CH 322

Translator: SFBaka

Editor: Thor’s Stone

“How is it?”

“It’s delicious. It’s amazing that all these tasty dishes were actually made by machines.”

Kugi’s fluffy tails were swaying back and forth as she happily ate a hamburger. The ‘hamburger’ was made of a white bun, a vividly vermillion patty, and a dark-green vegetable-lookalike that didn’t really resemble lettuce. Its shape was decidedly that of a hamburger, but its color was strange. But, well, it did taste like a hamburger, so it probably was one. Yeah.

Also, the color of a hamburger apparently changes depending on the food cartridges used to make it. Even though they tasted mostly the same, their colors were different. Maybe the difference was caused by the types of raw materials used.

“Hiro-sama, Hiro-sama, this one’s also delicious.”

“Oh, which one? Mm? This certainly is pretty tasty. I guess is something like curry.”

Mimi was eating bread that sandwiched some sort of yellow-colored filling. The paste was delicious, spicy, and tasted like curry. The dish resembled curry-filled naan bread.

“……Muu.”

Col. Serena was eating something resembling french fries with a sulky expression on her pretty face. Even if the sticks were green, they tasted decidedly like potato french fries.

“Why do you look so miffed anyway?”

“Oh, nothing…… You guys sure look like you’re having fun.”

“Uwaah. How troublesome.”

“Can you stop calling me troublesome already?”

“Hey! Can you two stop getting in each other’s cases in a place like this? We’re standing out a lot already without you guys getting everybody’s attention.”

Elma emitted a disturbing aura as she scolded Col. Serena and me in exasperation.

Mm, that’s true. We do stand out a lot huh. We’re a group composed of a man who looks like a mercenary, four beautiful women, and an equally beautiful maidroid. One of the women in our group was even wearing a military uniform of the imperial space navy and had a sword strapped to her waist. The mercenary-like man also had swords strapped to his waist. Nobles? How scary. Of course, anyone would try to stay away from a group like us.

As a matter of fact, the tables around us were completely empty. Un, I’m truly sorry, everyone. But we also wanna eat as we liked and not be bothered, so please bear with it for a bit. Well, it’s not like we specifically had the rest of the diners vacate their seats or anything like that. They just maintained a distance from us on their own due to fear, so I guess we didn’t really need to pay much attention to them.

“How long are you guys gonna be staying in this colony anyway?”

“We can’t move from here for at least a week. We’re waiting for the delivery of a newly purchased ship, and Black Lotus is also getting overhauled and refurbished. Krishna is free to move, but we can’t just leave the new ship and the Lotus here.”

I ate something resembling a hotdog as I answered Col. Serena’s question. The texture of the sausage wasn’t that good, but other than that, I had no complaints. The color was still funky though.

“Come to think of it, what are you doing here, Colonel Serena? Oh, but I don’t have any intention of snooping for military secrets.”

“I’ve been here ever since I got promoted to colonel. Please try and guess the rest.”

“Fumu?”

I supposed coming to the Windas system was necessary after she got promoted. In other words, as a consequence of Ms. Serena being promoted to colonel, the Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet under her leadership was going to increase in size accordingly? I see. So, that’s why Col. Serena and her fleet were staying here in the Windas system, which was home to the empire’s premier shipyards. Maybe they’re in the process of procuring a variety of new ships here.

“It looks like it’s gonna be a lot of work. Procedures and stuff, I mean.”

“Well, I suppose…… I’m happy to be evaluated so highly, but getting promoted too fast also comes with its own share of troubles. Some jealous people keep saying I’m just using my parent’s power and influence to get my way after all.”

“Well, it’s not exactly untrue to some extent, right? But more than that, it’s your flexible mindset and decisive judgment that got you to where you are now, Colonel. Of course, luck is a part of it too.”

“……I can’t exactly deny that I’ve been pretty lucky lately.”

Colonel Serena gave me a quick glance. Mm, right. If Black Lotus and I didn’t intervene in time, Colonel Serena could have been killed in action during the battle with the crystal lifeforms. Or maybe she would have been badly wounded during the ground battle in the Comatt system. Even if she had the support of the imperial marines, facing off alone with that mutated monster still wouldn’t have left her unscathed.

“But you’ll get even busier from now on huh. Your subordinates are also going to increase, right?”

“Right. There will be a lot more of them than before. Well, I’m from the house of a marquis, so I’m not exactly lacking in the leadership and organization department you know.”

“You sure are confident.”

“I’m from a viscount house, so I got away with simple physical augmentation treatments, but members of a marquis house not only need to strengthen their physical capabilities but also their brain’s processing abilities as well. She’s confident because she has every right to.”

“That’s how it is. I don’t really want to use the enhanced processing abilities too much though since it really takes a lot out of you.”

After saying so, Col. Serena put a large amount of sweetener into the coffee-like beverage she was drinking. Does she need sugar to recharge her brain or something? It’s none of my business if you get diabetes y’know, Colonel.

“Well, it doesn’t look like we can help much with anything though.”

“Yeah. Since their fleet’s going to increase in size, a small mercenary fleet like us wouldn’t be worth much, and I’m sure they’ve already formed their own anti-pirate tactics, right?”

“Well, I suppose. Recently, we’ve been having trouble making the targets take the bait, so we’ve put more effort into the disguise…… Like assigning an unassuming small-class ship that’s actually armed to the teeth with military equipment as an escort to traders.”

“Uwaah. How malicious.”

“It would be a total nightmare for pirates to face off with a small-class ship that only rookie mercenaries pilot that’s actually packing advanced military weapons and equipment.”

After pointing that out, Elma displayed a bitter smile. I wasn’t sure about exactly what model of ships they were using for their operations, but I can make an educated guess. It was probably either a Space Manta (nicknamed Zabuton) or a Spearhead (nicknamed Carrot).

Both were the smallest of small-class ships and obviously weren’t capable of housing large energy generators. Their combat performance also left a lot to be desired. However, if they were upgraded with state-of-the-art military weapons and equipment, those relatively fast and agile ships will have sufficient firepower to handle pirate ships.

Come to think of it, I do kinda remember the colonel mentioning that they increased the number of bait transport ships a while back. And whenever pirates attacked those helpless-looking transport ships and mercenary escorts, they’d find their targets armed to the brim with military weapons and equipment. Then the reinforcements from the rest of the Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet will immediately make their intimidating entrance. That’s scary, man.

“You’re the one who taught us all about these ‘malicious’ tactics you know?”

Then Colonel Serena elegantly brought a chicken nugget-like piece of food to her mouth. It’s honestly amazing how refined and elegant she looked even though she was eating with her hands. Now, this was a real high-born aristocratic lady, Elma-san. You really don’t resemble her at all. Ow, oww. Please stop pinching my upper arm milady.

“Can you please refrain from flirting in front of me?”

“I’m just educating this fellow about delicacy.”

“It hurts a lot though…… Anyway, you’re probably gonna undergo training after your fleet increases in size huh. Seems tough.”

“That’s probably going to be the case. Since our scale has grown, we’re going to have to retrain our tactics and fleet maneuvers.”

Colonel Serena had a troubled look on her face.

Actually, the Independent Anti-pirate Mobile Fleet wasn’t just tasked with taking down pirates, but also other threats like crystal lifeforms. I think Colonel Serena’s actual idea was to operate a force that’s able to maintain domestic security and steadily gain popularity while also being freely able to go to areas where they were most needed in case of emergencies.

Because they often engaged pirates, they had a lot more combat experience under their belt compared to regular imperial military fleets.

“Well, I don’t know if we’ll actually be of use, but we’ll be free once we’ve gotten our new ship and the refurbishment of the Lotus is completed. Depending on the conditions, we can probably take on a request from you guys. But since the number of our ships has increased in addition to me achieving Platinum rank, the price is gonna be higher compared to before.”

“Right. I won’t stand on ceremony and get in contact with you if anything comes up then. If I do contact you, don’t act like this conversation never happened, okay? You promised.”

“As I said, it depends on the conditions.”

I shrugged my shoulders as I replied to Col. Serena. After all, with this, I can just say I don’t fancy the conditions and then bail on her later. In other words, depending on the situation, I can just simply refuse her. Gahaha, I’m so smart.