I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship, so I Became a Space Mercenary - Chapter 531

Chapter 531: 「Stop It. I’m Going to Cry」

「Hiro-sama... You get caught up in trouble as soon as I take my eyes off you.」

「I have no excuse... even though I was at his side...」

「It’s not like that. It was out of my control... it was force majeure.」

After Konoha left and I was resting, exhausted, Mimi and Moegi—who had gone off to arrange the procurement of food from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, specifically some prepackaged meals—rejoined with us. As soon as I explained the situation, they were both exasperated.

「Is it always like this?」

「Yes... more or less.」

「That sounds tough...」

It seemed that over the course of working together, Mimi and Moegi had grown friendlier with each other, chatting a bit more casually now. Well, Mimi is good with people. She gets along with almost everyone right away.

「Moegi-san, you’re interested in Hiro-sama, right? Will you join us? As you can see, life with him is never boring.」

「I’m interested, but getting caught up in trouble that stirs up the military on a daily basis is a bit too much for me...」

It seems I’ve been rejected by Moegi without my knowledge. Not that it really matters... or does it? Even if I wasn’t thinking of getting involved with her, being clearly turned down still stings a bit. Oof.

「Look, look, my Lord! Here’s your favorite tail!」

「Yay!」

Sensing something, Kugi offered one of her fluffy tails onto my lap, so I stroked it. Ah, this is healing. While the tails of the gorgeous nine-tailed beauty were undeniably luxurious and had a great feel, Kugi’s tails still take the top spot for me, as expected, the familiar ones are the best. I feel like Kugi is making a smug face toward the empty air, but that’s probably just my imagination. Yeah, definitely.

☆★☆

The information I brought apparently caused quite a stir in the military of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. Normally, a national military wouldn’t take the words of a mere mercenary like me seriously. It might be different for smaller military factions on a star-system level, but a national military is a whole other matter. After all, fleets alone are costly just to maintain, and mobilizing them adds even more expense. They can’t be moved lightly.

「Let’s see... the usual three—Moegi, Konoha, and Inaba— will accompany us as always, apart from them, Fuguruma, the relic researcher Buubo, the ship technology researcher Ameno, and... there are a few more whose names I don’t remember.」

「We might be a bit short on rooms. Some people might have to share.」

「I see... Uhm, we probably should start thinking about changing the Lotus for a bigger mothership.」

Neve’s words prompted me to think again about our mothership. When we brought Dr. Shouko aboard, the lab and medical room took up quite a bit of space, making the guest quarters a bit cramped.

On top of that, our mid-sized ship, the Antlion, can’t fit into the Black Lotus’ hangar, so when we travel long distances, it has to be docked externally. Ideally, we should switch to a mothership big enough to house the Antlion. Once our stay in the Holy Vuelzarus Empire is over and we return to the Grakkan Empire, it might be time to seriously consider changing motherships.

Should I have Space Dwerg, with whom we have a contract, find us a larger one? Or maybe I should cancel that contract and go through Serena’s connections to get a ship from another manufacturer... We’ve quite a bit more money than when we bought the Black Lotus, so I’m not too worried about the cost. We could even trade in the Black Lotus.

「Are we changing ships?... I’ve grown attached to the Black Lotus.」

「That’s true. But switching ships is common for mercenaries, you know? It’s rare to part with a ship while it’s still intact and in good condition, though.」

「There’s data showing that about 40% of mercenary ship changes are due to damage. The Black Lotus is well-maintained, with barely any significant damage, so if we trade it in, it’ll definitely be in demand. In fact, Space Dwerg might even offer a trade-in themselves.」

「Yeah, that makes sense. If the ship’s in near-perfect condition, the manufacturer would want the data on how it was used and maintained.」

As we talked, Kugi suddenly turned her head in an odd direction, her fox ears perking up. Ah, she’s picking up something.

「My lord, we’ve received a message. Moegi-san and Konoha-san will be coming to pick us up first thing tomorrow morning.」

「Got it. Then we should get some good rest tonight. You can drink, but don’t go overboard and make sure it doesn’t affect you tomorrow.」

「「「Yeees.」」」

The three heavy drinkers answered in unison. Guess I’ll turn in early tonight too.

What? You’re asking if I’m just going to sleep? Well, that’s not really up to me... Mei handles that part, so I won’t know until I actually go to bed. In a way, it’s something to look forward to, haha.