Comatt Prime Colony

Since Comatt III's terraforming has been completed and full-scale

colonization efforts would now be beginning in earnest, Comatt Prime

colony will become the main supply and material relay station that would

cater to the needs of the colonists. The number of transactions that will take

place here would increase more than tenfold compared to when it was just

handling the raw ores and refined metals mined within Comatt system, and

Comatt Prime's future expansion plans would also take into account the

completion of planet Comatt IV's terraforming.

"It's so lively here!"

"Right now, it feels like you can sell off absolutely anything here as long as

you have it."

The demand for supplies such as food and daily necessities for the colonists

was currently at its peak. Cargo ships loaded with food, medicine,

household goods, building materials, and other goods are constantly

entering and exiting the docks of the colony. The goods accumulated here

would then be brought to the colony ships that will descend onto Comatt III

later on.

"Our first job will be to guard the colony ships as they descend onto the

planet huh."

"I don't think there would be any idiots who would attack colony ships

mid-descent though."

If a colony ship fails atmospheric reentry mid-descent, there's a good

chance of the supplies and the colonists themselves getting burnt to ashes in

the upper atmosphere or crashing headfirst onto the surface and returning to

the merciful arms of Buddha. If someone were to attack, they probably just

want to put a damper on Earl Dareinwald's business, but there's not enough

reason to risk doing so otherwise.

Moreover, if they do perform such an act of genocide, House Dareinwald

would be the least of their problems. The empire itself would be after their

collective throats. Depending on the circumstances, there's a chance of the

entire might of the empire mobilizing to take the perpetrators down in order

to capture them. That's seriously no joke, man.

"Okay, let's go ahead and meet up with Chris guys."

"Let's go, go, go. My stomach's cravin for some grub already, Boss."

"Um, sis, you skipped lunch so of course, you'd be hungry…"

"You sure are a little glutton, Tina."

"It's not like I'm the only one."

After retorting, Tina glanced at Mimi. Yeah, it's no use even if you avert

your eyes and pretend not to notice, girl. I wonder if Mimi also purposely

skipped her lunch.

"Come on, let's go, everyone! We can't let the client wait!"

"Alright, alright…"

The rest of us chased after Mimi and Tina, who started walking at a faster

pace and headed for the hotel where we would meet up with Chris.

"Let us toast to the success of the colonization of Comatt III! Cheers!"

"""Cheers!"""

After Chris raised a toast, each of the celebration participants held up their

cups and took a swig of their drinks.

"Puhaaah!"

Let's just ignore the elf and two dwarves who emptied their cups in one

gulp and cried out like old drunkards at a pub. By the way, my drink was

100% fruit juice.

I'll go and get some more food, Hiro-sama!"

"Ooh, me too! Me too!"

"Geez. Can you please just try to behave yourself even a little, big sis?"

Today's celebration party is an all-you-can-eat buffet, and each of us could

stuff ourselves as much as we like. Mimi and the rest rushed to the table as

soon as the food was brought out.

"They sure are pumped up."

"Look who's talking. You're already working on your second cup of

alcohol y'know."

Elma completely ignored my words and poured herself a cup of liquor. I

thought she poured beer for herself at first like earlier, but it looks like she

was now gonna drink some sort of wine.

"Just please don't get yourself too drunk. Spare me from that, okay."

"I'm pacing myself properly, so don't worry."

Well, since Elma says so, I guess it'll be fine. She does drink a lot whenever

she has the chance, but she rarely gets herself too drunk. Tina causes a mess

from time to time though, and Whisker's the one who cleans up after her.

"But there really are a lot of people here huh."

"That's just how many people are involved in this project."

I'm not sure if everyone at the venue is all involved in the colonization

project since they weren't wearing any nametags and such, but the party

venue was virtually packed with people.

I was wearing my usual mercenary getup. Mimi, Elma, Tina, and Whisker

were also wearing their usual clothes, so everyone could tell we were

mercenaries at first glance. Maybe they felt an aura of danger from me and

Elma or something, so no one worked up the courage to approach us and

left us alone.

"Have I gained the aura of a proper mercenary too?"

"Well, maybe. Lots of people saw you fighting in the tournament after all,

right? It seems the event was broadcasted all throughout the empire."

"I see. I'm unarmed today though."

I did bring my laser gun and swords with me, but I had to leave them with

the staff for safekeeping when we entered the hotel. That's why I'm

completely unarmed right now. Of course, Mimi and Elma also had to leave

their laser guns behind as well.

"Master."

"Mm? Ah…"

Mei, who was standing right behind me, signaled that a person was

approaching our group. When I saw who it was, I instinctively looked up at

the ceiling.

"I'm really going to get offended if you show such a reaction every single

time we meet, okay."

"Sorry, sorry. It's not like I bear any ill will against you. I just got taken

aback a bit when my prediction came true."

"And what exactly do you mean by ill will huh?"

It was a beautiful woman in a crisp military uniform being followed by her

subordinates. Yep. It's Lt. Col. Serena. She was glaring at me with

reproachful eyes. Hahaha, don't sweat the small stuff, ma'am.

"So you guys being here means–"

"It's as you think. We are hunting for pirates as usual, just like you all."

"Yeah, I thought so."

As we exchanged pleasantries, Mei approached us and handed drinks to Lt.

Col. Serena and her subordinates. It seems she brought them non-alcoholic

drinks.

"Thank you. By the way, I have a proposal for you, so hear me out for a

bit."

"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel."

"How does working together closely with us as much as possible sound to

you? Since we're already familiar with each other to some extent, I don't

think we'll have any problems cooperating."

"It's not a bad proposal, but we need to get the client's approval first. It's

impossible for us to act together with your unit at our own discretion after

all. Besides, there's a chance that House Dareinwald and the military's

defensive priorities may differ as well."

"That's true. Well then, we'll talk with House Dareinwald first."

"That's for the best."

I saw Lt. Col. Serena and the others off with a wave.

Actually, we would probably be able to hunt down more pirates if we acted

together with the Lieutenant Colonel and her fleet, but we'll lose our

operational flexibility in exchange. Besides, the total firepower of Lt. Col.

Serena's Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet was leagues above our own,

even with the addition of the Lotus. In other words, there's a risk of our

prey getting swiped due to the difference in raw firepower.

The total bounty rewards we would earn will decrease as a result, and since

the pirate ships will be blasted to bits with superior firepower, there's next

to no hope of capturing their ships intact to sell off as well. I'm sure there

would be a lot of overkill and the ships would be torn to bits.

In that sense, working together with the Lieutenant Colonel wasn't that

ideal for us.

"Well, Chris would probably refuse, don't you think?"

"Yeah."

Chris wanted to make use of our strength to earn some merits by repelling

pirate attacks together with us after all. However, if we work together with

the military, she'd lose the chance to earn those merits. And so, I think

Chris will have no choice but to refuse the Lieutenant Colonel. It seems

Elma was thinking the same as me.

"Working with nobles really comes with its fair share of troubles, huh."

"They'd be paying attention to our every move after all. It's a hassle for

sure."

That sure sounds convincing, especially since it was coming from a tomboy

who escaped from her home in order to avoid the life of an aristocrat.

"Now then, let's go and get some food as well, shall we? Our bellies won't

get satisfied with just drinks after all."

"Yeah. I'd like to get things that would pair well with alcohol."

"Be sure to drink in moderation, okay. Sheesh… Let's go, Mei."

"Yes, Master."

I went deeper into the party hall with Mei and Elma in tow.