Chapter 156: At the Restalias

“Take care, everyone. Leave everything here to us.”

“Uu…… Booze…… I also wanna go………”

“Big sis…… We have to prioritize work right now, okay.”

Mimi, Elma, and I headed to the Restalias, which was the flagship of the Independent Anti-Pirate Mobile Fleet, as the other three saw us off.

I did feel a bit uneasy about leaving May, Tina, and Whisker to deal with that temperamental merc on their own though…… But I guess those three would probably be fine anyway. There aren’t a lot of people who could duke it out with May without using power armor anyway, and Tina and Whisker were actually stronger than me despite their cute appearances. I guess there’s no problem. Or rather, I was the second to the weakest within the crew when it comes to pure physical strength. I only ranked above Mimi.

I mulled over such pointless things as I launched Krishna out into space. The scenery outside was quite spectacular. There were quite a lot of mercenary and imperial starships parked all around us, and the mercenary ships were especially eye-catching since no two ships were alike.

Strictly speaking, there were ships with the same base model, but each ship was heavily customized and painted according to each owner’s preferences. Some are so heavily customized that you wouldn’t even be able to recognize the base model. Some had sharp spikes and protrusions all over their hulls, and some had wing stabilizers that didn’t serve any particular purpose whatsoever. Did those guys want to feel like they were flying in the sky while out in space, I wonder?

Of course, there were also some that didn’t get customized much at all and still retained their basic looks. Well, it depends on each person’s taste after all…… By the way, I also didn’t have any qualms about heavily customizing the exterior appearance of a ship if it was necessary. Before I got Krishna, my last ship was customized heavily as well. There wasn’t even a hint of the original base model. I didn’t put on any meaningless stabilizers or the like though.

Some of my buddies opted to put on those spikes and stabilizers too in order to get that end-of-the-century ‘Hyahaah!’ look, while some opted for more classy designs. Uh, but no matter how much of a fan of the end-of-the-century ‘Hyahaah!’ gang those guys were, I still think modifying the attitude control thrusters of their ships so they could spit fire jets like flamethrowers were too much unnecessary drama. But that method did make it slightly difficult to judge how much they floored their thrusters by masking it with the flames, so it’s not like there wasn’t any practical benefit at all…… Ugh. Okay, let’s just stop there.

“That ship looks really cool……”

“Eh……?”

“Eh……?”

I and Elma let out puzzled gasps as we looked at Mimi, whose eyes were sparkling as she gazed at a particular mercenary ship. I mean, c’mon. They have too much unnecessary stuff on the hull, like spikes, large screw-like protrusions, and a huge skull-head on the bow…… So Mimi was also a fan of this kind of stuff. Krishna would probably turn out like that ship if we ever left customizing it to Mimi huh.

“I like a ship with a sharper and more elegant design.”

“Yeah. But you don’t care much about the interior, do you?”

“I’ll properly focus on the interior design as well next time, okay……”

The last ship Elma purchased really was aesthetically beautiful from the outside. But the interior looked quite crude and spartan due to her strange fixations. So Elma was the type who judged mostly by looks and not substance, huh.

We continued to talk about the other mercenary ships all around us as we headed for Restalias and finally reached it after a few minutes.

Actually, we experienced being scanned several times from different directions as we made our way to Restalias. Perhaps they were wondering why a relatively undamaged ship was heading for the flagship while the fleet was currently on stand-by. And Krishna was a rare and unusual ship as well. It didn’t really bother us, so we just let them do as they liked.

Mimi sent a docking request over to Restalias, and it was immediately approved. It was still a bit earlier than the appointed time, but they should have been told we would be coming over already. I immediately flew the ship behind the landing hatch of Restalias and activated the auto-docking program. A certain space elf was still complaining beside me while murmuring stuff like ‘auto-docking is heresy’ or something like that. Elma was a diehard fan of manual docking as always.

“There we go. We’ve arrived. Let’s head out guys.”

“Yes!”

“……Okay.”

Mimi had a big smile plastered on her face as she looked forward to the imperial military’s ‘best menu’, but Elma looked slightly less enthusiastic due to the auto-docking sequence from earlier. Just admit how convenient it is already, you stubborn elf.

I checked the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal pinned on my jacket and started walking ahead with the pair of noble-issue swords strapped to each side of my waist. After I received the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal, May expressly told me to always wear it on me if possible along with the swords in addition to my laser gun. I didn’t really like them that much since they made me stand out, but she told me they would allow me to avoid unnecessary trouble since the medal and swords will make other people treat me the same way as an imperial knight in accordance with imperial law and customs.

It was May’s advice after all. And Elma didn’t say anything about it either, so there probably was no danger of dangerous noble factions like the Drawn Sword eyeing me and suddenly challenging me to a sword duel to the death.

I, of course, knew jack squat about swords and swordsmanship, so if a real noble did challenge me to a sword duel, the outcome is already fairly obvious. Should I take some swordsmanship lessons from May……? Or maybe it was more practical to just leave the medal whenever I go out? I think so, anyway.

I got off Krishna while feeling slightly annoyed by the weight of the swords strapped to my waist, and found an imperial soldier already waiting outside for us.

“Welcome to Restalias, everyone. I shall serve as your guide this fine evening.”

“Thank you for the trouble, sir.”

We exchanged salutes, and the soldier started walking ahead to lead us.

Well, this ship was like a familiar neighbor’s house to me already in a sense. I used to walk around it a lot when I was teaching Major Serena’s fleet about pirate hunting tactics.

“……Everyone seems to be quite busy.”

“We just finished engaging in a battle after all. They probably have some post-processing work to deal with.”

“But then, is it okay to have a dinner banquet in the middle of this situation?”

“This dinner is also part of the post-battle proceedings after all. They have to make a good show of rewarding the battle’s top ace to the rest of the fleet.”

“I see……”

As we continued such discussions, we finally reached an exclusive dining room for senior officers. It seems that within Restalias, this dining room was exclusive to the highest-ranking senior officers in the ship, including the captain, Major Serena.

“But it actually isn’t used all that much huh.”

It also seems that Major Serena and the other senior officers rarely used this dining room since they found it far too luxurious and couldn’t properly relax while having their meals. On Restalias, they often held meetings and the like during meals, so the exclusive senior officer’s dining room, which was fairly small and couldn’t house that many people, was hardly used as a result. I see.

“Then they shouldn’t have installed one in the first place, right?”

“That won’t do. Major Serena doesn’t use it much, but there are also imperial nobles who would probably prefer dining in it as well.”

“So they want to behave and feel like proper aristocrats or something huh?”

“That’s right. Large ships that serve as fleet flagships usually have facilities like this one installed in them to meet the demands of such people. That’s also part of the reason why they look really fancy. Major Serena might not like coming here much, but there’s no telling if the next captain assigned here would be the same.”

“I see.”

Mimi and I acted all impressed by Elma’s strangely extensive knowledge on the subject as we entered the dining room. The soldier then guided us to our seats. Maybe we’re too early because I haven’t spotted Major Serena yet.

“The furnishings including the table all look super luxurious, Hiro-sama.”

“They certainly won’t look out of place in a fancy high-end restaurant. I’m not really confident in my table manners though. I don’t even know the proper way to use the cutlery.”

Should I use them from the outside going in or something? I don’t have much knowledge regarding this particular subject. Honestly, it’s probably impossible for an average Japanese citizen to be familiar with how to formally use fancy cutlery. As for me, my only dining experiences outside amount to eating gyuudon, udon, ramen, family restaurant comfort food, steaks at public steakhouses, and conveyor belt sushi. I haven’t experienced eating at a fancy French or Italian restaurant at all back on Earth.

“This isn’t a formal dinner organized for imperial nobles anyway, so I think they won’t be too particular with manners and such. It’ll be okay as long as you don’t do stuff like eating with your hands or licking the plate clean.”

“As if I’d do that anything like that.”

“Yeah.”

Mimi also made a strained smile. It’s not like I grew up out in the wild or anything.

“There’s all kinds of mercenaries after all. You’re comparably more refined than most of them, Hiro. You don’t drink or take drugs, you don’t spend all your money gambling, and you don’t frequent brothels either. In the eyes of other mercenaries, you might even seem too uptight, or just acting all pretentious and stoic.”

“I definitely don’t think I’m elegant or stoic though.”

In the first place, there ain’t anything elegant or stoic about my time spent flirting with Mimi, Elma, and May. I’m simply just too weak against alcohol and aren’t interested in gambling or drugs.

“I think you’re perfect as you are, Hiro-sama. You’re wonderful.”

“Well, I guess he is. I certainly don’t want to see Hiro indulging in drugs or alcohol and losing himself.”

“There’s no need to worry. I won’t ever become like that, okay.”

“I sure hope so. Our reputation will take a hit as well if someone awarded with the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal were to engage in such unscrupulous things after all.”

Major Serena finally entered the dining room while saying so. It was such exquisite timing. Was she actually listening in on our conversation from outside? No, maybe they have cameras set up all over the room and were monitoring our conversation.

“A pleasant evening, major. We thank you for your gracious invitation tonight.”

Major Serena displayed a strained smile when she saw me standing up and making a formal bow while placing one hand on my chest. Mimi and Elma hurriedly stood up as well.

“Oh please. Seeing you act like that is making my back all itchy. I’m not worthy of such a formal gesture, so please be at ease.”

“Thanks.”

And then, three other senior officers followed after Major Serena and went over to the table. One of them was Major Serena’s adjutant, Lieutenant Robbitson. I wasn’t familiar with the other two.

One was a buff-looking middle-aged guy, and the other was a young woman who looked to be the same age as Major Serena. A sword was strapped to the waist of the middle-aged man, so he was probably an imperial noble as well.

“I’m Colonel Wilbert Broadwell. I am the commander of the 1st Recon Fleet.”

“I’m Lieutenant Cecil Plant. I serve as Colonel Broadwell’s adjutant.”

“I’m the owner and captain of Krishna and Black Lotus, Captain Hiro. This is my sub-pilot, Elma, and my operator, Mimi. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

So these people were the head honchos of the 1st Recon fleet huh. Well, the 1st Recon Fleet did rush over to provide reinforcements so I guess it wasn’t strange that these two were here.

“You must all be tired from standing around, so why don’t we take our seats and make a toast to start things off?”

Major Serena urged everyone to take a seat. Now then, what kind of dinner will this be, I wonder.