We reached out to Iga Security, and they immediately told us that they’d send a representative to our hotel.
“I didn’t expect them to send someone in person,” I noted. “I thought holo-transmissions and messages would suffice.”
“Low-tech communication is still the most secure,” Dr. Shouko replied. “Transmissions can be intercepted, and attackers can sometimes directly hack into communication devices.”
“Now that you mention it, back when we were trying to send Chris’s holo-message to Count Dalenwald, Elma delivered the recording directly to the courier.” So she did that out of security concerns. I see. Sending the message digitally might’ve resulted in it being intercepted or modified.
“Now that’s an old story…” Elma mused. “You were a lot cuter back then.”
“I remember!” Mimi chimed in.
Elma smirked, and a brilliant smile spread on Mimi’s face. Why were the impressions they gave me so different, even though they were both smiling? What a mystery.
“Oh? Oh? Go on, go on!” Tina said.
“I want to know too!” Wiska interjected.
“I-I’d also like to know…”
Tina’s and Wiska’s reactions didn’t surprise me, but I hadn’t expected Kugi to join in. Dr. Shouko was smirking too. Nobody in this room is on my side… Maybe Mei? No, Mei won’t stop them. This isn’t enough to make her act. And though I can’t read her expression, I can still tell she’s curious herself. “Okay, stop! We’re done with that topic! We can talk about it later on! The rep from Iga Security will be here soon.”
“Yes, Master. I will ask Miss Elma and Miss Mimi for the details later.”
“…Knock yourself out.”
I probably should’ve left out the “talk about it later on” part. Even if the rest of the crew forgot, Mei was sure to remember and bring it up again. Oh well. No point crying over spilled milk. I just have to accept this and move on. I overreacted a bit out of concern, but I didn’t do anything to be embarrassed about.
As I was lost in thought, we received a notification from the lobby informing us that guests had arrived. We had the lobby confirm whether the visitors were representatives of Iga Security, then granted them permission to enter our suite.
“So they sent representatives, not a representative.”
“Hm? Do they operate in pairs in case something happens?” Dr. Shouko asked.
“Maybe one is responsible for managerial stuff, while the other is the actual bodyguard?” Mimi suggested.
“I think it’s probably both,” Elma responded.
As Elma, Mimi, and Dr. Shouko chatted animatedly, Tina and Wiska moved away to sit quietly in a corner. Kugi silently stood next to them. The twins usually don’t weigh in when it comes to matters that could involve violence, and when we interact with outsiders, Kugi usually keeps to herself too.
The twins probably just wanted to quietly observe, but Kugi had likely moved into the background so that she could actively use telepathy to probe the outsiders’ intentions. I’d begun to think that she might actually be our group’s most dangerous member.
Our eyes met. Kugi wagged her tails, responding to my glance with a brilliant smile. It was as if she was saying, “Leave it to me, my lord! If these outsiders have any ill intentions, I will find out!”
How dependable.
Mei approached the room’s door and opened it. “Welcome. Please come in.”
“Thank you. Pardon our intrusion.”
“…Thank you.”
Two individuals entered. One was a thin man of average height wearing a business suit. The other man, who was large, wore a business suit as well. By large, I mean large. His arms, calves, and thighs were so muscular that his suit was practically bursting at the seams.
That suit doesn’t look like it fits. His buttons could burst at any moment. “I’m Captain Hiro, a mercenary.”
“I am Ota of Iga Security. This is Killam.”
“…”
The thin man had politely introduced himself before introducing the macho-looking individual next to him. His burly companion possessed another unique characteristic: facelessness. Well, it’s not that he doesn’t have a face. It’s just that his face is featureless. It’s like I’m looking at a helmet.
Noticing my gaze, Ota explained, “Killam’s had all his body parts replaced with artificial organs.”
“I see. He does appear quite strong.”
“…I don’t know about that,” Killam said, seemingly looking toward Mei. But since his face was pure black and completely featureless, it actually wasn’t possible to tell where he was looking. Perhaps what appeared to be his face was just a mask, and beneath it was some mechanical lens.
“Killam,” Ota said in a warning tone.
Killam’s body twitched. Eventually he responded, “I can’t beat this man, nor that Maidroid.”
That twitch was probably him shrugging his shoulders. “In an actual fight, that might be true, but that’s not why we’d be hiring you.”
That statement kicked things off, and I explained what I wanted from them.
“To summarize things, there’s a chance that someone is currently targeting us—or, more specifically, me. We plan to stay in this colony for a while as we have our ship renovated, so while we’re here, I’d like you to serve as our bodyguards.”
“A simple-enough bodyguard assignment.”
“Yeah. Something weird’s going on, though. We only arrived here today.”
“Oh…?” Ota’s expression shifted to a suspicious look.
Yeah, of course. Requesting a security company’s services the same day you get to a colony is definitely unusual. “Uh-huh. I’m sure you have doubts about whether I’m truly being targeted, but I’d like you to operate under the assumption that there’s a good chance someone is indeed after me.”
I didn’t explain exactly why I believed I was being targeted, since I had no intention of sharing details about Kugi’s or my own psionic powers. I was a well-known platinum-ranker, so it shouldn’t seem strange if I had my own sources of information; hopefully Ota and Killam would arrive at that convenient assumption.
“Do you know who might be after you?”
“If I knew who it was, I’d deal with them myself. I really have no clue, though. Well, I know some individuals who might hold a grudge against me, but we came here by gateway from an outermost region. I doubt any of the people I’m thinking of have influence that would stretch this far. That’s why I’m stumped.”
Ota paused, then asked with a grave expression, “How strong is the party targeting you?”
How strong, eh? How strong… “I have no proof, but I assume they’re professionals who I can’t afford to pull punches against. If they end up being local punks or a local syndicate, though, you can laugh at me and call me a paranoid scaredy-cat.”
The person or persons after me had been able to find me immediately and quickly prepare a remote surveillance method, so it was natural to assume that they were real professionals.
“As for how to protect me, I’ll leave that to you guys, since you’re the professionals,” I continued. “Rather than just having you protect me, though, I’d like to somehow lure the enemy into the open so that we can counterstrike against them—assuming you’re willing to accept my request.”
“…That won’t be cheap.”
“I’ve got money. As long as you keep them from attacking us directly—by which I mean while we’re still in the colony—I’ll be satisfied.”
It would be enough for me if the enemy gave up on attacking us in the flesh. If we could force them to fight our ships in space instead, we’d beat them.