Ship Handover

It's been three days since we engaged in a pirate hunt. We didn't engage

in any more pirate hunting after that one time and just spent our time

lounging around inside Krishna.

Eh? Will we be okay with not working, you ask? It's not like we can't

afford to not have any income right now, and when the mothership gets

delivered, we'll perform some joint maneuver drills with Krishna, then

get right back into pirate hunting. Krishna's good to go, judging from its

performance on the last sortie.

Well, it's not like we just spent all of our time staying inside Krishna

anyway. I went shopping with Mimi, visited dwarven bars with Elma,

and went to the imperial military barracks with May in order to pick up

the bounty rewards for the pirates we just exterminated.

The reward for the bandits and the profits from the sale of the

plundered loot totaled 135,000 Enels. The bounty reward was 112,000

Enels, and the profit from the loot was 23,000.

Mimi's salary increased from 0.5% to 1%, so her share of the money is

1,350 Enels. Elma's salary was still 3%, so her share was 4,050 Enels.

After subtracting their salaries, my share amounts to 129,600 Enels.

It may seem that I take a lion's share of the profit, but that's not really

the case.

The ship was 100% mine, and I also served as the main pilot. I'm also

obligated to provide food, clothing, and shelter for the two of them, and

I needed to provide fringe benefits as well, so there's actually a lot on

my plate. Considering that, my share wouldn't seem that unreasonable

at all. The Mercenary Guild was the one that set the standard salary, so I

don't think they'd shortchange any party.

If the ship was jointly owned, the percentage of the shares would be

quite different. How much one contributed to the purchase of the main

ship seems to be a major deciding factor in the calculation of the

reward distribution.

"We're finally going to receive the mothership!"

Mimi squealed in excitement while we were on the way to the private

dock where the brand new mothership was moored.

"Yeah. It sure felt like forever. By the way, have you decided on a name

for the new ship, Hiro?"

"A name huh… Right, we should have decided on a name. I kinda forgot."

What would be good, I wonder. I wasn't really particular with ship

names back when I was playing the game and usually used the default

ones.

"Is Skizbrazunil no good?"

"Not really. But, y'know… I want one with more character."

Character huh. But Skizbrazunil did sound a bit too plain. And come to

think of it, Skizbrazunil was a name derived from Norse mythology

while Krishna was the name of a hero in Indian myth. I believe he was

one of Vishnu's incarnations. It's difficult to think up of a name that will

harmonize the two. They're from completely different mythologies after

all. And I only managed to learn about Krishna's origin when I searched

the internet on a whim back when I first got the ship. If I didn't do so, I

wouldn't have any idea about it at all.

Hmm. Let me try cooking something up using the internet trivia I barely

remember. Oh, I think I got one.

"How about Garuda?"

"Garuda?"

"It's the name of a sacred bird that served as a divine steed. Krishna is

named after an incarnation of a god in the first place, and Vishnu, his

persona as a god, rode the Garuda; a divine bird that shone as bright as

brilliant flames."

I actually don't know for sure if Vishnu really rode on Garuda in the first

place since I didn't manage to search it up back then, but who cares

anyway.

"A bird huh… Um, but the ship really doesn't look much like a bird

though."

"…Hm, you're right."

The Skizbrazunil was quite a beefy-looking ship and sported an

appearance that was far removed from the grace and elegance

associated with birds. It certainly didn't fit huh.

"Hm. How about Lotus then?"

"Lotus? That's the name of a plant, right? Or was it a flower?"

"Yep. It's both the name of the plant and the flower it produces. In my

hometown, gods were often depicted sitting on top of lotus flowers."

I'm talking about the so-called lotus position. Gods and Buddha were

often depicted sitting or standing on them in Buddhist murals and

sculptures. Since it was a seat used by gods, wouldn't it fit nicely?

There's a close relationship between Hinduism and Buddhism anyway.

"But lotus flowers range from white to pale pink, right? Our mothership

is predominantly black, so it still doesn't fit."

"So we'll just call it Black Lotus. It's a pretty grand-sounding name.

Expensive too."

"Grand and… expensive…?"

"Nevermind that."

Mimi tilted her head in bewilderment after hearing my remarks. It's a

name that raises the charm of anything by at least three points. That's

especially true for car nuts.

"Well, at least Black Lotus sounds more appropriate than Garuda."

"Yes, that's right. Naming it after a flower is kinda cute as well."

"Okay then. Are you fine with the name too, May?"

"Yes."

May, who was following after us, nodded quietly. May's hair and eyes

are black. Her maid uniform was also a mix of white and black. Her

piloting a ship called Black Lotus was surprisingly on point.

"We've been waiting for you all."

When we arrived at the private dock, we found Sara waiting for us

there. There were others with her, but I only recognized Sara. Well, the

male dwarf standing near Sara was kinda familiar, I guess. He may be

one of the company bosses who paid us a visit along with her a couple

of days back. Honestly speaking, male dwarves all sported dense

beards, so it was kinda hard to differentiate them.

"Hey. It's finally time huh."

After greeting them, I looked up at the newly minted mothership; the

Skizbrazunil – Black Lotus. It was several times larger than Krishna.

Krishna was already pretty big despite being classified as a small ship,

but even two of it wouldn't compare to the size of the ship before me.

The overall form was streamlined despite its bulk. Actually, it had a lot

of curves, and almost no part of the hull was completely flat. Was this

intentional? Did it have to do with structural stability or something?

From the side, its silhouette kinda resembled that of a laser rifle. The

bow, which protruded imposingly, was shaped like a rectangular pillar

with rounded corners. The various gun emplacements were concealed

beneath the movable armor sections, which would slide out once the

weapon systems were deployed.

The large-caliber EML was mounted on the upper part of the fuselage,

and it was also cleverly concealed with a large patch of moveable armor.

When deployed, the armor will slide to the sides and reveal its form just

like the other concealed turrets.

"Mm. Great. It looks really cool."

Man, a new ship sure makes my male heart dance with glee. The Black

Lotus, which was armed to the teeth at May's behest, was technically

superior to Krishna in terms of overall firepower.

The EML was difficult to wield, but it rivaled the main guns of military

battleships in pure destructive power. Even Krishna wouldn't fare well

if it takes a direct hit from something like that. As for pirate ships,

they'd definitely be turned into space debris in an instant.

In terms of specs, it rivals the cruiser class of imperial warships.

However, one ship still wouldn't be able to take on an entire imperial

fleet, no matter its specs. The imperial military has thousands of ships

that are comparable or better than Black Lotus, so we'd definitely lose if

we picked a fight with that kind of force.

Krishna only managed to deal with the Vereverem Federation fleet back

on the Termaine system due to employing some rare tricks. If we took

on that fleet head-on, we would have been obliterated.

So how would enemies take down the Black Lotus? It looks like the

lower hull was a blind spot, so if they focused their attacks there, it

would be possible to sink it. It would be dangerous to use it in a direct

exchange after all.

"Hiro-sama's eyes have a certain twinkle to them."

"Men generally act like little kids in front of new ships, Mimi."

"…Master is so cute."

I was surprised by May's words and turned my gaze toward her. Mimi

and Elma's eyes also widened in surprise and followed suit.

"What is it?"

"N-No, it's nothing."

I was just surprised by her unexpected words. To think she'd describe

me as cute. Now I'm getting kinda embarrassed here.

"I'm glad you all seem to like it."

Sara also had a gentle smile on her lips as she observed me gushing

over the new mothership. Ugh. What a blunder.

"Alright then. How about a tour inside?"

"Yeah, okay."

We climbed the ramp that was brought down by Sara and boarded the

ship. Part of the interior was renovated to a living space on par with

Krishna's, but the corridors we were currently walking on looked pretty

standard. Even so, they displayed their expertise as ship makers by

making sure the passages were reasonably wide and had no

unnecessary protrusions that may cause accidents if one weren't

careful. It all felt quite refined, and it looks like you won't get hurt that

much even if you accidentally collide with the walls.

"It looks like the ship's inner walls are covered with shock-absorbing

material."

Elma pointed out in amazement as she touched the white walls. I also

tried touching it as well. It was a fascinating material. It lacked luster

and felt like plastic. But if you put some pressure onto it, the material

sinks. How should I describe it? Uh, fluid plastic? I wasn't familiar with

this type of material at all. Perhaps it's a high-tech material only

available in this dimension.

"Yes. This will make it less likely to get injured when one gets slammed

onto the walls due to outside impact or sudden maneuvers. It also

offers high thermal insulation which improves the ship's overall energy

efficiency."

"I see. It would lessen the energy needed to run the air conditioning

systems huh."

"Precisely."

After inspecting the mysterious texture of the walls, we proceeded to

the hangar, which also doubled as a cargo hold.

"Oh, you finally came boss."

"Good day, everyone."

Tina and Whisker, who were both in work overalls, were already

waiting within. Apparently, they were busy checking the equipment and

supplies for maintenance and repairs.

"We will be in your care starting today. Please go easy on us, boss."

"We're looking forward to working with you all."

Tina raised one hand in greeting and Whisker made a slight bow.

"Yeah. Likewise. Well, compared to staying on Krishna, staying on this

ship will–"

I'm planning to use this as pirate bait, so it's relatively risky to stay

here. It had tough shields and thick armor, so I think it'll be alright. It

won't go down that easily.

"–probably be safe. But memorize the evacuation routes and escape pod

placements just in case."

"You just made a strange pause boss!? You sure it'll be okay?"

"It's okay. Absolutely no problem!"

I can't really tell them I'm planning to use the ship as pirate bait huh.

Meh. I'll just tell them later on. Hahaha.

I ignored Tina, who displayed a doubtful expression and checked out

the hangar and cargo hold. It was very big and spacious. The Krishna's

cargo hold can't even begin to compare. We'll finally be able to take on

some transport requests with this baby. We'll be able to engage in trade

as well. With this, our moneymaking options just multiplied severalfold.

"Let's head to the cockpit next, everyone. But before that, let's stop by

the break hall and the dining hall along the way."

"Okay. We'll see you later guys."

"Okey dokey boss."

"Yes."

We left the sisters to their work and started following after Sara once

more. Man, this ship really is big. As expected of a mothership.