Chapter 121: Engineer

It looks like the concept of personal desire does not exist in advanced independent AI, so everything that May buys ultimately is for the purpose of better serving her master; namely me. They are basically items that will better ensure my safety or will provide me with a better quality of life, so perhaps May does have desires after all. It’s just that all of that desire is focused on ensuring her master’s happiness and safety. Anyway, what I’m trying to get at is… that she’s buying too much and my arms are about to fall off from carrying all the items she got. I’m not even sure if she’s still holding back.

“Hey. Hey, boss. Buy this too.”

“…No, why would I buy something for you in the first place?”

“But Tina-chan really wants this☆”

Tina gazed up at me with moist, upturned eyes.

“3 points. Not good enough.”

“You’re too strict boss! 3 out of 10!?”

“……Haah.”

“Don’t tell me it’s 3 out of a hundred……? But isn’t Tina super cute?”

Tina sulked and complained. Well, her appearance certainly is cute. I’ll give her that at least. She’s wearing it in a ponytail right now, but her semi-long hair looks silky smooth, and her face is of the cute and delicate type. Her red eyes, that were the same bright hue as her hair, sparkled with liveliness. And her expressions and gestures were loveable too.

“Well, fine, I admit you’re cute.”

“Eh……?”

“Like I said, you’re cute, Tina.”

“R-Really? R-Right? That’s right, isn’t it.”

Tina’s face turned bright red. She’s certainly quite cute, but she’s the annoying cutesy type. Unfortunately, the annoying parts greatly outweigh the cute parts. If you forcefully ignore her more un-redeeming aspects, she can certainly be said to be a cute girl. Like what I’m doing now.

“But I’m still not gonna buy that for you. So just give up, okay.”

“Eh. You’re loaded, right boss? So ain’t it fine if you splurge a wee bit more?”

Tina tried to plead again, but May forcefully got between her and me.

“Tina-san.”

“Yes!”

Tina turned stiff and stood at attention. It looks like she really can’t handle May huh.

“Did you perhaps forget exactly why you are now accompanying my Master?”

“Yes. I mean, no! I’m very sorry.”

“You must prove that you will be useful to Master, and that you have the qualifications to stand by his side. That is why Space Dwerg wanted you to come with Master. It’s in order to determine your qualifications.”

“Yes, it’s exactly as you say.”

“Very well. If you understand that much, then why, pray tell me, are you acting so insolently toward Master?”

“I have no excuse, ma’am.”

Tina started getting smaller and smaller in front of the angry May. Her usual liveliness was now all but gone. Come to think of it, Mimi feels like she gets smaller too whenever she’s all depressed.

“That’s enough, May. I’m sure Tina didn’t mean to be rude, so don’t hold it against her too much.”

“If that is your wish, Master.”

May backed off, and Tina let out a sigh of relief.

“Fuu…… Your maid-san sure is scary, boss.”

“But she has a point, right?”

“Eh? But it’s just a little bit? Can’t you treat me to at least this much?”

“It can’t be helped… Is that what you were hoping I’d say?”

“You’re so stingy, boss.”

Even if she complained, Tina obediently placed the mysterious gadget she picked up back on the shelf. She explained what it was, but I wasn’t all that interested, so her words went inside one ear and back out the other. It was something about photonic resonance and quantum whatchamacallits, I think. Anyway, I don’t get it.

“So all that’s left is an order-made weapon.”

“What are you gonna get, boss?”

As I browsed at the e-catalogue, Tina squeezed herself closer and gazed at the screen as well. I’m not really bothered by it, but she really likes to stick close huh. I’m sure a certain segment of society will gladly enjoy this kind of thing though.

“I’m looking for handheld weapons for power armors. It should be easy to handle even in confined spaces and effective in close quarters. It would be best if it doesn’t get easily cut by noble swords.”

“That’s one heck of a requirement. Those swords have reinforced high-frequency vibration monomolecular blades, so if you want something that will stand up to those, it’ll have to be made of hyper-compressed heavy alloys. Those are really tough but are also really heavy, and really, REALLY expensive. If you make weapons with those, even a handgun will weigh at least 30 kgs.”

“Hm. Even if it’s for a power armor, that’s still too heavy.”

If even a pistol is already that heavy, then something of a size fit for power armors will be nigh unusable.

“That’s right. That’s why those types of materials are often just used in ship manufacturing. They can be made into the toughest hulls known in the galaxy. If you just want your weapon to stand up to a slash or two, there’s the option of coating it with those materials as well. But it’ll be a more complicated process, so it’ll be even pricier.”

“I see…… Hey, can you handle designing my order-made weapon instead? I’ll pay you as well. I’ll even buy you that gadget from earlier if you want.”

I think this matter is best left to specialists. There’s a certain romance to a newbie designing and using his own order-made weapon, but practically speaking, it’s best to leave it to a pro. Tina’s specialty was starships, but it looks like she’s knowledgeable when it comes to material engineering, and it looks like she can design a more decent weapon compared to me.

“So it’s a handheld weapon for a power armor which can be easily handled even in confined spaces, effective at close quarters, and can block slashes from noble-issued swords…… Isn’t that way too much?”

“My budget should be about 100,000 Enels. The design priority should be easy handling, effectiveness in CQC, and withstanding noble-issued swords. If its close-quarters performance exceeds expectations, I’ll give you an additional 10,000 Enels. If it lets me cross swords with nobles reliably, I’ll double the pay. I don’t mind if you use up all the budget, but anything beyond that 100k is a no-go. Of course, the cheaper it is, the better. What do you think?”

“Please let me try, boss!”

Tina’s face was shining in excitement.

“Yosh. I’ll have May support you then. May, please hand Tina data regarding my power armor and help her in designing the weapon. And use this chance to get along better if possible.”

“Understood.”

May accepted my instructions reverently. It sure helps that May is very obedient and excellent in her job. Tina let out a groan, but this is a test of sorts for her. If she can’t get along with the rest of the crew, there’s no way I’m going to let her board my ship.

“Alright then. You two stay here and discuss with the weapon makers in the shop. I’ll leave the money to May.”

“Yes, Master. As you wish.”

“Understood. I’m gonna do my best!”

‘And I’ll get that reward!’ was what Tina’s expression seemed to be saying.

“I’m going to join up with Mimi and the others. Please contact me once you’re finished with the business here. We’ll decide if we’re gonna meet up somewhere in the colony or go back to the hotel later.”

“Yes.”

“Roger!”

I left the two of them and went to meet up with Mimi and the others. I’ll hang out with them if it’s convenient, and if they’re in the middle of something, I’ll walk around the colony on my own. I’ll contact them first. I took out my portable terminal and opened the messaging app.