience as a mercenary under her belt, a sharp intuition, and was quite skilled inbat. Her skill with aser gun was only inferior to me and Mei, and I was no match for her when ites to barehanded fighting. However, as expected, even the highly skilled and agile Elma was no match for Mei¡¯s speed and strength.

    ¡°Alright then. I¡¯ll make an appointment with the local ruling lord first before paying him a visit. After that, I¡¯ll check on the safety of Tina¡¯s acquaintances. But I¡¯ll have to confirm the location of those acquaintances first.¡±

    ¡°Un, I got it¡­¡­ Thanks a bunch, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡±

    Considering the risks, it would be better for us to simply sell off all our goods and leave as quickly as possible, but I also couldn¡¯t turn a blind eye to Tina¡¯s request, especially in the state she¡¯s currently in. Well, I already resolved myself for the most part anyway. Since I was gonna swallow poison anyway, I better just swallow the te as well.

 Chapter 407: Reemay Prime Colony

    ¡°Mm, good, good. Wonderful. Molto bene!¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but apud and praise the sight of Elma wearing her protective equipment ¨C a sci-fi-style tight-fitting suit that showed off all her amazing curves. Wonderful. It was truly superb.

    ¡°Quit it, mister! Just hand me that cloak already!¡±

    ¡°Eeh¡­¡­ But you said you didn¡¯t mind cuz it¡¯s a protective suit, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m getting embarrassed because of your perverted gaze, not the suit!¡±

    Elma, who was red up to her ears, hastily grabbed the chameleon thermal cloak off me while puffing her cheeks in anger. She already covered her body with the cloak. Dangit.

    ¡°Do you like that sort of thing, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Err, how should I put it? It¡¯s kinda a man¡¯s romance of sorts.¡±

    I answered Mimi¡¯s question as sincerely as I could. The clothing styles in this world generally had a sci-fi feel to them for the most part, but I don¡¯t remember seeing that many sci-fi style tight-fitting full-body suits so far. That¡¯s why I was so affected by the sight of Elma wearing one. I wonder if there¡¯s actually bikini armor out there somewhere?

    ¡°Umm¡­¡­ Do you want me to try wearing er as well?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    I immediately nodded in response to Mimi¡¯s proposal and gave her a thumbs-up. If Dr. Shouko, who owned assetsparable to Mimi¡¯s, were to wear a protective suit as well, I¡¯m sure the destructive power will be off the charts. There was no reason not to agree.

    ¡°Master.¡±

    ¡°What is it, Mei?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think my maid uniform is inferior.¡±

    The pressure Mei was emanating was something else.

    ¡°Calm down, Mei. Yours has a different kind of charm, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I am calm, Master.¡±

    Mei nodded and responded with a straight face, then she pulled away from me in the blink of an eye.

    Mei was extremely particr about maid uniforms¡­¡­ She¡¯d agree to wear stuff other than her maid uniform if you asked her, but there was a part of her that deeply believed in the absolute supremacy of maid uniforms.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go. C¡¯mon already!¡±

    ¡°Ow, oww. Okay, okay, I¡¯m sorry. My bad, alright?¡±

    It seemed that Elma was a bit upset that my attention turned toward Mimi and Mei even though I was previously going gaga over her. I¡¯m sorry, so can you quit kicking me already? Elma¡¯s whip-like kicks still hurt even though I was wearingbat armor.

    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to keep themand link up at all times.¡±

    ¡°Understood! Please be careful.¡±

    ¡°Take care of yourself, Master.¡±

    After Mimi and Mei¡¯s send-off, I quickly put mybat helmet on. Elma, who already finished putting on her protective suit¡¯s helmet, looked at me and muttered under her breath.

    ¡°¡­¡­Maybe I should buybat armor for myself as well. I¡¯ll file it under necessary expenses.¡±

    ¡°Necessary expenses huh¡­¡­? Sure. But I still have to give my approval.¡±

    ¡°You are gonna approve it, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I will.¡±

    I¡¯ll approve it, so can you put down your firsts already? Since I was equipped withbat armor, I can block Elma¡¯s kicks to some extent, but I was still vulnerable against joint locks. Or rather, since I was wearing armor, the principle of leverage was even more effective on me. I was cool with being in close physical contact with Elma as long as she wasn¡¯t trying to bend my arms and fingers in directions they shouldn¡¯t bend toward.

    ¡°I wonder if Tina¡¯s okay?¡±

    While we were being sterilized inside the airlock of the Lotus, Elma suddenly muttered in a worried tone.

    ¡°She¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    Tina, who was feeling cornered mentally, was currently receiving mental health care and calming medication treatments from Kugi and Dr. Shouko respectively. Those two were pretty enthusiastic about it, but I was a bit worried that they¡¯d go too far and end up making Tina worse. Well, I suppose that won¡¯t happen since Wiska was with them as well.

    ¡°We need to worry more about our own safety for now.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think there are gonna be idiots who¡¯d try picking a fight with you since you¡¯re freely disying your swords on top of wearingbat armor.¡±

    ¡°I sure hope so.¡±

    If I put my helmet¡¯s visor into the non-transparent mode, others wouldn¡¯t be able to see my face, and that ys up the intimidation factor. For some reason, it seemed that my face didn¡¯t have the intimidating factor suited for a tinum ranker. Well, the swords were plenty intimidating already, I guess.

    ¡°It sure is a dreary colony¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s probably because of the pandemic.¡±

    When we left the dock area, we were carefully sterilized before being allowed to step inside the colony, and my first impression of Reemay Prime was what I just said.

    First of all, there were very few people walking about. Of course, this was rtive to the density of people in other colonies ofparable size. Also, there were more people who were just wearing maskspared to ones decked in full-body protective equipment like me and Elma. The ones wearing masks were probably the residents of this colony. And the ones d in full-body protective equipment were crew members of the other ships docked at the spaceport just like us.

    Why did I think this was the case? Well, it¡¯s because full-body protective equipment was rtively expensive. Regardless of them being disposable or reusable, they were equally expensive for the average consumer and require proper sterilization equipment to use effectively. I really don¡¯t think the ¡°lower-ss¡± citizens of this colony can afford and maintain such equipment.

    ¡°Is it really possible to avoid getting infected with just masks?¡±

    ¡°I suppose they can make do as long as they don¡¯t inhale too many spores. In any case, it¡¯s better than having no protection at all, right?¡±

    While having such a conversation, Elma and I went past the lower district (in the social sense) and headed to the upper district where the local lord was residing.

    ¡°The lord here¡¯s a bar, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Bar Raydias. Rather than the lord, I suppose it¡¯s more appropriate to call him a steward.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the difference between a lord and a steward?¡±

    ¡°A lord is basically a noble who actually owns a territory, or rather, a star system. A steward is a noble who is assigned to look after a star system in the lord¡¯s stead. In other words, Bar Raydias is actually serving under someone else. In particr, it¡¯s Viscount Magnelli.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ So, how should I act in front of the guy? I¡¯m not exactly used to conversing in an overly patronizing way.¡±

    ¡°You just need to be polite enough. Even if you¡¯re just an honorary one, you¡¯re still a viscount. Meaning, you¡¯re still above him in status.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Before long, we finally reached the gate separating the lower district from the upper district. We found soldiers equipped withser rifles andbat suits that appeared to have hazardous environment protection functions guarding the gate. There were also stationaryser turrets installed. It was a very tight and strict-looking security system.

    Well, I suppose this was only natural. The colony was under quite a dire predicament after all.

    ¡°Oh boy. That looks pretty bad.¡±

    ¡°Well, we already expected something like this¡­¡­¡±

    Angry colony residents were rushing toward the gate. However, even though there were a lot of them, they didn¡¯t actually approach the gate itself, nor obstruct anyone else from entering and exiting. They only gathered a short distance from the gate.

    ¡°Eh? Let¡¯s see. Give us food, water, and jobs?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re also demanding to be exempted from getting taxed for breathable air and want to be given ample medical support, just like those from the other side.¡±

    ¡°The ones from the government are saying they¡¯ll take full responsibility for the outbreak and send money to the families of the deceased. Well, uh, that¡¯s reasonable, I suppose?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if they made missteps during the initial response to the outbreak, but since they were unable to prevent the spread of the pandemic, it can¡¯t be helped if the local government is getting criticized.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. It alles down to results after all.¡±

    I¡¯m not sure if their containment measures were ineffective during the early stages of the outbreak, or if it was already toote when they realized what had happened, but the steward sure had a massive problem on his hands. Well, it didn¡¯t have anything to do with us anyway.

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel like approaching in this sort of situation, but it can¡¯t be helped huh?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re gonna stick out like a sore thumb if we just walked over¡­¡­ Should we have just rented a vehicle somewhere earlier?¡±

    ¡°Or rather, since we still have enough space inside the Lotus, we should have just bought a recon vehicle for our use huh?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    The two of us walked toward the gate while having such a conversation. The guards saw us and became alert, but they rxed soon afterward. It was probably due to the two swords strapped onto my waist. In the Gran Empire, only nobles wore swords on their waists while walking about.

    ¡°We¡¯d like to pass through the gate. Is that alright? We have an appointment with Bar Raydias.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir. Can we check your ID first?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    I flipped my cloak open so mybat suit¡¯s pocket was in full view of the soldiers, then I took out my portable data terminal and handed it over for checking.

    ¡°Oh, right. You guys aren¡¯t Marines from the Imperial Space Navy, right? Are you from the local garrison?¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir. We¡¯re under Viscount Magnelli¡¯s directmand and belong to the system armed forces.¡±

    ¡°I see. I hope the situation turns for the better soon.¡±

    I engaged the soldier in small talk while he was checking my terminal. I see. They¡¯re under Viscount Magnelli huh? Since they referred to themselves as direct subordinates of Viscount Magnelli instead of Bar Raydias, does that mean the lord of this system has actually dispatched his own troops to help deal with the situation?

    ¡°Verificationplete. Please go ahead and pass through, Lord Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    After thanking the soldiers, Elma and I passed through the heavily guarded gate and officially entered the upper district ¨C but only after getting our bodies thoroughly sterilized. The anti-infection measures were airtight.

    ¡°The upper district is clean. You can walk around here without your protective helmets on.¡±

    ¡°I see. Thank you for the information. Let¡¯s go, Elma.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    We passed the gate entirely and finally reached the upper district.

    ¡°Hee. This ce is definitely much betterpared to the lower district.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s apletely stratified society huh?¡±

    Almost no one was wearing masks or protective equipment like us in the upper district. The only exceptions were the soldiers guarding the gate. This was just my conjecture, but it was probably because no one was actually going back and forth between the lower and upper districts. And since this side waspletely clear of pathogens, there was no need to wear masks.

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go see Bar Raydias first. It¡¯s important to give our greetings after all.¡±

    ¡°Right. Let¡¯s go then.¡±

    I took out my portable terminal and disyed the route to our target destination. Now then, should we walk there or should we look for other means of transport? Well, it didn¡¯t seem to be too far from our current position, so I suppose walking was fine.

 Chapter 408: Steward

    Even though it was called the upper district, the overall quality of the structures within it didn¡¯t differ much from those in the lower district. They were a bit shier I suppose¡­¡­ No, it¡¯s more like the signages of the establishments were a bit more refined, and their cements weren¡¯t as haphazard. Also, there was no graffiti drawn on the walls, nor was there any sign of garbage on the ground. Overall, it gave off a feeling of tidiness and order.

    ¡°It¡¯s being kept pretty clean and orderly just because it¡¯s called the upper district huh? What¡¯s that theory called again¡­¡­? Oh, I remember. The broken windows theory.¡±

    ¡°Broken windows theory?¡±

    ¡°Basically, if you leave a window broken, people will think that no one is paying the matter any attention, and eventually, all the other windows will be broken. Something like that. In other words, the theory ims that as long as one keeps a ce constantly clean and orderly, it will discourage people from dirtying it. After all, one needs to muster up enough courage to take the lead in messing up such a ce.¡±

    ¡°I see. I feel like I encountered a simr theory during my lessons in proper governance from way back.¡±

    ¡°You studied governance?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the daughter of a high-ranking noble after all, so something like that¡¯s par for the course.¡±

    Elma shrugged her shoulders as she responded. Come to think of it, Elma was the daughter of a viscount, so if things went the usual route, she would have eventually married a noble who was in charge of his own territory, and she might have to get involved in territory management as well. If that¡¯s the case, then those kinds of lessons were a given.

    ¡°Gaining new knowledge is never a waste of time huh?¡±

    ¡°What are you on about all of a sudden?¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing. I just thought it might be good to study up a bit. As part of my regr routine, I mean.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what exactly brought this up, but¡­¡­ I suppose it¡¯s good that you¡¯re motivated to improve yourself more.¡±

    I just thought it was a pity. Elma¡¯s so well-educated, but as long as we continued living our lives as mercenaries, she probably won¡¯t have enough opportunities to put her knowledge to good use. Maybe I should prepare a ce where she can freely disy her knowledge and use it to its full potential. At first, I thought it would be enough to get a detached house with a garden on a rtively peaceful somewhere, but should I actually set my sights on something greater? Because at the rate I was going, a normal detached house just won¡¯t cut it anymore. It¡¯d have to be a fairlyrge mansion at least. Or maybe even multiple mansions¡­¡­? Heck, why not go for an entire town while I¡¯m at it?

    ¡°That face you¡¯re making tells me you¡¯re thinking of something weird again.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve known each other for a fairly long time now, so¡­¡­ I can already kinda guess your thought process, mister.¡±

    ¡°Hou¡­¡­ Oh, we¡¯re here huh? How should I put this? It kinda feels like I just heard someone scream ¡®I¡¯m better than you!¡¯ in the background.¡±

    ¡°Did you just hit your head on something? Or did those mushrooms already get inside your brain?¡±

    Can you please quit making such a worried expression, Elma-san? I mean, I couldn¡¯t help it. A mansion with a neatly trimmedwn surrounded by walls made out of red bricks and iron grills suddenly appeared in the middle of a colony filled with cold and inorganic structures. I thought something was wrong with my eyes for a second.

    ¡°I mean, that thing¡¯s actually floating in the air y¡¯know? It¡¯s obviously floating above all the surrounding structures. It¡¯s probably equipped with an anti-grav device. And what the heck is with that verdant greenwn?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s probably fake grass.¡±

    ¡°An artificialwn huh¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s impossible to have live grass inside a colony. That¡¯s in order to keep the interior of the colony as sterile and free of microbes as possible¡­¡­ After all, it¡¯s gonna cost a lot to deal with the aftermath if something goes wrong.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a matter of money huh¡­¡­? Feels kinda stingy.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s just a bar after all.¡±

    ¡°I kinda feel like I better understand just where a bar stands in the social pecking order.¡±

    In other words, bars were nobles who were just one step below other higher-ranking nobles when ites to status and wealth.

    ¡°Bars tend to be quite sensitive about the topic of peerage, so make sure not to bring it upter. It¡¯s a really touchy subject for them.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha.¡±

    I also didn¡¯t want to unnecessarily make enemies. I¡¯ll be sure to keep that in mind then.

    We approached the seemingly old-fashioned iron grill gate, and after informing the soldiers standing guard about our appointment and my status as a tinum-rank mercenary and honorary viscount, we were immediately led inside.

    (Hey, is there anything else I should pay attention to when giving our greetingster?)

    (Just remove your helmet and hold it under your left arm. Then, you just need to talk normally.)

    While following after the soldier guiding us around the mansion, I used my helmet¡¯sms to secretly converse with Elma.

    (Don¡¯t you think this soldier looks a lot like the ones who were guarding the gate to the upper district we met earlier? The ones under Viscount Magnelli.)

    (Their equipment certainly looks quite simr. It¡¯s possible that Bar Raydias¡¯s men and those under Viscount Magnelli are supplied with standardized equipment.)

    Using this method ofmunication, even the professional soldier guiding us wouldn¡¯t be able to hear our conversation without the use of any special measures. That¡¯s unless he was intercepting the transmission. I don¡¯t believe there¡¯s any chance of that though.

    ¡°My Lord, I brought the guests over.¡±

    ¡°Have theme in.¡±

    The voice I heard from the other side of the door sounded younger than I expected. I was a bit puzzled because of that. If I remembered the stuff I researched beforehand correctly, I¡¯m sure that Bar Raydias was supposed to be getting on in years already.

    ¡°Wee, Lord Hiro. Lady Elma. I am Hartmut Magnelli. Viscount Gunther Magnelli¡¯s eldest son, and House Magnelli¡¯s heir apparent. Pleased to make your acquaintance.¡±

    The person who greeted me and Elma inside the private room was a handsome man who appeared to be the same age or even younger than us.

    Oh. So, he¡¯s Hartmut Magnelli huh? Okay?

    ¡°Oh, uh¡­¡­ Hello. I¡¯m the mercenary, Captain Hiro. It¡¯s an honor to meet you, but¡­¡­ I believe we made an appointment with Bar Raydias though?¡±

    I took my helmet off and held it under my left armpit just like Elma instructed earlier, and then voiced my concern. Hartmut nodded and opened his mouth to respond.

    ¡°Apologies. Lord Fabian was relieved of his post as the steward of the Reemay system earlier this morning due to poor health, and I was appointed as his recement instead. By the order of my father. You made an appointment with Lord Fabian before he was relieved, and that led to this situation, Lord Hiro. However, I am now the acting governor of this system, so if you have any business with him, you can run it through me instead. I do hope you understand.¡±

    ¡°Got it. Actually, our purpose foring here is¡­¡­¡±

    I gave Elma a quick nce, and she shrugged her shoulders without saying anything in response. Did that mean everything¡¯s fine? Well, I should just go ahead and try it, I suppose. It¡¯s not like I was particrly well-versed in negotiating with nobles anyway. Let¡¯s just go straight to the point.

    ¡°There¡¯s a high chance that we¡¯ll be heading into a seedier part of the lower districtter on for some personal business. I thought it was a good idea to give you a heads-up in advance since we might need to get a little, err, rough.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Lord Hiro, are you actually asking me to issue a letter of pardon that will absolve you from the act of killing the people living in my territory?¡±

    ¡°Are you mistaking me for some sort of bloodthirsty killer¡­¡­? I¡¯ll only fight back when attacked first, so my actions are just for self-defense y¡¯know? It¡¯s not like I¡¯m gonna go to the lower district to cause a bloodbath just for kicks.¡±

    I immediately refuted the frowning Hartmut while disying a bitter smile. It would be fine if nothing actually happens while we¡¯re down there, but just in case something did, I simply wanted to avoid unnecessary trouble by letting the authorities know in advance.

    ¡°Forgive me. It¡¯s just that there have been many rumors of your various¡­¡­ exploits.¡±

    ¡°Just what kind of rumors are they spreading anyway¡­¡­? I really wanna find out for myself.¡±

    ¡°Stop that. Just let them say whatever they want.¡±

    Elma warned me against my thoughts as I held my head in frustration. Since she was warning me not to mind the matter, I wonder if she already had an idea about the content of those rumors herself. I¡¯ll have her tell me about themter. As gently as possible.

    ¡°Well, we¡¯re aware of the colony¡¯s current state, so we just didn¡¯t want to cause too much trouble if we can help it. It¡¯s just that I have a certain knack for getting into trouble, so¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Understood. Thank you for informing me in advance. I will notify the soldiers and security personnel to give you all the utmost consideration.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. We¡¯d really appreciate that. Though they probably won¡¯t be much of an apology, we do have medical supplies brought over from the Alein system among our cargo, and we¡¯ll provide them at a reasonable price. They¡¯re still loaded inside our mothership. The number of supplies isn¡¯t that much, but we do hope they will be of some help.¡±

    ¡°Many thanks. The merchants seem to be taking advantage of the situation and have been steadily raising their prices after all.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll send you the item listter.¡±

    The reason we were selling them for a reasonable price and not providing them for free instead was to avoid being saddled with a debt of gratitude. We could have given them for free so Hartmut would owe us a favor, but it was honestly troublesome to do so if the other party was a noble. That¡¯s why it was better to frame it as a business transaction instead, in order to avoid all the potential hupster down the line. And judging from Hartmut¡¯s response, it seemed that we made a good call.

    We¡¯ll have more agency when moving around inside the colony. And in exchange, we¡¯ll sell them medical supplies at reasonable prices. It¡¯s a fair deal.

    ¡°How long do you expect to stay in the colony?¡±

    ¡°We probably won¡¯t stay that long here. This ce isn¡¯t exactly suitable for our line of work right now either.¡±

    Aside from the pandemic that was going on, it just took too much time and effort to leave and enter the port due to the quarantine measures being imposed. There was probably a good number of space pirates targeting merchant ships carrying those valuable medical supplies, but it wasn¡¯t worth going through the trouble of hunting them down due to all the effort it took simply to get in and out of the colony.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ I might need to rely on your expertise for something during your stay here, so if that timees¨C¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll consider it as long as you run it by the Mercenary Guild first. However, whether or not we¡¯ll actually ept the request still depends on the terms.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I do hope you wouldn¡¯t make it too expensive to hire your services though.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t afford to sell my skills for a bargain price, so please temper your expectations.¡±

    If I offered my services for cheap, it might cause issues for the other tinum-rankers. And that might lead to me bing the subject of their ire. That¡¯s why I won¡¯t ever work for cheap. No matter what.

 Chapter 409: Next Objective

    After meeting up with Hartmut, Elma and I excused ourselves using the pretext that we didn¡¯t want to intrude any further since they must be busy dealing with the pandemic, left the upper district entirely, and started headed for our next objective.

    ¡°Entering and leaving the colony is pretty troublesome, but it seems like you can actually sightsee, or rather, just stroll around the upper district without any problems. The fact that it¡¯s close to the spaceport is also a plus.¡±

    ¡°Right. The public order here seems to be good, and there¡¯s also no danger of getting infected. But is that really advisable? In this sort of situation?¡±

    ¡°Probably not.¡±

    If we were nning an extended stay, it¡¯s probably gonna be necessary to go outside the ship and take a breather asionally, but we weren¡¯t nning to stick around that long, so it didn¡¯t make sense to go out of our way to take the risk and sightsee. And due to the ongoing pandemic, the avability of goods and supplies was being affected. As a result, the prices of goods and services were gradually increasing. It was honestly not worth the expense. And finally, the upper district being mostly clean didn¡¯t actually mean there was absolutely no chance of getting infected here.

    ¡°I should probably get in touch with the others now¡­¡­ Can you read me, guys? We¡¯re about to pass the gate and head for our other objective.¡±

    ¡ºYes, Master. Our connection is stable. Please be careful.¡»

    When I used themand link function installed in mybat helmet to contact ck Lotus before passing through the gate between the upper and lower districts, I heard Mei¡¯s voice reply to me immediately. It looks like the connection didn¡¯t have any problems. Good. I¡¯ll test the video feed next.

    ¡ºThe video¡¯sing through as well¡­¡­ Wow. The atmosphere¡¯s kinda oppressive.¡»

    ¡°Hiro here was actually worried that a riot might break out earlier.¡±

    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t deny that, but don¡¯t say something like that out loud, okay¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like they¡¯re gonna get angry if they heard something like that, so it¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡ºHahaha, Elma¡¯s really quite gutsy.¡»

    Elma being gutsy huh¡­¡­? Well, I suppose that¡¯s one way to put it. She really does disy a tough and no-nonsense attitude often. I suppose you can call her character the gutsy heroine-type. But far from being a heroine, she wasparatively more docile in bed though.

    ¡°¡­¡­What?¡±

    ¡°Oh, nothing.¡±

    As I gazed at her side profile while we were getting examined before passing through the gate, Elma responded by ring at me. I wasn¡¯t thinking of anything particrly weird y¡¯know? I tried to make excuses inwardly, but it looks like she was still somewhat suspicious of me. I believe that mybat helmet¡¯s visor wasn¡¯t transparent right now, so Elma shouldn¡¯t have been able to notice that I was gazing at her. Just how was she able to pinpoint my exact line of sight? Uncanny.

    ¡°The examination isplete. Please be careful out there.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    Compared to when we entered, the examination before leaving the upper district was faster. Well, I suppose that¡¯s a given. It¡¯s not like we were carrying a lot of baggage, and the only stuff they needed to check were our weapons.

    Incidentally, we only brought a few pieces of equipment with us this time around. I sported my usual short and long swords, myser gun, a spare energy pack, and an emergency medical nanomachine unit in case I got injured. Elma¡¯s equipment loadout was mostly the same as mine aside from the swords. Other than those, we also brought our portable information terminals and some calorie bars just in case something happenster that prevents us froming back to the ship and having a proper meal.

    Actually, we had other emergency rations that were more portable, but they were so bad that they were stored in the ck Lotus as ast result.

    Eh? What kind of rations were they? Well, they were basically like slightlyrge nutrition tablets that you can take with water. Once taken, they¡¯d make you feel full for a whole day. They react with water and expand in volume inside your stomach, resulting in that feeling of fullness. They were basically tasteless though.

    ¡°Please navigate us to the target destination.¡±

    ¡ºGot it! I¡¯ll disy the minimap and locator on the visor of yourbat helmet, Hiro-sama.¡»

    As soon as Mimi said so, the minimap popped up on mybat helmet¡¯s visor. The minimap was, as its name suggested, a small map. The locator was an auxiliary function of the minimap that visually indicated specific locations on it. To put it simply, the path to an objective was disyed on the minimap as a highlighted line. We weren¡¯t heading to some kind ofary mining ship, right? That pathogen won¡¯t suddenly mutate and start to reanimate corpses, will it?

    ¡°So, where exactly are we going anyway? Oh, I don¡¯t mean the general area. I wanna know what kind of building or facility we¡¯re heading to.¡±

    ¡ºOh, did I forget ta mention it, Boss? Mm, how should I put it? An orphanage? Nursery? Well, somethin¡¯ along those lines anyway.¡»

    ¡°You don¡¯t sound quite sure.¡±

    ¡°But aren¡¯t we heading to an area with really poor public order¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡ºNee-san, no matter how bad the public order is, as long as there are men and women, children¡¯ll still get born. And some of them get thrown away cuz their parents can¡¯t afford to raise them. But the government doesn¡¯t like it when dead children are just left out in the open. And the less-upstandin¡¯ folks don¡¯t wanna give the government any reasons to officially intrude on their interests. That¡¯s why such a ce was basically created by them. It takes in such children so the number of those dyin¡¯ a dog¡¯s death out in the streets were kept to a minimum at least.¡»

    ¡°That¡¯s good, I guess?¡±

    ¡ºIt does not sound like a good situation for those poor children to be in either¡­¡­¡»

    ¡ºWell, no matter what, ya can¡¯t really avoid the influence of those shady folks. But since some of those guys also lived in the facility at some point, the situation ain¡¯t as bad as it can be fer the most part.¡»

    ¡°Things in this world can¡¯t really be divided cleanly into good and evil after all.¡±

    I¡¯m not sure how many underground criminal factions were active in this colony¡¯s lower district, but judging from Tina¡¯s descriptions, the orphanage or nursery we were about to head to was a sort of non-aggression zone, buffer zone, or neutral zone for them.

    ¡°And you were also under their care for a time, Tina?¡±

    ¡ºNn, well¡­¡­ I suppose. They did take care of me, or rather, I owe them a lot. ¡­¡­Anyway, a lot¡¯s happened in the past. I do have more acquaintances here, but I¡¯m most worried about them right now.¡»

    ¡°What about those other acquaintances?¡±

    ¡ºI¡¯m worried about them too, but we¡¯re all adults now. That means they gotta wipe their own behinds fer the most part. Rather than that, I just wanna focus on those that need help the most¡­¡­ That¡¯s what I¡¯m thinkin¡¯ anyway.¡»

    ¡°I see.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t sure about how exactly Tina and the orphanage facility were connected, but based on what she said earlier, I can surmise that the facility was treading a very fine line. It was in a very precarious position. And now that the power bnce between the various underground criminal organizations has likely copsed due to the pandemic, there¡¯s no telling what could have happened to them.

    ¡°Anyway, we should just head there first before deciding our next course of action.¡±

    ¡°Right. But let¡¯s not rush things.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, ma¡¯am.¡±

    We¡¯ll get there eventually as long as we followed the direction of the locator. It was a little far so I would like to secure a ride first, but¡­¡­ if that¡¯s not possible, then I guess we just gotta walk.

    ¡°¡­¡­This is the ce, right?¡±

    ¡°The minimap¡¯s locator is indicating this building, so yes.¡±

    We spent thirty to forty minutes walking before finally reaching our target destination. We reached it without any problems through the guidance of the rest of the crew in the Lotus. However¡­¡­

    ¡°It¡¯s quite battered.¡±

    ¡°There are also obviousser marks left on the outer walls.¡±

    The outside of the building was already in utter tatters. An intense fight probably broke out here. The scorch marks were likely from lethal high-outputser weaponry, and the traces of reddish ck substances scattered here and there were perhaps blood stains. There was most likely an intense battle between a force that hunkered down near the entrance of the building and one stationed near the alley facing the building.

    ¡º¡­¡­Boss, can you enter inside? I wanna find out what happened. Please.¡»

    ¡°Gotcha. Hey, Elma.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll back you up.¡±

    It may be because of the battle traces, but the surroundings were literally deserted. Even after approaching the building, there were no signs of anyone checking us out. Hence, the residents of the other nearby buildings probably either ran away or were hiding and trying their best not to get involved in the mess.

    I ced my right hand on the hilt of my long sword, opened the door of the building with my left, and stepped inside.

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    When I began to concentrate my senses, I felt several signs of life within the building. Kugi had fully awakened my psionic abilities, so since then, I¡¯ve been doing something akin to training from time to time. Just recently, I¡¯ve be able to catch the presence of living things quite clearly as long as they were close enough. To be exact, I was able to sense their mental waves. I can sense them even through armor or walls that were able to withstand direct hits from abat ship¡¯sser cannon.

    ¡°How is it?¡±

    ¡°I sense several people inside. There are probably three or four adults among them. The rest are children. There seem to be at least seven children. This is just my spection, but I suspect some of them are quite ill.¡±

    The life signs of some of them were clearly weak. They didn¡¯t seem to be purposefully trying to hide their presence either. They were simply too weak.

    ¡°I think stepping inside without warning will be pretty dangerous.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Shall we call out to them first then?¡±

    This ce was connected to the criminal elements of this colony after all. And judging from the signs of devastation outside the building, it was highly possible that at least some of the people inside we armed with weapons. Moreover, they were probably lethal high-outputser guns. Even a child can kill an adult with aser gun, so it wouldn¡¯t hurt to be careful.

    I left my back to Elma and proceeded to the interior of the facility, toward the room where I sensed the presence of people. Hmm. There were no obvious battle traces inside the facility itself huh? It was slightly dirty, but there were no signs of it being roughed up. Were they able to prevent the enemy from intruding inside? Or perhaps the defenders got wiped out at the entrance, and the other force was able to sessfully intrude inside without any resistance.

    ¡°It¡¯s here.¡±

    ¡°Should we knock?¡±

    ¡°No, let¡¯s just call out to them. And it seems they¡¯ve already noticed our footsteps anyway¡­¡­ Hey, can you hear me in there? I was asked by an acquaintance of yours to check up on you guys. Can you open the door and let us in for a bit?¡±

    There was no response. I think they were probably hesitating about what they¡¯d do because there were signs of amotion urring inside.

    ¡ºBoss, tell them the red-haired repairdy sent ya.¡»

    ¡°Okay. The acquaintance I mentioned is the red-haired repairdy. She asked us to see how you guys were doing. Anyway, I swear we mean you no harm.¡±

    There was anothermotion on the other side, and before long, the door was finally unlocked.

    ¡°¡­¡­Don¡¯t make any suspicious moves.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha.¡±

    The door finally opened, and a spunky-looking boy peeked out from the inside. He held a smallser gun in his hand. Yep, they were definitely armed alright.

    Since he only went up to my chest, I was able to get a peek inside the room, and what I saw was rming. Everyone except for the boy looked clearly unwell, and among them, the adults, in particr, seemed exhausted to the point that they were unable to get up anymore.

    ¡°That¡¯s quite a sorry sight.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be damned. What a mess. Oh, Mei. Can you please hold Tina back and make sure she doesn¡¯t do anything rash.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood, Elma-sama. I am already doing so.¡»

    ¡ºLet go of meee¨C!¡»

    ¡ºCalm down, Big Sis¨C!¡»

    Tina and Wiska¡¯s raised voices can be heard clearly through thems. I understood where Tina wasing from, but for the time being, there wasn¡¯t anything much that she can do even if she rushed here in person, so I hope she can calm down first.

    ¡°Can we speak with them?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­If it¡¯s just talking, then probably.¡±

    When I asked the boy if it was possible to talk to the adults lying at the back of the room, he nodded affirmatively. If that¡¯s the case, I suppose it will be better to do something about the adult¡¯s weakened states first so we can talk properly.

    However, why was this boy still looking quite spry despite only wearing a regr mask? Was he gifted with a super-strong immune system from birth or something? Anyway, we need to do something about the weakened people first before anything else.

 Chapter 410: Grasping the Situation

    ¡°For now, let¡¯s confirm the situation first¡­¡­ But before that, allow us to introduce ourselves. My name¡¯s Hiro. I¡¯m a mercenary.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Elma. I¡¯m also a mercenary like this guy.¡±

    After introducing ourselves, Elma and I turned our helmet¡¯s visors transparent and showed our faces. With that, the boy holding aser gun seemed to have let his guard down a bit. Well, rather than people who hid their faces and identities, people who properly introduced themselves would probably seem more trustworthy after all.

    ¡°The reason we came here to check up on you guys is, like I said earlier, because of that red-haired repairdy¡­¡­ Man, this is too tedious. Anyway, it¡¯s because Tina was worried about you guys.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really know that person myself, but¡­¡­¡±

    The boy holding aser gun turned his eyes to the bedridden adults at the back. Well, they were probably the ones who were more familiar with Tina, as expected. Anyway, we had no choice but to speak with them instead.

    ¡°Doc Shouko.¡±

    ¡ºOkay. I¡¯ll perform a basic diagnosis using the scan function of yourbat helmet, soe closer to them, please.¡»

    ¡°Got it. I¡¯ll approach them in order to perform a scan. Is that fine?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Okay.¡±

    After hesitating for a bit, the boy eventually nodded. In any case, I¡¯m d things were proceeding rtively smoothly so far.

    ¡°I¡¯ll check which of the children are showing more severe symptoms.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    Afterward, I worked together with Elma to scan the people in the room in order to perform a triage ¨C prioritization ording to the degree of urgency and the severity of the illness.

    ¡°How many have you brought with you?¡±

    ¡°I brought two. You?¡±

    ¡°Three. Just barely enough for all of them.¡±

    After performing scans on all of them, we found that three adults and two children were in critical condition. That¡¯s why I asked Elma how many medical nanomachine units she brought with her.

    ¡ºThat ss of medical nanomachine units will buy them some time at least.¡»

    ¡°As expected, these won¡¯t be enough to cure them huh?¡±

    ¡ºThose medical nanomachine units can basically only perform surgical treatments. Even after administering them, they won¡¯t be able to improve the patient¡¯s immune functions or induce the production of antibodies, so I believe the symptoms will manifest again before long.¡»

    ¡°I see.¡±

    The medical nanomachine units were capable of ¡®regenerating¡¯ the internal organs that have been damaged by diseases, thereby temporarily letting the sick and weakened patients to recover. However, just as Doc Shouko said, they don¡¯t actually strengthen the patient¡¯s immune functions, so they had a high chance of getting re-infected.

    ¡ºIn any case, those five people will be in danger if you don¡¯t treat them as soon as you can.¡»

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    Using painless gun-type injectors, Elma and I administered medical nanomachines to the three adults and two children with particrly severe symptoms.

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­ Guuuuh!?¡±

    ¡°Uwaaaah!?¡±

    ¡°Hey, what the heck did you guys do!?¡±

    ¡°Err, we just administered medical nanomachines to them, but¡­¡­ Uh, Doc?¡±

    ¡ºRight now, medical nanomachines are dismantling and rebuilding their damaged internal organs and dealing with the pathogens in their bodies. If internal organs such as the lungs are extensively damaged, one will feel a certain degree of pain when undergoing nanomachine treatment. They will stabilize soon, so don¡¯t worry.¡»

    Just as Dr. Shouko said, the patients suffering from pain after getting administered with medical nanomachines all calmed down in less than a minute. Putting the adults aside, the two children ended up particrly exhausted from the ordeal.

    ¡°The children are out cold though.¡±

    ¡ºThey¡¯ll be fine soon.¡»

    ¡°It¡¯s quite unbearable to see such young children suffering.¡±

    I¡¯d like to do whatever we can for them, but we have to understand the situation first. Fortunately, the three adults appeared to have regained some strength thanks to the nanomachine treatment.

    ¡°Uh¡­¡­ Hey, kid.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What?¡±

    ¡°Have the ones who can eat fill their stomachs first. We haven¡¯t brought that many of these, so just make sure everyone has a portion. We¡¯ll bring you some more foodter.¡±

    After saying so, I gave the boy calorie bars and a water bottle. I gave Elma a nce, and she nodded in response. After all, their bodies willck the strength to fight off the pathogens without enough nutrients. Fortunately, the calorie bars we brought weren¡¯t only rich in calories. They were also fortified with various nutrients. They were better than nothing, at least.

    ¡°Thank you for your help, sir.¡±

    ¡°S¡¯all good.¡±

    ¡°Fufu¡­¡­ The way you talked just now definitely reminds me of that girl. How nostalgic.¡±

    One of the adults who regained some of their strength, a woman named Airia, smiled after hearing my impression of Tina¡¯s speech pattern. She looked about the same age as me and had a gentle atmosphere about her. And her hair color was¡­¡­ light pink? Was that actually her hair¡¯s natural color? It¡¯s kinda funky. I wouldn¡¯t exactly call her drop-dead gorgeous, but she was definitely quite charming.

    ¡°Actually, we expected that you guys got caught up in the pandemic, but we didn¡¯t imagine you¡¯d get involved in such a tragedy as well¡­¡­ Just what happened here anyway?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t really anything particrly special. Basically, it was looting. How much has Tina told you about our situation?¡±

    ¡°Oh, uh, we¡¯ve heard that this ce was operating with the support of the gangs and mafias active in this area.¡±

    ¡°Knowing that is enough. The people we took care of in this facility in the past prepared medicine, food, and water for us before the pandemic really took off, but thugs unaffiliated with the organizations supporting us attacked us for those very supplies.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­? But isn¡¯t that like spitting in the face of the gangs and mafia organizations behind you guys?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true, but those organizations have basically fallen apart already.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­¡±

    In other words, the order built by the criminal organizations copsed due to the pandemic, and as a result, this facility was attacked without any qualms.

    ¡°This situation shouldn¡¯t have ended after killing off all the previous attackers, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. However, this ce no longer has anything worth looting left. So, I believe we won¡¯t be suffering any more attacks.¡±

    After saying so, Airiaughed in a self-deprecating manner. But this situation certainly was noughing matter.

    ¡°So, what do we actually do about this?¡±

    If we only needed to consider their immediate needs, then helping them will be simple. Tina should have more than enough funds to support them, and if she stilles up short somehow, she can always ask Wiska for help. I don¡¯t mind chipping in myself either. However, even if it was easy for us to provide economic assistance, all that will be meaningless if they can be snatched from the people here through violent means. If done poorly, it will have the opposite effect and will put them in even more danger.

    ¡°Us staying here indefinitely in order to protect them is out of the question¡­¡­ So, the first option is to kill all the thugs who are likely to loot them after we leave.¡±

    ¡°Just how many do we have to kill if we did that¡­¡­? Do you really want to cause a bloodbath here?¡±

    ¡°Um, most of the looters are only desperately trying to survive, so¡­¡­¡±

    Elma gave me an exasperated look, and Airia rushed to dissuade me. No, uh, that was just a joke,dies. C¡¯mon.

    ¡°The second option is to deploy burlybat bots here as guards.¡±

    ¡°But there¡¯s a high risk of their OS getting cracked if no one is here to properly look after them, right? And then, those bots might even turn their weapons against the people here.¡±

    ¡°Do you guys have someone who can properly look after the bots here? No one? Then it¡¯s no good.¡±

    Airia shook her head in response to my question, so the second n was a bust as well.

    ¡°Option 3, push all responsibility to Hartmut.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about that man¡¯s actual character since we just met him, but will he really go out of his way to take care of an orphanage that was previously supported by criminal gangs and mafia?¡±

    ¡°Back when we were negotiating, didn¡¯t he get really upset when he thought that I was asking for official authorization to kill the citizens of his territory? Doesn¡¯t that mean he does value them to a certain extent? It might be worth trying out. Who knows, right?¡±

    ¡°Um, just who is this Hartmut person¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a noble who just reced the steward of this colony a few days ago. It seems that the previous one was dismissed because he was unable to prevent the pandemic from worsening. By the way, the new steward is the viscount¡¯s eldest son¡­¡­ In other words, he¡¯s the viscount¡¯s heir apparent.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe any noble will actually care about us though¡­¡­ Oh, no, I suppose there are exceptions after all. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°Oh, uh, I may have these with me, but I¡¯m actually just an honorary noble. So, you don¡¯t need to mind me too much.¡±

    Elma and Airia were skeptical, but I believe there¡¯s a chance the third option might work. The reason why this colony was divided into upper and lower districts, and why the lower district¡¯s public order was extremely bad, was probably because of the policies of the previous steward. However, there might be a change in policies because of his recement.

    After all, this pandemic has caused a considerable amount of damage to the most troublesome elements in the lower district ¨C the criminal gangs and mafia organizations. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if Hartmut was already contemting wiping out the criminal remnants and bringing a new order to the lower district due to this development.

    ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s say that Hartmut really does care for the citizens. There¡¯s still no reason for him to give preferential treatment to this facility in particr, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s true. I think it¡¯s possible he¡¯d consider it if I asked him personally, but I¡¯m a bit afraid of the consequences¡­¡­ Hmm. It will be nice if we have some sort of benefit to use as a bargaining chip. How about emphasizing the increase in his administration¡¯s approval rating if he agrees to take care of this ce?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe nobles concern themselves with such trivial things though¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That might not be the case here, but¡­¡­ Well, sometimes, they do only look at things as numbers and variables.¡±

    For those at the top, those below them might appear as nothing more than numbers. There were even situations where this might be necessary. Otherwise, the management and smooth operation of territories might suffer. If leaders persisted in considering the circumstances of each and every citizen under them when deciding on policies, it might be impossible to carry out effective administration.

    ¡ºHiro-kun, can you hear me out for a bit?¡»

    ¡°Hm? What¡¯s up, Doc?¡±

    ¡ºIsn¡¯t there one child among those people who seems to be doing quite well despite the pandemic? Maybe that kid will be the key to solving this whole situation.¡»

    ¡°I don¡¯t get it. Why is she gonna be the key?¡±

    As I talked to Dr. Shouko over thems, I nced at the boy who was giving a portion of a calorie bar to another kid with rtively milder symptoms.

    ¡ºThat kid who appears to be asymptomatic might actually be immune to the fungal pathogens. If we can figure out exactly why that is, we might be able toe up with a permanent cure for the pandemic.¡»

    ¡°In other words, we can use that as a bargaining chip when negotiating with Hartmut?¡±

    ¡ºThere¡¯s a chance, right? I¡¯m sure that guy also wants this pandemic to end as soon as possible. Wouldn¡¯t a permanent cure be suitable as a powerful bargaining chip?¡»

    ¡°Well, yeah, but will making that bargaining chip really be that easy?¡±

    ¡ºOf course, not. But with the equipment installed in the Lotus, it¡¯s very possible. I¡¯ll prove that all those expensive pieces of equipment are worth every Enel.¡»

    Dr. Shouko¡¯s confident voice resounded from thems. I see. If that¡¯s the case, then it might be worth a try. I turned my gaze toward the boy.

    ¡°¡­¡­What?¡±

    The boy had just finished distributing all the food we gave him.

    ¡°Hey, are you fine with boarding my ship for a bit?¡±

    ¡°Haaah!?¡±

    The boy raised his voice and pulled out hisser gun. Hey, stop. Why are you trying to pull out your weapon all of a sudden?

    ¡°¨C! Will everyone here be saved if I agree?¡±

    ¡°Well, I suppose the chances are high that they¡¯ll be saved.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I got it. I¡¯ll board your ship.¡±

    The boy¡¯s shoulders dropped as he nodded. Good. I was worried about what was gonna happen if he really drew his gun earlier. I can¡¯t just cut or shoot him in retaliation, of course. And moreover, we¡¯ve already used up our medical nanomachine units. It would have been very troublesome if he got injured.

    ¡°U-Um, can¡­¡­ can I go instead of this child?¡±

    Airia pleaded in a suspiciously desperate manner.

    ¡°Well, uh, it¡¯s no good if it¡¯s not that kid.¡±

    ¡°P-Please¡­¡­ This child is just too young for something like that. I will serve you no matter how many times you wish, so please take me instead.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm? Hold on. I feel like there¡¯s something wrong with this conversation. Elma, help me out here.¡±

    I felt quite ufortable when Airia suddenly clung to me, so I turned to Elma for help, only to find her giving me the stink eye. What? What did I do?

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon. If you don¡¯t properly exin the situation to them and then suddenly bring up boarding your ship, of course, they¡¯d misunderstand.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­? Ah! Eh? You¡¯re talking about that? No, wait! That¡¯s not what I meant. Our ship¡¯s doctor said we might be able to find a permanent cure for the pandemic through the kid because she doesn¡¯t seem to have contracted the disease yet despite being exposed to the pathogens like everyone else¡­¡­ Oh, damn. Did they not hear Dr. Shouko earlier?¡±

    Well, of course, they didn¡¯t. I forgot to switch thems to speaker mode. That¡¯s why my suggestion took them by surprise and sounded so wrong.

    ¡°Or rather, you were actually a girl huh?¡±

    ¡°Well, sorry for not being girly enough!¡±

    While baring her canines, the girl I previously assumed to be a boy became red-faced and performed a sharp kick. Hahaha, you won¡¯t be able to hurt me with a kick like that since I¡¯m wearingbat armor kiddo. Or rather, you¡¯d end up hurting yourself instead. See? I told you.

    ¡°Anyway, allow me to exin properly. ording to our ship¡¯s doctor¡­¡­¡±

    I ignored the young girl¡¯s attack, exined the situation to Airia, and obtained her permission to have the girl board our ship for a while.

 Chapter 411: Temporary Boarding

    ¡°And so, Linda here will be temporarily boarding the ship.¡±

    ¡°Uh, hi¡­¡­¡±

    Linda, the girl I mistook for a boy, bowed toward the rest of our crew while acting as meek as a cat in the break space of the Lotus.

    Elma and I, together with Dr. Shouko through thems, exined the situation in detail to the people at the orphanage facility, then temporarily returned to the ck Lotus with Linda in tow.

    ¡°It¡¯s great that you guys brought her over quickly. The sooner we perform tests on her, the better.¡±

    Dr. Shouko seemed particrly excited. It looks like she was looking forward to ying an active role and showing her stuff.

    ¡°Hey Doc, why don¡¯t we show her around the ship first?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Though we don¡¯t know for exactly how long, we¡¯ll be living together with her inside the ship after all.¡±

    ¡°You should be feeling anxious about suddenlying to a ce filled with people you¡¯re not familiar with, right? If you have any concerns, feel free to ask any of us, okay?¡±

    ¡°Kay¡­¡­¡±

    Tina, Mimi, and Wiska immediately crowded around Linda. Wiska was strangely a lot more weing than usual¡­¡­ Was she especially fond of the kid? Maybe it was just her maternal instincts kicking in? Or perhaps she just wanted to act like the older sister(?) for once.

    ¡°But as expected, it¡¯s really troublesome to go in and out of the colony interior.¡±

    ¡°Good work out there, My Lord.¡±

    When I plopped myself down on the sofa while watching the rest of the crew members trying hard to get along with Linda, Kugi sat down next to me in quite a natural fashion. She then ced her fluffy tails on top of my knees. I suppose she was simply trying to care for me. Ah, my stress was melting away simply from touching these fluffy tails.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hey, is everyone in this ship female apart from that guy?¡±

    ¡°Right. We¡¯re kinda like Boss¡¯s harem.¡±

    ¡°You too¡­¡­? You look like you¡¯re the same age as me though?¡±

    ¡°Ahaha. We¡¯re dwarves after all. We¡¯re much older than you think, Linda.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re actually as old as Airia. ¡¯bout the same age as Boss.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Seriously?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m actually the closest in age to you among all of us, Linda-chan!¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡­ Well, that may be the case, but¡­¡­¡±

    Linda was making aplicated expression as she looked at Mimi who was proudly puffing her chest out. Did she feel a sense of despair due to the overwhelming difference in armor thickness? Well, I suppose it¡¯s something to that effect. Mimi was only about 5 centimeters taller than her after all.

    ¡°In conclusion, he¡¯s an outrageously lewd guy.¡±

    Linda looked at me as if she was looking at absolute filth. Oh, c¡¯mon. You didn¡¯t have to praise me that much, y¡¯know?

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°And he¡¯s acting all smug about it too.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. Don¡¯t worry. I have absolutely no intention ofying my hands on you.¡±

    ¡°If you even dare, I¡¯m gonna kick your balls so hard, they¡¯re gonna shoot straight to your brain.¡±

    ¡°Count me in. I¡¯ll tten them.¡±

    ¡°Me too. I¡¯m gonna smash ¡¯em in, Boss.¡±

    ¡°How scary.¡±

    Aside from Linda, hearing that kind of threat from Elma and Tina was seriously scary. But I really don¡¯t have anypulsion toy my hands on Linda, so there¡¯s nothing to worry about.

    Linda¡¯s looks were¡­¡­ well, pretty decent, I guess. I can say that now that I¡¯ve gotten a better look at her.

    However, she was hopelessly t as a board, and coupled with her boyish getup, she could definitely be mistaken for a boy. That¡¯s why I think they really can¡¯t me me for not realizing that she was a girl at first.

    I mean, I could have eventually realized it on my own if I got a better look at her back then, but my attention was taken by theser gun she was wielding, so I ultimately failed to do so. That¡¯s why me failing to recognize Linda was a girl was an honest mistake.

    ¡°Anyway, you¡¯re gonna be staying on this ship for a while and participating in Dr. Shouko¡¯s research. If everything goes well, this colony and the orphanage will be saved, and everyone will be happy in the end.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine and all, but why are you going out of your way to help us? What will you gain from doing this?¡±

    ¡°I personally won¡¯t have anything much to gain from all of this. But it looks like Tina¡¯s owes the orphanage a lot. Since Tina wants to help you guys, it¡¯s only natural for me to help you as well as her partner.¡±

    ¡°Thank you fer doin¡¯ this, Boss. Really.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have you repay all my hard work with your bodyter. Hehehe.¡±

    ¡°Are you really okay with this guy?¡±

    ¡°Whenever Big Brother jokes around like that, he usually does it to hide his embarrassment.¡±

    ¡°Uh, can you stop outing me like that, Wiska?¡±

    Wiska¡¯s words were really on point, so I hope she¡¯d stop doing that. Even if that really was the case, please just turn a blind eye to it. I¡¯m begging you.

    ¡°Uh, I¡¯m sorry for cutting this chat short, but we really should start the tests soon. It¡¯s not like we have much time to spare.¡±

    Dr. Shouko, who was watching the rest of the crew members gradually start to get along with Linda, suddenly cut into the conversation. Right. We really were getting a bit too rxed despite the situation.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. Let¡¯s go ahead with that then. Tina, don¡¯t do anything rash, okay?¡±

    ¡°I gotcha, Boss. I ain¡¯t gonna get outta the ship without permission. I promise.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good then. Mimi, how are the preparations?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve finished loading everything!¡±

    ¡°Great. Then let¡¯s get going¡­¡­ Mei.¡±

    ¡°Please leave it to me.¡±

    Thirty minutester. Having prepared ourselves for another foray within the colony, we entered Reemay Prime once more.

    ¡°Hmm. There are only trace amounts, but there are definitely spores in the air. Oh, aside from getting samples from patients, we also need to get our hands on pure pathogen samples somewhere¡­¡­¡±

    Wearing her full-body protective equipment, Dr. Shouko walked around the colony interior and scanned the surroundings with some kind of device. Right next to her was Mei, dressed in her usual maid uniform, who was acting as her escort. They were being followed by four military-gradebat bots with cargo pods on their backs. It was a strangebination of a researcher, a maid, andbat robots. And then there was me ¨C a guy with swords strapped to his waist.

    ¡°We¡¯re really standing out like this.¡±

    ¡°Standing out is part of the n.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s true.¡±

    Just what were we up to? Well, to put it simply, we were going back to the orphanage facility. When I and Elma first came there earlier, the symptoms of the people inside were particrly serious, and five of them were even at the risk of death. They were injected with medical nanomachine units, but that was nothing but a stopgap measure. Also, the symptoms shown by the children were severe as well, even if their lives weren¡¯t in immediate danger for the time being.

    Therefore, we¡¯re heading back to the facility to deal with the situation. Their supplies, including food, medicine, and water, were taken away by looters, so they were in need of support in that regard as well.

    And so, in order to avoid the situation of them getting looted again, we broughtbat bots with us as well.

    Eh? What about cracking countermeasures? That¡¯s actually why I brought Mei with us this time. The military-gradebat bots also had pretty strong electronic warfare security measures, so their systems won¡¯t get cracked that easily.

    Even so, their defenses might still get breached by hackers when given enough time, but we can probably manage for a week or two as long as Mei checks up on them regrly. It¡¯ll be hard to say if they were stationed there indefinitely though.

    ¡°By the way, Dr. Shouko. You administered universal vines to me, Elma, and Mimi before, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I did. I¡¯ve also gotten shot with it, of course. Tina and Wiska already got administered with the vine before as well, and even if it¡¯s of a different type, Kugi has been given a vine with simr effects before as well.¡±

    ¡°Then doesn¡¯t that mean none of us are gonna get infected with the disease here?¡±

    ¡°Well, yes and no. We¡¯re technically still gonna get infected. It¡¯s just that the symptoms won¡¯t be that serious, or they would be so weak that you wouldn¡¯t even notice them.¡±

    ¡°Then we actually don¡¯t need to wear these protective suits, right?¡±

    ¡°Even if the symptoms won¡¯t be noticeable, we¡¯re still gonna get infected. In other words, we¡¯d end up contaminating the ship. That¡¯s definitely gonna lead to a lot of trouble down the line, right?¡±

    ¡°I see. You¡¯re right.¡±

    Even if we didn¡¯t get sick ourselves, if the ship gets contaminated, we wouldn¡¯t be able to leave this colony. That¡¯s because we will end up bing carriers of the disease and eventually spread it around to other systems. That¡¯s why we can¡¯t allow ourselves to get infected.

    ¡°So, what good is that vine then?¡±

    ¡°To be precise, it isn¡¯t a vine but a nanomachine colony that strengthens the immune system¡­¡­ Well, I suppose calling it a vine is fine. That vine isn¡¯t meant for environments where a pandemic has already urred like in this colony. It¡¯s to prevent potentially deadly diseases from spreading so a pandemic wouldn¡¯t ur in the first ce. It¡¯s useful for preventing contagious diseases from affecting you, and situations likeing into contact with a ship that¡¯s contaminated with an unknown pathogen or crashnding on a that may be infested with unknown pathogens.¡±

    ¡°In other words, it¡¯s meant for situations where you might not have a chance to wear a protective suit and other sorts of emergencies. Prevention is better than cure, after all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s basically the purpose of vination in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    The universal vine wouldn¡¯t make you invincible against all illnesses. I¡¯ve learned something new again.

 Chapter 412: Providing Aid

    Chapter 412: Providing Aid

    We encountered no particr problems (since no one dared to try and attack our group) and arrived safely at the orphanage facility. We immediately unpacked and started treating Airia and the others.

    Dr. Shouko and Mei were the ones mainly performing the treatment, and thebat bots controlled by Mei served as their assistants. I decided to watch out for any potential raids, so I leaned against the wall and simply observed the situation.

    As I was doing so, Airia, who was the first to be treated, approached me.

    ¡°Thank you so much for all your help.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. This is all because of Tina, so you should save your thanks for her.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­¡±

    After hearing Tina¡¯s name, Airia disyed a gentle smile as her gaze wandered for a short while. She seemed to be acting hesitant¡­¡­

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ That girl is doing well¡­¡­ is she?¡±

    ¡°You mean Tina? Of course. Well, when we first decided toe to this colony by coincidence, her mental and emotional state became a bit unstable though. Aside from that, she¡¯s full of energy and tinkering with machines every day. Together with her younger sister, that is.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    After hearing my response, Airia showed a genuinely relieved expression. I¡¯m not sure about what exactly Tina and Airia¡¯s rtionship was, or what exactly happened before she decided to leave this colony. Tina hasn¡¯t said anything much about it after all. However, it was clear that Tina and Airia cared for each other. Knowing that is enough for me to do my best in helping her and the others living at the orphanage.

    ¡°By the way, who are the two adult men who copsed together with you? Are they employees of this ce?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not like that¡­¡­ Um, how should I put it? They are people who always help us out.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t actually exin much though¡­¡­?¡±

    As I tilted my head in puzzlement, one of the men in question approached us.

    ¡°Hey, you. What¡¯re you doing to Airia-san¨C Oww!?¡±

    ¡°Stop, you idiot. Bro, thanks for helping the children at the facility, Airia-san, and even us. We owe you one.¡±

    The first guy, who had the top of his blonde hair dyed a shocking purple, was hit strongly on the back of his head and forced to bow by the other guy who sported a blonde crew cut.

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember bing your bro, but¡­¡­ I¡¯ll ept the thanks. This guy seems unconvinced though.¡±

    ¡°Sorry. This punk has promise, but he¡¯s still wet behind the ears and doesn¡¯t understand how the world works yet. Please just let him off this once.¡±

    ¡°I may be a mercenary, but I¡¯m not gonna cut this guy in two just because of something like that. It¡¯s a different story if you attempt toy your hands on my crew though.¡±

    From what I¡¯ve seen, neither of them seemed to have undergone any special physical enhancements or gotten imnted with cybeic upgrades. If that¡¯s the case, then even if these guys were armed withser guns, five seconds would be enough to take both of them down.

    ¡°¨C!¡±

    The purple pudding-head and the blonde crew-cut guy stiffened in ce and gulped nervously after seeing my steely gaze. Did I scare them a bit too much? I¡¯m not nning on killing you guys so don¡¯t worry.

    ¡°So, who are you guys anyway?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Heintz, and this guy¡¯s Sieg. We¡¯re, uh¡­¡­ uninvited bodyguards, I guess.¡±

    That sure was a vague self-introduction. It didn¡¯t tell me anything concrete. Well, I suppose these guys weren¡¯t your typicalw-abiding citizens. Yep. They definitely weren¡¯t. I wouldn¡¯t go as far as to say that they smelled of blood, but they did appear to be used to violence. It¡¯s just the feeling they gave off.

    ¡°It¡¯s obvious that you aren¡¯t walking the straight and narrow. I already know which kinds of organizations were supporting this facility. I take it that you guys are part of such a group?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. But the organization that I and this guy belonged to is already in shambles¡­¡­ That¡¯s why we¡¯re now practically in limbo. But we feel like we still have to protect this ce, so yeah.¡±

    ¡°I kinda get it but kinda don¡¯t as well¡­¡­ But, well, even if your higher-ups are already in a mess, I suppose it¡¯s admirable that you still stood up for what you felt was right.¡±

    It was hard for a mercenary like me to understand stuff like that. Oh, but I suppose what I¡¯m doing right now was simr in a sense, right? I mean, I just couldn¡¯t refuse Tina after all. So, in a sense, these guys and I were kinda simr huh? They were probably doing this mostly for Airia¡¯s sake.

    ¡°For the time being, we¡¯re nning to stationbat bots here, but we don¡¯t n on staying in this colony indefinitely. That¡¯s why having guys like you here is a fortunate miscalction.¡±

    Even if Hartmut agrees to take this facility under his wing, as long as they didn¡¯t change location, a certain level of force was still necessary. After all, violence was basically something that can only be stopped by violence most of the time. If there were decent food, beds, and other supplies in a ce where there were only women and children, some people might not be able to resist.

    ¡°By the way, do you guys have proper equipment?¡±

    I lightly tapped the holster containing myser gun. The blonde crew-cut-sporting Heintz responded by taking out a ragged-lookingser gun that didn¡¯t seem to have undergone proper maintenance for years, and the purple pudding-head Sieg took out some sort of modified iron pipe. Yep. Crude as heck!

    ¡°¡­¡­Now, what do I do about this? I can give you guys some spares we have on the ship, but future maintenance will be a problem.¡±

    ¡°Bro?¡±

    ¡°Maybe you have some sort of special attachment to that, but to put it bluntly, it looks like nothing more than a worn-out weapon that¡¯s on the verge of turning into scrap. It¡¯s my belief that you need suitable equipment in order to do a good job. So, are there any decent sources of these sorts of equipment in this ce? And are any of them still open?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s one, but the prices should have been jacked up cuz of the current situation.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care about the price. Can you use Enels for transactions at that ce?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Take out your terminal.¡±

    Heintz took out his portable info terminal in a state of bewilderment. I also took out my own terminal and quickly transferred 50,000 Enels to Heintz.

    ¡°Huh!? Bro?¡±

    ¡°Use that to get what you guys need. Not just weapons. Buy armor as well. No matter how jacked up the prices are, I¡¯m sure that amount¡¯s more than enough to fully kit two people.¡±

    ¡°I actually think this is enough to cover ten¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll need a lot of stuff in this sort of situation. Use whatever¡¯s left as you please. C¡¯mon. Get moving while ourbat bots are guarding this ce.¡±

    I pointed to the room¡¯s door. Heintz hesitated for a short while, then bowed his head silently and left the room with Sieg. Even if it was only for the sake of showing force, I don¡¯t think they¡¯ve ever gotten themselves fully equipped with weapons andbat armor like me¡­¡­ Well, those two are most likely pros when ites to dealing with that sort of stuff in this colony. They¡¯ll probably be fine.

    ¡°It looks like you¡¯re done huh? Airia-kun was getting quite antsy you know?¡±

    ¡°I have a principle of not picking fights without being fully equipped after all. You done with the treatment, Doc?¡±

    ¡°Of course. It will take some time for them to fully recover though. I told you already, right? It¡¯s a disease that can be cured as long as you receive the proper treatment. The problem is that there¡¯s still a risk of getting re-infected, but it should be fine as long as they make sure to stay inside this facility and take proper precautions against infection.¡±

    Dr. Shouko turned her gaze toward the machine installed at the center of the room. It was a small space purification device, and it seemed to have the function of constantly purifying the air within the space it was installed in. Simply put, it was a machine that turned an enclosed space safe and sterile. The power of science was truly amazing.

    ¡°This facility looks a bit old, but it seems the airtightness of each room is fine for the most part. Since we¡¯ve treated everyone and made sure the air in this ce is clean, they should be fine for now. The problem is that this isn¡¯t a permanent solution.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re counting on you to make a permanent solution, Doc.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve secured some samples. I actually wanted to get my hands on a strain of the pathogen that hasn¡¯t infected people yet as well, but I suppose this will do.¡±

    Dr. Shouko turned her attention to a tightly sealed box that was the size of an armful. It contained samples of the airborne pathogens and samples taken from the adults and children in the orphanage facility.

    ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s get back to the¨C¡±

    When I turned toward Mei, I found her surrounded by a crowd. The children had gathered around Mei who was currently sitting on the floor.

    ¡°What a pretty dress.¡±

    ¡°Yes. The maid uniform is the most beautiful clothing article in the universe.¡±

    ¡°Your hair¡¯s so pretty as well,dy.¡±

    ¡°Yes. My hair is the most beautiful ck hair in the universe and was designed by my master.¡±

    ¡°So cool.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Maidroids are¨C¡­¡­¡±

    Mei answered the children perfunctorily, but she also seemed to be enjoying theirpany in her own way. The mecha-like parts she had in ce of ears did look quite cool, and the eyes of both the little girls and boys were sparkling in awe. I was in fullbat armor though, so why didn¡¯t the boys find me cool as well?

    ¡°It¡¯s because you have those swords on your waist.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Has the concept of ¡®swords = noble¡¯ already ingrained itself in the subconscious of the children here? I don¡¯t think there would be a lot of nobles who¡¯d act unreasonably against children, but I can¡¯t say there wouldn¡¯t be anyone at all. So, considering the children¡¯s safety, I suppose teaching them not to bother any nobles in the first ce was pretty reasonable. Offending nobles might lead to a lot of trouble after all.

    ¡°¡­¡­Let¡¯s wait a bit longer.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Just a bit, alright?¡±

    Dr. Shouko and I watched Mei getting surrounded by the children for a while longer.

 Chapter 413: Hearing Their Side of the Story

    ¡°Well then, I¡¯ll show you around the ship first!¡±

    After seeing off that mercenary guy named Hiro, the maidroid, and thatdy doctor, the big-chested girl named Mimi grabbed my hand and started leading me around. I don¡¯t really need to be led around like a kid and can walk on my own, but¡­¡­ pushing her away and ignoring her would feel bad, so I just let her pull me withoutining.

    ¡°Mimi seems to be really fired up about this.¡±

    ¡°Aww. She beat me to the punch¡­¡­¡±

    The twody dwarves followed behind us. Aside from different-colored hair, they looked practically the same. It¡¯s my first time seeing twins for real. There were no twins living in the orphanage after all. There¡¯s also anotherdy following after us. She said her name was Kugi. They already introduced themselves, but all I knew was that Mimi was close in age to me, and that Tina and Wiska were dwarves. Are those ears on top of Kugi¡¯s head and the tails behind her real?

    ¡°First of all, this here is the ship¡¯s break space!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s really big. Seems really expensive too.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s actually cheaper than it looks.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother really haggled the price down after all.¡±

    It was a reallyrge and brightly lit open space. The dining area and the hall where sofas and other stuff were ced were adjacent to each other across an aisle, and they were separated by transparent partitions instead walls. I also saw stuff that looked like green nts inside parts of the hall¡¯s walls. Are those actually real? I heard that real nts were really expensive though.

    ¡°¡­¡­I guess it¡¯s just a hobby nobles are into.¡±

    ¡°Um, not really? And Hiro-sama originally wasn¡¯t a noble.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Boss wasn¡¯t granted a title yet when he first met us.¡±

    ¡°He also wasn¡¯t one when he bought this ship.¡±

    ¡°But that guy has swords, right? So, he¡¯s definitely a noble.¡±

    ¡°He wasn¡¯t born a noble. He was only granted a noble title due to his exploits as a mercenary. Also, it¡¯s just an honorary title.¡±

    Is there really such a thing? Aren¡¯t nobles born nobles or something?

    ¡°Let us leave that topic forter. Would it not be better to continue with the tour of the ship first?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Um¡­¡­ all of us can freely hang out inside this ce. Mei-san and the cleaner-bots handle the cleaning, but please try not to make too much of a mess¡­¡­ I suppose that¡¯s it? Anything else I missed?¡±

    ¡°Nope. Well, if there¡¯s somethin¡¯ she doesn¡¯t get, then won¡¯t it be fine if she just asks uster? She probably won¡¯t be able to take everythin¡¯ in all at once.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Also, you can have meals and snacks any time you feel like it in the dining area over there. The auto-cooker installed inside is really high-quality, so the meals are always really delicious.¡±

    ¡°Meals¡­¡­¡±

    Come to think of it, I haven¡¯t had a proper meal in days. I suddenly felt really hungry.

    ¡°Everyone, why don¡¯t we continue chatting while having tea and snacks?¡±

    As I was brooding over my empty stomach, thedy named Kugi suddenly came up with such a suggestion. It didn¡¯t seem like she made the suggestion after noticing my situation, but¡­¡­ it¡¯s great timing anyway. I ain¡¯t gonnain.

    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s get Tetsujin to whip up some sweets fer us.¡±

    ¡°Right!¡±

    Mimi took my hand again and dragged me to the dining area. She made me take a seat and brought over some food I haven¡¯t seen before from the machine in the back. It¡¯s probably that auto-cooker thingy or whatever the heck it¡¯s called.

    ¡°Here you go.¡±

    Kugi smiled at me as she piled snacks onto my te¡­¡­ Wait, these are snacks? They look like in bread to me.

    ¡°C¡¯mon. Try them first.¡±

    ¡°You can also get drink refills as much as you want.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Down the hatch.¡±

    The bread wasn¡¯t that big, but it does seem heavy. I took a bite and found the thing nice and chewy. This stuff should be very filling.

    ¡°¡­¡­What?¡±

    I found Mimi staring at me as I ate the sweets, or rather, bread. I was curious about why she was staring at me so intently.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Um, what do you guys want to talk about first?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. How about stories regarding My Lord? She must be curious about just what kind of person is helping her.¡±

    ¡°Mm, that sounds good. Who¡¯s gonna start?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it. There¡¯s a real good chance Mimi and Kugi are gonna make Boss seem like some kinda Prince Charmin¡¯ after all.¡±

    ¡°¡±Eeh?¡±¡±

    Mimi and Kugi wailed in dissatisfaction. Mm, I kinda get that feeling too. I mean, it does look like they really love that Hiro guy. But aren¡¯t Tina and Wiska also the same as them? I was gonna point it out but decided against it. Anyway, let¡¯s listen to their side of the story first.<hr>

    After treating all the orphanage facility¡¯s residents and delivering supplies, we left thebat bots behind to defend them and returned to the Lotus. After undergoing various anti-infection measures, took off mybat armor. I thought I¡¯d have a quick shower and passed by the break space along the way, but I ended up encountering Linda, who looked at me with a strangely wary gaze.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Nothing. You smell really sweaty, so get outta here already.¡±

    ¡°This brat¡­¡­!¡±

    I thought she had something to say, so I ended up asking in concern, and this is what I get? Well, I suppose it¡¯s also my bad for talking to her while stinking of sweat huh? Yeah. Let¡¯s just leave it like that. I-It¡¯s not like that actually got to me, okay?!

    I took a shower while tearing up in my heart, and when I came out, Linda was already nowhere to be found. Mm. I wanted to talk to her for a bit, but has she already gone to Dr. Shouko? I don¡¯t feel like going out of my way toe after her, so I¡¯ll just wait for an opportunity to talk to her again.

    For the time being, there¡¯s nothing much to do until Dr. Shouko finishes investigating about the secret of Linda¡¯s immune system. As for sending the inventory list to Hartmut, I left that to Mei, so I was now quite free.

    ¡°Good work out there. Here.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    While I was chilling out on the sofa in the break space, Elma brought me a bottle of water. I epted it, opened the cap, and started gulping the contents down. Mmm. It¡¯s cool and refreshing. After all, water tasted best when cold. But I heard that water at room temperature was better for your health though.

    ¡°So, how was Linda? Is she fitting in properly?¡±

    ¡°It looks like she¡¯ll be fine. I personally haven¡¯t talked to her that much since I performed maintenance checks on our weapons after you guys left. But she seems to be hitting it off pretty well with Mimi and the other girls.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? Sounds good. I have to arrange where that girl¡¯s gonna sleep soon.¡±

    ¡°It seems she¡¯ll be bunking with Tina and Wiska. Tina already said she¡¯ll make her a bed.¡±

    ¡°We still have a spare room with a bed though¡­¡­ Well, I suppose that¡¯s fine.¡±

    If Tina proposed it, then it¡¯s probably because she judged that it was necessary. I¡¯m not sure about what it was like to live in that orphanage facility, but it didn¡¯t look like each child was assigned an individual room. Maybe Linda would have trouble sleeping if she was alone in a room or something to that effect.

    Since it¡¯s Tina and Wiska we¡¯re talking about, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll have a breeze remodeling their room to amodate one more person, and if Linda¡¯s fine with it, then there¡¯s no problem, I suppose. I¡¯ll just check on them a bitter.

    ¡°How were things at the facility?¡±

    ¡°Oh, the treatment went well, and we¡¯ve taken measures to prevent reinfection. Dr. Shouko said it should be fine after installing that air purifier.¡±

    ¡°Then it should be fine for now, but you¡¯re not nning on assigning thosebat bots to guard them indefinitely, right?¡±

    ¡°Nope. There were two men who copsed together with Airia, right? It looks like those guys were actually from an underground organization backing the orphanage. And since they appeared to be experts when ites to matters requiring more of a violent approach, I hired them to act as the facility¡¯s full-time guards.¡±

    ¡°Is that alright?¡±

    ¡°If they don¡¯t live up to expectations after taking my money, I¡¯ll just send them drifting into outer space.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t speaking metaphorically either. I really meant that. I¡¯ll just load them on the ship and jettison them into outer spaceter. No one will care if two people suddenly disappeared in this colony anyway, given the current situation. There were many ways tounch a ship with other people on board apart from the crew after all.

    It¡¯s illegal for a colony resident to migrate to another colony or board a ship as a crew member without undergoing formal procedures, but it was simple enough to sneak inside a cargo hold as stowaways. As long as they make it inside a ship¡¯s cargo hold in the first ce.

    However, if stowaways were discovered and branded as illegal immigrants after arriving at another colony, it will spell disaster for them. They¡¯d likely get deprived of their citizenship and then sent to a prison colony. They were gonna be treated no different from space pirates, so it was practically a death sentence. Or worse.

    Well, there were also cases where colony citizens who imed to be abducted by the ship owner went and asked help from the military police, but¡­¡­ Unscrupulous merchants apparently also devise such situations in order to ruin the reputations of their rivals though. Well, the authorities will probably see through the deception if it was done too sloppily. In any case, it wasn¡¯t good to be involved with stowaways.

    Oops. It looks like my thoughts ended up drifting instead.

    ¡°Anyway, everything now depends on Dr. Shouko¡¯s research results¡­¡­ Oh, but let¡¯s process Linda¡¯s temporary boarding procedures just in case. It¡¯ll be troublesome if we get suspected of perpetrating illegal immigration after all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. It might be best to leave that kind of thing to Mei, but¡­¡­ do you want to try doing it yourself for a change?¡±

    ¡°Nah, I¡¯ll pass.¡±

    I feel sorry for always bothering Mei about stuff like this, but I really didn¡¯t have any good memories when ites to those kinds of formal procedures. I¡¯ll just go ahead and keep relying on her.

 Chapter 414: About 20% is Pure Good Will

    The days that went by since Linda boarded the Lotus as a temporary crew member were spent in peace. After all, we had nothing to do until Dr. Shouko¡¯s research resultse out.

    ¡°It won¡¯t take long. I¡¯ll get it done in a few days tops.¡±

    I was a bit doubtful that she¡¯ll really be done with her research in just a few days though. I mean, wasn¡¯t that too fast?

    ¡°I¡¯m not an expert either so I can¡¯t say for sure, but it seems she¡¯ll have an easier time because our equipment is rtively state-of-the-art.¡±

    ¡°Ya did say she could buy anythin¡¯ she fancied back then Boss, so Doc did just that.¡±

    ¡°I mean, it wasn¡¯t something ayman like me could get involved in after all. The only thing I could do was pay whatever cash was needed, and I thought I should splurge a bit if it meant getting someone talented like Dr. Shouko to join our crew.¡±

    ¡°How about ya treat us as well as Doc too, Boss?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not stingy when ites to you guys too, right?¡±

    I had no intention ofpromising when ites to providing Tina and Wiska the equipment they needed. After all, adequate maintenance of our ships was directly linked to theirbat capabilities. I told the sisters not to hold back if they needed anything, and I approved any purchases that passed through Mei¡¯s thorough scrutiny.

    ¡°Mei¡¯s checks are pretty strict so¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then you have to butter up Mei and not me. I¡¯m just a foolish boss who okays anything that passes through Mei¡¯s excellent judgment after all.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to sell yourself short though¡­¡­ I think your judgment and decisiveness are amazing, Big Brother.¡±

    ¡°Me too, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Praising me like that won¡¯t do you guys any good, y¡¯know?¡±

    Well, it certainly didn¡¯t feel too bad to be praised like this. Mm, how nice. I¡¯m a simple man, so I get all giddy whenever I¡¯m praised by cute girls like this. It can¡¯t be helped. That¡¯s just how men are.

    As for where I¡¯m hanging out with the mechanic sisters right now, we¡¯re currently lounging around in the break space. I was sitting downzily on the sofa as Tina and Wiska sandwiched me between the two of them. Since their body temperatures as dwarves were rtively high, being sandwiched between them felt pretty warm.

    And as Ized around, someone suddenly loomed over me and then proceeded to plop herself in the space between my legs.

    ¡°You guys sure look pretty rxed.¡±

    ¡°Aah!? That¡¯s no fair, neesan!¡±

    ¡°Ah¨C!?¡±

    The mechanic sisters wailed as the ¡®special seat¡¯ they purposely left open out of consideration for each other was suddenly taken without warning. The culprit was Elma, and she entrusted her back to my chest while ignoring the sister¡¯s protests. It seemed that she just finished taking a shower because her hair was a bit moist.

    ¡°Good work. So, how was it?¡±

    ¡°The two of them were surprisingly not too bad.¡±

    Elma praised the two people who weren¡¯t present ¨C Mimi and Kugi.

    Elma has been acting as abat instructor for the two of them for the past few days, and was particrly focused on her specialty, which was hand-to-handbat.

    Unlike Kugi who could use her telepathic abilities to protect herself, Mimi had no innate means of self-defense. I did buy aser gun for her and trained her in its usage, but when pushes to shove, thest thing she could rely on was her own body.

    Mimi had also more or less upped her physical strength through daily workouts and training, so whenever we had lots of free time on our hands, she goes and learns self-defense and hand-to-handbat techniques from Elma and Mei. Kugi ended up training together with Mimi only recently due to her insistence¡­¡­ Since she volunteered herself, Elma agreed to let her participate since there wouldn¡¯t be much difference in teaching one or two people.

    ¡°Good to hear. It would be nice if they can reach a level where they can easily handle your average thugs, but¡­¡­ I suppose it¡¯s still impossible to have them go out alone huh.¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    Despite Mimi¡¯s rtively short height, her chest was pretty massive and eye-catching. She was also a very pretty girl, so if she walks around without an escort, she¡¯d probably get into some sort of trouble with men in less than three minutes¡­¡­ And it¡¯s not like I could make her wear a cloak that hides her figure and an intimidating-looking full-face gas mask whenever she goes out.

    ¡°How regrettable¡­¡­ So, where did Mimi and Kugi go anyway, neesan?¡±

    ¡°Mimi¡¯s exhausted from training and is resting in her room. And I suppose Kugi wille over after she puts Mimi to bed.¡±

    ¡°You trained her until she copsed from exhaustion? Ain¡¯t that a bit too much?¡±

    ¡°They won¡¯t learn properly without any suffering.¡±

    Elma sure says pretty scary stuff with a straight face sometimes. She appeared to be a mere slender beauty, but she was actually a real muscle-head.

    ¡°So, are you nning to justze around here all day?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a bad idea, but I also need to raise Hartmut¡¯s impression of me a bit more.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. There¡¯s a better chance of him agreeing to your request if he sees you as a reliable ally instead of a simple acquaintance.¡±

    ¡°I suppose I should get to it then. It looks like Linda¡¯s temporary boarding procedures are done anyway.¡±

    Since that¡¯s done, we can leave the colony without any problems. Well, leaving the star system itself is a different story, but there should be no problems with conducting activities within the star system.

    ¡°So, we¡¯re free to do that again, right, Boss? Huntin¡¯ pirates.¡±

    ¡°Right. Well, it¡¯s nothing difficult.¡±

    ¡°Do you think we can make good money from hunting here?¡±

    ¡°Well, I believe we can.¡±

    Due to the pandemic, merchant ship traffic has decreased, and the procedures for entering and leaving port have be more troublesome than usual. Under such circumstances, the system garrison that handles system security is forced to reduce their range of operations, which inevitably affects the security situation of the system as a whole. And that will lead to space pirates bing more active. In other words, there will be more prey for mercenaries like us to hunt.

    ¡°But the number of merchant ships stopping by at the Reemay Prime colony has decreased due to the pandemic, right? Since that¡¯s the case, wouldn¡¯t there be fewer ships for pirates to target?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s actually not the case. Even if they don¡¯t stop by the Reemay Prime colony, the number of merchant ships passing through the system itself won¡¯t be affected much. That¡¯s because this is a hub system that connects to three other systems via hypene nodes.¡±

    If goods can¡¯t be unloaded at the Reemay Prime colony due to the risk of infection, the merchants will just choose to go to other star systems to sell their wares. But that doesn¡¯t mean they won¡¯t pass through the Reemay system itself. In other words, the traffic volume in the routes to hypene nodes connecting to other systems was actually increasing. Naturally, pirates will aim for those routes.

    ¡°But, well, it¡¯s still gonna be troublesome to get detained for an extended period due to quarantine measures each time we need to sell out loot though. That¡¯s why I need to work on getting chummy with Hartmut so I can get some special privileges to expedite the process.¡±

    ¡°Ain¡¯t that cheatin¡¯?¡±

    ¡°My motto is to use whatever¡¯s at my disposal. And since we¡¯ll voluntarily work on subjugating pirates for them now that the system garrison is tied up, they probably won¡¯t refuse if I made a few requestster on.¡±

    There will probably be many items that are in short supply within the colony due to the pandemic among the loot we¡¯ll obtain from the pirates. The amount of loot won¡¯t be that significant, but since merchant ships were currently avoiding the colony due to the pandemic, there¡¯s a possibility of the supplies serving as the colony¡¯s lifeline bing depleted.

    Hartmut and his father, Viscount Magnelli, have probably arranged for some merchants under their employ to periodically deliver goods to the colony to avoid supply shortage, but what if I also contributed a bit to the improvement of the security and supply situation on top of that? They might find it a bit shady, but they¡¯d probably still be grateful nheless.

    ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s go ahead and contact Hartmut, then earn some money and favorability.¡±

    The three¡¯s voices ovepped as they responded in the affirmative. Alright. Time for some fun pirate hunting.

 Chapter 415: Pirate Hunting

    ¡ºI am truly grateful. Truly. However¡­¡­ why go so far just for this?¡»

    I made an appointment with Hartmut, and this time around, I contacted him via transmission instead of meeting him face to face. And this was Hartmut¡¯s reaction after hearing my proposal.

    Well, it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t get why he¡¯s so perplexed. All Hartmut had to do was issue a special tag sh ID so that we can expedite the entry and exit of our ships at the colony¡¯s spaceport so we didn¡¯t need to go through so many hoops, just like the merchants under his employ. It was to facilitate the quick and safe interchange of goods and supplies while the pandemic was still going on.

    It was simply applying a system that was already in ce for us as well, and Hartmut only needed to instruct his subordinates ordingly. It wasn¡¯t much of a hassle at all.

    On the other hand, we didn¡¯t ask for any specialpensation, and we even offered to hunt pirates and sell the loot we¡¯ll get to the colony, so for Hartmut, it was far too convenient a proposal. That¡¯s why he probably can¡¯t guess my motives. If I were in Hartmut¡¯s shoes, I¡¯d probably find one whose motives and goals I couldn¡¯t read to be quite unsettling.

    ¡°To be honest, one of my crew members actually knows someone in this colony¡­¡­ Well, rather than an acquaintance, she regards that person as a good friend and benefactor. I¡¯m doing this partly because my crew member asked me to help that person. And also, I¡¯m someone who was awarded the Gold Star by His Imperial Majesty himself, so it would reflect badly on me if I simply ignored the suffering of his subjects, right?¡±

    When Hartmut heard my words, he momentarily disyed a nk expression on his face. But after a few moments, his lips curved to form a smile. Mm, a pretty boy¡¯s smile really held a lot of destructive power. If I were a woman, I might already be fangirling in my heart right about now.

    ¡ºIt appears I belittled you far too much. Allow me to apologize.¡»

    ¡°I also have an ulterior motive as well y¡¯know? I still n on demanding properpensation for my work.¡±

    ¡ºCompensation?¡»

    ¡°I did tell you earlier, right? One of my goals is to help my crew member¡¯s benefactor who¡¯s a citizen of this colony. I want you to cooperate with that as well.¡±

    It would be a problem if he ends upbeling me as a selfless and honorable manter, so I¡¯ll put a stop to that possible misconception right now. I don¡¯t want to be seen as a handy pawn who¡¯d dly work for free after all.

    ¡ºCould you borate more on that matter for me? There are things I cannot do even with my authority.¡»

    ¡°There¡¯s a facility in the lower district that takes in orphans and cares for them. The folks who were sponsoring that ce suffered a major blow due to the pandemic, and they¡¯ve practically stopped guarding and backing the facility. I want you to look after it. I¡¯m handling that now, but there¡¯s no way I can do that indefinitely¡­¡­ And this is your territory, to begin with, right?¡±

    ¡ºHow disheartening¡­¡­¡»

    Hartmut¡¯s expression turned bitter. That whatever bar¡­¡­ Raydias, was it? As a result of his policy to practically ignore the lower district, the gangs and underworld mafia were able to steadily develop and manage the facility without any interference. You can say this was one of the failings of this colony¡¯s government, or rather, the nobility.

    ¡°Also, our ship doctor may be able to find a permanent solution to this ongoing pandemic. We found a person who may serve as the key, and are now conducting tests on said person, so just sit tight and wait for our findings.¡±

    ¡ºIs that true? Just who in the world is your ship doctor?¡»

    ¡°She previously worked for apany specializing in medical and gic technology that¡¯s based in a high-tech star system. When she joined our crew as our ship doctor, I didn¡¯t scrimp on the necessary equipment and installed a state-of-the-artboratory within our mothership for her use.¡±

    ¡ºYou seem blessed with such excellent personnel¡­¡­ This colony is mainly a trading colony, and there are almost no personnel working in research-rted jobs here. Truly enviable.¡»

    ¡°I won¡¯t hand her over to you, okay? Anyway, that¡¯s about it¡­¡­ For the time being, please give us that special pass so we can freely enter and exit the colony without any hassle.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood. I¡¯ll speak with the ones in charge of that immediately.¡»

    ¡°So, even if we have the pass, it did not mean we do not need to undergo inspection anymore.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh. We¡¯d just be given priority.¡±

    Elma and Kugi saw off the epidemic prevention team in the Reemay Prime port area under Hartmut¡¯s arrangements.

    They were discussing the priority rights that were recently granted to us.

    The inspection itself waspleted in a rtively short period of time. They checked the state of the airlocks, measured the amount of the epidemic-causing spores in the air circting around the ship, and tested me and my crew members to see if we still haven¡¯t gotten ourselves infected. Of course, Linda didn¡¯t pass the test. But she was overlooked because she was being supervised by Dr. Shouko, who was a licensed medical professional. She was also only registered as a temporary crew member and wasn¡¯t arranged to leave the system.

    ¡°They must have been instructed to ignore certain things while inspecting us¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°All thanks to our dear nobleman.¡±

    Normally, even if they were under the supervision of an excellent doctor, it would be impossible to let infected people out of the colony in order to prevent the risk of the pandemic spreading to the rest of the system. However, we were let off. All thanks to the power of the nobility.

    ¡°That was rough¡­¡­¡±

    Linda, who underwent extensive tests due to previously being infected, disyed a dead-tired expression. After all, she had gotten infected, but she didn¡¯t show any symptoms, and she also didn¡¯t spread spores around when coughing or sneezing.

    Dr. Shouko was currently investigating why she was in such a state, but will we really get results only after a few days? Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m an expert anyway. I have no choice but to believe in Dr. Shouko and wait for the results.

    ¡°That was more troublesome than expected, but we¡¯re finally on the clear now¡­¡­ So, shall we get going?¡±

    That being said, those were already some pretty thorough inspections. Just how strict were they being with the ships that didn¡¯t have a special pass? Well, perhaps they were subject to the same level of checks since all the pass did was grant us priority for inspection¡­¡­

    ¡°Let¡¯s do our best!¡±

    ¡°Ya sure are lively, Mimi¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Right¡­¡­ Shall we go ahead and make preparations forunch?¡±

    Mimi was the only one who still seemed pretty energetic among us. Just why was she so energetic even after all that? It¡¯s such a mystery. It seems the mechanic sisters were going to prepare for stripping the equipment off captured pirate ships. I actually felt like taking a rest for half a day before heading out, but we can¡¯t afford to be toozy after all. Since we¡¯ve already decided to head out, then we better get going as soon as possible.

    There were several ways to hunt space pirates.

    Among them, the rtively standard method was to wander around sectors where space pirates were likely to appear, then rush to the site whenever a merchant ship that was getting attacked by pirates sent out SOS signals.

    ¡°This is Krishna from the Mercenary Guild. We¡¯ll be intervening in this battle.¡±

    ¡ºMercenary!? I¡¯m willing to pay! Please help us!¡»

    ¡ºA merc!? Dammit! What do we do now!?¡»

    ¡ºThey have a pretty big ship, but only twobat ships. Go get ¡¯em!¡»

    The merchant ship convoy that was being attacked kept crying out for help. From what I could see, the convoy¡¯s escorts have already been wiped out, and there were only two merchant ships remaining. It seemed that the ships were at least armed withser turrets, but their firepower was really weak, and the best they could do was to keep the pirate ships temporarily at bay.

    ¡ºI¡¯m going to deploy the jammer.¡»

    ¡°Please do. Keep your distance and respond ordingly. The ck Lotus will continue to slowly approach the merchant ships, and when enough enemies are within range, immediately engage in anti-shipbat.¡±

    ¡ºAye, aye, sir.¡»

    ¡ºUnderstood, Master.¡»

    There were about 14 pirate ships. We can take care of this much without any problems.

    ¡°I¡¯m heading in. This goes without saying, but please make sure the shield cells are ready.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord. Please leave the chaff and res to me.¡±

    ¡°Enemy ships, iing!¡±

    After hearing Kugi¡¯s response and Mimi¡¯s warning, I fully opened the throttle and headed straight for the iing pirate ships. When you held the advantage when ites to shield strength and firepower, the most efficient method to take down enemy ships was a head-on shootout. Since the other party was looking for a fight, I¡¯ll just take them on.

    While firing Krishna¡¯s four heavy caliberser cannons, I maneuvered the ship deftly using its attitude control thrusters to keep the enemy ships from getting a solid lock on us. The enemy pirate ships tried to intercept us, but since their fire control systems sucked, the small but constant movements of our ship were enough to throw off their aims. This is why cheap stuff was just no good.

    ¡ºArgh! Dammit! I can¡¯t hit the bastard!¡»

    ¡ºGyaaa¨C!?¡»

    ¡ºThis is bad! This guy¡¯s strong as heck! He¡¯s definitely higher than Silver!¡»

    ¡ºScatter! All ships scatter!¡»

    Unfortunately guys, instead of Silver, I¡¯m actually tinum rank. I took down a pirate ship that was trying to escape with the shot-cannons, and routed the rest with theser cannons.

    ¡ºThe FTL Drive won¡¯t activate!? M-Missiles! Nooo¨C!¡»

    ¡ºStooop! I¡¯m burning! I¡¯m burn¨C¡»

    As nned, Elma¡¯s Antlion was using its gravity jammers to prevent the pirate ships from activating their FTL Drives, then finished them off with missiles and itsser beam emitter.

    Eventually, the ck Lotus also entered the battle and deployed its various concealed weapons to exterminate the fleeing pirate ships. I guess this was checkmate. Unless they brought out stuff like anti-ship reactive torpedoes, there¡¯s no longer anything they can do to turn things around.

    ¡ºA-Are we saved¡­¡­?¡»

    ¡°You guys are pretty lucky. So, about the payment¨C¡±

    The pirate¡¯s bounties and the loot we¡¯ll be getting should be more than enough, but I won¡¯t refuse any additional rewards either! My policy is to take whateveres my way after all.

 Chapter 416: Victory Drink

    Chapter 416: Victory Drink

    ¡°Hahaha, now that¡¯s how you make a killing as a merc.¡±

    The interster merchant we rescued from the pirate attack sent us off with reward money that was way more than what we could have gotten from bagging one pirate ship. We also nabbed all the loot the pirates dropped and stripped the best equipment off of their ships in addition to the bounties ced on their heads. It was a pretty profitable deal. For us, anyway.

    ¡°How much did you guys earn from that?¡±

    Linda, who was dressed in what appeared to be a in-looking patient gown, asked me out of curiosity.

    ¡°The merchant rewarded us with 20k, and the pirates without any special bounties on themted us about 3000 to 5000 per ship. Since we shot down a total of fourteen ships, we would get at least 42 thousand from them, and we¡¯d earn even more after selling off the loot and some ship equipment. More or less, we¡¯d probably get around 100,000. We can probably get more depending on how much the loot and ship equipment sell for.¡±

    ¡°Seriously¡­¡­? It sounds like you can rake in a lot of cash working as a merc.¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯d have to invest several hundred thousand Enels first if you want a shot at earning big though.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s way too many zeroes for a pleb like me¡­¡­ But how exactly do folks sign up to be mercenaries anyway?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, let¡¯s see¡­¡­¡±

    Mimi began giving Linda a rundown on how to be a mercenary. I wonder if Mimi enjoyed these question-and-answer sessions with Linda? She often entertained her just like this. It¡¯s a bit amusing to see Kugi pricking up her ears and nodding along on the side. Her cute fox ears kept twitching with interest.

    I left Linda with Mimi and went to the mess hall. There, I found Elma drinking some beer after finishing up her work. I took a can of non-carbonated c out from the fridge and plopped down beside her.

    ¡°Good job out there. So, what are we gonna do with that girl?¡±

    ¡°Thanks. Well, if we keep increasing the number of our crew members every time we head somewhere, we¡¯d run out of cabins really quick.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm? You didy your grubby hands on Tina and Wiska eventually, so I thought that girl was also right in your strike zone.¡±

    ¡°Oh, c¡¯mon. That girl¡¯s genuinely off-limits y¡¯know¡­¡­ Even someone like me has a sense of morality and conscience, okay? Or rather, I did hesitate a lot beforeying my hands on those two. Also, I did hold back fromying my hands on Chris, so I wish you¡¯d give me a bit more credit.¡±

    ¡°I just thought maybe you¡¯ve changed your mind.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no way I would. Why are you so fixated on something like that anyway¡­¡­? Oh, I see.¡±

    So, that¡¯s how it is. I got it. Ok, ok.

    ¡°¡­¡­What?¡±

    ¡°Oh, nothing. I just thought I¡¯d hang out with you a bit more today. Can you whip up an alcoholic drink without too much of a kick for me?¡±

    ¡°Oh. You¡¯re up for it? How rare. But if you¡¯re down, then sure.¡±

    The fact that it was non-carbonated was a pity, but even a lightweight like me can drink something akin to a rum and Coke cocktail. Of course, the fact that I was a lightweight drinker wouldn¡¯t change, and my face will still turn red from intoxication pretty quickly, but I¡¯ll just let Elma take care of the aftermath. Let¡¯s just leave it to her then.

    ¡°I¡¯ll probably go down pretty quickly, so please take care of me.¡±

    ¡°Just don¡¯t throw up in my face.¡±

    ¡°I probably won¡¯t, so don¡¯t worry.¡±

    Elma took out a colorless, transparent alcoholic beverage that smelled a bit sweet from her personal storage rack and mixed it with some of the mock c in a drinking ss. The alcohol was probably not rum, so it wasn¡¯t exactly rum and Coke, but I suppose I shouldn¡¯t sweat the small stuff.

    By the way, the two alcoholic dwarves who usuallye running from just a whiff of alcohol were currently busy with performing repairs and maintenance on the stripped pirate ship equipment so we can sell them off for high prices. Even if Mei wasn¡¯t busy piloting the ck Lotus back to the Reemay Prime colony, she probably won¡¯t join us for a drink. After all, she doesn¡¯t actually get drunk from alcohol. It would just get stored within her body.

    I had no idea how exactly she goes about disposing of it, but¡­¡­ in any case, it would just be a waste. Since that was the case, Mei usually avoids showing up to drinking sessions.

    ¡°Well then, cheers.¡±

    ¡°What are we toasting to, exactly?¡±

    ¡°Uh, to our usual win against the pirates?¡±

    ¡°Why do you sound so unsure¡­¡­? How half-baked.¡±

    Despite sounding grumpy, Elma was actually in a pretty good mood. I¡¯ll try to keep her in good spirits and give her plenty of service. In order to do that, I have to be careful and avoid getting dead drunk right off the bat.

    ¡°Whew. That¡¯s better.¡±

    ¡°Do stuff like that in moderation next time. You¡¯re not exactly suited for drinking alcohol, Hiro-kun.¡±

    ¡°I will. Thanks, Doc.¡±

    The next day ¡ª even though there wasn¡¯t exactly a day and night cycle in outer space ¡ª my light headache was treated via the med pod, and I was subjected to a light scolding by Dr. Shouko. I drank with Elma yesterday and spent the rest of the night inside my room together. Even though she drank far more alcohol than me, Elma didn¡¯t even suffer a hangover, and after taking a quick shower together with me, she immediately headed out to grab a bite¡­¡­ Was her liver made of steel or something?

    ¡°By the way, how¡¯s the progress with Linda¡¯s matters?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve managed to figure out how her immunity works. I¡¯m now in the middle of simtions to see if her form of immunity can be sessfully granted to others.¡±

    ¡°Simtions?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have enough time to conduct clinical trials on living organisms after all. Luckily, you prepared the best equipment for me, so I can simte the process and results virtually. This saves a lot of time and effort.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re saying you¡¯re gonna use the data from those simtions to determine what happens when we administer a new vine or something to someone¡­¡­? Will there be no issues regarding the uracy of the results?¡±

    ¡°Of course, there won¡¯t. We have a nearplete andprehensive data of the races living in the empire, so there shouldn¡¯t be any problems. I¡¯ll be simting the effects on each and every race, so it would still take a bit of time though. Even so, it probably won¡¯t take more than 24 hours, I think?¡±

    Doc said something like that with a straight face, but from my point of view, I was simply in awe of the power of advanced science and technology in this world. The speed of vine development was already impressive, but being able topletely determine the effects of the vine in just one day was even more amazing. Moreover, the uracy of the results was all but guaranteed.

    ¡°Regr people don¡¯t have a lot of knowledge when ites to topics like this after all. Feel free to ask if there¡¯s something you¡¯re curious about, okay?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can evene up with a relevant question, but anyway, I do get that you did something really amazing, Doc.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you really got the gist of what I was talking about, but¡­¡­ oh well. Just leave the matters regarding the pandemic to me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do that. Just give me a heads up if you discover something we can use as a hand against Hartmut.¡±

    ¡°You got it. I¡¯ll show you that the high price you paid for all that state-of-the-art medical equipment wasn¡¯t wasted.¡±

    Saying so, Dr. Shouko puffed out her enormous bust. Un. Such wonderful eye candy.

 Chapter 417: Progress and Sudden Raid

    Chapter 417: Progress and Sudden Raid

    I was nning to sell off the spoils we got from the pirates at Reemay Prime, which was currently short of essential supplies, and stockpile the starship parts and equipment, which should be in low demand, in ck Lotus for the time being. However¨C

    ¡ºCan you please sell some starship parts to me?¡»

    Apparently, Hartmut had heard that Mimi and the others asked around to find out whether or not we could sell off starship parts at Reemay Prime for a good price, so he quickly got in touch.

    ¡°I don¡¯t really mind, but why?¡±

    ¡ºBecause we prioritized securing food and medical supplies first, we are now experiencing a shortage of machineponents¡­¡­¡»

    ¡°I see. Alright then. We¡¯d get to dispose of some of our goods early, so it¡¯s fine.¡±

    In other words, they want to buy some scrap parts from us. Tina and Wiska did mention that starship equipment could be used as spare parts for colony maintenance when disassembled.

    ¡°If you¡¯re going to use them as spare parts, there¡¯s no need for us to perform an overhaul on them, right?¡±

    ¡ºI believe that will indeed save both of us from some trouble.¡»

    ¡°You¡¯re gonna have to pay a reasonable price for them though.¡±

    ¡ºI wouldn¡¯t dare to be stingy when ites to something like this.¡»

    Hartmutughed heartily on the other side of the holo-screen. Umu. He really was quite the handsome guy¡­¡­ Well, most imperial nobles were rtively good-looking. I suppose it¡¯s the result of unbroken, longstanding lineages mostlyposed of beautiful men and women.

    ¡ºBy the way, what is the progress regarding the effective countermeasure against the pandemic that you mentioned a few days ago? Is there any result?¡»

    ¡°Oh, that? Our resident expert has already finished the analysis, and she¡¯s currently conducting simtions to see if the countermeasure she developed can be safely applied to humans and other races. From what I¡¯ve heard, she¡¯ll likely be done with it today.¡±

    ¡ºI¡¯m not really a specialist on the matter. What would be next after she is done with the simtions?¡»

    ¡°I believe we¡¯ll skip clinical trials since the simtions can provide highly urate results anyway, so we¡¯ll immediately proceed with manufacturing a cure, but¡­¡­ Shall I get our ship doctor to participate in the call?¡±

    ¡ºI¡¯m sorry, but can you please do so?¡»

    At Hartmut¡¯s request, I connected the call to Dr. Shouko who was currently busy in theb so she can participate in the conversation. Anyway, what Hartmut wanted to know was how feasible and safe Dr. Shouko¡¯s findings were.

    ¡ºSince the uracy of the results will beparable to what we¡¯d get from my old employer¡¯sb, I don¡¯t think there will be any problems with using the cure right away. The vine will let the body exhibit an extremely high immunity against the infection source, so there will be no symptoms even if a person gets infected, and it will also prevent the infection source from spreading further.¡»

    ¡ºIs mass production possible?¡»

    ¡ºIt is, with suitable equipment and facilities. We can also manufacture it in ourb, albeit on a small scale.¡»

    ¡ºHow much can you make?¡»

    ¡ºAs long as we have the materials, we can produce enough vines for 200 people per hour at full capacity ¨C meaning a daily output of 4,800 if we manufacture nonstop.¡»

    ¡ºI¡¯d like you to proceed with manufacturing it right away but at that rate¡­¡­¡»

    Hartmut disyed a troubled expression. The poption of the colony is said to be about 500,000 individuals, so it would take over three months to cover all of them if we manufactured the vine inside ourb alone. And I definitely won¡¯t be staying here for that long.

    ¡ºWell, the pharmaceutical nt in ourb is just a small-scale one after all. Manufacturing the vine isn¡¯t that difficult as long as there are appropriate equipment and facilities, so why not try looking for apany within the colony that has them?¡»

    ¡ºLet¡¯s try that then. Can you send me the data regarding what equipment will be required?¡»

    ¡ºThat¡¯s what he said. What do you think, captain?¡»

    ¡°I¡¯ll be rewarding our excellent doctor on my end, so you¡¯ll also provide us with the appropriate reward for offering our personnel and services, right?¡±

    ¡ºAs long as it¡¯s within my power, then¡­¡­ I see. So, that¡¯s your angle.¡»

    ¡°Yep. Exactly. We¡¯ll be counting on you regarding the matter with the orphanage, Mr. Governor.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood.¡»

    For the time being, it looks like we¡¯vee to an understanding with the local administration. It¡¯s just a verbal promise, but I¡¯ve recorded this call in the logs, just in case. In the unlikely event that they feign ignorance and act that this conversation never happened, I¡¯m prepared to go against them and use the records as evidence. If legal means don¡¯t work, then we¡¯ll just resort to force. I¡¯ll utilize whatever I can ¨C money, connections, or straightforward use of force. I¡¯m even prepared to resort to a starship or sword duel if need be.

    ¡ºSo, you¡¯ll be rewarding me huh, captain? I wonder how you¡¯ll be rewarding me exactly, hmm?¡»

    Anyway, I better drop the call with Hartmut first and satisfy the request of the good doctor who was currently smiling from ear to ear. Will she be satisfied with a mary reward? No? Err, I suppose not.

    My peculiar constitution, or rather, my body itself, has been of particr interest to Dr. Shouko, so she made me cooperate in her research until she was satisfied. It¡¯s been hard physically and mentally. Thanks to Kugi¡¯s guidance, I¡¯ve polished my psionic abilities, and I¡¯ve been able to do quite a few interesting stuff recently. Dr. Shouko sniffed it out and she subjected me to a thorough interrogation. Even though I was supposed to keep it secret before I properly mastered my abilities¡­¡­

    ¡°Are you tired, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Very.¡±

    Mimi called out to me while I was plopped down on the break space¡¯s sofa, and I replied in a listless manner. Mimi proceeded to sit down next to me and pulled me toward her. I didn¡¯t put up any resistance and my headnded on top of Mimi¡¯s thighs. Umu. The view of Mimi¡¯s breasts was superb, as always. In fact, I kinda wanted to touch them a bit. It¡¯s the best. It felt like my mental strength was gradually recovering.

    ¡°¡­¡­I was beaten to the punch.¡±

    ¡°Fufu. It¡¯s my turn today.¡±

    As Mimi¡¯sp pillow was soothing me, I heard Kugi¡¯s voice. Did she feel my weakened mental state? But Mimi¡¯s luck seemed to have triumphed over Kugi¡¯s telepathy powers this time around. Honestly, it¡¯s hard to choose between squishy and fluffy. But I suppose I¡¯ll stick with Mimi for today.

    ¡°How¡¯s Linda?¡±

    ¡°Good, My Lord. She seems to be learning about maintenance work from Tina-san and Wiska-san.¡±

    ¡°I see. It will be difficult to learn everything in a short period, but it would be nice if she can grasp something from the experience.¡±

    I suppose it¡¯s better to leave Linda under the care of those two. It won¡¯t be good if I carelessly got involved with her and end up giving her some unrealistic expectations. Well, I¡¯m not really sure if Linda finds the mercenary lifestyle attractive. We don¡¯t even have the leeway to have Linda join us in the first ce¡­¡­ Oh, wait. We do, huh? But there¡¯s no need for that.

    ¡°Oh, right. Could you please tell Tina and Wiska to stop overhauling the equipment we stripped from the pirate ships? They can finish working on the ones they already got their hands on, but our client seems to want to use the equipment as scrap parts.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll message them.¡±

    With my head still on top of herp, Mimi started operating her tablet terminal. Umu. Nice. Very nice. I¡¯m not gonna borate, but anyway, it¡¯s nice. This is happiness itself¡­¡­ Nay, this is the truth of the universe¡­¡­!

    ¡°¡­¡­Mimi-san, would you like to cooperate with me in caring for My Lord?¡±

    Perhaps mentally sensing something from me, Kugi suddenly made a wonderful proposal. What a great suggestion. However, how is Mimi gonna respond? She sometimes seems to bepeting with Kugi.

    ¡°Sounds good!¡±

    Looks like we got the go-ahead. In other words, I¡¯ll be taking on two people. Alright then. I won¡¯t run or hide. Come at me, you two. What? Wasn¡¯t I exhausted; you ask? Well, I am, but if the two of them are gonna service me, then I¡¯m sure I can surpass my physical limits with sheer willpower.

    As I got healed by Mimi and Kugi¡¯s passionate care, Elma rxed while having a drink as usual, Dr. Shouko fussed over the data samples she managed to collect from me, and Tina and Wiska performed maintenance on the stripped starship parts and sorted them together with Linda. However, something unexpected happened.

    It made me get up in a sh.

    ¡°Master, an attack wasunched on the facility in the lower block.¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    After enjoying a shower with Mimi and Kugi, Mei suddenly reported something shocking, and I couldn¡¯t help but do a double-take. Well, we did expect something like that to an extent, and that¡¯s why we left somebat bots to guard the ce, but I didn¡¯t really think they would actually go through with it. After all, even I¡¯d hesitate to attack a ce that was guarded by four military-gradebat bots.

    ¡°There was indeed an attack on the facility where we stationedbat robots. However, the attackers were sessfully repulsed by thebat robots and the local guards we hired, so please rest assured.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°The children weren¡¯t hurt, were they?¡±

    ¡°No, Mimi-sama. No one was injured, including the local guards.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t get their motive¡­¡­ Well, maybe they simply wanted to plunder supplies.¡±

    I can¡¯t really think of a possible motive apart from that. They did say that the mafia gang that was running the facility in the shadows was mostly destroyed, so I don¡¯t think the attack was rted to them, but¡­¡­ Wait. What about the ones who weren¡¯t supporting the orphanage facility? Was it possible for them to haveunched the attack? I suppose that apart from them, no one else would have dared to attack the facility under such heavy guard. If the mafia gang that was managing the facility made aeback, they¡¯d probably try to settle things with the attackers the first chance they got after all.

    ¡°Can we get in touch with them?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s possible to contact them through thebat bots.¡±

    ¡°I see. Then ask them about their situation and the details of the attack first¡­¡­¡±

    I was finally in a great mood, and something like this happened. Are we going to get caught up in something troublesome again¡­¡­? What to do, I wonder. Since it¡¯ll be troublesome either way, why not just clean everything up? Literally.

    I headed for the break space together with Mimi and Kugi while mulling over the situation.

 Chapter 418: Letâ€™s Get Involved in a Big Way

    Chapter 418: Let¡¯s Get Involved in a Big Way

    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m d you guys are safe.¡±

    ¡ºIt¡¯s all thanks to you, big bro.¡»

    The blonde-haired, crew cut-sporting Heinz and the purple-haired pudding-head Sieg were disyed bowing toward me on the holoscreen. I don¡¯t remember agreeing to be your big bro, but¡­¡­ I suppose it¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll just let them pay their respects. Guys like them apparently ce importance on stuff like this, so whatever.

    ¡°Who attacked you guys in the first ce? It would be easier if they were simply small-time punks who were blinded by the temptation of getting supplies.¡±

    ¡ºThey were definitely punks who were drooling over the supplies, but¡­¡­¡»

    Oi, what¡¯s with that ominous pause? Heinz was averting his gaze. And Sieg seemed agitated. His face was practically screaming ¡®This is bad!¡¯

    ¡°Judging from your expressions, I more or less get the gist. It¡¯s something really troublesome, right?¡±

    ¡ºWell, yes. That¡¯s right. The ones backing those guys are rumored to be from outside, so¡­¡­¡»

    ¡°Guys from outside? You mean pirates?¡±

    ¡ºIt¡¯s just a rumor. They say those guys can get their hands on stuff that aren¡¯t normally avable here, and that they can sell people off of the colony.¡»

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s good for people like that to be acting in the shadows in this situation¡­¡­ By the way, I also heard that a high-quality drug was making the rounds in the colony.¡±

    Uh, didn¡¯t Dr. Shouko suspect that people were getting infected by the pandemic through those drugs in question? I remember her mentioning something to that effect. Well, whatever.

    ¡ºYou sure are well-informed, big bro. Yeah, those guys are the ones who are spreading those drugs around. They sell them to people who can¡¯t afford proper treatment, telling them that it¡¯ll help with forgetting the pain and suffering.¡»

    ¡°And when those sick people kick the bucket, they¡¯ll be around to collect the corpses?¡±

    ¡ºEh? Right¡­¡­ How¡¯d you know?¡»

    ¡°Weren¡¯t you aware? Those pathogenic mushrooms apparently reproduce by feeding on corpses.¡±

    ¡º¡­¡­In other words, after distributing those drugs, they¡¯ll also end up collecting raw materials for making even more drugs afterward.¡»

    ¡°That¡¯s what we think.¡±

    It¡¯s just an educated guess based on the clues we found, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s far off the mark. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if that really was the case since those guys were involved with space pirates.

    ¡°But I don¡¯t get why they¡¯d go out of their way to attack you¡­¡­ Is there a person there who they are willing to go to such lengths to kill?¡±

    ¡ºHonestly, I don¡¯t really get what those crazy guys are thinking¡­¡­ The ones who attacked us were punks who got baited with the promise of drugs as a reward. They aren¡¯t actually official members.¡»

    ¡°Well, that certainly does sound troublesome¡­¡­¡±

    In other words, those crazy people didn¡¯t get directly involved but were using people desperate for the drugs as cannon fodder. They probably didn¡¯t even directly order those desperate guys to attack the orphanage. Instead, they probably just told them to go and rob anything that can be sold for money or something to that effect. Then they conveniently pointed out that the orphanage seemed to be doing pretty well.

    ¡°Damn. This is really troublesome. Do you guys know where their home base is?¡±

    ¡ºI do know where their hideout is, but I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s where they keep their goods or produce the drugs. Big bro, don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re nning to¨C¡»

    ¡°I just think it would be best if we cleaned them outpletely. Especially if they are connected with space pirates.¡±

    We can just find out where they¡¯re storing their goods and manufacturing the drugs by investigating their hideout after crushing them. In the worst case, we can spare one guy and forcefully scour his brain for info. Of course, I¡¯m not the one who¡¯s gonna do the scouring. I¡¯ll leave that stuff to Hartmut.

    ¡ºW-Well, you do have a point, bro.¡»

    ¡°Since they dared to get involved with pirates, there¡¯s no need for any negotiations or mercy.¡±

    ¡ºYa sure are extreme, bro.¡»

    ¡°I think you¡¯d agree with me once you get a good look at those poor victims whose limbs got cut off by pirates just so they could turn them into avant-garde ¡®art disys¡¯ stuffed inside containers in order to extract raw materials from them.¡±

    When Sieg heard my words, he got creeped out and muttered ¡°Eh¡­¡­? The heck? That¡¯s damn terrifying¡­¡­¡± under his breath. Yeah, I get that. My brain also refused to register that scene at first when I witnessed it for real aftering to this world.

    ¡°Start getting some more info on those bastards, but make sure not to push yourselves too much. We¡¯ll start making preparations for cleaning them out on our end. If you manage to identify the exact location of either their manufacturing base or storage warehouse, I¡¯ll give you guys 5000 Enels as a reward. If you manage to locate both, I¡¯ll give you 10,000. But remember, no taking unnecessary risks.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood, Big Bro. The bots can keep this ce safe on their own, so the two of us will go ahead and start investigating.¡»

    ¡°Yeah. Don¡¯t you dare die on me though.¡±

    I¡¯d find it a bit hard to take if these guys died because of the job I gave them after all.

    ¡°So, this is the specialized vine huh?¡±

    Hartmut couldn¡¯t help but sigh in a moved manner as he looked at the items that resembled dry cell batteries all lined up neatly inside a case ¨C each containing a vine amount that was enough for five people.

    It¡¯s been an hour since the call with Heinz and Seig through thebat bot. I brought Elma, Mei, and Dr. Shouko and paid Hartmut a visit.

    ¡°They are designed to be used with a standard syringe, so I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll find it difficult to administer them. Since the vine is formted with nanomachines, there¡¯s no problem with storing them at room temperature.¡±

    ¡°Understood. This storage device contains the manufacturing data, correct?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. I also included the data for the required facilities and equipment.¡±

    Perhaps due to the other party being a genuine noble, Dr. Shouko¡¯s tone seemed to be a bit more formal than usual. It¡¯s kinda strange, to be honest. I suppose she¡¯s just trying not to sound rude.

    ¡°It will take a few days to verify its effectiveness, and another few days toplete the set-up for mass production, so please do your best.¡±

    ¡°Of course. If I still can¡¯t manage to bring the situation under control even after all of this, then my father will probably disown me and send me away to some godforsaken corner of the gxy.¡±

    ¡°Sure sounds like a strict father¡­¡­ So, now it¡¯s your turn to lend me a hand.¡±

    ¡°Alright. You can do whatever you wish as long as it¡¯s within my authority to permit it.¡±

    ¡°Whatever, eh. No takebacks, okay?¡±

    I was probably disying a really viinous smirk. After all, Hartmut flinched for a bit after seeing my expression. C¡¯mon man. You don¡¯t have to be that on guard. It¡¯s gonna be fine! Fine, I tell ya! I¡¯m just gonna make a bit of a mess! Just a bit. Really!

    Well, that¡¯s how it is. I told Hartmut that the facility we asked him to protect had been attacked and that the organization behind the attack in question likely had deep ties with space pirates.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ So, what are you nning on doing, exactly?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re gonna crush them.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°In other words, we¡¯re gonna kill every single one of them.¡±

    ¡°N-Now hold on a moment.¡±

    ¡°After all, filth needs to be cleaned out. Isn¡¯t that right?¡±

    ¡°Can we talk this out first?¡±

    ¡°You did say I can do whatever I wished, right? A proud imperial noble like you couldn¡¯t possibly go back on his word, yeah?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­If you say it like that, then it seems I have no other choice on the matter.¡±

    Great. I managed to push through.

    ¡°I mean, isn¡¯t this a good opportunity? You¡¯ve just been assigned here Hartmut, so you still have nothing tying you down. If we attack their hideout and squeeze info out from some of them, we can definitely confirm their connection to space pirates. We might even find that some of those staying in the upper block have ties with them as well. Now¡¯s the perfect opportunity for doing something like this, while things are still chaotic. Isn¡¯t that right?¡±

    ¡°You know, Lord Hiro. As an imperial noble, I am supposed to be a keeper ofw and order¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Those who cooperate with space pirates will be subjected to capital punishment anyway. I believe we have a bit of wiggle room when ites to stuff like this.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­ I suppose you have a point.¡±

    ¡°You can even package this into an epic tale of heroism. Isn¡¯t it good for imperial nobles to have one or two stories like that to their name?¡±

    ¡°R-Right¡­¡­¡±

    In the end, I seeded in convincing Hartmut and secured some troops to attack the criminal hideout. Hartmut managed to bring arge number of private soldier¡¯s from his father¡¯s territory, so I took advantage of that.

    Now, all that¡¯s left is to get in touch with Heinz and Sieg before attacking that hideout.

    There¡¯s a high chance of getting the info I tasked the two of them to find inside the hideout, so it¡¯s not like contacting them was essential.

    However, I couldn¡¯t just keep stirring stuff up while remaining in the background. I also had to show some courage and initiative on my end after all.

 Chapter 419: Since Weâ€™re Doing This, Letâ€™s Go All Out

    Chapter 419: Since We¡¯re Doing This, Let¡¯s Go All Out

    ¨CThree hourster. I equipped my lightweight Ninja power armor and took Mei, who was sporting a variable outputseruncher, and the rest of thebat bots on the ship to attack the target hideout. Apparently, the gang called themselves the Bloodies.

    Heinz and Seig met up with us along the way.

    ¡°Um, Bro?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Are ya nning to go to war or something?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Why?¡±

    What¡¯s this guy on about? Since I decided to do this, then I better go all out. I ain¡¯t nning on holding back. I¡¯m gonna hit them with everything I got. Especially since those guys are apparently involved with space pirates. You never know what will pop outter. In fact, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if something like a biological weapon suddenly appears.

    ¡°Are you guys gonna be fine with just that equipment?¡±

    ¡°Actually, I think yours are a bit too overkill, Bro¡­¡­¡±

    Siegmented with a bbergasted look on his face. Oh c¡¯mon. Don¡¯t tell me you guys are gonnaunch a raid wearing only casual clothes (even though they did say they were made usingser-proof materials) and rtively decentser guns? Seriously? One lethal hit with a high-outputser gun and I¡¯d be toast.

    ¡°You guys better not take point. I¡¯ll turn a blind eye to a bit of looting, so just scour the ce for anything that may clue us in on the location of their other bases.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Seriously? Can we really keep any valuables we get to find!?¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯ll lead to getting stuffed inside a prison colony, I¡¯m simply gonna pretend we don¡¯t have anything to do with each other and cut you guys loose, so you better choose what you¡¯re gonna pilfer carefully.¡±

    ¡°G-Gotcha.¡±

    Sieg, who disyed a joyful look for a moment, nodded solemnly after hearing my warning. Well, these guys should have some means to safely deal with those matters, but it¡¯s better to warn them just in case.

    ¡°Master, it¡¯s about time tomence the operation.¡±

    ¡°Got it. Alright then. Let¡¯s make it shy. Make sure to attract as much attention as possible. Just pin them down, but there¡¯s no need to go on a full offensive.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Please leave it to me.¡±

    Mei replied and nodded while brandishing the variable outputseruncher that was directly connected to her own power generator. Duringbat, she¡¯d swing that thing ¨C which weighs as much as a heavy machine gun ¨C around like a twig. Since mass x speed = destructive power, getting hit by that thing in close-quartersbat would be pretty damn nasty.

    ¡°We should sneak in from the rear, right, Bro?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Oh, and make sure not to lose those IFF beacon rings. Without them, you¡¯d get shot at straight away the moment you encounter those private troops working for nobility.¡±

    ¡°¡±We definitely ain¡¯t gonna take them off!¡±¡±

    The arms of the two were fitted with bracelets that emitted blue light. These were the beacon rings I mentioned, and they can prevent friendly fire by transmitting IFF signals to allied forces. They were pretty useful since even if you identally pulled the trigger while pointing your weapon at an ally equipped with a ring, the weapon wouldn¡¯t fire.

    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s about time. Pelt them withunchers first. Make it extra shy.¡±

    ¡°Aye aye.¡±

    At the same time as Mei¡¯s reply, thebat bots that were previously on stand-by simultaneously activated their weapons and aimed the grenadeunchers equipped on their demolition backpacks at the target facility.

    ¡°Commencing fire.¡±

    A gratifying cacophony of gunfire rang out. The next moment, a bright greenish sh went off right on top of the target facility¡¯s walls and caused hot air to rush toward our position.

    ¡°¡­¡­You gotta be kidding me.¡±

    ¡°Damn, that¡¯s just¨C Damn.¡±

    The sma grenades fired by the five military-gradebat bots demonstrated their full power and instantly vaporizedrge sections of the facility¡¯s walls. Red hot holes were sted right through them.

    ¡°Let¡¯s keep up the pace. Move out.¡±

    ¡°Eh? We¡¯re just gonna rush in like this!?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. C¡¯mon. Hurry up and move it, you two.¡±

    ¡°Please be careful, Master.¡±

    I lightly kicked Sieg¡¯s behind and headed for the hideout of the Bloodies. We specifically headed toward the right of the facility that wasn¡¯t exposed to the sma grenade bombardment. Now then, it¡¯s time for a break-in.

    ¡°Who the heck¡¯re you¨C!¡±

    Rather than trying to intimidate me, it would have been better to just draw theser gun on your hip, man. Anyway, I pointed my gun at the small-fry thug and then immediately pulled the trigger.

    ¡°Huh!?¡±

    Bang! The sound of weapon fire rang out and a sh resembling pale lightning momentarily dyed the room white. The muffled thud made by the thug¡¯s body falling to the floor followed soon afterward.

    ¡°I just can¡¯t get used to this smell.¡±

    ¡°The electric st fired by this thing is powerful enough to be lethal after all. Can¡¯t be helped.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t smell it through the Ninja power armor, but it seemed like Sieg and Heinz¡¯s noses were assailed by a pretty distinctive stench. The body was slightly charred and was dripping in urine, so it couldn¡¯t be helped if it stank. Sometimes, they¡¯d leak out not just urine but excrement as well.

    ¡°Well, at least I¡¯m not outright killing them off. This is already quite merciful, right?¡±

    ¡°I-Is that right¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    If I wanted to kill them straight away, I wouldn¡¯t use a Te gun that fires electric sts. Instead, I¡¯d go ahead and end them with aser shotgun that can fire multiple lethalser beams at once, or simply cut them down with my swords.

    Well, it¡¯s not like one wouldn¡¯t die when hit with a Te gun. It¡¯s only rtively less lethal. It was definitely less lethal than aser shotgun though. If one still dies after getting hit by a Te gun, then that¡¯s just rotten luck. It¡¯s just that kind of weapon. It was a weapon with low lethality but was definitely not non-lethal. Well, perhaps it was more of a medium lethality weapon. Anyway, that¡¯s how it is.

    ¡°But ain¡¯t you actually absurdly strong, Bro?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a pro after all.¡±

    I actually preferred zipping around in my starship, but I¡¯ve been doing stuff like this quite often recently instead. Thanks to that, it felt like I¡¯ve been needlessly improving my closebat skills¡­¡­ I¡¯ve also been able to use psionic skills that were geared for closebattely thanks to Kugi¡¯s training.

    Moreover, my Ninja armor had high-grade passive sensors that were really effective in enclosed spaces like this one. I could hear not only footsteps, but even the slight rustling of clothes whenever someone moved, the sound of weapons being raised, and even determine the direction they wereing from. They even provided you withbat support tailored to your skills.

    ¡°So, did you guys manage to spot anything of interest?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve nabbed some stuff that seemed to contain data caches.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve secured some valuables as well, Bro.¡±

    ¡°Great. Keep it up, you two.¡±

    Seig and Heinz were stuffing various things inside what seemed to be arge shoulder bag that they managed to swipe from somewhere. Heinz was nabbing stuff rted to data storage while Sieg was focused on valuable-looking items.

    ¡°Oh, it looks like there are allies up ahead.¡±

    People with friendly IFF signatures were approaching us, so I gave Heinz and Sieg a heads-up. The two weren¡¯t wearing any equipment that could disy the appropriate information, so they would only be able to tell if there were allies nearby if I told them.

    ¡°Good work, guys. I¡¯ve incapacitated several people, so I¡¯ll leave the rest to you.¡±

    ¡°Understood. We¡¯ll go ahead and secure this area.¡±

    ¡°Roger that. We¡¯re heading to the upper floor. We¡¯ve been securing data storage devices on our end, but please keep a lookout for them as well, just in case.¡±

    After the brief exchange with the troops under Hartmut, we resumed searching theplex.

    ¡°¡­¡­They looked like pretty tough guys.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re taking this opportunity to wipe out undesirables. You guys were lucky to have tagged along with me.¡±

    The power held by imperial nobility in the empire was quite overwhelming. Whenever they start using violent means in earnest, ouws such as mafia, gangsters, and yakuza wouldn¡¯t be able to stand against them. In the end, power was power after all.

    ¡°Now then, let¡¯s continue with the clean-up. We have topletely annihte these Bloodies by today.¡±

    ¡°Got it, Bro.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    The two nodded, and we continued searching the hideout in a three-man cell formation¡­¡­ Or rather, I was the only one acting as the vanguard.

 Chapter 420: Force Push!

    Chapter 420: Force Push!

    ¡°I dunno who you are, bastard. But you sure got the guts tounch a raid on us! I¡¯m gonna dismember you alive!¡±

    A skinny but weirdly muscled guy started yelling angrily at me with a reddened face and veins popping up on his forehead, making his spittle fly all over the ce. A skinny macho man? Anyway, his body looked really weird. It¡¯s like he had zero body fat but only had muscles. He then rushed toward me while wielding a dangerous-looking club-like weapon.

    ¡°Hiyaaaaaah! You¡¯re miiiiiiiine!¡±

    I held my breath and entered ¡®bullet time¡¯. Everything around me began moving extremely slowly. Meanwhile, the skinny macho man was running at me with a speed impossible for a regr human body to reach.

    The sound of sparks echoed in my ears. The source of the sound was the Te gun I was wielding. The skinny macho was hit square in the chest by a pale electric bolt and fell. At least, that¡¯s what was supposed to happen.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Kuhaaa¡­¡­! It¡¯s useless!¡±

    ¡°You have protection against electric attacks?¡±

    Since that didn¡¯t seem to have done any damage to him, I fired the Te gun again in a consecutive burst.

    ¡°Wha¨C!? Hold o¨C!?¡±

    ¡°Not a chance, buddy.¡±

    The skinny macho ended up falling after five shots. Smoke rose from his entire body, and he looked pretty charred. Was this guy still alive? Well, if he¡¯s dead, then he¡¯s dead. But he didn¡¯t look like your regr small-fry, so I better take some precautions just in case.

    ¡°Oi, you guys picked up some kind of handcuffs earlier, right? Put them on this guy.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha, Bro.¡±

    Sieg took out a high-tech-looking pair of handcuffs from his bag and restrained the skinny macho with them as smoke continued to rise from thetter¡¯s body. So, he really was alive? This guy¡¯s tenacity was on par with those tiny ck things that crawl around everywhere.

    ¡°Is this guy the leader of this ce?¡±

    ¡°I wonder. We don¡¯t know much about the heads of their organization, Bro. However, I think I¡¯ve seen this guy a few times before. I think he¡¯s one of their executives.¡±

    ¡°I see. I hope his head wasn¡¯t fried so we can still get info out of him.¡±

    I did shoot him five times with my Te gun, so I hope his brain was still okay even after all that. Well, we¡¯ll just have to seeter.

    ¡°Go and sort out the data storage devices, Heinz.¡±

    ¡°Got it, Big Bro¡­¡­ What about you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m no good with that sort of stuff. I¡¯m more of abat specialist.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    I mostly leave those kinds of things to Mimi and Mei. I don¡¯t have trouble using machines in daily life, but hacking, data analysis, and all that sort of stuff was beyond me.

    ¡°Oops. It looks like we havepany.¡±

    The ce we were currently in was arge room in a corner of the facility¡¯s second floor. The only way out was through the entrance we came in from earlier, but I heard multiple footsteps getting closer to our position, and they weren¡¯t giving off IFF signals.

    ¡°Three¡­¡­ no, four people. Four is a bit troublesome. Can¡¯t be helped.¡±

    The Te gun wasn¡¯t good with rapid-fire, so if all four came at me at the same time, one might get through while I was dealing with the others. If there were only two opponents, I could have taken cover and dealt with them steadily, but it was a bit troublesome with four opponents.

    ¡°Hurry and hide.¡±

    ¡°Right!¡±

    ¡°We can give you some cover fire, Bro.¡±

    ¡°No need.¡±

    I fired my Te gun at the four guys who burst into the room armed withser guns and rifles. I then stuck out my left hand.

    ¡°Get lost.¡±

    For a brief moment, the space in front of the assants got distorted, and then BOOM! A shockwave rippled through the room along with an explosive noise. The assants were hit directly by the shock wave and were blown straight out of the room.

    I then chased after them and mercilessly fired my Te gun. I could hear them groaning in pain, and I made sure to fire a shot at each one of them.

    ¡°Bro, what was that¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a prototype directed-energy weapon installed in my power armor. Cool, right?¡±

    ¡°It was amazing!¡±

    That¡¯s actually aplete lie, and that st was the result of my psionic ability training with Kugi. It was something like a Force push. I¡¯m turning more and more like a J*di knight, but it can¡¯t be helped. It is what it is after all.

    ording to Kugi, considering the nature and scale of my abilities, something like that was onlyparable to a light sneeze, but since it can be used at a practical level, I was quite fine with it already. By the way, unlike a J*di knight, I didn¡¯t have the ability to grab things from afar and pull them towards me using psychic force. Well, at least for now anyway.

    The only thing I could do now was generate a powerful ¡®force¡¯ to push stuff away. If anything, it¡¯s more simr to the ability learned by a certain Dragonborn. If I get better at using my powers, I might eventually learn to grab and pull stuff towards me.

    ¡°Bro, should I hand over the data caches I gathered to those guys from earlier?¡±

    ¡°Please do. Unlocking them and analyzing the data is a bit too much for you, right?¡±

    ¡°I do have some contacts who can help, but it¡¯ll take money and effort, so if those guys are gonna take care of it, then great.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead then.¡±

    ¡°Hey Bro, look at what I found.¡±

    Sieg brought a bag filled with something from a corner of the room. Inside it were lots of medicine packets containing pink-colored powder.

    ¡°The heck is this?¡±

    ¡°These are the drugs those guys have been spreading around.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see¡­¡­ I suppose I should bring back a sample for analysis.¡±

    ¡°Is one bag enough?¡±

    ¡°You better not try using this stuff, okay? I¡¯m not bailing you out if you guys get infected again.¡±

    ¡°Eh? What do you mean by that, Bro?¡±

    ¡°ording to our resident doctor, if the mushrooms used as raw materials for making this stuff are poorly processed, there¡¯s a good chance of them bing an infection source. Oh, and those mushrooms are most likely the source of the pandemic running rampant inside this colony.¡±

    ¡°Seriously¡­¡­?¡±

    Sieg hurriedly ced the bag on top of a table and backed away. He also took some packets out of his pocket and tossed them into the bag. If I hadn¡¯t warned him, this guy would probably have happily used the stuff himself.

    I don¡¯t really think we¡¯d obtain any more meaningful data if I took a sample back, but they might still be of use, so I¡¯ll just bring a bag with me. Who knows. Maybe Dr. Shouko can find a way to render the mushrooms themselves harmless or something. They would still be troublesome even if that happens though.

    ¡°Seriously. It looks like friendlies areing over this time around¡­¡­ Have they finished cleaning up?¡±

    The Ninja armor was picking up friendly IFF signals heading toward our position. Now, all that was left was to hand over the remaining criminals who were currently paralyzed from electric shock and the data caches. After that, this raid can be considered done.

    However, I wonder what¡¯s up with that resilient fellow who managed to resist getting shot with my Te gun once? I heard that people who were high on drugs could sometimes stille at you with a knife even after getting shot with a handgun back on Earth. Butpared to the taser used on Earth, the Te gun was several levels more powerful.

    To begin with, the human body normally wasn¡¯t capable of remaining functional after getting sted by a powerful electric current. One couldn¡¯t just endure that kind of attack with guts. Maybe one could endure if they were fat enough and said body fat acted as an instor or something, but that guy was skinny as heck. Maybe it was the result of some type of enhancement surgery, or maybe he was wearing some sort of protective equipment.

    Maybe he even had a special constitution that was highly resistant to electric shock. Or perhaps he was someone who actually felt good when getting shocked. Come to think of it, he was wielding some sort of electric club earlier, wasn¡¯t he? Maybe he often yed around with it in his spare time. You never know.

    ¡°Are we done here, Bro?¡±

    ¡°I suppose. Get ready to hand over the items we found.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    In any case, we need to first extract information. We can extract them from the data caches or pull them out of the captive¡¯s brains, but both methods will take some time. In any case, we should be done for now.

 Chapter 421: Thatâ€™s Not It. Please Believe Me.

    Chapter 421: That¡¯s Not It. Please Believe Me.

    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s toast to our victory.¡±

    ¡°Cheers!¡±

    ¡°Cheers¨C!¡±

    About an hour has passed since the raid on the Bloodies hideout and the handover of the data storage devices and other stuff to Hartmut¡¯s men. I returned to the orphanage facility along with Heinz and Sieg, and we held a little celebration party together with Airia and the children. Or rather, it was more of a dinner party.

    ¡°Whoah! This stuff¡¯s really good!¡±

    ¡°Delicious!¡±

    The food served at the dinner party was brought over from the ck Lotus, and all of the dishes were made by good old Tetsujin. The orphanage facility didn¡¯t have an auto-cooker, and they¡¯ve been making do with eating pre-cooked meals packed in microwavable retort pouches. The many dishes prepared by Tetsujin V won the hearts and taste buds of not only the children but Sieg and the rest as well.

    ¡°Looks like you¡¯re really enjoying them. I guess it was worth bringing food from the Lotus.¡±

    ¡°I think you¡¯re about the only guy who¡¯d use military-gradebat bots for food delivery, Bro.¡±

    The ones that brought the food over were the military-gradebat bots that participated in the hideout raid. After returning to the Lotus with Mei, they reced their sma grenadeuncher backpacks with cargo packs and proceeded to deliver food to the orphanage.

    After the hideout raid, I came up with the idea of having this dinner party and immediately contacted Mei to have her make the necessary arrangements. Even if Mei was away from the Lotus, she could still remotely ess the maintenance and equipment recement systems for both Tetsujin and thebat bots, as well as safely contact the crew members who were left on the ship.

    ¡°Thank you so much, Hiro-san. The children look very happy¡­¡­ They¡¯ve only been experiencing hardship after hardship recently.¡±

    ¡°S¡¯all good. This is nothin¡¯, so no worries.¡±

    Actually, I originally meant to take Heinz and Sieg to a slightly more upscale restaurant to treat them. But then I thought that it would be nice if I also got the children at the orphanage some delicious food. And so, we decided to hold a dinner party at the orphanage instead.

    ¡°Fufu¡­¡­ The way you talk really resembles that girl.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m doing it on purpose y¡¯know.¡±

    I think that Tina and I get along rather well. We feltfortable spending time with each other because we had a lot of stuff inmon. There were times when she acted a bit unconventional, but you could say the same for me too. Yes, I¡¯m rather self-aware. But I only managed to notice this when others pointed it out to meter on and I thought back to my earlier actions.

    ¡°For now, we managed to bring down what seemed to be the main hideout of the people who attacked this ce, rendered most of them unable to fight, and forced the rest to retreat, so I think you guys with be safe for a while. However, it doesn¡¯t hurt to be careful.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Thank you very much for everything.¡±

    ¡°Oh, and sorry for changing the topic abruptly, but I actually asked the newly appointed governor to look after this facility.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Airia¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. Right. Come to think of it, I just went ahead and made arrangements for the orphanage facility without consulting Airia first.

    ¡°The organization that was supporting this facility has lost its power after all. And they were probably an underworld gang or something, right? The new governor has taken advantage of the chaotic situation caused by the pandemic to investigate the shadier elements in this colony. The n is to wipe them out, and if that happens, you¡¯ll lose potential backers even after the pandemic subsides. And that¡¯s why I acted presumptuously and decided to make some arrangements.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ But is that really okay? After all, just like you said, the one previously sponsoring this colony was among those shady organizations, so¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve made sure to give Hartmut various benefits in return for taking care of this ce, so there¡¯s no need to worry. If necessary, I¡¯ll seize the rights to this building and officially ce it under the care of the local government. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll do all they can to amodate you guys.¡±

    Airia began sweating nervously after hearing my deration. Sorry. I ended up leaving one of the relevant parties out of the loop and proceeded with the talks to the point where things are mostly a done deal already. Everything¡¯s gonna be fine though! Honest!

    ¡°U-Um, the governor is a nobleman¡­¡­ isn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah. Quite the handsome gentleman too.¡±

    Technically, I was a nobleman too. But if I revealed that fact, it might only worsen Airia¡¯s apprehensions, so I¡¯ll just do the smart thing and keep quiet about it. If you really were smart, then you shouldn¡¯t have put Airia in a situation that made her get flustered in the first ce, you say. Sorry, but I¡¯m just gonna ignore that.

    ¡°A-Are you really sure it¡¯s gonna be okay? He wouldn¡¯t suddenly stop supporting us for some reason or another or cut us all down because he finds us to be eyesores, would he?¡±

    ¡°Just how unreasonable are the nobles in your eyes, Airia¡­¡­? Hartmut seemed like a pretty nice and sincere young man, so I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything to worry about. If you¡¯re really that worried about him breaking his promise to me and treating you guys harshly, I¡¯ll just make sure to tell him he¡¯d be facing terrible retribution from me if that ever happens.¡±

    ¡°W-Will doing something like that be alright¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. No problem at all. I¡¯m a tinum-ranker after all. Most nobles avoid making enemies of tinum-ranked mercenaries like me, or rather, the Mercenary Guild behind us. And I¡¯m sure he¡¯s even more wary of making an enemy of me in particr.¡±

    However, in the event that Hartmut really breaks his promise, I have some countermeasures prepared. I could make use of the Mercenary Guild, other nobles, or worst of all, the imperial family to attack Hartmut socially by saying he wasn¡¯t someone trustworthy. I could even directly challenge him to a duel. If I could draw him into a space battle, it¡¯d be my win for sure. And I could also settle things with a sword duel. Either way, I¡¯ll give him a thorough social death.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ But even if you treat us so well, there¡¯s nothing we can offer to pay you back¡­¡­¡±

    Airia looked down glumly. Hmm. Pay me back, huh? Airia was a certified beauty, and her body shape was¡­¡­ pretty good. She was quite attractive. So, I couldn¡¯t help but think of a one-night stand. Airia was a proper adult who was pretty sensible and had enough social experience, so I¡¯m sure she¡¯d be able to enjoy that sort of stuff without any trouble.

    However, I¡¯m sure my crew members would give me nk death stares if I ever did something like that with her. It might also give Heinz and Sieg a bad impression. In the first ce, she might already be quite close to either of them. So that sort of thing was a no-go after all. Well, thinking about that stuff was a part of a healthy man¡¯s nature, so please just let it slide.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll have Tina pay me back plentyter.¡±

    ¡°Tina will¡­¡­? Um, err¡­¡­ Are Tina and you¡­¡­ an item?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, basically. It¡¯s an intimate rtionship between man and woman.¡±

    ¡°You and Tina¡­¡­ Um, do you really have that kind of preference¡­¡­? And that¡¯s why you brought Linda back with you¡­¡­?¡±

    Somehow, it felt like Airia was moving to block my line of sight and prevent me from eyeing the children. Okay, okay. First, let¡¯s clear things up. Be calm, me.

    ¡°That¡¯s not it. I do have an intimate rtionship with Tina and her sister Wiska, but I definitely ain¡¯t a lolicon. It took me a long while before I decided toy my hands on those two, you know? I¡¯m a normal guy with normal preferences, okay? It just so happens that the ones I like have that kind of build. I swear I¡¯m not looking at Linda in a funny way.¡±

    ¡°Come to think of it, all your crew members are girls, right, Hiro-san?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It felt like Airia¡¯s opinion of me changed from a respectable and kind mercenary to an outrageous womanizer. Well, it was technically true, but it still felt kinda wrong.

    ¡°It looks like it¡¯ll be useless no matter how I justify myself, so let¡¯s just drop the topic. Let¡¯s drop it now.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Right.¡±

    Even though she nodded, Airia still continued to give me a critical gaze. Howmentable. Oh, right. I might be able to clear up the misunderstandings (which may or may not be actual misunderstandings) if I give her Tina¡¯s contact info. I¡¯ll call Tinater and ask her if I can give Airia her number.

 Chapter 422: A Great Bloodbath

    Chapter 422: A Great Bloodbath

    It was now a little over an hour after the dinner party. I hid myself in a spot overlooking Airia¡¯s orphanage facility and kept an eye on the situation.

    ¡ºMaster.¡»

    ¡°Yeah. I got them on my end as well. They really came huh?¡±

    The Ninja power armor¡¯s high-performance sensors detected numerous heat signatures surrounding the facility. I adjusted the visual sensor range, zoomed in on the folks who were behaving suspiciously and checked them out.

    ¡ºHow shall we proceed? Shall weunch an attack from here?¡»

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that this time around. I¡¯ll handle them personally. I should make full use of the Ninja armor¡¯s specs in a real fight every once in a while.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood. I¡¯ll monitor the situation and provide support when needed.¡»

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you. I¡¯ll be careful not to make any blunders.¡±

    I cut off the transmission with Mei and approached one of the groups surrounding the facility. I jumped from the roof of a lower block building and fired a hookshot into a wall. That reduced the speed of my fall and allowed me to get on top of the assants practically unnoticed.

    There were five in total. All of them resembled the thugs we encountered in the hideout we just raided. They were armed withser guns,ser rifles, and cruder weapons like nail bats andrge knives. As if to say messing with them won¡¯t end well.

    ¡°It¡¯s like I¡¯m ying a stealth action game.¡±

    Maybe I should attach hidden assassination wrist des to the forearms of the Ninja armor next time I get the chance? While thinking of some silly stuff, I silently drew out a pair of swords ¨C one long and one short. I held them in a reverse grip and jumped off the building I was standing on. My first target was the guy with the mohawk at the very back.

    ¡°Gueh¨C!?¡±

    Making use of the fall¡¯s momentum, I aimed the long sword held in my right hand toward his right shoulder and stabbed it in deeply, reaching all the way to his core. The sword¡¯s sharpness effortlessly tore through his innards and bones. Within moments, the ce was littered with blood and guts.

    ¡°Wha¨C!?¡±

    ¡°Huh¨C!?¡±

    I decapitated a second guy with the short sword in my left hand using a backhand sh, flipped the long sword in my right hand around, switched it to an overhand grip, and cut the third guy down with an overhead diagonal sh.

    ¡°Hiii¨C!?¡±

    ¡°Gii¨C!?¡±

    As I approached the remaining two assants, I also switched to holding the short sword with an overhand grip, then used both swords to sever each man¡¯s torso from their lower body. Un. The sharpness of the swords used by nobles definitely ain¡¯t no joke. Even without using much force, you¡¯d be able to cut a human¡¯s body in half.

    ¡°That¡¯s one group down¡­¡­ Let¡¯s go for the next.¡±

    ¡ºExcellent work, Master.¡»

    ¡°Well, this should about do it.¡±

    ¡°The cleanup afterward is going to be quite troublesome though.¡±

    ¡°Do your best, guys!¡±

    I cheered on the Reemay Prime decontamination team dispatched to clean up the blood-soaked lower block and gave them a thumbs-up while still in my Ninja armor. For some reason, it kinda felt like I¡¯d been sprayed with excessive amounts of cleaning fluid and disinfectant, but since I was wearing the Ninja armor, I didn¡¯t feel a thing. In fact, this saved me the trouble of having to perform cleaning on the ship.

    ¡°Big Bro¡­¡­¡±

    As I was seeing off the decontamination team carrying body bags and decontamination equipment, Heinz came out of the orphanage facility and called out to me. Well, I did cause quite amotion, so I suppose them noticing what was happening was inevitable.

    ¡°Hey, man. There are dead bodies and innards all over the ce, so it¡¯s best not to wander around too much.¡±

    ¡°I kinda guessed that already, but¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Why¡¯d this happen? Well, you see, we really did quite a number on them, so I thought it wouldn¡¯t be strange if they wanted payback or something. Honestly, I thought there was only a 50/50 chance of theming here. Staying vignt was the right call.¡±

    After saying so, I shrugged my shoulders in front of Heinz. The RIKISHI wasn¡¯t capable of such fine movements, but this custom-made power armor definitely could.

    In other words, I exined to Heinz that Iy in ambush after the dinner party while anticipating retaliation from the Bloodies. There was a good chance it would have ended up being a miss, but I suppose my bad luck yed a factor again.

    For those guys, having their main hideout crushed head-on was akin to having their honor blown to pieces. Of course, being taken lightly by others in the trade as a result of that would have spelled the end for both mercenaries like me and ouws like them, so it was necessary to take revenge to gain back at least a bit of face.

    However, one of the participants in the raid was Hartmut ¡ª the current governor of the colony. So, it would have been troublesome and unreasonable for them to go head-to-head against him openly. That¡¯s why they decided to go for the other participants in the raid instead.

    Why did they directly attack the orphanage? Well, even an idiot would notice that thebat bots that attacked their hideout and the bots guarding the orphanage were of the same model. It was only natural to think there was a connection, and if that were the case, thenunching an attack on the orphanage would make sense.

    Eh? If that¡¯s the case, then it was ultimately my fault that the orphanage was targeted? Hahaha, I dunno about that.

    Anyway, even if Iid in ambush for the guys who¡¯de for revenge, there was still a chance that some might slip from me if I was going at it solo. That¡¯s why Mei rearmed thebat bots and had them stand ready nearby as well. Well, they didn¡¯t get their turn in the end though. I mean, it was practically a one-sided ughter.

    After decimating one enemy team, I¡¯d activate my armor¡¯s multi-functional camo system, used the hookshot, and thenunched another surprise attack from above. From the enemy¡¯s perspective, it was a nightmarish scenario of something unseen shing several guys to pieces in an instant.

    Most of them moved in groups, so even if they noticed the attack, they wouldn¡¯t be able to fire theirser guns and rifles for fear of friendly fire. On the other hand, since their enemy was almostpletely invisible, they wouldn¡¯t be able to guarantee they¡¯dnd a hit even when using clubs and knives. And so, I cut them down while they were hesitating.

    After killing off all of the guys who came for revenge, I contacted Hartmut through Mei and had him send a decontamination team to get rid of the corpses. Well, that decontamination team in question seemed to be holding a grudge against me for getting them dispatched to perform major cleanup operations twice in a day though.

    ¡°You really are a mercenary, after all, Bro¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah. What? You scared?¡±

    ¡°Very.¡±

    Heinz disyed a bitter smile. After all, I easily killed over thirty people in this incident. Honestly, even I was a bit perplexed by the fact that I was able to kill this many people so emotionlessly. But then again, they were technically akin to space pirates, so I suppose it wasn¡¯t that much of a surprise. They were actively causing the pandemic to worsen by spreading those illegal drugs, so even if Hartmut arrested them without any casualties, they¡¯d still end up getting sentenced to extremely hardbor for life, stripped of all their human rights, and turned intob rats for inhumane experiments. Therefore, directly killing them like this could also be seen as a sort of mercy for them.

    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that killing these guys won¡¯t earn me a single Enel though. From a merc¡¯s perspective anyway. However, with this, I believe we¡¯ve exhausted most of their manpower.¡±

    ¡°Then we probably won¡¯t be expecting any further attacks from them for the time being, right Bro?¡±

    ¡°At the very least, they won¡¯tunch another attack without some sort of n.¡±

    If they were to lose all of their pawns for some unknown reason every time theyunched an attack, they wouldn¡¯t be able to maintain their organization eventually. Or rather, they might have already lost most of their manpower after today¡¯s massacre.

    If that really was the case, then the options they can take would be quite limited. They can either hide, run away, or simply surrender. In any case, surrender was probably out of the question. After all, even if they surrendered obediently, they probably can¡¯t expect a pardon. They were going straight tobor camps or theb as guinea pigs.

    ¡°With this, I think my business in this colony ising to a close¡­¡­ Hey, I just wanna ask. Are you familiar with Tina? I wanna know what she did in this colony and why exactly she had to leave.¡±

    ¡°I only know her by name, but I don¡¯t know much about her. I believe she had some sort of conflict with the Dawes Family. I don¡¯t know the details though.¡±

    ¡°The Dawes Family?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a criminal org mainly run by dwarves, and they¡¯re involved in the manufacture and smuggling of illegal weapons and tech. During themotion caused by the pandemic, most of their higher-ups fell sick, and the organization itself should have fallen apart by now.¡±

    ¡°I see. Thanks for the info.¡±

    Plenty enough info can be gleaned from what Heinz told me. It¡¯s unclear to what extent Tina was involved in the operations of the Dawes Family, but it¡¯s not hard to imagine that she got into something quite troublesome before deciding to leave this colony. But if those guys got almost wiped out like Heinz said, ain¡¯t this a good chance for Tina and Airia to meet directly¡­¡­? No, maybe it¡¯s still dangerous. Perhaps it would be better to just have Airiae to the ship instead.

    ¡°Once this matter is settled, I¡¯m gonna invite you guys and Airia aboard my ship.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°After all, it¡¯s dangerous for Tina toe down to the colony, but I still want her and Airia to meet in person. But inviting Airia alone to my ship is all kinds of awkward, right?¡±

    ¡°Ah¨C¡­¡­ You¡¯re right. Yeah, that would be awkward.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why you guys shoulde too. My ship¡¯s pretty good y¡¯know? I¡¯m sure you guys will be surprised at how different it is from a typical merc ship.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m 100% sure you guys will get floored.¡±

    I engaged in small talk with Heinz while waiting for the decontamination team to finish the cleanup.

 Chapter 423: Emergency Launch

    Chapter 423: Emergency Launch

    The next day, I invited Airia, Heinz, and Sieg to the ship. But we couldn¡¯t leave the children at the facility alone, so I sent Mei and somebat bots to watch over them.

    ¡°I am perfectly capable of taking care of children. I am a maid after all.¡±

    That¡¯s what she said, but I set her emotional expression value to the bare minimum though¡­¡­ I just hope the children won¡¯t end up being scared of her. Mei was extremely beautiful, so some people find her pretty hard to approach. But since I was the one who designed her, I didn¡¯t feel intimidated by her at all.

    ¡°Wow¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Whoah¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Wahaa¡­¡­¡±

    Airia and the guys boarded the ck Lotus and let out cries of admiration when they reached the break area. When we boarded the ship from the gangway and entered after the disinfection procedures, they were already saying stuff like ¡®It¡¯s brighter than I expected.¡¯ and ¡®The floor and walls are pretty clean eh.¡¯, but they were absolutely floored when we reached the bright and spacious break area.

    ¡°Apparently, the image people have of mercenary ships is that they¡¯re damp, dark, and dirty, with bare metal walls, floors, and ceilings.¡±

    ¡°At the very least, they definitely wouldn¡¯t think of something this spacious and beautiful. I¡¯m truly impressed.¡±

    ¡°It looks like a really high-end hotel¡­¡­ Eh? What¡¯s with that wall?¡±

    Heinz was simply impressed, while the terrarium on the wall caught Sieg¡¯s interest. As for Airia¡­¡­

    ¡°Tina!¡±

    ¡°Hey there, Airia. Been a while.¡±

    She immediately saw Tina and ran straight to her. Yeah, I¡¯m sure they have a lot they want to talk about, so I better leave them alone for a while. Airia seemed to be acquainted with Wiska as well, and along with Linda, the four of them quickly settled down and began talking at length.

    ¡°Shall we head over to the dining hall first?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    When I went to the dining hall with the two guys in tow, all the female crew members except for Tina and Wiska followed as well. Err, well, I couldn¡¯t spot Dr. Shouko, so she¡¯s probably holed up in theb again.

    ¡°My Lord, dear guests, please partake in some refreshments.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Kugi.¡±

    I thanked Kugi for bringing over some drinks. It¡¯s hot Imperial-style tea. It was simr to ck tea.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡­ Bro, these people are¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°These are my crew members. The one who served the tea is Kugi. She¡¯s from the Holy Empire. And¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Mimi. I¡¯m an imperial citizen, and I serve as the ship operator and supply manager.¡±

    ¡°Name¡¯s Elma. I¡¯m also an imperial citizen, and I¡¯m a pilot. I¡¯m also a Silver rank mercenary.¡±

    ¡°My Lord has already introduced me, but in any case, I am Kugi. I am currently apprenticing as a sub-pilot.¡±

    After Mimi, Elma, and Kugi introduced themselves, Heinz and Sieg followed suit.

    ¡°Pleased to meet you all. I¡¯m Heinz. I suppose you can consider me a security guard of sorts.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Sieg. I¡¯m a guard like Big Bro Heinz¡­¡­ Um, Big Bro Hiro. They are all really cute and pretty.¡±

    ¡°You jealous? Honestly, I also think I have it too good.¡±

    These are my true thoughts by the way. Was I really qualified to surround myself with this many beautiful women? I often asked myself that question. I mean really.

    ¡°That¡¯s surprisingly humble Bro.¡±

    ¡°I gotta make sure they can depend on me after all. I need to work hard every day to be a man deserving of their trust. I can¡¯t just sit back and rx all the time.¡±

    ¡°Haha¡­¡­ Being the head of a harem seems pretty tough.¡±

    ¡°I guess. Well, honestly, I¡¯ve been relying on them a lot as well. I can¡¯t allow myself to get carried away.¡±

    In any case, I believe it¡¯s my responsibility to do my best to respond to the girls who shower me with so much trust and adoration. Of course, there¡¯s a limit to what I can do on my own and how much responsibility I can shoulder, so in reality, our team functions by relying on each other¡¯s strengths.

    ¡°You sure are saying some pretty admirable stuff there, mister. Aren¡¯t you pretty sloppy whenever there¡¯s no work to be done?¡±

    ¡°Even so, Hiro-sama never misses a day of training. Besides, don¡¯t we all act sloppy on off days as well?¡±

    ¡°My Lord does put forth great effort in his endeavors. However, no matter how sturdy a rope is, it will eventually break if it is constantly strained. I believe he has found a good bnce between work and rest.¡±

    ¡°You two always try to spoil Hiro any chance you get.¡±

    ¡°I wonder why¡­¡­ Why am I being shown such a scene? What are these feelings that are welling up inside me?¡±

    Sieg, who witnessed our usual lovey-dovey antics, seemed to be about to fall into the dark side. If things go on like this, Sieg will eventually be consumed by the burning mes of jealousy.

    Now then, how should I calm this guy down? In any case, I decided to show them around Krishna¡¯s hangar. I had Mimi and the rest check on Airia and the other girls, so it was just the three of us guys this time.

    ¡°Can you give me the lowdown, Bro?¡±

    ¡°The lowdown?¡±

    As I was guiding the two around the hangar where Krishna was kept, Sieg suddenly inquired. I tilted my head while wondering what he meant.

    ¡°Are you really doing it with those girls¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Why?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m so damn jealous right now¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Does it really bother you that much?¡±

    ¡°How¡¯d ya do it, Bro?¡±

    ¡°Well¨C¡­¡­ Let¡¯s see. I suppose it was good timing and acting like a dependable guy.¡±

    Whether it was Mimi, Elma, Tina and Wiska, or Dr. Shouko who I haven¡¯t introduced to these guys yet, I believe what led to them joining me was ultimately a mix of good timing and my financial capabilities. Well, it¡¯s not like we¡¯re only connected by money, but money did y arge part in how we came together.

    ¡°You need to be prepared to give everything you have when the opportunityes. Whether it¡¯s financially or simply risking your life.¡±

    ¡°That¡­¡­ sounds really rough.¡±

    ¡°For example, rescuing a girl from thugs in a back alley, taking care of food, shelter, and ensuring her freedom, paying offpensation worth millions of Enels to the imperial military, actually buying a ship worth several millions, or equipping it with parts that cost about the same amount.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s impossible. No matter how many times I get to redo my life, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d ever get to earn that much money.¡±

    ¡°Other examples include fighting a space fleet sent to assassinate a noble family¡¯s legitimate heir, attacking a Vereverem Federation fleet with a single ship, heading straight into a swarm of crystal lifeforms, or fighting with bioweapons that can go toe to toe with fully armed imperial marines¡­¡­ I have lots more where those came from, by the way.¡±

    ¡°Those are more than enough already¡­¡­ Or rather, seriously, Bro?¡±

    ¡°Seriously. You can try asking Mimi or Elma if you want.¡±

    ¡°Not to mention money, it sounds like even multiple lives wouldn¡¯t be enough. But if you¡¯ve really survived such chaotic situations, it¡¯s no wonder you can kill all the Bloodies without breaking a sweat.¡±

    Heinz, who¡¯d only been listening silently to me and Sieg until now, quipped while disying a bitter smile. Still,ser weapons were pretty scary y¡¯know. The Ninja power armor was rtively thin, so it was pretty dangerous to get hit multiple times without an energy shield.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I particrly enjoy killing. It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t care much if the opponents are pirates and criminals. Also, I have no mercy for those whoe at me with the intent to kill.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s pretty cut and dry.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s just how mercenaries are. And we¡¯re here. This is my beloved partner.¡±

    ¡°Whoah. It¡¯s pretty big.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s still quite small for abat ship.¡±

    I took Sieg, who was crying in admiration, and Heinz, who looked rather impressed, around the interior of the Krishna. I also showed them the rest of the hangar and my armory of closebat weapons.

    ¡°It¡¯s amazing to have your favorite weapons lined up in disy like this, right? It¡¯s a man¡¯s romance.¡±

    ¡°I get that.¡±

    ¡°I totally understand, Bro. How nice. I¡¯d like to have an arsenal like this someday.¡±

    It looked like the closebat weapons armory was a big hit with the two of them. They also enjoyed test-driving the power armor. I also had them test-fire some weapons at the shooting range.

    ¡°When you get to use them like this, you really feel how important having a high-quality weapon is.¡±

    ¡°Right? I believe you need good quality weapons in order to do a good job.¡±

    ¡°I think your level of arsenal is a bit too much for guys like us though, Bro.¡±

    There were apparently plenty of stories of folks getting killed in the low-security areas around the lower block, but it was unlikely to engage in firefights using military-grade weapons like the ones I had. After all, if people died in said firefights, decontamination teams will be dispatched and government intervention would be inevitable. That¡¯s why, surprisingly, they only engaged in shootouts withser guns with outputs just one step short of being lethal and were only capable of causing serious injuries.

    As we talked about the situation regarding the weapons used by ouws, the ringtone of my portable terminal rang out. What¡¯s up? I checked the terminal and found that the caller was Hartmut.

    ¡°Sorry. I need to take this.¡±

    I excused myself and answered the call after going outside the armory.

    ¡°This is Hiro speaking. What¡¯s u¨C¡±

    ¡ºI¡¯m going to get straight to the point. I¡¯m sending you the data right now. Please go after the ship indicated and either capture or shoot it down.¡»

    ¡°Roger that. Don¡¯t forget about the pay.¡±

    I answered immediately without asking for details. I¡¯ve already gotten a read on Hartmut¡¯s personality. There must be a reason why someone like him, who ces a big deal on etiquette, skipped through all the formalities in order to ask a favor like this.

    ¡°The Krishna and Antlion will perform an emergencyunch. Is it fine to leave the required procedures to you?¡±

    ¡°One small and one medium-sizedbat ship, correct? Understood. Please don¡¯t let them get away.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha.¡±

    I gave Hartmut a fast reply, cut the call, and showed my face inside the armory.

    ¡°We got a sudden call from the colony governor. We¡¯re performing an emergency sortie. I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m gonna have Tina and Wiska take care of you guys, so please stay put inside the break area.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Got it, Bro.¡±

    Heinz and Seig nodded in response. I nodded in return and used my portable terminal to inform Mimi and the others about the emergencyunch.

    I¡¯m not clear about the exact situation, but since they requested us to make an emergencyunch, the target must have left port already. I had to get Krishna started as soon as possible in order to make it in time.

 Chapter 424: Pursuit

    Chapter 424: Pursuit

    ¡°Sorry for the wait!¡±

    ¡°Sorry to have kept you waiting, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I was simply near Krishna already. How about Elma?¡±

    ¡ºI¡¯m making a dash for the Antlion right now!¡»

    When navigating, the Antlion docks alongside the ck Lotus akin to a suckerfish clinging to a shark, but it¡¯s unable to remain docked whenever we enter a colony, so it enters port separately. Therefore, in order for Elma to board the Antlion, she had to leave the ck Lotus first and head to where the Antlion was docked.

    ¡°Do your best.¡±

    I encouraged a frantic-sounding Elma and checked Krishna¡¯s self-diagnostic results on screen. There were no abnormalities with the ammo, armor, and hull. The weapon systems, life support equipment, generator, and sensors were also in top working order. Finally, the thrusters and other propulsion systems were good to go as well. If I went ahead with a test ignition, I¡¯d make quite a mess of the hangar, and the mechanic sisters would probablye at me with spanners and wrenches in hand, so I refrained from doing so. Various parts of my body would probably break down from that after all.

    ¡°Anyway, we¡¯re gonnaunch. Hartmut should have taken care of the procedures with the port administration.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    Following my instructions, Mimi quickly sat in front of the operator console and beganunch procedures.

    ¡°My Lord, it seems you were quite hasty in deciding to engage in this sortie.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. Well, normally, I¡¯d first go through the details with the Mercenary Guild and decide on conditions such aspensation before epting a request. But it¡¯s a bit different this time around.¡±

    ¡°What exactly is different?¡±

    ¡°First, if we take out sweet time, there¡¯s a high chance of missing the target. I¡¯ve also gotten to know Hartmut well enough, so there¡¯s no worry of getting ripped off. I¡¯ve also anticipated this happening to some extent.¡±

    The Bloodies were cornered, and they didn¡¯t have many options left. They only had three: running away, going into hiding, or simply surrendering. I guess they decided to run away and escape. But in the end, they couldn¡¯tpletely avoid Hartmut¡¯s surveince.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Perhaps you have quite the talent for serving as a military officer, My Lord. Do you not think so?¡±

    ¡°Nah. I¡¯m more suited for running around battlefields as I please as a private mercenary.¡±

    I don¡¯t think I had enough foresight to see through matters that people would consider as tactical or strategic acumen. Also, I wasn¡¯t that good at academics either. That sort of job was more suited for the intellectual types.

    ¡°We canunch now, Hiro-sama!¡±

    ¡°Great. Let¡¯s go then. Open the hatch.¡±

    ¡°Hatch, open. Electromaic catapult, operating at minimum output.¡±

    If the thrusters were fired inside the hangar, it would cause serious damage to the interior. And if the electromaic catapult operated at maximum output, Krishna would end up crashing into the inner wall of the colony. That¡¯s why the catapult was only operating at minimum output. The Krishna was ejected out of the Lotus at lower than regr eleration, and I immediately flew her toward the airtight shield that separated the interior and exterior of the colony. Thanks to the arrangements made by the port administration, we encountered little traffic, so it was a smoothunch.

    ¡°It looks like it¡¯s gonna take a bit more time before Elma canunch. Hartmut sent us some data. Can you verify it for me, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Please leave it to me!¡±

    I transferred the data from my portable terminal to Krishna¡¯s database and had Mimi confirm the contents. Mei had thoroughly trained Mimi for this kind of stuff, so she was now only second to Mei when it came to information processing. I¡¯m not very knowledgeable when ites to that stuff, but I believe she might have already reached the level of a full-fledged hacker. Maybe I should confirm it with her next time¡­¡­ If Mimi indeed had talent in that area, should I let her develop it more? The first thing that came to mind was enhancement surgery using bionics or cybeics, but I¡¯d like to consult with Dr. Shouko about it first. Dr. Shouko was definitely a professional when it came to that stuff after all.

    ¡°It looks like the data contains the target ship¡¯s ID and temporary ess to the star system¡¯s radarwork.¡±

    ¡°Wow. That¡¯s pretty extravagant. Well then, please go ahead and use the system¡¯s radarwork to find the target.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    The star system radarwork was an informationwork managed by the system military that used military reconnaissance satellites. If used properly, it enabled the capture of targets even if they were fleeing via FTL drives. However, since ships using FTL drives were navigating in subspace, it was impossible to directly view their IDs.

    ¡°Do you think we can sessfully find the target, My Lord?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. We know exactly when they left the colony, so they can be traced easily.¡±

    It¡¯s impossible to get the ID and details of a ship while it¡¯s navigating at faster-than-light speed, but if one knew exactly when the FTL Drive was activated, it wasn¡¯t too difficult to sniff out its traces. Whenever an FTL Drive was used to travel at faster-than-light speeds, traces of subspace waves called FTL leaks remained in its wake.

    I wasn¡¯t that familiar with subspace theory, but anyway, as long as you utilized the causal rtionship between the leaks and the drive, you can sessfully track a target. After all, even if one doesn¡¯t know exactly how a remote control works, it doesn¡¯t prevent one from using said remote.

    ¡°Target acquired!¡±

    ¡°Great. Please send that data to Elma as well. Is it possible for the Antlion to catch up?¡±

    ¡°The target is rtively fast. I think Krishna can catch up, but it¡¯ll be difficult for the Antlion.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t be helped. Heard that, Elma? I¡¯ll go ahead and stop them in their tracks, so please catch upter.¡±

    ¡ºGot it! I¡¯ll catch up to you as soon as I can!¡»

    ¡°Alright. Mimi, activate the FTL Drive.¡±

    ¡°Roger! Activating FTL Drive!¡±

    Now then¡­¡­ I won¡¯t let you rats get away. Uh, but wasn¡¯t calling those pirates rats disrespectful to real rats? Anyway, I won¡¯t let them escape.

    It was now about thirty minutes since we activated Krishna¡¯s FTL Drive and chased after the target¡¯s wake.

    ¡°Hiro-sama! We¡¯ve located the target!¡±

    ¡°Nice. I¡¯m gonna close in.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll begin analyzing the target!¡±

    It¡¯s difficult to monitor a ship traveling at superluminal speeds in subspace from normal space. However, it¡¯s a different story if you¡¯re also in subspace. Using a dedicated subspace sensor, it was possible to confirm a target¡¯s ship ID.

    ¡°The interdictor¡¯s ready to fire. How¡¯s your end?¡±

    ¡°Verificationplete! Target fully identified!¡±

    ¡°Okay. Then let¡¯s go ahead and finish this already.¡±

    I marked the target¡¯s rear and used the interdictor to force its FTL Drive to deactivate.

    ¡°They look pretty desperate.¡±

    Just as Mimi said, the other party seemed pretty damn desperate. In order to force a ship to stop using an interdictor, the ship in question needed to remain within the interdictor¡¯s gravitation wave range for a certain period of time. Naturally, anyone on the receiving end of interdiction would swing their ship up, down, left, and right in order to escape the interdictor¡¯s range and shake their pursuer off.

    ¡°Hahaha! Where do you think you¡¯re going, buddy?¡±

    ¡°You look like you¡¯re having fun, My Lord.¡±

    Kugi¡¯s warm-sounding voice rang out from beside me. It¡¯s true that cornering prey in a one-sided manner was pretty fun, but wasn¡¯t her impression of me a bit off? Well, it really is fun though.

    The target¡¯s desperate resistance was futile, and the interdiction was sessful. The target ship was ejected to normal space. They¡¯ll be unable to move for a while due to the recoil caused by moving around recklessly. The side that fired the interdictor will automatically return to normal space.

    ¡ºUwaaaaaaah!¡»

    The appearance of the target ship was finally disyed on Krishna¡¯s main screen. It was a small recon ship. It was currently spinning around chaotically while scattering space mines all over the ce.

    ¡°Oi, oi¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Eeh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Waa¡­¡­¡±

    Everyone was at a loss for words. The target was spewing out mines in a desperate attempt to ward us off, but they¡¯d also end up getting trapped by their own mines at that rate. We¡¯ll indeed be unable to close in, but we can just shoot them up from outside the minefield. Blowing up the mines themselves was also an option.

    ¡°Amateurs¡­¡­ How troublesome.¡±

    Sometimes, going up against amateurs like this one was more troublesome than taking on experienced guys. It¡¯s because an amateur¡¯s actions can be unpredictable. Now then, how should I handle this?

 Chapter 425: We Didnâ€™t Hear Anything. Okay?

    Chapter 425: We Didn¡¯t Hear Anything. Okay?

    ¡°I need to ask just in case. It doesn¡¯t matter whether the target is dead or alive, right?¡±

    ¡ºOf course. Did something happen?¡»

    Hartmut¡¯s puzzled voice rang out from Krishna¡¯s speakers. Yeah, of course, he¡¯d be puzzled. I mean, the guy hemissioned to chase after a target was suddenly asking such a question after all. There¡¯s no point beating around the bush, so I¡¯ll just give it to him straight.

    ¡°As soon as we caught up, they immediately trapped themselves in a minefield¡­¡­ If they move their ship even a little, they¡¯ll get blown up to pieces. Pretty stupid, really.¡±

    ¡ºIt would be best if you could capture them, but it should be fine as long as they are gotten rid of.¡»

    ¡°Gotcha. Alright then. I¡¯ll just blow the entire minefield up.¡±

    After saying so, I activated the ship¡¯s weapon systems. The target ship was attempting to hail us, but I ignored it. I mercilessly fired a salvo from Krishna¡¯s four heavy-caliberser cannons, causing the target ship to explode along with many of the mines. Man, that sure is one filthy fireworks disy. There¡¯s no chance of anyone surviving that.

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ We picked up some sort of transmission from that ship earlier. Was that really fine?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no reason to go along with their pathetic attempt to stall for time. And even if the other party had a heartbreaking sob story that¡¯ll tug at your heartstrings, we still need to finish them off in the end anyway, and we¡¯ll only feel unnecessarily bad after the fact if we entertain them. Also, there¡¯s a good chance their story¡¯splete BS anyway.¡±

    ¡°Um, err¡­¡­ Shouldn¡¯t there be some sort of leeway or consideration for this sort of thing?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care about whatever consideration.¡±

    Well, hearing about the viin¡¯s backstory was indeedmon in animes and dramas. However, that¡¯ll only lead to people hesitating after hearing their sob story, or the viin buying enough time to turn things around. I ain¡¯t having any of that, so I finished things off right away. It¡¯s best to kill decisively. Didn¡¯t a certain sergeant say that licking one¡¯s lips in front of one¡¯s prey was third rate behavior.

    ¡°By the way, My Lord. Who exactly did we shoot down in the first ce?¡±

    ¡°Oh¨C¡­¡­ Not really sure. Considering the timing, I thought they were rted to that criminal gang. But if that¡¯s the case, then it¡¯s pretty strange for them to own such a starship.¡±

    Even if they had a connection with space pirates, it was still strange for them to own a proper high-speed recon ship, even though it wasn¡¯t military grade. They can probably afford it considering their financial means, but ordinary citizens who weren¡¯t mercenaries needed to go through certain procedures first before they can buy a starship. That was quite troublesome for ouws.

    Besides, that recon ship was only able to amodate a few people at most. I believe it¡¯s a bit too small in size to serve as a criminal organization¡¯s means of escape.

    ¡°Did I end up killing a troublesome target¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Are we going to be alright?¡±

    ¡°I still don¡¯t think Hartmut would pull a fast one on us, but we¡¯ll deal with whatever happenster.¡±

    We had more than a couple of hands to y. Hence, there¡¯s no point in worrying now. In any case, I don¡¯t think Hartmut was the type of person who would do something like that.

    ¡°Let¡¯s clear out the remaining mines first. There¡¯s a low chance of someone getting caught in the field since this is such a deste area, but the possibility of that happening ain¡¯t zero. Just consider it after-sales service from us.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Do you know how it feels to desperately try and catch up only to find out it was all for nothing in the end?¡±

    ¡°Sorry about that¡­¡­ But it¡¯s not like it¡¯s my fault, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but it still feels bad.¡±

    ¡°I guess.¡±

    After cleaning up the scene, we returned to the Reemay Prime colony along with Elma¡¯s Antlion who caught up partway, and Elma, who left the Antlion, immediately found me toin as I was taking a breather in the Lotus. It wasn¡¯t exactly my fault, but I do get where she¡¯sing from, so I suppose I¡¯ll do something to make it up to herter.

    ¡°So, did you report the results of the request to the client already?¡±

    ¡°I was just taking a bit of a breather. I¡¯m gonna do that now.¡±

    Airia and the rest were still in the break area, so I closed the door of the dining hall to prevent voices from leaking out before I connected to Hartmut.

    ¡°Yo, Boss. I¡¯ve made sure to finish the target off.¡±

    ¡ºWe¡¯ve also confirmed it on our end using the star system radarwork. As expected of a first-ss mercenary. Such swift and reliable work.¡»

    ¡°I suppose I should say I¡¯m honored by the praise? So, who were the guys that I turned into space debris anyway?¡±

    ¡ºThey aren¡¯t folks someone of your standing should be concerned about, but¡­¡­ simply put, they are just mice who tried to run away when the information Lord Viscount and my family¡¯s private troops brought back from the raid put them in a bad position. They even set up things to sabotage us before escaping¡­¡­ We were too busy dealing with those things, so we were unable to put up a pursuit.¡»

    ¡°I see.¡±

    In the end, the targets were bona fide viins. Well, someone who¡¯d be cornered by the information we got from the Bloodies hideout was more than likely a pirate anyway. Great! No problems then!

    ¡°Did you manage to locate the illegal drug manufacturing warehouse or factory?¡±

    ¡ºIndeed, we have. Our private troops are scheduled to raid them tomorrow.¡»

    ¡°Need help with that?¡±

    ¡ºIt¡¯s unnecessary. They aren¡¯t folks worthy of your time, Lord Viscount.¡»

    ¡°That so¡­¡­? Oh, right. The caretaker of the orphanage facility I mentionedst time just boarded my ship. Would you like to meet with her?¡±

    ¡ºHmm¡­¡­ I suppose it¡¯s fine. I have some free time anyway. If the other party is agreeable to it, then let us do so.¡»

    ¡°Got it. I¡¯ll call her over.¡±

    I left Elma where she stood, opened the door to the dining hall, and went to call for Airia.

    ¡°Airia. Sorry, but can youe with me for a bit?¡±

    ¡°Yes? What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    I called out to Airia who was currently chatting with Tina and the girls along with Heinz and Sieg. She tilted her head inquiringly.

    ¡°I¡¯m currently on a call with the governor. Since you¡¯re here, it¡¯s a good opportunity to meet with him face to face.¡±

    ¡°Eeh!? U-Um, is meeting him while dressed like this really okay!?¡±

    Airia¡¯s hands patted down various parts of her body at an incredible speed. Was she checking her appearance with that or something?

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s not like you have to wear a formal dress¡­¡­ C¡¯mon. The governor is waiting. Hurry, hurry.¡±

    ¡°N-No! I can¡¯t do this!¡±

    I got behind the still-fidgeting Airia and started pushing her out of the dining hall.

    ¡°Fight, neesan.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Please be careful.¡±

    ¡°Good luck.¡±

    ¡°Is she going to be okay?¡±

    ¡°Seems like it¡¯s no good.¡±

    Sieg, Heinz, Tina, Wiska, and Linda didn¡¯t show any intention to stop me. I suppose this was only natural if amoner was suddenly told to meet with the governor. Hatmut¡¯s a nice and handsome guy, y¡¯know?

    ¡°Sorry for the wait.¡±

    ¡ºI do not mind. I was having a nice chat with Miss Elma here. This is¡­¡­?¡»

    ¡°This is Airia, the caretaker of the orphanage. Hey, Airia?¡±

    ¡°T-Today is such a nice day isn¡¯t it¡­¡­?¡±

    Oh boy. She¡¯s so nervous that she¡¯s at her wit¡¯s end already. If I were to liken it to a situation in a manga, her pupils were currently spinning in a spiral. It doesn¡¯t seem like she¡¯ll be able to hold a proper conversation from the looks of it.

    ¡°It seems like she¡¯s quite nervous to be in front of you, my dear Lord Governor.¡±

    ¡ºAlthough I am a viscount¡¯s eldest son, I have yet to officially inherit my father¡¯s position, so when ites to status as a noble, Lord Hiro who is an honorary Viscount is superior to me¡­¡­ So, please do not be so nervous, My Lady.¡»

    ¡°E-E-Even if you say so¨C!?¡±

    Hartmut was trying to calm Airia down on the other side of the holo-screen, but it wasn¡¯t going well. Was this the general response of imperial subjects towards nobles? Come to think of it, Mimi wasn¡¯t that fazed in front of Earl Dareinwald and Chris¡­¡­ Does that prove Mimi¡¯s high pedigree?

    ¡°Calm down, Airia. Uh, this is Hartmut Magnelli. As you can see, he¡¯s a pretty good-looking guy, and he¡¯s also honorable and righteous. It¡¯s not like this is an official meeting, so you won¡¯t be criticized even if you behaved a bit rudely. He¡¯s not the kind of person to do that in the first ce.¡±

    ¡ºBeing called honorable and righteous by Lord Hiro is quite embarrassing, but just as he says, I have no intention of being particr with noble etiquette in an informal meeting, so please rest assured.¡»

    ¡°T-Thank you very much¡­¡­¡±

    Harmut was talking to Airia in an unusually gentle tone, perhaps in an effort to make her feel at ease. It was just an informal meeting, so after talking a bit about matters regarding the orphanage facility, they exchanged contact information and decided to end it at that.

    ¡°W-Well then, if you¡¯ll excuse me¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡ºAh, Miss Airia. Let us talk again sometime.¡»

    ¡°A-Alright¡­¡­¡±

    Airia left for the dining hall while cowering like a small animal. Mm. It¡¯s gonna be quite a tough road ahead. Well, since they ended up exchanging contact info, that meant Airia would continue to talk to Hartmut. I hope she doesn¡¯t end up getting a stomach ulcer from all the stress.

    ¡ºHiro-sama.¡»

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡ºIt appears that she¡¯s on your ship right now, but¡­¡­¡»

    ¡°She¡¯s with her bodyguards, and she¡¯s been chatting with the female crew members the entire time. It¡¯s nothing like what you¡¯re thinking.¡±

    ¡ºI see¡­¡­ She¡¯s such a lovely person.¡»

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­? Well, I suppose¡­¡­?¡±

    She was a person who couldn¡¯t help but stand out due to her eye-catching almost pink-colored hair, and her face was certainly charming. Instead of beautiful, it was more fitting to call her cute. She¡¯s somewhat baby-faced after all. Or rather, what¡¯s going on with this guy?

    ¡°Oi, Hartmut. Don¡¯t tell me you¨C¡±

    ¡ºI wonder if she is already seeing someone¡­¡­? But the difference in status is¡­¡­ Perhaps it will work out if she gets adopted by House Radius? They do owe us a favor¡­¡­¡»

    ¡°Hey, the transmission¡¯s still on. I¡¯m gonna drop it now, okay? Okay?¡±

    ¡ºOh, right. I do have some other matters to take care of now. Well then, If you¡¯ll excuse me.¡»

    Hartmut bowed with a rather serious expression and dropped the call.

    ¡°We heard nothing. Got it?¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    Elma, whose expression was akin to a Tibetan fox, nodded stiffly. She was probably imagining the mess that was about to stem from today¡¯s meeting. Anyway, we knew nothing about it. Absolutely nothing. We ain¡¯t aware of the troublesome mess that¡¯ll stem from the eldest son of a prominent noble falling head-over-heels in love with amoner woman at first sight.

 Chapter 426: Troublesome Matter

    Chapter 426: Troublesome Matter

    ¡°Eh? Somethin¡¯ like that happened!?¡±

    ¡°Aah¨C!?¡±

    After Airia and the other two returned to the orphanage facility, we exchanged info about what happened during the day while having dinner, and Tina ended up raising her voice in concern. Yeah, this was only natural, right? I mean, anyone would be surprised if they learned that a bigshot noble fell in love at first sight with their best friend.

    By the way, was it really alright to ignore your little sister like that? You knocked down her mug and spilled all her beer, and she¡¯s teary-eyed already y¡¯know?

    ¡°W-What¡¯re we gonna do, Boss!? Is it bad if we contact Airia and tell her about it!?¡±

    ¡°No, just leave them be¡­¡­ Both of them are proper adults anyway, and I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be able to work things out among themselves.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s no good, Boss! Amoner woman can¡¯t hope to refuse if she gets eyed by a noble!¡±

    ¡°Huh¨C!?¡±

    ¡°Aah¨C!?¡±

    Tina mmed her hands on top of the dining table and bellowed. Uh, could you please ease up a bit, Tina? This huge table just got bent for an instant just like in an over-the-top gag anime. Even the tes jumped aroundically. Kugi¡¯s pseudo-inarizushi ended up diving on top of Mimi¡¯s dinner. Even my meal was now an absolute mess.

    ¡°Calm down. That may be true, but wouldn¡¯t it be wrong for us to intervene in the matter? Well, if Hartmut¡¯s just being reckless and is simply toying around with Airia, I wouldn¡¯t hesitate to intervene y¡¯know? But no matter how you look at it, he wasn¡¯t like that at all. He even mentioned having her get adopted by House Radius. They apparently owe him a favor or something, and Hartmut¡¯s willing to use it for Airia instead of something else, so¡­¡­ It¡¯s a bit hard for me to say anything since he¡¯s that serious about it.¡±

    Hartmut and I were already working partners after all. He¡¯s a pretty honest guy, and since he¡¯s the eldest son of a nobleman and the governor of a colony, he¡¯s got plenty of status and power. He¡¯s also good-looking. Their difference in social status might pose a problem, but since he¡¯s made up his mind, I think it¡¯s better to allow him to do whatever he wants.

    But even if Airia were to be adopted by Bar Radius, there were still plenty of concerning bits, such as whether or not Airia would be able to act the part of a noblewoman in the first ce.

    Or rather, does Hartmut not have a fianc¨¦e? If he¡¯s a viscount¡¯s eldest son, there¡¯s a good chance he¡¯s gotten saddled with a fianc¨¦e at a young age, so I wonder what he¡¯s nning to do regarding Airia? Was he going to make her his concubine? Or maybe a mistress? Like a local wife or something like that? It¡¯s unclear what he thinks about the matter himself, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s something we need to concern ourselves with.

    ¡°Boss¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Are ya really okay with Airia bein¡¯ used as a ything by that damn noble!?¡±

    ¡°Weren¡¯t you listening earlier!? Are you actually drunk!?¡±

    She should have only had one or two sips of alcohol earlier, so what¡¯s wrong with Tina?

    ¡°You really be no-good when ites to Airia huh? I understand that Airia¡¯s really important to you, Tina. However, like I said, isn¡¯t she already a proper adult? Even if Hartmut does ask Airia to go out with him, the one who should decide whether to ept or decline is Airia herself, and not the worrywart Tina-chan, right?¡±

    ¡°And like I said, ya won¡¯t be able to refuse even if ya wanted to if the one askin¡¯ ya out was a noble. If things go bad, you¡¯d only lose face in public and get done in.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true that getting publicly shamed is bad, but ain¡¯t going off on the other party from the get-go even more of a disgrace¡­¡­? And I don¡¯t think he¡¯s that kind of guy in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°Gununu¡­¡­ You always have a retort, don¡¯t ya!?¡±

    ¡°That goes for the both of us¡­¡­¡±

    It looks like Tina really gets unreasonable when ites to matters regarding Airia. Her mentality seems to be unstable, or rather¡­¡­ her distrust of imperial nobility was even greater than usual. I believe Bar Radius was serving as this colony¡¯s governor when Tina was still living here, but did something happen to her in connection to him during that time?

    ¡°Okay, okay. It¡¯s my bad. You¡¯re fine with me simply warning Hartmut, right? Airia¡¯s a modest and exemry imperial subject, so if the eldest son of a viscount like him were to pursue her, there¡¯s a good chance she¡¯d agree even if she didn¡¯t really want to. So, I¡¯ll tell him to consider that when dealing with her. All good?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­But that won¡¯t stop that bastard noble from sticking around her.¡±

    ¡°You should allow that much, at least¡­¡­ I can¡¯t say I¡¯m all that familiar with Hartmut, but one can¡¯t simply suppress their feelings of love and admiration for someone regardless of what others say, right? I believe this is what most onlookers like us can do. Rather, if we tried to forcefully intervene, I have a feeling things will be even more of a mess.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Did she get persuaded by my words? Tina looked down and stopped talking back. Before I knew it, the rest of the crew members except for us two had taken shelter at the other tables and were looking over at us. You guys. Don¡¯t put me in the spotlight and run away on your own¡­¡­ Well, I¡¯d do the same if I were in their shoes, so I guess I couldn¡¯t me them too much.

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Fugu¡­¡­ Uu¡­¡­ Ueeeee¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Why are you crying¡­¡­?¡±

    I got troubled when Tina suddenly started bawling. I tried to look at Elma and the others for help, but they shook their heads, disyed X signs with their arms, and looked down. They¡¯re leaving it to me, huh? I see¡­¡­ Well, I was the one who made her cry after all¡­¡­ Right¡­¡­?

    ¡°You¡¯ve been emotionally unstable ever sinceing to this colony, Tina. Geez. Really.¡±

    I scratched my head, got up from my seat, and sat next to Tina instead. I then started patting her back.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry fer actin¡¯ all willful, Boss¡­¡­ Uee¨C¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes¡­¡­ It¡¯s fine.¡±

    Tina clung to me and continued crying. Due to her looks, the sense of guilt I felt when seeing the crying Tina was¡­¡­ She¡¯s like this now, but she was usually a big drinker who guzzled highly mmable alcohol like there was no tomorrow. This girl.

    ¡°Don¡¯t cry. I¡¯m not really angry, okay?¡±

    When I said that, she cried even more. I think the best thing to do was to stay silent and keep patting her back until she finished crying her heart out.

    ¡°Good work.¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡±

    She ended up tiring herself out after crying and went straight to sleep¡­¡­ Well, not really. Tina¡¯s eyes were a bit swollen after all that crying, so I left her to Wiska and went back to the dining hall, where Elma and the rest weed me.

    ¡°I guess even ady-killer like you also has it hard huh?¡±

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon. I ain¡¯t somedy-killer¡­¡­ Man, I¡¯m hungry.¡±

    I shrugged my shoulders in response to Linda¡¯s quip and brought the already cold dinner to my mouth. As expected, even Tetsujin¡¯s food won¡¯t taste good when cold. I¡¯ll still eat the meal though. It¡¯s a waste not to.

    ¡°Anyway, is it actually possible for Ms. Airia to be the wife of a noble young master?¡±

    ¡°Young master? He¡¯s more than a bit older than you, y¡¯know¡­¡­ I don¡¯t mind it personally, but what do you think, Miss Viscount¡¯s daughter Elma-san?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re asking me? I ran away from my house to be a mercenary you know?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ Ms. Elma is¡­¡­ Eh? Seriously?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true. They have a huge mansion in the capital.¡±

    Mimi spread her arms wide to emphasize how big the mansion was. Well, it was truly quite big though.

    ¡°Come on, it¡¯s not that big¡­¡­ The ck Lotus is way bigger. So, you wanted my opinion, right? Well, there¡¯s basically no problem. Some people willin about her lineage, of course. But if she bes the illegitimate daughter of Bar Radius, she¡¯d have no trouble with being a concubine. It might cause some trouble for House Radius, but since that will allow them to repay their debt to Hartmut, I believe they¡¯d be willing to suffer that much disgrace in exchange for some sort of favor.¡±

    ¡°Illegitimate?¡±

    ¡°Meaning she¡¯d be someone born between a noble and someone who¡¯s not that noble¡¯s legal spouse.¡±

    ¡°In other words, you¡¯re saying Ms. Airia will end up being the former governor¡¯s child?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Isn¡¯t that better than simply getting adopted? The reputation of Bar Radius will probably plummet though.¡±

    Since Airia would only be acknowledged when she¡¯s already an adult, Bar Radius¡¯ reputation will probably be in tatters both from within and outside of his family. Well, by the time he was removed from the position of colony governor, his reputation was probably lower than trash already anyway. So, in a sense, he¡¯d take no damage from Airia¡¯s case.

    ¡°Hee¨C¡­¡­ So, what¡¯s this ¡®konkyubayn¡¯ thing?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s pretty much the idea of nobles having second and third wives in addition to their official spouse. In our case, Mimi is the legal wife, and I, Kugi, Tina, Wiska, Dr. Shouko, as well as Mei are all concubines.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    I decided to remain silent. Nothing good wille out of mementing about something like that. I do believe I love everyone equally though. Everyone is unique, and they¡¯re all good women.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡­¡±

    Linda¡¯s gaze hurts. Yes, I¡¯m indeed a damn scumbag. But I won¡¯t apologize. Now that it¡¯se to this, I¡¯ll continue working happily as a mercenary so everyone can be happy as well.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know much about the etiquette of imperial nobles, but will Airia-sama be able to adapt to them properly?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll work out one way or another. If pushes to shove, there are ways to pound that knowledge directly into one¡¯s brain after all.¡±

    Since there was tech to extract info from the brain, I¡¯m sure there¡¯s also tech to cram knowledge in. I¡¯ve already heard of enhancement surgery that improves the brain¡¯s processing ability.

    ¡°Hiro¡¯s words are a bit extreme, but that¡¯s more or less true. The empire isn¡¯tcking in that sort of technology, so given a little time, anything¡¯s possible. In any case, if they take those measures, it¡¯s not difficult for those two to get together. The rest is up to them, right?¡±

    ¡°Up to them, huh¡­¡­? I wonder what Ms. Airia is going to do?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the question, isn¡¯t it? But it¡¯smon to see amoner woman falling in love with a noble prince in holo novels and dramas!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Falling for a slightly bad-boy type mercenary is amon trope too.¡±

    After saying so, Linda turned toward me. C¡¯mon, I¡¯m not some bad boy either. I¡¯m an upstanding mercenary with great manners and conduct. Eh? Would an upstanding mercenary with great manners and conduct misuse a Singing Crystal to destroy a Federation fleet, you ask? No idea.

    ¡°No matter how passionate Hartmut is about Airia, he¡¯s not going to make his move straight away. The drug warehouse and manufacturing facility still needs to be dealt with, and the pandemic hasn¡¯t ended yet.¡±

    ¡°Hiro¡­¡­ You¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Eh? Ah¡­¡­ No, no, it¡¯s gonna be fine. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s gonna be just fine!¡±

    After all, I should be freed from the jinx of the words I blurt out suddenlying true!

 Chapter 427: Game Changer

    Chapter 427: Game Changer

    ¡°I really don¡¯t feel like doing this¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°If Master truly isn¡¯t agreeable to it, then I shall inform the other party.¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡­ I don¡¯t feel like doing it, but I don¡¯t have any intention of breaking my promise either.¡±

    The next day, I headed out to meet with Hartmut along with Mei and somebat bots. It¡¯s not like I was intent on participating in the raid. It¡¯s just that when I made an appointment with the other party, I was told that all the relevant info would be gathered soon, so I decided to bring an attack force with me just in case.

    I had thebat bots and Mei¡¯sseruncher kept at the checkpoint between the upper and lower blocks, then proceeded to the governor¡¯s office where Hartmut was.

    ¡°Someone like me advising that extremely handsome Hartmut about rtionships between men and women? What kind of joke was this? Who the heck am I to offer such advise anyway¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve built smooth, harmonious, and mutually beneficial rtionships with multiple women already, Master. So, aren¡¯t you in the lead when ites to those matters?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that just because everyone is paying so much attention to me with you in the lead, Mei? I¡¯m aware that I¡¯mpletely relying on you guys when ites to our current situation¡­¡­¡±

    Well, maybe I was a few percent ahead when ites to moral character, but was I really gonna talk down to Hartmut with merely that as a basis?

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s no point in worrying about it now. Let¡¯s just say hello and get this over with.¡±

    It¡¯ll be bad for my mentality if I let this matter drag on for too long, and nothing good woulde out of that.

    ¡°Good day, Lord Hiro. The report should being in soon, so please take a seat. I will bring you some tea.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    In any case, Hartmut seemed full of motivation today. I can¡¯t exactly put it into words, but¡­¡­ it¡¯s like the sparkle in his eyes was different. Morale MAX! Something like that.

    ¡°So, what is the matter today? We could have simply exchanged information through holo transmission¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Ah¨C¡­¡­ I¡¯ll cut straight to the point then. It¡¯s about Airia.¡±

    Hartmut quickly reacted to my words. Please don¡¯t suddenly turn expressionless like that. It¡¯s he scary.

    ¡°Don¡¯t jump to conclusions, okay? I have no intention of dering her as my woman or anything of the sort. In fact, I¡¯m actually rooting for you, Hartmut.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I see? Please borate.¡±

    Well, he seemed to be willing to listen, at least. But the pressure he¡¯s giving off was no joke. His motivation and seriousness were overwhelming.

    ¡°First, let me tell you why I decided to get involved in this matter. One of my crew members used to live in this colony and is very close to Airia. Just to be clear, my crew mate is also a woman.¡±

    ¡°Please continue.¡±

    ¡°Okay. So, in other words, my crewmate was worried about her. You¡¯re a viscount¡¯s eldest son and the governor of this colony, after all, Hartmut. That¡¯s a great burden to Airia who¡¯s born amoner. And you¡¯ll also be the one who¡¯s gonna be taking care of the orphanage from now on. That¡¯s why if you make a demand of her, there¡¯s a good chance she¡¯ll say yes even if it¡¯s not actually in line with her wishes.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    As if digesting my words, Hartmut closed his eyes and got lost in thought for a while.

    ¡°Even if that¡¯s the case, wouldn¡¯t there be no problem as long as I make Lady Airia happy in the end?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Ol¡¯ me also think that¡¯s the case.¡±

    ¡°Ol¡¯ me¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Anyway, in the end, that¡¯s what it¡¯lle to. As long as everyone is happy, then everything¡¯s fine. I truly think that¡¯s the case.¡±

    As with any story, there are usually ups and downs before reaching a happy ending. Moreover, this wasn¡¯t a fictional story but a real-life rtionship between a man and a woman. It¡¯s definitely not gonna be smooth sailing from beginning to end.

    ¡°In the first ce, none of this is gonna matter as long as you don¡¯t tell Airia how you feel, Hartmut. Telling you not to do so is the same as telling you not toy a hand on Airia¡­¡­ Or rather, I¡¯m saying these things with the assumption that you hold special feelings for Airia, Hartmut. Anyway, this is more or less the case, right?¡±

    ¡°Pointing that out straight to my face is a bit embarrassing, but¡­¡­ well, that is the case.¡±

    Gah! You¡¯re a good-looking guy, so don¡¯t show me that embarrassed expression! It¡¯ll be an absolute joke if I got a reaction from that, dammit.

    ¡°By the way, what exactly do you like about her? Her looks?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true that I was attracted to Lady Airia¡¯s lovely appearance, but above all, I was attracted to her integrity, goodness, and strength of will. After you told me about that orphanage facility, I took it upon myself to look into it as well. I was shocked by her virtue and courage. She never abandoned the children even under such dire circumstances, and she still tried to fulfill her duties even if she had to sacrifice herself.¡±

    ¡°I see. That¡¯s certainly true. If we arrived at the facility even one dayter, Airia and the others might have lost their lives. The children were in a better shape though.¡±

    All of the adults at the facility, including Airia herself, were in a situation where they were at risk of dying at any moment due to the effects of the pandemic coupled with severe starvation. On the other hand, considering that the children were in a much better condition, there¡¯s no doubt that they were given priority when it came to medicine and food instead of the adults. I believe Hartmut¡¯s impression of Airia as a virtuous person was more or less true.

    ¡°Ah¨C¡­¡­ Well, anyway. I totally agree that it won¡¯t be a problem as long as you make Airia happy in the end, but for the time being, please keep my crew member¡¯s concern for Airia in mind as well.¡±

    ¡°I understand. After all, the one saying it is none other than you, Lord Hiro. I promise to keep those matters to heart.¡±

    ¡°Thanks. And sorry about this.¡±

    It must feel unpleasant to be told off like this by a mere acquaintance. Just the fact that he listened to what I had to say with utmost seriousness told you a lot about Hartmut¡¯s character. After all, one would normally get offended by something like this.

    Afterward, Mei and I returned to the ck Lotus after drinking the tea the maid brought for us.

    Eh? Why didn¡¯t I join in crushing the remaining Bloodies even though I broughtbat bots with me? I get where you¡¯reing from, but Hartmut himself told me that it was his duty as governor to destroy those criminals. He said that he appreciated my kindness, but it would be unreasonable for him to rely on my help.

    In any case, putting oneself in harm¡¯s way even though there¡¯s no reward was pretty dangerous, and there¡¯s practically nothing to gain from it too¡­¡­ Well, apart from honing yourself by dancing with death, that is. It¡¯s not like raising levels in a game, and it wasn¡¯t worth the risk in the end, so I decided to fall back just as Hartmut wanted.

    ¡°Ah, wee back, Hiro-sama! That was pretty fast, wasn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been decided that I won¡¯t be participating in destroying the Bloodies. I¡¯ve talked with Hartmut already, and the pandemic will probably end soon, so it¡¯s about time for us to leave the colony¨C¡±

    ¡°Boss! How¡¯d it go!?¡±

    ¡°¨CUgh!?¡±

    As I was talking to Mimi, who was sitting on a sofa in the break area, Tina heard my voice and jumped out from the dining hall, then charged straight toward me.

    ¡°Calm down¡­¡­ I¡¯ve had a proper talk with Hartmut, and in the end, he told me he¡¯d keep my words in mind and act ordingly. However, he also told me he wanted to make Airia happy, and that he liked Airia not only for her looks but also her virtuous disposition, so I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a need to worry so much. The rest is up to the two of them.¡±

    ¡°Nn¡­¡­ I got it. Thanks, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Yer wee.¡±

    I gave Tina headpats. She had to be persuaded quite a bit, but she seemed to understand properly in the end. I guess it¡¯s time to say goodbye to this colony. I¡¯ll have to send Linda back to Airia as well.

    ¡°By the way, what happened to Dr. Shouko? I feel like I haven¡¯t seen her at all for the past two days.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s holed up in theb. Shall I call her over?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine as long as she¡¯s okay¡­¡­ Just what is she up to though?¡±

    My curiosity was piqued, so I decided to pay Dr. Shouko a visit at theb. What on earth was she doing that needed her to shut herself inside theb for two days straight?

    ¡°Dr. Shouko? What are you¡­¡­ Uwah.¡±

    ¡°Hm? What¡¯s up?¡±

    Dr. Shouko¡¯sb was filled with mushrooms. Well, they weren¡¯t growing all over the ce, but were instead properly stored inside individual cases, but there were a lot of those cases. There weren¡¯t just ten or twenty of them.at

    ¡°What¡¯s up with this?¡±

    ¡°Oh, this? I wondered if it was possible to breed these pathogenic mushrooms and make them harmless. I went through a lot of trial and error. I was able to create a specific vine for curing humans, but if we don¡¯tpletely eliminate the source of the infection, there will always be a risk of the pandemic erupting again, right? That¡¯s why I was tinkering around to see if I could create a strain of mushrooms that would be able to eliminate the pathogenic ones.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­? Is it going well?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, let¡¯s see. It looks like it¡¯ll work, but we¡¯ll have to re-contaminate the colony with the new strain. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll get permission.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no way that¡¯ll go through.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, not a chance.¡±

    Dr. Shouko guffawed withughter.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve finished designing nanomachines that¡¯ll specifically target and purify the pathogen in question, so I suppose we¡¯ll just use them instead. Hm. As I thought, it¡¯s difficult to control living organisms.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­? Hm? So, what about the pandemic in the colony?¡±

    ¡°I believe things will settle down quickly if we use the special medicine and the purifying nanomachines together. Oh, and I¡¯vepiled the data and samples, so I¡¯ll leave them to you. I suppose I¡¯ll take a shower and go for a nap. Fuaaa¡­¡­¡±

    After saying so, Dr. Shouko handed me an armful of sturdy-looking containers and left theb while yawning.

    ¡°¡­¡­Actually, ain¡¯t Dr. Shouko the most dangerous person on this ship?¡±

    I was shaking all over as I felt the weight of the containers I received.

 Chapter 428: A Three Year Promise

    Chapter 428: A Three Year Promise

    The effect of the purifying nanomachines Dr. Shouko made was immediate. The number of pathogenic spores detected in the blocks where they were tested out was drastically reduced. Hartmut gradually extended the range of the purifying nanomachines and used the special medicine concocted by Dr. Shouko to rapidly bring the pandemic to an end.

    And so, it¡¯s been about a week since I delivered the containers entrusted to me by Dr. Shouko to Hartmut.

    During the past week, I went to see the situation at Airia¡¯s orphanage as the colony began its recovery process, took Dr. Shouko to meet with Hartmut in person to discuss the details regarding the purifying nanomachines, and negotiatedpensation in exchange for the manufacturing data of said nanomachines. It was a fairly busy week.

    ¡°In any case, the power of nanomachines sure is amazing. Turning the situation around this much with just the effort of one single scientist is seriously impressive.¡±

    I mumbled those words while treating Dr. Shouko to ap pillow inside the break area. The holo-disy installed inside the break area was broadcasting news regarding the pandemic ending soon.

    ¡°This particr case simply happened to be rted to my own field of expertise.¡±

    Dr. Shouko, who was resting her head on top of myp, replied in a humble manner, but judging from her side profile, she seemed to be rather proud of her aplishment. She had a really smug look on her face. I can¡¯t really fault her for making such an expression though, since she did deliver awesome results.

    ¡°I still think it¡¯s amazing. I¡¯m honestly impressed. But wouldn¡¯t it be quite terrible if nanomachines were employed as weapons instead?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that. I get asked about this often, and it¡¯s certainly doable. We can actually manufacture some, you know? Those so-called killer nanomachines. However, when ites to practical applications as a weapon, it¡¯s easier to render them uselesspared to biological or chemical weapons, so it¡¯s not worth the trouble in the end.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°Yep. After all, they are basically delicate machines, so they are vulnerable to EMP. There are also energy shields. Also, it takes a certain amount of them to sessfully kill a person, so if you want to deal with an entire colony¡¯s poption, you¡¯d need to disperse killer nanomachines with a mass equivalent to that of the Krishna. Honestly, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s worth the cost.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then firing a reactive warhead is more cost-effective and less time-consuming.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. Well, I suppose it¡¯s possible to use them in assassinations of lone targets, but I think it will be difficult to employ them as weapons on arge scale.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    In other words, Gray Goo ¡ª widespread destruction due to out-of-control nanomachines ¡ª won¡¯t happen so easily. It¡¯s aplicated feeling. I¡¯m kinda relieved, but it also felt like one of my dreams had been shattered.

    ¡°Mm, I¡¯m starting to get sleepy.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t care about you if you end up sleeping on top of myp and hurt your neckter.¡±

    ¡°I think the firmness is just right though. But yeah, I guess it¡¯s better to sleep on a bed.¡±

    ¡°Got it¡­¡­ Wait, what¡¯s with those arms?¡±

    ¡°I want you to carry me, Hiro-kun.¡±

    After saying so, Dr. Shouko disyed a self-satisfied smile. I see? Fine, I¡¯ll carry you. Yeah. You¡¯re surprisingly the type who wants to be pampered often huh, Doc?

    We¡¯vepleted most of our business here at Reemay Prime, and there¡¯s just one matter remaining.

    ¡°Now then¡­¡­ Do you three know why I called you over today?¡±

    The three young girls (Only one was an honest-to-goodness young girl though) sitting next to each other at a table in the corner of the dining hall disyed awkward expressions.

    ¡°Well, though temporary, we did have Linda board our ship due to our own circumstances, so I, who made that decision, also carry a good deal of responsibility for that. Linda was the catalyst that led to the creation of the special medicine that¡¯s effective against the pandemic afflicting this colony, and we received quite a bit of cash from Hartmut due to it. Naturally, I n to distribute some of the profits to Linda as well.¡±

    After saying so, I paused and observed the girl¡¯s reaction. The girls were Tina, Wiska, and Linda respectively. Umu. All three looked pretty dejected. It felt like I was some sort of viin.

    ¡°Frankly speaking, I have no intention of taking Linda with us. We already have enough manpower at the moment. Besides, there are people she can rely on apart from us here. Isn¡¯t that right?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­ Yeah, yer right, Boss.¡±

    The orphanage that Linda originally belonged to had Airia, as well as Heinz and Sieg. If Airia asked, I believe Hartmut would also lend his strength without hesitation. That amount of cash that I, or rather we, will hand over to Linda wasn¡¯t enough to buy her the right to free movement within the empire, but it was more than enough to allow Linda to learn various stuff in order for her to do whatever she wanted in lifeter on. In other words, it would be way too much for a kid like her.

    I didn¡¯t like the prospect of handing over a huge sum of money to an underage girl and ruining her life as a result, so I was thinking of leaving the management of the funds to Heinz. He¡¯ll probably do a good job. It¡¯ll be fine as long as I warned him a bit. You know what¡¯ll happen to you if you use up Linda¡¯s money right? Well, something to that effect. Anyway, since I¡¯m gonna bother him with some troublesome stuff, I suppose I need to give him some sort of benefit as well.

    ¡°But I¡­¡­ I wanna go with you guys.¡±

    Linda said so as she looked straight into my eyes. Un. Well, yeah. I understood why Linda was insisting oning with us. Really, I get it. If I was in her shoes, I suppose I¡¯d act the same. Considering the environment she grew up in until now, this was only natural.

    There were only a limited number of opportunities avable to a girl from an orphanage in the lower block. She didn¡¯t even know her parent¡¯s faces, and the ones who formerly backed her were mafia and gangsters. The lower block of this colony was a hopeless environment for a child with no education or money to make it on her own.

    If that¡¯s the case, it was better to risk her life and chastity (I swear I¡¯d nevery a hand on her though) by boarding a mercenary¡¯s ship as an apprentice and acquire skills as a merc and sailor, which would greatly open up her future prospects. As long as they used their head a little, anyone¡­¡­ even a young child like Linda, could understand that much.

    ¡°Actually, it¡¯spletely possible to bring Linda with us. You can even say it¡¯s too easy. Linda¡¯s cost of living won¡¯t even make a dent on our budget. We have more than enough ie after all. However, to put it bluntly, there¡¯s absolutely no benefit to bringing Linda along. None whatsoever. You can even say it¡¯s not worth the risks.¡±

    This was simply because Linda was still just a child. Linda, who¡¯s currently at the cusp of puberty, was at an age where it¡¯s difficult to control one¡¯s emotions, and her physical development wascking as well. She may have a rare factor that allowed her to resist the pathogens causing the pandemic, but it¡¯s unclear if it¡¯ll work on other diseases too. In the first ce, there¡¯s already a vine that prevents most diseases, and all of us have been vinated. In other words, the value of her unique constitution was actually quite low.

    ¡°I¡¯m really persistent. I¡¯m quick on my feet, and I think I¡¯m really good with my hands too. I believe I¡¯m pretty brave if I do say so myself. I¡¯m not very smart, but Ms. Tina and Ms. Wiska say I¡¯m a fast learner. It won¡¯t happen right away, but I¡¯m sure I can make myself useful if you give me a chance.¡±

    ¡°That was a great speech, youngdy. But no. My ship needs no hot-blooded newbie.¡±

    Mimi, who was an ordinary young woman at first, was now a qualified ship operator after all. In fact, Tina¡¯s mental state was the one most shaken up during this time¡¯s incident. She¡¯s usually a bright and cheerful mood-maker. That girl.

    However, Linda was just far too young. I¡¯m not exactly at an age where I could unt my seniority to others, but even so, Linda was still too young. She was an honest-to-goodness minor. We¡¯re already prone to getting caught up in all sorts of trouble, so we didn¡¯t need a crew member who was likely to be a troublemaker herself.

    ¡°However, you still find all this uneptable, right? I can¡¯t risk having you stow away on my ship, so I¡¯ll make a concession.¡±

    The three of them held their breaths and braced themselves to hear my next words.

    ¡°If I remember correctly, you¡¯re currently twelve years old right, Linda? In that case, you should work hard in this colony until youe of age when you turn fifteen. It would be best if you¡¯ve acquired skills useful for sailing in space by then, but for now, it¡¯s enough to focus on growing up healthy both physically and mentally. If you still feel like boarding my ship after three years, I¡¯ll go ahead ande for you.¡±

    ¡°R-Really?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t make a business out of lying. But keep one thing in mind, okay? The thing about exactly what it means toe aboard my ship of your own free ord. You better be prepared by then, alright? I won¡¯t hold back against anyone who voluntarilyes to me, understood?¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­¡­!?¡±

    Linda¡¯s face turned beet-red as she backed away while trembling.

    ¡°You better be a good woman, hahaha.¡±

    ¡°You ero bastard¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, don¡¯t take it so seriously. I¡¯ll do my best to create an environment where you are free to do whatever you like. Take advantage of that environment and do your best to be the person you want to be. I won¡¯t hold it against you even if you decide to take a different path in the end. Boarding my ship is only one option. I¡¯ll give it to you straight. You can indeed earn a lot of money by working as a mercenary, but it will also be very dangerous. Even engineers like you have encountered life-threatening situations more than once or twice after working for me right, Tina? Wiska?¡±

    Linda¡¯s face was bright red as she red at me, so I shrugged my shoulders and turned to the sisters instead.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°We frequently go up against pirates, and if we lose, we¡¯ll simply die at best.¡±

    ¡°Dying¡¯s a good oue? What¡¯s the bad one?¡±

    ¡°Either being captured and used as a ything until you die, or worse, get processed into a soulless ¡®product¡¯ and handed over to a pervert who likes that sort of stuff.¡±

    ¡°Ugeeh¡­¡­¡±

    Linda flinched and drew away. The mafia and gangs within colonies were already pretty perverted and violent, but space pirates were several magnitudes worse. A fun singing severed head connected to a life support system has beenpleted! They were the kind of guys who¡¯d do stuff like that without batting an eye.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t n on getting done in by pirates, but mercenaries constantly live their lives with the risk ofing to such tragic ends. Keep that in mind while doing your best for three years.¡±

    ¡°Un¡­¡­ I got it.¡±

    I nodded in return to Linda who nodded in a solemn manner. With this, Linda¡¯s matter was finally settled. Now, all that was left was to politely ask Heinz and Sieg to take care of some stuff for me, tell Hartmut to help out as well, and talk to Airia¡­¡­ It¡¯s a pain, but it¡¯s for Tina¡¯s sake. Just a bit more to go and we¡¯re done.

 Chapter 429: It Can Only Be That Fellow

    Chapter 429: It Can Only Be That Fellow

    To make the long story short, preparing an environment suitable for Linda¡¯s education went pretty smoothly.

    ¡°I feel like I¡¯ll get a hole in my stomach from handling so much money, but¡­¡­ since it¡¯s your request, Bro, then just leave it to me. I¡¯m going to do my best.¡±

    Heinz seemed pretty happy that I decided to rely on him instead of Hartmut regarding Linda¡¯s matter, so he epted the responsibility of looking after Linda¡¯s money. He apparently had various contacts within the colony, and they¡¯ll listen to Linda¡¯s requests and take care of her.

    ¡°I also told Hartmut to help out, so don¡¯t engage in some strange rivalry with him, alright?¡±

    Hartmut graciously agreed to arrange for Linda to receive higher education if she so wished. Depending on how things turn out, Linda might be quite an incredible youngdy in three years.

    ¡°I got it, Big Bro. She¡¯s going to be Bro¡¯s woman in the future, so I¡¯ll make sure that no bothersome insectstch on to her.¡±

    ¡°That still isn¡¯t set in stone yet y¡¯know¡­¡­? In any case, just let Linda do as she pleases.¡±

    I¡¯m totally cool if Linda finds herself a lover within the next three years and decides not toe aboard my ship. It¡¯s Linda¡¯s life, so she doesn¡¯t have to be tied down by me in the slightest. If her feelings still haven¡¯t changed after three years, then I¡¯ll just take her with me. Linda¡¯s too young right now, but in three years, she¡¯ll be the same age as Mimi when she first boarded Krishna. She¡¯ll be considered an adult in the Gran Empire at age fifteen, so she can decide her path by then.

    Or rather, we don¡¯t know what¡¯ll happen to me in three years as well. If I didn¡¯t die, I¡¯d probably still be working as a mercenary.

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­? Understood. By the way, is it about time?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. We¡¯ll be leaving tomorrow. I suppose the free-spirited mercenary life still suits me the best.¡±

    We don¡¯t have any particr destination in mind this time around. There are currently no pressing issues at the moment after all. My Krishna, Elma¡¯s Antlion, and Mei¡¯s ck Lotus. These three ships still haven¡¯t achieved perfect coordination when hunting space pirates. For the time being, the short-term goal was to improve our skill levels while earning money.

    Well, I suppose we couldn¡¯t just wander aimlessly out there, so I think I¡¯ll gather everyone together tonight for a meeting in order to decide our next destination.

    Didn¡¯t I say I¡¯d gather everyone for a meeting earlier? That was a lie. No, I suppose it wasn¡¯t. Not exactly.

    ¡°Uh¨C¡­¡­ So, yeah. Even though I¡¯m not very keen on heading there, it¡¯s been decided that our next destination will be the Creon star system. A round of apuse, please.¡±

    Only Kugi, who didn¡¯t really understand what was going on, pped her hands in response. Kugi sure was cute. Hahaha.

    ¡°If that¡¯s what you decided, then I¡¯m simply gonna go along with it, Hiro¡­¡­ But don¡¯t tell me we¡¯re heading for the front lines or something like that?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. We¡¯ll just be subjugating¡ºspace pirates¡»who are targeting supplies in the rear.¡±

    ¡°Space pirates huh¡­¡­? Who¡¯s in charge?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s gonna be that person, as usual.¡±

    ¡°Captain Serena sure keeps getting the short end of the stick¡­¡­ Ahaha.¡±

    Mimi let out a dryugh with an almost expressionless face, which was pretty rare for her. Tina had a troubled expression on her face, and Wiska¡¯s was an uneasy one, while Dr. Shouko was grinning in amusement. Mei was expressionless as usual.

    As for the reason why we were like this, we¡¯d have to backtrack a bit.

    Indeed. It was right after asking Heinz to take care of Linda¡¯s money (Not for free, of course.) and heading back to the Lotus. My portable info terminal¡¯s ringtone suddenly went off.

    Come to think of it, if at that time¡­¡­ No, it would have been useless. Either way, I would have been forced to ept. As mercenaries, we couldn¡¯t make a living without getting in touch with the Mercenary Guild.

    ¡°This is Hiro speaking.¡±

    ¡ºThis is David from the Mercenary Guild¡¯s Reemay Star System branch. Just to confirm, this is truly Captain Hiro speaking, correct?¡»

    ¡°Yeah, the one and only.¡±

    It¡¯s rare for a Mercenary Guild rep to directly engage in a voice call. Whenever they needed to notify us mercs of something, they usually got in contact using a special app.

    ¡°It¡¯s rare for you guys to make a voice call. What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡ºWe¡¯ve received a nomination request of the highest priority addressed to you, Captain Hiro. We contacted you in order to confirm things as soon as possible.¡»

    ¡°High priority nomination request¡­¡­? Is the client really trustworthy?¡±

    It would suck if I went to meet up with the client who ced the nomination request only to be told¡ºSorry for deceiving you.¡»or something like that. My main targets are space pirates though, so there¡¯s a low chance of the client, who¡¯s capable of cing a high-priority nomination request, holding a grudge against me.

    ¡ºWell¡­¡­ You can say they are the most trustworthy client in the empire.¡»

    In order for a client to submit a nomination request, a certain level of trustworthiness was required. How to earn that trust? Simply put, it¡¯s by having a good track record in dealings with the Mercenary Guild¡­¡­ In other words, never failing to make payments uponpletion of requests, ensuring the validity of requests and not imposing unreasonable stuff upon the dispatched mercenaries, the client being rtively high up in the socialdder, and so on. The Mercenary Guild would make a decision based on a wide variety of criteria.

    ¡°Is it the Imperial Space Force?¡±

    When ites to clients within the empire that the Mercenary Guild cesplete trust in, the first one that came to mind was the Imperial Space Force. In the first ce, it was the Imperial Space Force that paid the bounties ced on the heads of space pirates, and they also often made major requests whenever they needed to subjugate space pirate bases. So, most would think both parties were pretty tight.

    ¡ºThat¡¯s only half correct.¡»

    ¡°Oi, I¡¯m in no mood to y riddles with you¨C¡±

    ¡ºThe one at the very top of the empire.¡»

    ¡°F*ck!¡±

    ¡ºI¡¯ll pretend I didn¡¯t hear that.¡»

    The one on top? The very top? Then it could only be that f*cking emperor! That bastard! Just what kind of godforsaken ce was he nning on sending me to!?

    ¡ºThe meeting point is the Creon star system. It¡¯s a star system close to the front lines of the conflict zone between the empire and the Vereverem Federation. There, you will directly join up with the imperial fleet arranged by the client at the Space Force¡¯s supply depot. You will work together with them to eliminate the ¡®space pirates¡¯ threatening the empire¡¯s supply lines.¡»

    I looked at the hologram projected by the portable terminal and inwardly sighed. As expected, the imperial fleet I was gonna be joining up with was Captain Serena¡¯s Independent Anti-Pirate Fleet. I already had a hunch when they said the opponents would be space pirates, but to think I was spot on. It seemed that we really were fated in some way.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t said I¡¯m gonna take on the request though??¡±

    ¡ºIf any special circumstances prevent you from heading out right away, we will take them into ount. Otherwise, we will have you ept this request. This is a high-reward request with special circumstances. I believe it¡¯s not a bad deal for you, Captain Hiro.¡»

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s true. But¡­¡­¡±

    My heart wavered whenever I looked at the conditions attached to the request. All ammunition expenses and supplies will be covered by the other party. On top of that, there¡¯s a fixed reward of 10 million Enels in addition to the rewards for downing enemy ships, and you were basically free to capture and salvage downed ships as well. And if there was something of interest to the other party among the spoils, they¡¯d pay for it directly with Enels. If the request period exceeds 30 days, a reward of 300,000 Enels per day would be added as well. The mission was dealing with ¡®space pirates¡¯ who were targeting imperial supply lines, and it was basically not front-line duty. Depending on the situation, there¡¯s a possibility of being caught in a front-line firefight, but this was par for the course when operating within a conflict zone.

    ¡°Haa¡­¡­ I suppose I¡¯ll ept for now. Either way, I was nning on leaving our current location by tomorrow. But remember this. Above all else, I love the free-spirited wandering life of a mercenary. I¡¯ll concede this time, but if you force me into these sorts of situations often, I might just consider running away.¡±

    ¡ºThank you very much. I will inform the other party of your sentiments.¡»

    After that, Guild employee David dropped the call.

    As long as we were operating within the empire, it was risky to turn down a request made by His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor himself. It won¡¯t exactly make me enemies with the Guild, but it would lead to me incurring a huge debt. And it¡¯ll lead to even more risk. In other words, the moment that f*cking emperor reared his meddlesome head, everything was already decided.

    Well, it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t have any considerations, but I¡¯m not some anti-establishment anarchist either. Rather, it was my principle to stick to long-term stable profits. Anyway, I¡¯d probably get wrapped up in some sort of trouble one way or another even if I decided to ignore this request and ran away. If that¡¯s the case, then it¡¯s better to have the other party owe us a favor while making a bit of profit at low risk.

    ¡°So, we¡¯re gonna have to hunt down so-called ¡®space pirates¡¯ near the front lines next huh¡­¡­? This is making me all teary-eyed.¡±

    I looked up to the ceiling of the Reemay Prime colony and couldn¡¯t help butment. I¡¯m sure those so-called ¡®space pirates¡¯ were rockingbat ships from the Vereverem Federation or its allies, loaded with military-grade equipment, and had unusually high levels of skill. At least they¡¯d be worth a lot if we captured them, hahaha¡­¡­ Haa.

 Chapter 430: Daily Routine

    Chapter 430: Daily Routine

    I woke up to the sound of the rm from my portable info terminal. It felt like I was still a bit sleepy and tired in both mind and body, but since this was mostly the result of my actions, I decided to ignore it. I¡¯m sure I¡¯d recover once I moved my body a little and took a shower.

    ¡°Fuwaa¡­¡­ Good mowning.¡±

    Perhaps sensing that I¡¯d woken up, Mimi, who was sleeping next to me, seemed to have woken up as well. Her sleepy voice was quite enchanting.

    ¡°You can go back to sleep if you want.¡±

    ¡°Since you¡¯re already awake Hiro-sama, then I better get up as well¡­¡­ Nn. Alright. Let¡¯s get up.¡±

    Mimi¡¯s bleary expression gradually regained its liveliness. I think she¡¯s gotten better at waking uppared to when she first boarded my ship. That¡¯s probably because she¡¯s gotten used to the mercenary life already.

    It¡¯s not exactly regret, but whenever I saw parts of her that had greatly changed from how she was before, I felt guilty of possibly leading Mimi down a different path rather than what she was originally supposed to be like. Well, if I hadn¡¯t intervened when I first met, or rather, caught sight of her, I believe her fate might have been much, much darker, but I still couldn¡¯t help but think that way.

    Perhaps, considering Mimi¡¯s luck, things might have actually worked out for her even without me in the picture, but¡­¡­ No, there¡¯s no point in dwelling on what-ifs.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go take a shower first.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Let¡¯s clean ourselves up!¡±

    I headed to the shower room with Mimi, who was hugging my arm. Well, well. I just woke up and I get to take a shower together with a beautiful girl with big breasts. I¡¯ve certainly hit it big ever sinceing to this world huh?

    After spending a fun time inside the shower with Mimi, we headed to the dining hall and found someone was already present.

    ¡°Good morning, you two.¡±

    ¡°Morning, Elma. Feeling sharp so early in the morning. In other words, you probably drank too muchst night huh?¡±

    It was Elma, a silver-haired elf who served as the pilot of the Antlion ¨C the second ship of our little mercenary group. She was happily gorging on artificial meat steak and something that resembled potato sd that was made via auto-cooker even though it was still early morning.

    Her build was slim, but her physical abilities were actually higher than mine. A gori wearing an elven skin¡­¡­ Well, I shouldn¡¯t say that out loud since she¡¯d probably fold my body in several ces. Literally.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, right? Alcohol is the spice of life.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t care about you if Dr. Shouko gets mad and scolds you.¡±

    Judging from Elma¡¯s reaction, it was clear that she had used the medical pod in order to sober up when morning came. Dr. Shouko, who recently became our ship doctor, wasn¡¯t the kind to nitpick too much, but if she goes too far, I¡¯m sure Elma will get a good scolding from her.

    ¡°Ah, good mornin¡¯. Looks like you two managed to wake up early, Boss.¡±

    While Mimi and I were receiving our breakfast from the automatic cooker Tetsujin V, a cheerful voice echoed throughout the dining room. When I turned my gaze to the source of said voice, I saw a red-haired and blue-haired pair of young girls. Or rather, dwarves.

    ¡°Good morning, Big Brother, Mimi-san.¡±

    ¡°Good morning to you too, Tina, Wiska. Are you gonna have your breakfast now?¡±

    ¡°Nah. Just a short break. We already woke up quite a while ago.¡±

    While saying so, Tina headed toward the refrigerator containing beverages. Wiska seemed to be ordering some snacks from Tetsujin, and then walked toward us.

    ¡°Since we¡¯re gonna be engagin¡¯ in intensebat again, we were checkin¡¯ the inventory of materials and duplicatin¡¯ spare parts that¡¯s prone to get subjected to wear and tear.¡±

    ¡°I see. Make a list of supplies you guys think we need in advance. We¡¯ll get those supplies immediately once we arrive at the Imperial Space Force supply depot.¡±

    ¡°Okay, leave it to us.¡±

    ¡°Mm, I¡¯ll be counting on you two. Come to think of it, you brought back a lot of items as well, right, Mimi?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I bought some luxury goods that tend to be in short supply on the front-lines at the colony we stopped by along the way.¡±

    In the Reemay Prime colony, where we were staying previously, there was a general shortage of goods, leading to rtively high prices. Mimi excitedly went out to stock up on luxury goods that tended to fetch high prices on the front lines when we stopped over a random colony on the way to the gateway.

    ¡°Sounds great. Well then, let¡¯s eat up and work hard again today.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Since we¡¯re living a free-spirited mercenary life daily, it¡¯s important to follow a well-regted schedule. At least that¡¯s what I think.

    This was the gist of my daily routine. After waking up, the first thing I do in the morning is take a shower. Oftentimes, I took it together with the one I spent the night with. It was a fun time.

    After that, I¡¯d have breakfast and head to the training room for a workout. I often did this together with someone as well, but there were times I worked out alone. After the workout, I¡¯d take a shower again and look around the ship. I did this primarily to see if there were any abnormalities, but it was also to strengthen my legs by walking around the huge ck Lotus. This was also part of the training.

    Greeting each of the crew members I encountered while doing my rounds was also important to facilitate healthymunication. Also, I made sure to check if my face looked pale or if my expression was gloomy.

    But these days, I think it¡¯s better to rely on an expert for this sort of stuff.

    ¡°Hm. You look a bit sleep-deprived, but you¡¯re rtively healthy otherwise. Did you have some funst night?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. But isn¡¯t that question a form of sexual harassment Doc?¡±

    ¡°The question was from a medical standpoint, so it doesn¡¯t qualify as sexual harassment.¡±

    Dr. Shouko responded with a grin. I highly doubt that the question was really from a medical standpoint, but it¡¯s not like I was bothered by it all that much.

    ¡°If you¡¯re suffering from exhaustion due to your nightly trysts, I¡¯d probably prescribe you some supplements, but judging from your blood cirction and other factors, there doesn¡¯t seem to be any problems for the most part.¡±

    ¡°Our chef is excellent after all.¡±

    ¡°It really is. It¡¯s great that you can get enough nutrition even without relying on supplements due to that guy.¡±

    Our high-performance automatic cooker, Tetsujin V, automatically determined the amount of exercise undertaken and the overall health status of the crew members, then served them suitable meals. It seemed that it was able to make such decisions based on information gathered from various sensors inside the ship. It¡¯s great because it was pretty convenient.

    ¡°By the way, what exactly is Kugi up to? Or rather, what the heck are you having her do?¡±

    After saying so, I turned my gaze toward Kugi, who was sitting nearby while wearing some sort of strange headgear. The fox ears on top of her head were standing up straight, and the three tails sticking out of her buttocks were also swaying back and forth gently, so it seemed that she wasn¡¯t exactly bothered by what she was doing.

    ¡°Hello, My Lord. I am currently cooperating with Dr. Shouko¡¯s research.¡±

    ¡°The people of the Holy Vuelzarus empire don¡¯t travel outside their country very often, and even if they do, there are few chances to procure gic information from them. There are a lot of interesting points about them, so I asked Kugi-kun for her cooperation. It¡¯s difficult to use psionic abilities unless you have an innate talent for it, right? Unfortunately, out of all the crew members, I, Mimi-kun, Wiska-kun, and Tina-kun have no disposition for it. But there¡¯s you, Kugi-kun, and Elma-kun, who do have the talent for it. Most of us are of different races, and the presence or absence of psionic abilities in each of us doesn¡¯t disy any discernible patterns, but interbreeding is actually possible¡­¡­ In other words, each of our gic makeups are actually pretty close and¨C¡±

    Dr. Shouko started speaking at a rapid pace. Some people acted like this whenever they talked about their field of expertise. She was still talking, but I was only able to understand about half of what she was discussing.

    ¡°You can refuse if you don¡¯t like it, y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord. But the doctor seems to be having fun, so¨C¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess¡­¡­ I¡¯ll be done with my rounds after checking out Mei¡¯s ce, so I¡¯m thinking of training afterward.¡±

    Kugi was currently undergoing training as Krishna¡¯s sub-pilot, but she was also my mentor when it came to learning about my psionic abilities.

    ¡°Understood. Pleasee to my roomter.¡±

    ¡°Got it. Oh, and Dr. Shouko. I¡¯ll be continuing with my rounds now.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, is that so? I suppose keeping you here wouldn¡¯t do then. I¡¯ll see youter.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Try not to overdo it with work.¡±

    I waved at the two of them and left the medical bay. Now then, let¡¯s continue with our daily routine, shall we?

    As soon as I entered the cockpit of the ck Lotus, I was immediately able to find Mei. Well, she was out in the open, so it wasn¡¯t all that difficult to find her in the first ce. She¡¯s standing at her usual spot, so there¡¯s no way I¡¯d miss her.

    ¡°Good morning, Master.¡±

    Mei turned around and gave me a morning greeting. Un, a real beauty indeed. I was the one who designed Mei¡¯s appearance, so it felt like patting myself on the back, but she really was a beauty. Moreover, she wasn¡¯t just beautiful, but also strong and versatile. As expected of the strongest maid I came up with.

    ¡°Good morning, Mei. Are there no problems with the navigation?¡±

    ¡°Everything is going quite well. We are scheduled to arrive at our target destination in approximately fifty-two hours.¡±

    ¡°Sounds great. Sorry for always leaving this to you.¡±

    ¡°No, Master. For me, being of use to Master is what makes me happy the most. Hence, there is no need for you to apologize like that, Master.¡±

    ¡°I know that, but¡­¡­¡±

    Not only was Mei in full control of the ck Lotus, but she also took on countless other tasks at the same time, such as serving as my training partner and acting as the other girl¡¯s manager and life advisor. Honestly, I always felt that I was cing too much burden onto her and I owe her a lot.

    ¡°I am happy enough with your thoughts and consideration, Master. But if you insist¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°If I insist?¡±

    ¡°Can you please give me a hug as a reward?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Honestly, this felt more like a reward for me, but if Mei wanted it, then I could onlyply. I went over to Mei¡¯s side and hugged her while being careful not to touch the cables connected to her neck and lower back. Ah, was Mei truly a maidroid? Even though she was a machine, she was soft, and warm, and smelled so good. It was quite a strange disconnect.

    However, she was pretty heavy due to being a machine, and she was too heavy for me to lift on my own. But I couldn¡¯t feel that in the slightest when hugging her like this though.

    ¡°Thank you very much. This will allow me to operate continuously for at least a month.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t operate without stopping for a month for real though, okay? I¡¯ll give you as many hugs as you want in exchange.¡±

    Or rather, it was bad for Mei not to enter her maintenance pod regrly. As expected, something would probably go wrong with her body if she went without maintenance for a month.

    And so, I regrly performed my daily routine as we continued heading toward our next destination. Living a life as a mercenary gave one a lot of free time while moving from ce to ce, so a daily routine was actually quite important. This was for taking on extraordinary challenges that might result in getting shot down and dying.

    After dealing with the pandemic at the Reemay Prime colony, we headed for the Creon star system as our next destination.

    The Creon star system wasn¡¯t a particrly remarkable one. There were nos particrly suitable for habitation, but traveling to the system was rtively convenient, and the mineral resources were pretty abundant as well. Compared to other star systems, it was a pretty run-off-the-mill one. The problemy in the Creon star system being located smack dab in disputed space between the Gran Empire and the Vereverem Federation.

    Currently, the Gran Empire was effectively in control, but it was previously a territory of the Vereverem Federation. Was it really suitable to call it a territory though? How about calling it a region instead? Nah, let¡¯s go with territory. Anyway, it was previously imed by the Vereverem Federation. However, as a result of wars between the two powers in the past, the Gran Empire gained control of several surrounding star systems, including the Creon star system.

    But the Vereverem Federation had not yet given up on regaining said territories and persisted in demanding the return of the ones they¡¯d lost to the Gran Empire, including the Creon star system. As a result, it and the surrounding star systems had turned into a conflict zone between the two powers, where they continuously engaged in skirmishes.

    Well, for us mercenaries, all that historical ims stuff was of no concern. What¡¯s important was that the surrounding star systems in the conflict zone, including the Creon star system, were all good ces to earn tons of cash. However, even though they were good ces for making money, operating within them was also quite dangerous.

    Normally, we¡¯d target pirates attacking civilian ships, and we¡¯d try as much as possible to stay out of the conflict between the two major powers. As they say, the greater the profits, the greater the risk.

    That¡¯s not to imply that dealing with pirates was absolutely safe. Butpared to fighting regr or irregr military forces that have snuck into the conflict zone, the level of danger posed by pirates was way lower. It¡¯s only natural that genuinebat ships equipped with thetest bells and whistles were a lot more dangerouspared to modified civilian ships pped with whatever equipment the pirates managed to get their hands on.

    There¡¯s no need to take such high risks just to make money, so I actually wanted to refuse this request¡­¡­ However, that wasn¡¯t possible this time around. Apparently, His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, who ruled over the entire Gran Empire, personally ordered me to join up with the Imperial Space Force. It made me wonder about just what that guy was up to.

    ¡°You also have it hard huh, Captain Serena?¡±

    ¡°Now that we¡¯ve met up, we¡¯re already in the same boat. I¡¯m going to work you hard, so be prepared.¡±

    That¡¯s what Captain Serena said with a smile when we met again less than thirty minutes after arriving at the Imperial Space Force¡¯s supply base in the Creon star system. Her mouth disyed a smile, but it didn¡¯t reach her eyes. Judging from her current behavior, there was definitely some kind of mess we weren¡¯t aware of yet. Goddammit. That f*cking emperor! I¡¯ll make you pay for this someday; you hear me!?

 Chapter 431: Status Report

    Chapter 431: Status Report

    Imperial Space Force Creon Star System Supply Depot. Based on the ce¡¯s name, you¡¯d think it was a rtively peaceful base with lots of supply containers piled up within. However, it was actually a fully functional fortress. That¡¯s right. A space fortress.

    This supply depot was the only space station within the Creon system and was an integral base responsible for supplying the Imperial Space Force and the private armies of the noble lords deployed in the surrounding star systems. Naturally, in the eyes of the higher-ups of the Vereverem Federation, it was a crucial high-priority target. In order to deal with this, the ce was equipped with extremely powerful weapon systems.

    Well, it¡¯s not like this was the only supply depot in the front lines, and more were scattered around the surrounding star systems, so the target wasn¡¯t just the Creon system base.

    ¡°How should I put this? It¡¯s quite imposing, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Mimi, who was looking out through the window of the vehicle we were currently riding in, gave an honest impression of the ce.

    As soon as we arrived at the supply depot, we were immediately greeted by Captain Serena, and we were now heading to her ship, the Restalias, inside a vehicle she prepared for us.

    ¡°It¡¯s a bona-fide military base after all. There are hardly any civilians, right?¡±

    Elma nced outside the car as well and responded to Mimi¡¯sment.

    There were almost no shops and establishments that catered to military personneling to port in order to resupply and take a break. There were quite a lot of civilians present aboard therge supply carrier Dauntless that we stayed at when we went to the Edgeworldst time, and there were also many stores and recreational establishments to amodate them, but¡­¡­ it seemed that there weren¡¯t many of that stuff at this supply base.

    ¡°This ce is close to the front lines after all. If they allowed civilians in, there¡¯s a chance of some unwanted ¡®rats¡¯ sneaking inside among them as well.¡±

    Captain Serena, who was sitting across from us, shrugged her shoulders as she gave her two cents. It¡¯s indeed as she said. If civilians could easilye and go, agents of the Vereverem Federation were likely to take advantage of that in order to infiltrate the base. It would be a big problem if a supply base within the front lines were to bepromised. For example, they might include BC (chemical) weapons or explosives among the supplies.

    ¡°So, what¡¯s your reason for going out of your way to personally escort us?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s discuss it once we arrive at the ship. So, your crew members increased in number again, haven¡¯t they?¡±

    ¡°Why are you asking that all of a sudden¡­¡­? It¡¯s not that exaggerated. I have no intention of recruiting new crew members left and right.¡±

    ¡°But there¡¯s a potential crew member scheduled to join us after three years though.¡±

    ¡°After three years? What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a promise he made to a twelve-year-old girl.¡±

    ¡°Whoah¡­¡­¡±

    Captain Serena sent me a condescending gaze. I¡¯m rtively mild-mannered, but I¡¯ll snap at this rate y¡¯know?

    ¡°It¡¯s just a method of polite refusal because I couldn¡¯t possibly allow an underaged kid to join us. Or rather, she¡¯s at an impressionable age, so she¡¯ll probably find something else she wants to do after three years, right? I was counting on that when I made that promise.¡±

    ¡°Even so, you¡¯ll still go and pick her up after three years, right?¡±

    ¡°Even if it¡¯s just a verbal promise, I always keep my word. It¡¯s only natural for me to go and check on how she¡¯s doing. Linda did put her body on the line for us after all.¡±

    Linda, the twelve-year-old in question, had an abnormally strong resistance to the pathogen that was causing the pandemic in the Reemay Prime colony, and she agreed to submit her body to tests to create a special drug to counter said pandemic. In exchange for presenting them with the drug, we were given a hefty reward by the nobles governing Reemay Prime, and she also ended up having a share of it. She¡¯s also a kid with a connection to Tina, so it was only natural for me to check up on her in three years.

    ¡°From her reaction, I think she¡¯ll actually wait for Hiro-sama to pick her up in three years though.¡±

    ¡°Of course not. I won¡¯t have much contact with Linda from now on, so she¡¯ll probably forget all about me.¡±

    After speaking my mind, Mimi, Elma, and even Captain Serena all gave me exasperated looks. Why?

    ¡°Okay, I get it. I¡¯m outnumbered three to one here. So, let¡¯s just change topics. Captain Serena, beforeing here, Mimi managed to procure a lot of alcohol and other luxury goods and stocked them inside the ck Lotus. Can you help us deal with themter?¡±

    ¡°Oh, if only the Lotus is filled with goods, then our fleet will take all of them. Fortunately, we have enough budget.¡±

    ¡°That sounds nice, but is that really okay?¡±

    ¡°Out here on the front lines, you can¡¯t get as many supplies as you want even if you have the budget. The quota for supplies is fixed. But since those items were procured by you guys personally, they have nothing to do with that fixed quota.¡±

    Captain Serena disyed a fiendish smile. Was this really okay, Miss Imperial Officer? Well, it¡¯s not like there¡¯s anything wrong with using the allocated budget for procuring supplies from us at a fair price, I suppose. It¡¯s better than us profiting by selling stuff at unfair prices, or them exploiting us instead.

    ¡°Then, can we discuss it with your supply officerter?¡±

    ¡°Please go ahead. I¡¯ll make arrangements so that Mimi-sam¡­¡­ err, Mimi-san can get in touch with them through her terminal.¡±

    ¡°Okay, Captain Serena. Looking forward to working with you again.¡±

    She nearly addressed Mimi as ¡®Mimi-sama¡¯ earlier huh? Captain Serena was aware that Mimi was actually the grandniece of the emperor, so she nearly formally addressed her but changed her way of address halfway.

    While we were having this exchange, the vehicle we were riding in finally arrived at the area where the Restalias was anchored, so we got off and proceeded toe aboard the ship. By the way, the members going to the Restalias this time around were me, Mimi, and Elma. Stationing Mei inside the Lotus just in case something happened was the safer option, and the mechanic sisters and Dr. Shouko had no particr reason to apany us for the visit. As for Kugi, she stayed behind in order to exchange info with me telepathically in case of emergency. That¡¯s right. I¡¯ve also learned basic telepathy techniques from Kugi. However, since I could only interact with Kugi for now, it meant I hadn¡¯t mastered telepathy yet.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    We got off the rugged military vehicle and moved to the hatch of the Restalias using arge elevator-like ramp, and Captain Serena was staring at me in a scrutinizing manner the entire time.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I was just checking your appearance. Your outfit is crass as usual, but Imend you for wearing the Gold Star and Silver Sword Wing Assault medal.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, I guess.¡±

    It definitely didn¡¯t sound like apliment, but I¡¯d consider it as one anyway. We¡¯re at a military instation after all. I thought it would serve as a good bluff, so I made sure to wear the medal I received when I dealt with those crystal lifeforms. As long as I was sporting the medals as well as my swords, I probably wouldn¡¯t get picked on unless the other party was a reckless idiot.

    Most of the Imperial soldiers I knew were serious, straightced types, but that¡¯s probably not the case for every single one of them. There¡¯s nothing wrong with trying to prevent troublesome stuff in advance.

    Also, there weren¡¯t just soldiers from the Imperial Space Force in this supply base. Members of various private armies sent by nobles were also staying here. These private armies were raised independently by the nobles themselves. Most of them were supposed to be working as part of the star system garrisons that maintained public order within their respective star systems, but there might be some unruly members within their ranks as well. And among these private armies, some were more akin to gangs than an organized professional fighting force, so it¡¯s best to be careful.

    Oh, right. I better ask Captain Serena about that matter.

    ¡°By the way, what¡¯s the atmosphere like on the front lines and within this base? I sure hope no weirdos are throwing their weight around.¡±

    I was just bringing up the topic casually, but the moment Captain Serena heard my words, her expression instantly clouded over. How scary. It sure gave me the shivers.

    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I was going to talk to you about once we¡¯re inside the ship.¡±

    ¡°I see. In other words, the atmosphere isn¡¯t that promising.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s not exactly the case¡­¡­ Err, but maybe¡­¡­ Hmm.¡±

    Captain Serena minced her words while sporting a conflicted expression. Oh boy. This seemed like a prettyplicated situation. In other words, this matter will be the source of our troubles this time around. I forgot her name, but the female officer who appeared to be Captain Serena¡¯s adjutant was disying a wry smile on her face. I remembered Lieutenant Robbitson quite well, but I wonder what thisdy¡¯s name was.

    ¡°Actually, a nobleman who has a bit of a rtionship with us is currently in charge of defending the star system, including this base. To put it bluntly, he¡¯s actually set up for failure.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that¡­¡­? Do you mean he and his men are supposed to get crushed on the front lines? Simr to a penal unit?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that description sounds quite fitting. That¡¯s exactly how it is. The nobleman in question is Earl Ixamal.¡±

    ¡°Hee¨C¡­¡­? Who the heck is he?¡±

    The moment I asked, Captain Serena burst intoughter. Elma let out a deep sigh, and Mimi and the female officer smiled bitterly. Moreover, the female officer¡¯s cheeks were actually twitching.

    ¡°You really don¡¯t remember him?¡±

    ¡°No. Not at all. The name does sound kinda familiar though¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°That means you really don¡¯t remember him huh¡­¡­ We fought against biological weapons in the Comatt star system, right? Don¡¯t tell me you forgot even that?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re talking about the time you forced me tond on a in the middle of being terraformed even though I didn¡¯t want to. I haven¡¯t forgotten the grudge from that time.¡±

    ¡°Stop dwelling on such insignificant matters. Anyway, the target we were chasing after at the time was a part of House Ixamal, remember?¡±

    It wasn¡¯t insignificant, okay? Due to that experience, I even decided to buy my Ninja power armor y¡¯know? Well, I do admit that it isn¡¯t that important right now.

    ¡°Come to think of it, I remember youughing like a viin while saying that you¡¯re gonna drive some delinquent nobleman into a corner back then.¡±

    ¡°I definitely did notugh in such a vulgar way!¡±

    ¡°Really? My memories of that time ain¡¯t that clear.¡±

    Fushaa¨C! I looked away from Captain Serena who was bristling like an angry cat. I believe it went something like that, but I don¡¯t remember very well because I simply wasn¡¯t interested and didn¡¯t think I¡¯d get involved with those guys again in the future.

    However, if that¡¯s the case, then the noble house that was berated by the emperor due to Captain Serena and my actions back then was now throwing its weight around at this ce. Well, that certainly sounded troublesome. And I seriously resented the emperor even more for throwing Captain Serena and me into a ce like this.

 Chapter 432: Closed-door Meeting

    Chapter 432: Closed-door Meeting

    ¡°So, Captain Serena aside, all that political stuff is supposedly out of our jurisdiction, but¡­¡­ what the heck was that f*c¨C I mean esteemed emperor thinking when he decided to throw us to a ce like this?¡±

    ¡°Please refrain from making disparaging remarks against His Imperial Majesty in front of me. Think of my position, will you?¡±

    We were currently within the captain¡¯s quarters of the Independent Mobile Anti-Pirate Fleet gship Restalias, which can be described as pretty luxurious. Captain Serena responded to my remark with a smile on her lips as she held a teacup in one hand.

    For Imperial soldiers, the emperor was a respected monarch to whom they all swore allegiance, but for me, he was just an entric old guy who liked to throw me into harsh circumstances just for fun.

    ¡°I personally cannot hope to fathom His Imperial Majesty¡¯s exact intentions. However, I believe he didn¡¯t choose you simply due to your skills in exterminating pirates. You are probably a stone he cast upon theke to create waves. In other words, he¡¯s expecting you to be the catalyst for change in the current state of affairs.¡±

    ¡°State of affairs¡­¡­ State of affairs huh? In the first ce, I¡¯m not even clear about the entire situation right now. Anyway, this is a disputed conflict zone between the Gran Empire and the Vereverem Federation, and I¡¯m guessing enemymandos have disguised themselves as space pirates to disrupt the empire¡¯s supply lines. But the delinquent noble house who messed with House Dareinwald was sent here to get crushed, so¡­¡­¡±

    Suddenly, I had a really bad feeling about all this. What was the worst oue in this particr situation? When I ran with that train of thought, it felt like I could already guess what that damn old man was expecting from me.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°I hate to even imagine it, but I think His Imperial Majesty is actually expecting that troublesome noble house to raise amotion. The worst that can happen in this particr situation is House Ixamal defecting to the Federation, right?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that going a bit too far? Even if they are rotten, House Ixamal is still part of imperial nobility.¡±

    ¡°I might be preaching to the choir here when ites to you, but saying something is unlikely doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s impossible. That¡¯s a big taboo on the battlefield y¡¯know? Ignoring something just because it¡¯s supposedly unlikely, that is.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡­ true, but¡­¡­¡±

    Captain Serena turned speechless. In my opinion, I wouldn¡¯t think it strange for guys to defect to the enemy side if they were to be cornered and sent to the front lines as a punitive measure. However, other imperial nobles seemed to find such a thing unthinkable.

    ¡°Is it really that unthinkable for an imperial noble to betray the Empire and join the Federation?¡±

    I turned to Elma, who was sitting next to me and inquired.

    ¡°Well, if one defects to the Federation, they¡¯ll lose both their status as a noble and the territory under their rule. If you¡¯re an earl, you¡¯ll end up losing at least five star systems, right? The tax revenue one gets from their territories alone is already a huge amount, and there are many other benefits one gets from being a noble, so usually, one wouldn¡¯t even consider switching sides.¡±

    ¡°I see. Aside from pride, there are also practical benefits. But you see¡­¡­ since I¡¯m already involved in this, it probably won¡¯t turn out so well for us.¡±

    ¡°Why do you sound like you¡¯ve half-given up already? Do you not have the courage to ovee adversity?¡±

    Captain Serena gave me a reproachful look as she criticized me forcking guts. This person looked like a typical beauty who was more suited to a dress instead of a military uniform, but she was surprisingly more of a musclehead than I gave her credit for.

    ¡°Based on past experiences, trouble isn¡¯t something I can simply avoid even if I wanted to¡­¡­ I mean, if you braced yourself for trouble right from the start, then you can avoid panicking when something really does happen.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you being too much of a pessimist?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve simply learned my lesson. Well, I kinda get the political circumstances now. In any case, there aren¡¯t many things mercenaries like us can do when ites to that aspect, so please keep an eye on them instead. So, give me the info you got on those space pirates next¡­¡­ But they probably aren¡¯t real space pirates, right?¡±

    ¡°Other than the fact that their ships are extremely well-equipped, and their movements being systematic and rtively clever, there¡¯s no doubt that they truly are space pirates. We¡¯ve already captured several of them, and they are pirates through and through.¡±

    ¡°Huh? So, it¡¯s either they have sponsors backing them up, they were hired and are taking orders from someone else, or both.¡±

    ¡°More or less. As a professional on the matter, what¡¯s your opinion?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for any particrly special methods to deal with them. The best thing to do is to keep beating them up and make them think continuing their activities is not worth all the trouble. They are pirates after all. If things don¡¯t go their way, they won¡¯t hesitate to fall out with their sponsors to save themselves. If possible, it would be great if we could directly go for the enemymand unit that¡¯s ordering those pirates around.¡±

    As long as the enemy isn¡¯t an idiot, they were probably moving theirmand center around constantly. Perhaps they were using a ship just as big or even a bit bigger than the ck Lotus as their gship. A stealth-specialized mothership was highly effective in gueri warfare as a mobilemand post after all. It¡¯ll be quite hard to detect once it hides itself within an asteroid or debris field.

    ¡°So, the decapitation tactic is the most effective option¡­¡­ Whether or not we can pull it off highly depends on luck though.¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah¡­¡­ Or rather, the supply lines are being targeted, so hasn¡¯t the Imperial Space Force put up a defense or something yet? Even though we¡¯re so close to the front lines?¡±

    ¡°Aside from the immediate conflict zones, including the Creon star system, there hasn¡¯t been much security put up further back. Those pirates are active in the Xyram, Daomun, and Volks systems, which are further behind this system.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see. It¡¯s not the supply lines from here to the front lines that are being attacked. Instead, they are targeting the supplies being delivered to the supply bases¡­¡­ After all, the one in charge of delivering supplies from the supply bases to the front lines is the military, which isn¡¯t an easy mark.¡±

    It was naturally the Imperial Space Force¡¯s transport units that were in charge of carrying supplies from supply bases like the one in the Creon system to the front lines, and they were always guarded by well-armed escort ships. No matter how well-equipped those pirates were, I thought it was strange that they were attacking such transport units. I see. So, they were instead infesting the star systems closest to the conflict zone that were further behind.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case¡­¡­ then this will be quite troublesome.¡±

    ¡°Have you all understood the general picture now?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Uhuh.¡±

    ¡°I have.¡±

    The three of us responded to Captain Serena in unison. As for what exactly was troublesome about the situation, it¡¯s that we had no concrete idea regarding the activity range of the pirates. All the star systems located behind the Creon system, or rather, the imperial borders, had at least three or four hypene entrances. And because they were rtively close to the front lines, there were lots of armed ships piloted by mercenaries and the likeing and going from them. If those ships were newly purchasedbat ships, you wouldn¡¯t be able to visually determine if they were pirate ships. And if their equipment was top-notch even if they were rtively old, there¡¯s a possibility of them employing a device that would allow them to hide their bounty status.

    ¡°Can¡¯t we take control of the flow of weapons and funds?¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t set up a hypene stabilizer in a conflict zone after all.¡±

    ¡°Ah¨C¡­¡­ I see.¡±

    Hypenes, which were subspace pathways that connected star systems, were quite convenient. However, to travel through them more quickly and reliably, a certain degree of preparation, or rather, several arrangements were required. Just as waterborne ships could traverse more efficiently and safely through well-maintained waterways or canals rather thanrge, winding rivers that had unstable water flow speeds depending on the location, hypenes also needed hypene stabilizers and subspace beacons to be installed at certain points to ensure navigation efficiency.

    On the other hand, if stuff like that were to be installed, the coordinates where you could enter or warp out of the hypenes would be fixed in ce to some extent. In other words, it was possible to set up an ambush. This allowed for a huge advantage for the defending side in a conflict. Of course, these devices were only effective when they were installed on both sides of a hypene in question, so in conflict zones, they were the very first things the attacking side would nullify.

    If these devices were to stop functioning, the time it took to navigate a hypene would be longer, and the warp-out coordinates would end up at random spots over a fairly wide range. Because they were located outside star systems, the general directions were fixed to some extent, but the possible warp-out coordinate range was still quiterge. Even when using an FTL Drive, it¡¯d still take at least a few hours to scout the entire area out. This, on the other hand, was a considerable advantage for attackers, and it also made it easier for smugglers and space pirates toe and go from thenes. However, this would also pose problems to those trying to perform an infiltration.

    ¡°We conduct regr patrols to keep an eye on them, but we¡¯re simply unable to cover them all. They¡¯re also focusing on harassment tactics, so we often ended up toote when trying to deal with them¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°If we don¡¯t take any drastic measures, it looks like they¡¯re just gonna gradually bleed us out through these minor encounters¡­¡­ Well, it¡¯s not something we should worry about right now anyway. In the end, we just need to do our respective jobs. It¡¯s not like they specifically ordered us to fight on the front lines anyway, right, Captain?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. The main mission of our fleet is to subdue the pirates who are attacking our supply lines and disrupting our rear.¡±

    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s just do our best to perform our respective missions so we can bothe out of this smiling.¡±

    ¡°You sure seem confident. Do you have something in mind?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing special. As long as the opponent isn¡¯t acting randomly, there¡¯s still something we can employ.¡±

    To pave the way for that, we had to collect more info first. If my hunch was correct, it should be possible to grab the opponent by the tail.

 Chapter 433: Sorting Out the Situation and Presenting a Plan

    Chapter 433: Sorting Out the Situation and Presenting a n

    What was the problem we were facing in this current situation? I asked Captain Serena directly for the details. The fact that I was sent here through an edict directly given out by that damned emperor himself probably meant that he must have had other intentions apart from his amusement. It shouldn¡¯t have been given out on a whim. I¡¯d expect so anyway.

    So, I inquired with Captain Serena, and she told me that the mission was to restrict the activities of the so-called space pirates and, if possible, destroy thempletely. However, the star systems in which said pirates were operating had many spots where they could enter and exit freely. The Independent Mobile Anti-Pirate Fleet couldn¡¯t possibly cast a wide enough to corner the pirates on their own, and since they employed rtively slow battleships and cruisers as part of their fleet, they also had a pretty hard time pursuing the targets.

    I listened to ounts of their encounters so far, and there were several disappointing instances. For example, they rushed to the scene after picking up a distress signal, but by the time they arrived, everything was over. Then they discovered a suspicious fleet navigating at superluminal speed, but they were a lot faster than the Independent Mobile Anti-Pirate Fleet which had battleships and cruisers among their ranks. Hence, their attempted interdiction failed spectacrly.

    ¡°As expected, those battleships and cruisers of yours are holding you guys back.¡±

    ¡°If you keep saying mean things, I¡¯m going to cry, okay? Really. I¡¯m gonna bawl my eyes out, you hear me?¡±

    ¡°What kind of threat is that¡­¡­? C¡¯mon. It¡¯s not like those ships can¡¯t be put to good use. And so, I¡¯m gonna tell you about the strategy I came up with now.¡±

    ¡°Just to be clear, I am a naval captain serving in the Imperial Space Force, and my military knowledge and tactical acumen are more than adequate for that position. Also, I¡¯ve received an education befitting that of a qualified imperial officer, okay¡­¡­?¡±

    Captain Serena threw a scornful gaze my way. Her adjutant, standing by behind me, also looked at me with interest. Well, of course, she would. These women were military professionals and were intelligent enough to climb the ranks and serve as a captain and an adjutant. How could a mercenary who hadn¡¯t undergone systematic education from a military academy teach worthwhile tactics and strategies to them? Well, these were indeed valid doubts.

    ¡°That military knowledge and education are narrowing down your perspective and freedom of thought by emphasizing widely eptedmon sense and established standards. You need to think outside the box and don¡¯t make things unnecessarilyplicated.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s quite the im. Very well. Let¡¯s hear that strategy you came up with, shall we?¡±

    ¡°You got it. If you can¡¯t manage with a single fleet, then split your forces into several divisions. With that, you¡¯d be able to put up a and even artificially create a choke point, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I see? But that¡¯s¡­¡­ No, um¡­¡­?¡±

    After Captain Serena heard my words, she covered her mouth with her hand and started thinking. Her bio-enhanced brain must have already started operating at a super-high rate.

    To summarize. The fleet faced two problems: the activity range of the pirates being too wide and the stark difference in their speed. Therefore, they should divide their rtively slow battleships and cruisers into small groups and station them at hypene entrances. This would prevent the so-called pirates from escaping to another star system, as well as block suspicious fleets arriving from the other surrounding star systems. This move alone could greatly limit their activity range.

    Since activating a Hyperdrive took far more timepared to activating an FTL Drive, those so-called pirates would first warp out to an area within a star system near a hypene entrance before activating their Hyperdrives. And so, the battleships and cruisers could perform scans to identify those ships and destroy them before they could jump inside the hypene. Conversely, they could also force ships jumping out of a hypene entrance to undergo scans. If those ships ever refused and forcibly activated their FTL Drives, the battleships and cruisers were free to open fire with theirrge-caliberser cannons. No questions asked.

    There were very few small or medium-sized starships capable of surviving direct hits by the main guns of Imperial Space Force battleships and cruisers. Even my Krishna would be hard-pressed if an Imperial Space Force battleship or cruiser performed an ambush on it as it was exiting a hypene. There¡¯s just no way to escape from a main gun¡¯s volley in a situation where there¡¯s no cover to speak of and quickly closing the distance wasn¡¯t an option.

    If we took a volley head-on, at the very least, our shield would be taken down in one hit, and once it goes downpletely, we wouldn¡¯t be able to activate our FTL Drive either. If we collided with debris while navigating at superluminal speed without an energy shield up, we¡¯d definitely take fatal damage. That¡¯s why it was virtually impossible to activate the FTL Drive without the safety provided by an energy shield.

    ¡°Um, dividing a fleet¡¯s forces is expressly forbidden by the Imperial Space Force¡¯sbat doctrine though¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°That damn doctrine of yours is useless against space pirates. So, just ignore itpletely. And besides, isn¡¯t that so-calledbat doctrine of yours designed specifically to go up against other nations¡¯ professional space forces such as those of the Vereverem Federations¡¯? Also, based on military operation standards, the enemies we¡¯re currently up against can be adequately dealt with by a minimum of a single frigate and two corvettes.¡±

    Ms. Adjutant tried to object, but I quickly shot her down. Us mercenaries usually ssifiedbat ships into small, medium,rge, and mother ships. However, ording to military operation standards, all medium-sized ships and smaller were ssified as corvettes, andrge ships and mother ships were ssified as either frigates or destroyers. Both were considered to only have reached the bare minimum size or merely one sizerger than the minimum to qualify for those ssifications by military standards. Some of the smaller ships were even considered to be carrier-based fighters rather than actual military starships.

    Well, enough about that topic. It wasn¡¯t all that important anyway. The more pressing issue right now was that even someone like Captain Serena was so constrained by this so-called militarybat doctrine that she failed to devise the idea of dividing her forces on her own.

    Well, I could understand to some extent. In this world, military battles were all about pitting the greatest number of ships with sturdy energy shields, thick armor, and powerful cannons against one another.

    Laser cannons had a particrly long effective range in outer space, and their uracy was almost one hundred percent. Unless there was an overwhelming difference in the destructive power of the weapons or the performance of the shields and armor, the side with greater numbers usually won the day. In that case, it was only natural that dividing one¡¯s forces would be treated as something to avoid in terms of imperial fleet operations andbat doctrine. After all, ording to the norms, the one with fewer forces would most likely lose.

    ¡°It¡¯s a little terrifying to divide our forces in an area so close to the front lines, but I do understand your point. It¡¯s definitely doable, and might even prove to be quite effective. The final step is to send the rest of our ships that are smaller than destroyers to scour the star system and gradually tighten the until we finally corner the enemies, correct?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. As long as we keep hunting them down, we¡¯ll probably get our hands on some critical information at some point, and once that happens, we can finally go for the one inmand.¡±

    As long as we kept collecting and analyzing data storage devices from the destroyed ships of those so-called space pirates, or capturing and interrogating the pirates themselves, we¡¯d eventually discover where the folksmanding them were hiding. Once we crush them, the disturbance in the rear would finally be put to an end. Well, some more troublesome stuff might pop up afterward though.

    ¡°Now, the only thing left to do is choose a suitable location to set up the. After all, without prey present, the¡¯s practically useless. Take note of all the sectors you¡¯ve encountered the pirates so far, as well as all sectors where losses have urred, and ones where merchant ships have been reported missing¡­¡­ Well, information analysis is more your specialty anyway.¡±

    ¡°Right. Once that¡¯s done, it¡¯ll be your turn to do some work.¡±

    ¡°And we¡¯ll dly ept. We¡¯re quite used to going after guys like those.¡±

    However, the weapons and equipment of the pirates were apparently top-notch this time around, so I couldn¡¯t let my guard down. Well, as long as Elma¡¯s Antlion was present, we could probably dy the enemies without much trouble until the slower ck Lotus and Captain Serena¡¯s Independent Mobile Anti-Pirate Fleet could arrive at the scene. I better call Elma and Mei to a meeting to discuss this once we get back to the ship.

    After concluding our first meeting with Captain Serena, we returned to the ck Lotus. I immediately gathered all the crew members and shared the details of the meeting with them.

    ¡°I see. In other words, what we have to do is the same as usual.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. But their weapons and equipment are apparently somewhat top-of-the-line, so we need to be careful. However, what we¡¯ll be doing in the end is the same as usual, yeah. You two are gonna be quite busy though.¡±

    ¡°That would be the case if their equipment truly is better than usual. I¡¯ll do my best.¡±

    Wiska clenched her fists tightly in front of her chest in a show of enthusiasm. The extent of our profits wouldrgely be up to the two sisters, so do your best, guys.

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ I¡¯m just curious. Why doesn¡¯t the Imperial Space Force have any effective tactics to deal with the incursion of smaller enemy forces?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because no space empire will actually choose to regrly employ these kinds of pirate tactics because they arergely ineffective. This rear disturbance tactic will only cause a slight dy in the supply chain of luxury goods from civilian providers, and it wouldn¡¯t be enough to actually do significant damage to the logistics of the Imperial Space Force itself. It¡¯s basically impossible to prate the front lines with a force only capable of doing that much after all. At best, they can only perform small-scale harassment attacks.¡±

    In fact, only civilian ships transporting generally ptable foodstuffs to the front lines have suffered losses, while the Imperial Space Force¡¯s heavy transport fleets responsible for delivering weapons, ammunition, rations, and other misceneous supplies vital for maintaining the front lines, haven¡¯t suffered any attacks at all. The Vereverem Federation was probably paying top Enel to fund this operation but to think the only result to show for it was a slight decrease in luxury goods reaching the front lines, which simply served to irritate the soldiers a little.

    ¡°Then why did the Vereverem Federation even decide to implement such a tactic in the first ce?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re the only ones who know the answer to that, I suppose¡­¡­ I believe Captain Serena¡¯s true mission is to investigate this matter and find out the other party¡¯s true aims in addition to putting an end to the pirate problem once and for all. In fact, the stated mission of Captain Serena and the Independent Mobile Anti-Pirate Fleet is to subjugate these so-called pirates making a mess at the rear, and they seem to have nothing to do with the skirmishes urring between the Empire and the Federation on the front lines. Or rather, they aren¡¯t even considered part of the main force.¡±

    There¡¯s no doubt about this because I heard it directly from Captain Serena¡¯s mouth as she ranted during our brief chat after the meeting. When they reached the front lines, the only mission they were given was to deal with some stupid pirates conducting harassment tactics at the rear, and when they greeted theirrades who were fighting on the front lines, they said stuff like Captain Serena¡¯s fleet only being good for publicity stunts and whatnot. That¡¯s probably the reason for the good captain¡¯s stormy mood.

    ¡°Honestly, I still have no idea if this matter is connected to the suspicious stuff regarding House Ixamal. I still suspect that House Ixamal will stage a betrayal, but both Elma and Captain Serena said it¡¯s highly unlikely.¡±

    ¡°Of course, it is. No matter how cornered and in decline they are, there are practically no benefits to gain for House Ixamal if they betray the empire.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what she said. Well, we do have some unpleasant history with them, so they may harass us in some way. However, Captain Serena permitted me to mention her name if that does happen.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re mercenaries, but we¡¯ll be under Captain Serena¡¯smand for a while from here on out. In other words, we technically have a higher standing. So, if members of House Ixamal try to pick a fight with us, that will also mean they are picking a fight with Captain Serena. That¡¯s why I don¡¯t think there¡¯s that high a chance of them doing anything to us.¡±

    Elma was really reliable when it came to knowledge regarding nobility and how to deal with them. Well, she was also pretty reliable in other areas as well.

    ¡°My Lord, will we also capture space pirates this time around?¡±

    ¡°Oh, well, if some manage to survivebat, then it wouldn¡¯t hurt to go and capture them. The more sources of information we have, the better. Why do you ask?¡±

    ¡°Well, if you are going to conduct an interrogation, I believe I might be able to help you. I might need to get a bit rough, but I will be able to quickly extract the information you want to obtain the most from them.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see¡­¡­ I¡¯ll leave it to you then.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Kugi¡¯s fox ears pricked up excitedly as she responded with enthusiasm. Making use of Kugi¡¯s psionic abilities to conduct interrogation would indeed be much quicker and more efficientpared to using torture, truth serum, or a machine to directly extract the contents of a prisoner¡¯s brain.

    I was also often subjected to that technique of hers to build up a mental barrier that would allow me to shield myself from those sorts of mental attacks¡­¡­ Thanks to that, I was forced to confess various embarrassing stuff, and the other crew members found it hrious. I¡¯m definitely gonna do the same to them once I master that technique as well. Ora! Hypnosis, activate! Or something like that.

    However, it was apparently a rather advanced technique, and I didn¡¯t know if I¡¯d ever get to actually master it. It seemed that my psionic abilities were particrly predisposed to techniques exerting tangible power such as space-time maniption and telekinesis, and even though I also did have a talent for mental maniption just like Kugi, it was apparently not as strong as the former two.

    Well, it¡¯s not like I had abilities that I could fully use right now though! The fact that time slows down whenever I held my breath wasn¡¯t something I was in full control of, and my propensity to attract troublesome fate was apparently something I was doing unconsciously. I¡¯m able to put up a mental barrier as long as I concentrate, and I was also able to use just a bit of telekinesis as well. Apparently, if one truly mastered telekinesis, one could easily blow away soldiers wearing power armor, tear them apart, orpress them into the size of a fist without even touching them. Just what kind of monster was that? I mean really.

    ¡°For the time being, we¡¯ll stay on standby until Captain Serena finishes her preparations. It seems that it will take some time to organize and analyze the avable information.¡±

    Everyone expressed their understanding after I stated my conclusion. Mei, who was standing behind me the entire time, didn¡¯t say anything in particr throughout the meeting. But the fact that she kept silent probably meant that she didn¡¯t have any particr criticisms or suggestions.

    If that¡¯s the case, then that¡¯s fine. Now then, I suppose we should go and reenergize ourselves in preparation for the sortie.

 Chapter 434: Hunting Hounds Have No Time to Rest

    Chapter 434: Hunting Hounds Have No Time to Rest

    ¡°That¡¯s strange¡­¡­ I nned to rx for a while until the Independent Mobile Anti-Pirate Fleet was ready to deploy.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡­ It¡¯s can¡¯t be helped since it¡¯s an order from our client.¡±

    ¡°Let us do our best, My Lord. I will also help you as best I can.¡±

    It was now about half a day since our meeting with Captain Serena. We were currently out on a patrol mission within the Volks star system, which was quite close to the Creon star system. Or rather, we were actually on a pirate hunt.

    In other words, we were navigating around the star system using our FTL Drives while organized into a crane-wing formation (though it was more like a V-shape instead of a crane¡¯s wings due to there only being three ships), with the ck Lotus at the center.

    ¡ºThe Restalias and the rest of our fleet cannot make a move unless we reorganize first, but you guys do not have that problem, correct?

    There¡¯s a star system we n to take up camp in, so please head there first and clean the ce up.¡»

    These were the contents of Captain Serena¡¯s message. Was that person a demon or something?

    ¡ºThe military¡¯s budget isn¡¯t unlimited. You are first-ss mercenaries who are being paid a huge amount of money on an hourly basis, so please work ordingly.¡»

    When the client, Captain Serena, told us that, we couldn¡¯t say anything back, so we obediently obeyed her orders. The contract was set the moment we reached the Creon star system and finished meeting with Captain Serena.

    The remuneration that the Imperial Space Force offered this time around was 10 million Enels as basic pay for 30 days of service. They would then pay us 300,000 Enels per day if the service goes beyond those 30 days. In addition, they would cover all ammunition and supply costs. We were free to capture and salvage downed ships, and we¡¯d also get rewarded per ship kill.

    In other words, it would be such a waste for us to be left idle while waiting for the fleet to reorganize. It¡¯s not like we were told to go wild on the front lines while they were reorganizing, so there was no reason to refuse the order.

    ¡°And here I thought we¡¯d be able to earn easy money whilezing around as the fleet gets reorganized.¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­¡­ My Lord, it probably isn¡¯t, but that¡¯s not really the reason why you proposed dividing the fleet¡¯s forces to Captain Serena¡­¡­ right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d be lying if I said I didn¡¯t think of that at all, but what I proposed is definitely an effective tactic. You can liken the entire Anti-Pirate Fleet moving around as one to chase after the pirates to using arge tuna knife to cut up small fish.¡±

    ¡°I see. So, that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    Kugi responded in a relieved tone. Good grief. This naughty girl really suspected me of leading Captain Serena on for personal interest. I¡¯m gonna fluff her tails a lotter.

    ¡°But we can¡¯t seem to find any. Space pirates, I mean.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped since it¡¯s our first time in this star system and weck information. Maybe we should head to the Volks Secundus colony at least once¨C Huh?¡±

    Suddenly, Krishna¡¯s subspace sensor picked up some sort of response. The details were unclear, but the ck Lotus should be able to get a clearer picture using its more powerful sensor.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, it appears to be a distress signal. Mei-san confirmed it.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Then give Mei the go-ahead to charge, and tell Elma to monitor the situation and be ready to activate the Gravity Jammers at a moment¡¯s notice. Kugi, battle preparations.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Remember guys. They apparently have good equipment on them. Keep your guard up.¡±

    The ck Lotus, which the two other ships¡¯ FTL Drives were synchronized with, slowly turned and changed course toward the source of the distress signal. Good, good. Now then, let¡¯s see exactly how well-equipped these so-called space pirates were.

    Boom! The moment we warped out, it appeared that the battle on the other side was just moments from being decided. Of the escort ships guarding the transport ship being attacked, only two were barely able to move. On the attacker¡¯s side, a total of nine ships, including two medium-ss ships, were still active. The remains of at least five ships were scattered around the immediate area.

    ¡ºReinforcements!? Please lend us a hand!¡»

    ¡ºHah! Looks like they¡¯vee to the wrong party. There¡¯s additional prey with just two escort ships. Get them, you bastards!¡»

    The two escort ships that saw us warp up immediately called out for assistance, and the nine other ships announced their intention to attack us. Mm. The attackers mistook the ck Lotus for an ordinary transport ship. Well, that¡¯s exactly the reason why we hid her weapons using concealed armor in the first ce.

    ¡°This is Captain Hiro from the Mercenary Guild. I will be conducting rescue operations now.¡±

    ¡ºPlease do! Oi, send them the IFF codes! Hurry!¡»

    The escort ships hurriedly sent their IFF codes so we could properly differentiate friend from foe. I received them and observed the four assault ships heading our way. Two medium-ss and two small-ss. Well, since we sported one small-ss and one medium-ss on our end, it was reasonable to attack us with twice the number.

    ¡°I see. They really are well-equipped.¡±

    ¡°They aren¡¯t like your typical space pirates for sure.¡±

    I gradually opened the throttle and elerated slowly, visually checked the enemy ship¡¯s equipment, and briefly looked over the results of Mimi¡¯s scan. Their hulls were a bit old and worn out, but their frames were of properbat ships. As far as I could see, their onboard equipment was also decent. At the very least, they weren¡¯t simple peashooters, but proper weapons that wouldn¡¯t be out of ce on a novice merc¡¯s ship. Like their hulls, their armor was also in good shape despite being a bit worn out. Even their shields appeared to be of decent quality.

    ¡°These guys wouldn¡¯t be a problem for us, but they¡¯d be rough opponents for rookies who are just starting out. I see. Now then, they¡¯re already in range. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Just before the enemy ships got us in range of their weapons, I opened the throttle fully and used the thrusters to instantly close the gap.

    ¡ºWhoah!? This guy¡¯s fast!?¡»

    ¡ºFire, fire!¡»

    The assault ships hurriedly fired theirsers and multi-cannons, but they weren¡¯t good at concentrating their firepower. I was able to close in on one enemy medium-ss ship before they were able to deal any significant damage to Krishna¡¯s shield.

    ¡°One down.¡±

    I turned off the flight assist as I made a pass and aimed for the ship¡¯s cockpit. I fired the tworge-caliber shot-cannons and silenced the first medium-ss ship. No matter how good your energy shield was, shot-cannons could prate it easily at point-nk range. st the cockpit and everything¡¯s over.

    ¡°That¡¯s two.¡±

    With the flight assist still turned off and the ship moving by sheer momentum, I used the attitude control thrusters to instantly turn the ship around, then fired a salvo from the four heavy-caliberser cannons at one of the small-ss ships that was frantically trying to turn toward me, shooting it down. While doing so, I turned the flight assist on and fired the main thrusters to close the gap with the enemy again. Relentless and continuous attacks were the basis ofbat.

    ¡ºYou sure have the guts to point your rear toward me.¡»

    ¡ºAaaaaa¡ª!? S-Stop! I¡¯m burning!?¡»

    The other small-ss ship was burned down by the Antlion¡¯s powerfulser beam emitter that targeted its defenseless rear, resulting in it exploding. As for the remaining medium-ss ship¨C

    ¡ºWhat!? It¡¯s not a transport ship¨C!¡»

    The firepower of the ck Lotus¡¯s twelve military-gradeser cannons that disengaged their concealed armor was no joke. They tore apart a decently-sized medium-ss ship with an equally decent shield and armor like tissue paper. The poor thing was instantly destroyed in an explosion.

    ¡ºOi! The guys who went for the neers were done in!?¡»

    ¡ºDammit! Did we pull a losing hand!? Leave them and run away!¡»

    ¡ºThe activation of the FTL Drive has been canceled!? An error!?¡»

    ¡ºWhere the heck is that massive supposed to be!? Move! Move, you piece of junk!¡»

    It seemed that the remaining five small-ss assault ships that were attacking the two surviving escort ships and two transport ships tried to make a run for it. However, Elma seemed to have activated her Gravity Jammers, and their FTL Drives all failed to start. Nice, nice. Things are going great.

    ¡°Let¡¯s take care of the remaining ones.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    We effortlessly mopped up the remaining enemy ships that failed to escape. They were showing their rears while soaring unsteadily as they attempted to run, so taking care of them was akin to shooting defenseless ducks.

    ¡ºThank you so much. We owe you guys our lives.¡»

    ¡°We¡¯re being paid to do this, so don¡¯t worry about it. Take care.¡±

    We moved location and went to the Volks Secundus colony. After rescuing the escort and merchant ships, we salvaged what we could from the wrecks of the assault ships scattered around the battlefield. We then towed away the medium-ss ship with a destroyed cockpit and went together with the merchant ships to Volks Secundus.

    As soon as we arrived, we received a transmission from the captain of one of the escort ships who thanked us for our help. He was also a merc affiliated with the Mercenary Guild, and he was apparently escorting the merchant ship pair as part of a request. Apparently, it was impossible to continue the escort request with just two ships, so they decided to stop by the Volks Secundus colony for repairs and to replenish their ranks.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have any particr need for resupplying, but¡­¡­ should we ask for further orders?¡±

    We had better report the situation to our client, Captain Serena, first. We encountered some of the space pirates with high-quality equipment just like what was described in the meeting, and we were able to defeat them, then captured a rtively intact medium-ss ship apart from the cockpit and data storage. Perhaps they¡¯d be able to glean some useful info from it.

    Oh, by the way, we sent somebat bots into the medium-ss ship in order to secure it. It seemed that there were no survivors. However, the supplies and personal belongings of the pirates remained intact inside the ship. Perhaps the information obtained from those things would reveal the origin of those guys and their ships, so we couldn¡¯t just ignore them. There might be portable info terminals and tablets that contain crucial info among the articles.

    Also, the mechanic sisters were already hard at work sorting out and restoring the salvaged materials, equipment, and ship scraps. I chuckled when I saw that they even employed the help of thebat bots.

    In any case, let¡¯s get in touch with Captain Serena first. As a cored hound, I needed to report back to my current master so I could be praised for doing a good job.

 Chapter 435: Mercenary Guild â€“ Volks Star System Branch

    Chapter 435: Mercenary Guild ¨C Volks Star System Branch

    ¡ºThere¡¯s a saying that if a dog wanders about, it might get hit with a stick, but¡­¡­¡»

    ¡°Woof.¡±

    I let out a bark as I faced the stunned Captain Serena on the holo-screen.

    ¡ºOriginally, that saying warns one not to take unnecessary actions in order to avoid misfortune, but¡­¡­ Well, I was the one who ordered you to move out in the fist ce, I suppose. In any case, you sure do tend to attract trouble.¡»

    ¡°Well, regarding my unusual propensity to encounter trouble, just picture it like this ¨C Instead of the dog getting hit with a stick by chance when it¡¯s walking about, the dog actually exerts some sort of mysterious force that causes other stuff apart from the stick toe flying towards it. It¡¯s not something to brag about though.¡±

    ¡ºThat truly isn¡¯t something you can be proud of. For now, please put off restoring the ship you captured and leave it anchored at Volks Secundus. We¡¯ll investigate the interior as soon as we join up with you.¡»

    ¡°Roger that. I¡¯llpile the data storage devices we managed to collect before handing them over to you. Oh, I can also have Mei analyze them directly. How about it?¡±

    ¡ºThere¡¯s no problem with handing them over, but if you can proceed with the analysis yourselves, then it would be a big help.¡»

    ¡°Aye aye, ma¡¯am. I¡¯ll do as you instructed.¡±

    ¡ºPlease do. We¡¯ll finish reorganizing as soon as possible and head over there. Well then, transmission over.¡»

    I returned a salute to the saluting Captain Serena on the other side of the line, and the transmission was cut.

    ¡°You heard all that, right? Sorry, but please inform Tina and Wiska of Captain Serena¡¯s instructions.¡±

    ¡°Understood! I¡¯ll contact Mei-san as well.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, thanks. I think I¡¯ll go with Elma¡­¡­ Right, youe with us as well, Kugi. We¡¯ll pay a visit to the local Mercenary Guild branch.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord. I shall be d to apany you.¡±

    Dr. Shouko was probably holed up inside theb again conducting her beloved research, but I gave her a call just in case. She¡¯d probably think there¡¯d be nothing that¡¯ll satisfy her intellectual curiosity at the Mercenary Guild, but I better give her a call anyway.

    ¡°So this is the Mercenary Guild! Wow, it¡¯s like I¡¯m in an amusement park. How exciting!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Sorry.¡±

    After seeing Dr. Shouko behave like an excited child the moment we entered the Mercenary Guild building, Elma gave me a reproachful gaze. Uh, I didn¡¯t think Dr. Shouko would get this excited¡­¡­ There just are some stuff even I can¡¯t anticipate, okay?

    ¡°Ahem. Dr. Shouko?¡±

    ¡°Nn? Ah, my apologies. Researchers like me don¡¯t get many chances toe to the Mercenary Guild. I did have some interactions with the Security Department and Foreign Businesses Department though. I mean, one of the biggest reasons why I agreed to board your ship was my admiration for the mercenary lifestyle, remember? Until recently, I¡¯ve only ever seen it through holo-movies and novels, okay? And now, I¡¯m finally here in person! You understand where I¡¯ming from, right?¡±

    ¡°You sure are talkative today¡­¡­ Okay, I get it. I get it already, so please don¡¯t overdo it.¡±

    ¡°Mmhm. I understand.¡±

    Dr. Shouko responded and disyed an innocent-looking smile. The expression was quite rare for her, who usually had a cheeky grin on her face. Be that as it may, I do hope she tones down the excitement a bit. Right now, so-called space pirates with unusually high-performance weapons and equipment have been running rampant within this star system. Due to that, her lighthearted attitude might seem provocative to some.

    ¡°Tsk. What¡¯s with that woman¡­¡­? Acting all carefree.¡±

    ¡°They should be new faces. Those pretty girls will probably end up as ythings of those damned space pirates before though. What a waste.¡±

    The was a lounge-like area near the entrance, which was a fair distance from the office counters.

    Whether or not such a space was set up depended on the Guild branch in question, and this particr branch apparently chose to implement it. But, as expected, it doesn¡¯t have a bar counter attached to it like those adventurer¡¯s guilds that appeared in fantasy novels. Piloting abat ship while drunk was absolutely not allowed after all.

    Anyway, the mercenaries who were hanging around that area were saying some rude stuff regarding us.

    ¡°Hiro-kun, what are those guys¨C¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s keep our mouth shut, shall we? Hello guys. Just passing through.¡±

    I sensed that Dr. Shouko was about to blurt out something bad, so I decided to cover her mouth with my hand, secured her firmly, and slowly pulled her toward the reception counter. Let¡¯s not get into trouble now, okay?

    ¡°You¡¯re getting pretty used to it, aren¡¯t you? Dealing with trouble, I mean.¡±

    ¡°I sure wish I shouldn¡¯t have had to though¡­¡­ Anyway, I¡¯m not sure what you were trying to say back there Doc, but due to those pirates equipped with unusually powerful weapons running rampant, those guys back there who arezing around without doing any work probably got beaten up so bad that their ships are in bad need of repairs. Either that or there were too many casualties among their ranks, and they can¡¯t continue working without filling the vacancies. Or perhaps they are simply just waiting around until the storm passes. They probably also have a lot of pent-up frustration and resentment. One wrong word, and they¡¯ll likely snap. That¡¯s gonna be more trouble than it¡¯s worth.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see. I was only gonna ask why they are grumbling around here like that even though they appear to be mercenaries.¡±

    ¡°Are you a genius at provoking others, Doc?¡±

    Those guys were already feeling a lot of resentment, and then three unfamiliar beauties suddenly appeared, and one of them suddenly asked why they were only sitting around without doing any work. Once that happens, an outburst is inevitable. It¡¯s practically Muka chakka fire (outdated millennial humor).

    ¡°Guess your judgment was correct¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but please, you two? I¡¯m also gonna do my best, but please?¡±

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon, Hiro-kun. I¡¯m not a child, so I can also read the room and be considerate.¡±

    When Dr. Shouko saw Elma breaking in cold sweat and me seriously begging the smiling Kugi with her tails swaying behind her for help, she puffed her cheeks and got mad. No, I mean, didn¡¯t you almost cause a mess earlier? That kind of reaction was only suited for folks who don¡¯t show any signs of making trouble in the first ce.

    And so, we were able to sessfully smash the event g where we¡¯d provoke disgruntled fellow mercenaries who were down in the dumps. We headed to the counter where a Guild staff member who seemed to have a lot of free time on her hands was stationed.

    ¡°Ara, such lovelypany. Wee to the Volks star system branch of the Mercenary Guild. This¡­¡­ isn¡¯t about a request, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    The Guild staff oneesan who greeted us at the counter tilted her head to the side as she inquired. At first, the fact that I came to the Mercenary Guild with swords strapped to my waist and under thepany of several beautiful women must have given her an impression that I was some sort of noble young master¡­¡­ However, one of the women apanying me appeared to be a mercenary, and upon closer inspection, I wasn¡¯t just equipped with swords, but also aser gun. ¡®In that case, is he actually a mercenary?¡¯ was probably what she thought inwardly.

    ¡°It¡¯s not about a request. I just wanted to pay a visit and gather some information. I¡¯m supposed to clean this ce up by order of the higher-ups.¡±

    ¡°The higher-ups? The Mercenary Guild didn¡¯t receive any word about¡­¡­ Hold on. Come to think of it, the recent movements of the military are¨C¡±

    The Guild staff member repeatedly tapped the counter with her fingertip, and she was about to blurt out something she probably shouldn¡¯t before raising her finger and putting it before her lips. It¡¯s a bit interesting that little gestures like these were so simr to the ones on Earth, even though this was apletely different dimension.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s how it is. I want info on the coordinates of the recorded attacks that urred within this star system and the surrounding systems along with the data about the estimated routes of the merchant ships that have gone missing.¡±

    ¡°I understand the situation, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s alright to simply hand over that data so easily¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°The request rted to this matter already went through the Guild officially. If you look up my ID, you¡¯ll get info about the request I¡¯m currently working on, right? As you know, this situation isn¡¯t exactly a regr one. That¡¯s why I want to handle things carefully.¡±

    ¡°This is¡­¡­? ¨C!? H-Hold on, please. I will call my superior, so please give us a little more time.¡±

    After confirming my ID, the Guild staff oneesan retreated behind the counter in panic. It seemed that I was bing pretty well-known already. Apparently, there weren¡¯t that many tinum rankers out there, so it¡¯s no wonder she was so rattled.

    ¡°My Lord, did we need toe all the way to this ce? Isn¡¯t it possible to obtain the relevant data remotely?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s always a risk of thework getting hacked and monitored. Space pirates are good at that kind of stuff, and considering the importance of this matter, there¡¯s a high chance of information getting leaked. More old-school analog methods of data exchange are safer.¡±

    ¡°But you know, it¡¯s kinda improbable for other parties to intercept info from within the Mercenary Guild.¡±

    ¡°Really? The staff are just regr people, so isn¡¯t it possible for some to sumb to temptation?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that applies to Mercenary Guild employees in particr. They say the moment a staff membermits a breach of trust, they¡¯ll be hunted down to the ends of the known universe.¡±

    ¡°How scary.¡±

    I¡¯m not sure about how exactly Imperial Law treated the issue, but I do sometimes see dead or alive bounties offered for Guild employees who¡¯vemitted acts of betrayal. They were often quite hefty sums, even for someone like me. Naturally, the mercenaries drawn to such bounties chased after those former Guild employees in a dogged manner. The employees were often just ordinary civilians, so it was pretty hard for them to sessfully escape.

    ¡°That¡¯s why there¡¯s no need to be wary of betrayal by Guild staff. Oh, it looks like she¡¯s back.¡±

    The Guild staff oneesan from earlier came back with another woman who seemed to be her manager. Now then, I wonder what we¡¯ll get to learn from them.

 Chapter 436: Data Analysis and Interesting Fellows

    Chapter 436: Data Analysis and Interesting Fellows

    ¡°Usually, we do not perform direct data exchanges, however¨C¡±

    ¡°However?¡±

    When the Guild staff oneesan heard the words of her equally oneesan-type superior, she sighed lightly and ced a small data chip on the counter. It was a data storage mediumpatible with portable info terminals.

    ¡°It¡¯s another story if a tinum ranker like you is the one requesting it. Please take it. However, it¡¯s mostly raw data and data in the middle of being analyzed. These will prove difficult to be useful in their current state you know?¡±

    ¡°We can go and analyze them on our end, so it¡¯s fine. Our operator is pretty skilled.¡±

    While responding, I inserted the data chip into my portable data terminal and gave the contents a quick scan.

    Mimi, who had be a fully-fledged operator, had also acquired enough skills to analyze this sort of information to identify the areas the pirates are active in, as well as the location of theirir. In case it was needed, I could also have Mei help out. We should be able to manage. Well, I¡¯m also rtively good at analyzing, or rather, picking things up from this particr kind of data though.

    ¡°Mmhmm¡­¡­ I see? From the looks of it, theirir seems to be located in the Xyram system that¡¯s right next to this one.¡±

    After stating my findings that resulted from giving the data a quick look, the Guild staff oneesan and her oneesan manager¡¯s eyes widened as they directed surprised looks at me. What¡¯s up with those reactions? I¡¯d flinch if you kept staring at me like that, okay?

    ¡°Are you particrly skilled at data analysis, Captain Hiro?¡±

    ¡°Uh, no. I mean data analysis isn¡¯t really that particrly difficult, I think. You can chalk it up to my experience and intuition, I suppose. Look. Raids urred here, here, and here. And some merchant ships that were taking this route went missing, right? Then, these raids were unsessful due to the arrival of the star system forces. Those failed raids happened at the same time the merchant ships went missing, so they were most likely diversions. They lured the star system forces there while another team went after the real targets. The star system forces were originally set to guard the hypene entrance into the Xyram system around this time. However, due to the raids, their posting was significantly dyed. There was a simr raid that happened on the other side of the hypene entrance, and it also resulted in the deployment of the star system forces over there. And so, for a small window of time, the security level on both sides of that particr hypene entrance was weakened. However, there were no merchant ships that ended up going missing on the Xyram system¡¯s side. Therefore, it¡¯s clear that there¡¯s a connection between this series of attempted raids and the merchant ships going missing. Also, the real raid was perpetrated in the Volks system, so there¡¯s a hint that these guys who were skilled enough to pull that off had actually escaped into the Xyram system after the fact.¡±

    I projected a small holo-screen from the terminal and exined the pirates¡¯ movements.

    ¡°Simr incidents of decoy raids and merchant ships going missing urred a couple more times. Here¡¯s one, that¡¯s the second, and that¡¯s the third. In other words, they¡¯ve already established an effective system and have been repeatedly carrying it out. So, what we can tell from this is that the pirates are at least familiar with the patrol routes and schedules of the Volks and Xyram star system forces and that they have a method of determining the position of merchant ships taking this particr route. I¡¯m not sure if the information is being leaked by an insider, or if they are somehow intercepting that information through some means, but there¡¯s no doubt that info has beenpromised. Well, the method doesn¡¯t really matter much. It¡¯s not something we need to be fixated on. What¡¯s crucial is that we can use this knowledge to our advantage in order to strike back at them.¡±

    After concluding my exnation, I turned back toward the two Guild staff members and saw that both of them were staring at me with their mouths half-open while sporting nk expressions. Oi. I thought you guys were interested, so I went out of my way to exin it all to you, but were you guys actually listening properly? Or rather, ain¡¯t it unbing for two youngdies to freeze together with half-open mouths? You guys are both quite pretty, so don¡¯t waste your looks.

    ¡°Wow, that sure was impressive. Could you possibly have the talent to be a scientific researcher like me, Hiro-kun?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no way. I¡¯m not that good at using my noggin y¡¯know. Those were just conclusions I came up with as a man of the trade based on a simple rule of thumb. I don¡¯t have any scientific, statistical, or numerical basis for my conjectures at all. I¡¯m probably right on the money though.¡±

    ¡°Hiro does sometimes disy some weird and unexpected talents.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that weird though???¡±

    As I retorted to Dr. Shouko and Elma¡¯s quips, the manager oneesan raised her hand and began speaking.

    ¡°Um, excuse me. Can I ask you to repeat your analysis one more time? Or rather, would you mind if I recorded it for future reference?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­? I don¡¯t want to spend too much time here though.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but draw back when I faced the somewhat overwhelming passion of the manager oneesan. Please spare me from anything troublesome.

    ¡°Just for a bit. Just a little bit, okay? I mean, we did provide you with the data you wanted, so think of it as giving us something in return. Please.¡±

    ¡°It may be true that having the Mercenary Guild provide all this data is a little out of the ordinary, but it¡¯s still within the scope of the Mercenary Guild¡¯s services, right? Don¡¯t you think asking for something in return for that is a bit brazen¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Thoughcking, I am willing to spend a night with you. I will also include this girl as an extra.¡±

    ¡°An extra!? And what about my opinion!?¡±

    ¡°Uh, well, you guys are both really pretty, so I would be lying if I said I¡¯m not tempted at all, but I already have my hands full as it is, so no thank you.¡±

    ¡°And I was even rejected!? Um, senpai, it kinda feels like my pride has been trampled on despite my wishes though!?¡±

    The Guild staff oneesan, whose chastity was offered as a mere extra benefit by her manager, was appalled and indignant. This person sure was interesting.

    ¡°Uh, offering to spend a night with a client is no good, isn¡¯t it? It¡¯s a breach of professional ethics.¡±

    ¡°Senpai, a guy who has three prettydies apanying him is actually lecturing us about professional ethics. But even so, I¡¯m also of the same opinion, senpai.¡±

    ¡°I do admit that I tried to resort to rather hical means, professionally speaking. But to think that a guy who has three women waiting on him would actually say something so reasonable. I can¡¯t believe it.¡±

    ¡°Err, by the way, there are three¡­¡­ no, four more women onboard his ship.¡±

    ¡°And why is a person like you acting like you have the moral high ground? Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s strange?¡±

    Dammit. Don¡¯t say unnecessary things, Doc. But it¡¯s great that you consider Mei as a proper person. Also, don¡¯t just blurt out stuff like that with a straight face, manager oneesan. If that¡¯s how you¡¯re gonna y, then I have some ideas of my own.

    ¡°Alright. You wanna pick a fight? Challenge epted.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, please forgive me, I don¡¯t know what came over me so please let me off.¡±

    When I shook my fist in front of her while sporting a smile, the manager oneesan quickly apologized profusely. Well, I wasn¡¯t really gonna hit her for real though.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I was really all that angry¡­¡­ But why are you acting so desperate anyway?¡±

    ¡°To put it bluntly, it¡¯s because the analysis you gave earlier was so innovative and unlike anything I¡¯ve heard before. Methods to predict potential raid sites based on trends from previous raids do exist, but their uracy remainscking. However, if we can establish the feasibility and standardize the analysis method you just presented, it might herald an important step in the efforts to reduce damages incurred from future pirate raids.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­? Err, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s all that special though¡­¡­?¡±

    Since science and tech are so advanced in this dimension, I thought there should be lots of ways to more efficiently analyze the frequency and probability of space pirate raids. Or rather, I feel like what I¡¯ve presented could be taught easily anywhere one could learn about military tactics. Well,e to think of it, Captain Serena didn¡¯t know any methods to effectively deal with pirates at first. Are there actually no institutions that teach these kinds of things? After all, there must be people who specialize in researching space pirates out there, and they¡¯d probably buy anything rted to space pirates at high prices.

    ¡°Well, fine, I guess. Since your back and forth earlier was quite amusing, I suppose I can let you guys listen to my exnation again. However, if the Guild is gonna be making use of my methods, it¡¯s important to indicate that those are originally mine, and I also expect suitablepensation once you do get results with them.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about thetter, but I can guarantee the former.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m more concerned about thetter though¡­¡­ Well, I suppose that¡¯s fine. I¡¯m gonna start exining things one more time, so listen up.¡±

    So, I repeated my previous exnations once more, and I also briefly analyzed and solved previous cases of space pirate raids that the Guild staff oneesan brought up. As a result, I was able to confirm once more that my predictions regarding the pirate raid and base sites were quite urate.

    ¡°But these repeated attacks on merchant ships took us nearly two months to finally resolve¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°So this is a tinum ranker¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t think being a tinum ranker has anything to do with it though.¡±

    My experience ying SOL reallyes in handy when up against stuff like this. Rather than me being some amazing guy, it¡¯s more of the space pirates¡¯ behavioral patterns greatly matching the ones in SOL. But it¡¯s beyond my ability to discern exactly why this was the case.

    We left the manager oneesan, who was showing an unusual level of motivation, to her own devices. Perhapsprehending and establishing my analysis method would help her get promoted within the Guild. Anyway, we bid the pair goodbye and finally got out of the Mercenary Guild. Those two sure were an interesting pair. But it¡¯s unlikely that we¡¯ll have any more encounters in the future.

    Well, anyway, we did manage to get the info we came for. The Volks star system was likely just a hunting ground, and the Xyram system may also just be a ce for storing loot rather than their mainir, but I suppose it¡¯s best to leave the details to Captain Serena. The one leading this hunt was Captain Serena, so I¡¯ll just leave the decisions to her.

 Chapter 437: More Details Regarding Space Pirates

    Chapter 437: More Details Regarding Space Pirates

    Mimi and I scrutinized the huge amount of data we managed to obtain from the Mercenary Guild for half a day. Afterward, Captain Serena and the adjutantdy paid the ck Lotus a visit.

    Greetings. Wee to my vaunted ship. Forgive it for being Well, its not really all that filthy, is it? And calling it humble wouldnt fly either. Anyway, just go ahead and take your seats. Ill tidy the ce up a bit.

    Instead of being filthy, since I was the only man in the crew, the ambiance inside the ship had a floral feel to it. Also, the interior of the Lotus was too luxurious to be described as humble. Honestly, it was even more luxuriouspared to the interior of Captain Serenas ship, the Restalias.

    You ended up sounding clumsy and awkward because you tried speaking in a flowery manner even if youre not used to it. By the way, whats that?

    Its info I obtained from the Mercenary Guild regarding the recorded appearances of the space pirates and the missing merchant ship incidents. The military also has something simr to this, right?

    I answered Captain Serena who posed an inquiry while looking at the star system map projected on the holo-screen that was littered with various marking indicators.

    Data regarding the locations of the encounters between mercenaries and pirates should have already been shared with the military by the Guild through the star system forces. Data regarding the battles between the star system forces and the pirates as well as info on the missing ships were also probably being jointly shared between the two parties.

    These color-coded lines are? Oh, is this supposed to signify that the pirate raid incidents connected by these lines are actually parts of a bigger joint operation? If so, then this one is a decoy, and the real raid was where a ship had gone missing Eh? Do space pirates really create such detailed ns before they make their move?

    Well, even though theyre called space pirates, its not like all of them simply just attack any ship they happen to spot while stupidly shouting Hyahha! from the top of their lungs. This might sound shocking, but those guys are also capable of using their brains to some extent, so some among their ranks specialize in making detailed ns beforeunching raids. There are only a handful of those types though.

    S-So, what about the space pirates we regrly deal with?

    Im sure most of them were of the Hyahha type. Elite space pirates are a pretty cautious bunch, so encountering them is pretty rare. Also, if they catch even a whiff of things turning for the worse, they will immediately turn tail and escape.

    A while back, we also went up against these elite types of space pirates who were attacking the ship Dr. Shouko was on during our first encounter with her. As soon as things started turning bad for them, they immediately ran away. We do have the Antlions Gravity Jammers now though, so we can already prevent targets from escaping.

    Well, even though a majority of the ones causing mayhem are Hyahha types, its not like theres no merit to taking down elite space pirates. These elite space pirates have higher bounties ced on their heads, and the overall quality of their ships and equipment is also decent, so they are prime targets for salvaging spoils. Mercenaries like encountering them because they often hold info regarding their respective groupsirs, ces where they stash all their loot, and main pirate bases. Oh, but from the perspective of maintaining public order and security, it might be better to actively hunt them down. They dont make moves frequently, but if they do, they can be quite destructive and Huh? Why are you all stiff?

    I found it strangely quiet, and when I took a quick nce, I saw a frozen Captain Serena with a shocked expression on her face. What the heck is with that gaze? I dont get it.

    What are you going on about? Elite space pirates? What in zes are those?

    Eh? Uh, basically, rare and cunning space pirates with better equipment? Well, theyre ultimately still pirates though.

    That may be so, but this is the first time Ive heard of this concept of elite space pirates. Ive never heard of the term from anyone else but you. Could this be something simr to that time? Just like with the Mother Crystal, you somehow got your hands on critical information from some mysterious source?

    Uh, that shouldnt be the case I think?

    Its true that the concept of elite space pirates was something I got from my time ying SOL, but its not like I was the one who brought about their existence, so I believe its all good. I think. No, thats not whats important. The problem was that the anti-pirate tactics and concepts I learned in SOL could be directly applied to this dimensions real-life space pirates, and that would make me appear to have critical information pertaining to pirates that wasnt widely recognized in this dimension.

    You dont sound very confident. Are you sure you arent hiding something? If youre gonna confess anything, you better do it now, okay?

    While I was deep in thought, Captain Serena drew closer, ced a hand on my cheek, and gave me a smile. The fact that the smile wasnt reaching her eyes was quite scary.

    Nothing. I got nothing to confess. Honest.

    I gently moved the hand that was ced on my cheek away, averted my gaze from Captain Serena, and desperately tried to recall all the information rted to space pirates I learned in SOL. Since there were no events pertaining to the eradication of space pirates, I had nothing to share regarding that topic. Simrly, there was no information regarding the origin of space pirates. Was there something like a pirate clone nt somewhere out there? Or maybe there was arge colony of space pirates somewhere in deep space. There were plenty of rumors like that circting among SOL yers and fans, but as far as I knew, nothing was officially confirmed. Also, cases of so-called ordinary civilians turning into space pirates have been confirmed in SOL, and the same was true in this dimension.

    Look at me in the eyes and say that again.

    Close. Youre too close, Captain. Also, this is making my neck hurt.

    Captain Serena proceeded to hold my face with both hands, forcibly turned my gaze toward her, and then stared back at me from a close distance. Since I still had the leeway to think about stuff like how pretty her red pupils were or what a beauty she actually was, I suppose I wasnt feeling all that cornered yet. Yeah.

    Are you sure you arent hiding anything? If you dont give me an honest answer, I have my ways to make you speak.

    None, none. I aint hiding anything. I mean, if I really had critical info about pirates in my hands, then Id use it to make a killing. After all, it feels like Ill make a lot of money by selling it to you, Captain.

    Hmm If you say so. If somethinges to mind, you better inform me right away.

    Aye aye, maam. By the way, isnt this distance and position bad?

    I dont think either of us are the type whod be bothered by something like this. And besides, Im a fan of romantic things. I dont think its any fun to forcibly steal your lips in a situation where theres practically no romantic atmosphere.

    After saying so, Captain Serena finally released me. Her face was a little red, but if I pointed that out, shed probably draw her sword, so I better just shut up. My crew members and Captain Serenas adjutant were excitedly looking at us with undisguised interest.

    Yknow, Im actually concerned that the research on space pirate tactics doesnt seem to have progressed at all. Its not thatplicated, and even an amateur like me Uh, well, Im not exactly an amateur, but you get the picture. Anyway, dont you find it weird that well-educated elite professional soldiers like you guys have never thought of stuff that even mercenaries who havent received any systematic training or education coulde up with?

    Im sure there have been several studies conducted about the topic in the past, but it seems all of them ended up in vain. There were simply too many impulsive and random attacks, and they werent able toe up with any proper patterns. Also, theyve conducted many past investigations regarding the roots of space pirates, and, in fact, they are still conducting investigations even now. However, apart from those former imperial subjects who turned to piracy, they havent found any information regarding the origin of those pure space pirates. Judging from their advanced bioengineering technology, its highly likely that they not only increase their numbers through pregnancy and childbirth but also through cloning. Traces of this have also been discovered. However, where exactly this process is being carried out currently remains unknown. However, when analyzed, the gic information of merchant and passenger ship crew members and passengers who went missing in the past have been found within their gic makeup. Therefore, its theorized that a small portion of those that get abducted by the pirates are taken to their ce of origin for breeding purposes.

    Cant you extract more detailed information from those captured space pirates?

    Its useless. Theyve either gone through severe memory maniption treatment or have no memory of the kind of information we want in the first ce. There are practically no space pirates who remember where they were born and how exactly they became pirates. No matter what we do, they can only recall memories from when they were eight to ten years old at most. The exception to that is those who were born between two space pirate parents or a space pirate and one of their victims and grew up in pirate bases.

    Thats quite thorough Hm. Dont tell me space pirates are actually a type of space monster?

    Beings of unknown origin who could understand humannguage, interbreed with humans, and use human tech, but were hostile to humanity in general and had advanced bioengineering technology huh? It was actually quite creepy. Instead of space elves, now we have a race that resembles space goblins. Well, their outward appearance was no different from the human race though.

    Well, I suppose thats enough about space pirates Are we finally heading out?

    Right. We originally paid you a visit to conduct a short briefing. Well, thats how it is, so shall we get down to business?

    Okay. Mimi and Kugi, Im sorry, but can you get some drinks for everyone? Ill finish tidying up here.

    Yes!

    Alright, My Lord.

    I saw Mimi and Kugi off as they ran toward the dining hall, picked up the portable data terminal and data storage medium inside the break space, and then saved and stored the data that was being projected on the holo-screen. I suppose I better call Elma over as well. As I recall, she was helping out the mechanic sisters in the hangar.

 Chapter 438: The Operational Doctrine of the Imperial Space Force

    Chapter 438: The Operational Doctrine of the Imperial Space Force

    Anyway, the reorganization and deployment of the fleets beenpleted. The reorganized squadrons have already started moving to blockade the designated hypene opening, and the operations start time has already been decided.

    Roger that. So, our role is basically being beaters in the hunt, right?

    I checked out the data that was brought over by Captain Serena and herdy adjutant on the holo-disy within the break space. The basic strategy was simple; putting up a and initiating a thorough search operation. They already conducted a simr operation before, but in the end, it was the most reliable strategy in order to eradicate the pirates who kept moving around and concealing themselves.

    A beater was the one with the role of chasing prey around and driving them into the kill zone during hunting sessions, and thats basically our role in this operation. In other words, we were akin to hunting dogs. Woof.

    Of course, you are not going to be the only one performing that role. Weve also created a squadron consisting of corvettes, frigates, and destroyers, so please coordinate with them during the operation.

    Oh. The number of your troops seems to have increased quite a bit, Captain.

    Indeed. Due to your suggestion from before, I repeatedly requested it from the higher-ups. Fortunately, the Imperial Space Force is currently adopting a system of high firepower fleets centered around cruisers and battleships, so corvettes and destroyers are currently not as in demand. So, even though they are hand-me-downs from other fleets, we were able to secure ourselves quite arge number of destroyers and other smaller ships.

    High Firepower Doctrine huh? Isnt that just the Big Ships, Gigantic Guns Doctrine from back then? Well, I suppose its not a bad doctrine, all things considered.

    As a matter of fact, if youre gonna engage in an all-out head-on firefight from long range, theres no doubt thatrge ships with big guns, thick armor, and the ability to unleash a ferocious barrage were very strong. Even my Krishna had no chance of winning when fighting a cruiser or battleship head-on in a wide-open area without any asteroids or debris to use as cover.

    I mean, I could still destroy a battleship by hitting it with anti-ship reactive warhead torpedoes or firing the shot-cannons at close range into critical areas like the bridge or ship generators, but Id probably end up getting turned into g before I could even get close enough to fire. It would be a different story if I was capable of short-range jumps that would allow me torgely ignore distance, but unfortunately, Im not in possession of such outrageous tech or psionic ability.

    Also, optical weapons such asser cannons were basically quite difficult to evade. And if you couldnt avoid it, youd have no choice but to endure hits with your ships shield and armor. And since thats the case, youd need to equip a tougher shield and thicker armorpared to your opponent, then hit them with as much firepower as you can muster to take them down before they down you. Therefore, it was only natural for the Imperial Space Force to be more biased toward battleships and cruisers.

    Do you have any thoughts regarding that matter?

    No, theres nothing in particr. You do believe its the correct approach, right? In the end, ships that can shoot at longer ranges and sport high firepower lined up side by side and firing simultaneously is very strong, regardless of the battlefield being two-dimensional or three-dimensional.

    Naturally, positioning was very important when it came to these types of battles. The more dispersed the targets were, the longer it would take for the other party to get a re-lock, so inrge-scale space battles involving a considerable number of battleships and cruisers, special formations and ship coordination were important. While aiming to disperse the enemys firepower, one side would try to concentrate fire in order to quickly reduce the enemys numbers. As overkill would result in an overall loss, its important to reliably gauge the appropriate amount of firepower to down the opposing force. Its said that there would be a huge difference in the ratio of losses inparison to military gains depending on how well-optimized a force is with regard to making effective use of its firepower.

    Unfortunately, I dont have much experience regardingrge-scale PVP battles in the game, so my knowledge regarding the matter was only from what Ive heard secondhand. Well, I did participate in those types of battles from time to time on diversionary duty.

    The conversations gone a bit off track. Anyway, I dont have any particr opinions about the operation. Its a solid n, so theres nothing in particr to criticize.

    Is that truly the case? If you are keeping things to yourself because you are worried about something, then theres no need to hold back you know?

    No, there really is nothing Im hiding. Just what kind of guy do you think I am, Captain?

    Dont you always try to nitpick about something or other?

    No, I dont. I dont, right?

    I looked at Mimi and Elma for affirmation, but they had strange expressions on their faces. What the heck is with those reactions?

    Im going to be the one to say it because it seems that Mimi is having a hard time pointing it out to you herself. Its true that youre always nitpicking about various matters whenever we meet. Like the time you said the types of ships in our fleet dont match our intended role. Or when you said its better to do this or that when dealing with space pirates. In the first ce, youre the one who suggested we divide our forces this time around because its more efficient that way, correct?

    .I sincerely apologize.

    I obediently bowed my head toward Captain Serena, who was giving me a critical gaze, and apologized. Im a guy who honestly apologizes when Ive done something wrong after all.

    Its not like I mind all that much. After all, the anti-pirate tactics you suggest are a great stimulus for me whose views have been solidified by the operational doctrine of the Imperial Space Force. We did end up bing quite adept at dealing with pirates due to your teachings when you instructed our veteran members on anti-pirate tactics back when our fleet was still starting out, so myints on the matter are quite minimal. Our newer members do have some dissatisfaction with heading the opinions of a mere mercenary though.

    Sorry. Im truly serious about the stuff I said though, so please find it in your heart to tolerate me running my mouth.

    I sure hope so. If this operation results in fatal damage to the fleet instead of military gains, well Fufu. Ill be turned into an absoluteughing stock.

    ck. Theres a ck aura behind your smile, Captain. Does she mean to imply that Ill owe her a big favor if this operation doesnt turn out sessful? Fair enough. But I wont give in to such threats so easily.

    Well then, if this operation is a great sess, it would mean Ive contributed the most to protecting your honor, Captain.

    True. I shall tell the Mercenary Guild that youve more than earned your keep if things do turn out well.

    Both of us exchanged smiles. Anyway, it felt like she fended off my counterattack gracefully. As I thought, I really couldnt keep up with a true aristocrat.

    Ok, ok. Its my loss. Unless we make a big mistake or some sort of irregrity urs, theres no way this operation will fail. Its a safe and stable strategy.

    I really do hope so. Its strange though. The more you try to reassure me, the more anxious I get.

    Oh cmon. Im not gonna take all responsibility if something does happen

    Even though I do tend to attract all sorts of trouble, I couldnt possibly take responsibility for stuff that happens in ces where its impossible for me to directly intervene. Dont me everything on me. Im not some sort of misfortune-bringing tengu.

 Chapter 439: Sudden Incident

    Chapter 439: Sudden Incident

    ¡ºWhy ain¡¯t the FTL Drive activating!? N-No, sto¡­¡­¡»

    ¡°Sorry. I¡¯m all out of mercy for space pirates.¡±

    I didn¡¯t even have any in stock in the first ce.

    I fired a shot from one of Krishna¡¯s heavyser cannons at the shaking rear of the fleeing pirate ship, delivering a finishing blow.

    Oh? Did that ship actually manage to avoid blowing up because its thrusters werepletely damaged beforehand? What a lucky pirate. Since thrusters were normally supplied withrge amounts of energy, 80% of pirate ships that suffer fatal damage usually explode to bits.

    ¡°As expected, a properly put together ship does have good safety measures.¡±

    ¡°Right. But that also makes our job harder.¡±

    ¡°Even you have started saying that sort of stuff, Mimi¡­¡­ Anyway, we better send in thebat bots as soon as ck Lotus arrives.¡±

    What Mimi probably meant by our job getting harder was that we needed to deal with the space pirates who managed to survive on the ship. Tina and Wiska would be ced in danger if they ended up getting taken hostage by surviving space pirates the moment we stored the downed ship inside the Lotus without performing any cleanup. That¡¯s why we first needed to subdue the surviving pirates and take full control of the downed ship. There wouldn¡¯t have been a need for us to go through so much trouble if the ship simply exploded earlier, so, just as Mimi said, it¡¯s simply more work for us. Well, we would make a bigger profit this way though.

    ¡°Um, My Lord. What about taking prisoners¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°We normally don¡¯t do that. Normally, that is.¡±

    ¡°We need to take some if we can this time around, right?¡±

    Normally, we just killed space pirates on sight. We wouldn¡¯t take any captives and just dispose of them all¡­¡­ However, in ordance with Captain Serena¡¯s orders, we needed to hand any prisoners we managed to capture over to her. I guess she was aiming to extract info out of the captive¡¯s heads.

    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ve ordered thebat bots to goad them into surrendering and to try and subdue them as non-lethally as possible. The survivors would be treated by Dr. Shouko, neutralized through anesthesia or sedatives, and restrained.¡±

    ¡°U-Um¡­¡­ My Lord? What if they don¡¯t survive thebat bot raid?¡±

    ¡°Then they¡¯re simply out of luck. I wish them all the best in their next lives.¡±

    I replied to Kugi and shrugged my shoulders as Mimi nodded in agreement. Mimi has be quite hardened as well. I feel so moved. No worries. Kugi will alsoe over to this side eventually.

    ¡°In any case, it¡¯s been quite smooth sailing this time, hasn¡¯t it, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re probably just tired, Mimi¡­¡­ We just engaged in dangerous shipbat in outer space y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°U-Uh, that¡¯s true, but¡­¡­! How do I put this? Um, it¡¯s like we haven¡¯t been ced in some sort of pinch or got involved in something troublesome yet.¡±

    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon. We were suddenly sent to the front lines to apany the Imperial Space Force by direct order of the emperor, booked exclusively by Captain Serena, and then got ordered by her to hunt down space pirates. It¡¯s more than enough trouble in my opinion. Aren¡¯t you just saying that because you¡¯ve be numb to troublesome stuff?¡±

    ¡°Uu¡­¡­ B-But! Usually, there would be at least one more incident!¡±

    ¡°Mimi, it looks like you really are tired¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you trying to sidestep the issue by insisting that, Hiro-sama?¡±

    ¡°Of course not.¡±

    I averted my gaze from Mimi, who was leaning forward indignantly from the operator¡¯s seat. Anyway, there weren¡¯t any problems for now, so isn¡¯t it fine? It¡¯s important to prepare for eventualities, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s good to be too cautious about something that may or may not happen.

    Didn¡¯t that guy who was hailed as a legendary gctic hero say that one needed to adapt to situations while maintaining a high degree of flexibility? Uh, I do feel like that guy wasn¡¯t exactly a great role model though.

    I kept an eye on the surroundings while we chatted, and the familiar shape of a starship finally warped out along with a booming roar. It was the ck Lotus.

    ¡ºApologies for the wait, Master.¡»

    ¡°No worries. Please begin recovering the wreck, then gain full control of the neutralized ship. I¡¯ve already marked it with a tag.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood. I shallunch thebat bots immediately.¡»

    When dealing with a medium-ss ship, you¡¯d usually use a dedicated mobile assault pod to send inbat bots to conduct a boarding action, but that¡¯s not applicable to a small-ss ship. That¡¯s whybat bots are sent inside a small-ss ship directly instead. They¡¯ll fly through space, attach themselves to the hatch of the downed starship, and then proceed to break through said hatch in order to enter the ship. The side being on the receiving end of such an action would probably find the experience terrifying.

    ¡ºHiro, there are some guys who escaped into the area we¡¯re in charge of.¡»

    ¡°What a restless bunch¡­¡­ Should we go and help?¡±

    ¡ºNo. I think they¡¯ll be driven into the kill zone without any problems at this rate.¡»

    ¡°Alright. we¡¯re not gonna make a move then. Just continue tracking them just in case.¡±

    ¡ºRoger that.¡»

    Elma dropped the transmission. In addition to its Gravity Jammers, Elma¡¯s Antlion was also equipped with various high-grade sensors and electronic warfare equipment bigger than those on the Krishna. Naturally, its performance when ites to those aspects was superior to Krishna¡¯s. Therefore, it was rtively easy for it to keep track of the fleeing pirate ships with activated FTL Drives as well as the Independent Anti-Pirate Fleet corvettes chasing after them.

    But wasn¡¯t the ck Lotus equipped with bigger and more efficient sensors, you ask? Well, yeah. But the Lotus was slow, you see. So the reasonably fast Antlion, which also possesses rtively high tracking capabilities, was gradually bing an indispensable part of our hunting operations. Or rather, it already was indispensable. It truly was a great purchase.

    ¡ºMaster, it has been secured.¡»

    ¡°Got it. Please make sure it¡¯spletely neutralized for safety. Either have thebat bots stick around until it¡¯s neutralized or just handle it personally, Mei.¡±

    ¡ºUnderstood. I shall supervise everything until it has been brought inside the Lotus.¡»

    ¡°I¡¯m counting on you.¡±

    Since Captain Serena and the Independent Anti-Pirate Fleet members already had experience conducting a star system blockade and sweep operation during the subjugation of the Red gs, they were quick to respond and precise in their actions during this time¡¯s operation. At this rate, we¡¯ll be able to finish this job without much trouble.

    The moment those thoughts ran inside my head, a transmission request appeared on Krishna¡¯s main screen. Huh? From Captain Serena¡¯s Restalias? And it was a transmission using a secure military line¡­¡­ I have a bad feeling about this.

    ¡°Hello. This is the obedient and talented mercenary Hiro speaking.¡±

    ¡ºStop joking around. This is not exactly the time for small talk.¡»

    ¡°Goodness¡­¡­ Mind if I just drop the call? I just remembered something urgent. Or rather, my stomach is starting to act up.¡±

    ¡ºNo. The Vereverem Federation¡¯s offensive has suddenly intensified. We will temporarily stop dealing with the space pirates and gather at the supply depot in the Creon star system as a reserve force while also guarding the base in question.¡»

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡­ Mimi.¡±

    ¡°I-It¡¯s not my fault¡­¡­ right?¡±

    When I turned toward her, Mimi gave me a sheepish smile. Uh, well, it really wasn¡¯t Mimi¡¯s fault, but¡­¡­ the moment I thought we¡¯d be able to finish the job without any hups, this happened. Was I really cursed or something? Was it due to my weird ability to twist fate? If that¡¯s the case, then I won¡¯t be able tost at this rate unless I learn to control it.

    ¡°Is the situation really that dangerous? Isn¡¯t it better for us to finish our hob first?¡±

    ¡ºI¡¯m also of the same opinion, but it¡¯s an order from Defense Command, so we cannot simply ignore it.¡»

    Captain Serena also looked pretty displeased. We were just about to grab the tail of the so-called space pirates, but this sudden developmentpletely messed up our ns.

    ¡ºIt will take time to analyze new information, so let¡¯s just consider this as gaining some time to scrutinize and analyze the information we¡¯ve managed to gather so far. Based on the power of our forces deployed on the front lines and the reinforcements that will rush here using the gateway, I do not believe that the empire will lose. However, that is not a certainty. You all shouldn¡¯t let your guard down too much. I will send you the coordinates for meeting up so please go there as soon as you can.¡»

    ¡°Aye aye, ma¡¯am.¡±

    Apparently satisfied with my response, Captain Serena nodded and cut the transmission. Launching an offensive at such an inconvenient timing¡­¡­ I hope nothing strange happenster on, but I suppose that¡¯s a vain hope. Let¡¯s just stay on guard in case anything happens.

 Chapter 440: Are You Really That Bored?

    <h4>Chapter 440: Are You Really That Bored?</h4>

    Good work guys.

    I cheered on Captain Serenas subordinates as they took the pirates we managed to capture during the earlier sweep operation from the medical bay and passed through the break area. In addition, there were currently also quite a few of Captain Serenas subordinates on board the ck Lotus. They were busy investigating the interior of the supposed pirate ship we rendered powerless in battle during the operation.

    Aside from information on their hideout and which organization the supposed pirates actually belonged to, Captain Serenas subordinates were also searching for other crucial clues such as where and how the ship was acquired and possible ties to the Vereverem Federation.

    By the way, before Tina and Wiska hauled the ship inside the ck Lotus, it had its power generator neutralized in order to prevent it from exploding. Even if it didnt explode when the ship was critically damaged in the battle, it might still doter on if we simply left it alone without taking any safety measures.

    Currently, the sisters have begun restoring the ship in question. Fortunately, they were able to secure a decent number of parts from the enemy ships wed destroyed, so the restoration was likely to proceed pretty smoothly. Captain Serena wanted to trace the ships ID or something like that, but ording to Tina and Wiska, judging from the condition of the ship in question, it was probably quite old.

    It wasnt a surprise, seeing that the manufacturer seemed to be a shipbuildingpany based in the Vereverem Federation that had already gone bankrupt and went out of business more than twenty years ago. There seemed to be quite a few of suchpanies in the shipbuilding industry, and ships made by such manufacturers ended up being unable to receive regr maintenance from thepanies themselves. As a result, maintenance costs were higher than usual due to its rtively troublesome and time-consuming nature, making these types of ships less popr among potential buyers. And since they werent popr, they were usually sold quite cheaply.

    Actually, the Krishna was technically the same type of ship. Even though its overall performance was quite high, it was also pretty tricky to maintain. After all, its manufacturer was unknown, and the generator and nearbyponents wereplete ck boxes. It also had many parts that mechanics and engineers have apparently never seen before. However, even if this was the case, it seemed that maintenance was still mostly possible through the use of analyzers and replicators. I truly tip my proverbial hat to all the work those two sisters do for us.

    Anyway, lets leave the matter about Krishna aside and continue talking about the captured ship. ording to Tina and Wiskas analysis, its overall design concept was probably something akin to a rtively inexpensive escort ship for use by mercenaries and traders. It exceeded a standard pirate ship in practically all aspects, such as speed, toughness, generator output, maneuverability, and firepower, despite being reasonably priced. I suppose the selling point was that if you had enough of them, youd be adequately protected against space pirate raids for a fraction of the cost.

    Unfortunately, its potential for upgrades was quite low, and it seemed difficult to rece the generator, thrusters, and so on with higher-performance ones due to theck of leeway in its design. And since it cant be upgraded, you cant hope to improve its firepower, shield performance, or maneuverability. It was quite unfortunate.

    To put it bluntly, its performance was just a bit better than the ship we mercenaries calledZabuton, but it lost out big time when it came to upgradability. Its price was also slightly higher than the Zabutons, and in terms of futureproofing, thetter was far superior. So, what was the point of the ship in the first ce? Thatsrgely the reason why the shipbuildingpany went bankrupt, apparently. Its design wasnt bad, but its overall power left much to be desired.

    Well, that doesnt mean there wasnt a demand for it though. It did look the part of a properbat ship, and its performance was high enough that it wouldnt easily lose to themon pirate ship. It was adequate enough for use as a fleet escort. Since a used ship of this type would be cheaper than a brand-new Zabuton, there would probably be a fair number of potential buyers.

    Why do you seem to always take your job seriously?

    As I busied myself with keeping tabs with Tina and Wiska through the tablet, instructing Mimi to replenish our supplies, and telling Kugi to apany the soldiers and prisoners during the handover, Captain Serena suddenly made a strangement while elegantly taking a sip of the tea Mei served to her.

    And why are you all the way here spending a rxing time drinking tea, Captain Serena?

    Did you not learn not to answer a question with another question? What an incorrigible man you are. As for why I have time to be here, its because when a fleet reaches the scale of the Independent Anti-Pirate Fleet, each subordinate officer is able to do their respective jobs well without need for much direct intervention as long as you delegate them the appropriate authority and give them orders in advance. As themander of the fleet, I actually do not have much work to do. Of course, I still have to make the important decisions and run through all the reports thate in.

    I see I mean, does it even need saying? You already know why I need to take my job seriously, right?

    After hearing my response, Captain Serena disyed a warm-looking smile. This damn guy Well, shes not really a guy, but you get the picture. Anyway, are you provoking me, Captain? Huuuh?

    You wont like me when Im angry yknow.

    And why is that?

    I dont care if the other party is my employer. This is MY ship. The captains authority takes precedence here. And Im gonna use my captains privilege to throw you out.

    I see? Can you really do that though?

    You might be trying your best to smile provocatively, but your excitements also quite obvious yknow? You should think of the feelings of your subordinates who were desperately trying to ignore that you were flirting with me.

    Its totally obvious that you want me to pay attention to you. Even though the size of your fleet has grown and youve gotten promoted to Captain, are you still a loner like before?

    Im not a loner. Definitely not. I dont think its good to say things like that without any basis. Dont you have a heart?

    Well, in your case, I suppose that rather than being a loner, its more urate to say that people arentfortable around you because of your status and family background. Wait. Dont tell me you do stuff like ordering your subordinates to apany you in sword spars, then beating them up afterward?

    I do not, okay?

    That stinks of a lie! Youre definitely doing that! Youre the type to do so anyway!

    This muscle-brained gori wearing the skin of a blonde-haired, red-eyed beauty! Dont puff out your cheeks and act cute, you. Are you a kid?

    Speaking of sword sparring, Ive yet to settle things with you.

    But I won by andslide though. That matters basically settled.

    Its definitely not. Its not because I say its not. I wasnt serious back then. Those matches dont count.

    Hah. Says the one who was sulking and crying back then

    I sighed and moved to sit in front of Captain Serena. Mei, who was standing behind me, silently served me tea. Mm. As expected of Mei. Anyone else would have missed the moment the tea was ced on the table.

    So, there should be a reason why you went all the way to the Lotus, right? Dont tell me you came here just because you were bored?

    Eh.

    Eh.

    We simply stared at each other for a while. Oi, dont tell me you really came here just because you were lonely and had too much free time. You should have a purpose, right? Theres something we need to discuss face-to-face, right? Please tell me thats the case, Captain.

    O-Of course. Thats, err, how it is you know?

    So obvious Are you serious? I mean really? But arent we on high alert right now?

    This ce isnt directly connected to the front lines, so it wont suffer from a sudden attack. If this ce was attacked without any warning, then that would mean the front lines have been breached andmunications have beenpletely cut off, which is quite unlikely.

    But theres no such thing as unlikely on the battlefield, right?

    It would be virtually impossible for a manned or unmanned force to attack this supply depot without getting caught in the severalyers of defenses that have been put up. Would you be able to do so?

    Not through normal means, at least.

    Even though Krishna had an outstanding performance for a small-ss starship, but its stealth capabilities were rtivelycking. In the first ce, no matter how stealthy a ship was, it couldnt mask its signature when using the Hyperdrive, so it was impossible to sneak past a militarys stringent surveincework. Thats as long as irregr means such as falsifying the IFF signal, the ships nationality, and the ship ID, or having an insider cooperate to sneak you in werent used.

    But there might be someone on our end whod offer assistance to the enemy, right?

    House Ixamal, you mean? Like Ive said before, no matter how far an imperial noble falls, they wouldnt go as far as to betray the empire and give up their noble status. Didnt Elma say so as well?

    I do get what youre saying to an extent, but is it really fine to regard things so simply? Those guys had connections to pirates, right? I believe its onlymon sense to doubt them.

    Theres no conclusive evidence regarding their connection to space pirates.

    She was outwardly denying it, but Captain Serenas expression said otherwise. I think she does believe that noble house is guilty. In that case, Id like for her to seriously consider my concerns.

    It cant be helped. If youre that worried, I shall endeavor to be more vignt than ever. Being with you really does make me question mymon sense often.

    Thats not actually apliment, is it?

    I wonder.

    Captain Serena shed me a sweet smile. Man, its really good to be beautiful huh? Just one smile would make most people feel like letting anything slide. But Im used to seeing beautiful women, so a mere smile wont be able to fool me. Now then, lets have a good talk about that matter, shall we?

 Chapter 441: Standby Duty

    Chapter 441: Standby Duty

    Was the current situation dangerous or not? If asked this question, then the answer would be yes, yes it was. But if asked if it was as dangerous as that time with the crystal lifeforms, then the answer would be no, not really.

    Back during the crystal lifeform crisis, we werecking in defensive forces at the start, and if we failed to rally reinforcements from the surrounding systems, the crystal lifeforms would have devoured the entire defense line. The situation in the Creon system, however, was a different story. A considerable number of forces had been gathered within the conflict zone in preparation for an enemy offensive.

    Therefore, if an enemy offensive were to beunched, there would still be no need for the Independent Anti-Pirate Fleet, which was a reserve force, to be sent to the front lines.

    However, that didnt mean that they could afford to have a portion of their forces idle during an emergency, so they ordered the Independent Anti-Pirate Fleet to guard the Creon system supply depot instead. With that arrangement, the Anti-Pirate Fleet would be able to quicklye to the aid of the original defense forces in case of an emergency. The original defense forces being the ones being led by House Ixamal.

    Well, in our perspective, its like earning money while doing nothing.

    We will receive a fixed payout for a certain time period after all. And they will be giving us daily remuneration once that time period is exceeded.

    I-Is this really okay?

    Kugi disyed a bitter smile while staring at me and Mimi rxing inside the break area. Kugi sure is earnest.

    I mean, even if this fleet is called an independent fleet, its still ultimately bound to military orders from above.

    We are called an independent fleet because we are allowed to act on our own discretion during peacetime. In the event of an emergency, we are naturally obligated to follow military orders. We are His Imperial Majestys swords after all.

    Captain Serena showed a dejected expression on the other side of the holo-screen. I wondered if she was rather bored earlier, and it turned out that she really was. As a result of efficiently assigning work to her subordinates, her own tasks ended up beingpletely trivial inparison. Whats more, she was the daughter of a marquis whose abilities had been enhanced quite a bit. The enhancements included not only her physical prowess but also her brains processing power. When she really puts her mind into it, she could perform tasks that would take an ordinary person five hours toplete in less than an hour.

    Be that as it may, the matter this time around isnt a formal order but a request. If we have a valid reason, we could ignore the request and make moves on our own. But in the first ce, the order to eliminate the pirates making a ruckus in the rear was from House Ixamal. Although indirectly, our being sent here was also a request from House Ixamal.

    In other words, unless theres a special order from military High Command, the Independent Anti-Pirate Fleet can act rtively freely, and thats the reason for your fleets name.

    Exactly. Because we belong to the imperial military, we cannot move as freely as you mercenaries. They did use your group as reference when ites to operational methods and organizing the chain ofmand though.

    I see So, what about that matter I reminded you of?

    We found nothing so far. Also it seems they are going to invite us over soon. To a dinner party, that is.

    The heck

    Theres a chance that the other party saw us as objects of revenge, or rather, a thorn in their side. And they actually dared to invite us to a dinner party?

    There are times when you have to join hands with someone even though you do not see eye to eye with them. Its like theyre saying that we put our differences aside and cooperate for the time being. Well, its a move typical of nobles.

    Elma, who was drinking alcohol in a spot that was outside the range of the optical sensor sending images to Captain Serena, exined in a bored tone and shrugged her shoulders. This woman. She was enjoying her time on standby duty as a member of the reserve forces a little too much.

    Why was she getting drunk during standby duty? Well, one session inside a med pod would quickly get rid of all that alcohol in the bloodstream anyway. It does portray ack of discipline, but were mercenaries, not soldiers. Elma was also pacing herself so she doesnt end up dead drunk, so I had no intention of reprimanding her.

    A dinner party huh? Are they trying to make us let our guard down before springing a trap on us?

    Theres a possibility of House Ixamal gaining something by doing so, but its still quite unlikely. Even if I, several of my close aides, and some of you were to be captured by them, the rest of our respective crews will immediately move to rescue us.

    Thats true.

    If I we were to attend that dinner party, I would at least leave Mei on standby in the Lotus, and if something were to happen, Mei would be able to take immediate action along with thebat bots. There would probably be a huge uproar, and I believe Mei would get the word out as much as possible to get as many parties involved. If that happened, the situation would be even more critical, and theres a good chance of it leading to House Ixamals downfall.

    Theres no way nobles like them wouldnt be able toe up with the methods a mercenary like me was able toe up with though, so Im sure theyd have some countermeasures in ce. However, Im not sure if the benefits theyd stand to gain would be worth all the effort.

    Hiros bad habits are showing again.

    Hiro-sama bes such a worrywart sometimes.

    I believe My Lord is merely wary of his tendency to attract misfortune. I do think his caution is reasonable.

    I didnt want to mention my strange ability to manipte fate in front of Captain Serena, but Kugi seemed to be of the opinion that my wariness against House Ixamal was justified. Elma and Mimi, on the other hand, seemed to think that I was being overly paranoid. Perhaps I am worrying a bit too much just as those two said, but I simply couldnt get my mind off of the matter.

    If theres a chance of the Imperial Space Force losing in this situation, it would be when the gateway bes unusable, leading to the loss off further reinforcements. Once that happens, the Vereverem Federation wouldunch an all-out offensive.

    Me worrying too much only for nothing to happen would simply lead to this matter being a funny story, so Ive decided to just keep being vignt. Im not sure if wed also get invited to that dinner party or whatever, but give me a call if it happens.

    I shall do so.

    The expression on Captain Serenas face wasnt that good. Well, I suppose thats understandable. We were sent to stay on standby inside the Creon star system after all. If not for that, we would have been able to sessfully corner those pirates.

    Well, in a sense, Im already pretty used to getting wrapped up in situations involving the circumstances of various nobles. I suppose the only thing I could do right now was to stay sharp and prepare for any eventuality.

 Chapter 442: A Person Acting All Pushy

    Chapter 442: A Person Acting All Pushy

    Dammit! Dont run!

    Nah. Im obviously gonna keep running.

    I avoided thesers fired from behind me with rapid eleration and used the nearby asteroid as a shield to shake off the pursuit of the enemy ship But that was a feint! I turned the Flight Assist off and turned Krishna around using the attitude control thrusters. I immediately fired Krishnas four heavy-caliberser cannons as well as its two shot-cannons right at the nose of the pursuing enemy ship that just emerged from behind the asteroid.

    Wha!?

    There. One down. Next.

    Perhaps because it was chasing after me at such a rapid pace, another enemy ship ended up taking a wide turn around the asteroid in an attempt to evade, exposing its defenseless belly. Starships had surprisingly thin armor ting around their lower hulls or bellies. So, if they took direct hits on the belly while their shield was down, theyd usually end up getting shot down. In addition to the belly, a ships stern, where the main thrusters were usually concentrated, was also usually thinly armored.

    Dont underestimate me! Im gonna kill ya, bastard!

    You guys can triple-team me if you want, yknow?

    Im more than enough!

    Quite energetic, but theres not much good that cane from getting too worked up. See. Youre raring for a showdown too much and areing at me without much thought. When fighting at close range, being faster doesnt always mean better.

    After a brief head-on shootout with the newly appeared enemy ship, I turned the ship around at low speed, then proceeded to fire Krishnas heavy-caliberser cannons at the other ships now-wide open side. It was slower in turning because of too much momentum. As expected, it was much tougher than a pirate ship due to its military-grade energy shield and armor, but even so, there was no way it could withstand Krishnas firepower for very long. The unfortunate enemy ship exploded before it could get me within firing range again.

    Next. Are you guys sure you wanna insist on one-on-ones?

    Naturally! Lets go, damn you!

    These guys were too hotblooded I inwardly sighed as I set out to destroy yet another enemy ship. Im rather free anyway, so I guess Ill apany you guys until youre satisfied.

    I did it.

    Is that really something to brag about?

    When I dered my victory with a smug smile on my face in front of the pile of Enel chips on top of a table inside the simtion room, Captain Serena retorted with a smile on her face and veins popping up on her forehead.

    I helped with training and got Enels for my troubles. The Imperial Space Force pilots paid an appropriate price while gaining plenty ofbat experience against a famous tinum ranker. Isnt this what you call a win-win transaction?

    Please dont use the reputation of tinum rankers in order to earn some small change.

    Oh cmon. Its more exciting to make a little bet during stuff like this. Thats what I think anyway.

    I mean, Id win easily anyway, so yeah. Theres nothing more fun than a bet you know you could win, my dear Captain.

    By the way, an Enel chip was basically a prepaid card that allowed you to safely exchange small amounts of Enels with others. Its used when you dont want to interact directly with the other partys portable data terminal, or if the other party didnt have a data terminal in the first ce. Its like S*ica gift cards.

    I mean, its just 10 Enels per challenge yknow? Considering that you can safely gainbat experience against a tinum ranker through the simtor, its a pretty good deal.

    Even so. If gambling became widespread within the fleet, our internal discipline would be disrupted. From now on, gambling involving our pilots is strictly prohibited. Is that clear?

    Fine.

    While replying, I stuffed the umted Enel chips inside my jacket pocket. The reason why Captain Serena didnt ask me to return them was probably because its a form of punishment against the Imperial Space Force pilots, including those under the Independent Anti-Pirate Fleet.

    You will probably hear some warm words from your respective superiorster, so take that into ount.

    Yes, maam!

    The pilots, who lined up in front of Captain Serena, simultaneously gave her snappy salutes. Looking at her like this, it hit me that Captain Serena was a proper high-ranking professional soldier once more. Or rather, it seemed that the pilots were actually looking at me with gazes filled with respect. What the heck?

    If youre than energetic, then how about apanying me instead?

    Nah. No way.

    Captain Serena ced a hand on top of her swords hilt as she shed me a smile. I refused her instantly. Perhaps due to her enhancements, this womans physical strength was truly extraordinary. Even after swinging that heavy-looking sword of hers repeatedly, she didnt show any signs of slowing down even after multiple spars. Comparatively, I would be pretty tired after just five matches.

    You can apany them, but youre avoiding me?

    Because youre troublesome, Captain. Going along with you is tiring.

    Are you picking a fight? You are, arent you? You wanna go at 100%, right?

    Please stop smiling while blue veins are popping up on your forehead. Look. All the pilots here are shaking in their boots. And the other soldiers who were joking around nearby have started to flee.

    Okay, okay. I got it. Just a bit, alright? I just have to spar with you, yeah?

    Fine. Ill let you off the hook for messing around with the pilots this time.

    I dont think this is a good deal though?

    I decided to get up from my seat and followed after Captain Serena as she turned on her heels and walked away.

    You heard thedy. Lets do this again next time, guys.

    Sir, yes sir!

    For some reason, all the pilots saluted me reverently. Whats with those eyes? Its like they were looking at a hero or something. Dont tell me they were acting like this because of how casually I was interacting with Captain Serena earlier. Its not like that, okay? Im not in that kind of rtionship with that person, alright?

    So, whats the current situation? Hows the battle on the front lines progressing?

    Woosh! I took half a step back to avoid Captain Serenas training sword that came at me while generating incredible wind-whipping noises, then used the long sword held in my right hand to parry the lightning-like follow-up sh in order to break her stance. However, perhaps due to her monstrous core strength, she didnt budge one bit, changed her grip, and unleashed a powerful thrust. Was she really still human? Was her body reinforced with artificial muscle fibers made of a special alloy or something? Well, she did undergo enhancement procedures using the biotechnological approach, so I may not be too off the mark.

    You, sure are, plentyposed!

    My intuitions be sharper recently.

    My current self had enough leeway to look around while dodging the training sword that wasing at me while making frightening noises. We were currently inside the training room of the Restalias. This was where Captain Serena brought me, and the only ones present were me and her. She was the one who sent away the onlookers.

    Kuh Damn you!

    Why was I able to overwhelm her like this? Thats because I was able to understand Captain Serenas sword paths. This was also one of the results of my psionic ability training under Kugi, and Ivetely be able to foresee my opponents blows.

    Kugi was an expert in what the Holy Vuelzarus Empire called the Secondary Psionic Powers, and to put it simply, it consisted of mental-rted abilities like telepathy. Ive been undergoing training under her for a while now, and my proficiency level regarding Secondary Psionic Power techniques  particrly telepathy  has increased to a certain degree.

    My sensitivity to negative mental waves  in other words, killing intent and malice  had increased dramatically. An appropriate technological analogy would be an increase in passive sensor strength. Its simr to what those n*wtypes in the Universal Century could do. Yknow. The one with the ting sound effect. Which reminds me, were those Force-manipting knights from a gxy far, far away also skilled in this kind of ability? Im really straying further and further away from being human.

    Well, this ability had absolutely no effect on Mei though, so she still beats me up on the regr.

    Are you! Using! Some form! Of cheating!?

    Even if thats the case, I dont feel the need to tell you anything.

    Hyaaan!?

    Taking advantage of the momentary opening, I pped Captain Serenas buttocks with my training sword. How many spars has it been already anyway? Id really like for this to end.

    Isnt that unfair? Why do I always get overwhelmed even though you havent undergone any body enhancements and didnt start learning the sword until recently? Isnt it strange? Its strange, isnt it!?

    I dont know what to say. I mean, this happened before I knew it, so

    I shed a strained smile toward Captain Serena who approached me while breathing heavily. I was well aware of just how absurd I actually was, so it felt awkward for it to be pointed out straight to my face. I also didnt want to talk about it too much.

    Are you hiding something from me? Is it something you cant tell me? All your crew members are aware of it though, correct?

    Uh, well

    I scratched my cheek while acting evasive. Maybe youre still high on adrenaline after swinging a training sword repeatedly, but please stop being so pushy, Captain. However, if I went and lost deliberately during our spar, Captain Serena would probably be even more furious. Now then, do I tell her or not? What should I do?

 Chapter 443: Serenaâ€™s Feelings

    Chapter 443: Serena¡¯s Feelings

    Uh, in other words, Im the mysterious enigma, Captain Hiro! Or something like that.

    After giving my answer with a quick thumbs-up, I noticed Captain Serenas eyes narrowing. Hoh boy. I have a bad feeling about this.

    Youre still acting like that after all this time? Fine. Im gonna cry. Im gonna cry, okay? Im gonna cry, scream, and roll around on the ground, alright? Im gonna cry so hard that some of my crew members will probably hear me, and then theylle to check the situation out, you know? Are you fine with that?

    After saying her piece, Captain Serena sat in a seiza position on the training room floor in one smooth motion. Hey, stop that, you idiot. Youre really gonna do it, arent you?

    Isnt it extremely cruel to hold not only my reputation but also my dignity hostage just in order to get me to fess up???

    This woman yed quite a terrifying hand. Oh, Chris. What you said back then was true after all. I shouldnt let myself get stuck alone with a woman from a noble family.

    However, telling my situation to Captain Serena huh? I dont think shell go around bbering all over the ce, and shes also an extremely stubborn woman. As you can see, shes a woman who wouldnt hesitate to do whatever it takes to get what she wants depending on the situation.

    Wait, wait. Calm down. Why do you want to know about it so much anyway? No matter what circumstances Im under, its not like we wouldnt be able to work together if you dont know about it, right? Weve been working well together for a good while now, so theres really no need for you to force it.

    Are you seriously saying that? Really? Are you really not aware of my feelings and why Im doing this?

    Captain Serena asked in a voice that sounded like it wasing from the very depths of hell, with her shoulders shaking pitifully.

    Uh, well, theres no way one wouldnt figure it out when confronted with something like that right?

    I mean, please understand my position as well. Ive said this many times before, right? That its impossible for you and I to enter into that kind of rtionship. Thats why its better for the two of us to keep a good sense of distance from each other.

    Dont just puff out your cheeks silently. Its a little cute though.

    Its nothing particrly interesting Err, maybe not exactly that uninteresting, but nothing in particr wille out of you knowing about it, yknow? Thats why theres no need for you to insist on finding out, okay?

    Isnt it only natural to want to know more about the person you love?

    Oh Youre giving it to me straight now, arent you? Uh Hah.

    I squatted down in front of the captain, who was still sitting in seiza, and let out a sigh while staring straight at her red pupils. Its troubling if she expresses her favor so directly like that. Im weak to beautiful women yknow? But its Captain Serena, see? Theres a lot of troublesome baggage.

    Youll probably find a lot of men who are better than me out there, Captain.

    There may be as many men as the stars, but theres only one of you, right?

    Quite the romantic, are we? Well, I suppose Im fine with telling you about me if its just that much. However, I think youll find a lot of it really absurd and nonsensical, yknow?

    After saying so, I stood up and led Captain Serena toward a bench set up against the wall of the training room.

    The two of us sat down next to each other, and I wondered about where to begin my story.

    First, lets get the main point out of the way. I myself dont know who I truly am Or rather, I dont fully understand my true identity and origin. However, Kugi, one of my crew members Uh, shes from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire and is apparently a miko Well, a priestess of sorts. Anyway, ording to her, Im actually a visitor from apletely different universe and dimension she calls the Upper World.

    ?

    Your expression is saying What the heck is this fellow talking about? right now. Yeah, I get that. But it appears that those from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire havee into contact with multiple people in a situation simr to mine in the past. In fact, it seems that there are still people simr to me out there even now. Ive even encountered one I suspect to be like me a while back.

    The face of that red-haired b*tch shed through my mind. No matter what happens, I probably wouldnt be able to get along with that damnable woman, but I wonder what shes up to these days? I dont wanna get involved with her at all, so it would be nice if her ship exploded in some faraway corner of the gxy.

    Well, alright. I understand. So? Whats the deal with these visitors from another dimension?

    ording to Kugi, they seem to be beings housing incredible powers within them. Specifically, psionic powers. Actually, I do have them myself. Those powers are the reason why I can pull off crazy stuff without undergoing any enhancements.

    I see Is it the same for your abnormal piloting techniques?

    Nah. Thats all skill.

    I actually find that more surprising though?

    Why? Anyone can pull those off with enough practice.

    Why are you looking at me like that? You can! Anyone can do them with enough hard work! Dont just give up without giving it a try!

    Anyway, Ive been receiving psionic power training under Kugitely. Its increased my hidden cards quite a bit.

    While saying so, I took out my portable data terminal from my pocket, concentrated, and held it up. Then, the portable info terminal started floating out of my hand and began to slowly spin in midair. It took a lot of work for me to be able to do something like this.

    In other words, you werent even giving your all earlier?

    Theres no idiot whod bring aser gun or sma grenade to a spar, right? True trump cards should be saved for critical moments.

    I shrugged my shoulders and grabbed the portable info terminal floating in the air.

    Well, thats true, but

    Captain Serenas expression still appeared displeased. If I fought Captain Serena using all my abilities, it wouldnt even be a fight in the first ce. Thats if I ended it in one move. Well, even Captain Serena should have a trump card or two. If thats the case, then Id probably lose if I got hit with them first.

    If both parties were using weapons capable of ending the fight in one hit, it would alle down to whoever couldnd the critical blow first. A fight in real life doesnt go like how action movies often portray them, where both sides keep trading blows for an extended period.

    Right. Lets get back to the story then. I first woke up in an empty sector within the Termaine system. Inside a Krishna with the generator powered down. Im not sure how it happened. I possess memories of my original world, but I could barely recall what exactly I was doing right before finding myself in this one. Maybe I even died suddenly in my original world.

    I believe I came back from work, ate a quick meal, yed some SOL, and fell asleep or something. But I dont have any clear memories of that time. I thought I was dreaming at first after all.

    I remember being an avid yer of a game very simr to this world. Thats why at first, I thought I was dreaming, but as soon as I regained rity, I was attacked by space pirates. So, I fought back and proceeded to make my way to Termaine Prime. I got held up in immigration, and thats when you came in and helped me out, Captain. I then spent several days holed up inside my ship, and I finally epted that everything wasnt a mere dream. I was very troubled at first, but fortunately, I still had my starship piloting skills. Thats why I decided to start working as a mercenary in this world. Youre familiar with the rest, right?

    I am. But do you seriously want me to believe that story?

    Captain Serena stared straight at me. Well, if I were in her shoes, Id probably also suspect that the other party was only making a random story up. However, I had a trump card I could use as proof.

    ording to His Imperial Majesty the Emperor himself, there were absolutely no traces of my existence before I appeared at the Termaine star system. And he could only think that I suddenly appeared in this world without any warning.

    His Imperial Majesty really said something like that?

    Yeah. I had the chance to have an audience with him while we were staying at the imperial capital. Even if you cant believe my words, you can believe His Majestys words, right?

    Its not that I dont believe your words, but

    Even though I already used my card, she still seemed not to be quite convinced. I do get her though.

    Thats why I told you that it would only sound absurd and nonsensical earlier. Anyway, thats my secret. My info about the Mother Crystal was also from the game I yed back in the dimension I came from. It was surprisingly on point. Now that you know the source, it doesnt sound particrly special, right?

    No, thats not the case. In fact, Im quite curious if you have any other simr information.

    Dammit. I slipped.

    However, I see The matter regarding the Mother Crystal certainly does serve as proof. At the very least, you have knowledge about something that even the best imperial scientists were unaware of. Thats an undeniable fact.

    Captain Serena pondered silently for a bit, then raised her head and stared at me again. Her expression was quite serious.

    Hiro, would you consider bing mine after all?

    No.

    An instant rejection!? Why wont you even consider it!?

    Her serious expression crumbled in an instant, and she became all teary-eyed. Mm. It kinda makes me feel guilty to say this, but that sort of expression suited the captain better. It made her seem cuter. The facial deviation value resulting from her serious expression was too high, making her seem unapproachable.

    Ive said this many times before, but I love the carefree mercenary life. You have no intention of quitting the imperial military, right, Captain? Then thats the end of the story. Neither of us are willing to abandon our current way of life. So, it cant be helped, right?

    You mostly run around hunting space pirates as a mercenary anyway, so whats the difference if you join the Imperial Space Force? Why are you so stubborn about that?

    Its not the same at all. How much is your sry by the way?

    Captain Serena backed down after hearing my rebuttal.

    T-Thats No, but, well If you be mine, youd be a member of House Holz as well, and youd at least inherit the title of baron, you know? Youd be able to manage one or two star systems.

    Not interested. In the first ce, I already have a wife.

    I havent heard anything about that though!?!?

    Captain Serena cried out while sporting a shocked expression. Or right. I havent told her yet.

    Im already married to Mimi. Well, that doesnt mean anything in particrs changed between our rtionships though.

    What do you mean by that?

    You sure calmed down pretty quickly.

    Captain Serena instantly turned all serious again, and I couldnt help but draw back. Its true that were not doing anything that was typical between a married couple, so I couldnt help but wonder if Mimi herself wasnt interested in such things. Or rather, she seemed pretty satisfied regarding our current rtionship dynamic. In the first ce, led by Mei, all my partners colluded or rather, coborated? Agreed to share me? Everything seemed fine Or rather, all of them appeared to be getting along quite well.

    Our situations a bit special. Anyway, in that sense, its impossible for me to be yours, Captain.

    Gununu

    Captain Serena groaned in frustration. Well, to be honest, Im rather ttered by her straightforward affection But we both had our issues, and our respective outlooks were too different. There were some things that we both just couldnt give up on. Even if two people were meant to meet each other and were fond of one another, it didnt mean that everything would turn out well between them. Thats just how the world works.

 Chapter 444: Is This an Interrogation?

    Chapter 444: Is This an Interrogation?

    And so? What happened between you and Captain Serena?

    Nothing in particr. We just sparred a few times to relieve stress and had a little chat.

    Really?

    After the sparring with Captain Serena, I headed back to the ck Lotus. But unfortunately, I encountered Dr. Shouko and Elma, who were having a drinking party in the mess hall. I was tired in both body and mind from all the ship battles in the simtor and the sparring session with the captain, so I really wanted to take a nice, long break. However, since I ended up getting tangled with the two, it couldnt be helped. There was no point in resisting anyway.

    If you guys are curious about the contents of our talk, then Ill give you a quick summary. Theres nothing particrly interesting though.

    Ill decide that for myself after hearing everything.

    Looks like youre already pretty drunk

    Dr. Shouko ced one arm around my shoulder and grinned. Her breath smelled strongly of alcohol. And then, Elma approached from the opposite side. Ah. The feelings amazing on the left, but theres practically none on the right Ow, ow. Please dont pinch my thigh.

    She kept trying to have me tell her about my secret. My identity, or rather, my origins, yknow? She threw a huge fit in order to force me. Ive already told you guys about me though. She really wanted to know, and she threatened me that shed cry like a baby and disgrace me in front of her subordinates if I refused to fess up.

    Isnt she acting a bit too willful?

    Im shocked that shed actually go that far

    See, Captain. Your behavior was so outrageous that it ended up making two drunkdies sober.

    I thought that someone like her wasnt the type to gossip around, so I didnt think it was that big of a deal and agreed to tell her. Then she straight up asked me if Id like to be hers and proposed to me.

    ck! Mimi, who was chatting with Kugi at a table a little distance away from our own, kicked her chair down as she frantically stood up. Kugi also directed her gaze at me. It felt like even the twitching fox ears on her head were also trained toward me.

    Uh, for the record, I turned her down, okay? We cant abandon our respective lifestyles anyway. Also, I already have you all. Well, I personally dont hate the captain though. In fact, I actually respect her.

    I think its cute that she could be a bit of a dunce in private. But, uh, yknow

    Anyway, there werent any particrly steamy developments after that. And even if there were, I have zero desire to bite, so guys dont have to worry so much.

    Well, I dont think Captain Serena would be able to sway Hiro at this point anyway.

    But as Hiro-kuns woman, this story aroused feelings of jealousy from me, made me feel a sense of crisis, and even quite a bit ufortable, you see?

    You guys told me to talk about it, so I did I dont feel like telling boring lies either.

    I simply let Dr. Shouko do as she pleased as she rubbed her cheek against my shoulder while purring like a cat. Elma wrapped her left arm around my right and started drinking again.

    Please. Tell me the story. In detail.

    Wai- Mimi, thats my booze!?

    Thats a bit too strong, so try this instead.

    Thank you, Wiska-san.

    Mimi and Kugi, who were sitting on chairs a little further away from the rest, went over to Tina and Wiska, who were sitting across from each other at another table and moved them aside. They then sat down directly. Mimi, the booze Tina was drinking probably had really high alcohol content, so I believe drinking it in one go is no good. Its too dangerous. On the other hand, the smart Wiska did a good job in offering Kugi a drink with low alcohol content.

    It cant get any more detailed than this, but in short, she asked me if I wanted to be hers, and I wasted no time refusing her. Thats basically it.

    Oh, about your story, Hiro. How much did you tell her?

    His Imperial Majesty was already aware of the fact that I suddenly appeared without warning within the Termaine system, so I pretty much told her everything. I also told her about the matter regarding the Mother Crystal. She seemed really interested. Probably due to the idea that I had more critical information that remains undiscovered in this dimension.

    Oh, Hiro-kuns game knowledge, right? They seem to fluctuate between being reliable and unreliable, but sometimes, the info you know is absolutely incredible.

    What a harsh way to put it.

    I couldnt help but smile bitterly as I rested on a sofa inside the mess hall. Most of the info Ive checked out before wasbat-rted. I wasnt really interested in technology, economy, or artifacts, so I didnt have a lot of useful info regarding those topics. Ive had a fair amount of experience dealing with space monsters, so I had some information regarding them. I also had quite a bit of info regarding the various conflicts that erupted between the major space empires in the game, but those were practically useless in this dimension. Thats because those empires were nowhere to be found here.

    Next is Oh, I also told her that I married Mimi, and she got really shocked. I never mentioned it before huh? That matter. Or did I? It kinda feels like I mentioned it back when we were dealing with the mess in the capital though Err, probably not.

    Yeah, I probably failed to mention it back then. Even I found out about it muchter after all.

    Anyway, she got really shocked about it, but when I told her we werent really doing anything typical of married couples, and that our circumstances were a bit special, she pressed me about what exactly that meant. Now that Ive had the opportunity to process it, Im actually wondering about it myself.

    Weve already talked things through, so its okay, Hiro-sama.

    Right, right. Dont worry about it, Boss.

    My consideration was politely rejected with great momentum. Well, yeah. Instead of me reading too much into stuff, it would be better for the girls to talk it out among themselves ande to an understanding about how exactly theyd share me. Ill just leave that matter to you guys. Yeah.

    Ah What were we talking about again? Anyway, thats how it went with Captain Serena

    Just as I was about to conclude the conversation, my portable info terminal suddenly rang out. It indicated that I received a message from Captain Serena.

    It looks like the date for that partys been decided. Apparently, its gonna be held tomorrow.

    I do not think we have to force ourselves to attend though?

    Kugi tilted her head to the side in a curious manner. The timing certainly felt somewhat unnatural, but if they didnt hold it at this time, they wouldnt be able to catch us and Captain Serena standing by at the Creon supply depot. So, it wasnt as unnatural as Kugi implied.

    Id like to think that everythings gonna be fine, but were talking about a noble house that possibly has ties to space pirates after all. Its better to be cautious. The biggest concern is us being separated, so Ill have you on standby in the Lotus, Mei. Please be ready to make a move in case something happens.

    Yes, Master.

    Meis reply rang out from the speakers inside the mess hall. Now then, would something really happen? Or maybe its just a whole load of nothing. Lets just make sure not to let our guard down so we can respond to whatever happenster.

 Chapter 445: House Ixamalâ€™s Flagship

    Chapter 445: House Ixamal¡¯s gship

    I never thought the party would actually be held in there.

    The next day. These were the first words I blurted out when I brought Mimi, Elma, and Kugi to the party venue.

    I thought of bringing the mechanic sisters and Dr. Shouko with us as well. But, considering the worst-case scenario, I decided that having too many nonbatants would be a problem, so I asked them to stay on the Lotus instead. If its just Mimi and Kugi, Elma and I would probably be able to handle covering for them just fine, and Kugi also had a trump card-like self-defense method she normally doesnt use. Since Mimi was the only one among us who was practically a nonbatant, things would probably work out somehow even if something happened.

    Its really imposing

    It has a vintage feel to it.

    Mimi and Elma, who were looking up at the structure alongside me, each voiced their impressions. These were our honest impressions regarding the gigantic structure no, the battleship that was towering in front of us.

    I dont know its name, but it was an honest-to-goodness battleship. It looked a bit outdated in design, but its boxy aesthetic and rows ofrge-caliberser cannons were certainly impressive. It was probably about the same size orrger than the Restalias, so when looking at it from up close, you wouldnt be able to take in its full appearance.

    Kugi, your mouths still wide open.

    Hah!? I-Im sorry. I was simply too overwhelmed by the sight.

    Kugi, who was staring at the battleship alongside Mimi and Elma, turned red in the face as the corners of her mouth twitched. Well, I do get her though. It was a huge, angr, rugged-looking ship that really had the air of a battleship. Restalias, which was manufactured by Ideal, had a sharper and more streamlined design inparison.

    But, well there sure are a lot of people.

    They arent imperial marines. Theyre probably House Ixamals private soldiers. But, well, there really is a lot of them.

    The Restalias under Captain Serenasmand was also as big as this ship, but Ive never seen as many peopleing and going from it. It was certainly a big ship, but the manpower required to operate it wasnt that great. Thats what Tina and Wiska told me anyway.

    Is it not an ordinary ship?

    It looks pretty old, so maybe its a ship from the Mechanical Intelligence War era.

    So?

    Its a ship that took measures to reduce the number ofputer-controlled parts as much as possible in order to prevent an AI takeover. If this really is the case, then this ship is probably over a hundred years old. Maybe even older.

    Elma looked up at the ship with a suspicious gaze. Come to think of it, the nobles of the empire seemed to often take a step back when it came to AI. Or rather, its like they were trying to bear with something.

    Since they are a family led by an earl, they should be more than capable of buying thetest ship models, so why are they using such an old ship?

    I guess theyre wary of the AI. After all, they are able to get inside anywhere as long as its connected to thework.

    That does sound pretty scary.

    But it does make sense. Mei alone could easily handle controlling the ck Lotus, so the Mechanical Intelligence race should be able to hijack any Imperial Space Force ship easily if they wanted to. Of course, there should have been some sort of agreement with the empire in order to prevent such incidents from happening.

    Maybe they dont want anyone snooping in on their business?

    Dont say anything further, you.

    Aye aye, maam.

    Since Elma got angry, I decided to keep my mouth shut.

    House Ixamal was a noble family suspected of having ties with space pirates. Therefore, it would be inconvenient for Mechanical Intelligence to infiltrate their ship while they were in the middle of a deal. Isnt that why they insisted on using a ship from the AI War era even in this day and age? Well, those were my thoughts anyway.

    Even if they didnt go as far as taking control of the whole ship, it would still result in big trouble for House Ixamal if Mechanical Intelligence were to hack the surveince cameras and record evidence of their wrongdoings.

    Eh? Wasnt I being too suspicious of House Ixamal? Well, I think theres no doubt that theyre guilty because even the emperor got on their case and sent them all the way to the front lines. On top of that, he even sent Captain Serena, who spent her days killing pirates, along to apany them. Even if that werent the case, since they messed with Earl Dareinwald, or rather, Chris, theres no way I was gonna get along with them.

    Anyway, lets go inside first. I think the ramps over there.

    Yes!

    Yes, My Lord.

    Mimi replied cheerfully and followed after me along with Kugi who was walking just three steps behind me. We all headed to the ramp. Elma? Elma was walking alongside Kugi while keeping a sharp, or rather, doubtful eye on the surroundings.

    Im the mercenary Hiro. I received an invitation to attend today and decided to ept. Has the word been sent?

    As we approached the gangway, I called out to the soldier who was standing guard. Hmm. Hisbat armor seemed to be of good quality. That goes for hisser rifle as well. His other equipment also looked pretty expensive. It seemed that House Ixamal was pretty loaded.

    Please wait while I check Mm, your name is on the list. Are the ones behind you yourpanions? But why are there only three?

    Were currently on standby, right? Some of my crew members stayed behind so the ship would be able to move when required. Is there a problem?

    No, of course not. Please enter. A guide will be waiting for you inside.

    Got it. Good work. Lets go guys.

    After concluding my interaction with the sentry, we went up the gangway and stepped inside the ship. The moment we entered, I saw a scene that made me wonder if we were really inside of an antique battleship.

    Wow, its so pretty.

    The interior looks quite luxurious.

    The floor was lined with beautiful carpets. The ceiling was brightly lit, the walls were spotless, and there were people who appeared to be butlers and maids waiting on standby. What appeared before us was an exceedingly gorgeous interior that was isted from the imposing atmosphere outside the ship.

    Even though interior space is supposed to be a preciousmodity on starships they sure were pretty bold in using it.

    This was probably a hall to wee guests. Perhaps this was a block of the battleship designated exclusively for the Independent Fleet.

    Wee to House Ixamals gship, the Majestic. You are the mercenary Captain Hiro-sama andpany, correct?

    Yeah, thats right. This sure is an impressive ship.

    I responded to the dandy-looking butler who was walking toward us. He lightly bowed his head respectfully with a proud expression on his face.

    Thank you for thepliment. This ship is engraved with the glorious history of House Ixamal after all. Come this way, please. Captain Holz has already arrived as well.

    I see. I dont think we arrivedte, but its not good to keep people waiting. Please lead the way.

    In response to me, the butler gave a slight nod once again and started walking ahead to lead us.

    How is it?

    Nothing for now.

    I turned toward Kugi who had approached me and inquired. I was asking if there were any people who harbored malice or hostility toward us nearby.

    I was also trying to increase my sensitivity to such things, but I havent made any significant progress. If Kugi, who had better psionic sensing abilities than me, couldnt detect anything, then I suppose everythings fine for the time being. However, we still shouldnt let our guard down.

    I sure hope nothing really happens.

    Thats kind of asking for too much at this point, right?

    Dont you think its strange that something like thats considered asking for too much?

    Ahaha

    Mimi smiled bitterly when she witnessed the exchange between Elma and me. I suppose Mimi also agreed with Elmas words.

    However, there were lots of demerits to Earl Ixamal if he really made a move to capture all of us here, so normally, nothing should happen.

 Chapter 446: Men of House Ixamal

    Chapter 446: Men of House Ixamal

    The ce the middle-aged butler brought us to resembled a mansions dining hall with a calming atmosphere. A fairlyrge table with a pure white tableclothid on top was ced within a moderately sized room, and two men who appeared to be nobles, Captain Serena, and the female adjutant were already seated around it.

    Daybit-sama, I have brought the mercenary Hiro-dono and hispanions.

    Good work. Hiro-dono, please go ahead and take a seat. You lovelydies as well. Please.

    Of the two noblemen present, it was the middle-aged man who urged us to take our seats. Since there was no particr reason to refuse, we all went ahead and did as he asked.

    What truly lovelypany. I have been so busytely that I havent found the time to admire the flowers myself. Ah, no, no. Please do pardon me. I did not mean any disrespect, so please rest assured. Its just that all the recent happenings have made me quite anxious.

    As soon as we got seated, the middle-aged gentleman started making small talk with a refreshing smile stered on his face. Uh, I think that was a pretty rude statement, actually. I mean, he basically said they were a sight for sore eyes or something to that effect. However, the reason why I didnt feel too ufortable with it was perhaps due to the charismatic aura the man radiated.

    Ah, forgive my impoliteness. I have yet to introduce myself, no? I am Daybit. Daybit Ixamal. An earl and the current head of House Ixamal. And the one sitting next to me is

    Vincent Ixamal This guys son.

    The nobleman who called himself Vincent, who appeared to be the same age or just a bit younger than me, lightly shrugged. His eyes were quite sharp and he seemed to be someone you couldnt afford to underestimate.

    My, my To think youd address your father, the head of the house, so crassly. I wonder if hes simply undergoing a rebellious phase. Well, no matter. Hiro-dono, if you dont mind, could you introduce your lovelypanions as well?

    Okay. However, let me say this first. Dont expect me to behave too politely in the presence of nobles like you.

    That is fine. There is no need to be too formal in this ce.

    Much appreciated. Firstly, this girl is Mimi. Shes from the Termaine system and is my wife. She serves as my ships operator and our mercenary groups supply officer.

    I-I am his wife, Mimi.

    Mimi appeared extremely nervous, with her face bright red. She introduced herself with a faint voice and meekly bowed her head. Come to think of it, this might be the first time I introduced Mimi as my wife to others. Did I manage to sound natural?

    Next is Elma, a Siver rank mercenary. Shes also the daughter of the imperial capitals Viscount Willrose, as well as my partner. She acts as the advisor who supports the overall operations of our mercenary group, and the second-inmand.

    Much obliged.

    Unlike Mimi, Elma greeted the two House Ixamal members in a curt, business-like manner.

    And finally, this girl is Kugi. Due to various circumstances, she has be my attendant. She also provides psychological support to the rest of our mercenary groups members.

    I am called Kugi. Pleased to make your acquaintance.

    Kugi bowed gracefully as she introduced herself. Hmm. Each of them truly was quite different from one another, or rather, had pretty distinctive personalities. Mypanions, that is. I wonder how Tina, Wiska, and Dr. Shouko would introduce themselves if they were present. But I could already imagine how Meis self-introduction would go.

    A wife, partner, and attendant huh? I suppose this is to be expected of a hero who was given the Silver Wing and Gold Star while he was still alive. Considering that hes also a tinum ranker, whose ranks consist of quite the entrics, this much is still reasonable, and is within the realm of understanding.

    Vincent quipped while disying a sarcastic smile.

    I had no choice but to ept a reputation as a lewd guy who keeps lots of women by my side, but didnt he say something pretty curious as well?

    Are you familiar with other tinum rankers besides me?

    Just one. A weird fellow who onlymunicates with me through messages and never shows their face.

    It felt like I fought someone like that during that tournament in the capital a while back I already forgot that guys name though. Come to think of it, I havent done much research on other tinum rankers. Id never met them in the first ce, and I had no ns to meet them either.

    I see. Are the other tinum rankers really that entric?

    I dont think youre that far behind as far as entricity goes though Look, Id love to chat more, but isnt it about time to partake in some refreshments?

    Youre right, son. Make preparations.

    At Daybits behest, the maids and butlers who were standing by near the walls moved quickly and began bringing out what appeared to be an aperitif. A golden-colored liquid was poured from an expensive-looking bottle into a ss that seemed to be made of crystal.

    Im not that good with alcohol though

    Is that so? Well, its not that strong of an alcoholic drink, so if you arent allergic to it, then please apany us for at least one toast. Now then, what should we toast to? Lets see Though trite, let us toast to these new and wonderful encounters. Now then, to our new acquaintances.

    After saying so, Daybit raised his ss and drank the golden liquid. The rest of us, including myself, followed his lead, raised our sses, and downed the golden liquid. It was a refreshing drink with little bitterness. It had stronger aciditypared to sweetness and was quite easy to drink. However, I could definitely taste the alcohol. It felt like youd go down quickly if you downed this without a care just because it was easy to drink. Ugh. I felt like my face was already getting flushed.

    In any case, I offer sincere apologies, Captain. We recalled you and assigned you to this supply depot even though you were in the middle of an operation. However, considering the worst-case scenario, the reality is that we simply do not have enough reserve forces. Our current strength is more than enough to repel the Federation forces, and reinforcements from the main imperial forces will also be arriving in a few days, so I do not think there will be any problems.

    Its fine, Commander. I might have made the same choice if I were in your position, so please do not worry. I will simply do what is required of me as His Imperial Majestys sword.

    Im d that you think so.

    It seemed that Daybit was nning to talk with Captain Serena regarding Imperial Space Force matters. Judging from the fact that Daybit waspletely focused on her, I suppose that Vincent was our host instead.

    I took a look at the data, and I must say, yourbat results are pretty unique. And its also unusual that youre always focused on hunting space pirates. Do you have some sort of obsession regarding the subjugation of space pirates?

    Its not that Im obsessed with them or anything, but those guys are practically everywhere after all. If youre familiar with how to hunt them down, youd make good money. Also, you can take them down and loot them as much as you want without any burden on your conscience, and youd even receive universal praise. Arent they just the perfect prey?

    I see. Just for reference, may I ask just how much your earnings are?

    It varies depending on the hunting area, but its usually more than a million Enels a week. Now that weve increased the number of our ships, I believe wed be able to earn a bit more. We havent worked on our coordination much yet, you see.

    Hou? As expected, tinum rankers do earn a lot of money. Well, if youre going to surround yourself with that many women, I suppose you do have to be at least that reliable.

    Thats how it is. If theres a job offered by a big client, I usually focus on that, and I also take advantage of our motherships cargo capacity to engage in a little trading on the side. I cant exactly tell you about those big clients and the nature of the jobs I take on though.

    Vincent was listening to my story with great interest.

    Hm? I was a bit cautious of him, but now that Ive talked with him, he seemed no different from your typical nobleman. Was he that good at keeping up appearances, or was there actually no need to keep up appearances? As of now, I dont sense any feelings of hostility or malicious intent from him, but it would be bad if he was the type of guy who could harm others as easily as breathing without feeling anything in particr.

    Your ss is already empty.

    Yes, but

    You are not very keen on alcohol, correct? We do have other drinks avable besides alcohol. Food will also be brought out soon.

    Vincent signaled with his hand, and a maid brought us a drink. Judging from the color, I wonder if its some kind of fruit juice. It was so vividly pink that it kinda made me hesitate to drink it a bit.

    In any case, a toast to our new bond.

    Thanks.

    I think its a bond that would be severed pretty quickly though. No matter how friendly they acted here, I wont ever forget how they tried toy their hands on Chris. No way.

 Chapter 447: Sudden Change

    Chapter 447: Sudden Change

    First, let me offer an excuse. Its not that I wasnt being cautious, but I didnt think theyd actually resort to spiking the food and drinks. Captain Serena was eating and drinking normally, and even Kugi didnt have any particr reaction. Even Elma was drinking booze like usual, and Mimi was consuming the meals with relish.

    I also didnt feel any malice or hostility. I admittedly did let my guard down, but the two nobledies in our group kept insisting that betrayal wasnt possible. So, cant you guys consider the extenuating circumstances into ount and go easy on me a bit?

    Well, in any case, I did mess up. I had no choice but to recognize that.

    Mimi was the first to fall prostrate on the dining table with a thud.

    ? Kh!? Dont tell me!?

    But why? Theres absolutely no merit in doing this?

    Captain Serena, who quickly realized what was going on, tried to get up from her seat, but ultimately couldnt. Elma looked like she was about to faint at any moment. Even I was feeling utterly drowsy and was so close to falling asleep. The substance they spiked our meals with seemed like it wasnt a type of fatal poison but a sleeping drug of some kind instead. This was the worst.

    I turned toward Kugi, and even though she looked like she was about to fall asleep at any moment as well, she still matched my gaze.

    Please put your heart at ease.

    She pleaded to me telepathically. I see. Stay calm huh? I understood what she was getting at. These bastards from House Ixamal probably had no idea. Im actually much more dangerous of a bomb than one with a reactive warhead.

    Oi

    What?

    Vincent turned his head toward me and responded with an emotionless voice. I dont like those eyes. It didnt feel like he was looking at people, but at objects instead. Perhaps I looked at space pirates with such eyes as well.

    Just some friendly advice You better not even think of messing with those girls.

    Hm? Why?

    Because if you do, Im gonna destroy you all

    Destroy? Such grandiose words. Youre just a loser whos about to faint at any moment due to the drug.

    I already warned you, okay? Listen up. Nevery a finger on them, or else

    And then, I finally lost consciousness.

    What did I mean by being a highly dangerous bomb that would destroy them all? Well, the storys a bitplicated. Err, okay. Maybe its not thatplicated after all.

    In other words, ording to Kugi, Im a visitor from another dimension, and I house an incredibly huge amount of psionic power within me. What if that vast psionic power goes out of control and gets released? In the worst-case scenario, that power could punch a hole in the fabric of this universe, and could even cause it to rupture and explode.

    Or perhaps, it might unleash power equivalent to a star going supernova, resulting in a catastrophic explosion that might lead to the creation of a massive ck hole. In any case, ording to Kugi, a single star system beingpletely annihted was already the least destructive oue.

    So, when would such a situation ur, you ask? The Holy Vuelzarus Empire, which had repeated contact with Visitors like me, had been researching the matter. Simply put, it urs whenever a Visitor is angered, filled with hate, and eventually falls into despair. It could also ur if the Visitor suffers from extreme psychological damage or dies physically. In most cases, its these scenarios that would trigger that catastrophic oue.

    That was the worst way to wake up.

    I woke up from a dream about the crazy stuff Kugi told me about during my psionic ability training sessions.

    When I came to, I found myself bound to a chair that was fixed to the floor. My body was tied to the chair with something that resembled strong ropes. Both of my arms were also secured to the elbow rests with stuff that looked like handcuffs. I could still move my head and neck freely, but I couldnt move the rest of my body at all.

    I scanned the room I was confined in, and the interior was surprisingly decent. The floor was carpeted, and a low table and sofa were set up in front of me. It appeared to be a drawing room or something of the sort.

    As I was checking the room out, the door opened, and Vincent came in along with two soldiers. He came in just as soon as I woke up. Were they monitoring my vitals? Well, I suppose that didnt matter.

    How does it feel after waking up to this, huh?

    I looked directly at Vincent who was spouting boring drivel and lifted a corner of my mouth for him to see.

    Its the worst. Is spiking the drink of a guest and then tying them onto a chair the current in thing among nobles? You guys sure have some pretty weird hobbies.

    I responded sarcastically while sharpening my focus. I thengrabbedthe chairs armrests telekically and began twisting them off. I didnt forget to mask the sound by moving my arms and making the handcuffs ng around.

    Its impressive that youre still able to put up a show of bravado even in this situation. Your life as well as the lives of your women are at myplete disposal. Therefore, please choose your words carefully.

    You drugged me, tied me to a chair, took hostages, and are now dering victory? You really think youre so cool, huh?

    Vincents eyebrows twitched after hearing my provocation. It seemed like I hit a nerve.

    Do you not understand that Im telling you to keep your mouth shut? With just one order from me, I can make your women meet fates that are worse than death you know?

    Ooh, how scary. So? What are you trying to pull by using that card on me? You want me to suck you off or something? Huh!?

    I made a loud ruckus to hide the sound of the metal armrestsing off, then set my sights on the hilt of the sword hanging at the side of Vincents waist. My telekicright handstretched out to grab his sword, while I erged myleft handand clenched it into a fist. I was already concentrating hard, but this sure was taking a lot of time.

    Youre a mercenary, correct? Cooperate with us. We will pay you, and if you do a good job, well return your women safely.

    Are you an idiot? Do you think Id agree to do your bidding after you drugged me, detained me, and threatened me with the fact that youre holding my women hostage?

    You will obey. You simply cant abandon your women, right? Thats just the kind of man you are.

    You bastard Im gonna blow your pretty face right off.

    What are you Gah!?

    While pulling the hilt of the sword with my telekic right hand, I used my erged telekic left fist to punch Vincent and the two soldiers away. All three of them ate a blow from the giant invisible fist and crashed onto a wall, then groaned in pain. No matter what level of physical enhancements these imperial nobles have undergone, they wouldnt be able to avoid surprise attacks performed using psionic powers as long as they didnt have psionic abilities themselves.

    I used Vincents sword to cut through the ropes binding the rest of my body, and the moment I got free, I held my breath and entered bullet time.

    !?

    I quickly cut off the right arm of the stunned and bloody-nosed Vincent. I also severed the arms of the two soldiers in the same manner.

    As soon as I exhaled and exited bullet time, the agonized wails of Vincent and his two cronies echoed throughout the room.

    Guh!? W-What the! How!?

    Beats me.

    I shed off both handcuffs from my arms using Vincents sword, then searched the soldiers and looted their equipment and supplies such as emergency nanomachines,ser guns, andser rifles.

    The tables have turned. Now, tell me where Mimi and the others are being held. You want this back, right?

    I taunted Vincent and showed him the emergency nanomachine injector. These guys all had one of their arms cut off. They were pressing upon their respective arm stumps with their remaining left arms, but that wouldnt bring them any sort of relief. No matter what level of physical enhancements they underwent, they were still ultimately humans. And if they lost arge enough amount of blood, even the high and mighty nobles would perish. In other words, as long as they didnt administer emergency nanomachines in time to stop the bleeding, they would most certainly die.

    Y-You bastard Do you believe you can get away with something like this!?

    Not sure. But I have no intention of showing any mercy to anyone who threatens the lives of me and my crew. I mean, if ites down to it, I can always appeal to His Imperial Majesty the Emperor or Her Imperial Highness the Princess. I also have the option of asking help from Captain Serena or House Dareinwald. And I can also simply run away from the empire if I feel like it.

    As I responded, I stood at the ready while wielding Vincents sword. After all, even if hes lost an arm, he was still a nobleman. Theres a chance hed suddenlye at me with incredible speed and fight back or something.

    Theres no use buying time. Choose. Either fess up now or die.

    Fuh Hehe. Theres no way a mere mercenary like you would kill a noble like

    Uh, no? I definitely can, yknow?

    After saying so, I unhesitatingly decapitated Vincent. Vincents head, whose eyes had widened in shock after hearing my words, spun in midair. Since he didnt want to talk, then killing a noble like him who posed the most danger was only natural. Thats justmon sense. Eh? Itll bring me troubleter? Its gonna get even messier if I end up killing House Ixamals head of house as well? I dont care. If pushes to shove, we could always just leave the empire entirely.

    Now then, which one of you is willing to talk? Its firste, first served.

    I flicked Vincents sword to the side to shake the blood off of the de and called the attention of the two soldiers who were looking up wide-eyed at me in shock and disbelief.

    Oi, oi. Dont just stare at me in shock like that. If you dont talk quickly, my hands gonna slip. I might be acting like this, but Im actually really pissed right now.

    I felt the corners of my mouth subconsciously curl up. My head was all messed up. It seemed that all the furnishings inside the room were trembling faintly. Perhaps my psionic powers have started running out of control already.

    Tell me everything you guys know. I wont kill you if you do. If you insist on keeping your mouths shut, Im gonna send you guys after your master straight away.

    I pointed the sword at the two trembling soldiers who were holding their wounds in pain and gave an ultimatum.

 Chapter 448: Leaving Behind Piles of Corpses and Rivers of Blood in My Wake

    Chapter 448: Leaving Behind Piles of Corpses and Rivers of Blood in My Wake

    Using telepathy, I knocked out the two soldiers who scrambled to divulge the info I wanted, stole the rest of their equipment, and headed out to rescue Mimi and the others.

    Eh? How could I use telepathy to make them fall unconscious? Its simply because my psionic powers were too strong. I touched their heads directly, then sent the mentalmandSleep!directly into their minds at maximum power, allowing me to rob them of their consciousness in one go.

    I was told to be careful in its usage because if used on a normal person, it could leave them withsting aftereffects, or worse, could lead directly to death. However, I didnt care one bit about that in this situation. Apparently, Id be able to perform the technique more precisely and efficiently if my telepathy skills were on Kugis level, but since Ive just barely learned how to use my psionic powers, this was the current limit for me.

    But this sure is an excessivelyrge ship. Dammit. I could really use a gadget with a map disy function right now

    In a situation like this, it wasnt ideal to have one hand preupied with holding a portable info terminal, and in the first ce, I wasnt sure when my breakout would get discovered and when theyd send soldiers after me in response. Maybe I should consider introducing the concept of a wearable simr to a Sa*yan scouter or something.

    I mulled over that stuff as I followed the info those soldiers gave me and headed toward the room where Mimi and the others were being held captive. However, before long, I finally ran into other soldiers.

    You Stop! What are you doing here?

    Ive epted Vincents proposal. Im now on my way to confirm the safety of mypanions. Look. He let me borrow his sword as a sign of trust.

    After saying so, I showed Vincents sword to the soldier who had approached. The soldier who came near turned his attention to the swords hilt, and the other soldier readied himself so hed be able to fire hisser rifle at a moments notice. He hadnt exactly pointed his rifle toward me yet, but it wouldnt be strange if he suddenly did.

    Wait here. I need to get confirmation first.

    Thats gonna be troublesome.

    Huh?

    I quickly held my breath and cut the two soldiers down with a surprise attack.

    The two soldiers, with their torsos separated from the rest of their bodies, fell dead on the ships hallway; their looks of disbelief still frozen on their faces. My feet were smeared with the color of blood and scattered internal organs.

    Guess I have no choice.

    Its difficult to directly get in contact with the heads of soldiers on high alert, and I wouldnt have the time to safely focus in order to use telepathy in the first ce. Since thats the case, I had no choice but to cut everyone Id encounter down.

    I already had Vincents blood in my hands anyway, and its clear that House Ixamal was hostile to me and Captain Serena. Since things hade to this, I would just have to push through with violence. This was the worst. If I were to get hit with aser rifle shot at lethal intensity, Id probably die instantly.

    To think Id have to fight without the protection of power armor, or evenbat armor Oh well.

    I swung my sword at a nearby wall and cut sections of it down for use as makeshift shields.

    Laser weapons had high destructive strength, but they didnt have much prating power due to their reliance on vaporizing and exploding the surfaces of their targets in order to cause damage. The walls of the passages within battleships were supposed to be made with pretty sturdyposite materials, and a portion should be enough to block one full-powerser weapon shot at the very least. And if it breaks, Id just cut another portion off again. The interior of House Ixamals gship would be in tatters as a result, but theres no need to care anyway.

    I held the two makeshift shields using my telekic hands, and I rushed toward the target room once more.

    Uwaah!? What the heck is that!?

    Halt!

    I refuse!

    I sent a wall shield toward a soldier I encountered at a corner, and the moment he was stunned by the blow, I quickly cut him down. Some of them may just be following orders, but as long as they stood in my way, they were enemies. And enemies should be cut down.

    The more shy and violent I got, the more Id be able to divert their attention from Mimi and the others. Perhaps by doing this, Id be able to give them the opportunity to escape on their own. Mimi aside, Elma was also a skilledbatant. In fact, she was stronger than me in hand-to-handbat. Shes also rather adept at using weapons likeser guns. Kugi was also a powerful psionic power user. Therefore, they were more than capable of pulling such a thing off.

    Whats going on here!?

    We have casualties! Code 03! Code 03! Code 03 has urred in Sector 2-B! Requesting support!

    More soldiers heard themotion and gathered up. Ive learned a couple things when engaging in CQCbat in SOL, but in particr, theres a rule-of-thumb when in a one-to-many fight.

    Uwaah!? Hes charging at us!?

    Push him ba Gaah!?

    Simply put, one shouldnt stay put and engage the enemies in a head-on firefight. Youd just be overwhelmed by the difference in firepower eventually. Instead, close the distance as much as your shield and armor would allow you to, use the bodies of your enemies as shields against the attacks of their allies, narrow down your targets, make the enemies wary of friendly fire, and do all that you could to reduce their attack frequency.

    Keeping these in mind, I pushed my shields forward and charged toward the soldiers, then took advantage of their panic and confusion to fire theser gun in my left hand and shed away with the sword held by my right. Naturally, the enemy soldiers who stood far enough away fired at me with theirser rifles, but I blocked the shots using makeshift wall shields and the corpses of theirrades that were held up with my telekic limbs.

    H-Hiii!? T-The corpses are!?

    Hes manipting the dead!?

    If dont want to end up like them, throw your weapons away and stand down! I wont cut you down if you do!

    Using corpse shields appeared pretty sinister and evil, but I didnt have the leeway to cut another portion of the walls.

    U-Understood! Ill throw my weapons down! Ill throw them now!

    You fool! The earl will kill you!

    As if I care! I dont want to be turned into a corpse and end up like that!

    Some soldiers obediently threw theirser guns and rifles down on the floor and surrendered. However, there were still some who resisted, so I threw corpses at them to stop them from moving and promptly cut them down. I didnt forget to cut the guns and rifles on the ground to pieces as well. I couldnt let myself get shot in the back after all.

    You evil creature! I will cut you down to size!

    Hey, a wild noble soldier finally appeared.

    A noble soldier burst out from around the corner, slipped through the corpse shields, and rapidly closed in on me. His raised sword reflected the light, making it shine brilliantly.

    Youre mi Huh!?

    Nice try, bud.

    The noble soldier was aghast due to his sword being unable to budge an inch from its raised state. I brandished my own sword and bisected the now-defenseless noble soldiers stomach horizontally with Vincents sword.

    A nobles sword certainly was capable of cutting through not only power armor but even a battleships hull, but it simply couldnt cut the invisible and incorporeal power I was wielding. Its a principle simr to it being unable to cut an energy shield.

    I let go of the corpse shields and caught the de of the nobles sword with my telekic hands. No matter what level of enhancements he received, it was impossible for the noble soldier to swing the sword in his grasp.

    I-Impossible

    Ill be taking that sword, man.

    I ripped his sword away from the noble soldier, who was now only left with the upper half of his body. I then used Vincents sword to decapitate and finish him off. The nobles sword was a bit heavy for a left-handed sword, but its appearance wasnt tacky. With this, Ive returned to my usual swordsmanship style.

    Oraa! If theres anyone else who has a death wish, thene at me!

    I cut the walls with both swords and provoked the remaining enemy soldiers while replenishing my makeshift shields. Now that itse to this, lets just go wild, shall we? Ill leave a mountain of corpses behind if you dont release my crew.

    Hmm This is even more than what I was told. How vexing.

    While watching the live feed showing Hiros rampage as he kept cutting down members of House Ixamals private force with the two swords that he stole, the rebel Daybit Ixamal disyed a positively vexed expression, just as his words indicated.

    I have heard that he was rather strong even when hes away from his ship, but to think its to this degree

    Another holo-disy was showing footage of the Independent Mobile Anti-Pirate Fleets marines and House Ixamals private soldiers tensely ring at one another, and yet another showed a maidroid and military-gradebat bots sessfully breaching the Majestics hatch and fighting with the guards within.

    It looks like you are the only one who is totally helpless, daughter of House Holz.

    Earl Daybit Ixamal no, the traitor Daybit looked at me with a sarcasm-filled gaze as he taunted me, but I decidedly ignored him. Any response from me would only serve to fuel this traitors amusement.

    Its true that Ive currently been renderedpletely helpless. My hands were bound by chains that were hanging from the ceiling, and my toes were barely touching the floor. However, the way this rebel put it really made my blood seethe in anger.

    I should have killed that man without any unnecessary ttery. It would be better to gather the hostages here Gonzales, respond. Bring those women to me. James, do not care about the damage to the ship. Finish that man off. At the very least, stall him as long as you can. Let those bothersome bots eat an EMP. I shall allow its use.

    After seemingly hearing the positive responses of his subordinates, Daybit nodded in satisfaction and turned toward me once more. Then, he turned his attention to the table ced right next to me.

    Hmm. The efficacy of the drugs administered has been quite poor. Perhaps its due to the military-grade foreign body purging imnt. Its difficult to adjust the dosage. Should I try the worm? Or perhaps something else

    Daybit muttered to himself as he gazed at the unknown thing that was writhing disgustingly inside a small capsule. Hes been constantly injecting suspicious drugs into me for a good while I do not know what exactly he hoped to achieve by doing so, but it was utterly repulsive. I was feeling nauseous. But not due to physical factors but a mental one instead.

    Theres a risk of physically destroying the recipients brain with this thing Thats too much of a hassle, and being easily detectable by scans is also a negative. Perhaps I should just increase the Marites dosage until the foreign body purging imnts capacity gets overloaded? But that method also carries an inherent risk

    Your Excellency, we have brought the female hostages.

    While Daybit was stuck fretting about something, a voice that appeared to belong to one of his subordinates rang out. Since he mentioned female hostages, it was probably Hiros crew members. This is bad. Those girls do not have a foreign body purging imnt, unlike me. Hence, they were probably incapable of resisting the effects of Daybits suspicious drugs.

    Good work. Enter

    The moment the door opened, Daybits body suddenly straightened out, then he copsed to the floor face up. His body trembled intermittently, the whites of his eyes were showing, and he was frothing at the mouth while remaining copsed. Just what had happened?

    Uwah Earl Ixamals looking real bad.

    Is he really okay?

    I did overdo it a little, but there is no threat to his life.

    Hiros crew members entered the room from behind a big-bodied officer and checked out the fainted rebel without a trace of panic on their faces. The officer in question also looked at his fallen superior without any reaction whatsoever. Now that Ive gotten a better look at him, it appeared that his eyes were out of focus Was he being controlled in some way?

    Oh my. Thats quite the look you have there. How are you feeling?

    The worst. Could you please release me already?

    Ill free you right away!

    I will turn this man into my puppet as well.

    I had no idea how they pulled it off, but it seemed that they overcame the crisis on their own. When the priestess from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire  I believe her name was Kugi?  ced her hand on top of the fallen rebels forehead, he began to convulse even more violently Was he really going to be fine?

    If youre going to control that man, then please hurry. Hiro is going to die at this rate.

    While ncing sideways at Mimi-san who was trying her best to search for a way to lower the chains in order to free me, I pointed my chin toward the holo-disy showing Hiro struggling desperately despite being subjected to intense attacks.

    Uwah, thats really bad. Kugi, hurry up.

    Just a bit more. Hes more stubborn than I first thought.

    While saying so, Kugi-san gazed down upon the convulsing rebel with cruel-looking, ice-cold eyes. The psionic powers of those from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire truly werent something to be underestimated To think she would be able to knock an imperial noble out without even giving him the chance to fight back, and then proceed to turn him into controlled a puppet. As an imperial noble and military officer, its not something I would usually condone, but given the circumstances, I had no choice but to acquiesce to her methods.

    Oh, is it this console? Like this?

    Ow! Oow! Thats raising me instead! The other way around please!

    I-Im sorry!

    Why did she end up raising me even further? Though I am thankful for the rescue.

 Chapter 449: Overflowing Power!

    Chapter 449: Overflowing Power!

    Gyaaaaaah!?

    Fred!? Guaah!?

    The moment the flow of time returned to normal, agonized screams echoed throughout the battleships metallic passageways as blood sshed onto them, staining their once-pristine white walls crimson.

    Is that even a humans movements!?

    Even nobles arent able to go that fa This is bad! Hes heading here!?

    Fire! Fire!

    I hid behind a barricade that was put up by Earl Ixamals private soldiers in order to catch my breath. After resting a bit, I held my breath again and jumped out. I made use of the makeshift shields I got from cutting up parts of the walls as well as fallen corpses in order to block the soldiers firing lines. I used my swords to defend the areas I couldnt cover as I advanced toward the enemy soldiers.

    Hostility and killing intent pierced my skin, but the emotion of fear also wafted over. The ships halls were awash with abined tapestry of hope and fear, creating a strange dissonance. It felt like my psionic powers have be even stronger due to being immersed in the heat of battle, making my ability to perceive the emotions of others even more acute.

    !?

    !!!?

    When time slowed to a crawl once more, the voices of the soldiers stopped reaching my ears. However, their various emotions permeated the halls and reached the depths of my heart. Anger, sadness, pain, fear. These various emotions managed to reach me faster than the soldiers own cries even as time slowed down.

    I continued to block the deadlyser shots fired by their weapons using the corpses and makeshift shields until they got damaged beyond hope and exploded. However, I moved faster than the resulting explosions and cut the soldiers down with the swords I held in each hand.

    I shed their weapons and their limbs. At times, I went for the head or neck. If they were hiding behind barricades, I cut both them and the barricades in two.

    No, hold on?

    Then, an idea went through my head as I hid behind cover once more.

    Was there any point in limiting myself to only two swords? No, I didnt even have to do it with my own hands, didnt I? It wasnt necessary to cut them down directly, right? After all, since I could already punch them away, it should be possible for me to crush them now too.

    Yeah. Aint that pretty easy?

    W-What!?

    The barricades are!? Geh!?

    H-Hiiiii!? Gyaaaaah!?

    A torrent of telekic power enveloped and grasped all the objects in the hallways, turning them into messy stream of rubble, barricades, optical weapons, and corpses. The stream ran over everything in its path, crushing them with sheer weight and momentum.

    The hallways are no good! Evacuate to the room entrances and Argh!? Gaaah!?

    Ah, my head is S-Stop

    I telekically grabbed the heads and necks of the soldiers who were trying to attack me from behind cover, strangled them, and crushed them to death afterward. There was no need to swing my swords anymore. There wasnt a need forser weapons either.

    M-Monster!

    This is hopeless! Retreat! Retreat!

    I watched as the private soldiers threw their weapons away and fled. I wasnt some sort of murderous demon whod kill everything in my path; even those who have already escaped. Right. A demon

    Damn.

    I couldnt help but mutter under my breath as I looked at the sorry state of the hallway, where no one was left alive except for me. Somehow, I had managed to calm down enough to realize that Id obviously gone too far. It was an absolute massacre. Well, since they were pointing their weapons at me, I couldnt really afford to hold back. However, there was still a line that I shouldnt have crossed.

    Or rather, I had finally managed to gain new ways of using my psionic powers, but for some reason, I dont think Id be able to use them anymore. I remembered the methods and understood the mechanics, but I just wont be able to do it. What the heck was this feeling? It certainly doesnt feel very good.

    However, this was no time to be in a daze. I need meet with Mimi and the others as soon as possible.

    My Lord.

    When I was about to head out again, I received a telepathic message from Kugi. All my equipment, including my portable terminal, was confiscated by the enemy, so having a way to exchange messages like this was a lifesaver.

    I hear you. Im d youre able to get in touch like this. Are you guys safe?

    Yes, My Lord. I could not afford to let my guard down earlier and had to focus on protecting myself, so I was unable to reach out to you. We are finally safe, so I am able to get in touch with you like this without any trouble.

    Got it. Where are you guys?

    I shall guide you. The soldiers should no longer try to attack you, but be careful nheless.

    I replied with a roger and started moving along the hallways under Kugis guidance. I didnt encounter any more of Earl Ixamals soldiers along the way. Maybe theyve hidden themselves somewhere or were regrouping. Anyway, just how did she do this? Even though Kugi was a fairly powerful telepath, she shouldnt be able to make her abilities affect the entire battleship. The Majestic, was it? Anyway, it was far too huge, even for Kugi.

    After walking for a good while, I reached a room that was pretty far in. When I entered, the first thing I saw was David Ixamal, who was bound to a chair and had a nk expression on his face. Apparently, my crew members efforts led to his capture. Did his private soldiers stop fighting because their leader got captured?

    There was also another guy, who appeared to be a burlymanding officer, that was tied up and left lying on the floor.

    Im d youre safe, but you look terrible.

    The first one to call out to me was Elma. However, she was disying a somber expression. After she pointed it out, I checked my appearance and found that there was a lot of blood on my clothes and, overall, I looked pretty messed up. I was practically covered in blood. Its not my blood though.

    I was desperate When I came to, I found myself tied to a chair, then was told that you guys were also captured and were being held at another location.

    I let out a heavy sigh, stabbed the swords in my hands to the floor, then plopped down on a nearby sofa. The floor of the room got damaged, and the sofa got stained in blood as well, but I didnt care one bit.

    So, whats the situation?

    When I asked for an exnation, Captain Serena, who was sitting on a different sofa, began speaking in response.

    It seems that Earl Ixamal was truly nning to defect to the Vereverem Federation. He was also nning to hand over all the areas from this point to the gateway, the star system forces engaging the Federation, as well as the two of us as souvenirs.

    He really was raring to stage a betrayal huh? So? Is it really okay for us to simply dawdle here?

    Its no good at all, of course. But I currently cant move even if I wanted to. It appears that my foreign body purging imnt has overloaded due to being repeatedly driven to its operational limit, and if I moved recklessly, theres a chance that the drugs injected to me by that man might take effect.

    Captain Serena replied while giving Daybit a disgusted look.

    You actually had something like that but still ended up passing out?

    Now look here. The imnt isnt an all-powerful panacea. If the administered drugs were to reach an amount that exceeds its tolerance level, those drugs would still work on me like normal. I regrly deal with space pirates, so thats why I have special means to protect myself against unknown drugs to some extent. But that isnt the case for regr soldiers or nobles, okay? Anyway, we have asked the imperial marines of the Independent Mobile Anti-Pirate Fleet to suppress and take full control of this ship. Your maidroid is also

    Master.

    As Captain Serena was about to mention her name, Mei appeared and entered the room. Captain Serena saw her and shrugged.

    I apologize for the dy in our rescue effort.

    Its fine. Im just d that youre here. What are you carrying?

    These are Master and the others weapons and equipment. I have also recovered the captains sword.

    Thank you.

    When Captain Serena saw Mei take out a familiar sword from the bundle she was carrying, she breathed a sigh of relief and quickly thanked Mei. As expected, a noble daughter like her really does ce a lot of importance on her personal sword. I also felt a bit relieved when my own swords were returned to me. I suppose Ill take the swords I swiped earlier as well. Loot is loot after all.

    So, um this guy was nning on switching sides, right? Is it toote if we make a move now?

    We havent managed to get in touch with the relevant parties yet. Weve yet to take control of this ships bridge, nor have we upied themand center of this base. Its unclear just how far this mans influence has managed to reach, and we also havent heard any informationing from the front lines.

    In other words, werepletely in the dark?

    As far as the situation goes. However, we did manage to find out the full details of this mans n. Your lovely yet terrifying crew member managed to get him to talk about everything.

    Captain Serena turned her gaze toward Kugi. Kugi merely smiled in return as the fox ears on her head twitched adorably.

    As I said earlier, it seems that they were nning to defect to the Vereverem Federation by handing us as well as swathes of imperial territory as gifts. They sabotaged the nearest gateway to prevent imperial reinforcements froming to the front lines and were nning to send their own private force to help the Vereverem Federation forces in defeating the imperial forces already stationed on the front lines. They would then give effective control of the nearby star systems with gateways to the Federation.

    Thats quite the grand n The territorys one thing, but why are you and me included as souvenirs as well?

    We destroyed the Federations fleet in the Termaine system incident, right? We are, in fact, quite hated by the Federation militarys higher-ups. Its mainly because a certain someone used a forbidden Singing Crystal to conduct a truly deplorable tactic.

    I dont know what youre talking about. I mean, someone on board the Vereverem Federations gship at the time was the one who smuggled a Singing Crystal. We were also attacked by the crystal lifeforms, right? That means were the victims.

    Well, the Empire did make such a im and feigned ignorance about the appearance of the crystal lifeforms during that incident. Anyway, our heads are actually worth quite the sum over there.

    The Federation often criticizes the Empires feudal society, calling it outdated. But its not like their own social structure is particrly praiseworthy either. They are too obsessed with money and profit. Or rather, their ethical standards are actually pretty low.

    Ive heard that rich people over there can do whatever they want. Im not sure how much of it is true though.

    Elma and Mimi, who were listening in on my and Captain Serenas exchange, talked about how the Vereverem Federation criticized the Gran Empire under the banner of democracy and free economy but had many suspicious points about their own countrys situation. Was it some sort of dystopian super-capitalist society where money was everything?

    The situation still isnt fully under our control, but we cant just stay here indefinitely Lets head out and take control of the basesmand center.

    With your bodys current condition? Are you gonna be okay?

    The series of actions taken by Earl Ixamal are clearly acts of rebellion against His Imperial Majesty, so he no longer has the right to continue serving as the defensemander. Therefore, I have to swiftly take overmand and bring the situation under control. I have to do it, even if it seems impossible.

    Captain Serena dered so as she used her sword as a cane while attempting to get up from the sofa.

    Shes our valued client so I suppose it cant be helped. I better apany her.

 Chapter 450: Aftermath

    Chapter 450: Aftermath

    Captain Serena took full advantage of the fact that Daybit was already under our custody and proceeded to take control of the Imperial Space Force Creon Star System Supply Depot. Man, that names such a mouthful.

    To quote:

    Earl Daybit Ixamal tried to hatch a nefarious plot to rebel against His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, and as part of that plot, he had captured and imprisoned me through despicable means. However, I was able to foil his ns in the end. The rebel has already been taken into custody, and we have obtained both physical evidence of his treachery and his personal admission of guilt. Thus, there is no point in remaining loyal to the traitor Daybit. Surrender, and prove your loyalty to His Imperial Majesty.

    Captain Serena, who had taken control of House Ixamals gship the Majestics bridge, addressed the entire supply depot with a speech despite her current poor health. As a result, many of the soldiers at the supply depot, including a good number of the remaining members of House Ixamals private force, fell under her.

    Of course, there were still some who refused to obey. Those soldiers were now in the middle of being suppressed by the Marines under Captain Serena.

    Haa Though in hindsight, you killing Vincent off wasnt entirely a good thing. Potential heirs to the earlship still remain. However Ugh. None of them are present in this base. It is rather difficult to unite soldiers who have lost their leader Uuh.

    Captain Serena returned to the bridge of Restalias and plopped down on the captains seat while asionally groaning in pain or rather, annoyance as she analyzed our current situation.

    You really arent looking so good.

    Haa Honestly, its quite tough. Just what did that man inject into me? I need to undergo a medical check, or else Ugh.

    She was still capable of responding, but herplexion was quite pale, appeared like she had a fever, and was sweating profusely. It also seemed like her body was constantly trembling. No matter how you looked at it, the drug that was used on her seemed like bad news. However, it was probably non-lethal, at least. If Daybit had intended to kill her, he would have done so with a sword instead of such a roundabout method.

    By the way, how long will Daybits condition stay like this?

    Daybit was lying on the floor of the Restalias bridge, with his body firmly bound by the same special restraints he used to secure us before, and was staring nkly at empty space with an expression of ecstasy on his face. Captain Serena ordered her marines to move him here.

    I believe it will notst another hour if we leave him alone.

    Well then, let us have him tell us everything he knows. Would you please help with that?

    Kugi, who was asked by Captain Serena to cooperate, turned toward me for confirmation, so I nodded in response.

    Yes, dly.

    Haa Thank you. Emma.

    Yes, Captain. Please follow me, Kugi-san.

    Captain Serenas female adjutant epted her order and, along with some marines, brought Daybit away and exited the bridge with Kugi. She was also incapacitated and imprisoned within the Majestic. But she was freed by the marines of the Independent Mobile Anti-Pirate Fleet when they went in and took control of the Majestics bridge.

    Haa Well then I have several things that I want to ask

    No, you really need to rest first. No matter how you slice it, your condition aint normal. Ill tell you everything you wanna know when we have timeter.

    Is that a promise?

    Yeah, yeah, its a promise. Is the medical facility on your ship good enough? What about the ship doctor? Ours has both first-ss equipment and a first-ss doctor yknow?

    Dont worry about that My crew members are also quite excellent

    After saying so, Captain Serena called some of her crew members over, and two of them supported her as they apanied her to the ships medical bay.

    Now then We cant exactly go back right now. Kugi was still helping out with Daybits interrogation after all. It cant be helped. I suppose Ill just wait here.

    Jiii

    As soon as fewer people were inside the bridge, Mimi and Elma started staring at me hard. Mei returned to the ck Lotus first along with thebat bots, so the only ones left inside the Restalias bridge were me, Mimi, Elma, and a few bridge personnel.

    Youve really pushed yourself this time, havent you?

    I was desperate.

    That was the simple truth. I was afraid that I wouldnt be able to get Mimi and the others back after all, so I couldnt afford to hold back at all. Looking back at what happened, I couldnt help but think that I could have done better at fully utilizing my psionic powers, but thats only in hindsight.

    It looks like you didnt get hurt, so thats good. But How should I put it? You were like those dark, brooding anti-heroes inics.

    Please dont describe it like that.

    I pleaded to Mimi, folded my arms in front of my chest, and looked up to the ceiling. This time, I used my psionic power to create telekic hands, then went on a wild rampage. I also used my ability to enter bullet time liberally, as well as used swords to kill a considerable number of soldiers. Finally, possibly due to being mired in bloodlust, I was able to discover new methods of using my telekinesis. At this point, I seemed more like a S*th lord instead of a J*di knight. Maybe Id even be capable of shooting electricity from my hands one day.

    So, are you really okay? Kugi said you were in a pretty dangerous state.

    I dont know what exactly she meant by dangerous, but I think Im in a pretty normal state right now. But I dont have the confidence to im that I was even close to normal when I was engrossed in swinging swords and creating a sea of blood. After all, that was pretty different from piloting Krishna and turning pirates into space debris.

    Now that Ive had time to look back at what happened, I really dont think I was acting normally back then. Once things have settled down, maybe it would be good for me to engage in some Zen meditation to soothe my mind.

    Come to think of it, I did kill a lot of soldiers Will I get arrested?

    Umm Will you?

    Mimi looked at Elma with a worried expression. Elma, who received both my and Mimis worried gazes, made a rather bitter expression.

    I think theres room to maneuver due to extenuating circumstances, and since Hiro is an honorary noble, theres a high possibility that the ruling will be in his favor if its just against themoner soldiers. But Im not so sure when ites to the killing of nobles like Vincent If the legitimacy of Captain Serenas actions gets established, then Hiros actions will probably get justified too. But we might need to be prepared for the possibility of things not going that well.

    At worst, well just run away.

    You always say that, but you havent actually followed through with it until now Just leave that as ast resort. Anyway, just use whatever connections we have, including the Mercenary Guild and the nobles we know, to get through this.

    If pushes to shove, Ill just ask the emperor to bail me out. He was the one who sent us here anyway

    That might end up bringing even more trouble, but it cant be helped. In the worst-case scenario, we have the option ofpletely leaving the Gran Empire. But if we did that, wed lose all the connections weve made within the empire, and the Mercenary Guild wouldnt look at me kindly either. Maybe the Guild might even send someone after us.

    Whatever happens, happens Anyway, I really wanna take a shower and rest up.

    Same

    I think all of us could use a break

    However, considering the current situation were in, I dont think we have time to rx It seemed that the Vereverem Federation was about tounch a full offensive, and I was worried about the situation on the closest gateway.

    Dammit, that f**king emperor. He sure threw us into such a troublesome mess. If I ever get to meet him again, I wont be satisfied until I air out all of myints.

 Chapter 451: Bath

    Chapter 451: Bath

    After Kugipleted her hypnotic interrogation of Daybit, all four of us finally gathered up and returned to the ck Lotus. I was worried about Captain Serenas condition, but she did say that the Restalias already had a qualified ship doctor and adequate medical equipment, so I supposed shed be fine. I did send a message to her email address telling her toe to the ck Lotus if it doesnt work out.

    Yer covered in blood, Boss Are ya alright?

    Its not my blood, so its fine. It did get me thoroughly sterilized in the airlock though.

    As I chatted with Tina, an unknown person wearing full-body protective gear walked up toward us. No, its not really an unknown person. Its probably Dr. Shouko.

    But its not fine though. So, hurry up and undress, take a shower, and clean yourself thoroughly. Blood is a potent source of infection after all. Cmon, then. Ill handle sterilizing your clothes, so take them off already. You cant approach anybody else in the meantime. You three over there also need to wash your bodies, okay? Ill also retrieve your clothes for sterilization.

    Here!?

    Yep. Here. I also need to sterilize the path you took to get here, Hiro. So, please dont add to my workload any further.

    Aye

    Its the doctors orders, so I better not go against them. Shes a pro on these kinds of things after all. You have to heed the words of a pro in matters like this.

    Put all of them inside this box, please.

    Kay

    Yeah, thats the way. Undress more, Boss.

    This aint a strip show for crying out loud. Or rather, Id bepletely naked if I took off anything further.

    Right. Now go and wash yourself thoroughly in the bath. So, hop to it and dash there at full speed.

    Dash?

    Yes. Dash away.

    Okay

    Why do I need to run around wearing only a pair of underpants inside my ship? How sad. However, I need to obey Dr. Shoukos instructions. Even if Im the captain of our little fleet, I still couldnt go against the doctors orders.

    I have been awaiting you. Please, right this way.

    Y-Yeah

    I found Mei waiting for me inside the bathroom. While sitting in a seiza position, no less. Moreover, there were even cheap-looking air mats that looked suspiciously familiarid out on the bathroom floor, coupled with a container of a clear, slimy substance thats most definitely not body soap.

    Leave everything to me, Master. Now then,e here, please.

    OK!

    Im not sure whats going on, but I better just leave everything to Mei! I believe a little reward is warranted after being forced to work in a highly stressful environment.

    You look really refreshed.

    Baths are great after all.

    For some reason, when she came out of the shower, Elma greeted me with a cold, or rather, exasperated stare. However, I was in a really great mood, so I didnt mind it at all.

    Hauu

    Moreover, there was a fox who was still basking in heavenly bliss in front of us as well. I was currently brushing Kugis tails and grooming them with a hair dryer. She had already finished bathing before Elma. And now, I was happily enjoying the fluffy goodness of Kugis tails. Kugi was also enjoying having her tails brushed. Its truly a win-win situation.

    Kugi-sans tails are the best.

    Mimi was also brushing one of Kugis three tails alongside me. Mimi and Kugi took a bath together, so Mimi was also fresh out of the bath.

    Well, I suppose its good that nothings wrong with you. A lot of folks dont take kindly to engaging in that sort of brutal close-quartersbat. Mentally speaking, that is.

    Its not like I aint affected one bit, but Ive alreadye to terms with it. I have kind partners who worry about me like this after all.

    Yes, yes, I get it.

    Elma disying a slightly happy expression while trying to sound indifferent was pretty cute. While I was thinking of such things, my portable info terminal suddenly rang out with a loud mor. It was as if I was gonna get my rear end kicked because I did something no good. This ringtone meant the call was from Cpt. Serena. What does she want this time? And here I thought she wouldnt get in touch until she needs our ships tounch forbat.

    Hey there. This is Hiro speaking.

    Fuuhaa You sound like, ugh youre doing pretty good arent you!?

    Uh, snapping at me like that wont do you any good Anyway, you dont seem to be doing very well. Are the medical facilities on your ship not up to snuff?

    Ugh Unfortunately Haa, haa.

    Oh Ill have our doctor prepare to take you in. Should we pick you up?

    Haa No. Theres no need for that Haa, Ill also be bringing a sample of the drug administered to me over.

    Roger that. Ill have Mei wait for you guys at the entrance.

    Sorry for troubling you

    Its fine. Im gonna hang up, okay? Hurry ande over.

    I dropped the call and quickly informed Mei and Dr. Shouko about the situation. The Restalias was a rtively new battleship model though, so its medical facilities shouldnt be too shabby. Well, maybe they simply didnt specialize in that particr kind of drug.

    You there, Mei? Captain Serena ising over to the ship, so please head to the gangway to pick her up. It looks like she still isnt feeling well, so you probably need to take her to the med bay. Go and get ready.

    Yes, Master. Please leave it to me.

    Im counting on you.

    Mei should be able to handle weing and guiding them perfectly. Next is Dr. Shouko.

    Hello, Dr. Shouko?

    Un? Whats up? Do you feel something wrong with your body?

    Uh, its not me. Its Captain Serena. She was apparently administered some suspicious drug while she was being restrained and held prisoner. Im not too familiar with her symptoms, but her face was red and she was breathing heavily. She did say shell bring a sample of the drug she was administered with though.

    Hmmm? I wont know for sure until I see it for myself, but I wonder what the purpose of the drug is. Well, since they took a young woman prisoner and restrained her before administering it, that drug probably is nothing good. For now, Ill make preparations to admit her.

    Please do.

    After making the calls, I started brushing Kugis tails again. Eh? Am I not going to do something myself, you ask? I mean, theres nothing I can do for her personally anyway. Im sure Captain Serena wont find it pleasant if I saw her being so sickly and weak, so Im just gonna do what I can in my own way.

    Im worried about Captain Serena.

    Yeah. Well, her bodys undergone enhancements, and her vitality seems to be a lot better than ours, so Im sure shell be fine. She probably wont die at the very least.

    Thats pretty cold-hearted of you. Or rather, what a dry reaction You sure are hard on the Captain, Hiro.

    Rather than being hard on her, its more of drawing a clear line when ites to our rtionship.

    I shrugged as I continued to fluff Kugis tail which I had just finished brushing. Mimi already started brushing another tail while I was in the middle of the call. What a shame. I had no choice but to use my hands to brush and sniff the one I was working on earlier instead. Sniff, sniff.

    Hyaaa!

    Hey, Kugis expression is turning pretty dangerous-looking

    Im satisfied.

    After onest light brush, I let go of Kugis tail. Im just gonna pretend that I didnt see Kugis back trembling in pleasure.

    Its not like I have to particrly get close to Captain Serena, right? So, isnt it fine to treat her the same as I always did?

    Well, thats true, I suppose.

    Even after responding like that, Elma still didnt look relieved. Well, weve known Captain Serena for quite a while already after all. Shes pretty straightforward when ites to expressing her affection toward me, and Elma was probably moved by that on some level.

    By the way, theres something Id like to ask, Kugi.

    Hiyaaan!? W-What is it?

    I simply pulled on, or rather, lightly shook the tail that was wrapped around one of my arms, but it induced a pretty intense reaction. Kugis tails were really sensitive. Maybe I should try attacking the base of her tails next time.

    Its about the power I used when I went berserk on that ship, as well as how I suddenly managed to calm down. You know something about it, right?

    O-Of course U-Um, Mimi-san. I would like to face My Lord please.

    Okay. Then Ill just sit over here.

    Kugi sat down in a seiza position next to me, on top of the sofa, while Mimi sat behind her and started brushing her tails again. Kugi was trying to disy a serious expression, but her cheeks kept twitching from the brushing. It was pretty amusing.

    U-Um, please brush my tailster I-Im going to talk about a serious topic.

    Eh? Well continueter, okay? Theyve be pretty disheveled after all.

    A-Alright Ahem. Now then, shall I start?

    Kugi fixed her expression and began exining stuff about the power I used.

    Psionic power is a power that relies greatly on ones state of mind. Therefore, if the restraints on ones emotions were to be removed for some reason, a great power that one cannot handle when one is calm may manifest. In this particr case, not only was your life under threat, My Lord, but my, Mimi-sans, and Elma-sans lives as well. Um, in other words people you held dear were all ced in danger. The fact that you repeatedly took many lives during the battle also contributed, I believe.

    I see.

    Basically, thebination of survival instincts, impatience, anger, hatred, excitement, and fear at the sight of blood, as well as various other emotions had a profound effect on my state of mind which allowed me to exert more psionic power than usual.

    Its not really a good thing, is it?

    Well if Mimi-san, Elma-san, and I were harmed in some way and ended up losing our lives, the worst-case scenario could have happened.

    Worst case What kind of worst-case scenario, exactly?

    Due to being overwhelmed with negative emotions, you could have used telekinesis to crush the entire supply base along with all the ships still inside it, My Lord. Then, when you realize that Tina-san and the others inside the Lotus became victims of your rampage as well, you could have destroyed the entire star system in rage and grief.

    Hiee

    It wasnt just Elma and me who were utterly shocked by Kugis answer, but Mimi as well. Uh, but isnt that kinda overkill? That was what I wanted to say, but Kugi looked deadly serious. In any case, this times incident came pretty close to that worst-case scenario, didnt it?

    Please be at ease. The reason why I am here by your side is to prevent something like that from happening. If a simr situation urs once more, I shall be able to deal with it just as I did this time. That is why a priestess like me is with you, My Lord.

    Kugi-san was amazing. She knocked down all the soldiers who were imprisoning us in no time t, then began controlling theirmander.

    The heck. Thats pretty scary.

    It is natural to feel that way. That is why I and others like me are thoroughly trained not to use psionic power in vain.

    While saying so, Kugi ced her hand on top of her chest and closed her eyes, as if praying.

    All the power I hold is solely to protect you, My Lord.

    Mm, I believe you, so its okay. So, going back to the topic, even if I try to use my powers in the same way as back then, I just cant seem to pull it off. Also, the moment I received your telepathic message, I was instantly able to calm down. What did you do at that time?

    I am not sure what kind of power you are trying to use because I havent witnessed it personally, but I believe the reason why you can no longer use it is because you are subconsciously rejecting it. Considering the situation back then, it must have been a pretty destructive kind of power, correct?

    Thats That might be the case, yeah.

    I was basically strangling folks by their necks and crushing their heads without even touching them. So, I suppose its possible that I was subconsciously rejecting such an ability.

    And I did do something through telepathy. Even though we were far apart, I could tell that My Lords power was running out of control, so I made use of the telepathic channel between My Lord and me to send in a pacifying telepathic force.

    I see Come to think of it, it does seem that you did something simr before.

    When I and Kugi, uh, first did it, it seemed that she performed a simr technique. I see. So, its something like that huh? I didnt think it was particrly noteworthy back then, but I guess Kugi was alreadyying the groundwork in preparation for this sort of incident.

    I see. I get it now, more or less. Thanks for exining.

    Of course. I shall tell you anything you want to know. If you have any more questions in the future, please do not hesitate to ask me, My Lord.

    Yeah. Ill ask you openly instead of holding it in next time. Thanks again, Kugi.

    Kugi disyed a bright smile after hearing my response. Un, how cute.

    I started feeling hungry all of a sudden. Its probably because Id been pretty active during the previous battle. So, I thought of inviting everyone for a meal However, my portable info terminal suddenly rang. It was a call from Dr. Shouko.

    Hey there. Whats up?

    Uh Im having a bit of trouble regarding the Captains condition. Can you lend me a hand here?

    Me? Im fine with it, but is there really something I can do for her?

    Mn Well, yeah. In fact, I think youre perfect for the job, Hiro-kun.

    Oi. That was a pretty long Mn. For some reason, things felt rather off. I have a bad feeling about this.

    Nheless, Dr. Shouko was insisting that I was needed after all Just what kind of situation needed my assistance anyway? Was the Captain behaving violently or something?

    Anyway, juste over. And please hurry.

    Thats strangely vague. But fine. Im heading there now.

    I ended the call and stood up from the sofa.

    I still had a bad feeling about the situation though It felt like my sixth sense, which was strengthened by my psionic power training, was sounding rm bells repeatedly. Be that as it may, I still couldnt ignore the request.

    I briefly exined the situation to Kugi and the others, then made my way to the medical bay.

 Chapter 452: Thatâ€™s Something that Only Happens in Ero-manga, Right? Seriously?

    Chapter 452: That¡¯s Something that Only Happens in Ero-manga, Right? Seriously?

    Im gonna give it to you straight. Youre gonna have to do her.

    When I arrived at the medical bay and entered Dr. Shoukosb, the quack doctor err, Dr. Shouko suddenly ced her fist in front of me and started thrusting her thumb between her index and middle fingers. What she meant couldnt be more obvious.

    Stop that. Or rather, this is just too sudden. Give me a proper exnation first.

    Eh? Thats too troublesome, and youre still gonna have to do her anyway, so aint this fine?

    Absolutely not.

    Sporting a scowl, I patted Dr. Shoukos fig sign away and resolutely asked for an exnation. As for Captain Serena Her breathing was still rather shallow andbored. Her face was bright red, and she seemed to have a fever. Her gaze was vacant, and her eyes werent focused.

    Well, I guess theres still a bit of time till the sedative wears off Anyway, first of all, ording to my findings, whats eating away at Captain Serena is a special nanomachine formtion. Ive already neutralized it for the meantime and took care of the other drugs in her system as well. The rest can be left to her metabolic activity and the foreign body purging imnt.

    Since thats the case, then it seems theres no need for me to do anything, right? Or rather, cant it bepletely purged by the foreign body purging imnt coupled with her enhanced metabolism?

    Let me correct your misconception first. No matter how high a bodys metabolic rate is, and even if it were equipped with a foreign body purging imnt, it still cantpletely deal with a nanomachine formtion. If even one nanomachine unit with the ability to self-replicate manages to enter a targets body, it will unceasingly increase in number until the cluster fulfills its objective. Even if a foreign body purging imnt is working at full capacity, the nanomachines will still continue to replicate as long as they arentpletely neutralized, until the imnt is eventually overwhelmed. Well, the reason why she was able to hold out so long was all thanks to her high-performance imnt though.

    I see. But why does that lead to me needing to have intercourse with her? I cant see the connection at all.

    Dont direct yourints to me. Goin to the bastard who injected Captain Serena with such a tasteless nanomachine formtion instead. Judging from the nanomachines code, theres a good chance its made by pirates. Its pretty nasty stuff, yknow?

    Cant we make do with tranquilizers or something?

    Simply put, the Captain wont be able to endure. Like I said, its pretty nasty stuff. Once it spreads to both the body and brain, its all over. Ive started creating counter-nanomachines, but no matter how much I speed the manufacturing process up, itll still take an entire day. We can continue to keep the Captain sedated via tranquilizer until its finished, but Im afraid that by that time, she would have started ascending to heaven already. Or perhaps shed already be in heaven huh?

    T-Theres gotta be a limit to how nasty that kind of stuff can be And besides, an entire day? It doesnt look like we can afford to wait that long. Isnt there any other way?

    If there was one, I would have done it already.

    Dr. Shouko responded with a resigned shrug. Yeah. Im sure that she would have already done it if there was really another way. Theres no point in purposefully setting me up or trying to set me up in this situation, is there?

    In any case, what a joke of a drug Is there really a demand for this stuff?

    Im sure there is. I think its quite suited topletely destroying the sense of dignity of women simr to the Captain.

    My head hurts If she just needs to, uh, get off, then why not have the Captain do it by herself?

    If that was the case, then I wouldnt have called you here, Hiro-kun. I would have taken some medical measures instead. Frankly speaking, it wont settle down unless she does it with a man.

    Thats something that only happens in ero-manga, right? Seriously?

    Like I said, dontin to me, okay? Its not like youre unfamiliar with just how depraved pirates can be.

    Well Thats true.

    Compared to removing someones limbs and turning them into an amusement product, or getting bored with that and modifying their victims internal body structure to the point that its oozing out drugs, I suppose making someone end up dead if they didnt satisfy their carnal desire sounded better Or was it? Was it really?

    The sedatives will wear off soon, so hurry up and decide whether youd save her or leave her to die.

    Dont say it so directly, Doc. Uh, is there really no other way?

    At the very least, theres nothing I can think of thatll work. Oh, I could try extracting a sample of Hiro-kuns stuff and then administer it to the Captain via syringe.

    Fine, I get it. I get it already, so just let me process things for a bit.

    For a moment, I thought that the syringe thing would probably be fine, but considered against it because I bet the Captain would rather slit her throat rather than undergo something like that. It would be pretty easy if she used her sword.

    Anyway, Ive always avoided getting into that kind of rtionship with the Captain until now. Thats because she was a bona fide noble daughter and a high-ranking military officer serving in the Imperial Space Force. I wanted to continue living life as a free mercenary, and if I entered into that sort of rtionship with her, my rtionship with Mimi and the others would be affected. At worst, there was a worry that I might end up going separate ways with the rest of the girls.

    Is that still the case now? Well, considering my current position, I dont think things would go in such a one-sided fashion. The Mercenary Guild wouldnt want to let go of me since Ive been happily hunting loads of pirates and made major contributions to the Imperial military and the Empire itself, so theyd probably cover for me.

    And even though it was just an honorary title, I was still considered an Imperial noble, so it was unlikely that Captain Serenas father, mother, grandpa, grandma, brother, or sister would try to cut me down Well, it was still possible, but if they challenged me to a duel, Id be more than happy to oblige. Right, a duel. In the end, wouldnt it be better to settle our disagreements through swords and in violence? I couldnt help but shudder a bit when I realized that I was thinking like those Drawn Sword advocates, but I suppose a duel was good as ast resort.

    Or rather, thats actually not the main point. In the first ce, would I be able to abandon Captain Serena?

    Isnt that impossible for me? Yeah, its totally impossible. Ive known Captain Serena for quite some time, and I dont exactly hate her. Or rather, I actually do like her. The cunning Imperial soldier Captain Serena who didnt show any openings, and the lonely and somewhat awkward Captain Serena during private moments. If her social position wasnt so troublesome, I probably would have made a move on her already.

    Mm, alright. Ive resolved myself.

    I told you already. Youre gonna end up doing her anyway.

    I gotta say this first though. This will probably result in something pretty troublesome. Once that happens, Im gonna have you pick up some ck as well, Doc.

    Fufun, bring it o Whoah!?

    Seeing Dr. Shouko confidently throwing out her chest kinda annoyed me a bit, so I ended up grabbing and fondling her breasts. Fufun, you have a lot of openings, Doc.

    Right. Ill be taking the Captain with me then. For now, just announce that shes undergoing emergency medical treatment and that visitors arent allowed.

    Gununu It cant be helped. Let this big sis take care of things for you.

    Please do.

    Afterward, I picked Captain Serena up in a princess carry and took her to my room.

    Eh? I should have done it in the med bay? Uh, thats a bit The moods not right, and Im afraid Captain Serena will get mad at meter when shees to her senses.

    Naturally, I wasnt so crazy that Id get my hands on a sedated and unconscious Captain Serena. Thats just wrong, so Iid her down on the bed and loosened her shirt. I also prepared a bottle of water for her just in case she was thirsty when she came to. Anyway, I made sure to take good care of her.

    As the sedatives began to wear off, Captain Serenas consciousness gradually returned. She was just so cute and loveable, so I patted her head and hugged her as she wished. Then we moved on to kissing and touching each others bodies. Things escted more and more, and in the end, Captain Serena pushed me down.

    She was rather passionate. And because her body was enhanced, her stamina was amazing. Well, perhaps due to the effects of that shady formtion, or perhaps Captain Serena was simply quite sensitive to begin with, even though her physical strength and stamina were pretty high, her defense was surprisingly low. Thats why I was able to quickly gain the upper hand due to the difference in practical experience.

    And as a result of our lovemaking, she was finally able topletely regain her senses.

    Please just kill me Id rather die.

    I did all this so you wouldnt have to die, so just leave it at that, okay?

    Captain Serena, who hadpletely regained her senses, buried her face on a pillow in an attempt to withdraw into her shell. I was lying next to her while resting my head on one elbow as I stroked her back with a bitter grin on my lips.

    Uuu W-Why did it have to be like this? I am definitely going to kill that man.

    Well, the way it happened may not be that ideal, but considering the result, it aint all that bad, right? I have no regrets, and you were pretty cute, Captain. Im very satisfied.

    Please call me Serena. Also, please pat my head.

    Yes, yes. You really are cute, Serena.

    I stroked Serenas head as she whined while still burying her face on her pillow. She seemed to have regained some of herposure, rolled over sideways, and pressed her back against me.

    Wouldnt it be better if we talked face to face?

    Its embarrassing.

    Cant be helped then.

    We silently felt each others warmth for a while. Hm. Should I consider this my reward after all that trouble? However, considering the misfortune that would probably follow after this, it didnt feel like I made a profit at all.

    Are you happy now? You ended upying your hands on a troublesome woman like me.

    You sure like to hold a grudge. Well, I dont have any regrets. Since Serena would die if I didnt do this, Im willing to take on whatever troublees my way.

    Eh? What do you mean by me dying?

    Apparently, if I left you in that state without doing anything and kept you sedated, youd ascend to heaven eventually no matter how mentally and physically strong you are.

    J-Just what kind of filthy thing did that man inject into me!? So, Im fine now, right?

    No, not yet. Youve just calmed down for now.

    Hah?

    Apparently, as a result of that shady nanomachine formtion injected into you by Daybit, you would suffer in agony and eventually die unless you do it regrly, Serena. Thats why youd probably get tormented by those unbearable urges againter. But our ship doctor is currently manufacturing a counter-nanomachine formtion. Youll getpletely cured once you get injected with it. However, it wont be ready for at least 20 more hours.

    We dont have that much time on our hands in our current situation.

    Serenas expression turned back into that of a professional soldier. Of course, shell turn out like this after hearing that sort of stuff.

    Since you currently cant leave the Lotus while undergoing treatment, you have no choice but to issuemands from here. We should be in full control of this supply base soon, but itll take more time to analyze the information weve gathered and deploy to the battlefield, right? Youll have to return eventually, but for now, you have to stay on this ship.

    Is there nothing we can do about it?

    Its apparently impossible to speed up the cure manufacturing process. Im not sure how often those urges would re up, but to deal with them, youll need a partner. And I have no intention of handing you over to someone else. Thats why just give up and stay.

    T-Thats Muu.

    After realizing the meaning of needing a partner, Serena groaned and fell silent.

    I Im a troublesome woman, okay?

    Yeah. I know.

    I couldnt help but chuckle while gazing at the ruby-red pupils looking up at me. Its already toote for any regrets at this point.

    Are you really fine with this?

    I wouldnt have done this if I wasnt.

    Im going to want to keep you to myself, you know?

    If you think you can, then go right ahead. But dont try toy your hand on Mimi and the others, okay? If that happens, theres gonna be a lot more people wholl end up like Daybit and Vincent.

    Ill keep that in mind Im going to be more persistent than ever, okay? So, please prepare yourself.

    Yes, maam.

    I responded to Serenas deration and lightly kissed her forehead.

 Chapter 453: Itâ€™s Suddenly Gotten a Bit Too Hot and Humidâ€¦â€¦

    Chapter 453: It¡¯s Suddenly Gotten a Bit Too Hot and Humid¡­¡­

    Even though we dont have time for something like this right now

    I mean, you cant go back until Dr. Shouko makes that antidote, right? So, aint it fine to take it easy fer a bit?

    I believe its important to get an adequate amount of rest as well, Serena-sama.

    A glum Captain Serena was sitting between two certified drunkards while being served alcohol. Elma, who was sitting in the same seat, was watching the scene with a grin on her face. Mimi and Kugi were also watching while sporting sunny smiles.

    Me? I was watching the girls from a distance as I checked and performed maintenance on the weapons that we confiscated when we captured the Majestic. Also, Captain Serenas men retrieved and handed over the scabbards of Vincents and that unknown noblemans swords, so I was performing maintenance on those swords as well.

    Even though the scabbards were already equipped with an automatic maintenance function, it was still better to properly take care of the swords after heavy use. Well, monoswords like these were peculiar weapons that were thought up and created by imperial nobles with a zeal bordering fanaticism. As long as they didnt break in two, they could retain peak performance with just simple maintenance.

    But what should I do with these swords?

    The first pair of noble swords I got my hands on were obtained after defeating Balthazar  the one who killed Chriss parents and her mortal enemy. They were pretty slender swords, and even though their durability was a bitcking, the pair of short and long swords were light and easy to handle. Ive been using that pair for quite some time now.

    On the other hand, the sword I snagged from Vincent was slightly longerpared to Balthazars swords, had a thicker de, and was more durable. No matter how sharp Balthazars swords were, I was still apprehensive when using them to cut down soldiers wearing power armor orbat bots. However, that wasnt an issue with Vincents sword. However, since the de was long and hefty, it was rtively more difficult to handle.

    The sword of that unknown noble, on the other hand, had excellent bnce. It was more durable than the long sword among Balthazars sword pair, but it was about the same length. However, it was still shorter than Vincents sword. Its de was also not as thick. You could say it was half-baked, but, to its credit, it was pretty easy to handle.

    If I wanted to attack with a continuous flurry of moves and perform counters, Balthazars sword pair was the way to go. And if I wanted impact strength, striking power, and durability, go with Vincents sword. The unknown noblemans sword was the midpoint between those two extremes.

    With Balthazars sword pair, it was possible to parry and reflectser attacks. However, that wasnt the case with Vincents sword. And even if I wielded the unknown noblemans sword on your other hand to force a two-sword style, parryingser fire was still impossible. The speed and precision of counters would also be affected. I could probably force it by holding my breath and entering bullet time though.

    Maybe I could barely make things work if I paired the unknown noblemans sword with one of Balthazars swords Yeah, thatll probably work. How troublesome. I suppose its safe to use Balthazars sword pair against thinly armored opponents, and Vincents sword against heavy power armor-equipped soldiers andbat bots. The unknown noblemans sword would be kept as a spare, just in case.

    That should be it.

    By the way, Captain Serenas sword was slightly longer than Vincents sword, and its de was even thicker and wider. Rather than a standard long sword, it would be more appropriate to call it a great sword or ymore. It should be possible to easily cut power armor-equipped soldiers cleanly in half with that thing.

    In any case, I suppose yer now a member of our sisterhood, Serena.

    Sisterhood?

    I mean one of Bosss yknow?

    T-That sounds a bit questionable W-Well, I suppose its true though.

    Took a really long time, didnt it? But now yer wish has finallye true eh?

    For the record, I was the very first one to encounter him

    Those girls sure were having fun Uh, they were having a fun chat, werent they? As I thought so, I suddenly heard Captain Serenas portable data terminal ring.

    Its me. Mm, I see. Let us go with that then. What about the front lines? I see. If thats the case, then gather the forces and prepare to move out at a moments notice. Yes, Im fine. My treatment should be finished by then.

    After a short exchange, Captain Serena approached me while I was busy maintaining my swords. I sort of had an idea regarding what she was about to say already, but I suppose Ill hear her out anyway.

    Weve finished taking full control of the base and have grasped the current situation. It seems that the local imperial forces are unable to deal with the gateway on their own, but it also seems unlikely that the front lines would be able to withstand a full offensive from the Vereverem Federation. Therefore, we need to deploy as a reserve force before the front lines get overwhelmed.

    I see. We have to deploy our ships too then. Were gonna go up against the Federations regr forces huh? The ck Lotus can participate in the long-range bombardment, but what should the Krishna and Antlion do?

    Basically, engagements between two regr space forces tended to be long-range bombardment battles while in formation. So, when small and medium-ss mercenary ships encounter an ambush at a hypene entryway, they could either decide to engage in a melee, gradually take distance while exchanging fire, instantly close in on the rear ofrge-ss ships to make it more of a short-range battle, or bite the bullet and rely on numbers tounch a head-on assault while fully expecting to take losses.

    A mercenary as skilled as yours truly could probably get close enough to the enemy ships tounch a solo assault using thermal stealth, but Id probably get crushed pretty quickly if I seriously tried to take on the full might of the invading force by myself. I dont have a trump card like the Singing Crystal this time around after all.

    Please dont attempt tounch a foolhardy assault only to die in the end, okay? Especially now that weve finally Um, anyway, just make sure you dont die. Are we clear?

    Aye, aye, maam. I will properly prioritize my survival while earning my keep.

    Be that as it may, taking on a regr space force could be very profitable. Theres the loot, but depending on how many we manage to shoot down, wed probably make a killing from the rewards that the Imperial Space Force would hand down. In fact, were already set to receive rewards for every enemy ship we managed to down in our present contract.

    Well, it should be fine if weunch an assault with appropriate numbers after scoping out the situation first.

    Well do just that. Until then Um, what do you do to spend time in situations like this?

    Nothing in particr. Other than collecting info on the star system that will serve as the battlefield and checking the condition of our ships, we simply rx to pass the time.

    I-Is that so? I normally have a lot of things to do, but Ive left everything to my subordinates this time, so I am feeling rather restless.

    After saying so, Captain Serena sat next to me and looked at the items Idid out inside the break space.

    Oh? Are you changing up your style?

    She quickly caught sight of Vincents sword and tilted her head to the side curiously. It waspletely different from the swords Id been using before after all.

    Its part of my spoils. Well, its a pretty good sword. More importantly, is your body okay?

    H-Huh? P-Pervert!

    Why!?

    I was simply worried about her condition, but why did I suddenly getbeled as a pervert? I dont get it.

    O-Of course, you are! You are fully aware of my current condition, arent you!? I-If I was not feeling fine, then it would definitely lead to, um Anyway, you get it, dont you!?

    Ah Right. Youre right. That definitely is the case. Sorry. I was only trying to express my concern, but that really wasnt all that tactful.

    I sincerely offered an apology while scratching my head.

    The drugs and the nanomachine formtion that were injected into Captain Serena have already been nullified by Dr. Shouko, so were now only dealing with the aftereffects of the said shameless and perverted nanomachine formtion on her body. She was rather calm at present, but since her body had been tampered with, shed suffer from the effects again eventually And that meant one thing. I had to take action again to relieve her urges. I rather weed such an event though.

    My bad. I didnt consider my words. But I really was just worried about your condition, okay?

    I know that, but Uuu, why did it turn out like this?

    Captain Serena turned red up to her ears and covered her face with both hands. There, there. If you got any more emotional, theres a chance youd have another attack. I know this sounded stupid because Im the one who caused you to get embarrassed in the first ce, but please calm down.

    A-Anyway, once this matter has been dealt with, Im going to have you apany me to the imperial capital, okay!? I have to go back home to pay a visit, and youreing with me, alright!?

    Eh?

    Why do you look so disgusted by the idea!? We may have been forced by the circumstances, but do you think Ill let you get away withying your hands on me without taking responsibility!? Theres no way thats going to be the case, you hear me!?

    Well, Im not nning on getting away scot-free in the first ce. Im gonna take responsibility in my own way, and I had no problem with apanying her to visit her parents. But its no fun to just honestly go along with this though.

    What should I do, I wonder Should I just run away?

    If you run away, Im going to chase you to the ends of the universe and kill you, then Ill kill myself too. You hear me?

    Its getting hot and humid all of a sudden

    Captain Serena, who was making a fuss, suddenly turned all serious, and the light in her eyes quickly disappeared. Thats a bit too scary, okay? Well, with my current abilities, I think I could deal with Captain Serena even if she turned all violent on me.

    Okay, I got it. Im gonna apany you to the capital. I have something to say to His Imperial Majesty anyway, and even though it couldnt be helped due to the circumstances, I still ended up cutting down a lot of House Ixamals private troops. Its not good for me to take the fall without them conducting any proper procedures and investigations into the matter, right?

    I do not think it will pose much of a problem, given that our actions legitimacy should get recognized. We were able to prevent House Ixamal frommitting a treasonous act that could have led to the copse of the Empires borders, so I believe us beingmended rather than punished is more likely. As long as everything goes well from here on out, that is.

    Im not gonna get my hopes up too much anyway. So, are you sure you dont wanna go for another round?

    N-No! You shameless pervert!

    Ouch!?

    Captain Serena pped me on the shoulder. I thought my bones would break. It was just a joke yknow?

 Chapter 454: Isnâ€™t It Fine as Long as We Win?

    Chapter 454: Isn¡¯t It Fine as Long as We Win?

    Hm, theres no opening to exploit

    Its been about twenty hours since Captain Serena suddenly started getting agitated.

    Ultimately, I ended up going for two rounds with Captain Serena. When the counter-nanomachine formtion finally got synthesized, she quickly used it and left the ck Lotus soon afterward.

    We made it to the front lines in time, but we found the Gran Empire and Vereverem Federation space forces in a tense deadlock.

    A stand-off in outer space? Yeah, I get what youre trying to say, but as long as theres enough distance, even optical weaponry firing projectiles at the speed of light wont be able to properly hit targets that keep shifting positions constantly. Also, even thoughser bombardment suffers from far less attenuation in outer space, its not like the projectiles dont attenuate at all.

    It takes too much time to close the distance using normal propulsion methods instead of FTL Drives, and theres a limit to the effective range ofser bombardment.

    If they do close the distance using FTL Drives, the side that did so will be left vulnerable to attack the moment they deactivate FTL navigation. They would simply serve as sitting ducks for the other party to shoot down, so both sides found it hard to use their FTL Drives as a result.

    In addition, the Imperial Space Force thats on the defending side had deployed anti-FTL trap ships. The powerful gravitational waves generated by these anti-FTL trap ships would bendser projectiles through the gravitational lens effect, so they also had the effect of greatly diverting the course of long-rangeser bombardment. The distance was too great after all, so even a slight deviation in the trajectory of thesers would cause them to miss their mark by a lot.

    And so, in an ultra-long-rangeser bombardment battle, the Imperial Space Force currently has an advantage due to the limited range ofser projectiles.

    I see. Through the effect of the anti-FTL trap ships coupled with suppressive fire, the uracy rate of the Imperial Space Forces ultra-long-range bombardment is currently higherpared to the other side.

    But thanks to that, we cant use FTL Drives tounch an attack either. The powerful gravitational waves generated by the anti-FTL trap ships dont discriminate between friend and foe.

    So, for now, will it continue to be a stalemate?

    Kugi tilted her head to the side with her fox ears twitching cutely.

    Yeah. But I dont think this situation willst long. That side is probably making huge sacrifices in order to secure the sectors near this systems hypene entry points in order to build a bridgehead. In other words, we can expect a constant stream of reinforcements toe from the enemys rear lines. On the other hand, the Imperial Space Force is currently unable to use the gateway due to the handiwork of Earl Ixamals men, so our sides reinforcements would be dyed. It looks like they cobbled together additional forces by enlisting the garrisons of the surrounding star systems, butpared to the formal Imperial Space Force squadrons, they are quite a bit more inferior

    The star system garrisons that maintain the security of individual star systems basically used obsolete ships that the Imperial Space Force has retired from service. In terms of overall capabilities, they were two or more levels behind. The skill levels of the actual troops also varied per system.

    Um, so?

    In other words, once they assemble a force thats enough to rout us, its likely that the Federation military would conduct a charge regardless of the losses theyd suffer.

    Isnt that bad?

    Real bad. The current situation of the Imperial Space Force is akin to desperately trying to hold back water thats overflowing from a dam. Uh, was that analogy a bit hard to picture? Lets see. Its like using emergency measures to plug a big hole in a ships hull thats leaking lots of air.

    In other words, currently, the Imperial Space Force has little chance of winning. And even if they do manage to persevere, the resulting losses would be so great that they wouldnt be able to withstand another wave. But they probably werent fools whod simply ept such an oue.

    From the looks of it, the number of ships that were sent by the star system garrisons is clearly on the smaller end. Maybe the rest are making some sort of preparations somewhere else. Maybe theyve simply given up on trying to plug the flow. I think theres a high chance of them retreating to the next defensive position.

    But is that really okay?

    Mimi tilted her head while disying a frown. Perhaps, as an imperial citizen, she found the act of yielding imperial territory to the enemy improper for the prestigious Imperial Space Force.

    Isnt it fine as long as we win in the end? As long as we hold out until the gateway is restored and the main imperial forces arrive, well be able tounch a counter-offensive. Itll also serve to bait the enemy forces deeper into imperial territory so we can repeatedly get in their way and gradually bleed them out. Its amon strategy, but its bemon exactly because its proven effective.

    Its the so-called defense in depth strategy. By yielding space and territory, it allows a defending force to buy time and gradually thin down an enemy force.

    The variables to look out for, however, were the vastness of outer space, the performance of various sensors, and the range and impact speed of optical weaponry. If you lured an enemy with a half-baked force, theres a chance theyd adapt quickly and shoot down your side before suffering any meaningful damage. Well, I suppose the Imperial Space Force elites were capable of pulling off the strategy decently at least.

    As I mulled over the situation, an encrypted military transmission came in. I quickly decrypted it using the encryption key they distributed before the operation and checked the contents.

    Our next move is apparently to hold the enemy force back near the asteroid belt. Its a pretty nice ambush point.

    But will the Federation Forces really go out of their way to approach such a perfect ambush point?

    It seems they are nning to make use of the anti-FTL trap ships to effectively control the movements of the enemy forces. Ships smaller than corvettes like ours as well as carrier-based fighter craft will hide within the asteroid belt, and therger ships will conduct suppressive fire and act as diversions. Then well find the right moment to conduct a hit-and-run ambush against the enemyrge-ss ships.

    But well probably suffer a lot of casualties with that tactic

    Thats why well be conducting a hit-and-run. I sure hope nothing unexpected happens though.

    The Antlion was also going to participate in the ambush. It held quite a bit of firepower despite its size after all. It wasnt that speedy though, so itll have to make tracks immediately after unleashing an all-out barrage.

    It would be a problem if the enemy forces have equipment simr to the Antlions Gravity Jammer.

    Its the Imperial Space Forcestest ssified tech, so I think itll be fine. But if something like that does exist, wed need to destroy the Jammer wielder first, or wed be in trouble.

    Even carrier-based fighters andbat ships that are smaller than corvettes were capable of doing damage torge-ss ships as long as they were close enough, but theyd eventually be rendered vulnerable if they continued to hang around therge-ss ships in bunches while exposed to anti-aircraft fire. Thats why its necessary to strike a good blow and escape immediately before therge-ss enemy ship can retaliate in earnest. Theyd suffer tremendous damage to their ranks if their escape was somehow prevented.

    Come to think of it, wouldnt those Gravity Jammers also be effective as counters to ambushes by small-ss ships and carrier-based fighters in battles like this? Would the Imperial Space Force also employ them in that way?

    Theres no use worrying so much. Lets just stick to the n.

    The star system garrison squadrons that had been summoned were probably busy dispersing decoys and mines. Using all these means in order to sessfully goad the enemy forces to enter the ambush point would be a great test of amanders skills.

    Gunununu Those duplicitous, sted nobles. Just as I thought, one can never trust those whove adapted to a system as barbaric as a feudal aristocracy.

    I inwardly let out a sigh as I looked at His Excellency, the Federation Space Force Admiral, whose face was bright red with apparent rage. He was fuming red with rage, but I personally think there was practically no difference between him, who rose to the rank of the Federation Space Forces vice-admiral thanks to his lineage and connections despite hisplete inability tomand a starship fleet, and the imperial nobles he was criticizing so vehemently.

    Or rather, imperial nobles tended to be looked down upon within the Federation due to them adhering to the aristocratic system, but when you actually faced them, a lot of them tended to be quite honorable and skilled. Once youve be a fleetmander like myself, youd get plenty of chances toe in contact with such fellows.

    I was told wed be able to reach the gateway without much resistance but if things continue like this, my career history will be in jeopardy!

    Currently, our Federation Space Force had a numerical advantage and was slowly making inroads into the territories of the enemy nation, the Gran Empire, despite suffering quite a number of losses in the process. His Excellency assured us that we would be able to reach the gateway without much trouble thanks to an insider, but this was the result.

    The enemy resistance does seem rtively weak though.

    Then we should push harder! Lets seize that damned gateway quickly!

    The empiresmanders are quite cunning. If we force it, we might suffer a severe retaliation.

    Im the admiral here! Just do it! Use the asteroid belt as a shield and advance forward! Since we outnumber them, we should be able to overwhelm them with the difference in firepower as long as we can get close enough!

    We can certainly get the enemy ships in range if we do that, but theres a high risk of suffering an ambush

    And Im telling you to do it.

    Sir.

    Its definitely not going to turn out well I muttered to myself as I ryed the order to every ship in thebined fleet while warning them to be wary of ambushes. Once we go full-throttle, Id be too preupied with the operation, and the resources Id be able to allot to support would be very minimal.

    Im getting a headache. Its been a long time since Ive engaged in a prolonged campaign. The cyberchip installed within my brain was so overloaded that it felt like it was going to burn out. I also felt a stinging sensation on all my nerve connection terminals that were currently jacked in.

    How impertinent for a mere tin can I better change it for something new once this operation is over.

    This bastard. Did you forget that youre also connected to the shipswork? Do you want me to fake a power surge and fry your brain nice and crispy, you damned pig?

    FTL Drive synchronizationplete. Advancing to a point where we can utilize the asteroid belt as a shield.

    Dont mess up.

    Even if I dont make a mistake, we are still screwed if you, as the one giving themands, messes up instead. Dammit. I hope there arent any ambushes.

 Chapter 455: Some People Sure Are Lucky

    Chapter 455: Some People Sure Are Lucky

    Is it a trap?

    Well, Im not sure. I wonder.

    It had already been three hours since we received the encrypted transmission. Since then, weve abandoned our defensive positions twice and retreated further within the star system while our battleships and cruisers chipped away the enemy numbers little by little through suppressive fire, fully engaging in a battle of attrition.

    Finally, we managed to lure the Vereverem Federation forces to the asteroid belt which was supposed to be the ambush point, but it went a bit too smoothly. It was surprising that the Federation forces didnt hesitate to set up camp within the asteroid belt, just as we intended. They were acting far too careless as if they werent wary of ambushes at all though they should at least be on guard to an extent.

    Even if this was really a trap and they were actually prepared to intercept us, theyd still suffer quite a bit of casualties in the process. Or rather, instead of a hit-and-run ambush, a straight-up melee seemed like it would be more effective. Why were these guys gathering up into such an impressively packed formation?

    What should we do, My Lord?

    Well go through with the ambush. Depending on the situation, it might be a good idea to stay put and suggest engaging in an all-out melee The risk is high, but wed pull off an upset if we seed in beating down the Federation forces here.

    However, I didnt have the right tomand our forces, so if our allies started to back down, Id be forced to pull back as well, or else Mimi and Kugi would probablyin. I suppose I cant be too reckless. Well, apetent Imperial Space Force pilot ormander would probably give the order to press the attack anyway after seeing such an opportunity.

    Afterward, I shut the main generator down and waited for about ten minutes with only the minimum life support functions, passive sensors, and the main screen active using the power supplied by the capacitor. An artillery battle between therge-ss ships of the Vereverem Federation forces and the Imperial Space Force had alreadymenced. It seemed that the enemy side also dispatched some carrier-based aircraft as a precaution, but there were far too few of them. For some reason, the Vereverem Federation Space Force didnt seem to have that many small-ssbat ships or carrier-based fighters among their ranks.

    Oh, a Vereverem Federation cruisers shield and armor ting were prated by a shot, destroying it in a shy manner. It was probably a shot from the EML of the ck Lotus. It seemed that an armor-piercing shell equipped with a shield neutralization warhead did the trick.

    Hiro-sama!

    Its time huh? Right, lets do this.

    Mimi was paying close attention to the readings of the passive sensors, and at her signal, I re-activated Krishnas generator, activated its weapon systems, and immediately began an assault on the Federation forces.

    Im gonna go first.

    Whatll be my first target? Naturally, its therge-ss ships that could each serve as their fleets gship. While attacking the Vereverem Federations small-ss ships and carrier-based fighters with Krishnas four heavy-caliberser cannons, I deployed the weapon bay on Krishnas lower hull and fired anti-ship reactive torpedoes at each of the enemyrge-ss ships.

    I targeted all therge ships in my range because I wasnt sure which one was actually the gship. Since I fired four torpedoes at once, Id probably hit the jackpot as long as all of them didnt miss their marks.

    Krishna fired out the four anti-ship reactive torpedoes, which elerated to top speed quickly, and pierced the respective sides of four Vereverem Federation battleships, resulting in massive explosions.

    Did that do it!?

    Nah, we wont be able to finish them off with one shot unless theyre very unlucky. But theyve probably lost most of theirbat capabilities.

    Their armor was blown right off and parts of their hulls disintegrated. The rest of their hulls suffered major cracks, and unless personnel were assigned to damage control quickly, they would probably get sunkpletely before long. Naturally, theres little room for allocating manpower to damage control due to the ambush, and depending on the situation, further explosions might ur unless they deactivate their generators as soon as possible. It would be a bigger achievement if we managed to finish them off in one shot, but winning the overall battle was more important. Either way, Krishnas attacks were still the decisive blows, so the resulting rewards should still be quite substantial.

    Whats next, My Lord?

    Lets break through the enemy formations and destroy therge-ss ships main thrusters with our shot-cannons. Large-ss ships are inherently slow as is. Once their main thrusters are down, theyd be even slower.

    Basically, when operating as a fleet, the speed of the slowest ship bes the speed of the entire fleet. When operating as a fleet, the group couldnt afford to leave the slower ships behind.

    Hit-and-run attacks were pretty effective in slowing down an enemy fleets advance, and in the case of mop-up battles, it would be easier for marines to perform boarding actions if the enemy ships propulsion systems were neutralized. Either way, it was an effective move.

    Fight back! Shoot them down!

    Our allies are too close!

    Unit 104, please respond! Unit 104! Dammit! What about the othermand units!?

    Unit 203 and Unit 322 are both down. Our Unit 251 also has a problem with its life support systems and wont be able tost long.

    I listened in on the enemys transmissions that Mimi managed to intercept. Hm? Command unit? Thats an unfamiliar term.

    Attention, all Imperial Space Force Assault Fleet ships. Carry on with the attack. Well strike the enemy forces down while theyre still addled. Handle the ships smaller than corvettes appropriately and focus on the shipsrger than destroyers. Crush their propulsion systems and your allies will do the rest.

    Roger.

    The Assault Fleetsmander ordered us to press the attack, so we decided to cancel the hit-and-run tactic and aimed to neutralize thebat capabilities of the enemyrge-ss ships instead. The priority targets are the main thrusters of therge-ss ships, and the small-ss ships should be dealt with ordingly. Hm.

    Lets follow themanders orders. Well earn more merits while dealing with anti-starship fire and shooting down the small fry.

    Yes!

    Ill leave the small-ss ships to you, Elma. The Antlion is more suited to that instead of dealing withrge-ss ships, right?

    Aye aye, sir. Leave your back to me.

    Im counting on you, partner.

    While making sure not to leave the Antlion behind, we engaged the Vereverem Federation forces which were currently unable to mount an effective counterattack. Even the Krishna would be helpless if anti-starship fire came for it from all directions. However, due to the fact that they were so densely packed together, the enemy ships couldnt unleash a full anti-starship barrage due to the risk of friendly fire. And if they couldnt get a proper lock due to their chain ofmand falling into chaos, there would be nothing to fear. Its not like anti-starship fire thats unleashed at random would be able to hit me.

    Now then, where are the vitals?

    Utilizing the ability of the shot-cannons to prate and damage the hulls of ships at close range while ignoring shields and armor, we continued to plow holes into the ships of the Vereverem Federation forces. Since their generators were located deep within them, it was difficult to take downrge-ss ships with a single shot from a shot-cannon.

    However, the capacitors that stored energy for supplying to a ships systems such as the bridge and weapons, the shield generators that emitted energy shields, and the conduits that carried energy from the main generator to the capacitor and shield generators, were prime targets as well. Destroying these targets would greatly reduce a shipsbat abilities.

    Were gonna unload all the shot-cannon ammo on those guys. Lets go.

    Aye aye, sir!

    Yes!

    After hearing Mimi and Kugis cheerful replies, I made the Krishna elerate.

    The remains of soldiers impossible dreams huh?

    Huh? What?

    I muttered to myself while gazing at the tragic-looking remains of the Vereverem Federation Space Forces ships, and sharp-eared Mimi heard and questioned me. I suppose she was simply curious.

    Oh, its a poem written by a famous poet in my world.

    What does it actually mean?

    Hmm. I believe the full poem wasWaves of Summer Grass: All that remains of soldiers impossible dreams. There were once warriors who fought bravely, but now they have all died and have been forgotten, and there is nothing left but thickly growing grass. Well, something like that.

    Its kinda lonely. Or rather, mncholic.

    Maybe that famous poet also felt the same whenposing the poem. No idea if that was really the case though.

    Saying you have no idea certainly ruined the atmosphere, My Lord. I believe its a wonderful poem thats capable of stirring ones emotions.

    It was rare for Kugi to disy a cheeky smile on her face. Well, the author was actually a haiku poet instead of a regr one though. Uh, but its not like I was familiar with the distinction between a haiku poet and a regr one. The most I knew was that haiku wasposed in a 5, 7, 5 pattern and included a seasonal reference. In the first ce, I had no idea about what actually qualified as a seasonal word or reference. It was iprehensible, right? Well, it was for me. I mean, how the heck do they determine if a word or phrase actually represents a certain season? It was kinda vague.

    My Lord, Ive detected a life signature.

    It looks like someone got pretty lucky. Is it an escape pod?

    No Its something Ive never seen before. It doesnt appear to be an escape pod.

    Well, its a bitte, but we achieved aplete victory. We sessfully pulled off the ambush, and the enemys chain ofmandpletely copsed with the first blow. The Imperial Space Force Assault Fleet that carried out the ambush decided not to go ahead with the hit-and-run tactic and pressed the attack instead, leaving the Vereverem forces in further chaos. The main force led by Captain Serena closed the distance by slightly detouring around the asteroid belt, got the enemy ships into range, and caused devastating damage. Ultimately, the casualty ratio was 1:10 in our favor, resulting in a great upset victory for our side.

    And currently, we are looking for survivors who went overboard during the battle in the spirit of humanitarianism. The survivors who were still on the ship wreckages were the responsibility of the Imperial Space Force, while mercenaries like us were assigned to the ones outside along with the small-ss Imperial ships and carrier-based fighters.

    Well, there werent that many people who could survive being thrown out of a starship. And even if they were wearing space suits,bat armor, power armor, and the like, explosions and simrly destructive impacts during the battle could damage their protective equipment,promising their structural integrity and airtightness. Thats why most of them rarelyif eversurvived.

    Therefore, the survivor we found this time around could be said to be pretty lucky.

    What the heck is that? A coffin?

    Its cylindrical, so its more like a canned good, isnt it?

    Ill retrieve it now.

    Kugi operated a recovery drone and retrieved the mysterious object. In any case, with this, weve secured at least one live prisoner. I do hope the life signs inside that ufortable-looking object belong to a human. It probably wont be some sort of biological weapon, right?

 Chapter 456: Girl-in-a-Can

    Chapter 456: Girl-in-a-Can

    Its way too big to be a canned product.

    Since it was unclear how long the life support system of the canned product (provisional) we retrieved wouldst, I had Krishna quickly return to the Lotus for the time being. And now, weve moved the canned product from Krishnas cargo hold to the med bay and are currently trying to open it up.

    Incidentally, Elmas Antlion and the mechanic sisters were still busily using drones in order to search for survivors. Currently, the people gathered inside the med bay were me, Dr. Shouko, Mimi, Kugi, and Mei. Theres also thebat bot that carried this big canned product (provisional) all the way to the med bay.

    Thats true, but isnt it also quite small, considering that theres a person inside it?

    It appears like it can only hold a young child at most.

    Its repelling my scans. Since theres something that looks like a data port, I shall ess it from there.

    After saying so, Mei pulled out a data cord from around her neck and connected it to the part at the base of the canned product (provisional). Since its Mei were talking about, it should only take an instant for her to analyze the thing or not. It seemed like she froze up or something.

    Mei?

    Mei remained frozen still, with her eyes widened. Whats wrong? Dont tell me shes broken.

    Oi, are you okay?

    Yes. Ive met with unexpected difficulties. Ive regained control, so please do not worry.

    Regained control? Uh, so how do we open this thing?

    Currently, there is no way to open it. That requires specialized equipment. Therefore, we would have to cut it open forcibly instead, Master. At this rate, its internal power and the various medical fluids within it will soon be depleted, leading to the upants death.

    Forcefully prying it open huh? Well, if thats the only way. But if I cut it as is, Id probably cut the one inside as well. Please tell me exactly how I should cut it open.

    Please leave it to me.

    ording to Meis instructions, we decided to split the canned product (provisional) open lengthwise. Naturally, it wouldnt do if we cut open the one inside as well, so I made sure to only cut the cans metal te. It was pretty tedious. Wouldnt it be better to cut open the top part just like how one opened a real canned product? I suggested as such but was told that it wasnt possible since there were apparently some stuff that were connected to the top part. It looked like I could only split it open vertically.

    Although it was a bit of a struggle, I was eventually able to cut just the metallic cover of the can vertically, then split the bottom part to allow us to peel the cover straight off. It took quite a bit of work.

    Well then.

    Mei lifted up the cans rtively thick outer shell, revealing its contents.

    Eh?

    Hmm?

    I, Mimi, and Kugi were all rendered speechless. Dr. Shouko was the only one who cried out in a show of interest.

    Within the can was a pale white, naked young girl? Why did I sound uncertain? Its due to countless cables extending from the bottom of the can, piercing various parts of the persons body, as well as the tubes inserted into all the persons avable orifices. The mouth, the nostrils, and the lower body.

    While I remained speechless in shock, Mei proceeded to pull out all the cords and tubes connected to and inserted into the girl, picked her up, and took her to the med pod.

    Following Dr. Shouko who quickly went after Mei, the rest of us also moved toward the med pod.

    Now then. Lets perform a scan.

    Yes. It appears that being connected to the life support device was her usual state, so it can be said that her body is akin to a slightlyrger newborns.

    Hee? That certainly sounds interesting

    It seems that her effective service life is only less than a year.

    Effective service life huh? Are you saying the Federation is actually locking up children like her within those tin cans in order to function as biological control units or something? Thats going too far, I think.

    After hearing the twos exchange, I couldnt help but look up to the ceiling. Seriously? Did that mean that themand units they were referring to during the battle were biological units like this kid? This was just too Were they really that heartless? Where was their humanity?

    This child has something installed inside her head. Or rather, theres a lot of stuff ced inside her body, with her brain as the center Just what happened to her internal organs functions that led to her bing like this? Her skeletal structure is skewed, and the state of her muscles is also pretty terrible. For now, lets do this, this, and this

    Dr. Shouko grumbled as she inspected the results of the med pods scan. I couldnt understand the readings at all, but I at least got that the state of the kids body was terrible.

    Uh Can she be saved?

    I asked Dr. Shouko as I looked at the girl who was being injected with various drugs within the med pod, irradiated with lights of some sort, and fitted with what appeared to be a respirator.

    For now, she wont die as long as she remains within the med pod. Its all thanks to you spending a fortune to buy the best, Hiro-kun. In any case, other than her brain, this girls growth has been artificially suppressed. I wont know for sure unless I investigate properly, but judging from the current state of her brain, she should be easily over twenty years old.

    Seriously?

    No matter how you looked at it, her bodys age only appeared to be in the single digits. Shes barely a youngdy. Or rather, shes still a little girl. In outer appearance, at least.

    Um, Hiro-sama. She is totally naked, so

    Well, thats true. But Mei, have you talked to this girl already?

    I didnt feel anything while looking at the white body of the girl whichcked any curves, but the other party might feel ufortable, so I heeded Mimis words and faced away from the girl while addressing Mei.

    Yes. We didnt exchange words, but we did engage in a form ofmunication. I was almost subjected to hacking though.

    Oi. Are you really okay?

    Was that why she froze up earlier? Even though it was only for a short time, making Mei unable to respond was a pretty impressive feat.

    There are no problems. The electronic warfare capabilities that make full use of thebination between a high-performance chip and the human brain is certainly impressive, but they still pale inparison to us mechanical intelligence with positronic brains.

    I-I see?

    Oh, so thats what you meant by regaining control earlier. Directly connecting with Mei-sans brain and conducting electronic warfare Um, is this child okay then?

    I do not think she suffered any serious damage to her vital functions. I may have been a little harsh on her though.

    It appears that she suffered from excessive stimtion. Or rather, shespletely passed out. If the stimtion was just a tad bit stronger, she might have died before we could even get her out of that tin can.

    It proved slightly difficult to extract information from the chip within her brain. I believe the chips temperature shouldnt have reached a level enough to damage her brain cells. Doctor, please go ahead and cool her brain down.

    Are you still nning on doing something? The burdens too great, so Id prefer that you didnt go through with it.

    We need to take steps in order to prevent her from panicking when she regains consciousness.

    After saying so, Mei connected herself to the med pod just like she did with the can earlier. Then, a cord slid toward the girl lying in the med pod and pierced her neck. Apparently, there was something like a connection port on that part of her neck.

    It should be fine now.

    What did you do?

    Ive electronically isted this med pod. Ive also made sure that Ill be able to detect her as soon as she regains consciousness, so please do not worry.

    I see I dont really get it, but anyway, Ill leave this girl to the two of you. Ill be counting on you guys.

    Yes, Master.

    Sure. Just leave it to me.

    For now, lets forget about the contents of the can and get back to searching for survivors. Oh, and I also needed to contact the Imperial Space Forcemander and Captain Serena about the can in question. I was actually supposed to report to the officer in charge of the search for survivors instead of Captain Serena, but the one I found was apparently no ordinary survivor. Well, its probably gonna turn out into something troublesome. Theres no doubt it would.

    A biologicalmand unit Ive heard the rumors, but this is the first time weve secured err, captured one. I suppose this is also thanks to your bad luck.

    Captain Serena sighed lightly on the other end of the holo-disy. Did you really have to sigh? I mean, its not like I did anything wrong.

    I piloted Krishna back into the battle site and flew around the ce while leaving the search for survivors to Mimi and Kugi. I then got in touch with Captain Serena.

    Well, we can probably use this as a political weapon. Could you hand the girl and the pod you dismantled over to us?

    I dont mind handing over the girl, but it looks like shes nearing the end of her service life. Her insides are aplete mess, and her bones and muscles allck strength. Even her skeletal structure is apparently skewed. Our ship doctor says shes practically akin to arge newborn baby. For now, shell likely die if we dont keep her inside a high-performance medical pod.

    Its to that extent? How inhumane. It isnt any different to the atrocities perpetrated by space pirates.

    Thats something we can both agree on.

    Conveniently distorting other peoples lives to suit their own purposes while disregarding their victims wills was part of the regr modus operandi of space pirates. Its no different from what humans do to livestock? Yeah. But humans arent livestock. I certainly wouldnt want to be treated like that and would do everything in my power to avoid such a fate. I believe anyone else would agree unless they were some sort of extreme phnthropist.

    So, do you think shes really the rumored biologicalmand unit, Captain?

    Its unlikely that the Federation forces were harboring rescued pirate victims on their ships, so I believe that is almost certainly the case. Whether that side admits to it or not is a different matter, but it would still serve as good material for conducting an official censure. The problem is

    The problem is?

    If the other side doesnt admit to it. Such a person doesnt exist in the Federation. Naturally, such a person also wouldnt exist within the ranks of the Federation military. If the Vereverem Federation insists that the poor girl is only a fabrication of the Empire and has nothing to do with them, then

    I have a bad feeling about this.

    Then, ording to imperialw, she will be regarded as a victim with no familial rtions, and you would be obligated to take her under your wing for a certain period. Given the current situation, its possible that the Empire might shelter her and use her as living proof of the Federations inhumane deeds though

    I do hope thatll be the case Or rather, its actually not certain if shell be able to survive for long though. I better call our ship doctor first.

    Alright. I would like to hear the opinion of an expert on the matter as well.

    After calling her several times, Dr. Shoukos face appeared on the holo-disy.

    Uh, Dr. Shouko? Id like to ask you about the condition of the girl we took out of the can Frankly speaking, how long do you think shell be able to live?

    It would be difficult to prolong her life using the gic engineering tech of the Federation. But it would be a different story if we used Imperial tech instead.

    Did I just hear an ominous sound effect, or was that just my imagination? Her face strangely clouded over for a moment there, right? Was it really my imagination?

    Did a strange sound just? Didnt your expression also change for a brief instant?

    What are you talking about? Anyway, its not like we cant do anything about prolonging her life and providing her treatment. Its just that itll take time and money.

    Money huh? How much, exactly?

    Lets see. About 5 million Enels, I guess? That includes the various technical fees. Minus those fees, itll be about 2 million.

    Those technical fees sure are expensive Well, I suppose thats just how it is. If you think about it, paying 5 million Enels to significantly extent the life of a person with less than a year to live doesnt seem too expensive after all. Well, there you have it. Well go ahead with it if the country will shoulder the expenses.

    I gave Captain Serena a nce, and she ced a hand on her forehead while disying a bitter expression.

    Ill bring it up with the higher-ups, but well have to see whether or not theyll approve that much budget.

    Ill stabilize her condition for now and make sure shell be able tomunicate. Well then, I should get back to treating her. Is that all?

    Yeah, thank you. For now, just treat her well. Well take care of her if the country doesnt want to.

    Oh? Youre being quite nice, arent you?

    If she ends up getting abandoned by both the Federation and the Empire, shell end up with no choice but to die. Her appearance apparently doesnt match her actual age, but she does look like a young child, so leaving her be wont sit so well with me.

    I was reminded of the figure of the girl lying inside the med pod. She couldnt even stand, let alone walk properly, and if she was abandoned to die in a lonely alley in the imperial capital No, not happening. Absolutely not. I dont like that kind of stuff. Even if its a bit troublesome, Ill help as long as Im able to. Even I had my limits, but Id at least try to help those directly involved with me.

    Are you nning on adding another woman again?

    Getting jealous of that girl is kinda narrowminded yknow

    By the way, this is the girl in question.

    An image of the girl appeared on the holo-screen. She was stillpletely naked, but a breathing apparatus, IV tubes, and other stuff were attached to her pale white body, making her look quite pitiful.

    I take back my previousment. That truly was narrowminded of me.

    Im d that you understand. Anyway, thats about it Oh, are we gonnaunch a counter-offensive after the clean-up?

    For the time being, well settle for regaining the territories we originally had control over. Well decide our next move once the gateway is restored and the reinforcements arrive. Or rather, they would probably bring us orders from the higher-ups.

    Roger that. Well go back to searching for survivors then.

    I dropped the transmission with Captain Serena and Dr. Shouko, then returned to searching for other survivors just as I dered.

    Good grief We certainly did pick up something unexpected. It kinda felt like the time we found Chris. I suppose I should just ept my fate.

 Chapter 457: Why Did You Have to Do Something Like That???

    Chapter 457: Why Did You Have to Do Something Like That???

    Afterpleting the search, retrieval, and capture of the Vereverem Federation survivors scattered around the battle site, the second-rate Imperial Space Force squadrons centered around the star system garrison forces proceeded to conduct a counteroffensive to deal with the scavengers who came to the battle site to take advantage of the situation. They managed to regain control over all the territories that the Empire lost during the current conflict.

    Although there were several instances of engaging in skirmishes with Vereverem Federation supply fleets and their escort ships, the Imperial Space Force managed to ovee them easily. Just when a temporary defense line was established, the reinforcements from the main force finally arrived through the repaired gateway, and we were relieved of our duties.

    No, we werent fired or anything like that. We were simply told to retreat to the rear for repairs and resupplies.

    Could you help me with my work?

    No way. That aint part of my contract.

    Captain Serena, who had apprehended Earl Ixamal and taken control of the Creon system supply base, was put in charge of resupplying the Imperial Space Force forces dispatched to the front lines, and was now swamped with work. Our contract only specified stuff rted tobat, so helping with resupply work was outside of the terms. Well, earning money while simply idling around wasnt really my style, so I decided to go on patrol missions around the Creon star system instead.

    You demon! Devil! Cold-blooded beast! Arent you being too indifferent to your beloved spouse!?

    I dont make a habit of mixing my public and private lives

    Also, I dont think calling herself my spouse was appropriate. At least, not yet.

    I heard from Captain Serena that the heavily armed pirates who were causing chaos in the rear seemed to have disappearedpletely. Im not sure if they either went into hiding after the failure of thest operation, straight up returned to the Vereverem Federation, or were betrayed by the actual pirates they were using as pawns, but since theyvepletely ceased their activities, pursuing them would be difficult.

    By the way, Earl Ixamal was taken to the imperial capital by the military police along with the gathered evidence regarding his treason. No matter how powerful and influential House Ixamal and the earl himself were, considering all the evidence against him and the severity of what he tried to pull off, it was probably the end for him.

    At the very least, the earl would probably get sentenced to the death penalty. Theres a possibility that the house itself would be spared, but many of its assets would probably be seized and confiscated by the Empire, and their future heirs would either have to live with a practically empty noble title or serve as puppets of the imperial throne Well, ording to Captain Serena, a dark future awaited them regardless.

    We made a lot of profit this time.

    We made great achievements! Hiro-sama might even get awarded with another medal!

    Im not too keen on those stuffy ceremonies though.

    Krishnas kill score not only consisted of ships it shot downpletely, but also those it did medium to heavy damage to, resulting in the loss ofbat ability. To be exact, we managed to bag 4 battleships including the gship, 7 cruisers, 12 destroyers, 3 corvettes, and 18 carrier-based fighters.

    The Antlion destroyed 7 corvettes and 22 carrier-based fighters, and the ck Lotus got 3 cruisers. Including all the so-called pirate ships we hunted down before and our regr pay of 10 million, our total earnings went all the way up to 80 million Enels. Ive now be filthy rich, or rather, a multimillionaire.

    We havent even counted the estimated profits from selling off looted supplies and equipment and its already that big Regr folk probly wont be able to use all of it up in their lifetimes.

    It feels like a dream.

    What will you do with all of this wealth, My Lord?

    Hm Maybe Ill purchasend on a somewhere and build a mansion.

    My dream of having a detached house with a garden was finally within reach. But maybe buying a mothership bigger and stronger than the Lotus and converting it to a mobile base of operations was also a good option. Having this much money sure opened up a lot more possibilities.

    How is she?

    Her brain activity will be minimal until the treatment is finished, so she wont wake up just yet. But still, those guys sure did a number on her. Honestly.

    Dr. Shouko answered while disying a bitter grin. In front of us was apletely naked pale-white young girl lying inside a med pod, with multiple tubes and cords stuck to various ces on her body.

    Instead of treating her current body, would it be possible to create a recement body and transfer her consciousness or brain into it? Something like a spare cultivated using her genes or apletely bionic one.

    You sometimes blurt out some really outrageous stuff, dont you, Hiro-kun? First of all, its illegal to manufacture those so-called spare bodies or clones without the required permissions. And recing the consciousness or brains of said clones can be regarded as murder you know? The Empire still hasnt developed tech to create apletely bionic body apart from the brain, and it also doesnt have tech to copy over a persons consciousness to an android with a positronic brain. From the viewpoint of the Empires gics and bioengineering circle, using nanomachine formtions to restore or rebuild damaged organs or ones whose functions have significantly deteriorated presented lower risks and is much more reliable.

    I see Are you guys really unable to digitize a persons consciousness, Mei?

    Yes, Master. My apologies, but I am unaware of the existence of such a method.

    Mei apologized to me and bowed her head. Uh, theres actually no need for an apology yknow?

    Well, its just the words of aplete amateur. Ill leave everything rted to her to you guys, so let me know if something happens.

    Mm, I got it.

    Yes, Master.

    And so, weve safelypleted our job this time around Err, was that actually safe? Anyway, we didnt suffer any injuries, and the ships were unscathed as well. In that case, even though we encountered some hups, its fair to say that wepleted the job safely. Thats right!

    Hey, are you listening?

    I am. You sure are cute, Serena-chan.

    Ee R-Really? Ehehe.

    Captain Serenas face blushed red after she heard my half-hearted ttery and she giggled in glee. Her red face wasnt just due to embarrassment though. She was also pretty drunk.

    Ever since I began a rtionship with Captain Serena, she woulde over to the Lotus whenever she had free time to get drunk, fawn over me, and chat, or rather, party with the rest of the crew.

    However, I do cooperate by taking the Lotus back to port whenever it was Captain Serenas time off. Even the most dedicated soldier wont be on duty 24 hours a day. As long as she gave me her schedule in advance, I could at least be that flexible.

    Maybe its not really my business, but is it okay for you to waltz in here so tantly every time?

    Theres nothing to worry about. My subordinates do say stuff like my feelings has finally been recognized or that I now had the face of someone who finally got to know a man for real though.

    Isnt that actually something you should be concerned about?

    I held some doubts, but Captain Serena herself didnt seem all that worried. Well, since she herself insisted that there was no problem, it was probably fine.

    Anyway You get it, right?

    Get what?

    Im saying that once weve sorted out the mess here and my recement arrives, well go back to the imperial capital together. Youreing with me, okay?

    Yes, yes, I will. Ill go with you.

    Since we managed to gain meritsgreat merits at thatduring the battle against the Vereverem Federation Space Forces as hired Imperial mercenaries, Id likely receive yet another shiny medal for my troubles. Theres also the matter of me cutting down House Ixamals men like crazy. I also ended up cutting off the head of Vincent, who was Earl Ixamals eldest son. Literally. So Im gonna have to face trials, hearings, court-martials, and the like. Thats why I had no choice but to apany Captain Serena and return to the imperial capital.

    Its fine as long as you understand. You sure have be more honesttely.

    Captain Serena was all smiles, but its not like going into a rtionship with her was what led to me being agreeable this time around. It was out of necessity. Well, Id be lying if I said it was absolutely a non-factor though.

    Nya? Wahtishwidyuu?

    Youre cute, so I just felt like poking you.

    Her smile was adorable with a hint of smugness, but it was also a bit irritating, so I poked her cheek in retaliation. I wouldnt have thought of touching Captain Serenas face so casually before, so I guess some things did change even though it also felt like things were mostly the same as usual.

    Ehe, ehehe It cant be helped then.

    It was honestly worrying just how easily cated Captain Serena was by simply calling her cute. Well, I suppose she wouldnt turn out this way if it was said by someone else though. Damn, thats cute.

    Gununu

    There, there. I do understand the feeling though.

    We seniors need ta show our magnanimity here, Mimi.

    Um, Sis? The reinforced ss is creaking

    I could feel the strong gazes of Mimi and the others from a table a bit further away. Elma and Wiska appeared to be holding the other two back, but yknow they seemed calm for now, but the bacsh would probably be intenseter. From both of them. Ill refrain from borating on what exactly that bacsh would be.

    Kugi, on the other hand, appeared to be in a good mood and was smiling as she looked at the two of us. Her tails were swaying happily, so she must really be in a good mood. Kugi seemed to have taken a step back for my sake, so I should spoil herter as well.

    Dr. Shouko and Mei were still taking care of the albino girl, who was apparently a biologicalmand unit of the Vereverem Federation. For now, it didnt seem like her condition would suddenly deteriorate if she wasnt looked after closely, but she also served as a good specimen in order to study and gauge the Federations gics and biotechnology know-how, so Dr. Shouko and Mei were quite taken with her.

    Mei essed the biologicalmand units brain chip in order to glean info from it, as well as to tell the girl about her current situation and about us through something akin to a dream.

    Although the biologicalmand units brain activity was intentionally lowered by Dr. Shouko, that didnt mean that her brain had ceased functioning. It seemed that Mei was able to perform such a method thanks to the chip imnted in the girls brain.

    Eh? The exnation was quite vague? I mean, what did you expect? They exined it to me, but I really didnt get a lot of what they told me. The most I got was that her body was asleep, but her brain and the chip were still active, and that Mei was merely essing them.

    Please rest assured. I will educate her properly so she doesnt misbehaveter.

    O-Okay.

    What the heck did she mean by educating her? I refrained from openly voicing out such a question though. It was kinda scary, ysee.

    Her vitals sometimes fluctuate whenever youre connecting with her, Mei-kun. Its a bit troubling, so cant you give me the details, at least?

    Its Mei, so what shes doing is probably necessary. Thats why please just let it go.

    Mm Well, if you say so.

    Dr. Shouko had an unconvinced look on her face, but I didnt wanna mince words either, so I just told her to bear with it. At the very least, Mei wouldnt do something disadvantageous to me.

    We spent days as usual like this until Captain Serenas recement finally arrived from the imperial capital. I didnt get to directly meet the guy, but it seemed that he was some heir to a noble house who was sent out to earn merits or something to that effect.

    We left the rest to him, and we finally departed for the imperial capital along with Captain Serenas Independent Mobile Anti-pirate Fleet.

    Uh, Hiro. I sent Chris a holo-message and told her about this incident. Good luck.

    Whyd you go and do something like that???

    We have adies agreement after all.

    Whered thisdies agreemente from all of a sudden?

    Actually, I was faintly aware that such a thing was established between the girls. If thats the case, then I suppose Chris will being to the imperial capital as well. If I mess up, Id probably get stuck between House Holz and House Dareinwald, right?

    My stomach hurts!!

 Chapter 458: Thereâ€™s A Line I Wonâ€™t Let Others Cross

    Chapter 458: There¡¯s A Line I Won¡¯t Let Others Cross

    Prologue

    I woke up to the sound of faintughter. Someone was gently stroking my still-drowsy head. It was being handled quite delicately, as if in admiration of a long-cherished rare item that was finally obtained after much hardship. They had finally made it their own, and they also gave off a feeling of obsession that bordered on a grudge, but maybe I was just imagining things.

    Good morning.

    I opened my eyes and turned toward the woman stroking my head who was lying beside me. I was greeted with vividly crimson pupils staring back at me.

    Good morning. Your sleeping face looks so innocent and cute.

    Sorry if my wide awake face aint that cute. But I do think your face is always pretty, Captain.

    Stop calling me Captain when its just the two of us, will you? That goes for sama as well.

    After saying so, Serena admonishingly poked my cheek with her finger.

    Sorry about that. Well then, shall we get up, Serena?

    Alright, Hiro.

    I got up and stretched my body before finally getting off the bed. Now then, I suppose itll be a straight shot for the imperial capital from here on out.

    Serena was the beloved daughter of Marquis Holz, a naval captain serving in the Imperial Space Force, and themander of the Independent Mobile Anti-pirate Fleet. After spending an enjoyable bath with her, we headed for the dining hall of my little mercenary outfits gship cum mothership, the ck Lotus.

    The design philosophy of our mothership, the ck Lotus, was to serve as a vicious foe to its enemies and a loving mother to its crew. At first nce, the Lotus resembled a regr cargo transport ship when all its weapons were concealed. But once they got deployed, it instantly transformed into a heavily armed gunship.

    However, its living quarters offered the maximum level of space andfort for a ship of its size, and the richness and luxury of its various facilities wereparable to those found in high-end passenger cruise ships. The dining hall was bright and spacious, and the auto-cooker installed within was thetest cutting-edge model. The synthetic dishes created by the auto-cooker Tetsujin V were capable of impressing even Captain Serena, who was a bona fide daughter of a marquis.

    Good morning, Serena-sama. Hiro-sama.

    Good morning to you too, Mimi-san.

    Morning, Mimi. Are you the only one here?

    Elma-san and the others are in the medical bay. It seems they drank a bit too muchst night.

    Mimi replied with a wry smile.

    She serves as the main operator of my beloved partner machine, the Krishna. Shes also responsible for procuring our mercenary groups supplies, selling off loot, and gathering information. In terms of membership duration, shes actually the oldest crewmate among our mercenary group. But in terms of actual age, shes the youngest.

    She was originally a regr young girl with no special skills, but now that shes earned plenty of experience, shes be an indispensable member of our group.

    Also, she was actually the grand-niece of His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of the Gran Empirethe country we were currently active in. Apparently, she also looked a lot like the Crown Princes daughter. So, she might have seemed rather ordinary at first, but her lineage held a ridiculous bombshell of a secret However, for us, Mimi was simply Mimi. Nothing more and nothing less.

    All of them? Kugi too?

    Kugi-san woke up earlier than me, and she seems to have already gone to the training room.

    I see. Kugi does tend to sleep and wake up early.

    As we chatted, Captain Serena and I were about to take a seat next to Mimi after taking the trays of food that were ejected from Tetsujin V when Kugi suddenly entered the dining hall.

    Good morning, My Lord. Good morning as well, Serena-sama.

    Yeah, good morning. Are you done with your morning training already?

    Good morning, Kugi-san.

    I asked Kugi as I sat down opposite Mimi together with Captain Serena. Kugi answered yes, nodded, then sat down next to Mimi.

    She was a priestess who traveled all the way from a distant foreign country called the Holy Vuelzarus Empire in order to serve me. She had pointy fox-like animal ears on her head, and three fluffy tails extended from below her waist. She was a bona fide fox girl with cute and fluffy tails.

    In terms of her position within our mercenary group, she was serving as a consultant on everything rted to psionic abilities and was also acting as my psionic ability master. She also acts as a trainee sub-pilot for my partner machine, the Krishna. It hadnt been long since she boarded my ship and became a member of our mercenary group, so she was still in the middle of figuring out her development direction as a crewmate.

    Incidentally, she was also an extremely powerful telepathic ability user, which was apparently called the Secondary Psionic Powers in the Holy Empire.

    Yes, My Lord. Though I merely performed morning meditation. I shall apany you if you want to exercise your body.

    Guess Ill take you up on that offer. Youre going too, right, Mimi? What about you, Captain?

    Ill go back to my ship. Its about time for this dream-like period to end.

    Captain Serena dered as she elegantly brought food to her mouth.

    We were currently in a system with a gateway that was closest to the Creon system where we shed with the Vereverem Federations forces. During the recent conflict, the gateway in this system was sabotaged by a group of damned nobles who were trying to defect from the Gran Empire and join the Vereverem Federation. The saboteurs were already dealt with, and the gateways regr operations have been restored.

    Once we pass through the gateway, well be right before the imperial capital, so I guess this marks the end of my and Captain Serenas romantic flirting. Once were in the capital, both I and Captain Serena would be quite busy. Moreover, the mansion of House Holz, Captain Serenas family, was also in the capital. Captain Serena probably wont have much free time due to her military duties and familial obligations.

    Hiro, you understand, right?

    Unless theres a matter that I absolutely cant afford to ignore, Ill make sure to prioritize your, or rather, House Holzs summons. If you want me to prioritize your summons over everything else, then I should assume House Holz will do something to smooth things out for me.

    Thats fine then Youre willing to take responsibility, right?

    I promise to make the maximum concessions I can afford. However, there are some things I wontpromise on either. I hope you understand that.

    I replied sincerely to Captain Serena who disyed an unusually worried expression. I nned on epting their conditions even if they were a bit or even a lot troublesome. However, its a different story when ites to my life as a mercenary as well as Mimi and the others. I would neverpromise when ites to these two things. Absolutely never. This is a line I will never let others cross.

    I know. I do have a fair understanding of how much youre willing to tolerate.

    Captain Serena smiled as she responded.

    Before long, well be reaching the capital.

    So, Captain Serena already went back to her ship huh?

    She wanted to say goodbye to you guys as well, Elma, but it seemed that there wasnt enough time.

    Well, its our fault for drinkin too much and endin up in the med bay.

    Thats true, Sis.

    After seeing Captain Serena off, Mimi, Kugi, and I worked out a bit in the training room. After shedding some sweat, we rxed in the break space, and then Elma, Tina, and Wiska finally appeared.

    Well, well be in the imperial capital once we pass through this gateway after all, so she cant afford to hang out on this ship any longer. It cant be helped.

    The one who said so in a slightly regretful tone was a beautiful woman with pointed ears akin to the shape of a bamboo leaf. Her name was Elma. She was a member of the racemonly known as elves, but unlike the elves I was familiar with thanks to various media, she was extremely strong physically. She was a veteran mercenary with a longer career than me, and was the big sis of our little mercenary group. She was relied upon not only by me but by the rest of the crew as well.

    She serves as the pilot of the medium-ssbat ship we recently acquired called the Antlion. While watching my back duringbat, she uses the ships special equipment called Gravity Jammers in order to prevent our prey from escaping.

    I already told ya guys that drinkin that booze was no good

    Says the one who got the most excited and drank till thest drop.

    The ones having a heated exchange while sitting on the floor and hugging both my legs were the dwarves Tina and Wiska.

    Both of them had child-like physiques, but they were actually fully grown women. They were excellent mechanics and engineers, and they were in charge of maintaining my Krishna, the ck Lotus, and Elmas Antlion. Furthermore, they were also in charge of repairing and restoring the equipment and ships we looted from pirates and were indispensable for the smooth operations of our mercenary group in a different sense from Mimi.

    By the way, like the stereotypical dwarf, they absolutely adored alcohol. The image of what appeared to be minors chugging down huge mugs filled with strong liquor gave off risky vibes, but I assure you that they werepletely of legal age. After all, they were the same age as me.

    By the way Boss, it looks like Albino-chan finally woke up.

    Dr. Shouko and Mei are currently taking care of her in the med bay.

    Albino-chan? You Well, alright. I suppose Ill go check things out.

    It did seem a bit betterpared to Nameless-chan, but Albino-chan still sounded rather crass. Granted that it was easy to understand though. Anyway, Ill go and visit the medical bay for now.

 Chapter 459: A Highspeed Rotating Drill Hand?

    Chapter 459: A Highspeed Rotating Drill Hand?

    Good morning, Master.

    Oh, its Hiro-kun. Morning. Did you hear about it from Elma-kun and the others?

    Morning, you two. Yeah, thats about it.

    When I reached the med bay, I was greeted by the maidroid Mei and Dr. Shouko.

    Mei, the maidroid, was a custom model maidroid manufactured by Orient Industries, apany specializing in maidroids. I was the one who designed her, and I filled her with as much of a mans romance regarding maids as I possibly could.

    Specifically, I equipped her with a top-of-the-line maidroidpatiblepact positronic brain, a metal skeleton made of special alloys, a top-qualitypact energy generator, and high-output artificial muscles made of special metal fibers. I then installed every skill preset I could think of that would be needed by the perfect maidfrom cleaning to ship management tobat.

    Naturally, I also designed her face, body shape, and personality and customized them to the fullest ording to my tastes. The result was a cool and collected yet very affectionate maid with long, flowing ck hair who wore a ssic maid outfit and sses. Un, shes the best.

    What is it?

    Nothing much. I was just thinking about what a reliable and perfect maid you are, Mei.

    I am honored by your praise.

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    Mei responded and bowed her head reverently.

    Oya? Arent you gonna say anything about me too?

    Your breasts are as awesome as usual today, Dr. Shouko.

    In fact, her chest armor was as thick as Mimis. Additionally, she was much taller than Mimi, so you could say she had better proportions overall.

    That sort ofpliment is kinda Oh well. Its fine.

    Dr. Shouko chose to ignore my teasing and was all smiles, disying her good mood.

    She was an excellent researcher and medical doctor who specialized in biology and gic engineering. In rtion to those fields, she was also quite knowledgeable about nanomachines and materials engineering. In other words, she was a very talented individual with a wide array of knowledge in several fields. So much so that she sometimes engages in technical discussions with Tina and Wiska.

    Apparently, the reason why she was so talented was due to her being a designer baby who was specifically made to be a genius. However, for me, she was simply a very talented doctor equipped with amazing knowledge and skills. Her birth was certainly atypical, but nothing screamed atypical more than me who was a guy from another dimension, so it didnt really bother me too much.

    So, I heard she woke up?

    She did indeed wake up, or rather, we ended up waking her. Her immune functions still have some problems, so we cant let her out of the med pod just yet. But Ive managed to stabilize her spontaneous breathing and metabolic functions. When the problem with her immune system gets resolved, she can probably walk around outside a bit after partially regaining her motor functions.

    I see.

    When I nced at the med pod, I saw the girls blood-red pupils staring nkly at the med bays ceiling. She did seem awake due to her asional blinking, but she disyed no other reaction whatsoever.

    I didnt know the girls name. She was actually a biologicalmand unit who was formerly installed on a Vereverem Federation battleship. There was little information regarding her apart from that.

    One thing we confirmed was that she held an astonishing level ofputing power and electronic warfare capabilities for a human. She looked like a young girl, or even a small child, but her physical aging was actually suppressed using some sort of bionic procedure, so her actual age was higher than Mimis, and might even be the same age as Captain Serena.

    Finally, before we managed to find and retrieve her, she apparently spent her life stuffed inside a special module that resembled a tin can and served as a biological units core for more than a couple of yearspossibly ever since she gained awareness. Apart from those, we knew nothing more about her. It seemed that Mei managed to glean some info out of the biological chip imnted in the girls brain, but she hasnt divulged it to us so far. I believe the fact that Mei didnt talk about such information meant that it wasnt something I needed to know at this point.

    It looks like you dressed her up.

    The albino girl was dressed in something resembling a simple surgical gown. I wasnt sure how they managed to put clothes onto her while she was inside the med pod, but there must be some method I was unaware of.

    We cant always keep her naked and exposed to your gaze, after all, Hiro-kun.

    I dont really feel anything when looking at a body with no curves, but it certainly is better than her being naked. At least, I wont feel awkward when looking at her.

    Well, sorry for having a pathetic body with no curves.

    I was startled after suddenly hearing an unfamiliar voice out of nowhere. Whered ite from? As I looked around, I noticed that the eyes of the girl inside the med pod were slightly skewed toward my direction. They were stillcking focus, but I certainly did feel a will from behind them.

    The voice was probably not the girls actual voice. It seemed artificial and sounded somewhat familiar.

    Were you the one speaking just now? Can you talk?

    I cant move my body and I can barely see. Also, my ears can only pick up faint sounds. However, I am picking up information from outside using the sensors equipped to the medical pod.

    Come to think of it, it did appear that the med pod was equipped with some parts that I didnt recognize. There was probably an optical sensor and a sound sensor among them.

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    I see. Sorry for making fun of your body. That was definitely rude of me. Ill be more careful from now on.

    I dont really mind. A body is merely a vessel for the mind.

    Thats a rather pragmatic way of looking at things Can you tell us your name? Im Captain Hiro, by the way. This maidroid is Mei, and this is our ships medical doctor, Dr. Shouko.

    Unit 104.

    I dont think thats a proper name though

    Thats how they call me, and I have always been addressed as such. I have never gotten a proper human-like name to begin with.

    A dejected voice echoed out from the speaker. I see. How thorough of them.

    Im going to exin about my position and your current situation now. You fine with listening?

    I have learned some information from the maidroid over there already, but sure. Having multiple information sources will allow me to judge the situation more urately and perform aparison. Besides, it seems that you are the owner of that maidroid.

    Okay then. Firstly, you do remember the battle along the border, right? After that battle, we ended up finding the pod you were in and collected it. By the way, the battle ended in the Gran Empires victory. Were mercenaries employed by the Gran Empire, and this ship is currently heading for the imperial capital. Your current position is that of a POW we captured, and since youre physically quite weakened at the moment, it was decided that our doctor will take care of you at least until youre able to move on your own.

    After hearing my exnation, Unit 104 paused momentarily in order to think, then she began speaking again.

    Ive understood the situation, but I believe treating me would be pointless. Ive heard that my service life is less than a year. Even with the treatment, my life expectancy would likely not increase. Therefore, it is a waste of time and resources.

    That may be the case with the Vereverem Federations technology. But its more than possible to clear that hurdle using our own technology.

    Dr. Shouko responded in my ce. Since she winked at me beforehand, she probably wanted me to leave it to her.

    Even if that were the case, it still wouldnt be cost-effective. Its true that due to my position in the Federation, I am aware of many of their military secrets, but the freshness and uracy of said information decreases steadily as time passes. I believe the technology that would be used to treat me is probably the bionic body enhancement technology thats used exclusively by the Empires nobility. However, Ive heard that said procedures are quite expensive. The cost should be too high to waste on a disposable biological unit such as myself.

    Actually, it depends on the degree of enhancement. It shouldnt be prohibitively expensive if we simply leave it at a level where youd at least be capable of living a normal life.

    I see. However, that still doesnt mean it will be cheap. I do not think the Gran Empire will tolerate such an expense. Just what is your objective? Who insists on treating someone like me, and what is their aim?

    Dr. Shouko didnt answer Unit 104s question, but simply turned to me instead. Mei also turned toward me.

    So, it is you, Captain. Why?

    Theres no particrly deep reason. I just wont be able to sleep easy if I went and abandoned you.

    Wont, sleep easy?

    Unit 104s tone soundedpletely perplexed. Even if the synthetic voice sounded mechanical, it was tinged with emotion.

    The Imperial Space Force will probably interrogate you. If you dont resist and cooperate with them, you wont end up getting executed, at least. Then theyll treat you as a POW, and depending on the situation, they might attempt to use you as a witness against the Federations inhumane deeds. However, a captain of the Imperial Space Force Im familiar with said that the Federation might not suffer much damage if they feign ignorance regarding your existence.

    Its something Captain Serena told me. It wasnt guaranteed that the Federation would do so, but there was a rather high chance that theyd resort to such a method. Thats what Captain Serena said during one of our pillow talks.

    If that happens, youd be released as aplete foreignerneither an Imperial subject nor a Federation citizen. Youd be thrown out into the imperial capital without any hope for help. And youd probably die soon after. Youd perish in some lonely back alley somewhere, cold and starving. I definitely wont be able to sleep easy if I let that happen.

    I believe there are many in both the Empire and the Federations who get thrown away and die just like how you described. Arent your actions nothing more than hypocrisy?

    Thats true. People suffering a simr fate were probably a dime a dozen out there. In fact, I often saw people sitting around powerlessly in back alleys whenever I walked around the colonies. And I didnt have the will to reach out to each and every one of them. I was no saint after all. I definitely wasnt.

    Is there anything wrong with being a hypocrite? Im only trying to help you for the sake of my own peace of mind. Im certainly not doing it for the betterment of the world or to be a savior of the people. Im just doing it for myself. And I dont think I should be criticized for that. Not even by you.

    Since it has something to do with my fate, I believe I at least have the right toin though?

    Then what? You wanna tell me you prefer being left to die miserably as aplete unknown after being made use of by the Vereverem Federation? Youre not even thinking of getting back at them?

    Of course, I want to get back at them. I want to stick my hand up their behinds and make their teeth rattle. But what can I do now that youve taken custody of me? I know you are a mercenary, but what can someone like you possibly do against the Vereverem Federation?

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    In thest battle, I and my Krishna alone destroyed four battleships including the gship, seven cruisers, twelve destroyers, and tons of corvettes and carrier-based fighters. My partners ship and this ck Lotus also achieved great results.

    Fine, Im in dammit. Im very useful, Captain. I can even serve as your mistress if you want. My body may be undeveloped, but I believe this kind of body type also has its own charm. And even though I look like this, Im actually 24 years old, so itspletely legal.

    Is your hand a high-speed drill or something? And youre suddenlying on to me like crazy Well, theres the Empires ns to consider so I cant make any definite promises, but I do intend on taking you in. Anyway, thats how it is.

    Understood. Ill believe in you, Captain.

    Thus, our first proper conversation with Unit 104 ended. If I dont handle things well, this might lead to the birth of a woman who was even more crazy and radical regarding the destruction of the Vereverem Federation than the Empire. But I suppose were fine for now since well mainly be active in the Empire. In any case, her being cooperative was a good thing, at least.

 Chapter 460: Itâ€™s Already a Damn Mess!

    Chapter 460: It¡¯s Already a Damn Mess!

    Gran Empire capital system  Grakkius. It was the literal heart of the Gran Empire, and had multiple colonies dotted near the imperial capital, which was an ecumenopolis or city.

    The security measures employed by the capital were particrly stringent, and they would activate not only when theres an actual attempt to descend without permission, but also when one merely shows signs of forcefully intruding into the citys descent trajectory. Intruders would be mercilessly attacked by the Imperial Space Forces Imperial Guard Fleet and shot down, even if the intruding ship were affiliated with the Imperial Space Force.

    Thats why it was necessary to go through someplicated procedures first before one could pass through the capitals security. Well, it looks like Captain Serena would take care of said procedures herself just likest time, so well have to stay at the Grakkius Secundus colony until ourary descent application gets approved.

    Well just have to wait for the result.

    Greetings, Hiro-sama. Its your dear Christina.

    Aye

    Less than an hour after entering port, Chris, who was d in a dark aura, rushed into the Lotus. Somebody, help!

    Her full name was Christina Dareinwald. She was the sole heir to the House Dareinwald earldom and was currently serving as the Comatt star systems governess as part of her training to seed her familys leadership. At least, she was supposed to be. But she apparently came to the imperial capital for some reason.

    Ive helped her out of sticky situations two times already, and she has shown her affection for me in a rather straightforward manner since then.

    But she sure has grown into quite thedy since we partedst Was she actually taller than Mimi now? Her beautiful ck hair, which was previously styled in a short bob, had now grown past her back. Also, her childish figure was no more, and her curves had be more mature and feminine.

    Anyway, could you please put away that dagger youre holding tightly with both hands as if youre ready to stab someone with it, youngdy? Okay? Lets discuss things peacefully, shall we?

    Ill stab Hiro-sama first, and then Ill stab myself.

    Wait, dont be hasty, and listen to me!

    Oh, but I was merely jesting. It was just a prank, you know? Ufufu.

    Chris giggled and touched the tip of her dagger with her finger. The daggers de quickly retracted into its hilt along with the sound of a cheap spring mechanism clicking into ce. Apparently, it was just an borate-looking joke item. Phew. That sure chilled my innards.

    But I do think that a bad guy who ys with the heart of a pure maiden like myself deserves to get stabbed once or twice, at least. Isnt that right, Hiro-sama?

    That does sound reasonable, but there were some extenuating circumstances, okay?

    Would you like me to take the same drug formtion then?

    How much have you heard already? Anyway, dont even think about it, alright?

    This was Chris were talking about, so she might really go through with it. Lets dissuade her first. I mean, this girl surprisingly didnt have much qualms regarding the means to get what she wanted. Or rather, she was quite the passionate go-getter. She did barge into my room at night when I first took her in. Of course, with the intention of doing that with me.

    I looked toward the others inside the break space who were watching themotion with the intention of asking for help.

    Pyu, hyuhyu

    Mimi tantly averted her eyes while whistling. Found the snitch.

    Oh my. Well, dont mind me.

    Meanwhile, the damned space elf was treating the exchange between Chris and I as a snack to go along with her drink. Unforgivable.

    Uh, I sppose its time ta pay the piper or somethin.

    But isnt that going a bit too far?

    Dont give up, Tina. Everything will be over if you give up. Also, Wiska was serving as the voice of reason as always. I love you. But could you please stop spectating and help me out already?

    And why are you just waiting around while smiling like that, Kugi? Your lords in danger, yknow? Why are you simply swinging your tails happily?

    Mei and Dr. Shouko werent present in the first ce. Putting aside Dr. Shouko who was preupied with Unit 104, the fact that Mei didnt have any reaction probably meant that I wasnt in any actual danger. Or was I? Really?

    There really were unavoidable circumstances regarding Captain Serenas case Or rather, since you already know about the drugs, then you more or less have an understanding of those circumstances, right, Chris?

    But my understanding of those circumstances and my protesting and being angry over them arepletely different matters. Dont you think so, Hiro-sama?

    Well, thats true.

    It was an un-refutable rebuttal.

    Ok, ok. I get that youre angry, Chris. But we have to consider your age, right? Im not crazy enough toy my hands on a minor after all. In the first ce, I dont think His Excellency the Earl would approve of a rtionship between a mercenary like me and you, Chris.

    In other words, I just need to take care of the issue regarding my age and get my grandfathers approval, correct?

    Now, just hold on a bit. Lets calm down and think this through first.

    I had a very bad feeling so I preempted Chris before she could think along those lines any further. The moment she mentioned the matter regarding her age and getting Earl Dareinwalds approval, there was an unmistakable glint of victory in her beautiful onyx pupils.

    Are you aware of my actual age, Hiro-sama? You arent, correct?

    Chris inquired in a rather amused fashion. I could have confidently answered thirteen or fourteen years old, but I had no memory of specifically looking up her actual age. Based on her physique when I first met her, I estimated her age to be between twelve and thirteen, but now that she mentioned it, I never asked her directly about it.

    Actually, Mimi and I are only half a year apart in age. You get what Im trying to say, right?

    But isnt it possible to fake that using your noble privileges?

    I have not and will never do so. Official information regarding us nobles cannot be altered so easily.

    After saying so, Chris proudly disyed her ID using her portable info terminal. Uh, it does indicate that shes of legal age. I see.

    I got it. I get that youve cleared the age issue. And from the looks of it, youve also gotten the earls approval already, right? Even so. Im not a flippant guy whod casuallyy my hands on a girl.

    Um, how many crew members are on this ship besides you again, Hiro-sama?

    Err, nine.

    All of them are in that sort of rtionship with you, right?

    Right.

    If so, can you still confidently repeat what you said earlier about not being flippant?

    Damn. The gs getting nted deeper and deeper. Alright then. Lets just run away.

    I turned on my heels and started running. However, I was tackled from behind. What a vicious tackle. I fell helplessly. However, I somehow managed to avoid getting my face nted on the floor using both arms.

    You arent getting away from me this time.

    Y-You sure have gotten much faster, Chris.

    Chris looked over my shoulder and smiled.

    Ive received body enhancements in preparation for inheriting my grandfathers position after all.

    Ok, I got it. I surrender. I surrender, so lets talk this through first, okay?

    After saying so, I let myself fallpletely prostrate on the floor. I already knew this was gonna happen the moment Chris got in touch with me. I suppose I better resolve myself.

    Its the same for Captain Serena, but to think youd go so far to insist on having me as a partner Uh, it does feel good though. Im pretty happy about it, yknow? I mean, it does raise my confidence as a man. But there are more than a few obstacles, right? Like the difference in our social status, how wed appear to the rest of society, your duties and obligations as a noble, and the interests of your House. Moreover, Ive made it abundantly clear that I hate being tied down to one ce and prefer living the free life of a mercenary. Thats why I believe Im unsuitable as your partner No, Im happy though. I really am. Im happy that you like me so much, Chris. I mean it.

    We were currently having a discussion in the break space, but I was the only one sitting on one sofa, and the rest were surrounding me. Whats up with this? It kinda felt like I was a defendant on trial or something.

    I understand your concerns, Hiro-sama. However, please rest assured. Its no exaggeration to say that all of your concerns can practically be resolved.

    How?

    First, theres no problem regarding our respective social statuses since youve already received the First ss Order of the Star Cross and have be an honorary viscount. Also, ording to what Ive heard, youll also receive further distinction along with the Imperial Space Force troops who participated in thwarting House Ixamals nned rebellion and the Vereverem Federations invasion. Thats why theres no problem at all regarding that matter.

    I-I see. But you do know that theres no way Ill be able to fulfill a nobles duties and responsibilities, right?

    Theres no need to worry about that matter either. Ill fulfill those duties in your stead. My grandfather has trained me for that exact purpose. In other words, my grandfather never nned on finding a grandson-inw to lead the house in the first ce. Instead, the moment he decided to let me inherit the earldom and his title, he had already nned on making you marry into the family as my husband.

    W-Wha S-Seriously?

    Chris nodded confidently in response to my question. It left me bbergasted. No, well,e to think of it, making Chris govern an entire star system by herself despite her young age in order to train her in managing their entire earldom as the heir did seem kinda unusual.

    It would have been less troublesome to wee a grandson-inw and train him in managing the territory, then have Chris assist him instead.

    However, did that strict and uptight Earl Dareinwald really n on making me Chriss husband right from the get-go? It sounded unbelievable, but it did kinda make some sense.

    And besides, I do not n on tying you down, Hiro-sama. I will be content as long as you treat my ce as your home and return to me from time to time. Your dream is to build a house on a safe and live a rxing life, correct? In that case, we can freely provide you withnd anywhere in the earldom, and were quite proud of the level and quality of our territorys security as well. If you n on living in the capital, it would be hard to secure a ce as long as you arent a first-ss citizen. However, the Dareinwald earldom can amodate you to the best of our ability.

    It does sound like youve dealt with all of my concerns If thats the case

    Waaaaaaiiiit! I will not allow you to steal a march on me!

    Tsk.

    Several things happened in session.

    First, Captain Serena barged into the break space while screaming. Then, she went and tackled me from the side, causing both of us to get blown off the sofa. Then, I heard someone click their tongue. Was that Chris?

    Furthermore, other people began to barge into the break space as well. The face of the youngdy apanied by female imperial guards with swords on their waists was very familiar. Specifically, she was the spitting image of Mimi.

    Thats enough! This conflict shall now be mediated by me, granddaughter of His Majesty the Emperor, Luciada!

    Its be a damn mess already! Somebody, help me!

 Chapter 461: Well, If Push Comes to Shove, Weâ€™ll Just Deal with the Main Culprit

    Chapter 461: Well, If Push Comes to Shove, We¡¯ll Just Deal with the Main Culprit

    I have to ask this first. Why has Your Imperial Highness the Princess charged all the way to our ship?

    It would take too long if I talked about it in detail, so Ill keep it short. Basically, Marquis Holzs daughter received word from her subordinates while I was having a meeting with her, and upon hearing about the matter, I thought it was going to be quite interesti Ahem. I believed that the matter required my mediation, so I rushed over as quickly as I could.

    You were just about to say you thought things would be interesting, werent you?

    Her Imperial Highness Princess Luciada simply disyed her royal smile as I gave her a reproachful re. This girl She really was the granddaughter of that f**king emperor!

    Hiro-dono, are you not acting too disrespectful toward Her Imperial Highness?

    Isolde, a female knight belonging to the Imperial Guard who I previously beat ck and blue during sparring a while back, stepped in and protested, but I just brushed her off.

    This is MY ship. I dont care if its Her Imperial Highness or His Imperial Majesty. If you dont like it, then just get out. Anyway, theres something else that caught my attention Serena, dont tell me you had your subordinates monitor my ship?

    T-Thats I heard that you got contacted by that thieving ck cat over there, so I had them do it just in case, okay?

    Oh my. Youve only had rtions with him recently, but youre already acting quite possessive and controlling, arent you? And you even had your subordinates monitor him. I believe this can be considered an abuse of authority, correct?

    Serena hesitantly tried to exin herself, but Chris suddenly went on the attack. How scary.

    It was a personal request of mine to a subordinate who just happened to be off-duty, so its not an abuse of authority. Its an emergency measure to protect Hiro from some unscrupulous nobody who has nothing to do with him.

    Serena responded to Chriss provocation, and sparks went off when they locked gazes. Both of them shouldnt have any psionic powers, but the tension, or rather, pressure overflowing from them was overwhelming. It was very scary.

    And Her Imperial Highness Princess Luciada was simply watching the scene while looking quite amused. Her eyes were practically sparkling with glee. Hey, werent you supposed to arbitrate between the two? If youre not gonna do anything, then aint it better if you just left already?

    Perhaps my emotions were conveyed to her through eye contact, and Princess Luciada snapped out of her reverie. She then cleared her throat. Theres no point in glossing things over, yknow? Ive already seen through you, okay?

    Alright, lets leave it there for now. Both of you care deeply for the same person, so you shouldnt fight like this.

    You were just watching the situation with sparkling eyes earlier, so what the heck are you spouting now? Im sure I wasnt the only one who had these thoughts. But no one would probably voice them out though.

    In the first ce, I believe its pointless for the two of you to fight. After all, its not like either of you want topletely monopolize Captain Hiro, right?

    Well, thats

    I suppose

    Serena and Chris reluctantly acknowledged Princess Luciadas words. Trying to monopolize me was basically not recognizing my rtionship with Mimi and the rest. That was something I wouldnt overlook. If they insisted, then I would have to rethink going into a serious rtionship with them.

    In that case, theres no need to fight since the hierarchy is already decided, correct? If you continue fighting, it would only result in troubling Captain Hiro and driving him away.

    She was disying a truly regal smile that was seemingly apanied with a shining halo, but unfortunately, I was already used to seeing Princess Luciadas dignified face due to her resemnce to Mimi. So, it didnt have much of an effect on me. Rather, I was more concerned about Mimi who was puffing her cheeks enviously after seeing Princess Luciadas royal smile. You dont really have to force yourself to imitate her, yknow?

    Well, its not like we will be estranged just by messing about a bit like this. Anyway, what did you mean by their hierarchy already being decided? What hierarchy?

    Oh,e now, Captain Hiro. I was referring to the hierarchy between your wives. In other words, its about who among the wives youve taken would be your legal wife and who would be your concubines. On that note, from the perspective of imperial nobility and royalty, the person most suited for the position of your official wife would be Christina Dareinwald, the uing countess of House Dareinwald, and the first concubine would be Serena Holz, Marquis Holzs daughter. Then, the second concubine would be Elma Willrose, daughter of Viscount Willrose. Basically, between an earl and a marquis, an earl has the higher status. This also applies to their children. However, unlike Serena who has no specific noble title despite being a military officer, Christina will be inheriting her grandfathers title as well as her familys territory. Thats why I said the hierarchy between your wives has already been decided.

    While listening to Princess Luciadas words, I digested the contents in my head.

    It wasnt a particrlyplicated topic. Chris, who would be a countess in the future, would be at the top. Then the rest would be ranked ording to their respective lineages. Mimi, Tina, Wiska, and the others who technically had nothing to do with nobility, would be ranked at the bottom.

    Im grateful for your attempt at making a clear ruling in order to settle potential disputes, Princess Luciada. But I personally dont think its a good idea to implement such a hierarchy

    As expected of the man who surrounds himself with eight, no, nine women, including an uing countess and the daughter of a marquis. Your thoughts about such matters sure are different.

    Princess Luciada responded with a big smile on her face. By the way, the female royal guards apanying her were looking at me as if I were trash or some sort of dirty vermin. It was quite harsh.

    Anyway, she nced toward Mei when she was about to say eight women earlier, so I suppose its like that huh? The rights of machine intelligence as citizens were supposed to be widely recognized within the Gran Empire, but I suppose things arent that simple.

    I do not mind if you decide to settle things between yourselves. I am just pointing things out from an imperial nobles perspective. By the way, I believe its about time for you to pay the piper, so to speak.

    Pay the piper?

    But of course. Aside from House Willroses daughter who ran away from home and worked as a mercenary while hiding her identity, you cannot escape the matter of having rtions with the dear daughter of Marquis Holz.

    Oh, that. Its not like I n on not taking responsibility. I did promise after all. Also, it seems it wont be possible for me to take the lead when ites to the matter regarding Chris, so

    Serenas face lit up when she heard that I nned to take responsibility, and Chriss face lit up when she heard myter words as well. Both of them looked slightly less worried.

    However, there are certain lines I wontpromise on. First of all, I wont ept any proposals that will ruin my current rtionships. This may sound presumptuous, but this mercenary group is made up of various talented women centered around me. In other words, were already one family. Or rather, a n. And naturally, if I were to be taken away and incorporated into a noble house, this n would likely copse. And that is something I will never allow.

    I looked straight at Serena and Chris while saying my piece in order to reiterate my stance.

    In other words, I have no intention of stopping my activities as a mercenary. If you cant ept these two points, then unfortunately, Id like you to give up on having a rtionship with me. And if you insist on making me ept your proposals without considering these two points, Ill resist with all my might and run away no matter what. Of course, Ill make all the concessions I can to prevent things froming to that.

    Thank you for making things clear. But my grandfather does understand you quite well, Hiro-sama. So, there is no need to worry about things like that.

    Chris disyed acent smile, but in contrast, Serena looked like she had swallowed a bitter pill.

    Ill do my best to prevent that from happening.

    Cmon. If pushes to shove, well just deal with the main culprit who caused this mess. Right, Princess Luciada?

    When I threw the ball at her, Princess Luciada tilted her head to the side and feigned ignorance.

    Me?

    Isnt there someone who threw me and Serena into such a damned shady post? If necessary, Ill have him do something about the resulting consequences himself. Of course, Ill only choose that option as an absolutest resort. Hes already gotten a grasp of everything anyway, right? Or rather, the reason why youre here at Grakkius Secundus at this time is probably due to that persons meddling as well, right, Princess?

    Oh,e now. Its just a coincidence, I tell you. I just happened to be returning to the capital after conducting a regional inspection.

    Is that so?

    Shes lying. Well, the bit about the regional inspection was probably true, but the fact that Princess Luciada whos supposed to be in the imperial castle right now was able to intervene here at this time was no coincidence. Im sure this was orchestrated by that f**king emperor. The way that bastard and I see things was just too different, so Im not really sure what hes up to though.

    In any case, well just deal with it once wend on the imperial capital. Oh, right. Is the earl staying in this colony right now? If thats the case, then I better give my greetings.

    No, my grandfather is in our territory. Only I came here along with some attendants.

    I see. Did you get some time off?

    Yes. I whined to my grandfather a bit and managed to get myself a short vacation.

    Chris replied as she snuggled up to me. Uh, thats pretty cute. But, uh, your bodys in the middle of a growth spurt yknow? Thats why, err, something like this is a bit hard to deal with. I might have had no qualms giving you head pats when we first met, but youve already be a fine youngdy.

    Thats good. As for Serena You probably dont have any spare time to spend messing about with us like this, right?

    Well, thats Im more or less apanying Princess Luciada right now, so its fine.

    And you came charging straight into the Lotus with her in tow. What the heck are you doing?

    Its fine since Im enjoying myse Ahem, Ive already given her my consent.

    You dont have to try and hide it anymore yknow? But, well, were already done here, right? So you can go now.

    When I stared at her in an admonishing manner, Princess Luciada put the palms of her hands together, leaned her left cheek on them, and gave me a sunny smile. It was such a cliche cutesy begging pose. Theres a limit to how pushy one can be yknow?

    Ive heard of a certain rumor. It seems that an interesting girl has gotten on board your ship recently. I would very much like to meet her.

    Oi.

    I red at Serena, or rather, Captain Serena.

    You cant possibly expect me to go against imperial authority, right?

    Haa. Mei, can you ensure their safety?

    Yes, Master. Ive already cut her off from theworkpletely, so there will be no problems.

    Thats what she said. If you dont mind doing so at your own risk, Im willing to let you meet her, Princess.

    Splendid. I will trouble you to escort me to her then.

    The princess responded with a very delighted smile on her face. Fine, just do whatever you want.

 Chapter 462 -ã€ŽHahaha. But Itâ€™s So Fun, Captain.ã€

    Chapter 462 -¡ºHahaha. But It¡¯s So Fun, Captain.¡»

    ¡ºA picture-perfect princess apanied by a lot of picture-perfect knights¡­¡­ Captain, you already have me, but aren¡¯t you ying a bit too hard?¡»

    Unit 104, who trained her sights on me, Princess Luciada, and her party through the sensor attached to the med pod, suddenly came down on me with a t, mechanical tone. The heck does she mean by me already having her? Well, I did say I was gonna take her in though.

    ¡°I don¡¯t even know where to start poking holes in thatment¡­¡­¡±

    ¡ºYou can poke me in any hole y¡¯know?¡»

    ¡°Ain¡¯t your words a bit too vulgar? Did you learn that from Vereverem Federation soldiers¡­¡­? Anyway, this is the dear granddaughter of Gran Empire¡¯s current emperor and the daughter of the crown prince. In other words, she is Her Royal Highness, Princess Luciada. So, please don¡¯t act so crass, or you¡¯re gonna get in trouble. You¡¯re gonna get pawned by the scary imperial guard oneesans behind us.¡±

    While saying that, I performed a slicing gesture by stroking my neck with the tip of my index finger.

    ¡ºC-Captain, are you¡­¡­ serious?¡»

    ¡°Serious about what, exactly? Anyway, I¡¯m serious about her being Princess Luciada. Not sure if the imperial guard oneesans will really pawn you, but slicing you in two along with that medical pod will be really easy using a noble¡¯s sword. Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯d be able to ignore something like that though.¡±

    ¡®You guys won¡¯t really do something like that, right?¡¯ I mused as I nced at Isolde, who was looking at me with an indignant expression. Well, it¡¯s probably impossible for me to subdue five skilled swordswomen including Isolde by myself currently. After all, I didn¡¯t have a single weapon on me right now.No, I might pull it off if I used psionic power¡­¡­ or rather, my telekinesis to snatch their swords.

    ¡ºIt¡­¡­ doesn¡¯t look like it¡¯s just Mimi doing cosy. Eh¡­¡­? Captain, if that¡¯s true, then just what kind of connections do you have? And there are also some ssy youngdies I don¡¯t recognize in the mix.¡»

    The visual sensor moved with a clicking sound and captured Chris and Selena¡¯s figures.

    ¡°This is Christina Dareinwald, the next Countess Dareinwald. And this is Serena Holz, the daughter of Marquis Holz, and a captain of the Imperial Space Force. She was the one inmand in the battle where we defeated you guys.¡±

    ¡ºOh my¡­¡­ Don¡¯t tell me all of them are your ¡®you-know-what¡¯, Captain?¡»

    ¡°Not sure what you mean by you-know-what. But for the record, I¡¯m not stupid enough toy my hands on Her Imperial Highness, the princess.¡±

    Uh, what¡¯s with the surprised look, Your Imperial Highness? There¡¯s no use puffing up your cheeks, okay? You¡¯re pretty cute, but there¡¯s no way it¡¯s gonna work out between us. I mean, it¡¯s justmon sense. Also, please stop looking at me with those critical gazes, imperial guarddies. Well, she does have the financial power to buy a ship like this one easily¡­¡­ Hmm. Wait, that¡¯s not it. Chris is starting to emit a dark aura, so please stop. Even Serena¡¯s getting all prickly.

    ¡°Anyway, is your curiosity satisfied now, Princess? As you can see, she isn¡¯t exactly someone you can describe as refined, so apologies for the rude remarks.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s an interesting girl. What is her name?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Unit 104, apparently. Other than that, she was also called ¡®canned goods¡¯ and ¡®piece of junk¡¯ by those Federation guys.¡±

    ¡°My. Perhaps the people from our neighboring country don¡¯t have that good of a naming sense. If it were me, I¡¯d call her Shiro-chan.¡±

    ¡°Err, right.¡±

    ¡ºAs I thought, she¡¯s just like Mimi inside, ain¡¯t she, Captain?¡»

    Mimi was the one who gave the girl the nickname Shiro-chan, and it spread to the rest of the crew. Apart from Mei and I, that is. By the way, the name Unit 104 was pretty unpopr with most of the crew.

    ¡°I was merely jesting. That name is far too simple after all. Let¡¯s see¡­¡­ Herplexion is as white as snow, so how about the name Neve?¡±

    ¡°Neve. Hmm¡­¡­ It does have a nice ring to it. I think it¡¯s good.¡±

    ¡ºNeve, huh? Un, not bad. It¡¯s certainly better than Shiro-chan. It¡¯s my honor to receive a name from you, Your Imperial Highness. When I am able to safely work as part of Captain¡¯s crew, I will dly turn those Vereverem Federation bastards and space pirate scum into space debris for you and the Gran Empire¡¯s sake.¡»

    ¡°How reliable. I sincerely pray for your sess. Nevertheless, you sure are adorable, Neve. You¡¯re just like a cute doll.¡±

    ¡ºIs that so? I personally have not seen my outer appearance. There are no visual sensors that can monitor the pod¡¯s interior after all, and my own eyes still can¡¯t see that well. I also can¡¯t move my body yet.¡»

    Unit 104¨C No, Neve mused out loud using the artificially synthesized voice as her unfocused eyes nkly stared at empty space. Her eyes blinked asionally, but nothing was reflected within them.

    When we first took her out of her pod, Neve¡¯s hair was a mess, the ends of her limbs were in tatters, and her skin was of poor quality apart from the moisture, so she wasn¡¯t really in a good condition. However, thanks to the care provided by Dr. Shouko and Mei, she had gradually gotten better, and now looked visibly healthierpared to when she first came out of that can-like pod. Just like Princess Luciada said, she was as cute as a bisque doll.

    However, whenever she opened her mouth (figuratively speaking for now), her words and conduct were a bit too crass, or rather, vulgar, giving an impression that waspletely opposite of her adorable appearance.

    ¡°Yes, you are indeed adorable. Isn¡¯t that right, Captain Hiro?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure why you¡¯re asking me, but yeah, she¡¯s quite pretty, I suppose. Her appearance, at least. Her inner self is totally unlike that of a refined beauty though.¡±

    ¡ºYou should have just offered praise honestly, Captain. You can use my body as roughly as you want if you¡¯d like.¡»

    ¡°No, thank you. You should consider the time and ce when making those kinds of remarks. If you say anything vulgar in front of the princess again, I¡¯m gonna disconnect the visual sensor and speakers.¡±

    Their gazes hurt y¡¯know? Her Imperial Highness was just looking at me with curiosity, but her imperial guards, Chris, and Serena were looking at me with harsh gazes. Particrly harsh ones, at that.

    ¡ºOh dear, that¡¯s what you call youth, Captain. Okay, I got it. I¡¯ll behave. I¡¯m sorry, Your Imperial Highness. I was just giddy with happiness after being given a name by you. Please do pardon my rudeness.¡»

    ¡°Fufu, pardon granted. In any case, you sure have opened up a lot to Captain Hiro, haven¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡ºCaptain was the one who freed me from the clutches of those Vereverem Federation bastards and the confines of my pod, Princess. He¡¯s also willing to fully treat someone like me who is nearing the end of my service life and promised that he¡¯ll eventually instate me as part of his crew no matter what. It made me feel like a person and not a machine or parts to be used and abused by those damn bastards. That¡¯s why I¡¯m willing to offer everything I have left to the Captain.¡»

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Captain Hiro, I¡¯ll leave Neve to you, okay?¡±

    ¡°By your will. I will take responsibility and care for her to the best of my ability.¡±

    I already nned on doing so even without Princess Luciada¡¯s reminder. Since I decided to pick her up, I¡¯ll take care of her until the end. She didn¡¯t have anyone else who she could depend on after all.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Chris looked at Neve with an indescribablyplicated expression. Their social positions and situations were different, but if Chris wasn¡¯t the granddaughter of a high-ranking nobleman and had no other rtives apart from her deceased parents, she might have be a part of our crew in the same way as Neve. And that was something Chris wanted from the bottom of her heart but ultimately gave up on. If you think about it like that, it might be natural for Chris to harbor mixed feelings towards Neve.

    Hm? It seemed like the med pod¡¯s sensors were going back and forth observing me and Chris.

    ¡º¡­¡­I see. Even though I look like this, I am also a grown adult. My body may appear young, but I¡¯ve lived for 24 years at least. Once my physical treatment ispleted sessfully and my reproductive ability normalizes, I would like to have at least one child. I want to leave a legacy in this world. Proof that I¡¯ve lived to the fullest. That¡¯s why I¡¯ll be counting on you when the timees, Captain. I¡¯ll feel secure as long as you take responsibility properly and care for me.¡»

    ¡°¡±¡±¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±

    The sudden bombshell was super effective.

    First, Chris quickly turned towards me. That¡¯s scary, Chris. Your head¡¯s movements and those eyes are really scaring me.

    Mimi and the rest of the girls either fidgeted nervously, gave me discreet nces, or stared at me with heated gazes. Calm down, guys. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s time for that just yet. Let¡¯s leave talks about that after securing a base for ourselves at least. Dr. Shouko was verypetent in her job, and Mei was more than capable of taking care of the babies perfectly, but I still don¡¯t think a starship was an ideal ce to raise kids.

    And imperial guards? Please stop checking out the conditions of your swords so ostentatiously like that. I didn¡¯t do anything wrong, okay?

    ¡°Please make jokes like that¡­¡­ No, I suppose you weren¡¯t actually joking, were you? Anyway, please makements like that after your body has healed properly. Also, we still don¡¯t know how exactly the empire will respond to your presence yet, so I can¡¯t say anything definite right now. There¡¯s still a chance that the imperial authorities will take custody of you after all. Lastly, you¡¯re riling things up on purpose, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡ºHahaha. But it¡¯s so fun, Captain.¡»

    ¡°I¡¯m certainly notughing¡­¡­ Calm down, Chris. Okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Hiro-sama. I will give birth to a lot of kids, okay?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s too early for that. It¡¯s way too early for that sort of statement in many ways. So, please let go of my arm already, okay?¡±

    Chris approached me with a mysteriously slippery gait, grabbed the hem of my clothes, and refused to let go. Someone help me.

 Chapter 463: â€œI Mean, Thereâ€™s Timing and All Sorts of Other Stuff to Consider, Right?â€

    Chapter 463: ¡°I Mean, There¡¯s Timing and All Sorts of Other Stuff to Consider, Right?¡±

    Satisfied with touring almost the entire ship apart from the most sensitive areas such as the cockpit, Princess Luciada finally left along with Captain Serena and the imperial guard oneesamas. In the end, she did manage to mediate between Serena and Chris, or rather, put out the fire before it got worse, didn¡¯t she? She might have wanted toe check on Neve in person as well.

    ¡°So, um¡­¡­ Chris¡­¡­¡±

    After seeing Princess Luciada and her retinue off the gangway, I turned my attention to Chris who was still standing next to me.

    I trained my gaze toward Chris who remained on the ship instead of leaving with Princess Luciada and the others. Come to think of it, she had boarded the ck Lotus by herself without anyone apanying her. That¡¯s why there was no reason for her to leave together with Princess Luciada.

    ¡°Am I being a bother¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°No, of course not. Did you reallye here by yourself? You did say you came to the colony together with some escorts, right?¡±

    ¡°I went to this ship alone. I gave my retinue time off until tomorrow beforeing here.¡±

    ¡°Did you book a hotel somewhere nearby? Or rather, are you gonna stay at a hotel alone?¡±

    ¡°I am already a fine adult and a qualified noble, Hiro-sama. I can take care of myself just fine.¡±After saying so, Chris ced her hand on the hilt of the thin sword that was hanging on her waist and puffed her chest out proudly. Chris¡¯s sword was on the small and slender side. However, it was too long to be regarded as a dagger. It was also too short to be regarded as a small-sword. Ifpared to Japanese des, it probably corresponds to a kodachi.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, that look you¡¯re giving me seems to be saying¡ºCan she even use a sword properly?¡»you know?¡±

    ¡°Sorry. I haven¡¯t seen you in a good while, so you must have already undergone body reinforcement andbat training, but my previous image of you was a total nonbatant y¡¯see.¡±

    I do concede that Chris has grown a lot, but I held a stronger impression of the cute and petite her when we were living together in the Sierra system.

    ¡°Naturally, I will not be able to hold a candle to Hiro-sama or Serena-san who is serving as an active-duty soldier, but my grandfather has acknowledged my prowess.¡±

    ¡°I see. Well, I suppose there aren¡¯t that many folks who¡¯d mess with you as long as you¡¯re walking around with a noble¡¯s sword in the first ce.¡±

    If there were, it would either be folks from outside the Gran Empire or out-and-out idiots who don¡¯t cherish their lives. Basically, the nobles in this country typically don¡¯t tend to unt their authority and privileged status to others, but if amoner were to mess around with them maliciously, they¡¯d be quickly cut down with no questions asked.

    ¡°By the way, Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Can you please introduce me to Kugi-san and Shouko-san?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­ Well, this is the first time you¡¯ve met them in person after all.¡±

    They¡¯ve already exchanged info with each other a couple of times via messages, but I suppose wanting to meet them in person must have some special meaning to Chris.

    When I turned to Kugi, I saw that she was looking at me and Chris as her tails gently swung to and fro. The fox ears on her head were also standing straight up, so it didn¡¯t seem like she was intimidated by Chris.

    By the way, Dr. Shouko remained in the medical bay. It was so she could check up on Unit 104, or rather, Neve. It doesn¡¯t appear that Neve¡¯s condition would suddenly worsen without warning or anything of the sort, but her body was still in the process of recovery after all, so Dr. Shouko tried to stay by Neve¡¯s side as much as possible.

    ¡°There¡¯s no point in standing around and talking in a ce like this, so let¡¯s sit and chat in the break space instead. I have no intention of getting a room at a hotel right now anyway.¡±

    ¡°Everything¡¯s a bit more expensive after all. In this colony, that is.¡±

    Chris disyed a troubled smile as we headed to the break space.

    The Grakkius Secundus colony functioned akin to the imperial capital¡¯s castle gate. In order to apply for aary descent permit to the capital, you basically needed toe here first, and your identity would be thoroughly investigated during the screening process.

    And so, people and goods inevitably gather up at the Grakkius Secundus colony. Naturally, there were many amodations and restaurants for travelers and tourists, but just as Chris said, they were quite pricey. More specifically, they were about 20 to 30% more expensivepared to regr prices. Apparently, there were regtions in ce to prevent prices from getting too high though.

    And so, guys like us with starships that were equipped with high-quality living spaces typically don¡¯t tend to book rooms at hotels in Grakkius Secundus. If it were a genuine noble, then spending money on such asions wouldn¡¯t be considered that big of a deal, but that isn¡¯t the case here. After all, I was just an honorary noble. There¡¯s no need for me to go out of my way to spend.

    ¡°So, uh, introductions, right? Alright then. Chris, this girl is Kugi. She¡¯s a priestess from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire and a gutsy girl who traveled all the way to this country in order to serve me. She¡¯s also my psionic power instructor. Currently, she¡¯s training to serve as the Krishna¡¯s sub-pilot in Elma¡¯s ce.¡±

    After we settled ourselves inside the break space, I formally introduced Kugi, and she gave Chris a polite bow.

    ¡°Kugi, this is Chris. Her full name is Christina Dareinwald. She¡¯s the next family head of House Dareinwald and is currently serving as the Comatt system¡¯s governess. As you can see from the sword strapped to her waist, she¡¯s a bona fide imperial noble. I believe I¡¯ve talked about it before, but we befriended her after coincidentally helping her fend off space pirates in the Sierra system, which is a popr vacation resort system in the empire. I can¡¯t really talk about the exact details, but we¡¯ve ovee various dangers together and¡­¡­ Well, I guess you can consider us really close friends. Please get along well with each other, you two.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nice to make your acquaintance, Kugi-san.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Christina-sama. I¡¯m delighted to meet you as well.¡±

    Chis and Kugi exchanged gentle smiles. Well, I suppose they were treating this as some sort of formal ceremony or something.

    ¡°Although she¡¯s not here, I¡¯d like to introduce you to Dr. Shouko as well, Chris. She¡¯s a former researcher and medical doctor under Inagawa Technology, and she took good care of us in the Alein star system before we met Chris. Back then, the ship she was on was attacked by space pirates, and we ended up saving her by coincidence. Then, all sorts of stuff happened such as mysterious biological weapons causing trouble within the Alein Tertius colony¡­¡­ For some reason, we ended up reuniting with her at the Edge World. Various other stuff happened after that, and I ended up inviting her to serve as our group¡¯s ship doctor.¡±

    ¡°Various stuff eh¡­¡­? I¡¯m guessing all sorts of stuff happened when you met Kugi as well, correct?¡±

    After saying so, Chris turned her gaze toward me. Uh, yeah, that¡¯s right. A lot of stuff went down. Yeah.

    ¡°I wish you would have done various stuff to me as well back then though.¡±

    ¡°I mean, there¡¯s timing and all sorts of other stuff to consider, right?¡±

    In my head, Chris was in the category of someone in need of protection as well as a girl I shouldn¡¯ty my hands on, so it¡¯s rather troublesome when she says something like this.

    ¡°Judging from this, himing on to me without hesitation seems to be a rare case.¡±

    ¡°He practically didn¡¯t hesitate when heid his hands on Dr. Shouko and you, Elma-san. Mei-san too.¡±

    ¡°So, themon point between all of em¡¯ seems ta be bein¡¯ all mature an¡¯ stuff, right?¡±

    ¡°I suppose we didn¡¯t look mature enough in Big Brother¡¯s eyes, so he dawdled when it came to us, Sis. But heid his hands on you really quickly, didn¡¯t he, Mimi-chan?¡±

    ¡°In my case, that particr custom yed a factor¡­¡­ And back then, I was desperately trying my best not to be abandoned by Hiro-sama.¡±

    ¡°But mine took quite some time as well though¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Perhaps he just didn¡¯t want to make it seem like he was pressuring you using his authority over you, Kugi.¡±

    Uh, could you guys quit talking about that sort of stuff out loud while pretending to be discussing it in secret? It¡¯s kinda painful to hear. And Chris was reallying on to me now. Nothing¡¯s gonna happen even if you keep rubbing the area below my navel, so cut it out, okay? It¡¯s kinda risqu¨¦ as far as skinship goes.

    Afterward, we continued talking about the various things that happened while working in the Commatt system as I tried my best to fend off Chris¡¯s racy skinship attempts. We then spent some time inside the training room, and I engaged in a light training session with Chris using mock swords. Then, Chris finally went back to the hotel she was staying at, though reluctantly.

    I had Mei apany her as an escort, but I honestly thought she didn¡¯t need one after that sparring session we had. At the very least, your average thugs wouldn¡¯t be a match for her. Even Elma would probably have a hard time if she didn¡¯t have herser gun and fought Chris unarmed. You¡¯d get done in if you let your guard down while fighting her.

    ¡°Chris-chan sure has grown into an adult before we knew it.¡±

    I took a bath with Mimi earlier, and she whispered those words to me while we were rxing on the bed together.

    ¡°Yeah. Girls sure grow up real fast.¡±

    I felt deeply moved as I pictured Chris¡¯s appearance when we first met andpared it to her current appearance. Chris, who was shorter, more petite, and thinner than Mimi when we first met her, was now taller than Mimi. Her previously short bobbed hair had also grown enough to be considered semi-long.

    ¡°But I don¡¯t feel like I¡¯ve grown at all inparison¡­¡­ Mmmph.¡±

    As she said so, Mimi straightened her back while she sat on the bed, and raised her hands as if doing a banzai pose. Was that some sort of exercise to make her taller or something? In any case, the buttons of her pajama were hanging on for dear life. It appeared like it was about to burst. How wonderful.

    ¡°I think you¡¯ve properly built up your muscles though.¡±

    ¡°But I just can¡¯t lose weight at all. Or rather, it¡¯s actually been going up¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°Muscles do have quite a bit of weight after all. That¡¯s why you¡¯d definitely get heavier if you increase your muscle mass while maintaining your body shape, but¡­¡­ I still prefer your current build. In fact, I strongly prefer it.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? But I wanna be a bit more slender though¡­¡­ Just like Elma-san.¡±

    ¡°Elma¡¯s probably gonna snap if she heard you.¡±

    The ¡®haves¡¯ just can¡¯t rte to the feelings of the ¡®have-nots¡¯. I could easily imagine Elma saying something like that with a smile on her face while veins were popping up on her forehead. And somehow, I could also picture her being nked by Tina and Wiska.

    Well, Elma does regrly down a lot of alcohol, but she showed no signs of gaining any weight at all, so I suppose Mimi wanted to be like that as well.

    ¡°Hiro-sama, are you going to marry Chris-chan?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡­ About that. I¡¯m honestly hesitating. I do like Chris, and I¡¯m happy that she likes me as well. But marriage is a whole ¡®nother matter. I¡¯m already married to you anyway, Mimi.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t really have to mind me¡­¡­ Um, I¡¯ll be happy if we stay the same as always.¡±

    Even though she said so, Mimi still looked a bit disappointed, or rather, sad. Neither of us has ever consciously done anything married couple-like after all. I mean, it somehow felt like our firm bond with each other would get cheapened if we did that.

    ¡°The thing with Serena was definitely my fault¡­¡­ But I just couldn¡¯t abandon her in that situation.¡±

    It was such an absurd situation, but I was left with no other choice back then. I don¡¯t even feel like thinking about the other possible options we could have taken now. In any case, all choices except for the one we took would have led to extremely bitter oues anyway.

    ¡°I know this sounds like I¡¯ve given up on thinking, but whatever happens, happens. So, there¡¯s no point in being hung up about those things at this point. I¡¯ll just have to do my utmost to ensure that whatever results from this will satisfy all of us as much as possible. Anyway, I already swore in my heart that¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna flirt like crazy with you today, Mimi. Come on then. I¡¯ll spoil you as much as you want, alright?¡±

    As I said so, I spread my arms out in front of Mimi while sitting cross-legged on the bed. Mimi looked like she was smitten by my actions a bit, and then she leaped into my arms with a smile.

    Oh, there, there. You sure are cute, Mimi.

 Chapter 464: Nah, That Probably Wonâ€™t Happen, Rightâ€¦â€¦? Ahaha.

    Chapter 464: Nah, That Probably Won¡¯t Happen, Right¡­¡­? Ahaha.

    I ended up flirting,zing about, and going on dates with the rest of the crew for a few days until theary descent request was approved. But it definitely wasn¡¯tpensation for my recent escapades such as getting into a rtionship with Serena or the talks of engagement and marriage to Chris. Definitely not.

    Meanwhile, Elma got in touch with House Willrose in the imperial capital, and it seemed that Tina and Wiska also contacted someone. Going by the sister¡¯s previous actions, this was certainly unusual. I don¡¯t remember them doing so in the past.

    ¡°Did you guys make a long-distance transmission to Reemay Prime and got in touch with Airia or something?¡±

    So, I decided to ask them directly.

    The Reemay Star system was the system that Tina used to live in, and Tina¡¯s acquaintances and friends were living in the Reemay Prime colony. I wondered if she took the opportunity to call them while we were staying in the capital, but I got a rather unexpected reply.

    ¡°Uh, well, we called our Ma.¡±

    ¡°Ma?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We haven¡¯t really told you much about our family, right, Big Brother? Um, so, our parents are actually divorced. My Big Sis was taken in by our dad, and I went with our mom instead.¡±

    ¡°And, well, our stupid Da went an¡¯ kicked the bucket, leavin¡¯ me behind ta fend fer myself. But I somehow managed ta make ends meet back on Reemay until I got reunited with Wiska and ended up meetin¡¯ yater, Boss. Unlike our idiot Da, our Ma¡¯s pretty well put together.¡±

    ¡°Well put together huh¡­¡­? So, isn¡¯t your mother angry about the fact that you guys ended up resigning from a regrpany and began working as mercenaries instead?¡±

    ¡°¡±¡­¡­¡±¡±

    The two of them averted their eyes after hearing my question. Thanks for the very obvious response, girls.

    ¡°Uh, well, it¡¯s basically just her naggin¡¯ via text messages y¡¯know? I mean, it¡¯s impossible fer her ta suddenly storm our ship since we often move from ce ta ce, right?¡±

    ¡°Riiight. I really hope an enraged mother doesn¡¯t suddenly show up in the capital since transportation options are widely avable.¡±

    After all, since the imperial capital was literally situated at the center of the Gran Empire,muting here wasn¡¯t all that hard. Naturally, a majority of the gateways were capable of connecting to the imperial capital, and civilian passenger transportpanies were granted the rights to make use of said gateways.

    In other words, just like I said earlier, if said mother found out that her daughters were in the imperial capital along with the mercenary who lured them away, she would probably cancel all her previous ns and immediately head to the capital.

    ¡°N-Nah, that probably won¡¯t happen, right¡­¡­? Ahaha.¡±

    And two hours after we had such a conversation¨C

    ¡°Hello. I¡¯m She, Tina and Wiska¡¯s mother.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m their uncle, Bargan.¡±

    ¡°Gatram. I¡¯m their uncle as well.¡±

    A grand total of three people¨Cmy mother-inw, and her older and younger brothers¨Cmade their way to the Lotus.

    ¡°Wee. I¡¯m Hiro, a humble mercenary. I¡¯ve been in the care of your lovely daughters ma¡¯am, and am truly grateful.¡±

    Since I couldn¡¯t possibly turn away Tina and Wiska¡¯s mother and uncles who came for a visit, I invited them into the ship and led them to the break space. After all, there was no such thing as a fancy reception room on this ship. Therefore, there was nowhere else where we could receive guests apart from the dining hall and the break space. The next time we buy a mothership, I should consider having them install a proper guest hall.

    ¡°¡±¡­¡­¡±¡±

    Tina and Wiska didn¡¯t even sit next to me. I could only see their faces from behind the sofa I was sitting on. They were using the sofa and me as shields.

    ¡°Um, you sure got here pretty quickly.¡±

    ¡°We were in the Windas system for work when I received a message from my daughters, so I decided to pay a quick visit along with their uncles. In fact, I¡¯ve been wanting to pay a visit for a while, but I just haven¡¯t gotten the chance to until now.¡±

    ¡°In fact, I should have gone to you myself. I apologize for dragging your daughters all over the ce without paying you a proper visit. After all, working as mercenaries necessitate travelling around a lot.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped since you¡¯re an up-anding tinum-ranker and a hero worthy of receiving a Gold Star from His Imperial Majesty. I am an ordinarymoner like my daughters, and as an honorary viscount, you have more important things to do aside from meeting their parents¡­¡­ right?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I really am sorry ma¡¯am.¡±

    I bowed my head in unconditional surrender to the sense of coercion contained within my mother-inw¡¯s gentle smile. Actually, I may have gotten used to the fact that Mimi no longer had parents and didn¡¯t have any idea if she had any remaining rtives until recently. Elma, on the other hand, actually kept her family circumstances secret at first. That¡¯s probably why I didn¡¯t pay much attention to meeting Tina and Wiska¡¯s parents. It waspletely my fault. Perhaps I should have gotten in touch with her when the girls decided to resign from Space Dvergr. Though I could only consider it in hindsight.

    ¡°Let¡¯s leave it at that, She.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Sis.¡±

    Bargan-san and Gatram-san, who were sitting beside She-san, promptly pacified her. After being admonished by the two, She-san closed her eyes, and after calming herself down for a short while, she let out a sigh.

    ¡°Just why? Why did something like this¨C And the two of them together¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you also get together with Gram despite our objections, She?¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s in their blood. But ain¡¯t he a lot more decent than you gave him credit for, Sis?¡±

    Was Gram the name of their deceased father? I¡¯m happy that Gatram-san thinks I was a pretty decent guy, but I¡¯m not exactly sure I could really be described as decent¡­¡­ After all, I was a mercenary. A rootless wanderer. It was a job where it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if one lost their life at any point.

    ¡°I-I have no intention of ever leaving Big Brother¡¯s side!¡±

    ¡°M-Me too¡­¡­ I¡¯m gonna stay with Boss forever.¡±

    The sister¡¯s hands reached out from behind the sofa and grabbed both of my shoulders. Since the two of them said as much, I suppose I should show my resolve as well.

    But Wiska seemed to be much morefortable with addressing her family. Whereas Tina seemed to take a step back, and there was a hint of reservation in her tone.

    ¡°Wiska-chan, Tina-chan, we didn¡¯te here with the intention of bringing the two of you home by force.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Even if we did try, it ain¡¯t gonna work out since our opponent¡¯s the famed Captain ¡®Crazy¡¯ Hiro. We¡¯d be cut into dwarven meat slices in an instant.¡±

    ¡°Uh, I wouldn¡¯t go so far as to cut down my lover¡¯s uncles into pieces unless absolutely necessary. I really am sorry about not meeting with you all right away. I sincerely apologize. But as long as the two of them want to stay by my side, I also want to stay by theirs. No matter what.¡±

    I bowed my head once more, then looked at She-san directly as I dered my position. She-san also stared back at me. Her facial features resembled Tina and Wiska a lot. They were mother and daughters, after all, I suppose. The color of her hair was a slightly purplish blue, and both Bargan-san and Gatram-san also had the same hair color. Perhaps thete Gram-san was the one with red hair? As I mulled over the matter, She-san once again let out a sigh.

    ¡°Are you sure you can properly take care of both of them? Dwarven women are very affectionate, but it¡¯ll turn into quite a mess if you betray their feelings you know?¡±

    ¡°I will do my best in my own way.¡±

    She-san nodded at my reply, while Bargan-san and Gatram-san disyed bitter smiles. Oh, it¡¯s that, isn¡¯t it? The two uncles probably investigated our circumstances in detail beforeing here. Well, um, since both of them didn¡¯t object despite being aware that I had many romantic partners, I suppose we¡¯ll be fine. I didn¡¯t want to make light of their opinions on the matter after all.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ In that case, please allow me to have a chat with my daughters first. Along with all their other newly made sisters. Just us women, alright?¡±

    ¡°Uh, sure.¡±

    It seemed that She-san also had a good grasp of our circumstances.

    In cases like this, it¡¯s better to go along with what the woman wants.

    ¡°We have been a family of merchants for generations, you see. Well, I suppose it¡¯s rare these days to keep a family business going from generation to generation. And besides, not every family member can participate in running the business.¡±

    ¡°Bro took over the family business, and I ended up enlisting as a soldier. Now that I¡¯ve retired from the military, I¡¯m working as a security captain on a passenger transport ship.¡±

    While She-san and the otherdies were having their girls-only talk, Bargan-san, Gatram-san, and I took the opportunity toe to the hangar where Tina and Wiska usually worked. We each grabbed any item that could be used as a seat and started chatting among ourselves as well.

    ¡°What about She-san?¡±

    ¡°She has a pretty good head on her shoulders. She went to a good school and found work in an aerospace engine manufacturingpany. She ended up meeting Gram there, and Tina and Wiska were born soon afterward.¡±

    ¡°But Gram was a bit of a drunkard and also liked to gamble. In the end, they got into a big fight and broke up about two or three years after Tina and Wiska were born. And Gram ended up disappearing along with Tina soon after that. Actually, it was more like kidnapping.¡±

    ¡°Seriously¡­¡­?¡±

    I don¡¯t want to say anything bad about someone who already died, but that was really a bit too much¡­¡­ In the end, he died and left Tina behind to fend for herself. I heard she struggled quite a lot. Of course, not everything about the guy was bad, mind you.

    ¡°After a while, we were surprised when Wiska-chan managed to find Tina-chan and brought her out of Reemay Prime. She was both happy to reunite with her daughter and absolutely bonkers regarding Gram and the mess he caused. She even said she wanted to revive him from death and kill him herself you know?¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s only natural since the guy practically kidnapped Tina and disappeared with her only to end up dead, causing Tina a lot of hardship as a result¡­¡­¡±

    Furthermore, she ended up getting involved with the local mafia and criminal gangs, so when Tina escaped from Reemay Prime, she had to brave a lot of dangers. Of course, She-san would get angry.

    ¡°Due to her experiences, she held a rather negative view about her two daughters getting into a rtionship with you, Hiro-dono¡­¡­ But it seems she came around a bit when she got to meet you face to face.¡±

    ¡°It would be great if that really is the case. Um, you know, you really don¡¯t have to keep acting all polite around me. Even if I¡¯m called a tinum-ranker, a Gold Star recipient, and an honorary viscount, I¡¯m still younger than both of you. And I¡¯m also the, err, husband of your nieces, yeah? What does that make me, by the way?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d be our nephew-inw.¡±

    ¡°Right, nephew-inw. Well, I may not be as cute as Tina and Wiska, but I¡¯d be happy if you treated me the same way you treat them.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, it looks like I got the famed hero as my nephew-inw. I guess this is something worth bragging about a bit.¡±

    Bargan-sanughed heartily, and Gatram-san also held a grin on his face.

    ¡°Um, calling me a hero is a bit of an exaggeration, I think. Or rather, how are they actually describing me out there, exactly?¡±

    ¡°Oh? Our nephew-inw seems to be indifferent to fame. I believe you got interviewed by several mediapanies a while back, right? A documentary program using footage from those interviews is currently being aired. The clean and celebrity-like lifestyle of a first-ss mercenary, romance with several gorgeous women, thrilling battles together with the Imperial Space Force and fellow mercenaries against menacing space pirates, eye-popping earnings, raising awareness about the social evil known as piracy from a mercenary¡¯s perspective¡­¡­ Captain Hiro¡¯s mercenary documentary is a very popr program right now.¡±

    ¡°What the heck? That sounds freaking scary¡­¡­ I¡¯m too scared to check it out myself.¡±

    Watching a documentary program that shows snippets of my daily life was a pretty terrifying prospect. Actually, I¡¯ve been actively avoiding watching it, but it seems that Mimi records the episode data and watches them often¡­¡­ It¡¯s easy to find out whether or not she¡¯d been watching them since she would have this silly grin on her face.

    ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m quite the avid fan. I¡¯m actually pretty excited to have this opportunity to talk to you in person.¡±

    Gatram-san said something outrageous while hiding his mouth with one hand.

    ¡°Uh¨C¡­¡­ Do you want to take a holo-pic with me or something? With Krishna in the background.¡±

    ¡°Would that be alright?¡±

    ¡°Of course. We also have a lot of loot from pirates, so I¡¯ll give you some of the non-dangerous stuff as souvenirs.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m really happy right now. I actually feel like screaming in happiness.¡±

    Gatram-san looked up at the ceiling and trembled in excitement. Please refrain from shouting, since it looks like it¡¯s gonna be pretty loud.

 Chapter 465: â€œYouâ€™ll Wholeheartedly Devote Yourself, Right?â€ / â€œYesâ€¦â€¦â€

    Chapter 465: ¡°You¡¯ll Wholeheartedly Devote Yourself, Right?¡± / ¡°Yes¡­¡­¡±

    After spending quite a lot of time talking with the girls, Tina and Wiska¡¯s mother She-san eventually seemed to have be satisfied.

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to seeing my grandchildren. You¡¯ll wholeheartedly devote yourself, right?¡±

    ¡°Uh, yes¡­¡­ Um, as long as we¡¯re prepared enough.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re nning on buyingnd and a house on some somewhere, correct? Something like that¡¯s like a faraway dream for most folks born and raised in colonies, but I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be able to do it. I¡¯ll be expecting good results then, alright?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­¡±

    Seemingly satisfied with my answers, She-san nodded and left with a smile.

    ¡°Once you¡¯re set, please get in touch with us again, nephew-inw.¡±

    ¡°Right, you have to. And thanks for the souvenirs. I¡¯m gonna make them our family heirlooms.¡±

    Bargan-san and Gatram-san each brought several liquor bottles that I¡¯ve autographed with them as souvenirs. Said liquors were all looted from pirates. All of them were naturally unbranded. They were brewed by the pirates themselves and stuffed inside poor-quality bottles. In other words, they were moonshine. But the two dwarven uncles actually found that appealing.

    They each got one bottle for safekeeping and another one for disy. I then gave them an additional four bottles each for actual consumption, for a total of six bottles for each uncle. Six bottles was quite a bit of luggage, but it¡¯s dwarves we¡¯re talking about here. Although they were small in stature, they had really strong bodies, so carrying arge amount of liquor bottles on their backs didn¡¯t seem to bother them at all.

    By the way, She-san received high-quality liquors manufactured by a proper brewery from her daughters and Elma as souvenirs. She was also a dwarf after all.

    After She-san and the others left, we all gathered inside the break area and spaced out for a while.

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m exhausted.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Me too.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Me three.¡±

    Mimi and the others disyed bitter smiles when they saw me, Tina, and Wiska act all exhausted. Those guys really came and went like a storm. Seriously.

    Ourary descent application was finally approved, so we proceeded to descend to the capital in the ck Lotus and Antlion, whose weapons had been sealed. Naturally, Krishna, which was parked inside the Lotus, also had its weapons sealed. Since our aplishments in the recent conflict at the border will be part of the topics to be discussed this time around, it was decided that all three ships that participated in that conflict should make their way to the capital together.

    Normally, the Antlion would dock with the Lotus whenever we moved around as a group, but since we were gonna descend onto the imperial capital, that wasn¡¯t allowed. And so, the Antlion undocked itself from the Lotus and descended separately.

    ¡°So, you¡¯reing with us huh, Chris?¡±

    As I gazed at the imperial capital that gradually revealed its majesty, I called out to Chris who was quietly sitting beside me. Most of us were currently gathered within the break space of the Lotus and were looking at the footage of the imperial capital projected on the holo-disy as we made our descent.

    Naturally, Elma was making her descent alone in the Antlion, and Mei was on the bridge of the ck Lotus. Dr. Shouko and Neve, who was formerly known as Unit 104, were both in the med bay, so not all of us were present in the break space.

    ¡°Although Elma-san is technically a noble, she has long left aristocratic society after all. That¡¯s why I believe it would be better if I was present when you engage in talks with the members of House Holz.¡±

    ¡°I suppose it must be true if you say so, Chris. I¡¯ll be counting on you then.¡±

    Chris smiled happily when she heard my reply. Before, I would have regarded relying on Chris for situations like this to be far too risky. That¡¯s because she hadn¡¯t given up on trying to get into a rtionship with me for some reason.

    However, there¡¯s no longer any need to be so wary of that now. I¡¯ve made up my mind after all. And besides, it looked like Chris would respect my way of life as a mercenary even if we do get into a rtionship. I¡¯m not sure if Earl Dareinwald was of the same mind regarding that matter, but at least that¡¯s what Chris thought, and since he approved of hering to the capital, I suppose he¡¯s given her his blessing.

    So, that¡¯s how it is. Chris was nowpletely on my side. Chris¡¯s goal was to wee me as her spouse, and in order to achieve said goal, she would want to minimize any interference and attempts to influence me by House Holz. Since that¡¯s the case, there should be no reason for her to take the side of House Holz during our meeting. In other words, she was someone I couldpletely trust to have my back.

    ¡°In any case, we still need to visit the imperial castle first.¡±

    ¡°The formal inquiry, right? Unfortunately, I won¡¯t be able to apany you during it¡­¡­¡±

    Chris disyed a disappointed look.

    Basically, our main priority was to reveal the full details of what went down in the Creon star system to prove that my and Serena¡¯s subsequent actions were justified. Depending on how one viewed the events, it might seem that I assassinated Vincent Ixamal after being invited for dinner by his father, and I staged a diversion by going on a rampage against House Ixamal¡¯s private troops. Afterward, Serena took the opportunity to kill Daybit Ixamal. As a result, we seeded in usurping control of the entire Creon system supply base and the position of the basemander, then stole Daybit Ixamal¡¯s merits¡­¡­ Anyway, something like that wouldn¡¯t be that farfetched of an idea.

    Even so, we held evidence that House Ixamal drugged us during the dinner party with the intention of sending us to the Vereverem Federation as gifts to pave the way for their defection and that Serena was administered with space pirate-manufactured illegal drugs. All that paired with Daybit Ixamal¡¯s own recorded confession formed a solid evidence chain. Even if Daybit denies the confessionter, it would be useless as long as his head gets probed at the imperial castle. Hence, the fall of House Ixamal was all but guaranteed.

    And with that, recognition of our merits would also be guaranteed. In any case, the situation needed to be rified to the higher-ups first. We needed to go through the so-called formalities first.

    After finally arriving at the imperial capital, we parted ways with Chris and her retinue (three maids and a female knight) and then headed toward the imperial castle. We were greeted with a grand reception by members of the Imperial Space Force military police.

    Naturally, Neve was also apanying us. However, she still wasn¡¯t strong enough to move around outside the med pod, so she was quickly transferred to a transport pod.

    Her current position was quite tricky after all. She was currently being treated as a Vereverem Federation POW, but she apparently wasn¡¯t a formal member of the Federation military.

    She had no dog tag¨Capparently, it was something akin to an IC chip imnted under one¡¯s skin in this world¨Cand consequently, no military ID number. She actually wasn¡¯t registered as a Federation citizen to begin with. Well, she didn¡¯t even have a proper name, so I suppose this wasn¡¯t all that surprising.

    In other words, she¡¯s now a rootless and nameless nobody. Therefore, the Imperial Space Force found handling her case a bit troublesome. However, judging from her testimony, the coordinates from where she was recovered, and the parts of the tin can-looking pod she previously upied, it was evident that she was from the Federation. As for the question of whether or not the Federation would admit to that fact; they likely wouldn¡¯t. They would instead im that everything was fabricated by the Gran Empire to nder them.

    If the Vereverem Federation made such a im, it would be difficult for the Gran Empire to prepare sufficient evidence to refute it. That¡¯s because of theck of solid, irrefutable evidence.

    ¡°Just leave her to me. I have nothing to do with Earl Ixamal¡¯s case, and I¡¯m also that girl¡¯s attending physician after all.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you then, Doc. As for what¡¯s gonna happen to Neve¨C¡±

    ¡°Basically, we¡¯ll go with whatever she wants to do, right? I get it. As far as I¡¯m concerned, it would be best for us to take her in ourselves.¡±

    It wouldn¡¯t be impossible for a government agency or the Imperial Space Force to take custody of her, but that might lead to the Federation engaging in a smear campaign against the Gran Empire using Neve¡¯splicated identity¡­¡­ If a government agency took up the task of looking after her, the Federation might im that she¡¯s truly a fake employed by the Empire to ruin the Federation¡¯s reputation, or something to that effect.

    However, it would also be troublesome to leave her to her own devices without any support, leading to her eventual death. In that case, it would be more convenient for the Empire to have me¨Ca supposedly neutral mercenary who just happened to pick Neve up from the battlefield¨Ctake care of her.

    A kind-hearted mercenary picked up an unfortunate girl who was created as a weapon of war by the Vereverem Federation and decided to look after her. Depending on how it was packaged, it would be a rather heartwarming tale. The Empire would increase its positive reputation a fair bit if it provided at least some support to the said mercenary. Events would most likely move in that direction.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be counting on you. We¡¯ll also do our best on our end.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Good luck. Though I¡¯m sure there¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡±

    ¡°I sure hope so.¡±

    It was a bit of a hassle, but it would be best if this all led to a ¡®good ending¡¯.

 Chapter 466: â€œBut Why?â€

    Chapter 466: ¡°But Why?¡±

    The inquiry proceeded in a rtively amicable manner¨Cor not. Things weren¡¯t too heated, but the atmosphere was definitely oppressive and ufortable.

    Well, fortunately, the target of such coercion, or rather, animosity wasn¡¯t us. It was the Earl, or rather, Ex-Earl Ixamal.

    The inquirymittee members conducted a thorough and severe interrogation of the former earl.

    First, they knocked Serena and us out using something akin to sleeping drugs, then took my crew hostage in order to force me to be their pawn. Then there¡¯s the matter of Serena getting injected with prohibited substances made by pirates. Apparently, among the stuff they prepared for her was an artificial mind control parasite that burrows into a person¡¯s brain to rob them of their free will. And finally, there¡¯s the matter of them trying to defect to the Vereverem Federation by presenting the territories closest to the border up until the gateway as gifts. To make this n seed, they used their private forces to infiltrate the gateway and sabotage it in order to cut off reinforcements from the Imperial Space Forces¡¯s main force. All of these matters were investigated thoroughly during the interrogation.

    But man, the interrogation really was intense. Whenever Ex-Earl Ixamal tried to deny the allegations, themittee would present irrefutable evidence to his face such as his personal confession and the info they managed to pull out from his head, crushing any and all denial attempts.

    Remaining silent wasn¡¯t even an option, since silence was treated as an admission of guilt.

    ¡°Is it legal under Imperialw to not be allowed to exercise the right to remain silent?¡±

    ¡°There are many aspects of Imperialw that are favorable to nobility, but whenever one is used ofmitting heavy crimes such as treason, they would be treated quite harshly instead. And since there¡¯s plenty of evidence against him, Ex-Earl Ixamal is well out of luck.¡±

    While watching the former earl receive a thorough verbal beating, I covered my mouth with my hand and spoke quietly to Serena. Before long, the former earl¡¯s interrogation was concluded, and he was escorted out by members of the military police. Somehow, it seemed that he had more gray hair on his head. It was probably just my imagination.¡°Now then, let us move on to you, Captain Hiro. We would like to talk to you as well.¡±

    ¡°Sure. You¡¯re gonna question me too, right? Please go easy on me.¡±

    After the former Earl Ixamal was escorted out, the focus of themittee was turned toward me, so I decided to cooperate obediently. Every member of the inquirymittee exuded an aura of nobility. In fact, all of them were probably high-ranking nobles. Since that¡¯s the case, most of them probably possessed increased brain processing capabilities due to advanced biological enhancements. Lies and deception likely wouldn¡¯t work on them. And so, this meant that I had no choice but to tell it like it was, and that made me feel relieved in a sense.

    ¡°Well then, we would like to confirm the events that happened aboard the Majestic, which is a battleship owned by House Ixamal. As per the investigation conducted against House Ixamal, you and your crew members went to the Majestic together with Captain Serena Holz. Is this correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. I received an invitation and went to the Majestic along with my crew. Captain Serena received one as well and came to the ship too.¡±

    The inquirymittee facilitator nodded his head after hearing my response.

    After that, we moved on to what happened during the dinner party until the part where we were given sleeping drugs. Then, we moved on to my exchange with Vincent after regaining conciousness.

    ¡°My entire body was tied to a chair, and he threatened me using the safety of my captured crew members as leverage in order to make me obey them, so I secretly undid the restraints and took advantage of an opening to overpower Vincent and the two guards who were present in the room. However, Vincent was still a highly dangerous threat, so I used the sword I snatched from him to finish him off.¡±

    ¡°Afterward, you engaged in a fierce battle with the Majestic¡¯s crew, killing many of them in the process. Is this correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes. As their captain, I was in a position where I had to rescue my captured crew members no matter what. And since House Ixamal had already used drugs and taken hostages, I had no reason to expect any sense of ethics or decency from them. In order to ensure the lives and dignity of my crew members, I decided that I had to save them as quickly as possible. Consequently, fighting broke out and resulted in many casualties.¡±

    ¡°I see. There are a few points that I am curious about. How did you manage to escape from being restrained to the chair? And even though you caught them off guard, just how did you manage to subdue all three people, including Vincent who was a nobleman? Furthermore, as shown from video footage as well as testimonies from survivors of that battle, you had apparently made parts of the walls and corpses float in the air, freely manipted them, and used them as shields. Just what kind of method did you use to pull something like that off?¡±

    Oh boy, here ites. I pretty much expected that they would ask about my psionic abilities. I didn¡¯t think that they could imitate it, and there probably wouldn¡¯t be issues if I did talk about my abilities, but I didn¡¯t want to reveal my secrets if I could help it.

    ¡°I refuse to answer those questions. I acknowledge the fact that I fought, injured, and killed arge number of House Ixamal¡¯s private soldiers, but questioning me about the exact methods I used during said battle is beyond the scope of this inquiry.¡±

    ¡°Fumu¡­¡­ It does deviate a bit from the topic of this inquiry. Very well. I take back my earlier questions. Your actions were short-sighted and went too far, but in general, this inquiry is intended to acknowledge the legitimacy of your actions and not question them. However, do bear in mind that there is a proviso for this acknowledgment. It just so happened that Earl Ixamal and his house were nning a rebellion against His Imperial Majesty the Emperor this time around, and there is plenty of evidence to prove this as fact. That¡¯s why your actions were considered as fighting against rebels and were not questioned as a result. If this were not the case, you would have had to atone for killing arge number of your fellow imperial subjects.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Even so, if I were put in a simr situation again, I would probably go wild in the exact same way. It would be best to be more careful in order to avoid such things in the future. But they sure pulled back pretty easily huh?

    Afterward, an investigation was conducted regarding Captain Serena¡¯s actions, but since there was plenty of evidence regarding House Ixamal¡¯s attempted rebellion, her various acts of overstepping authority afterward weren¡¯t questioned just like in my case.

    Mimi, Elma, and Kugi were questioned as well, but they also refused to reveal just what sorts of methods they used to escape their captors just like me.

    Hm? Were they warned not to pursue stuff regarding us too deeply or something? It was the same in my case, but aren¡¯t they backing off way too easily?

    ¡°There¡¯s a mention in the report regarding a counter-formtion against the pirate-produced nanomachine form. Is this true?¡±

    ¡°Our ship doctor certainly made it. I¡¯m no expert in that field so I¡¯m not really clear about it, but I¡¯ll give you a good deal if you want the data. I have no idea about that stuff after all. But as their captain, I can¡¯t just sell my crew¡¯s services for cheap, right? If you are interested, you can go ahead and get in touch with our ship doctor.¡±

    ¡°Is that doctor not with you today?¡±

    ¡°She came to the Imperial pce with us, but she currently has her hands full with another matter. I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s appropriate to talk about said matter here, so please just look into itter.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    After Daybit, who was considered a traitor to the empire, left the room, things proceeded more amicably. Well, not exactly. But the interrogation did proceed in a calmer manner without the earlier tension, and we were easily dismissed afterward.

    ¡°¡­¡­It went easier than I expected, or rather, it ended without any issues.¡±

    ¡°Things wouldn¡¯t go like this normally, alright? There was most likely an order from someone above to quickly wrap up our interrogation.¡±

    ¡°And the Inquiry Committee¡¯s okay with that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. The main goal of the inquiry was to cement Daybit Ixamal¡¯s status as a traitor, and we were simply essories. If we, who captured the traitor, were punished by themittee, it would be quite inconvenient.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll find out soon enough anyway, so I won¡¯t tell you.¡±

    ¡°But why?¡±

    What¡¯s with that look? It¡¯s like she was sending a pitying gaze toward a piglet that was sold to a pig farm.

    I don¡¯t really get it, but it¡¯s going to be something troublesome, right?

    ¡°Rather than worrying about that, it¡¯s best that we move on. It looks like Christina is already waiting for us.¡±

    ¡°Move on? What do you mean by Chris waiting for us?¡±

    Just what the heck was going on? Exnation. I need a proper exnation.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to see Papa now. You¡¯re going to take responsibility, right?¡±

    ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s it¡­¡­ I didn¡¯t think we¡¯d meet with him in the imperial castle.¡±

    And here I thought we would meet at the House Holz mansion in the capital or something to that effect. I better tell her to inform me about stuff like this beforehand from here on out.

 Chapter 467: So Iâ€™m Better Than Nothing

    Chapter 467: So I¡¯m Better Than Nothing

    The Imperial Castle was extremely vast. The area covered by this building¡­ no, calling it a building might be misleading. A structure? Anyway, the area covered by the Imperial Castle was incrediblyrge. I heard that it would take several days to walk from one end to the other.

    Therefore, within the Imperial Castle, existed several dedicated means of transportation. These included things like trains and flying taxis. However, this time, our destination was a ce that could be reached in a few minutes on foot without using such transportation.

    ¡¸This area is still part of the Imperial Army¡¯s district, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes. My family has held important military positions for generations, so we have been granted a private space in this district.¡¹

    ¡¸Like a vacation home?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s not as morous as that. It¡¯s just a space intended to make it easier to be on duty at all times so we can respond immediately.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­?¡¹

    <em>In other words, it¡¯s a slightly luxurious private nap space set up at the workce¡­? So, the Imperial Army was an abusive megacorporation all this time¡­ No, It¡¯s probably something different.</em>

    As I listened to Serena¡¯s exnation, we arrived at a gate where a soldier who was clearly not of the Imperial Army was standing guard. How did I know he was different? For starters, the uniform was different. It was a uniform that had a ceremonial feel to it, it looked quite expensive with a lot of glittering decorations. You could say it had a sense of luxury.¡¸Didn¡¯t you say it wasn¡¯t morous?¡¹

    ¡¸If it were too shabby, that would be inconvenient in its own way¡­ We will pass through.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, please go ahead!¡¹

    We passed through the checkpoint, saluted by soldiers who appeared to be private guards of Marquis Holz House and stepped into the so-called private section of the Holz household.

    ¡¸¡­You said it wasn¡¯t morous.¡¹

    ¡¸By the standards of the imperial capital, this is quite modest, really.¡¹

    Serena sighed in response to myment. The ce was clearly luxurious: an antique-looking wooden floor with a pristine carpet, historic-lookingmps on the ceiling, expensive-looking furniture and paintings, and vases filled with what were presumably real flowers. It was undoubtedly an opulent ce that made even high-end hotels look dingy byparison. <em>If this is considered modest, I can¡¯t even imagine what a ce she considers luxurious must look like. Would it be so dazzling that I couldn¡¯t keep my eyes open?</em>

    ¡¸It has a calming atmosphere.¡¹

    ¡¸This is calming for you¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Kugi, you¡¯re quite the character.¡¹

    Mimi and Elma were taken aback and a bit exasperated by Kugi, who was leisurely wagging her tail. <em>To think that at first, she was flustered by staying in a slightly upscale hotel¡­ look at her now,pletely unperturbed by this level of luxury. This mental fortitude must be thanks to the training to be a psionic user¡­ No, maybe Kugi was just naturally like this. Yeah, that must be it.</em>

    ¡¸I heard Chris is already here.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, it seems she has arrived with two guards. They should be in the reception room.¡¹

    With that, Serena walked ahead confidently without hesitation. <em>This ce must feel like home to her. Well, it¡¯s situated within the military district, and she likely uses this private section often when staying in the imperial capital.</em>

    We passed a few maids as we headed deeper into the section, and Serena finally stopped in front of a door. She knocked three times.

    ¡¸It¡¯s Serena. I¡¯ming in.¡¹

    ¡¸Go ahead.¡¹

    A familiar voice came from the other side of the door. Following Serena into the reception room, I saw Chris. She stood up from the sofa and turned her gaze toward us with a smile.

    ¡¸It seems the inquiry ended without any issues. I¡¯m relieved.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, somehow. It felt like an invisible hand from way up high was involved though¡­¡¹

    I nced at Serena as I said this. She closed her eyes and shrugged. It seemed she didn¡¯t know anything about it, but herck of denial suggested she had simr suspicions.

    ¡¸Dad might know something about it. By the way, is that person Christina¡¯s guard?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes. Edeltrud, please introduce yourself.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, Lady Christina. I am Edeltrud of the Krause Baron House, a vassal of the Dareinwald Earl House. Lady Serena, Lord Hiro, and everyone else, it is a pleasure to meet you.¡¹

    Chris¡¯s female knight escort made a graceful bow as she introduced herself. She was a beautiful woman with dark brown, almost ck, curly hair that reached her shoulders. She appeared to be human and seemed a bit younger than me¡­ maybe quite a bit younger? Perhaps around twenty years old or so.

    ¡¸A vassal¡­ um, what was that again? Like a subordinate in a noble sense or something?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s about right. The Dareinwald Earl House is a local lord that owns multiple star systems. Underneath us are noble families that manage one or several of our star systems or support the administration of the Dareinwald Earl House. These noble families are called vassals. The Dareinwald Earl House acts as the leader and protects the vassal families and the vassals support us.¡¹

    ¡¸I see.¡¹

    <em>So, the Dareinwald Earl House basically acts like a parentpany, overseeing multiple noble families like subsidiaries? Well, I get the rtionship between Chris and Edeltrud now. It¡¯s like a subsidiary¡¯s president¡¯s daughter is apanying the heir of the parentpany as a bodyguard. As for Edeltrud¡¯s fighting skills¡­ well, honestly, they don¡¯t seem very good. Chris might actually be stronger than her. This is probably because Chris has undergone more extensive physical enhancements, just my hunch though.</em>

    ¡¸Hiro-sama, sit here. Everyone else take a sit as well, please.¡¹

    ¡¸Thank you.¡¹

    Chris moved aside slightly and patted the spot where she had been sitting, so I obediently sat there. <em>Hmm, the seat is warm. I can feel Chris¡¯s warmth.</em> Serena was about to sit next to me on the opposite side of Chris, but then she seemed to remember something and instead sat across the table from us. <em>Oh, right. If Serena¡¯s father ising, it wouldn¡¯t be appropriate for her to sit next to me.</em> In the end, Mimi, prompted by Serena¡¯s gestures, sat next to me, and Elma sat beside her. Kugi took the seat next to Chris. <em>Even with five people sitting, this sofa still has some space left. It¡¯s prettyfortable too, as expected of a marquis¡¯s household. They use good furniture.</em>

    The maids efficiently served everyone what appeared to be very high-quality tea. As we sipped our tea and talked with Chris about the inquiry for a while, there was a knock on the door.

    ¡¸Come in.¡¹

    A moment after Serena responded, the door opened, and everyone except Kugi and me stood up. <em>Wait, is that the correct manner here?</em> I hurriedly stood up to greet the neer, and I noticed that Kugi had also somehow managed to stand up in the meantime.

    ¡¸Hello, everyone. Nice to see you again. Please, have a seat.¡¹

    The person who urged us to sit was the one who had chaired the inquiry earlier. <em>So, this man is Serena¡¯s Dad</em>. Before he could say anything, the maids promptly reced all our tea. They changed the teacups and everything without making a sound or seeming hurried. <em>Maids really are impressive.</em>

    ¡¸Although we met earlier, I didn¡¯t introduce myself. I am Laurenz Holz, the head of the Holz Marquis House. It¡¯s a pleasure, Captain.¡¹

    ¡¸The pleasure is mine. However, I must admit, I am not well-versed in the etiquette appropriate for interacting with a noble of your stature, Marquis. I will do my best to avoid any rudeness, but I ask for your understanding in advance.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, there¡¯s no need to worry about that. I am a military man myself. If I worried about such things, I wouldn¡¯t be able to receive reports from my subordinates. While formalities may be necessary in official settings, this is a private asion. Feel free to speak normally.¡¹

    ¡¸Thank you very much.¡¹

    As I bowed my head slightly to thank him, I secretly observed the smiling Marquis Laurenz Holz. He was a handsome middle-aged man with short-cropped blonde hair and blue eyes. He looked quite young¡ªalmost like there was no more than a ten-year age difference between us. His youthful appearance was probably due to the enhancement treatments that nobles receive, or some form of anti-aging technique¡­ <em>Nobles are really something.</em>

    After that, I introduced Mimi and the others.

    ¡¸Uh¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, I mean, she¡¯s really the spitting image of her¡­¡¹

    Laurenz seemed a bit taken aback and was even sweating a little as he looked at Mimi. <em>Well, she does look exactly like Princess Luciada. Given that she¡¯s been more active publiclytely, it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if the head of the Holz House had met her in person.</em>

    ¡¸Ahem. Well, the reason I called this meeting and gathered you all here is none other than to talk about the future of my foolish daughter.¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t calling me ¡®foolish daughter¡¯ a bit harsh?¡¹

    ¡¸Serena, you literally stomped on every marriage proposal Hilde and I arranged for you, joined the military on your own, made a name for yourself as a bravemander, and even now, you have no known lover or significant other. For a typical noble daughter, this behavior warrants being called a foolish daughter.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡¹

    This is how you shut up someone, everyone. Serena was at a loss for words, her face contorting as if she had swallowed a bitter insect.

    ¡¸While female officers in the Imperial Army are not umon, the elite female officers usually are assigned to the Imperial Guard. Yet, she specifically requested to be assigned to a dangerous frontier fleet and even used her achievements to form the Independent Mobile Anti-Pirate Fleet, engaging in bloody battles all over the Empire. Did you know, Captain? In the circles of Imperial nobles, my daughter is known as the ¡®Mad Dog of the Holz House,¡¯ the ¡®Bloodstained Maiden,¡¯ and the ¡®Pirate Eater.¡¯ These are hardly the nicknames an unmarried noblewoman should have.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s a bit hard toment on.¡¹

    <em>Honestly, there¡¯s nothing I can deny here. I seem to recall stories about her beating down every potential marriage candidate she was presented with.</em>

    ¡¸Well, and then you came along. You might hold only an honorary title, but you are still a Viscount and have a good rtionship with the military. Among the notoriously difficult tinum Rankers, you are considered quite reasonable. The fact that you yed a significant role in quelling the rebellion of the Ixamal Earl House with Serena, and you have worked with her multiple times before, shows that you are skilled enough for her to trust you.¡¹

    <em>Here ites. This is it. The ¡®but¡¯ ising. I¡¯m sure of it. He¡¯s about to add some criticism here.</em>

    ¡¸It¡¯s truly wonderful. I¡¯m counting on you to take care of her from now on. Forming a connection with the Dareinwald Earl House is excellent as well.¡¹

    ¡¸Uh, what? Oh, thank you?¡¹

    ¡¸You seem surprised. Think about it. Serena is beautiful andpetent, but her standards are exceptionally high. At her age, not having a fianc¨¦ or even a marriage prospect is¡­ well, you understand, right?¡¹

    The marquis looked at me with a troubled expression, seeking my agreement, while his daughter, blushing furiously, tried to smack him. <em>This guy is deftly avoiding her blows without even looking, that¡¯s really impressive, man.</em>

    ¡¸That¡¯s why, from my perspective, I¡¯m quite positive about this arrangement. My wife feels the same way. She¡¯s relieved that someone capable of managing Serena has finally appeared. Of course, from the standpoint of the Marquis House¡¯s head, you may not be the ideal match for my daughter. But you are a good one. It¡¯s better than nothing.¡¹

    ¡¸So I¡¯m better than nothing.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, well, you¡¯re not a formal noble. However, you have undeniable military aplishments and achievements. His Majesty holds you in high regard. And¡­¡¹

    ¡¸And?¡¹

    ¡¸In the long history of the Empire, sometimes strange individuals appear, you could call them gifted nobodies or children of destiny, if you will. When they appeared, they became formidable allies or catastrophic enemies. The Holz Marquis House has records of such individuals in its history.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah¡­ I see.¡¹

    I nced at Kugi, who looked back at me. <em>I see, the individuals Marquis Holz is talking about are ¡®them¡¯.</em>

    ¡¸Therefore, you may proceed with your rtionship with Serena. We will start by announcing your engagement first, I suppose? Currently, you¡¯re married to Mimi-sam¡­ Mimi-san, right? There are special provisions for couples when one bes a noble after marriage. You can make use of those. The actual marriage will be in about two years, I think, we have to wait until Lady Christinaes of age.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­ Wait, isn¡¯t Chris already of age?¡¹

    I looked at Chris, who had a somewhat forced smile. <em>She is definitely trying to y it off.</em>

    ¡¸If Lady Christina were amoner, yes. But noblese of age three yearster thanmoners. It¡¯s mostly a formality, but having the next Countess Dareinwald pregnant beforeing of age would be problematic.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Chris?¡¹

    Chris turned her head away from me, avoiding my gaze. <em>Hey, look at me when I¡¯m talking to you!</em>

    ¡¸Well, two years will pass quickly. We¡¯ll need that time to prepare for the wedding. Also, you need to greet the Willrose Viscount House properly. The three families will need to coborate to organize the ceremony.¡¹

    Laurenz watched us with a warm smile while I struggled to get Chris to look at me. Chris clung to Kugi, burying her face in Kugi¡¯s chest, refusing to confront me. <em>Naughty girls who tell lies need to be punished. Kugi, stop protecting Chris by hugging her head.</em>

 Chapter 468: Thatâ€™s Not What I Meantâ€¦

    Chapter 468: That¡¯s Not What I Meant¡­

    ¡¸Hahaha! No, you guys really get along well. I hope my daughter can fit into your circle.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s this side of you that worries us, my daughter.¡¹

    Laurenzughed heartily as he watched me try and fail to discipline Chris, who was protected by Kugi. Serena, who didn¡¯t like her father¡¯s words, tried to protest by hitting him silently but was gently rebuffed instead.

    <em>Serena-san? It¡¯s fine to act spoiled with your dad, but don¡¯t do that to me, okay? I don¡¯t have any body enhancements, so if you do that, you might end up breaking my shoulder bone.</em>

    ¡¸Well, be lenient with Lady Christina. As the future Countess Dareinwald, she had no choice but to hurry. The prestige of nobility is a troublesome thing. If Serena were to marry or get engaged to you first, the marriage between you and the future Countess Dareinwald would encounter many more obstacles. If Serena married you first, I would have you be a baron under the Holz House, not an honorary one, but a full-fledged baron. That would make you the head of a branch family of the Holz House. The head of the Dareinwald House cannot marry into a baron family, nor can they take the head of a baron family as a husband. Especially since you would be both the head of a baron family and a branch of the Holz House. To resolve this issue amicably, the only way she had left was to marry or get engaged to you before Serena and bring you into the Dareinwald House as a husband. Although it¡¯s a bit unconventional for a man married into the Dareinwald House to have not only a second wife but several more, it¡¯s not as unreasonable as having the head of the Dareinwald House marry into a baron family under the Holz House. I think that the women by your side cooperated with the future Countess so much because they took these circumstances into ount.¡¹

    After Laurenz¡¯s detailed exnation, I thought about what he had told me. <em>Either way, I knew I had to settle my rtionship with Serena and Chris at some point. So, did the way everything was resolved end in a bad oue for us? No, not really. If I look only at the result, it¡¯s the best oue. So, is it the mark of a good man to overlook the process? Yes, that¡¯s it. Yeah, let¡¯s go with that.</em>

    ¡¸Okay, I understand the situation thanks to the Marquis¡¯s exnation. Next time, make sure to consult with me first. Got it?¡¹

    When I directed my gaze towards Mimi and the others, they nodded obediently.<em> Alright then. This settles the matter of them deceiving me. I patted Chris lightly on the back as she was being hugged by Kugi. I should also thank Laurenz.</em>¡¸Thank you, Marquis.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s fine. It wouldn¡¯t sit well with me if your family ended up broken due to my daughter¡¯s actions. If it¡¯s for you, the man my stubborn daughter has chosen, then this is nothing.¡¹

    Laurenzughed as he said this, I gratefully bowed my head to him again. <em>Hmm, I can¡¯t help but feel indebted.</em>

    ¡¸Well, to be honest, it¡¯s a bit disappointing. I really wanted to wee you into our House¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You wanted me?¡¹

    ¡¸Of course, Captain Hiro. You¡¯re an expert in eradicating space pirates, right? I¡¯ve heard that Serena¡¯s Independent Mobile Anti-Pirate Fleet achieved significant results thanks to your support. Space pirates are nothing but a gue, causing endless trouble for the Holz House. If we could have weed you as the head of a branch family, our anti-space pirate measures would have been greatly enhanced.¡¹

    ¡¸I see. If adequatepensation is provided, we will be willing to assist you as mercenaries.¡¹

    <em>This job is pretty dangerous, I can¡¯t do it for free. I might be willing to risk my own life, but I can¡¯t involve my crew without properpensation.</em>

    ¡¸That sounds good. We¡¯ll rely on you in the future.¡¹

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸Well then, until we meet again!¡¹

    With a refreshing smile, Laurenz and Serena bid us farewell, and we went to pick up Dr. Shouko and Neve. We had to wait a bit, but both of them finished their interrogations¡ªor rather, their interviews¡ªwithout any issues and were able to join us.

    ¡¸How was it? Any problems?¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t think there were any significant issues. However, the interrogator mentioned that, depending on the discussions with the other side, it¡¯s unlikely that the Vereverem Federation will acknowledge Neve-kun¡¯s existence. That said, if we publicize it, it will tarnish the Federation¡¯s image to some extent. It seems they n to run a negative campaign.¡¹

    Dr. Shouko shrugged her shoulders as she spoke. It seemed she had mixed feelings about her patient being used for political purposes.

    ¡¸I see. So, what about Neve¡¯s future?¡¹

    <strong>¡¸It seems they¡¯ve recognized my abilities as exceptional and useful, Captain. However, if I were employed by a government agency or the Imperial Space Force of the Grakkan Empire, those bastards in the Vereverem Federation would likely say, ¡®See, it was all fabricated.¡¯ So, taking me in is difficult. They said they could find a civilian organization to take care of me, but I told them I already promised to work under you.¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸I see. Then as promised, you¡¯re part of my crew now. Once you¡¯re better, you¡¯ll be working hard for us, understood?¡¹

    <strong>¡¸Of course. You can pour all your lust into me, Captain. I¡¯ll take it all.¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸That¡¯s not what I meant¡­¡¹

    <em>I¡¯m not in the right mental state to enjoy those kinds of jokes right now. Even though I brought this upon myself, my rtionships with women have be way tooplicated¡­ I know it¡¯s my fault. But is it really entirely my fault? Isn¡¯t there room for a bit of debate here? At least with Serena and Chris, I¡¯ve exercised maximum restraint and been exceedingly cautious in my dealings with them. Saying this now is pointless? Yeah, that¡¯s true.</em>

    ¡¸Ah, enough. There¡¯s no use in brooding over it.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸Captain?¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Anyway, Neve will be taken care of by us. We¡¯ll deal with the details once she¡¯s recovered. Dr. Shouko, this is the Imperial Capital, so you should be able to get all the materials needed for Neve¡¯s treatment, make sure to order everything necessary. Bill it to me.¡¹

    ¡¸Are you sure? It might be quite costly.¡¹

    ¡¸Neve will pay it back with her work eventually. Once she¡¯s recovered and can work as part of the crew, we¡¯ll deduct it from her pay. Is that okay with you, Neve?¡¹

    <strong>¡¸Of course, Captain. I¡¯ll work hard to pay you back.¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Good. So, should we head back now¡­ maybe we should pay a visit to Viscount Willrose first?¡¹

    <em>Since we¡¯re in the Imperial Capital, it would be polite to visit Elma¡¯s family. Last time, due to circumstances, I couldn¡¯t introduce Tina and Wiska, and I also need to introduce Kugi and Dr. Shouko.</em>

    By the way, Tina, Wiska, and Mei stayed on the ck Lotus. The two mechanics didn¡¯t need to attend the inquiry as they weren¡¯t brought to the Majestic of Earl Ixamal¡¯s House, and as for Mei, entering the Imperial Castle would involve a lot of hassle since she would have to be partially sealed, so I asked her to stay back. Since her actions are my responsibility as her owner, her presence in the flesh¡ª<em>can it be called ¡®in the flesh¡¯?</em>¡ªwas deemed unnecessary.

    ¡¸Father and Brother are both out for work today, so Mother said toe tomorrow.¡¹

    ¡¸I see. Then let¡¯s return to the ck Lotus for today. Considering Neve¡¯s condition, that¡¯s probably for the best, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, it is. While we don¡¯t need to worry about any sudden changes in her condition anymore, the medical bay¡¯s equipment on the ck Lotus provides better reassurance.¡¹

    As we talked, I felt something touch my sleeve. When I looked down, I saw Chris pulling her hand back and looking down. <em>Ah, she¡¯s still worried about deceiving me.</em>

    ¡¸We need to visit your ce too, Chris. Tomorrow we¡¯ll go to Elma¡¯s family home, so you shoulde with us. Then the day after tomorrow, we¡¯ll visit your ce.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Yes, um¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m not angry anymore. But if you¡¯re still worried, just prepare some delicious sweets for when we visit the day after tomorrow.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Alright, I¡¯ll prepare some delicious sweets.¡¹

    Chris lifted her head and showed a faint smile. <em>Hmm, she¡¯s grown taller, so it¡¯s harder to pat her head now. Well, she¡¯s not a little girl anymore, so casually patting her head or touching her feels a bit inappropriate now.</em>

    ¡¸Tomorrow we will visit Viscount Willrose¡¯s house, the day after is Chris¡¯s ce, am I forgetting something else¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸I think there¡¯s also the awarding ceremony for stopping the rebellion and defending the borders. Plus, you need to visit Marquis Holz¡¯s mansion in the Imperial Capital.¡¹

    ¡¸We have quite the schedule¡­ For now, let¡¯s head back. Chris, would you like to join us on the ck Lotus for a bit?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, I¡¯d love to.¡¹

    <em>This time, Chris smiled genuinely. Seeing her smile like this is much better than seeing her look downcast. Given that I usually do as I please, I should be more forgiving of small things. From now I¡¯ll be the kind of man who canugh off minor issues like these</em>

 Chapter 469: ã€ŒIsnâ€™t That a Bit Too Convenient for Me?ã€

    Chapter 469: ¡¸Isn¡¯t That a Bit Too Convenient for Me?¡¹

    Mei, Tina, and Wiska, who had been watching over the ck Lotus while I was away, joined Chris, me, and the others for a tea party. Well, it wasn¡¯t anything as grand as that, but we did take a break together. We had plenty to talk about with Chris, from sharing recent news on both sides to catching up on events, though the conversation never entered into serious topics.

    ¡¸It¡¯s quite tricky, isn¡¯t it? There are a lot of things that are difficult to talk about due to our positions.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s inevitable because of our respective status¡­ But once we get married, I think those issues will mostly go away.¡¹

    ¡¸Marriage with Chris, huh¡­ Tell me the truth, is the Earl really in favor of it?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, Grandfather is supportive of my marriage to you, Hiro-sama. After my parents passed away, and my uncle¡­ well, died from illness. Since Grandfather decided to pass his title to me, there have been countless marriage proposals. However, Grandfather didn¡¯t entreat any of them, he said that all of them had the ulterior motive of exploiting the Earl Dareinwald House.¡¹

    ¡¸So rather than giving Chris to such people, he thinks it would be better to have Chris marry Hiro, who has no strings attached, and support Chris until she bes independent?¡¹

    ¡¸Although he didn¡¯t say it outright, I think that¡¯s probably the case. There is some concern that Hiro-sama¡¯s ties with Marquis Holz are stronger than we expected, but since Serena-sama did not object to Princess Luciada¡¯s ranking, we should be able toe to an agreement¡­ Besides, Lord Laurenz didn¡¯t seem interested in excessively meddling with the Earl Dareinwald House. At least, not openly.¡¹

    ¡¸Um, if we¡¯re talking about nobility, isn¡¯t Elma-san¡¯s family also part of it?¡¹

    ¡¸My family? We¡¯re fine. We don¡¯t hold any territory. While we¡¯re notpletely free from power struggles, those are confined to the court. We¡¯re on a different ying fieldpared to thended nobility, who wield significant influence over people, resources, and money outside the court. Well, if the Earl Dareinwald House wants to interfere with the court or the central government in the future, my family might be able to offer some support, but don¡¯t expect me to get involved in that¡­¡¹Elma shrugged her shoulders as she said this. <em>Indeed, if she were ady who participated in tea parties and balls in the imperial capital¡¯s social circles, it might be different. But asking Elma, who left the capital when she was young to be a mercenary, to y court politics¡­</em>

    ¡¸That¡¯s true. Well, we¡¯ll probably end up discussing this further when we visit the Willrose family tomorrow¡­ Chris, you¡¯reing too, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Is it alright if Ie along as well?¡¹

    ¡¸Of course, it¡¯s fine. I want to introduce you to my parents. And of course, Tina and the rest of you as well.¡¹

    ¡¸We were quite busy at that time¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ahaha¡­ Looking back now¡­ it¡¯s not really a fond memory.¡¹

    The light seemed to vanish from Tina and Wiska¡¯s eyes. <em>Back then, they were literally swamped with work given to them by the Imperial Capital branch of Space Dwerg Corporation.</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯m looking forward to meeting your family, Elma-san. What kind of people are they, my Lord?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ve only talked to them a little myself¡­ This time, there won¡¯t be any annoying events like those trial matches, so I¡¯d like to take my time and get to know them. I owe a lot to Elma¡¯s brother.¡¹

    Elma¡¯s brother, Ernst, had helped me get in touch with a specialized armor shop when I was acquiring my ninja armor. <em>He might not think too highly of me, but despite everything, he always responds kindly when I seek his help.</em>

    We wrapped up today¡¯s tea party with ns to meet Elma¡¯s family tomorrow, and I made arrangements with Chris for our meeting time. <em>Today was mentally exhausting¡­</em><em>I just want to take a bath and rx thoroughly.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    After filling my stomach with the dinner prepared by Tetsujin and taking a bath, I decided to spend a rxing evening with Tina and Wiska. Since they had been left behind on the Lotus today, it was a way of making it up to them.

    ¡¸Good job today, Boss.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s more of a mental exhaustion than a physical one¡­ But I guess it¡¯s my own doing, so I can¡¯tin.¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t think it¡¯s as bad as you say, Big Brother. You haven¡¯t done anything wrong, after all. I think that Chris-sama and Serena-sama fell for your kindness, character, and bravery.¡¹

    Wiska, who was lying beside me on the bed, chimed in to reassure me. I was lying on my bed in the captain¡¯s quarters¡ªmy room¡ªnked on either side by Tina and Wiska. Thanks to their small sizes, there was still plenty of space on the bed even with the three of us lying there.

    ¡¸True, I wasn¡¯t actively trying to seduce anyone, so maybe saying it¡¯s my own doing is too harsh. Still, I¡¯m feeling a little defeated. I tried to avoid getting romantically involved with them, but it seems I got caught in the end.¡¹

    ¡¸But Serena-sama didn¡¯t seem like she was gonna let you escape from the start.¡¹

    ¡¸I felt her determination alright. She felt like a predator hunting its prey.¡¹

    ¡¸So, you finally got caught, huh, Boss? Or maybe it¡¯s more like you gave in to her feelings and let her in?¡¹

    ¡¸In the meaning that your kindness backfired, then maybe it really is your own doing, Big Brother.¡¹

    <em>Don¡¯t analyze it so calmly. That hits a bit too close to home. Well, it is what it is. If I have a weakness, it¡¯s that I can¡¯t be heartless, especially to those close to me. Of course, there was an option to abandon Serena, but whether I could have taken that option is another matter¡­ I guess it¡¯s just fate. I don¡¯t believe in destiny or anything like that, but maybe it¡¯s just how the stars aligned. Let¡¯s just leave it at that.</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯ll make sure not to let things drag on and increase the number of women involved with me¡­ The thing is¡­ there are already two candidates who want to join us.¡¹

    ¡¸Linda and Neve, right? It¡¯s pretty much a sure thing with Neve, but what about Linda? Maybe fifty-fifty?¡¹

    ¡¸You think so, sis? Despite everything, she seems like the type to stick to hermitments.¡¹

    ¡¸She¡¯s still young and will meet a lot of people, so who knows what might happen. Her feelings might change.¡¹

    ¡¸I agree with Tina about Linda, but as for Neve¡­ it¡¯s pretty much a done deal, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸You can¡¯t just abandon someone in a situation like hers, right Big Brother?¡¹

    ¡¸If you¡¯re able to do it with us, then you should be able to do Neve as well.¡¹

    ¡¸Alright, I give up. Please, stop attacking me both emotionally and physically¡­ So, while we¡¯re at it, do you two have any issues with this whole situation? It would help if you told me any grievances you have.¡¹

    When I posed the question, both of them fell silent, deep in thought. <em>They are really cute when they close their eyes and hum contemtively. The fact that they are so simr even when doing these small gestures makes them even cuter.</em>

    ¡¸Ultimately, it looks like Chris-sama will be the primary wife, with Serena-sama and Elma-neesan as the second and third wives. And we, including Mimi, will be considered further down the line, right?¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t like the idea of ranking people as higher or lower, but for appearances¡¯ sake, I guess it has to be that way.¡¹

    ¡¸We¡¯remoners, so we don¡¯t really mind. We don¡¯t have any desire topete with them. We just want to have your children.¡¹

    ¡¸Honestly, we don¡¯t care about official marriage papers as long as we can be with you. But like Wee said, we do want to have children.¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that a bit too convenient for me?¡¹

    ¡¸I think I¡¯ve said this before, but we¡¯re fine being convenient women for you. Even if you were to abandon us after we had children, as long as we¡¯re together, we can live anywhere.¡¹

    ¡¸I would never do that.¡¹

    I replied, feeling a bit offended by her words. The thought that they might think I would abandon them after having children was truly hurtful.

    ¡¸We know. You wouldn¡¯t do that. It was just an example. What I¡¯m trying to say is that we have plenty of money saved up from the rewards we¡¯ve received from you, and we have plenty of skills to rely on. We could even depend on our mother if needed. So you don¡¯t need to worry about us. As long as you need us, we¡¯ll stay by your side.¡¹

    Tina exined with a smile, snuggling closer to me. Wiska did the same.

    ¡¸Please do as you like, Big Brother. We¡¯ll follow you. We¡¯re satisfied just being cared for like this from time to time.¡¹

    ¡¸It feels more like I¡¯m the one being cared for by you two rather than the other way around¡­¡¹

    I looked up at the ceiling while feeling their warm bodies pressed against me.

    <em>Come to think of it, these two have pretty intense emotions. There¡¯s something¡­ heavy about their feelings, or rather, there is something clingy about them. No, it¡¯s just my imagination. Definitely. I¡¯m overthinking it. Yeah, that¡¯s it.</em>

    <em>In any case, it¡¯s a joy and a source of pride that they feel this strongly about me. I just need to make sure I never betray their trust.</em>

 Chapter 470: ã€ŒThatâ€™s not it!ã€

    Chapter 470: ¡¸That¡¯s not it!¡¹

    The day after the mechanic sisters soothed my mental fatigue, we decided to head to Elma¡¯s family home, the Viscount Willrose House estate.

    ¡¸Have a safe trip, Master.¡¹

    ¡¸Sorry to leave you behind again.¡¹

    ¡¸Please don¡¯t worry about it. A mechanical intelligence like mine isn¡¯t very wee in the Imperial Capital anyway.¡¹

    In response to my apology, Mei shook her head and answered like that. Since Neve still couldn¡¯t walk out of the medical pod, someone with medical knowledge needed to stay by her side. That left the suitable candidates to either be Dr. Shouko or Mei. One of the reasons we were going to visit the Viscount Willrose House was so the crew could meet the people of the Willrose family, so it was better if Dr. Shouko came along, which naturally made Mei the one to stay behind.

    ¡¸Besides, you willpensate meter today, right Master?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, yes.¡¹

    <em>It seems that when we return to the ck Lotus today, I¡¯ll be pampering Mei¡­ no, it¡¯s more like Mei will be pampering me.</em>

    ¡¸Come on, if you¡¯re ready, let¡¯s go. Mei, take care of things while we¡¯re gone.¡¹¡¸See youter!¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, Elma-sama. Mimi-sama. Everyone, have a safe trip.¡¹

    Mei saw us off with a bow, and we headed to the Viscount Willrose House estate in the Imperial Capital.

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸Scoundrel targeting the youngdy! Prepare yourself!¡¹ ¡¸I will im the position of Serena¡¯s partner! Prepare yourself!¡¹ ¡¸You fake noble, how dare you! Prepare yourself!¡¹

    ¡¸I thought we might be attacked by people spouting that kind of nonsense, but surprisingly, nothing like that has happened.¡¹

    ¡¸I doubt anyone would dare to act so recklessly against you now, Hiro-dono.¡¹

    Elma¡¯s father, Viscount Eldmoore Willrose, responded with a wry smile. Next to him, Elma¡¯s brother, Ernst, sipped his tea with a stern expression.

    After safely arriving at the Viscount Willrose House estate, we quicklypleted our introductions and split into male and female groups for a friendly exchange¡ª<em>though my side doesn¡¯t look so friendly.</em>

    ¡¸What do you mean by ¡®now¡¯?¡¹

    ¡¸Your deeds have spread among the nobles. They say you mercilessly decapitated the stupid heir of the Earl Ixamal House with his own sword, and with that single sword, you wreaked havoc against dozens of fully armed private soldiers. Only a fool would pick a fight with a man who, once angered, wouldn¡¯t hesitate to behead the heir of a noble house.¡¹

    ¡¸Uh¡­ wasn¡¯t that supposed to be ssified information?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s likely that the information was intentionally leaked by someone on the inquirymittee.¡¹

    ¡¸That person, huh¡­¡¹

    A smiling, handsome face shed through my mind. <em>It was likely the work of Serena¡¯s father, Mr. Laurentz, but I can¡¯t fathom his intentions.</em>

    ¡¸In essence, he wants to spread the word that he has such a fierce pawn under his control. It is also a warning: ¡®Do you understand the consequences of meddling with my pawn?¡¯ The Marquis Holz House is a prestigious martial family with immense influence, strong connections with multiple military manufacturers, and great power in terms of authority, military might, and financial resources. They¡¯re one of the top powerhouses in the empire. If anyone dares to provoke them recklessly¡­¡¹

    At this point, Eldmoore shrugged his shoulders. <em>I had vaguely considered the Marquis Holz House¡¯s power to be formidable just because they are a marquis house, but hearing this directly from Father-inw, a real court noble, makes it clear just how dangerous they truly are.</em>

    ¡¸The Viscount Willrose House is part of the Marquis Ettingen faction¡­ well, Marquis Ettingen and Marquis Holz aren¡¯t exactly on bad terms, so it should be fine¡­¡¹

    Despite his words, Eldmoore rubbed his stomach. Uhm, sorry about that, really.

    ¡¸By the way, who is this Marquis Ettingen ?¡¹

    ¡¸In short, he¡¯s the leader of the faction of nobles located in the Imperial Capital that supports the Imperial Family. The Marquis Holz House, on the other hand, is and-based noble family with vast territories but also leans towards supporting the Imperial Family. Hence, the rtionship between the two houses isn¡¯t bad.¡¹

    Ernst answered my question. <em>Despite his stern expression, he kindly exins things to me, he really is Elma¡¯s brother, huh? At their core, they are kind and considerate, always looking out for others.</em>

    ¡¸But still¡­ you can¡¯t keep it in your pants, can you?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s not it!¡¹

    I tried to exin myself to Ernst, who was giving me a side-eye.

    ¡¸We Elves wouldn¡¯t be able to endure that¡­ we¡¯re not that vigorous.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s not it. I mean, if you look at the facts, it does seem that way, but it¡¯s not. Please listen to me.¡¹

    Even Eldmoore chimed in, so I desperately tried to defend myself.

    ¡¸Even if you say you didn¡¯t intend for this to happen, how many women are you involved with? Just over there, there are six. And there¡¯s also the maidroid, right? Aren¡¯t there others as well?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­No, there aren¡¯t. At least for now.¡¹

    <em>I might end up having that kind of rtionship with Neve in the future, but Linda might change of opinion. As for others¡­ there aren¡¯t any, right? Huh? Tinia? No, Tinia is definitely not an option. Unlike Linda, she has no reason toe out into space.</em>

    ¡¸Your eyes are darting around.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s not like that. Please listen.¡¹

    I desperately tried to defend myself. I told them it was inevitable. I exined that since the entire crew, except for me, are women, it wasn¡¯t feasible to add male crew members now. That would only create trouble.

    ¡¸Given that it¡¯s all water under the bridge now, I won¡¯t say much¡­ but you do understand what would happen if you neglect my daughter, don¡¯t you?¡¹

    ¡¸There¡¯s no way I could or would ever neglect her.¡¹

    <em>If I did, I¡¯d likely have my neck snapped, and besides, Elma is an irreceable partner for me. Elma might get fed up with me, but the opposite isn¡¯t possible. She can probably live without me, but I would bepletely lost without her.</em>

    ¡¸Good. As for the formal engagement ceremony, it involves the three families, so we¡¯ll handle the discussions on our end. We¡¯ll inform you once the details are decided, so be prepared.¡¹

    ¡¸So there really is such a thing.¡¹

    ¡¸Of course there is¡­ did you think you could just casually marry three noble daughters without any formalities?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m quite ignorant and not well-versed in the Empire¡¯s general customs.¡¹

    ¡¸Mercenaries¡­ This is one of the reasons why they are no good¡­¡¹

    Ernst let out a deep sigh, looking genuinely exasperated. <em>Well, I don¡¯t know anything about these kinds of things what can I do about it? I suspected there might be some kind of formal procedure, but I just didn¡¯t know the specifics.</em>

    ¡¸That aside, it looks like they¡¯re having fun over there.¡¹

    ¡¸Milfi and Elfin are both quite talkative¡­¡¹

    When I looked over to the women¡¯s side, they seemed to be having a great time, enjoying a tea party and chatting away.

    ¡¸Shall we also engage in some light conversation? Brother-inw, why don¡¯t you start a topic?¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t call me brother-inw¡­ Well, I suppose I will be your brother-inw. In the end, that¡¯s what it is. Sigh¡­¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s a huge sigh.¡¹

    ¡¸And whose fault do you think that is¡­ well, never mind. So, tell me about how you met the Marquis Holz¡¯s daughter. From the very beginning.¡¹

    ¡¸From the beginning? That¡¯s going to be a long story¡­¡¹

    Even as I said that, memories of meeting Serena in the Termaine star system came flooding back. <em>Now that I think about it, she was actually the first one that I met.</em>

    ¡¸The first time we met was in an interrogation room at the Termaine star system¡¯s port authority.¡¹

    Both Eldmoore and Ernst listened intently, clearly intrigued. I began recounting the long story of how I met Serena and everything that had happened since. <em>It¡¯s definitely going to be a lengthy tale.</em>

 Chapter 471: ã€ŒThis Is No Joke. I Mean It.ã€

    Chapter 471: ¡¸This Is No Joke. I Mean It.¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸It¡¯s fate already.¡¹¡¹

    After recounting my memories from my encounter with Serena to now, Eldmoore and Ernst spoke in unison.

    ¡¸Can you two not say that in sync like that?¡¹

    ¡¸What did you expect me to say? Even if you were intentionally chasing her, there¡¯s no way you would run into each other so frequently.¡¹

    ¡¸Even considering that your target is the same, space pirates, and the two of you operate within the Empire¡¯s territory, it¡¯s still abnormal. Do you have any idea how many star systems are under the Empire¡¯s control? It¡¯s easily over three thousand.¡¹

    ¡¸Stop confronting me with reality¡­¡¹

    <em>Well, it seems I¡¯ve been unconsciously manipting that fate. I don¡¯t know exactly how I¡¯m doing it, but if I am repeatedly drawing the fate of ¡®reuniting with Serena¡¯ unconsciously, then the assertion of the Willrose father and son that Serena and me being together is fate is basically correct. That would mean that unconsciously, I¡¯ve been wanting to see Serena all this time¡­ Even though I kept saying it was troublesome, was I seeking Serena unconsciously? That¡¯s kind of embarrassing¡­ I must ensure Serena never finds out about my fate-manipting ability. Knowing Serena, she¡¯d definitely say something like, ¡®Even though you treated me so coldly, you actually loved me all along!¡¯ with a triumphant look. No way I¡¯m going to endure that¡­</em>

    ¡¸The final push was by His Majesty¡¯s hand, huh¡­ I guess there was no escaping from the start.¡¹

    ¡¸Do you mean His Majesty intervened because he predicted this oue?¡¹¡¸His Majesty¡¯s foresight has already surpassed human capability¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It is said that His Majesty is aware of even trivial matters, such as a single civilian transport ship being attacked by pirates on the frontier of the Empire.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah¡­ that might actually be true.¡¹

    When I first met and spoke with that fucking Emperor, he already knew that Krishna and I appeared for the first time in the Termaine system and the moment we arrived. He was also fully aware of the information I gathered while holed up in Krishna while I was docked on the colony, and he even knew about my psychological state during the information gathering. <em>Even thinking back on it now, it still sends chills down my spine.</em>

    As I was considering this, I nced over at the women. Their previously lively and pleasant chatter had died down, and now they were whispering intently with their heads together. <em>I have a bad feeling about this.</em>

    ¡¸By the way. Ah, let me say this first, there is no deep meaning hidden in this question, is Elfin-san in a rtionship or engaged to anyone?¡¹

    Elfin is Elma¡¯s older sister. <em>I¡¯ve been feeling her gaze on me for a while now.</em>

    ¡¸¡­And what will you do with that information?¡¹

    ¡¸I just want to make it clear in advance that I have no intention of doing anything. If she starts saying something like ¡®It seems interesting, so I¡¯ll tag along,¡¯ or ¡®Everyone says we seempatible, so why not,¡¯ please, absolutely stop her. This is no joke. I mean it.¡¹

    ¡¸As the head of the family, I will absolutely stop it, so rest assured¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I won¡¯t let such a nightmarish thinge to pass, so don¡¯t worry.¡¹

    ¡õ¡ö¡õ

    ¡¸So, how are things with you two?¡¹

    ¡¸How? Well¡­ I¡¯d prefer it if you could be more specific about what you want to know.¡¹

    Sister asked me with a curious look. I could sense what she wanted to hear, but I really didn¡¯t want to answer.

    ¡¸His character, or, um, your physicalpatibility?¡¹

    ¡¸I-I¡¯m interested in that too¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­I¡¯ll pretend I didn¡¯t hear thest part. Generally speaking, he¡¯s sincere and greatly respects us. Hiro does his best to be considerate when he notices something, I think.¡¹

    Ignoring the overly enthusiastic interest in our sexual life from my sister and Chris, I safelymented on Hiro¡¯s character. <em>Honestly, Hiro is quite different from the typical person of this Empire. But that¡¯s rted to his background, and no matter how close we are as a family, I can¡¯t openly talk about it.</em>

    ¡¸Oh? But look, he has rtionships with many women. Isn¡¯t anyone dissatisfied?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, I won¡¯t say there aren¡¯t any at all, but Hiro-sama has only one body. We¡¯ve learned topromise.¡¹

    Mimi skillfully handled my sister¡¯s slightly pouting remark. <em>Mimi has really grown dependable. When she first boarded the ship, she was like a scared little animal, nervous about everything.</em>

    ¡¸No matter how reliable Boss is, he¡¯d be crushed if we left everythin¡¯ to him. So we all support each other.¡¹

    ¡¸We¡¯re like pirs supporting each other around the central pir that is Big Brother. Mei-san does a good job adjusting things in that regard, doesn¡¯t she?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes. Mei-san is quite adept at managing our group centered around my Lord.¡¹

    Tina and Wiska chimed in and Kugi tactfully supported them. <em>Tina and Wiska¡¯s follow-up was great, but Kugi¡¯s was wless. Kugi has lived a life that should have made her even more removed frommon sense than Hiro, but she is able to react perfectly in situations like this.</em>

    ¡¸If Hiro-kun is the leader in the open, then Mei-kun is the leader in the shadows. Well, our life is likely a very intriguing object of observation for them. She is clearly receiving backup.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes¡­ Hiro doesn¡¯t seem to mind, but Mei is exceptional. Abnormally so.¡¹

    <em>I agree with Dr. Shouko¡¯s evaluation of Mei. Indeed, Mei¡¯s exceptional abilities are quite abnormal. It¡¯s only natural for a full-spec maidroid to bepetent, but she¡¯s outstanding even beyond that.</em>

    ¡¸Are ¡®they¡¯ involved then?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, there¡¯s no doubt about it.¡¹

    Chris responded to Mimi¡¯s question with a wry smile. <em>They aren¡¯t doing any inherently bad, but calling ¡®them¡¯ merely ¡®cunning¡¯ would be an understatement. When faced with someone as unique as Hiro, it¡¯s impossible for ¡®them¡¯ to take no action. Mei is almost certainly receiving substantial support from the machine intelligences.</em>

    ¡¸They are individuals yet a collective, a collective yet individuals. Even if Mei-kun is a custom-made full-spec unit, herpetence is exceptional. She probably uses one of those rumored anti-entropy processors they developed.¡¹

    ¡¸The ones that use heat forputation and end up cooling down? Do those exist for real?¡¹

    ¡¸Some rumors say they were able to make them practical. Bybining with the usual positronic brains that use energy and generate heat, they wouldn¡¯t need cooling systems, and theirputational power would skyrocket.¡¹

    ¡¸There is a part of me that can¡¯t believe it, but the other part knows it¡¯s possible if it¡¯s them¡­¡¹

    As soon as the topic of Mei¡¯s extraordinary capabilities came up, our tech-savvy members veered off into a technical discussion.

    ¡¸Ah, geez. With three techies here, the conversation always derails into tech talk. Let¡¯s drop that topic for now. It¡¯s not like Mei being exceptional is causing any problems, right? Okay?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, yes, you¡¯re right. Then shall we discuss our physicalpatibility with Hiro-kun? I thought you didn¡¯t want to talk about that Elma-kun.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Let¡¯s not talk about that either. Even with family, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s something to openly discuss.¡¹

    I countered Dr. Shouko¡¯s attempt to steer the conversation back with some sound reasoning. However, my small resistance was swiftly destroyed by Tina, who smiled mischievously.

    ¡¸Well, it¡¯s not apetition or anything. By the way, Wee and I often do it together with Boss.¡¹

    ¡¸Handling two dwarves at once? That¡¯s kind of impressive.¡¹

    ¡¸Um¡­ yes, it¡¯s actually quite amazing.¡¹

    With a blush, my sister covered her mouth and asked, clearly very interested. Wiska, her face red, started to fidget. Chris was even worse; her face was bright red, and she was breathing heavily¡­ <em>Next Countess Dareinwald, that¡¯s rather unbing of you.</em>

    ¡¸I always end up passing out first¡­ I really need to build up more stamina.¡¹

    ¡¸I feel the same¡­ But my Lord is kind, isn¡¯t he?¡¹

    ¡¸He¡¯s not rough at all.¡¹

    ¡¸Stop this already!¡¹

    Everyone began joining in on the topic. <em>Once it starts like this, there¡¯s no stopping it. Can we please drop this subject? Why? Because I don¡¯t want to talk about it! Mimi, you understand, right? Mother, stop making that face.</em>

    ¡¸Elven women are like that.¡¹

    ¡¸Stop it already!¡¹

    My plea was in vain, and everything was revealed in detail. <em>I can¡¯t take it anymore.</em>

 Chapter 472 -ã€ŒThere Are Nothing But Problems With That!?ã€

    Chapter 472 -¡¸There Are Nothing But Problems With That!?¡¹

    The next day, we were weed by Chris at the Earl Dareinwald House estate in the imperial capital, and we all went shopping¡­ <em>Well, it wasn¡¯t really light shopping, was it? We spent almost half a day walking around, buying various household goods like thetest bedding. That isn¡¯t light at all, is it?</em>

    ¡¸Hmm, this one feels softer.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s nice that it¡¯s soft, but won¡¯t it be too hot to sleep with?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m sensitive to the cold, so something like this would be just right for me. Chris-chan, you¡¯re the same, right?¡¹

    ¡¸I used to be, but ever since I got body enhancements, I¡¯ve be more sensitive to heat¡­¡¹

    Mimi, Elma, and Chris were enthusiastically discussing something that looked like a nket. <em>I didn¡¯t realize that enhancing your body could change your constitution and make you more sensitive to heat¡­</em>

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t it best if it¡¯s easy to wash?¡¹

    ¡¸Choosing the right bedding is important, sis. The quality of your bedding determines the quality of your life.¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re being really serious about this, Wee¡­¡¹Tina was trying to prioritize cheap and easy-to-wash bedding, but Wiska, with a serious look on her face, stopped her, leaving Tina a bit taken aback¡­ <em>Wiska sometimes has these weird fixations.</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯m more interested in this chair than the bedding.¡¹

    ¡¸I think it¡¯s better if you sleep in a proper bed, doctor.¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, sleeping in a chair can be quite nice, you know? If the quality is good, it¡¯s no different from a bed.¡¹

    Just choosing bedding¡ªand some non-bedding items¡ª created a lot of chaos so we stood out a lot. People looked at us with faces that said, ¡®What a strange group.¡¯ Well, with Chris and her bodyguards included, we were a group of ten people. It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to call us arge group. We attracted a lot of attention. To finish it, Chris brought bodyguards who were clearly identifiable at a nce. It was obvious that Chris was ady of noble status. <em>Strictly speaking, she¡¯s not just ady but the future Countess tough. Still, it seems that if she doesn¡¯t openly dere her status, she can just barely pass as the daughter of a high-ranking noble.</em>

    In reality, the governor of an entire star system was usually treated on par with a baron even if that person was a noble¡¯s daughter without official titles. This meant that it was usually not permissible for such a person to directly pick out items in a store with friends. Generally, they would summon merchants to their mansion to do the shopping, at least in the imperial capital.

    What about me, an honorary viscount? Apparently, I could do the same if I wanted to, but honorary titles had a somewhat ambiguous status. They were not inheritable and didn¡¯t count as true nobility. However, when it came to the hierarchy among nobles, the situation got a bit moreplex. <em>Mei exined it to me in detail, but it went in one ear and out the other. I don¡¯t remember much. Haha.</em>

    After finishing our shopping, we returned to the ship.

    ¡¸I can¡¯t allow it, mdy.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s fine. There¡¯s no ce safer than here.¡¹

    ¡¸The master has given strict orders, so I can¡¯t let this pass. Mdy, let¡¯s return to the estate.¡¹

    ¡¸I refuse.¡¹

    We were having tea on the ship, and just as we were about to think about dinner, the dispute broke out.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll stay on the ck Lotus tonight. Edeltrud, you can return to the estate.¡¹

    ¡¸So, you¡¯re saying, mdy, that you¡¯ll stay here alone?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, is there a problem with that?¡¹

    ¡¸There are nothing but problems with that!¡¹

    The future Countess Dareinwald and her knight bodyguard started squabbling. Well, for them it was probably a serious argument, but¡­ <em>It sure is peaceful.</em>

    ¡¸Are you just going to watch?¡¹

    With my uncarbonated pseudo-c in my hand, I was watching the situation unfold when Elma spoke to me. <em>Hmm, honestly,</em><em>I don¡¯t care either way.</em>

    ¡¸Should I intervene?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s up to you, Hiro¡­¡¹

    Elma nced towards Mimi, who was watching Chris and her bodyguard Edeltrud argue with a worried expression. <em>Sigh, I guess I have no choice.</em>

    ¡¸Okay, that¡¯s enough. Let¡¯s stop arguing here. There¡¯s a girl about to cry.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah! My apologies Hiro-sama.¡¹

    Chris shrank back when I spoke to her.

    ¡¸Hey, I¡¯m not mad, so you don¡¯t have to shrink back so much. Edeltrud, you are concerned about me sleeping under the same roof as Chris, right? Ah, you don¡¯t need to respond; it¡¯s clear enough. Chris, you¡¯re not trying to use this as an opportunity to take things to the next level between us, are you? You just want to spend the night with Mimi and the others after a long time, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Y-yes, that¡¯s right¡­ I think?¡¹

    Her response was a bit uncertain, but I got the confirmation I needed. <em>That¡¯ll do.</em>

    ¡¸Alright, then here¡¯s what we¡¯ll do. I¡¯ll spend the night elsewhere tonight. If you¡¯re really worried about Chris, Edeltrud, you can stay on the ck Lotus as well. That should resolve everything, right?¡¹

    ¡¸N-no, no, no! That doesn¡¯t resolve anything! You understand what it means for a woman to spend the night on a man¡¯s ship, don¡¯t you?¡¹

    ¡¸It is the first time for you, Edeltrud so it might affect your reputation, but for Chris, this isn¡¯t anything new, is it? She¡¯s already spent a lot of time on my ship before and we even stayed several days on a resort. Besides, if we¡¯re going to be officially engaged or married in the future, rumors of us having that sort of rtionship could actually be beneficial, don¡¯t you think? As for the real thing, I don¡¯t n to do it until I get direct approval from Lord Dareinwald himself.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, that¡¯s¡­ maybe true?¡¹

    Edeltrud tilted her head. <em>This is just my opinion, though. I don¡¯t know what you think, and Ick the general knowledge of noble etiquette to judge properly.</em>

    ¡¸Anyway, if your concern, Edeltrud, is me, then everything should be settled with this. The rest is up to you. I¡¯ll spend the night out with Mei.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­You¡¯re going with Mei?¡¹

    ¡¸Is that a problem? She stayed behind two days in a row to look after the ship and Neve, so I want to show her some appreciation.¡¹

    Though Mei doesn¡¯t eat, drink, or really have any material desires, so there¡¯s not much I can do for her. If anything, letting her take care of me is probably the best reward I can give her.

    ¡¸¡­If that¡¯s the case, then there¡¯s no helping it.¡¹

    Elma agreed, though she seemed a bit disappointed. <em>Look, even I can understand that if I choose anyone other than Mei in this situation, it would cause friction. So, don¡¯t look so disappointed, please.</em>

    <em>Also, Mimi and Chris, stop making those faces of regret like your ns have been foiled. Especially you, Mimi. It seems like Mimi has been trying to push Chris and me together rather forcefully. In that sense, I¡¯m already checkmated, so she should just let things take their course without rushing. That¡¯s what I think, anyway.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸Master, thank you for choosing me to apany you this time.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, it¡¯s not something you need to thank me for¡­¡¹

    About two hourster, after preparing for the overnight stay, Mei and I left the ck Lotus. We took a rather luxurious air taxi to a fairly upscale hotel. Now, having checked in andpleted the room inspection, Mei was taking care of me while expressing how thankful she was. It might sound a little racy, but she was only serving me some high-quality tea from the in-room tea set and expressing her gratitude.

    ¡¸You seem tired.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah¡­ It¡¯s a bit of a self-inflicted situation. No one¡¯s really at fault, though.¡¹

    If anyone¡¯s to me, it¡¯s that fucking Emperor who sent me to the Creon system, or the Earl Ixamal House who decided to betray the Empire and nned a rebellion in the first ce. But it¡¯s not easy toin to the former, and thetter is more or less extinct, so there¡¯s no one to me there. I personally took care of their heir, after all. Compared to that, being forced to form unavoidable ties with the Imperial nobility and getting dragged into their affairs is a small price to pay.

    ¡¸Are you unhappy with your current situation, Master?¡¹

    ¡¸No, it¡¯s not that. I¡¯m just a bit tired. I always knew I¡¯d have to settle my rtionship with Serena and Chris at some point¡­ I just didn¡¯t expect it to end up like this. Or maybe I did? Either way, once I got involved with Serena, I knew it was going to end up like this.¡¹

    <em>As Viscount Willrose said, this is probably fate. There¡¯s no point in moping around. Whatever will be, will be.</em>

    ¡¸Let¡¯s set that aside for now. Next, I need to attend some award ceremony or something in the capital, and after that, back to the free mercenary life¡­ or maybe not. I¡¯ll probably need to visit either Marquis Holz House¡¯s territory or Earl Dareinwald House¡¯s territory.¡¹

    ¡¸That may be the case, but doing as you please is the best course of action. To be blunt, you don¡¯t need to be bound by the nobility¡¯s customs and follow their rules.¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that unrealistic?¡¹

    ¡¸No, it¡¯s not. In fact, it might be better not to conform to their convenience. If you yield, they will exploit it. Once they figure out your boundaries, they will push them, without fail.¡¹

    ¡¸I see.¡¹

    <em>It¡¯s a likely scenario. They might try to use Serena as a pawn to manipte me or exploit my crew¡¯s family ties, like trying to leverage the Viscount Willrose House, or She, the mother of the mechanic sisters, under the pretense of helping them. It¡¯s possible they coulde up with some excuse to use me for their own ends.</em>

    <em>I don¡¯t think Earl Dareinwald is the type to do something like that, but Marquis Laurenz Holz, Serena¡¯s father, is an unknown variable. He seems quite adept at scheming.</em>

    ¡¸Maybe it¡¯s time to venture a bit further afield.¡¹

    ¡¸Further afield, you say?¡¹

    ¡¸Perhaps it¡¯s worth considering leaving the Empire for a while. We could head to somewhere like the Holy Vuelzarus Empire.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­I see. That is an unexpected option.¡¹

    I saw the rare sight of Mei with her eyes open in surprise. <em>It¡¯s unusual to see her express so much emotion.</em>

    ¡¸If I managed to surprise you, Mei, then maybe I¡¯m getting better at this. But it¡¯s just one idea. Another option is to visit a star system with a ship manufacturer to procure a new mothership. I would like to get something more habitable than the ck Lotus, with a hangarrge enough to amodate medium-sized ships.¡¹

    ¡¸That sounds like a costly venture.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, and there¡¯s always the chance a certain maidroid will insist on adding all sorts of armaments, driving up the cost.¡¹

    ¡¸I apologize for the trouble I caused then.¡¹

    ¡¸It turned out to be the right decision in the end. So, feel free to voice your thoughts again. Other than that, let¡¯s see¡­¡¹

    <em>Talking about future ns and possibilities with Mei is pretty fun. She¡¯s a great listener and takes even my most random thoughts seriously.</em>

    I spent the night alone with Mei, chatting leisurely, and having her massage my tired body, it was thoroughly rxing. <em>I can¡¯t help but wonder what kind of conversations the others are having back on the ship. On second thought, maybe it¡¯s better not to know. Yep, I better forget about it.</em>

 Chapter 473: ã€ŒDonâ€™t Jinx Itâ€¦ã€

    Chapter 473: ¡¸Don¡¯t Jinx It¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­What is it?¡¹

    ¡¸Eek!? N-nothing¡­ really?¡¹

    ¡¸I-I-I certainly have nothing to say?¡¹

    The next day, when I returned to the ck Lotus with Mei, Chris and Edeltrud were still there. ¡­ As soon as they saw my face, they began to stare intently at me. And when I spoke to them, this was their reaction. They were clearly hiding something, and Edeltrud¡¯s speech was even strange. <em>You didn¡¯t use such stereotypicaldy-likenguage as if from an anime.</em>

    ¡¸¡­ You showed ¡®that¡¯ to them, didn¡¯t you?¡¹

    ¡¸Boss, why are you asking us?¡¹

    ¡¸You know what I¡¯m talking about. If someone did record ¡®that¡¯ it¡¯s probably you two¡­¡¹

    When I looked at them with an usatory gaze, both Tina and Wiska started whistling and looking at the ceiling or deliberately averting their eyes. <em>I¡¯m sure the culprits are these two, they¡¯re the only ones who would enjoy recording ¡®documentary footage¡¯ of certain activities. I don¡¯t have that kind of hobby, so I never record it. Mei might have, but she¡¯d never show it to anyone. Well, in Mei¡¯s case, whether she records our activities or not, she definitely creates a log. Whether she keeps that log¡­ no, she probably does. Definitely. Because she¡¯s a maid droid.</em>¡¸Mimi?¡¹

    ¡¸Uh, um¡­ haha.¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re tantly trying tough it off.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, it was useful as a reference.¡¹

    ¡¸Useful as a reference? Isn¡¯t it impossible for you, Elma?¡¹

    ¡¸Shut up!¡¹

    ¡¸That hurts¡­¡¹

    Elma looked so serious when she said, ¡®It was useful as a reference¡¯ with a straight face, that I had to tease her a little. <em>You don¡¯t have to give me a full-force low kick like that¡­</em>

    <em>I doubt she would have the presence of mind to use what she learned from the video. Elma¡¯s sensitivity is on a whole different level so¡­ well you can imagine the rest.</em>

    ¡¸My lord.¡¹

    ¡¸What is it?¡¹

    ¡¸I wish to strive harder than ever before.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­¡¹

    I didn¡¯t ask Kugi what she meant as she stared at me seriously. <em>It¡¯s fine already. I¡¯m a person who¡¯s mindful of the TPO, to some extent, at least. For now, I need to change the subject of the conversation somehow.</em>

    ¡¸Ahem, ahem. Let¡¯s set that topic aside for now, okay? I want to discuss our future ns a bit.¡¹

    ¡¸Future ns?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah. We need to n what we will do after the uing award ceremony or whatever it is. Normally, we should visit Marquis Holz¡¯s territory or Earl Dareinwald¡¯s territory, but I¡¯m thinking it could be interesting to visit the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. Alternatively, we could procure a bigger mothership to rece the ck Lotus.¡¹

    ¡¸H-Hiro-sama¡­? Are you leaving the Empire¡­?¡¹

    Chris¡¯s eyes widened in shock.

    ¡¸No, no, I n to keep the Empire as our main base of operations. I¡¯m just thinking there might be information about my origin in Kugi¡¯s homnd, the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. Plus, I have a bit of interest in psionic abilities. ording to Kugi, I might get some VIP treatment there. There might even be psionic-rted technology and equipment for our ship that we haven¡¯t seen before.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­So, it¡¯s just a temporary stay, and you¡¯lle back soon?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes. Think of it as more like a sightseeing trip.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m relieved¡­ I was worried that perhaps, because of this situation, you hade to dislike us¡­¡¹

    Chris said this while patting her chest in relief.

    ¡¸Oh, you thought I got fed up with the engagement and the marriage talks and wanted to run away? No, it would be too scummy of me to flee after all this. I wouldn¡¯t do that to you, Chris.¡¹

    <em>If things were different and I would only marry Serena, then? I might have run away. If Earl Dareinwald¡¯s House hadn¡¯t been involved in the engagement and marriage talks through Chris, that person might have made some move to control me. If he does something I can¡¯t ept. In that situation, fleeing the country could have been a possible option.</em>

    <em>However, from the way Laurenz talks, it doesn¡¯t seem like he would do anything to make an enemy of me. He mentioned that throughout the long history of the Marquis Holz House, there have been records of encounters with individuals who had unusual fates like mine. The nuance was that they understood it would be dangerous to turn me into an enemy.</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯m very relieved¡­ truly.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m d. So, what do you think of this idea, Kugi?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, my Lord. If I could invite you to our country, it would be my greatest joy. If that is what you have decided, I will contact our cathedral to prepare for your arrival. Is that okay with you?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, we should probably wait until everything is confirmed. Even if we decide to go to the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, it might be better to stop by Earl Dareinwald¡¯s territory first to secure somend in aary settlement.¡¹

    ¡¸Securingnd means that your objective will be finallyplete, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, finally.¡¹

    We were about to finally get a single-family home with a garden, which had been my short-term goal until now. To gain residency and purchasend in aary settlement, you needed first-ss citizenship of the Empire. Both Mimi and I were granted first-ss citizenship as a reward from the Emperor during ourst visit to the Imperial Capital. Elma was born a daughter of a viscount, so she had first-ss citizenship from the start. A citizen with first-ss citizenship had the right to bring two¡­ <em>no, was it three? I can¡¯t remember</em>, they could bring a certain number of people without first-ss citizenship to live in aary settlement with them. Therefore, Tina, Wiska, Kugi, Dr. Shouko, and Neve, who didn¡¯t have first-ss citizenship, can live in theary settlement with us. What about Mei? Since Mei was a maidroid, she was considered my property. You might think it¡¯s strange she was treated that way since mechanical intelligence also holds human? rights, but apparently, mechanical intelligence¡¯s rights were a little different in some things.

    ¡¸I hope it goes smoothly¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Wait, is there a problem?¡¹

    ¡¸There shouldn¡¯t be. We have no issues with citizenship, and if the Earl Dareinwald¡¯s House cooperates, securingnd and constructing the structure shouldn¡¯t be a problem. But considering everything that¡¯s happened so far¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t jinx it¡­¡¹

    <em>Considering that something might go wrong due to some trouble, I had been trying my best not to jinx it by mentioning it out loud¡­ But it¡¯s entirely possible, given my track record. It¡¯s not out of the realm of possibility that something strange happens and blows up the nearlypleted house.</em>

    ¡¸Are you also nning to rece the mothership?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, It¡¯s a pain to have Elma¡¯s Antlion docked to an external docking port, right? I was thinking of switching to a mothership with a hangar that can amodate medium-sized ships. Fortunately, we have enough budget.¡¹

    <em>We should have enough budget if we trade in the ck Lotus and reuse as many modules as we can. Most of the weapons we have installed should be usable as is.</em>

    ¡¸I see. I¡¯ll look for a few options that might suit our needs.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll leave it to you. It¡¯s better to have professionals make the selection.¡¹

    <em>Given that these two used to work for a shipbuildingpany, there¡¯s no way they¡¯ll pick somethingpletely unsuitable. Especially since they¡¯ve seen how we operate the ck Lotus firsthand. We haven¡¯t decided what will we do yet, but it¡¯s always a good idea to start considering it now.</em>

    As we were discussing this, my smallmunication device rang. Serena, huh?

    ¡¸It¡¯s a message from Serena. Apparently, there¡¯s going to be a ceremony three days from now, before noon. It looks like I¡¯ll be receiving another medal. The dress code is semi-formal. I guess the outfit I worest time should be fine¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s have a new one tailored!¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s a good idea.¡¹

    ¡¸I agree, it¡¯s better to have a new one made.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes.¡¹

    Mimi, Elma, and Chris all insisted in quick session that I should have a new outfit tailored. <em>It¡¯s not like we¡¯re short on money, so I don¡¯t mind having one made, but it¡¯s a hassle¡­ Well, if the three of them say so, then I¡¯ll go with it.</em>

 Chapter 474: ã€Œâ€¦Is He Always Like This?ã€

    Chapter 474: ¡¸¡­Is He Always Like This?¡¹

    Three days after receiving Serena¡¯s message, we were checking our outfits on the ck Lotus to head to the Imperial Castle together. <em>Oh, when I say ¡®together¡¯, I don¡¯t mean Chris ising with us.</em> Today¡¯s event was to celebrate our achievements as mercenaries, so there was no reason for Chris to join the ceremony with us. <em>She will probably attend as Earl Dareinwald¡¯s representative, though.</em> Also, Mei and Neve weren¡¯ting with us either. Mei is an artificial intelligence, so while she was technically recognized as a person, she didn¡¯t qualify to participate in this event. At least, as long as she was my maidroid, her actions were considered mine. If she were to start acting independently as Mei, a single AI, it would be a different story¡­ <em>Somehow, the circumstances around that areplex and mysterious, so I don¡¯t quite understand them.</em>

    ¡¸How do I look, Boss? Does it suit me?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, it suits you. You look cute.¡¹

    Iplimented Tina, who was wearing a ck dress with red ents that matched her hair color. <em>It might sound like an unimaginativepliment, but honestly, she really is cute.</em>

    ¡¸Don¡¯t call me cute, say I¡¯m beautiful. I¡¯m an adultdy, you know.¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re cute, you¡¯re so cute.¡¹

    ¡¸Geez, can¡¯t you put a little more effort into it?¡¹

    Seeing that I wouldn¡¯t call her anything else than cute, Tina started to pout. <em>Even if she wants me to call her beautiful, she looks much more cute than beautiful¡­</em> While she was small in stature, she wasn¡¯t t, and she had round hips. When she was wearing her usual jumpsuit that showed off her body lines, she gave off a bit of a sexy vibe, but in a dress like the one she was wearing today, which didn¡¯t emphasize her body lines as much, she just looked cute rather than beautiful or sexy.

    ¡¸Big brother, do you think I¡¯m cute too?¡¹¡¸Very cute.¡¹

    I gave the same deep nod of approval to Wiska, who was wearing a dress identical to Tina¡¯s, but with a white base and blue ents. <em>They¡¯re twins, after all. When seen like this, they look very simr, but their mannerisms and expressions reveal their distinct personalities.</em>

    ¡¸It¡¯s a bit tight¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Well, with your assets¡­¡¹

    This time, Mimi and Elma were in suits rather than dresses. I called them suits, but they were more like formal military uniforms. If I brought Mimi in a dress, it would emphasize her striking resemnce to Princess Luciada¡­ A lot of people saw her in a dress at the previous ceremony, so it¡¯s a bitte for that. Still, it was better to prepare for the worst. <em>However, Mimi does look ufortable. It can¡¯t be helped. With that chest armor¡­ Elma seemsfy though¡ªwhoops, she red at me.</em>

    ¡¸Hmm, I don¡¯t think this kind of clothing suits me¡­¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s not true, Doctor. It looks very good on you.¡¹

    ¡¸Really¡­? It feels too frilly and I can¡¯t rx.¡¹

    When I looked away from Elma, I saw Dr. Shouko, looking uneasy in her dress, being coaxed by Kugi, who was wearing her usual space shrine maiden outfit. Kugi¡¯s outfit was slightly more borate than usual, with more essories, but it seems her shrine maiden outfit was considered formal attire suitable for official events, so she basically looked the same as always. In contrast, Shouko-sensei was in formal wear. Her usually disheveled long hair was neatly styled atop her head, and the dress, though modest in color, perfectly highlighted her body¡¯s lines. <em>Her chest armor which rivals Mimi¡¯s, is impressive as always, it¡¯s too sexy. Well, she is going to drape a shawl over herself that will help hide her body lines, so hopefully, it will reduce the stares.</em>

    This time, we divided the crew¡¯s attire: those involved inbat wore military uniforms, and those who weren¡¯t wore dresses. Originally, I wanted Kugi to wear something simr to Mimi and Elma¡¯s, but her tails made it impossible. We couldn¡¯t use the existing designs, and a fully custom-made outfit wouldn¡¯t be ready in three days, so we had to give up on that idea.

    ¡¸Wow, that¡¯s amazing. You have quite the selection, Captain.¡¹

    ¡¸Indeed. It¡¯s impressive, isn¡¯t it?¡¹

    I joked with Neve, who had graduated from the medical pod and was allowed to move around in a semi-autonomous multifunctional wheelchair¡ªit was floating, so it didn¡¯t have wheels¡ªsince yesterday, while looking at the girls. By the way, her wheelchair also functioned somewhat like a simplified treatment pod, making it quite expensive. Neve told me she¡¯d pay for it when she could, but equipping the ship is part of the captain¡¯s responsibility, so I politely declined her offer.

    ¡¸Do you think I¡¯ll get to wear something like that eventually?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, with your fair skin, Neve, you might look good in gothic lolita.¡¹

    A girl with white hair and fair skin in ck gothic lolita attire would indeed be striking. <em>Mimi doesn¡¯t wear such outfits often¡­ sigh.</em> There are a lot of types of lolita fashion, but it¡¯s best to leave it to that store staff. <em>If you say to them: ¡®Please find an outfit that suits this girl.¡¯ They¡¯ll surely find something good. Sometimes, they bring too many attires because all of them are a good match, and sometimes they end up brawling between themselves due to differences in opinions, but those are minor issues.</em>

    ¡¸Hey, you took so much time leering at us and criticizing our outfits, but you aren¡¯t going to say anything about your own?¡¹

    ¡¸Who cares about a guy¡¯s outfit? Anyway, the one you all picked for me is superfortable. Thanks.¡¹

    My outfit was simr in design to what Mimi and Elma were wearing, only a bit more extravagant here and there. I might say ¡®extravagant¡¯ but it wasn¡¯t overly shy¡ªjust tasteful enough to be elegant, <em>I don¡¯t care much for gaudy clothes.</em>

    ¡¸Well then, shall we head out? Our ride should be here soon.¡¹

    While we, the group in suits would be able to use public transport without issues, it wouldn¡¯t do for the ones in dresses. Serena had arranged for a vehicle from the Imperial Space Navy to pick us up, which is why we dressed up on the ck Lotus. Otherwise, we would have had to bring our outfits and change at the pce. As I was mulling this over, our ride arrived, and we boarded it while Mei and Neve saw us off. The vehicle Serena had arranged wasn¡¯t an intimidating vehicle with a big gun on the roof but more like a subdued shuttle bus. Unlike regr shuttle buses, this one could fly though.

    ¡¸Hmm¡­ not bad. I will give you my approval.¡¹

    ¡¸Thanks. You look as elegant as ever.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m wearing the same outfit as always after all.¡¹

    Serena, who was waiting for us inside the flying shuttle bus, shrugged her shoulders. True to her words, she was dressed in her usual white military uniform. The only difference was that she had medals pinned to her chest instead of her usual insignia.

    ¡¸Someday, I¡¯ll show you how I look in a dress.¡¹

    ¡¸That sounds delightful. Although you look beautiful in your usual military uniform too.¡¹

    <em>Honestly, when I think of Serena, this is the image thates to mind¡ªit suits her so well. First impressions are important, after all. She was in her military uniform the first time we met too.</em>

    ¡¸¡­Is he always like this?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, he is pretty much always like this.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, he often gives straightforwardpliments.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­¡¹

    Listening to Mimi and Elma¡¯s replies, Serena blushed slightly and looked at me with a slight re.

    ¡¸What?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­You didn¡¯t use to say such ttering things before.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, that¡¯s true. Serena, you¡¯re very beautiful, so being aloof with you was pretty tough. I was always thinking about how gorgeous and beautiful you were when I was talking to you.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, enough¡­ I get it, I get it already.¡¹

    Serena, her face now bright red, hid her face with one hand and extended her other hand towards me, as if to heed me to stop. <em>Hmm, I see?</em>

    ¡¸Eek!?¡¹

    ¡¸Haha, lovers¡¯ hold!¡¹

    So, I intertwined my fingers with hers, holding her hand like lovers do. <em>Haha, her reaction is funny¡ªouch, ouch, ouch! I get it! I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry for teasing you! Please forgive me! My hand¡¯s bones are breaking!</em>

    In the end, Serena didn¡¯t let go of my hand until we reached our destination. She did ease up on her grip, though.

 Chapter 475: ã€ŒIn the End, Violence Is the Best Solution. Everything Is Solved with Violence.ã€

    Chapter 475: ¡¸In the End, Violence Is the Best Solution. Everything Is Solved with Violence.¡¹

    The medal awarding ceremony concluded without any issues. This time, there were no members of the imperial family in attendance, so it proceeded quietly. <em>Eh? The medal I received?</em> I was awarded my second Silver Sword Wings Assault Medal. Considering the results, it was expected¡­ Four battleship-ss vessels including the gship, seven cruiser-ss ships, twelve destroyers, three corvettes, and eighteen fighters were an exceptional achievement for a small ship. Not only did we surpass the achievements of the other small ships that participated in the battle, we blew them out of the water.

    By the way, Elma also destroyed around thirty enemy corvettes and fighters with just the Antlion, so she was awarded the Bronze Sword Wings Assault Medal. She lookedposed, but her ears were perked up more than usual, so I think she was happy about it.

    ¡¸Still, it ended quickly, didn¡¯t it?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s because of the scandal.¡¹

    Serena shrugged her shoulders, on her hand she held a small ss filled with a golden, sparkling drink. <em>Why is there no c when they have sparkling wine? Why? I don¡¯t understand.</em>

    ¡¸Scandal?¡¹

    ¡¸A noble entrusted with territory and with a secure position by His Majesty the Emperor attempted a rebellion. That¡¯s quite a scandal.¡¹

    ¡¸I see.¡¹

    <em>Now that she mentions it, that¡¯s true. As Serena said, the betrayal and treasonous activities of Earl Ixamal House must have severely damaged the authority of the Imperial Family. Fortunately, their ns were thwarted by our intervention before they could be fully realized. When I think that the one who intervened so we were in a position to thwart their ns was that fucking Emperor, it makes me realize once again that he is no ordinary man. As expected of an Emperor who controls thousands of star systems.</em>¡¸Everything is within His Majesty the Emperor¡¯s grasp, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, even someone like you, Hiro, feels the Emperor¡¯s influence?¡¹

    ¡¸Thinking about how he ced Serena and me in that location, at that time, knowing my bad luck and tendency to get into trouble, it makes sense. Well, it might be a coincidence¡­ but it¡¯s too perfect to be just a coincidence. Both the process and the oue. Of course, I can¡¯t help but be a bit impressed.¡¹

    <em>There must have been something behind those arrangements¡ªwhether it was the experience umted due to the long history of the Empire or the support of artificial intelligence¡ªbut there¡¯s no doubt it was an extraordinary maneuver. When you see something so impressive, there is no other way than to acknowledge it.</em>

    ¡¸Besides, he even arranged such a great party.¡¹

    I said this as I put a piece of roast beef-like dish on my small te into my mouth. <em>Hmm, delicious. Although it looks like beef, the taste and texture¡­ is this seared bonito? No, well, it¡¯s delicious, but it¡¯s kind of unexpected.</em>

    After the awarding ceremony ended, it was party time. Although it was a party, it was in standing buffet style so it didn¡¯t seem particrly high-ss. There were more soldiers here than nobles. <em>In addition to the medal ceremony, the aim might be to boost morale by letting us eat and drink delicious food.</em>

    ¡¸By the way, your crew is very popr.¡¹

    ¡¸So it seems. Also, I¡¯ve just realized now that there are more female soldiers than I expected.¡¹

    ¡¸Women are surprisingly suited to be sailors. When you use power armor, the physical strength difference between men and women almost disappears. Although the ratio still leans more towards men.¡¹

    ¡¸I see. Thanks to that, the girls don¡¯t have to be too tense.¡¹

    Mimi and the others, dressed in something simr to military outfits, as well as Dr. Shouko, Tina, and Wiska in their dresses, and Kugi in her exotic shrine maiden outfit, were all chatting happily surrounded by female soldiers. Dr. Shouko, in particr, perhaps due to her being tall and with an outstanding figure, was popr and looked a bit flustered surrounded by female soldiers, which was adorable. Her elegant stylebined with her shy reactions made her really popr.

    The male soldiers were just ncing sideways at my crew and the female soldiers, not making any moves to approach them. <em>Well, it would take a lot of courage to break into that atmosphere and strike up a conversation.</em>

    ¡¸I have a general idea of what you¡¯re thinking, but the reason no one¡¯s approaching them is because they know they¡¯re your women, you know?¡¹

    ¡¸Huh? Why would that stop them? Well, I guess that makes things easier for me.¡¹

    ¡¸Listen, everyone here was involved in resolving the rebellion, you know? Do you realize how many enemy soldiers you brutally took down on your own while unarmed? Think about it from their perspective. They¡¯d be too terrified to make a move.¡¹

    ¡¸Eh¡­? Well, if you put it that way¡­¡¹

    <em>I didn¡¯t keep count of how many I took down, but I definitely killed more than ten or twenty. It might have even exceeded fifty. I don¡¯t think it reached a hundred, though. Let¡¯s see¡­ would I try to make a move on the women of a ruthless mercenary who is able to fight back after being drugged unconscious and fully restrained, and not only fight back but also steal enemy equipment and kill dozens of fully armed soldiers while doing so¡­ Yeah, I wouldn¡¯t dare mess with them either. Absolutely impossible.</em>

    ¡¸I just hope my reputation doesn¡¯t change in a weird way¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Mercenaries are meant to be feared. You¡¯re as odd as ever, aren¡¯t you?¡¹

    The one who spoke to me was¡­ <em>who is this big guy? He looks familiar. Oh, I remember now. He¡¯s the head of the Grakkius branch of the Mercenary Guild. His name was¡­?</em>

    ¡¸Branch Chief Johannes.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, Branch Chief Johannes.¡¹

    ¡¸You know, you could at least pretend you remembered my name. Well, considering you don¡¯t usually operate out of the Imperial Capital, I suppose it¡¯s understandable.¡¹

    Branch Chief Johannes gave a wry smile as he lightly tapped my chest with his fist. I was able to remember him after Serena quietly reminded me of his name, but I must have been too obvious.

    ¡¸My apologies. If you were a beautifuldy, I¡¯d definitely remember your name.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh dear. A man who has bedded three noblewomen sure has his priorities set.¡¹

    ¡¸Still only two. I haven¡¯t touched the third one yet.¡¹

    ¡¸That sounds like just a matter of time.¡¹

    Branch Chief Johannes nced briefly at Serena as he said this. Serena maintained aposed and aloof expression. <em>Yes, I have already made a move on her. Anyway, it¡¯s probably best to change the subject.</em>

    ¡¸So, Branch Chief, I didn¡¯t expect to see you here. Chasing after free drinks?¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re the face of our guild, after all. When the face of the guild achieves such remarkable feats and gets awarded, it¡¯s only proper for the branch chief to attend.¡¹

    ¡¸I see. Well, thank you for your efforts. So, how¡¯s business? Any interesting news?¡¹

    ¡¸Business is good. To be honest, the response to the documentary covering your daily life has been tremendous.¡¹

    ¡¸Seriously¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s true. Mercenaries were often seen as rough thugs, drunks, addicts, or men who bring women onto their dirty ships and do as they please with them. But your documentary is changing that image. People are starting to see that some mercenaries are clean, celebrity-like, stoic, and gentlemanly.¡¹

    ¡¸Sure, I do try to maintain a good living environment and take care of the welfare of my crew, but stoic and gentlemanly? That¡¯s not really me.¡¹

    <em>The clean and celebrity-like feel is because Mei manages the ship well, and the women, starting with Mimi, voice their opinions about improving the living environment. I just nod along and provide the funds. The stoic and gentlemanly evaluation makes no sense to me. If I have free time, I¡¯m always flirting with everyone.</em>

    ¡¸No,pared to the average mercenary, you are quite stoic and gentlemanly.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah¡­ you¡¯re remarkably stoic. I don¡¯t know about gentlemanly, but at least you don¡¯t indulge in alcohol or drugs, and you don¡¯t force yourself on the women you¡¯ve brought aboard. You don¡¯t cause trouble in the colonies either. From my experience with various mercenaries, you¡¯re incredibly upstanding.¡¹

    ¡¸Maybe it¡¯s not that I¡¯m special, but that the average mercenary is just that bad?¡¹

    ¡¸As I said before, the bad behavior I described is the usual behavior of a mercenary. The best thing is that while you live an upstanding life, you¡¯re still merciless to space pirates. You show your good sides that dispel the bad image of mercenaries while maintaining the fearsome image that a mercenary should have. Plus, your documentary, showing your kindness towards women, is really popr. You might not be thrilled about it, but thanks to that, people who never approached the Mercenary Guild are now bringing jobs to us, which is why business is booming. Some mercenaries criticize you as being soft, though¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t recall being hassled by any mercenarytely.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s because you¡¯ve built up a solid track record, and you¡¯re an honorary noble. Plus, you¡¯re too skilled in meleebat.¡¹

    ¡¸In the end, violence is the best solution. Everything is solved with violence.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, we are mercenaries.¡¹

    Serena gave Johannes and me a cold look as we nodded at each other. <em>What can you do? Mercenaries trade in violence. The strong are respected, and the weak can¡¯tin about the strong. This is the basic principle in our world. Of course, if things go too far, the guild will intervene.</em>

    <em>Well, I had my share of food and drinks, it¡¯s time to retreat.</em>

 Chapter 476: ã€ŒHahahaâ€¦ I-I Have No Idea What Youâ€™re Talking About.ã€

    Chapter 476: ¡¸Hahaha¡­ I-I Have No Idea What You¡¯re Talking About.¡¹

    ¡¸I was nning to leave after eating and drinking a little¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ahaha¡­ It¡¯s a direct invitation from His Majesty the Emperor, after all.¡¹

    Just as I decided it was time to gather the crew and leave the party, I was intercepted by Isolde, the female Imperial Guard with whom I had practiced swordsmanship before, and a group of Imperial Guards. They politely ordered me toe with them to the Inner Pce. <em>The Inner Pce of the Imperial Castle, that¡¯s is the Imperial Family¡¯s private space where the Emperor and his family live!</em>

    ¡¸And it¡¯s just me and Mimi¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I think they were trying to be considerate!¡¹

    ¡¸I wish they would have shown the same consideration for Mimi and me.¡¹

    As I grumbled while walking, Isolde red at me. <em>Sure, I might have been disrespectful, but at least let a poormoner vent about being at the mercy of the Emperor.</em>

    ¡¸Today, not only His Majesty the Emperor, but also Crown Prince Walter, Crown Princess Louise, and Princess Luciada will be present.¡¹

    ¡¸Did they lose their minds? What kind of joke is this?¡¹¡¸That¡¯s disrespectful. The thoughts of His Majesty¡­ are beyond theprehension of us ordinary folk. And, if you think we Imperial Guards would make such a joke, you couldn¡¯t be more mistaken.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, yeah, I guess¡­¡¹

    ¡¸E-Even the Crown Prince and Crown Princess¡­?¡¹

    Isolde¡¯s shocking statement made me blurt out something that could easily get me charged with disrespecting the Imperial Family, but I wish they put themselves in my position. <em>I mean, she just said that His Majesty the Emperor himself, along with Crown Prince Walter, his wife, Crown Princess Louise, and their daughter, Princess Luciada, are all gathering just to meet with Mimi and me. These are the literal central figures of the Grakkan Empire. Well, to be precise, I heard Princess Luciada has an older brother, so even if all four of them were to perish here, the session would still be secure.</em>

    <em>But look, just the mention of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess waiting for us has Mimi visibly shaken.</em>

    ¡¸I guess we have no choice but to prepare ourselves¡­ Do we have to go through a thorough body check, or something?¡¹

    ¡¸Considering you¡¯re someone who can kill an Earl¡¯s heir even while being fully restrained and held at gunpoint, the only way to make you ¡®safe¡¯ might be to sever your head from your shoulders.¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re a terrifying woman, you know that¡­?¡¹

    <em>Oh, so that¡¯s why.</em> Isolde was the only one leading the way, while the other Imperial Guards surrounded me from the sides and behind, ready to strike at any moment.

    ¡¸You don¡¯t need to be so cautious; I don¡¯t n on causing any trouble.¡¹

    ¡¸Our duty is to protect the members of the Imperial Family by any means necessary.¡¹

    ¡¸Right¡­ I see.¡¹

    <em>There¡¯s no getting out of this. I guess I¡¯ll just have to go along quietly.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸It¡¯s been a while, Captain Hiro. Your exploits have reached my ears countless times.¡¹

    ¡¸It truly has been a while, Your Majesty. I hope no foul rumors have reached you that could sully your ears.¡¹

    I replied respectfully to His Majesty the Fucking Emperor, who was emanating an overwhelming aura of charisma, while forcing a smile.

    ¡¸Hmm? It¡¯s fine, you know? You can refer to me as ¡®Fucking Emperor¡¯ as you usually do.¡¹

    ¡¸Hahaha¡­ I-I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about.¡¹

    <em>What is this, are you some sort of persistent stalker? I¡¯ve only said that out loud a handful of times.</em>

    ¡¸You truly are identical¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, indeed¡­ You must be Mimi-san?¡¹

    ¡¸Y-Yes¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Mimi-san, there¡¯s no need to be so nervous.¡¹

    Mimi was practically frozen, surrounded by Crown Prince Walter, Crown Princess Louise, and Princess Luciada. <em>She might be somewhat used to Princess Luciada, but this is her first time meeting the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess, so it¡¯s no wonder she¡¯s overwhelmed.</em>

    ¡¸So, Your Majesty, what business do you have with a lowly mercenary like me?¡¹

    <em>Aside from the Imperial Family, the only others present here are the Imperial Guards. Even so, I know very well that if I speak too disrespectfully, I might get cut down by the guards, so I have to chose my words.</em>

    ¡¸Well, I just wanted to catch up a little. Besides, I figured it wouldn¡¯t hurt to let Walter and Louise get acquittanced with Mimi.¡¹

    ¡¸I see. Ah, that reminds me, I met your rambunctious younger sister.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­What?¡¹

    ¡¸After departing from Edge World, I stopped by the Alein star system. She mistook me for someone who had deceived Mimi and forcibly brought her aboard my ship, then assumed I was having my way with her. We almost ended up killing each other.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Haa. Knowing her, she¡¯s probably already gone into hiding by now.¡¹

    His Majesty the Emperor sighed deeply, rubbing his temples. <em>That old bat is something else. Making the Emperor himself sigh like that isn¡¯t something just anyone can do.</em>

    ¡¸Speaking of which, you did well in Reemay. You have my praise.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m honored to receive your praise. Though, to be honest, it was your sister¡¯s advice that led me to the Reemay star system in the first ce. She suggested it would be a good ce to sell the advanced technological products and medical supplies I had acquired in the Alein star system.¡¹

    ¡¸She¡¯s always had a sharp eye¡­ Well, in any case, I should thank you. The many sacrifices that happened there were due to my own ipetence.¡¹

    ¡¸Wasn¡¯t it the fault of the ipetent noble who was governing that colony?¡¹

    ¡¸Tracing it back, it¡¯s my responsibility that such an ipetent was in charge of a colony. Magnelli tends to be a bitx. As for the future, I can only ce my hopes on his son, who has seen things firsthand.¡¹

    ¡¸You mean Hartmut? He¡¯s a good man.¡¹

    <em>Despite being an imperial noble, he didn¡¯t seem to harbor much prejudice againstmoners, at least that¡¯s my opinion after seeing him interact with Airia. He also seemed to genuinely care for his people, so he¡¯ll likely make a good lord. My only worry is that, like his father, he might be too soft-hearted.</em>

    ¡¸Coming from someone who dislikes nobles as much as you, that¡¯s high praise indeed.¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t really dislike nobles.¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t lie. If that were the case, you would have already made a move on Lady Holz or Lady Dareinwald by now. Considering that two of your women are Dwarves, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if you had a taste for women with a more youthful appearance.¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s not get too graphic, Your Majesty. After all, your grandchild who is at a sensitive age is here with us.¡¹

    I nced over at the Crown Prince¡¯s family and Mimi, who seemed to have warmed up to each other and were now chatting cheerfully. <em>It sure looks fun over there, meanwhile, I have to engage in a bit of verbal sparring with this old fox.</em>

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t it a bit toote to say that after you¡¯ve alreadyid your hands on Mimi? Just thinking about that bright smile of hers being tainted by your lust fills me with righteous indignation.¡¹

    ¡¸Please stop joking, Your Majesty. I¡¯d rather not be sliced to pieces by the Imperial Guards.¡¹

    ¡¸As if you¡¯d ever just quietly allow yourself to be cut down.¡¹

    The Emperor gave me a look that seemed to carry a deeper meaning. <em>This old man knows something about my psionic abilities, doesn¡¯t he? Well, I suppose it¡¯s only natural. I haven¡¯t exactly been hiding it since I finished the job in the Edge World.</em>

    ¡¸There is nothing certain in this life. By the way, Your Majesty, I¡¯m thinking of visiting the Holy Vuelzarus Empire soon.¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s this? Are you nning to flee before tying the knot with Lady Holz and Lady Dareinwald?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s not it. One of my crew members is a shrine maiden, remember? I¡¯d like to let her visit her homnd, and I¡¯m also hoping to find some information rted to my psionic abilities and origins in her country. I n to be back shortly.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm¡­ I have no intention of standing in your way. People like you tend to bring nothing but trouble when turned into enemies.¡¹

    <em>I think His Majesty¡¯s judgment is spot on. There¡¯s a possibility I could wipe out a star system¡ªor even multiple systems¡ªif things go wrong. And who knows how my fate-manipting abilities might influence things?</em>

    ¡¸Thank you. When I return, I¡¯ll continue clearing out those space pirates who¡¯ve been causing trouble on the outskirts of the Empire, as usual.¡¹

    ¡¸I will eagerly wait for your return then.¡¹

    The Emperor shed a sly grin while saying this. <em>Great, it looks like he¡¯s plotting something again.</em>

 Chapter 477: ã€ŒItâ€™s Not Like We Got Intimate Or Anythingâ€¦ã€

    Chapter 477: ¡¸It¡¯s Not Like We Got Intimate Or Anything¡­¡¹

    ¡¸There are many more members of the Imperial Family who would love to meet and speak with you. The next time you visit the capital, you should take your time and stay longer.¡¹

    ¡¸Haha, I am deeply honored.¡¹

    <em>Absolutely not! I¡¯m nevering back here again, idiot! I¡¯m going to have an ulcer if I do that!</em>

    I screamed internally while stering a 100% fake smile on my face, returning the ever-present grin of that annoying Fucking Emperor.

    ¡¸You should stay the night¡­ We can prepare a room for you. Right? Mother?¡¹

    ¡¸I would also love for them to stay, but I¡¯m sure Mimi-san and the Captain have their own circumstances. We can¡¯t force them, Luciada.¡¹

    ¡¸Mimi-kun, if anything ever troubles you, don¡¯t hesitate toe to me. I may not be able to rece your parents, but I will do everything in my power to help.¡¹

    Mimi was having a tough time too, being asked to stay by the Princess and the Crown Princess, and even receiving a serious deration of protection from the Crown Prince. <em>She is smiling, but I can tell she is really struggling. It¡¯s crystal clear to me, I¡¯m in the same boat after all.</em>

    Honestly, I waspletely floored by Crown Prince Walter. The guy kept giving me this shifty look as if he was suspicious of me for having a romantic rtionship with Mimi, who looks exactly like his own daughter. <em>I get that it¡¯s not pleasant, but I¡¯d really appreciate it if you¡¯d stop looking at me like you¡¯re considering how to kill me. Seriously, that¡¯s no joke. Getting red at by the next emperor is enough to shave years off my life.</em>By the time the sun was setting¡ªor rather, hadpletely set¡ªMimi and I were finally freed from entertaining the royals. After saying goodbye to the Imperial Family, we were escorted out of the Imperial Pce by Isolde and the rest of the Imperial Guard knights that had brought us here. They even took care of our transportation back to the ck Lotus. Our ride back was extremely luxurious, but we were so utterly exhausted that there was almost no conversation between Mimi and me inside it. That said, we simply didn¡¯t exchange unnecessary words, we still leaned against each other seeking thefort of the other¡¯s presence, we were in silence but it was by no means ufortable.

    ¡¸Good work¡ªwait, why are you two so exhausted? your eyes are practically dead.¡¹

    ¡¸Anyone would look like this after spending hours dealing with the highest-ranking family in a massive space empire.¡¹

    ¡¸Th-thank you for your hard work, my Lord.¡¹

    Elma and Kugi, who hade to greet us, both had strained expressions. Apparently, Mimi and I looked pretty bad. <em>Even though we tried to recharge our spirits by leaning on each other during the ride back, it clearly wasn¡¯t enough.</em>

    ¡¸For now, I¡¯m going to change. In any case, I want to leave the capital as soon as possible, so let¡¯s get ready to depart as quickly as we can.¡¹

    ¡¸Aye aye, sir. Is that okay with you, Mei?¡¹

    ¡¸Understood. I will proceed with the departure preparations.¡¹

    Elma spoke toward the ceiling, and Mei¡¯s voice echoed from somewhere nearby. There were quite a few sensors and speakers installed around the ramp area, so Mei was probably using those to monitor our conversation.

    In any case, I couldn¡¯t really rx while still in my formal attire, so I quickly returned to my room to change into my usual clothes. <em>Honestly, I feel like taking a shower too¡­ Maybe I should just go ahead and take one. With Elma and Mei handling the departure preparations, everything should be fine.</em>

    ¡¸Oh, Hiro-sama¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You had the same idea, huh Mimi?¡¹

    ¡¸Looks like it.¡¹

    We exchanged tired smiles when we bumped into each other in front of the shower room. <em>Since we are already here, we might as well take a proper bath together instead of just a quick shower. Soaking in the bath together might just help us recover some energy.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸Alright, I¡¯m feeling a bit better now.¡¹

    ¡¸Me too, I¡¯m back in action!¡¹

    After taking a long bath with Mimi, we both felt revitalized. <em>There¡¯s nothing like a good soak and a bit of flirting to bring back your energy. It really gives you a renewed zest for life.</em>

    ¡¸So you had a nice, intimate time, huh? I¡¯m jealous.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s not like we got intimate or anything¡­¡¹

    I responded to Neve¡¯s teasing with a wry smile. <em>Honestly, we didn¡¯t have the energy for that kind of thing.</em> Mimi, in particr, had to deal with the Crown Prince, his wife, and Princess Luciada all day. For someone like Mimi, who has the mindset of the typical Imperial citizen, it was an extremely stressful time.

    ¡¸Man, you really had it rough, huh? Hate to bug ya when you¡¯re still beat, but what¡¯s the n from here on out?¡¹

    ¡¸For now, our main goal is to head to the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. However, we can¡¯t just ignore the Dareinwald and Holz Houses, so we¡¯ll need to make contact with both before we go. It would be bad if we left the Empire without saying anything to them.¡¹

    <em>They might interpret it exactly the way the Emperor suggested. If they think I fled to another country right before the engagement, that would cause all sorts of trouble. It would definitely damage the reputations of both Houses. Nobles are all about face, so just imagining the fallout from that is terrifying.</em>

    ¡¸So, does that mean we¡¯re heading out tomorrow?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah. It¡¯s probably not a good idea for me to go alone, right?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m not sure¡­ Honestly, this is a pretty unique situation when ites to noble marriages, so it¡¯s hard for me to say.¡¹

    ¡¸After all, the groom is already in a de facto marriage with multiple women¡­ And it¡¯s not just the Dareinwald and Holz Houses you need to talk to, you also have to talk to Elma¡¯s family as well, right?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll handle that part, so don¡¯t worry. In any case, we should definitely visit the Dareinwald main estate in the Dexer system and meet with the Earl himself. Of course, Chris will need to join us as well.¡¹

    ¡¸Then, for now, the only thing we need to take care of in the capital is to pay a visit to the Holz House to say goodbye and exin our future ns. We can¡¯t let Hiro-kun go alone, so it looks like Elma-kun is the best candidate to apany him.¡¹

    ¡¸Shouldn¡¯t Mei-san also go as their attendant?¡¹

    Our team of brainiacs was busy discussing our next steps. <em>It¡¯s such a relief to have people who can handle this kind of nning. While I do tend to overthink things, I¡¯m not exactly the smartest guy around.</em>

    In the end, we decided that tomorrow we¡¯d contact Chris to discuss visiting the Dareinwald main estate in the Dexer system, and at the same time, arrange an appointment with the Holz House through Serena. Elma would handle contacting the Willrose House tonight.

    ¡¸Sorry for all the trouble, Elma¡­ Thanks a lot.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s really no big deal. But you¡¯d better pull yourself together by tomorrow, alright? If you meet with Marquis Holz in that droopy, exhausted state, he¡¯ll definitely take advantage of you.¡¹

    ¡¸Got it.¡¹

    <em>I thought I had recovered pretty well, but it seems that, from Elma¡¯s perspective, I¡¯m still not back to full strength. She¡¯s right, though¡ªletting that incredibly shifty Marquis see any weakness would be way too risky. I¡¯ll take her advice and focus on recharging my energy properly tonight.</em>

 Chapter 478: ã€ŒCould You Please Stop Being so Intense? Itâ€™s a Little Scaryã€

    Chapter 478: ¡¸Could You Please Stop Being so Intense? It¡¯s a Little Scary¡¹

    The next day, we all set out to handle our respective tasks. Mimi consulted with Chris about heading to the Dexer star system. Tina and Wiska prepared for departure, with Neve helping them while receiving guidance. Kugi contacted the embassy of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire in the Imperial Capital to arrange and discuss our trip there. Dr. Shouko procured materials for Neve¡¯s treatment.

    As for me, Elma, and Mei, we contacted Serena to arrange a meeting with Marquis Holz House.

    ¡¸It¡¯s such a hassle just for a short trip. All these ties really are a pain, aren¡¯t they?¡¹

    ¡¸I get it. I ran away from home because I couldn¡¯t stand this kind of thing.¡¹

    The outfits that Elma and I were wearing today weren¡¯t as formal as yesterday¡¯s, but they were still more formal than our usual attire. <em>Well, you could say it¡¯s a sort of military uniform. We made sure the design was different enough not to be mistaken for the ones of the Imperial Space Force.</em>

    ¡¸You two surely don¡¯t mince your words, huh¡­¡¹

    Serena, sitting across from us in a luxury vehicle simr to a flying limousine, red reproachfully at us as she said this. After receiving our call first thing in the morning, Serena went through great trouble to squeeze us into her father, Marquis Laurenz Holz¡¯s schedule. <em>With the significant effort we put her through with just a single message, it¡¯s no wonder she has a thing or two (or three) to say about our less-than-enthusiastic attitude.</em>

    ¡¸No, really, I appreciate the effort you put in for this sudden request. And I¡¯m genuinely happy to see you again today, Serena.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­I¡¯m not so sure about that.¡¹Serena muttered, turning her flushed face away from me. <em>I wasn¡¯t just trying to tter her; I genuinely meant what I said. But given her duties, I can¡¯t be as close to her as I am with the rest of my crew. The same applies to Chris, too.</em>

    ¡¸Were you just thinking about another woman¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m sitting next to another woman too, as you can see¡­ Could you please stop being so intense? It¡¯s a little scary.¡¹

    <em>It¡¯s unnerving how urately she reads my thoughts without any psionic abilities. Is this what they call a woman¡¯s intuition? Or perhaps, knowing Serena, she picked up on something with her enhanced senses that I¡¯m oblivious to.</em>

    ¡¸Honestly¡­ Why did I fall in love with a frivolous person like you?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh? If you don¡¯t like it, you can always stop chasing him, you know?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­If you don¡¯t start being a bit nicer to me, I¡¯m going to cry, you know? Is that what you want? I¡¯ll cry loudly, right here. I¡¯ll throw a tantrum, rolling on the ground, right in front of my state.¡¹

    ¡¸What a terrifying threat¡­¡¹

    Elma¡¯s face froze in shock at Serena¡¯s extreme threat.<em> If she actually does that, I can only imagine what Laurenz will say to me, so I sincerely hope she¡¯s not serious.</em>

    ¡¸If such an event were to ur, there¡¯s a high probability that the rtionship between Master and Serena-sama would bepletely severed, including any engagement. Therefore, Serena-sama wouldn¡¯t actually do something like that. In such situations, it¡¯s better to be more straightforward in showing your affection, Serena-sama.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Please don¡¯t look at me like that¡­ Come on, why don¡¯t you sit next to me?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­I¡¯ll sit.¡¹

    Serena moved from her seat across from me to sit beside me, clutching my arm and leaning against me. By the way, Mei, who had been sitting there earlier, quietly moved to the seat that Serena had just vacated.

    ¡¸Must be nice, having two women by your side so early in the day.¡¹

    ¡¸Is it really? Well, I guess it is.¡¹

    <em>That is, if you overlook the fact that both of these beautiful women are terrifying women who possess the strength of a grizzly bear. No, I¡¯m really fortunate even taking that into ount. The only downside of this situation is that, since we¡¯re all dressed rather formally, I can¡¯t fully appreciate the sensation of their bodies embracing me.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m incredibly busy. I really can¡¯t spare much time, so let¡¯s get straight to the point.¡¹

    As soon as we arrived at Marquis Holz estate¡ª<em>though calling it a state feels inadequate; this massive building is bigger than a castle</em>¡ªwe were shown to what appeared to be a reception room. Laurenz, Serena¡¯s father, immediately appeared and cut straight to business. <em>Given that Serena contacted him first thing in the morning and squeezed us into his schedule, he must truly be pressed for time.</em>

    ¡¸We¡¯ve decided to leave the Empire for a while, so we¡¯vee to report and discuss that.¡¹

    ¡¸Leave the Empire?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes. We have a shrine maiden from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire among our crew. ording to her, there¡¯s information rted to my origins in the Holy Empire. So, we¡¯re nning to verify that, and while we¡¯re at it, I thought I¡¯d work on training my psionic abilities as well. Plus, it¡¯s also an opportunity for her to visit her loved ones.¡¹

    ¡¸At this particr time?¡¹

    Laurenz tilted his head in confusion. <em>It¡¯s true that going to another country right after getting engaged might raise some eyebrows. It can¡¯t be helped, I¡¯ll exin a little.</em>

    ¡¸This is the only asion we have time to do something like this. And I need to meet with Earl Dareinwald, so I figured we might as well take a little detour.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm¡­ Well, that seems reasonable. You¡¯re not nning to go there and not return, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Of course not. If that were the n, I¡¯d have already whisked Serena away without a word and disappeared with the wind at our backs.¡¹

    <em>Now that I think about it, that is not such a bad idea, we could just take Serena and Chris away, escape to the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, and live a leisurely, carefree retirement¡­ Hmm, it¡¯s tempting, but I¡¯d probably get bored of it in less than three months from theck of excitement.</em>

    ¡¸True enough. In that case, I have nothing more to say. Just get in touch as soon as you return. I¡¯ll handle what I can on this end in the meantime.¡¹

    ¡¸I appreciate the trouble.¡¹

    <em>He must be referring to the preparations for the wedding and dealings with the Dareinwald and Willrose Houses. I¡¯m really going to owe him for this.</em>

    ¡¸Well, that¡¯s just a minor inconvenience. If I let you organize everything, it would reflect poorly on the Holz House¡¯spetence¡­ Oh, sorry, but I¡¯m out of time. I¡¯ll leave the rest to Serena. Is that alright?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, Father.¡¹

    ¡¸Good. Well then, Hiro, and Lady Elma, when you have more time, I¡¯d love to hear about your travels in detail.¡¹

    With that, Laurenz excused himself and left the room. <em>He really has a very tight schedule, he must have forced himself to squeeze us in. I feel a bit guilty about it.</em>

    ¡¸Alright, then. We shouldn¡¯t impose any further. Let¡¯s get going.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s not going to happen and you know it¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡¹

    Following Elma¡¯s exasperated gaze, I saw Serena with her cheeks puffed out in a pout.

    ¡¸Sorry, I was just kidding. I know we can¡¯t leave without properly greeting your family.¡¹

    ¡¸Do you really mean that? If it¡¯s too much trouble for you to meet my family, you can go back. I¡¯ll just have to endure the endless snide remarks from my father, mother, and siblingster.¡¹

    ¡¸Alright, alright. I¡¯m really sorry. I shouldn¡¯t have joked about that. Please forgive me.¡¹

    <em>Today, Serena seems about thirty percent more needy than usual. Is her rtionship with her family bad? I¡¯d better tread carefully from here on out.</em>

 Chapter 479: ã€ŒIs This One of Those Situations Where I Canâ€™t Refuse?ã€

    Chapter 479: ¡¸Is This One of Those Situations Where I Can¡¯t Refuse?¡¹

    ¡¸Why did ite to this¡­?¡¹

    I sighed at the sight before me. The aftermath of a gruesome battle stretched out before my eyes. Some ¡®corpses¡¯ groaned in pain, their shoulder or finger bones shattered; others trembled and coughed up blood. The lucky ones, barely managing to stay upright, used their blunted swords as canes, kneeling on one knee on the ground. Many others were also injured. While no one seemed to be fatally wounded, none of the injuries were minor either.

    I was hurting all over as well. Although I managed to avoid taking any direct hits, I was grazed by sword tips multiple times. Even though the swords had been blunted, the strikes had the nobles¡¯ enhanced power behind them, so they were enough to tear through my clothes and leave me with cuts. <em>Sigh, this was one of my few decent outfits¡­</em>

    <em>Why did things turn into such a bloody mess when I was just here to greet my political family? Well, that¡¯s because¡­</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    The first ce that the sulky Serena guided us to was a room with avish interior¡ªprobably some sort of reception room. Could this be what they call a salon?

    ¡¸I¡¯m d you could make it. Come closer so I can get a good look at you.¡¹

    As soon as we entered, I was greeted by a voice from the back of the room. Towards the back, in a well-lit area, several women¡­ <em>well-lit? No, this ce should be close to the center of this massive structure, so there shouldn¡¯t be any sunlight. Then that light must be some kind of artificial sump, right? So is this room abination salon and sunroom? The concept of this room is rather confusing.</em>

    As I moved toward the source of the voice, I found three beautiful women. <em>Maybe ¡®gorgeous¡¯ would be a better description? Each of them radiated a refined elegance. They seem older than Serena, so perhaps they are her sisters?</em>¡¸I¡¯ve brought him as promised, Mother.¡¹

    ¡¸Mother¡­ M-Mother!?¡¹

    ¡¸Why are you so surprised?¡¹

    Serena looked at me with a puzzled expression as I gasped in shock.

    ¡¸What do you mean, ¡®why¡¯? When you say ¡®Mother¡¯¡­ does that mean she¡¯s your mother!?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, that¡¯s correct. This is Father¡¯s first wife, Mother Anneliese, next to her is the second wife and my biological mother, Mother Hildegard, and thest one is the third wife, Mother Beatrix.¡¹

    The three women Serena introduced<em>¡ªwho I initially mistook for her older sisters, but who are in fact her mothers¡ª</em>each greeted me with grace and elegance. I quickly returned their greetings, but I was utterly shaken by the unexpected situation.

    ¡¸Was it really that surprising?¡¹

    Anneliese-san, the first wife, asked me directly, so I nodded and decided to be honest about my impression.

    ¡¸It was very surprising. You all look so young and beautiful. To be honest, it¡¯s hard to believe you¡¯re Serena¡¯s mothers¡­ I almost thought you were her sisters.¡¹

    When I nced over at Serena after saying this, she had a stern expression.

    ¡¸They are indeed my mothers.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­ Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself. I¡¯m Captain Hiro, a mercenary. As for titles¡­ I have a few, but which one would be the most appropriate? tinum Ranker, Honorary Viscount of the Empire, or perhaps Gold Star recipient?¡¹

    ¡¸I think ¡®tinum Ranker Mercenary¡¯ would be the safest choice.¡¹

    ¡¸Well then, there you have it. So, um¡­ what should we talk about?¡¹

    <em>How exactly do you introduce yourself to the family of your fianc¨¦e? Especially when you¡¯ve brought along not just your fianc¨¦e but also another of your women and a maidroid? Is this even eptable? Neither Elma nor Mei said anything about their presence here being a problem, so I hope it¡¯s not entirely out of line.</em>

    ¡¸Standing around talking like this isn¡¯t ideal, is it? My neck will start to hurt if I keep looking up at you like this. So, why don¡¯t you sit and tell us how you and Serena met and what you¡¯ve been up to together?¡¹

    I nodded at Hildegard¡¯s suggestion and, together with Elma and the others, took the seats offered to us. I began recounting how I met Serena and what we¡¯ve experienced together since then. Of course, I carefully glossed over details that I couldn¡¯t share, like my background and the matter involving the singing crystal.

    As we talked, more people began to gather in the salon¡ªSerena¡¯s sisters, or rather, her younger sisters.

    ¡¸Hmm, interesting¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I see.¡¹

    ¡¸He doesn¡¯t look that strong, does he¡­?¡¹

    Serena¡¯s younger sisters seemed about the same age as Chris and Mimi, but looking at the mothers¡¯ appearance I was losing confidence in my ability to judge someone¡¯s age. <em>The anti-aging techniques of this universe are too incredible. Hildegard-san, for instance, is a striking beauty who looks a lot like Serena¡ªif someone told me she was Serena¡¯s older sister, I would have believed it without question. Still, Serena¡¯s younger sisters probably look their actual age¡­ probably.</em>

    ¡¸If you judge by appearances, you might find yourself regretting it.¡¹

    ¡¸Do I really look that weak¡­? If anything, I thought I leaned more toward the intimidating side.¡¹

    <em>I don¡¯t exactly have the friendliest of looks, and since arriving here, I¡¯ve been working out regrly. My physique should be noticeably well-built, even through my clothes. Should I take my shirt off?</em>

    ¡¸The aura you give out changes a lot betweenbat and normal times.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so? Well, I guess that¡¯s true. If I were on high alert all the time, I wouldn¡¯t be able to perform at my best when it really matters. But is the difference really that noticeable?¡¹

    ¡¸It is.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, it is.¡¹

    ¡¸I think so, too.¡¹

    Even Elma and Mei agreed with Serena. <em>Is it really that different? Do I look that feeble when I¡¯m not inbat mode? That¡¯s a bit of a shock, honestly¡­</em>

    ¡¸Hehe, you have a cute side, too.¡¹

    ¡¸Indeed. I was a little worried about what kind of person he would be when I heard he was a brave and daring mercenary, it seems my fears weren¡¯t warranted.¡¹

    Anneliese-san, the first wife, and Beatrix-san, the third wife, seemed to agree on their impression of me. <em>Being called ¡®cute¡¯ doesn¡¯t exactly make me happy¡­ what part of our conversation made them think that?</em>

    ¡¸Everything is ready!¡¹

    With a loud <em>bang</em>, the door swung open, and I turned to see who had entered. It was a ridiculously handsome man with blonde hair and red eyes. He was not only tall but also incredibly well-built, with a thick, muscr frame. <em>This guy is a ball of muscle, no wonder Serena¡¯s sisters thought I look weak,pared to him everyone looks weak.</em>

    ¡¸That¡¯s my brother, Leon.¡¹

    Serena whispered to me. <em>Ah, so this is the older brother. That makes sense, but why is he approaching me with such a big grin?</em>

    ¡¸So, you¡¯re Captain Hiro! Alright, let¡¯s go!¡¹

    ¡¸Wait, wait, wait! Where are we going? Serena, could you please exin?¡¹

    Leon grabbed both my shoulders, forcing me to stand as he started to drag me off. I resisted as much as I could, turning to Serena for some sort of exnation.

    ¡¸Leon-niisama, what is this all about? Where are you taking my fianc¨¦, and what do you n to do with him?¡¹

    ¡¸A duel!¡¹

    Leon dered, throwing an arm around my shoulders in a gesture that felt more like a headlock. <em>What¡¯s with this guy, he¡¯s too intense.</em>

    ¡¸You have always turned down marriage proposals because your suitors couldn¡¯t match your skill with a sword. You, who were always so stubborn have finally decided on a fianc¨¦, however, the man you have chosen is a formermoner mercenary, even if he is a tinum Ranker, there are plenty of people who aren¡¯t satisfied with this. So, I¡¯m going to duel him so he can prove his worth with the sword! Now, let¡¯s go!¡¹

    ¡¸Is this one of those situations where I can¡¯t refuse?¡¹

    ¡¸Just give up.¡¹

    Elma cut off myints while giving me a pitying look. <em>Please tell me this is a joke¡­</em>

 Chapter 480: ã€ŒWhy Is This Happeningâ€¦?ã€

    Chapter 480: ¡¸Why Is This Happening¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Why is this happening¡­?¡¹

    The ce where Serena¡¯s brother, Leon, practically dragged me to was a vast training ground.

    ¡¸We¡¯ve dedicated an entire floor to this training facility! The Marquis Holz House is one of the most prestigious military families of the Empire, after all! Not only the men, but the women also undergo a fair amount of training! Well, in Serena¡¯s case, it went a bit too far.¡¹

    As he said this, Brother-inw looked off into the distance with a somewhat distant gaze. <em>He must have had his fair share of struggles as Serena¡¯s brother.</em>

    ¡¸You only met Serena¡¯s younger sisters in the salon, right? That is because the older ones have already married into other families or taken husbands and left the main house¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I see.¡¹

    <em>It seems that the noble daughters of the Empire marry at a rtively young age. Wait, wasn¡¯t adulthood around eighteen here? I guess it¡¯smon to get engaged before reaching adulthood and then marry or take a husband as soon as theye of age. In that sense, Chris, who captured me early on, is properly adhering to the nobility¡¯s customs.</em>

    ¡¸Well, that¡¯s that! Let¡¯s get started, shall we?¡¹

    ¡¸I would prefer not to do this¡­ Also, what¡¯s with all these people who look like they¡¯re waiting for their turn?¡¹¡¸Of course, they¡¯re the ones who will be sparring with you! Naturally, I¡¯ll be joining too!¡¹

    ¡¸I really, really don¡¯t want to¡­ And you¡¯re all holding real swords with blunted edges, aren¡¯t you?¡¹

    Some time ago, when I trained with the Imperial Guard at the Imperial Castle, we used safe, training swords equipped with advanced judgment devices. However, it seemed that the Marquis Holz House¡¯s training grounds didn¡¯t have such devices.

    ¡¸Do you dislike this sort of thing? I¡¯m surprised. I thought you¡¯d have a morebative nature, considering you¡¯re a mercenary.¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t think anyone who gleefully jumps into dangersts long as a mercenary¡­ or seeds, for that matter.¡¹

    <em>Charging at a formidable enemy without a n, shouting ¡®I¡¯m not afraid of you!¡¯¡ªthat¡¯s nothing but a death g, as far as I¡¯m concerned.</em>

    ¡¸Is that so¡­? But aren¡¯t you known as ¡®Crazy Hiro¡¯ for being such a reckless daredevil?¡¹

    ¡¸People just call me that on their own. It¡¯s not like diving into a swarm of crystal lifeforms with a single ship is such a big deal.¡¹

    ¡¸No, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s an exaggeration at all¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Why no one understands me¡­ Well, I¡¯m not really into this, but I can¡¯t exactly embarrass you after you went to the trouble of gathering all these people.¡¹

    Saying this, I moved to a corner of the training ground where several practice swords wereid out and picked out a suitable one. <em>They are of quite good quality¡ªor rather, on closer inspection, they are made of the same material as the monomolecr des used by nobles, just without the edge. They are really battle-oriented¡ªor maybe they really like their swords, still, they¡¯ve really spent a lot on this.</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯ll take these two. Give me a moment to prepare.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, thank you for epting! We¡¯ll prepare ourselves as well!¡¹

    With that, Leon went over to talk to my opponents, probably sons of nobles, who were waiting in the training ground. <em>Leon has a natural leader type of vibe, or something like that. He seems to have a knack for leading people¡ªforceful, yet somehow not unpleasant. Is that what they call charisma?</em>

    I stretched and lightly swung the practice swords to get a feel for my body. The clothes I was wearing were fairly formal, meant for special asions, but they had enough flexibility not to hinder my movements, even when swinging a sword or engaging inbat.<em> After all, they¡¯re originally military uniforms.</em>

    ¡¸We¡¯re ready.¡¹

    With the practice swords in hand¡ªI chose ones that were almost identical in length and weight to the pair I usually use¡ªI walked toward the wide-open training ground. <em>Now that I think about it, Elma, Mei, and Serena didn¡¯t follow us here. What are they up to?</em>

    ¡¸Alright, let¡¯s get started! Oh, by the way, yourpanions, as well as Serena and the others, are watching this training session too! Do your best!¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so¡­ And who¡¯s up first?¡¹

    <em>There¡¯s probably a camera or some kind of optical sensor hidden somewhere in this training ground. If that¡¯s the case, I should refrain from using my psionic abilities at full power. I¡¯ll limit myself to just slowing down time by holding my breath.</em>

    ¡¸Then, I shall be your first opponent.¡¹

    Stepping forward to face me was a middle-aged swordsman. He was clearly about two decades older than me, Leon, or Serena. He looked to be around the same age as Laurenz. His gaze was sharp, and he seemed like a formidable opponent.

    ¡¸Looks like we¡¯re starting with someone strong right off the bat, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Loren-dono is the swordsmanship instructor who taught Serena and me. He serves as the dedicated swordsmanship instructor for the Marquis Holz House.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh¡­¡¹

    <em>A dedicated swordsmanship instructor? He¡¯s definitely going to be strong. Meanwhile, I¡¯m just a novice who¡¯s only been holding a sword for less than six months.</em>

    ¡¸Is there a signal to start?¡¹

    ¡¸There¡¯s no such thing. You maye whenever you¡¯re ready.¡¹

    ¡¸In that case, I won¡¯t hold back.¡¹

    Taking his words at face value, I casually closed the distance to Loren-dono, with my swords hanging loosely in both hands. <em>I can sense his confusion. I must look too defenseless. But I¡¯m not letting my guard down in the slightest. For someone with a noble¡¯s physical abilities, the distance of ten, or even twenty, steps is practically nothing. I¡¯ve gotten used to this from sparring with Mei. She can close a distance of thirty steps in the blink of an eye after all.</em>

    <em>Here ites. Unlike with Mei, I can clearly sense his intent to attack, so it¡¯s easy to react.</em>

    ¡¸Ha!¡¹

    ¡¸Whoops.¡¹

    In a sh, he closed the distance of over ten steps and unleashed a swift strike, which I deflected with the sword in my left hand. I tried to unbnce him, but he instantly regained his distance as soon as I parried the blow.

    ¡¸¡­What a strange style.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s harsh.¡¹

    ¡¸Show me your true potential.¡¹

    ¡¸Give it your best shot.¡¹

    Just as Loren-dono¡¯s body seemed to swell slightly, he shed at me with incredible speed. <em>Did he release the limiter on his physical enhancements, or perhaps he is using some kind of advanced swordsmanship technique? I couldn¡¯t tell which, but the speed of his strike was astounding.</em>

    <em>However, it¡¯s still not enough. This won¡¯t reach me. I¡¯m ustomed to Mei¡¯s sword, and hers is faster and heavier than this.</em>

    ¡¸Ugh!¡¹

    As Loren-dono swung his sword toward me at a tremendous speed, he let out a cry of pain and quickly retreated, barely managing to hold onto his sword.<em> As expected of a swordsmanship master, he didn¡¯t let go of his sword.</em>

    ¡¸I¡­ have lost.¡¹

    Three of Loren-dono¡¯s fingers on the hand gripping his sword were either broken or nearly severed. Blood dripped from his hand, staining the training ground¡¯s floor red.

    <em>Loren-dono was strong. His sword was fast, and his techniques were more skilled than any swordsman I had faced before. But if you can tell where your opponent is aiming, and which attacks are feints, it isn¡¯t hard to deal with them. By slowing time at key moments, I was able to parry and deflect his strikes andnd counters on him.</em>

    ¡¸¡­I¡¯m surprised. To defeat Loren-dono so easily¡­¡¹

    ¡¸There is a long queue waiting, right? Let¡¯s get this over with.¡¹

    ¡¸Is it alright if we do this in a realbat style?¡¹

    ¡¸Fine by me. But I won¡¯t be responsible if anyone gets hurt.¡¹

    As I said that, not only Leon, but the other noble youths as well, readied their swords.

    <em>Alright, bring it on!</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸Why did ite to this¡­?¡¹

    I sighed at the sight before me. The aftermath of a gruesome battle stretched out before my eyes. Some ¡®corpses¡¯ groaned in pain, their shoulder or finger bones shattered; others trembled and coughed up blood. The lucky ones, barely managing to stay upright, used their blunted swords as canes, kneeling on one knee on the ground. Many others were also injured. While no one seemed to be fatally wounded, none of the injuries were minor either.

    ¡¸Y-You¡¯re absurdly strong, Hiro-dono¡­¡¹

    Leon, who was kneeling on one knee and drenched in cold sweat, let out a groan. <em>Inded a good hit on his gut, after all.</em> In a situation where swords wielded by nobles were flying at me from all directions, there was no room to hold back. Even though I was still standing, I was pretty battered myself. <em>Do I have to go back in these tattered clothes? I didn¡¯t bring a change of clothes.</em>

    ¡¸By the way.¡¹

    ¡¸W-What¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸I haven¡¯t even gone all out yet.¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯ve got to be kidding¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s the truth.¡¹

    With that, I used my telekinesis to lift the swords that had fallen from the hands of the noble youths, making them spin around me. <em>I actually know an even more dangerous way to use my powers, but there is no need to show that off.</em>

    ¡¸¡­Psionic abilities!?¡¹

    ¡¸Correct.¡¹

    As I released my telekinesis, the swords ttered noisily to the ground.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s clean up this mess first, shall we?¡¹

    ¡¸Y-Yeah¡­ Guh¡­¡¹

    Perhaps having exhausted his energy, Leon copsed face-first onto the floor. <em>Hey, you¡¯re the one in charge here¡ªdon¡¯t just pass out! Get up already!</em>

 Chapter 481: ã€ŒIs That How It Works?ã€

    Chapter 481: ¡¸Is That How It Works?¡¹

    By the time I had woken up Leon and got him to help with cleaning up this disaster, and getting a change of clothes to rece the ones I was wearing, a considerable amount of time had passed. <em>Honestly, I¡¯d like to take my leave already.</em>

    ¡¸I ordered the servants to mend your clothes. They should be ready soon, but if I keep monopolizing you like this, I¡¯m scared of what they¡¯ll say to meter! I¡¯ll arrange for someone to guide you. I¡¯m sorry, but could you go back to the salon and keep my mothers and sisterspany?¡¹

    ¡¸Aye aye, sir¡­¡¹

    <em>I really don¡¯t want to! That¡¯s what I¡¯d like to say, but there¡¯s a good chance this training ground is being monitored. If I say something careless, it might upset them, so I¡¯ll obediently do as I¡¯m told. But seriously, are they really mending the clothes by hand? This is a futuristic universe and we are in the Imperial Capital of a gctic empire, shouldn¡¯t there be some kind of convenient machine that automatically repairs things?</em>

    ¡¸This way, please.¡¹

    ¡¸Thank you.¡¹

    My guide was a boy with a handsome face. He was one of the boys who had been watching the fight between me, and Leon and the other noble youths at the training ground. Guided by him, I made my way through Marquis Holz¡¯s estate. This estate was a colossal structure that looked like a mega-building. <em>I have no idea how many floors it has, but it¡¯s probably not fewer than fifty. And it¡¯s not just tall¡ªit¡¯s wide, too. How many people live in this massive structure? It¡¯s definitely not just a hundred or two hundred people.</em> With a structure this ridiculouslyrge, it was almost impossible to reach your destination without a guide. There were hardly any signs or anything like that, either.

    ¡¸How many people live in this mansion, anyway?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­!? Ah, um¡­ I believe it¡¯s close to ten thousand.¡¹He seemed startled by my question for a moment but he answered my question. <em>Maybe he¡¯s a bit scared because he saw me thrash the adults in front of him earlier.</em>

    ¡¸Even the scale is mindblowing¡­ So, there are about nine or eight thousand people living here? It¡¯s practically a whole town. How do you get essential supplies? Are there shops inside the estate?¡¹

    ¡¸Uh, I¡¯ve heard that if you order what you need from your room, it gets delivered directly to your door.¡¹

    ¡¸Is it something like the supply delivery system used in colonies? I see¡­ that makes sense.¡¹

    As I listened to the boy¡¯s exnation, I began to wonder about his identity. <em>His knowledge seems secondhand, rather than that of someone who actually lives here as an ordinary resident. He probably doesn¡¯t need to worry about such details in his daily life.</em>

    ¡¸Could it be that you¡¯re one of the sons of Marquis Holz?¡¹

    ¡¸Uh¡­ yes. I¡¯m Camille Halls, the son of the third wife, Beatrix.¡¹

    ¡¸I see. So, you¡¯re a half-sibling to Serena¡­ which means, in the future, you¡¯ll be my brother-inw, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, that¡¯s right.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­ So, what do you honestly think about a guy like me, who¡¯s basically a nobody, bing your sister¡¯s husband?¡¹

    When I asked that, he stopped walking and seemed to think deeply for a moment.

    ¡¸It probably isn¡¯t ideal, I think. Serena-neesama was expected to marry into a family that befits the Holz House.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, that makes sense.¡¹

    It was an irrefutable argument.

    ¡¸But, Hiro-dono is strong.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm?¡¹

    ¡¸I think it¡¯s fine because you¡¯re strong.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that how it works?¡¹

    ¡¸I believe so. Father always says it too. For a noble, being underestimated is the end.¡¹

    ¡¸I see.¡¹

    <em>What¡¯s the best way to ensure you¡¯re not underestimated? Of course, it¡¯s violence¡ªat least, that¡¯s one way to think about it. I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s exactly what they believe, but it¡¯s clear that violence ys a significant role in noble society. Even Leon came at me to see if I had the requisite strength. It¡¯s also a fact that swords are revered among nobles, and there are even those Drawn Sword Faction crazies who hold considerable influence.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    While having an idle chat with Camille-kun, we finally arrived at the salon, and there¡­

    ¡¸Sister, can I have him?¡¹

    ¡¸No, you can¡¯t.¡¹

    ¡¸Come on, Sister, why don¡¯t you just pick out someone suitable from the military for yourself?¡¹

    ¡¸Stop joking around.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, don¡¯t be like that. You¡¯ve been single all this time anyway, so there¡¯s no rush to find a partner. Why not show your big sisterly dignity by letting your adorable little sister have him?¡¹

    ¡¸Shall I show my dignity with my sword instead¡­?¡¹

    Serena was being heavily teased by her younger sisters. <em>At first nce, it looks like a sweet scene¡ªher sisters are leaning on her and hugging her like they are innocently pleading with their older sister¡ªbut what they are saying is pretty harsh. And Serena looks like she is about to explode.</em>

    ¡¸Uh¡­ I¡¯m back?¡¹

    I called out from the entrance of the salon, and the sisters who had been clinging to Serena instantly slipped away from her. <em>It¡¯s a littlete for you to act like nothing happened, even if you try to act like you weren¡¯t bothering Serena, and didn¡¯t say anything strange, it won¡¯t fly. It¡¯s already toote. Way toote.</em>

    ¡¸Wee back, Hiro-dono. Or should I call you Hiro-kun to sound more familiar?¡¹

    ¡¸Wouldn¡¯t Hiro-sama be more appropriate? After all, he is the head of a viscount house.¡¹

    ¡¸Aren¡¯t you being a little excessive? I think just adding ¡®-san¡¯ is just right, don¡¯t you, Hiro-san?¡¹

    The sisters, who had been eyeing me critically before I left the salon, hadpletely changed their attitudes. <em>It¡¯s toote for that, you know. There¡¯s no way I¡¯m going to be won over by such shallow ttery. This is starting to feel like a hassle¡­ Maybe I should just leave now; they can return my clothes at ater date.</em>

 Chapter 482: ã€ŒThis One is Quite Cute, isnâ€™t He?ã€

    Chapter 482: ¡¸This One is Quite Cute, isn¡¯t He?¡¹

    At first, Serena¡¯s younger sisters were acting distant, but then they suddenly started flirting with me. However, they were quickly driven out of the salon by Serena¡¯s physical intervention. Watching her subjugate each of them one by one, like doing side missions, was actually kind of amusing¡ª<em>wait, is it really okay to find it amusing to see a beautiful girl in an elegant dress being bent over and screaming? Well, it was funny, so I guess I can¡¯t help it.</em> Despite being noble princesses, including Serena, their interactions felt more like those of brothers rather than sisters.

    ¡¸You didn¡¯t waver even a little, did you?¡¹

    Once Serena¡¯s sisters had been chased away and the salon was quiet again, we returned to having tea with the three mothers-inw. It was then that Hildegard, the second wife and Serena¡¯s mother, suddenly made thisment.

    ¡¸Their antics were too ridiculous for me to even think about wavering.¡¹

    I replied with a wry smile, and she sighed with her eyes closed. <em>Is she disappointed?</em>

    ¡¸Indeed, with those antics, it¡¯s a little difficult to consider them as romantic partners¡­ But still, Hiro-dono, didn¡¯t you feel ttered at all being pursued by such young, beautiful women?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, normally I would, yes, but it¡¯s a bit awkward when the ones doing the ttering are your fianc¨¦e¡¯s sisters. Besides, there wasn¡¯t even a hint of romantic mood.¡¹

    <em>To start with, they tantly sized me up when we first met. Then, they suddenly switched to being overly sweet. The change was so obvious that it only left me at a loss for how to respond. If the circumstances were entirely different, I may have felt different.</em>

    ¡¸Mood¡­¡¹¡¸Oh my, oh my¡­ ufufu Serena, this one is quite cute, isn¡¯t he?¡¹

    ¡¸I see.¡¹

    Hearing my response, Hildegard-san looked at me in surprise, Annelise-san, the first wife, chuckled elegantly, and Beatrix-san, the third wife, nodded as if she hade to some understanding. <em>What? What¡¯s with that reaction?</em>

    ¡¸ufu fufufu, yes¡­ creating the right mood is important, isn¡¯t it? ufufufu.¡¹

    For some reason, my response seemed to have hit Annelise¡¯s funny bone, and she startedughing. <em>Why? What was so fun about it?</em>

    ¡¸A scary battle-hardened mercenary who single-handedly dives into a swarm of crystalline lifeforms and cuts down nearly a hundred of the Ixamal House¡¯s private soldiers without breaking a sweat, talking about ¡®mood¡¯¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸fu fufu ufufu¡­ oh, I can¡¯t¡­ hahaha!¡¹

    Hildegard-san¡¯s words seemed to be the final straw, as Annelise-san doubled over, clutching her stomach inughter. <em>Is it really that funny? I mean,e on¡­</em>

    ¡¸Serena-san, you were drawn to his character, weren¡¯t you?¡¹

    ¡¸In the end, yes.¡¹

    Serena replied, her face turning red as she looked away from Beatrix-san. <em>¡®In the end¡¯, she says. Initially, she was definitely more interested in using me for mybat abilities, but as we spent more time together, she gradually started having feelings for me. I wonder what the turning point was.</em>

    ¡¸As a noblewoman you should prioritize other qualities when searching for your partner, but you¡¯ve always been unconventional since you were a child.¡¹

    Hildegard-san said this with an indescribable smile. It wasn¡¯t exactly a look of exasperation, but more like a troubled smile¡ª<em>yes, that would be the best way to describe it.</em>

    ¡¸Ahahaha! ufufu fufu Oh my¡­ it¡¯s been a while since I¡¯veughed this much. Hilde, Serena has managed to find a partner who satisfies both our husband and herself, so isn¡¯t that good enough? As long as she ends up happy, that¡¯s all that matters, right?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s true, but¡­ Anne, it¡¯s because you spoil her like this that¡­ really.¡¹

    Hildegard-san sighed after being chided by Annelise-san who had finally recovered from her fit ofughter. Her expression rxed a little, and now she sported a slightly troubled smile on her face. <em>It seems these two are quite close.</em> As for Beatrix-san, the third wife, she was keeping a bit of distance¡­ or rather, it felt like she was deliberately holding herself back. <em>I guess even among these three, there¡¯s probably a lot going on, just like with the women in my crew. I really have to hand it to my girls¡ªthey manage to keep things harmonious and avoid any serious conflicts. I¡¯m truly grateful for that.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    After being thoroughly teased by the threedies, who asked about every detail of how I met Serena and the other crew members, I was utterly exhausted. As soon as I returned to the ck Lotus in the airborne limousine provided by the Holz House, I headed straight to my room. I peeled off my formal clothes and copsed onto the bed.

    ¡¸Sigh¡­¡¹

    <em>I¡¯m so tired. Completely drained. Of course, I¡¯m physically exhausted from the fight with Leon and the noble youths, but what really wore me out was dealing with the threedies. My mind is tired¡ªno, my heart is exhausted.</em>

    As Iy face down on the bed, utterly defeated, someone entered the room. Even without looking, I knew who it was. <em>Mimi, huh?</em> Ever since my psionic abilities had developed during training, I¡¯d be quite adept at adjusting the sensitivity of my telepathy. I could now recognize familiar presences without even needing to see them.

    <em>She¡¯s getting closer, just a little more¡ªjust three steps, two steps, one step¡­ now!</em>

    ¡¸Gotcha!¡¹

    ¡¸Whoa!?¡¹

    I grabbed Mimi, who was trying to peek at me, and pulled her onto the bed. <em>Ah, this is good. So much better. Wonderful. The warmth and softness are just perfect. It feels like all the fatigue in my body and mind is melting away.</em>

    ¡¸Geez¡­ Hiro-sama? Aren¡¯t you tired?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m recharging now. I¡¯m absorbing Mimi¡¯s essence. <em>sniff sniff</em>.¡¹

    ¡¸Ugh¡­ it¡¯s a bit embarrassing when you sniff me like that.¡¹

    As I indulged in what could be called ¡®Mimi-snuggling¡¯¡ª<em>a much superior version of cuddling with a cat¡ª</em> my mental energy started to refill. <em>What? Are you saying that my mental energy might be refilling, but my dignity and manliness are rapidly decreasing? Who cares about that? Flirting with Mimi is far more important.</em>

    ¡¸Feeling better now?¡¹

    ¡¸A bit. I¡¯m really worn out from dealing with Serena¡¯s beautiful mothers, who could easily pass as her older sisters. They asked so many questions, it was mentally exhausting.¡¹

    I sighed as I buried my face in Mimi¡¯s stomach, and she started to gently stroke my head.<em> I feel like I¡¯ve be a baby, if she continues to spoil me this much, I might regress into full-on baby mode. I must stay strong. I can¡¯t let myself fall that far.</em>

    ¡¸You must be really tired¡­ Are you okay?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m not really okay¡­ but you came here because you needed something, right? What¡¯s up?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, it¡¯s about Chris-chan. She mentioned that if we¡¯re going to the Dexer System, she¡¯d like to travel with us.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s a reasonable request. Since we¡¯re headed to the same ce, it¡¯s safer to go together.¡¹

    <em>How did Chris make it to the Imperial Capital again? Did I ask her about that? I can¡¯t remember if I did or if I just forgot. But well, it¡¯s unlikely she came here on amercial flight. If that were the case, she¡¯d probably ask to board the ck Lotus rather than just tag along. She most likely arrived on a ship belonging to the Dareinwald House.</em>

    ¡¸However, we can¡¯t just do it for free.¡¹

    ¡¸Of course. Even if she¡¯s going to be family, that doesn¡¯t mean we can waive the cost.¡¹

    ¡¸If we¡¯re providing protection, we¡¯ll need to go through the Mercenary Guild properly.¡¹

    At the very least, we¡¯ll need to ensure that thepensation we receive is seen as reasonable by both the Mercenary Guild and other mercenaries. It doesn¡¯t have to be in cash; payment in goods like local specialties or trade items would be fine, a special favor might be good too. I might be a tinum Ranker, but if I were to undercut the price for a noble¡¯s request, the Guild would definitely be upset with me. After all, nobles are prime clients for high-ranking mercenaries like those in the tinum or Gold ranks.

    ¡¸I guess it¡¯s best to discuss those details directly with Chris. Alright, let¡¯s go. Thanks to you, Mimi, I¡¯m feeling much better.¡¹

    ¡¸Really¡­? If you¡¯d like, you could rest a bit more¡­ you know?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­What time is it?¡¹

    ¡¸If it¡¯s just a little longer¡­ just a little bit more, okay?¡¹

    <em>Alright then, let¡¯s flirt just a little more with Mimi before heading out. Just a little!</em>

 Chapter 483: ã€ŒOf Course Iâ€™m Curiousã€

    Chapter 483: ¡¸Of Course I¡¯m Curious¡¹

    After that, I flirted with Mimi a little more before moving to the rest area together. <em>We didn¡¯t do anything that would require a shower. It was perfectly wholesome. Got it?</em>

    ¡¸Oh, wee back. Did you have a nice, intimate time?¡¹

    As soon as we entered the rest area, Neve greeted us with a grin. Despite being inside a mobile pod, she seemed to enjoy being able to move around freely and often roamed¡ª or rather, took walks¡ª around the ship. We just ran into her just as she was taking a breather in the rest area, it seems.

    ¡¸We weren¡¯t being intimate. Also, where did you even learn that phrase¡­ I guess you had no shortage of sources, huh.¡¹

    ¡¸Exactly. Soldiers are all pretty vulgar, after all.¡¹

    When I tapped lightly on Neve¡¯s mobile pod with my fingertip as a warning, she gave a sarcastic smile inside the pod and shrugged her shoulders.

    ¡¸You¡¯re too influenced by my appearance, Captain. I may look like this, but I¡¯m a 24-year-old adult woman, you know?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­I¡¯ll do my best to adjust my perception.¡¹

    <em>I understand it in my head, but when I look at Neve¡¯s appearance¡­ Her height isn¡¯t much different from Tina and Wiska, but her body is so thin. Really slender. Thin and delicate.</em>¡¸If you stare at me that much, even I¡¯ll get embarrassed¡­ So, could you wait just a little longer? I¡¯ll ask the doctor to hurry and make me capable of handling such activities.¡¹

    ¡¸I wasn¡¯t looking at you like that. Well, there¡¯s no need to rush, just make sure to follow Dr. Shouko¡¯s instructions closely. You¡¯re in good hands with her¡ªshe¡¯s a specialist, after all.¡¹

    ¡¸Aye aye, Captain. So, you did end up getting cozy, didn¡¯t you?¡¹

    ¡¸I told you we didn¡¯t! You really like these topics, don¡¯t you? Are you that interested, you pervy brat?¡¹

    I tapped on the ss of Neve¡¯s mobile pod again, but this time, her response was surprisingly serious, both in tone and expression.

    ¡¸Of course I¡¯m curious. Until now, I couldn¡¯t even move my body freely. I thought I¡¯d just die without experiencing anything a normal human would. But now that I have a chance at a healthy body, of course I¡¯m interested. Isn¡¯t that natural? Despite how I look, I¡¯m a 24-year-old woman whose body is recovering its normal functions.¡¹

    ¡¸Well¡­ yeah, that¡¯s true.¡¹

    ¡¸Plus, I¡¯ve recently started being able to eat some vored liquid foods. Sweetness is an amazing thing, Captain. Even when my stomach is full, I want to keep eating.¡¹

    <em>For some reason, listening to Neve makes me feel a bit sad. The sweet liquid food she is talking about is probably just a basic nutritional paste from a food cartridge with minimal processing and simple voring. It provides all the necessary nutrients, but it¡¯s far from what anyone would call delicious.</em>

    ¡¸When your body is in better shape and you can eat regr food, let¡¯s have some really good meals together, okay? Right, Mimi?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes! I¡¯ll prepare lots of delicious things that Neve-chan will love!¡¹

    Mimi, who had been quietly watching the exchange between Neve and me, clenched her fist with enthusiasm. <em>When Mimi gets excited like this, she tends toe up with dishes like ¡®alien creatures that look like they might attach themselves to your face and parasitize you (with a mild, creamy vor)¡¯ I¡¯m getting a bit worried¡­ well, if ites to that, I¡¯ll step in and help. I¡¯ve gotten pretty used to the bizarre delicacies Mimi prepares. Surprisingly, they often taste pretty good¡­ though there are some spectacr misses from time to time.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    After seeing Neve off as she went for another walk, I settled down in the rest area and started the procedure to contact Chris. I linked my small data terminal to therge holo-disy in the rest area and sent amunication request to Chris¡¯s personal address through the terminal.

    ¡¸I¡¯ve been waiting for you, Hiro-sama!¡¹

    Suddenly, her face filled the screen in an extreme close-up. Therge holo-disy magnified the impact, making Chris¡¯s beautiful face and blooming smile dominate my entire field of vision.

    ¡¸Oh, uh¡­ sorry for keeping you waiting. I was a bit worn out and had to take a break.¡¹

    ¡¸You met with the people from Holz House, didn¡¯t you? In that case, it¡¯s understandable.¡¹

    Chris¡¯s face, which had been disyed in an overwhelming close-up, smoothly zoomed out.<em> It seems Mimi subtly adjusted it. The holo-disy allows for quite a bit of freedom in projection positioning, after all.</em>

    ¡¸Let¡¯s get straight to the point. You mentioned wanting toe along with us to the Dexer System, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes! Since it¡¯s a great opportunity, I was hoping we could join you. My ship is currently docked at the Grakkius Secundus Colony, but it¡¯s a small craft, so could we bring it aboard the ck Lotus?¡¹

    ¡¸There¡¯s one hangar free for a small ship, so taking it aboard shouldn¡¯t be a problem. However, it won¡¯t be free, and we¡¯ll need to go through the mercenary guild¡ª¡¹

    ¡¸No need to worry about that! I¡¯ll make all the necessary arrangements without any issues!¡¹

    Once again, Chris gave me a full, beaming smile that almost felt overwhelming. <em>Something feels strange here. We aren¡¯t meeting face-to-face so I can¡¯t use my psionic abilities to sense her thoughts, but something is strange, I can¡¯t shake the feeling that Chris is up to something.</em>

    ¡¸If you¡¯re saying that much, Chris, I trust you. I know you wouldn¡¯t do anything that would make me sad or ufortable. So, I¡¯ll leave everything to you.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­O-Of course. You can count on me.¡¹

    <em>It might be my imagination, but I noticed a slight bead of sweat on Chris¡¯s face after I expressed myplete trust in her. Is she nning something after all? Well, knowing Chris, I doubt she¡¯d do anything that would truly bother me, even if she is indeed nning something.</em>

    ¡¸As long as you¡¯re handling the contract side of things smoothly, there shouldn¡¯t be any practical issues. The ck Lotus has enough empty rooms, too. You mentioned you had twopanions with you?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, Edeltrud, whom I introduced to you before, and Guterune, who¡¯s waiting aboard our ship at the Grakkius Secundus Colony.¡¹

    ¡¸Guterune-san, huh? Is she also a female knight?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, she¡¯s my bodyguard.¡¹

    <em>That makes sense. When an unmarried noblewoman travels with a ship, it wouldn¡¯t be appropriate to have a male knight onboard as her bodyguard.</em>

    ¡¸So, we¡¯re transporting a small ship and three personnel, two of them bodyguards. Mimi, can you work with Chris and Mei to handle the paperwork? Also, check if there¡¯s anything else we need to do in the Imperial City. If everything¡¯s clear, we¡¯ll depart as early as tomorrow.¡¹

    If we dawdle too long, that Fucking Emperor or the Imperial Princess might try something again. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if those two came up with something like, ¡®Oh, you¡¯re heading to the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, right? Why don¡¯t you take Princess Luciada along as a diplomatic envoy? Gahaha!¡¯ They mighte up with something even worse too. Just thinking about it makes me feel like I might cough up blood. There¡¯s no way I¡¯m letting that kind of troublend on us.

    ¡¸I¡¯m going to check with Tina and the others to see if we¡¯re ready forunch. Chris, besides dealing with the mercenary guild, make sure to get everything ready to leave your amodations. Oh, and I guess I¡¯ll give Serena a heads-up, as well.¡¹

    <em>If we leave the Imperial Capital without telling her, she will probably sulkter.</em>

 Chapter 484: ã€ŒIâ€™m Not Dodging Anythingã€

    Chapter 484: ¡¸I¡¯m Not Dodging Anything¡¹

    After finishing all the tasks I had left, including checking the preparations forunch, it was about time for dinner. As usual, I headed to the dining hall on the ck Lotus to enjoy the meal prepared by our chef, the great Tetsujin¡­ or at least, that was the n.

    ¡¸Why are you making that face? You look like you swallowed something bitter.¡¹

    ¡¸Maybe it¡¯s because I just found my lovely fianc¨¦e already about to finish a whole bottle of wine, despite not being particrly strong with alcohol.¡¹

    ¡¸M-Mmph¡­ W-Well, I can¡¯t help it, can I?¡¹

    My fianc¨¦e¡ªSerena, dressed in an elegant evening gown, blushed lightly and turned her gaze away as she spoke.

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    While checking the preparations forunch, I exined the situation to Serena and told her that we might be leaving the imperial capital as early as tomorrow. She then quickly cut off themunication in a panic only to contact me again about ten minutester.

    ¡¸Um¡­ well¡­ ouch!? Ugh¡­ um, would you spend tonight with me¡­?¡¹

    An embarrassed Serena asked me with her face bright red through the hologram of the smallmunicator. <em>If you ask me like that I can¡¯t refuse, can I? Well, when you think about it calmly, it makes sense. Serena has her military duties, so she can¡¯te with me. On top of that, after this, I n to head to the territory of Earl Dareinwald and from there, go to the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. Since I¡¯ll be leaving the empire, it won¡¯t be possible to run into her by chance during my travels like before. In other words, I won¡¯t have any opportunities to see Serena for a while.</em>¡¸Okay. I¡¯ll make time so I can spend tonight with you, Serena. Also, give my thanks to whoever is behind you.¡¹

    <em>I can see someone behind Serena on themunication screen, Serena isn¡¯t that forward usually, so this person must have given her a push. No doubt about it.</em>

    ¡¸Ugh¡­ Well, I¡¯ll see youter then. I¡¯ll send the n to your terminal right away.¡¹

    With that, Serena ended themunication, and as promised, the date n was sent over immediately, but¡­

    ¡¸The date n keeps changing constantly¡­¡¹

    I¡¯m not sure how it worked, but the ns Serena sent for the night kept shifting dramatically, the only thing that didn¡¯t change was the ¡®boarding the escort vehicle in front of the ck Lotus¡¯. One moment, the n showed us going to some restaurant for dinner, then to a holo-theater in an upscale hotel, and from there to the attached bar. The next moment, it changed to visiting a custom-made sword and clothing shop for nobles, followed by a gorgeous dinner in a suite room with a private pool in another luxury hotel. <em>Seriously? Going straight to a hotel that¡¯s obviously meant for that kind of use? That¡¯s a bit direct, don¡¯t you think?</em>

    <em>Clearly, there are multiple nners doing whatever they want. I have a feeling the nners might be my future mother-inw and the other twodies, but there¡¯s also a chance that Serena¡¯s older sisters, who are already married might be involved too. I haven¡¯t had the chance to meet them at Marquis Holz¡¯s estate, but I¡¯ve heard that even after getting married, some of them live somewhere within the estate with their partners. After all, the state itself is ridiculouslyrge. I¡¯ve heard that some houses for branch families or other rted nobles are built within the estate¡¯s grounds as well.</em>

    ¡¸¡­I¡¯ll just ignore it until it¡¯s time. Ah, I should at least ask about the dress code.¡¹

    <em>I¡¯d prefer to go in my usual mercenary outfit if possible, but I guess I¡¯ll try to meet their expectations as much as I can. It¡¯ll probably be an overnight stay¡­ </em>As I watched the date n continue to change, I also began to think about what would I wear for the date, but in the end, I decided to consult Mei.

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    <em>And so, after all that, here I am having dinner alone with Serena.</em>

    <em>In the end, the n settled on something simple: dinner followed by some rxation. It¡¯s a n that prioritizes the three basic desires, no doubt.</em>

    ¡¸This is my first¡­ my first time having a date alone with a man.¡¹

    A flustered Serena said this with a slightly uneasy expression. <em>That¡¯s true; at least it¡¯s her first date alone with me. Up until now, I always made sure Mimi or Elma were with us to avoid being alone with her.</em>

    ¡¸When we met again in the Alein System, you even nned a private dinner in a restaurant, so why are you so flustered now?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, that¡¯s because¡­ back then, our positions and everything else were different, weren¡¯t they? And, well, this time, we are going to do that at the end¡­¡¹

    ¡¸So you¡¯re nervous because you¡¯re thinking about that¡­¡¹

    I couldn¡¯t help but smile wryly as the ferocious Captain Serena downed her wine in a fluster, her face flushed red. <em>I see, she¡¯s worried about her performanceter. But drinking more because of that seems counterproductive.</em>

    ¡¸I think it¡¯s a bitte to worry about that now. But I can understand why you are worried, still, let me tell you this, you don¡¯t have anything to worry about.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Do you really think so?¡¹

    ¡¸Of course. For whose sake do you think I fought an Earl House?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­But back then, you didn¡¯t fight just to rescue me; Mimi-san and the others were with me, so you fought to save them, right?¡¹

    Serena pouted a little while saying this, her face still red as a tomato. <em>Ah, I see what she¡¯s getting at. She¡¯s worried that the only reason I fought so fiercely against the private army of Earl Ixamal House was because Mimi and the others were captured, and that she was just an afterthought.</em>

    ¡¸If it had been just you and me on that ship, and we ended up in the same situation, I think I would have done the same thing.¡¹

    ¡¸Really?¡¹

    ¡¸Probably. I mean, haven¡¯t there been plenty of times before when I stuck with you even though it was dangerous?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, yes, but¡­¡¹

    Serena pouted again and turned her head away. <em>Honestly, she can be such a handful.</em>

    ¡¸And besides, it¡¯s just the two of us now, isn¡¯t it? Isn¡¯t that enough?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmph¡­ I feel like you¡¯re trying to dodge the question.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m not dodging anything.¡¹

    I chuckled as I used my knife and fork to take a bite of thevish dinner. We were in a very upscale restaurant in what was clearly a top-ss hotel, but thanks to the private room, I didn¡¯t have to worry too much about formal dining manners. <em>That is a relief because I only know the bare minimum about dining manners and the like.</em>

    ¡¸The food is great, but the portions are a bit small.¡¹

    ¡¸At ces like this that cater to nobles, they never serve enough to make you full.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so? I guess there must be some historical reason behind that.¡¹

    Maybe it¡¯s considered unrefined to eat until you¡¯re full, or perhaps nobles dislike the drop in concentration thates after arge meal. Or maybe it started as a way to reduce food waste and just became a tradition over time. I vaguely remember an anecdote from my old world: during wartime, a certain country that loves tea almost created a tradition of eating a type of bread that wasn¡¯t very tasty but was highly nutritious. This custom continued years after the end of the war, or something like that.1

    ¡¸¡­Are you sure you¡¯re not trying to dodge the question?¡¹ ¡¸I¡¯m really not. Serena, you know you tend to get tipsy in a bad way when you drink too much¡­ If you get too drunk and pass out, it¡¯s going to be a problemter. I can¡¯t let you keep thinking that I don¡¯t love you, so I¡¯ll have to show you the full extent of my love afterward.¡¹ ¡¸¡­Pervert.¡¹ ¡¸Can¡¯t deny it.¡¹ <em>In that sense, maybe this restaurant¡¯s modest portions are just right for tonight.</em><em>Hmm, you learn something new every day.</em>

    <em></em>

    TN1: The anecdote Hiro is talking about is about the ¡®national loaf¡¯ implemented by the British government during World War II. This bread, made of wholemeal flour, was more nutritious and filling than white bread, but it was also considered less tasty. The national loaf became a staple of the British diet during the war and continued to be consumed years after the war ended although it was never particrly popr.

 Chapter 485: ã€Œâ€¦Arenâ€™t You Going to Put Your Mark on Me?ã€

    Chapter 485: ¡¸¡­Aren¡¯t You Going to Put Your Mark on Me?¡¹

    The next morning, I woke up in the hotel bed and immediately turned my gaze to the source of warmth snuggled up close to me.

    ¡¸Suuu¡­ hmm?¡¹

    Noticing my slight movement, Serena, who had been showing a calm sleeping face, also woke up. Our eyes met¡ªher sleepy, red ones locking perfectly with mine. <em>Why is it that someone who usually looks so sharp and cool can be so adorable when they show such a defenseless expression?</em>

    ¡¸Good morning¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Good morning. You can sleep a bit longer if you want.¡¹

    I had checked the clock when I woke up, and we still had plenty of time. There was still some time to leave the room so she could sleep a little longer if she wanted.

    ¡¸Mmm¡­¡¹

    Serena rubbed her cheek against my shoulder, seemingly not hearing my words. <em>Are you a cat or something? Ouch, don¡¯t bite. Don¡¯t start gnawing on me.</em>

    ¡¸What are you doing? What on earth?¡¹¡¸I¡¯m thinking of leaving a mark¡­ mm.¡¹

    ¡¸Stop sucking, stop sucking. Don¡¯t keep crawling up from my shoulder. You¡¯re going to leave a mark. Well, I guess that¡¯s the point¡­ fine, Do what you want.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Aren¡¯t you going to put your mark on me?¡¹

    Still clinging to my chest, Serena looked up at me with a pleading gaze.

    ¡¸Provoking me this early in the morning, are you¡­?¡¹

    <em>Let¡¯s take our time showing her exactly what happens when she provokes me on the bed.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸Haa¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You know, when you sigh deeply after sleeping together, it makes me feel like I did badly¡­ Are you tired?¡¹

    I couldn¡¯t help but let out a wry smile as I sat in front of the breakfast prepared by the room¡¯s maidroid. After that, we had a nice time right after waking up, took a shower together, and asked the maidroid to prepare breakfast. But ever since we finished the shower, Serena¡¯s mood had noticeably dropped.

    ¡¸No, I¡¯m not that tired¡­ I¡¯m just a little sad after realizing we won¡¯t see each other for a while¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, I know what you mean. I¡¯ll miss you too.¡¹

    When I said that, Serena red at me with a pouty expression.

    ¡¸When you return to your ship, you¡¯ll have plenty of other girls around, won¡¯t you? You won¡¯t even have time to feel lonely, will you?¡¹

    ¡¸Sorry, you might be right about that. But I¡¯m genuinely feeling lonely right now.¡¹

    I decided to apologize honestly without trying to dodge the point. <em>Of course, it¡¯s not like I wouldpletely forget about Serena, but thinking about her when I¡¯m with other girls would be disrespectful both to Serena and the other girls.</em>

    ¡¸¡­Well, it¡¯s fine. I knew what I was getting into when I got in a rtionship with you. I¡¯m prepared to ept it. However, the next time we meet, my body might not be mine alone anymore, so you might want to start preparing mentally for it.¡¹

    At her unexpected statement delivered with a calm expression, I nearly spat out the milk I was drinking. Serena, amused by my reaction, smirked as she held her teacup in one hand.

    ¡¸That surprised me, but are you really sure about this? Well, I knew the possibility was there since we have done the deed multiple times, but won¡¯t be a problem before the marriage?¡¹

    ¡¸It was my mothers¡¯s idea. My father won¡¯t be happy about it, but he can¡¯t stand up to them. But, it¡¯s not a sure thing, you know? It was all so sudden that we couldn¡¯t get the necessary medicine in time. So, it really depends on luck.¡¹

    ¡¸Medicine¡­?¡¹

    <em>What is she talking about? Is there some sort of medicine that guarantees a hundred percent sess rate once taken? Well, considering the technology level of this universe where a simple injection can heal fractures or internal injuries, it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if there was a pill you could take before doing it that ensured a 100% pregnancy rate.</em>

    ¡¸A person like you needs a weight as heavy as a child to keep you from wandering off somewhere, don¡¯t you think?¡¹

    ¡¸No, that¡¯s not true¡­ I think.¡¹

    <em>Considering how much I¡¯ve moved from star system to star system since I woke up in the Termaine star system, it¡¯s hard to make that sound convincing.</em>

    ¡¸But you are always wandering around and somehow you always end up ahead of me wherever I go.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s the other way around. It¡¯s always you who shows up after us wherever we go. We¡¯ve actually been talking about how persistent you were.¡¹

    <em>A shocking revtion. Serena wasn¡¯t always chasing after us; she just happened to appear where we were! Well, I know the reason really, it must have been thanks to the influence of my fate-maniption ability that I supposedly use without realizing.</em>

    ¡¸Hmm. So that¡¯s what you were thinking about me. I¡¯m getting a bit annoyed.¡¹

    ¡¸Hey, calm down. Let¡¯s just rx and enjoy breakfast. Look, I¡¯m not quite sure what this is, but it¡¯s delicious. Here, open up.¡¹

    I took a piece of the breakfast I was eating, something made of yogurt or cheese¡ªit was hard to tell, but it tasted like a rich dairy pie¡ªand held it up to Serena¡¯s mouth. Despite her sour expression, she took a bite and started chewing slowly.

    ¡¸¡­Ahnn.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, yeah.¡¹

    I silently fed Serena, bringing her breakfast bit by bit to her mouth. <em>Is she some kind of baby bird or something? Well, I can¡¯t say I mind pampering a beautiful woman like Serena.</em>

    As I continued to feed her, I got the feeling that the maidroid in the room was staring at us intently. <em>Is it just my imagination? Whenever I nced over, our eyes never met, after all.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    After finishing breakfast, it was about time to head back to the ship. Serena and I got into the flying limousine that would take us straight to the Imperial Capital¡¯s main port facility.

    By the way, I was wearing the same outfit I had on when I left the ship yesterday, but Serena had changed out of the evening dress she wore to the restaurant. Instead, she was in a casually elegant outfit: a tastefully colored skirt and a warm, soft-looking sweater-like top. <em>Her usual military uniform is sharp and impressive, but seeing her in normal clothes like this makes her seem much softer and simply adorable. To be honest, I prefer this look over the evening dress.</em>

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡¹

    We were both silent, but Serena was clinging to mepletely¡ªmore than ever before. She wrapped her arms around my right arm, resting her cheek on my shoulder and nuzzling against me. The soft sensation pressed against my arm, even through her sweater, was unmistakable. <em>Truly wonderful.</em>

    ¡¸Please don¡¯t go.¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t say something impossible¡­ What happened to the earlier Serena who epted the situation maturely?¡¹

    Serena¡¯s cute plea made me cover my face with my left hand and look up at the sky. Unfortunately, the limousine¡¯s ceiling didn¡¯t offer any solutions to my dilemma.

    ¡¸Then I¡¯ll just go with you.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s not okay either¡­ I get that you¡¯re lonely, but abandoning our responsibilities and positions for such reckless actions isn¡¯t good.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­So your work and the other girls are more important to you than I am.¡¹

    ¡¸Wow, you really are troublesome. Troublesome, but cute.¡¹

    Serena¡¯s cheeks puffed up like a pufferfish. When I stroked her cheek with my left hand, her puffed-up cheeks deted with a soft ¡®whoosh¡¯ sound. Her breath tickled my ear and cheek.

    While we were having this yful back-and-forth, with Serena clinging to me, the air limousine finally reached our destination.

    ¡¸Come on, let¡¯s get out.¡¹

    ¡¸Nooo¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Come on, don¡¯t say that with a voice that sounds like you¡¯re about to cry. It really tugs at my heart.¡¹

    I somehow managed to pull the reluctant Serena out of the limousine and over to the boarding ramp of the ck Lotus.

    <em>Now, I need to find a way to soothe this clingy girl. What should I do?</em>

 Chapter 486: ã€ŒDid You Have Fun Last Night?ã€

    Chapter 486: ¡¸Did You Have Fun Last Night?¡¹

    ¡¸Did you have funst night?¡¹

    ¡¸Ugh¡­¡¹

    As soon as Serena and I returned to the ck Lotus and moved to the lounge area, we were greeted by Mimi, who had a big smile on her face. Just to rify, the one who let out a groan wasn¡¯t me, but Serena. It seemed she felt overwhelmed by something in Mimi¡¯s smile.

    ¡¸But it¡¯s my turn today. You understand, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Ugh¡­ yes.¡¹

    Serena was unable to withstand Mimi¡¯s undeniable pressure and conceded. <em>Mimi sure is strong¡­ Maybe the imperial blood flowing through her veinspelled Serena to submit? After all, Serena knows both the truth about Mimi¡¯s origins and the face of Her Highness Princess Luciada, who looks exactly like Mimi, it¡¯s probably quite challenging for her to deal with Mimi.</em>

    Serena, having been effectively pushed aside by Mimi¡¯s imposing presence, slumped her shoulders and trudged towards the lounge area. Following behind her were Tina and Wiska. <em>With the fearless and cheerful Tina, and the thoughtful and kind Wiska, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll manage to support Serena just fine.</em>

    ¡¸Mmm¡­¡¹

    After watching Serena¡¯s retreating figure, Mimi turned and clung to me. She began rubbing her head against my chest, almost like a dog or cat trying to mark its scent on new clothes.¡¸Mmm¡­ oh!¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm?¡¹

    Mimi looked up at me, her gaze fixed under my chin, or rather, around my neck. <em>What¡¯s the problem?</em>

    ¡¸Smooooch¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Ow, ow!¡¹

    Mimi suddenly stood on her tiptoes and started sucking on my neck. <em>Did she just notice the mark Serena left?!</em><em>Still, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessary to overwrite it with her own, it hurts! I do appreciate Mimi kissing my neck, bute on¡­</em>

    ¡¸Oh my, doing something interesting, aren¡¯t we? Should I join in too?¡¹

    ¡¸May I partake as well?¡¹

    ¡¸Sure, go ahead. Smooch away!¡¹

    ¡¸Shouldn¡¯t I be the one giving permission, Mimi¡­?¡¹

    Elma and Kugi, who had gathered around amidst themotion, also started sucking on my neck. Unlike Mimi, they did it gently, so it didn¡¯t hurt, but instead of just sucking, they also started licking, which made me get into the mood. <em>Why are they doing this?</em>

    ¡¸Well, it¡¯s fine to endure a little jealousy like this from time to time, right? At least no one¡¯s pulling out a knife or aser gun.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes. I have noints whatsoever.¡¹

    Surrounded by the three of them, resisting wouldn¡¯t get me anywhere, so I obedientlyplied. Complete surrender.

    ¡¸How nice¡­ spending the night out together just the two of you¡­ I¡¯m a bit jealous.¡¹

    Kugi¡¯s soft voice came from behind me. She was tugging gently on the edge of my jacket, which was rather endearing.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll do the same with everyone sometime in the future. I promise.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmph¡­ Who knows when you¡¯ll keep that promise? We¡¯ve got a pretty packed schedule from here on out, you know?¡¹

    ¡¸We¡¯ll probably be staying in the Holy Vuelzarus Empire for a while, so how about we do it over there? What do you think, Kugi?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, my country has many scenic spots, and there are plenty of inns and lodging towns in such ces¡ªmany of which are popr tourist destinations. I think it¡¯s a great idea.¡¹

    The rhythm of Kugi tugging on my clothes from behind quickened. I could also faintly hear a soft ¡®whish, whish¡¯ sound, as if something was cutting through the air¡ªlikely the sound of Kugi¡¯s tail wagging rapidly.

    ¡¸So, it¡¯s settled then¡­ Is that okay?¡¹

    Mimi and the others all nodded in agreement with my suggestion. <em>Phew, with this our home won¡¯t be a battlefield it seems. To begin with, it¡¯s pretty much impossible for someone like me to handle so many women at once¡­ I¡¯ve probably made them endure a lot and caused them a lot of stress up until now. To repay them, I need to be more considerate than ever before.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸Please¡­ pleasee back soon. You absolutely, absolutely have to return, okay?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, yes¡­ I¡¯ll definitelye back, so make sure you¡¯re doing your job properly until then.¡¹

    I hugged Serena tightly as she clung to me, speaking in a tearful, adorable voice. <em>You don¡¯t have to be so sad, there have been times before when we didn¡¯t see each other for a month or two¡­ Still, I feel lonely too. Seeing Serena cling to me like this makes me want to whisk her away right now.</em>

    Just then, a small figure forcefully wedged itself between us, pulling us apart.

    ¡¸Okay, okay, time to separate. It¡¯s not proper for ady before marriage to cling so much.¡¹

    ¡¸T-That¡¯s the same for you, isn¡¯t it¡­?!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m his fianc¨¦e, after all.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m his fianc¨¦e too!¡¹

    Pulled away by Chris, Serena stretched out both hands toward me, almost in tears. It was a bit pitiful, but also cute. <em>Why does Serena look so adorable when she¡¯s on the verge of tears? I just don¡¯t get it.</em>

    ¡¸It¡¯s unfair you get to cling to him so much! It¡¯s just a temporary farewell, you¡¯re abusing it too much!¡¹

    ¡¸Aaaaaaah!¡¹

    The two highborn noble youngdies started wrestling with each other. Probably due to the difference in their builds and simply their levels of training, Serena, who sounded like a seal being whacked with a stick on the beach, was overwhelmingly dominant. As expected of a military woman.

    ¡¸Don¡¯t you have to help your mistress?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯d rather not get caught up in that¡­¡¹

    In response to myment, Edeltrud, Chris¡¯s bodyguard, gave me a look that clearly said, ¡®Please spare me¡¯. <em>Well, I can understand her reluctance to get involved in a scuffle between two nobledies with enhanced physical abilities. They are just ying around though, probably.</em>

    After a while, when they seemed to have had enough and their wrestling came to an end, it was finally time to see Serena off for departure.

    ¡¸Um, could youe with me to the vehicle¡­? I want to stay with you until the very end¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No, Hiro-sama. She might just whisk you away. Go on, shoo, shoo.¡¹

    Chris, whose clothes were slightly disheveled from losing the wrestling match, stood in front of me to shield me from Serena, waving her hands like she was shooing away a stray dog or something.

    <em>I don¡¯t think you need to go that far¡­ huh? Serena why are you making a face like you have been busted? Was she really nning to kidnap me? When pushes to shove, Serena doesn¡¯t hold back.</em>

    ¡¸Ugh¡­ See you again¡­¡¹

    Saying this, Serena walked slowly towards the ramp, looking back at me multiple times. It was adorable. Each time she did, Chris let out a ¡®Hiss!¡¯ like an angry cat, trying to intimidate her, which was also cute. <em>If Chris had a cat-like tail, it would probably be puffed up by now.</em>

    ¡¸Good grief¡­ Well then, Hiro-sama. I¡¯ll be in your care for a while.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, sure. Wee aboard. It¡¯s been a while since we traveled together on the same ship like this. I¡¯m actually looking forward to it.¡¹

    ¡¸So am I. Oh, I¡¯m going to go unpack with Edeltrud, so please take care of meter!¡¹

    After making sure that Serena had exited the ship via the ramp, Chris smiled and, apanied by Edeltrud, walked off towards the living quarters. By the way, Mimi and the others had already left the ramp area to prepare the room for Chris and Edeltrud¡¯s stay, so I ended up being thest one to leave the ramp.

    ¡¸¡­I¡¯m already feeling tired, and it¡¯s still morning. But I can¡¯t reallyin.¡¹

    <em>Most of the work is being handled by the girls, so there isn¡¯t much for me to do personally. However, that doesn¡¯t mean I can justze around in the lounge while everyone else is working hard.</em>

    ¡¸Guess I¡¯ll do a final check on everyone¡¯s tasks¡­¡¹

    The procedures for departure from the Imperial Capital and the arrangements for supplies had all been taken care of. <em>I have received the reports already, so I should go to the lounge area and review them. The lounge is located close to both the living quarters and the hangar and cargo spaces, so it is the most efficient ce to work.</em>

 Chapter 487: ã€ŒPlease Donâ€™t. That Would Ruin my Reputationã€

    Chapter 487: ¡¸Please Don¡¯t. That Would Ruin my Reputation¡¹

    Without any particr interference or idents, the ck Lotus departed from the Imperial Capital and soared into space, where it docked with the Antlion and then headed straight for the Grakkius Secundus Colony. This was to restock supplies before departing from the Grakkius star system, the capital star system.

    <em>What? You want to ask why didn¡¯t we stock up on supplies at the Imperial Capital?</em> The market prices and distribution in the Imperial Capital were a bit unique. Some goods produced in the capital¡ªlike certain foods and agricultural products¡ªwere unbelievably cheap, but other goods that had to be imported from outside the star system were significantly more expensive than the market price. Also, there was ack of supplies that spacefarers like us would use in the first ce. That was because the Imperial Capital strictly controlled the entry and exit of starships. There wasn¡¯t enough demand, so those goods weren¡¯t stocked.

    That¡¯s why, when leaving the Imperial Capital, it was necessary to prepare for the journey at the Grakkius Secundus Colony. Of course, the supplies we had on board the ck Lotus were ample enough that we could depart as is without any issues. But either way, we needed to retrieve Chris¡¯s ship and store it on the ck Lotus. <em>Apparently, there¡¯s someone staying on that ship, so we can¡¯t just leave them behind.</em>

    And so, the person staying in Chris¡¯s ship joined us at the ck Lotus when we docked at the Grakkius Secundus Colony.

    ¡¸So you are¡­ I see. My name is Marion. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, Captain Hiro.¡¹

    The person waiting in Chris¡¯s ship introduced herself and bowed respectfully towards me. She was probably around my age, maybe a little older. A tall, slender woman. <em>She might even be taller than me.</em> Her hair was blonde, like Serena¡¯s, but with a slightly different texture. She wore a maid outfit and had an overall unhealthy look¡ªher eyes were shifty, and she had dark circles under them. <em>Is she okay?</em>

    ¡¸Nice to meet you, Marion-san. You can feel free to call me something more casual. Calling me ¡®Captain Hiro¡¯ every time seems a bit too formal.¡¹

    ¡¸No, I¡¯m afraid that would not be appropriate for someone who will be Lady Christina¡¯s partner in the future. I would prefer if you called me simply Marion, without any honorifics. As Lady Christina¡¯s partner, your station is clearly above mine.¡¹

    ¡¸That may be true, but I haven¡¯t even been formally recognized as her fianc¨¦ by Earl Dareinwald yet. Until that timees, I¡¯d like you to ept my suggestion.¡¹¡¸¡­Understood.¡¹

    Though she seemed somewhat reluctant, Marion-san epted my proposal. I decided to have the crew guide her while unloading her luggage from their ship. At the same time, I contacted Dr. Shouko, who should currently be conducting medical checks on Chris and Edeltrud.

    ¡¸Yes? What is it?¡¹

    ¡¸The woman who just boarded, Marion-san, is one of Chris¡¯s attendants. Could you run a medical check on her as soon as possible?¡¹

    ¡¸Of course, but is there something wrong?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m not a professional, so I don¡¯t want to make assumptions, but she looks quite unwell¡­ I¡¯ve got Mimi guiding her to her room now, so could you contact Mimi and perform the check soon?¡¹

    ¡¸Got it. I¡¯ll get in touch right away.¡¹

    <em>Dr. Shouko is always quick to respond, which is incredibly helpful. If it turns out that this is just a baseless concern from an amateur¡¯s perspective and she¡¯s actually perfectly healthy, that would be ideal, but¡­</em>

    ¡¸Well, I guess all I can do now is leave it to them.¡¹

    <em>Either way, all I can do is give orders¡­ If there¡¯s nothing wrong, that¡¯s good enough.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸She¡¯s extremely sleep-deprived,¡¹

    ¡¸Sleep-deprived?¡¹

    ¡¸It seems she¡¯s been so worried about Chris-kun that she hasn¡¯t been able to sleep much¡­ For now, she¡¯s resting.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­ Got it.¡¹

    While I was inspecting Chris¡¯s ship with the mechanic sisters in the hangar, Dr. Shouko sent back the results of Marion-san¡¯s medical check. <em>It¡¯s only been a few days, yet she¡¯s been so worried that she couldn¡¯t sleep and ended up in poor health. It seems like she might need some proper mental care.</em>

    ¡¸What¡¯s up? Ya lookin¡¯ a bit beat, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t worry about it. It¡¯s nothing serious.¡¹

    Tina noticed my sigh so she asked a little worried, but I quickly tried to dispel her worries. <em>This isn¡¯t really a problem that I need to get heavily involved in. Once she understands the situation, Chris will probably handle it herself. I¡¯ll just make sure to let Chris knowter.</em>

    ¡¸So, um¡­ about Chris¡¯s ship.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s a high-speed, small-ss ship from two generations ago, made by Ideal. From the exterior, there doesn¡¯t seem to be anything odd or out of the ordinary.¡¹

    ¡¸We can¡¯t exactly check the interior, after all. It¡¯s probably a dmissioned ship from the Imperial Space Force, so I imagine it¡¯s got decent performance.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m not nning to use it forbat, but¡­ It¡¯s a little underwhelming for a ship used by the next Countess for official business. I¡¯ve seen Earl Dareinwald¡¯s fleet before, and their equipment looked pretty outdated as well.¡¹

    ¡¸I wouldn¡¯t know much about that, but back when we were in the Comatt star system, didn¡¯t seem like they had much of a military presence or anythin¡¯.¡¹

    <em>If Chris and I end up getting married, and if I eventually get involved in maintaining security in Count Dareinwald¡¯s territory, this could be a significant issue. Well, this ship does have some decent equipment on board, giving it betterbat capabilities than a typical pirate ship.</em>

    <em>Hmm, I doubt I could just decide on my own to upgrade all of Earl Dareinwald¡¯s warships to thetest models. It might be a good idea to think about some alternatives.</em>

    ¡¸Alright, I get it. Go ahead with the scans, but don¡¯t start any maintenance or modifications without Chris¡¯s permission.¡¹

    ¡¸Gotcha!¡¹

    ¡¸Understood.¡¹

    ¡¸Great, I¡¯ll leave it to you. I¡¯m going to check on Chris and the others.¡¹

    I waved goodbye leaving the hangar after giving instructions to the mechanic sisters.

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    <em>In any case, the first thing I need to do when we arrive is have a conversation with Earl Dareinwald. I can¡¯t simply ask him, ¡®Please give me your granddaughter.¡¯¡ªmore like he¡¯s the one taking me. Honestly, I¡¯m not entirely sure what he thinks about this whole situation. To be fair, I haven¡¯t spoken with Earl Dareinwald that many times.</em>

    Given what¡¯s happened so far, I doubt he dislikes me, and it doesn¡¯t seem like he¡¯s outright opposed to my rtionship with Chris. If he were against it, he probably wouldn¡¯t have offered me the job in the Comatt star system, and he wouldn¡¯t have allowed us to exchange messages or Chris toe alone to the Imperial Capital.

    ¡¸Anyway, I¡¯ve been mulling over all these things¡­ but wouldn¡¯t it be nice if there was some sort of quick, decisive solution that could just solve everything?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m grateful you are sharing your worries with me, Captain, but wouldn¡¯t Mei or Elma-neesan be better suited to help you?¡¹

    ¡¸True, but both of them seem pretty busy. You seemed like the only one with some free time, Neve.¡¹

    ¡¸Captain, do you think of me as some sort of pet?¡¹

    ¡¸???¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s with that ¡®Of course, what else would you be?¡¯ look? Maybe I should bite you to show how much of a pet I am. Not that I can right now.¡¹

    Neve threatened me while using her pod to bump into my knee. <em>Can you stop doing that? It¡¯s surprisingly painful.</em>

    ¡¸Well, joking aside, there¡¯s really no one else with free time except you, Neve.¡¹

    <em>Mimi, Elma, and Kugi are busy preparing rooms for Chris and her two attendants, helping with unpacking, and arranging supplies. The mechanic sisters are running around conducting various checks and securing materials for departure. Dr. Shouko is looking after Marion. And Mei may be able to multitask no matter what she¡¯s doing, but I know she¡¯s busy, so I don¡¯t want to bother her.</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯d like to be assigned some work soon, I¡¯m also part of the crew.¡¹

    ¡¸At least wait until you can walk around freely on your own before saying stuff like that.¡¹

    It was only recently that Neve had gained some mobility by using something like a floating wheelchair ¡ªmore like a self-sustaining medical pod. Even at the moment, her body was still undergoing treatment under Dr. Shouko¡¯s care, so taking on any work would be impossible in her current state. Although, given her strengthsy in electronic warfare, hacking, and cracking, it¡¯s questionable how much work she could do to in times of peace.

    ¡¸Well, for now, think of yourself as the one in charge of hearing the crew¡¯s problems or a consultant.¡¹

    ¡¸You don¡¯t have to dress it up, that¡¯s the same role a pet does. I don¡¯t mind being a pet. Maybe I should start introducing myself as your beloved pet, saying something like, ¡®I¡¯m the Captain¡¯s little pussy, meow!¡¯¡¹

    ¡¸Please don¡¯t. That would ruin my reputation.¡¹

    Neve¡¯s appearance, thanks to Dr. Shouko¡¯s care and the grooming of the girls, was that of a genuinely delicate and charming young girl. If she introduced herself like that, it would likely deal a fatal blow to my social standing.

    ¡¸Well, things will turn out how they turn out. If you¡¯d like, I can look into the Dareinwald House.¡¹

    ¡¸Please do. But don¡¯t take any unnecessary risks.¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t worry. Mei is keeping an eye on me.¡¹

    <em>If Mei looks after her it should be fine. Mei should have control over Neve¡¯swork ess, after all. Still, I¡¯m beginning to think that maybe we are overworking Mei too much. Maybe I should consider an upgrade for her.</em>

    ¡¸I just hope we can wrap up the discussion or negotiation with Earl Dareinwald peacefully and head off to the Holy Vuelzarus Empire soon¡­¡¹

    ¡¸From what I¡¯ve heard, it¡¯s probably impossible.¡¹

    ¡¸Why would you say that?¡¹ I

    I was struck by the realization that even the newest member of the crew, Neve, had given up on the idea of our journey being a peaceful one. <em>Who did she hear that from, anyway? Could be anyone, they¡¯d all say the same thing. Yeah, that makes sense. And they¡¯re probably right, too.</em>

    ¡¸This is going to be a pain for sure¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m actually looking forward to it a little, Captain.¡¹

    Seeing Neve¡¯s smirk, I couldn¡¯t help but think, <em>¡®Enjoy it while you can¡¯,</em> as I nced up at the ceiling, resigned to whatever chaos awaited us next.

 Chapter 488: ã€ŒYa Got It Tough, Bossã€

    Chapter 488: ¡¸Ya Got It Tough, Boss¡¹

    I awoke to the faint rustling of clothes. The warmth that should have been beside me was already gone, leaving only a lingering trace. As if sensing that I was reaching out for her warmth, a gentle hand slid into mine. Feeling reassured, I squeezed her warm hand, and then I started hearing a soft swishing sound, like something fluffy cutting through the air.

    ¡¸¡­Good morning.¡¹

    ¡¸Good morning, my Lord.¡¹

    When I opened my eyes, I saw Kugi, wearing my T-shirt, smiling at me from the bedside. The soft swishing sound seemed to being from her three tails. The fox-like animal ears on top of her head were twitching yfully, and her golden eyes sparkled with lively energy. <em>It looks like Kugi is in top form today too.</em>

    ¡¸Hehe¡­¡¹

    As I continued to absentmindedly squeeze her hand in my half-asleep state, Kugi started to giggle at me. Maybe she was thinking something like, ¡®Even though you teased me so muchst night, you¡¯re acting all sweet now that it¡¯s morning¡­¡¯ <em>Well, it¡¯s not like I enjoy teasing her that much. Kugi is just really good at tempting me¡­ If anything, I might be the one being toyed with, sometimes I feel like I¡¯m in the palm of her hand.</em>

    ¡¸Guess I should get up¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, my Lord. Let¡¯s take a bath. I¡¯ll wash your back for you.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m looking forward to it, you really know how to wake up someone.¡¹<em>I¡¯m really looking forward to it. The only problem is that after the bath I¡¯ll have to endure something really troublesome.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸Even though you have Lady Christina as your fianc¨¦e, you¡¯re sharing a bed with another woman¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡¹

    After enjoying a pleasant morning bath with Kugi, the two of us headed to the lounge area to rx. But it was there that I ran into the source of my apprehension.

    As soon as we met, I felt two sharp gazes piercing my face. One came from a beautiful woman with wavy brown hair, wearing an elegant knight¡¯s uniform,plete with a sword at her waist. The other came from a tall blonde maid with a slightly harsh expression, wearing a maid outfit that was a little different in design from Mei¡¯s.

    ¡¸I can¡¯t exactly share a bed with Chris¡­ Besides, Chris fully understands our lifestyle and is still willing to build a rtionship with me.¡¹

    ¡¸That may be so, but that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m happy about being neglected.¡¹

    My fianc¨¦e-to-be pouted as she said this, giving me a sidelong re while poking my chest and stomach repeatedly with her index fingers. <em>Stop please, it hurts more than it looks. And why do you only use your index fingers? Are you trying to press some secret pressure points?</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯m not neglecting you. That¡¯s precisely why I¡¯m not hiding anything and interacting with you as normal.¡¹

    ¡¸Mmm¡­ So, in other words, this is a test to see if I can endure your lifestyle, Hiro-sama?¡¹

    ¡¸I think ¡®test¡¯ is a bit of an overstatement.¡¹

    I exasperatedly shrugged my shoulders, and my fianc¨¦e-to-be, Chris¡ªChristina Dareinwald, the next Countess Dareinwald¡ªfinally decided to stop her relentless poking.

    To be honest, the crew had divided opinions on whether we should restrain ourselves or continue our life as usual while Chris and the others were on board. Mimi, Mei, Tina, and Kugi insisted that we should keep things as they normally are, while Elma and Wiska argued that we should show some restraint. <em>What about Dr. Shouko and Neve? Those two just watched the whole thing unfold with amused grins on their faces.</em>

    The girls who wanted to keep things as usual outnumbered the rest, and I also felt that we should continue as normal. So,st night, in ordance with our usual schedule and the order decided by the girls themselves, I spent the night with Kugi.

    <em>Now, why didn¡¯t we hold back even though Chris and the others were with us? Well, let¡¯s assume that in the future, Chris and I sessfully be engaged, and then eventually get married. Even if that happens, I don¡¯t have any ns to quit my job as a mercenary. At least not at this point. Why? Because I still have something I need to find.</em>

    <em>Yes, I¡¯m talking about c. That ck, sweet, refreshing, and tangy carbonated drink. If I marry Chris, we will probably build a grand mansion with a garden somewhere on one of the residentials owned by Earl Dareinwald and live a leisurely married life there. But will there be c there? No, there won¡¯t. Without c, without that nectar, the peaceful life with a house and garden that I dream of wouldn¡¯t beplete. Without c¡ªoops, my thoughts wandered off there.</em>

    ¡¸That said, your understanding isn¡¯t entirely off the mark. Even after marriage, I don¡¯t intend to change my lifestyle. If that happens, there will naturally be a lot of time when Chris and I are apart. And I¡¯ll still keep my rtionship with the other girls. If you can¡¯t endure that, then you might want to reconsider our marriage. That¡¯s just the in truth.¡¹

    <em>There¡¯s no point in putting on an act just for now. Sure, there¡¯s some validity to the argument that, since Chris is with us, we should show some restraint, or at least consider her feelings during this short period. But¡­</em>

    ¡¸Of course, I understand that. But since I can¡¯t be with you at night, you could at least pay more attention to me during daytime, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Well¡­ yeah, I suppose.¡¹

    Chris gave me a dazzling smile in response to my reply.

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸So that¡¯s why Chris-chan has been sticking so close to you all morning.¡¹

    As we started having breakfast in the dining hall with Chris and the others, Mimi arrived a bitte and sat down across from me and Chris, who was sitting beside me. She nodded with an understanding look on her face.

    ¡¸I¡¯m learning how Hiro-sama usually lives.¡¹

    Chris replied, puffing out her chest proudly next to me.

    I had to refrain frommenting on the difference in chest armor between the two of them, but the words ¡®battleship¡¯ and ¡®destroyer¡¯ came to mind. <em>It used to be more like the difference between a battleship and a corvette, so I suppose that means she¡¯s been growing steadily. She might already be on par with Elma, or even¡ª</em>

    ¡¸Ouch!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh ho ho. I just felt some unpleasant waves, so my hand moved on its own.¡¹

    Elma, who sat down next to me on the opposite side of Chris, red at me after smacking me on the head. Her breakfast today was as hearty as ever. <em>What¡¯s with this ¡®unpleasant waves¡¯ anyway? When did Elma develop some kind of telepathic ability?</em>

    By the way, Kugi didn¡¯te straight to the dining hall with us; she went to fetch Dr. Shouko, who was still holed up in herb. <em>That person gets so absorbed in her research that she¡¯ll go on working for hours without eating, so someone has to check on her and make sure she eats.</em>

    ¡¸Ya got it tough, Boss.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, you don¡¯t need to mind us too much¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No, I won¡¯t disregard you two, I¡¯ll treat everyone equally.¡¹

    Tina seemed fine, but Wiska looked a bit ufortable around Chris, probably due to Chris being a noble. So she and Tina had moved to a slightly distant table. <em>While Wiska¡¯s reserved and gentle nature is one of her virtues, It can be a problem when she restrains herself that much¡­ Though I¡¯m not saying she should be as bold as Tina.</em>

    ¡¸If ya keep starin¡¯ at me so intently, ya¡¯re gonna make me blush.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, that¡¯s right. You¡¯re always cute, Tina.¡¹

    ¡¸Hehe, thanks!¡¹

    Tina blushed slightly and gave a shy smile. <em>Yup, she¡¯s cute.</em> Seeing our interaction, Chris started watching Tina intently as if wanting tomit to memory Tina¡¯s actions toter reproduce them. <em>But honestly, I doubt Chris could imitate Tina¡¯s charm, that only works when it¡¯s natural.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸So, on a more serious note. How much does Earl Dareinwald know about the situation?¡¹

    After finishing our meal and exercising in the training room, I moved to the lounge and asked Chris this question. However, Chris quickly averted her gaze. <em>Hey, this is no joke, don¡¯t mess around with me like that.</em>

    ¡¸Haha, just kidding. My grandfather is fully aware of the circumstances, and of course, he supports the idea of me getting engaged to you, Hiro-sama. It¡¯s just¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Just?¡¹

    ¡¸Not all of our vassals are entirely convinced.¡¹

    Chris said, her shoulders slumping.

    ¡¸I see¡­?¡¹

    Even as I said that I tilted my head in confusion. The vassals of the Dareinwald House were probably retainers of lower rank, like viscounts or below. Would such vassals have the power to interfere in the marriage matters of their lord¡¯s family?<em> It seems they have, given that Chris brought it up as a concern.</em>

    ¡¸What¡¯s the problem? Well, I suppose my status or position is a big issue for being the consort of the next Countess.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s not so much about your status, Hiro, the issue is that some of those vassals want to use this opportunity to position someone from their own family as Chris¡¯s husband. That way they can improve their standing within the Dareinwald faction.¡¹

    ¡¸Um, well, not everyone has bad intentions, you know? Of course, there¡¯s a certain amount of calction involved, but many of them genuinely believe that they are doing it for Dareinwald House¡¯s sake, they think that in this time of crisis for the House, it¡¯s their duty as vassals to support us.¡¹

    Chris replied with a slightly awkward smile, waving her hands to cate Elma, who was giving her an unconvinced re.

    <em>Still, I imagine Chris finds it rather annoying. After all, she wants to marry me.</em>

    ¡¸However, there¡¯s some validity to what the vassals are saying. As a noble in name only, I don¡¯t have any real backing, I wouldn¡¯t exactly be a strong ally in helping the Dareinwald House out of a tight spot¡­ But is the Dareinwald House really in such dire straits?¡¹

    ¡¸In a way, yes. If I were to die without leaving an heir, it could potentially lead to the end of our House. Of course, there are several vassal families with Dareinwald blood if you trace back far enough, so in that event, one of them would likely be chosen to continue the Dareinwald House.¡¹

    ¡¸Doesn¡¯t that mean that, in the worst-case scenario, someone might try to assassinate you to take over the Dareinwald House, Chris?¡¹

    Upon hearing my question, I felt a sharp intent emanating from Edeltrud and Marion. <em>This must be the anger they¡¯re directing at me. My psionic abilities have been steadily improving, so I¡¯ve be sensitive enough to pick up on things like this.</em>

    ¡¸I don¡¯t think there are any families thinking that far ahead, but the possibility isn¡¯t zero.¡¹

    ¡¸I see. Well, let¡¯s set that issue aside for now. Are there any problems besides the potential end of the Dareinwald bloodline?¡¹

    ¡¸There are countless smaller issues, but the main concern the vassals have is that bringing you, Hiro-sama, into the Dareinwald House doesn¡¯t offer us any direct benefit.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s a valid concern.¡¹

    ¡¸However, since it has been decided that you will also be engaged to Serena-san and Elma-san, this gives you a strong connection with the imperial capital, and Marquis Holz House which is a prestigious military family with arger territory than our Dareinwald House. If we can establish future trade, personnel exchanges, and technology exchanges with their territory and the imperial capital, it would provide significant benefits.¡¹

    ¡¸So, thanks to my engagement with Elma and Serena, the vassals¡¯ concerns have essentially been eliminated?¡¹

    ¡¸Exactly. All that¡¯s left is to return to the territory and convince everyone.¡¹

    After saying this, Chris smiled brightly.

    <em>I see. In other words, everything has been solved already so we don¡¯t need to be too much on guard. Yeah, there¡¯s definitely going to be some trouble. No way things are going to be so easy.</em>

 Chapter 489: Dexer Star System

    Chapter 489: Dexer Star System

    The Dexer Star System. It was the main star system of Earl Dareinwald¡¯s domain, it was connected to four other Star Systems via hypenes¡ªa so called hub system. All four adjacent star systems also belonged to Earl Dareinwald¡¯s territory, one of which was the Comatt system. That was the star system where I previously worked on protecting a colonization effort under Earl Dareinwald¡¯smission. During that time, I descended onto a that was undergoing terraforming and engaged in fierce battles with biological weapons. It¡¯s also the Star System governed by Chris, who was currently aboard the ck Lotus with us.

    Now, we¡¯d just arrived at the Dexer Star System, a ce we¡¯d visited before when we protected Chris from her uncle. However, at that time, we only stopped by briefly as it was the goal of our protection job, and we left immediately after.

    ¡¸Doesn¡¯t it feel a lot livelierpared to thest time we were here?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, it seems like there¡¯s a lot more ship traffic going back and forth.¡¹

    Elma responded to Mimi¡¯sment over thems. <em>From what I can see, I have to agree. The traffic has noticeably increased since ourst visit.</em> As we were in the middle of the job of escorting Chris and her retinue, whenever we weren¡¯t traveling through hyperspace, we were on board the Krishna and the Antlion, ready to react in case of an emergency. Especially just after exiting a hypene, when we tended to be vulnerable and there was a high risk of being ambushed.

    That¡¯s why, as soon as we exited the hypene, Mimi and Elma began checking the surrounding space and star system information using the sensors on the ck Lotus, which led to the earlier conversation.

    ¡¸My Lord, there doesn¡¯t seem to be any danger.¡¹

    It seemed Kugi had finished checking the surrounding ships so she gave this report. I had been checking as well, so I nodded in agreement with Kugi¡¯s assessment.

    ¡¸That¡¯s right. The Dexer Star System¡¯s local fleet¡ªthebat ships under Earl Dareinwald¡ªare nearby, so security must be properly maintained. Even when we came here on a previous mission, security looked tight, and it felt like there wasn¡¯t much work for mercenaries.¡¹In fact, the security rating of the Dexer Star System on the gctic map was impressively high. The only ces with better ratings were the Imperial Capital or the Windas system, where the Imperial Navy¡¯s massive shipyards were located.

    ¡¸That doesn¡¯t sound too profitable for us, though.¡¹

    ¡¸But if the security is good, wouldn¡¯t it be a great ce to set up a base? The gateway is rtively close too.¡¹

    ¡¸The Dexer Star System was colonized a long time ago, right? If we¡¯re nning on securingnd to build a house or buy property on a here is probably going to be expensive. In that case, wouldn¡¯t the Comatt Star System, governed by Chris-kun, be a better option? Since it¡¯s still in the early stages of development, the costs would likely be lower, and there could be more work for mercenaries like us. Plus, the Comatt system is one hypene closer to the gateway, right?¡¹

    Our team¡¯s brainiacs chimed in over thems. <em>Dr. Shouko¡¯s suggestion is worth considering. If property costs are lower, we could allocate more money to security measures. The security in the Comatt system is a tier or two lower than in the Dexer system, but it¡¯s not so bad either, a situation where the entire colony is overrun by pirates and reinforces are unavable won¡¯t happen, surely, maybe¡­ Still, if we invest in enough security measures to hold off any raiders who mightnd, the risk would be significantly reduced.</em>

    ¡¸I, too, would like Hiro-sama to establish a residence in the Comatt system. In the future, the mansion we build there could also serve as a vacation home.¡¹

    Even the person we were supposed to be escorting, Chris, joined in on the conversation. <em>This might be a little unprofessional, but Mei likely judged that there was no issue with letting her participate, hence the open line. If Mei made that call, I have no reason to object. I trust her judgmentpletely.</em>

    ¡¸In any case, it¡¯s not something we need to decide right away. We won¡¯t know the actual costs or other conditions until we check the details. But, I do think setting up a base in the Comatt system could be a good idea.¡¹

    <em>After all, we can probably get a lot of benefits thanks to it being the star system governed by Chris. Huh? Aren¡¯t I embarrassed about using connections to make things easier? Connections are a form of power, too. There¡¯s nothing to be ashamed of! Besides, this is the house where we are nning to raise our children in the future. This is serious. It¡¯s important. Not making the best choice just to avoid using connections would be nothing more than self-satisfaction. The lives of our children and everyone else could be on the line, so I¡¯m taking this seriously.</em>

    ¡¸Captain, what¡¯s the first step in situations like this?¡¹

    Neve asked me about how to proceed with the task. <em>She is probably trying to learn the ropes of being a mercenary. In fact, when ites tobat support in space battles, she has more experience than Mimi. If she learns the basic procedures of being a mercenary, she might even be able to operate independently one day.</em>

    ¡¸First, we head to the main colony. Even if the escort target¡¯s destination is a residential area on a, in most cases, you first need to apply for descent at the main colony. Sometimes, there are regr flights between the main colony and the¡¯s residential areas, so just delivering the escort target to the main colony could be enough. It¡¯s important to check with the escort target about those details.¡¹

    ¡¸Make sure you take me all the way to the mansion this time.¡¹

    ¡¸So, there you have it.¡¹

    ¡¸Roger that, Captain.¡¹

    And so, we set our course for Dexer Prime Colony, the main trading colony in the Dexer Star System.

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    We reached the defensive perimeter of the Dexer Prime Colony, so we lowered our alert level and moved to the ck Lotus¡¯s lounge area. From there, we could observe the bustling activity outside the ship.

    ¡¸It¡¯s quite a busy scene. Could it be that the development boom in the Comatt system is affecting this system as well?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes. There are a lot of people and goods moving towards the Comatt system. There¡¯s a trade colony there as well, but it¡¯s already exceeding its capacity. Although there are ns to expand the colony, it¡¯s not something that can be done overnight.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, if ya rush things too much, ya might end with somethin¡¯ like Brad Prime Colony¡­¡¹

    Tina¡¯s gaze became distant when she heard Chris¡¯s exnation. <em>Brad Prime Colony, huh? That ce ended up a mess after multiple rounds of rebuilding. It became too convoluted, with awkward, unusable spaces, and eventually turned into a hotspot for criminals and mafia-like groups. Unnned expansion can easily lead to such problems. It¡¯s true that fixing something like that isn¡¯t going to happen overnight.</em>

    ¡¸So, did you get in touch with Earl Dareinwald?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes. They are expecting us at the Dareinwald main estate on Dexer III. We¡¯ve already submitted the descent application, so as soon as it¡¯s approved, we can head over there.¡¹

    ¡¸So that means we won¡¯t be docking at Dexer Prime Colony and will head directly there once the procedures areplete. Is there a port facility near the main estate that can amodate the ck Lotus?¡¹

    ¡¸There¡¯s one close by.¡¹

    ¡¸Okay, then let¡¯s get ready for descent. Elma, prepare the Antlion.¡¹

    ¡¸Aye aye Captain. It would really be nice to have a ship that can amodate medium-sized vessels, though.¡¹

    Muttering under her breath, Elma left the lounge to board the Antlion. The medium-sized Antlion couldn¡¯t be housed inside the ck Lotus, so it was attached to the ck Lotus via a docking port located at the bottom of the ship. Naturally, this setup prevented us fromnding directly on the surface, so we needed to detach it andnd separately when descending to a. If we were just docking at a colony¡¯s spaceport, this usually wasn¡¯t necessary.

    ¡¸It¡¯s a bit of a dilemma. There¡¯s also that exclusive contract with Space Dwerg to consider.¡¹

    <em>I almost forgot, but when I purchased the ck Lotus, the exclusive contract included a use requiring us to continue using the ck Lotus as our mothership as much as possible. The ck Lotus is a ship we bought less than six months ago. Some mercenaries switch ships in as little as a week, so nearly six months isn¡¯t particrly short inparison.</em>

    ¡¸Maybe we should consider expansion or modifications instead of switching ships.¡¹

    ¡¸In that case, we¡¯d need to go to a star system with a Space Dwerg shipyard. Should we head back to the Brad system?¡¹

    ¡¸The Brad system, or maybe we could go to the Star System where Space Dwerg¡¯s headquarters are based¡­ In any case, it¡¯ll have to wait until after we¡¯re done with our business here and in the Holy Vuelzarus Empire.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s inconvenient, but not a critical issue.¡¹

    While I was discussing the possibility of switching or modifying our mothership with the mechanic sisters, we received clearance from the Dexer Prime Colony¡¯s port authority to descend to Dexer III.

    ¡¸Alright. Mei, follow their guidance and begin the descent.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, Master. Leave it to me.¡¹

    <em>When ites to descending to Dexer III, I can always count on Mei to handle it wlessly. Now, I wonder what kind of trouble awaits us on the ground.</em>

 Chapter 490: ã€ŒIs It Always Like This?ã€

    Chapter 490: ¡¸Is It Always Like This?¡¹

    The descent request was swiftly approved. <em>Well, they wouldn¡¯t want to keep the next Countess, the current Earl¡¯s granddaughter, waiting with administrative procedures. If Chris wanted, their heads would roll, literally. I don¡¯t think Chris would ever do something like that, though.</em>

    ¡¸We¡¯ve reached the descent orbit. Beginning descent.¡¹

    ¡¸Roger that. Try to keep arge safe margin.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, Master. Leave everything to me.¡¹

    ¡¸Same goes for you, Elma.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, yeah. I¡¯m not going to mess up on something as basic as this.¡¹

    The ck Lotus began its descent first, followed closely by the Antlion. Modern spacecraft were equipped with shields to protect them from the heat generated by adiabaticpression during atmospheric entry. They also had powerful thrusters and gravity control devices. As long as the deceleration was handled well, there was no risk of crashing. <em>If something goes wrong, it will be a big disaster. So, I can¡¯t help but worry a bit.</em>

    ¡¸This is an impressive interster terminal.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s not quite asrge as the one in the Imperial Capital, but I think it¡¯s big for a regional interster terminal.¡¹¡¸Yeah, it¡¯s lotsa bigger than the interster terminal on Refill IV.¡¹

    ¡¸The interster terminal on Refill IV only had two or three ports that could amodate a ship the size of the ck Lotus.¡¹

    Tina and Wiska chimed in, joining the conversation between Mimi and Chris.

    Indeed, Wiska was right. The interster terminal on Refill IV, the home of the Elves where we previously stopped by, was much smallerpared to the one on Dexer III. The interster terminal on Dexer III had manyrge ports that could amodate a ship like the ck Lotus, and the area it upied was about five timesrger. Of course, it couldn¡¯t bepared with the interster terminal in the Imperial Capital, that one was even bigger.

    The ck Lotus and the Antlionnded smoothly, following the instructions of the control officers at the interster terminal. I couldn¡¯t witness the Antlion¡¯snding myself since itnded quite a distance away from the ck Lotus due to the vast difference in ship sizes, but there were no reports of trouble, so it likelynded without any issues.

    ¡¸Alright, just like we discussed earlier.¡¹ I said.

    ¡¸Gotcha! Leave it to me.¡¹

    ¡¸We¡¯ll stay behind and watch the ship.¡¹

    This time, the mechanic sisters were staying on the ship to handle the unloading of Chris¡¯s luggage, oversee the departure of her ship, and manage maintenance and resupply not just for the ck Lotus but also for the Krishna and Antlion. The rest of the crew would alle with me. <em>Dr. Shouko and Neve don¡¯t usuallye with us on these kinds of outings, but they have never met the Earl before so it¡¯s necessary to introduce them to him.</em> We couldn¡¯t leave the shipspletely alone, so we decided that the mechanic sisters, who already met with the Earl, albeit barely, would stay behind and keep an eye on things.

    ¡¸So, we¡¯re finally meeting His Excellency, the Earl. I have to say, I¡¯m feeling pretty nervous.¡¹

    Dr. Shouko said lightly. Her tone was casual, not showing the least bit of nervousness in her attitude. Neve, on the other hand, was visibly worried.

    ¡¸Is it really okay for me to stay like this? Lying down in front of a high-ranking noble might be seen as incredibly disrespectful! What if he cuts me in half on the spot?¡¹

    ¡¸My grandfather would never do such a thing, and if something like that were to happen, I would absolutely stop it.¡¹

    Chris tried to reassure Neve with a wry smile. Her expression showed a mix of amusement and exasperation at Neve¡¯s rather prejudicedment. <em>Well, from the perspective of someone from the Vereverem Federation, the nobles of the Grakkan Empire might seem a bit¡­ extreme. They try to end everything with meleebat, and they can be found charging joyfully into a battlefield full of murderoussers armed just with a single sword, like some sort of insane, enhanced warriors. Wait a second. Why does this feel familiar? It¡¯s like there were people like that in Japan a long time ago. Shimazu¡­ Satsuma samurai¡­ Ugh, my head. No, wait. Lately, even I¡¯ve been using a sword more often than aser gun in closebat. Maybe, to others, I might look just like one of those lunatics¡­ I should stop thinking about this. For the sake of my mental peace.</em>

    ¡¸It looks like Elma has disembarked from the Antlion too. I¡¯ll send her the meeting point.¡¹

    ¡¸Thanks, Mimi. Alright, let¡¯s get moving.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, my Lord.¡¹

    We gathered everyone who had disembarked from the ck Lotus and boarded a tram to navigate through the interster terminal. Our destination was the lobby where Elma was waiting for us.

    Our n was to stay on Dexer III for two nights and three days to meet with Earl Dareinwald and his retainers, discuss the engagement, and go over the wedding ns. During that time, the mechanic sisters would stay behind on the ck Lotus. <em>I should probably get them some sort of gift, maybe a local specialty or some fine liquor from Earl Dareinwald¡¯s domain. I wonder if I¡¯ll have the time to do some shopping? If not, I can always ask one of the Earl¡¯s servants or, at the very least, Chris for some help.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    So here we were, arge group of ten including Mimi, Mei, Kugi, Dr. Shouko, Neve, Chris along with her guards and attendants, and Elma, who had joined us in the lobby. Fortunately, the actual travel went smoothly. We took the tram to the lobby of the interster terminal, and from the moment we stepped off at the tram station, we were surrounded by a crowd of SPs¡ªspecial protection officers, not private bodyguards, but actualw enforcement. It made us stand out a lot.

    Apparently, Elma also got the SP treatment as soon as she moved from the small and medium-sized ship docking area to the lobby. By the time she met up with us, she looked utterly fed up with the whole ordeal.

    <em>Well, considering Chris¡¯s status, it¡¯s not surprising.</em> The Dexer Star System was the main system of Earl Dareinwald¡¯s territory, and Chris was essentially the second most important person in the Earldom. Given her VIP status, this level of security was expected, especially considering the fact that her parents were assassinated.

    ¡¸Is it always like this?¡¹

    ¡¸<em>Sigh</em>¡­Yeah, well¡­ whenever Ie to the home, this is pretty much how it goes¡­¡¹

    As Chris gave a wry smile, her guard, Edeltrud, began toin.

    ¡¸Lady Christina, you¡¯re far too careless. This trip to the Imperial Capital was a good example¡ªto leave for the capital with just Marion and me as your escort was reckless.¡¹

    ¡¸It was necessary to depart urgently, so there was no other choice. If I had tried to move with dozens or even hundreds of people, plus cruisers and other escort ships, I definitely wouldn¡¯t have made it in time.¡¹

    Despite Edeltrud¡¯s reprimand, Chris seemed entirely unfazed, as if the words went in one ear and out the other. <em>Honestly, I have to agree with Edeltrud on this one. After all, Chris¡¯s parents died because they went on a private trip to a resort star system without any escort. I¡¯d really prefer that she avoids making the same mistake, especially in situations where I can¡¯t protect her.</em>

    ¡¸That may be true in hindsight, but you should be a bit more careful in the future. Not that I¡¯m one to talk.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, it does seem a bit hypocriticaling from you, Hiro.¡¹

    ¡¸Haha¡­ Considering the mercenary work we do is all about diving headfirst into danger, it makes sense.¡¹

    <em>Elma and Mimi both have a point, but then again, they chose to join me in this mercenary business, so they¡¯re not much different. Well, okay, maybe I dragged them into it, but still.</em>

    <em>Maybe it¡¯s time for me to consider a change in lifestyle? But then again, being a mercenary is probably the only thing I can do in this world. The job I used to do in my original world ispletely unnecessary with Mei around.</em>

    ¡¸My Lord?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s nothing. Anyway, right now, we need to focus on our meeting with Earl Dareinwald.¡¹

    Kugi must have grown concerned due to my prolonged silence so she called for me snapping me out of my musings, I shook my head and decided to stay focused. <em>That old man, despite being taciturn, has a strong will and a way of getting what he wants. I need to be on guard so that I don¡¯t end up agreeing to any strange conditions and finding ourselves in a tough spot.</em>

 Chapter 491: ã€ŒPretend the Conversation Never Happened?ã€

    Chapter 491: ¡¸Pretend the Conversation Never Happened?¡¹

    ¡¸Whoa, that¡¯s huge¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Wow¡­¡¹

    ¡¸What a magnificent mansion¡­¡¹

    Upon arriving at the Earl Dareinwald¡¯s estate, we werepletely in awe of its grandeur. It was enormous¡ªtruly massive. The garden was excessively vast, and the mansion visible in the distance was equally impressive. The building wasn¡¯t particrly tall, but it was quite wide and deep. <em>Just how big is the entire estate, including the garden?</em>

    ¡¸What an incredible garden¡­ It must take a lot of effort to manage all these nts.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s an incrediblyvish use of space¡­ Imperial nobles sure know how to live.¡¹

    A person who seemed to be a butler guided us through the gates and onto a ridiculouslyrge vehicle resembling a golf cart, which then took us towards the mansion in the distance. <em>This garden is just too big; it would probably take a good twenty to thirty minutes to walk across it.</em>

    ¡¸That mansion is huge too. It must be a pain to clean. But I don¡¯t see any bots around?¡¹

    ¡¸They deliberately maintain everything manually to create employment.¡¹Dr. Shouko, Neve, Kugi, and Mei were all sharing their thoughts on the garden and the mansion as we went along.<em> I always thought about building a house with a garden back on the ground, but this¡­ This far exceeds anything I had in mind. I want something a bit more modest, more manageable.</em>

    Even so, I don¡¯t really know howrge my family will be in the future. Chris and Serena probably wouldn¡¯t live in the house I was going to build, but even so, we would still have around ten people living there. And if we consider the possibility of having children¡­ <em>Yeah, even if it doesn¡¯t need to be as big as this, the house will still need to be quite spacious.</em>

    Considering everything that had happened so far, I also had to ount for the possibility of more people joining us in the future. After all, we recently took Neve in as well.

    <em>Wouldn¡¯t everything be resolved if I restrained myself a little more?</em> Sure, that¡¯s true, but does that mean I should have abandoned Mimi, Elma, and Neve? <em>I don¡¯t think so.</em> The same applies to Mei, Tina, Wiska, and Kugi, could I have just ignored their situations and brushed them off? <em>Again, I don¡¯t think so.</em>

    As for Dr. Shouko, it wasn¡¯t like there was an urgent need, but I¡¯d always thought we needed a ship doctor.

    <em>Linda? Who knows what will happen with Linda in three years. She doesn¡¯t count for now.</em>

    I did my best to avoid getting too deeply involved with Serena, but despite my efforts from our first meeting up until thest moment things still ended up like this. As for Chris, avoiding her was almost impossible, I think.<em> Not that I¡¯mining about it¡ªfar from it¡ªbut it does bother me to be seen as some kind of unprincipled person.</em>

    <em>Yes, it¡¯s a false usation.</em>

    ¡¸To think of making such a shameless, promiscuous fake nobleman, who keeps so many women around him, thepanion of Lady Christina is absolutely outrageous! I am firmly against it!¡¹

    The person vehemently making this deration, practically spitting as he spokes¡ª<em>or rather, actually spitting</em>¡ªwas a middle-aged man. His name was Adolf Bushbaum, Viscount Bushbaum. Among the vassals of Earl Dareinwald, he held the highest rank, and as you can see, he was strongly opposed to my engagement, or rather, my marriage to Chris.

    ¡¸Viscount Bushbaum, there¡¯s no need to get so worked up. Your behavior could be seen as unbing. The person you are rudely pointing at with your finger is also an imperial noble of the same rank as you, a viscount.¡¹

    The mature woman elegantly hiding her mouth with something resembling a folding fan was Baroness Bettina Erztberger. She had yet to express any clear approval or disapproval regarding my bing Chris¡¯s partner.

    ¡¸Even though it¡¯s an honorary title, Hiro-dono¡¯s rank was granted by His Majesty the Emperor in recognition of his achievements in saving the lives of many soldiers. To belittle that would be unseemly for a fellow Imperial noble. Moreover, is there any issue with Hiro-dono having rtionships with multiple women? The only important matter is that he properly provides an heir with Lady Christina.¡¹

    The one reprimanding Viscount Bushbaum in a stern and authoritative tone was Baron Rutger Schnorr. He seemed to be in favor of my rtionship with Chris, albeit reluctantly, and had repeatedly rebuked the loudly protesting Viscount Bushbaum.

    ¡¸Ugh¡­ My lord! Please reconsider!¡¹

    With a bulging vein on his forehead, Viscount Bushbaum urged Earl Dareinwald to change his mind, but Earl Dareinwald¡¯s stance was firm.

    ¡¸Captain Hiro will be weed as Christina¡¯s partner. This is a settled matter.¡¹

    ¡¸If we do that under these circumstances, we will be seen as entering Marquis Holz¡¯s faction! Please, reconsider!¡¹

    ¡¸Adolf, I understand your concerns well. However, there is still plenty of time before Christina will be in a position to lead House Dareinwald. Until then, we, the adults, can pave the way and guide her on how to walk it. Isn¡¯t that right?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡­ understand. If you insist, my lord.¡¹

    A heartfelt, if somewhat overwrought, disy of loyalty between a lord and his vassal was unfolding before my eyes. <em>Why do I feel like I am being left out of the conversation? Well, theck of knowledge on my part doesn¡¯t help; the only things I know about them are the names and titles I¡¯ve just heard. I don¡¯t know which star systems they govern or what roles they y within the Dareinwald territory. I have no information at all about them.</em>

    ¡¸And so, how does the future son-inw intend to contribute to the Dareinwald territory after marrying Lady Christina?¡¹

    <em>Oh, I was zoning out for a moment there, and now Baroness Erztberger is directing her question at me.</em>

    ¡¸At this point, it¡¯s difficult to specify anything concrete. The extent of my personal abilities is limited to dealing with space pirates at best. The connections I possess are also quite limited. I don¡¯t think I have the means to actively direct any significant profits towards the Dareinwald territory.¡¹

    My connections mainly include those with Marquis Halls through Serena, and informally, with His Majesty the Emperor through Mimi. I also have a personal connection with the elves governing the Refill Star System.

    ¡¸Realistically speaking, contributing to maintaining public order within the Dareinwald territory in a military capacity is the most I can offer right now. I was the one who initially established anti-space pirate tactics for the Independent Anti-Pirate Fleet. Given the aplishments of the fleet under Serena¡¯smand, I think that contributing in my area of expertise would be the most realistic option.¡¹

    In fact, the reputation of the Independent Anti-Pirate Fleet led by Serena was well-known throughout the Empire. Of course, part of that was thanks to propaganda aimed at boosting the poprity of the Imperial Space Navy, but the numbers of pirate ships destroyed and pirate bases neutralized by them have not been exaggerated¡ªat least ording to Serena. So, my involvement in the fleet¡¯s formation should be fairly recognized.

    ¡¸I do hope to contribute to improving the security level of the Dareinwald territory. Of course, that doesn¡¯t mean I can solely dedicate myself to tasks within the territory.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmph? Are you saying that even after marrying Lady Christina, you intend to continue wandering across the Empire and beyond as a mercenary? Do you really think such behavior would be eptable?¡¹

    ¡¸If it¡¯s not eptable, then that¡¯s the end of the discussion. I will pretend this whole conversation never happened.¡¹

    When I said this, Viscount Bushbaum, who had been antagonizing me, froze, his eyes wide in disbelief.

    ¡¸Pretend the conversation never happened?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m saying that if my activities as a mercenary are going to be restricted, then I will have to decline the engagement.¡¹

    At my deration, Viscount Bushbaum¡¯s face turned a furious shade of dark red. Baroness Erztberger hid her mouth behind her fan, and Baron Schnorr tightened his lips into a firm line. Earl Dareinwald¡¯s expression remained unchanged, while Chris looked on anxiously, clearly concerned about how things were unfolding.

    <em>I feel bad for Chris, but I can¡¯tpromise on this. I can¡¯t abandon my identity, and I don¡¯t want to just gloss over this point. This is the moment of truth.</em>

 Chapter 492: ã€Œâ€¦Thereâ€™s More?ã€

    Chapter 492: ¡¸¡­There¡¯s More?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, it seems pretty clear that Viscount Bushbaum dislikes everything about me, but I¡¯d like you to calm down and think about this rationally. When ites down to it, from the perspective of Earl Dareinwald House¡ªor rather, the people governing Earl Dareinwald territory¡ªit would probably be best if I didn¡¯t get too deeply involved in managing the territory or poking my nose into everything.¡¹

    When I said this, Viscount Bushbaum fell silent, his face still dark and brooding. He was probably trying his best to process the meaning of my words with his overheated mind. In contrast to the Viscount¡¯s reaction, Baroness Erztberger narrowed her eyes as she looked at me. <em>Ah, I can sense that her mental state has shifted from one of caution and wariness to one of interest.</em>

    ¡¸If I get too involved in the affairs of the Dareinwald territory, Marquis Holz might use me as a means to interfere in the Earl¡¯s domain. I think this is probably the pattern you are most worried about. And frankly, I wouldn¡¯t put it past him. That¡¯s why I think it¡¯s better not to give me any political power, and let me act as any other mercenary. Of course, my main motivation for saying this is due to my reluctance to y politics.¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re quite honest about it.¡¹

    I shrugged my shoulders as I responded to Baroness Erztberger¡¯s remark.

    ¡¸I¡¯m just someone who wants to live without burdens like schemes and political intrigues, I¡¯m just happy living leisurely while exterminating space pirates from time to time. Of course, I like Chris, so if she asks me for something, I¡¯d probably go along with it without much resistance.¡¹

    As I said this and nced at Chris, she tilted her head slightly with a face that seemed to say, ¡®Really?¡¯ <em>Now that I think about it, I don¡¯t recall granting Chris¡¯s requests all that often. In fact, I feel like I¡¯ve denied most of her requests, but that¡¯s usually because Chris tends to offer her body as payment. But when ites to protecting Chris or lending support to the Imperial Navy at her request, I¡¯ve alwaysplied, haven¡¯t I?</em>

    ¡¸Well, Chris can discuss with Earl Dareinwald and decide how best to make use of me. I wouldn¡¯t mind taking on a longer-term assignment, depending on the situation. As long as I¡¯m properlypensated, of course.¡¹

    By ¡®longer-term assignment¡¯, I meant situations where I might need to stay in Dareinwald territory for an extended period¡ªlike while we¡¯re building a house somewhere in the Comatt Star System, or if one or more of the crew members be pregnant, necessitating time for childbirth and child-rearing.¡¸Hmph, so it alles down to money in the end¡­¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right. The inseparable rtionship between money and responsibility is something I shouldn¡¯t have to exin to a noble like you, Viscount Bushbaum, don¡¯t you think?¡¹

    I said this, nodding toward Viscount Bushbaum, whose face had regained someposure. <em>Whether it¡¯s for family or not, if you¡¯re doing a job, you should take responsibility for it properly. And the guarantee for that responsibility is money. If you¡¯re getting paid, you need to do the job with full responsibility. You can¡¯t trust any job done for free.</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯ll say it again: my desire to wander around without taking on various responsibilities is just part of who I am, It¡¯s almost like my identity at this point, and I don¡¯t intend to hide that. No matter how I dress it up, I continue my work as a mercenary simply because that¡¯s what I want to do. However, there¡¯s another reason I can¡¯t do much about.¡¹

    ¡¸Interesting. May I hear it?¡¹

    ¡¸Sure. I have an extraordinary knack for attracting trouble.¡¹

    When I said this with a straight face, everyone except Chris and Earl Dareinwald, who knew a bit about my circumstances, looked at me as if to say, ¡®What is this guy saying?¡¯ <em>Yeah, it¡¯s confusing, isn¡¯t it? Even I don¡¯t expect people to just suddenly understand when I say it like that, so I¡¯ll exin. I¡¯ll exin it all very thoroughly.</em>

    ¡¸Do you know the odds of encountering space pirates in the time it takes a starship to reach a colony after exiting hyperspace? Of course, it varies greatly depending on the security level of the star system, but on average, it¡¯s said to be about once in every 1,500 trips. For reference, I¡¯ve had over thirty encounters in about half a year. And it¡¯s not like I sought them out on purpose¡ªI was targeted by interdictors, or I stumbled upon civilian ships already under attack by pirates. I encounter them just by taking a walk.¡¹

    After hearing my story, Baroness Erztberger pulled a face as if to say, ¡®Wow, that¡¯s awful.¡¯ <em>But this is just the tip of the iceberg.</em>

    ¡¸Like that time I worked with the Imperial Space Navy to take down a pirate base, only to return and find the colony we were headed to in danger of being wiped out by a bioterror attack. Or when I defeated some pirates and salvaged their cargo, I ended up rescuing the princess of an Earl¡¯s house and got entangled in her family¡¯s drama. Or there was that delivery job where the destination was suddenly attacked by crystal lifeforms. After barely surviving the battle, I went to the imperial capital to receive a medal for my efforts, only to catch the Emperor¡¯s eye and get roped into a tournament with swords, power armor, andbat ships. Then there was the time when I epted a job from a certain Earl to protect a group of settlers where, for some reason, I ended up having tond on a undergoing terraforming and fight a swarm of bio-weapons that could snap people in half with their bare hands. And let¡¯s not forget the time I visited the elves¡¯ homeworld for a vacation, only for our aircraft to crash in the middle of a virgin forest while a group of pirates attacked the¡­ Do you want to hear more?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­There¡¯s more?¡¹

    I nodded, and even Viscount Bushbaum now looked at me with something akin to sympathy. <em>Weren¡¯t you looking at me like I had murdered your entire family just a moment ago?</em>

    ¡¸So, if Hiro-dono were to stay in Dareinwald territory for an extended period¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸As unscientific as it sounds, there¡¯s a chance I might attract some kind of trouble. Not that it¡¯s guaranteed, of course. Things do tend to work out in the end, turning misfortune into fortune. But sometimes, I end up in situations so tough that my life is in danger.¡¹

    ¡¸No matter how you look at it, that sounds incredibly unscientific¡­ but there are some things in this world you cannot exin with science alone¡­¡¹

    As she spoke, Baroness Erztberger nced over at mypanions who were observing from a little distance away¡ªor rather, she looked at Kugi. Although Mimi, Elma, and the others who apanied me didn¡¯t have speaking rights in this meeting, they were allowed to attend as observers, so we arranged seats for them. I had briefly introduced everyone, so she knew who Kugi was and what country she hailed from.

    ¡¸It seems that psionics can exin the reason for my bouts of bad luck.¡¹

    ¡¸So, it¡¯s the real deal, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸I suppose it is.¡¹

    ¡¸I support Hiro-dono continuing his mercenary work. And if possible, I¡¯d prefer it if you stayed away from the Stearine Star System.¡¹

    Baroness Erztberger dered with a crisp snap of her folding fan. <em>Aren¡¯t you straightforward? It¡¯s even refreshing.</em>

    ¡¸Whether that happens or not depends on Chris and Earl Dareinwald¡¯s decision. So, just to confirm¡ªViscount Bushbaum, Baron Schnorr, and Baroness Erztberger agree with the idea that I will continue to work as a mercenary, even after I be Chris¡¯s husband, and that I will not actively involve myself in the affairs of Dareinwald territory?¡¹

    At my question, Viscount Bushbaum nodded with a sour expression, while Baron Schnorr nodded without any noticeable change in his demeanor. <em>Hmm. Viscount Bushbaum¡¯s reactions are quite straightforward, so he is easy to understand, but Baron Schnorr is harder to read because he barely changes his expression. Judging from the mental waves I¡¯m sensing from him, he doesn¡¯t seem to harbor any animosity towards me¡­ Well, I guess that¡¯s to be expected since this is our first meeting.</em>

    After that, we discussed the finer details regarding the engagement and marriage with Chris, and the meeting concluded peacefully. Viscount Bushbaum threw a few jabs here and there, but when I mentioned that I was starting to get interested in the star system governed by his house and that maybe I would visit it before heading to the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, he fell silent.<em> I know I said it myself, and I used it to make him shut up, but still, it¡¯s somewhat unsatisfying to see him so thoroughly put off¡­</em>

 Chapter 493: ã€ŒOr so I Thoughtã€

    Chapter 493: ¡¸Or so I Thought¡¹

    Now then, there were two things we had to take into ount when deciding the date of the wedding.

    The first was that there were still about three years left until Chris was formally recognized as an adult in noble society. However, as Marquis Holtz mentioned before, this tradition hadrgely be a formality, and in reality, it wasn¡¯t umon for nobles to get engaged or married once they reached the same age of adulthood asmoners.

    The second was Serena¡¯s age, it wasn¡¯t exactly a pressing issue, but we couldn¡¯t ask her to wait three years, and I was supposed to wed them at the same time. <em>From my perspective, her age doesn¡¯t seem like a big deal, but apparently, a noblewoman in her mid-twenties is considered to be more than just on the verge of being past the typical marrying age. Back on Earth, her age wouldn¡¯t be an issue¡­ but that¡¯s irrelevant right now.</em>

    Anyway, after taking into consideration both sides¡¯ circumstances:

    ¡¸The wedding date will likely be moved up. It probably won¡¯t wait until Christina officiallyes of age.¡¹

    Earl Dareinwald dered solemnly. His statement was met with nods of agreement from Viscount Bushbaum, Baroness Erztberger, and Baron Schnorr, who seemed to have no objections.

    There was a lot to prepare: coordinating with Marquis Holz House on the venue, informing the guests, and countless other details that could be listed without end. Still, it seemed that the wedding would take ce in no more than a year.

    As for my future ns, Earl Dareinwald wanted to talk to me after Viscount Bushbaum and the others had left.

    ¡¸It¡¯s fine if you want to go to the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. However, make sure to maintain regr contact and return within a year at thetest.¡¹We moved from a room that felt like a conference room to a more rxed parlor-like space. After the maid served what seemed like ck tea, Earl Dareinwald said that to me while exuding gravitas from every pore of his body.<em> Is this old man unable to make a statement without enveloping himself in some kind of noble aura?</em>

    ¡¸Understood. Um, is there anything else I should do¡­?¡¹

    I asked, feeling slightly intimidated by Earl Dareinwald¡¯s solemn demeanor.<em> This old man¡¯s expression and aura are too intimidating, honestly, I don¡¯t like dealing with him.</em>

    ¡¸No, there isn¡¯t. You might be a viscount of the Empire, but in the end, it¡¯s an honorary title. While we do respect your position as an imperial noble, it doesn¡¯t make you a true noble in the conventional sense. Forcing someone who wasn¡¯t born a noble to go through all the formalities and preparations of nobility benefits neither party. For better or worse, you are just a figurehead¡ªyour role is to be the chain that binds House Dareinwald, Marquis Holtz House, and Viscount Willrose House together. Leave the preparations to us.¡¹

    Having said this much, Earl Dareinwald paused, seemingly lost in thought.

    ¡¸However, there¡¯s no need to rush your journey, is there? Stay for a while. It might be less troublesome in the long run if you at least make an appearance in front of the influential people of the domain.¡¹

    ¡¸Aye aye, sir.¡¹

    <em>It¡¯s true that there¡¯s no need to hurry. Staying in the Dareinwald territory for a week or so wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸Or so I thought.¡¹

    ¡¸Haha¡­¡¹

    ¡¸When are you going to learn¡­ of course this was going to happen.¡¹

    Three dayster, I was sprawled out on the sofa, feeling like my soul was about to leave my body. <em>That old man packed my schedule with minute-by-minute appointments from morning till night.</em> The agenda was filled with inspections around the domain and visits and meals where I would greet the local influential people, but it felt more like I was the one being greeted everywhere I went. Sure, you could say I was going around to visit them since me and Chris were the ones moving between ces, but each ce we visited treated us like honored guests, rolling out the red carpet, so to speak. Hence, it was more like being greeted everywhere we went.

    The people we were visiting included the stewards who managed various regions of Dareinwald territory¡ªmost of whom were subordinates of the three vassals I met the other day¡ªand the heads ofrge business firms operating within the territory. The former group consisted of individuals who held titles like barons, bars, and knights, making them either low-ranked nobles or semi-nobles, while thetter were prominentmoners.

    Well, the kkan Empire was very much a society dominated by nobility, or rather, it was authoritarian, feudal, and hierarchical. So, even if we were the ones visiting, since Chris, the future countess, was with me, we were given the full VIP treatment.

    However, when you¡¯re cramming multiple visits into a single day from morning till night with a schedule packed down to the minute, it¡¯s exhausting. Even being on the receiving end of hospitality was tiring. They told me to be myself, but when you¡¯re treated like a guest of honor, waited on hand and foot, it wears you out.

    ¡¸I found it enjoyable, we were able to see various ces.¡¹

    ¡¸Kugi, you¡¯re a real trooper¡­¡¹

    ¡¸We don¡¯t have your endurance.¡¹

    The only ones among us who weren¡¯tpletely drained were Kugi, Dr. Shouko, and Neve. As for why Dr. Shouko and Neve were still full of energy, it was simply because they hadn¡¯t been participating in all these greetings under the pretext of attending to Neve¡¯s treatment and health!

    ¡¸Well, today¡¯s thest day with such a packed schedule. From tomorrow, we should be able to take it a bit eas¡ª¡¹

    My words were cut off by the sudden bang of the door flying open.

    ¡¸Hiro-sama! I¡¯vee to visit!¡¹

    ¡¸Gwah!?¡¹

    ¡¸Whoa!?¡¹

    ¡¸Hey, wait!¡¹

    Chris burst in like a bullet, as if she had been liberated from everything, and flew straight into my chest. Naturally, I took the full brunt of her momentum, suffering significant damage, the excessive energy flipped the sofa over, taking Mimi and Elma, who were sitting with me, along for the ride.

    As a result, the three of us ended up in a heap on the overturned sofa, sprawled out on our backs¡ªaplete mess. It hurt. A lot.

    ¡¸That hurts¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I-I¡¯m sorry¡­¡¹

    Chris¡¯s voice came from a little distance away, likely because she had tumbled and rolled after her dramatic entrance.

    ¡¸Chris¡­ are you still not able to control your body enhancements?¡¹

    ¡¸Sometimes I lose control¡­ Even though my grandfather has been teaching me some swordsmanship, I don¡¯t usually have many opportunities to exercise¡­ I¡¯m really sorry.¡¹

    Chris¡¯s voice was downcast, apologizing in response to Elma¡¯s clearly annoyed tone. <em>Alright, I guess I should get up now. It hurts like hell, though.</em>

 Chapter 494: I Couldnâ€™t Resist My Desires

    Chapter 494: I Couldn¡¯t Resist My Desires

    As a result of receiving Chris¡¯s tackle, I ended up with injuries that would take about fifteen minutes to fully heal. <em>The power of the medical pod is incredible, isn¡¯t it?</em> Dr. Shouko told me that if I had relied on natural healing, it would have taken at least three to four weeks to healpletely. When I asked if that meant that I had broken a bone, she responded with a vague smile.

    ¡¸Chris, make sure you have perfect control over your enhanced body before you get married. Don¡¯t ck off on your control training, okay?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes¡­¡¹

    When I moved from the ck Lotus¡¯s medical room to the lounge area, Chris was getting a lecture from Elma. It was no surprise. Even if she had a reason like being busy, skipping daily training and ending up injuring someone is a serious matter. I¡¯m willing to forgive her, though.

    ¡¸You are still in your growth phase, Chris-kun. Even if you think you are used to your enhancements, your control can slip because of the fast growth of your body. Make sure you train diligently every day, alright? Otherwise, on your wedding night, you might identally snap Hiro¡¯s ribs, spine, or hip bones.¡¹

    ¡¸That sounds terrifying.¡¹

    ¡¸It happens sometimes. There are stories about nobledies who aren¡¯t usually physically active breaking a few of their husband¡¯s bones on their wedding night. Serena, being a soldier, probably didn¡¯t have that problem since she trains regrly.¡¹

    Dr. Shouko, who hade with me from the medical room, gave Chris a warning, and Elma started telling a scary story after hearing that warning. <em>Wait, isn¡¯t the husband in that story a noble with a reinforced body, too? If even nobles with enhanced bodies end up breaking a few bones, doesn¡¯t that mean someone like me, who doesn¡¯t have any enhancements, would be in even worse shape?</em>

    Come to think of it, nobles with enhanced bodies can exhibit strengthparable to or just a little weaker than power armor. If someone used that kind of strength on me while having sex, my bones would definitely get crushed.¡¸Chris, work hard on your training, okay?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes¡­¡¹

    Chris, who had been full of energy after finally getting a break from work, now looked like a wilted leaf. <em>She seemed really downcast. Well, if you hurt someone due to your own carelessness, I guess that¡¯s how you¡¯d end up feeling.</em>

    ¡¸It did hurt, but I¡¯m all healed now, so no problem. Since Chris apologized, let¡¯s consider this matter closed. Sound good?¡¹

    ¡¸If Hiro says so, then I¡¯m fine with it. How about you, Mimi?¡¹

    ¡¸Of course!¡¹

    With a smile, Mimi hugged the dejected Chris. <em>Yeah, yeah, it¡¯s nice to see everyone getting along.</em>

    ¡¸Alright, we¡¯re done with Chris¡¯s thing. So, where we hangin¡¯ out? Got any ideas?¡¹

    ¡¸How about we go buy some clothes for Neve-chan? Now that she¡¯s out of the pod and starting to live normally, she can¡¯t just keep wearing those simple hospital gowns forever, right?¡¹

    ¡¸That sounds great! But wait, if she¡¯s still in the pod, she can¡¯t try anything on, can she?¡¹

    ¡¸I have her exact measurements, so that¡¯s not a problem. But we should probably get something with a little extra room. As her treatment progresses, she might gain a bit more muscle and fill out more.¡¹

    The crew members who were interested in fashion were all excitedly chatting about what clothes we should get for Neve, in contrast, there were three people who had gone noticeably quiet. The first was me, the second was Elma, and the third was Kugi.

    ¡¸Yeah, that sounds good. While we¡¯re at it, if anyone finds something cute, they should buy it as well.¡¹

    Since I¡¯m the type to stock up on a lot of clothes of the same design and rotate through them, I wasn¡¯t particrly interested in shopping for new clothes. Elma was the same as me, and Kugi always wore her shrine maiden outfit. In Kugi¡¯s case, it wasn¡¯t like she wasn¡¯t interested in fashion, but her physical characteristics made it difficult to find clothes that fit her¡ªthe fox ears on her head weren¡¯t a problem, but her three fluffy tails did cause some issues. Most of the clothing temtes avable in the Grakkan Empire weren¡¯t designed to amodate her tails.

    Of course, there were other species with tails or simr appendages, so specialty shops catering to these races existed. But such shops were rare. You might find one asionally in a bustling trade colony, but on a like Dexer III, mainly popted by humans, the local clothing stores probably won¡¯t have much to offer.

    ¡¸Well then, maybe I¡¯ll go collect some of Dexer III¡¯s fine liquors.¡¹

    ¡¸I will apany my Lord to wherever shop he wants to go.¡¹

    ¡¸In that case, why don¡¯t we go to a shoppingplex that has everything, from clothes to alcohol?¡¹

    I nodded at Chris¡¯s suggestion but then found myself lost in thought.

    ¡¸Do nobles actually go out to shop in stores? Don¡¯t they usually summon merchants to their estates?¡¹

    ¡¸We can do that if you want, but don¡¯t you think that takes away from the feeling of going out and having fun? Plus, you¡¯d be dealing with merchants who are all smiles and ttery, trying to win you over with every word. It would feel almost exactly like what we were doing yesterday.¡¹

    ¡¸Better not, let¡¯s go to the shoppingplex.¡¹

    Chris nodded deeply in agreement with my quick reply. <em>I don¡¯t want to spend any more time dealing with greedy people who are only trying to leave a good impression for their own gain.</em>

    ¡¸If we¡¯re going out, Chris is going to need a disguise, she is too well-known, thest thing we want is to attract attention. Let¡¯s pick out something from my or Mimi¡¯s wardrobe that might fit her, we should change up her hairstyle too.¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s go with something that looks like a mercenary outfit!¡¹

    ¡¸Leave her makeup to me.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll help too!¡¹

    With that, Chris was whisked away by Mimi and the others. Left behind were Me, Mei, Tina, Dr. Shouko, and Neve¡ªthe five of us.

    ¡¸¡­I¡¯m not really good with makeup or fashion stuff.¡¹

    Tina mumbled, possibly sensing my questioning look as to why she wasn¡¯t going with them like Wiska had. While saying this excuse she sat next to me, and Dr. Shouko took the seat on my other side.

    ¡¸As you know, I¡¯m not really into that kind of thing either. And Mei-kun is fullymitted to wearing a maid outfit.¡¹

    ¡¸I think everyone should wear maid outfits.¡¹

    <em>That¡¯s actually a fantastic idea¡ªif you set aside the matter of how people might look at me for having everyone wear maid outfits. I would love to see everyone dressed up as maids. The problem is that doing so would probably cement my reputation as someone with an excessive love for maid outfits, which might not be the best look for me.</em>

    ¡¸Captain, should I wear one too? A maid outfit? ¡¹

    ¡¸That sounds great! How about we have Mei-kun pick out maid outfits for everyone next time?¡¹

    ¡¸If Master allows it, I¡¯ll acquire the perfect maid outfits for everyone.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll allow it.¡¹

    <em>Public image? Who cares about that! Being fawned over by multiple maids is every man¡¯s dream, right?! Well, we just need to do it inside the ship, no one will know if we do it in the ck Lotus.</em>

    ¡¸Ya really like this stuff, don¡¯t you, Boss¡­? Wanna try out some other costumes too?¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s do it. I¡¯ll cover the budget. Out of my own pocket money.¡¹

    After that, we headed to a shoppingplex with the newly disguised Chris. We bought clothes for Neve, stocked up on Dexer III¡¯s alcohol and specialty goods, and went on a spree buying cosy outfits¡ªor rather, costumes for cosy.

    <em>What¡¯s the difference between cosy outfits and costumes for cosy, you ask? Well, the difference is that these weren¡¯t cheap, flimsy lookalikes¡ªthey were the real deal. The shop staff gave us some weird looks, but¡­</em>

    <em>Well, what can I say? I couldn¡¯t resist my desires.</em>

 Chapter 495: ã€ŒYou Really Want to Do it?ã€

    Chapter 495: ¡¸You Really Want to Do it?¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t think this kinda outfit fits small gals like us.¡¹

    ¡¸No, it¡¯s great. Really great.¡¹

    After finishing our shopping and returning to the ck Lotus, I decided to use my captain¡¯s authority to have them immediately try on the costumes we bought.<em> Abuse of power? Never heard of it! More importantly, it¡¯s cosy time!</em>

    ¡¸R-Really¡­?¡¹

    Teary-eyed, Tina and Wiska were squirming shyly in front of me as I pped with a serious expression. They were dressed in beautiful elf-inspired outfits, one in red and the other in blue¡ªsomething like a cheongsam. <em>The sight of their thighs peeking through the deep slits is truly delightful, and the way the fabric hugs their hips is stunning. This was indeed a great purchase.</em>

    ¡¸Just so you know, those are traditional elf costumes¡­¡¹

    Elma gave me a side-eye as she said that. She was dressed in a maid outfit that Mei had supervised. It wasn¡¯t revealing at the chest, nor was the skirt unusually short¡ªit was a ssic Victorian style. The addition of the white brim was a nice touch.

    ¡¸I-I tried it on, but this is a bit¡­¡¹

    Mimi, her face red, tried to cover her chest. <em>Oh, the bunny suit. The bunny suit. Oh, the bunny suit. Hmm, they are close to spilling out, but somehow they aren¡¯t. I¡¯m not sure how that works, but it¡¯s probably due to some unnecessarily advanced technology.</em>¡¸Whenpared to Mimi, mine is a little¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You look great, I assure you.¡¹

    Chris was also wearing a bunny suit, but she was ncing back and forth between her own chest and Mimi¡¯s, looking rather defeated. <em>Chris, it¡¯s not all about size, you know. Of course, having arger chest is wonderful, and Mimi¡¯s size and shape are absolutely top-notch, her chest is truly outstanding, really. But that doesn¡¯t mean your still-growing chest isn¡¯t great too, Chris. There is no hierarchy when ites to breasts. Let¡¯s be calm, if I go on too passionately about this, everyone might think I¡¯m a creep. I¡¯ll be humble and not say too much.</em>

    ¡¸Ha ha ha, it¡¯s so shy and nice.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸Aren¡¯t you going to wear a costume too, Doctor?¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸The costumes I bought are a bit too daring.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸More daring than what Mimi is wearing? That would basically be underwear!¡¹</strong>

    Dr. Shouko, wearing her usual attire minus theb coat, wasughing as she watched everyone in their cosy outfits. Neve, who was making ament about Dr. Shouko, was dressed in a pure white one-piece dress. With her pale skin, white hair, and white dress, Neve looked like a vision in white. If you only looked at her appearance, she seemed like a delicate, ephemeral girl, which suited her well¡ªthough her true nature was another story.

    <em>But really, what did Dr. Shouko buy that even she calls it ¡®too daring¡¯?</em> I only suggested the bunny suits and the elf-like outfits that looked like cheongsams, the rest of the costumes were chosen by the girls.

    ¡¸I-I¡¯m feeling a bit restless¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Meow~¡¹

    Kugi was also dressed in a maid outfit like Elma and Mei, but she seemed ufortable with the feel of the white brim, continuously twitching her fox ears on top of her head. <em>It might just be that she¡¯s not used to the feel of this outfitpared to her usual cyber-style shrine maiden clothes.</em>

    And then there was Mei. <em>What¡¯s that? Cat ears¡ªwhy are cat ears on her head? How outrageous. Let me feel them! And she even has a tail!</em>

    ¡¸This is a prototype cat-ear attachment created based on Kugi-san¡¯s data.¡¹

    ¡¸Cat-ear attachment?¡¹

    ¡¸It alsoes with a tail.¡¹

    Despite herpletely expressionless face, Mei exuded an intense sense of pride as she turned around and showed me the cat-like tail extending from her waist. <em>Oh, so it has a tail hole, just like Kugi¡¯s maid outfit. No, wait, that¡¯s not the point here.</em>

    ¡¸Where did you even get something like that?¡¹

    ¡¸There is a workshop of Orient Industries on Dexer III, Master. I had them send a prototype via express delivery.¡¹

    ¡¸Um, what do you mean by ¡®my data¡¯¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Just a little bit of data on your natural ear and tail movements. Don¡¯t worry, no personal information was used. It¡¯s only motion data.¡¹

    The cat ears standing straight up on Mei¡¯s head and the tail swaying back and forth behind her were clearly disying how proud she was of the attachment. <em>It¡¯s funny how herck of expression still manages to convey so much emotion.</em>

    ¡¸Still, you know¡­ I really think using your captain¡¯s authority to make us do this sort of thing is a bit much.¡¹

    ¡¸But I wanted to see it¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re seriously saying that? That¡¯s just¡­ wow, that¡¯s a bit much, even for you¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I feel like I¡¯m on top of the world.¡¹

    As I said that with a serious face, nked by Tina and Wiska in their elf dresses, Elma gave me an exasperated look and gave up. <em>What can I do? This is every man¡¯s dream, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯m restraining myself from doing something more intense, so allow me this much, okay?</em>

    ¡¸Well, ain¡¯t it fine? Doin¡¯ this once in a while should be alright. I mean, Boss is usually pretty stoic, ¡®cept at night. And when things get rough, he always puts our safety first.¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t mind doing this sometimes¡­¡¹

    Tina defended me as she pressed herself against my body, draping herself over me. Wiska agreed with her modestly and also snuggled closely up to me.

    ¡¸Well, if you think about it, using your captain¡¯s authority to make us cosy for you isn¡¯t the worst you could make us do, I guess it¡¯s pretty tame¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Elma-san what do you think would be the worst thing the captain authority could make us do?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, in the worst case he could make us do a massive orgy while high on drugs. Compared to that, making us wear cosy costumes and just leer at us like Hiro does is pretty restrained, don¡¯t you think?¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re joking, right¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Let me just say it again: as a mercenary, you are really exceptionally well-behaved, Hiro. It¡¯s not umon for mercenaries to drown in booze, drugs, and women as soon as they have some money. You only have several women on your ship, and we are here by our own volition. Compared to those guys you are practically an angel, Hiro.¡¹

    ¡¸An angel, huh¡­¡¹

    Hearing about the typical behavior of less ethical, womanizing mercenaries from Elma, Chris¡¯s face turned red. Next to her, Mimi also looked a bit flustered, her cheeks slightly flushed, but her reaction wasn¡¯t as strong as Chris¡¯s. This was likely because Mimi had seen and heard plenty of such stories since she joined the crew. <em>She often talks alone with the receptiondies at the Mercenary Guild, it seems they are worried about her, I¡¯ve head them ask her questions like: ¡®Aren¡¯t you working for a captain who surrounds himself with lots of women? Are you alright? Are you being treated poorly?¡¯ I find these insinuations quite offensive really. I treat my crew with the utmost gentlemanly respect. What? Are you saying that my current behavior isn¡¯t gentlemanly? I don¡¯t know what you are talking about¡­</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    After the cosy show ended, we had an after-party, which became a second round of cosy. This time, I was the one being turned into everyone¡¯s dress-up doll. They made me wear all sorts of strange outfits and even act out some skits. <em>Well, considering I dressed them all up in cosy costumes and enjoyed watching them, it¡¯s only fair they get to do the same. Still, it was a terrible sight, so I decided to seal away those memories.</em>

    And then,ter that night¡­

    ¡¸We can¡¯t do it, and you know it.¡¹

    I dered firmly to Chris, who hade to visit my room.

    ¡¸It¡¯s okay. Grandfather will allow it.¡¹

    Chris replied with a sweet smile. Her outfit was a sheer, see-through negligee. <em>Oh no, this isn¡¯t good. This isn¡¯t good at all. Oh dear, this is problematic.</em>

    ¡¸Even if that¡¯s the case¡­¡¹

    <em>This is troublesome. I can¡¯t just go and ask Earl Dareinwald, ¡®Is it alright if I make a move on your granddaughter?¡¯ But if Chris says she has his permission and there¡¯s no issue, I have little reason to refuse her advances.</em>

    ¡¸You¡¯re not going to turn me down because we aren¡¯t married yet, are you?¡¹

    ¡¸Guh¡­¡¹

    That¡¯s a weak point for me. The only one I¡¯m officially married to is Mimi, and I haven¡¯t any legal rtionships with any of the other crew members. It¡¯s more like amonw marriage, if anything. Given that I¡¯ve already been involved with the others in such a state, refusing Chris¡¯s advances on such grounds wouldn¡¯t make much sense.

    ¡¸My body¡¯s size and age are not much different from Mimi¡¯s. I¡¯ve grown, and besides, I¡¯ve undergone enhancement surgery, so I¡¯m sturdy.¡¹

    ¡¸Stop anticipating my arguments.¡¹

    Chris hugged me tightly, wrapping her arms around my waist, and steadily pushed me back into the room.<em> Physically, and in terms of weight, I should be stronger, but I can¡¯t move an inch against her. If I seriously used my psionic abilities, I could easily overpower Chris, but I don¡¯t know what would happen if I rejected her that harshly¡­</em>

    ¡¸You really want to do it?¡¹

    ¡¸I do. You¡¯re going far away again, aren¡¯t you?¡¹

    Her onyx-like eyes looked up at me with determination. <em>Knowing Chris, it¡¯s probably true that Earl Dareinwald has given his permission. I had used that as a reason to refuse her before, and she likely remembers that clearly.</em>

    ¡¸¡­Alright, I give in.¡¹

    <em>If Earl Dareinwald gets angry, I¡¯ll deal with it then. I¡¯ll kowtow or do whatever it takes to get his forgiveness. If he says something like, ¡®I¡¯ll cut you down!¡¯ then I¡¯ll resist until the end.</em>

 Chapter 496: ã€ŒNoble Privileges areâ€¦ Incredible!ã€

    Chapter 496: ¡¸Noble Privileges are¡­ Incredible!¡¹

    ¡¸Ugh¡­ this is so embarrassing.¡¹

    Chris was sulking behind me, burying her face in my back.

    ¡¸I get how you feel, but still¡­¡¹

    With Chris clinging to my back, I headed towards the dining hall. I had water bottles stocked up in my room, but if I wanted food, I had to go to the dining hall. <em>After everything that happenedst night, I¡¯m starving.</em> Oh, and by the way, we did take a quick shower first. You know, to wash off any remnants ofst night for both of us.

    ¡¸Hiro-sama, you seem totally fine¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m used to it by now¡­¡¹

    <em>Almost every night, I¡¯m sharing a bed with someone ording to the rotation they set up. Waking up with someone, taking a shower together, and then heading to the dining hall has practically be a routine. At this point, I don¡¯t even feel embarrassed about it anymore.</em>

    ¡¸Besides, it¡¯s not like hiding away will solve anything, right? Come on, just ept it, Christina.¡¹

    ¡¸Ugh¡­¡¹Dragging a groaning Chris, I enter the dining hall to find Mimi and Kugi already there. <em>It¡¯s rare that the others aren¡¯t around.</em>

    ¡¸Ah, good morning! Hiro-sama, and Chris-chan too.¡¹

    ¡¸Good morning, my Lord. Good morning to you as well, Lady Christina.¡¹

    ¡¸Morning, you two. Come on, Chris.¡¹

    ¡¸G-Good morning¡­¡¹

    Returning the lively greetings from Mimi and Kugi, I nudged Chris to do the same, and she reluctantly greeted them back in a tiny voice.

    ¡¸Well, as you can see, some things happenedst night. I¡¯ll leave her to you, I¡¯m sure you want to talk a little between yourselves.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, leave her to us!¡¹

    ¡¸Ok, I¡¯m counting on you. By the way, where are Elma and the others?¡¹

    ¡¸It seems Elma-san and the others were uptest night having a drinking party, so I believe they won¡¯t be getting up until around noon, my Lord.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah¡­ I see.¡¹

    <em>Maybe they are trying to be considerate of Chris. If everyone were here to greet her first thing in the morning, it might make her feel awkward and ufortable. With just Mimi and Kugi, the interaction would be more gentle, which might be a good choice.</em>

    ¡¸Lady Christina, are you feeling alright?¡¹

    ¡¸Y-Yes¡­ I¡¯m fine. It¡¯s just that I feel a little unsteady when I walk.¡¹

    ¡¸I see. In that case, let¡¯s go to the infirmary together after breakfast. If we leave it to Dr. Shouko, there will be nothing to worry about.¡¹

    Kugi quickly took Chris¡¯s hand and began talking to her soothingly. <em>She¡¯s subtly using telepathy to help calm Chris down. Others might not notice, but I can tell. Well, it¡¯s not a bad thing, so I¡¯ll just leave them to it.</em>

    ¡¸So¡­ how was it?¡¹

    ¡¸What do you mean, ¡®how was it¡¯¡­? There were no problems.¡¹

    <em>At the very least, my ribs, spine, and hip bones didn¡¯t shatter. I¡¯ll keep my thoughts on the actual experience to myself. If you want to know more ask Chris for the details. I¡¯ll just say that, as a noble with enhanced physical abilities, her stamina was pretty incredible.</em>

    ¡¸Anyway, let¡¯s eat. Come on, Chris, let¡¯s get some food.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes!¡¹

    Chris, who seemed to have regained herposure after talking with Kugi, responded energetically and followed me over to Tetsujin, the automatic cooking machine. <em>After eating, we¡¯ll do our usual exercise routine, so I should probably aim to eat just enough to feel satisfied, but not too full.</em>

    ¡¸¡­You eat a lot, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸Ever since I got the body enhancements, my appetite has increased¡­¡¹

    Chris said, looking embarrassed as she nced down. Her te was piled high with synthetic meat steaks. <em>Elma is the type to eat a lot in the morning too, but I guess this exins it.</em> Elma had undergone body enhancements as well. Plus, Chris was still in her growth phase. If Tetsujin served her this amount, it must be the right portion for Chris.

    ¡¸I think having a big appetite is a good thing. It¡¯s much better than having a poor appetite.¡¹

    ¡¸Really?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s what I think. To survive and stay resilient, you¡¯ve got to eat well. Chris, you might actually be suited to being a mercenary.¡¹

    ¡¸Me, suited to being a mercenary? Haha, that might not be so bad. If I could throw everything away and do that, it would be wonderful.¡¹

    Watching her smile, I couldn¡¯t help but think about what kind of role Chris would have yed in our mercenary group if things had turned out that way. <em>Considering Chris¡¯s physical abilities, reaction speed, and enhanced cognitive processing¡ªattributes befitting a future countess¡ªshe could have been the pilot of anotherbat ship, a role simr to Elma¡¯s. With experience, she would be a reliable ally if she learned to fully use her enhanced physical capabilities, and once she learned to wield a sword, she¡¯d be formidable in closebat too.</em>

    ¡¸Even though that future didn¡¯te to be, I¡¯m still relieved knowing that you¡¯ll be protecting the ce we call home, Chris.¡¹

    ¡¸Are you really sure?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s the n. After some discussion, we decided on building a home on Comatt III.¡¹

    ¡¸Tell me more, please.¡¹

    She was extremely interested. As we ate, I told Chris about the discussions we had among the crew a while back. I told her the reasons why we had decided on Comatt III as the most suitable location to buy our base. Mainly the cost of securing arge piece ofnd, the avability of food supplies in the vicinity, and the fact that the main authority in the system was Chris giving us ess to her connections.

    ¡¸Of course. Of course, I¡¯ll help! Just as you said, on Comatt III, there are many things I can do with my authority.¡¹

    As we sipped tea after our meal, Chris was in an exceptionally good mood. It seemed any embarrassment she had aboutst night¡¯s events hadpletely vanished.

    ¡¸I¡¯d like to secure a sizable plot ofnd, enough to at least have anding pad where Krishna cannd. Ideally, it would berge enough for a medium-sized ship to dock, but if we do that, thending pad might end up taking up more space than the actual building. Also, just in case, I¡¯m thinking of building a heavily fortified underground shelter.¡¹

    ¡¸There haven¡¯t been anyrge-scale pirate attacks since then, but it¡¯s always good to be prepared. I agree with having an underground shelter. As for thending pad, I can prepare enoughnd to build one that can amodate the ck Lotus if you want¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, maintaining anding pad for arge ship on private property is too much. If an interster terminal capable of handling the ck Lotus gets built nearby in the future, that would be enough. For the house itself, anding pad for small ships should suffice. The next thing to think about is the design of the house or rather the mansion. That will depend on the size of thend we can secure and, of course, our budget.¡¹

    <em>Even though it¡¯s a newly developed, we¡¯re talking about building a mansion that could eventually house dozens of people, so just securing a sufficientlyrge piece ofnd might drain all our current savings.</em>

    ¡¸Acquiring thend is simple. The developednd is all essentially mine¡ªor rather, it¡¯s property of Earl Dareinwald House. Since Hiro-sama will be my husband we can get thend for free.¡¹

    ¡¸Uh, what about taxes?¡¹

    ¡¸Who would collect taxes from Hiro-sama, a member of Earl Dareinwald House, onnd owned by Earl Dareinwald House?¡¹

    ¡¸Noble privileges are¡­ incredible!¡¹

    Seeing the look of genuine confusion on Chris¡¯s face I was unable to hide my astonishment. <em>Sure, the Dareinwald House is the one that does the, but is it really okay for them to not tax us just because we are family?</em> I briefly thought about calling in a tax officer, but then I realized that the tax office itself was under Chris¡¯s¡ªor rather, the Dareinwald House¡¯s¡ªcontrol.

    ¡¸Uh, is that really legal¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸The discretion of how a territorial noble uses theirnd is recognized under imperialw, in the name of His Majesty the Emperor.¡¹

    Chris replied confidently, puffing out her chest with pride. <em>Is that really okay? Is it¡­? I should probably ask Mei about thister.</em>

    ¡¸Well, if you say it¡¯s okay, Chris, then I¡¯ll take you up on your offer¡­ but, uh, please don¡¯t do anything that would get us into legal trouble, alright?¡¹

    ¡¸I won¡¯t! What do you take me for, Hiro-sama?¡¹

    Chris shot me an exasperated re, clearly miffed by my doubts.

    <em>I mean, Chris seems like the type who would go pretty far if she thought it was for my sake. To be honest, when ites to this kind of thing, I get the feeling Chris might be even more ruthless than Serena, I¡¯m pretty sure she won¡¯t hesitate to do anything if she deems it necessary.</em>

    ¡¸Then, I¡¯ll take full responsibility for securing and selecting thend for our mansion! I¡¯ll look for a location that¡¯s close to where we n to build the interster terminal in the future, with enough space for the mansion and anding pad that can at least amodate Krishna¡­ Oh, and don¡¯t worry about the cost. Thepensation for the job we asked you to take Captain Hiro, escorting me and my entourage from the Imperial Capital to the Dexer System should cover everything.¡¹

    Chris ended the conversation with a broad and radiant smile.

    <em>She really has be reliable¡­</em>

 Chapter 497: ã€ŒWait, Youâ€™re Joking, Right?ã€

    Chapter 497: ¡¸Wait, You¡¯re Joking, Right?¡¹

    ¡¸Leave everything about thend and buildings to me! So please, make sure toe back, okay?¡¹

    With a smile, Chris said goodbye to us, and after also bidding farewell to Earl Dareinwald, we headed for the Gateway. Our destination was the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. Specifically, the Neeparc Star System. It was an imperial territory located five systems away from the Dexer system, which was the central system of Earl Dareinwald¡¯s territory, via the hypene. The Neeparc Star System was the closest star system with a Gateway.

    ¡¸We¡¯re heading to the Neeparc Prime Colony first, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, my Lord. I should be able to contact my homnd from the main colony in a system with a Gateway. Once I contact them, they will probably send a party to pick us up.¡¹

    ¡¸They will send people to pick us up?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, Mimi-san. Strictly speaking, they won¡¯t send people to pick us up, but recements for our people dispatched to the Grakkan Empire. You see, our nation restricts trade and ship traffic with outsiders. Regr connections with the Empire¡¯s Gateway don¡¯t happen often, so when a connection is avable, we take the opportunity to transfer diplomatic personnel and asional trade ships all at once.¡¹

    While en route to the Neeparc System, we gathered everyone in the ck Lotus¡¯s lounge and had a discussion led by Kugi about the journey to the Holy Vuelzarus Empire.

    ¡¸Why do they restrict movement like that?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, Tina-san, I¡¯m not entirely sure, but from what I¡¯ve heard, it¡¯s supposedly to avoid being viewed with unnecessary suspicion by other nations.¡¹¡¸???¡¹

    Everyone tilted their heads at Kugi¡¯s exnation, and so did I.<em> Restricting travel to avoid being viewed with suspicion by other countries? It just doesn¡¯t make sense to me.</em>

    ¡¸Um, you see, our nation¡¯s ships, weapons, and soldiers are quite differentpared to other nations¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­?¡¹

    <em>I can¡¯t say Ipletely understand what Kugi is saying. The Holy Vuelzarus Empire is known for its psionic technology, so if their ships incorporate that, it makes sense that their design and performance would differ significantly from ships built with conventional technology.</em>

    ¡¸Are we going to be okay? We won¡¯t end up in a situation where once we go in, we can¡¯te back out, right?¡¹

    ¡¸I think it should be fine. If they provoke someone like my Lord, who is a visitor from a higher world, there¡¯s a chance our nation will be destroyed if things go wrong.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸That¡¯s a pretty rming thing to say out of the blue.¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Ah, I¡¯m still a bit skeptical myself, but it seems that if someone like me dies after being mentally pushed to the brink, a catastrophe that could destroy multiple star systems will ur.¡¹

    ¡¸Haha, that¡¯s a pretty grand-scale story¡­ Wait, you¡¯re joking, right?¡¹

    Dr. Shoukoughed at what I said, but as soon as she saw the serious expressions on both mine and Kugi¡¯s faces, her smile faded, and reflexively asked again. Kugi had a straight face, and I probably looked just as serious.

    ¡¸¡­This is news to me.¡¹

    <em>Ah, crap, Elma¡¯s voice sounds irritated. Now that I think about it, we didn¡¯t talk to anyone about this, we talked about this several times, but we must have been alone all those times.</em>

    ¡¸Well, I still don¡¯t fully believe it yet. I¡¯m still about 85% believe, 15% skeptical, maybe?¡¹

    ¡¸That means you almost believe it. You should really report something that important to your partner, don¡¯t you think?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, I agree. I¡¯m sorry.¡¹

    <em>Since this was clearly my fault, I apologized sincerely. Information regarding my origins is fairly sensitive, so I understand why Kugi couldn¡¯t exin it to Elma and the rest of the crew.</em>

    ¡¸To rify, I¡¯m not originally from this world, or rather, this universe? Dimension? I¡¯m from what Kugi and the people of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire refer to as a higher world, and I possess immense psionic power. Supposedly, if I were to die in a state of overwhelming anger, hatred, or despair, the resulting release of that psionic power could cause a catastrophic event. At minimum, it could wipe out an entire star system, and at worst, it could destroy multiple systems.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸The scale is so ridiculous that is hard to believe. Just how much energy are we talking about here? ¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Supernova explosions are said to have an energy output between 10^48 and 10^52 joules, so I¡¯d estimate it would be somewhere between that range or even several times greater.¡¹

    Mei answered, dead serious, in response to Neve¡¯s exasperated question.

    <em>I understand that it was a massive amount of energy, but honestly, I can¡¯t grasp the reality of those numbers at all.</em>

    ¡¸Are you sure you¡¯re okay, Boss? You¡¯re not going to explode suddenly, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, I can¡¯t guarantee that some god-like entity, if they exist, won¡¯t suddenly make me explode, but I think I¡¯m probably fine¡­ Dr. Shouko¡¯s check-ups haven¡¯t shown any signs that I¡¯m on the verge of spontaneously blowing up.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, no signs of that so far. But keep in mind, I can only examine you within the realm of science. When ites to psionic technology, I¡¯m practically useless.¡¹

    Dr. Shouko said this, raising her hands slightly as if epting defeat, while wearing a wry smile.

    <em>She says that, but I know better. Dr. Shouko has been making progress analyzing my gic material, looking for the factors responsible for the manifestation of psionic abilities, and has already begun dabbling in psionic technology to try and identify them.</em>

    ¡¸Well, even if I¡¯m carrying this ¡®bomb,¡¯ it seems it only goes off when I die. And honestly, worrying about what happens after I¡¯m dead feels like a waste of time. Also, unless I¡¯m in an extremely bad state of mind when I die, it shouldn¡¯t trigger.¡¹

    ¡¸Wait, is Kugi actually here to keep an eye on you to make sure you don¡¯t go off?¡¹

    Elma shot a suspicious re at Kugi when this thought suddenly urred to her. Hey, you don¡¯t say things like that to others, even if you think it¡¯s true.

    ¡¸Yes, that is correct. However, that¡¯s not the only reason. As I mentioned earlier, my Lord¡¯s unfortunate arrival in this world was caused by our nation¡¯s past actions, and I was sent to atone for that. But now, those reasons are no longer my primary motivation. I stay by my Lord¡¯s side because I wish to. Even if I return to the homnd and my duty is officially lifted, I have no intention of leaving his side.¡¹

    Kugi affirmed Elma¡¯s suspicions but made her own stance clear, standing tall with her fox ears perked up, looking directly at Elma with unwavering determination. Perhaps taken aback by Kugi¡¯s intensity, Elma gave a wry smile, raised both hands in surrender, and backed off.

    ¡¸Okay, okay, Kugi, I get it. I¡¯m sorry for doubting you.¡¹

    ¡¸There is no need to apologize, as your question was perfectly reasonable¡­ but¡­¡¹

    Kugi¡¯s expression changed from a solemn one into one of uncertainty as she nced at me.

    Noticing her unease, I took her small, cool, and slightly sweaty hand into mine, wrapping both of my hands around it.

    ¡¸I have no intention of letting you go now either, Kugi. Especially if that¡¯s how you feel. So, there¡¯s nothing to worry about. If ites down to it, I¡¯ll just kidnap you and escape from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire.¡¹

    As I said this, Kugi¡¯s fox ears began to twitch happily, and her fluffy tails started wagging energetically. Tears welled up in her eyes, and I pulled out a handkerchief from my jacket pocket to gently wipe them away.

    ¡¸Ahh, so hot, so hot. Mei-han, can you lower the temperature of the air conditioning a bit?¡¹

    ¡¸Right away.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, I sense a strong wave of love¡­!¡¹

    <strong>¡¸Looks like it¡¯s Kugi¡¯s victory today, huh?¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Well, since she¡¯ll be our biggest ally over there, I guess we¡¯ll let her have this one.¡¹

    As they said this, the rest of the crew gradually dispersed, leaving me and Kugi alone. Hey, don¡¯t you think you guys are being a bit too obvious?

    ¡¸Ahh¡­ maybe I should rest for a bit.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Yes, my Lord.¡¹

    Kugi murmured softly, pressing close as I pulled her in, and we both sank into the sofa.

    <em>It¡¯s still too early in the day to head back to my room, but this is a good opportunity. Maybe I should take this time to ask her more about the Holy Vuelzarus Empire.</em>

 Chapter 498: ã€ŒAlright, Letâ€™s Forget About this Topicã€

    Chapter 498: ¡¸Alright, Let¡¯s Forget About this Topic¡¹

    I learned a lot from Kugi about the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. From serious topics like its political system to lighter topics like what foods were popr, and what kinds of people ¡ª racially speaking ¡ª lived there.

    ¡¸I see¡­ Hey, would you tell me about your childhood, Kugi?¡¹

    I asked out of pure curiosity, with no real intent behind the question. However, Kugi¡¯s reaction waspletely unexpected.

    ¡¸Um¡­ well¡­ I can¡¯t really talk about my childhood¡­¡¹

    Kugi¡¯s fox ears ttened against her head, and she looked almost scared. <em>What is this? Does she have some kind of trauma associated with her childhood memories? Whatever the case, it seems like a topic better left alone.</em>

    ¡¸Don¡¯t worry about it, I was just curious. Then, can you tell me about the life of a shrine maiden instead?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, I can talk about that as much as you¡¯d like.¡¹

    Kugi¡¯s expression softened with relief as she began exining what life as a shrine maiden was like. As I listened to her, I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about her earlier reaction. <em>What exactly was that all about? Since Mimi is particrly close to Kugi, maybe I¡¯ll ask her about it next time.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡îThe journey to the Neeparc Star System was surprisingly peaceful. No pirate attacks, no civilian ships under siege. The reason, of course, was that the current Comatt Star System¡ªruled by Chris¡ªhad just finished terraforming its habitables and was in the early stages ofrge-scale development. It was what you¡¯d call a special boom period due to frontier development.

    So, why did this lead to safety in the route between the Comatt and Neeparc star systems? The answer is simple: the Imperial Space Force was rigorously patrolling to ensure the uninterrupted flow of development supplies and immigrants through the gateway into the Comatt System.

    The route we took started from the Dexer System, passing through Comatt, Uerick, Zieger, Mellkit, and finally, the Neeparc System. Our course followed the same path as the supply lines.

    Uerick and Zieger were territories governed by a viscount not affiliated with House Dareinwald, but it seems that the Imperial higher-ups were putting pressure on them to ensure safe passage so as not to interrupt the development boom. <em>My condolences. On the bright side, those supply and immigrant transport ships are stopping by their trading colonies for refueling and maintenance, which means they¡¯re probably making some good money off of it, too.</em>

    By the way, the Neeparc System, which houses the gateway, and its neighboring Mellkit System were systems directly controlled by the Empyre. The security level was top-notch. If any pirates dared to stir up trouble, the Empire could flood the area with military reinforcements through the gateway. The only pirates that operated here were loners flying solo, or at most, small groups of three ships who drifted from system to system, conducting raids and fleeing¡ªsmall fish, really.

    They might be ¡®small fish¡¯ but we can¡¯t let our guard down. Some of them operate with a smaller, elite crew, making them quite dangerous.

    ¡¸Well, it¡¯s good that the route is safe.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, it¡¯s a pain that every time we drop out of the hypene, we get hit with a stop order and a security scan though.¡¹

    Elma replied, clearly irritated, her gaze fixed on the warning message about the ongoing security scan disyed on Antlion¡¯s main screen.

    ¡¸Haha¡­ well, we don¡¯t have anything to hide, so it¡¯s fine to wait for a bit, right?¡¹

    Mimi tried to calm Elma down. Even though she was sitting in a different operator¡¯s seat than usual, she was asposed as ever. <em>She¡¯s really be a seasoned operator now. Me? I¡¯m sitting in Antlion¡¯s sub-pilot seat. We were training to operate Antlion as a trio, just in case something happens and Krishna bes unusable.</em>

    ¡¸Yeah, I guess you¡¯re right. So, you wanted to ask something about Kugi?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right, it¡¯s about what happened the other day.¡¹

    Honestly, the training was just an excuse. The real reason I gathered Mimi, Elma, and myself here was for a little private chat. I told them about Kugi¡¯s odd reaction when I tried asking her about her childhood.

    ¡¸Hmm, I¡¯ve never heard anything about that, what about you, Mimi?¡¹

    ¡¸I feel like I might¡¯ve asked her before¡­ but I don¡¯t really remember. It¡¯s kind of fuzzy, like maybe she avoided answering¡­?¡¹

    Mimi tilted her head thoughtfully. <em>Could it be that Kugi used telepathy to mess with the memory of the question itself? Would she really go that far to keep it hidden?</em>

    ¡¸It feels like Kugi¡¯s childhood is a bit of andmine topic¡­ maybe we should avoid bringing it up.¡¹

    ¡¸Agreed. It¡¯s not something worth pushing and causing trouble over.¡¹

    ¡¸True, but it still leaves me feeling a bit unsettled.¡¹

    <em>Mimi has a valid point, but knowingly stepping on andmine isn¡¯t exactly wise. As Elma said, it¡¯s not worth risking trouble just to satisfy our curiosity. If Kugi doesn¡¯t want to talk about it, the considerate thing to do is not to pry.</em>

    ¡¸Alright, let¡¯s forget about this topic. Or at least, let¡¯s make an effort to do so.¡¹

    ¡¸That sounds like the safest option.¡¹

    ¡¸Understood.¡¹

    <em>That said, since we¡¯re all gathered here in Antlion¡¯s cockpit, we might as well fire up the simtor and get some practice runs in. I wouldn¡¯t mind seeing Elma¡¯s piloting skills in action.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    Afterpleting the security scan, the ck Lotus¡ªwith Antlion still docked to it¡ªarrived at the Neeparc Prime Colony. As expected of the main colony of a system with a gateway, Neeparc Prime had port facilitiesrge enough to amodate the rtively big ck Lotus while it remained docked with Antlion at its lower external connection hatch. Being a gateway system, it served as both a military and logistical hub, so naturally, the port facilities were quite extensive.

    ¡¸Hey there, how¡¯d the training go? Productive?¡¹

    After separating from Mimi and Elma who were going to take a shower, I went to the ck Lotus¡¯s lounge, as soon as I entered Tina called out to me. She and Wiska had been rxing on the sofa together.

    ¡¸Yeah, it went alright. I don¡¯t foresee many issues as long as Krishna¡¯s functional, but it¡¯s always important to be prepared for the worst.¡¹

    ¡¸The generator in Krishna is a ck box after all¡­ If it suddenly stops working, we wouldn¡¯t be able to fix it.¡¹

    <em>Wiska is absolutely right.</em> The generator block in Krishna was aplete mystery, a ck box we couldn¡¯t mess with. If it stopped functioning, that would be the end of it. Apparently, there were safety mechanisms in ce to prevent it from going rogue and causing a massive explosion, but even those systems were beyond our understanding. <em>ording to the sisters, it¡¯s an enigma how a generator of that size can output as much power as a cruiser-ss ship.</em>

    <em>For reference, the generators typically used on ships in this universe seem to be some sort of antimatter reactors¡ªseem to be, because I can¡¯t fully grasp how these generators create energy. From what I could gather, antimatter is involved in the energy cycle, but exactly how it¡¯s used and how it produces energy is beyond me.</em>

    <em>I don¡¯t even fully understand what kind of ¡®energy¡¯ is being produced. Is it electricity? Not exactly, though electricity seems to be produced as well.</em>

    <em>Speaking of which, the anti-ship reactive warheads equipped in the torpedoes I use also appear to be based on antimatter technology. It seems I have been unknowingly firing antimatter weapons all along.</em>

    <em>Well, even if I don¡¯t understand the full scope of the technology, I can still use it. It¡¯s like using a smartphone or aputer without needing to understand how it works on a technical level¡ªjust on a farrger and more dangerous scale.</em>

    ¡¸Yeah, it¡¯s tough to figure out. Even Space Dwerg couldn¡¯t make sense of it.¡¹

    ¡¸Exactly. We¡¯ve been doing our best, but honestly, it¡¯s beyond us.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, but what about the Holy Vuelzarus Empire? They have apletely different technological base from us, so they might be able to figure something out.

    ¡¸That¡¯s possible. After all, Krishna was probably generated when I got thrown into this world. The Vuelzarus Empire might hold the key to understanding it.¡¹

    <em>If that¡¯s the case, then I¡¯ve got one more reason to visit the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. Showing Krishna to their ship engineers could be very worthwhile.</em>

    ¡¸Master, docking has beenpleted,¡¹

    ¡¸Got it. Alright, let¡¯s disembark and explore the colony while Kugi takes care of the paperwork to contact the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. Gather everyone, would you?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, Master.¡¹

    <em>Time to see what this bustling colony looks like. I¡¯ll have to make sure we don¡¯t get separated in the crowd.</em>

 Chapter 499: ã€ŒReally? Love, Courage, and Hope, Huhâ€¦ã€

    Chapter 499: ¡¸Really? Love, Courage, and Hope, Huh¡­¡¹

    ¡¸This is something a little different from the bustling colonies I¡¯ve seen up until now.¡¹

    Afternding on the Neeparc Prime Colony and walking around for a bit, I couldn¡¯t help but mutter that to myself. <em>How should I put it? It¡¯s not really the clientele¡­ the people walking around just seem different.</em> The ones who looked like the new settlers seemed excited, their eyes brimming with life. Meanwhile, the merchants¡¯ eyes were gleaming with thoughts of profit. <em>That energy they¡¯re giving off is likely what¡¯s making the entire colony feel so lively.</em>

    ¡¸What¡¯s goin¡¯ on? Feels like there¡¯s a lotta rich-lookin¡¯ people around, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸Now that you mention it, maybe? Why is that, though?¡¹

    ¡¸Thes are usually reserved for top taxpayers or holders of first-ss citizenship, those who¡¯ve contributed greatly to the Empire. Other than that, only a small number of selected lucky people can settle onside residential areas.¡¹

    Wiska¡¯s response to Tina and Mimi¡¯s innocent question showed a hint of dissatisfaction at the state of the Empire¡¯s society. <em>Ah, I see. First-ss citizenship, huh? That makes sense. The prerequisite for living in aside residential area is first-ss citizenship. I don¡¯t know the exact conditions to acquire that status, but as Wiska pointed out, it¡¯s probably reserved for the wealthy or people who¡¯ve made significant contributions to the Empire, like through military or public service. No wonder most people here look well off.</em>

    ¡¸What kind of people are in that lucky handful?¡¹

    ¡¸There are a few slots for people without first-ss citizenship to be selected as settlers inside residential areas. It seems like only a few people from each colony can be selected, though.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­ You know quite a bit, don¡¯t you?¡¹¡¸Um, well¡­ you were nning on building a house in aside residential area, so I looked into it a little.¡¹

    Without thinking, I found myself patting Wiska on the head as she fidgeted nervously. <em>She¡¯s a proper adult woman, around my age, but her height just makes her head easy to pat¡­ I don¡¯t usually end up doing that with someone of Mimi¡¯s height, though.</em>

    ¡¸As expected of my little sister, you really know how to y the cute card¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I-It¡¯s not like I¡¯m doing this on purpose, you know!?¡¹

    Tina gave her sister a look of suspicion, despite her protests. <em>Honestly, I thought the same for a second, but well, she¡¯s cute, so I can¡¯t help it.</em>

    ¡¸The ones with the gleaming eyes are the merchants. If they can afford to use the gateway, they¡¯re probably from arge enough tradingpany.¡¹

    ¡¸I see. I guess situations like this create a special demand, which makes it easier to make a profit, but it also feels like a bit of a risky game. Like ordering arge supply of materials thinking they¡¯ll sell, only for someone else to beat them to the punch, turning it into dead stock.¡¹

    <em>Lately, Mimi has started talking about things from a merchant¡¯s perspective more and more. It must be the result of not just managing our supply goods, but also taking charge of trading using the cargo space of the ck Lotus. I really hope she keeps developing those skills, maybe even enough to be a fully-fledged merchant in her own right.</em>

    ¡¸Yeah, that would be a nightmare for a merchant. That¡¯s why they¡¯re so desperate for information. If they mess up, the rumors will spread like wildfire.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸Life can be harsh, huh? I wonder if I¡¯ll ever have to deal with that kind of harshness myself someday.¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Well, who knows? As long as you are with Hiro-kun, you might be free from that particr kind of hardship¡­ but you¡¯ll probably end up facing greater danger to your life instead.¡¹

    ¡¸I can¡¯t argue with that¡­¡¹

    I responded to the exchange between Dr. Shouko and Neve with a wry smile. <em>For better or worse, as long as they stick with me, they¡¯re unlikely to encounter the usual harshness of life. Most issues can probably be resolved through money, brute force, my status as a tinum Ranker, or even my title as an honorary viscount of the Empire. However, relying too much on those solutions might eventuallye back to bite me, so I¡¯ll need to exercise some restraint.</em>

    ¡¸Oh? Isn¡¯t that them? The people here to meet us?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, my Lord. I believe you¡¯re correct.¡¹

    Kugi nodded as she confirmed the people I had pointed out. We weren¡¯t just aimlessly people-watching in the busy port area; we were waiting for someone. That ¡®someone¡¯ was the weing party from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. When we arrived at Neeparc Prime Colony, Kugi had contacted the Vuelzarus Empire¡¯s embassy, and they told us to wait for someone to meet us here.

    ¡¸The ones that havee look a little like samurai¡­¡¹

    There were three people who appeared to be our weing party. One was a man about my height with what looked like horns sprouting from his hairline. The second was a woman with sharp animal ears, simr to Kugi¡¯s, on top of her head. Thest one was another woman, but the animal ears on her head were rounder. The horned man stood in the center, with the two women walking behind him, suggesting he was the leader or superior among them.

    They were all dressed in something resembling traditional Japanese attire, each carrying what appeared to be a katana at their waist. However, unlike samurai, they didn¡¯t carry both a long sword and a short sword. Each of them had only one de at their side.

    ¡¸I humbly greet you. My name is Ranshin, and I serve as the head guard of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¯s cathedral here in Neeparc Prime Colony. Am I correct in addressing Captain Hiro, the shrine maiden Seijo-dono, and your esteemedpanions?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, that¡¯s correct. I¡¯m Captain Hiro. Sorry to trouble you withing all the way here.¡¹

    ¡¸This is part of my duty as a guard, so please don¡¯t concern yourself. Rather, I apologize for keeping you waiting and not meeting you directly at the port. The two behind me are my subordinates, Moegi and Konoha. You two, introduce yourselves.¡¹

    ¡¸Understood, I am Moegi. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m Konoha. Nice to meet you.¡¹

    The two behind Ranshin introduced themselves with a polite bow, so I returned the gesture. Since we were on introductions, I briefly introduced the rest of my crew as well.

    ¡¸It¡¯s not ideal to continue standing around here. Allow me to escort you to our cathedral. There¡¯s a vehicle waiting for us nearby.¡¹

    ¡¸Understood. But are you sure it¡¯s alright for such arge group to just drop in like this?¡¹

    ¡¸There¡¯s no problem at all. Please, this way.¡¹

    With that, Ranshin turned and began leading the way, so we all followed behind him in a loose line.

    ¡¸Huh?¡¹

    As I walked, I noticed something odd. Despite the fact that more than ten of us, including Ranshin¡¯s group, were walking together¡ªand, besides me, everyone was either an eye-catching beauty, a cute girl, or dressed in some rather unusual outfits¡ªwe weren¡¯t drawing any attention from the people around us. I couldn¡¯t help but voice my surprise.

    ¡¸Is something wrong?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, something feels a bit off¡­ Ah, I see.¡¹

    Konoha, the round-eared samurai girl walking near me, seemed to overhear my muttering and asked what was wrong. But now that I was paying closer attention, I quickly figured out the source of the odd feeling. Moegi, the fox-eared samurai beauty, was emitting some sort of mental wave. She was probably using the so-called second power ofw¡ªa kind of telepathic psionic power, to mentally interfere with the passersby. It must be useful for avoiding attention, stealth, or perception-blocking.

    ¡¸You realized, of course. It¡¯s to be expected from someone trained under the shrine maiden.¡¹

    Moegi said with a slightugh. <em>Yep, she¡¯s definitely beautiful. But¡­ Kugi-san, could you stop quietly tugging at my sleeve in protest? I get it, I shouldn¡¯t have those thoughts, but that doesn¡¯t mean you need to make a scene. And now Mimi¡¯s joined in too. Ah! The two Dwarven sisters there, stop! Tugging from behind is making it hard to walk! Please stop, making a scene already!</em>

    <em>¡¸You all seem¡­ quite close.¡¹</em>

    ¡¸Well, yes. They are more than I deserve honestly.¡¹

    Konohamented on our antics while giving me a look that was almost exasperated. From an outsider¡¯s perspective, I probably look like a bad man ying with multiple girls, the thing is that I can¡¯t me anyone for thinking like that. If I were in her shoes, I¡¯d probably be giving myself the same kind of look.

    ¡¸Considering Hiro-dono¡¯s position, it¡¯s not a bad thing. In fact, it should be greatly weed.¡¹

    ¡¸Really? I thought it might be seen as a risk factor,¡¹

    <em>I thought that from the perspective of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, they wouldn¡¯t be too thrilled about the number of people like Mimi around me¡ªpeople who could easily be a ¡®detonation switch¡¯ for me, a human bomb.</em>

    ¡¸Not at all. After all, what strengthens people and gives them the power to resist despair has always been love, courage, and hope. That¡¯s the way of the world.¡¹

    ¡¸Really? Love, courage, and hope, huh¡­?¡¹

    Without even looking back, Ranshin said this with a calm demeanor as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and continued to lead us forward. <em>Love, courage, and hope, huh¡­? Well maybe from the point of view of a civilization based on psionic technology, this kind of spiritual thing is more important than it seems. This man¡¯s words have piqued my curiosity about the Holy Vuelzarus Empire and its beliefs.</em>

 Chapter 500: ã€ŒIs that soâ€¦? Maybeâ€¦?ã€

    Chapter 500: ¡¸Is that so¡­? Maybe¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸This is, well, quite the fantastic sight, isn¡¯t it¡­?¡¹

    Upon arriving at the cathedral of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, I couldn¡¯t help but mutter in awe, the building itself was quite grand, but it wasn¡¯t the building that had surprised me, but rather the floating sphere that was in the courtyard. Floating in the air was a sphere about two meters in diameter. The sphere looked like a ball of purplish smoke, and what seemed like mes. In reality, it was a massive concentration of psionic power. <em>What is this thing being used for? Why this enormous amount of psionic power is being stored in a ce like this?</em>

    ¡¸Are you interested in it?¡¹

    ¡¸Of course. What is that thing?¡¹

    When I asked Moegi, who had called out to me, she easily exined its nature.

    ¡¸That is an umtor that stores the power ofw so it can be used for long-rangemunication devices. See those devices over there, there, and there? They amplify the power ofw gathered in the cathedral and fix it in space for storage. This is the only way we can directlymunicate with the home country. After all, the power ofw required to use these devices can¡¯t be supplied by a single person.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­ This thing fixes psionic power in space¡­ How do you do that? That¡¯s incredible.¡¹

    <em>Being able to fix energy in space and store it is a remarkable feat, isn¡¯t it? I have no idea how much energy can be stored there, but¡ªyep, our engineers and researchers are already looking at it with gleaming eyes.</em>

    ¡¸Once we visit the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, you will probably have the chance to learn the technical theory behind it, so keep your curiosity in check for now.¡¹¡¸Aww¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Boo, boo!¡¹

    A chorus of boos came my way, but I ignored them. <em>Hey! Stop trying to scan the damn thing with that scanner! Where did you even pull that from? Do you carry it with you all the time?</em>

    ¡¸Alright, alright. You can take a lookter. LATER. Sorry, but could you lead the way?¡¹

    ¡¸Hehe, of course. This way, please.¡¹

    Moegi, with a soft smile, led us toward where Ranshin and Konoha were waiting at the entrance of the cathedral. As I followed her, Kugi and Mimi tugged on the hem of my clothes in protest. <em>Look, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m following Moegi just because she¡¯s a graceful, beautiful fox-eared woman. I¡¯m just trying to get things done quickly, that¡¯s all. You should learn a little from Elma, look howposed she is.</em>

    ¡¸¡­¡¹

    <em>Correction. She isn¡¯tposed, she is trying to actposed. The angle of her ears is the same as when she is a little angry, her ears always point slightly backward like that.</em> Meanwhile, Tina, Wiska, and Professor Shouko were way too engrossed in the psionic technology to even notice. Mei was¡­ well, Mei was her usual self. Neve was still inside her pod next to Professor Shouko, so I couldn¡¯t tell what she was thinking.

    <em>Ah, the fluffy fox tail swaying right in front of me is the only thing bringing me peace right now¡ªMoegi only has one tail, though. Kugi has three. I guess there are physical differences between individuals even if they are of the same race.</em>

    ¡¸My Lord, staring at someone¡¯s tail is bad manners. It could be considered, um, harassment.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so¡­? The manners of the Holy Empire sure are tricky.¡¹

    As I pondered on the fox-eared girls¡¯ physiology, Kugi scolded me. <em>Is staring at someone¡¯s tail the same level of harassment as staring at someone¡¯s chest or rear? Or could it be even worse? I have no idea. None at all.</em>

    ¡¸Please remove your shoes before stepping up.¡¹

    ¡¸Got it.¡¹

    Konoha stopped us at the entrance of what I guess you could call the cathedral¡¯s foyer or dirt floor and instructed us to remove our shoes. I obediently took off my shoes and stepped onto the wooden floor. <em>Hmm, this ce has a distinct atmosphere that reminds me of traditional Japanese homes or shrines.</em> Kugi, Elma, and Mimi had no trouble removing their shoes and stepping up onto the floor, but the others seemed to fumble a bit. I suppose they weren¡¯t ustomed to a culture of removing shoes before entering a space like this. <em>Now that I think about it, the elves also had a certain vibe that felt vaguely Asian, or at least reminiscent of Japanese culture in some way.</em>

    <em>But why is Mimi so used to this?</em>

    ¡¸Oh! I visit Kugi¡¯s room quite often!¡¹

    ¡¸That exins it.¡¹

    <em>Now that she mentioned it, Kugi¡¯s room has a tatami-likeyout, and she enforces a strict no-shoes policy beyond the entryway. Mimi must be ustomed to it since she regrly hangs out there.</em>

    ¡¸Come to think of it, we don¡¯t often visit Kugi¡¯s room, do we?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s because Kugi-chan usuallyes to visit us.¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t either¡­ I¡¯m always holed up in myb.¡¹

    ¡¸Please feel free to drop by anytime.¡¹

    ¡¸You should really step out of your room more Doctor.¡¹

    We continued talking as we were guided by the three guards toward the inner part of the cathedral. <em>Hmm, this ce really reminds me of a shrine or temple. There is also something else. It feels like psionic power is coursing through the entire building¡ªthese aren¡¯t just remnants, there is an active circuit of energy here</em>.<em> I might be imagining things, but the various decorations on the walls seem to be glowing faintly in a blue-violet hue.</em>

    ¡¸¡­Are you interested in it?¡¹

    Once again, Moegi had quietly sidled up next to me. She must have noticed me absentmindedly ncing around as we walked. But before I could respond, Kugi intercepted her¡ªliterally, by slipping between us and clinging to my arm.

    ¡¸My Lord, this cathedral has a system that absorbs the surplus power ofw generated by the people inside and stores it in the umtor you saw earlier. Additionally, it provides protective functions for the building. The protective barrier created by this is integrated into the cathedral structure itself, which is why you feel its presence throughout the entire ce.¡¹

    ¡¸I see. So psionic technology is embedded into the building itself. Wait a second, though¡ªcouldn¡¯t that be a problem? If it starts drawing from me, won¡¯t it cause an overflow or something?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯d like to say it¡¯s fine, but¡­ it seems a bit challenging. I apologize, Commander. I¡¯ll go help with the control systems.¡¹

    ¡¸Please do. We¡¯ll be fine on our own.¡¹

    Ranshin acknowledged Moegi¡¯s suggestion, and she hurried off. Moegi had lost a little of herposure after a brief telepathic exchange. She must have received a request for backup from the management team, likely due to my overwhelming psionic power. <em>Sorry about that¡ªI can¡¯t help it, I have too much psionic power.</em>

    Thanks to my training with Kugi, I¡¯d gotten much better at controlling it, and I was no longer in a constant state of leaking power. But that didn¡¯t change the sheer magnitude of the potential I have. Even if the system was only absorbing a tiny percentage, my psionic power was at a scale that was orders of magnitude beyond the norm. We¡¯re talking about the kind of power that could wipe out multiple star systems if it goes berserk. It wouldn¡¯t be surprising if the absorption and storage systems were overwhelmed while trying to handle it.

    ¡¸Sorry for causing so much trouble just by being here.¡¹

    ¡¸There is no need for you to apologize, Hiro-dono. Rather, we are in awe of your power, which exceeds our expectations. And more impressive is your ability to control such overwhelming force and keep it contained. I¡¯ve heard you are also an aplished swordsman. I would love the chance to cross des with you.¡¹

    ¡¸Commander¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I know, I know. It¡¯s truly unfortunate. This colony is far too fragile for people like us to engage in battle at full strength.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so¡­? Maybe¡­?¡¹

    <em>Wait a minute, this guy with the horns is seriously suggesting that if we fought at full power, the colony could be destroyed. That¡¯s a bit extreme, isn¡¯t it? Well¡­ maybe not. It could happen. Even during my training sessions with Mei, we have to hold back, or the ck Lotus¡¯s storage bay, where we spar, might get wrecked from my psionic power.</em>

    As I mulled this over, we walked a bit further until we arrived at what seemed to be our destination¡ªa room located quite deep within the cathedral.

    ¡¸Overseer, I¡¯ve brought Hiro-dono, Seijou-dono, and theirpanions.¡¹

    ¡¸Please,e in.¡¹

    At the sound of the voice from inside, Ranshin slid open a door that resembled a traditional Japanese fusuma. Inside, a man was waiting for us. He was dressed in something that reminded me of a Shinto priest¡¯s attire. The ears on his head were round, like Konoha¡¯s. <em>Is he a bear? A tanuki? Maybe a weasel? I can¡¯t tell.</em>

    ¡¸It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Fushin, the overseer of this cathedral.¡¹

    ¡¸Thank you for the kind introduction. I¡¯m Captain Hiro, a mercenary. You might already know, but this is Kugi, a shrine maiden, and these are my crew.¡¹

    I introduced each of my crew members as I took a seat on the prepared cushion. I sat cross-legged, while Kugi, in a formal seiza posture. The rest of the crew, who weren¡¯t used to sitting on the floor, assumed the position that was easier for them. <em>Huh? why is Mimi sitting in seiza too? Maybe Kugi taught her?</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯ve heard that preparations in the homnd are nearlyplete, and the fleet to escort you is already on standby. The only thing left is to reach an agreement with the Grakkan Empire so they allow us the use of the Gateway, which shouldn¡¯t take much time.¡¹

    ¡¸Already on standby, huh? That¡¯s pretty fast.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s because you already informed us through Seijou-dono about your intention to visit us through our embassy in the Grakkan Empire Capital, Hiro-dono. We had plenty of time to prepare.¡¹

    ¡¸I see.¡¹

    <em>So they¡¯d already started moving since before we left Grakkius. No wonder everything¡¯s so ready.</em>

    ¡¸We¡¯re also nning to return to the homnd on this trip, so it seems we¡¯ll be traveling together.¡¹

    ¡¸That makes sense. I think I heard something about a personnel exchange happening as well.¡¹

    <em>I remember Kugi mentioning something about that. It¡¯s logical¡ªif they¡¯re sending a fleet anyway, it¡¯s more efficient to conduct personnel exchanges and trade at the same time.</em>

    ¡¸Exactly. Within a few days, or at thetest, within a week, the escort fleet should arrive at this colony. Until then, you¡¯re wee to stay here at the cathedral.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah¡­ um, I appreciate the offer, but I think I¡¯d feel more rxed staying on my own ship.¡¹

    When I nced at Kugi, she gave a nod, confirming my thoughts.

    ¡¸Yes, I agree with my Lord. However, staying on the ship all the time might be boring, so how about visiting the cathedral from time to time? You could learn more about the culture of our nation in advance, and I believe both you and your crew would find some fascinating things here.¡¹

    ¡¸That sounds like a good idea, but are you sure we won¡¯t be a bother?¡¹

    ¡¸Not at all, we would be delighted to have you. To be frank, there¡¯s also a practical reason for my invitation. Before we head to the homnd, we¡¯d like to have a better grasp of the extent of Hiro-dono¡¯s power. As I mentioned, many buildings in the homnd have the same functionality as this cathedral¡ªthey amplify and store the power ofw of those who stay within them.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, I see. So if someone like me suddenly shows up, there¡¯s a chance for an overflow, just like what¡¯s happening here.¡¹

    ¡¸Precisely.¡¹

    Fushin nodded with that same calm smile. <em>That makes sense. If that¡¯s their reasoning, then I suppose I could go along with it. I don¡¯t sense any malicious intent behind it.</em>

    <em>Of course, that doesn¡¯t mean I canpletely drop my guard. I trust Kugi, but the Holy Vuelzarus Empire might have other motives. In the worst-case scenario, they might try to capture me and use me as a massive psionic energy source.</em>

    <em>Yeah, I¡¯m probably being overly suspicious, but better safe than sorry. It¡¯s wiser to stay cautious and avoid any irreversible situations than to regret itter.</em>

 Chapter 501: ã€ŒAgain?ã€

    Chapter 501: ¡¸Again?¡¹

    ¡¸Again?¡¹

    After finishing the greetings at the cathedral of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, I returned home, gathered everyone in the dining room, and told them to be cautious of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. But the only reaction was Elma looking at me with exasperation. It seems she thought I was being overly cautious for no reason.

    ¡¸If I were just some run-of-the-mill mercenary, we probably wouldn¡¯t have to worry too much. Or if we were dealing with the Grakkan Empire, which has little to no interest in psionic technology, it wouldn¡¯t be a concern either. But we¡¯re heading to a nation whose civilization is based on psionics, the Holy Vuelzarus Empire has a profound understanding of psionic power and uses it every day. These people know exactly how to make use of someone like me. I think it¡¯s worth being cautious, don¡¯t you?¡¹

    ¡¸You say that, but doesn¡¯t that also mean they¡¯re the ones who understand the dangers of dealing with people like you the most? I don¡¯t think you need to worry.¡¹

    ¡¸If they know how dangerous my powers are, they¡¯ve probably researched how to deal with them. They might even have developed technology to harness the energy I release if I ¡®explode.¡¯ And, don¡¯t forget that the only information we have about the dangers of my power going berserkes from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire itself. Who knows how much they¡¯re keeping from us? We can¡¯t afford to let our guard down.¡¹

    <em>I countered Elma¡¯s argument with what I think is a pretty sound argument. The more dangerous something is, the more people will research and try to exploit it. And there¡¯s no proof they¡¯ve told me everything.</em>

    ¡¸Um¡­ my Lord¡­ I swear, we really aren¡¯t plotting anything sinister, really¡­ I promise¡­¡¹

    Watching me and Elma argue, Kugi was on the verge of tears. She looked at me, practically pleading, and seemed like she might burst into tears at any moment. <em>Using tears is unfair, isn¡¯t it?</em>

    ¡¸Um, Hiro-sama, I think you¡¯re being a bit hard on Kugi-san¡­ Are you doubting her as well?¡¹¡¸No, I¡¯m not doubting Kugi. But there¡¯s a difference between not doubting Kugi and trusting the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. Just because Kugi doesn¡¯t know about it doesn¡¯t mean the Holy Vuelzarus Empire isn¡¯t nning to capture and use someone like me.¡¹

    Tina gave a wry smile at my response to Mimi.

    ¡¸Boss, you¡¯re almost paranoid¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm¡­ You might be a bit too suspicious, but I also think there¡¯s no harm in being cautious. When ites to dealing with nations, their decisions are based on national interests.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸Ipletely agree with that. It¡¯s understandable that the captain would be wary of a massive organization like an interster empire. I¡¯m with the captain on this one. ¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸That¡¯s true. But is it really possible for them to control or even harness Hiro-kun¡¯s psionic power? I mean, there are ways topletely destroy and manipte a person¡¯s mind or consciousness, but one wrong move would release an uncontrolled energy that¡¯s several times, even ten or twenty times more powerful than a supernova, right?¡¹

    <em>It¡¯s true, as Shouko-sensei pointed out, someone like me, a ¡®visitor¡¯, is an inherently risky entity to tamper with in a hostile manner¡ªif we believe what the Holy Vuelzarus Empire says, at least.</em>

    ¡¸No matter how advanced the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¯s psionic technology may be, I find it hard to believe they could control such a massive amount of energy. If they had the technology to harness something like that, they would¡¯ve unified the gxy long ago and moved toward fulfilling whatever mission they¡¯re pursuing, right?¡¹

    <em>That does make sense. If they could fully control and freely use such immense energy, conquering the gxy would be a simple task for them.</em>

    ¡¸But in reality, that¡¯s not the case. They keep to their rtively small territory, limit contact with the outside world as much as possible, and focus on fulfilling their mission. This suggests they don¡¯t have that level of technological capability. So, as Kugi-kun mentioned, the best approach for the Holy Vuelzarus Empire would be to avoid provoking you unnecessarily and build a rtionship where we can cooperate if any issues arise.¡¹reasoned.

    <em>Shouko-sensei¡¯s argument makes sense. At the very least, it seems more logical than my vague sense of caution. Hmm, could that be true? If they really had the technology to exploit me, they would have alreadypleted whatever penance or duty the citizens of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire were talking about, right? Now that it¡¯s framed that way, it does seem usible.</em>

    ¡¸At the cathedral today, they treated you with great respect. Not only that, but they even offered to send a full escort fleet from their distant homnd using their gateway. And of course, the Grakkan Empire has been informed about the use of the gateway. The Empire is fully aware of your visit to the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. Plus, Hiro, you¡¯re a recipient of the Gold Star and an honorary viscount of the Empire. If you were to go to the Holy Vuelzarus Empire and not return, it would be a diplomatic incident.¡¹

    Elma added after Shouko-sensei, speaking from the perspective of a noble of the Grakkan Empire.

    ¡¸On top of that, you are going to be married soon to a Marquis House, an Earl House, and a Viscount House, and one of yourpanions is your fianc¨¦e and a member of one of those families. Plus, although unofficial, Mimi is the grand-niece of the Emperor himself. All these connections protect you and us. While they might be a hassle for you, these ties are like armor for us. So, Hiro, it¡¯s about time you stop thinking of yourself as just a simple mercenary.¡¹

    ¡¸Ugh, that stings¡­ but the idea that those cors work as armor is a new perspective. I see now.¡¹

    <em>The titles like Gold Star recipient and honorary viscount, which I once thought of as cors ced on me by the Empire, could actually serve as armor to protect me from other gctic empires. That makes sense. From the Grakkan Empire¡¯s perspective, if someone took away a dog they had cored and locked it up, they¡¯d be furious. It wouldn¡¯t work against an enemy like the Vereverem Federation, though.</em>

    ¡¸Hmm¡­ so, we should be cautious¡­ but in moderation?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, keep it moderate. While they might not have any ill intentions to trap you, there could be honey traps or emotional maniption. You¡¯re a soft-hearted guy who can¡¯t help but assist cute, troubled girls, right? Be careful of that. Don¡¯t go around picking up too many girls recklessly.¡¹

    ¡¸Hey, don¡¯t make it sound like I¡¯ve been picking up girls all this time¡­¡¹

    <em>If I had been that unprincipled, the ck Lotus would be overflowing with girls by now. Probably. Though I don¡¯t think I¡¯m that attractive so maybe not.</em>

    ¡¸Look, instead of worrying about stupid things, you should do something about Kugi, you¡¯ve made her cry because of your suspicions.¡¹

    ¡¸Alright. Kugi, I¡¯m sorry for doubting you. I never actually doubted you personally. Please forgive me.¡¹

    ¡¸No, my Lord, it is my fault that you cannot fully trust my country. I will strive to earn more of your trust in the future¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, it¡¯s not your fault, Kugi¡­ I¡¯m really sorry.¡¹

    <em>It seems my suspicion has deeply hurt Kugi. This is part of who I am, and it¡¯s not something I can easily change, but I should try to broaden my perspective a bit more in the future¡­ I should reflect on this.</em>

    <strong>¡¸I don¡¯t think the captain¡¯s thinking is wrong, though. To a massive organization like a nation, individual lives and dignity are as insignificant as garbage. Let your guard down, and they¡¯ll use you up and throw you away.¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Neve, stop stirring things up. I understand your distrust of nations, but let¡¯s leave it at that. Now, the discussion is over. Once the escort fleet arrives, we¡¯ll be leaving the Grakkan Empire for a while, so if there¡¯s anything you need to do before then¡ªlike contacting your family¡ªdo it soon. Tina and Wiska, you both have a lot of people to reach out to, don¡¯t you?¡¹

    Elma skillfully brought the conversation to a close, lightly scolding Neve, whose distrust of nations stemmed from her own experiences. <em>Elma really is reliable. If I mentioned anything about the wisdom of age, she¡¯d probably break my arm though.</em>

    ¡¸Yeah, you¡¯re right. I should get in touch with Mom and Airia.¡¹

    ¡¸I guess I¡¯ll reach out to my adoptive father as well.¡¹

    With that, Tina and even Shouko-sensei made their ns to contact their loved ones, and the meeting dispersed. <em>I, on the other hand, still need to make up with Kugi. Hopefully, as she said, nothing would happen. But who knows? We won¡¯t find out until we actually go. For now, I¡¯ll head to the cathedral tomorrow to gather more information and see how things unfold.</em>

 Chapter 502: ã€ŒI Wonâ€™t Waitã€

    Chapter 502: ¡¸I Won¡¯t Wait¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t worry my Lord, this is only the result of my own shorings. I can¡¯t allow myself to seekfort from you.¡¹

    After our discussion about how to deal with the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, I wanted to check on Kugi, but she responded firmly. Her fox ears stood upright on her head. She seemed determined. However, her three tails were drooping sadly. They hung down limp, betraying her true feelings. No matter how she acted, it was obvious she was just putting on a brave face.

    ¡¸Even if I say it was my fault, you probably won¡¯t ept that so easily.¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t concern yourself with me, this is the result of my own actions.¡¹

    <em>Kugi is quite stubborn, so no matter what I say, she won¡¯t be convinced easily. Actually, judging by her tone, there¡¯s no sign she¡¯s even considering it.</em>

    That¡¯s why I decided to take drastic measures.

    ¡¸Yeah, that¡¯s right. You¡¯re that kind of person, Kugi. So¡­¡¹

    I held my breath and slowed down the flow of time.

    Kugi was stillpletely off guard, her strong-willed eyes staring straight into mine. Moving swiftly within the slowed time, I reached out, cupping her head gently in both hands and brought my forehead to hers. Naturally, Kugi couldn¡¯t even react to my sudden move.¡¸¡­I have to do this.¡¹

    ¡¸Huh¡­?¡¹

    Originally, the second power ofw¡ªbasically telepathy, mental interference, and other psionic abilities that interfere with other people¡¯s minds¡ªrelies on harnessing the target¡¯s mental waves in various ways. Physical contact isn¡¯t required to use them. In fact, as Kugi once exined, it¡¯s considered best if these abilities are used without physical touch, allowing one to influence others without detection. However, there are definite advantages to utilizing these abilities through physical contact.

    ¡¸Hn-Pii!?¡¹

    Kugi let out a sound I¡¯d never heard from her before, a shriek that startled even me. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed her tails puffing up like a burst of fur.

    Psionic abilities, ssified under the second power ofw, work by influencing others through mental waves. But when there¡¯s physical contact¡ªespecially when it¡¯s between heads, where our brains are housed¡ªthe power or, rather, the pration of the effect, increases dramatically. In other words, it makes it much easier to transmit mental waves.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸W-Wha¡­?¡¹

    And so, through this direct contact, I sent Kugi my deepest feelings¡ªhow much I trust her and how much faith I have in her. I conveyed everything I could. However¡­

    ¡¸Um, Hiro-sama? Kugi-san¡¯s nose is bleeding!¡¹

    ¡¸Huh?¡¹

    ¡¸Pyaaa¡­¡¹

    For some reason, Kugi was now making a face that no one else should ever see, all while blood dripped from her nose. <em>This is strange. I only wanted her to understand how I felt.</em>

    ¡¸¡­Did I overdo it?¡¹

    ¡¸This is not the time to act confused! Kugi-san? Kugi!-san? Should I call Dr. Shouko?! This is bad!¡¹

    ¡¸It might be best not to shake her too much.¡¹

    While calming down the panicking Mimi, I pulled out my small information terminal. First things first, I should call Dr. Shouko. Maybe Mei, too.

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸Her brain was flooded with endorphins and other neurotransmitters, essentially putting it in a dangerously euphoric state.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Meaning?¡¹

    ¡¸She was one step away from not being able toe back. Don¡¯t ever do that again.¡¹

    ¡¸Understood.¡¹

    I nodded earnestly as Dr. Shouko scolded me in a serious tone. Kugi, who had just finished receiving a diagnosis and treatment, was now dressed in a simple surgical gown¡ª<em>don¡¯t ask why she had to change into it</em>¡ªbut she still had an expression on her face that no one else should ever see. At least the nosebleed had stopped.

    ¡¸What in the world did you do to cause this? Did you make her take some pleasure-inducing drug you took from space pirates? I¡¯m very disappointed in you Hiro-kun.¡¹

    ¡¸No, I didn¡¯t do anything that horrible. It was just¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Just?¡¹

    ¡¸I just pressed my forehead against hers and tried to convey my trust and affection for Kugi using telepathy.¡¹

    ¡¸What¡­ what is that? But isn¡¯t your psionic power supposed to be several times stronger than a supernova explosion or something like that? If you poured that kind of power into Kugi-kun¡¯s head, well, this oue makes sense, doesn¡¯t it?¡¹

    ¡¸Really¡­? Maybe¡­?¡¹

    <em>Now that she mentioned it, that might be true. Did I just do something incredibly dangerous to Kugi? I definitely need to apologize when she wakes up. Wait, does this mean I almost identally killed her? No way¡­ I didn¡¯t think it woulde to that. That was close.</em>

    ¡¸Master, couldn¡¯t this be the perfect non-lethal way to subdue enemies? You only have to train how to control it.¡¹

    ¡¸What a terrifying thought. But it probably won¡¯t work as you expected. Kugi probably ended up like this because of the mutual feelings we share. I doubt it would work on aplete stranger, especially someone we¡¯d need to subdue. Then again, it might depend on the emotions I¡¯m transmitting and the direction of the mental waves¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Are you really reflecting on your actions? If I don¡¯t see enough remorse, I might have to reeducate you myself.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m truly reflecting! I swear I¡¯ll never do it again!¡¹

    <em>Even though I had no ill intentions, I really shouldn¡¯t carelessly use my powers on those close to me. I was incredibly thoughtless. I sincerely regret it from the bottom of my heart. What¡¯s more, I¡¯m terrified of what Dr. Shouko might do to me if she thinks I¡¯m not remorseful enough. You should never make an enemy out of a doctor. Ever. A doctor, someone who understands the intricacies of the human body, also knows how to break it in ways you can¡¯t even imagine.</em>

    ¡¸So, what¡¯s the n for today? Kugi-kun will probably wake up in a few hours, I¡¯d say.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll stay by Kugi¡¯s side¡­ I¡¯m responsible for putting her in this condition, after all.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so? What about the others?¡¹

    ¡¸Let them do what they want. If anyone wants to go shopping or simply take a walk, they can, but make sure that Mei apanies them when they go outside.¡¹

    ¡¸Understood, Master.¡¹

    <em>I¡¯m not sure if the Neeparc Prime Colony has anything my crew would want, but given that it¡¯s a hub for trade, they might stumble upon something interesting. Plus, shopping can be fun in itself.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    Kugi, who had been half-unconscious with that expression she definitely wouldn¡¯t want anyone to see, eventually woke up. At first, she was so dazed and confused that she tried to attack me, but in the end, I managed to calm her down. Once she came to her senses, she was finally herself again.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m really, really sorry.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡¹

    Regaining herposure, Kugi pulled the nket over her head and hid in the bed of the medical bay. However, despite her retreat, her tails were sticking out from under the nket and were even wrapped around my hand.

    After a brief check-up from Dr. Shouko, who confirmed Kugi was fine, she left the room. Even Neve, who usually spent her time hanging around the medical bay, had gone shopping with the others, leaving me and Kugi truly alone in the medical bay.

    ¡¸When you trained me before, you kept telling me that my power is strong, and that I should be careful when using it. I¡¯m really sorry for not following your advice and putting you in danger.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡¹

    Kugi¡¯s three tails were still wrapped around my hand¡ªwell, more like my wrist and arm¡ªtwitched slightly, showing that she could hear me. But even so, she remained buried under the nket, hiding her face. <em>I must have really made her angry.</em>

    ¡¸¡­Are you reflecting on your actions?¡¹

    ¡¸I am.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Then, I guess I¡¯ll forgive you.¡¹

    Her tails unwrapped from my arm and instead, her hand reached out to grab mine, squeezing it tightly. She continued squeezing as if testing the feeling. <em>That¡¯s a little embarrassing.</em>

    ¡¸It¡¯s unfair if it¡¯s just me, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Huh?¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t resist, okay?¡¹

    ¡¸Wait a second¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I won¡¯t wait.¡¹

    As soon as Kugi pulled my hand, the nket flew up with a whoosh! Her other hand reached out toward my face. That hand moved behind my head, and she leaned closer¡ªher forehead touched mine. In the next moment, something flooded into my mind, and I lost consciousness.

 Chapter 503: ã€ŒItâ€™s Still Okayâ€¦ã€

    Chapter 503: ¡¸It¡¯s Still Okay¡­¡¹

    ¡¸My head hurts¡­¡¹

    When I came to, for some reason, I wasn¡¯t in the medical bay but lying on the bed in my room. To make things even stranger, not only Kugi, but Mimi and Wiska were in bed with me as well. <em>Judging by the clothes scattered around, it seems like the others are here too, even though they aren¡¯t visible now¡­ Wait, what time is it?</em>

    ¡¸¡­What the hell happened?¡¹

    I was taking care of Kugi yesterday afternoon. Now, it was the next morning¡ªor rather, almost noon. I lost about twenty hours¡¯ worth of memory. <em>Oh, no, wait. I think I¡¯m starting to remember something.</em> I think Kugi did something to me, and just as I lost consciousness, I was forced to confess all sorts of insane things¡­ Then, based on what I confessed, Kugi did various things to me¡­ and at some point, Mimi and the others came back¡ª<em>ugh, my head!? It hurts every time I try to remember! It feels like my brain is actively refusing to recall anything!</em>

    Clutching my throbbing head, I carefully slipped out of bed, making sure not to wake up Kugi and the others. I headed toward the shower.

    <em>Why, you ask?</em> Well, because it was tantly obvious what we had done. My body was sore, and if you took a closer look, there were marks all over it. <em>Recently, everyone seems to be under some sort of misconception, but let me rify¡ªI have the physical strength of an ordinary person who¡¯s worked out, at best. Unlike the nobility of the Empire, who have undergone body enhancements, I¡¯ll easily break if pushed too hard. Couldn¡¯t they be a little more¡­ gentle?</em>

    After taking a quick shower, I dressed in some fresh underwear andfortable loungewear stored in the shower room. Then, I made my way to the cafeteria. <em>I¡¯m starving</em>. Having lost nearly twenty hours of memory, I had no idea when Ist ate.

    ¡¸Oh, you¡¯re finally up. Good morning.¡¹

    ¡¸Good morning, Boss. Looks like you¡¯re back to your senses now.¡¹¡¸Just from thatment, I can already guess a lot, but I¡¯vepletely lost about twenty hours of memory¡­ Oh, no, you don¡¯t have to tell me what happened. Whenever I try to remember, my head starts hurting because my brain is refusing to recall it.¡¹

    ¡¸Maybe we should do a medical checkter. After all, it¡¯s unlikely that your brain came out of thispletely unscathed.¡¹

    Dr. Shouko said this in a matter-of-fact tone, but her words were terrifying. If even Dr. Shouko thought like that, then it seemed I was really in bad shape. <em>Was I in some kind of hypnotized state? What in the world happened during those lost twenty-four hours? Was it really just my memory that was lost? Or did I lose something more, like my dignity?</em>

    ¡¸So, you¡¯re going to the cathedral today, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, I did say I¡¯d go¡­ Even if it was just a verbal promise, I can¡¯t really break it.¡¹

    I replied while epting a generously portioned breakfast¡ª<em>or is it lunch?</em>¡ªfrom the Tetsujin. Then I sat down at the table where the three of them were already seated. <em>Ahhh, the salty vor of the meal is just what I needed to replenish my lost electrolytes.</em>

    ¡¸You¡¯re quite dutiful, aren¡¯t you? I¡¯ll go wake everyone else up, then.¡¹

    ¡¸Hiro-kun, after you¡¯ve eaten, let¡¯s do a medical check before heading out.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah¡­ Oh, by the way, where¡¯s Neve?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, Neve? She¡¯s sulking in the lounge area.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Sulking?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, because she wasn¡¯t allowed to participate in what happened yesterday.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­I don¡¯t even know how to respond to that.¡¹

    <em>I can already guess what transpired between yesterday and today, and if it is what I think, obviously Neve couldn¡¯t have participated. She still can¡¯t get out of her pod or walk on her own, so it would¡¯ve been too much of a strain for her, and unlike Tina or Wiska, Neve¡¯s body isn¡¯t that of a sturdy dwarf; she, like Mimi and me, had a human body. Her physical limitations made certain things much harder.</em>

    ¡¸Make sure to follow up with herter, alright?¡¹

    ¡¸How exactly am I supposed to do that¡­?¡¹

    Internally, I was holding my head in frustration at Dr. Shouko¡¯s unreasonable suggestion, all the while shoveling food into my stomach.

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    <strong>¡¸Being left out while the rest of you had your fun isn¡¯t something I can just smile and shrug off, Captain.¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Alright, I get it, I get it. I¡¯ll make it up to you okay? Let¡¯s say I owe you one favor. I¡¯ll do whatever you want once, within reason.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸Hmm? Just now, did you say whatever I want?¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸I didn¡¯t say that. I said <em>within reason</em>.¡¹

    With that exchange, Neve¡¯s sulking situation was more or less resolved. <em>Whether it was truly settled is a bit questionable, but since she seems satisfied, I¡¯ll take it as a win. The real problem is when and how she might use this favor. The thought of her cashing in on it when I least expected is a little unnerving. I may have dug myself into a bit of a hole here.</em>

    ¡¸Alright, the check-up is done. Make sure to take these supplements and stay hydrated, okay?¡¹

    ¡¸Got it.¡¹

    The results of my medical check-up were excellent. <em>Being healthy is a wonderful thing.</em> All the soreness I had been feeling in various parts of my body had gone, though I was still given supplements for minerals and vitamins.

    ¡¸Looks like just eating alone won¡¯t cover your needs, so you¡¯ll need these.¡¹

    I decided not to ask too many questions about what exactly the supplements were for. <em>However, in retrospect, not remembering anything from the past day might be a loss¡ªno, I should stop trying to recall. Just thinking about it is making my head hurt again. Besides, everyone, except for Neve and me, seems to have noticeably glowing skin and generally be in a good mood, so I¡¯ll settle for that. It¡¯s important not to ask for too much.</em>

    ¡¸Alright, I¡¯m going to get ready to head out¡­ You¡¯reing too, right Doc?¡¹

    ¡¸Of course. I wouldn¡¯t want to miss the opportunity to learn about psionic technology. Who knows? Maybe I¡¯ll even be able to collect some gic samples.¡¹

    ¡¸Just make sure you do it with consent, alright¡­?¡¹

    <em>I really hope she doesn¡¯t start collecting hair or fur from tails lying around to get her gic samples. That could cause big trouble.</em> As I could imagine her doing exactly that, I firmly reminded her to not do it, but she snapped at me with an indignant: ¡®Of course, I¡¯d never do otherwise!¡¯ I ended up apologizing for doubting her. <em>If you think about it, she got my consent when she took my gic sample as well. Fair enough.</em>

    After cating a still-pouting Shouko, I left the medical bay and headed back to my room to change. I swapped into my usual mercenary outfit, grabbed myser gun, the set of twin swords, and my small information terminal. That small terminal served as amunication device, wallet, and keychain, allowing me to travel light.

    If I were heading to a colony with poor security, I¡¯d usually pack extra gear, like an emergency nanomachine unit, spare energy packs, antiser smoke grenades, or a portable personal shield. But since Neeparc Prime Colony had excellent security, I didn¡¯t bother with the extra bulk. <em>No need to carry around cumbersome equipment unnecessarily.</em>

    ¡¸I have been awaiting your arrival, my Lord.¡¹

    After sending a message to everyone, letting them know we¡¯d be heading to the cathedral and to prepare ordingly, I made my way to the lounge area. There, Kugi was already waiting for me, her fox ears twitching and tail swaying excitedly as she greeted me. Both her ears and tail were gleaming, her fur looking shinier than usual¡ª<em>easily fifty percent more lustrous than normal.</em>

    ¡¸You seem full of energy.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, my Lord. I received a great deal of energy from you yesterday.¡¹

    Kugi responded, cing a hand on her belly and shing me a radiant smile. Her gesture and words, the mixture of the implications of what we had done, and a slight fear that she might actually be able to drain my energy made my heart race. <em>Could it be¡­ Kugi-san, are you no longer taking precautionary measures? Not that it would be a bad thing. I¡¯ll respect the decision of everyone in this matter, including Kugi, and if that¡¯s what they decide, I¡¯ll just have to prepare myself mentally. After all, ever since I decided to get involved with them, I decided to take responsibility for that as well.</em>

    As these thoughts circled in my head, Kugi gently moved closer to me, leaning in to whisper in my ear.

    ¡¸It¡¯s still okay, you don¡¯t have to worry about anything, my Lord.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, r-right¡­¡¹

    <em>Why do I feel like Kugi has beenpletely ying with me since yesterday? As the captain¡ªor rather, as the leader¡ªthis might be an issue. Or maybe not? No, I¡¯m sure this is no big deal. Yeah, nothing at all. I just need to calm down. I¡¯ve been so emotionally shaken up from being led around by Kugi that I need to regain myposure.</em>

 Chapter 504: ã€ŒIf It Doesnâ€™t Hurt, You Wonâ€™t Learnã€

    Chapter 504: ¡¸If It Doesn¡¯t Hurt, You Won¡¯t Learn¡¹

    After finishing our preparations, we headed to the cathedral. This time, no one stayed on the ck Lotus¡ªwe were all setting out together. <em>Though I said ¡®setting out¡¯ it¡¯s not like we¡¯re heading off to battle or anything.</em>

    ¡¸We¡¯ve been expecting you. Wee.¡¹

    ¡¸She looks so annoyed¡­¡¹

    And so, at the entrance to the cathedral of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, we were greeted by Konoha¡ªthe samurai girl with round animal ears¡ªwho wore an incredibly displeased expression. <em>Why, though?</em>

    ¡¸If you¡¯re that bothered by our presence, we can just leave, you know¡­¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s not what I meant¡­ Fushin-dono is waiting for you all. Please, follow me.¡¹

    With those words, Konoha turned on her heel and began quietly leading us. The mental waves she was giving off were minimal, making it hard to gauge her emotions. Most likely, she¡¯s been trained to suppress such feelings from leaking out.

    <em>Still, I don¡¯t get it. Why is Konoha being so cold? Not just to us in general, but especially to me. I don¡¯t remember doing anything to make her dislike me.</em>

    ¡¸Why do you think she¡¯s being so cold?¡¹¡¸Who knows? Maybe she¡¯s just a neat freak.¡¹

    ¡¸She probably thinks you¡¯re a scumbag for keeping all these women around.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, there¡¯s no talking my way out of that one¡­¡¹

    <em>I want to say in my defense that it¡¯s not like I¡¯m actively gathering women or that I¡¯m not indiscriminate, but objectively speaking, it¡¯s true that the number of women I¡¯m involved with is quite high. And considering the fact that I spentst night entangled with all of them¡ªalthough I hardly remember any of it¡ªI can¡¯t really deny I like women, so if that¡¯s the reason she dislikes me, I can do little to change her opinion.</em>

    We all removed our shoes and made our way to the inner room we were shown yesterday. Inside the room was Fushin waiting for us.

    ¡¸Oh, we¡¯ve been expecting you. I¡¯m d to see you¡¯re all looking well today.¡¹

    ¡¸Thanks. We came because you invited us, but I feel a bit guilty about taking up your time like this.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, no need to worry about that. This is part of our duty, after all. I hope you enjoy your time here to the fullest.¡¹

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸So, you¡¯ve decided to observe the training of the guards?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, the main reason I contacted the Holy Vuelzarus Empire is to learn more about the power ofw and how to use it, so it only makes sense, right?¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­¡¹

    Konoha was guiding me to the cathedral training grounds, but looked really annoyed and was clearly displeased about having to guide me.

    <em>Seriously, why are you so cold to me? What did I do to you? Well, since the opportunity has presented itself, I might as well ask. Fortunately, only me and Konoha are heading to the training grounds. No one else is with us.</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯m not one for beating around the bush, so I¡¯ll ask directly¡ªdid I do something to upset you?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­No.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, that¡¯s a lie¡­¡¹

    <em>That pause at the start tells me everything. The problem is, I have no idea what it could be. Hmm, could it really be, as Elma suggested, that she¡¯s just a neat freak?</em>

    ¡¸Is it because you¡¯re not happy with how close I am with several women, or something like that?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­That¡¯s not entirely unrted, sigh¡­¡¹

    She sighed and nced back at me briefly.

    ¡¸Why are you involved with other women when you already enjoy the affection of the priestess?¡¹

    ¡¸Huh? What kind of question is that? By the time I met Kugi, there were already five other women in my life. Should I have neglected them just because she showed up? That¡¯d make me an even bigger scumbag, don¡¯t you think?¡¹

    Well, Dr. Shouko and Neve joined my crew after Kugi had already joined us, but there were reasons. Shouko was not just someone I had personal feelings for¡ª<em>having a doctor on board is necessary to protect everyone</em>. And as for Neve, it was pretty much a given that if I didn¡¯t take her in, she¡¯d have died on the streets. <em>Well, maybe not that extreme. It¡¯s possible some noble would have picked her up, to use her as a political pawn.</em>

    ¡¸T-that may be true, but¡­¡¹

    ¡¸From your perspective, I¡¯m probably just a no-good yboy for being involved with other women besides Kugi, and I won¡¯t deny it. But I¡¯m serious about all of them. I¡¯m doing my best to treat them with respect and face them honestly. I¡¯m not perfect, and I know I probably can¡¯t make everyone perfectly happy all the time, but I¡¯m making an effort. And it¡¯s not just me¡ªit¡¯s all of us, working together, supporting each other.¡¹

    <em>In fact, I think I¡¯m the one being supported by everyone more than the other way around. I¡¯vepletely left things like organizing the rotation for sharing me to the girls. I think Mei is mainly the one handling that. I really can¡¯t thank everyone enough for following her arrangements without fighting between themselves, and still care for me.</em>

    ¡¸That said, I don¡¯t n on pushing my way of thinking onto you. Anyway, I understand now why you dislike me. If you get a chance, could you try talking to Kugi? She might have some concerns she can only share with someone from her homnd. And if hear anyints about me, I¡¯d appreciate it if you let me know.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­I¡¯ll think about it.¡¹

    It seemed like my words had reached her, even if only slightly, as Konoha¡¯s attitude softened a little. <em>Communication really is important, after all.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸Alright, let¡¯s fight!¡¹

    Ranshin beamed as he dered this when he saw me arrive at the training grounds guided by Konoha.

    <em>Is his brain made of muscle too?</em>

    ¡¸Uh, I¡¯m actually just here to observe the training¡­ And not for sword-fighting, I came to see power ofw training.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, that¡¯s a bit difficult, Hiro-dono.¡¹

    ¡¸Why?¡¹

    ¡¸This colony is too fragile for us to use our power ofw in battle. If we had the right facilities, it would be a different story.¡¹

    ¡¸Facilities, huh? What kind of setup would that take?¡¹

    I knew how much damage the first power ofw¡ªtelekic-based psionic power¡ªcould do in battle, so I was curious about what sort of equipment could withstand an attack of that magnitude.

    ¡¸We have a specialized facility that deploys a type of mental space where you can train without worrying about bodily harm or damage to your surroundings. Unfortunately, such advanced facilities are only avable in the homnd.¡¹

    Ranshin sighed with a look of genuine regret after answering my question. <em>Wait, what?! They have facilities that allow them to train at full strength, and even simte a life-or-death battle? Are these guys even more muscle-brained than I thought?</em>

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t there a more¡­ I don¡¯t know, peaceful way to train? Kugi taught me some basic telekinesis exercises that I could do in my room.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, I must admit, I¡¯m not very good with such slow and steady training.¡¹

    ¡¸Commander Ranshin excels in enhancing his own abilities with the first power ofw. On the other hand, he¡¯s not as proficient in projecting power ofw outside of his body.¡¹

    Besides the slightly embarrassed Ranshin, Moegi exined with a wry smile on her face.

    <em>I see¡­ so he¡¯s the type who enhances his own body rather than firing off attacks.</em>

    ¡¸What exactly is first power ofw enhancement? What can it do?¡¹

    ¡¸My specialty lies in improving my physical abilities, enhancing self-healing, and reinforcing the durability of my body and weapons.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m still not quite getting it¡­ How effective are those body enhancementspared to the enhancements received by the nobles from the Grakkan Empire?

    ¡¸Ah, I¡¯ve sparred with some nobles before using mock swords. Their reaction speed was decent, but their strength and speed werecking. And, frankly, they were far too fragile.¡¹

    ¡¸Okay, I think I get it now.¡¹

    <em>It¡¯s probably safe to assume Ranshin¡¯s body reinforcement is strong enough to treat Grakkan nobles like children. He might even rival Mei in terms of physical ability, or maybe he surpasses her. The fact that he casually described this colony as ¡®fragile¡¯ suggests his power is well beyond that. If he can destroy the colony with his bare hands, those enhancements must give him power on the level of a Titan-ssbat bot or worse. That¡¯s terrifying.</em>

    ¡¸Sigh¡­ Let¡¯s do it. A mock battle. But just so you know, I¡¯m only slightly above average in terms of physical strength. If you hit me with a mock sword, I¡¯ll definitely end up with broken bones and coughing up blood.¡¹

    ¡¸Haha, in that case, let me teach you how to use self-enhancement power ofw. The best way to learn how to use it is a real battle.¡¹

    ¡¸Will it hurt?¡¹

    ¡¸If it doesn¡¯t hurt, you won¡¯t learn.¡¹

    ¡¸Someone stop this guy!¡¹

    Ranshin tossed me a mock sword¡ªor rather, a mock katana¡ªand began closing the distance with a terrifyingly cheerful smile.

    <em>Help!</em>

 Chapter 505: ã€ŒHuh? Whatâ€™s That? That Kind of Blasphemous Crop isâ€¦ã€

    Chapter 505: ¡¸Huh? What¡¯s That? That Kind of sphemous Crop is¡­¡¹

    Ranshin was strong. He was a natural-born physical powerhouse. On top of that, he strengthened his physical abilities and endurance with the first power ofw, and he also excelled in thebat sense to control it.

    ¡¸Fighting you is tougher than fighting Mei¡­¡¹

    I don¡¯t know whether it was ten or fifteen minutes, but I managed to hold out for quite some time against Ranshin, who gradually increased his speed and power as if testing my limits. In the end, I found myself sprawled out on the floor of the training hall, drenched in sweat.

    ¡¸Just the fact that you managed to hold out against Commander Ranshin for that long is impressive, you know.¡¹

    Konoha crouched beside me, wiping my sweat-drenched face and forehead with something like a towel. <em>I don¡¯t want to move a single finger¡­</em>

    ¡¸You are far tougher than any of the Empire¡¯s nobles, Hiro-dono. If I hadn¡¯t reinforced myself, my fingers would¡¯ve been crushed multiple times. It seems I need to retrain as well.¡¹

    Despite saying that, Ranshin lookedpletely fine, not even breaking a sweat. If I¡¯d been using a sword with a monomolecr edge, like the ones the nobles of the Grakkan Empire wield, his fingers would¡¯ve been scattered all over the ce by now. But since we were using training swords, it only ended up being slightly painful for him.

    ¡¸Don¡¯t think you¡¯ve won¡­¡¹

    ¡¸The match is already over. That being said, it¡¯s true that you were fighting handicapped, Hiro-dono. If you had fought using your power ofw and your usual weapons the result may have been different. We can¡¯t know what would happen in a real battle until it actually happens.¡¹¡¸That may be true, but I definitely don¡¯t want to get into a serious fight to the death with you.¡¹

    <em>Honestly, I can¡¯t envision any way to win. He probably didn¡¯t go all out either. I can¡¯t even begin to imagine how strong Ranshin would be if he used his full power to enhance his body.</em>

    ¡¸That goes for me as well. I¡¯ll make sure to advise the homnd to not antagonize you in any form.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so? That¡¯s reassuring to hear.¡¹

    <em>Well, in truth, he¡¯s definitely someone I don¡¯t want to get into a fight to the death with, but I don¡¯t think he¡¯s someone I couldn¡¯t kill. If someday I need to kill him, I wouldn¡¯t need to face him head-on and fight fair and square.</em>

    <em>Also, ever since my battle with Earl Ixamal¡¯s private soldiers, I seem to have unlocked a deeper understanding of how to use the first power ofw, and I¡¯ve picked up a few trump card-like techniques since then. Of course, those trump cards are reserved for when things really get dire¡ªthey¡¯re meant to be ¡®sure-kill¡¯ techniques, in the truest sense of the term. So, I don¡¯t want to use them recklessly.</em>

    ¡¸Well then, now that I¡¯ve gotten a rough measure of your abilities, let¡¯s get to the real training.¡¹

    ¡¸Are you serious?¡¹

    ¡¸Of course. Now, get up.¡¹

    <em>Whose idea was it toe to the training hall to watch this muscle-brained demon? Oh, right, it was mine. Well, I¡¯ve regained some of my strength, so I¡¯ll just stand up quietly. Konoha has also stopped wiping my sweat.</em>

    ¡¸Good. However, I must admit, I¡¯m not particrly good at teaching how to use the power ofw in a theoretical sense.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, I figured.¡¹

    <em>The fact that the first thing you did was to jump straight into sparring practice makes it pretty obvious.</em>

    ¡¸So, I¡¯ll have you observe how I enhance my body¡¯s strength and durability. Learn by watching.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­?¡¹

    <em>Is that something you can really understand just by watching?</em>

    ¡¸By actually seeing it with your own eyes and experiencing its effects firsthand, sometimes elerates the learning process.¡¹

    ¡¸What a vague exnation¡­ It sounds a lot more primitive than I expected, is there no theory or exnation behind it?¡¹

    ¡¸In the end, power ofw is a force that relies on mental strength and imagination. Of course, the abilities one can learn depend on their individual talent, and their strength is also determined by their potential. In terms oftent potential, there¡¯s likely no one in the gxy who surpasses you, Hiro-dono.¡¹

    ¡¸So, in other words, you¡¯re telling me to just power through it with sheer will and guts.¡¹

    ¡¸Exactly. Now then, let¡¯s start with body enhancement.¡¹

    With that, Ranshin began to channel power throughout his entire body.

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸Oh, Hiro-sama! Look, look! I made these rice bal¡­ what happened to you?¡¹

    After surviving a nightmarish training, I headed to the dining hall where Mimi was. Not only was Mimi there, but Elma was with her too. Mimi was holding a rather misshapen rice ball in her hands.<em> Did she make that herself?</em>

    ¡¸Well, I went to observe the training, but I ended up participating and¡­ well, a lot of things happened¡­¡¹

    Incidentally, I wasn¡¯t able to master either of Ranshin¡¯s specialties: body enhancement or durability enhancement. I tried watching him channel his power and even tested the effects by hitting him with training swords and my fists while he had his durability enhancement active, but I never managed to replicate it. Ranshin and Konoha mentioned that it might be my fixed mindset. <em>It seems I unconsciously think that body enhancements are something achieved through surgery like the one Empire¡¯s nobles receive, and that being immune to damage is something that can only be aplished by carrying a shield.</em> If that¡¯s the case, it might be difficult for me to learn to use psionic body and durability enhancement.

    ¡¸So, rice balls, huh? Did you cook the rice?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, no. This is the kind of rice you just heat up and it¡¯s ready to eat, or so it says in the package.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm? Well, I guess it¡¯s not surprising that something like that exists.¡¹

    Mimi offered me the rice ball she was holding¡ªit didn¡¯t have any seaweed wrapped around it¡ªbut I took it and brought it to my mouth anyway. <em>Yep, it¡¯s a rice ball. A salted one. The rice it¡¯s probably from a retort-pouch, like Sato no Gohan1, but it tastes like freshly cooked rice.</em> Honestly, it was far tastier than the pseudo-rice that Tetsujin made.

    ¡¸Yeah, it¡¯s good. You¡¯re officially a rice ball master now, Mimi.¡¹

    ¡¸Not yet! It¡¯s still hard to shape them nicely like Moegi-san does¡­ and the rice keeps sticking all over my hands.¡¹

    Mimi¡¯s hands were indeed covered with rice grains. <em>Yeah, it¡¯s true that making rice balls is trickier than it seems, especially if you want them to look nice. Personally, I don¡¯t like my hands getting sticky, so I¡¯m the type who uses stic wrap to form them. Moegi, on the other hand, seems to shape them perfectly with her bare hands.</em>

    ¡¸And Elma¡¯s drinking again, I see. Come on, you should at least consider the time and ce¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m not drinking enough to get drunk. I¡¯m just tasting it, okay? It seems this sake is brewed from rice grown in the Holy Velzalus Empire.¡¹

    Elma said this as she sipped on something that looked like sake from a small sake bottle and cup. She might think she was just tasting it, but her face was already a bit flushed. <em>Sake apparently has a pretty high alcohol content after all. Compared to the beer and wine Elma usually drinks, this one probably has at least double the alcohol content.</em>

    ¡¸That¡¯s thest bottle, okay?¡¹

    ¡¸I know that!¡¹

    Elma pouted, clutching the sake bottle protectively as if shielding it from me. <em>She really does love her alcohol. I can kind of understand, though¡ªI¡¯m the same way with soft drinks, especially c.</em>

    ¡¸But brewing, huh? Does the Holy Vuelzarus Empire not produce rice that has sake inside?¡¹

    ¡¸Huh? What¡¯s that? That kind of sphemous crop is¡­¡¹

    ¡¸The Grakkan Empire grows them. They¡¯ve got these grape-like fruits that can be squeezed directly into wine.¡¹

    ¡¸As expected of a nation skilled in biotechnology¡­ We don¡¯t have anything like that in our country.¡¹

    Moegi gave a wry smile as she listened to me.<em> I see, so the Holy Vuelzarus Empire doesn¡¯t have crops like that. It¡¯s interesting how these things reflect the characteristics of a country.</em>

    ¡¸By the way, what are you going to do with all those rice balls you¡¯re making?¡¹

    ¡¸These are for tonight¡¯s dinner at the cathedral. We¡¯ll warm them up a bit before serving, and they¡¯ll be paired with other dishes.¡¹

    ¡¸I see.¡¹

    In the back of the dining hall, I could see that besides Moegi, a few other people were busy preparing meals in the kitchen. <em>Now that I think about it, it¡¯s almost dinnertime.</em>

    ¡¸Where are Tina and the others?¡¹

    ¡¸Tina, Wiska, the Doctor, and Neve went to check out the psionic technology in the cathedral¡¯s inner area, and they haven¡¯t returned yet, but they should be back soon.¡¹

    ¡¸I see. And Kugi is still talking with Fushin-dono? That¡¯s a long conversation.¡¹

    I had been training in the practice hall for quite a while. We had left the ck Lotus sometime after noon, and now it was nearly dinnertime. <em>What¡¯s taking them so long?</em>

    ¡¸Oh, Hiro-dono, will you and everyone else be joining us for dinner? We¡¯ve already prepared extra servings with that in mind.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, that¡¯s generous of you¡­ Alright, I guess we¡¯ll stay for the meal. Thanks.¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re very wee.¡¹

    At my affirmative response, Moegi¡¯s smile brightened. Since they had already prepared the food, it would be rude to decline now. It didn¡¯t feel right to ask, ¡®Are you sure it¡¯s okay?¡¯ when they¡¯d gone out of their way.<em> Best to just ept their hospitality with gratitude.</em>

    ¡¸There you are, my Lord.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, Kugi. You¡¯re back. That was quite a long chat.¡¹

    ¡¸My apologies. I was receiving guidance from Fushin-sama, andpiling a report on everything that has happened since I first met you, my Lord. Moegi-sama, I¡¯d be happy to assist with the preparations.¡¹

    ¡¸Thank you, I¡¯d appreciate the help.¡¹

    <em>Looks like Kugi is going to help with the cooking as well. Hmm, maybe I should lend a hand too? Just standing around watching would feel awkward. They mentioned that food was scarce, and cooking was tough, but surely there¡¯s something I can assist with?</em>

    TN1: Sato no Gohan is one of the most popr brands of instant rice in Japan. They offer a wide variety of rice types, including white rice, brown rice, and mixed-grain rice.

 Chapter 506 -ã€Œâ€¦Somehow, I Feel Like Iâ€™ve Lost.ã€

    Chapter 506 -¡¸¡­Somehow, I Feel Like I¡¯ve Lost.¡¹

    Unfortunately, the kitchen barely had any ingredients that could be used for actual cooking. Most of the food stored in the cathedral was prepackaged, ready-to-eat meals from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. These were the type that only required tearing open the packaging and heating them. There was a miso soup-like or perhaps pork soup-like item that could be transferred to a pot and heated, but even that was just a freeze-dried concoction that needed to be rehydrated in water before warming. It seemed difficult to use for real cooking.

    <em>Well, I suppose I could just take out some of the ingredients and use them. But then the question bes, what do I do with the rest once I¡¯ve taken out the ingredients I need?</em>

    <em>Throwing the rest away would be a waste. The waste monster wille after me if I do that. 1</em>

    ¡¸Oh, surprisingly good. Boss, this is delish.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm¡­ it¡¯s simple but quite tasty.¡¹

    It seemed like the improvised fried rice I made was a hit with Tina and Konoha. <em>As Konoha said, it was a simple and rough dish, but considering the circumstances I think I did a pretty good job.</em>

    As mentioned earlier, there weren¡¯t any proper ingredients in the kitchen. But after some searching, I managed to find a package of salty sausages¡ªthe ones from the Grakkan Empire rations¡ªalong with some spices and something that resembled soy sauce imported from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. On top of that, the kitchen equipment was decent, and there wererge frying pans and various cooking utensils avable.

    So, I finely chopped the faux sausages, fried them in some sort of cooking oil of unknown origin, added pre-packaged rice to the mix, stir-fried it, and then drizzled a bit of the soy sauce over it. Once the soy sauce began to give off a fragrant aroma, I quickly sprinkled some spices and cobbled together this improvised fried rice.

    <em>It¡¯s a pdash dish, but perhaps thanks to the oil and spices, I think it turned out rather well, if I do say so myself.</em>¡¸You really have developed some weird skills, huh? Sigh, this would go great with some alcohol.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, delicious. Instant meals aren¡¯t bad, but it feels like I¡¯m finally eating a proper dish after a long time.¡¹

    Elma and Ranshin were nibbling on the fried rice while sipping their drinks. They looked like old men at a ramen shop in the entertainment district, enjoying a beer with fried rice as a side dish.

    ¡¸Hiro-sama¡¯s cooking is quite popr.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, the usual meals here are nice, but they have a refined, delicate vor that can feel a little thin sometimes. I think sometimes people crave something a bit rougher, junkier, and with a heavier vor.¡¹

    As for me, while watching my crew and the cathedral staff devour therge batch of fried rice I made, I was enjoying the standard meal of the cathedral, prepared by Mimi, Kugi, and Moegi. The menu consisted of a hearty soup, simr to pork soup, and something resembling a rolled omelet. Apparently, this rolled omelet was also a freeze-dried dish. <em>I¡¯m not sure how they manage that, but it¡¯s impressive technology.</em>

    ¡¸¡­Somehow, I feel like I¡¯ve lost.¡¹

    ¡¸My Lord is incredibly talented, so this oue was expected.¡¹

    Moegi was sulking a little, making a face like a Tibetan fox as she slowly brought an onigiri to her mouth. Incidentally, she had also sampled a small portion of my fried rice on a small te.

    <em>By the way, Kugi-san, are you really trying to console her? I doubt that would help anyone¡­</em>

    <em>Hmm, salted onigiri aren¡¯t bad, but they lose vor once they cool down. If only there was some seaweed, that would help, but I¡¯ve never seen any seaweed around here¡­ Now that I think about it, there is that.</em>

    ¡¸Why don¡¯t you try making grilled onigiri? It could expand your variety.¡¹

    ¡¸Grilled onigiri¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Huh? You¡¯ve never heard of it?¡¹

    There was something peculiar about the culinary traditions in this universe. It felt like some of their food knowledge had gaps, almost as if certain things were lost in the mist of history. The variety of food was rich, yet it was strange that they had some things butcked others that should logically go with them. <em>I imagine it might have to do with space travel¡ªmaybe certain ingredients or cooking methods didn¡¯t fare well in low pressure, or the heat and smoke were too much for life support systems. Perhaps cooking as a cultural practice was neglected or lost over time¡­ Isn¡¯t there anyone who is studying the history of food in this universe?</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    After giving Moegi a quick lesson on how to make grilled onigiri, I decided to call it a day. It seems that she¡¯d bring some to Fushinter. <em>Speaking of which, Fushin wasn¡¯t present during the meal.</em> Apparently, since he was the head of the temple, his presence at meals tended to make others feel uneasy, so he usually ate alone in his office.<em> That sounds a bit lonely, but then again, considering they can allmunicate via telepathy whenever they want, maybe it¡¯s not as bad as it seems.</em>

    ¡¸So, did you manage to make any progress with psionic technology?¡¹

    ¡¸No, not at all, it feels like we¡¯ll need to start learning from the very basics to get anywhere.¡¹

    ¡¸The technology is just too different. We¡¯repletely lost.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸There are no rules to it, it¡¯s like telling you that 1 + 1 equals 5 or 8 depending on the mood of the numbers at the time. I¡¯m beginning to think it¡¯s impossible for me.¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸I was ¡®bout to shout, ¡®What the hell d¡¯ya mean by mood?¡¯ really.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­ Well, don¡¯t give up. Keep at it a little more.¡¹

    <em>If it leads to improving the Krishna, then it¡¯ll be worth the effort. Or maybe it could give us a hint on how to fight the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¯s ships in case we find ourselves at odds with them ¡­though that¡¯s probably not going to happen. I doubt we¡¯ll ever end up fighting them, and if we do, we¡¯d be in serious trouble. I intend to avoid that scenario as much as possible. If worstes to worst, I¡¯d have to make a desperate threat like, ¡®If you don¡¯t let us go, I¡¯ll blow up myself and will take the entire star system with me¡¯ to try to escape. But even that seems like it would have a low chance of sess.</em>

    ¡¸So, what¡¯s the n for tomorrow? I don¡¯t want to impose on them too much by hanging around every day. We¡¯re ready to leave, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes! Everything¡¯s in perfect order!¡¹

    Mimi replied with a bright smile and a thumbs-up.

    While I hadn¡¯t personally done much to prepare, there wasn¡¯t anything special I needed anyway. Mei was in charge of managing my personal supplies, so I had no doubt everything was taken care of.

    <em>Honestly, I do feel a bit guilty about leaving everything to Mei. But as my maidroid, she insists that managing such things is non-negotiable. She won¡¯t take no for an answer, so I¡¯ve reluctantly let her handle it. I guess if I truly put my foot down, she¡¯d probably relent, but it¡¯s not worth the trouble.</em>

    <em>Is this how humans gradually be dependent on maidroids¡ªor more broadly, artificial intelligences?</em>

    ¡¸Then let¡¯s take it easy on the ship tomorrow.¡¹

    ¡¸Ehh? But I still wanna do more research on psionic technology.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯d be better to learn the basics properly when we get to the Holy Vuelzarus Empire rather than half-learn things here.¡¹

    ¡¸I agree with him, Sis, it¡¯s fascinating, no doubt, but we¡¯re nowhere near grasping even the basics right now.¡¹

    ¡¸Mm¡­ Nothin¡¯ I can do then.¡¹

    Tina finally relented, swayed by Wiska¡¯s support of my suggestion. I nced at Dr. Shouko, and she was nodding as well. It seemed she agreed with me too.

    ¡¸We also need to keep Neve-kun¡¯s treatment on track. She should be able toe out of the pod soon.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸That¡¯s news to me. How soon are we talking? A couple of days from now? ¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸It won¡¯t be that quick, no. But I¡¯d say give it about a week.¡¹

    ¡¸A week, huh? That¡¯s still pretty fast.¡¹

    <em>It seems the materials we spent a fortune on back in the imperial capital are paying off. In any case, seeing Neve walk again on her own two feet will be a wee sight. I hope Dr. Shouko keeps up the good work and we can see Neve free from the pod soon.</em>

    TN1: The original Japanese was: ¡®¤â¤Ã¤¿¤¤¤Ê¤¤¤ª»¯¤±¤¬³ö¤Æ¤¯¤ë¤è¡¯ It¡¯s amon saying in Japanese that has a meaning simr to the English saying ¡®Waste not, want not¡¯, but I felt the English equivalent didn¡¯t fit well with the tone, so I tranted the Japanese one literally. I think it¡¯s still understandable and fits better.

 Chapter 507: ã€ŒItâ€™s Super Duper Intense.ã€

    Chapter 507: ¡¸It¡¯s Super Duper Intense.¡¹

    The next few days were incredibly peaceful. We kept a loose exchange with the Cathedral of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, sending casual messages like, ¡®I¡¯m going to rest on the ship today! If the pickup doesn¡¯te by tomorrow, maybe we can go out and have some fun?¡¯ And just leisurely passed the time¡­ <em>Huh? You¡¯re asking where the blood-pumping battles are, or when are we going to start creating fireworks out of space pirates?</em>

    <em>I get what you¡¯re trying to say, but the Neeparc Star System has the highest level of security. In other words, any space pirates who try to enter are immediately spotted by the heavily scheduled patrols of the Gateway Defense Force and swiftly wiped out. The only job a mercenary can do here is escorting trade ships. Basically, there are no jobs for us while we¡¯re waiting for the Holy Vuelzarus Empire toe pick us up.</em>

    It¡¯s not like there were absolutely no jobs, but the ones avable were shady at best¡ªfinding missing persons, recovering stolen cargo, tracking down and eliminating stowaway brokers¡­ These jobs were risky and troublesome, and they only paid a meager 2,000 Ener or so. I had no desire to take them. And even if we did take one, if the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¯s fleet arrived in the middle of the job, we¡¯d have to abandon it halfway through. That wouldn¡¯t benefit us at all.

    ¡¸Quite¡­ extravagant, isn¡¯t it?¡¹

    ¡¸Wow¡­ this is a luxurious use of space.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, it feels so open and spacious here!¡¹

    And so, today¡¯s guests were these three: Konoha, Moegi, and Fushin, all reacting with the standard awe that first-time visitors to the ck Lotus tended to show.

    <em>Huh? You¡¯re asking why Ranshin did note as well? Well, it would be unwise for all three Cathedral guards to leave at the same time. But at the same time, it would be bad for the women¡¯s reputation toe alone to a man¡¯s ship. So it was decided that Fushin, the overseer of the Cathedral, woulde with the two guards, Konoha and Moegi, as his attendants.</em>

    ¡¸Wee. Feel free to take a look around¡ªouch!¡¹¡¸At least try to be a proper host.¡¹

    When I gave a half-hearted wee, Elma pinched my side sharply. It hurt. A lot.

    ¡¸Yes, ma¡¯am¡­ But even if you say that, I¡¯m not really sure how to do a proper wee. How about we start with a drink? Ouch!¡¹

    ¡¸Take it seriously.¡¹

    ¡¸Like I said, I don¡¯t know what would make a proper wee¡­ I can¡¯t take them to the engine room or the cockpit, and inviting them into my private quarters would be inappropriate. They don¡¯t have any business in the medical bay either. Oh, but if you¡¯d like, I could show you the hangar where Krishna is.¡¹

    When I made the suggestion, surprisingly, Fushin expressed interest in seeing the hangar.

    ¡¸Hohoho, as embarrassing as it may be, I must admit I have a fondness forbat ships. I¡¯ve watched all of your documentaries, Hiro-dono.¡¹

    ¡¸I- I see¡­ I can¡¯t even bear to watch those myself, they¡¯re too embarrassing.¡¹

    With a kind, grandfatherly smile, Fushin followed behind me with steady steps as I led him to the hangar. <em>Those documentaries¡­ I guess you could call it clever editing, but they make me look like some stoic, high-minded hero. It¡¯s so embarrassing to watch¡­ I tried sitting through an hour of it once at Mimi¡¯s invitation, but I couldn¡¯t handle it and had to leave halfway.</em>

    ¡¸Hiro-dono, you truly have a noble heart. I wish to learn from your example.¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, it¡¯s really not like that¡­ at all. Ah, we¡¯re here.¡¹

    <em>Why is this guy praising me so much¡­? He¡¯s clearly older than me, and he seems to have plenty of dignity and charisma. Being ttered by someone like him just makes me ufortable. Please, cut me some ck.</em>

    ¡¸Oh, hey, Boss¡­ and, uh, Fushin-san, was it?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s Fushin-dono, sis. Sorry, my sister can be a bit rude.¡¹

    ¡¸My apologies.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh no, no, I¡¯m not one for formalities either. Once I step out of the cathedral, I¡¯m just an old man. You don¡¯t need to be so formal with me. In fact, I should be the one apologizing for intruding out of mere curiosity into your workce.¡¹

    As Fushin chatted easily with the mechanic sisters, I nced over at him while fiddling with my handheld terminal to open up the ramp to Krishna.

    ¡¸You¡¯re letting me see inside? Surely there must be things that shouldn¡¯t be seen?¡¹

    ¡¸The shared living space and the cockpit are fine.¡¹

    <em>I can¡¯t exactly show him the cockpit of the ck Lotus for security reasons, but Krishna¡¯s cockpit is a model you can find on the market, so there¡¯s no issue if he sees it. The same goes for the shared living space¡ªit¡¯s amercially avable model. Of course, I can¡¯t show him Mimi or Elma¡¯s private quarters, or the cargo block where the melee weapons are stored.</em>

    ¡¸Oh¡­ oh my¡­ This is exactly what I saw in the documentary¡­¡¹

    Seeing an old man like Fushin so moved and at a loss for words was kind of refreshing. <em>Is he feeling the same as what fans feel when they go visit the real-life location of a movie or a drama?</em>

    ¡¸And this cockpit is¡­¡¹

    Fushin-dono started to say something, but then suddenly froze. He only froze for a moment, and without warning, he got down on the floor of the cockpit and wentpletely silent. <em>What is this old man doing?</em>

    ¡¸Huh? Are you okay old man? Should I take you to the medical pod?¡¹

    I was so surprised by his actions that I forgot to use politenguage.

    ¡¸No, it¡¯s not that¡­ I apologize, but just a little more¡­¡¹

    I crouched down beside Fushin to check his face, but he didn¡¯t seem to be sick¡­ <em>or wait, no. His face has suddenly gone pale, and beads of sweat are starting to roll down his face. Is this man really okay?</em>

    ¡¸This¡­ could it be¡­ No, there¡¯s no mistake¡­ but then again¡­ I remember a report¡­¡¹

    Fushin, now drenched in cold sweat, slowly turned his face toward me. His movements were so stiff It was almost as if you could hear his neck creaking with the sound of grinding metal as he moved.

    ¡¸Hiro-dono, did the priestess Seijou-dono, ever say anything about this ship?¡¹

    ¡¸Uh? No, I don¡¯t remember her saying anything in particr¡­ Is there something wrong?¡¹

    I¡¯ve flown countless missions with Krishna together with Kugi, but I¡¯ve never seen her react as shaken as Fushin was right now.

    ¡¸This ship¡­ This ship is not of this world.¡¹

    ¡¸Huh? Well, yeah, I guess that¡¯s true.¡¹

    <em>Since it was likely generated or created when I got pulled into this world, that statement checks out. Krishna is a unique ship I obtained through a sudden event in SOL Ste Online. The process by which a fictional ship from a game materialized in the real world is still aplete mystery. But judging from Fushin¡¯s reaction, he seems to think this ship is far from ordinary.</em>

    ¡¸Wait, are you saying this ship is, like, super special from a psionic perspective or something?¡¹

    ¡¸More than special¡ªI would say it¡¯s extremely intense. It¡¯s super duper intense.¡¹

    Fushin said that with apletely straight face. <em>Hearing an old man like him use the phrase ¡®super duper intense¡¯ is kind of funny, actually. He¡¯s got more of a sense of humor than I expected.</em>

    ¡¸Could you exin in what way it¡¯s ¡®intense¡¯?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, to put it simply, this ship is something akin to a relic or a sacred artifact¡­ a tool to amplify your power and help you achieve great feats, Hiro-dono. Or to simplify even further, this is best described as a superweapon built exclusively for you.¡¹

    ¡¸A superweapon¡­? No, Krishna isn¡¯t anything as crazy as that.¡¹

    <em>I know Krishna¡¯s specs inside and out¡ªits armaments, shield capacity, generator output, thruster power, and everything else. Sure,pared to a standard smallbat ship, Krishna¡¯s specs are monstrous, but if it went head-to-head with something like Serena¡¯s gship, the Restalias, one of the most modern Battleships of the Grakkan Empire, Krishna would be reduced to ash in a heartbeat.</em>

    ¡¸That¡¯s because in your mind you think Krishna only has its current specs, Hiro-dono. You are subconsciously limiting yourself. Have you never experienced anything unusual while piloting this ship? Like suddenly warping through space, or firing an attack with unexpected power?¡¹

    ¡¸No, nothing like that has ever¡­ Ah.¡¹

    There was one time. Just once, something strange did happen. I managed to nullify a directser strike by somehow bending the beam out of its path. When was that¡­? Oh, right, it happened when we attacked the space pirate base on the Refill Star System¡ªthe home system of the Elves¡ªduring the operation to destroy the Red gs led by Serena.

    Back then, we thought it was some kind of hidden function located in Krishna¡¯s ck box that activated under the intenseser barrage from the pirate base. Tina and Wiska weren¡¯t able to find any such system afterward, though.

    ¡¸It happened once, yes. So, does that mean Krishna could potentially evolve into something more powerful, depending on my imagination or how I define it?¡¹

    ¡¸To be honest, this is the first time I¡¯ve ever encountered a relic of a ¡®visitor¡¯ in the form of abat ship. I¡¯m not even sure if the records back home cover something like this¡­¡¹

    Fushin-dono frowned deeply, the wrinkles on his forehead deepening.

    ¡¸Will the Holy Vuelzarus Empire be able to find out more about Krishna?¡¹

    ¡¸Most likely. We have a department dedicated to researching relics and artifacts of ¡®visitors¡¯. They might be able to analyze this ship as a form of psionic technology. I¡¯m sure it will cause quite an uproar.¡¹

    ¡¸How big of an uproar are we talking about? Also, I still don¡¯t really get why this ship is ¡®intense¡¯.¡¹

    <em>Sure, bending aser beam is incredibly strong. It nullifies the main weaponry of otherbat ships after all. And if it can warp through space or fire ridiculously powerful sts like Fushin mentioned, Krishna¡¯sbat capabilities would skyrocket. But still, I find it hard to believe that just that alone would make it ¡®super duper intense¡¯ as he described.</em>

    ¡¸It¡¯s hard to imagine. But if Krishna is able to fully harness yourtent potential, Hiro-dono, it¡¯s possible¡­ maybe even likely, that it could single-handedly defeat an entire fleet of regr military ships.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­What am I, a protagonist in a bullet-hell shooting game?¡¹

    Taking down countless enemies by yourself or infiltrating and destroying the enemy¡¯s core base? At that point, it sounds less like a spacebat simtor and more like a bullet-hell shooter or some kind of hack-and-sh game. Actually, in single-yer games without online elements, that kind of thing is prettymon, right? Like those legendary ace pilots or demon kings of the battlefield in flight shooter games. Not quite the same as spacebat sims, but simr.

    ¡¸By the way, if I were to break down while piloting Krishna, would the resulting psionic explosion get augmented as well?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Would it be alright if I borrowed your medical pod?¡¹

    Paling even further, Fushin clutched his stomach and asked to use the medical pod without answering my question.

    <em>There is no need to answer, though. His attitude tells me everything.</em>

 Chapter 508: ã€ŒThe Laws of Spaceâ€¦ The Laws of Space Areâ€¦ã€

    Chapter 508: ¡¸The Laws of Space¡­ The Laws of Space Are¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, I see I see. So, if ya wish hard enough, Boss, the deflection shield system, the secondary thrusters, and therge-caliberser cannons will just magically power up, righ? Gotcha.¡¹

    Tina, who had been listening to Fushin¡¯s theory about Krishna¡¯s superweapon abilities, nodded seriously with a grave expression, then immediately her expression became deadpan.

    ¡¸No matter how ya slice it, that¡¯s in ridiculous. Sure, we couldn¡¯t crack the ck box, but do ya even get how much tinkerin¡¯ we¡¯ve done on Krishna? Yeah, there¡¯s some unknown stuff, but Krishna¡¯s abat ship! A machine! Ain¡¯t no way new features just pop up outta nowhere like that.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, no, you¡¯re right. It¡¯s hard to believe. Honestly, even I¡¯m half-doubting it.¡¹

    I couldn¡¯t help but nod in agreement to Tina¡¯s seriousment. <em>I get it. It¡¯s amon enough trope, right? Like a hero emerging from another world, wielding a powerful holy sword. You see it all the time in novels for entertainment back in my original world, and there¡¯s plenty of simr stuff in the entertainment of this world too. It¡¯s strange, isn¡¯t it? Even though it¡¯s supposed to be an entirely different world, that kind of theme also exists here.</em>

    <em>Well, let¡¯s put that aside for now. The real issue here is that in my case, the equivalent of that holy sword is Krishna, mybat ship. Sure, in stories, there¡¯s often a plot where the hidden powers of the holy sword are unlocked through some trigger, and it even gets a new look! Yeah, that happens a lot. But Krishna¡¯s abat ship, a technological marvel made of precision instruments. There¡¯s no way it¡¯s going to suddenly reveal hidden powers or undergo a cosmetic transformation like some fairy tale sword.</em>

    ¡¸But, what if Fushin-san¡¯s theory it¡¯s right? Isn¡¯t thatmon sense you are talking about Sis, limiting Krishna¡¯s potential?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right.¡¹

    At Wiska¡¯s words, Fushin nodded in agreement. However, Tina wasn¡¯t convinced.¡¸But listen, Wee, Krishna¡¯s got loads of tech that¡¯s a perfect fit with what we¡¯ve got. Just look at the weapons¡ªlike the ammo for the shard cannons, the anti-ship torpedo warheads, and even the power circuits for the thrusters and shield generator. There¡¯s tons of examples. Especially the thrusters, they wear out fast, and we¡¯ve swapped parts we made ourselves more times than I can count. If Krishna was some kinda holy relic from when Boss showed up in this universe, ain¡¯t it weird that parts we made fit and work just fine?¡¹

    Tinaid out a well-grounded argument that made sense, even to me. However, Wiska tilted her head, considering her response.

    ¡¸Well, that might be true, but maybe that¡¯s because Big Brother believes that¡¯s how it should be. I mean, before we ever touched Krishna, Big Brother was already using the maintenance services provided by several colony¡¯s docks, right? I think that at the time, he must have believed that ¡®if Krishna is docked at the colony, it should receive proper maintenance services.¡¯ So, Krishna might have ¡®adapted¡¯ in response to that belief.¡¹

    ¡¸No way¡­ Ya make it sound like Krishna¡¯s got a mind of its own or somethin¡¯.¡¹

    Tina, her face twitching slightly, looked up at Krishna, which sat majestically in the hangar, as she tried to process Wiska¡¯s seemingly oundish theory.

    ¡¸Honestly, I think that that¡¯s not too far from the truth. I mean, it doesn¡¯t make sense otherwise. Most likely, Krishna has been adapting alongside Big Brother to fit into this world. The engineers of this world have been observing and maintaining every part of it, and at the same time, Krishna has been progressing through self-modification to adapt to this world¡¯s technology. So, in other words¡ª¡¹

    ¡¸In other words?¡¹

    ¡¸Krishna might be mimicking this world¡¯s ships, to make sure that no engineer from this world, like me or Sis, would find anything suspicious. Maybe Krishna is aplete ck box, just like the area around the generator, and it¡¯s simply showing us something our current technological understanding canprehend.¡¹

    ¡¸No way¡­ Wee, your thinkin¡¯s way too out there¡­ I can¡¯t keep up with ya no more.¡¹

    It seemed like Tina¡¯s spirit had finally been broken, as she covered her face with both hands and slumped over in defeat.

    ¡¸Wiska, stop tormenting your sister so much.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m not tormenting her. If anything, the ones doing the tormenting are you and Krishna, Big Brother.¡¹

    Wiska shot me a side nce filled with quiet frustration. <em>Even if you say that, I didn¡¯t know until just now that Krishna was some kind of sentient superweapon.</em>

    ¡¸So, as the expert, what do you think of Wiska¡¯s theory, Fushin-dono?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m hardly an expert. My knowledge of ¡®visitors¡¯ and their relics is just hearsay at best, so it¡¯s a bit presumptuous to call me one. However, I have heard that the relics created and carried by ¡®visitors¡¯ can change their form and capabilities to some extent, reflecting the will of their master. I believe Wiska-dono¡¯s hypothesis may be quite urate.¡¹

    ¡¸So, are you saying that Krishna is some kind of living entity, disguised as a warship?¡¹

    ¡¸No, I believe it has been concluded that relics are not living beings. I¡¯ve also heard that they don¡¯t possess a will of their own. However, they do seem to have the characteristic of responding to their master¡¯s will.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmmm¡­¡¹

    <em>So Krishna is like a powerful weapon that can adapt to some extent based on my desires? Well, no one aboard the ship, including me, needs to be told that Krishna is an incredibly powerful ship but¡­</em>

    ¡¸However, I must say that a relic of this size, and in the form of a spacebat ship, is likely unprecedented¡­ so I can¡¯t fully grasp just how much power it holds. But what I can tell you is that it¡¯s probably an immensely powerful relic, far beyond anything we have known.¡¹

    After saying this in a tone tinged with awe, Fushin turned a reverent gaze toward Krishna and shivered. The round beast ears atop his head were twitching restlessly, perhaps sensing some overwhelming presence emanating from Krishna. <em>I can¡¯t feel anything like that thought.</em>

    ¡¸Alright, I¡¯ve got a question. How d¡¯ya even know Krishna¡¯s some kinda super-powerful, one-of-a-kind relic?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s an easy one, relics are materialized astral bodies¡ªperhaps that doesn¡¯t make sense. Hmm¡­ in simpler terms, they are higher-dimensional energy entities that have taken physical form. Think of them as stabilized antimatter in physical form.¡¹

    ¡¸Stabilized antimatter in physical form?¡¹

    ¡¸Thews of space¡­ Thews of space are¡­¡¹

    Upon hearing Fushin¡¯s exnation, the light vanished from the eyes of the mechanic sisters, leaving them with nk expressions. <em>Is that the gxy and the face of a cat shing behind them? Nah, it¡¯s probably probably just my imagination.</em>

    <em>By the way, antimatter is something that generates insane amounts of energy even in tiny quantities. It¡¯s used in starship generators and reaction warheads¡ªor so I¡¯ve heard. They apparently create it using massive amounts of energy from things like orbital sr power generation. I don¡¯t know the details.</em>

    ¡¸It seems you now understand just how extraordinary this relic is. Simply put, therger it is, the more energy it contains.¡¹

    ¡¸Boss, I¡¯m startin¡¯ to feel scared just touchin¡¯ Krishna.¡¹

    ¡¸Is there hazard pay for this kind of thing?¡¹

    ¡¸No hazard pay, Krishna¡¯s just an unusual smallbat ship. Manufacturer unknown, sure, but it¡¯s still just a unique small ship. It¡¯s not some dangerous object where a tiny fragment of it would blow everything to smithereens, alright? Got it?¡¹

    ¡¸Lies! Now I get why Fushin-han¡¯s been holdin¡¯ his stomach this whole time!¡¹

    ¡¸We demand an improvement in our work conditions, Big Brother!¡¹

    The mechanic sisters started hopping up and down, loudly protesting.

    ¡¸It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine! We¡¯ve been fine up until now, so we¡¯ll continue to be fine! All good!¡¹

    ¡¸What part of this is ¡®all good¡¯?! If antimatter this big set off an annihtion reaction, it¡¯d blow up a whole star system!¡¹

    ¡¸Well, it¡¯s not like we can stop using Krishna now! We knew from the start that it was a high-risk ship with ck-box technology and an unknown origin! It¡¯s toote to turn back now!¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s¡­! That¡¯s true, but¡­!¡¹

    It took an absurd amount of effort to calm the sisters down. In the end, Fushin¡¯s words, ¡®It was just a hypothetical example. There¡¯s no real danger. Probably¡¯, and the promise to have the Holy Verzalus Empire conduct a thorough safety check on Krishna finally settled them down.

    <em>Phew¡­ this is going to be rough.</em>

 Chapter 509: ã€ŒWhat do You Think I Am?ã€

    Chapter 509: ¡¸What do You Think I Am?¡¹

    ¡¸So, that¡¯s what all the fuss was about¡­¡¹

    After delivering Fushin, who had developed stomach pains, to the medical bay, I returned to the dining hall and exined the situation to Kugi. In response, Kugi¡¯s expression darkened as she said this.

    ¡¸Did you not realize that Krishna might be a relic?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, my Lord. I considered the possibility at first, but everyone was interacting with Krishna normally, and I could control it without any issues myself, so I thought it might not be the case after all.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­? What do you mean by that?¡¹

    ¡¸¡®Visitor¡¯s¡¯ relics typically can only be used by the original owner¡­ I thought maybe the relic was just Krishna¡¯s sealed generator. Or that the relic might be inside the generator, or even that theser gun you always carry with you was the relic¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I see.¡¹

    When I first met Kugi, Mimi and Elma were already living on Krishna with me, and soon after, Kugi herself joined as Krishna¡¯s sub-pilot. <em>Given the assumption that relics can only be used by their owners, it¡¯s understandable that Kugi might not have realized Krishna was one.</em>

    ¡¸Fushin-han figured out right away that Krishna was a relic as soon as he stepped on board, though.¡¹¡¸That¡¯s due to my inadequate knowledge and experience¡­¡¹

    Tina, who had followed me to the dining hall, teased Kugi, making her fox ears and tail droop in defeat as her shoulders slumped. By the way, Wiska had gone to get drinks. The result of a serious game of rock-paper-scissors.

    ¡¸The Overseer is an expert in sacred tools and a highly knowledgeable person. It¡¯s not surprising that he noticed something the Priestess did not.¡¹

    ¡¸Though it¡¯s not our ce to say, the Overseer is a very distinguished person.¡¹

    Konoha and Moegi stepped in to defend Kugi. <em>Well, I don¡¯t really mind that she didn¡¯t realize it. These things happen, and it seems Kugi thought myser gun was the relic. Huh? Wait a second.</em>

    ¡¸So, this is just an ordinaryser gun, right?¡¹

    Saying that, I pulled theser gun from the holster at my waist, removed the energy pack, and ced it in front of Kugi and the others.<em> If I recall correctly, this was a slightly high-performanceser gun that I got during a SOL event. I remember hearing from a gun shop owner that it was quite a good piece.</em>

    ¡¸Umm¡­ yes, I believe it¡¯s just an ordinaryser gun.¡¹

    Kugi, after hesitantly examining myser gun closely, finally came to that conclusion.

    ¡¸Hiro-dono, may I take a look as well?¡¹

    ¡¸Would it be alright if I checked it too?¡¹

    ¡¸By all means, go ahead.¡¹

    Konoha and Moegi, clearly fascinated by theser gun, began inspecting it with great interest. Since the energy pack had been removed, there was no risk of an idental discharge.

    ¡¸Speaking of which, not only Kugi but also the two of you don¡¯t carryser guns, right? Is there some kind of religious rule that forbids you from using them or something?¡¹

    When I asked, they exchanged nces. Konoha, seemingly acting as their spokesperson, cleared her throat before responding.

    ¡¸Hiro-dono, Kugi-dono and Moegi are users of the Second Power of Law, while I am a user of the First Power of Law and carry a sword. That¡¯s more than enough for us.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­ I suppose that makes sense. After all, I¡¯ve heard that Kugi¡¯s Second Power of Law is pretty brutal.¡¹

    ¡¸Brutal¡­¡¹

    At my choice of words, Kugi¡¯s face froze in shock. <em>But I mean, I¡¯ve heard what she did when she and the others were captured by Earl Ixamal. Using her Second Power of Law, she apparently brainwashed the Ixamal soldiers, turning them into puppets, and even rendered the Earl himself powerless.</em>

    ¡¸So, it¡¯s just that you don¡¯t need to carry one. That makes sense. Aser gun isn¡¯t useful for much other than as a weapon, and with the Second Power of Law, you probably don¡¯t even need to rely on intimidation tactics. Plus, there aren¡¯t many idiots in the Grakkan Empire who would pick a fight with someone wearing a sword on their waist. Well, Konoha¡¯s is a katana but it¡¯s pretty much the same thing.¡¹

    <em>Most people probably wouldn¡¯t even know the difference between a sword and a katana. Just wearing something sword-like on your waist is enough to make the average citizen think, ¡®Whoa, a noble. Better stay away.¡¯</em>

    ¡¸That being said¡ªhmm?¡¹

    Konoha suddenly gazed into the air, her tanuki-like ears twitching. Seeing that Moegi was doing the same, I figured they must have received some kind ofmunication from the Cathedral at the Neeparc Prime Colony.

    ¡¸Hiro-dono, it seems our escort has arrived.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, that¡¯s good news. While I don¡¯t mind rxing, I was starting to get a bit bored.¡¹

    By ¡®escort¡¯, she was referring to the fleet that was supposed toe from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire to escort us. <em>They had said it wouldn¡¯t take long, but it only took a few days. That was quicker than I expected.</em>

    ¡¸Did you even have time to get bored¡­?¡¹

    Moegi tilted her head as she said that, but I decided to let it slide.

    ¡¸By the way, the personnel stationed in the Grakkan Empire will be changed on this asion, right? Are you twoing with us as well?¡¹

    ¡¸Mmm¡­ yes, that¡¯s right. Both Konoha-chan and I are returning to the homnd during this rotation. The Overseer and Commander Ranshin will be staying behind, though.¡¹

    Moegi, sounding a bit sulky, responded as if she wasn¡¯t too happy about being ignored. <em>Hmm, a sulking fox-eared Onee-san is cute. I¡¯m not sure why you are nodding with an expression like you are taking mental notes, Kugi, but I don¡¯t think Moegi¡¯s style suits you.</em>

    ¡¸Do you want to ride with us on the ck Lotus? After all, we¡¯re headed to the same ce.¡¹

    I suggested it casually, without any ulterior motives. It was more of a ¡®since we¡¯re all headed the same way, might as well travel together¡¯ kind of offer. Nothing more, nothing less.

    ¡¸¡­You¡¯re suggesting that we, two single women board your ship, Hiro-dono?¡¹

    ¡¸With all the women you have already aboard your ship, you¡¯re still not satisfied? Hmm, I think it would be better if we got to know each other a bit more first¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, that¡¯s not what I meant. I withdraw my offer. Forget I said anything.¡¹

    I raised my hands in surrender, retracting my earlier statement. <em>Sure, the ck Lotus has plenty of space and offers an exceptionallyfortable living environment¡ªif I may say so myself. I only thought it would be convenient for them since we¡¯re all headed in the same direction, and we¡¯ve gotten to know each other.</em>

    ¡¸Reaping what you sow, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸Hiro-sama was just being kind, though.¡¹

    Elma, who had been silently listening up until now, threw in her two cents, while Mimi stepped in to defend me. <em>Exactly! I was just being considerate. Although, I do admit I tend to be softer toward women than men¡ªbut isn¡¯t that true for most people? Men should figure things out for themselves. I do, after all.</em>

    ¡¸I see. I¡¯m sorry we misunderstood your kind offer. Depending on the situation, we might be the ones to ask you to let us apany you instead, so could we take some time to give you an answer?¡¹

    ¡¸From your side? What do you mean?¡¹

    ¡¸There¡¯s a possibility that Moegi and I will be assigned as your escorts or attendants when we return to the homnd. It would probably be more reassuring for you and your crew to have people you¡¯re already familiar with in such roles, rather than strangers.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s true.¡¹

    <em>It seems that the Holy Vuelzarus Empire might take such considerations into ount. What Konoha said makes sense. I don¡¯t know how many years they¡¯ve spent in the Grakkan Empire, but they certainly know more about the customs and mindset here than someone who has never left the Verzalus Empire. This would probably reduce the risk of unnecessary trouble or misunderstandings.</em>

    <em>Although, to be honest, I¡¯m not entirely sure if I¡¯mpletely used to the customs and mindset of the Grakkan Empire either.</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯ll just say this upfront: if you try anything inappropriate, I won¡¯t hesitate to act.¡¹

    ¡¸What do you think I am?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ve heard plenty about your exploits from the others.¡¹

    Konoha said this while turning away with a huff. <em>Sure, I haven¡¯t exactly been the model of virtue when ites to women, but I pride myself on never forcing anyone into anything they don¡¯t want.</em>

    ¡¸¡­Konoha-sama?¡¹

    ¡¸Ugh¡­ I apologize. That was too much.¡¹

    Under Kugi¡¯s smiling yet intense pressure, Konoha flinched and apologized to me.<em> I appreciate the apology, but I¡¯m more startled by Kugi¡¯s sudden shift. She was smiling, but her eyes certainly weren¡¯t. Did Konoha step on one of Kugi¡¯sndmines?</em>

    ¡¸Well, let me know when you¡¯ve made a decision about joining us. There are open rooms, so just give us a heads-up before departure.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, understood. Isn¡¯t that right, Konoha-chan?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes¡­¡¹

    Perhaps Kugi¡¯s intimidation worked a little too well, as Konoha¡¯s ears and tail werepletely drooped as she nodded. <em>I¡¯m starting to think that maybe I underestimated the authority Kugi¡ªor rather, a priestess¡ªholds in the Holy Vuelzarus Empire.</em>

    <em>Either way, I¡¯m relieved the escort has arrived. Atst, we can finally head toward the Holy Vuelzarus Empire.</em>

 Chapter 510: ã€ŒOh, so Thatâ€™s the Fleet of the Holy Vuelzarus Empireã€

    Chapter 510: ¡¸Oh, so That¡¯s the Fleet of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, so that¡¯s the fleet of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire.¡¹

    Hearing that the fleet of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire had arrived, I moved from the dining area of the ck Lotus to the nearby lounge. The girls had gathered as well, so we activated therge holo-disy to observe the fleet.

    ¡¸¡­How should I put it? The design is rather unique, isn¡¯t it?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, it is¡­ How should I say¡­ Luxurious? Perhaps?¡¹

    ¡¸If those were mercenary ships, the decorations might be a bit excessive, I think. But personally, I like it. There¡¯s a certain elegance to those graceful lines.¡¹

    Following myment, Mimi and Elma shared their impressions. The ships of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire resembled pure white sailing ships. <em>Well, they don¡¯t have masts, so perhaps calling them sailing ships is a bit misleading. If they don¡¯t have mast wouldn¡¯t they look like a ship without sails¡ªessentially what I¡¯d consider a normal ship? No, not quite. That streamlined and slightly rounded form seems more fitting to call them sail-less sailing ships.</em>

    Their hulls were adorned with golden patterns and carvings that appeared purely decorative. The most striking feature, however, were the three pairs of light wings emerging from the rear side of the ship. <em>What exactly are those? Are they mere decorations? Or perhaps they serve a purpose, like thrusters or stabilizers? I have no idea. There were devices that appeared to be weapons, but they seemed disproportionately small for the size of the ship. I can¡¯t even begin to guess their capabilities.</em>

    ¡¸What in the world is that¡­? How is it even moving? There ain¡¯t no thrusters.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmmm¡­ Could it be using some kind of gravity-based propulsion, like the crystal lifeforms?¡¹¡¸And what¡¯s up with their internal gravity control? Didn¡¯t they say gravity drives are way too unstable to use on ships with livin¡¯ folks on board?¡¹

    ¡¸Any mistake in the internal gravity control could turn the entire crew into soup. So, I guess they use another method?¡¹

    The mechanic sisters, havingid eyes on the ships of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, immediately began a lively discussion about the technology used in them. <em>The content of their conversation is a bit unnerving thought. The entire crew could be turned into soup? What is that? Scary!</em>

    ¡¸Heh, I¡¯m really looking forward to this. Once we get to the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll have ess to so many rare samples.¡¹

    ¡¸Um, Doctor, that might be a bit¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Come on, Kugi-kun, I¡¯ll make sure to get permission from the donors, I¡¯m sure they won¡¯t mind giving up a little blood or a couple of hairs.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸There aren¡¯t many people who¡¯d let you take blood for no reason, Doctor.¡¹</strong>

    Over there, Dr. Shouko was eagerly nning to collect biological samples from the citizens of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, while Kugi and Neve were trying to rein her in. <em>Dr. Shouko is obsessed with analyzing unknown gic material, after all. Maybe I should keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn¡¯t get too reckless when we arrive.</em><em>Then again, I don¡¯t want to forbid her from researching what she wants while she works with us. That would weaken her motivation to stay with us, and I don¡¯t want to lose someone as talented as her, both as a researcher and a doctor. I have to find some way to cooperate with her goals.</em>

    Meanwhile, Moegi and Konoha had been staring into the void for a while now, twitching their fox and tanuki ears. <em>It seems they aremunicating telepathically. I can feel the mental waves buzzing back and forth since earlier.</em>

    ¡¸So, what¡¯s the process going to be like from here? I might be just an honorary noble, but I¡¯m still an Imperial noble, after all. Is there anything special I need to do?¡¹

    ¡¸There are no special pre-entry procedures. Your ship and crew will be recorded when you pass through the gateway.¡¹

    ¡¸I see. So once the Holy Vuelzarus Empire finishes whatever personnel movement they¡¯re doing, we¡¯ll be good to go. In other words, we just have to wait for them to finish.¡¹

    ¡¸Looks like that¡¯s the case. Oh, Mimi, if you¡¯re nning to bring goods from the Grakkan Empire into the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, make sure you double-check that none of them vite their import-export restrictions.¡¹

    ¡¸Of course. I¡¯ll also ask Mei-san to review everything, just in case.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, that¡¯s the safest course.¡¹

    <em>Alright, I should probably prepare for our trip to the Holy Vuelzarus Empire as well. Not that I have much to do to get ready!</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    The contact from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire was swift. Among the ships that warped out of the gateway, a particrly small one quickly docked at the Neeparc Prime Colony.

    ¡¸They¡¯ve informed us that they n toe here immediately to greet us. Is that alright with you?¡¹

    ¡¸Of course. But they¡¯reing to meet us in person? Wouldn¡¯t it be easier to just use telepathy tomunicate with me?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s a matter of etiquette. Unless you¡¯re close acquaintances or belong to the same organization¡ªlike between a superior and a subordinate or colleagues¡ªor if it¡¯s an emergency, it¡¯s considered rude to initiate contact with the Second Power of Law right away.¡¹

    ¡¸I see.¡¹

    I nodded in appreciation of Konoha¡¯s exnation. The ¡®Second Power of Law¡¯, in other words, telepathy, had be somonce for them that it led to the development of unique customs in the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. Perhaps the proximity of minds led them to establish these intricate manners. Then again, it¡¯s not all that different from the Empire. Even though we can make holo-calls with our smallmunication devices, there are still situations where face-to-face meetings are preferred.

    ¡¸It seems they¡¯ve arrived. Should we go greet them?¡¹

    ¡¸Mei¡¯s handling it. We¡¯ll wait here.¡¹

    As we waited leisurely, Mei soon returned, apanied by three guests. The first was a man with ck wings sprouting from his back, though otherwise, he didn¡¯t stand out much¡ªwell, aside from having a somewhat suspicious face. The second was a slender woman with bunny ears, dressed simrly to Kugi. Thest one was a young man with an extravagant crest of decorative feathers sticking out from the top of his head, much like an ahoge.

    ¡¸Greetings, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Karasu,mander of the Rapid Response Fleet.¡¹

    ¡¸Nice to meet you, I¡¯m Captain Hiro. I have to say, I¡¯m humbled that not only did you send such a grand weing fleet, but you¡¯vee all the way here in person.¡¹

    ¡¸Haha, think nothing of it. To us, a friendly ¡®visitor¡¯ is more than enough reason for a warm wee.¡¹

    ¡¸A ¡®friendly¡¯ visitor, huh.¡¹

    <em>So, there are visitors that aren¡¯t so friendly, then¡­</em> Just as that thought crossed my mind, the image of that pink-haired b*tch shed in my head. The same unsettling feeling I had when I met her for the first time came rushing back.

    ¡¸Is something on your mind?¡¹

    The man with the borate crest of feathers asked nervously. Oh, I guess he thought I took issue with the word ¡®friendly¡¯.

    ¡¸Nah, nothing in particr. I just wondered, since you emphasized ¡®friendly,¡¯ that maybe there are others who aren¡¯t so¡­ amicable. Anyway, standing around chatting doesn¡¯t do us much good. Why don¡¯t we head over to the dining area and sit down? We haven¡¯t even finished introductions yet.¡¹

    Shrugging my shoulders, I gestured for them to follow as I led them toward the dining area. With my crew, plus Fushin and Karasu¡¯s group, it was quite arge gathering.

    ¡¸Forgive myte introduction. I am Inaba, a scribe from the Ministry of Divine Affairs.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m Kuja. A Military officer.¡¹

    The bunny-eared woman and the man with the decorative feathers introduced themselves briefly. In turn, we all gave our own short introductions as well.

    ¡¸I had heard the rumors, but¡­ I must say, I am truly impressed.¡¹

    ¡¸Thank you. I hope that wasn¡¯t sarcasm. My crew is exceptional, without a doubt.¡¹

    <em>I have noints about my crew. If I had to point out an issue, it would be that I can¡¯t add any male members now. Given my rtionship with the girls, bringing a guy onto the crew could lead to all sorts of trouble.</em>

    ¡¸Well, we can save the conversation about my crew forter. There¡¯s someone in your group I¡¯m curious about too¡­ but for now, we should focus on the discussion about entering the Holy Empire.¡¹

    As I said this, I nced toward Inaba¡ªthe bunny-eared woman. <em>Not for any inappropriate reasons, mind you. Yes, Inaba is beautiful, and there¡¯s a certain appeal to the whole ¡®bunny-eared priestess¡¯ thing, but that¡¯s not what intrigued me. What really caught my attention was her affiliation.</em>

    She introduced herself as a scribe from the Ministry of Divine Affairs, and that piqued my curiosity. Kugi, too, was a priestess from the same ministry. <em>I don¡¯t know exactly what her connection to Kugi is, but there is no doubt that there is some kind of link between the two of them¡ªand by extension, to me as well.</em>

    ¡¸I appreciate how swiftly you get to the point. Regarding our departure, it will be in approximately forty-eight hours. Please make sure to leave the colony before then. Once that¡¯s done, we¡¯ll send a request to synchronize our fleets for the journey.¡¹

    ¡¸Understood. I¡¯ll make sure the cargo check ispleted by then.¡¹

    As I nced toward Mimi, she gave me a firm nod with an expression that said, ¡®Leave it to me!¡¯ When it came to managing the cargo and supplies, Mimi was definitely reliable, so I had no worries there.

    ¡¸Anything else we need to keep in mind?¡¹

    ¡¸Nothing in particr. Just stick to reasonable behavior¡ªdon¡¯t go firing off weapons or swinging swords out of the blue, that sort of thing.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, yeah, obviously. As long as nobody suddenly shoots at me, shes at me, or uses Power of Law against me.¡¹

    Karasu chuckled at my response.

    <em>Was that a joke?</em>

    ¡¸Ah, and it seems Inaba-dono has a request for you, Captain Hiro. Inaba-dono?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, I must apologize for the sudden and presumptuous request, but there is something I would like to ask of you.¡¹

    With those words, the bunny-eared priestess¡ªInaba¡ªlooked straight into my eyes. <em>Oh, right. She isn¡¯t a priestess but a scribe. What does a scribe do?</em>

    ¡¸I would like to hear the contents of your request before deciding if I can grant it or not.¡¹

    ¡¸Of course. Until we arrive in our country, and even after we do, I would like you to allow me to stay by your side.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Excuse me?¡¹

    Her gaze was resolute as she made this deration, leaving me utterly bewildered. I nced toward Karasu for some kind of rification, but he just shed a sly, suspicious grin without saying anything. Desperate for some guidance, I turned to Fushin, who cleared his throat before speaking.

    ¡¸Inaba-dono, it seems Captain Hiro is a bit perplexed. Perhaps you could exin your reasoning in more detail?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, of course. My duty is to record your every action, Hiro-dono. Though that might sound a bit confusing. Let me rephrase it: my role as a scribe is to document the thoughts, actions, and principles of ¡®visitors¡¯ like yourself, Hiro-dono, and preserve them for future generations. To fulfill this task, I humbly request to apany you as you go about your activities.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, I¡¯m going to have to politely decline that¡­¡¹

    At my words, Inaba made a face like she was facing the end of the world. Her bunny ears, once standing tall, drooped sadly. <em>I feel a little guilty, but honestly, who wouldn¡¯t feel ufortable with someone following them around, documenting their every move for posterity?</em>

    ¡¸That being said, I don¡¯t know much about the Ministry of Divine Affairs, but you are affiliated with the same organization, right Kugi?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, my Lord. It seems there are various departments within the Ministry, so she is likely from a different one than I am. However, I must admit, I am not very familiar with the organization myself.¡¹

    ¡¸You aren¡¯t familiar with the organization you belong to? Why¡¯s that?¡¹

    ¡¸Since the moment it was decided that I would be a priestess, I¡¯ve been in constant training. I¡¯ve never actually had to perform any formal duties as a member of the Ministry¡­¡¹

    As I saw Kugi apologize for herck of knowledge I felt something was weird about this. <em>I always felt this but she¡¯s too pure and sheltered for someone supposedly working as an agent of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. It¡¯s as if her entire life revolves around serving me, with little to no interest in furthering her own country¡¯s agenda.</em>

    ¡¸Ahem. If I may exin, the priestesses within the Ministry of Divine Affairs, and the department responsible for their education, are quite unique. That is why Seijo-dono, despite being part of the Ministry, has little knowledge of other departments. It¡¯s a matter of specialized training, or rather, ack thereof in areas outside their role as priestesses.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡­ see? I don¡¯t really get it, but I¡¯ll ept that exnation for now.¡¹

    <em>What¡¯s that? That exnation didn¡¯t exin anything. I have to press them for a better exnationter, but right now, I have other concerns.</em>

    ¡¸¡­So, is it fair to say that you, Inaba-san, as a scribe, are fairly knowledgeable about the internal workings of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire?¡¹

    ¡¸Um, yes, to a certain extent.¡¹

    ¡¸Alright then, let¡¯s make a deal. I¡¯ll allow you to apany me and take your records, but in exchange, you¡¯ll provide me with information whenever I have questions. If you agree to that condition, you can tag along.¡¹

    Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Moegi pointing at herself, looking utterly shocked. It seems she thought that exining things to me was her role and she had just lost it without her input. <em>You can keep exining things to me, I just wanted another perspective, and you might get reassigned to another ce as well, you know?</em>

 Chapter 511: ã€ŒIs Annoying When You Donâ€™t Show Any Reactionã€

    Chapter 511: ¡¸Is Annoying When You Don¡¯t Show Any Reaction¡¹

    Since we had nearly finished all of our departure preparations, we were set to leave the Grakkan Empire the next day without any issues. Inaba-san, who had decided to take up my proposal, had already transferred over to the ck Lotus yesterday. She seemed very satisfied watching the documentary featuring me alongside Mimi and Kugi.

    <em>That said, I really wish they wouldn¡¯t watch it in the lounge area. With something that embarrassing being yed, there¡¯s no way I can go anywhere near that space.</em>

    ¡¸So, that¡¯s why you¡¯re hanging out here, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, that¡¯s exactly it.¡¹

    I answered Dr. Shouko, who looked a little exasperated, as I spun around in one of the swivel stools installed in herb. <em>You know, when you¡¯re sitting on a stool with a spinning seat, you just have to spin around on it, right? Though if I overdo it, I¡¯ll end up dizzy.</em>

    <strong>¡¸Anyments on my sexy naked body, Captain? You are the only one allowed to see it in all its glory.¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Not really. Just focus on getting better, alright?¡¹

    <strong>¡¸Is annoying when you don¡¯t show any reaction.¡¹</strong>

    Neve¡¯s disgruntled voice came from inside the tank-like contraption that looked straight out of a sci-fi movie, standing right in front of me and Dr. Shouko. She was floating naked in the pale green liquid that filled the device, with cables and cords attached to various parts of her body. <em>Even though I¡¯m told this is part of her treatment, I have no idea what is this thing actually doing.</em>¡¸I don¡¯t think is proper for you to stare at ady¡¯s naked body while she is being treated, don¡¯t you have any other ces to be?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, being cooped up in my room all by myself is boring¡­¡¹

    <strong>¡¸Why don¡¯t you join the others and relive your grand achievements, Captain? I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll shower you with praise.¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Who would want to be on the receiving end of such an embarrassing situation?! I don¡¯t have that kind of fetish¡¹

    <em>Instead of receiving such humiliation, I¡¯d rather sit here and nkly watch Neve¡¯s naked body.</em> Her body, which had looked like it would snap apart just by touching it, seemed to have improved. Her skeletal structure looked more solid now, and she had gained a little bit of flesh, no longer looking like she was just skin and bones.

    ¡¸How¡¯s Neve¡¯s treatment progressing?¡¹

    ¡¸We¡¯ve finallyid the foundation for her to be healthy. Her internal organs which were in terrible shape have finished healing. That was the biggest issue and what took the most time. Now that her life is in no danger anymore, we just have to strengthen her skeleton and increase her muscle mass ordingly. She¡¯ll be fully recovered soon.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸Yay, Captain! Once my body¡¯s healed, I¡¯ll give birth to lots of your children just like I promised!¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Maybe we can put that off for a while¡­¡¹

    <em>Even though Neve is older than what she looks, she still looks like a kid¡­ Well, after getting involved with Tina and Wiska I have little persuasive power, but even so¡­</em>

    ¡¸As her physician, I definitely can¡¯t rmend her getting pregnant so soon. Until her condition ispletely stable, make sure you use proper protection.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸Tch. But if we use protection¡­¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Okay, stop. Let¡¯s just end this conversation here, alright? Instead, is there anything you want to eat? I¡¯ll do my best to get whatever you want.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s a rather tant change of subject¡­¡¹

    Dr. Shouko gave me a wry smile, but continuing that line of conversation any further would definitely lead to trouble. It isn¡¯t something that needs to be rushed anyway. I really just want Neve to focus on getting a healthy body first.

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    As for the journey itself, it was incredibly smooth and uneventful, free from any troubles. After departing from the Neeparc Prime Colony, we synced our navigation with the fleet of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire and passed through the gateway. After crossing the gateway, we were already in the territory of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire.

    ¡¸If it were just our ships, we could shorten the trip with spatial jump travel, but¡­¡¹

    ¡¸The ck Lotus doesn¡¯t have anything that fancy¡­ By the way, is that something that can be installed on a ship using the technology of the Grakkan Empire?¡¹

    As I mentioned, the ck Lotus wasn¡¯t equipped with something as convenient as a psionic jump drive, so we had no choice but to use the standard hypenes for interster travel. As a result, even the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¯s escort fleet, which did have jump drives, was leisurely traveling through the hypenes along with the ck Lotus as we made our way to our destination¡ªthe core star system of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire.

    ¡¸Hmm¡­ Even if it could be installed, I¡¯m not sure it would be usable. From what I¡¯ve heard, it¡¯s something that requires the crew¡¯s potential to be stored in the ship regrly. Only when enough potential is umted the jump drive can be used.¡¹

    Inaba answered my question tilting her head slightly, notpletely sure of her answer.

    Next to her, the brainiacs from our crew were deep in thought, frowning as they considered theplexities of the technology.

    ¡¸Hmm¡­ Depends on the size of the Holy Empire¡¯s jump drive, but if it needs psionic power to run, we¡¯d have to hook up two different energy systems on one ship, right? Even for a ship as big as a Skiddnir-ss, that might be pushin¡¯ it.¡¹

    ¡¸If we reduce the cargo space, it might be doable, but then the ship¡¯s overall weight would be an issue. Unless the Holy Vuelzarus Empire has thrusters that are more powerful and fuel-efficient than what we¡¯re using now, that would be a hard issue to fix.¡¹

    ¡¸But even if we solve that, can we maintain it properly? The tech systems are different, so upkeep would be a pain, and there¡¯s also the question of whether our replicators can even produce the repair materials.¡¹

    The mechanic sisters and Dr. Shouko were deep in discussion, ncing at the Holy Vuelzarus Empire fleet, which was traveling at faster-than-light speed alongside the ck Lotus.<em> It seems you guys are contemting possible modifications to the ck Lotus but¡­ If we go that far, little will remain of the original Skiddnir-ss isn¡¯t it? Are we going to be okay? We still have an exclusive contract with Space Dwerg.</em>

    ¡¸This is¡­ real inari sushi¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, the sweetness of the fried tofu and the vinegared rice blend together so harmoniously¡­ It¡¯s delicious!¡¹

    ¡¸I might be a bitcking as a snack to eat while drinking alcohol.¡¹

    Not far from us, Mimi, Kugi, and Elma were snacking on inari sushi. Apparently, it was a gift from the shadymander of the escort fleet, Karasu. <em>He said it was a gesture of kindness towards Kugi, who had been away from her home for a while¡­ but why does everything about him feel so suspicious?</em>

    <em>Well, I doubt he sent this out of pure goodwill. In fact, Kugi seems genuinely happy, and I can¡¯t help but feel like I should at least consider returning the favor if he ever asked for something.</em>

    ¡¸But, I¡¯ve got to say, it¡¯s unusually quiet and peaceful, isn¡¯t it?¡¹

    ¡¸Hiro! What are you doing? Don¡¯t you know what happens when you say something like that?¡¹

    ¡¸Hiro-sama, are you secretly enjoying the prospect of trouble?¡¹

    Elma and Mimi both immediately shot back at me.<em> It¡¯s not like I want trouble, but when things are this peaceful for too long, you can¡¯t help but start feeling anxious, right? Besides, something always seems to go wrong at times like this.</em>

    <strong>¡¸Master, it seems the escort fleet has found something. They¡¯re stopping faster-than-light travel to deal with it, but please remain cautious just in case.¡¹</strong>

    <em>Just as I thought, something really did happen.</em> All eyes in the lounge turned toward me.

    ¡¸My bad.¡¹

    <em>Sometimes, you¡¯ve just got to own up and apologize.</em>

 Chapter 512: ã€ŒIs That Thing Trying to Pick a Fight With All the Existences In the Universe?ã€

    Chapter 512: ¡¸Is That Thing Trying to Pick a Fight With All the Existences In the Universe?¡¹

    Suddenly, in the vastness of space, a purple light appeared, and from it, numerous glowing spheres shot out. While I said they were ¡®spheres¡¯, their shapes were inconsistent¡ªsome were closer to perfect spheres, others were more elliptical, and a few could hardly be called spheres at all. Overall, it would be probably more urate to just call them as spherical objects.

    ¡¸What the hell are those things?¡¹

    ¡¸They¡¯re a type of subspace creature called photon lifeforms. They attach themselves to any lifeform, organic or inorganic, within their detection range and suck out their life force, killing them. They¡¯re usually categorized as space monsters.¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s that? That¡¯s some scary lifeform. Is that thing trying to pick a fight with all the existences in the universe?¡¹

    ¡¸Fortunately, theyck faster-than-light travel abilities, so a normal ship can easily escape. However, if they were to appear near a colony or a habitable where life forms live, they be incredibly dangerous.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, that does sound dangerous¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Crystal lifeforms are scary, but these photon lifeforms things aren¡¯t much better¡­¡¹

    Listening to my conversation with Inaba, Elma and Mimi¡¯s faces tightened. <em>What exactly happens when your life force gets sucked out? Do you shrivel up instantly, like a dried-out mummy? That¡¯s terrifying.</em>

    <em>By the way, if you make contact with crystal lifeforms without any countermeasures, you¡¯ll be assimted. In other words, your body will crystallize and be absorbed¡ªor, in the worst-case scenario, you¡¯ll transform into a small crystal lifeform. Terrifying.</em>¡¸Yes, that¡¯s why our nation¡¯s regtions dictate that we must deal with them as soon as they are discovered. If left unchecked, they could slowly make their way to a colony or aary settlement, potentially causing great harm.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­ I¡¯d heard that the Holy Vuelzarus Empire ces a lot of emphasis on dealing with space monsters, but it seems you really take it seriously.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, my Lord. It is our duty to deal with dangerous subspace creatures like these¡­ It seems it¡¯s about to begin.¡¹

    As Kugi spoke, the Holy Empire fleet, which had been keeping a safe distance while surrounding the photon lifeforms, began projecting some kind of luminous emblem on the front of their ships. I had no idea what the emblems meant, but I could feel an immense concentration of psionic power gathering at the front of the ships¡ªeven through the hull of the ck Lotus. What the hell is about to happen?

    The moment I instinctively tensed up, a pure white beam of light shot out from the center of the projected emblems. <em>Oh no. That¡¯s bad. That light is bad news. Whatever it hits, if it¡¯s alive, it¡¯s dead. That light is death itself. What the hell is the Holy Empire thinking? How could they have created a weapon like this!?</em>

    While I was still reeling in shock at the terrifying nature of the beam, the white light pierced through the photon lifeforms, wiping them out one by one. Mimi and the mechanic sisters were watching the scene with sparkling eyes, but I couldn¡¯t share their enthusiasm. That light was far too terrifying.

    ¡¸Are you alright?¡¹

    Noticing something was off with me, Elma gently ced her hand on my back and spoke with concern. <em>She¡¯s always quick to notice things like this.</em>

    ¡¸I feel like someone put an ice bar inside my spine. But I¡¯m alright¡­ Hey, Kugi, is that weapon based on the Second Power of Law?¡¹

    ¡¸I believe so¡­ though I¡¯m not too familiar with weaponry, so I can¡¯t say for certain.¡¹

    After replying like this, Kugi nced at Inaba, who nodded and started to exin.

    ¡¸As you suspected, it¡¯s a weapon based on the Second Power of Law, called ¡®Soul Crusher.¡¯ It¡¯s a weapon designed to kill any living being, no matter what it is. It has no physical destructive power, but if it¡¯s alive, it will die.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s pretty brutal¡­ So, you¡¯re regrly fighting enemies that require a weapon like that, huh?¡¹

    <em>Thinking about it, I¡¯m not entirely sure if our usual weapons, like those on the Krishna, the Antlion, or the ck Lotus, can take down those photon lifeforms¡­ Surely at least the anti-ship reactive torpedos should work, right? I hope they do¡­</em> While I pondered this and kept watching the battle, the Holy Empire fleet won with little effort.<em> That light of death seems to have the same ¡®projectile¡¯ speed as aser cannon. If we ever have to face that thing, I wouldn¡¯t even know what to do¡­ Should I destroy the cannon that shoots it before it¡¯s shot? Get in close? Or just run for it? Running might be the most realistic option, but can we even escape from a ship equipped with a psionic jump drive?</em>

    ¡¸Elma, let¡¯s make sure we never go up against the Holy Empire, okay?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ve always intended to avoid that, but Ipletely agree with you now.¡¹

    ¡¸We also want to avoid making enemies of the ¡®visitors¡¯.¡¹

    ¡¸Um, my Lord, Elma-san¡­ you don¡¯t have to be so way, there¡¯s no way we would ever be your enemy.¡¹

    I was dead serious. Elma was dead serious. Inaba, too, had a serious expression. Only Kugi had a wry smile on her face. <em>Luckily, it seems it¡¯s true that the Holy Vuelzarus Empire is reluctant to harm ¡®visitors¡¯ like me. If that weren¡¯t the case, I¡¯d probably be scrambling toe up with some excuse to turn back to the Grakkan Empire by now.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    After confirming that no further threats appeared, the Holy Empire fleet resumed its course toward our destination. The journey continued without incident until we finally reached the main star system of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡­ or so we thought.

    ¡¸What is this¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Wow¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Unbelievable¡­¡¹

    We were all left speechless by the sight projected on the holo-disy. I mean, this scene was absolutely incredible. There was a ring ofs, all at nearly the same distance from the system¡¯s star. Theses, scattered throughout the habitable zone¡ªthe region where a star¡¯s energy is just right to support life¡ªranged in size from massive to small.

    ¡¸How do so manys not end up crashin¡¯ into each other¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Aren¡¯t there issues with gravitational interference between them?¡¹

    ¡¸As far as I know, nothing like that has ever happened.¡¹

    Kugi said with a smile, trying to reassure the worried mechanic sisters.

    <em>Well, judging by what we can see from here, none of thes look like they are in danger of colliding nor there are any shattereds around, so it seems fine. Still, there is no way this star system has formed naturally.</em>

    ¡¸Did they relocate thes into the habitable zone and terraform them afterward? That¡¯s some brute force approach if I¡¯ve ever seen one¡­ I can¡¯t even begin to imagine the amount of effort that went into this.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸I can¡¯t help but think it¡¯d be impossible to calcte the gravitational forces between the star and that manys to create a bnce this precise¡­¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Ick data to make a proper judgment.¡¹

    The intellectuals in our group seemed more concerned than awed. Mei was probably already trying to calcte the mass and velocity of the star ands. <em>I have the feeling those calctions would only lead to some absurd conclusion, so she¡¯d be better off not trying.</em>

    ¡¸Which one¡¯s our destination¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡¹

    Inaba averted her gaze in response to my question. With so manys, it seemed she couldn¡¯t pinpoint which one exactly was our destination. All of thes looked like habitable ones, with visible bodies of water. Even though we had a full view, we were still likely hundreds of thousands of kilometers away¡ªif not more. Expecting her to spot it with the naked eye was asking a bit much.

    ¡¸Master, initiating the FTL drive for synchronized travel.¡¹

    ¡¸Got it.¡¹

    On therge holo-disy showing the outside of the ship, a countdown for the FTL drive activation began. Soon enough, the countdown reached zero, and the distant starlight turned from points into streaks as we transitioned to faster-than-light speed.

    ¡¸Now that I think about it, I guess we can¡¯t just tell them to leave us alone to do some sightseeing by ourselves once we arrive on the, huh? They have pulled all stops to wee us and they¡¯ve even sent us an escort fleet, after all.¡¹

    Almost everyone in the room gave me a look that said, ¡®Obviously, what is this guy thinking?¡¯. <em>Hey, I figured as much, which is why I said it aloud to confirm¡­ You don¡¯t have to give me that exasperated look¡­</em>

    ¡¸Uh, as far as I know, afternding at the spaceport of the capital, Izumo, there will be a small ceremony at the spaceport, and afterward, we¡¯ll perform the Exorcism Ritual at the Great Shrine.¡¹ ¡¸The Great Shrine? Exorcism Ritual?¡¹

    ¡¸The Great Shrine is the central facility where various rituals and ceremonies are performed in our nation, my Lord. The Exorcism Ritual is a purification ceremony to cleanse any impurities you may have umted.¡¹

    ¡¸Impurities, huh? Well, I¡¯m probably full of those¡­¡¹

    <em>ording to Imperialw, Mimi and I are officially married, but I don¡¯t have any legally recognized rtionship with the rest of my crew. So, if you consider that, my rtionship with the other girls could be seen as impure. And beyond that, I¡¯ve killed a ton of space pirates and whatnot. I¡¯ve done plenty of killing. I didn¡¯t steal anything though¡­ well, maybe looting pirates counts as stealing? But it¡¯s legal, right?</em>

    ¡¸Do we have to do anything about our lodgings or docking procedures?¡¹

    ¡¸Not at all, my Lord. We will handle all of that for you, so you needn¡¯t worry.¡¹

    ¡¸Good, that¡¯s a relief. Since I¡¯m being hosted, I¡¯ll do whatever I can to help in return.¡¹

    <em>After all, this visit to the Holy Vuelzarus Empire is something I had requested, and it is only happening thanks to their goodwill. Comining about minor inconveniences, demanding freedom of movement, or insisting on special treatment would¡¯ve been too selfish.</em>

    ¡¸It¡¯s so like you to worry about where to sleep and dock first, Boss.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, that does sound like him.¡¹

    <em>Oh, shut up.</em>

 Chapter 513: ã€ŒNo, that didnâ€™t even cross my mindâ€¦ã€

    Chapter 513: ¡¸No, that didn¡¯t even cross my mind¡­¡¹

    We had reached the main star system of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire and followed the lead ship down to one of thes that formed the ring ofs orbiting around the main star. The descent went smoothly without any troublesome procedures, perhaps because prior arrangements had been made, or maybe because the Holy Vuelzarus Empire simply didn¡¯t have as strict regtions onaryndings as the Grakkan Empire. Since the Holy Vuelzarus Empire didn¡¯t allow foreign ships into their territory, thetter might be the case.

    ¡¸It¡¯s a wild idea, but maybe¡­¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s on your mind?¡¹

    ¡¸The reason the Holy Vuelzarus Empire has this semi-istionist policy¡­ Could it be because dangerous space monsters keep popping up in their territory, like how those photon lifeforms suddenly appeared out of nowhere?¡¹

    ¡¸I would like to say you reading too much into it¡­ but, it could be possible.¡¹

    Elma, recalling the photon lifeforms that had emerged from the void of space, stared nkly into the distance with a zed expression. If creatures like that kept appearing continuously, it would make perfect sense why the Holy Empire doesn¡¯t allow foreign ships. Normal ships are only armed with conventional weapons, so they would find it extremely dangerous to travel within the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¯s borders.

    While we were talking, the vehicle transporting us was making its way toward the Grand Shrine, the most revered religious and ceremonial site in the capital of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire.

    ¡¸This time it won¡¯t fall, right¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸It-It¡¯s fine, sis. This vehicle is much more advanced than the one we rode in the Refill Star System.¡¹Tina had an uneasy look, eyeing the vehicle we were currently riding with suspicion. The reason was simple¡ªit was one of those so-called ¡®flying carriages¡¯.

    It was quite some time ago, but back on Refill IV, the Elves¡¯ home, we had also ridden in one of these so-called flying carriages. That time, however, an unforeseen ident caused us to crash into a virgin forest.<em> That one was dangerous, we could have ended dead.</em>

    ¡¸Our flying carriages aren¡¯t so poorly designed that they would crash just because an unexpected flow of Power of Law enters the vehicle, so there¡¯s no need to worry.¡¹

    Konoha, the former guard of the Neeparc cathedral who now served as our guide, said that sternly, probably a little miffed we didn¡¯t thrust her country¡¯s technology. <em>This tanuki-eared samurai girl is always too serious.</em>

    ¡¸Konoha-chan, be a bit friendlier, okay? Still, what she says is true. Our flying carriages are equipped with multipleyers of safety measures, so there¡¯s really nothing to be concerned about.¡¹

    Moegi, the fox-eared samurai oneesan, gently reprimanded Konoha. She had volunteered toe with us and ended up being assigned as our guide in the end. Once we met with them at the spaceport afternding on Izumo a strange happening urred, for some reason, Moegi gave Inaba-san an oddly smug look and sparks flew between the two. <em>Do they have some sort of history between them?</em>

    ¡¸¡­That being said, it¡¯s also not good for the vehicle to receive arge amount of Power of Law beyond its intended output, so please refrain from pouring Power of Law into it on purpose, okay?¡¹

    ¡¸No, that didn¡¯t even cross my mind¡­¡¹

    <em>What does Moegi think of me, really? As if I¡¯d ever prioritize curiosity or a mischievous impulse over our safety like that.</em>

    ¡¸But I must say, what a picturesque this is¡­¡¹

    Dr. Shouko, who had been gazing out the window of the flying carriage, muttered softly. Indeed, Izumo was a beautiful. There was an abundance of greenery, plenty of water, and flowers blooming all over. What particrly caught the eye were the trees in full bloom, resembling cherry blossoms. They continuously scattered petals like sakura flowers, yet the trees showed no signs of losing their vibrancy.<em> Could it be that they shed their petals while simultaneously producing new flowers? I doubt that¡¯s natural.</em>

    <strong>¡¸More than that, I¡¯m curious about that¡­ Why is it floating?¡¹</strong>

    Neve¡¯s gaze was fixed on a floating mass ofnd. That¡¯s right¡ªthend was floating. Suspended in mid-air. It wasn¡¯t particrlyrge, but it wasn¡¯t small either. It wasn¡¯t just a rock; there was greenery growing on it, and water seemed to spring from somewhere, cascading down to the ground below like a waterfall. <em>Where on earth is all that watering from?</em>

    ¡¸Floatingnd is a rtively rare phenomenon, even on Izumo. It¡¯s caused by a material the produces called floating stone.¡¹

    ¡¸Floating stone?¡¹

    Inaba started to exin after I asked about it, her rabbit ears twitching proudly.<em> She seems to enjoy giving exnations.</em>

    ¡¸Yes, they¡¯re essentially an anti-gravity material. They have properties that block the effects of gravity. There¡¯s a deposit of that anti-gravity material beneath the floatingnd. These days, such deposits are quite rare and are preserved as natural monuments.¡¹

    ¡¸Sis, have you ever heard of anti-gravity material?¡¹

    ¡¸Nope. How about you, Doc?¡¹

    ¡¸Never heard of it either,¡¹

    Without missing a beat, the tech experts immediatelyunched into a technical discussion about anti-gravity materials. The three of them then began bombarding Inaba with questions. <em>Ah, well¡­ I¡¯ll just let them be for now.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    After disembarking from the flying carriage, we started climbing a rather long stone staircase that led toward the Grand Shrine. The stairs were wide, and several massive structures resembling torii gates were installed along the way. On both sides of the staircase, those same cherry blossom-like trees were nted, continuously shedding petals. The wind carried the petals toward us as we ascended.

    ¡¸What strange petals¡­¡¹

    Mimi murmured as she gazed at a petal that had fallen into her hand. It was indeed peculiar. When the petal touched your hand, you could feel it for a moment, but after a few seconds, it seemed to dissolve into the air, disappearing entirely.

    ¡¸These are prayer sakura, a type of hallowed nt. The petals are materialized Power of Law, and after falling from the tree, they dissolve like that after a short time.¡¹

    ¡¸Wait, materialized Power of Law? Isn¡¯t that simr to antimatter? That¡¯s highly dangerous!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­? No, my Lord, there¡¯s no danger at all.¡¹

    Kugi, who was walking beside me, tilted her head slightly as she denied my im. <em>Huh?</em>

    ¡¸Boss, what Grandpa Fushin wasparin¡¯ to antimatter was materialized Astral Bodies, not Power of Law.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, right. So, what¡¯s the difference?¡¹

    ¡¸An Astral Body refers to anything that exists in the Astral Realm¡ªa worldposed of psychic energy that is denser than Power of Law. These beings or things typically struggle to maintain their existence in this world, which we call the physical realm. While the petals of the prayer sakura may be materialized, the energy they contain is minuscule, so they simply fade like illusions. However, if it were an astral body instead¡­ well, at best, it could cause a massive explosion, and at worst, it might spread widespread psychic contamination.¡¹

    ¡¸Astral bodies sound terrifying. What the hell is psychic contamination?¡¹

    ¡¸Big Brother¡¯s Krishna is a massive collection of that terrifying substance, you know.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, it ain¡¯t just a petal, but hundreds of tons of the stuff¡­ could wipe out a whole star system or two easy.¡¹

    Kugi¡¯s scary story had both sisters staring off into the distance, clearly unsettled. <em>Bute on, we haven¡¯t had any major issues so far, right? And we¡¯ll be fine from here on out too! Probably! I¡¯m sure everything will be fine¡­</em>

    <em>On a more serious note, since we¡¯ve made it all the way to the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, it might be worth having their technicians or researchers thoroughly examine the Krishna. No, actually, I definitely need to have them do that.</em>

    ¡¸Kugi-san, can you exin what exactly these hallowed nts are?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, hallowed nts are a general term for nts that have a special reaction to Power of Law, and the prayer sakura is the mostmon type of hallowed nt. It helps circte Power of Law throughout a, creating and maintaining a better environment for those who live on it.¡¹

    <em>Wait, does that mean these trees are like small terraforming devices running on psionic energy? And what does ¡®better environment¡¯ even mean? Isn¡¯t that a bit vague? Both the target and the effects seem way too fuzzy. Aren¡¯t those a little too convenient?</em> The mechanic sisters were also making faces like, ¡®What the heck?¡¯ So I wasn¡¯t the only one feeling skeptical.

    ¡¸I¡¯m not entirely sure, but let¡¯s just ept that these things are good trees that spread some good vibes through psionic energy.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, that sounds about right.¡¹

    ¡¸Yep, I don¡¯t like it, but that¡¯s probably the best way to get our heads around it.¡¹

    ¡¸It still doesn¡¯t sit well with me, but I guess that works.¡¹

    ¡¸???¡¹

    Kugi looked around at us with a puzzled expression, clearly confused by our reactions. <em>Sorry, Kugi. It¡¯s not your fault. The strange nt, prayer sakura, is to me. Don¡¯t worry about it too much.</em>

 Chapter 514: ã€ŒIsnâ€™t it Just Because Hiro-dono is Shameless?ã€

    Chapter 514: ¡¸Isn¡¯t it Just Because Hiro-dono is Shameless?¡¹

    ¡¸Haah, phew¡­ It looks like we¡¯ve finally arrived, huh?¡¹

    After climbing the stone steps, we reached a ce that resembled the spacious grounds of arge shrine.<em> Just how big is this area? It¡¯s absurdly wide. However, Dr. Shouko lookspletely out of breath¡­ well, she almost never visits the training room. Maybe I should start dragging her there by force and make her exercise. Not being able to move when it counts could be a matter of life and death.</em>

    ¡¸It¡¯s only been a few months, yet it feels so nostalgic¡­¡¹

    Kugi gazed around the shrine grounds, her fluffy tails wagging gently.

    ¡¸Does that mean you used to train here, Kugi?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, my Lord. I spent many days training at this Grand Shrine.¡¹

    As she said that and turned to look at me, the sight was strikingly picturesque, with a flurry of cherry blossoms dancing around her. In the background, a majestic-looking worship hall¡ªor something resembling one¡ªstood proudly. Everything about the scene just clicked. <em>So, this is what people mean when they say something is ¡®Instagrammable¡¯ or ¡®aesthetic.¡¯</em>

    ¡¸It¡¯s mesmerizing, isn¡¯t it?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s really beautiful, isn¡¯t it¡­¡¹¡¸Recordingplete.¡¹

    It seemed that Mimi and Elma were just as captivated by Kugi as I was. Even Mei, who rarely shows any emotion, felt something from the scene, as she adjusted the red frames of her sses slightly and muttered something I didn¡¯t quite catch under her breath.

    ¡¸Hmm, we can¡¯t quite pull off that mysterious or mystical vibe, can we?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, we can only really focus on a more¡­ healthy kind of appeal, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Wouldn¡¯t just going all out, bare and bold, be the best?¡¹

    <strong>¡¸Doctor, I think that¡¯s a bit toocking in subtlety¡­¡¹</strong>

    <em>I agree. Dr. Shoko, please reflect on that. Still, I have to admit, with Dr. Shoko hmm¡­ assets she doesn¡¯t need to search forplicated appealing methods. There is also the saying ¡®simple is best¡¯, so I guess using that approach is fine for her.</em>

    Without letting any of these thoughts show on my face, I just smiled and followed Kugi, who seemed in a good mood, as she instructed us on the proper ritual for prayer. Following her lead, we purified our hands at what seemed like a sacred water basin and prayed at the shrine. Though my memory of simr rituals was vague, this one felt quite different from what I knew. <em>But hey, it¡¯s a different universe, a different civilization, so it¡¯s not weird things are different here.</em>

    ¡¸Still, this group is something else, isn¡¯t it? Aside from Hiro-dono, everyone is female.¡¹

    ¡¸Not all ¡®visitors¡¯ are the same, but it seems there¡¯s been a trend among male ¡®visitors¡¯ to end up surrounded by femalepanions for a long time. Even so, I think Hiro-dono¡¯s situation is pretty extraordinary.¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t it just because Hiro-dono is shameless?¡¹

    <em>Behind me, Moegi, Inaba, and Konoha are saying quite rude things, but I¡¯m going to let it slide like the adult I am, not because I don¡¯t have anyebacks, of course, but because avoiding conflict is the wise, mature thing to do.</em>

    As we were engaged in this conversation, a group of people, apparently our guides, appeared. There were people dressed in what looked like priest outfits and others in shrine maiden-like attire. There were quite a few of them¡­ though with Moegi and the others included, we outnumbered them. After all, there were twelve of us in thisrge group! <em>I¡¯m the only guy in my group though.</em>

    ¡¸Wee, and thank you foring.¡¹

    ¡¸Thanks for having us, I guess?¡¹

    <em>We came here mostly out of courtesy to the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, so it feels a bit off to thank them for their hospitality, really.</em>

    ¡¸We are deeply honored to wee you and yourpanions to our Grand Shrine, Hiro-dono. Now, please, follow me. Let us begin preparations for the ceremony.¡¹

    ¡¸Got it.¡¹

    I gave a slight nod to signal the others to follow as we trailed behind our guides. <em>These people, work at the heart of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, so they might possess psionic powers equal to or greater than Kugi¡¯s. I don¡¯t feel anything special but it¡¯s hard to gauge that kind of thing sometimes.</em>

    ¡¸Hiro-sama.¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s up?¡¹

    Mimi tugged on my sleeve and called my name. When I turned to her, she cupped her hands around her mouth, as if sharing a secret, so I leaned in closer to listen.

    ¡¸You¡¯re usually more cautious in situations like this, but this time, you seem¡­ a little too rxed?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, that. Well, think about it, if someone like Kugi, an expert practitioner of telepathy fully prepared and with the help of some kind of amplification facility, tried to control us or do anything against us, we¡¯d have almost no chance to resist. The only ones who might be able to counteract something like that would be me with my mental barriers up, and Mei who is immune to telepathy due to her being a machine intelligence.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­That might be true.¡¹

    ¡¸If everyone except for Mei and I ended up controlled by telepathy, we¡¯d already be done for. And even if Mei and I managed to escape aboard the Krishna, there¡¯s no way we could outrun the Holy Empire fleet equipped with the Soul Crusher and psionic jump drive. That¡¯s why, in a way, I¡¯m more resigned now than I was when we were under pseudo house arrest deep inside the Imperial Pce.¡¹

    <em>At this point, with no viable options left, it¡¯s fair to say we have no choice but to dance in the palm of their hand. Dealing with an entity as overwhelmingly powerful as the Holy Vuelzarus Empire means epting that reality.</em>

    ¡¸However, there is one thing, just one, that makes us a potential threat to them.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, you mean the bomb.¡¹

    ¡¸Exactly, the bomb. If anything irreversible happens to you guys, I¡¯ll blow myself up, while making sure to take this star system and everything around it with me. I came here prepared for at least that much.¡¹

    ¡¸Uh, my Lord? We¡¯d never do anything like that, and we can hear you, by the way¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I said it intending to be heard. Your country is too powerful, and I can¡¯t trust something just like that. Trust is something that is built by two parties, bit by bit.¡¹

    <em>After all, we don¡¯t fully understand the stance the Holy Vuelzarus Empire is taking with us, and they likely don¡¯t fully grasp how I might respond either.</em>

    ¡¸As long as they don¡¯t mess with my crew, I¡¯ll be content. As long as the safety of my crew is guaranteed, I¡¯m willing to endure some hardship.¡¹

    Whether the guides heard my words or not, they continued leading us without saying anything. The silence was a bit unnerving, but on closer inspection¡ªor rather, based on my psionic sense¡ªit seemed like they weremunicating telepathically quite frequently. <em>It¡¯s possible that in the Holy Vuelzarus Empire,munication via telepathy is the norm, more so than verbal conversation.</em>

    ¡¸First, we will conduct a Purification Ritual. Hiro-sama pleasee this way. Thedies should go over there.¡¹

    With that, the guides split us up by gender, intending to lead us to separate locations.

    ¡¸Alright, we¡¯ll meet up againter, right? Make sure to handle things on your end.¡¹

    ¡¸You too. Don¡¯t cause any trouble, okay?¡¹

    ¡¸How rude! I¡¯m always well-behaved and impably polite.¡¹

    When I said that, the crew gave me a collective t stare or responded with amused smiles.

    <em>Why!?</em>

 Chapter 515: ã€ŒIâ€™m Really Sorryã€

    Chapter 515: ¡¸I¡¯m Really Sorry¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Didn¡¯t I tell you not to cause any trouble?¡¹

    ¡¸I swear I didn¡¯t do anything. I really didn¡¯t do anything, believe me!¡¹

    After parting ways with the girls, I went through a preparatory ritual, called the Purification Ritual, which is apparently done before the official exorcism. But that¡¯s when the problem started. The Purification Ritual is supposed to be a ritual where you wash away sins or impurities with running water. However, I must have umted too many sins or impurities because the water source that was supposed to cleanse me started getting ominously polluted instead.

    Then, all hell broke loose. People dressed like shrine priests and priestesses, as well as others who didn¡¯t quite fit the traditional look, appeared out of nowhere. They all started hauling out strange, sacred-looking objects and unleashing waves of psionic power everywhere.

    As for me, I was barely holding on as the water suddenly surged and almost swept me away. I was also hit by these divine-looking beams of light¡ª<em>though, to be honest, they didn¡¯t hurt or sting at all</em>¡ªit was still a rough experience. <em>It kind of felt like I was a giant monster getting attacked by a military force.</em>

    By the time the Purification Ritual ended, I was left soaked to the bone, along with a bunch of people copsed all over the floor, drenched and gasping for air.<em> I swear, all I did was try not to get swept away and get hit by beams of light from every direction. That¡¯s it. I didn¡¯t do anything. Really.</em>

    ¡¸On this side, it looks like Elma-san and Neve-chan had a bit of a hard time, didn¡¯t they? Shouko-sensei and I had it rough too, but not as much.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ve used test animals in experiments before after all. Well, it makes sense that Hiro-kun would have a hard time, doesn¡¯t it?¡¹

    ¡¸So, does that mean this impurity thing gets bigger the more folks ya kill?¡¹¡¸Not just people. I think it¡¯s any kind of killing.¡¹

    The tech-savvy girls were busy specting about what kind of actions might increase this so-called impurity based on the people who had trouble with the Purification Ritual. Makes sense. I¡¯ve ughtered a ton of space pirates and wiped out a Vereverem Federation fleet using a Singing Crystal, and if just killing counts, I killed a ton of those white monsters that attacked Alein Tertius Colony, thousands of those crystal lifeforms, and dozens of Twisted in the Comatt Star System.<em> Yeah, I guess I¡¯ve been killing a lot.</em>

    <em>But that¡¯s just my job, a mercenary kills for a living. There is nothing I can do about it, and I don¡¯t n to stop killing pirates and monsters.</em>

    As I was chatting with the women after reuniting, the group who first guided us appeared. Their hair, ears, tails, wings, and other features seemed somewhat damp, and their clothes looked more simple. <em>Were they also helping during my chaotic Purification Ritual?</em>

    ¡¸Thank you for waiting¡­ It was quite the ordeal for all of us, wasn¡¯t it?¡¹

    A man with wolf-like ears and a tail, with strikingly good looks¡ªprobably around my age or a bit older¡ªspoke to us, though his gaze was a little distant. <em>Yeah, he looks pretty exhausted.</em>

    ¡¸Ah, uh¡­ sorry about that.¡¹

    ¡¸No, it wasn¡¯t your fault, Hiro-dono¡­ or, well, maybe you weren¡¯t entirely without fault, but we understand there was no ill intent.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m really sorry.¡¹

    Seeing his tail drooping limply and swaying weakly from side to side made me apologize without thinking.

    ¡¸Still, the fact that you¡¯re not onlypletely unaffected by that level of impurity but also don¡¯t seem to be causing harm to those around you¡­ that¡¯s quite remarkable.¡¹

    A priestess-looking woman with small white wings on her back said that in admiration despite her clear exhaustion.

    <em>Wait, what? Is there normally a bad side effect from umting too much of this impurity thing?</em>

    ¡¸What usually happens if someone is carrying that much impurity?¡¹

    ¡¸In most cases, they fall into a state of seeking continuous battle, killing without remorse, and descending into madness, or they be depraved, abandoning ethics and reason, unable to control their desires. Those around them often get caught up in it and end up the same way. However, before that happens, most people would probably break mentally.¡¹

    ¡¸Wow¡­ that¡¯s terrifying. Why was I unaffected, then?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s likely due to your extremely strong potential, Hiro-dono.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, seems like that¡¯s the answer for everything¡­¡¹

    <em>So basically, my immense psionic power has been keeping the impurities from messing with my mind. That makes sense. Now that I think about it, I¡¯ve felt mentally stronger ever since I arrived in this universe. I didn¡¯t bat an eye when I took out those begging space pirates, and I¡¯ve remained calm in situations that would normally be terrifying. I thought it was because I was still treating this universe as a game unconsciously, but maybe this is the real reason.</em>

    ¡¸It seems the preparations for the Exorcism Ritual will take a little more time, so please wait a bit longer.¡¹

    ¡¸Got it.¡¹

    <em>Probably themotion I caused earlier threw off their schedule. Sorry about that, guys.</em>

    I felt a little guilty about it, but we had some time to kill, so I decided to pass the time looking at the girls who were dressed in matching light white robes. Mei was dressed in her usual outfit though, it seems that Mei didn¡¯t need to go through the Purification Ritual because she is a mechanical being without a soul.

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    While the Purification Ritual used water, it seemed that the Exorcism Ritual involved fire.

    Arge me zed before us as we sat in a row, and the priests of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire chanted something resembling prayers while pouring psionic power into the fire.

    The mes, infused with psionic power, changed color, bing a deep purple.

    ¡¸Do we need to do anything here?¡¹

    ¡¸No, my Lord. There¡¯s nothing you need to do. However, at the end, the mes will reach out toward you and engulf you, so please don¡¯t be rmed.¡¹

    ¡¸Umm, are you sure it won¡¯t be hot?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, Mimi-san, it¡¯s not real fire, so it won¡¯t hurt.¡¹

    Kugi tried to calm Mimi who seemed a little frightened by the growing purple mes. <em>I don¡¯t me her though. Even if they tell us this fire only burns away our sins and impurities, it is hard to fully grasp the concept. And, to be honest, fire is simply scary. Especially for people living in space, fire is a terrifying thing.</em>

    If a fire breaks out in a sealed environment like a colony or a spaceship, it can turn into a disaster instantly. The temperature spikes in no time, oxygen depletes quickly, and the toxic gases produced by the fire are deadly¡ª<em>at least, that¡¯s what I¡¯ve heard. I¡¯m scared of fires too, but people who live primarily in space¡ªunlike those onary settlements¡ªfear fire even more.</em>

    ¡¸I wonder what that me really is¡­ I¡¯d love to scan it.¡¹

    ¡¸Exactly. Ugh, why didn¡¯t we bring a scanner? Seriously.¡¹

    ¡¸Everything here is so fascinating. I want to scan it all!¡¹

    ¡¸The Doctor and the twins never change, huh?¡¹

    <em>Neve is right. These three are always the same no matter the situation.</em> Speaking of which, Neve was still lying in her mobile pod, but the cover was open now. Dr. Shouko said her immune system had fully recovered, so maybe it was time to switch her to an open-type pod. Or, better yet, maybe she¡¯d be able to walk on her own soon.

    ¡¸It looks like it¡¯s about to wrap up.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, finally. Let¡¯s hope nothing weird happens this time.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ve already given up on that.¡¹

    The moment Elma said that, streaks of me shot out from the roaring purple me, heading straight for us. They moved pretty fast. I remembered Kugi¡¯s advice and stood still, watching the mes as they extended toward me. Soon enough, the purple mes reached my body.

    ¡¸O-oh¡­¡¹

    The fire spread across the surface of my skin, tracing over me. It felt warm, but not hot at all. It was a strange sensation, like the warmth was slowly seeping inward from my skin. <em>It¡¯s actually kind of pleasant, like a warm massage or something.</em>

    ¡¸¡­Isn¡¯t this taking a while?¡¹

    The purple mes were still burning around me. They were using me as fuel. Meanwhile, the mes around everyone else had already vanished, leaving me as the only one still engulfed. I looked like a purple torch at this point.

    ¡¸Uh¡­ my Lord, are you feeling alright?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m fine. It actually feels kind of nice, warm and cozy.¡¹

    When I said that, Kugi nced toward the woman presiding over the ritual, the one wearing the most borate outfit. She was an incredibly beautiful woman, with an air of authority about her.

    ¡¸Hmph¡­ ¡®Tis rare to see a ¡®visitor¡¯ with such potential. Truly, it is surprising that his form hath remained human for so long. While this situation is out of the ordinary, it doth not pose any true danger.¡¹¡¸Wait a minute, did you just say something I can¡¯t ignore?¡¹

    Suddenly, the mes engulfing my body red up. What had been a light burn along my surface was now a raging inferno, with the mes erupting like a geyser.

    ¡¸Ah, it burns well now, dost thou not see? ¡®Visitor¡¯, these mes do feed upon the impurities and sins that cling to thy soul. Tell me, what hast thou in to bring this about? Surely it was someone, or something, of innocence and significance for the mes to react so.¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t really have any¡ªah, wait, is it that? The Mother Crystal?¡¹

    ¡¸Mother Crystal?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s the thing that gives birth to the crystal lifeforms. It was a spiked crystal the size of a small.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, I see it now¡­ Behold! Now that thou hast recognized thy sin, the mes surge ever higher.¡¹

    The moment the borately dressed beauty narrowed her eyes and spoke, the purple inferno surrounding me surged even higher, exploding from my body and filling the entire ritual chamber with an intense purple glow.

 Chapter 516: ã€ŒNo, Iâ€™ll Have to Declineã€

    Chapter 516: ¡¸No, I¡¯ll Have to Decline¡¹

    TN: After receiving feedback from themunity, I¡¯ve decided to change ¡®Power of Law¡¯ to ¡®Spiritual Power¡¯. Additionally, ¡®First Power of Law¡¯, ¡®Second Power of Law¡¯, and ¡®Third Power of Law¡¯ will now be referred to as ¡®First Spiritual Form¡¯, ¡®Second Spiritual Form¡¯, and ¡®Third Spiritual Form¡¯. I believe these new terms better capture the meaning of the original Japanese and align with the religious aspect of the Holy Empire. Over the next few days, I¡¯ll begin updating the older chapters ordingly. I¡¯ll also correct any overlooked mistakes, so it may take some time, but everything should bepleted within a week or two at most.

    ¡¸In simpler terms, ¡¯tis a curse. We may call it impurities or sin, but at its root, ¡¯tis simply a curse. When thou treadest upon the grass, sometimes small insects are crushed beneath thy feet, and the grass too is trampled, is it not? Even such acts, seemingly small, add to the curse. ¡®Tis the resentment of the things thou hast trampled, negative Spiritual Power, if thou wilt.¡¹

    ¡¸I see, that makes sense.¡¹

    The gorgeous foxdy chuckled, seemingly amused by my inability to fully grasp her point. She took a puff from her luxuriously decorated pipe and exhaled a plume of smoke.

    ¡¸Normally, curses of that level are naught to be concerned about. Hast thou ever seen the snow? If so, this shall be easy to exin. When a single snowke falls upon bare skin, it will not cause thee to freeze to death, will it? A curse, or impurities as we oft name it, is much the same. Of course, if it umtes too greatly, thou mayst suffer frostbite, or even freeze to death. In thy case, it was as if thou stood in a snowstorm for hours, only to dive into a frozenke for a swim¡­ yet, owing to thine abnormally hardy body, thou hast somehow emerged unscathed.¡¹

    ¡¸Abnormal¡­ abnormal, huh¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Cease thy stubbornness. Thou art well aware of thine own abnormality, art thou not?¡¹

    ¡¸Even if I¡¯m aware, that doesn¡¯t mean I want to admit it.¡¹

    ¡¸Admit it, admit it. So long as thou livest, it shall ever be a part of thee.¡¹With that, she burst into heartyughter.

    After the Exorcism Ritual, where I somehow caused a massive explosion¡ª<em>or was it a fiery inferno?</em>¡ªI was left alone, face to face with the important-looking woman presiding the ritual. Though ¡®face to face¡¯ is a bit of an exaggeration, as we were just having a casual conversation.

    Still, this incredibly gorgeous woman was a bit distracting. Every time sheughed or moved, the things wrapped in that thin fabric of hers jiggled.<em> There¡¯s no way she¡¯s wearing a bra. She¡¯s absurdly beautiful, which makes her genuinely hard to deal with.</em>

    <em>Also, her fluffy fox ears on top of her head and those massive, fluffy tails behind her¡ªhow many are there? Nine?¡ªare really attractive.</em>

    ¡¸Hmm, yet still, thou art quite something. To think thou art able to feel lust toward me. That is rather remarkable.¡¹

    ¡¸I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m the one saying this, but¡­ could you not be so direct? Maybe, you know, soften your words a little? Also, I think it¡¯s pretty normal.¡¹

    <em>I mean, she¡¯s incredibly beautiful, and her breasts are jiggling like that. The phrase ¡®beauty capable of toppling a kingdom¡¯ fits her perfectly.</em>

    ¡¸Is it not so? By any measure, I am super sexy, am I not?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, I mean, it¡¯s a bit weird for you to say it yourself, but yeah, you¡¯re insanely sexy.¡¹

    ¡¸But in truth, most are far too frightened to desire me. ¡®Tis not as though I wished to be this way, but I have all but entered the realm of higher beings.¡¹

    ¡¸Huh.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, thou dost not truly understand, yet be honest with me¡ªthou wanna do me, do ye not?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, I wanna, obviously. But every instinct I have is screaming at me to not touch you.¡¹

    <em>To exin how much my instincts are warning me off, it¡¯s like taking the absolutely forbidden feeling I had toward Serena and multiplying it by a hundred. It¡¯s a definite no. But¡­ I still want to do her.</em>

    ¡¸Ah, such loneliness. How I yearn for the warmth of another.¡¹

    ¡¸Could you stop giving me those nces? Also, why did you abduct me in the first ce?¡¹

    Right after the massive eruption of purple mes, I was kidnapped by this gorgeous nine-tailed fox woman. <em>I have no clue how she pulled it off, but I was instantly transported to this room. It wasn¡¯t some cheap trick like hypnosis or super speed. No, it was probably some kind of spatial teleportation, or something simr.</em>

    ¡¸What? I merely wished for a quiet, one-on-one conversation. Yet, perhaps, we could enjoy a little closeness as well, dost thou not think?¡¹

    ¡¸No, I¡¯ll have to decline.¡¹

    ¡¸Thy instincts are keen¡­ If thou were to be mine, things would indeed be much simpler.¡¹

    The nine-tailed beauty sighed dramatically, slumping against the armrest and taking a long drag from her pipe.

    ¡¸If a beautiful woman asks me for something, I¡¯ll help however I can¡­ within reason. And for a fee.¡¹

    ¡¸Thou couldst do as thou pleasest with my body, if that is thy desire.¡¹

    ¡¸As tempting as that offer is, I¡¯ll have to pass on that reward. I feel like I¡¯d never be able toe back.¡¹

    <em>I don¡¯t even fully understand why I feel like this, but I¡¯m certain. If I sleep with her, it will be the end. I¡¯m not sure what will end, but something definitely will. Everything woulde to a dead halt, or maybe I¡¯d be stuck moving forward forever. Either way, the result would be the same. I¡¯m not sure what I¡¯m even saying at this point.</em>

    ¡¸¡¯Tis a true pity¡­ But no matter. When the timeeth, when all other paths have closed, seek me out. I shall await that moment.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll try to avoid that. I don¡¯t dislike you, but still.¡¹

    When I said that, she smiled, put a hand to her lips, and blew a kiss in my direction.

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸Was that a¡­ blown kiss?¡¹

    Suddenly, I found myself back at the Exorcism Ritual site.

    ¡¸H-Hiro-sama? Did you just¡­ appear out of nowhere?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, probably.¡¹

    I responded to Mimi while scratching my head. <em>What the hell just happened? Did I get tricked by a fox or something?</em>

    ¡¸Hiro, you¡­ were did you get that¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Huh?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s a pretty striking lipstick mark you¡¯ve got there. Bright red.¡¹

    ¡¸Was it her¡­? Where is it?¡¹

    When I asked, Kugi quietly approached me and began rubbing my left cheek with a handkerchief. A bit too hard, though. <em>That hurt a little.</em>

    ¡¸One moment you were spewing out mes, and the next, you vanished. What the hell is going on?¡¹

    Elma came over, just like Kugi, and gave me a kick in the shin. She held back, but it still hurt.

    ¡¸You saw that insanely beautiful woman at the ritual, right? The one in the extravagant outfit and nine fluffy tails? She abducted me with some weird spatial teleportation power, then sent me back the same way.¡¹

    When I said that, Elma furrowed her brow.

    ¡¸Was there really someone like that?¡¹

    ¡¸Huh? Yeah, of course there was! My mes wouldn¡¯t go out, and Kugi kept giving her these worried looks like asking her ¡®What should we do?¡¯ And we even talked about the Mother Crystal in front of everyone.¡¹

    ¡¸???¡¹

    Not just Elma, but even Mimi had a confused expression, and for some reason, so did Kugi. <em>But I¡¯m sure she was looking in the direction where that woman was standing!</em>

    ¡¸No, my Lord. I did not direct my gaze toward any specific individual. I merely looked away, hoping for assistance from someone overseeing the ritual. But when I looked back, you suddenly erupted into mes and disappeared.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­You¡¯re not trying to y some kind of trick on me, are you?¡¹

    ¡¸I wouldn¡¯t dare to do such a thing!¡¹

    ¡¸What¡­? That¡¯s kinda scary. Like, horror movie scary¡­¡¹

    <em>So, that nine-tailed beauty was only visible to me? Does that mean that the conversation I had with her before I got transported was also unheard by the others? Was I already under her spell the moment our eyes met? Who is she¡­? That¡¯s terrifying.</em>

    ¡¸Did you just say a nine-tailed beauty¡­?¡¹

    The wolf-like handsome priest asked me with a grave expression.

    ¡¸Yeah, she was a stunning woman with tons of tails, kinda like Kugi¡¯s. She was wearing this thin shrine maiden outfit, puffing on a pipe, and every time she moved, well, you know, things jiggled and¡ªow!?¡¹

    Elma kicked me again. <em>Sure, the jiggling was amazing, but Elma¡¯s sensitive chest is¡ªouch, okay, okay, I get it! I didn¡¯t even say anything, and she¡¯s somehow reading my mind and kicking me more! Stop it already!</em>

    ¡¸She mentioned something about her being close to bing a higher being or something, and she said it was impressive that I could even feel lust toward her. Oh, and she talked about how impurities and sin, at their core, are basically curses or something like that.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah¡­ there¡¯s no doubt. It¡¯s her.¡¹

    The handsome wolf guy stared off into the distance. <em>Is this person a problem? Well, she definitely felt like a major problem. She is dangerous no doubt about that.</em>

    ¡¸Through natural talent and relentless training¡­ no, regardless, she¡¯s someone who has surpassed human limits and ascended to a higher ne. That person is a being that a mere mortal like me cannotprehend.¡¹

    ¡¸So, she¡¯s like a half-god or something?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s one way of putting it.¡¹

    <em>So, does that mean that the gut feeling I had about how bad it would have been if I¡¯d actually slept with her was right? I would¡¯ve ended up on the other side, with no way toe back? That¡¯s terrifying! And wait, beings like that are just walking around freely? The Holy Vuelzarus Empire is way too dangerous!</em>

    TN: The nine-tailed beauty talks in a very old-fashioned way, like an Edo period courtesan, but sometimes she uses very modern terms, notpletely gal-like, but close to it, so you might find some inconsistencies in her tone, but those were intentional.

 Chapter 517: ã€ŒWhat?! Why Not? Help Me Out!ã€

    Chapter 517: ¡¸What?! Why Not? Help Me Out!¡¹

    In any case, worrying about the nine-tailed beauty was a waste of time. I was told that there was no point in worrying since whatever happens, happens, and I should just give up. <em>What do you mean by ¡®give up¡¯? Give up on what? What the hell am I getting myself into?</em>

    ¡¸Sigh¡­ So, what was the point of this whole chaotic ritual, anyway?¡¹

    Having changed back into our usual clothes, we were guided to a calm, traditional Japanese-style room where we were served tea and sweets. The sweets served were, by all appearances, yokan.1 It looked like yokan, and even Kugi called it yokan, so it¡¯s definitely yokan. Mimi and the others, though, were staring at the mysterious ck, square object in front of them, clearly wondering what it was. <em>I mean, if you think about it, yokan kind of looks like something from a dystopian meal, doesn¡¯t it?</em>

    ¡¸Allow me to exin.¡¹

    It was the handsome wolf-eared priest who spoke up. <em>Well, as long as someone exins, I don¡¯t care who it is.</em> Since he seemed to be waiting for my response, I gave a small nod.

    ¡¸This region, where the Holy Vuelzarus Empire has established its territory, is a unique area where the boundary between dimensions is extremely thin. In such areas, those who carry strong impurities¡ªcurses¡ªon their bodies tend to attract undesirable entities from the other side. That¡¯s why, before you were allowed to move freely within the borders of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, the Purification Rituals and Exorcism Ritual had to be conducted first.¡¹

    ¡¸The boundary between dimensions being thin, ¡®the other side,¡¯ undesirable entities¡ªthere¡¯s a lot of unsettling and hard-to-understand terms being thrown around here¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, yes¡­ I¡¯ll exin in a way that doesn¡¯t get too long-winded.¡¹

    Though he said he¡¯d keep it short, it ended up being a rather long story after all. The tale goes back to the founding of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, but to avoid dragging it out indefinitely, I had him summarize it considerably.The ancestors of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, through some disastrous event in the past, nearly destroyed the boundary between this universe and another dimension. To put it in simpler terms, they almost unraveled the fabric separating our universe from a realm withpletely differentws¡ªkind of like hyperspace¡ªand nearly brought about the end of the universe.

    While they somehow managed to avoid that catastrophe, the area of space where the tear nearly urred remains unstable. The citizens of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire have since built their territory around said region to safeguard it. They restricted the passage of foreign spaceships because people carrying impurities¡ªcurses¡ªwhile traveling through that space were at risk of being attacked by interdimensional beings, such as the photon lifeforms we encountered before arriving. <em>So, our guess was mostly right.</em>

    <em>Now, onto the main point. It seems that within the Vuelzarus Empire, there are sightings. Sightings of what, you ask?</em>

    ¡¸A-are there ghosts!?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, not real ghosts or undead, but simr entities do appear. However, since you¡¯ve all undergone the Purification and Exorcism rituals, I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll encounter them so easily.¡¹

    The handsome wolf-eared priest replied calmly, though Mimi was visibly paling.<em> As expected, her expression is growing worse by the second. Despite being surprisingly unfazed by gory, physical horror, Mimi is terrible with horror involving the unknown, or when something invisible starts closing in on you.</em>

    ¡¸I¡­ I ain¡¯t good with scary stuff.¡¹

    ¡¸Neither am I¡­ I-Is it really safe?¡¹

    ¡¸Wiska-san, don¡¯t worry. If the timees, I can protect you with Spiritual Power, and as long as you¡¯re by my Lord¡¯s side, it¡¯s hard for any kind of spirit or monster to approach you. Besides, Moegi-sama and Konoha-sama will also be acting as our guards.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, leave it to us.¡¹

    ¡¸Such lowly creatures would be easily dealt with in a single stroke of my sword.¡¹

    Moegi and Konoha, still sitting in perfect formal posture, each ced a hand on the sword resting beside them. <em>Hmm, reliable. They look more dependable now than ever before.</em>

    ¡¸Well, when the timees, help me out too.¡¹

    In response, Moegi and Konoha both tilted their heads to the side, lookingpletely puzzled. They did it at the exact same time, but in opposite directions.

    ¡¸I¡¯m not quite sure what you¡¯re talking about.¡¹

    ¡¸Are you joking? Help you? Why?¡¹

    ¡¸What? Why not? Help me out!¡¹

    ¡¸If it¡¯s you, my Lord, you could probably wipe out such entities with a flick of your finger. I doubt you would need such assistance.¡¹

    ¡¸Wait, are they really that fragile? In that case, maybe I don¡¯t need to worry.¡¹

    <em>Why everyone is looking at me like I¡¯m talking nonsense? Even Kugi and the wolf-eared priest are stifling grins at this point.</em>

    ¡¸What would you think if you heard a battleship with powerful main cannons and shieldsin about how fragile humans are?¡¹

    ¡¸Is it really that extreme?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, it¡¯s really that extreme.¡¹

    <em>Ah, I see¡­ So, I¡¯m that battleship, huh? I guess their reactions make sense then. Still, how was I supposed to know? It wouldn¡¯t hurt if you all were a bit kinder to me, you know.</em>

    ¡¸I understand the situation. Thank you for going to such lengths for us.¡¹

    ¡¸No, we must apologize as well. We forced the ritual on you without exining the situation first. There was a divine decree that it needed to be performed as soon as possible.¡¹

    ¡¸A divine decree¡­ Right, this country has something akin to fortune-telling that predicts the future, doesn¡¯t it?¡¹

    The handsome wolf-eared priest nodded at my words.<em> I don¡¯t quite understand how it works, but I¡¯d heard from Kugi that they have fortune-telling techniques with an uracy rate of 80 to 90 percent. In fact, Kugi mentioned that her meeting with me was a result of such a technique.</em>

    ¡¸Uh, so from here on out, can we set our own schedule based on what we want to do?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, of course. Please let us know your requests, and we will do our best to amodate them.¡¹

    ¡¸Got it. My first request is an investigation into Krishna. Since it¡¯s considered a holy relic or something, I¡¯d like to have it examined by experts. And, while we¡¯re at it, I¡¯d like to have my own technicians involved in that investigation as well.¡¹

    This was something we had discussed before arriving here. Not just Tina and Wiska, but even Dr. Shouko had shown interest in psionic technology. <em>Dr. Shouko is a genius knowledgeable not only in gic engineering and biotechnology but also in nanomachine and materials engineering. I¡¯m hoping she¡¯ll uncover something significant.</em>

    ¡¸We¡¯ve already received word about that. We¡¯ve assembled some of the top researchers and engineers in our country for this, so we will notify you as soon as preparations areplete. We¡¯d also be delighted to have the technicians who have been working with the technology thus far join in the research.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s a big help. The only other thing is¡­ I¡¯d like to pay my respects to Kugi¡¯s parents¡­ Wait, what¡¯s with those reactions?¡¹

    At my words, the handsome wolf-eared priest looked as if he had just bitten into a dozen bitter bugs all at once. ncing around, I noticed that everyone¡ªaside from my crew¡ªhad the same expression on their faces. Kugi, meanwhile, wore a slightly troubled smile.

    ¡¸Um, my lord. When I became a priestess¡ªwhen I became Seijou Kugi¡ªI erased all ties to my past. So, those people no longer exist.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Wait, what?¡¹

    <em>I have no idea what is she talking about. Could someone give me an exnation?</em>

    ¡¸It¡¯s probably not a pleasant subject for you, my Lord, so it might be best not to dig too deeply. In any case, I am happy now. I¡¯ve been treated well by everyone, and every day by your side, I see and experience things I never would have imagined. My life is exciting and fulfilling.¡¹

    She spoke with a calm conviction as if to say, ¡®Isn¡¯t that enough?¡¯

    ¡¸¡­And you¡¯re really okay with that, Kugi? You¡¯re not just giving up or anything, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes. I made this choice myself, and now that my wish hase true, I¡¯m content.¡¹

    ¡¸Alright, then I won¡¯t pry any further. If that¡¯s what you truly think is best, then I¡¯ll respect that.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, I believe that¡¯s for the best. However, if you don¡¯t mind, I would like to introduce you to the people who took care of me during my training.¡¹

    ¡¸That sounds good. Let¡¯s definitely do that.¡¹

    At this exchange, the members of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire seemed to visibly rx. <em>There must be some deep, dark backstory hidden there, but if Kugi doesn¡¯t want me to dig into it, I won¡¯t. After all, blindly uncovering the truth isn¡¯t always the right thing to do.</em>

    TN1: Yokan is a traditional Japanese dessert made primarily from red bean paste (azuki), sugar, and agar-agar, a gtinous substance derived from seaweed. It has a dense, jelly-like texture and is typically shaped into rectangr or block forms. Yokan has been a popr sweet in Japan for centuries, often eaten with tea due to its rich sweetness.

 Chapter 518: ã€ŒI Feel Like Iâ€™ve Become a Royal or Somethingã€

    Chapter 518: ¡¸I Feel Like I¡¯ve Be a Royal or Something¡¹

    I was shaken awake. The heat that had been warming my body had disappeared without me noticing, and I could feel the blood flowing more smoothly than ever through my veins. <em>My body feels light.</em>

    ¡¸Hmm¡­ You must have dozed off without realizing it.¡¹

    I heard a familiar voice from not too far away. Usually, she was constantly monitoring the crew¡¯s health, myself included, but at this moment, it seemed like she had taken a break from that responsibility.

    I rubbed my face against the pillow I had half-buried my head in and twisted my neck to face the direction of the voice. There, I saw our ship¡¯s doctor, smiling in a rather mischievous and amused way as she looked at me.

    ¡¸Good morning, Hiro-kun. Did you sleep well?¡¹

    ¡¸Good morning, Dr. Shouko. I feel like I¡¯ve be a royal or something.¡¹

    Hearing our conversation, the masseurs¡ªa man and a womanughed with a light, cheerful tone. Afterpleting our rituals at the Great Shrine, we had been receiving luxurious services at a resort on the same.

    ¡¸Aren¡¯t you a noble, Hiro-kun?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh yeah, I guess I am. But since I didn¡¯t exactly be one by choice, I tend to forget.¡¹I replied to theughing Dr. Shouko, and with the help of one of the masseurs, I slowly got up from the massage table. <em>Wow, my body really does feel light. It¡¯s as if some weight has been lifted off me. To be honest, this spa and massage feel like they¡¯ve done a better job cleansing me of all the bad stuff than all the rituals we did at the Great Shrine.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸Ah, Hiro-sama! How was the massage?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, Mimi. It was amazing.¡¹

    When I returned to the hotel room that had been prepared for us¡ª<em>though it looks more like a traditional Japanese inn than a hotel</em>¡ªI was greeted by a girl in a yukata, her face lit up with a friendly smile. Her light brown hair looked just a bit damp, as if she¡¯d juste back from the hot springs again.

    ¡¸I don¡¯t really get what¡¯s so nice about massages¡­¡¹

    Sitting next to Mimi, with an amused look on her face and holding a small sake cup, was a beautiful woman with silver hair that extended just to her shoulders. From between her silver strands, her pointy, bamboo-like ears poked out, making it clear she wasn¡¯t exactly human.

    ¡¸Elma-kun, your body has received enhancements, so of course you don¡¯t get muscle stiffness or anything like that.¡¹

    As Dr. Shouko said that, she plopped down next to Elma, who then poured sake into a cup and ced it in front of her. <em>Well, even without the enhancements, Elma probably won¡¯t suffer from stiff shoulders, unlike Shouko or Mimi.</em> Just as that thought crossed my mind, Elma shot me a sharp re. She¡¯s as perceptive as ever.

    As I started thinking about how I was getting hungry, the room¡¯s sliding door suddenly burst open with a loud m!

    ¡¸You¡¯re back, ain¡¯t ya? Boss, let¡¯s go eat! C¡¯mon, eat!¡¹

    The one who flung open the sliding door with such force¡ªa small figure with red hair¡ªcharged at me at full speed. <em>If she keeps going like that, not only she will crash into me, but Mimi will be sent flying as well.</em>

    ¡¸Nnngh!¡¹

    ¡¸Oof!?¡¹

    I quickly created a ¡®soft space¡¯ between us, cushioning the impact and stopping her momentum. Though nothing was visible to the eye, she must¡¯ve felt like she had run into an invisible pillow or something.

    ¡¸Captured!¡¹

    ¡¸I got caught! Wait, what was that? It felt all soft and weird.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s a new ability I picked up recently, something like a shock absorption field.¡¹

    ¡¸What the heck, that¡¯s creepy¡­ You¡¯re turnin¡¯ into a walkin¡¯ shield generator. You¡¯re gettin¡¯ less human by the day.¡¹

    The petite girl¡ª<em>though she¡¯s actually a grown woman about my age</em>¡ªgazed up at me with a cute expression, while saying something rather rude. Her name was Tina, the elder of the dwarf mechanic sisters. Despite her small frame, she was incredibly strong and, due to her high bone and muscle density, much heavier than she looked. <em>I¡¯ll never say that out loud though¡ªif I do, she¡¯ll probably crush me with her vice-like strength.</em>

    ¡¸Sis, you¡¯re not a kid anymore, so you should stop charging at him like that¡­¡¹

    Following Tina into the room was her twin sister, Wiska. Though their faces were nearly identical, Wiska¡¯s hair was a striking blue, the opposite of Tina¡¯s red. Where her sister was energetic, Wiska was more calm andposed. <em>However, she has a tendency to get more reckless than Tina when ites to technology.</em>

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t this room a bit too cramped for so many people?¡¹

    A frail, almost ghostly-looking girl entered the room, her steps unsteady. She was so thin it was worrying to look at her. Her name was Neve, a girl who lived most of her life confined inside a small capsule aboard a military starship, used as a ¡®biological control unit¡¯¡ªessentially treated as aponent. Despite her appearance, she was actually a fully grown adult. Due to the extensive biotechnological modifications made to her, and therge amount of drugs she had been administered with, her body had been prevented from growing properly.

    Thanks to Dr. Shouko¡¯s care and the advanced biotechnology of the Grakkan Empire, she gradually regained enough physical ability to walk without aid, although that was only as recent as yesterday.

    ¡¸Yes, it might be a little tight¡­ My Lord, shall I request a different room?¡¹

    The one who entered the room, supporting the unsteady Neve, was a stunning girl with pointed beast-like ears on the top of her head, and three fluffy fox tails swaying behind her. Her name was Kugi.

    ¡¸No, it¡¯s fine. A bigger room would feel a bit too empty anyway. Thanks, though, Kugi.¡¹

    ¡¸No problem, my Lord. If you change your mind, just let me know anytime.¡¹

    Kugi smiled softly. <em>How beautiful. The yukata fits her perfectly, she really knows how to wear it elegantly. Definitely much more elegant than a certain drunken elf who has already messed up her yukata, though to be honest, that has its own appeal too.</em>

    ¡¸So, about food. If it¡¯s ready, let¡¯s go.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, let¡¯s do that. I¡¯m starvin¡¯!¡¹

    ¡¸I can¡¯t wait! Real Holy Vuelzarus Empire cuisine!¡¹

    Tina, sitting on myp, and Mimi, sitting beside me, were practically radiating pressure with their excitement. Both of their eyes sparkled with anticipation. <em>But seriously, cut out the drooling, girls. Even if it¡¯s from cute girls, drool is still a no-go for me.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸This kinda reminds me of the food from the elves of Refill IV, doesn¡¯t it?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, it does.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s somewhat simr to the cuisine of the Grado n.¡¹

    <em>The Holy Empire cuisine here feels more refined, like high-quality Japanese food. The Grado n¡¯s cooking, which I¡¯d had the pleasure of tasting on Refill IV, was more like hearty local fare, with a lot of stews that had a rustic feel. The food at this inn, on the other hand, has a variety of small dishes, fresh seafood sashimi, and grilled meats you can cook right at the table. It¡¯s basically what I imagine when I think of ¡®traditional Japanese inn food¡¯.</em>

    ¡¸Are we really s¡¯posed to eat raw meat¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸This is some adventurous cooking¡­¡¹

    The dwarf sisters were clearly taken aback by the sight of the sashimi. <em>Come to think of it, dwarf cuisine has a lot of dough-based foods and richly vored stir-fries, stuff that pairs well with alcohol. Dishes like sashimi probably don¡¯t exist in their cuisine. Still, calling it raw meat isn¡¯t entirely wrong¡­ Sashimi is thin slices of raw seafood. If you put it that way, I guess it does sound a bit intimidating.</em>

    ¡¸It¡¯s got a nice crunchy texture. Delicious!¡¹

    ¡¸This one¡¯s softer¡­¡¹

    Dr. Shouko and Neve were calmly eating the sashimi, showing no signs of hesitation. Dr. Shouko had never been one to care much about food¡ªor really anything¡ªand Neve, who never ate solid food until just recently¡ªand as such she found any real food delicious, didn¡¯t seem to mind eating raw meat at all. By the way, the only ones in our group who didn¡¯t show any reticence towards the sashimi were Dr. Shouko, Neve, Kugi, who was a local, and of course, me. The only other one who wasn¡¯t weirded out by it was Elma.

    ¡¸I¡¯ve had the chance to eat all sorts of things in the past.¡¹

    Elma said, shrugging her shoulders. As a former noble daughter, or rather as an actual daughter of a viscount of the Grakkan Empire¡ª<em>she hasn¡¯t been officially disowned or anything like that</em>¡ªshe probably had plenty of opportunities to eat sashimi and simr dishes back when she was still living as a noble before bing a mercenary.

    ¡¸A woman¡¯s gotta be brave¡­ Oh, it¡¯s delicious!¡¹

    ¡¸Compared to the weird stuff Mimi buys sometimes, this is nothing, right?¡¹

    <em>Yeah, I mean, it¡¯s a far cry from the vacuum-sealed monstrosities that look like Facehuggers, or those mysterious worm-like creatures, or the eggs that resemble eyeballs, or the pancake-looking things with squirming tentaclesing out of them. Sashimi is downright tame byparison. At least, that¡¯s my opinion.</em>

    ¡¸My Lord, we just received word that they¡¯ve finished preparing to receive the Krishna.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, really? Then tomorrow, let¡¯s take Krishna over to the relic research facility.¡¹

    ¡¸Finally! I¡¯m really lookin¡¯ forward to this.¡¹

    ¡¸Maybe we¡¯ll get a chance to delve into psionic technology!¡¹

    ¡¸We can let them handle the analysis while we study the psionic technology itself.¡¹

    <em>The excitement of our techies is getting a little too high. I¡¯m d to see them so enthusiastic, but I¡¯m starting to worry they might get a little too carried away and cause trouble for our hosts. I¡¯ll have to call the three of them to my room tonight, just for a ¡®little conversation¡¯, I have to make sure they don¡¯t get too wild.</em>

 Chapter 519: ã€ŒI Seeâ€¦ So Thatâ€™s Why She Said Itâ€™s Better Not to Knowã€

    Chapter 519: ¡¸I See¡­ So That¡¯s Why She Said It¡¯s Better Not to Know¡¹

    The next day. After somehow managing to get the dead-tired dwarf sisters and Dr. Shouko back on their feet, I shoved them into the private bath. After taking care of them, and being taken care of in return, I decided to take a walk around the inn. That¡¯s when I ran into Moegi, Konoha, and Inaba. All three of them were wearing the same yukata that I and the girls were wearing.

    ¡¸Good morning, you three.¡¹

    ¡¸Good morning, Hiro-san.¡¹

    ¡¸Good morning.¡¹

    ¡¸Good morning, Hiro-dono.¡¹

    Moegi greeted me with a smile, Konoha with a re for some reason, and Inaba with apletely serious face. <em>Why is Konoha giving me that look?</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯m not sure why you¡¯re ring at me¡­ but this is a good inn. The hot springs are nice, the food is delicious, and the service is excellent.¡¹

    ¡¸This ce is one of the finest luxury hot spring inns in this resort area, after all¡­¡¹

    ¡¸They¡¯ve certainly spared no expense.¡¹¡¸Considering Hiro-dono¡¯s potential, I suppose that¡¯s only natural.¡¹

    ¡¸Is my potential really that big of a deal?¡¹

    ¡¸It really is.¡¹

    ¡¸It truly is.¡¹

    ¡¸To the point where if it meant winning your favor, they¡¯d probably tell the three of us to offer up our chastity.¡¹

    ¡¸There¡¯s no way that¡¯s true, right?¡¹

    ¡¸I wish it were a lie.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Sigh.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s the situation.¡¹

    Moegi gave a wry smile, Konoha let out a massive sigh, and Inaba shrugged. <em>It seems like they might actually be serious¡­ Not that I have any intention of touching them.</em>

    ¡¸Rest assured, I have no intention of doing anything like that. It¡¯s not that I have anyints about you three, but¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah. I mean, look, when I return to the Empire, I¡¯m going to be marrying with the heiress of an Earl House. I¡¯m also set to marry a Marquis¡¯ daughter, a Viscount¡¯s daughter, and formally wed Mimi and the other girls as well. Even though we are going to celebrate such a big wedding soon, I left all the wedding preparations to the noble houses of my fianc¨¦es and even got them to agree to let me take this pre-wedding trip to Kugi¡¯s homnd. Now, imagine me getting involved with you three during this trip and saying to them on my return, ¡®These girls are also my wives now.¡¯ Even if my fianc¨¦es were somehow okay with it, their parents would hunt me to the ends of the universe swords in hand.¡¹

    <em>That said, if I were to fight seriously using my psionic abilities, I doubt I¡¯d lose. But I don¡¯t want to cause that kind of chaos in the first ce.</em>

    ¡¸So, if you were to make a move, you¡¯d take responsibility for it?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s unexpected.¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that a bit rude? I might take offense to that.¡¹

    ¡¸Shall we offer up our chastity, then?¡¹

    ¡¸Normally, I¡¯d be up for handling that kind of challenge from self-sufficient adults, but not right now.¡¹

    Moegi and Inaba took the opportunity to tease me further, but I just shrugged in response. Konoha, on the other hand, was simply being harsh towards me, so I chose to ignore her. If I got upset every time over something like this, there¡¯d be no end to it.

    ¡¸It¡¯s a bit disappointing, as I¡¯m somewhat interested in you, Hiro-san.¡¹

    ¡¸Somewhat?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, just a little. I¡¯m curious to see what kind of skills you must have to keep all those women around you.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m not particrly skilled with women or anything like that. If you want to know how things work, you should ask Mei.¡¹

    <em>Mei¡¯s the one managing my rtionships with the women around me. As for me, I just go along with what they say and get ¡®shared¡¯ in a way that works out for everyone. But seriously, having a beautiful woman like Moegi say something like that makes my heart race. I wish she would stop.</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯m interested as well, if I were to experience that kind of rtionship with you, I could record it in my diary or turn it into a research paper. That way, my name would be remembered by future generations.¡¹

    ¡¸What kind of ambition is that¡­ Is it a desire for fame? I mean, getting involved with someone just for that reason, to have a rtionship or be lovers, doesn¡¯t seem right to me.¡¹

    ¡¸Even if it starts for practical reasons, as long as we develop genuine affection in the end, it¡¯s fine. Think of it like a political marriage. It¡¯s not so strange, is it?¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so¡­? I guess¡­ maybe?¡¹

    <em>Inaba¡¯s view on marriage is definitely unique. Honestly, she might be the most eager of the three.</em>

    ¡¸As for me, I¡¯m not interested.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, I figured as much. There¡¯s also the matter with Kugi. I still don¡¯t fully understand why you¡¯re so invested in Kugi, but that would onlyplicate things further.¡¹

    <em>It seems Konoha isn¡¯t happy about me being involved with other women when I already have Kugi. I suppose it makes sense from her perspective, but the timing of when I met everyone is something I can¡¯t control. To me, it just feels like she¡¯s unreasonably harsh against me.</em>

    ¡¸Konoha-san, you¡¯ve been so harsh against Hiro-dono because you know the truth about Kugi-san¡ªor rather, about the priestesses, right? However, Kugi-san¡¯s situation doesn¡¯t have anything to do with him, nor was he involved in any capacity.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡­ may be true, but¡­¡¹

    Konoha who was gently chided by Inaba responded looking dejected, her tanuki-like ears ttening against her head as her shoulders drooped.

    <em>So, she knows the truth about the priestesses, huh? That¡¯s something I¡¯ve been curious about for a while now.</em>

    ¡¸Standing around talking about this won¡¯t get us anywhere. If it¡¯s alright with you, could you tell me more about that situation?¡¹

    <em>There should be a lounge area near the entrance of the inn. We still have some time before breakfast, so I might as well ask about this.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸I see¡­ So that¡¯s why she said it¡¯s better not to know.¡¹

    After listening to the details about Kugi¡ªor more specifically, the priestess system¡ªin the inn¡¯s lounge, I found myself leaning back into the sofa and staring up at the ceiling.

    ¡¸And now I understand why Konoha has been so harsh with me.¡¹

    <em>However, what Inaba said about this having nothing to do with me is also true. All of this happened without my input or knowledge, so the only thing I can say is ¡®How did you expect me to know that¡¯.</em>

    ¡¸Erasing the entire past, huh¡­ So that¡¯s what it meant.¡¹

    <em>Now I finally understand why Kugi said it¡¯s better not to know. This isn¡¯t something that should be pried on out of mere curiosity.</em> Kugi erased all her past before bing a priestess¡ªeverything before she became Kugi. Even her name, ¡®Kugi¡¯, was a new name she received after she became who she is now. <em>All that is lost will never return. Every bond that made her who she was has been severed, erased. In a way, she became like me¡ªa person who fell into this universe alone, with nothing to tie her to her past.</em>

    <em>And she did it all just to be with me. There was no guarantee we would end up together, only a possibility that she staked everything on.</em>

    ¡¸Disposed of, huh¡­¡¹

    <em>I have no idea what kind of cost it took topletely erase one person¡¯s entire past, or how much it cost to turn Kugi into a full-fledged priestess. Maybe for a nation like the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, the cost is negligible. Or maybe it is so costly that not even a gctic empire can ignore it. But what would await the priestess who went through all of this and didn¡¯t manage to connect her fate with the visitor? The very thought is terrifying.</em>

    <em>Now that I think about it, her name says everything. The surname Seijou, which means ¡®purity¡¯, is apparently amon one given to those who be priestesses. However, the personal name of the priestess is determined by some form of divination or oracle. The name she received is Kugi, meaning ¡®offering¡¯.</em>

    ¡¸Do they think I¡¯m some kind of evil god who¡¯ll go on a rampage if I¡¯m not given a sacrifice¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸If you were to unleash your wrath, you could destroy not just one star but multiple star systems, so in that sense¡­ it¡¯s not entirely inurate.¡¹

    ¡¸I didn¡¯t ask for things to turn out this way either¡­ sigh.¡¹

    <em>The word ¡®kugi¡¯, meaning ¡®offering¡¯, refers to rituals where humans or animals are sacrificed to local gods or spirits. I still don¡¯t know if Kugi herself is supposed to be the offering, or if she has a role in offering something to me. Either way, the one who gave her this name doesn¡¯t care for Kugi herself.</em>

    ¡¸Now that I think about it, I heard something about Kugi having the role of stopping me if I ever went berserk.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ve heard that priestesses can have such a role.¡¹

    ¡¸And of course, that would mean she¡¯d risk her life to do it¡­¡¹

    <em>My head hurts. Even though Kugi is a remarkably powerful practitioner of the Second Spiritual Form, in terms of sheer psionic force, she is nowhere close to me. If the time everes when she has to stop me, it will undoubtedly mean risking her life¡ªor, more urately, sacrificing it. It would be like trying to hold back the copse of a massive dam with nothing but her body. If that¡¯s the case, then her name, ¡®Kugi¡¯, might have been chosen with that grim future in mind.</em>

    ¡¸Well, I understand Kugi¡¯s situation better now. I¡¯m not precisely happy with what the Holy Vuelzarus Empire did to Kugi to win me over¡­ However, Kugi seems content with the life she has now. So, the only thing I can do now is keep working to make sure she can keep smiling, just as I¡¯ve been doing.¡¹

    <em>I still don¡¯t know why they felt it was necessary to go that far with Kugi, but I¡¯m not the type to feel like I need to uncover every single detail to be satisfied. What matters is what I do now and how I move forward from here.</em>

 Chapter 520: ã€ŒHaha, Iâ€™ll Head Over There Too.ã€

    Chapter 520: ¡¸Haha, I¡¯ll Head Over There Too.¡¹

    Rice, miso soup, tamagoyaki, grilled salmon, and what looked like a dish of boiled greens¡ªthere was no natto, but it was pretty much a traditional Japanese-style breakfast.

    <em>I had to listen to some heavy stuff this morning, but my body still needs food. Besides, I have to take Krishna to that holy relic research facility today. I have mixed feelings about Kugi¡¯s past, but there¡¯s no changing it. Dwelling on it alone won¡¯t help, either. So, I quietly continued eating, trying not to let anyone notice my thoughts.</em>

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t something off with him?¡¹

    ¡¸Hiro¡¯s not the type to get mopey or depressed, so he¡¯ll be fine.¡¹

    Mimi and Elma immediately saw right through me. <em>How?</em>

    <em>Well, it¡¯s not like I was trying that hard to hide my thoughts. And honestly, what I¡¯m thinking about is more along the lines of how I should spoil Kugi from now on. Nothing too serious. Also, the food is delicious.</em>

    ¡¸Come to think of it, you mentioned you wanted to meet some of your fellow trainees and the people who took care of you, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh¡­ yes, my Lord. But I think it would be better to prioritize transporting Krishna to the holy relic research facility.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­You think so?¡¹¡¸Yes, while I appreciate your concern, they¡¯re already in the middle of mobilizing people and resources on that side.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­¡¹

    <em>Maybe I¡¯m overthinking things. Hmm, it¡¯s tough to get it right. Kugi¡¯s right, after all¡ªthe investigation into Krishna was something I asked for in the first ce. It wouldn¡¯t be good to suddenly change ns and abandon that now. Yeah, that makes sense.</em>

    ¡¸Once the investigation on Krishna settles down, we¡¯ll go greet them, is that good with you?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes!¡¹

    <em>It¡¯d be weird to drastically change my attitude just because I learned about her past now. I¡¯ll just try to treat her a bit more gently¡ªnothing too extreme. Yeah, that should work.</em>

    <em>Mimi and Elma are giving me more of those ¡®something happened, didn¡¯t it?¡¯ looks, but I¡¯ll just ignore them for now. If it bes too much to handle, I¡¯ll open up to them.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    After finishing breakfast and taking a short break, we set off for the so-called holy relic research facility. We somehow managed to squeeze everyone onto Krishna. Six in the cockpit, and six more in the dining and rest area. <em>It¡¯s pretty tight, but this ship wasn¡¯t designed to carry so many people in the first ce.</em>

    In the cockpit, were me, Elma, Mimi, Kugi, and Tina and Wiska who were seated in their specialized twin seat. Meanwhile, in the dining and rest area, were Mei, Dr. Shouko, Neve, and our guides from the Holy Empire: Moegi, Konoha, and Inaba. <em>If we really wanted to, we could cram more people into my room, Mimi¡¯s room, Kugi¡¯s room, or even the cargo hold, but doing that would risk overloading the life support system, so I wouldn¡¯t rmend it.</em>

    <em>Oh, by the way, Elma¡¯s room on Krishna has been moved to the Antlion. The personal rooms on Krishna and Antlion are only for when we can¡¯t return to the ck Lotus, where our main quarters are, so they see very little use.</em>

    ¡¸Navigation data set. We¡¯re ready to go anytime!¡¹

    ¡¸Roger that. We¡¯reunching now. There shouldn¡¯t be much turbulence, but just in case, make sure you¡¯re seated to avoid falling over.¡¹

    I announced our departure over the ship¡¯s inte, ensuring it could be heard in both the cockpit and the rest area. Then, I initiated Krishna¡¯sunch and switched to automatic navigation using the provided data. <em>After all, if I can take it easy, I will.</em>

    ¡¸You¡¯ve got incredible piloting skills, yet you never hesitate to use autopilot or autodocking, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s not the issue. If I can make things easier, why not? Even when I use autopilot, it¡¯s not like I just rxpletely.¡¹

    <em>While autopilot usually heads straight for the designated coordinates, there¡¯s always a chance of running into obstacles or other ships along the way. Letting autopilot handle everything without supervision often leads to idents. It¡¯s happened to me a few times in SOL. I¡¯d set it to autopilot, get up to grab a drink, and bam¡ªident the moment I take my eyes off it.</em>

    With that in mind, I kept my eyes on the sensor data as Krishna flew on autopilot for a few dozen minutes. Eventually, we arrived near our destination.

    ¡¸This is Krishna. Requesting guidance to thending zone.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸Ah!? That is the one we¡¯ve been expecting, right!? Hurry up! Land it! Wow, it¡¯s huge! And it¡¯s flying!?¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Well yeah, it¡¯s a spaceship, of course it¡¯s flying¡­ Just give me the guide beacon already.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸Got it!¡¹</strong>

    The operator¡ª<em>if you could call them that</em>¡ªwas strangely enthusiastic. <em>Something about their voice didn¡¯t seem all that professional, but whatever.</em> The operator activated the guide beacon, so I followed it down to thending spot prepared right next to a building that looked like a weird fusion of traditional Japanese and modern concrete architecture.

    ¡¸Landingplete. Let¡¯s disembark.¡¹

    ¡¸Aye aye, sir!¡¹

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸We¡¯ve been waiting! Oh yes, we¡¯ve been waiting! What immense size! What an incredible holy relic reaction! We¡¯ve been detecting the signal from this spacecraft-type relic ever since it descended onto the!¡¹

    As soon as we disembarked from Krishna, We were greeted by a man who seemed overly excited. He had small wings on his head that pped restlessly. <em>What is he? Some kind of bird-like humanoid, perhaps? He reminds me of the shady fleetmander we encountered before, who hadrge wings sprouting from his back.</em>

    ¡¸Thanks for the warm wee. I¡¯m Captain Hiro, the owner of this ship.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, wee, wee! My name is Buubo, and I¡¯m considered the leading expert in holy relic research! I know, it might sound a bit self-important to say it myself, but it¡¯s simply the truth! Oh, and I also extend a warm wee to these lovely youngdies as well!¡¹

    Buubo introduced himself with a wide grin, clearly in a great mood. <em>Honestly, calling yourself the leading expert is a bit questionable, but since no one around him seemed to be denying it, I guess it¡¯s probably true.</em>

    ¡¸Besides experts in holy relics like myself, we have reunited specialists in our country¡¯s ship technology, Spiritual engineering, Spiritual mechanics, and even researchers specialized in the ¡®visitors¡¯ themselves! I¡¯m sure most of them who would love to hear from you all, so if it¡¯s not too much trouble, I hope you¡¯ll engage with them! Oh, and speaking of, I heard there¡¯s a pair of Dwarf engineers who maintain this ship, right? It¡¯s you two, isn¡¯t it!? Could you please, pleasee share your insights with us?¡¹

    Buubo eagerly pressed the mechanic sisters, Tina and Wiska, to join him. So I gave him a go-ahead sign.

    ¡¸Uh, Boss, this guy¡¯s kinda freakin¡¯ me out¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t worry. You¡¯ll fit in just fine with their tech crew in no time.¡¹

    ¡¸Eek¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Haha, I¡¯ll head over there too.¡¹

    <em>Following Buubo, who was practically dragging the mechanic sisters along, Dr. Shouko also joined them. As long as Dr. Shouko is with them, it should be fine. The local engineers seem to be gathering over there too, so it¡¯ll probably be a good experience for them. Probably.</em>

 Chapter 521: ã€ŒIâ€™m Still a Pretty Normal Existence, Arenâ€™t I?ã€

    Chapter 521: ¡¸I¡¯m Still a Pretty Normal Existence, Aren¡¯t I?¡¹

    Those of us who weren¡¯t particrly interested in the relics or Spiritual technology¡ªwhat the natives of the Grakkan Empire call psionic technology¡ªwere led away from the hastily constructed hangar and guided to that peculiar facility, where traditional Japanese architecture and concrete structures seemed to merge strangely.

    It appeared that this building was some kind of research facility. Many people inside were wearing what looked likeb coats, but in the form of pale kimonos or work clothes reminiscent of samue.1 All of them, without exception, had various animal features such as ears, horns, tails, or wings sprouting from their bodies, which was quite fascinating. It seemed like the feeling was mutual, as they were all observing us with considerable interest.

    ¡¸I apologize for the rude stares. You see, we have very few opportunities to interact with people from other nations.¡¹

    Buubo remained back at the makeshift hangar to continue his research on Krishna, so we were being escorted to this building by a different researcher.

    ¡¸Ah, it seems I haven¡¯t introduced myself yet. My name is Fuguruma. I conduct research on the ¡®visitors¡¯ at the Grand Shrine¡¯s affiliated research institute. Inaba is one of my students.¡¹

    She said this with a smile as she walked alongside me. <em>If Inaba is her student, that would likely mean Fuguruma is older than her, but¡­ she doesn¡¯t look it. Not at all. In fact, she looks about the same age as Mimi or Kugi. Judging by her appearance, I suspect she¡¯s of the same tanuki-like species as Konoha, but her animal ears, hair, and tail are allpletely white.</em>

    ¡¸Hiro-dono, don¡¯t be fooled by her appearance. This foxy old hag is always openly talking about wanting to fall head over heels in love with a ¡®visitor¡¯. She¡¯s read every single historical record about them and has written countless self-insert romantic fantasies where she has a torrid romance with one.¡¹

    ¡¸Aren¡¯t you saying a little too much?¡¹

    Inaba¡¯s merciless revtion made me involuntarily respond with a deadpan retort.<em> I¡¯m scared to look in Fuguruma¡¯s direction, the pressure she is exuding is intense. It feels like the sheer force of her negative psionic power might cause the building to shake. Terrifying.</em>¡¸If I don¡¯t say at least this much, who knows what that old hag might try to pull¡­ Wouldn¡¯t it be terrifying to wake up one morning to the chirping of the birds, only to find that old hag¡¯s face on the pillow next to you?¡¹

    ¡¸So you know the term ¡®waking up to the chirping of the birds,¡¯ huh? Or rather, it exists here too¡­ Anyway, adding a new lover during myst little trip before marriage oring back with a local mistress would look pretty bad, so I¡¯d appreciate it if you didn¡¯t try to seduce me.¡¹

    ¡¸Ugh¡­ Fine, I¡¯ll let it go for now.¡¹

    Everyone present, including myself, probably thought,<em> ¡®Just for now, huh?¡¯</em> But no one dared to stir up trouble, so we wisely decided to let it slide.

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    We were led to a spacious room that resembled a reception hall, where we split into smaller groups to engage in what seemed like interviews or information-gathering sessions with the researchers. In my case, they asked in great detail about the world I came from¡ªEarth¡ªas well as the events that led up to my current situation in this world. Of course, it wasn¡¯t a one-sided interrogation; I also asked a few questions of my own, keeping them within reasonable bounds to avoid straying too far off-topic.

    For instance, I inquired about the purpose behind collecting information about Earth. <em>From what I gathered, it seems that the homnd of the ¡®visitors¡¯ varies widely for each individual. In my case, it¡¯s the outer edge of the Milky Way gxy, the third from the Sun, known as Earth¡ªor in this universe terminology, Sol III in the Sol Star System. But it turns out that the other two people currently living in the Holy Vuelzarus Empire are from entirely different gxies and star systems altogether. However, the level of civilization in these various home worlds appears to be quite simr. Moreover, I found something even more intriguing.</em>

    ¡¸Every visitor has some prior knowledge about this universe gained through some kind of game, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, just like you, Hiro-dono. In your case, it was ¡®Ste Online,¡¯ wasn¡¯t it? Though the scale and form vary, the two other ¡®visitors¡¯ currently staying in our nation also seemed to have known some information about this world through genres of games they referred to as FPS and RTS.¡¹

    ¡¸FPS and RTS, huh¡­ yeah, that makes sense.¡¹

    <em>Considering everything that¡¯s happened since I arrived in this universe, it really does make sense. It¡¯s not far-fetched to imagine getting caught up in some interster empire war, an invasion by an unknown force, or even being stranded on a primitive. Those kinds of scenarios align perfectly with the settings found in FPS (First-Person Shooter) or RTS (Real-Time Strategy) games. It wouldn¡¯t be surprising at all if some ¡®visitors¡¯ ended up here after ying those kinds of games.</em>

    <em>This world can easily serve as the basis for any game imaginable. From high-tech elements like starships andser weaponry to the bizarre technology of psionic powers and psionic technology, and races like elves, dwarves, beastfolk, and other alien species with all sorts of appearances. Not to mention the cosmic monsters and other cosmic horrors that could serve as final bosses. There are also plenty of unexploreds to boot. This ce has no shortage of material for any game.</em>

    ¡¸There¡¯s no terrifying system in ce where ¡®visitors¡¯ automatically end up killing each other when they meet, right?¡¹

    <em>If some kind of fateful or predestined setup like that exists, I¡¯d like to head back to the Grakkan Empire immediately.</em>

    ¡¸No, there¡¯s nothing like that. By the way, if you¡¯re interested in meeting the other two, we could arrange that for you.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m not that interested in meeting them¡­ I won¡¯t turn them down if they want to meet me, though.¡¹

    For reference, the ¡®visitor¡¯ who came here after ying an FPS was named Sergei. From what I¡¯ve heard, he could jump three meters straight up without any enhancements, run at full speed indefinitely, masterfully handle any weapon heid his hands on as if it were second nature, withstand fatal attacks without taking damage at least once in the most absurd manner, and, if he happens to die, he just respawns a short distance away. <em>Respawning? What is this, a game or something?</em>

    The other ¡®visitor¡¯ who came here after ying an RTS was named Meyer. Unlike Sergei, Meyer didn¡¯t have any particrly outstanding physical abilities, but supposedly he couldn¡¯t be harmed by any kind of attack. <em>What is that? How does that even work?</em> Not only could he withstand direct attacks, but he also didn¡¯t die from environmental factors like poison or pressure changes. He didn¡¯t even suffer. Even when thrown into the vacuum of space from a spaceship, he remainedpletely unbothered. However, his physical capabilities were still just like any regr person¡¯s.

    His unique abilities included being able to observe a vast area from a bird¡¯s-eye view, almost like seeing it through the eyes of a god, and he could construct or destroy buildings depending on the resources avable to him. He also had the ability to deploy allied units¡ª<em>wait, what do you mean, allied units?</em>¡ªwherever he wanted, within certain limitations.

    ¡¸Compared to those two, I¡¯m still a pretty normal existence, aren¡¯t I?¡¹

    ¡¸Hard to say. Those two are basically indestructible, so we aren¡¯t in danger of them dying and taking their surroundings with them, but we don¡¯t know if you are indestructible or not, Hiro-dono, you might be kible. And if you end up killed, you could potentially trigger an explosion that could destroy several star systems. Not to mention, your potential, the scale of your Spiritual power, is on apletely different level from theirs.¡¹

    ¡¸I might be kible¡­Could you not talk about me like I¡¯m some kind of undead monster?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, how was it in ¡®Ste Online?¡¯ In that game, if you got shot down, did you die permanently? Was all your data wiped, forcing you to start over from scratch? Or did you respawn somewhere?¡¹

    When Fuguruma said that, I couldn¡¯t help but fall silent.<em> In ¡®Ste Online,¡¯ if your ship got destroyed, you¡¯d respawn at thest space station you docked at, along with your ship that had beenpletely wrecked. Even in close-quartersbat, if you were defeated, you¡¯d just lose the equipment you brought with you and respawn in the same manner. There¡¯s a chance that if I die in this world, something simr might happen.</em>

    ¡¸You¡¯re not seriously suggesting I try dying to test it, are you?¡¹

    ¡¸Of course not! Even if I were absolutely sure that you¡¯d be fine, I¡¯d never suggest something like that.¡¹

    <em>Really? I¡¯m going to trust you on this, okay? Trusting you here!</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    After about an hour and a half of interviews, we decided to take a break, and I reunited with my crew for some tea. Tina, Wiska, and Dr. Shouko were still at the hangar, tinkering away with something or other, so they weren¡¯t with us.

    ¡¸I was asked quite a bit about the Grakkan Empire.¡¹

    ¡¸I got questions about elven magic and culture.¡¹

    ¡¸They asked me about my life outside and the things I¡¯ve seen and heard.¡¹

    ¡¸I was asked about the Fucking Vereverem Federation.¡¹

    <em>The hostility Neve holds toward her homnd is intense. I can¡¯t help but wonder what kind of conversation they had.</em>

    ¡¸They asked me simr stuff, mainly about my home beforeing here and what happened since I arrived.¡¹

    By the way, Mei, who was standing quietly by, hadn¡¯t been questioned at all. <em>It seems that for the citizens of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, Mei¡¯spleteck of detectable psionic energy makes her a rather unsettling presence. Poor thing.</em>

    ¡¸Oh, by the way, they seemed pretty interested in the documentary about you, Hiro-sama, and the Tetsujin V.¡¹

    ¡¸They definitely seem starved for any kind of information or entertainment from outside the Holy Empire.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, information from outside our nation is hard to obtain¡­¡¹

    Kugi said with a wry smile, having overheard our conversation. <em>It¡¯s not that theyck entertainment entirely, but the people of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire don¡¯t seem inclined to create their own content. Their mindset, or perhaps their culture, leads them to think they don¡¯t have the luxury to engage in such things. Still, that doesn¡¯t mean they don¡¯t crave entertainment. They are a pain in the ass, aren¡¯t they?</em>

    ¡¸I can¡¯t tell if they¡¯re being stoic or just in stubborn¡­ Should I share some of the holo-movie data I¡¯ve got?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, my Lord. I¡¯m sure they¡¯d appreciate it.¡¹

    <em>For the record, it seems that if I sell the holo-movie data I have, I only get a 1% cut of the base price. The remaining amount goes straight to the copyright holders. I don¡¯t know all the details, but it seems there¡¯s a well-organized system for protecting intellectual property even across star systems.</em>

    ¡¸Speaking of which, you mentioned they were interested in the Tetsujin too. Mei, do we have enough food cartridges in stock?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, Master. We have plenty to spare for a small distribution. We also have reserves on the ck Lotus.¡¹

    ¡¸In that case, let¡¯s go ahead and offer them to anyone who¡¯s interested.¡¹

    <em>There¡¯s no particr reason behind it, but since they¡¯ve gone to a lot of trouble to amodate us, it feels like a small gesture of goodwill wouldn¡¯t hurt.</em>

    TN: A samue is a type of traditional Japanese work clothing, typically worn by Buddhist monks when doing manualbor or chores. It consists of a top and pants made from durable cotton or hemp fabric, often in colors like indigo, brown, or ck. They¡¯re sometimes used as uniforms in traditional Japanese inns or by artisans.

 Chapter 522: ã€ŒItâ€™s Impressive, But I Canâ€™t Say Iâ€™m Too Thrilled About Itâ€¦ã€

    Chapter 522: ¡¸It¡¯s Impressive, But I Can¡¯t Say I¡¯m Too Thrilled About It¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Something like this, done automatically¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Putting aside the appearance, the taste is exceptionally good¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Wouldn¡¯t this require adjustments to the priestess training program?¡¹

    ¡¸I kind of want one¡­ I wonder if we have any leftover budget for procurement?¡¹

    After serving the researchers the dishes prepared by Tetsujin, their reactions were generally favorable, or rather, they praised everything except the appearance. <em>The appearance¡ªor to be precise, the color¡ªis a little¡­no, let¡¯s be frank, the color is very weird. If you don¡¯t specify the color the food should have, it usually ends up as some shade of green or brownish color.</em>

    <em>The so-called ¡®Color Mode,¡¯ improves the look to some extent with tasteless, odorless, andpletely harmless food coloring. However, depending on the dish, the cooking time can triple, so I almost never use it¡­ For example, that sweet porridge-like dish that Mimi often eats for breakfast doesn¡¯t take much time to prepare. But when it¡¯s a te meal with abination of rice and side dishes, like what I usually eat, it takes a ridiculously long time.</em>

    ¡¸How¡¯s the progress on the Krishna investigation?¡¹

    While handing over additional drinks¡ªsomething resembling tea¡ªto Tina and the others, who were munching on scone-like baked goods made by Tetsujin, I asked them about the progress. Tina swallowed what was in her mouth properly before she responded.

    ¡¸Well, it¡¯s hard to say we¡¯ve got much, since we ain¡¯t found anything clear yet¡­ We¡¯re pretty much guessin¡¯ here, but lookin¡¯ at the total energy Krishna¡¯s got, we figure it¡¯s only runnin¡¯ at ¡®bout ten to maybe twenty percent of its potential right now.¡¹¡¸No way, seriously?¡¹

    ¡¸Seriously. But right now, Krishna¡¯s energy output¡¯s only goin¡¯ to the four heavyser cannons, the thrusters, and the shield generator, right? Its performance and max output in those areas are already maxed out, so they¡¯re sayin¡¯ we either gotta add more output destinations or evolvin¡¯ the ones we¡¯ve got.¡¹

    ¡¸Increasing is one thing, but what do you mean by evolving?¡¹

    <em>Krishna isn¡¯t some kind of Po?¨¦mon! Am I going to hear a voice in my head one of these days saying: ¡®Congrattions! Krishna has evolved into Vishnu!¡¯ or something like that?</em>

    ¡¸ording to Buubo-san, holy relics like Krishna are capable of altering their form or exhibiting more powerful abilities in response to the owner¡¯s will. In other words, it seems that Krishna has a mechanism that allows it to transform in ordance with your intentions, Big Brother.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s hard to believe¡­¡¹

    <em>Transforming, really? Are they suggesting that Krishna could turn into a humanoid robot like some kind of Tr?nsformer? That might be cool and all, but I¡¯d rather not deal with the mess it¡¯d make in the living quarters.</em>

    ¡¸But hasn¡¯t Krishna¡¯s functionality already expanded once? I heard it deployed some kind of shield or barrier that could deflectser weapons.¡¹

    Dr. Shouko, taking a sip of the tea I brought, looked at me as she said this.<em> It¡¯s true that something like that did happen, but I¡¯m not entirely sure whether it was due to my immense psionic energy or because that curse-grade item¡ªthe seed of the world tree¡ªthat I was carrying at the time, did something. Maybe Krishna really did warp theser beams ording to my will¡­</em>

    ¡¸But the thing is, I haven¡¯t been able to use that shield ever since.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s exactly what we are trying to do! Our main focus right now is to deploy that shield once more, and make it usable anytime!¡¹

    ¡¸Whoa!?¡¹

    I knew someone was approaching, but I didn¡¯t expect them to start shouting. When I turned around, Buubo, the source of the voice, was grinning and apologizing insincerely while scratching his head.

    ¡¸But considering the hidden power of Krishna and Hiro-dono¡¯s potential, its capabilities shouldn¡¯t be limited to merely ¡®outstanding performance for a smallbat ship¡¯! It wouldn¡¯t be surprising if it could surpass even the power of our nation¡¯s most advanced fleet!¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that a bit of an exaggeration¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸No, no! Not at all! ording to our measurements, that ship is only utilizing about ten percent of its original output!¡¹

    I nced over at Tina and Wiska, but they both shook their heads at the same time.

    ¡¸Even if it¡¯s a ck box, if it was really only runnin¡¯ at ten percent capacity, we¡¯d be able to tell. But¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Krishna¡¯s generator has a unique design, with some parts whose functions arepletely unknown, and sections that appear inactive. That¡¯s what we mean when we call it a ck box. It¡¯s impossible for us to calcte its real output due to those parts, so it¡¯s notpletely out of the question. ¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m no engineer, but I always wondered how that small generator could produce such massive output.¡¹

    It seemed like our techies were still skeptical.

    ¡¸If you could actually power up the generator for us, it would greatly advance our research! What do you say?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, I don¡¯t mind doing that.¡¹

    Buubo broke into a wide smile at my response.<em> He seems genuinely delighted¡­ but I hope he doesn¡¯t start any strange experiments. If a serious ident involving the generator were to happen here, it could lead to a massive disaster, so I¡¯d really prefer to avoid any dangerous experiments.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    <strong>¡¸Fantastic! There¡¯s a significant difference in the output depending on whether Hiro-dono is sitting in the cockpit or not! This ship is undoubtedly a holy relic!¡¹</strong>

    Buubo¡¯s excited voice echoed from beyond the main screen. The output disyed on Krishna¡¯s main screen remained stable, just as usual, with no noticeable changes. Yet, on Buubo¡¯s end, he seemed to be observing some significant fluctuations in energy output.

    ¡¸Is the energy output really changing?¡¹

    <strong>¡¸At least on this monitor, the output has increased considerably.¡¹</strong>

    <strong>¡¸¡¸¡­¡¹¡¹</strong>

    The mechanic sisters were visibly frowning, as if they couldn¡¯t ept what they were seeing. <em>To be honest, I feel the same way, but ording to the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¯s technology, there is indeed a measurable difference.</em>

    <strong>¡¸In other words, Krishna¡¯s holy relic generator¡­ let¡¯s call it Relic Generator, is a hybrid generator thatbines a psionic generator with a standard generator! The energy output we usually see is just a small part of its original output. The output produced by the standard generator plus a little excess energy produced by the psionic generator operating at a very low output!¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸I think you are exaggerating a bit¡­ but if only half of the generator is putting out cruiser-level power, then its original output must be closer to a battleship¡¯s level or maybe even beyond that, into a capital-ship ss.¡¹

    <em>A battleship¡¯s generator output is roughly three times that of a cruiser. If Krishna¡¯s is indeed able to output the level of energy that Buubo is iming, it would be equivalent to more than three battleshipsbined. That¡¯s the kind of generator you can only find in capital ships or strategic vessels. Just thinking about cramming that level of output into a ship of this size makes me worry that it might explode into pieces.</em>

    <strong>¡¸And with Hiro-dono in the cockpit, the output increased even more, so it might be beyond that! Holy relics have the effect of amplifying the psychic power of their user, so the synergy is making it go even further!¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸It¡¯s impressive, but I can¡¯t say I¡¯m too thrilled about it¡­¡¹

    <em>If I, along with Krishna, were to blow up, the resulting explosion might just take the entire star system with us. Can we not bring these hypothetical situations so close to reality?</em>

    ¡¸So, how exactly are we supposed to utilize this immense power?¡¹

    <strong>¡¸That¡¯s the next challenge! Based on our current research, the ship tends to manifest new abilities when its user is in danger, but that¡¯s too risky! We need to think of alternative approaches!¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Please do.¡¹

    <em>Luckily, he didn¡¯t suggest something extreme like engaging in a full-on battle with the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¯s warships or fighting against photon lifeforms just to trigger a sense of danger in Krishna. For now, it looks like I can breathe easy.</em>

 Chapter 523: ã€ŒI Seeâ€¦ã€

    Chapter 523: ¡¸I See¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It seems that the people outside the Holy Empire refer to the maneuvering light wings on our ships as Photon Wings, but they aren¡¯t actually made up of photons¡ªlight particles. Instead, what you see is the manifestation of Spiritual Power, amplified, and controlled with the First Spiritual Form in the form of wings of light. Depending on the Spiritual Power they receive, they can even move and control a mass the size of a battleship with ease.¡¹

    ¡¸I see.¡¹

    After finishing my tea, I found myself receiving a one-on-one lecture from Ameno, an expert in the spaceship technology of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. He looked like the typical angel, with a pair of magnificent pure white wings on his back, though hecked a halo above his head.

    ¡¸Now, regarding how exactly the First Spiritual Form creates the maneuvering light wings and uses them to move a spaceship¡­ Well, I¡¯d like to exin that, but you are not a technician, but a pilot, Hiro-dono. It would be more effective to present intuitive information that your mind and body can absorb rather than simply cramming in raw knowledge.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s true.¡¹

    Noticing that my eyes were zing over at this sudden return to academia after over a decade of not exercising my brain, Ameno gave a wry smile and disyed some footage on a holo disy.

    ¡¸This is one of our nation¡¯s smallbat ships, the Totsuka, with its maneuvering light wings fully deployed.¡¹

    The holo disy showed a smallbat ship, its two pairs of pale blue light wings spread wide as it moved in a zigzag pattern, seemingly defying inertia. Apart from the two pairs of maneuvering light wings, there were no visible thrusters or other propulsion devices on its white hull. <em>What agility! It¡¯s nothing short of astonishing.</em>

    ¡¸The number of maneuvering light wing pairs can increase, and their agility can be enhanced, depending on the pilot¡¯s proficiency and the output of their Spiritual Power.¡¹Next, the holo disy showed footage of a simr ship deploying three pairs of maneuvering light wings, as well as another ship of the same model with two pairs of wings but those were noticeablyrger, about twice the size. The ship with three pairs performed even moreplex and unconventional maneuvers with ease, while the ship with therger wings clearly demonstrated faster eleration and deceleration. <em>The transitions between motion and stillness are so extreme that it almost feels like watching a frame-by-frame animation. Honestly, the way these ships move is simr to those of those old-school UFOs, abruptly elerating and stopping as if ignoring inertia altogether.</em>

    ¡¸Does adding more pairs increase the axes along which it can move?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­You figured that out quickly, didn¡¯t you?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, it¡¯s not thatplicated, is it? With two pairs, you can manage movement on the horizontal or vertical axis, or perform rotations. With three pairs, you canbine any two of those directions. So with four pairs, you could theoreticallybine all three axes for even moreplex movements.¡¹

    In other words, it would be like executing a barrel roll in aerialbat, but with the ability to stop and go instantly, disregarding inertia. <em>These maneuvers seem far more bizarrepared to the ones I do. Yes, those Elma keeps calling bizarre.</em>

    ¡¸What about with five pairs or more?¡¹

    ¡¸It is exceptionally rare for anyone to manifest five pairs of light wings on their own, but it might be possible for someone like you, Hiro-dono. The fifth pair allows for the ability to traverse a very short time axis.¡¹

    ¡¸Traverse a short time axis¡­? Are you saying it can perform a short leap?¡¹

    Ameno¡¯s expression shifted to one of surprise at my question.

    ¡¸I¡¯m astonished. To be able to think of short-range teleportation immediately after hearing the phrase ¡®traverse a short time axis,¡¯ without any further exnation¡­ Do you have some sort of specialized knowledge in space-time, Hiro-dono?¡¹

    ¡¸No, I was just fortunate enough to have been exposed to an environment where such ideas came naturally.¡¹

    I responded to Ameno¡¯s question with a wry smile. <em>In sci-fi games, anime, and manga, short-range warp abilities are prettymon for powerful characters or elite machines. Something like a ¡®Zero Shift¡¯ is a prime example.1</em>

    ¡¸By the way, is it possible to manifest six or seven pairs?¡¹

    ¡¸The sixth pair allows the ship to traverse a longer time axis.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, so the sixth pair is the one that allows the ship to perform a Psionic Jump.¡¹

    <em>In other words, these maneuvering light wings, depending on the user¡¯s skill, can enable maneuvers far surpassing my own, with the added bonus of executing short-range teleports to get behind an enemy or performing literal ¡®jumps¡¯ to other star systems in an instant using a Psionic Jump Drive. Isn¡¯t that a bit too overpowered?</em>

    ¡¸So, how exactly do we integrate that function into the Krishna¡­? Oh, wait. I get it. That¡¯s where the holy relic evolutiones into y, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Precisely. If your Krishna were to acquire maneuvering light wings in response to your will, Hiro-dono, it would be like giving an oni an iron club¡ªmaking it a force to be reckoned with.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, I suppose so¡­ Naturally, there are other evolution paths, right? Or at least, options for different enhancements?¡¹

    ¡¸Of course. It¡¯s generally rmended to have a clear image of what you want when ites to holy relic evolution. Let me guide you through a brief exnation of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¯s spaceship technology, using some visual aids.¡¹

    With a smile, the middle-aged angel with his pure white wings continued the lecture. <em>Looks like I¡¯m in for quite an intense study session.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸Indeed! That was worthwhile! Extremely worthwhile! To think that it could absorb existing technological products and make them a part of itself! Hiro-dono, your Krishna may have already surpassed the boundaries of what we consider a holy relic!¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­¡¹

    The day after Ameno¡¯s intense one-on-one lecture, I boarded Krishna alone and headed out to the empty regions of space, away from the habitable zone crowded with popteds. Alongside Krishna, was a research vessel where Buubo, Tina, and the rest of the technical team were, and the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¯s First Fleet¡ªthe fleet serving as the Holy Empire¡¯s main force.

    <em>Why did we go out of our way toe here? The fact that the elite First Fleet was sent along makes it obvious enough. It¡¯s a precaution against the possibility of somethingpletely unpredictable happening once I push Krishna to its limits, like drawing in a monstrous entity from the Other Side, for instance.</em>

    <strong>¡¸Well then, let¡¯s begin! Focus on channeling your Spiritual Power from the control stick into Krishna¡¯s generator and let it flow throughout the entire ship!¡¹</strong>

    Thinking that was easier said than done, I nheless followed the instructions, concentrating my Psionic Power into the Krishna through the control stick. Suddenly, I felt a sense of something connecting.

    ¡¸Huh?¡¹

    <strong>¡¸Something happ¡­oh!? The potential readings from Krishna are spiking! Keep going, just like that!¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Alright, alright¡­¡¹

    I felt a connection with Krishna through the control stick as Krishna hungrily absorbed my Psionic Power, like a newborn drinking milk for the first time. <em>I never thought of channeling Psionic Power into Krishna like this before¡­ Holy relics are often said to be simr to living beings, so perhaps from Krishna¡¯s perspective, I had been somewhat neglectful up until now.</em>

    ¡¸Wa-wait a moment. Is it still increasing!?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, it still feels like it could keep absorbing more.¡¹

    As I continued to channel an immense amount of Psionic Power into Krishna, my mind drifted back to everything Ameno had drilled into me yesterday about the various technologies used in the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¯sbat ships. <em>First up, is the maneuvering light wings. On top of that, it would be great if Krishna could gain offensive capabilities¡ªsomething powerful like that Soul Crush weapon, for instance. I want to have some options besides running away if we encounter an opponent that can¡¯t be taken down with the heavy pulseser cannons, the scattershot cannon, or the anti-ship reactive torpedoes. No way I¡¯m leaving the ck Lotus or the Antlion behind in a tight spot.</em>

    <em>I also need to consider how to handle attacks that regr shields can¡¯t block. Maybe an ability to phase through iing fire or some kind of barrier that can repel any attack¡ªeither is good. And while we¡¯re at it, wouldn¡¯t it be great if Krishna had some guided weaponry as well? Attacks powered by Psionic energy tend to be shaped by one¡¯s imagination. So, what if I could create guided weapons that I could control with my thoughts? Like remote-operated beam weapons? Hmm, no, those are a bit inefficient. How about something like homingsers? Maybe something that prioritizes piercing power over raw damage¡ªor no, cutting! Cutting is the way to go.</em>

    Just as my mental image solidified, the sensation of Krishna siphoning off my Psionic Power stopped. <em>It seems Krishna is finally satisfied.</em>

    <strong>¡¸Is it¡­ over?¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸It stopped absorbing, but from where I¡¯m standing, I don¡¯t see any visible change.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸No, no! It has changed! I¡¯ll show you the visuals!¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸¡­Oh!¡¹

    I was rendered speechless at the new appearance of Krishna on the main screen. <em>It has now six maneuvering light wings, and its overall form has changed a little as well¡­ Will this still fit inside the ck Lotus¡¯s hangar?</em>

    TN: Zero Shift is a high-speed, short-range teleportation ability used by powerful Orbital Frames in the game Zone of the Enders.

 Chapter 524: ã€ŒThis Is Way Too Muchâ€¦ã€

    Chapter 524: ¡¸This Is Way Too Much¡­¡¹

    ¡¸What¡­ is this?¡¹

    After testing out the new Krishna¡¯s movements, my thoughts were simple. <em>What the hell is this?</em>

    First, let¡¯s talk about mobility. It could elerate and decelerate rapidly, yet there was no strain on my body. <em>None at all. Zero</em>. Watching the footage of the small craft equipped with the maneuvering light wings, I had wondered how something could move like that without the pilot getting torn apart by the inertia. But now, here I was, doing even crazier things without feeling any pressure. <em>It¡¯s unbelievable. Where did thews of physics go?</em>

    And then, there¡¯s the firepower upgrade.

    ¡¸This is seriously overkill.¡¹

    The fourrge caliber pulseser cannons hadn¡¯t changed much. Well, thesers used to be green, but now they were blue. Also, when firing, some kind of magic circle-like pattern appeared around the gun barrels. I hadn¡¯t done precise measurements yet, but after firing at an asteroid, it seemed like the ¡®pration power¡¯ had been massively upgraded.

    <em>Yes, I know that should be physically impossible. Aser cannon works by focusing high-energy beams to instantly vaporize and blow apart the surface of the target. A massive, high-output battleship-ssser cannon could theoretically vaporize everything before that process even begins. But pration? That¡¯s not howsers work.</em>

    <em>Does this blueser somehow have mass, like a charged particle cannon? Or is it being enhanced by something psionic? I have no idea. I¡¯ll need to investigate further.</em>

    What concerned me even more was the loss of my beloved scattershot cannons. The tworge caliber scattershot cannons that fitted mybat style and aesthetics perfectly, were gone. They had evolved into something called a telekic impact cannon. <em>What the hell is that?</em>Naturally, I fired it to test it out. The result? It obliterated an asteroid bigger than Krishna into tiny pieces. The original scattershot cannons were pea-shooterspared to this thing, <em>and I even shot them at a longer distance¡­</em><em>My instincts tell me that this telekic impact cannon can pierce through regr shields.</em>

    Apart from the evolution of the existing weapons, a new, unidentified weapon was installed as well. <em>Sigh¡­ Well, I¡¯m not ming Krishna, ok? It¡¯s something I thought would be useful, but it still feels a bit strange.</em> Near the rear thrusters, there was this mysterious device. When I activated it, a glowing halo was projected behind Krishna. The ship now had a massive, shy halo in addition to the six pairs of wings. <em>How many things are growing out of Krishna now?</em>

    When I locked onto a target and pulled the trigger, this enormous halo fired off smaller halos, eachrge enough to slice a small ship clean in half. The halos instantly reached the target, shredding it into pieces. Literally. <em>Wow, those are some clean cuts. Oh, and by the way, I can¡¯t even track these with my eyes. Are they short-leaping or something?</em>

    This weapon was listed as the ¡®Telekic Halo Sudarshana Chakra¡¯1 in the system. For the record, the telekic impact cannon was formally listed as the ¡®Telekic Impact Cannon Kaumodaki¡¯2. Therge caliber pulseser cannons, on the other hand, still showed no changes in theirbeling. <em>There is another thing that changed designation though, and the name is reaally suspicious. </em>

    ¡¸It says ¡®Teleportation Launch Tube¡¯¡­ doesn¡¯t it?¡¹

    Normally, it would bebeled as a torpedounch tube, with the type of torpedo loaded disyed next to it. <em>The torpedoes themselves haven¡¯t changed, the disy shows they are anti-ship reactive torpedoes, but the addition of the word teleportation to the name of theunch tube is suspicious.</em>

    <em>I won¡¯t know if my suspicions are true until I try firing it.</em>

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>Just fire it! We made sure we¡¯re in a nk region at the edge of the star system, so you¡¯ll be fine no matter what happens!</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    Buubo irresponsibly urged me to try the torpedoes. <em>If something goes wrong, the fault is yours.</em>

    ¡¸Target: asteroid at 1,000 kilometers ahead. Firing anti-ship reactive torpedo.¡¹

    The moment I pulled the trigger, the asteroid 1,000 kilometers away vanished in an explosion.

    ¡¸This is way too much¡­¡¹

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>Isn¡¯t it amazing!? The moment you fired, it hit the target instantly! Did the warhead teleport? I wonder what the range is!</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    After using the remaining three anti-ship reactive torpedoes to test it, I figured out that the teleportationunch tube had a range of about 1,500 kilometers. If there was an object within 1,500 kilometers of the firing path, it hit instantly. If there was nothing within that range, the torpedo appeared at the 1,500-kilometer mark and then began propulsion as if it were fired from a regrunch tube. The torpedo inherits the same inertia as whenunched normally.

    ¡¸This is too much¡­ way too much¡­¡¹

    As for defensive capabilities, we couldn¡¯t exactly have a ship from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire fire at Krishna for testing, so we¡¯ll need to set up a special environment for those measurements. But the performance we had already tested was too much.<em> This much powercreep is absurd! I haven¡¯t tested it yet, but with six pairs of wings, Krishna can probably do both short-distance teleports and long-range system-to-system travel.</em>

    <em>What am I even supposed to do with this? These specs are way too much for just dealing with space pirates. It¡¯s like a mecha from a super-robot anime, posing as one from a real robot anime.3 It¡¯s reached the point where people will begin to think Krishna alone will be able to take care of everything!</em>

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>Hmm, considering the measured potential, I think it¡¯s stillcking¡­ but for the first stage, I suppose we can be satisfied with this! Wow, to witness a relic evolve before my own eyes! Let¡¯s hurry back and conduct all kinds of measurements and experiments!</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸You damn relic-obsessed lunatic¡­¡¹

    <em>What am I going to do? Can Krishna even go back to its previous state? Also, what happened to the ammunition of the scattershot cannons? Did they get absorbed when they evolved into the telekic impact cannon? I need to get Krishna back home and have Tina and the others investigate.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸¡­¡­? ¡­¡­???¡¹

    Tina and Wiska stood there staring at Krishna¡¯s dramatically altered form, having the face of a cat that had just witnessed the ultimate truth of the universe. <em>I understand, I really understand. I mean, I probably had the same expression every time I tested out Krishna¡¯s new mobility using the light wings or fired its upgraded weapons. But this is reality. I need you to ept it.</em>

    ¡¸Hahahahaha! What is this?! What did you do to change it so much? Hahahahaha!¡¹

    Dr. Shouko, on the other hand, was clutching her stomach,ughing uncontrobly at Krishna¡¯s dramatically altered form. <em>Seriously, this woman has nerves of steel. Out of everyone in our group, she¡¯s the only one who¡¯sughing this hard.</em>

    Krishna¡¯s overall form had be sharper, more menacing, like the head of an arrow with multiple wicked barbs. The ship looked more aggressive, almost organic in a way, like it had taken on some biological characteristics. <em>To be honest, it now has this dark hero vibe. It looks like something a final boss would pilot¡ªdefinitely viinous.</em>

    ¡¸Hey, get it together. You need to investigate it, remember?¡¹

    ¡¸Huh!? Yeah, uh¡­ what even is this¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Sis¡­ I think we¡¯re going to need to redo the maintenance manual entirely¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Aaaaaaahh!!!¡¹

    At Wiska¡¯s words, Tina¡¯s face went pale, and she let out a high-pitched shriek that sounded less like a person and more like¡­ a beaver? Or maybe a marmot? <em>Apparently, in real life, they make adorable little ¡®beep¡¯ sounds when startled. But that¡¯s beside the point.</em>

    ¡¸Ah, I see. Since the internal structure and everything else may have changed drastically, there¡¯s a high chance that the maintenance manual used by the maintenance bots, might not work anymore.¡¹

    ¡¸Nngh¡­ Nngggghhh¡­¡¹

    Tina was trembling as she hunched over in a state of utter despair, either nodding in agreement with my statement or simply overwhelmed by shock. Her body shook as she let out sobbing sounds.<em> I¡¯m really sorry, I can only apologize. Sorry, Tina.</em>

    Meanwhile, the rest of the crew, aside from the engineers, were speechless or baffled after witnessing Krishna¡¯s absurd new mobility and weapon capabilities.

    ¡¸¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Mimi, your mouth is hanging open. But seriously, what the hell is this? This is beyond ridiculous. Who are you and Krishna nning to fight with this?¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t know¡­ it just ended up this way.¡¹

    ¡¸Captain, I¡¯m not sure ¡®it just ended up this way¡¯ really covers it. I mean, this thing would be hard to intercept even with a barrage, and with those movements¡­ I don¡¯t think evenser cannons could track it properly.¡¹

    Neve, who used to work as the fire control and biologicalmand unit of a Vereverem Federation battleship, wore a troubled expression. <em>Sure,ser cannons hit at the speed of light, but you still have to aim the turrets urately. Krishna¡¯s ability to ignore inertia with its erratic movements would likely confuse any targeting correction programs used inbat.</em>

    ¡¸As iprehensible as this may be, I believe it¡¯s a good thing that Master¡¯s Krishna has been enhanced.¡¹

    ¡¸Mei, you¡¯re unshakable, aren¡¯t you¡­¡¹

    In the end, Mei was the calmest out of everyone.

    <em>I¡¯m exhausted. I really just want to sleep the rest of the day away¡­</em>

    TN1: The Sudarshana Chakra is a divine discus belonging to Vishnu.

    TN2: The Kaumodaki is a mace also belonging to Vishnu.

    TN3: Super robot anime mechs are usually extremely powerful, unique, their whole existence bends thews of physics, and sometimes are even sentient. Examples are Mazinger Z, Getter Robo, and Gurren Lagann. Real robot anime mechs are more grounded in reality, they are usually military units, are often mass-produced, need maintenance, and don¡¯t throw thews of physics out of the window (mostly). Examples are the mechs from Gundam, Macross, Pabor, or Full Metal Panic.

 Chapter 525: ã€ŒQuit Screwinâ€™ Around, Ya Bastard!ã€

    Chapter 525: ¡¸Quit Screwin¡¯ Around, Ya Bastard!¡¹

    Exhausted, all I wanted was to return to the ck Lotus and sleep¡ªhowever, Krishna, which was our only means of transportation currently, couldn¡¯t be moved due to various experiments and data observations. In fact, when I tried to move it, Buubo and the other researchers clung to me, almost in tears. On top of that, Tina and Wisca silently brandished space tools that looked like they could easily disassemble a human body, which was terrifying.

    <em>They¡¯re probably rebuilding the maintenance procedures for the newly transformed Krishna. For now, it seems best to avoid touching Krishna.</em>

    The higher-ups of the Holy Empire secured a hotel a bit further away from the Sacred Relic Research Facility for us, so I tried to ask for transportation to go there. However, my hope of returning to rest was not to be fulfilled.

    ¡¸My Lord, congrattions on awakening the dormant power within Krishna. However, the power that lies within you is not solely dependent on Krishna. In fact, your body and spirit are your true strengths and essence. Now is the time to unlock yourtent abilities.¡¹

    When I tried to return to the hotel, Kugi stopped me, and I was dragged out to this vast, open training field.

    ¡¸We humbly offer our assistance.¡¹

    ¡¸Prepare yourself.¡¹

    ¡¸I understand why Kugi brought me here, but ¡®prepare yourself¡¯? Isn¡¯t that going too far?!¡¹

    Kugi pulled me out of the Sacred Relic Research Facility, and now I was being forced into a battle of supernatural abilities against experts on the ¡®visitors¡¯ and psionics¡ªalso known as Spiritual Power to the Holy Empire. The group included Fuguruma, who specialized in the study of both, her apprentice Inaba, who worked in a government agency of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, and, even, military officers skilled in closebat, Moegi and Konoha where in thest group, so they must have been their coworkers.<em> And here I am, confronting them. Barehanded.</em>¡¸Time out! Time out! I demand to wear my ninja armor!¡¹

    ¡¸The likes of crude mechanical armor are unnecessary for one of your caliber, Visitor. It would only be a shackle.¡¹

    ¡¸Try to put yourself in my position! I¡¯m going to be on the receiving end of a rain of attacks that can kill me if they hit head-on!¡¹

    The opponent standing before me was a hulking man with wolf-like ears, his body resembling a mountain of muscle. His entire physique was so muscr that it made his head look small inparison¡­ It was the kind of body that made you wonder if it wasn¡¯t artificially enhanced.<em> I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s all natural though.</em>

    ¡¸Hmph!¡¹

    ¡¸Kyaaah?!¡¹

    As if his already bulging muscles weren¡¯t enough, the giant wolf-man flexed even further, letting out a battle cry as he hurled his fist toward me. I couldn¡¯t help but let out a strange scream as I dodged out of the way. His punchnded on the ground where I had stood, causing the earth to crack and crumble as though a massive serpent had wriggled through, flinging dirt and pebbles everywhere. <em>If I had taken that hit directly, I¡¯m pretty sure every bone in my body would have shattered.</em>

    ¡¸Quit screwin¡¯ around, ya bastard!¡¹

    I channeled psionic power into the wooden sword in my hand, ¡®extending¡¯ its de so I could strike from outside his range. Though it wouldn¡¯t slice cleanly through him, the attack had enough force to tear through skin and flesh, sending him flying. It was something simr to a telekic rod. However, the hulking wolf dodged my strike by leaping into the air.

    ¡¸Gotcha, you idiot!¡¹

    I had been waiting for that. As he jumped, I poured more psionic power into the invisible rod, extending it even further.

    ¡¸Nuugh!?¡¹

    The invisible rod¡ªor rather, the whip that had extended far and now wriggled like a serpentshed out repeatedly at the muscle-bound giant who had foolishly leaped into the air. <em>Hahaha! This is mytest technique, a sword that can freely extend and contract, invisible to the eye.</em> The inspiration was the fictional weapon called the snake sword, it worked simrly, the only difference was that this one was made of psionic power.

    <em>However, this guy is tough. I see now. He¡¯s using psionic power to cover the surface of his body like armor¡ªor rather, like a protective suit. He might also be reinforcing his strength.</em>

    ¡¸Haaah!¡¹

    But the muscle giant wasn¡¯t just going to sit there and take it. He used his reinforced body to deflect the iing invisible whip, striking it aside, and then he ¡®kicked¡¯ the air to close the distance between us at high speed.

    In response, I retracted the psionic power from the whip back into the wooden sword in my hand, taking a stance as if I were in a baseball batter¡¯s box, ready to swing. From the side, it probably looked like I was preparing to hit a home run.

    ¡¸Take this! Fly out of the park!¡¹

    ¡¸Nughhh¡­ whaaa¡­?!¡¹

    I condensed the psionic power that had been transformed into a long whip, gathering it into a single, enhanced swing. With a perfect angle, I struck the muscle-bound wolf-man with full force, sending him flying.<em> Absolutely wless. A clean shot straight toward the back screen.</em>

    ¡¸Next.¡¹

    A calm, emotionless voice called out. It came from the most prominent military officer among the group, an attractive man with horns on his head.

    ¡¸Then, I¡¯ll go next.¡¹

    The person stepping up before me was a small woman, also holding a wooden sword. She wore a short-sleeved kimono simr to Konoha¡¯s, her hair a reddish-ck color. The animal ears on top of her head were small, round ones. Her face was quite cute, but¡­ <em>huh? My body feels strange¡­ a prickling sensation¡ªwhat is this? My skin is tingling¡­</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯ming.¡¹

    The moment I saw a sh of white, a tremendous impact and deafening roar struck me. <em>My body feels numb. I think I got blown away and am rolling across the ground, but my vision is scorched like I just took a shbang grenade to the face. What just happened? I have no idea.</em>

    ¡¸Are you trying to kill me here¡­?¡¹

    <em>Everything hurts. Especially my right side¡ªit hurts so much I could cry. She probably hit me with her wooden sword, but on top of that, my whole body feels sore and tingling.</em> I finally managed to get up and look at the woman who sent me flying. She was crackling with purple electricity, sparking off her body. Her reddish-ck hair was standing on end, moving restlessly. <em>So, she¡¯s using psionic power to control lightning? Maybe she¡¯s also using it for high-speed movement. After all, I got blown away in an instant earlier.</em>

    ¡¸They say the ¡®visitors¡¯ show their true strength the more they are pushed to their limits.¡¹

    ¡¸So you¡¯re trying to push me to the brink of death, huh? Didn¡¯t ask for that, though¡­¡¹

    <em>Why do I have to be forced into this, getting beaten up like this? Isn¡¯t this absurd? I was already exhausted and just wanted to rest. Ugh, I¡¯m about to snap. Actually, you know what? I have snapped. Alright, fine. If that¡¯s how you want to y it, I¡¯m done holding back.</em>

    As I let go of my restraints, psionic power surged from my body, and a me-like purple aura began to rise around me. The power I had been controlling and suppressing until now was finally unleashed.

    ¡¸Hii¡­!!!¡¹

    The small, lightning-d woman who had been confidently facing me just moments before turned pale and took a step back. Still, she strengthened the crackling electricity around her body and kept her wooden sword raised. <em>Wonderful courage, I¡¯ll give you credit for that at least.</em> Somewhere in the background, I heard a sharp shattering sound as the instruments the researchers had been holding were obliterated.

    ¡¸U-uhm, my Lord¡­?¡¹

    <em>I can¡¯t forgive the researchers who have been watching me suffer with curiosity, nor those who have been looking at me with arrogant gazes as if I¡¯m nothing special. Even Kugi¡ªthe one who brought me here¡ªis not going to be spared this time. It¡¯s time for them all to feel a little of what I had gone through.</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯ll make sure you all understand the pain and anger of being beaten senseless in a training session I never asked for.¡¹

    ¡¸W-wait, hold on¡ª!¡¹

    <em>My entire body aches, and the tingling sensation still courses through me. I might even have burns from all the electricity.</em>

    ¡¸Fly Away, Pain!¡¹

    A purple ripple spread out from me, radiating outward. The wave hit the small lightning woman first, then extended further, reaching the researchers, Fuguruma, Inaba, the officers, and even Kugi, who had been observing our ridiculous battle of supernatural abilities. A few of them, including Kugi, tried to raise mental barriers to defend themselves, but there was no way I was letting them off that easily. My fully unleashed psionic power¡ªSecond Spiritual Form, telepathic sensory sharing¡ªsmashed through their defenses and flooded everyone around me with my pain and seething anger.

    ¡¸¡¸Gwaaah!?¡¹¡¹

    Without exception, everyone around me copsed to the ground, clutching their right side in pain. <em>I might have overdone it a bit with the level of pain I shared, but it¡¯s probably within an eptable margin.</em><em>Probably.</em> Even Kugi wasn¡¯t spared¡ªshe, too, fell to the ground, clutching her right side and trembling.

    ¡¸I appreciate yourmitment to your oh-so-grand mission, but I don¡¯t appreciate you pushing that kind of mindset on others so naturally. I¡¯ll have to teach you guys a little lesson¡­¡¹

    <em>I feel like I can do anything right now. Maybe I should try that¡ªextracting information directly from someone¡¯s mind. </em>With that in mind, I grabbed the head of the small lightning girl, who was still curled up on the ground, and decided to see if I could use telepathy to forcibly extract her knowledge to reproduce the psionic technique she used to control electricity.

    ¡¸Pi-! Ki¡­ Hiii!?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm? Is it like this? Or maybe this?¡¹

    After a few attempts, I sessfully pulled the knowledge of how to control electric psionic power from the lightning girl¡¯s mind. <em>She seems to be in a rather rough state, but she¡¯s probably fine. I don¡¯t care either way, though.</em>

    I immediately tried out the newly acquired ability, and blue-white sparks began to crackle and leap from my body. <em>Yep, this looks useful. Telekinesis is great for raw destruction, but electricity has a fantastic visual intimidation factor, and you can adjust its power output. Very versatile.</em>

    ¡¸So many choices for test subjects¡­¡¹

    When those around me heard my words, their faces twisted in fear. I suppose I should refrain from bullying the nonbatants too much. <em>For now, I¡¯ll make sure to discipline all the armed ones. I¡¯ll start with the one who seems to be in charge¡ªthe horned guy who was acting all high and mighty.</em>

 Chapter 526: ã€ŒLine Up!ã€

    Chapter 526: ¡¸Line Up!¡¹

    ¡¸W-Wait, my Lord¡­ Please, wai¡­¡¹

    Kugi, who was sprawled out on the training ground, reached out towards me, calling out. But I didn¡¯t bother listening to her words to the end, cutting her off.

    ¡¸Nope, not waiting.¡¹

    I reinforced the wooden sword with telekinesis and added a charge of electricity to it. <em>The first target is that arrogant horned bastard over there. He has been smugly sending his subordinates after me one after another. There¡¯s no way I¡¯m letting that slide.</em>

    ¡¸Don¡¯t¡­ underestimate me!¡¹

    The horned bastard, slightly shaky, managed to stand up, his eyes gleaming.<em> Huh? My mental barrier deflected something just now. Is this guy a user of the Second Spiritual Form?</em>

    ¡¸Wha¡ª!?¡¹

    ¡¸I should be the one saying that.¡¹

    ¡¸Gaaahhh!!?¡¹I pressed the crackling, electric-charged wooden sword against the horned bastard, letting the current ravage his body.<em> If I recall correctly, too much electricity can kill a person, right? Well, I¡¯m not exactly sure. Let¡¯s just leave him half-dead!</em>

    ¡¸Urgh¡ª! Ghh¡­!?¡¹

    The horned bastard rolled his eyes back and passed out. Without hesitation, I swung my crackling wooden sword down on a man with leopard ears lying nearby.

    ¡¸Guwaah!? Abababababababah!?¡¹

    ¡¸Doesn¡¯t matter if you¡¯re already down, I¡¯m not going easy on you.¡¹

    Smoke lightly rose from the leopard bastard¡¯s body as his voice faltered into silence. I nudged him with my foot to confirm he was unconscious, all the while showing a friendly smile on my face.<em> I think I just heard a shriek, like someone has seen something terrifying, but it¡¯s probably just my imagination.</em>

    ¡¸Line up! I¡¯ll make everyst one of you scream! Even if you don¡¯t get up, I won¡¯t show mercy, so you might as well try to resist!¡¹

    ¡¸Uwaah!?¡¹

    The military officers of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, armed with wooden swords and spears, began to stand up unsteadily or approached with strange, nimble movements. <em>Are they using telekinesis to adjust their steps, moving a bit longer or shorter than their actual stride? So, that¡¯s how they are trying to throw off my distance.</em>

    ¡¸Take this!¡¹

    ¡¸Abaaaah!?¡¹

    I extended the telekic de wrapped around my wooden sword, transforming it into a massive sword that shed through all their tricks at once. <em>Only one of them got caught, huh? Guess extending the de before swinging isn¡¯t the right approach. I¡¯ll need to extend it at the exact moment I swing.</em>

    ¡¸Guh-eh!?¡¹

    Unable to keep up with the instantaneous extension of my de, about three of them were struck by the crackling electricity and passed out, their eyes rolling back. I mercilessly knocked down every military officering at me, regardless of age or gender.

    ¡¸I-I surrender! I yield!¡¹

    ¡¸Do your enemies forgive you when you surrender? Huh!?¡¹

    ¡¸Gyahhh!!¡¹

    ¡¸Even if you beg for mercy, I won¡¯t ept your surrender, not after you¡¯ve been attacking me this whole time! If you don¡¯t like it, try stopping me with your strength!¡¹

    The military officers left with no options, leaped at me. I held my breath, slowing down the flow of time, and struck their exposed torsos and shoulders one by one with my wooden sword. Some of them had what looked like shields made of telekinesis, but the power in my own telekinesis far surpassed theirs making those flimsy barriers of theirs no better than tissue paper. <em>Absolutely useless.</em>

    ¡¸Aaaahhh!!¡¹

    Three more were flung back, overwhelmed by the electric de extending from my sword. Seeing this, the remaining military officers seemed to grow cautious and spread out, forming a circle around me. Among them were Moegi and Konoha.

    ¡¸Hiro-dono, don¡¯t you think this is going a bit too far¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m only doing to you what you did to me, If you¡¯re saying I¡¯ve ¡®gone too far¡¯ you¡¯re admitting you guys went too far in the first ce, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, um¡­ that¡¯s¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No need for excuses. If you¡¯re going to stand before me, weapons drawn, I won¡¯t show mercy.¡¹

    I poured even more psionic power into my body, causing blue-white lightning to arc across me as I took a step forward. Moegi, not to be outdone, readied her wooden sword and conjured several blue-white fireballs that floated around her. <em>Oh? So Moegi uses fireballs, huh? What kind of power Konoha will use?</em>

    The moment I shifted my gaze toward Konoha, she swung her wooden sword from a distance, her strike filled with lethal intent. A sharp crackling noise echoed as the telekic barrier I had surrounded myself with deflected her attack.<em> Is that the sound of our telekic forces shing?</em>

    ¡¸What the¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸So, Moegi is the distraction while Konoha tries to take me down with her telekic sword strike. Clever.¡¹

    <em>But did you really think I wasn¡¯t being careful about defense in a fight against so many? There¡¯s no telling where an attack mighte from. I¡¯m obviously prepared for something like that. </em>I turned my left hand toward Moegi and Konoha, preparing to retaliate.

    ¡¸Aaaaahhh!!¡¹

    ¡¸Uwaaaaah!!¡¹

    The lightning I unleashed from my left hand struck them both without mercy, sending Moegi and Konoha copsing to the ground, screaming in pain. Lightning travels at about one-third the speed of light¡ªaround 100,000 kilometers per second¡ªhitting its target almost instantly. In fact, I had already established a discharge path around everyone near me, meaning I could electrocute them all in an instant if I wanted to. Lightning doesn¡¯t fly; it flows. Once the path is made, it hits before you even realize it.

    As the remaining military officers saw Moegi and Konoha fall, theyunched an onught of attacks with telekic shes, invisible strikes, fire, ice, cold air, and even psychic waves. <em>It seems they are really trying to subdue me now.</em>

    ¡¸That won¡¯t work on me!¡¹

    I blocked all of their attacks with my telekic and mental barriers, then unleashed lightning in all directions, bringing down everyst one of the military officers who attempted to subdue me. A few tried to defend themselves with shields made from psionic power, but my lightning cut right through them.

    ¡¸Hmph¡­ well, I suppose it was a decent learning experience.¡¹

    Some of themy copsed, steam rising off their bodies, while others were in much worse shape. <em>They are all still alive, so that¡¯s good enough. No matter what anyone says, it¡¯s good enough.</em><em>I¡¯ll use telekinesis to gather up the limp and convulsing bodies into one spot and leave them there.</em>

    <em>That long-range sh Konoha used earlier was intriguing. It¡¯s probably a form of telekinesis, but how did she do it? Like this? Or maybe like this? Instead of sending a sh flying from afar, she generated it at a distance. It was the kind of telekinesis you¡¯d see in action games or battle manga. It looked pretty fun. If I can¡¯t figure it out on my own, I might just have to ¡®borrow¡¯ the technique from Konohater.</em>

    Lost in thought, I kept practicing mindlessly until I finally seeded in generating a sh from a distance. <em>Once you¡¯ve done it once, it¡¯s easy. It¡¯s like learning to ride a bike.</em>

    ¡¸Let¡¯s call it Spatial Sword.¡¹

    With one swing, I sliced a bunch of small stones I had levitated with telekinesis clean in half. <em>This technique requires precise spatial awareness, you have to generate the sh in the right spot or it won¡¯t work.</em>

    While I was practicing, a user of the First Spiritual Form proficient in healing the body, woke up and began reviving the fallen military officers one by one. As they recovered, I continued floating countless small stones with my telekinesis and splitting them in half with a single sh.

    <em>I might have lost my temper andshed out, but in the end, I¡¯ve expanded the range of what I can do. If you think about it, this whole ordeal might have been useful after all. If you only look at the results, I gained a lot from this. Still, being dragged here against my will and getting beat up isn¡¯t something I can just overlook. Though, since I¡¯ve already paid them back, my anger has mostly subsided.</em>

    ¡¸Should I apologize?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­No need.¡¹

    The horned bastard, still sitting cross-legged on the ground, scratched his head as he said that, trying to act tough despite the situation. The researchers, who had copsed or vomited after being hit by my shared pain attack, ¡®Fly Away, Pain!¡¯, seemed to have recovered somewhat as well.

    ¡¸The Spiritual Power meter is broken¡­ Do you think we can cover that with expenses?¡¹

    ¡¸Enough power to break it¡­? What kind of potential does he have¡­?¡¹

    Ignoring the baffled researchers, I walked over and crouched in front of Kugi, who was sitting on the ground, dazed.

    ¡¸M-My Lord¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m not mad anymore. Sorry for getting you caught up in all this, Kugi.¡¹

    I patted the head of Kugi, who had her fox ears drooping down, lying t against the top of her head. <em>I don¡¯t think Kugi had any intention of setting me up to get beaten¡ªat least, I want to believe that.</em> Though I¡¯m not entirely sure, from the moment the sparring, or rather the mock fight, started, Kugi had looked worried the whole time.

    ¡¸I¡¯m so sorry¡­ I¡¯ve failed as your servant. I should have ignored my superiors¡¯ orders and prioritized you above everything else, my Lord¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯ve got your own ties to this ce, right? Can¡¯t be helped. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m sorry¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re forgiven, you¡¯re forgiven.¡¹

    <em>You¡¯re wondering why I¡¯m forgiving Kugi, even though she let things escte to the point where I got beaten? Well, of course, I forgive her. I¡¯m soft when ites to my women.</em>

    ¡¸Was it really necessary to beat us up too?¡¹

    ¡¸You drew your weapons to stop me, so noints allowed.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡¹

    Moegi gave me a reproachful look, but if she¡¯d just stayed out of it and watched, I wouldn¡¯t have gone beyond the shared-pain attack. <em>If someone stands in my way, I¡¯ll knock them down. But what¡¯s with Konoha? She¡¯s just staring at me with a serious face. It¡¯s kind of unnerving to be stared at like that without any negative emotions.</em>

    ¡¸You did well.¡¹

    ¡¸Huh?¡¹

    ¡¸Nothing.¡¹

    With that, Konoha turned her back to me and walked off toward the others, who were busy helping the fallen military officers. <em>What¡¯s with her¡­? Also, my side still hurts like hell. I should head back to Krishna and get into the medical pod as soon as possible. Just because the fight is over doesn¡¯t mean my wounds are healed. I might¡¯ve cracked a rib or two at this rate.</em>

 Chapter 527: ã€ŒA Pretty Luxurious Problem to Haveã€

    Chapter 527: ¡¸A Pretty Luxurious Problem to Have¡¹

    ¡¸So, did you go on a rampage?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, pretty much.¡¹

    ¡¸You¡­ I mean, I kind of get how you feel, but still¡­¡¹

    As soon as I finished getting treated for the injury I sustained during training¡ª<em>yeah, I had a crack in my rib</em>¡ªin Krishna¡¯s makeshift medical pod, Elma came over for an interrogation. I shared my perspective with her. <em>She ended up looking exasperated, but I won¡¯t apologize. I mean, I got suddenly dragged into what they called ¡®an investigation,¡¯ forced into a sparring match, and ended up injured, so I¡¯m not taking the me for that.</em>

    ¡¸So, how do you feel? You have gotten more power, right? Didn¡¯t you dislike it because it feels like you are bing less human or something?¡¹

    ¡¸Nothing¡¯s really changed. All that¡¯s different is I can now dish out violence more easily.¡¹

    <em>I remember vividly shouting from the bottom of my heart how much I didn¡¯t want to be some kind of superhero or a warrior species whose hair goes blonde when angered. But now that it¡¯s actually happened, I realize it¡¯s not that different. Sure, I can now control electricity with my bare hands and kill any living creature I can see or sense in an instant. But even before getting all this power, I could achieve the same result¡ªeliminating all life in my range¡ªusing Krishna or other methods. The only thing that¡¯s changed is that I now have a quicker, more convenient way to do it.</em>

    ¡¸Yeah, that¡¯s just like you¡­ I mean, you were already powerful enough to take out dozens of fully armed soldiers from Earl Ixamal¡¯s private army with just two swords.¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t really think that¡¯s something all that impressive, though.¡¹Even if I didn¡¯t know how to handle swords, I probably could have barely made it through with my heavy power armor, the RIKISHI.

    ¡¸It¡¯s definitely impressive, you know¡­? Even for a highly skilled noble of the Drawn de faction, facing dozens of fully armed, well-trained soldiers wouldn¡¯t normally end well.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so? I always thought those nobles were tougher than that.¡¹

    ¡¸Nobles aren¡¯t that good against multiple enemies. No matter how enhanced a noble¡¯s physical abilities and reaction speeds are, they can¡¯t avoid or counter a saturation attack. It overwhelms them.¡¹

    <em>Now that she mentions it, Balthazar, the original owner of my swords, couldn¡¯t fully handle the crossfire from me and Mei, and had to rely on his personal shield and smoke for defense.</em>

    ¡¸I see¡­ Still, even if I¡¯ve awakened to this kind of power, it¡¯s not like there¡¯s much use for it. Feels like a waste of talent.¡¹

    <em>I feel like I could take on one of those J</em><em>?</em><em>dai knights or S</em><em>?</em><em>th lords ande out on top now. But it seems they can also predict the future while in battle, so I might be at a disadvantage in closebat. Also, could this sword even stand up against a lightsaber? Sure, a monomolecr de probably cuts better, but it¡¯s still made of material. It might easily get sliced through and destroyed if we shed. Yeah, thinking I could win easily is definitely a bad mindset.</em>

    ¡¸You could say the same about the Krishna, right? Speaking of which, it looks like the analysis of therge caliber pulseser cannons hase in.¡¹

    ¡¸Now that¡¯s a topic I¡¯m interested in. What did they find?¡¹

    ¡¸Looks like they turned into a graviton cannon. Congrattions, Krishna now possesses a graviton weapon, something the Grakkan Empire¡¯s weapon development division gave up on despite pouring massive amounts of money into it.¡¹

    ¡¸Did they find the operating principle?¡¹

    ¡¸Apparently, that magic circle-like thing converts the energy from Krishna¡¯srge caliber pulseser cannons into gravitons. If the Grakkan Empire¡¯s weapon development team saw it, they¡¯d probably throw their research tablets out the window.¡¹

    <em>A graviton cannon¡­ a graviton cannon, huh? Can shields even block that? Actually, can you even defend against something like that with physical energy? I thought the telekic impact cannon was bad enough, but a graviton cannon sounds like an even more dangerous weapon.</em>

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that way overkill for dealing with space pirates?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, but it¡¯s not like you can reverse Krishna to its prior state, right? We just have to live with it.¡¹

    ¡¸Guess we¡¯ll have to make do with the cards we¡¯ve been dealt¡­ Comining that it¡¯s overpowered is a pretty luxurious problem to have.¡¹

    ¡¸Absolutely.¡¹

    Elma and I exchanged a wry smile. <em>Well, it¡¯s like using an oversized kitchen knife; with enough skill, you can still peel an apple with it. They say ¡®the bigger the better¡¯ after all. The saying doesn¡¯t quite fit in this case, but if it¡¯s overpowered, we¡¯ll just have to experiment and figure out how to use it best.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    When Elma and I stepped out of Krishna, there were more people around who looked like the ones we saw at the Great Shrine when we participated in the purification and exorcism rituals. These people were dressed like traditional priests and shrine maidens. <em>They are probably employees of the Ministry of Divine Affairs, where Kugi used to work¡­ Ah, I recognize that wolf-eared priest leading the group of shrine maidens. He¡¯s walking over with a solemn air.</em>

    ¡¸Hiro-dono, we deeply apologize for the trouble we¡¯ve caused you.¡¹

    The wolf-eared priest and the shrine maidens bowed their heads in unison. Elma, standing beside me, was just as confused as I was. <em>I have no idea why they are apologizing to us.</em>

    ¡¸A great number of researchers have gathered here, as you can see.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, is that so?¡¹

    ¡¸When the pursuit of personal curiosity and research resultsbine, they tend to go overboard¡­ The same can be applied to military officers, when they encounter an unknown existence that may be stronger than themselves; they often lose their restraint.¡¹

    I could feel a strong wave of psionic power radiating from the wolf-eared priest as he spoke with a somber expression. <em>Impressive, as expected of one of the big faces of the Great Shrine, he possesses much more psionic power than that arrogant horned officer.</em>

    ¡¸I repeatedly told them¡ªover and over¡ªnot to force anything upon you, Hiro-dono¡­ But it seems that those idiots who are only good at burying themselves in research and those fools with muscles for brains couldn¡¯t grasp the Ministry of Divine Affairs¡¯ instructions¡­ I truly apologize.¡¹

    The wolf-eared priest apologized again, his voice filled with both anger and regret.

    ¡¸Well, I went wild and made them pay for it, so I¡¯m not holding a grudge. Just go easy on them with the punishment, alright? Plus, I¡¯ve awakened to new powers and, more importantly, I want to learn more about the Third Spiritual Form I¡¯ve been unconsciously using. I¡¯d like to master it, so I would be grateful if you could introduce me to someone who can teach me how to train it.¡¹

    ¡¸I greatly appreciate your magnanimity and consideration. We will ensure that Ministry of Divine Affairs personnel are always present to prevent such incidents from urring again. Please forgive us.¡¹

    ¡¸Of course. Honestly, I appreciate the level of care you¡¯ve shown.¡¹

    I decided to ept their goodwill graciously. <em>I¡¯d prefer to avoid a repeat of today¡¯s events, after all.</em>

    ¡¸We¡¯ve arranged amodations near the research facility for tonight. If you would kindly head there via the air shuttle, it¡¯s already prepared for you.¡¹

    ¡¸Thank you for all the care. In that case, I¡¯ll gather everyone and we¡¯ll take our leave for today.¡¹

    ¡¸Understood. We shall proceed ordingly.¡¹

    At hismand, the two shrine maidens behind him nodded and closed their eyes. <em>Ah, I can feel a gentle wave of mental energy spreading out. Are they giving instructions telepathically?</em>

    ¡¸Um, it seems the two engineers are insisting on continuing for a bit longer¡­¡¹

    Nearby, I could hear Tina and Wiska arguing over something. <em>Looks like they¡¯re in the middle of rechecking and restructuring Krishna¡¯s maintenance procedures. I suppose we¡¯ll have to forcibly drag them away.</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯ll go retrieve them. Elma, can you help me out?¡¹

    ¡¸Not much choice, is there?¡¹

    Elma shrugged as we headed off to collect the mechanic sisters. <em>Sorry, you two, but it¡¯s not like we¡¯re in a rush. We don¡¯t have a set departure time, so you can take your time working on Krishnater.</em>

 Chapter 528: ã€ŒAlright, Alright, Is This a Contest or Something?ã€

    Chapter 528: ¡¸Alright, Alright, Is This a Contest or Something?¡¹

    ¡¸I can¡¯t do this without a drink!¡¹

    ¡¸I can¡¯t do this!¡¹

    Tina and Wiska were weirdly hyped. <em>When they say the same thing at the same time like that, it really makes them seem like twin sisters.</em>

    We were staying in a hotel with the typical Holy Vuelzarus Empire aesthetics¡ªin other words, a traditional Japanese inn. The mechanic sisters, after being dragged here by Elma and me, were washed in the bath by the rest of the girls, and then served an extravagant meal that featured delicacies from bothnd and sea, as well as natural meat¡ªnot the synthetic or cultured kind, but real livestock meat. Now, they were on either side of me, clinging to me and getting touchy while drunk.

    ¡¸They¡¯re totally wasted¡­ Well, the alcohol here is delicious, so I can¡¯t me them.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, it¡¯s so smooth and tasty.¡¹

    Facing me from across the table, Elma and Dr. Shouko were also drinking. That said, Dr. Shouko wasn¡¯t nearly as heavy a drinker as the mechanic sisters or Elma, so she was sipping hers at a much slower pace.

    ¡¸Aaaaahhh¡­¡¹

    ¡¸This is an addictive texture, huh, Mimi-chan.¡¹¡¸I agree.¡¹

    Meanwhile, a little off to the side, Kugi was getting pampered by Neve and Mimi. Kugi had her head resting on Mimi¡¯sp, while the two of them were gently petting her head and animal ears. Kugi¡¯s face hadpletely melted in pleasure from being softly stroked and petted by the two of them.

    ¡¸So, Hiro-kun, what¡¯s the n for tomorrow?¡¹

    ¡¸Tomorrow, it¡¯s more operational tests for Krishna at the research facility and some training in the Third Spiritual Form, I guess. Tina and Wiska will likely want to go to the facility too¡­ What about you, Dr. Shouko?¡¹

    ¡¸Me? I¡¯ll be heading to the research facility as well. I¡¯m nning to negotiate with the people of the Holy Empire to see if I can get some DNA samples from them. It seems that this country hasn¡¯t made much progress in the field of biotechnology. That leaves a lot of room for negotiation¡­ Is it alright if I use ck Lotus¡¯s facilities and its medical supplies as leverage?¡¹

    ¡¸Of course, that¡¯s fine, but if you¡¯re going to be acting on your own, I¡¯ll have Mei support you. Whether it¡¯s negotiations or anything else, you¡¯ll be safer with her around.¡¹

    ¡¸That would be a great help. Is that alright with you, Mei-kun?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, Doctor. If that is my master¡¯s will, I will provide you with my full support.¡¹

    And so, the next day, Dr. Shouko and Mei would be working as a pair. <em>What kind of negotiations she ns to do? Will she offer treatment for injuries or diseases in exchange for DNA samples? Well, if it¡¯s Dr. Shouko, I don¡¯t need to worry. And Mei will be with her, so it¡¯ll be fine.</em>

    ¡¸As for me, my psionic abilities are interesting to them because they developed in a different environment from the Holy Empire, so I¡¯ve been asked to cooperate in some research.¡¹

    ¡¸If they put you in an unreasonable situation like they did with me yesterday, tell me right away. I¡¯ll crush them for you.¡¹

    ¡¸I will. I doubt they¡¯ll make the same mistake after messing up today, though.¡¹

    Elma shrugged and poured herself another drink from a green, cut-ss sake cup. Y<em>ou¡¯ve been drinking that like water all night, you know that sake is pretty strong, right? Don¡¯te crying to me if you end up with a hangover. Well, if ites to that, I¡¯ll just toss you in Krishna¡¯s med-pod.</em>

    ¡¸I will alsoe with¡­ Ah, not there¡­ Ahhh¡­¡¹

    Kugi started to say something but melted into bliss again. <em>Well, I got the gist of what she was trying to say, so I¡¯ll just leave her be.</em>

    ¡¸Kugi-san is going with Hiro-sama, right? What should I do¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯d like you to work on securing some Holy Vuelzarus Empire food supplies, Mimi. You know, like the longsting types we ate in the Neeparc Colony¡¯s cathedral. I want to eat them, and I think Kugi would love them too.¡¹

    ¡¸Got it! I¡¯ll ask Moegi-san and the others about it tomorrow!¡¹

    ¡¸Thanks. What about you, Neve?¡¹

    ¡¸My area of expertise doesn¡¯t seem very useful here¡­ Plus, I¡¯m not physically fit enough to keep up with anyone just yet, so I¡¯ll stay somewhere you, Tina, or the others can keep an eye on me.¡¹

    ¡¸In that case, why don¡¯t youe with me? As long as you¡¯re in the pod, you¡¯ll be fine. Besides, even though I said I¡¯d ask Moegi and the others, it¡¯s a bit nerve-wracking to go alone.¡¹

    ¡¸Really? I¡¯d probably just be a burden¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t worry about that. We¡¯re all crewmates who entrust our lives to each other, right?¡¹

    With that, Mimi clenched her left fist and let out a strong breath, full of resolve. <em>Crewmates who entrust our lives to each other¡ªshe¡¯s right. Mimi¡¯s got a point. We¡¯re all in this together, and it¡¯s not like we¡¯d abandon or cut someone loose just because they might slow us down.</em>

    ¡¸Mimi, that was well said.¡¹

    ¡¸Right? That¡¯s our oldest crew member for ya.¡¹

    ¡¸Are you teasing me?¡¹

    ¡¸No, I think you made a great point. We are crewmates who entrust our lives to each other, no doubt about it.¡¹

    Mimi, who had been giving the two drunkards a t stare, broke into a smile when I agreed with her.<em> I¡¯mpletely sober, after all. You can¡¯t exactly trust what drunk people say.</em>

    ¡¸Wiska¡¯s been awfully quiet¡­ Oh, she¡¯s asleep.¡¹

    It seems Wiska, having drunk just enough to feel pleasantly buzzed, had fallen asleep, leaning against me with an innocent look on her face, softly breathing in slumber. Yeah, adorable, she¡¯s pretty adorable like this.

    ¡¸Man, this is ssic Wee. She¡¯s so sneaky with those calcted cute acts.¡¹

    While saying that, Tina also leaned on me and started rubbing her cheek against my arm. <em>Are you a dog or a cat or something? Honestly, if we¡¯re talking about being sneaky cute, Tina¡¯s pretty guilty of that herself.</em>

    ¡¸Alright, alright, is this a contest or something? Fix that slovenly face, Hiro. Wiska¡¯s already asleep, so maybe it¡¯s time to call it a night?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, that¡¯s a good idea.¡¹

    Wiska, still sound asleep, was gently carried away by Mei. Not even the slightest sign of waking up. Watching Mei carry a full-grown person without disturbing her at all was impressive in its own right.

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    The next day, after enjoying breakfast at the inn, we made our way back to the research facility. Once there, everyone split off to tackle their assigned tasks for the day. Tina and Wiska were off to check Krishna¡¯s condition and review the maintenance procedures, while Elma went to help the research into elven psionic abilities. Dr. Shouko and Mei were handling negotiations regarding the collection of DNA samples from the people of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. Mimi and Neve were in charge of securing food supplies from the Holy Empire.

    As for me and Kugi, we were scheduled to meet with schrs, researchers, and practitioners knowledgeable on the Third Spiritual Form¡ªthe ability to manipte higher dimensions, space-time, and fate¡ªto receive exnations and training in the subject.

    ¡¸You three areing with me, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸I am tasked with being your guard.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m the record keeper.¡¹

    ¡¸And I¡¯m a researcher.¡¹

    Konaha, Inaba, and Fuguruma were apanying me.<em> It looks like Moegi went off somewhere with Mimi, I¡¯m grateful they assigned her a guard as well. Although, realistically speaking, the odds of being attacked by some thug within the Holy Vuelzarus Empire seem pretty slim.</em>

    ¡¸¡­Well, whatever. So, how am I being evaluated so far, Miss Record Keeper?¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re dangerous if angered.¡¹

    ¡¸I feel like that¡¯s true for anyone, though?¡¹

    ¡¸In your case, Hiro-dono, the potential damage is a little beyond normal levels¡­¡¹

    ¡¸The military officers you beat up yesterday are actually considered among the upper ranks of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¯s military, Hiro-dono. The fact that you trampled down over a dozen of them single-handedly created quite a stir.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, they weren¡¯t exactly trying to kill me. It got a bit intense, but calling that anything more than a brawl is exaggerating things.¡¹

    <em>If all the military officers had gone all out from the start, recklessly attacking without regard for coteral damage, I¡¯m not sure how things would have turned out for me.</em>

    ¡¸¡­But wouldn¡¯t that be the same for you, Hiro-dono?¡¹

    ¡¸Maybe.¡¹

    <em>If I had entered the fight with the intent to kill everyone present, what would¡¯ve happened? Hard to say. In a free-for-all situation, you never know what will happen. If I had been serious about it, I probably would¡¯ve crushed or obliterated everyone without hesitation. And then there¡¯s the stretching sword¡ªI could¡¯ve easily turned it into a weapon that slices through anything it touches. Those who failed to dodge it would have been cut clean in half.</em>

    ¡¸¡­Hiro-dono, you are letting out a somewhat ominous aura.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, sorry about that.¡¹

    <em>I¡¯ve been thinking too deeply about how things might¡¯ve turned out if we had all been fighting with murderous intent, so I ended up radiating a bit of a dangerous vibe. My mistake. While Konaha can handle it, Inaba and Fuguruma aren¡¯tbatants. Scaring them is no good. I need to be more careful.</em>

 Chapter 529: ã€ŒIt Hath Been Some Time, Hast it Not? â€˜Tis I ?ã€

    Chapter 529: ¡¸It Hath Been Some Time, Hast it Not? ¡®Tis I ?¡¹

    ¡¸In other words, the flow of time is a collection of fleeting moments, like a thread continuously being spun. Once a thread is spun, it cannot be undone, and the past that has been observed cannot be reversed. Controlling time and space means grasping those fleeting moments and intervening in the flow of time that continues to be spun.¡¹

    ¡¸The ability to manipte fate is the power to select the future that wille. It¡¯s about how youbine those continuously spun threads and weave a picture of the future¡ª¡¹

    An old man, who was pure white and furry, kind of like a monkey, and a mysterious beauty with an eyepatch covering one eye, were eagerly exining the Third Spiritual Form, the ability to control time and space and manipte fate, to me. T<em>hey¡¯re doing their best, but¡­</em>

    ¡¸¡­Huh?¡¹

    <em>I feel like my eyes are about to roll back in my head from theplicated exnation. Or rather, they already did. Can¡¯t you exin it a little simpler? Please? Impossible? I see¡­</em>

    In summary, as far as I could grasp, the ability to control time and space involved interfering with the smallest unit of time, expanding it,pressing it, and manipting it at will. The ability I have, to hold my breath and slow down the flow of time, was apparently the result of me stretching and expanding this smallest unit of time. Regr people can only act for one second in one second. That¡¯s obvious. But I could stretch one second into ten, and within that one second, I could take ten seconds¡¯ worth of actions.<em> Yeah, saying it myself, I still don¡¯t really get it.</em>

    If I master it, I could stretch a moment¡ªa hundred trillionth of a second¡ªinto eternity, allowing me to take infinite actions, or so they said. <em>That¡¯s something way beyond the limits of being human. I¡¯d be like one of those time-stopping characters from stories¡­</em>

    ¡¸As for the ability to manipte fate, even after the exnation, I still don¡¯t get it¡­ Threads and weaving? I don¡¯t see any of that stuff.¡¹

    ¡¸The metaphor of a fabric woven from the threads of fate is just one way of looking at it. In short, it¡¯s the power to pull in the desired future from the nearly infinite branches of potential futures.¡¹¡¸Pull in the future I desire¡­¡¹

    ¡¸My Lord, how should I put this¡­ you are making quite the face.¡¹

    I must have been making a terribly grim expression. Apparently, my ability to manipte fate worked instinctively, almost unconsciously. But it always seemed to attract trouble. <em>So, I¡¯ve been unconsciously pulling trouble toward me all along? I had a hunch, but I really didn¡¯t want to know that for sure.</em>

    ¡¸As for how to train your power, repeated use is key, as with any skill. Fortunately, you seem to have no issue with activating your power reliably, Hiro-dono, so it would be good to use something like this.¡¹

    The white-haired old man produced an hourss.

    ¡¸To visualize how much you are stretching time, it¡¯s helpful to use a simple, primitive tool like this.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­ To be honest, I haven¡¯t been using this power unless absolutely necessary because I don¡¯t fully understand it. It feels like something that could mess up the world or my body.¡¹

    ¡¸That feeling is, in a way, correct. As a wielder of great power, it¡¯s very wise not to use a power you don¡¯t fully understand recklessly. However, as long as you understand it and can control it properly, there¡¯s no problem. There¡¯s no need to worry about any negative effects on your body, so while you¡¯re here, feel free to experiment as much as you like.¡¹

    ¡¸Normally, for training in Third Spiritual Form like this, it would be best to seek the assistance of <em>that</em> person¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ah yes, that¡¯s true¡­ but that person¡­¡¹

    The old white monkey and the mysterious beauty with the eyepatch and white scales on her neck both sighed. <em>That person, huh? A person who can manipte space-time and whose name can¡¯t be spoken¡­ The only one thates to mind is that gorgeous nine-tailed beauty. Is it her?</em>

    <em>Oh, there she is, waving at me with a big smile¡ªhey, wait a minute!</em>

    ¡¸Could you <em>not</em> just show up out of nowhere like that¡­ Ah, so this is what happenedst time too, huh?¡¹

    Looking around, I noticed that everyone except me and the nine-tailed beauty was frozen in ce, as if time itself had stopped.<em> Actually, it probably has¡ªtime is almostpletely halted. The beauty before me has likely expanded one of those ¡®fleeting moments¡¯ and pulled me into it.</em>

    ¡¸It hath been some time, hast it not? ¡®Tis I ?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, no¡­ Stop appearing like that. You¡¯re way too beautiful, and if you keep showing up like this, I¡¯m gonna be totally done for, so could you not?¡¹

    ¡¸Art thou trying topliment me or insult me? Which is it¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Both, maybe¡­¡¹

    I responded to the nine-tailed beauty, who gave me a somewhat perplexed look. <em>But really, she¡¯s stunning. This woman is ridiculously beautiful. With golden hair that seems to emit its own light, wless, porcin-like skin as smooth as silk, and dressed in an extravagant shrine maiden outfit that exudes an air of elegance, almost like an oiran courtesan. Her clothes are loose, and her chest is so exposed that you can see her cleavage, and let¡¯s just say everything about her is¡­ bouncy. If she didn¡¯t give off such an ¡®absolutely dangerous¡¯ aura, I might¡¯ve beenpletely entranced by now.</em>

    ¡¸So, you show up at this moment¡ªdoes that mean you¡¯re going to teach me about the Third Spiritual Form?¡¹

    ¡¸If we grow closer, there will be no need for lessons. All shall be resolved. What sayest thou?¡¹

    ¡¸Nooo thank you.¡¹

    It was a tempting offer, but I rejected it with a will of iron.<em> I mean, no matter how delicious a fruit dangling in front of me looks, I¡¯m not crazy enough to bite into it, knowing it¡¯s deadly poisonous.</em>

    ¡¸Just a little, just the tip! That is all!¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re way too desperate! What in the world is driving you so hard?¡¹

    ¡¸Is it not the finest feeling to steal another woman¡¯s man?¡¹

    ¡¸Uh, that¡¯s not really my thing¡­ I don¡¯t judge people who are into that, but I¡¯m not fond of things that make everyone involved miserable.¡¹

    <em>I¡¯m starting to think that the reason she¡¯s treated like someone whose name can¡¯t even be spoken isn¡¯t because of her immense power or her status as a higher being. It¡¯s more likely due to her¡­ uh, ¡®personality defects.¡¯ That would make sense.</em>

    ¡¸So long as <em>I </em>am content, that is all that matters, is it not? Problem solved!¡¹

    ¡¸No, it¡¯s definitely <em>not</em> solved¡­ How about we stop with the nonsense now?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh,e now. Surely thou knowest that impatient, cold men are far from popr, do ye not?¡¹

    ¡¸Trying to one-up me with those kinds of remarks isn¡¯t going to work, so just give it up, okay?¡¹

    <em>It¡¯s not that I¡¯m starving or that I¡¯m a boy without experience. I have seven different partners after all. We don¡¯t do it every night, but with seven, you can imagine the frequency. So, yeah, that kind of teasing won¡¯t work on me.</em>

    ¡¸Ugh¡­ Thou art a dull man, no fun to toy with at all.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, sorry about that. Now, can we get to the real topic?¡¹

    ¡¸Thou art truly no fun¡­ Perhaps I should ¡®train¡¯ thee someday.¡¹

    ¡¸Spare me, please.¡¹

    <em>Coming from her, that¡¯s no joke. I could easily end up under her spell without realizing it, and by the time I noticed, it¡¯d be game over.</em>

    ¡¸In any case, as thou hast likely surmised, I am here to impart unto thee a lesson on the Third Spiritual Form.¡¹

    ¡¸Great, I¡¯m honestly grateful for that. I¡¯ll repay you in any way that doesn¡¯t involve my body, mind, soul, orbor.¡¹

    ¡¸Art thou not being a bit too rude? If thou keepest being so unendearing, I shall sulk! And a sulking me is quite the bother to handle, you know?¡¹

    ¡¸Okay, okay. I¡¯ll ept your price if it¡¯s not unreasonable. Let¡¯s just negotiate the terms first.¡¹

    <em>Yeah, with this nine-tailed beauty, I have to be extra cautious. Entering into a vague agreement with her would definitely lead to some irreversible consequences.</em>

 Chapter 530: ã€ŒT-Tail Careâ€¦!ã€

    Chapter 530: ¡¸T-Tail Care¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Mm¡­ Ah! Yes, right there¡­ Harder, if thou pleasest¡­¡¹

    After our discussion, I found myself tangled up with the nine-tailed beauty.

    ¡¸A-ah, thou¡­ this is not thy first time, is it? Nngh!? S-so intense¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m just brushing your tail, so could you stop making those deliberately suggestive sounds?¡¹

    ¡¸Thou mayst not understand, but when one possesseth as many glorious tails as I, the upkeep is utterly exhausting¡­ There is only so much I can manage on my own. And now, in this form, I cannot even have others tend to them for me¡­ Spiritual Power alone is not enough, thou knowest.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­ It sounds like you¡¯ve got it tough.¡¹

    <em>She seems carefree at first nce, but she¡¯s so isted that she struggles with these mundane tasks. That makes me feel a bit sorry for her. From what I understand, she¡¯s be such an extraordinary being that even the wolf-eared priest of the Great Shrine can¡¯t perceive her presence anymore.</em>

    <em>Maybe that¡¯s why she¡¯s so desperate to be with me¡ªto have someone she can walk alongside. That could be why she¡¯s trying so hard to bring me over to ¡®her side¡¯. But that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m going to leave Mimi and the others behind to join her.</em>

    <em>For the record, even though she ims she hasn¡¯t been able to maintain her tails, they actually smell incredibly nice. It¡¯s not perfume, but there¡¯s this noble fragrance¡­ Maybe like a softened scent of incense? It might be the smell of sandalwood or something simr. Given that she said she couldn¡¯t maintain them, I was expecting they would smell like an unwashed, dog or something, but I was pleasantly surprised.</em>¡¸Thou art thinking something outrageous right now, art thou not?¡¹

    ¡¸I was just thinking that your tail smells nice, that¡¯s all.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, so long as that is all¡­¡¹

    <em>Her intuition is sharp as ever. Honestly, I don¡¯t really dislike the smell of an unwashed dog. I used to have a dog, you know. Dogs, huh¡­ The idea of keeping a pet doesn¡¯t sound too bad. Maybe I could find a dog, a cat, or another suitable alien creature. There has to be some kind of furry alien creature suitable as a pet, although I¡¯d prefer to avoid the kind that multiplies when it gets wet at night, or those that burst out of people¡¯s chests after parasitizing them.</em>

    ¡¸So, is tail care really all you¡¯re asking in exchange for teaching me how to use the Third Spiritual Form?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, what to do¡­ There is naught else I truly require from thee at present¡­ Ah, wait.¡¹

    As I continued brushing her tails, the nine-tailed beauty pped her hands, seemingly havinge up with an idea.<em> I have a bad feeling about this¡­</em>

    ¡¸What is it?¡¹

    ¡¸Thy ship hath been enhanced ofte, hast it not? I would have thee use it to help clear out some photon lifeforms and other nuisances that shall soon appear nearby. Those others can likely manage without thee, but ¡¯tis always wise to have backup, just in case.¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t mind helping, but¡­ how do you know they¡¯ll appear nearby anytime soon?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, ¡¯tis simple. The perfect bait for them arrived in this system but a few days ago. Normally, no matter how great thy potential, thou wouldst not draw them across dimensional boundaries. Yet, the boundary around our nation is rather thin. When thy ship was enhanced, and during thy recent rampage, thou didst release a great deal of Spiritual Power, and it seems they sensed it. Now, all spirits and monsters nearby are gathering here.¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re kidding me¡­¡¹

    <em>I hadn¡¯t intended to, but it seems I caused a bit of a mess. Wait, hold on a second.</em>

    ¡¸So, does that mean the purification and exorcism rituals were pointless?¡¹

    ¡¸Not at all. Impurities¡ªcurses, in essence¡ªare a potent lure for such creatures. Had we not performed the purification and exorcism rites, space monsters the size of buildings might have appeared on the itself. That would have been a true catastrophe.¡¹

    ¡¸¡®Catastrophe¡¯ doesn¡¯t even cover it¡­ I¡¯m d I went through with the rituals.¡¹

    <em>There¡¯s no way I could survive going up against enemies that even the Holy Vuelzarus Empire needs space battleships to fight. That would be nothing short of suicide.</em>

    ¡¸So, to sum up, the tail care and helping the Holy Vuelzarus Empire exterminate space monsters are the agreed-upon price, right?¡¹ ¡¸That alone shall not suffice. But I cannot be too greedy either¡­ How about this: whilst thou art here, thou shalt regrly tend to me in this manner. What sayest thou?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­As long as you promise not to try to drag me over to your side against my will, I¡¯m fine with it.¡¹

    ¡¸Alright, alright. I shall not force thee. I promise.¡¹

    ¡¸Then we have a deal. As long as the contract stands, I swear by my conscience that I won¡¯t betray you. You have to swear not to betray me either.¡¹

    ¡¸Swear by thy conscience, hmm¡­ Very well, I understand. I, too, so swear.¡¹

    She nced back at me as I continued brushing her tail, giving me a slight, wry smile. <em>Shouldn¡¯t I be worried this vague promise might not hold? No, I¡¯m not worried. What she really wants is someone to walk beside her, so she wouldn¡¯t risk being utterly despised or hated by me.</em>

    <em>Besides, if she didn¡¯t have any kind of conscience, I would¡¯ve already been turned into her puppet with her overwhelming psionic powers, standing silently by her side. If my assumption is wrong¡­ well, that¡¯s the end of it. Either way, if she decided to go that route, I wouldn¡¯t have much chance to resist. At best, we¡¯d take each other down together. If ites to that, I¡¯ll just have to ept it.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸This is going to drive me insane¡­¡¹

    I muttered that under my breath, clutching my head after returning from the other side, where the nine-tailed beauty had instructed me on how to use the Third Spiritual Form. The training had involved sharing her perception of the nature of space-time and fate.<em> If someone were to perceive that constantly, it¡¯s no wonder they¡¯d stop being human.</em>

    <em>While my psionic power might be high enough to handle such things, my brain simply can¡¯t process that much information. Or maybe it could, but at least for now, it¡¯s impossible.</em>

    ¡¸My Lord, what on earth¡­ what happened to you¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Didn¡¯t your form just flicker for a moment?¡¹

    As soon as I returned, Kugi looked at me in concern while Konoha gave me a suspicious re. Inaba, Fuguruma, the white monkey-like old man, and the eyepatch-wearingdy also looked at me with expressions of shock, some even gasping.

    ¡¸<em>That person</em> took me to the other side to give me some training in the Third spiritual Form¡­ Let me tell you, having sensory input from organs you didn¡¯t even know you had is incredibly exhausting.¡¹

    ¡¸You say that so casually¡­ How did you even make it back in one piece?¡¹

    ¡¸She let mee back without any issue. However, I did agree to work for her in return.¡¹

    ¡¸Work for her? What exactly do you mean by that?¡¹

    The eyepatch-wearingdy tilted her head in confusion.

    ¡¸I agreed to help her take care of her tails regrly while I¡¯m in the Holy Vuelzarus Empire.¡¹

    ¡¸T-Tail care¡­!¡¹

    Kugi¡¯s entire body trembled as she reacted with an expression I¡¯d never seen before. The others had varied responses¡ªsome muttered ¡®oh¡¯, ¡®wow¡¯, or ¡®huh¡¯,¡ªbut Fuguruma looked frustrated, while Inaba, the monkey-like old man, and the eyepatch-wearingdy all seemed intrigued. Konoha, on the other hand, shot me another suspicious re. <em>Seriously, what¡¯s with these reactions?</em>

    ¡¸Oh, and she also asked me to help out the Holy Vuelzarus Empire using the enhanced Krishna.¡¹

    ¡¸Help out? How, exactly?¡¹

    ¡¸Apparently, a lot of space monsters are going to start appearing in the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¯s territory. It seems that when Krishna was enhanced, and during my recent rampage, my psionic energy waves attracted them. At least, that¡¯s what she said. I¡¯m not entirely sure if that¡¯s the case, though. Your fleet can probably handle it on their own, but she asked me to help just in case.¡¹

    As I answered Konoha, her expression grew more serious. As a military officer herself, it was no surprise that my words couldn¡¯t simply be brushed off.

    ¡¸I will ry this information to the militarymand immediately. Is it safe to say that you¡¯ll be cooperating with us, Hiro-dono?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, I made a promise.¡¹

    ¡¸Understood. Excuse me, then.¡¹

    With that, Konoha rushed off, likely to pass the message along. <em>As for me¡­ I¡¯m mentally exhausted. I think I¡¯ll take a break before I have to deal with anything else.</em>

 Chapter 531: ã€ŒStop It. Iâ€™m Going to Cryã€

    Chapter 531: ¡¸Stop It. I¡¯m Going to Cry¡¹

    ¡¸Hiro-sama¡­ You get caught up in trouble as soon as I take my eyes off you.¡¹

    ¡¸I have no excuse¡­ even though I was at his side¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s not like that. It was out of my control¡­ it was force majeure.¡¹

    After Konoha left and I was resting, exhausted, Mimi and Moegi¡ªwho had gone off to arrange the procurement of food from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, specifically some prepackaged meals¡ªrejoined with us. As soon as I exined the situation, they were both exasperated.

    ¡¸Is it always like this?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes¡­ more or less.¡¹

    ¡¸That sounds tough¡­¡¹

    It seemed that over the course of working together, Mimi and Moegi had grown friendlier with each other, chatting a bit more casually now. <em>Well, Mimi is good with people. She gets along with almost everyone right away.</em>

    ¡¸Moegi-san, you¡¯re interested in Hiro-sama, right? Will you join us? As you can see, life with him is never boring.¡¹¡¸I¡¯m interested, but getting caught up in trouble that stirs up the military on a daily basis is a bit too much for me¡­¡¹

    <em>It seems I¡¯ve been rejected by Moegi without my knowledge. Not that it really matters¡­ or does it? Even if I wasn¡¯t thinking of getting involved with her, being clearly turned down still stings a bit. Oof.</em>

    ¡¸Look, look, my Lord! Here¡¯s your favorite tail!¡¹

    ¡¸Yay!¡¹

    Sensing something, Kugi offered one of her fluffy tails onto myp, so I stroked it. <em>Ah, this is healing. While the tails of the gorgeous nine-tailed beauty were undeniably luxurious and had a great feel, Kugi¡¯s tails still take the top spot for me, as expected, the familiar ones are the best. I feel like Kugi is making a smug face toward the empty air, but that¡¯s probably just my imagination. Yeah, definitely.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    The information I brought apparently caused quite a stir in the military of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. Normally, a national military wouldn¡¯t take the words of a mere mercenary like me seriously. It might be different for smaller military factions on a star-system level, but a national military is a whole other matter. After all, fleets alone are costly just to maintain, and mobilizing them adds even more expense. They can¡¯t be moved lightly.

    However, this time, the true source of the information was ¡®that person¡¯¡ªthe one whose name can¡¯t be mentioned. <em>For some reason, everyone stubbornly refuses to say her name, and no one is willing to tell me her name either. Even the person herself didn¡¯t introduce herself. What in the world did she do for her name to be so taboo?</em>

    Well, putting her name aside, the fact that the information came from ¡®that person¡¯ gave my words a lot of weight. Some suspected that I had simply hallucinated due to fatigue or sleep deprivation, but after mobilizing users of the Third Spiritual Form to conductrge-scale future predictions, and even performing reconnaissance into the other dimension from where space monsters appear, the top brass of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¯s military seemed to have confirmed that my information was, in fact, credible.

    After returning to the inn, we had a meal, took a bath, and refreshed ourselves. Now gathered in my room, we began exchanging information.

    ¡¸Using Third Spiritual Form users to predict the future, and scouting the parallel dimension from where space monsters appear¡­ The Holy Vuelzarus Empire really goes above and beyond in some¡­ fantastical ways.¡¹

    ¡¸And what does that make you, the one those fantastical people treat as a rare beast that should never be provoked?¡¹

    ¡¸Stop it. I¡¯m going to cry.¡¹

    Elma¡¯s cutting remark made me go deadpan for a moment. <em>Lately, I¡¯ve been starting to have some philosophical doubts about my very existence, so I really wish she¡¯d stop.</em>

    <em>Do you know how ufortable it was when people reacted like</em>, <strong><em>What?! You had a direct encounter with that person and survived?! You¡¯re taking care of her tails?! On top of that, you¡¯ve shared senses and received instruction on how to use the Third Spiritual Form?! How are you still sane?!</em></strong><em>They looked at me like I was some inhuman creature. And this came from people who use mysterious abilities and bizarre technologies based on those powers.</em>

    ¡¸To be honest, there¡¯s still a bunch of stuff we ain¡¯t fully analyzed yet¡­¡¹

    ¡¸We need realbat data, so it can¡¯t be helped, Sis.¡¹

    The mechanic sisters were in death march mode again, fully focused on working out how to maintain the evolved Krishna, and they seemed utterly exhausted, understandably. <em>I hope they can take it easy at least while we¡¯re out on the mission.</em>

    ¡¸So, is Krishna the only one heading out this time?¡¹

    ¡¸Forbat, yeah. Apparently, the weapons of the Antlion and the ck Lotus aren¡¯t effective against space monsters like the photon lifeforms. However, we¡¯ll have Holy Empire technicians and researchers on board the Krishna this time, so the two ships wille with us as far as the rear lines. The Antlion will stay docked to the ck Lotus for use as an emergency escape pod if necessary.¡¹

    ¡¸I see. So it¡¯ll be the usual full crew then.¡¹

    Dr. Shouko nodded, seemingly satisfied with my exnation.

    ¡¸Captain, how many people are apanying us?¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s see¡­ the usual three¡ªMoegi, Konoha, and Inaba¡ª will apany us as always, apart from them, Fuguruma, the relic researcher Buubo, the ship technology researcher Ameno, and¡­ there are a few more whose names I don¡¯t remember.¡¹

    ¡¸We might be a bit short on rooms. Some people might have to share.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­ Uhm, we probably should start thinking about changing the Lotus for a bigger mothership.¡¹

    Neve¡¯s words prompted me to think again about our mothership. <em>When we brought Dr. Shouko aboard, theb and medical room took up quite a bit of space, making the guest quarters a bit cramped.</em>

    <em>On top of that, our mid-sized ship, the Antlion, can¡¯t fit into the ck Lotus¡¯ hangar, so when we travel long distances, it has to be docked externally. Ideally, we should switch to a mothership big enough to house the Antlion. Once our stay in the Holy Vuelzarus Empire is over and we return to the Grakkan Empire, it might be time to seriously consider changing motherships.</em>

    <em>Should I have Space Dwerg, with whom we have a contract, find us arger one? Or maybe I should cancel that contract and go through Serena¡¯s connections to get a ship from another manufacturer¡­ We¡¯ve quite a bit more money than when we bought the ck Lotus, so I¡¯m not too worried about the cost. We could even trade in the ck Lotus.</em>

    ¡¸Are we changing ships?¡­ I¡¯ve grown attached to the <em>ck Lotus</em>.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s true. But switching ships ismon for mercenaries, you know? It¡¯s rare to part with a ship while it¡¯s still intact and in good condition, though.¡¹

    ¡¸There¡¯s data showing that about 40% of mercenary ship changes are due to damage. The <em>ck Lotus</em> is well-maintained, with barely any significant damage, so if we trade it in, it¡¯ll definitely be in demand. In fact, Space Dwerg might even offer a trade-in themselves.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, that makes sense. If the ship¡¯s in near-perfect condition, the manufacturer would want the data on how it was used and maintained.¡¹

    As we talked, Kugi suddenly turned her head in an odd direction, her fox ears perking up. <em>Ah, she¡¯s picking up something.</em>

    ¡¸My lord, we¡¯ve received a message. Moegi-san and Konoha-san will being to pick us up first thing tomorrow morning.¡¹

    ¡¸Got it. Then we should get some good rest tonight. You can drink, but don¡¯t go overboard and make sure it doesn¡¯t affect you tomorrow.¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸¡¸Yeees.¡¹¡¹¡¹

    The three heavy drinkers answered in unison. <em>Guess I¡¯ll turn in early tonight too.</em>

    <em>What? You¡¯re asking if I¡¯m just going to sleep? Well, that¡¯s not really up to me¡­ Mei handles that part, so I won¡¯t know until I actually go to bed. In a way, it¡¯s something to look forward to, haha.</em>

 Chapter 534: ã€ŒStop It, Mimi. That Comment Really Hits Homeã€

    Chapter 534: ¡¸Stop It, Mimi. That Comment Really Hits Home¡¹

    Shattering through the void, a swarm of crystal lifeforms appeared, each one radiating in a variety of colors. There were so many of them that it looked as if the ce was overflowing with broken fragments of singing crystals. If this number suddenly spawned within the Grakkan Empire without any prior notice, it would be an outright disaster.

    ¡¸We¡¯ll reduce their numbers in the initial strike. Be careful not to get caught in the crossfire.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸¡¸¡¸</strong><strong>Understood.</strong><strong>¡¹¡¹¡¹</strong>

    Perhaps my performance up to this eleventh wave had given weight to my words, my proposal was smoothly epted by the captains of the Holy Empire fleet¡¯s A-ss escort ships. <em>Then again, it might simply be that they have no desire to get caught up in the st.</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯ll use the Telekic Halo. Mimi, I need your support.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, sir!¡¹

    Mimi responded eagerly. Up until now, her role as Krishna¡¯s operator had been something like a mix between amunication officer and a navigator. In normal times, she handled navigation as well asmunication with colonies and other ships. Duringbat, she would warn me immediately if a powerful enemy appeared, adaptively adjust the radar range, and keep an eye out for any threats approaching us.

    Now, with the addition of the Telekic Halo, a pseudo-guided weapon, as part of Krishna¡¯s arsenal, her role had expanded to include its operation.

    ¡¸Target locked!¡¹¡¸Alright, let¡¯s do this.¡¹

    I fired the Telekic Halo at the swarm of crystal lifeforms Mimi had locked onto. The massive halo, deployed from the rear of Krishna, split into six parts, each forming a sizable ring capable of slicing through a small ship. These rings then surged toward the crystal lifeforms, cleaving through them mercilessly.

    <em>¡¸</em><em>xfghdh#¡­?!</em><em>¡¹</em>

    The mental waves reverberated through space¡ªlike agonized, bewildered screams from the crystal lifeforms. The halos tore through the swarm, weaving through the void and decimating their numbers at an elerated rate. <em>One of the best features of the Telekic Halo is that its size can be adjusted depending on the situation.</em> I could send out a single, massive ring or, as I¡¯m doing now, split it into six. It was versatile enough to divide further orunch as one formidable ring.

    <em>However, the more halos I deploy, the harder they are to control. At best, I can manage twelve rings with precise control.</em> Beyond that, guidance became less refined, and if I did push it even further, I could only release them as a scattershot barrage¡ªa crude but devastating widespread attack. While this diminished precision, the halos still retained their cutting power, making them brutally effective in arge-area assault.

    As for the halos¡¯ actual potency, it was pretty terrifying. In testing, they were found to bypass shields created by conventional technology entirely, prating straight through without any reduction in power. They didn¡¯t weaken shields, nor were they stopped by them.

    In terms of raw cutting power, the halos effortlessly sliced through the special metal armormonly used on battleships. They even cut through armor designed to resist psionic attacks, like the kind used by the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. In effect, the halos ignored both shields and armor, directly tearing through the ship¡¯s structure itself. <em>It¡¯s a monstrously lethal weapon.</em>

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>Now¡¯s the time! Charge!</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    <strong>¡¸¡¸¡¸</strong><strong>Yeahhhh!</strong><strong>¡¹¡¹¡¹</strong>

    With the crystal lifeforms reduced to about half their original numbers, the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¯s A-ss escort ships charged straight into the fray. They unleashed attacks that looked like bluish-white lightning, obliterating the crystal lifeforms. The lightning bolts snaked through the swarm like living creatures, shattering the crystalline bodies in a chain reaction.

    <em>Nice! That lightning attack¡ªI love that kind of thing! Chain Lightning¡ªit¡¯s like the ultimate weapon for any guy who¡¯s into this sort of thing!</em>

    ¡¸We¡¯re going in too!¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, sir!¡¹

    ¡¸Huh, right into that chaos?!¡¹

    Kugi seemed apprehensive about diving into the chaotic skirmish where crystal lifeforms and A-ss escorts shed intensely. <em>I don¡¯t see what the big deal is, though. Look at Mimi¡ªshe¡¯s got a calm, seasoned expression as if she¡¯s done this a thousand times.</em>

    ¡¸Eek!¡¹

    While admiring Kugi¡¯s fox ears and tails fluffed up in rm, I pushed forward into the battle. Given the high pration power of both the Graviton Cannons and the Telekic Impact Cannon, I had to be careful to avoid idental hits on allies.

    ¡¸Mark not just the enemies but also the positions of our allies.¡¹

    ¡¸Understood, Hiro-sama!¡¹

    <em>Now, it alles down to spatial awareness. I need to carefully track the orbits of both the escort ships and the crystal lifeforms amidst the skirmish.</em> Taking their trajectories into ount, I began firing the Graviton Cannons at the crystal lifeforms, ensuring no friendly ships were caught in the crossfire.

    ¡¸The powered-up Large Caliber Pulse Laser Cannons¡­ Isn¡¯t their firepower a bit excessive?¡¹

    ¡¸Totally. And by the way, they¡¯re not Large Caliber Pulse Laser Cannons anymore; they¡¯re Graviton Cannons now.¡¹

    Just as Mimi feared, the Graviton Cannons¡¯s power was something to seriously consider for future battles. The crystal lifeforms struck by it had parts of their bodies simply erased at the point of impact, and then the rest of their form copsed inward toward the missing segment, shattering into pieces. <em>Don¡¯t tell me this thing is generating micro ck holes or something. That¡¯s scary!</em>

    ¡¸Seeing as they change back to Large Caliber Pulse Laser Cannons when you aren¡¯t in the cockpit, my Lord, perhaps there¡¯s an option to toggle between the two?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s a great idea. Let¡¯s give it a try.¡¹

    Thanks to the Maneuvering Light Wings, I dodged the crystal lifeforms with nimble, erratic movements. While navigating through their attacks, I looked through the weapon systems searching for a way to disable the magic circle that altered the Large Caliber Pulse Laser Cannons into Graviton Cannons.

    ¡¸Ah, there it is. The sub-menu for the graviton cannon includes an option to toggle it off.¡¹

    Switching back to the familiar green hue of the usual Large Caliber Pulse Laser Cannons, I fired in all directions, sting away the crystal lifeforms closing in from every angle. <em>Yeah, this feels more like what I¡¯m used to. But for dealing with these kinds of enemies, the Graviton Cannons are simply more efficient. As long as I avoid friendly fire, I can damage multiple targets at once.</em>

    ¡¸The Telekic Impact Cannon it¡¯s a little overpowered¡­ It will probably literally disintegrate any pirate ship I shoot with it.¡¹

    ¡¸Considering it reduces the crystal lifeforms to literal dust¡­ yeah.¡¹

    ¡¸It would be troublesome if we couldn¡¯t recover any spoils, my Lord.¡¹

    The Telekic Impact Cannon, which had evolved from the Large Caliber Scattershot Cannon, was proving to be something of a mixed blessing. <em>In terms of raw power, it leaves nothing to be desired. Its range, area of effect, power, rate of fire, and sustained operation are all superior to the original. But there is a catch¡ªit¡¯s overkill against most targets.</em>

    <em>By the way, Kugi¡¯s feedback is starting to show a distinct shift, she is beginning to change her mindset for the one needed inbat. Good, keep it up, Kugi.</em>

    ¡¸Still, I feel like I might be able to adjust it somewhat, depending on how much I psych myself up.¡¹

    ¡¸Wait, are you saying you¡¯re using your psychic powers to fire it, Hiro-sama?¡¹

    ¡¸Not exactly¡­ but ever since Krishna upgraded, I¡¯ve felt this¡­ connection, like there¡¯s a direct link between me and Krishna. Hard to put into words.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s said that ¡®visitors¡¯ and their relics resonate and connect with each other¡­ perhaps this is something like that.¡¹

    In truth, when I use the Maneuvering Light Wings to dodge, it doesn¡¯t feel like I¡¯m controlling them with the control stick. Instead, it¡¯s as if I¡¯m directly controlling the wings through sheer willpower¡ªalmost as if my brain is guiding them separately from my hands and feet.

    ¡¸You¡¯re really turning into some kind ofic book superhero, Hiro-sama.¡¹

    ¡¸Stop it, Mimi. Thatment really hits home.¡¹

    <em>Honestly, of all thements I¡¯ve heard in thest few days, that one hit the hardest. I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m still within the bounds of humanity¡­ or so I¡¯d like to believe. Is it a stretch? Maybe. But it¡¯s a belief I won¡¯t give up on¡ªotherwise, my sanity might not survive.</em>

 Chapter 533: ã€ŒUnderstood, Leave It to Me When The Time Comesã€

    Chapter 533: ¡¸Understood, Leave It to Me When The Time Comes¡¹

    ¡¸Starting self-check process. Life support system, all good. Generator, weapons, maneuvering wings, shields¡ªprobably, all good!¡¹

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>Big Brother¡­ could you trust our work a little more? We did all the checks properly ¡­I get where you¡¯reing from, though!</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    A mix of protest and agreement from Wiska came through over thems.

    <em>Well, I can¡¯t help it¡­</em><em>The generator¡¯s total output is reaching numbers that are iparable to before, the onboard weapons are almost entirely different from what we had before, and there are even systems installed that I don¡¯t fully understand what operational principles they operate on. As for the Maneuvering Light Wings, they¡¯ve literally sprung up from nothing. They are also saying that the shield generator has some obvious changes. It seems the shields have some kind of new feature¡ªprobably Krishna has implemented the deflective shield that once repelledser cannon attacks. But we haven¡¯t gotten around to investigating that yet.</em>

    ¡¸Sorry, it just slipped out. I mean, Krishna¡¯s probably evolved in response to my requests, so it¡¯d be pretty unfair for me toin now.¡¹

    <em>If Krishna has a mind of its own, it might sulk if Iin too much. I guess it¡¯s about time I ept Krishna¡¯s evolution and get ustomed to it.</em>

    ¡¸Radar and other observational andmunication devices are all good!¡¹

    ¡¸Subsystems are fine too, my Lord. Shield cells, emergency cooling system, chaff, res¡ªeverything¡¯s working perfectly.¡¹

    ¡¸We don¡¯t even need to allocate output anymore, huh¡­¡¹¡¸Haha¡­ Right?¡¹

    Typically, a spacecraft used in battle was designed to adjust generator output on the fly, directing power to offense, defense, or mobility as needed. But now that the once-enigmatic psionic generator was running at full power, we no longer had to make those adjustments. The generator outputted enough energy to supply the maximum power to all systems constantly. <em>Well, Krishna always had a surplus of power to begin with, so it¡¯s not like we had to frequently adjust the output distribution all that much.</em>

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>Master, hatch opening confirmed. Electromaic catapult fully charged. Ready forunch at any time.</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Okay, we¡¯re all set here too. Launch us.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>Understood, Master. Launching Krishna.</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    With Mei¡¯s signal, the electromaic catapult elerated Krishna at high speed, and intense G-forces should have hit us¡ªbut they didn¡¯t. I felt no G-forces at all, which was unnaturally strange. Krishna¡¯s inertial control capability was always good, probably one of the best of its ss, but this level was something else entirely.

    ¡¸Inertial control has improved too¡­ Well, that makes sense. I didn¡¯t feel any strain during those crazy maneuvers.¡¹

    ¡¸It feels unnerving, to be honest¡­ like it¡¯s not real somehow.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s like being in a simtor.¡¹

    ¡¸Exactly.¡¹

    Both Mimi and Kugi hit the nail on the head¡ª<em>it¡¯s strange, but I can¡¯tin</em>. This means we can now execute extremebat maneuvers without going through any physical strain.<em> I feel a slightck of challenge, but without this enhancement, we wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand the G-forces when using the Maneuvering Light Wings to their full potential.</em>

    As I thought about this while running some light practice flights, a transmission came in from the deployed Holy Empire fleet.

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>This is Kasha,mander of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¯s First Rapid Response Fleet. So, that¡¯s thebat ship-type sacred relic, Krishna¡­ I doubt we¡¯ll need your help, but it¡¯s good to be able to count on you.</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸This is Hiro, a mercenary. Likewise, d to work with you. Rest assured, I don¡¯t intend to intervene unless some unforeseen chaos breaks out. The Holy Empire Fleet¡¯s main strategy is long-range bombardment, right? I¡¯d rather not get caught in the attack of the Soul Crusher.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>d you understand. But if an unforeseen event arises, we¡¯d appreciate your cooperation.</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Understood, leave it to me when the timees.¡¹

    We nodded at each other through the main screen, ending the transmission. <em>They probably don¡¯t want me moving around recklessly and disrupting their coordination. And that makes sense.</em> If I pushed forward on my own and prevented them from delivering a full-powered barrage from the Soul Crusher, resulting in enemies slipping through, it would be a disaster. If I were in their shoes, I¡¯d be tempted to st everything, including us, with the Soul Crusher. But that would be a big issue. <em>It¡¯s best for me to stay in myne. After all, I¡¯m just a guest on this mission.</em>

    ¡¸Is that alright? Won¡¯t you miss the chance to conduct a realbat test with Krishna?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s fine too. It¡¯s enough even if we¡¯re just running maneuver tests in the rear, away from thebat zone. If we really need to let loose, we can always head to a secluded asteroid belt like before and test-fire as much as we want.¡¹

    <em>The simtor can¡¯t replicate things like the Telekic Halo or the Telekic Impact Cannon. So, real testing with the actual Krishna is the only option. Given that the Nine-Tails Beauty specifically asked for my participation in this battle, I suspect there will be a moment when I¡¯m needed. After syncing my consciousness with hers, I could sense that she can see the future. The fact that she¡¯s set me in motion like this likely means there¡¯s a reason for it.</em>

    ¡¸Let¡¯s stay in formation with the Holy Empire Fleet while coordinating with the ck Lotus. Mimi, sync us up.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, Hiro-sama!¡¹

    <em>Alright, let¡¯s see how this unfolds. Hopefully, things won¡¯t get too messy.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>Spatial tremors detected close by at the 9 o¡¯clock direction! Eleventh wave iing!</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>Scale!?</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>Numerous, but all small-sized types!</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>Engage! Send out the Type-A escort ships!</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Krishna¡¯s heading out too.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>Much appreciated!</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    <em>Did I say it wouldn¡¯t get too messy? Yeah, that was a lie.</em>

    At first, it was going well. Sure, I was surprised when only the upper half of a kaiju-like creature made of some kind of purple mist andrger than expected emerged, but the fleet soon took care of it with a volley from the Soul Crusher.

    The real trouble started after that. That initial purple, misty kaiju was just the beginning. After it, a horde of medium-sized, squid-like energy lifeforms appeared, followed by the usual crystal lifeforms, gigantic star jellyfish, photon-based lifeforms¡ªyou name it, they just kepting.

    We managed to stay on standby up to the third wave, but from the fourth wave onward, Krishna had to jump in, fighting off small to medium-sized space monsters. Even the ck Lotus, which initially nned to stay out of thebat, had to engage, particrly against the crystal lifeforms and other space monsters that had physical bodies. Elma¡¯s Antlion alsounched, using itsser beam emitters to incinerate crystal lifeforms and space creatures that looked like masses of flesh.

    ¡¸Elma, deploy the jammer when enemies appear.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>Cooling¡¯s unable to keep up, so I can¡¯t keep it active for long, you know?</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Just cutting them off at the start will be enough.¡¹

    It might sound surprising, but Antlion¡¯s Gravity Jammer was proving exceptionally effective. It didn¡¯t work on every enemy, but many of the space monsters seemed to rely on gravity-based propulsion. When hit by the Gravity Jammer¡¯s interference, a significant number of them slowed down noticeably.

    ¡¸Do you think the Empire is aware of this effect?¡¹

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>Probably not. There wouldn¡¯t be much reason to use a Gravity Jammer against space monsters.</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Maybe we should report this to them through Selena when we get back¡­¡¹

    While having this conversation with Elma, who was piloting the Antlion on standby as an escort for the ck Lotus, which was shielded by the Holy Empire fleet, we headed toward the area where the eleventh wave was emerging.

    The main forces of the Holy Empire fleet were busy dealing with the remnants of the ninth wave and the newly arrived tenth wave, so the eleventh wave was left to a high-mobility fleetposed of smaller ships like corvettes and destroyers, referred to as Type-A escort ships by the Holy Empire. Krishna joined this fleet as well.

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>Spatial tremor pattern analysisplete¡ªit¡¯s crystal lifeforms!</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸If it¡¯s crystal lifeforms, the ck Lotus¡¯s EML will be effective. If anyrge types appear, we¡¯ll have them fire, so make sure no one enters ck Lotus¡¯s line of fire.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸¡¸¡¸</strong><strong>Roger that.</strong><strong>¡¹¡¹¡¹</strong>

    The void distorted, a hole formed, and countless crystal lifeforms warped in from it. <em>They¡¯re ideal targets. Time to let loose and give them a proper thrashing.</em>

 Chapter 534: ã€ŒStop It, Mimi. That Comment Really Hits Homeã€

    Chapter 534: ¡¸Stop It, Mimi. That Comment Really Hits Home¡¹

    Shattering through the void, a swarm of crystal lifeforms appeared, each one radiating in a variety of colors. There were so many of them that it looked as if the ce was overflowing with broken fragments of singing crystals. If this number suddenly spawned within the Grakkan Empire without any prior notice, it would be an outright disaster.

    ¡¸We¡¯ll reduce their numbers in the initial strike. Be careful not to get caught in the crossfire.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸¡¸¡¸</strong><strong>Understood.</strong><strong>¡¹¡¹¡¹</strong>

    Perhaps my performance up to this eleventh wave had given weight to my words, my proposal was smoothly epted by the captains of the Holy Empire fleet¡¯s A-ss escort ships. <em>Then again, it might simply be that they have no desire to get caught up in the st.</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯ll use the Telekic Halo. Mimi, I need your support.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, sir!¡¹

    Mimi responded eagerly. Up until now, her role as Krishna¡¯s operator had been something like a mix between amunication officer and a navigator. In normal times, she handled navigation as well asmunication with colonies and other ships. Duringbat, she would warn me immediately if a powerful enemy appeared, adaptively adjust the radar range, and keep an eye out for any threats approaching us.

    Now, with the addition of the Telekic Halo, a pseudo-guided weapon, as part of Krishna¡¯s arsenal, her role had expanded to include its operation.

    ¡¸Target locked!¡¹¡¸Alright, let¡¯s do this.¡¹

    I fired the Telekic Halo at the swarm of crystal lifeforms Mimi had locked onto. The massive halo, deployed from the rear of Krishna, split into six parts, each forming a sizable ring capable of slicing through a small ship. These rings then surged toward the crystal lifeforms, cleaving through them mercilessly.

    <em>¡¸</em><em>xfghdh#¡­?!</em><em>¡¹</em>

    The mental waves reverberated through space¡ªlike agonized, bewildered screams from the crystal lifeforms. The halos tore through the swarm, weaving through the void and decimating their numbers at an elerated rate. <em>One of the best features of the Telekic Halo is that its size can be adjusted depending on the situation.</em> I could send out a single, massive ring or, as I¡¯m doing now, split it into six. It was versatile enough to divide further orunch as one formidable ring.

    <em>However, the more halos I deploy, the harder they are to control. At best, I can manage twelve rings with precise control.</em> Beyond that, guidance became less refined, and if I did push it even further, I could only release them as a scattershot barrage¡ªa crude but devastating widespread attack. While this diminished precision, the halos still retained their cutting power, making them brutally effective in arge-area assault.

    As for the halos¡¯ actual potency, it was pretty terrifying. In testing, they were found to bypass shields created by conventional technology entirely, prating straight through without any reduction in power. They didn¡¯t weaken shields, nor were they stopped by them.

    In terms of raw cutting power, the halos effortlessly sliced through the special metal armormonly used on battleships. They even cut through armor designed to resist psionic attacks, like the kind used by the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. In effect, the halos ignored both shields and armor, directly tearing through the ship¡¯s structure itself. <em>It¡¯s a monstrously lethal weapon.</em>

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>Now¡¯s the time! Charge!</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    <strong>¡¸¡¸¡¸</strong><strong>Yeahhhh!</strong><strong>¡¹¡¹¡¹</strong>

    With the crystal lifeforms reduced to about half their original numbers, the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¯s A-ss escort ships charged straight into the fray. They unleashed attacks that looked like bluish-white lightning, obliterating the crystal lifeforms. The lightning bolts snaked through the swarm like living creatures, shattering the crystalline bodies in a chain reaction.

    <em>Nice! That lightning attack¡ªI love that kind of thing! Chain Lightning¡ªit¡¯s like the ultimate weapon for any guy who¡¯s into this sort of thing!</em>

    ¡¸We¡¯re going in too!¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, sir!¡¹

    ¡¸Huh, right into that chaos?!¡¹

    Kugi seemed apprehensive about diving into the chaotic skirmish where crystal lifeforms and A-ss escorts shed intensely. <em>I don¡¯t see what the big deal is, though. Look at Mimi¡ªshe¡¯s got a calm, seasoned expression as if she¡¯s done this a thousand times.</em>

    ¡¸Eek!¡¹

    While admiring Kugi¡¯s fox ears and tails fluffed up in rm, I pushed forward into the battle. Given the high pration power of both the Graviton Cannons and the Telekic Impact Cannon, I had to be careful to avoid idental hits on allies.

    ¡¸Mark not just the enemies but also the positions of our allies.¡¹

    ¡¸Understood, Hiro-sama!¡¹

    <em>Now, it alles down to spatial awareness. I need to carefully track the orbits of both the escort ships and the crystal lifeforms amidst the skirmish.</em> Taking their trajectories into ount, I began firing the Graviton Cannons at the crystal lifeforms, ensuring no friendly ships were caught in the crossfire.

    ¡¸The powered-up Large Caliber Pulse Laser Cannons¡­ Isn¡¯t their firepower a bit excessive?¡¹

    ¡¸Totally. And by the way, they¡¯re not Large Caliber Pulse Laser Cannons anymore; they¡¯re Graviton Cannons now.¡¹

    Just as Mimi feared, the Graviton Cannons¡¯s power was something to seriously consider for future battles. The crystal lifeforms struck by it had parts of their bodies simply erased at the point of impact, and then the rest of their form copsed inward toward the missing segment, shattering into pieces. <em>Don¡¯t tell me this thing is generating micro ck holes or something. That¡¯s scary!</em>

    ¡¸Seeing as they change back to Large Caliber Pulse Laser Cannons when you aren¡¯t in the cockpit, my Lord, perhaps there¡¯s an option to toggle between the two?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s a great idea. Let¡¯s give it a try.¡¹

    Thanks to the Maneuvering Light Wings, I dodged the crystal lifeforms with nimble, erratic movements. While navigating through their attacks, I looked through the weapon systems searching for a way to disable the magic circle that altered the Large Caliber Pulse Laser Cannons into Graviton Cannons.

    ¡¸Ah, there it is. The sub-menu for the graviton cannon includes an option to toggle it off.¡¹

    Switching back to the familiar green hue of the usual Large Caliber Pulse Laser Cannons, I fired in all directions, sting away the crystal lifeforms closing in from every angle. <em>Yeah, this feels more like what I¡¯m used to. But for dealing with these kinds of enemies, the Graviton Cannons are simply more efficient. As long as I avoid friendly fire, I can damage multiple targets at once.</em>

    ¡¸The Telekic Impact Cannon it¡¯s a little overpowered¡­ It will probably literally disintegrate any pirate ship I shoot with it.¡¹

    ¡¸Considering it reduces the crystal lifeforms to literal dust¡­ yeah.¡¹

    ¡¸It would be troublesome if we couldn¡¯t recover any spoils, my Lord.¡¹

    The Telekic Impact Cannon, which had evolved from the Large Caliber Scattershot Cannon, was proving to be something of a mixed blessing. <em>In terms of raw power, it leaves nothing to be desired. Its range, area of effect, power, rate of fire, and sustained operation are all superior to the original. But there is a catch¡ªit¡¯s overkill against most targets.</em>

    <em>By the way, Kugi¡¯s feedback is starting to show a distinct shift, she is beginning to change her mindset for the one needed inbat. Good, keep it up, Kugi.</em>

    ¡¸Still, I feel like I might be able to adjust it somewhat, depending on how much I psych myself up.¡¹

    ¡¸Wait, are you saying you¡¯re using your psychic powers to fire it, Hiro-sama?¡¹

    ¡¸Not exactly¡­ but ever since Krishna upgraded, I¡¯ve felt this¡­ connection, like there¡¯s a direct link between me and Krishna. Hard to put into words.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s said that ¡®visitors¡¯ and their relics resonate and connect with each other¡­ perhaps this is something like that.¡¹

    In truth, when I use the Maneuvering Light Wings to dodge, it doesn¡¯t feel like I¡¯m controlling them with the control stick. Instead, it¡¯s as if I¡¯m directly controlling the wings through sheer willpower¡ªalmost as if my brain is guiding them separately from my hands and feet.

    ¡¸You¡¯re really turning into some kind ofic book superhero, Hiro-sama.¡¹

    ¡¸Stop it, Mimi. Thatment really hits home.¡¹

    <em>Honestly, of all thements I¡¯ve heard in thest few days, that one hit the hardest. I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m still within the bounds of humanity¡­ or so I¡¯d like to believe. Is it a stretch? Maybe. But it¡¯s a belief I won¡¯t give up on¡ªotherwise, my sanity might not survive.</em>

 Chapter 535: ã€ŒI Canâ€™t Make Any Promisesâ€¦ã€

    Chapter 535: ¡¸I Can¡¯t Make Any Promises¡­¡¹

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>The sixteenth wave has appeared! Spatial tremors continue, the seventeenth wave is expected soon!</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸I¡¯m just about full here¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I feel the same¡­¡¹

    ¡¸That said, we can¡¯t exactly ignore it¡­¡¹

    After receiving the report of enemy reinforcements from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire Fleet, both Mimi and I couldn¡¯t help but show our exhaustion. Even Kugi was wearing a wry smile, probably feeling much the same as we did.

    The Holy Vuelzarus Empire Fleet¡¯s A-ss escort ships¡ªfast-moving corvettes and destroyers¡ªhad decreased in number considerably. None of them had been destroyed outright, but after facing fifteen waves of enemy assaults, there were more and more ships with moderate to severe damage that were forced to withdraw from the front line. Therger, B and C-ss ships were still intact, though.

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t the Holy Vuelzarus Empire sending any more reinforcements?¡¹

    ¡¸If they wereing, they¡¯d be here by now¡­ Only the A-ss ships are taking damage, so they probably think there¡¯s no need. Also, it looks like the sixteenth wave consists of photon lifeforms.¡¹

    ¡¸Seven photon lifeforms, huh¡­ Well, Krishna can handle them on its own. Mimi, inform the Holy Vuelzarus Empire Fleet that Krishna will take on the sixteenth wave. Kugi, prepare forbat.¡¹¡¸Understood!¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, my Lord.¡¹

    As Kugi responded, I pushed Krishna¡¯s thrusters to maximum, propelling us toward the photon lifeforms that had appeared far in the distance. Under normal circumstances, the distance would make me consider using the FTL drive. It was far enough that, at regr speeds, the seventeenth wave would arrive well before we reached our target. But for the new Krishna, that kind of distance was practically irrelevant.

    ¡¸Jumping now.¡¹

    The world lost its color, and the photon lifeforms ahead zoomed in as if viewed through a high-powered scope. We instantaneously moved a distance that would normally take over five minutes to even the fastest ship.<em> It feels like the time and space gotpressed. </em>

    As color returned to the world, Krishna passed through the corridor where the fabric of time and space werepressed and arrived at our destination in less than a second.

    ¡¸Eeek¡­ Th-this is terrifying, isn¡¯t it?!¡¹

    ¡¸We changed ces instantaneously after all, it¡¯s hard for humans to adapt to this kind of unnatural movement bat preparations areplete, my Lord.¡¹

    ¡¸Mimi, are you good? Let¡¯s go.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes!¡¹

    With no reason to hold back, we unleashed everything except for Anti-ship Reactive Torpedoes, swiftly eliminating the photon lifeforms. A massive halo cleaved one of thergest photon lifeforms, nearly asrge as the ck Lotus, slicing it in half before it scattered into particles. The four Graviton Cannons simultaneously pierced four smaller photon lifeforms, while the two Telekic Impact Cannons obliterated a medium-sized one.

    The surviving photon lifeform fired something akin to a beam at us, but the beam missed Krishna¡¯s shield entirely, bending away as if deliberately avoiding us and flying off in another direction. Then, the Telekic Halo, which had cleaved therger photon lifeform, returned and sliced thest remaining photon lifeform¡ªthe one that had attacked us¡ªcleanly in half.

    ¡¸Alright, that should do it. I¡¯m getting the hang of this.¡¹

    After confirming all seven photon lifeforms had been destroyed without a trace, I turned my attention to the coordinates of the seventeenth wave. This time, tworge energy-based lifeforms that resembled either squids or octopuses appeared. However, as soon as they materialized, they were obliterated by the concentrated fire from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire Fleet.

    ¡¸Is this the end? Even thatst wave of photon lifeforms was small in number.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes. It seems the eleventh wave was the peak; the numbers have been steadily decreasing since then¡­ Still, Krishna has really grown stronger.¡¹

    ¡¸Indeed¡­ At this point, it feels like we could take on Serena¡¯s Independent Mobile Anti-Pirate Fleet head-on.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­You¡¯re not actually nning to, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Of course not¡­ Well, that also means we can take on a small fleet by ourselves, like a local noble¡¯s private fleet, a system¡¯s patrol fleet, or even arger domain fleet. If any of the Empire¡¯s nobles try to pick a fight with us, we can take them on head-to-head without hesitation now.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­You¡¯re not actually nning to, right!?¡¹

    ¡¸I can¡¯t make any promises¡­ But, in any case, there¡¯s no harm in having as much power as possible. It all depends on how you use it.¡¹

    <em>Having the power to wield force, even if I don¡¯t actually use it, is a good thing. In the future, when I marry Chris and Serena and take on the role of consort of an Imperial noble, there¡¯s no downside to having ample power at my disposal. At the end of the day, whether it is nobility or a state, the root of their power is force. No matter how refined thews may be, enforcing order ultimately requires strength. But that¡¯s just my own take on things, a bit of a jaded view, perhaps, but not too far from the truth.</em>

    ¡¸Mimi-san, If my Lord were the kind of person that¡¯s easily corrupted by power, I believe he would have fallen a long time ago.¡¹

    ¡¸W-well, that¡¯s true¡­ But once Hiro-sama decides to use force, he doesn¡¯t hesitate¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Half-measures aren¡¯t good. If you¡¯re going to act, do it thoroughly.¡¹

    <em>If I do take action, it¡¯ll be absolute, to the point where there¡¯s no chance of recovery. I don¡¯t want to getcent and end up suffering retaliationter on or be ambushed by revenge from someone I¡¯d forgotten about.</em>

    ¡¸No signs of further spatial tremors. All ships, remain on alert and await further orders. Any damaged ships should prioritize repairs and report their status!¡¹

    <em>It seems the battle came to an end while we were talking. Although the prolongedbat has been exhausting, it was an easy victory.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸Marvelous! We got a mountain of observational data! Hahaha!¡¹

    Upon returning to the hangar of the ck Lotus, I was greeted by Buubo¡¯s enthusiastic celebration. <em>It seems he¡¯d managed to collect a wealth of valuable data from this battle. There is no sign of Ameno, the ship technology expert though.</em>

    ¡¸Wee back, Boss. d to see Mimi and Kugi made it back safe too. It¡¯s a relief everyone¡¯s alright.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, thanks. I¡¯ll leave the maintenance to you.¡¹

    ¡¸Leave it to me. Though, we¡¯ve got a ton of data processing to tackle first.¡¹

    Tina shot an exasperated look at Buubo, who was practically dancing with a datapad in hand. <em>Is he actually reviewing the data while spinning around like that¡­?</em>

    ¡¸Wee back, Big Brother, Mimi-san, Kugi-chan.¡¹

    ¡¸Thanks, Wiska. Where¡¯s Ameno?¡¹

    ¡¸Ameno-san went to check out the Antlion¡¯s Gravity Jammer. He seems interested in its ability to slow down the movements of space monsters over a wide area.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­That¡¯s Ideal¡¯s secret tech, or rather, Imperial secret tech, isn¡¯t it?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, technically¡­ However, there shouldn¡¯t be any issues, we¡¯re under contract not to sell it, but there¡¯s nothing saying we can¡¯t show it to others.¡¹

    ¡¸I see. Well, if they really want one, the Holy Vuelzarus Empire would have to request it directly from the Grakkan Empire.¡¹

    <em>I doubt they¡¯d try reverse engineering or stealing secret technology from one of our ships. After all, they know it¡¯s Grakkan Empire tech.</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯ll leave maintenance to you two. There¡¯s still a chance more enemies will show up, so please handle it quickly.¡¹

    ¡¸You are a ve driver Boss¡­ We¡¯ll do our best though.¡¹

    ¡¸Sorry. ¡¹

    I pressed my hands together and apologized to Tina, who was scowling a bit.<em> I¡¯ll make it up to you twoter, I¡¯ll spoil you as much as you want, so please forgive me.</em>

 Chapter 536 -ã€ŒDid I Overdo Itâ€¦?ã€

    Chapter 536 -¡¸Did I Overdo It¡­?¡¹

    After twenty-four hours had passed since thest appearance of a space monster, the decision was made that the area was now secure. As a result, the entire fleet, including the ck Lotus, the Krishna, and the Antlion, received the order to return. The damaged ships¡ªmostly A-ss escort ships¡ªhad already withdrawn to the rear, so the lineup felt a bit thinner than usual, but we could still call it a triumphant return. Apparently, the remnants of the crystal lifeforms and the residual energies of the energy-based entities would be collected and processed by the Holy Vuelzarus Empire Fleetter on, and apparently, a portion of it would be allocated to us. <em>The crystal lifeforms¡¯s remains are valuable even in the Grakkan Empire, but I wonder if the residual energy will sell for anything¡­ Well, for now, let¡¯s take it back and see. Who knows, maybe we can sell it to the Imperial Space Force or some military corporation.</em>

    And so, we returned.

    ¡¸Is it just me, or is security extra tight? Actually, are they guarding us, or guarding against us?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, after showing such overwhelmingbat ability, this is only natural¡­¡¹

    Back at the research facility, there was a noticeable increase in people carrying weapons that looked like katanas strapped to their waists. There were also way more people who looked like priests or shrine maidens.<em> I can¡¯t shake the feeling that every single move I make is being closely observed.</em>

    ¡¸Did I overdo it¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Of course you did¡­ I mean, when the eleventh wave of crystal lifeforms appeared, you probably could¡¯ve handled it solo with just the Krishna, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, I could¡¯ve. Actually, as long as it wasn¡¯t one of those ridiculously massive ones that would need extra firepower, I think I could manage.¡¹

    If I used the Maneuvering Light Wings for high-speed maneuvers and darted around with short leaps, I could have whittled them down with the Telekic Halo and the Graviton Cannons, slowly but surely. <em>That massive star-sized jellyfish¡ªthe one they called the Star Eater¡ªwould¡¯ve been difficult, though.</em>¡¸How about against the Holy Vuelzarus Empire Fleet?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, that¡¯s definitely impossible. Not that I have any intention of fighting them.¡¹

    <em>The performance capabilities of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire¡¯sbat ships are just on a whole other level. Who knows what kind of mind-boggling features they might have hidden in those ships? That technology they use to phase-shift and let attacks pass right through them¡ªit¡¯spletely insane. Seriously, how does that even work?</em>

    <em>Then there¡¯s that scary weapon, the Soul Crusher, a beam that definitely kills everything it touches, it¡¯s scary as hell. If they fire that, it¡¯s apparently game over, no questions asked. So yeah, I really don¡¯t want to go up against them. I don¡¯t even know if Krishna¡¯s deflection shields could block it.</em>

    ¡¸So, yeah, there¡¯s no need to be afraid. You don¡¯t have to look at me with such wary eyes.¡¹

    I said this to the military officers, the priests, and the shrine maidens around, but in response, they either avoided eye contact, gave awkward smiles, or just looked at me with vague expressions. <em>My poor fragile heart is going to break!</em>

    ¡¸It seems they¡¯re treating you, Hiro-dono, as a gentle yet dangerous beast! Ha ha ha!¡¹

    For some reason, Buubo wasughing heartily. <em>This guy¡­ maybe I should pluck those feathers on his head and turn them into a cushion.</em><em>Anyway, I know there is no winning this kind of conversation, and it¡¯s hardly amusing, so I better change the subject.</em>

    ¡¸Speaking of which, since the Holy Vuelzarus Empire is, well, an empire, you must have someone like an Emperor, right? I haven¡¯t heard anyone talk about a figure like that. So what¡¯s the actual situation?¡¹

    When I asked Buubo that question, an awkward silence settled over the room. Not only was I confused, but Elma also seemed just as lost, and we exchanged nces. <em>Is this topic some kind of taboo?</em>

    ¡¸Uh¡­ well¡­ about that. It¡¯s, uh¡­ let¡¯s just say it¡¯s a, um, highly¡­ sensitive matter.¡¹

    ¡¸The fact that you¡¯re stumbling over your words that much must mean it¡¯s really serious, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸What exactly is your impression of me, Hiro-dono?! But yes, that¡¯s precisely it. There are¡­plex reasons behind it, let¡¯s say. Some delicate, high-level matters, if you will¡­ So if you could keep that question to yourself, it would be much appreciated. Not just by me, but by many of mypatriots. Truly.¡¹

    ¡¸Hearing you say that only makes me even more curious¡­¡¹

    Buubo gave me a look that practically begged for mercy. <em>Seriously, what on earth could this be about?</em>

 Chapter 537: ã€ŒPlease Stop!ã€

    Chapter 537: ¡¸Please Stop!¡¹

    ¡¸Are you sure you really want to know?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m definitely interested.¡¹

    When I said that, both Fuguruma and Inaba looked like they would rather be anywhere but here.

    I¡¯d be intrigued by the reactions from those around me after I mentioned the emperor¡ªor rather, the imperial family¡ªof the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. With this curiosity in mind, I decided to drag Buubo to a corner of the temporary hangar to get some answers.

    ¡¸I¡¯m busy, and, you know, I¡¯m a tech guy! Ms. Fuguruma is much more knowledgeable about history, so it¡¯s better if you ask her! ¡¹

    His excuse was transparently flimsy, but the logic behind it wasn¡¯t entirely wrong, so I shifted my focus to Fuguruma as my new target. Incidentally, Elma didn¡¯t seem interested and said she was heading off to join the other crew members. <em>This heartless elf is no fun.</em>

    ¡¸Oh, is something the matter? You look like you want to ask me something.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯d like to know more about the emperor and the imperial family of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, uh, I just remembered something urgent, so I¡¯ll excuse myself¡­¡¹¡¸Now, now, now¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ah¡ª! Don¡¯t! You shouldn¡¯t, Hiro-sama! Please don¡¯t, you shouldn¡¯t touch an unmarried woman¡¯s body so carelessly! This is¡­ inappropriate! Ah¡ª! Please don¡¯t!¡¹

    ¡¸Just get her to quiet down.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, sir.¡¹

    ¡¸Mmgh!¡¹

    When Fuguruma tried to slip away, I grabbed her shoulder, which made her start squawking, so I ordered Inaba to cover her mouth. With that settled, we headed off to a secluded corner of the temporary hangar.

    ¡¸This looks exactly like some scoundrel abducting an innocent woman to do some unspeakable things.¡¹

    ¡¸Does that mean you¡¯ll tell me instead, Konoha?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡¹

    Konoha turned her head, clearly avoiding eye contact. <em>Seems like this topic is¡­ let¡¯s say, a serious taboo or something best left untouched. Now I¡¯m even more curious.</em> A few other people had tagged along¡ªwhether out of concern for Fuguruma or general apprehension, I couldn¡¯t tell. Among them were what looked like priests and shrine maidens from the Ministry of Divine Affairs, and a few military officers besides Konoha and Moegi, all exuding a rather reluctant vibe.

    ¡¸To get straight to the point, the imperial bloodline has died out¡­ at least in the physical sense.¡¹

    ¡¸Wait¡­ what?¡¹

    <em>If the bloodline is gone, does that mean there¡¯s no emperor, even though they call themselves a Holy Empire? Is that even possible? Oh, but hold on; she did say ¡®in the physical sense¡¯.</em>

    ¡¸Does that mean it still exists¡­ spiritually?¡¹

    ¡¸You catch on quickly, Hiro-dono¡­ Yes, that¡¯s exactly it. The imperial family abandoned their physical forms and ascended into astral beings. But¡­ well¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Why are you trailing off there?¡¹

    ¡¸Hiro-dono, no matter how much spiritual discipline one attains, how much one elevates their Spiritual Power, and no matter how strong a human gets, the human spirit is very susceptible to changes without a physical vessel. And we failed to recognize that change.¡¹

    ¡¸This is sounding even more twisted than I expected.¡¹

    ¡¸It truly is a twisted tale¡­¡¹

    <em>In summary, here¡¯s what Fuguruma told me.</em>

    About 1,500 years ago, the Holy Vuelzarus Empire developed a new theory for psionic power umtion. This innovation allowed for the rapid and low-cost gathering of massive amounts of psionic power, enablingrge-scale rituals to be performed. Previously, such rituals were possible but required significant time and resources to umte the necessary energy, making them rare and difficult to execute.

    The emperor of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire at that time used this technology to amass an enormous amount of psionic power. With it, he aimed to release his spirit, transcending the physical body to permanently fulfill his duties as emperor. In the end, the attempt was a sess. The emperor¡¯s body vanished, and, as intended, he evolved into a powerful astral being.

    However, there was one critical miscalction. No one could perceive the emperor who had be an astral entity.

    After decades of trial and error, they discovered that he could possess a suitable vessel¡ªsomeone from the same bloodline. When the emperor finally returned, there was a great celebration, as everyone believed the empire would now fulfill its responsibilities more effectively than ever.

    ¡¸¡­I think I can see where this is going.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, it¡¯s one of those moments where you think, ¡®Why would they do something so foolish?¡¯ And yet, that¡¯s what history shows us.¡¹

    Fuguruma¡¯s expression soured.<em> I probably am showing the same expression as her.</em>

    The emperor, now an astral being, resumed governance over the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. He took control of a blood rtive¡¯s body, merging their spirit with his own. Over time, this process made the entity of the emperor grow increasingly powerful.

    And so, the years passed¡ªuntil catastrophe struck suddenly.

    ¡¸During the ritual to select a new imperial family member for session, all descendants failed to withstand the emperor¡¯s possession. One after another, they died, triggering the emperor¡¯s own powers to go berserk, turning the scene into a hellish nightmare. The imperial bloodline was entirely wiped out at that moment¡ªnot a single one survived.¡¹

    It seems that as the emperor¡¯s psionic power grew over time, fewer and fewer members of the bloodline could endure his possession. Eventually, they resorted to gathering not just those who clearly were of imperial blood, but anyone even slightly rted, in a desperate attempt to find a suitable vessel. This ill-fated tactic led to theplete annihtion of any possible sessor to the imperial family.

    ¡¸What is that, the plot of a horror movie? The Holy Vuelzarus Empire is still called an empire, which means the emperor¡¯s still around, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, his existence remains. I can¡¯t divulge the details due to state secrets, but we continue to live under the protection of the imperial lineage.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­So you do know more, but you won¡¯t tell me.¡¹

    ¡¸Correct. But I must ask for your understanding. Even meeting with him is impossible.¡¹

    ¡¸Impossible, huh¡­¡¹

    <em>If there¡¯s no direct ruler, then perhaps the Holy Empire functions like a republic, with a council or senate making decisions? The Ministry of Divine Affairs seems to hold significant authority, so maybe they govern through a coalition of leaders from different institutions. It¡¯s hard to picture the government system of this ce. The people of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire live their lives focused on their sense of duty to atone for their ancestors¡¯s mistakes, so perhaps they are controlling the popce through a blend of ideology and religion.</em>

    <em>Now that I think about it, if you add up this story about the imperial family to the ancient mistake when they were close to destroying the universe, and the several mistakes with ¡®visitors¡¯ that ended in the destruction of multiple star systems, the conclusion you get is troubling, to say the least.</em>

    ¡¸Are the citizens of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire prone to¡­ well, make catastrophic blunders every couple of centuries or something?¡¹

    ¡¸I-I would prefer you focused on our citizens¡¯ resilience to survive those catastrophic blunders.¡¹

    ¡¸You know, maybe you should focus on not making the catastrophic blunders in the first ce¡­ The scale we¡¯re talking about here is gxy-ending, empire-destroying, multi-star-system-level. That¡¯s¡­ too big to ignore.¡¹

    ¡¸Please stop!¡¹

    Not only Fuguruma, but several others around us, clutched their chests or held their heads in despair. <em>The citizens of this empire are polite and generally serious, and they also have impressive technology, but when you think about the scale of their failures, they¡¯re actually quite¡­ troublesome.</em><em>I¡¯m starting to feel that maybe getting out of this country as quickly as possible would be a good idea.</em>

 Chapter 538: ã€ŒWhy Donâ€™t You Try It Somewhere Else First?ã€

    Chapter 538: ¡¸Why Don¡¯t You Try It Somewhere Else First?¡¹

    It was the day after my perception of the people of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire as mystical and serious people hadpletely shattered. Now, they were firmly imprinted in my mind as a group of dangerous people prone to random, reckless, andrge-scale blunders.

    ¡¸Well¡­ thou seest¡­ I would like to deny it, yet I cannot; thy impression isrgely correct.¡¹

    ¡¸I thought so.¡¹

    ¡¸One could even say that such a part of our nature is what led this one to be a cursed existence like this¡­¡¹

    The nine-tailed beauty blew smoke from her pipe looking utterly deted, so much it even clouded her usual beauty.

    <em>Ah, so that¡¯s how it went, huh? The reason you became like this¡­ a ¡®higher¡¯ or ¡®elevated¡¯ existence that only peculiar individuals like me can perceive must be the result of one of those ¡®blunders¡¯ that the people of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire love to make from time to time. The people of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire are probably the type who go, ¡®Hey, this might just work! Let¡¯s try it!¡¯¡ªacting without considering the consequences. Then they regret it afterward.</em>

    ¡¸Not every soul is like that¡­ Though I am¡­ So, couldst thou refrain from unearthing any more of my emotional scars?¡¹

    ¡¸Could you quit sulking while casually reading my thoughts?¡¹

    <em>Once again, I¡¯m brushing her tails, but I wish she¡¯d stop using the unbrushed ones to softly smack and fluff my face. It¡¯s pleasant, but I can¡¯t see a thing.</em>¡¸So? Hast thou called me here merely to create this twisted situation where thou dost bully me whilst tending to my tails, hm?¡¹

    ¡¸I handled the space monsters as you requested, so I¡¯m here to report on that. Also, when I mentioned I wasing here, they showered me with a bunch of gifts.¡¹

    I handed over a wrapped bundle I had prepared, and the nine-tailed beauty took it with an uninterested look, beginning to unwrap it without much enthusiasm.

    ¡¸Well, gifts are regrly delivered to my chamber at the shrine, so I expected naught unusual¡ªwait, what is this strange thing?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, that. It¡¯s a collection of rations and exotic delicacies from other countries that one of my crew members enjoys collecting. I chose the ones I¡¯ve actually tasted and found good.¡¹

    ¡¸Thou didst <em>eat</em> this? This¡­ thing?¡¹

    ¡¸Can you stop looking at me like I¡¯vemitted some culinary crime? Embrace it. Food diversity.¡¹

    She picked up a vacuum-sealed pack of what looked disturbingly like a <em>facehugger</em> by its edges, ncing at me repeatedly in disbelief. <em>Sure, it looks awful, but it¡¯s delicious¡ªsmooth and creamy.</em>

    ¡¸Well, I suppose ¡®twould be rude to discard a gift¡­ Yet, thou art indeed a strange one. Thou keepest saying thou dost not wish to acquire any further strange powers that would push thee beyond human bounds, yet thou returnest here to train in the Third Spiritual Form. Dost thou not find it strange?¡¹

    ¡¸I mean, I¡¯m not thrilled about it, but missing out on power when it¡¯s avable is a disadvantage¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Thou art likely the only one who would approach training in the Third Spiritual Form with such a miserly mindset¡­ Know this: the Third Spiritual Form is the most potent form of power one can attain, capable of interfering with the very principles of the world itself.¡¹

    ¡¸Power is power, no matter how strong. It¡¯s a tool like any other. Whether or not I use it, or how I use it, is my choice.¡¹

    When I said that, the nine-tailed beauty looked at me with a hint of pity in her gaze.

    ¡¸Such casual thinking is precisely how I ended up in this state. Though, perhaps, thou shalt not meet the same fate as I.¡¹

    ¡¸Uh, I¡¯d rather not end like that.¡¹

    ¡¸Seeing how easily thou dost cross between sides, thou shalt likely be fine¡­ about 80% of the time.¡¹

    ¡¸20% sounds pretty risky¡­ but I¡¯ll do it anyway.¡¹

    <em>If I ever end up like her, unable to return, I¡¯d just use the Third Spiritual Form I¡¯ve learned to force my way back to the other side if I have to.</em>

    ¡¸So, what is this ce exactly? It feels like time has stopped for everyone but us.¡¹

    ¡¸This is the boundary betwixt this world and the other, though we are still quite near to this side. The phase is but slightly offset.¡¹

    ¡¸I sort of get it¡­ and sort of don¡¯t.¡¹

    <em>Aren¡¯t you just saying words that sound very meaningful, but in reality don¡¯t mean anything? Maybe you don¡¯t know either¡­ </em>

    ¡¸Do not be rude! Thou art but a novice in the Third Spiritual Form, and already thou darest to speak so boldly?¡¹

    ¡¸As I said before, could you stop casually reading my thoughts? There, all done.¡¹

    With nine tails to brush, it was a serious task to make each one smooth and neat.<em> Isn¡¯t there some kind of fully-automated tail-care machine? Something like, ¡®Perfect, fluffy tail care for those living solo¡¯? Wouldn¡¯t she appreciate a useful appliance like that more than sweets, tea, or incense? Maybe I¡¯ll ask Moegi about itter.</em>

    ¡¸Thou¡­ art thou mistaking me for some dried-up, left-on-the-shelf woman?¡¹

    ¡¸In terms of being an ultimate loner, isn¡¯t it about the same?¡¹

    ¡¸Very well, that is enough. I ept thy challenge. Worry not; I shall merely beat thee senseless and drain thy balls dry. Thou wilt survive¡­ mostly.¡¹

    ¡¸That sounds like a recipe for getting stuck here forever! Stop! Stop!¡¹

    With her nine tails bristling and an ominous purple aura swirling around her, the nine-tailed beauty approached, smiling step by step. <em>A battle I can¡¯t afford to lose has begun.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    ¡¸So, yeah, that¡¯s how I barely managed to win and get back.¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸¡¸¡­¡¹¡¹¡¹

    Kugi and the others, hearing my exnation, covered their faces with both hands, looked up at the ceiling, pressed their temples, or simply froze with wide eyes. <em>Well, from their perspective, I stood up, casually saying, ¡®I¡¯ll go train with the nine-tailed beauty¡¯, grabbed a bundle, and the very next moment, I came back battered andpletely drained. No wonder they are confused.</em>

    ¡¸Um¡­ so¡­ what happened to <em>that person</em>?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, right. In the end, it turned into more of a wrestling match, a messy brawl where we tried to drain each other¡¯s power¡­¡¹

    ¡¸And then¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸My quick thinking won the match, I decided to change my approach and poured all my psionic power into her, and then¡­ well, she kind of just¡­ <em>poofed.</em>¡¹

    ¡¸<em>Gulp¡­</em>¡¹

    At this point, Kugi¡¯s face went pale, and she rolled her eyes back in shock. The priests and shine maidens had fainted, foaming at the mouth, while Fuguruma was in the same state as Kugi, and Inaba had fainted on her feet.

    ¡¸I didn¡¯t expect things to turn out like that¡­¡¹

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>Indeed, thou hast truly done it this time.</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    The nine-tailed beauty reappeared, seemingly materializing from thin air. She looked almost the same as before, but if you looked closely, her body was slightly translucent. Seeing her like this made even Kugi faint and copse. Actually, the only ones still conscious were those observing the situation from a considerable distance. Even Buubo, who had been watching from a little ways away, was standing with his eyes rolled back, passed out. <em>I thought he¡¯d be fine given how tough he usually is, but maybe he¡¯s more sensitive than he looks.</em>

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>Oh my, what a delightful selection we have here. So, is the one with three tails the attendant with whom thou hast been getting cozy?</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Well, yes, but¡­ can¡¯t you put it a little more tactfully?¡¹

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>¡®Tis the very same. Now, let me see¡­ hmm, it doth appear this might just work. Quite a talented one, is she not?</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    The nine-tailed beauty floated over, pressing a fingertip to Kugi¡¯s forehead with a triumphant smile that was, honestly, rather sinister.

    ¡¸I¡¯d really prefer to get her consent first, you know.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>A trial run shall suffice, shall it not? If there be an issue, well, there is a fine selection lying about here as well.</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    She gestured toward Fuguruma, Inaba, Moegi, and Konoha, all of whom were sprawled out, unconscious.

    ¡¸Have some mercy¡­ There¡¯s really no risk in this, right? I¡¯m a little scared after hearing what happened with the Emperor.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>This one shall not make the same blunder as that thoughtless fool. I have prepared safeguards.</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    ¡¸Why don¡¯t you try it somewhere else first? Look, Buubo there should be perfect.¡¹

    <strong>¡¸</strong><strong>That one is male, is he not? I cannot fully guarantee what might ur should I enter a body of the opposite sex. Besides, this one here is a ¡®Kugi¡¯, <em>an </em></strong><em><strong>offering</strong></em><strong>, is she not? There is naught to worry about.</strong><strong>¡¹</strong>

    With a mischievous smile, the nine-tailed beauty stuck her tongue out at me before slipping into Kugi¡¯s body.

    <em>Ah¡­ I¡¯m definitely going to have to apologize to Kugi after this. I didn¡¯t expect her to faint just from the exnation alone.</em>

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter Extra Kadokawa Books Anniversary Short Story Compilation 1 [Five Years Later]

    Chapter Extra Kadokawa Books Anniversary Short Story Comption 1 [Five Years Later]

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>TN:</strong><strong>This is a short story originally published on Kakuyomu as part of an annual short storyption organized by Kadokawa to celebrate their anniversary. I¡¯ll resume tranting the main story once the author returns from working on the new volume of the light novel. In the meantime, I¡¯ll be tranting these mostly unknown short stories. There are only five in total, but I hope they¡¯ll help fill the gap until the author returns.</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong></strong>

    A notification sound woke me up. Shaking off the grogginess of sleep, I quickly pulled up the radar and information disys on my beloved ship¡ª<em>Krishna¡¯s</em> cockpit. I checked the radar pings and the logs. Because I had minimized the life-support system¡¯s functions, the cockpit was chilly.

    ¡¸Four small, one medium.¡¹

    I muttered, observing the passive radar¡¯s readings.

    No one responded to my words. These days, I had to handle everything myself¡ªradar monitoring, information processing, and even managing the subsystems. My hands were constantly busy, but I had grown ustomed to it by now. With Mimi, Elma, and Mei gone, I had no choice but to adapt.

    ¡¸Space pirates¡­ I¡¯ll kill everyst one of them.¡¹<em>I will never forgive them. I will exterminate them.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    The guild hall, bustling with mercenaries, fell silent as I walked through.

    ¡¸Hey¡­ it¡¯s him.¡¹

    ¡¸Shh, don¡¯t make eye contact.¡¹

    Ignoring the chatter, I strode straight through the hall. As I approached the reception desk, the woman stationed there caught sight of my face and let out a small scream. I paid her no mind and stepped forward.

    ¡¸I¡¯m Captain Hiro. I¡¯vepleted the mission. Verify it.¡¹

    ¡¸Y-yes¡­!¡¹

    The receptionist¡¯s voice trembled as if she was on the verge of tears.<em> I don¡¯t me her. The seething rage radiating from me must be hard to endure for someone like her.</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯ve confirmed it. With today¡¯s results, the request to exterminate the remnants of the pirate gang has been fulfilled.¡¹

    ¡¸Good. Pass this on to the guild master: if he sends me another idiotic request like this, I¡¯ll duel him until not a single speck of his stupid face remains.¡¹

    ¡¸Eek! U-understood!¡¹

    ¡¸Transfer the payment to my ount. That¡¯s all.¡¹

    After saying that to the trembling receptionist, I turned on my heel, ready to leave the mercenary guild behind¡ª

    ¡¸Hold it right there.¡¹

    ¡ªwhen some idiot stepped in my way. <em>Great. What¡¯s his problem? Does he have a grudge against me? Let me tell you, I¡¯m not in the mood for this right now. Not even close.</em>

    ¡¸Move aside. I don¡¯t have time for this.¡¹

    ¡¸Not happening. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s got you so worked up, but you scared the hell out of Jessica over there. Apologize.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Haaah.¡¹

    <em>Oh,e on. My patience is already razor-thin.</em> I wanted to scream, ¡®<em>If you don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on, then shut the hell up!¡¯</em> But I held it back, forcing myself to exhale the storm building inside me. <em>Calm down. Stay cool. Decking this moron won¡¯t do me any favors. Just walk away. Ignore this cheap provocateur and¡ª</em>

    ¡¸IF YOU DON¡¯T KNOW WHAT¡¯S GOING ON, THEN SHUT UP, YOU THIRD-RATE NOBODY! I¡¯LL KILL YOU!!!¡¹

    Yeah, I failed. Forget staying calm. My anger hit its peak.<em> Oh, what¡¯s that? My phrasing is weird? You think I meant ¡®my anger knows no bounds¡¯? Shut up and don¡¯t sweat the details.</em>

    ¡¸In the first ce, it¡¯s your fucking fault I had to waste time in this dump! You, the idiots working in this star system, botched your job so badly that I had to clean up after you! Misjudging the pirate¡¯s strength when you attacked their base and letting a whole bunch of them escape with money and resources¡ªare you brain-dead or what?!¡¹

    As a result, the pirates that escaped established small bases all across the star system, causing a rapid deterioration in the region¡¯s security. Geographically, the Empire struggled to send significant forces to this sector, and the local lord¡¯s military, already weakened from the recent anti-pirate operations, was barely managing to defend their own headquarters.

    And so, to break this stalemate, they turned to me: a recipient of the Gold Star, a tinum Rank mercenary, and someone renowned for eradicating space pirates. With my mobility, expertise, and strong connections to the Empire (or rather, my entanglement with them), I was the ideal candidate for the job¡ªor in other words, a very convenient pawn for the Empire.

    ¡¸Because of your ipetence, I had toe to this star system alone! Don¡¯t you know that hyperdrives and faster-than-light travel aren¡¯t good for the development of babies and fetuses? Do you have any idea how it feels to leave behind your wife and kids for a solo mission, huh?!¡¹

    ¡¸Like I care!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¯Like I care?¡¯ I¡¯ll kill you, you idiot! Do you know what it¡¯s like to spend every single day ambushing pirates, taking them down, interrogating them, and then shoving anti-ship torpedoes into their bases? Try living my life for once!¡¹

    Leaving my adorable daughters and pregnant wives behind was an agonizing decision. But when a direct requestes from an Imperial Space Force admiral, who also happens to be my father-inw, refusing wasn¡¯t an option. I owed him a lot, after all.

    ¡¸Anyway! I¡¯m going back to my wife and daughters! Get in my way, and I¡¯ll make you cry. I mean it¡ªI¡¯ll make you bawl.¡¹

    I ced my hand on the hilt of one of the two swords hanging from my waist. As an honorary viscount of the Empire, I had a certain amount of leeway. Killing amon mercenary in self-defense would be within my rights¡ªthough I don¡¯t actually intend to go that far.

    ¡¸A-alright, I won¡¯t get in your way.¡¹

    The man stammered, raising his hands and stepping aside, his face pale.

    ¡¸Good.¡¹

    <em>If you were going to back off that easily, you shouldn¡¯t have bothered confronting me in the first ce. Honestly, what a waste of time.</em>

    ¡î¡ï¡î

    The journey home was a gauntlet of trouble.

    Every time I jumped to a new star system using the hyperdrive, I got interdicted by space pirates. If it wasn¡¯t that, I¡¯d stumble across a civilian ship under attack, or I¡¯d pick up distress signals from escape pods. It seemed my streak of bad luck had decided to show its full force now. <em>Recently, I¡¯ve been spending most of my time on aary settlement, so I haven¡¯t been embroiled in much chaos. It¡¯s as if all the pent-up misfortune is hitting me at once.</em>

    ¡¸Damn it! Fine, bring it on!¡¹

    I crushed the attacking pirates, saved the civilian ships with style, and retrieved the escape pods to hand them over to the port authority at a trade colony. But of course, this drew the attention of arge pirate gang, who started targeting me. On top of that, I somehow ended up entangled with a noblewoman from another nation who had been aboard one of the civilian ships, and, for some reason, a tentacled alien girl with amnesia resulting from her stay in the escape pod decided to stick to me. <em>Seriously, isn¡¯t this a bit much?</em>

    In the end, I wiped out the pirate gang and rejected the noblewoman. As for the tentacled alien girl? <em>Well, without a destination or memory, there is no way I can conveniently pass her off to someone, can I? Sigh</em>¡­ In the end, I decided to take her home with me.

    <em>Honestly, what¡¯s one more kid in the family? I¡¯ve got more than enough savings and can earn as much as needed. She¡¯s a bit older than my other daughters, sure, but it¡¯s just another daughter, right? Daughter. Not a wife. Definitely not. Stop suggesting otherwise! And stop ambushing me in the cramped confines of the ship! You¡¯re making it hard to swing a sword in here!</em>

    <em>Still, it¡¯s been five years since I appeared in this universe, but my knack for attracting trouble hasn¡¯t waned one bit.</em> I thought I¡¯d finally achieved my dream of buying a house with a garden<em>¡ªwhether calling a property of that size ¡®a house with a garden¡¯ is urate is another matter¡ª</em>and partially retired from mercenary work to enjoy a more rxed life.

    But maybe it¡¯s because I¡¯d been avoiding trouble that it¡¯s now all hitting me at once?<em> Is this some kind of curse? Terrifying.</em>

    ¡¸Hmm, wife¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Give it up. I¡¯m all set in that department.¡¹

    ¡¸One more won¡¯t make much of a difference. I don¡¯t mind being a concubine.¡¹

    ¡¸It <em>does</em> make a difference! And where did you even learn words like that?¡¹

    ¡¸Tablets are so convenient!¡¹

    The tentacled girl¡ª<em>I named her ¡®Tenta¡¯ because she didn¡¯t remember her name¡ª</em>replied cheerfully, tapping away at the tablet I¡¯d given her with the tip of one of her tentacles.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    <em>Should I confiscate it? No, it¡¯s toote for that.</em>

    ¡¸Sigh¡­ Anyway, let¡¯s just get back home.¡¹

    ¡¸I need to greet everyone properly!¡¹

    <em>I want to forget all this and tell her to do whatever she wants, but knowing her, she will actually take it literally, so I better keep quiet and let Mimi and the others figure out how to handle her¡­ though the thought of what mighte from that leaves me uneasy.</em>

    <strong>¡î¡ï¡î</strong>

    ¡¸So, you brought her back with you, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸They say even a dog finds something when it walks¡­¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s just like you, Master.¡¹

    The moment I returned home with Tenta, every single one of them¡ªexcept Mei¡ªgave me the cold, dead-eyed stare of judgment. <em>Yeah, I knew this wasing. I¡¯m ready for it.</em>

    ¡¸Ooooh, the little ones are so cute~!¡¹

    Meanwhile, Tenta was cheerfully using a few of her tentacles, extended from her back, to entertain the babies. She poked their cheeks or let them grab her tentacles, which had the two babies squealing in delight.

    Chris wasn¡¯t here at the moment, but before I left on my solo mission, she had given birth to a boy. And as for Serena, she was about to take maternity leave soon.

    <em>I know. I know. But let me say this anyway: it¡¯s not my fault. Okay, maybe saying that is dishonest, but really, the events were unavoidable! Completely unavoidable. I¡¯m not to me.</em>

    ¡¸Well, it¡¯s Hiro-sama we¡¯re talking about¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Exactly, it¡¯s Hiro. If anything, I¡¯m surprised it¡¯s only this much.¡¹

    ¡¸If it¡¯s Master, there¡¯s no issue at all.¡¹

    <em>Their gazes, a mix of resignation and fondness, are making me feel even more awkward. I¡¯m d they aren¡¯t angry, but this doesn¡¯t feel good either.</em>

    ¡¸Can I join in, too?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s a separate matter. We don¡¯t know much about you yet, after all.¡¹

    ¡¸Indeed. I think we need time to get to know each other better.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, I see! Yes, that makes sense. Okay! Let¡¯s get along from now on!¡¹

    ¡¸Of course, let¡¯s all be friends.¡¹

    ¡¸Nice to meet you, Tenta.¡¹

    The girls exchanged smiles with Tenta. <em>Yep, I figured everything would be fine from the start, but it seems they have goodpatibility. Tenta, for all her quirks, is a bright and good-hearted girl.</em>

    ¡¸Hiro! Let¡¯s give birth to lots of kids together!¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, sure¡­ Wait. What?¡¹

    <em>Did she just say ¡®Let¡¯s give birth to kids together¡¯? Together? I¡¯m going to birth them too? What is she even talking about?</em>

    ¡¸Uh, Tenta-chan? You¡¯re the one who¡¯s going to birth the kids, right?¡¹

    Mimi asked, tilting her head.

    But Tenta, smiling brightly, shook her head.

    ¡¸Nope! I¡¯ll have Hiro birth my kids too! It¡¯s fine, really! You¡¯ll be able to do it!¡¹

    With that, she extended one of her tentacles toward us¡ªthis one shaped in a way that was¡­ how should I put it? Explicit? Inappropriate? <em>I see, I see, so I¡¯ll be giving birth too¡­ </em>

    ¡¸Like hell I will!!!¡¹

    <strong>¡î¡ï¡î</strong>

    ¡¸Hyah!? What the¡ª!?¡¹

    ¡¸Whoa! Hot! That¡¯s hot! What are you doing!?¡¹

    Mimi, sitting across from me, let out a startled yelp, while Elma fumbled with her cup, spilling her drink in the process. Mei moved swiftly to clean up the mess, calmly tending to the flustered Elma.<em> Huh? What just happened?</em>

    ¡¸That was surprising. Did you have a nightmare, Hiro-sama?¡¹ Mimi asked, blinking at me with a mix of concern and curiosity.

    I nced around, my head still muddled, and realized I was in Krishna¡¯s dining area. Judging by the position of my arms and the stiffness in my neck, I must have fallen asleep at the table.

    ¡¸A dream, huh¡­¡¹

    <em>What a horrifying dream. To think it would end with a tentacled alien girl trying to steal my chastity¡­ That¡¯s not a conclusion anyone wants. Seriously, who¡¯s the target audience for that scenario?</em>

    ¡¸I thought I was going to get burned¡­ Don¡¯t scare me like that!¡¹

    ¡¸Sorry, it was just such a shocking dream.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh? And what kind of dream was that?¡¹

    ¡¸Is there anything more pointless than hearing about someone else¡¯s dream?¡¹

    ¡¸Just tell us already.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯d like to hear it.¡¹

    ¡¸I am interested as well.¡¹

    <em>Even Mei wants to hear it? Alright, if you insist¡­ </em>I scratched my head and tried to piece together the fading fragments of my dream. Then, I recounted the bizarre tale.

    ¡¸A dream set five years in the future, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸H-huh. So we had kids with you, Hiro¡­¡¹

    ¡¸And not just us, but Chris-chan and Lieutenant Commander Serena too.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Are you sexually frustrated?¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case¡­¡¹

    <em>I have Mimi, Elma, and even Mei, how could I be frustrated? Besides, weren¡¯t there other girls in the dream? Maybe it¡¯s just my imagination.</em>

    ¡¸But having that kind of dream does make you wonder.¡¹

    Elma persisted, giving me a pointed look. <em>Hmm¡­ I see, I see. I understandpletely.</em>

    ¡¸You¡¯re right. Maybe it¡¯s true. So¡­¡¹

    I stood up, took Mimi and Elma by the hands, and started heading for the bathroom.

    ¡¸W-wait, what do you mean <em>so</em>¡ª!?¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t it a bit cramped for three people to enter together?¡¹

    ¡¸Mimi! That¡¯s not the point here!¡¹

    <em>Elma is protesting but she¡¯s not trying to pull her hand away so she¡¯s just embarrassed. If I point that out, she¡¯ll probably get defensive, so I better keep my thoughts to myself.</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯ll go prepare the bed.¡¹

    ¡¸Thank you, Mei-san.¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t <em>thank her</em> for that! Listen to me!¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, yes, let¡¯s all bathe together~¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t just brush me off!¡¹

    As I led the flustered Elma toward the bath, I couldn¡¯t help but reflect on the dream. <em>Who knows if such a future wille to pass? But, thinking about it, a future like that¡­ doesn¡¯t sound so bad.</em>

 Chapter Extra Kadokawa Books Anniversary Short Story Compilation 3 [The Seventh Crew Member?]

    <strong>TN: This is a short story originally published on Kakuyomu as part of an annual short storyption organized by Kadokawa to celebrate their anniversary. I¡¯ll resume tranting the main story once the author returns from working on the new volume of the light novel. In the meantime, I¡¯ll be tranting these mostly unknown short stories. Here is the third one.</strong>

    ¡¸Elma-san, don¡¯t you think this is nice?¡¹

    ¡¸Huh? I don¡¯t think it would suit me very well. I mean, it might be fine for you, Mimi, but for me, uh¡­ the design is a bit too cute, don¡¯t you think?¡¹

    ¡¸Elma-neesan, you¡¯re gorgeous and got a great figure, so girly stuff like this¡¯d look great on ya.¡¹

    ¡¸You should try wearing something like that too, Sis.¡¹

    ¡¸This wouldn¡¯t suit me. It might work for you, Wee, but for me¡­ nah.¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re twins, so if it suits Wiska, it should suit you too, right?¡¹

    <em>The old saying ¡®When three women get together, the chatter never ends¡¯ can¡¯t be truer. And when there are four of them, it bes endless and downright chaotic. </em>The girls were browsing an apparel shop in the colony through the holo-disy, debating excitedly over what was good, what suited who, and everything in between.¡¸Aren¡¯t you going to join in, Mei?¡¹

    I called out to Mei, who was quietly standing by near me as I rxed on the sofa by the terrarium in the corner of the lounge. She gave a small shake of her head.

    ¡¸No, I am a maidroid, after all.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­You know, I think you¡¯d look good in something other than a maid uniform every now and then.¡¹

    ¡¸The maid uniform is my identity. However, if it¡¯s yourmand, Master, I will serve you in any attire you desire.¡¹

    ¡¸Uh, yeah. I mean, it¡¯s not like I insist on you wearing something other than a maid uniform, so you don¡¯t have to take it so seriously¡­¡¹

    <em>Why is it that even with her t voice and expression, I can sense her tragic, and desperate resolve? Honestly, out of all the crew members, Mei might be the most enigmatic.</em>

    Having wrapped up our business in the Comatt Star System, we were en route to the Refill Star System¡ªthe elves¡¯ homeworld. For now, though, we had stopped at a trading colony in a star system along the way. This particr colony was known for its expertise in apparel technology, offering everything from high-tech fabrics made with thetest innovations to traditional textiles. Its trade was centered around a wide variety of apparel products.

    The influx of unique materials also attracted many fashion designers to the colony. As a result, numerous clothing stores of all sizespeted fiercely for attention.

    ¡¸Smaller stores use holo-disys for space-saving, low-cost product showcases, where they take the orders, toter pass them to shared factories that handle the manufacturing and shipping. Meanwhile, medium-torge stores also disy physical items, attracting customers who want to buy them on the spot¡­ That¡¯s a smart setup.¡¹

    As I browsed information about the colony on a small terminal, it seemed that Elma and Tina had wrapped up their discussion and were now heading my way. £Ò

    ¡¸A setup like that doesn¡¯t encourage long-term business.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s lively, but I bet lots of shops that don¡¯t keep up end up closin¡¯ pretty quick.¡¹

    Elma sat down beside me, while Tina¡ªwithout warning¡ªhugged me from the front, looking up at my face.

    <em>Tina, that¡¯s a bit risky, isn¡¯t it? Even if I wasn¡¯t sitting with my legs properly together, sliding yourself between them like that is¡­ well, questionable.</em>

    ¡¸¡­Tina, isn¡¯t that kind of unfair?¡¹

    ¡¸Fufun, the little gal wins! Bein¡¯ small¡¯s got its own perks¡ªnyunyaah!¡¹

    Tina, who was smugly nestled between my legs, had her cheeks pinched and squished by both my hands. <em>Ah, squishy cheeks. They¡¯re so soft it makes me want to keep touching them. But seriously, this is a dangerous spot, so please vacate it immediately. The soft sensation of Tina¡¯s, small but notcking chest, is pressing against a very sensitive area of mine.</em>

    ¡¸Gah! Tina-chan¡¯s oblivious yet deadly seduction strategy¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s way too direct of an attack to call it oblivious¡­¡¹

    I slipped my hands under Tina¡¯s arms and lifted her up, cing her on the opposite side of me, away from Elma. <em>It probably looked like I picked her up effortlessly, but she¡¯s quite¡ªouch, ouch!¡ªthis little dwarf is heavier than she looks. And now she¡¯s punching my shoulder with that dwarven strength of hers! Stop that, or my shoulder will dislocate¡ªor shatter.</em>

    ¡¸So, did you manage to find some nice clothes?¡¹

    ¡¸They¡¯re not really my taste, but, well, yeah.¡¹

    ¡¸Same here, Neesan.¡¹

    Apparently, Mimi and Wiska had managed to convince them to try on some girly outfits. <em>Given how their usual casual and loungewear styles are either sleek or borderlinezy, seeing the two of them in cute, girly outfits would definitely be something.</em>

    ¡¸Ain¡¯t ya gonna buy some clothes, Boss?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m fine with what I¡¯ve got. Besides, I already have plenty of spares.¡¹

    <em>I¡¯ve already got a decent collection of undergarments and inner shirts, along with some nice clothes gifted by Elma and Mimi, or ones I¡¯ve bought when needed. Honestly, I don¡¯t feel much of a need to buy anything new from this colony.</em>

    ¡¸Besides, unlike you beautifuldies, I¡¯ve just got a regr, slightly intimidating mob face. If I were as good-looking as Elma¡¯s brother, it might be a different story, but dressing up doesn¡¯t really do much for me.¡¹

    <em>If I wore fancy clothes, they¡¯d end up wearing me instead.</em>

    ¡¸Is that so? I don¡¯t think you need to be so self-deprecating.¡¹

    ¡¸I agree, though I gotta admit, the mercenary style suits you best, Boss.¡¹

    While saying all that, Elma was tilting her head as she stroked my cheek with her hand, and Tina was clinging tightly to my arm. <em>The level of physical contact is intense. Ladies, can you maybe not cling so much in broad daylight? I¡¯ll end up getting in the mood.</em>

    ¡¸Hey! That¡¯s not fair, you two!¡¹

    ¡¸This¡­ this is improper behavior so early in the day!¡¹

    Noticing the situation, Mimi and Wiska rushed over. <em>When this happens, Elma often steps back and gives her ce to Mimi, and sure enough, Mimi slid into the space Elma vacated, her softness now pressed against my left arm. My left arm is currently in paradise, but my right arm is about to get obliterated by dwarf power.</em>

    Wiska, attempting to pull Tina off me, was tugging at her with all her strength. Meanwhile, Tina clung to my arm as if her life depended on it. <em>My arm¡ªit¡¯s going to snap. And then fall off.</em>

    ¡¸You know, the group¡¯s really grown, hasn¡¯t it?¡¹

    ¡¸Ouch, ouch! What do you mean!?¡¹

    ¡¸The crew, of course. It started with just Mimi, then I joined shortly after. Then you bought Mei, followed by Tina and Wiska. The crew¡¯s been growing steadily.¡¹

    ¡¸At this rate, we¡¯ll easily have over ten people in a year!¡¹

    ¡¸Ten people? That¡¯s one heck of a harem, Boss.¡¹

    ¡¸Why are you assuming they¡¯d all be women?¡¹

    ¡¸Given the current male-to-female ratio, it¡¯s a reasonable assumption.¡¹

    <em>Wiska, making such a matter-of-factment puts me in a tough spot. Honestly, with the current crew being almost entirely women, introducing another male crew member could potentially lead to all kinds of trouble. So realistically, I doubt I¡¯d add any guys to the crew.</em>

    ¡¸I wonder what kind of girl will join next.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s hard to say, but I¡¯m the operator, Elma-san is an experienced co-pilot, Mei-san is a highly advanced maidroid that controls the ck Lotus and the security, and Tina-chan and Wiska-chan are brilliant mechanics. I am the exception, but Elma-san, Mei-san, Tina-chan, and Wiska-chan were all invited onto the ship because Hiro-sama saw their exceptional skills. So wouldn¡¯t it make sense for the next crew member to also bring a specialized skillset?¡¹

    <em>That¡¯s true. Anyone joining the crew would need to have a role to fulfill. Even if they started like Mimi, learning the ropes as they go, they¡¯d still need to have some kind of potential or talent.</em>

    ¡¸Thinking along those lines¡­ maybe a ship doctor?¡¹

    <em>Now that¡¯s an idea. Right now, the crew¡¯s health management relies almost entirely on the medical pod we have on the Lotus. Having someone aboard with proper medical qualifications and experience as a ship doctor would be a huge plus. I¡¯d definitely wee that.</em>

    <em>Well, doctors tend to have stable ies and high social standing, so it¡¯s unlikely that someone would give all that up to join the dangerous life of a mercenary. It¡¯d take a very unique individual to make that choice.</em>

    ¡¸How about a marine specializing in close-quartersbat?¡¹

    <em>That¡¯s certainly a possibility. Right now, the only ones capable of handling close-quartersbat are me and Mei. Elma can probably manage if needed, but it could be dangerous. While we do have a formidable asset in the form of military-gradebat bots, the only one on the crew capable ofmanding them effectively in the field is Mei. Adding another expert in close-quartersbat would definitely enhance our overall strength and bolster the crew¡¯s safety.</em>

    ¡¸There¡¯s still one hangar slot open on the <em>ck Lotus</em>, so maybe a new pilot or co-pilot could work.¡¹

    <em>That¡¯s a solid idea, too. If we buy anotherbat ship, Elma could pilot it. It would enable us to form a two-attacker team¡ªElma and me¡ªwhile the ck Lotus provides rear support. Such a formation would significantly reduce the chances of enemy pirates escaping. Having more firepower would also make it easier to respond to unexpected situations.</em>

    <em>And if Elma moved to the new ship, we could bring on a new co-pilot for Krishna. Expanding our mercenary group¡¯s tactical capabilities and crew would be a wee boost.</em>N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡¸So, what d¡¯ya think, Boss?¡¹

    ¡¸I think all the suggestions you¡¯vee up with are great, but it all depends on whether we actually meet someone like that. For all we know, the next crew member might join for reasonspletely unrted to what we¡¯ve imagined.¡¹

    As I said that, Mei, who had been silent up until now, murmured softly.

    ¡¸¡­Master is a kind person. If there were a woman in distress, and helping her required Master to intervene personally, wouldn¡¯t that be the most likely reason for the crew to grow?¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸A

    All four of them nodded in unison, as if inplete agreement. <em>Can we not do this, guys? Sure, I can¡¯t exactly deny what Mei said, but still.</em>

    ¡¸But you wouldn¡¯t help a guy in distress, right?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m not a saint or some humanitarian, you know. My stance is: guys can deal with their own problems.¡¹

    <em>Frankly, I find those people who im they¡¯ll help anyone in trouble, no matter who they are, incredibly suspicious. As for me? I only help girls. Why? Because it feels way better to be thanked by a cute girl than by some scruffy dude. Simple as that.</em>

    ¡¸Even so, I bet you¡¯d end up helping if someone was truly desperate.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right. Hiro-sama is very kind.¡¹

    ¡¸No, I wouldn¡¯t. Definitely not. No way, no how.¡¹

    I dered, doubling down with all the conviction I could muster. But my earnest protest was met with a round of dismissive <em>¡®Sure, sure, we believe you¡¯</em> from everyone.

    <em>This injustice will not be forgotten.</em>

 Chapter Extra Kadokawa Books Anniversary Short Story Compilation 4 [Off Duty on the Black Lotus]

    <strong>TN: This is a short story originally published on Kakuyomu as part of an annual short storyption organized by Kadokawa to celebrate their anniversary. I¡¯ll resume tranting the main story once the author returns from working on the new volume of the light novel. In the meantime, I¡¯ll be tranting these mostly unknown short stories. This is thest one of theption, the next one is a small short story the author posted on his activity record.</strong>

    To be honest, the mercenary trade involves a lot of downtime.

    Most of our active hours are actually spent traveling. Even in a universe where faster-than-light travel is made possible by hyperdrives, space remains unimaginably vast. For instance, traveling from the outer edges of a star system, where hyperspace entry points are located, to the habitable zone¡ªoften referred to as the ¡®life-sustaining region¡¯ where trade colonies and such are situated¡ªcan take several hours. If you need to move to the hyperspace entry point of another star system on the opposite side of the star, it could easily take twice that time or more.

    On top of that, traveling between star systems via subspace routesmonly known as hypenes¡ªcan take anywhere from a few hours to several days, depending on the route and conditions.

    <em>What I¡¯m getting at is this: we¡¯re basically bored most of the time.</em>

    ¡¸With this much downtime, it¡¯s no wonder some people end up ruining themselves with booze or drugs.¡¹ ¡¸Why are you looking at me while saying that?¡¹

    Elma, still red-faced, narrowed her eyes and shot me a re. <em>Space might not have a day-night cycle, but waking up, doing your morning workout, taking a shower, and immediately diving into alcohol? That¡¯s a questionable life choice if you ask me.</em>

    ¡¸Boss, ya forgot somethin¡¯¡ªor rather, two things: women and gamblin¡¯.¡¹

    ¡¸Big Brother is the type to ruin himself over women, isn¡¯t he?¡¹¡¸It seems I¡¯ve stepped on andmine¡­ But isn¡¯t saying I¡¯d ruin myself a bit much? It¡¯s not like I¡¯d ever spend so much on someone that I¡¯d go broke.¡¹

    In response, not just Tina and Wiska, but everyone present gave me a ¡®<em>What are you even saying?¡¯</em> Look. <em>Why?</em>

    ¡¸Okay, fine. Let¡¯s drop this topic. But in the end, I haven¡¯t actually ruined myself, so I¡¯m safe, right?¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s fine, but let¡¯s hope you don¡¯t ruin yourself in some <em>other</em> way. Like, getting stabbed all of a sudden or something.¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t say such terrifying things, you drunkard! I¡¯ve done nothing to deserve getting stabbed. I dere myself meless and innocent.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so? I feel like I can think of at least one¡­ no, maybe two people who might stab you if things went wrong.¡¹

    <em>I have no idea who those ¡®two people¡¯ Mimi is referring to could be, but¡­ if I had to guess, rather than getting literally stabbed, I¡¯d say the greater risk is being ensnared in some situation that forces me to take responsibility in a¡­ broader sense. Not that I know who she¡¯s referring to, of course. But for some reason, the images of a blonde, red-eyed noble beauty and a raven-haired youngdy destined to inherit an Earl¡¯s household flickered in my mind. Stop it. Both of you smirking like that is way too ominous.</em>

    ¡¸I think that¡¯s just your imagination, Mimi. Yeah, definitely your imagination. Probably. Anyway, what was the other thing? Oh, gambling, right? As for gambling¡­ honestly, the mercenary business itself is already a high-stakes gamble with your life on the line.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s¡­ actually a very urate way of putting it.¡¹

    ¡¸On top of that, gambling itself, you know¡­ those games are all rigged to favor the house. If you stick to betting within your pocket money and treat it like light entertainment, fine. But if you¡¯re throwing in money at the level where you could bankrupt yourself, wouldn¡¯t it make more sense to use that cash to upgrade your ship or equipment instead? That¡¯ll pay off better in the long run.¡¹

    ¡¸See? This is what I¡¯m talkin¡¯ about when I say you¡¯re thinkin¡¯ on a whole different level, Boss.¡¹

    At some point, Wiska and Tina had taken positions on either side of me on the sofa, interjecting theirments as we talked.

    ¡¸Still, if you¡¯re going to spend 3,000 Enels on a gamble with poor odds, you¡¯re way better off using that 3,000 Enels to fire a seeker missile at some space pirates. That¡¯s guaranteed profit.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s true.¡¹

    ¡¸Can¡¯t argue with that.¡¹

    ¡¸Hey, Sis, maybe this whole idea about mercenaries ruining themselves over gambling is just a myth?¡¹

    ¡¸Ya think so? Aren¡¯t <em>these guys</em> just the exception?¡¹

    <em>Tina sure is suspicious of us. Mei nodded along when Tina was talking, but she was agreeing with Wiska, right? Right?</em>

    ¡¸Well, we are just a healthy and upstanding mercenary group. It¡¯s always better to not have bad spending habits in the first ce.¡¹

    As I said this, I got up and walked over to a shelf set up in one corner of the lounge area. This shelf was filled with data storage units I¡¯d collected from various colonies during our travels. <em>And what was stored on them?</em> Mostly entertainment media, like movies and animated series¡ªstuff simr to what existed in the world I came from. The files were formatted for yback on holo-disys, so they were your typical holo-videos or holo-movies.

    ¡¸You know, it¡¯s definitely a good sign when the leader of a mercenary group spends his money on ships, equipment, and¡­ leisure data like this. That¡¯s about as wholesome as it gets.¡¹

    ¡¸Although, sometimes there¡¯s some <em>very questionable</em> stuff mixed in there¡­¡¹

    <em>I buy most of this data second-hand and in bulk, so I usually don¡¯t know what¡¯s inside when I buy it. A lot of them are boring or iprehensible, but that¡¯s not an issue. The problem is that on rare asions this data can contain electronic drugs. Back when I wasn¡¯t as cautious, I identally picked up a holo-drug¡ªmedia that messes with your body just by watching it. Ever since I started having Mei screen everything, we haven¡¯t had any other incidents like that, but that one time was a nightmare.</em>

    ¡¸Oh yeah, I remember that. It was a good thing Mei was around to help.¡¹

    ¡¸Personally¡­ I don¡¯t mind indulging in something like that asionally.¡¹

    Elma shuddered after remembering, but Mimi blushed as she covered her mouth.

    Wiska tilted her head, clearly puzzled by our reactions, but Tina had a knowing grin, like she could guess exactly what kind of holo I¡¯d been unlucky enough to pick up.

    ¡¸Lemme guess, Boss¡ªyou snagged yourself one of those over-the-top party holo-drugs, didn¡¯t ya?¡¹

    ¡¸Bullseye, and Mimi, I¡¯m never doing that again. Never.¡¹

    ¡¸Aww, but don¡¯t you and Elma-san always end up doing something simr together anyway?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s different, totally different.¡¹

    ¡¸???¡¹

    Wiska, listening to the exchange between me, Tina, and Mimi, had a face full of confusion, metaphorical question marks floating over her head. <em>Well, it¡¯s not surprising¡ªWiska has always been a bit of a straightced type, maybe even a little sheltered.</em>

    ¡¸Wee, a party holo-drug is the kinda thing that gets you feeling hyped, makes you let loose, your body heats up, and next thing you know, everybody¡¯s all tangled up together doing it, just by watchin¡¯ a holo.¡¹

    ¡¸Ew¡­ oh wow¡­¡¹

    Wiska turned bright red, her expression a mix of shock andplete disbelief. S<em>he¡¯s shy, a bit reserved, and¡­ yeah, for her sake, let¡¯s not go any further with that assessment. And the way she¡¯s blushing but still looking intrigued? Yeah, I¡¯m just going to pretend I didn¡¯t see that.</em>

    ¡¸Anyway, I¡¯ve been having Mei screen out that kind of stuff, so we don¡¯t have to worry about it anymore.¡¹

    ¡¸But ya kept the filtered data somewhere, didn¡¯t ya?¡¹

    ¡¸I invoke my right to remain silent.¡¹

    <em>Which, let¡¯s be honest, is basically the same as saying yes. I could delete the files, of course, but¡­ let¡¯s just say I kept them on hand in case they mighte in handy someday. You know, as a kind of marital aid. Not that we¡¯ve ever actually used them since that one disaster. We¡¯re perfectly fine in our rtionships without resorting to stuff like that.</em>

    ¡¸Still, every now and then, I think stuff like that might be fun.¡¹

    ¡¸If we tried that, I¡¯d wither and die.¡¹

    I shot back firmly, crossing my arms in an X as I nced through the list of titles on the data storage unit.

    <em>Seriously, there¡¯s no way I¡¯d survive if I went up against all four of them while under the influence of something like that. Sure, Mei would keep things from spiralingpletely out of control, but let¡¯s be real¡ªone misstep, and I¡¯d be a goner. Imagine having ¡®death by holo-drug-induced exhaustion¡¯ as my official cause of death. I¡¯d be aughingstock.</em>

    ¡¸Picking stuff based on the title alone is kind of a gamble, isn¡¯t it?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, but serialized shows or anime tend to be a safer bet. Those usually don¡¯t turn out to be duds.¡¹

    <em>Shows like these are typically produced by well-established studios with decent budgets and staff, aiming for profitability, so, as I said, there¡¯s rarely a total disaster. For shorter productions, like two- or three-hour feature films, the quality can swing wildly. You could hit a total dud, or you might strike gold. On the other hand, anything shorter¡ªunder two hours or even just an hour¡ªstarts to feel riskier. A one-hour runtime might still be decent, butpared to longer works, the chance of encountering a dud rises significantly.</em>

    ¡¸Should we y it safe and go with a reliable show or anime?¡¹

    ¡¸Sounds good.¡¹

    ¡¸What about this one? It looks interesting!¡¹

    The show Mimi chose was a show about the staff working at a quarantine facility in a colony¡¯s port district. Each episode was one hour long, with a total of 24 episodes.<em> It looks like the kind of series you can getpletely absorbed in¡ªdangerously so. But that is also good.</em>N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡¸Alright, let¡¯s go with this. Considering the time we¡¯ll spend traveling within the star system and along the hypene, we¡¯ve got over 70 hours. We should be able to finish it.¡¹

    With the decision made, we each prepared drinks and snacks before settling down to start the series. After every episode, we¡¯d take a short break to discuss the story,ughing and debating over the characters and plot twists. The show¡¯s focus on colony quarantine procedures was surprisingly engaging, especially for us, who frequently visited colonies. It featured a good mix of mystery and action, withpelling characters brought to life by talented actors. This one was definitely a hit.

    ¡¸Hey, Hiro-sama.¡¹

    Mimi called out to me after we finished the third episode. Elma and the others had stepped out to refill their drinks and snacks, leaving us alone for a moment. I turned to her, curious about what she had to say.

    ¡¸It¡¯s really wonderful to spend time like this with everyone. I hope this continues forever.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, let¡¯s do our best to make sure it stays that way.¡¹

    ¡¸Okay!¡¹

    Mimi replied, her face lighting up with a radiant smile.<em> I need to work hard to protect everyone so these happy times canst forever. </em>Savoring the quiet joy of the moment, I silently resolved to keep this happiness alive for all of us.

 Chapter SS [Everyoneâ€™s Breakfast]

    <strong>TN: This is thest of the untranted short stories. This one was posted by the author in his activity report on Syousetsu. If you know of another short story that needs trantion, you can contact me on our discord or in thements. If it¡¯s as long as this one or longer, I¡¯ll probably trante it once there¡¯s ack of raws.</strong>

    One morning¡ª<em>although, strictly speaking, there¡¯s no morning or night in space or hyperspace</em>¡ªit all began.

    ¡¸Hey, Mimi, you always eat that for breakfast, don¡¯t you?¡¹

    ¡¸Hm?¡¹

    Mimi tilted her head slightly, still holding a spoon in her mouth. In front of her was the same oatmeal-like meal she always had for breakfast. It was a semi-liquid yellowish porridge that could, depending on how you looked at it, be mistaken for pale scrambled eggs.

    ¡¸I¡¯ve been eating this for breakfast ever since I was young¡­ It¡¯s sort of a habit now.¡¹

    Mimi gave a small, wistful smile as she said this. <em>She is probably thinking about herte parents. </em>The porridge-like food she was eating was surprisingly sweet, the kind of dish that could easily pass for a dessert.

    ¡¸Well, I¡¯ve heard that eating sweet things in the morning helps the brain absorb sugar and wakes you up faster.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so? Hiro-sama, your breakfasts are pretty varied, aren¡¯t they?¡¹¡¸Yeah, that¡¯s true.¡¹

    <em>My breakfast changes a lot depending on the day. Sometimes I¡¯m in the mood for a burger or a hot dog first thing in the morning, and other times I¡¯ll go for rice with grilled fish and miso soup. Of course, none of it is the real deal. I have to hand it to the Tetsujin V, though; its ability to produce something so close to the real thing from food cartridges is nothing short of impressive.</em>

    ¡¸Elma-san¡­ You always eat the same thing in the morning too, don¡¯t you?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right.¡¹

    Elma nodded as she continued to devour a steak-like dish with mashed-potato-like sides. Her breakfasts were always hearty, with only slight variations¡ªsome days it was beef-like, other days chicken-like, or pork-like. Simrly, the mashed potatoes asionally turned into something resembling potato sd or even fries.

    As for vegetables, she got those through a green juice-like drink. Mimi¡¯s oatmeal-like meal seemed to have all the necessary nutrients already incorporated, but Elma and I, had to rely on drinks to make up for the nutrients we mightck. Thinking about it, the oatmeal-like food Mimi eat every morning could be considered a kind ofplete nutrition meal.

    ¡¸Elma-san, I think you should pay a little more attention to your diet.¡¹

    ¡¸I drink my nutrient shake, you know.¡¹

    ¡¸Aren¡¯t you overdoing it on protein? Or wait, is it all turning into muscle?¡¹

    ¡¸Do I look overly muscr to you?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s the weird thing. How are you so strong yet still so slim?¡¹

    <em>Maybe her muscle or bone density is just different. Elma is ridiculously strong for someone with such a slender build.</em>

    ¡¸I¡¯d love to have a figure as sleek as Elma-san¡¯s¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re eating properly and exercising, so you¡¯ll get there eventually.¡¹

    ¡¸I think Mimi is perfect just the way she is¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No, I mean, just a little more¡­ like around my stomach, arms, and thighs¡­¡¹N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Mimi muttered this while poking at her arms and belly with a serious expression. <em>Compared to Elma, she is a bit softer and more rounded¡ªbut that¡¯s what¡¯s so great about her. I¡¯d definitely prefer for her to stay that way. I¡¯ll have to tweak the training AI settingster to make sure nothing changes too drastically.</em>

    ¡¸By the way, what¡¯s the n for our next departure?¡¹

    ¡¸We¡¯ll take another day or two to rest at this colony. It¡¯s not like we¡¯re in a rush. If a good job or some lucrative bounty infoes up, we could stick around a bit longer.¡¹

    ¡¸No need to overwork ourselves, after all.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, the freedom¡­¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s life as a mercenary for you.¡¹

    ¡¸Can¡¯t argue with that. By now, Mimi, you must be getting used to it, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Now that you mention it, maybe I am.¡¹

    Mimi chuckled softly, and Elma and I couldn¡¯t help but smile along with her.

    <em>There mighte a day when this carefree lifestyle of ourses to an end. But until then, I¡¯ll keep living thisfortable, free-spirited life¡ªto the fullest.</em>

 Chapter 539: ã€ŒChoose Something Tastefulã€

    ¡¸¡­Huh!?¡¹

    On myp, Kugi, who had fainted with her eyes rolled back<em>¡ªwhich I fixed¡ª</em>suddenly regained consciousness, her eyes snapping open wide. <em>In moments like this, people tend to either spring up suddenly or remain frozen while trying to grasp the situation. The reaction depends on their personality.</em> In the case of Kugi, she stiffened her body and focused on understanding her surroundings by moving her eyes and ears. <em>Her animal ears atop her head are twitching, how cute.</em>

    ¡¸M-My Lord¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, It¡¯s me, Kugi. How are you feeling? Does your head hurt? Do you feel any tightness in your chest? Is your mind clear? Do you hear any strange voices?¡¹

    As I asked, I helped her sit up. Kugi¡¯s fox ears twitched on her head as she clenched and unclenched her hands. Then, cing one hand near her temple, she suddenly started emitting an incredibly strong mental wave. The people around us stiffened at the unexpected surge. <em>It was simr to someone suddenly screaming out loud after all.</em>

    ¡¸I-I¡¯m so sorry!? M-My Lord? It feels like my strength has increased significantly, somehow.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, yes, that¡¯s true¡­ Do you feel any odd sensations in your tails?¡¹

    ¡¸My tails¡­? Wait, what!?¡¹

    Kugi looked at her tails and jumped up in shock. The fur on her tails fluffed up dramatically. <em>Well, I can¡¯t me her¡ªanyone would be startled if their tail count suddenly increased from three to five.</em>¡¸What¡­ Huh!? Why!?¡¹

    For once, Kugi was visibly flustered as she began meticulously examining each of her tails one by one. Eventually, after confirming that every single one of them was indeed hers, she looked up at me, holding her tails with a dazed expression. <em>Yep, I can see countless question marks floating above her head.</em>

    ¡¸Well, you know¡­ that, uh,<em> ¡®that person¡¯, </em>uhm<em>.</em>¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Yes?¡¹

    ¡¸Her body went ¡®boom,¡¯ and apparently she needed something like a vessel¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡¹

    Hearing my words, Kugi froze, her eyes rolling back into her head. <em>Your adorable face is showing an expression no one should see!</em><em>Not to mention, the conversation Isn¡¯t going anywhere like this. Snap out of it, Kugi!</em>

    ¡¸I-I¡¯ve lost myposure¡­¡¹

    I shook Kugi¡¯s shoulders gently, managing to reboot her after her stunned state.

    ¡¸So, yeah, she kind of borrowed your body for the time being.¡¹

    ¡¸Why¡­?¡¹

    The light faded from Kugi¡¯s eyes. <em>This must be what people mean by a lifeless expression.</em>

    <em>Honestly, I can totally understand her reaction. If someone told me that while I was unconscious, the spirit of the fucking Emperor had decided to inhabit my body, and even worse, he¡¯s already inside me, I¡¯d probably react the same way. When you think about it, this is really unfair for Kugi.</em>

    ¡¸Apparently, it¡¯s not like she¡¯s taking over your bodypletely. It seems she¡¯ll help draw out yourtent potential and boost your psionic power¡­ But, yeah, sorry. This is my fault.¡¹

    ¡¸I-If I can be of service to you, my Lord¡­ This will be helpful for you, right?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m definitely regretting letting that thing possess you due to a stupid squabble, but I¡¯m deeply grateful that you¡¯re willing to ept it.¡¹

    <em>Granted, it wasrgely self-defense, but the fact remains that I did cause the nine-tailed beauty¡¯s body to go ¡®boom¡¯.</em> To rify, it wasn¡¯t a grotesque, sttering kind of ¡®boom¡¯, her body didn¡¯t really explode. It was more like she dissolved into particles of light. <em>Still, the fact remains that I¡¯m responsible, and honestly, it should be me taking the fall for this.</em>

    ¡¸So¡­ um, how long will she remain on my body?¡¹

    ¡¸Until her power stabilizes. She said it might take a year, give or take¡­ Again, I¡¯m really sorry.¡¹

    ¡¸I-I see. If it¡¯s just a year or so¡­ It <em>will</em> only be that long, right?¡¹

    Still clutching her tails protectively, Kugi looked up at me with an uneasy expression. <em>I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m really sorry, I really did it this time.</em>

    ¡¸She assured me it would be about that long, and no matter what happens, I¡¯ll take full responsibility for everything.¡¹

    cing my hand over hers as she held her tails, and while meeting her gaze, I made that promise firmly.

    That seemed to ease her worry, if only a little. Her anxious expression softened slightly, though uncertainty still lingered in her eyes.

    ¡¸How long do we have to keep watching this charade?¡¹

    ¡¸Shh, Konoha-chan. Quiet.¡¹

    ¡¸¡¯Visitors¡¯ really do have a silver tongue, don¡¯t they?¡¹

    ¡¸Uggh¡­ I would give everything to be in her position¡­<em>kiii</em>.¡¹

    <em>The peanut gallery is getting loud. Konoha and Moegi I can ignore, but I have to object to Inaba¡¯s remark. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m sweet-talking or manipting anyone here. I¡¯m beingpletely genuine, speaking with heartfelt sincerity.</em>

    <em>Also, Fuguruma, could you stop ring at me with those bloodshot eyes like you¡¯re about to cry tears of blood? The sheer intensity and¡­ viscosity of your emotions feel like a curse. It¡¯s outright terrifying.</em>

    ¡¸Umm¡­ specifically, what other effects will this have on me?¡¹n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Kugi asked, ncing down at her five tails now bundled in her hands.

    <em>Is having more tails really that big of a deal? Then again, I guess if I woke up one day and found I suddenly had three or four legs instead of two, I¡¯d probably be just as freaked out.</em>

    ¡¸She might asionally ask to borrow your body. When that happens, it¡¯s okay to agree only if it¡¯s convenient for you.¡¹

    ¡¸Borrow my body¡­ well, considering it¡¯s that person, I suppose it¡¯s not impossible.¡¹

    Kugi¡¯s gaze drifted somewhere distant.

    <em>Yeah, an astral entity that not only possesses you but also hijacks your body is a bit much. Pretty terrifying, honestly. As expected, she should use my body instead, but it seems my body isn¡¯t suitable. What a mess.</em>

    ¡¸Um¡­ my Lord. That person is already asking to test it out, borrowing my body.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Sorry. Allow her to take control of your body for a bit, please.¡¹

    ¡¸If you say so, my Lord¡­¡¹

    Kugi murmured quietly, lowering her gaze. About five secondster, visible waves of psionic power began radiating from her body. Her silvery hair, almost white, gradually transformed into a shimmering gold. Her tails, twitching and writhing, also took on the same golden hue.<em> Are her tails multiplying? It seems like there are more of them, though the numbers kept fluctuating¡ªappearing and disappearing like illusions.</em>

    ¡¸Hmm. Not bad. As expected of one who beareth the name Kugi. This body doth suit me most excellently.¡¹

    Kugi¡¯s body smirked and talked in a way that Kugi would never typically do.

    Her expression was strikingly different, and intricate red markings, almost like Kabuki makeup, emerged on her forehead and around her eyes. It gave off an elegant but otherworldly aura¡ªlike a gentler version of theatrical face paint.

    ¡¸This body doth feel quite fitting. If it be possible, I should like to remain for a good while.¡¹

    ¡¸The deal is for a year.¡¹

    ¡¸True, yet the longer I linger, the stronger both thou and this girl shall be. ¡®Tis not such a poor bargain, is it?¡¹

    ¡¸That depends on Kugi. If she doesn¡¯t want it, you¡¯re leaving after a year as promised.¡¹

    ¡¸Very well. Until then, I shall endeavor to get along with thee, this girl, and the rest of thy wives.¡¹

    She said, narrowing her eyes with a mischievous grin. Her expression was unlike anything Kugi would ever wear. Coupled with her golden hair, it was like she was apletely different person. <em>Well, she is a different person in a sense.</em>

    ¡¸Ah, yes. Thou¡ªgrant me a name.¡¹

    ¡¸Why? You already have one, don¡¯t you?¡¹

    ¡¸¡¯Tis more akin to a little ritual, thou seest. Choose something tasteful, something with a touch of elegance.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Seriously?¡¹

    <em>I¡¯m not sure why she¡¯s asking for this, but there is clearly some significance to it. In fantasy stories, names often carry magical or spiritual importance, so maybe it¡¯s simr here.</em>

    <em>Hmm. A nine-tailed fox with golden fur¡­ The obvious names feel too clich¨¦, and in folklore, beings like this are often dangerous, they are the kind of beings that eat humans casually. Still, a name needs to be simple and clear.</em>

    ¡¸How about <em>Tamamo</em>?¡¹

    ¡¸Thou didst not even spare but a few moments in thought. Canst thou not take me seriously for once? Well, the name hath a pleasant ring to it, so I shall ept it. Henceforth, I am Tamamo. Let us get along well, shall we?¡¹

    The golden foxdy shed a sly, smug smile. <em>Damn it¡ªit¡¯s still Kugi¡¯s face, so it looks adorable despite the smugness. I¡¯ll have to make sure I don¡¯t get seduced into any trouble.</em>

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