At the Restalias

"Take care, everyone. Leave everything here to us."

"Uu… Booze… I also wanna go..."

"Big sis… We have to prioritize work right now, okay."

Mimi, Elma, and I headed to the Restalias, which was the flagship of the

Independent Anti-Pirate Mobile Fleet, as the other three saw us off.

I did feel a bit uneasy about leaving May, Tina, and Whisker to deal with

that temperamental merc on their own though… But I guess those three

would probably be fine anyway. There aren't a lot of people who could

duke it out with May without using power armor anyway, and Tina and

Whisker were actually stronger than me despite their cute appearances. I

guess there's no problem. Or rather, I was the second to the weakest within

the crew when it comes to pure physical strength. I only ranked above

Mimi.

I mulled over such pointless things as I launched Krishna out into space.

The scenery outside was quite spectacular. There were quite a lot of

mercenary and imperial starships parked all around us, and the mercenary

ships were especially eye-catching since no two ships were alike.

Strictly speaking, there were ships with the same base model, but each ship

was heavily customized and painted according to each owner's preferences.

Some are so heavily customized that you wouldn't even be able to

recognize the base model. Some had sharp spikes and protrusions all over

their hulls, and some had wing stabilizers that didn't serve any particular

purpose whatsoever. Did those guys want to feel like they were flying in the

sky while out in space, I wonder?

Of course, there were also some that didn't get customized much at all and

still retained their basic looks. Well, it depends on each person's taste after

all… By the way, I also didn't have any qualms about heavily customizing

the exterior appearance of a ship if it was necessary. Before I got Krishna,

my last ship was customized heavily as well. There wasn't even a hint of

the original base model. I didn't put on any meaningless stabilizers or the

like though.

Some of my buddies opted to put on those spikes and stabilizers too in

order to get that end-of-the-century 'Hyahaah!' look, while some opted for

more classy designs. Uh, but no matter how much of a fan of the end-ofthe-century 'Hyahaah!' gang those guys were, I still think modifying the

attitude control thrusters of their ships so they could spit fire jets like

flamethrowers were too much unnecessary drama. But that method did

make it slightly difficult to judge how much they floored their thrusters by

masking it with the flames, so it's not like there wasn't any practical benefit

at all… Ugh. Okay, let's just stop there.

"That ship looks really cool…"

"Eh…?"

"Eh…?"

I and Elma let out puzzled gasps as we looked at Mimi, whose eyes were

sparkling as she gazed at a particular mercenary ship. I mean, c'mon. They

have too much unnecessary stuff on the hull, like spikes, large screw-like

protrusions, and a huge skull-head on the bow… So Mimi was also a fan of

this kind of stuff. Krishna would probably turn out like that ship if we ever

left customizing it to Mimi huh.

"I like a ship with a sharper and more elegant design."

"Yeah. But you don't care much about the interior, do you?"

"I'll properly focus on the interior design as well next time, okay…"

The last ship Elma purchased really was aesthetically beautiful from the

outside. But the interior looked quite crude and spartan due to her strange

fixations. So Elma was the type who judged mostly by looks and not

substance, huh.

We continued to talk about the other mercenary ships all around us as we

headed for Restalias and finally reached it after a few minutes.

Actually, we experienced being scanned several times from different

directions as we made our way to Restalias. Perhaps they were wondering

why a relatively undamaged ship was heading for the flagship while the

fleet was currently on stand-by. And Krishna was a rare and unusual ship as

well. It didn't really bother us, so we just let them do as they liked.

Mimi sent a docking request over to Restalias, and it was immediately

approved. It was still a bit earlier than the appointed time, but they should

have been told we would be coming over already. I immediately flew the

ship behind the landing hatch of Restalias and activated the auto-docking

program. A certain space elf was still complaining beside me while

murmuring stuff like 'auto-docking is heresy' or something like that. Elma

was a diehard fan of manual docking as always.

"There we go. We've arrived. Let's head out guys."

"Yes!"

"…Okay."

Mimi had a big smile plastered on her face as she looked forward to the

imperial military's 'best menu', but Elma looked slightly less enthusiastic

due to the auto-docking sequence from earlier. Just admit how convenient it

is already, you stubborn elf.

I checked the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal pinned on my jacket and

started walking ahead with the pair of noble-issue swords strapped to each

side of my waist. After I received the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal,

May expressly told me to always wear it on me if possible along with the

swords in addition to my laser gun. I didn't really like them that much since

they made me stand out, but she told me they would allow me to avoid

unnecessary trouble since the medal and swords will make other people

treat me the same way as an imperial knight in accordance with imperial

law and customs.

It was May's advice after all. And Elma didn't say anything about it either,

so there probably was no danger of dangerous noble factions like the Drawn

Sword eyeing me and suddenly challenging me to a sword duel to the death.

I, of course, knew jack squat about swords and swordsmanship, so if a real

noble did challenge me to a sword duel, the outcome is already fairly

obvious. Should I take some swordsmanship lessons from May…? Or

maybe it was more practical to just leave the medal whenever I go out? I

think so, anyway.

I got off Krishna while feeling slightly annoyed by the weight of the swords

strapped to my waist, and found an imperial soldier already waiting outside

for us.

"Welcome to Restalias, everyone. I shall serve as your guide this fine

evening."

"Thank you for the trouble, sir."

We exchanged salutes, and the soldier started walking ahead to lead us.

Well, this ship was like a familiar neighbor's house to me already in a

sense. I used to walk around it a lot when I was teaching Major Serena's

fleet about pirate hunting tactics.

"…Everyone seems to be quite busy."

"We just finished engaging in a battle after all. They probably have some

post-processing work to deal with."

"But then, is it okay to have a dinner banquet in the middle of this

situation?"

"This dinner is also part of the post-battle proceedings after all. They have

to make a good show of rewarding the battle's top ace to the rest of the

fleet."

"I see…"

As we continued such discussions, we finally reached an exclusive dining

room for senior officers. It seems that within Restalias, this dining room

was exclusive to the highest-ranking senior officers in the ship, including

the captain, Major Serena.

"But it actually isn't used all that much huh."

It also seems that Major Serena and the other senior officers rarely used this

dining room since they found it far too luxurious and couldn't properly

relax while having their meals. On Restalias, they often held meetings and

the like during meals, so the exclusive senior officer's dining room, which

was fairly small and couldn't house that many people, was hardly used as a

result. I see.

"Then they shouldn't have installed one in the first place, right?"

"That won't do. Major Serena doesn't use it much, but there are also

imperial nobles who would probably prefer dining in it as well."

"So they want to behave and feel like proper aristocrats or something huh?"

"That's right. Large ships that serve as fleet flagships usually have facilities

like this one installed in them to meet the demands of such people. That's

also part of the reason why they look really fancy. Major Serena might not

like coming here much, but there's no telling if the next captain assigned

here would be the same."

"I see."

Mimi and I acted all impressed by Elma's strangely extensive knowledge on

the subject as we entered the dining room. The soldier then guided us to our

seats. Maybe we're too early because I haven't spotted Major Serena yet.

"The furnishings including the table all look super luxurious, Hiro-sama."

"They certainly won't look out of place in a fancy high-end restaurant. I'm

not really confident in my table manners though. I don't even know the

proper way to use the cutlery."

Should I use them from the outside going in or something? I don't have

much knowledge regarding this particular subject. Honestly, it's probably

impossible for an average Japanese citizen to be familiar with how to

formally use fancy cutlery. As for me, my only dining experiences outside

amount to eating gyuudon, udon, ramen, family restaurant comfort food,

steaks at public steakhouses, and conveyor belt sushi. I haven't experienced

eating at a fancy French or Italian restaurant at all back on Earth.

"This isn't a formal dinner organized for imperial nobles anyway, so I think

they won't be too particular with manners and such. It'll be okay as long as

you don't do stuff like eating with your hands or licking the plate clean."

"As if I'd do that anything like that."

"Yeah."

Mimi also made a strained smile. It's not like I grew up out in the wild or

anything.

"There's all kinds of mercenaries after all. You're comparably more refined

than most of them, Hiro. You don't drink or take drugs, you don't spend all

your money gambling, and you don't frequent brothels either. In the eyes of

other mercenaries, you might even seem too uptight, or just acting all

pretentious and stoic."

"I definitely don't think I'm elegant or stoic though."

In the first place, there ain't anything elegant or stoic about my time spent

flirting with Mimi, Elma, and May. I'm simply just too weak against

alcohol and aren't interested in gambling or drugs.

"I think you're perfect as you are, Hiro-sama. You're wonderful."

"Well, I guess he is. I certainly don't want to see Hiro indulging in drugs or

alcohol and losing himself."

"There's no need to worry. I won't ever become like that, okay."

"I sure hope so. Our reputation will take a hit as well if someone awarded

with the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal were to engage in such

unscrupulous things after all."

Major Serena finally entered the dining room while saying so. It was such

exquisite timing. Was she actually listening in on our conversation from

outside? No, maybe they have cameras set up all over the room and were

monitoring our conversation.

"A pleasant evening, major. We thank you for your gracious invitation

tonight."

Major Serena displayed a strained smile when she saw me standing up and

making a formal bow while placing one hand on my chest. Mimi and Elma

hurriedly stood up as well.

"Oh please. Seeing you act like that is making my back all itchy. I'm not

worthy of such a formal gesture, so please be at ease."

"Thanks."

And then, three other senior officers followed after Major Serena and went

over to the table. One of them was Major Serena's adjutant, Lieutenant

Robbitson. I wasn't familiar with the other two.

One was a buff-looking middle-aged guy, and the other was a young

woman who looked to be the same age as Major Serena. A sword was

strapped to the waist of the middle-aged man, so he was probably an

imperial noble as well.

"I'm Colonel Wilbert Broadwell. I am the commander of the 1st Recon

Fleet."

"I'm Lieutenant Cecil Plant. I serve as Colonel Broadwell's adjutant."

"I'm the owner and captain of Krishna and Black Lotus, Captain Hiro. This

is my sub-pilot, Elma, and my operator, Mimi. It's a pleasure to make your

acquaintance."

So these people were the head honchos of the 1st Recon fleet huh. Well, the

1st Recon Fleet did rush over to provide reinforcements so I guess it wasn't

strange that these two were here.

"You must all be tired from standing around, so why don't we take our seats

and make a toast to start things off?"

Major Serena urged everyone to take a seat. Now then, what kind of dinner

will this be, I wonder.