The Military’s Assessment

"Welcome back."

"Welcome back, big brother."

"I'm back."

We safely returned to Black Lotus and found the mechanic sisters waiting

for us when we stepped out to the hangar. They were sporting their work

overalls and led a bunch of maintenance bots. It looks like they were going

to service the Krishna straight away.

"What about Big Sis Elma and Mimi?"

"Both of them are resting up inside their rooms on Krishna. Today's battle

was hard on them mentally."

"Well, of course, it was…"

Whisker displayed a pitying expression as she looked up at Krishna.

"I don't think it was that bad… It was fairly safe actually."

"You really do have a few screws loose, don't you, boss?"

"Oh c'mon?"

"You do… We watched the whole thing via Black Lotus's monitor y'know.

One small misstep and you guys were done for."

"Well, don't you think avoiding crystal lifeforms is way easier than

avoiding laser cannon fire?"

You can't technically avoid a laser after all. Instead of avoiding laser fire

directly, you had to predict the trajectory in advance and get out of the way.

If you couldn't, then you would just have to pray your shields and armor

will hold out.

"I think it's wrong to compare it to laser bombardment in the first place

though… Anyway, that's not the problem. Are you really not afraid of

getting into a situation where one mistake will cost your life, boss?"

"Hm… If you put it that way, maybe it was a bit scary after all. But it's just

a matter of getting used to it."

"Is it?"

"Yep. It is. You'll be fine once you get used to the feeling."

I could only justify it like this. I would certainly be lying if I said that I feel

absolutely no fear when placed in situations where one mistake can cause

me to die, but in my opinion, it's much the same as driving cars back on

Earth. If you made a mistake in handling while you're traversing the

mountain roads, you'd crash against the guardrail and possibly fall to your

untimely death.

"I see… Anyway, we'll get right to servicing Krishna now boss."

"Yeah, go ahead. We didn't get hit much, so just pay attention to the

undercarriage, generator, and shield emitters, okay?"

"I get it, boss. Okay then. We'll get to work now."

"Ou. Safety first."

"Okey-dokey."

I want to stress the idea of 'safety first'. But maybe it wasn't necessary after

all. The maintenance bots would do most of the work anyway. But it sure is

handy to have Krishna get maintenance anytime without having to go to

port. Of course, there's a limit too, since we'll need to procure replacement

parts and supplies from time to time.

After observing the work of the mechanic sisters and maintenance bots for a

short while, I headed for the cockpit of Black Lotus.

"Welcome back, Master."

"Yeah. I'm back. What's the situation?"

"The imperial garrison was very thorough in wiping out the remaining

crystal lifeforms. They are currently in the phase of collecting and

disposing of the remains."

"There's quite a lot out there huh."

"Yes. But they can't be careless."

"Yeah, that's true."

The remains of crystal lifeforms were fairly valuable. For example, they

were used as materials for making the lens components inside laser

cannons, alternative energy sources, among other utilities. However, it was

very dangerous to get in contact with 'live' crystal remains. If you

carelessly touch one barehanded, chances are you'd end up getting your

whole arm crystalized instead of just your fingers.

There's also a danger of 'live' crystal remains gathering and reforming into

a full crystal lifeform if you store enough numbers of them in close

proximity. And so, the imperial military would comb through the remains

and retrieve only the useable ones while disposing of the unusable and live

ones by incinerating them with laser fire.

But I wonder what happens to the loot retrieved by imperial forces though?

Will they become part of the soldier's salaries? Or maybe they'll go straight

to the military's coffers… Well, not that it matters to me anyway.

"This would probably take quite a bit of time huh."

"According to my estimate, it would take approximately 2 hours."

"Sure is rough for the military folk. I'd rather unload the delivery goods as

soon as possible and get out of here quicker though…"

"I have already informed Major Serena about the goods. She will probably

contact us soon.

[This is crazy.]

I included Krishna's battle data as well as Restalias and Black Lotus's

observation data in my report and handed them over to my superiors for

evaluation. And when I mentioned giving Krishna and Black Lotus special

rewards for their contributions in today's battle, my superiors reacted as

such.

The commanding officers for each of the fleets stationed in the Izrooks

system were now participating in the meeting as well, and their reactions

were much the same. But I do understand where they're coming from. But

that's just how crazy of an existence that man was.

[I did wonder why there was a major change in the movement and attack

patterns of the crystal lifeforms in the middle of today's battle, but to think

something like this happened.]

[Can we make use of this battle data somehow?]

[You mean analyzing this data and implementing it in our tactics? That

would be possible if we would be allowed to put independent AIs into

practical use but… it probably won't push through. Being consumed by the

crystal lifeforms is fatal for the AIs as well. They also have a strong sense

of self-preservation you know.]

[In the first place, it's impossible for us to mass produce a specialized ship

such as this… And even if we did, it would probably just turn out to be a

kamikaze torpedo boat or something anyway.]

[Even that would be more useful than those silly suppression ships

though.]

[Okay, please stop saying words of criticism against that particular model.

You'll be challenged by the Drawn Sword faction members to a life and

death duel if they ever got wind of it y'know.]

Discussions regarding the suppression ship certainly was a dangerous topic

right now. I'm not part of the Drawn Sword faction, but there were quite a

lot of particularly fanatical members in the military after all.

"In my opinion, we should recognize the fact that they contributed greatly

to tipping the balance of the battle, so we should give them the appropriate

compensation for their efforts."

There were quite a lot of assenting opinions after I stated my piece.

[I agree that merits should be properly rewarded as well. That's especially

true for them since they played an essential part in our victory today.]

[Judging from the battle data alone, this mercenary group really pulled out

all the stops and didn't hold anything back. What should we do?]

[We'll just have to recognize their contributions. Their achievements are

obvious to everyone. We'll need to inform the accounting department.]

"Thank you very much."

I was able to fulfill my promise to him at least. In any case, this can be

considered a success.

[Will he be staying on the base for a while?]

"I wonder. I did hear they were planning to depart once they unload the

supplies we hired them to deliver."

[If possible, I want you to get him to stay for a while more. We want as

much excellent personnel as we can right now.]

"I will try my best…"

It would probably be no use, but I didn't say my thoughts aloud. I've

already tried to entice him lots of times, but he just wouldn't budge. But

when push comes to shove, there's only one way to ensure he'll stay here

for the time being.

"I shall need your cooperation if we want him to stay."

[The rest of the commanding officers have acknowledged your merits, so

you should be able to expect a satisfactory reward.]

It's been an hour since I started watching the imperial military work

earnestly to clean up the battlefield. A call from Major Serena's Restalias

came in, so I was now talking to her again in front of the holo-display.

"That's good to hear. I'll be very disappointed if I worked that hard for

nothing after all. Oh, right. Can I get my ammo resupplied as well? I used

up four reactive torpedoes in the battle earlier too."

[I believe we still have some torpedoes on stock, so that should be no

problem. We will give them to you free of charge, of course, so don't

worry.]

"That would be great, but…"

I wonder. Aren't they being way too accommodating? Uh, but maybe

they're just feeling really thankful for my timely assistance or

something…? My trouble sensor was giving off an alarm right now.

[We have verified the details of the delivery as well, so please land inside

the outpost for the time being. The accounting department will get in

contact with your regarding your payment for the delivery as well as your

rewards for today's battle later on.]

"Good… But I wonder if you're planning something shady again, miss

major?"

[My. Of course not. What made you say so?]

I couldn't glean anything from Major Serena's expression. She'll act like a

no-good onee-san when she's drunk, but when she's in her element, she's an

exemplary military officer. If it was May, she would probably be able to

notice something by observing the subtle changes in her reactions, but

unfortunately, I can't do the same.

"…Oh well. I guess I'll just express my thanks then. We'll land the Black

Lotus on the outpost then."

[Yes. The warning alarm for crystal lifeform attacks has deactivated, so it's

probably safe now, but do still be careful.]

"Roger. Oh yeah. I have some dwarven liquor on stock right now actually.

Can I sell them to some of the soldiers in the base later?"

[We are a little short on leisure items like that, so it's good timing, I think.

You'll be able to sell them at a good price. Of course, I'll be purchasing

some as well.]

"Don't overdrink like before, okay."

[Of course.]

Major Serena's perfect smile twitched after hearing my warning. I guess she

just remembered the mess she caused in the Alein system. Major Serena

still owes us for that as well. Well, I guess we can count her help this time

as a form of repayment.

"See you then. Be careful out there."

[Yes. If you'll excuse me.]

Major Serena nodded back and cut the call.

"What do you think?"

"I believe they want Master to stay here and help out as part of the fighting

force."

"I thought so too."

Well, I guess I could accept if they offer me appropriate compensation. It's

the military, so they probably would not neglect to pay up. But it's possible

that they'll overestimate my ability and have me do something ridiculous as

well though. There are things I can and can't do… If they ever tell me

something like dealing with a crystal lifeform swarm by myself, that would

be absolutely impossible. But I'm sure they're aware of that as well, so they

probably won't ask something that unreasonable.

"Well, it's fine as long as they don't request something too ridiculous."

"We will be able to take advantage of this opportunity to make further

connections with the imperial military as well."

"Yeah, there's that too. Let's just do our best then."

In SOL, this would be classified as a faction quest. Basically, you'd be able

to increase affinity points with a certain faction by taking up various jobs

for them. That would net you various useful benefits. When playing as a

mercenary, you'd find it much easier to increase your affinity with the

military. The one that offers and pays the bounties for pirates is the military

after all.

As your affinity points with the military gradually increase, you'd be able to

take on lots more subjugation quests, get ammo and supply discounts when

purchasing them from the military, and in some cases, will be offered

military-grade equipment that's normally not available to the general

public. Sometimes, you get them for free as quest rewards. It's a very good

faction to raise affinity for mercenary players. Of course, if you get all

chummy with a certain country's military forces, you'd be viewed with

hostility by pacifist organizations and the forces of enemy nations, so it's

not all sunshine and rainbows.

"And I probably shouldn't expect the benefits to be just how it was in the

game…"

This world was similar to SOL, but the conditions for getting along with the

military aren't as clear cut as in the game. This wasn't a game after all.

There's a good chance we'll be dragged into something troublesome.

"I hope it's nothing too troublesome though."

"It's as you say, Master. But I do not know if that sentiment of yours will be

realized though."

So you're saying it's almost certain I was going to be caught up in

something troublesome?

Well, I was actually thinking the same thing. There have been lots of flags

popping up after all. We got caught up in a crystal lifeform raid the moment

we arrived and met the imperial officer we formed a certain connection

with. There's no way this would end without any incident… Yeah, that's

right. Let's just keep our wits about then.