Negotiations

We docked inside the hangar of the flagship of the imperial

independent anti-pirate fleet, Restalias, got off from Krishna, and were

promptly guided by imperial soldiers to the captain's quarters.

Both Mimi and Elma were more or less familiar with the layout of the

ship since they visited several times during our fleet instructor stint at

the Alein system. As for me, this ship was more or less my temporary

workplace, so I was more familiar with it than them. But since these

soldiers were ordered to guide us anyway, I might as well just shut up

and let them do their jobs.

On the other hand, it was a new experience for Chris since this was the

first time she was able to board an imperial military ship, and her eyes

were filled with curiosity. The walls and floors of the ship were all made

of military-grade metal alloys, so I imagine it would hurt quite a bit if

you tripped and fell down here. Or rather, you might actually get injured

if you weren't careful. And so, Mimi pulled Chris's by the hand and

supported her so she won't get into any accidents. Seeing two cute girls

walking side by side while holding each other's hands was quite the

relaxing sight.

By the way, May was staying inside Krishna. Well, I don't really think

anyone would pull anything funny inside the Restalias, but it doesn't

hurt to be careful.

"We've brought Captain Hiro and his crew ma'am."

[Good work. Please return to your duties, soldier.]

We finally reached the captain's quarters, and when one of the soldiers

operated the panel beside the door, we heard Major Serena's voice

through the intercom speaker.

"Yes, ma'am!"

The soldiers who guided us gave a crisp salute and left. Yep. That's a

soldier alright. How uptight.

The door of the captain's quarters then opened.

"Please come in, everyone."

The voice of Major Serena rang out from within the room and invited us

in, so we did as we were told and entered.

The interior of the room was unexpectedly pleasant to the eyes. There's

a single large work desk, some sofas and a coffee table for entertaining

guests, and a cupboard that housed several fancy-looking medals, a

shield, and a decorative sword. Man, that sword sure looks cool. I want

one too. Not that I knew how to swing a sword.

"Thank you for responding to the request of humble mercenaries such

as ourselves."

"Please stop that. It's giving me goosebumps."

"Really? I'll just talk to you like usual then."

"Haa... Well, fine. So what's your business with me this time? I'm sure

you didn't come here just to brag about your lovely vacation

experiences, right?"

"Oh, how scary. But nah, we're here on proper business. It's about the

pirates that attacked Sierra III."

Major Serena's ruby pupils narrowed at my words. It looks like she

actually knows something already.

"I'm sure you've noticed that the scale of the attack was too unusual for

ordinary pirates. They even slapped FTL drives on asteroids and used

them for orbital bombing. It's reasonable to think that someone backed

those pirates up and supplied the necessary finances and equipment,

right? And we happen to know just who that mysterious backer is."

"How interesting. I would like to know more, but… what's your actual

objective, Captain Hiro?"

"Oh, nothing much. I just want to tag along with your fleet for one to

two weeks. If possible, I also want to procure supplies through imperial

military channels."

"So that's your angle… You want to make use of this fleet as a shield,

huh?"

"Don't put it that way, major. We just want your cooperation in bringing

down a villain to justice. Anyway, it'll just be for a little while."

"You're still quite the smooth talker I see… So?"

Major Serena raised her brow as if to ask for the specific circumstances.

Now then, where should I start?

"Should I tell everything from the beginning?"

"I think that would be best, Hiro-sama."

"It's better to tell her about Chris as well, Hiro."

All three of our gazes turned toward Chris. Major Serena's gaze also

turned toward her, and Chris seemed uncomfortable due to the sudden

attention. Okay then. I'll start from the beginning.

"When we first came into this star system, we were attacked by pirates

y'see. They hit us with an interdictor and forcefully stopped our FTL

drive, but we managed to fight back and eventually destroyed their

ships."

"You're a trouble magnet as always. And then?"

"We found a cold sleep pod among the wreckages of those pirate ships.

And Chris here was the one inside it. Her full name is Christina

Daleinwald. She's a lady of House Daleinwald, and the granddaughter of

the current Earl Daleinwald."

"House Daleinwald... I did hear that the first son of the earl lost his life

a few months earlier due to a pirate raid. I see. So she survived the

attack... Hm? Wait a minute. In other words…?"

"It was a fight for succession disguised as a pirate attack. And when the

culprit found out that Chris was still alive, he set out to finish what he

started. The mastermind of today's pirate attack on Sierra III was

Chris's very own uncle… Uh, what was his name again?"

"It's Balthazar Daleinwald, Hiro-sama."

It was Mimi who gave the name of Chris's uncle.

"Oh, right. There's a high chance the mastermind behind this pirate

attack was that Balthazar Daleinwald. They even managed to attack the

island we were staying at by sending in combat robots."

"...Can you give me more details about this matter?"

We all moved to the sofas and started explaining the ins and outs of the

incident in more detail. The descent and attack of the combat robots

were recorded by Miro and sent to May. There was a copy saved in

Mimi's tablet terminal, so we handed over all the data and recordings

regarding the combat robots and the military-use stealth dropship to

Major Serena.

"...Well, this is certainly some detailed evidence. And it's something

we can't just ignore."

After looking over the data, Major Serena's face contorted into a

grimace.

"Is it about the stealth dropships?"

"Yes. They normally can't be purchased by any private individual and

are reserved strictly for military use. I wonder just what methods he

used to procure them...?"

The combat robots, on the other hand, were not military models and

were comparably easier to obtain, so a son of the Daleinwald House

would be able to obtain a number of them as long as he had the Enels to

spend. And that's something to be thankful for. If we faced actual

military models, we probably would have not come out of that attack

unscathed.

"I now understand that this matter is something we, the imperial

military, cannot ignore. In summary, that Balthazar person might try

something desperate now that his plans are close to failing, so you're

aiming to use our fleet as a convenient refuge, right?"

"Well, that's about right, I guess."

"So you admit it..."

"Well, it's not like denying it will do any good at this point. And I'm an

honest gentleman after all. And it's not like this matter won't bring you

any benefits either, right?"

"Haaa... Well, alright. But hiring our services won't be cheap, you

know?"

"Oh c'mon. Think of this as a way of paying back all the favors you owe

us, major. I'm sure you're not the type to take advantage of honest folk

like us, right?"

"Gununu..."

Major Serena's body shook like that of a newborn fawn's as her face

displayed a mortified expression. Hahaha, how amusing.

"Think about it this way. If you help us out with this matter, I'll consider

us even, so ain't it quite cheap?"

"Yes, yes, whatever you say… Honestly. Well then, Captain Hiro. I will

officially hire you as guards for some civilian cargo transport ships

affiliated with us. That arrangement should be fine, right?"

"You expect me to just agree with just that, major? Give me the details

first."

"…Tsk."

What the heck are you clicking your tongue for, lady?

"There are two civilian cargo ships affiliated with this fleet, and they're

privately owned by House Holz. One is a Pelican IV and the other is a

Flying Tortoise. I plan to hire you to guard these two civilian ships."

"Hey, wait a minute. These so-called civilian cargo ships of House Holz

are the ones you use for luring pirates, right?"

"Ohohoho, oh come now. It's just that those two ships attract pirates on

a regular basis so we have no choice but to come to their rescue every

time. But, considering your superb skills, you should have no trouble

fighting those pirates off or annihilating them, correct?"

Maybe she's had enough. Major Serena's expression was filled with

annoyance, and it was all directed towards me. Kuh. Well, it would be

nice to lure the enemies out of their fox holes and take care of

everything in one go, but... Oh well. This is better than taking them all

on by our lonesome anyway. After buying enough time, the independent

anti-pirate fleet will take care of the rest.

"Okay then. We'll go with that. So what about compensation?"

"The standard compensation for a Gold rank mercenary is 80,000 Enels

per day."

"...Ain't that too cheap?"

"We'll pay the rewards for every destroyed pirate ship separately after

all."

I moved my gaze toward Elma.

"Well, considering the situation, shouldn't we be thankful we even get

paid in the first place?"

"You have a point… Okay, I understand. We'll take you up on that offer,

major."

"Alright. Well then, I'll be arranging everything with the Mercenary

Guild first, so just wait inside this ship for the meantime."

"Okay."

"Would you like us to take custody of you, Christina-san?"

Major Serena looked towards Chris with a questioning gaze. I turned

toward her as well, and saw her shake her head. It looks like she wants

to stay on Krishna.

"Well, there you have it. Thank you for the offer though."

"I see. Well, to a young girl, staying on a military ship filled with stuffy

soldiers doesn't seem too appealing, I guess."

Major Serena nodded in agreement. But ain't Major Serena also a girl? I

turned a questioning gaze toward her.

"Aside from being a girl, I am a trained military officer and a full-fledged

noble after all. I'm also skilled with a sword."

Major Serena smiled boldly. So she's skilled with a sword huh. Was she

comparable to those knights wielding sabers of light and some sort of

force who can deflect laser shots with said sabers? How curious.

"We'll excuse ourselves then."

"Alright. I'll call for one of my men to act as your guide. It won't do if you

accidentally find yourself in a classified area after all."

After saying so, Major Serena took out a portable communicator and

relayed some orders.

Whew. We can finally rest easier now. With their assistance, the danger

has lessened considerably. Man, it sure is nice to have connections.