Chapter 148: Award and Greetings

After the recap presentation of the previous battle on the large holo-display, the award ceremony finally started. The holo-display started up once again, and this time, it showed the various military officers and mercenaries who have raised merits in the previous battle, as well as what exactly their merits were.

There were various reasons for receiving the awards, but most of the military officers who were going to be awarded were captains of their respective ships.

The imperial military also employed a good number of small-sized combat starships similar to Krishna in the previous battle. Destroyers and the larger capital ships have trouble dealing with the great number of small-type crystal lifeforms in a swarm, so they deployed more small-sized combat ships specialized in fast-paced combat maneuvers to this base. And it seems like this outpost, in particular, had a greater number of small-sized combat starships compared to other imperial bases. More than half of the awardees were captains of such ships.

But at least some of the officers being awarded were captains of ships larger than destroyers. Major Serena was also among the awardees. She received the Bronze Shield Wings medal. It looks like it’s conferred to ships that actively shielded ally forces, controlled damage, and contributed to a reduction of ally casualties in battle.

Basically, there are two types of medals that are awarded for two different types of achievements – the Sword and Shield medals. They are further subdivided into three ranks (Bronze, Silver, and Gold), along with other modifiers such as Assault and the like. For example, bronze, silver, and gold sword medals are given to those whose merits are more geared towards offensive actions, such as shooting down enemy ships and the like. If you raised merits by covering your allies or contributing greatly to a defensive battle, you’ll be awarded either a bronze, silver or gold shield medal.

Most of the awardees here were given either the Bronze or Silver Sword Wings medal, so maybe these types of medals were for those who achieved merits through space combat. Maybe guys who achieved merits through close range melees won’t have wings on their medals.

I wonder how many more medal types there were. Judging from this, won’t only those who participated actively in combat have a chance to be conferred medals? But maybe there really were medals specifically for supply and maintenance personnel among others, but they just didn’t include those types in this award ceremony. And I also can’t imagine these were all there was to combat-related awards.

And also, there has been no other recipient who has been conferred with a medal with a modifier like Assault like the one I was supposed to receive until now. Most of them got either a bronze sword or bronze shield. One imperial military officer and one mercenary who were captains of their respective ships were very active in combat and managed to shoot down many enemies. They ended up being awarded Silver Sword Wings medals.

“And last but not the least, Captain Hiro, who undoubtedly contributed the most to the favorable turn in the tide of battle in this campaign. He will be awarded the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal for his service. Captain Hiro, please come forward and receive your award.”

I got up from my seat and approached the officer who would be handing me my medal. He seems to be the commander of this base. I already studied the proper procedure for receiving awards like this repeatedly before coming here, so I had no trouble for the most part. It wasn’t all that difficult or complicated anyway. You just need to come forward, get the medal pinned on your chest, and offer a formal imperial military salute.

It wasn’t all that different from the usual military salute soldiers used back on Earth. The angle of the hand, the method of raising it as well as the direction the palm needed to face were kinda different, but since I was a mercenary, they weren’t all that strict with the details.

“Without your contributions, quite a number of the individuals present here might have lost their lives in that battle along with their subordinates and crew. It is quite rare for someone alive to receive the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal. I look forward to seeing more feats worthy of this medal from you in the future.”

I offered him a crisp salute after he pinned the medal on my chest, promptly turned my heels away, and walked back to my seat. In these cases, it would be best to not make any unnecessary comments.

Just like the base commander said, I was the last to receive an award, and when I got back to my seat, the commander began his closing speech.

As for the contents of said speech…… I kinda didn’t pay attention, honestly. The imperial soldiers assigned to this outpost should have listened attentively though since this meeting also doubled as a military debriefing, but it was none of my business. In the first place, I didn’t really participate in that battle for the sake of the empire. I just went at it for the money. Thus, it would feel awkward if I nodded to their claims that we succeeded in our fight to protect the honor of the empire, the lives of its citizens, and whatnot. I’m a proper adult though, so I did do my best to pretend that I was listening to the speech, but I only got about 20% of it, honestly.

As for what I was really doing while pretending to be listening to the speech, I was checking out the officers and mercenaries gathered in the hall. The officers were listening attentively to the base commander for the most part, but the other mercs were pretending just like me. As for what they were really doing, they were actually checking me out as well. I’ve been meeting gazes with a lot of them since a while ago, so I’m sure that’s the case.

Well, it looks like most of us weren’t familiar with each other anyway. That’s especially true in my case since I’m the type to go solo, stay inside one colony for a short period of time, and hunt pirates in the surrounding areas. Thus, I didn’t really have any other mercenary acquaintances. But it might be good to select one colony to be our main base of operations though. A place where we could easily procure supplies, ammo, and food, had a Space Dwerg branch, and had plenty of pirate activity in the surrounding areas would be nice.

Wait, wouldn’t that make Brad system a perfect fit……? Nah. Sure we can easily procure supplies, ammo, and food at that place, and ship maintenance would be quite accessible, but it also has those crazy dwarves living in it. They’d probably go wild for Krishna again, so that place is a no-go. There’s also Mimi’s goal of tasting all the gourmet delicacies in the galaxy, so I guess it’s still too early for us to decide on a base.

As I let my mind wander, the base commander’s speech finally ended, and the award ceremony was adjourned. The base commander left the hall first, followed by the higher-ranking officers. It sure was funny seeing Major Serena giving me a troubled look.

“Should we get going as well?”

“Yes, I believe so, Master.”

Since I got May’s confirmation, I stood up from my seat and headed for the exit as well. Just what was the meaning of seating me on a spot that gathered a lot of attention…? Did they give me preferential treatment since I contributed the most during the battle? Being the center of attention wasn’t really a pleasant experience for me. Actually, it was rather embarrassing. I didn’t really like all that unnecessary attention.

“Let’s go back. They may have sent the details of the request already.”

Before I was able to get out of the hall, the exit was blocked. Or rather, somebody got in my way before I could exit. It was someone unfamiliar– No, wait. It was that guy. It’s the guy who I first met before I entered the hall earlier.

“What’s up?”

I already had a bad feeling, but I asked anyway. The only ones left in the hall were mostly mercenaries, with only a few officers among them. They were standing around inside the hall and giving me curious looks.

“Just what kind of trick did you use?”

“Huh?”

“I’m asking you what kind of dirty trick you used to pull that stuff off!”

“Eh……? Are you talking about me diving into that swarm and returning alive?”

“What the heck else?”

This guy’s trouble. I looked to the other guys around us, but they were either shrugging as if saying it wasn’t their business or gossiping with each other in hushed tones. Yeah, thought so. I would have ignored this too if I were in their position.

“What kind of answer are you hoping for anyway, brat?”

“Huh!?”

“If I really did have a trick up my sleeve just as you claim, why the hell should I even tell you about it? It would be a different story if you knelt down and begged me to teach you, but what’s with that attitude of yours, huh? If you wanna ask something, do it properly, brat.”

“You……”

The young mercenary clenched his fist in anger. Oh? What’s up, huh? You wanna go? But I’m probably gonna be a pushover though. I did work out often after getting sent to this dimension, but I never engaged in a fistfight here even once. I did spar a bit with Elma from time to time, but I never got into a serious fist fight with anyone.

“If that’s all you wanna ask, then I’ll be excusing myself. Sorry, man. I’m actually quite busy, so that’s that.”

I shrugged my shoulders and tried to pass by the young mercenary–

“Guaaaa!?”

A pained howl echoed around the hall. I turned around to find the wrist of the young mercenary being gripped strongly by May. He probably tried to grab my shoulder behind my back or something. And then May restrained him.

“Please refrain from touching my Master with your filthy hand.”

May directed an ice-cold glare at the young mercenary while gripping his wrist tightly.

“O-Okay! I get it! I get it, so let go of me already!”

May released the guy’s wrist. Oh…… You okay, man? Your wrist ain’t broken, right? May’s grip strength is really awesome, y’know. She’s made of military-grade materials and servos after all. If May were serious, your wrist wouldn’t just be broken. It’ll be reduced to a red splatter on the floor instead.

“Okay, man. If you’re free enough to think up weird conspiracy theories, why don’t you try practicing on a simulator first and raise your skill level? Then earn enough to upgrade your ship. That’s what I did anyway. It was through countless practice sessions and experience that I was able to live after plunging inside that enemy swarm. There’s no ‘dirty trick’ whatsoever. Just pure experience and skill.”

The young mercenary rubbed his wrist and kept glaring at me resentfully. Whatever, man.

“Well… that’s about it. Good luck, man. Good luck to you guys as well.”

I then lightly waved my hand at the remaining mercs and officers and left the hall. After getting enough distance from the hall, I let out a relieved sigh.

“Man, that sure was scary. Mercs are really scary. I’m not that good when it comes to fistfights, y’know.”

“Is that so……?”

May tilted her head in puzzlement, which was quite rare for her. She was still mostly expressionless, but it was rare for her to express herself so openly by using body language like this.

“I heard that you put up quite a fight in the Alein system with your power armor, and I saw you directly in action when we rescued Earl Daleinwald, Master. And also, you did quite well fighting those combat robots back on Sierra III.”

“But those are different. They’re not the same as a fistfight.”

“Is that how it is?”

May still looked bewildered. I get that you’re still confused, but that’s just how it is. Anyway, there’s a great difference between combat and fistfights for me at least. It’s like a difference in mindset or something…… Meh. It doesn’t matter anyway.

“Anyway, what was up with that brat back there?”

“I guess he was jealous that a newbie like Master suddenly got awarded with a Silver Sword Wings Assault medal and wanted to vent.”

“Vent, huh?”

“It seems they often use fists to speak their mind in mercenary circles.”

“That so…… Would it have been better if I accepted the fight?”

“You already have me with you, Master. I believe this already qualifies as a sufficient display of strength. It is fine. And also–”

“Hm?”

I nodded at May to urge her to keep going.

“–If you wanted to put him in his place, you could have easily done so, right, Master?”

“I wonder. Well, I guess I could probably manage if I held my breath. But I kinda don’t know how that actually works, y’see. So I don’t really wanna rely on it that often.”

Since I came to this dimension, I am able to perform super-accelerated thinking and reactions by holding my breath for some reason. It was pretty convenient, but I don’t want to abuse it since I don’t know just how it works. I didn’t mention it to Doc Shouko when she examined me since I was scared about the consequences. She already made a fuss when she discovered my unknown genes. What would happen if she knew I had such a strange ability to boot? I’ll probably get imprisoned and treated as a lab rat.

“Oh well. We’re not planning to stay here for long anyway. Let’s just forget it.”

“On the contrary Master, we may spend a longer period of time in this outpost depending on the particulars of the imperial military’s request.”

“Oh, right. Man, that’s annoying…… Should we just ignore it and run away?”

“Wouldn’t Major Serena hold a grudge if you did so?”

“That’s also troublesome in a different sense…… Ugh. This doesn’t feel good.”

I lamented my current predicament as I turned toward the heavens.