CH 11

Kisei, got picked a fight with

“It’s you huh? The fool of a man who’s playing at being a pilot.”

“That’s right.”

Kisei proudly answered the ponytail girl whose intention was clearly to pick a fight with him. Seeing that, blood drained off the guide girl’s face as she stepped forward to protect Kisei.

“Lieutenant Makishima!”

“Makishima?”

That’s a Japanese name. Kisei thought as he raised his eyebrows. The girl called Makishima has a pair of beast ears which is the characteristic of a Vuld. No matter how he looks at her, she doesn’t seem to be a Terran at all.

“Perhaps, one of your parents is a Terran?”

“Yeah? My grandfather was certainly a Terran. What of it?”

A Terran is capable of procreating with a Vuld. However, what’s terrifying about this is that the child born from such a couple will come out as a pure Vuld. For this reason, some Terrans even degradingly refer to the Vuldes as a race of human-like orcs.

“HoHou. I’m glad to meet someone who shares the same roots as me despite being so far from earth. I’m Hokuto Kisei, nice to meet you!”

Kisei stepped past the guide girl, forcibly grabbed Makishima’s hand, and shook it.

“U, Uh. I’m Makishima Saki……THAT’S NOT IT! Don’t touch me!”

The girl who introduced her name as Saki hurriedly pulled her hand back and rubbed it on her pilot suit. Her face is also bright red like a boiled octopus. That being said, Kisei continues to speak to her while ignoring all that.

“By the way, I am a little curious but, how is your grandfather doing now?”

“He’s been dead a long time ago! Even before my mother was born!”

“Seriously……”

Her answer was as he expected. Considering the timing, he must have died during the deed. While his face went blue from the idea of having a relationship with a Vuld woman, Kisei prays for Saki’s grandfather inside his heart. No matter how attractive they are, he must never allow any Vuldes to have their way with his body.

“More importantly! Piloting a striker is women’s territory. There’s no place for a fragile man like you! Do you get that!”

“Lieutenant! The decision to employ Hokuto-san came directly from Her Highness herself! You are overstepping your bounds by disagreeing with her decision!”

“A desk jockey like you has no say in this! This is between someone who works in the field!”

When Saki shouted at her, the guide girl quivered.

“Even if you say that, I don’t know how to make a living besides being a pilot though.”

“Haa? You are a man so you can just ask a girl to support you right.”

In Vuld society, that is the norm. Due to the super-biased birth rate of males to females of 10:1, most men would just get married off as soon as they reach a certain age. Except for some of their upper classes, a man is usually shared among sisters. On their world, no man is supposed to work.

Furthermore, the appearance of male Vuldes is not much different from that of Terran women except that they are physically stronger. That may appear like a happy harem life but Kisei has heard from his friend who is a Vuld man, that married life is actually harsh for them.

“My dad left me with a load of debt and disappeared off somewhere, my mother is dying from her heart condition. My elder sister suddenly came back home one day with a supposed incurable disease and the treatment cost was just ridiculously high! I am the only one who can support them right.”

For those who lived in such a society, even if he explains how a Terran society work, they would not understand. Kisei sighed as he talked about his personal details.

“Oh, Ohh…..th, that must be hard on you……..”

Saki, who appears to be a good person deep down, completely toned down her aggressiveness and looks at Kisei with sympathetic eyes.

“Well, my sister has completely healed about half a year ago so she left home and ended up marrying a handsome guy of the same age though.”

“Wha…..there are things that a person should and shouldn’t do right! If your sister is that terrible then you should just cut ties with her already!”

If you flipped it over and looked at it from a Terran’s sensibility, it would be like a guy coming home to rely on his little sister to support him and abandon her once he’s all cured up to find his own happiness, leaving his sister to deal with the debt alone. Saki’s anger is completely justified.

“I do think that all Riajuu should just go ahead and explode but there’s no need to take it that far you know! Riajuu should all explode though!”

(TLN: Riajuus is a type of people that for some reason think that Valentine day is a good thing)

That being said, as someone who enjoys being a pilot very much except the part where his distrust toward the opposite sex is gradually growing stronger and stronger every day, Kisei can not refute her words.

“No, but……that’s not it! I understand why you became a pilot but it doesn’t mean that I am willing to recognize y—”

“Ah, that’s right, pilot! Makishima-san is also a pilot right?”

Saki is currently wearing a yellow pilot suit. As per standard, hers also has a suggestive design that reveals her slender figure.

“That’s right. So what”

“As I thought. Moreover, you are quite capable too, aren’t you? I can tell from the air around you.”

“Well, yeah.”

Saki shyly scratched her cheek. She also looks away and her mouth curled up a little.

“It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that you are the ace of this fleet, no your country right.”

“While being a commoner, Lt. Makishima’s skills are good enough that she received her own Zenith-type. But as you can see, her personality is kind of difficult…….”

Said the guide girl who has been excluded from the conversation until now. Convinced, Kisei nodded and returned his gaze to Saki. The right to pilot a Zenith-type is usually reserved for high-ranking aristocrats or royalty. Even so, the fact that a commoner like her has gained that same right means that she must have achieved something great.

“You are piloting a Zenith? That’s amazing. What kind of striker is it?”

“Haa? Seriously, there’s no helping it……if you want to know that much then I will show you.”

When Kisei asked while taking a step closer to her, Saki replied with a loose smile. It appears that her previous aggressiveness has disappeared off somewhere. After he glanced at the guide girl and gave her a light bow, Kisei followed Saki to her striker.

“This is the ZX-95 [Dainsleif]. Amazing right.”

The striker that Saki pointed at was a smart-looking one painted in bright chrome yellow. Overall, it looks pretty slender but its joints seem to be heavily armored. Furthermore, there’s a huge Japanese sword-looking armament stored inside a strange mechanized scabbard on its waist.

“Its name is Dainsleif and its main weapon is a katana huh……”

It seems that the maker is fully pushing his conception of what’s cool to the Vuldes who are not familiar with Earth’s legends huh. Kisei couldn’t help but smile as he thought so.

“It’s quite funky isn’t it.”

“Right? You do understand huh.”

“Obviously.”

Kisei gazes at the katana inside the strange scabbard while repeatedly nodding at the design choice as he replies to Saki.

“Ah, it’s a linear ejection mechanism huh?”

“Those are good eyes you have there. That’s right, the scabbard is capable of electromagnetically accelerating the draw! With this scabbard, you can perform an Iai slash at extreme speed! It’s kind of like a special move.”

“Iai! So cool. This striker is made of (a man’s) dreams isn’t it.”

As Kisei said that with his eyes gleaming, Saki nodded with a smug expression.

“You do understand after all. Also, the thing attached on the arm is…….”

Saki begins to narrate the specs of her striker with no prompt from Kisei. Kisei, who is in a good mood from seeing a cool striker, also keeps listening while nodding in response. The hostility from the beginning of their conversation seems to have completely disappeared.