CH 324

“Oh, over here Boss〜”

When I arrived at the meeting place via tram, I found Tina and Whisker already waiting for me. The two of them almost always stuck together like glue, so it was only natural that they were together now as well.

“It looks like you two put in a lot of effort for today’s date huh?”

Both of them weren’t in their usual work jumpsuits. They were wearing rather fashionable casual clothes instead. I think they were still in their usual get-up when they left for work in the morning though…… Come to think of it, they did bring extra baggage. So, they went out of their way to bring a change of clothes to work. It feels more and more like this was all planned beforehand.

“Fufun! Ya always see us wearing those stuffy jumpsuits after all. How ’bout it? Did ya fall fer us all over again? This Tina-chan’s super cute today, eh?”

“Yeah, you’re pretty cute, or rather, kinda cool today. It’s quite a fresh look.”

I gave Tina a straightforward compliment without spouting any BS. Tina was wearing a dress and pants ensemble that emphasized her body’s curves. Rather than cute, she looked pretty stylish. She was rather short because of her race, but she still exuded the sex appeal of a mature lady because of her ample curves.

“But isn’t Whisker looking a little too nervous though?”

“Oh, yeah, I guess. Let’s just talk as we eat.”

After saying so, Tina took the lead and entered the restaurant. Since it wasn’t good to just continue standing in front of the entrance, I held the nervous Whisker’s hand and pulled her along as we also entered the restaurant. By the way, Whisker’s get-up was quite feminine instead of cool like Tina’s. Or rather, it was an ensemble that emphasized her girlishness. She wore a combination of a fluttery one-piece dress with blue stripes of the same shade as her hair coupled with a white wide-brim hat. Combined with Tina’s mature get-up, they presented…… a rather striking pair of two opposite natures.

“Are you okay?”

“I-I’m sorry…… I’m alright.”

Whisker didn’t seem to be alright at all. But she insists she is, so that’s that, I suppose. But I can feel her small hand sweating a lot, so I can tell she’s actually quite nervous. Since she’s this nervous, I’m starting to feel nervous as well. Just what kind of topic will lead to Whisker getting this nervous anyway?

When we finally made it inside the restaurant, Tina had already called a staff member to lead us to our seats. Apparently, they’ve already made a reservation in advance.

“I’ll guide you to your seats. Please follow me.”

“Thanks. Over here, Boss.”

“Gotcha. Can you walk, Whisker?”

“I’m fine. Yes, totally fine.”

Err, you don’t seem fine at all y’know. Well, both Tina and Whisker seemed nervous, but they didn’t seem to be radiating a sad atmosphere, so I don’t think the matter they want to talk about was gonna be anything bad.

As I mulled over the situation, the restaurant staff guided us to a secluded spot at the back of the restaurant. Partitions prevented the other diners from seeing us, and the spot was obviously devised to offer a certain degree of privacy while still retaining a feeling of openness.

“This restaurant has a pretty nice atmosphere.”

“That it does. The dim lightin’ also sets the mood.”

The interior of the restaurant wasn’t dark, but it made liberal use of indirect lighting, making it exude a peaceful and calming atmosphere. The reason why it didn’t give out a gloomy impression might be the jazzy slow tempo music playing unobtrusively in the background.

“Shall we order some drinks first? I’m fine with something non-alcoholic.”

“We’ll go with non-alcoholic drinks too. It looks like we gotta get this over with fast, or Whisker’s going to pass out from all the stress.”

Tina operated the tablet terminal menu to place our orders while smiling bitterly. It does like like Whisker wouldn’t be able to taste anything in her current state. But they’re going out of their way not to drink any alcohol? I was getting even more curious about the topic they’re gonna bring up.

“You guys went fer a workout today, right? Did anythin’ major happen?”

“There wasn’t anything particularly notable. Oh, but we did discuss how Kugi was actually pretty athletic. It seems she hasn’t really undergone any special training before, but she can already keep up with us who train regularly.”

“Hee–, so that girl’s a lot stronger than she looks huh. She does look like yer typical slim, cute, and girly girl though.”

“We theorized that it might have something to do with her race. You guys are also pretty strong despite your appearances, right, Tina?”

“Yeah. I suppose we’re quite a bit stronger compared to you humans. Actually, from our perspective, humans are unexpectedly weak despite their appearance.”

As we chatted, a server appeared, carrying our drinks on a tray. They looked like wine, but they were apparently similar to grape juice. Juices made from real fruits are considered luxury items in colonies like this one.

“So, what’s going on today? You guys seemed to have planned for things quite a bit.”

“Oh–, Um? It’s that, y’see. Um, Whee?”

“That’s, um, err……”

Tina suddenly passed the buck to Whisker, who got miserably flustered. It looks like this is gonna take a while.

“Ok, ok. For now, can you tell me if it’s good news or bad news?”

“U-Um, that actually depends on you, Big Brother.”

“Me?”

Things were really strange. It’s something that would make these two lose their cool this much. They even went out of their way to prepare a place for us to talk and came all dressed up…… And moreover, whether it’s good or bad news depends on me?

All of a sudden, a current ran through my spine. Don’t tell me… Don’t tell me it’s really something like that?

“Did I manage to hit the bullseye? For both of you?”

“”Bullseye?””

The two tilted their heads in a questioning manner. Hm? They don’t get it?

“Well, I was asking if I actually got the two of you pregnant. That’s definitely good news y’know–”

“N-N-No! Me and Whee always make sure to take contraceptives whenever we do it!”

Tina’s face turned bright red as she vehemently denied my guess. Oh, is that so? Well, yeah, of course. It did seem that the girls discussed topics like this among themselves from time to time. I was worried it would put some strain on their bodies so I offered to do something on my end, but from a comprehensive perspective, it would be better for the girls themselves to take their own measures. After all, they knew their bodies best.

“So, what is it then? I really don’t have any idea.”

I can’t think of any reason they’d be this jittery other than me hitting an unexpected jackpot. They’ve recently been busy coming and going to the Space Dwerg branch office here on Windas Tertius to handle the hand-off and research of the unidentified ship we captured, so I couldn’t think of any event that would warrant their current actions. Ah, maybe it’s something like employee reshuffling? That’s certainly gonna be troublesome. But if that’s the case, then wouldn’t t be fine to call it bad news? So it’s not that as well?

“Mm, I have no idea. I give up. Can you tell me already, guys?”

“Um, well, y’see…… we’re thinkin’ of quittin’ the company.”

“Hou.”

I see.

“In other words, you no longer wanna be with us due to the contract with Space Dwerg, but wanna join us as official crew members instead?”

“Y-Yes. Um, if that’s fine with you, Boss……”

“Of course, it’s fine with me. Rather, I welcome you with open arms. Heck, I would have brought this up eventually if you guys didn’t.”

“R-Really?”

“Really. I was just trying to find a good time to bring it up.”

I’m being honest here. But since there weren’t any obvious inconveniences with our arrangement for the time being, and the two of them seemed to not be bothered by it either, I ended up putting it off.

“If you guys were asked by your company to get off the Lotus one day, I was going to ask you to quit and work for me instead as members of my crew. I was really just trying to find a good time to talk about it with you guys, but you ended bringing it up first.”

“I see…… Haah–”

It seemed like Tina’s taut nerves finally relaxed, and she exhaled deeply. Whisker acted in much the same way her sister did.

“I was worried about what we’d do if you’d refused, Big Brother. I’ve been discussing it with Big Sis since several days ago.”

“We finally told the company about our intentions today.”

“You guys told your company about quitting first before discussing it with me? Well, it’s not like I’d refuse you guys anyway.”

I think the order was completely reversed, but maybe they already consulted Mimi, Elma, and Mei about it first. So maybe that’s why they did it while confident that I wouldn’t refuse them. They both still seemed quite nervous though.

“Are you okay there, Whisker?”

“I’m– not okay…… I’m completely drained..”

Perhaps because she was just too tense earlier, Whisker ended up slumping weakly on the table and seemed drained of strength. She might have suffered unnecessary mental and emotional strain by arbitrarily raising psychological hurdles on her own. Honestly, they didn’t even have to go through all this trouble. I would have agreed immediately even if they brought it up normally.

“Haah–…… Well, since that’s finally settled, how ’bout havin’ a toast again, Boss?”

“Sure. What are we gonna toast about?”

“To you and our brilliant future together, I suppose.”

Tina then raised her glass. Our bright future huh. Sounds nice. Let’s do our best to realize that brilliant future then.