I Get How You Feel but It Ain’t My Fault

We returned to the Dauntless while escorting the Screech Owls fleet

and decided to contact Col. Serena for the time being.

[…Can you run that by me again?]

Col. Serena's stressed voice echoed around the break space of the Black

Lotus.

"We managed to get multiple data caches that might lead to the

discovery of the location of the pirate's base from the wrecks of the

pirate ships we encountered earlier. Mei's still in the middle of

analyzing them, but if you want, we can immediately hand you our

results so far along with the decryption keys and the physical data

storage devices."

As a result of helping out the Screech Owls and stripping the pirate ship

wrecks of loot, we succeeded in recovering multiple data caches in

addition to the various junk equipment. Mei immediately got busy

analyzing the data storage devices, and I contacted Col. Serena to

explain the situation.

[…Are you sure you aren't actually connected with pirates? One just

doesn't usually bring such crucial intel right at the start of a subjugation

operation you know?]

"Of course, not. C'mon, that doesn't even make any sense… Anyway, we

already got our hands on them, so it can't be helped. I'm not at fault

here."

You can also say it's just my usual propensity for trouble twisting my

fate, but I don't really wanna rely on such a metaphysical explanation.

That said, I do recognize that I'm a trouble magnet to some extent.

[Haa… Well, that's fine, I suppose. It's good that we're making progress.

There's no downside to being able to destroy the pirates sooner.]

"As expected of you, Colonel. I'm glad you're pretty reasonable."

[Please send the data storage devices to us. I'll transmit the port

number to you.]

"Aye, aye, ma'am."

I gave her a crisp salute and ended the transmission. I quickly received

the port number that's used by the ship-wide goods delivery system, so

I forwarded it to Mei. Mei will handle sending the data storage devices

to Col. Serena.

"What shall we do next?"

"The military will probably announce a job to subjugate the pirate base

before long, so I suppose we'll just have to wait until then."

"Will that be alright? If we don't work, won't Colonel Serena scold you,

My Lord?"

"We've already done plenty by discovering and delivering those data

storage devices to them, and we can earn more by participating in the

base subjugation anyway."

Tina and Whisker will be busy polishing up and performing

maintenance on the equipment we've managed to recover for a while,

and the hangar of the Lotus was close to full already. The equipment we

got surprisingly took up a lot of space because most of them were laser

cannons.

"It's important to work hard, of course. But it's also important to avoid

taking unnecessary risks. It would be fine as long as we can earn our

fair share of money."

We weren't heroes of justice on a mission to destroy evil, but

mercenaries who hunt down pirates and the like for a living. It would

be fine as long as we can make money in the end. It's not like I was

hungry for combat merits in order to accomplish some sort of goal. I've

already achieved Platinum rank which was the highest rank available to

mercenaries, so I didn't really need to pay a lot of attention to

contributing to the guild.

"And besides, even if you try avoiding trouble, it will just come to you

anyway."

"Don't say something like that… Anyway, good work out there."

"Yeah. Thanks."

I knocked fists with Elma who just finished taking a shower in the Black

Lotus. She then sat beside me on the sofa. Mimi and Kugi were already

sticking to my left and right though, so Elma ended up sitting beside

Kugi.

"So, how was it? Your first battle piloting your own ship after a long

time."

"It's kinda lonely and stressful being alone to be honest. I have to do

everything by myself, so it's quite stressful. I ended up calling Mimi

several times during the battle."

"Fumu. Do you want Mimi to accompany you for a while? I think it will

be a good experience for Mimi as well."

"Hmm. Thanks for the suggestion, but I'll pass for now. I'll probably get

used to it after some time."

"That so? Well, it'll serve as good training for Mimi, so try it sometime."

I pretended not to notice Elma exchanging glances with Mimi and the

intense gaze piercing my left cheek. I think it's necessary to raise her

skills though. As I was thinking about such things, my portable

terminal's ringtone suddenly rang out. It's Captain Souls of the Screech

Owls huh. I exchanged contacts with the guy before we parted ways.

"This is Hiro. What's the matter?"

[Souls here. Well, uh, I'm treating my crew for a meal and I was

wondering if you wanna come too. You did save our behinds back there,

so let me treat you guys to a drink or something.]

"Sounds good. But I'm actually a real lightweight so I'll pass on the

drink. Three of my crew members are heavy drinkers though. You sure

you can handle them? It'll probably cost you."

[I don't mind. We do have some extra budget from selling off the loot

we got from those pirates. And it's not like we returned empty-handed

from our expedition.]

In other words, the Screech Owls managed to acquire some kind of loot

in the unexplored star system… Man, I'm getting a really bad feeling

about this. Please just let it be my imagination. Anyway, I feel that I

really have to get that cargo off the hands of the Screech Owls as soon

as possible.

"We'll take you up on the offer then. We have seven people on our end…

Uh, but only six of us will be eating and drinking. One of us doesn't need

to eat or drink at all."

[Doesn't eat or drink…? Well, alright. I'll send you the meeting point.]

Information on one of the restaurants inside the Dauntless was sent

over by Souls. Hm. Well, it doesn't seem to be the shady kind of

restaurant. But the possibility of them pretending to be friendly while

setting up a trap wasn't zero, so we still had to be careful. After all, as

their captain, I was responsible for the safety of my crew.

"Ok. We'll see you there. We need to get ready first, so it'll take a bit of

time."

[Alright. How about meeting up after half an hour?]

"Let's go with that… We're getting treated by the Screech Owls guys."

"Mm… I'm a bit uneasy about it though."

Mimi was slightly hesitant.

"Oh, their operator seemed to be quite taken by you huh? It's gonna be

fine. Just don't leave my side."

"Then we should all stick close to Hiro later."

"Yeah. Let's stick to him closely. Like, really close. You have to stick to

him too, Kugi-chan."

"C-Closely? Like this?"

Mimi and Kugi snuggled even closer to me. Mm. I'm happy about it, but

doesn't it feel a bit too eye-catching? I mean, aren't we overdoing it a

bit?

"You sure have it hard, Hiro. You'll have to take care of Tina, Whisker,

and me in that state later after all."

"Please ease up a bit on the drinking, guys…"

Because I already felt an unpleasant premonition about those guys'

cargo, please don't add to my troubles. I mean, seriously