“How did things end up like this?” I muttered as I looked around at the people gathered in the cafeteria linked to the ship’s lounge. On the right side, wearing white-accented military uniforms, were Colonel Serena and other members of the Grakkan Imperial Fleet. On the left, wearing what looked like Japanese-style body armor and traditional Japanese military attire, were the Holy Verthalz Empire’s soldiers. I saw black wings sprouting from someone’s back; others had animal ears and tails. The Black Lotus had been chosen as a provisional conference hall for the two countries.
“Your ship is the closest thing we have to a neutral location, Sir Hiro,” said a man with black wings growing from his back. He was serving as Verthalz’s chief representative. Karasu—that was the name he’d used to introduce himself—looked over at me with a shady smile.
“You’re an honorary viscount of the Grakkan Empire,” Colonel Serena added, “but also a platinum ranker from a neutral public organization, the mercenary guild. Furthermore, you’re traveling with Kugi, a shrine maiden of the Holy Verthalz Empire. This arrangement makes it less likely that things will go badly, compared to us boarding one of the Holy Empire’s ships or them coming aboard one of ours. So just resign yourself already.”
“Got it…” I responded. “Well, I’ll do what I can to serve our guests.”
That said, it wasn’t as if they were here to have a meal. All I had to do was provide some bottles of water and prepare some tea.
“How about we begin, then?” suggested Karasu. “I don’t believe we have anything particularly complicated to discuss today. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“That’s true,” Colonel Serena replied. Karasu’s shady smile was a far cry from her sour expression.
In brief, Karasu said the previous battle had unfolded in an unclaimed system, one that no galactic empire had even declared an intention to claim. While investigating the system, the Grakkan Empire had encountered a space monster, and the Holy Verthalz Empire had happened to pass by during the battle. They’d decided to help, as that was their national policy and the right thing to do. Both parties’ efforts resulted in the successful suppression of the dangerous space monster. Since neither party had expected to gain anything from cooperating during the battle, neither side owed the other a debt.
Colonel Serena sent a look tinged with suspicion at the shady Karasu.
She wasn’t the only one; her subordinates were clearly also suspicious of his intentions. That was to be expected. This was the perfect opportunity for Verthalz to strongarm the Grakkan Empire into their debt, but the Holy Empire’s stance was essentially, “That’s unnecessary. And we don’t care about exploits in combat, or about this system’s ownership rights either. Do whatever you want.” That simply didn’t make sense, so it was natural to suspect Verthalz of plotting something.
In any event, it wasn’t my problem. After all, I had no right to speak up here. How long will this unproductive meeting take? Can it end already?
“It seems our explanation was insufficient,” said Karasu. “It pains me to ask this of you, Sir Hiro, but may I request your assistance?”
“My assistance? I don’t think it’s appropriate for a mere mercenary to butt into politics between two galactic empires.”
“I’ll allow it. Speak your mind,” Colonel Serena said.
She was going along with Karasu’s suggestion, perhaps viewing it as preferable to allowing Karasu himself—that incarnation of sketchiness—to keep steering the negotiations.
Oh, come on. Give me a break.
“I’ll be direct,” I said. “It’s not like you lose anything by rolling with this. If Verthalz is fine with it, you should just accept their generosity gratefully. Anyway, as far as the Holy Empire’s concerned, they just want to eliminate dangerous space monsters as fast as possible, right?”
“That’s more or less accurate, yes,” Karasu answered with a serious look.
If you’d just discussed this with a grave expression from the start, rather than that suspicious smile, things would’ve wrapped up ages ago. Well, whatever.
“What else is there to discuss between officers out on the frontline, then?” I asked. “Politics should be left to politicians. Just report the facts and let them deal with it. If the Grakkan Empire had officially claimed this system already, things might be more complicated, but that isn’t a problem this time.”
“That is true, but…”
“Then that’s that. Let’s go get some food and call it a day. I’ll treat everyone.”
Colonel Serena didn’t seem fully convinced, but I forcefully brought the discussion to an end. Then the imperial soldiers—led by Serena—protested annoyingly that they couldn’t let a civilian buy their food during a mission. Still, I managed to shut them down by saying that I was a mercenary currently participating in that same mission, so they should treat me as a fellow soldier, not as a civilian. And as long as they paid me back later for what food cartridges they consumed, this probably wouldn’t count as an illegal bribe or gift.
“I feel like I’ve just been hoodwinked…” Colonel Serena complained.
“Or outfoxed,” I shrugged.
Serena tilted her head, seemingly not understanding the phrase I’d used. I supposed it wasn’t used much in the Empire. Explaining myself would’ve been annoying, so I simply brushed it off. In the end, the motive behind Verthalz’s actions was likely what Kugi had mentioned in the past: That they wanted to “atone” to this world.
At one point, their ancestors had made some grave mistake that caused people like me—and monsters like the Planet Eater that Mr. Tetrahedron had sealed away—to show up. We were beings that could shake the foundations of, or even destroy, this universe.
Dealing with all the fallout of their ancestors’ actions was the duty of Verthalz’s citizens, or something like that. At least, that was what Kugi had said. It was the reason they didn’t demand compensation when fulfilling what they considered their duty. In fact, if you managed to assist them in that duty, they were seemingly even willing to reward you. That was a bit difficult to understand for people used to the transactional relations that defined their own society.
“You shouldn’t overthink it,” I told Serena.
“I have to. That’s my job as a high-ranking military officer. Hah…” she sighed listlessly, likely racking her brain to come up with an explanation for what had occurred that her superiors would accept.
I’ve got to say, working for the government seems to lead to an endless stream of trouble. My choice when I first arrived in this universe to stick to mercenary work was truly wise!
✦ ✦ ✦
Verthalz’s fleet would apparently stay a little longer to investigate the Planet Eater’s remains, Mr. Tetrahedron, and Riche III, but they’d leave immediately once they finished.
“I’ll join them to report what I know, and I plan to return with them to the Holy Verthalz Empire,” Konoha said, her expression serious. She carried a furoshiki she’d packed all her belongings into, just like she had when she first arrived on the Black Lotus. “Much happened during my short tenure with you. Thank you for having me.”
“Yeah, that’s true. It was nice to have you around, Konoha. Quite a novel experience.”
My crew tended to pamper me, but Konoha occasionally glared at me and rebuked me, so she’d definitely been a unique presence during her time with us.
“Did you really enjoy my presence?” she asked.
“Of course. It was pretty fun watching Kugi scold you too.”
Konoha gave me a deadpan glower. Hey, I was just telling the truth.
“Oh my… It seems that Sir Hiro has established a good relationship with Miss Konoha, in addition to Miss Seijou. Splendid, splendid. What would you think about accepting Miss Konoha into your crew as well?” Karasu asked, with his typical shady smile.
“Whoa, whoa. You can’t just hand her over like she’s a pet tanuki pup… But if she wanted to stay here, we’d welcome her. Konoha’s strong, so I’d feel confident entrusting her with close combat and with guarding the rest of the crew,” I replied, glancing over at her.
“I’m not a pet tanuki,” Konoha complained. It seemed that she didn’t entirely oppose the idea, however; she didn’t outright refuse.
“In any case, Konoha, you work for the government, right? So I doubt you joining us would be that simple.”
“Of course it wouldn’t.”
“Well, if you ever do feel like leaving your government job and living the carefree life of a mercenary, feel free to reach out to me. You have my number, right?”
“I’ll…keep that in mind,” she replied with a swish of her tail. She really might not be against that.
✦ ✦ ✦
