Taking a Breather

When I managed to wake up, I found Mei peering down at me from

outside the medical pod just like she was doing before I fell asleep.

After confirming that I've regained consciousness, Mei operated the

console of the med-pod and opened the hatch.

"Good morning, Mei."

"Good morning, Master. Do you feel any problem regarding your body?

Any signs of dizziness, nausea, or headaches?"

"Nothing in particular. I think I'm in good shape."

"That's a relief. But head injuries are still quite dangerous. Please

undergo a thorough check-up at a decent medical facility as soon as

possible."

"Roger. So, what's the situation?"

I got up and asked Mei about the current situation as I slid my arms

inside the sleeves of my jacket, which Mei removed when she tossed me

inside the med-pod.

"We are now back inside the hangar of Black Lotus, which is still

anchored at Theta's integrated port facility."

"I see. What about everyone?"

"They have proceeded to rest up ever since we returned to the Black

Lotus, but they are now all awake."

When I checked the time on my portable info terminal while listening to

Mei's reply, I found that it was already a little past dinnertime. I was

feeling quite hungry though. I better grab something to eat.

"I'm hungry, so I'm gonna grab a bite in the dining area. But I better take

a bath first."

"Of course. I shall accompany you."

"I've already recovered from my injuries, so you don't really need to

mind me that much… but do you wanna have a bath together anyway?"

"Yes."

I felt Mei's mood dropping when I said she didn't have to mind me, so I

changed tack and asked her to take a bath with me instead. Mei seemed

to have been quite distressed and worried about us after all. And she

was indeed the one who came to our rescue in the end. I guess it's fine

to indulge her a little this time. She doesn't normally assert herself like

this after all.

We then moved to the slightly larger bath facility inside Black Lotus and

took our time bathing. After getting out, we proceeded to the Lotus'

dining hall. There, we managed to meet up with Mimi and the others,

who seemed to have just finished having their meals.

"Ah, Hiro-sama. Good morning."

"It's pretty late for greeting me good morning though."

"We basically don't pay any attention to the time of day anyway."

After saying so, Elma shrugged her shoulders after pointing toward the

holo-display installed within the dining hall. When I looked at the

screen, I saw that they were watching a special program related to the

series of incidents we also ended up getting involved in this time. The

screen displayed the emblem sporting a black skull drawn on a bright

red flag. It was a pirate insignia, and it was the insignia of a familiar

group.

"So it really was the Red Flag pirates."

"That seems to be the case. At least, judging from the emblems slapped

on their ships. A large unit attacked the system garrison forces and a

small detachment descended to Theta in order to destroy the

integrated port facility. It seems they also planned to wreak havoc on

the ground."

"And that's where Mei and Black Lotus came in and ruined their plan

huh."

"That's how it is. Maybe it's because their previous attack failed and

they wanted to gain some of their face back."

"We really managed to find ourselves in a real mess this time huh. Well,

Black does look like an unarmed transport ship from the outside, and

Krishna alone could probably crush a good number of their ships."

"They definitely didn't expect we would still be on this planet in the

first place."

As we chatted, the screen displayed the figures of some rather familiar

people. They were the leaders of each clan. Judging from the contents of

the news report, it looks like criticisms were mounting against the

system garrison for failing to prevent another pirate attack, and they

might even be implying the garrison had a hand in it. As for the system

garrison forces, it seems they're claiming the attack was larger in scale

than your usual pirate raid, and that it was only through prudent

defense countermeasures on their part that the planet was spared from

further damage.

It seems that in the attack this time, the pirates actually attempted to

perform an orbital strike on Theta by the use of an asteroid slapped

with an FTL drive, so they had no choice but to devote almost all of

their forces to respond to the threat, so they ended up being unable to

prevent the descent of a detached pirate force on the planet.

"Man, that method sure sounds familiar."

"It seems the pirates also have their own private network. Maybe they

share their experiences there?"

The method of orbital bombardment using an asteroid slapped with an

FTL drive was encountered by us during our visit to a resort planet in

the Sierra system a while back. I understand the need to prevent an

asteroid drop on the surface of the planet you're tasked to protect at all

costs, so I kinda get where the garrison forces were coming from.

"And it looks like the Rose clan is placing the blame on the Grado clan

and the Minfa clan for our accidental crash."

Lilium, who was part of the Rose clan, did accompany us as a guide, but

it was the Grado clan that arranged for the vehicle to transport us to

their territory, and Hiishi, the pilot, was from the Minfa clan. It seems

the Rose clan immediately asked for a search to be conducted via

starships, but the Grado clan, which was averse to technology,

apparently refused. They basically said they wanted to wipe their own

behinds by conducting a search themselves using aerial vehicles that

worked on the same principle as the vehicle that crashed, but this time

around, it was the Minfa clan that put a damper on that idea. It was

because analysis of the cause of the crash revealed that the accident

was due to the vehicle being overloaded with excessive magic power,

and if a vehicle that operated on the same principle were to be used for

the search and rescue effort, there was a high possibility of the accident

happening again.

And that's why there was a delay in dispatching a rescue team to search

for us, and then the attack of the Red Flag pirates happened. The mess

further delayed the dispatch of any rescue efforts, and Mei finally lost

her patience and forcibly launched out on Krishna to rescue us herself.

She then managed to quickly find us and brought us back.

"That's politics for ya."

"Even so, them leaving people who got involved in an accident alone

due to petty politics does leave a bad taste in the mouth."

Whisker smiled bitterly and sighed.

"It's scary to think what would have happened if Hiro-sama didn't insist

on bringing a survival kit, rations, and water bottles."

"Yeah, that really was an eye-opener. Well, you'd easily just dismiss it as

eccentric behavior normally though."

"The ghost inside me whispered a warning after all."

"Oh c'mon, Boss. Just admit you're already too used to trouble and can

kinda guess what to expect next."

"Stooop. Don't lay it to me straight like that!"

My level of being a trouble magnet is already making me think I've been

cursed or something. Maybe I should get myself to undergo an exorcism

ritual? But do they have exorcists in this dimension in the first place? I

think the elves might have them, but if they took things too seriously, I

have a really bad feeling it'll just make things worse. I better not poke

the grass lest a snake comes out, so to speak.

"So, how will they deal with our matter anyway?"

"Yes. All of the clans have gotten in contact with us, and they wish to

send representatives from the Grado clan tomorrow to offer their

apologies. I have held back on replying for the time being."

"Contact them and tell them we'll accept their apologies."

"Certainly."

Mei bowed her head as she replied. Since she already had her fill of

thoroughly inspecting my body in the bath, it looks like she's calmed

down considerably. But still. An apology huh.

"Well, they did welcome us as guests, but we ended up getting into an

accident in the middle of a tour, so offering apologies is just basic

courtesy, right?"

"Yeah, but y'know, the cause of the said accident might be Boss himself

though."

"That's that and this is this, right? It would have been hard to predict

that something like that would happen, but we did end up getting

exposed to danger as a consequence."

"Man-made calamities really are the worst huh... Lilium-san did

assure us the flyin' train was safe, and it looked like she really believed

it would be."

"And the moment Big Brother rode the thing..."

"Fine! It's my fault, okay? Stop ragging on me already."

"Eh? Y'know why we're like this, right, Boss?"

"I already heard what happened from Tina-chan and Whisker-chan, and

I'm sorry Hiro-sama, but I really can't offer any defense here..."

"Agreed. Well, it's not like we can do anything about it after the fact."

Elma shrugged her shoulders and sighed. How typically Elma-like. Well,

there's no conclusive evidence that it was caused by me anyway. So I

guess it would be best if I just stayed quiet and didn't admit to anything.

Yeah, that's a good plan.

"But they already concluded that the cause of the accident was a, um,

magic power overload or something, right?"

"Looks like it. I think it's because they subjected the vehicle to extensive

endurance tests before roll-out because it was intended to ferry

passengers. They should have tested out just how much magic power

those wings could withstand or something like that."

"And due to that, they managed to come to that particular conclusion

after seeing the logs. It seems the two front-most cars managed to

safely arrive at the Grado clan's main territory after all."

"I see. Well, in any case, it's not like I did it on purpose. So they can't

claim it was my responsibility."

"Yeah, I suppose. We don't really get stuff like magic and magic power

much anyway."

"We don't really have many opportunities to get in contact with psionic

technology in much of the empire after all."

The dwarven sisters nodded at my words. If tech specialists like them

agree, then I guess I really ain't responsible for anything. I feel like

they're still gonna manage to find someone to take the fall anyway

though. In the first place, those Grado clan fellows who refuse to use

normal aircraft and starships due to prejudice also share much of the

blame. Yeah.