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568 「Yeah, We Should Improve the Livability」

 

Buzz… buzz… The murmuring of the crowd—well, the crowd staring at me, or rather us—echoed through the district.

「Holy crap, is it just me or are they all gorgeous?」
「Is this some kind of event?」
「Why’s some plain-looking guy in the middle of that group?」
「Plain-looking? Are you blind? That dude’s obviously dangerous—」

I filtered all of that out and filed it under ‘noise.’ I want to, anyway.

「Alright, everyone. This way, please. Use this flag as your marker and follow behind me. Be careful not to get distracted and separated.」

As she said that, Mei took point with something like a little guide flag—made of hologram, with a completely unnecessary flourish to how it fluttered—and marched confidently through the port district of Windas Tertius Colony.

Right behind her were Chris, Serena, and Edeltrud. Then me. To my left, Mimi and Lucia. To my right, Kugi. Further back, Neve had one hand held by Tina and the other by Wiska, like a child being escorted on a field trip. At the very rear were Elma and Dr. Shouko. And scattered all around us, forming a loose perimeter, were Isolde and the other Imperial guards.

This isn’t ‘imperial cross formation’ levels anymore. This is just a whole damn group.

「It feels like we’re at a theme park! I’m getting excited! I’ve never been to one, though.」

「Neither have I. What sort of place might it be?」

「They had one in the resort colony in the Sierra system, you know. After we have the wedding at Chris-chan’s place, let’s go!」

「Back then, we weren’t in any state to enjoy it. Next time, we might actually be able to have fun.」

「Ah, that time. Come to think of it… Hiro, you sure did provoke me a lot back then, didn’t you……?」

Yeah. Back then.

All we had was the Krishna, and the crew was just me, Mimi, and Elma. I didn’t have a sword yet, I hadn’t awakened any psionic power, and I was especially vulnerable in close-quarters when it came to fighting in my own skin.

We’d been on high alert for an attack from the men under Chris’s uncle—who’d been trying to have her eliminated—so it wasn’t exactly a ‘woohoo, vacation’ situation. We ended up bailing from Sierra Prime Colony pretty quickly.

The Sierra system is famous for leisure on its nature-rich resort worlds, but I’ve heard the colonies there also have their own fully stocked entertainment facilities.

Also, Serena? Please don’t suddenly get mad now because you remembered something from back then— Okay, yeah, I’m the one who provoked you. That one’s on me. Still!

「Hey, you two. I’m not a lost child who needs to hold hands to avoid wandering off.」

「Yeah, but if ya get separated, that’s trouble.」

「You’re frail, Neve-chan. It’s dangerous.」

「Well, compared to you dwarves, sure, I’m frail……?」

Behind us, Neve sounded like she hadn’t fully accepted their logic, even as she half-agreed. Tina and Wiska, for their part, seemed utterly smitten with the idea that Neve was smaller and more delicate than them.

And for the record, in terms of ‘delicacy,’ I’m actually below those two as well. Strictly speaking in raw physical durability, I mean.

「Ahaha, with a group this big, we can’t not stand out, huh?」

「Wouldn’t it have been better to rent a vehicle to get around? Maybe we really should consider adding a transport vehicle.」

「If we do that, wouldn’t we need a bigger mothership?」

「That’s the issue, yeah… If we want to store the Khrisna, my ship, and Serena’s new one, it’ll have to be huge.」

From the very back came Dr. Shouko and Elma’s grounded, practical conversation.

…Man, I want to join that conversation. It’s not that I have complaints about being next to Mimi and the others. I just want to move to the rear—the least noticeable position.

In the end, while we were getting whispered about and stared at, we followed Mei’s lead through Windas Tertius Colony, transferred trams a few times, and arrived at Hazel Starship Company.

Mei had already set the appointment, so we were ushered in smoothly.

「Welcome. I’m Filiberto of Hazel Starship Company.」

「Thank you. I’m Captain Hiro—mercenary.」

I accepted his holo-business card and studied it.

Sales Director, huh. A director comes out in person? For a mercenary?

Well… given who sent us to this place, a director-level reception does make a certain kind of sense.

「Even without that person’s involvement, you’re still a VIP, Captain. At any shipbuilder, someone in my position would likely come out to greet you.」

Noticing me staring at the card, Filiberto gave me a sales smile.

Is that really how it works? Eh. I’ll just treat it as flattery.

「If you butter me up too much, I might start getting cocky, so I’ll take that with a grain of salt. Anyway, let’s get to it. I heard from that person that you’d transfer a ship to me for free on the condition that I provide operational data. Is that correct?」

「Yes, that is correct. However, we’d like to ask for a bit more cooperation, if possible. Specifically, we would like to use your name in our advertisements.」

「You want me to lend you my name? If I don’t know what form it’ll take, I can’t exactly say ‘do whatever you like’ and leave it entirely to you.」

「Master, if you wish, I can oversee that matter and make sure it’s handled appropriately.」

Mei spoke from behind me.

If Mei audits—no, supervises—anything involving ads that use my name, it’s unlikely it’ll go off the rails.

…Though sometimes Mei does things I didn’t intend—more like she goes overboard with the praise—so I’m not completely without anxiety. But, well. Beggars can’t be choosers.

「You heard her. If you’ll accept our Mei’s supervision, I’ll agree to that condition. How about it?」

「I believe that would reduce the risk of trouble regardless, so yes—we have no issue with that condition. However… will we be able to contact her when needed?」

「I plan to stay within the Empire for a while, and basically keep my territory within imperial space. I can’t guarantee it, but I think it’ll be fine. If I end up heading outside the Empire or into frontier regions, I’ll contact you. How’s that?」

I’m pretty sure the contract with Space Dwerg Company over Black Lotus’s operational data works similarly.

Not that I remember the fine print. I told Mei to handle it and left it at that.

「Understood. In that case, we’d like to set clauses for exemptions and such for those situations.」

「As long as you’re not deliberately waiting for those moments to pull something underhanded, I’m not going to get mad. Mei, I can leave that to you, right?」

「Yes, Master. Leave it to me.」

Her expression is blank, but her eyes are burning with motivation. Other people probably can’t tell, but I can.

That’s her ‘I’m happy you gave me work’ face.

「Then we’ll proceed on that basis. We’re having the contract drafted separately as we speak. For now, allow me to guide you to the ship.」

「Thanks.」

☆☆☆

「It’s pretty big.」

「About the same as Elma’s Antlion?」

「Maybe a bit bigger than Antlion. Still, I think it fits within the size of a medium craft—around a corvette, I’d say.」

We looked up at the imposing hull of Serena’s new ship—granted to her through His Majesty the Emperor’s generosity.

SDC-021 Morrigan.

Me, Serena, and Elma were all wearing pilot suits Hazel Starship Company had loaned us.

「Opening hatch. Hatch open complete. Please proceed with boarding.」

「Aye-aye. So—who goes first?」

「Wouldn’t it be me, as the designated operator?」

「You could wait until we check it first, if you want. But I don’t really care either way.」

「Same. If you want to go first, Serena, then go for it.」

「Understood. Then I will be first.」

After that, we were guided to the dock where the Morrigan was stored. We received an overview of its equipment and performance, then moved on to a simulator-based mock battle using the actual ship—basically a test run.

The ones doing the test run were me, Elma, and Serena, who would be the ship’s operator.

Among our group, the only ones capable of ship-based space combat were us three and Mei. The SDC-021 Morrigan was a drone carrier—too long to say every time, so ‘Morrigan’ it is.

The one who could probably handle it best was Mei, a machine intelligence, but there was no point in her doing a test run. So it fell to us.

「Quick tip: the handling changes a lot before and after you release the drones. Keep that in mind.」

「Yes—because the craft’s mass drops dramatically. Understood.」

「I’m not great with complicated setups like this…」

「You’ve got a bit of a speedster streak, Elma.」

「So do you, Hiro.」

「True. And I’m bad with drone carriers too.」

We boarded the Morrigan as the hatch opened, then followed the guidance markers deeper inside toward the cockpit.

「We should spruce up the interior.」

「Yeah. I think we should raise the livability to the same level as the Krishna. We have to assume the worst-case scenario.」

「Is that really necessary? I’ll be resting on the Black Lotus most of the time. Isn’t it fine not to spend Enels on that?」

「Yeah, we should improve the livability. Especially the bedroom, shower, bath—stuff like that.」

「???」

Serena tilted her head at how fired up I was.

Look, it’s simple: The Morrigan is going to become—depending on circumstances—an even more private space for you than the private room we prepared for you on the Black Lotus.

Antlion’s livability has already been upgraded to match Krishna’s too. In fact, on our days off, Elma and I have occasionally snuck off and holed up together inside the Antlion. When we’re in there, there are no other crew eyes on us—so Elma gets honest about wanting attention, and she’s adorable.

Ow, ow.

Quit lightly kicking my foot just because you know exactly what I’m thinking. You cute little brat.

Still chatting like that, we reached the cockpit and took our seats.

Serena in the main pilot seat.

Elma in the sub-pilot seat.

Me in the operator seat.

「Initializing test program.」

「Anytime.」

「By the way, we’re not going to help you unless there’s real trouble.」

「Yes. In real combat, you’ll have to operate it alone, after all.」

That’s right. For this test run, Elma and I—despite sitting in the sub-pilot and operator seats—will provide zero support for combat actions.

Just like with the Antlion, the plan is for the Morrigan to be run by Serena alone. If we help during the test run, it wouldn’t mean anything.

「It’s a test run, so take it easy.」

「Yeah. Think of it as getting used to it—don’t try too hard to do it perfectly.」

「That’s easy for you to say… Alright. I’ll just try it.」

The moment Serena said that, the holo-display activated, and the inertia control system began operating in test mode.

Alright then.

Let’s see what the Morrigan can do.