Chapter 202: Comatt Prime Colony

The Comatt Prime commercial colony was pretty bustling and prosperous.

Since Comatt III’s terraforming has been completed and full-scale colonization efforts would now be beginning in earnest, Comatt Prime colony will become the main supply and material relay station that would cater to the needs of the colonists. The number of transactions that will take place here would increase more than tenfold compared to when it was just handling the raw ores and refined metals mined within Comatt system, and Comatt Prime’s future expansion plans would also take into account the completion of planet Comatt IV’s terraforming.

“It’s so lively here!”

“Right now, it feels like you can sell off absolutely anything here as long as you have it.”

The demand for supplies such as food and daily necessities for the colonists was currently at its peak. Cargo ships loaded with food, medicine, household goods, building materials, and other goods are constantly entering and exiting the docks of the colony. The goods accumulated here would then be brought to the colony ships that will descend onto Comatt III later on.

“Our first job will be to guard the colony ships as they descend onto the planet huh.”

“I don’t think there would be any idiots who would attack colony ships mid-descent though.”

If a colony ship fails atmospheric reentry mid-descent, there’s a good chance of the supplies and the colonists themselves getting burnt to ashes in the upper atmosphere or crashing headfirst onto the surface and returning to the merciful arms of Buddha. If someone were to attack, they probably just want to put a damper on Earl Dareinwald’s business, but there’s not enough reason to risk doing so otherwise.

Moreover, if they do perform such an act of genocide, House Dareinwald would be the least of their problems. The empire itself would be after their collective throats. Depending on the circumstances, there’s a chance of the entire might of the empire mobilizing to take the perpetrators down in order to capture them. That’s seriously no joke, man.

“Okay, let’s go ahead and meet up with Chris guys.”

“Let’s go, go, go. My stomach’s cravin for some grub already, Boss.”

“Um, sis, you skipped lunch so of course, you’d be hungry……”

“You sure are a little glutton, Tina.”

“It’s not like I’m the only one.”

After retorting, Tina glanced at Mimi. Yeah, it’s no use even if you avert your eyes and pretend not to notice, girl. I wonder if Mimi also purposely skipped her lunch.

“Come on, let’s go, everyone! We can’t let the client wait!”

“Alright, alright……”

The rest of us chased after Mimi and Tina, who started walking at a faster pace and headed for the hotel where we would meet up with Chris.

“Let us toast to the success of the colonization of Comatt III! Cheers!”

“””Cheers!”””

After Chris raised a toast, each of the celebration participants held up their cups and took a swig of their drinks.

“Puhaaah!”

Let’s just ignore the elf and two dwarves who emptied their cups in one gulp and cried out like old drunkards at a pub. By the way, my drink was 100% fruit juice.

I’ll go and get some more food, Hiro-sama!”

“Ooh, me too! Me too!”

“Geez. Can you please just try to behave yourself even a little, big sis?”

Today’s celebration party is an all-you-can-eat buffet, and each of us could stuff ourselves as much as we like. Mimi and the rest rushed to the table as soon as the food was brought out.

“They sure are pumped up.”

“Look who’s talking. You’re already working on your second cup of alcohol y’know.”

Elma completely ignored my words and poured herself a cup of liquor. I thought she poured beer for herself at first like earlier, but it looks like she was now gonna drink some sort of wine.

“Just please don’t get yourself too drunk. Spare me from that, okay.”

“I’m pacing myself properly, so don’t worry.”

Well, since Elma says so, I guess it’ll be fine. She does drink a lot whenever she has the chance, but she rarely gets herself too drunk. Tina causes a mess from time to time though, and Whisker’s the one who cleans up after her.

“But there really are a lot of people here huh.”

“That’s just how many people are involved in this project.”

I’m not sure if everyone at the venue is all involved in the colonization project since they weren’t wearing any nametags and such, but the party venue was virtually packed with people.

I was wearing my usual mercenary getup. Mimi, Elma, Tina, and Whisker were also wearing their usual clothes, so everyone could tell we were mercenaries at first glance. Maybe they felt an aura of danger from me and Elma or something, so no one worked up the courage to approach us and left us alone.

“Have I gained the aura of a proper mercenary too?”

“Well, maybe. Lots of people saw you fighting in the tournament after all, right? It seems the event was broadcasted all throughout the empire.”

“I see. I’m unarmed today though.”

I did bring my laser gun and swords with me, but I had to leave them with the staff for safekeeping when we entered the hotel. That’s why I’m completely unarmed right now. Of course, Mimi and Elma also had to leave their laser guns behind as well.

“Master.”

“Mm? Ah……”

Mei, who was standing right behind me, signaled that a person was approaching our group. When I saw who it was, I instinctively looked up at the ceiling.

“I’m really going to get offended if you show such a reaction every single time we meet, okay.”

“Sorry, sorry. It’s not like I bear any ill will against you. I just got taken aback a bit when my prediction came true.”

“And what exactly do you mean by ill will huh?”

It was a beautiful woman in a crisp military uniform being followed by her subordinates. Yep. It’s Lt. Col. Serena. She was glaring at me with reproachful eyes. Hahaha, don’t sweat the small stuff, ma’am.

“So you guys being here means–”

“It’s as you think. We are hunting for pirates as usual, just like you all.”

“Yeah, I thought so.”

As we exchanged pleasantries, Mei approached us and handed drinks to Lt. Col. Serena and her subordinates. It seems she brought them non-alcoholic drinks.

“Thank you. By the way, I have a proposal for you, so hear me out for a bit.”

“Yes, Lieutenant Colonel.”

“How does working together closely with us as much as possible sound to you? Since we’re already familiar with each other to some extent, I don’t think we’ll have any problems cooperating.”

“It’s not a bad proposal, but we need to get the client’s approval first. It’s impossible for us to act together with your unit at our own discretion after all. Besides, there’s a chance that House Dareinwald and the military’s defensive priorities may differ as well.”

“That’s true. Well then, we’ll talk with House Dareinwald first.”

“That’s for the best.”

I saw Lt. Col. Serena and the others off with a wave.

Actually, we would probably be able to hunt down more pirates if we acted together with the Lieutenant Colonel and her fleet, but we’ll lose our operational flexibility in exchange. Besides, the total firepower of Lt. Col. Serena’s Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet was leagues above our own, even with the addition of the Lotus. In other words, there’s a risk of our prey getting swiped due to the difference in raw firepower.

The total bounty rewards we would earn will decrease as a result, and since the pirate ships will be blasted to bits with superior firepower, there’s next to no hope of capturing their ships intact to sell off as well. I’m sure there would be a lot of overkill and the ships would be torn to bits.

In that sense, working together with the Lieutenant Colonel wasn’t that ideal for us.

“Well, Chris would probably refuse, don’t you think?”

“Yeah.”

Chris wanted to make use of our strength to earn some merits by repelling pirate attacks together with us after all. However, if we work together with the military, she’d lose the chance to earn those merits. And so, I think Chris will have no choice but to refuse the Lieutenant Colonel. It seems Elma was thinking the same as me.

“Working with nobles really comes with its fair share of troubles, huh.”

“They’d be paying attention to our every move after all. It’s a hassle for sure.”

That sure sounds convincing, especially since it was coming from a tomboy who escaped from her home in order to avoid the life of an aristocrat.

“Now then, let’s go and get some food as well, shall we? Our bellies won’t get satisfied with just drinks after all.”

“Yeah. I’d like to get things that would pair well with alcohol.”

“Be sure to drink in moderation, okay. Sheesh…… Let’s go, Mei.”

“Yes, Master.”

I went deeper into the party hall with Mei and Elma in tow.