CH 371

I was awakened by the faint sounds of a machine that was running. I felt a slight chill that directly touched my bare skin.

My gradually awakening brain had recognized that I was currently not wearing any clothes and expressed a feeling of helplessness, and my rate of awakening faintly sped up as a result. I wasn’t the kind of person who found being naked comfortable.

“You’re awake. I’m going to open the case now.”

A calm, comforting voice greeted me. Case? I’m…… Oh, I see.

The sound of air being let out of the case, or rather, the med pod rang out, and a sense of freedom along with slightly warmer air gradually enveloped me.

“Was I really that tired? I ended up sleeping soon after I entered.”

“Yeah. Maybe it was accumulated fatigue coupled with a high stress level. I don’t think there’s any need to worry, but just in case, I recommend taking a break today.”

After saying so, Dr. Shouko, who was holding a tablet terminal, displayed a gentle smile.

I dressed in my usual mercenary get-up and gave the med bay of the Lotus a once-over. Until recently, it was a drab room with only a simple med pod and a shelf containing various medicines. But now, the room had a desk that functioned as a holo-terminal and comfortable-looking lounge corner with ergonomically designed seats. Nice-looking chairs, machines that I couldn’t really figure out, decorative plants, a fragrance machine, and Dr. Shouko’s belongings were neatly arranged inside the room, giving it a livelier atmosphere.

“Don’t you think it’s bad manners to ogle a lady’s private room?”

“But it’s not your private room Doc. This is a public facility inside the Lotus y’know? We cleared out a storeroom just next door so you can use it as your private room instead.”

“I’ll mostly spend my time inside here anyway, so I’ll just sleep here as well. Don’t you think it’ll do nicely if I placed a bed in here too?”

“This isn’t supposed to be your private room, okay? And we’ll end up renovating it again once we get to a colony with a large dock anyway.”

“Well, that’s true, I guess. But I just can’t calm down unless I’m in a room with this kind of research and medical equipment.”

“So, it’s an occupational disease huh……?”

I sat on a chair facing Dr. Shouko, who was smiling wryly. The chair was meant for visitors, or rather, a stool meant for patients. Facing Dr. Shouko like this really reminded me of a hospital scene back on Earth.

“I’m done with the diagnosis and there are basically no problems. Like I said earlier, your stress level seems a bit high, but it’s still within the scope that doesn’t affect daily life. Your body itself is quite healthy. Your internal and external functions are as fit as can be. Even in this day and age, there aren’t many medicines that can really beat moderate exercise and a proper diet.”

“Sounds good. How about the other crew members?”

“Even if you’re the captain of this ship, as a doctor, I’m still obligated to uphold my patient’s privacy, so I can’t tell you the details. Well, as your ship’s doctor, all I can say is that everyone is in good health and there are no apparent problems.”

“That’s for the best. However, if you do find any problems with their health, please make sure to inform me or Mei as well. Err, well, I think Mei will do a better job of settling things, but just inform me anyway. Otherwise, I’ll feel like I’m being left out.”

“Kufufu…… Aye, aye, sir. Did I get that right?”

“You nailed it!”

–Beyond the Edge World—

After concluding our initial negotiations with the unknown intelligent lifeforms in the Riche system in a mostly peaceful manner, we took a brief break and headed straight for the Alein system after finishing up our remaining business.

We went around destroying most of the pirate bases lurking within and near the Edge World, and the problem with the spheres was settled by negotiating with that mysterious tetrahedron-shaped silicon lifeform cluster. The empire officially recognized it as a new intelligent lifeform and took it under its wing in exchange for big hints regarding the production of a new type of armor material. In other words, our contract was basically fulfilled without a hitch.

『I’m still gonna be stuck here you know?』

The frightening visage of an angry Capt. Serena with bluish veins bulging on her temple flashed through my mind, but it’s not like I was obligated to stay with her until she completes her duties in the Edge World as well. We’re freedom-loving mercenaries after all. It’s simply our style to take a nice time off and do our own thing after completing a request and receiving rewards.

“……Aren’t you afraid of what’ll happen the next time you encounter her?”

“Nah. I make it a point to not worry so much about that sort of stuff. Or rather, I’d just get caught in her pace if I did that.”

“Is that so?”

When I went to the break space mess after the health checkup, I found Mimi and the others casually relaxing and discussing something.

“Oh, Boss. Checkup’s over?”

“Yeah. No problems, apparently. So, what are you guys talking about?”

I raised my hand to acknowledge Tina who noticed me first, sat down, and joined the rest. I normally refrain from barging in on discussions between the girls because I can more or less read the atmosphere and know if they’re talking about topics that they don’t want me listening in on, but it doesn’t seem to be the case this time around.

“Umm, we’re talking a bit about Capt. Serena.”

“Ah…… Well, it’s not like we’re obligated to always adapt to her circumstances. Or rather, if we showed signs of doing so, just like Elma warned, I have a feeling she’d just try to take advantage of it as much as she could.”

“Right. After all, she’s a genius who climbed to the rank of captain in the male-dominated imperial space navy. There are aspects of her that seem clumsy and disappointing, but she’s also quick-witted and skilled in taking advantage of her opponents. Her being a marquis’ daughter definitely isn’t just for show.”

“I see…… But it also kind of feels like we only accomplished our duties halfway before we left.”

“It might feel better if we stuck around to the end. But since we’re mercenaries, we can’t just keep staying in a place where prey is already running out.”

“And we also need ta consider our supplies. We can’t afford runnin’ out of channels to procure supplies.”

“We also can’t access the latest technological developments there either.”

Tina and Wiska, who were in charge of maintaining our ships as mechanics, pointed out the difficulties of staying in the Edge World from an engineer’s point of view.

“I am still not very familiar with how mercenaries do things, so I will just follow everyone’s lead, but…… I think it would be more fun to travel around and see more new places as well.”

Instead of wearing her usual shrine maiden outfit, Kugi was wearing a simple one-piece dress. She gave her opinion as her fox ears cutely moved about on top of her head. Well, it’s true that the Edge World didn’t offer much in terms of entertainment or creature comforts. It’s not like there was absolutely nothing of the sort there, but there was just a bare minimum of such facilities located within the supply mother ship Dauntless. Also, the ceiling inside it was rather low and felt somewhat oppressive.

“We need to head to the Alein system to arrange Dr. Shouko’s matters anyway.”

“That’s true.”

Dr. Shouko was hired as a temporary researcher by the imperial space navy, but she was discharged early due to her achievements in successfully analyzing the potential new armor material and developing psionic-related tech that was used to communicate with Mr. Tetrahedron. That’s why she immediately boarded our ship after applying for her discharge and went with us to the Alein system. Her objective was to officially resign from her current position at Inagawa Technology in order to become our ship doctor.

Actually, it was still possible for her to participate in our mercenary activities without going through such troubles. After being discharged early from her post as a temporary researcher in the imperial space navy, she’d simply go missing. But in truth, she’s gonna join us in our mercenary work.

However, if we went with that option, there’s a high chance that Inagawa Technology would end up reporting her as MIA or deceased to the Graccan imperial authorities. Once that happens, she’d likely lose her status as an imperial citizen.

She’ll lose various rights and privileges afforded to imperial subjects, and there was a high possibility of her bank accounts getting frozen and her doctor’s license getting revoked or invalidated. If she loses her doctor’s license, she wouldn’t be able to procure advanced drugs, pharmaceutical materials, research equipment, and more stuff that ordinary citizens like us wouldn’t be able to normally access. That would be really bad. It was bad for her and for us as well.

That’s why we have no choice but to come to the Alein system again. Well, I’m almost certain that troubles are bound to come our way, but Dr. Shouko was both an excellent ship doctor and researcher. She was definitely worth such trouble. Talented people like her were hard to come by after all.

“Speaking of which, the Termaine system is quite close to the Alein system.”

“The Termaine system……”

Mimi made a strange expression after hearing Elma’s words. The Termaine system was formerly her home system after all. I’m sure she had plenty of good memories of the place, but there were definitely a lot of bad memories as well.

“It kinda feels like I both want and don’t want to go back there.”

“Yeah, I understand. Well, just tell us if you feel like visiting the place later. Don’t hold back. It’s not good to hold yourself back. It’s a promise, okay?”

“Yes, I understand. Thank you, Hiro-sama.”

A smile returned to Mimi’s slightly clouded expression. Yeah, a smiling Mimi definitely was the best. That’s better.

“Don’t mention it. It’s for your sake anyway, Mimi. This goes for you all as well. Don’t hold back and tell me if you ever feel like visiting your home systems, okay? It’s not like we’re short on money. We can earn enough to get by while hunting pirates along the way.”

“Normally, navigating outer space is a pretty perilous affair you know?”

“Well, it’s Boss, so yeah.”

That way of saying it is a bit off-putting y’know? I admit that I tend to deviate from this world’s common sense from time to time though. It’s unfortunately a fact, so I can’t exactly deny it.