Parting

"Man, that was some good eating."

After gorging on the pizza and fried chicken Tetsujin V made for the

party, I immediately took a bath and returned to my room.

Eh? What about the party, you ask? Everyone made a fuss about the

delicious menu including top-quality artificial meat and had a blast.

Anyway, we had a hell of a time. Well, there was one elf who kinda took

it to the next level after getting drunk though.

Since I was already full, I left the elf who was still drinking and making

noise to the two girls, as well as May and a maid from the earl's ship

who tagged along with Chris. I then took a bath and promptly returned

to my room. Apparently, I was more mentally and physically exhausted

after that intense battle than I expected. It washed over me all at once

at the latter half of the party.

"Man, what a rough day."

I fiddled with the bedside console and put up the security images taken

by the optical sensors installed all over Krishna on the holo-display.

What appeared before me was the image of the hangar Krishna was

parked in.

I saw the busy maintenance personnel and robots running around

busily inside the hangar. We had an enjoyable party on our end, but it

looks like Earl Daleinwald and his people were still busy dealing with

the aftermath of the incident.

It looks like some people from the Comatt system defense forces were

invited by Balthazar to participate in the failed attack, and according to

Chris, the Daleinwald house and the Comatt system forces were in the

middle of trying to clear things up.

None of that matters to a merc like me though! Currently, we are still on

standby inside Earl Daleinwald's ship until further notice. We were free

to do whatever we wanted while waiting though. If there was a need to

sortie due to some unexpected developments, we would have to

participate as well.

After clearing the battlefield, Earl Daleinwald and his fleet continued on

to the Comatt system main colony, Comatt Prime, in order to deal with

the captured ships, hospitalize the injured, get much-needed repairs

among other stuff. And we also had to tag along.

Since we already took care of the mastermind, Balthazar, and we were

already on Earl Daleinwald's home turf, this particular incident should

be considered finished now right? But it looks like the earl still wanted

to act prudently.

As I laid in bed while thinking about those matters, a chime notification

rang out. It looks like somebody wants to enter my room. Since the

doors of Krishna's rooms were pretty thick and airtight, you won't be

able to hear anything inside if people simply knocked. That's what the

electronic chime was for. Well, in Elma's case, she would persistently

knock on the door to the point where you can't help but notice though.

"Good evening."

"Y-Yeah. Good evening."

I thought it was Mimi who visited, but when I opened the door, the one

waiting outside was a black haired beautiful girl. In other words, it was

Chris.

I didn't really expect it to be Chris, so I went out just wearing boxers

and a tank top. In other words, I was just in my underwear.

"Uh, can you wait for a sec. I'll go change first."

"Yes. I'm sorry for dropping in on you so suddenly."

Since it's not proper to talk while just wearing undies, I hurriedly put

on some pants. Chris was kind enough to avert her gaze to the side

while I was changing with slightly red cheeks. Sorry about this, girl.

"Uh, so what's up?"

"There's nothing in particular, really… I just wanted to talk."

"Okay?"

The reason wasn't clear, but I can't just refuse her after all. I led Chris to

sit on the chair in front of the table placed a bit away from the bed. I

can't just let a young noble lady sit on a guy's bed after all. Uh, but

maybe inviting her into my room was already an offense in the first

place. Oh boy.

"Sorry. I don't have anything fancy like tea to offer you… Will this do?"

"Yes."

After seeing Chris nod, I took out a non-carbonated cola from my minifridge and placed it on top of the table beside her. Yep. It doesn't pack

much of a kick, but the sweet taste is still great.

"Well, uh, good job out there. In any case, you're already out of danger,

so congrats Chris."

"Yes, it's all thanks to you. My grandfather is also full of praise for your

actions."

"Really?"

But that old man always had a scowl on his face whenever he talked to

me though. Well, I guess I should be thankful that he acknowledged a

mere mercenary like me at least.

"Yes. He looked a bit grumpy, but he did say you were quite skilled."

"I see. It doesn't feel bad to be acknowledged."

I then remembered something and got up from the bed. I walked in

front of the closet and took out the necklace with the light purple jewel

attached. I left it inside the pocket of my favorite jacket.

"It's about time to return this to you."

"That's..."

Chris moved her gaze to the necklace on my palm. Her expression

looked a bit forlorn.

"Well, I still have to work as Chris's personal knight for a little bit more

though. But since I already received a reward for protecting Chris from

Earl Daleinwald, I think it's better to return this to you now. It's

something important to you, right?"

"...Yes."

When I presented the necklace to her, Chris obediently picked it up

with her small hands. I then placed another chair in front of Chris and

sat down.

"Um, I..."

"Yeah."

"I… towards Hiro-sama… I think of you as someone very special to me. I

think I may have fallen for you."

Chris gripped the necklace tightly with a red face as tears flowed down

from her eyes.

"...I see."

Well, I did kinda see this coming. I'm not that dense. We did bond

during our stay on the resort planet after all. Well, even discounting

that, a guy who willingly puts himself in harm's way to protect a girl in

desperate straits is a recipe for this kind of development.

Well, I could just chalk it off to being carried away at the heat of the

moment and leave it at that, but for this girl, it was a serious confession,

so I can't bring myself to do that. But, well…

"I did tell you this before, right? I have no intention of laying my hands

on a noble daughter… No, wait! Don't cry."

Chris's eyes flooded with tears after hearing me, so I wiped her eyes

with my hands in a fluster. Sorry for not having a handkerchief with me.

Just where did all that aggressive attitude that led to her tagging along

with Mimi to attempt to sneak inside my room, I wonder?

"It's just that we both are under certain circumstances, Chris. You have

your standing as a noble lady to consider, right? Balthazar is now

certain to be stripped of his right to inherit the house, so that would

leave Chris as the sole heir."

There's also an option of adopting an heir from talented persons from

within the rest of the family, but I'm not all too clear about something

like that.

"I don't think Earl Daleinwald would approve of Chris being in a

relationship with a guy from who-knows-where. On the off chance that

he did approve, I still can't accept. I don't have any intention of quitting

the mercenary business at this time after all."

If Earl Daleinwald did approve of our relationship somehow, I'd

probably marry into the family and get to live on a planet where I can

drink carbonated stuff as much as I want. It's possible, but it just

doesn't sit well with me for some reason. I probably want to accomplish

my dreams with my own efforts.

"Is it really no good…? Even if I say I'm willing to forsake my position as

the Daleinwald House heiress?"

"That's no good. If you do that, I'd be hunted down by Earl Dalienwald

without a doubt. I'm sorry, but I just can't throw everything I have right

now away to be with you. I'm really sorry, Chris."

Chris started tearing up again. My words were as good as rejection after

all; and a not so subtle one at that.

But it can't be helped. As I said, I don't have any intention to throw away

my current life with Mimi and Elma just to be with Chris. If I were

hunted down by the earl, I'm sure Mimi and Elma will be implicated as

well. As a man, and as the captain of this ship, I cannot put my crew,

who are also important women in my life, in any sort of danger

unreasonably.

In other words, I treasure Mimi and Elma more compared to Chris's

feelings. I'm really sorry about Chris. But it really can't be helped.

I took out my portable terminal and called May. After a short while, May

entered the room. I signaled toward Chris, who was still crying her

heart out.

"Sorry, May. Would you please?"

"It's no trouble, Master. Please leave it to me."

May then accompanied the crying Chris out of my room. I could have

tried to comfort her myself, but I'm not so skilled as to be able to

comfort a girl I practically just rejected. I had no choice but to leave it to

May.

"Uwaaaaah..."

I let out a big sigh as I plopped powerlessly on top of my bed. Let's just

sleep. Yeah.

I gradually drifted to sleep with the image of Chris crying sorrowfully

stuck to the back of my head.