Gossip (The Contents of Which are Pretty Dangerous-sounding)

"How is it?"

"It's delicious. It's amazing that all these tasty dishes were actually

made by machines."

Kugi's fluffy tails were swaying back and forth as she happily ate a

hamburger. The 'hamburger' was made of a white bun, a vividly

vermillion patty, and a dark-green vegetable-lookalike that didn't really

resemble lettuce. Its shape was decidedly that of a hamburger, but its

color was strange. But, well, it did taste like a hamburger, so it probably

was one. Yeah.

Also, the color of a hamburger apparently changes depending on the

food cartridges used to make it. Even though they tasted mostly the

same, their colors were different. Maybe the difference was caused by

the types of raw materials used.

"Hiro-sama, Hiro-sama, this one's also delicious."

"Oh, which one? Mm? This certainly is pretty tasty. I guess is something

like curry."

Mimi was eating bread that sandwiched some sort of yellow-colored

filling. The paste was delicious, spicy, and tasted like curry. The dish

resembled curry-filled naan bread.

"…Muu."

Col. Serena was eating something resembling french fries with a sulky

expression on her pretty face. Even if the sticks were green, they tasted

decidedly like potato french fries.

"Why do you look so miffed anyway?"

"Oh, nothing… You guys sure look like you're having fun."

"Uwaah. How troublesome."

"Can you stop calling me troublesome already?"

"Hey! Can you two stop getting in each other's cases in a place like this?

We're standing out a lot already without you guys getting everybody's

attention."

Elma emitted a disturbing aura as she scolded Col. Serena and me in

exasperation.

Mm, that's true. We do stand out a lot huh. We're a group composed of a

man who looks like a mercenary, four beautiful women, and an equally

beautiful maidroid. One of the women in our group was even wearing a

military uniform of the imperial space navy and had a sword strapped

to her waist. The mercenary-like man also had swords strapped to his

waist. Nobles? How scary. Of course, anyone would try to stay away

from a group like us.

As a matter of fact, the tables around us were completely empty. Un, I'm

truly sorry, everyone. But we also wanna eat as we liked and not be

bothered, so please bear with it for a bit. Well, it's not like we

specifically had the rest of the diners vacate their seats or anything like

that. They just maintained a distance from us on their own due to fear,

so I guess we didn't really need to pay much attention to them.

"How long are you guys gonna be staying in this colony anyway?"

"We can't move from here for at least a week. We're waiting for the

delivery of a newly purchased ship, and Black Lotus is also getting

overhauled and refurbished. Krishna is free to move, but we can't just

leave the new ship and the Lotus here."

I ate something resembling a hotdog as I answered Col. Serena's

question. The texture of the sausage wasn't that good, but other than

that, I had no complaints. The color was still funky though.

"Come to think of it, what are you doing here, Colonel Serena? Oh, but I

don't have any intention of snooping for military secrets."

"I've been here ever since I got promoted to colonel. Please try and

guess the rest."

"Fumu?"

I supposed coming to the Windas system was necessary after she got

promoted. In other words, as a consequence of Ms. Serena being

promoted to colonel, the Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet under

her leadership was going to increase in size accordingly? I see. So, that's

why Col. Serena and her fleet were staying here in the Windas system,

which was home to the empire's premier shipyards. Maybe they're in

the process of procuring a variety of new ships here.

"It looks like it's gonna be a lot of work. Procedures and stuff, I mean."

"Well, I suppose… I'm happy to be evaluated so highly, but getting

promoted too fast also comes with its own share of troubles. Some

jealous people keep saying I'm just using my parent's power and

influence to get my way after all."

"Well, it's not exactly untrue to some extent, right? But more than that,

it's your flexible mindset and decisive judgment that got you to where

you are now, Colonel. Of course, luck is a part of it too."

"…I can't exactly deny that I've been pretty lucky lately."

Colonel Serena gave me a quick glance. Mm, right. If Black Lotus and I

didn't intervene in time, Colonel Serena could have been killed in action

during the battle with the crystal lifeforms. Or maybe she would have

been badly wounded during the ground battle in the Comatt system.

Even if she had the support of the imperial marines, facing off alone

with that mutated monster still wouldn't have left her unscathed.

"But you'll get even busier from now on huh. Your subordinates are also

going to increase, right?"

"Right. There will be a lot more of them than before. Well, I'm from the

house of a marquis, so I'm not exactly lacking in the leadership and

organization department you know."

"You sure are confident."

"I'm from a viscount house, so I got away with simple physical

augmentation treatments, but members of a marquis house not only

need to strengthen their physical capabilities but also their brain's

processing abilities as well. She's confident because she has every right

to."

"That's how it is. I don't really want to use the enhanced processing

abilities too much though since it really takes a lot out of you."

After saying so, Col. Serena put a large amount of sweetener into the

coffee-like beverage she was drinking. Does she need sugar to recharge

her brain or something? It's none of my business if you get diabetes

y'know, Colonel.

"Well, it doesn't look like we can help much with anything though."

"Yeah. Since their fleet's going to increase in size, a small mercenary

fleet like us wouldn't be worth much, and I'm sure they've already

formed their own anti-pirate tactics, right?"

"Well, I suppose. Recently, we've been having trouble making the

targets take the bait, so we've put more effort into the disguise… Like

assigning an unassuming small-class ship that's actually armed to the

teeth with military equipment as an escort to traders."

"Uwaah. How malicious."

"It would be a total nightmare for pirates to face off with a small-class

ship that only rookie mercenaries pilot that's actually packing advanced

military weapons and equipment."

After pointing that out, Elma displayed a bitter smile. I wasn't sure

about exactly what model of ships they were using for their operations,

but I can make an educated guess. It was probably either a Space Manta

(nicknamed Zabuton) or a Spearhead (nicknamed Carrot).

Both were the smallest of small-class ships and obviously weren't

capable of housing large energy generators. Their combat performance

also left a lot to be desired. However, if they were upgraded with stateof-the-art military weapons and equipment, those relatively fast and

agile ships will have sufficient firepower to handle pirate ships.

Come to think of it, I do kinda remember the colonel mentioning that

they increased the number of bait transport ships a while back. And

whenever pirates attacked those helpless-looking transport ships and

mercenary escorts, they'd find their targets armed to the brim with

military weapons and equipment. Then the reinforcements from the

rest of the Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet will immediately make

their intimidating entrance. That's scary, man.

"You're the one who taught us all about these 'malicious' tactics you

know?"

Then Colonel Serena elegantly brought a chicken nugget-like piece of

food to her mouth. It's honestly amazing how refined and elegant she

looked even though she was eating with her hands. Now, this was a real

high-born aristocratic lady, Elma-san. You really don't resemble her at

all. Ow, oww. Please stop pinching my upper arm milady.

"Can you please refrain from flirting in front of me?"

"I'm just educating this fellow about delicacy."

"It hurts a lot though… Anyway, you're probably gonna undergo

training after your fleet increases in size huh. Seems tough."

"That's probably going to be the case. Since our scale has grown, we're

going to have to retrain our tactics and fleet maneuvers."

Colonel Serena had a troubled look on her face.

Actually, the Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet wasn't just tasked

with taking down pirates, but also other threats like crystal lifeforms. I

think Colonel Serena's actual idea was to operate a force that's able to

maintain domestic security and steadily gain popularity while also

being freely able to go to areas where they were most needed in case of

emergencies.

Because they often engaged pirates, they had a lot more combat

experience under their belt compared to regular imperial military

fleets.

"Well, I don't know if we'll actually be of use, but we'll be free once

we've gotten our new ship and the refurbishment of the Lotus is

completed. Depending on the conditions, we can probably take on a

request from you guys. But since the number of our ships has increased

in addition to me achieving Platinum rank, the price is gonna be higher

compared to before."

"Right. I won't stand on ceremony and get in contact with you if

anything comes up then. If I do contact you, don't act like this

conversation never happened, okay? You promised."

"As I said, it depends on the conditions."

I shrugged my shoulders as I replied to Col. Serena. After all, with this, I

can just say I don't fancy the conditions and then bail on her later. In

other words, depending on the situation, I can just simply refuse her.

Gahaha, I'm so smart.