Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
“Right now, there’s a great demand for small-class cargo transport vessels. Even if the cargo capacity of the ships are a bit small, you can still sell as many of them as you want here as long as they are sufficiently fast enough to quickly shuttle between the surface of the planet and the trading colony. Man, I just can’t help but laugh.”
As I looked at the modified cargo transport ship (formerly a pirate ship) that was being carried out of the hangar after a buyer has been decided, the edges of my mouth naturally curled up. But really, man. I really feel like laughing in glee right now.
We crammed the parts we peeled off from the wreckage of the destroyed pirate ships into the intact one’s relatively small frame and stuck the armor plating we got from them as well in order to instantly make this small-class cargo transport ship and sell it off within the trading colony.
Of course, the equipment modules of the ship aren’t exactly in great condition, but if it was just going to serve as a shuttle between the trading colony and the planet, the minimum amount of life support would more than suffice. At worst, the crew can just wear spacesuits while piloting it. Well, it’s not like I’d have anything more to do with it once it’s sold anyway.
“For reference, might I ask how much you sold the ship for?”
The brown-skinned super beauty Nia from Nyaatoflix stood beside me and asked a question as she eyed the ship being carried out as well. I thought about the price these ships were selling for in the market and opened my mouth to answer her.
“If I remember correctly, small-class ships go for around 50,000 and medium-class ships go for 100,000 or so.”
We were able to sell off one small-class and one medium-class ship this time. Both of them have been modified into cargo transport ships with an emphasis on speed and cargo capacity.
“The other parts we managed to salvage, such as the main and shield generators as well as other modules have also been sold for a nice sum. They are also on demand right now. I think we managed to sell them all off for about 150,000 Enels. In total, we were able to earn about 300,000 Enels from our spoils. The bounty reward we got for the defeated pirates is about 320,000 Enels. So we were able to earn a total of about 620,000 Enels.”
In addition, we were also getting a daily wage of 300,000 Enels from House Dareinwald. We took a total of three days to hunt the pirates down, so we’ll get a total of 900,000 Enels as wage. That means we’ve managed to earn a total of 1,520,000 Enels so far.
If we take off 10% from the total sales of the ships and parts as Tina and Whisker’s bonus, 1% of the total earnings as Mimi share, and 3% for Elma, I still have about 1.4 million for my share. A fraction of that will be allotted to the maintenance of our ships. The related expenses include the berthing fees, everyone’s food expenses, waste disposal fees, as well as purchasing water and oxygen tanks that are needed for survival out in space.
“Hiro-san, can you support me as well, please? I may not look like it, but I’m actually the earnest and hardworking type you know.”
“I already have my hands full, Miss.”
Nia peered up at my face with her fiery scarlet eyes shining brightly, and I refused her offer with a smile. This woman is certainly a super beauty, but something deep inside me is warning me not to get involved with her at all costs.
“That’s unfortunate.”
She simply shrugged the refusal off and drew back. She probably wasn’t all that serious about it, to begin with.
“But it really looks like it would be loads of fun to be with you, Hiro-san…… Do you really not want to take me in? I’m sure there will be no shortage of fun things in the future you know?”
“I seriously have my hands full already, Miss.”
Recently, troubles come rolling in even at the mere thought of them crossing our minds. I certainly ain’t signing up for even more. And for some reason, I get the feeling that the ‘fun things’ Nia was talking about has a bit of a disturbing ring to it.
“How truly unfortunate……”
Nia let out a forlorn sigh.
“We will leave port tomorrow at 13:00 hours, colony standard time. You guys are free to do as you like until then, so go ahead and stretch your wings out for a bit. We’ll get really busy again in three days after all.”
“Understood. What are you and the other’s plans though, Hiro-san?”
“Nothing’s decided yet except for dinner. We’ll be attending a private dinner party in the evening. Since it’s private, I’m sorry, but I can’t allow you guys to film it.”
“A private dinner huh…… Color me curious.”
“Didn’t I just tell you to refrain yourselves?”
Nia’s eyes started burning brightly with curiosity again. This woman’s brazenness, or rather, shamelessness, was pretty impressive, I’ll give her that. Seriously.
I carried the mechanic sisters, who ended up falling asleep inside the hangar, back to their room and helped Mimi out with ordering and arranging the supplies. Before I knew it, it was already near dinnertime. I knocked the sleeping mechanic sisters awake and shoved the drunk Elma into a med-pod to get her sobered up. All of us then left the Black Lotus together.
Mei opted to remain on Black Lotus. She didn’t really need to eat, and since Elma and I were accompanying everyone, there was no need for a bodyguard either. In exchange, I inwardly promised to spoil her a lot once we return.
Yep. Or rather, she’ll be the one doing the spoiling though. It was a bit strange, sure. But for Mei, it was one of her greatest pleasures. I really don’t get maidroids sometimes.
“We’re going to have dinner with Chris-chan tonight, right?”
“We didn’t really get to interact much during that celebration party after all.”
At that time, Chris attended the dinner as a representative of the Earl and the eyes of all the other party attendees were on her, so we weren’t able to talk freely with each other. This time, we’re not going to an official dinner, but instead, we’re going to have a friendly dinner together with Chris in a private room of a classy high-end restaurant.
“I’m sure Chris has it hard even now. Hiro, make sure to take good care of her tonight, okay?”
“I was already planning on doing so in the first place.”
“Oh boy. Nobles sure have it hard huh, Boss. She’s still so little, but she already has to shoulder the weight of hundreds of thousands of lives. That’s rough.”
“I think so too, sis. I’m sure I would have been crushed by all the pressure if I was in her shoes.”
Actually, I hold the same opinion. As someone born into a prominent noble house, I’m sure she’s been strictly educated in their ways. But still, having to shoulder responsibility for the lives of thousands of people and taking command of all of them must have burdened her with a tremendous amount of pressure. I guess I have no choice but to obediently listen to all of her complaints tonight.
At least, that’s what I thought at first. But–
“Please hug me tighter.”
“Ah, yeah, alright……”
“Here you go, Chris-chan. Say a〜hn.”
“Aaah……”
“This is delicious too.”
Ten minutes later, for some reason, I ended up hugging Chris from behind as she sat on top of my crossed legs. Meanwhile, Mimi and Whisker kept feeding her with spoonful after spoonful of pudding and cake. The remaining two in our little group were indulging themselves in drinking while snacking on food that went well with alcohol.
“It looks like she’s reached her limit. In various meanings.”
“Sure looks like it. Well, isn’t it peachy now since she has someone to spoil her? Her eyes were practically dead when we first got here.”
Chris arrived at the room we reserved for tonight first earlier. Although she indeed arrived early, the state she was in was no joke.
We found her laying upside down on top of the tatami-like floor of the room with eyes akin to those of dead fish. Man, that sure shocked us good. We weren’t sure what was wrong with her at first. Honestly.
When she noticed us enter the room, Chris slowly got up from the floor like a zombie or something, silently took my hand, pulled me over to the side, and settled herself down on top of my crossed legs. And then, she requested to be fed tasty snacks. And so, that brings us to the current situation.
“Day in and day out. Day in and day out. Day in and day out. Petitions, complaints, and contract requests just keep coming over and over to my office with no end in sight. I’ve signed and signed and signed and signed but there’s just no end. None, none, none, none, none……”
“There, there. You don’t have to think about things like those tonight, okay. Here, let me give you some well-deserved head pats.”
“Eeh…… Ehehe……”
“She’s really at the end of her rope huh.”
“That looks bad…… You wanna drink some alcohol?”
“Alcohol……”
“Don’t try to make minors drink alcohol, you!”
“Ouch. Oh yeah. She’s still underage huh. She doesn’t really look all that different from us, so it slipped my mind.”
I picked up an edamame-like¹ snack and flicked it on Tina’s forehead. I get that she doesn’t look that different from you dwarves, but Chris is still a minor, okay. I mean, Tina and Whisker both look really young even though they’re both already adults. That’s female dwarves for you.
“You really have it hard, Chris-chan……”
“Christi– Um, Chris-chan. If you’re okay with me, then rely on me as much as you want.”
Whisker stopped calling Chris ‘Christina-sama’ and joined with Mimi in calling her ‘Chris-chan’. She then proceeded to stroke Chris’s head affectionately. I left the head pats to Whisker and focused on hugging Chris tighter.
It took about 30 minutes for Chris to return to her usual state.
[1] TL Notes: Edamame are boiled or steamed immature soybeans still in their pods. They are usually served as snacks to accompany alcoholic drinks. Izakaya (Japanese pubs) often serve them.
lol oh Chris, how adorable of you
So adorable that one wants to keep hugging her forever
Poor lolihime
Thank you very much for the chapter.
Is the sexy reporter up to something other than leaching out of a sugar daddy?
Probably concealing a frightening nightly power level and *none* of it vanilla.
Hiro sensed it was time to steer clear, or he’d discover a new world, with no way to take it back.
More like, outer gods’ abyssal pleasure
Very well! Your title usage is acceptable!
When our lawyerdroid, Marvin, (you might have heard of him, he used to work for zaphod beeblebrox), arrives, after travelling as economy mail, arrives at your address in 5 billion years, please inform him that his trip was unnecessary after all, and he should return immediately.
since I am in a good mood, I have decided to pay for his (economy mail) return trip instead of having you pay for it. You may inform Marvin of this.
The edamame looks quite similar to lupines (“tremoços”) served with beer, in Spain and Portugal.
You forgot to add that edamame are usually salted.
So, if medium ships are on the market for about 100,000 enels, why did Hiro have to pay 20 million for his?
Because these are repurposed second-hand ships captured from pirates and he purchased a brand-new and latest edition luxury model with equally luxurious extras.
Think second-hand old model Toyotas vs. the Lotus Evora 400.
Wasnt the black lotus size in between medium and large ships? Also its the latest model plus the luxry interior and top class weapons. In elite dangerous standards the prices goes x10 times higher if you compare basic modules to top class ones.
Hold on, Black Lotus is a mothership, it must be bigger than most if not all large class ships, since recently it was compared to a military cruiser.
No it was clearly described back when he was trying to buy it. It even describe has 2 hangar slots available 1 for krishna and 1 free
I’ve reread the chapters when they decided on the type of mothership, and when they bought it. No clear mention of size, only that it’s big bulky and has two hangars at the lower rear of the ship. It can’t be a medium class ship like that.
Well true, even the author change hiro’s fer de lance into small class.. Maybe to avoid copyright i guess. Well i imagine the black lotus as half the size of an fleet carrier anyway completly disconnected to elite.
The base model for Black Lotus is 20M brand new, with factory standard everything. Hiro then upgraded everything. The fact that his ship was the newest model shouldn’t actually change the base price.
The former pirate ship is like buying a car that has been rescued from a junk yard. The ship isn’t reliable. For your 100k you get a junker that runs now but the seller takes no responsibility for failure. You are buying ‘As is’. The ship’s previous owners being pirates doesn’t help at all. There is no telling if they performed proper maintenance to anything. Disturbing smells wouldn’t be a surprise. Also the hull has probably weakened due to sustained battle damage. Obviously destroyed sections have been replaced, but slightly compromised sections with metal fatigue probably haven’t.
The real surprise is the small ships being half the price. They should be cheaper. You could get a brand new Zabuton for that price.
but zabutons are combat ships, right? This are modified transports.
Besides hiro is not scamming anyone, the buyers know that those are salvaged ships and must be repaired.
Actually, the author messes up numbers a lot, especially monetary values. A lot of other authors do the same (overgeared, H.S. DxD, level 1 Dakedo)
but yeah, whenever our protagonists want to sell a ship, they will get peanut prices like 50k or something. Not just pirate ships, but when Elma wants to sell her ship to avoid going to jail.
The moment that Hiro and company want to BUY anything though, the prices will skyrocket ridiculously. Not just his ships, but stuff like clothes, combat droids, food, just about anything.
You have to just handwave whenever numbers come up. The numbers aren’t really important in this series anyhow. … unlike dakedo where the author makes a big deal of their financial situation, but the author is terrible with numbers and money logic, and thus ruins everything.
@Jasonred79
Scrap price to dealer vs dealer price to customer
The difference pays ALL of the dealer’s expenses and profit margin.
Try selling jewelry to a commercial buyer. You’ll be lucky to get anything beyond bullion value. Now look at the jewelry they sell…
Cars, feel proud if you get 50% of what it will sell for if you sell it to a car dealer.
Go to an appraiser. You get a range of prices. Dealer value, wholesale value, retail value, insurance value, tax assessment value, etc. Usually insurance value is the highest, beyond anything a real world buyer would be willing to pay and dealer or scrap value is pity money barely worth accepting. Auction value will be higher or lower than retail depending on supply and demand. (Difficult to find, high demand items will command premium auction value).
Back in the 90s I bought computer parts from a California shop that sold the same stock both direct & online auction. It was amazing how many popular parts sold for more at auction than the store price. Auction fever is a dangerous illness🐶
Quite late at the party, but I’m not sure what you mean by that. Hiro doesn’t have a medium cargo chip. Krishna is a medium size combat ship (though it also borders close to the small class in size, but large class in firepower… them unique ships), and the Black Lotus is a mothership, thus should be even bigger than large class ships.
While the story does not make much sense sometimes with the monetary value of ships, this isn’t that wrong.
Cargo ships are like trucks, while combat ships (and any ship designed to withstand some damage in space) are closer to tanks, heavy or main battle tanks. Even if similar in size, the price is VERY different.
Sorry to disagree, but the Black Lotus has been specifically identified as a medium sized ship. Large ships are things like battleships and other things that are on a different scale altogether.
The larger ships, like the battlecruisers and battleships, belong to the capital class. Since the Black Lotus has a hangar that can acomodate two ships, it has to be a very large ship. They carried the captured ships inside the Black Lotus after all.
Black Lotus is a Medium sized Large ship. 300m length is stated at one point
There are 9 sizes
Small-Small, Medium-Small, Large-Small
Small-Medium, Medium-Medium, Large-Medium
Small-Large, Medium-Large, Large-Large
The colony ships are Humongous Class🐶
Military Corvette is the largest Small Class
Black Lotus is a Medium Large Class
Krishna is a Large Small Class, but smaller than a Corvette
Class & subclass using the same size labels is confusing.
The 20M cost of a new build Med-Lg with engines, powerplant, twin hangers, and cargo hold is for a factory fresh new build with factory warranty.
The 100k is for a medium ship that was disabled in combat and put back in running order using battle salvage. The warranty given is: It started when we tested it yesterday. We are selling ‘As-Is’, No Returns accepted.
Basically, it is battlefield salvage being sold at scrap value. This is the reason for the ridiculously low price. Yard sale/junk yard vs brand new from the factory.
Thanks for the chapter! Awesome translation! May God bless you!
Thanks for the treat.
It makes me wondering, whether there’s a sophisticated drone technology there? Black Lotus being drone carrier will be so awesome
I think some time ago (a number of chapters before) something about drones was mentioned. Can’t remember much though. Maybe they were too expensive to maintain, or could be hacked too easily, or some trouble with AI that made some kind of tradition to not use drones…
Hard to say, and I’m probably remembering stuff from other novels, sorry.
Some ship classes use drone borne weapons as auxiliary weapons platforms. Just not common as there drawbacks to trying to manage drones in combat while avoiding enemy attacks. Most remotes are some form of torpedo, mine or recon platform.
Proposed military use here on Earth have controllers outside weapon range of the enemy controlling drone swarms.
Space combat rarely has the advantage of being close enough to use realtime control while remaining outside the combat zone. Lightspeed puts real limits on distance between drone and controller. EW & ECM both really mess with R/C operations.
Drones have a place, but in the Graccan Empire they are rarely used in combat other than controllable torpedoes. Capital Ships may have cubage to dedicate to drone systems, but small craft don’t.
Thanks
Thanks
Thanks