“It seems like I caused you some trouble. Sorry about that,” Dr. Shouko apologized.
Mimi did likewise. “Sorry…”
They were apologetic because I’d told them about the inquiry the mercenary guild had received. I didn’t think that warranted an apology from them, though.
“It’s not your fault. Under the circumstances, it’s normal that they’d cover their bases. Similar things will probably happen in the future too. Just make sure to keep me in the loop. This time, I happened to learn about this immediately because I dropped by the mercenary guild.”
It was only right for the guild to be careful, since our crew included a doctor with medical knowledge and the means to produce dangerous substances. And we were mercenaries, not merchants dealing with such substances frequently, so it was normal for them to have suspicions. A license like Dr. Shouko’s was supposed to help you avoid jumping through hoops, but our situation was probably unusual enough to have the opposite effect.
“As long as we make a bundle in the end, it doesn’t matter whether we need to deal with a few bumps on the road. What we’re trying to do may also save lives.”
I made a living through violence, and I wasn’t trying to compensate for that with good deeds or anything. Still, I did think that being able to help people while earning money at the same time would be a nice bonus. Dealing with a little red tape was a small price to pay.
I paid the bills by killing pirates to begin with—an action that saved ordinary people’s lives. I wasn’t doing anything bad that I needed to make amends for, so I’d definitely be earning positive karma!
Hmm? Pirates are people too? Say that after you see what’s left of their victims after pirates have chopped their limbs off and crushed and processed their insides with some chemical manufacturing device. That’s just for starters, since pirates are very economical with their victims’ body parts!
“Yeah, I’m technically a doctor, so I’m on board with doing anything that reduces the number of people suffering from injury and disease,” said Dr. Shouko.
“Still, after all is said and done, we’re a for-profit mercenary group,” I said. “We don’t work for free.”
“Of course not. I don’t intend to cheat myself either. Leave charity to those self-important nobles.”
“Hiro is technically an honorary imperial viscount,” Elma pointed out.
“Now that you mention it, that award did come with an honorary viscount title as well as a small yearly stipend…” I confirmed. “But it’s not like I own any land or anything. Still, there’s no reason for me to bestow charity on some other unknown noble’s citizens. We’ll just avoid ripping them off; that policy’s good enough for now.”
Elma’s reminder had made me recall those rewards. How much is my stipend, anyway? I should have Mei check later. It’s honestly so small that I completely forgot about it. “So, um… Right. Dr. Shouko, you can apparently make dangerous substances or something?”
“Technically, yeah. Are you interested in that kind of stuff?”
“No. I just thought I should know, as captain. We obviously can’t make and sell those kinds of things to other people, and in general, you’re also not allowed to make them for our own private use. If you really have to dabble in that stuff for a medical reason, then you’re allowed to do so without my permission, but at least report it to me afterward. I’ll let you manage yourself beyond that.”
“Okay. Can Mei help me with that management?”
“Good idea. Mei, do you mind?”
Mei’s voice sounded from the cafeteria speaker. “No, Master. Leave it to me.”
If both Mei and Dr. Shouko were going to manage anything drug related, I shouldn’t have to worry.
“Still, what exactly counts as a ‘dangerous substance’?” asked Dr. Shouko. “That’s a pretty broad term.”
“I’ll leave that to your discretion. If you’re worried, you can always discuss the matter with Mei. It would be dumb for a layman like me to tie the hands of someone with specialized knowledge. You can just report to me about anything you feel you need to.”
“Ha ha… You’re putting quite a lot of trust on my shoulders,” Dr. Shouko replied, smiling awkwardly. “I’ll do my best to live up to that.”
I sensed someone’s eyes drilling a hole through my back, so I turned to face Tina. She had a “What about me? What about me?” expression, so I nodded. Yeah, you and Wiska are our other shipboard specialists. I put just as much trust in you two as I do in Dr. Shouko.
“Once we load the cargo, are we done with the Arein System?”
“Yeah. Mimi, want to check in with your grandma before we leave?”
“No need!” Mimi showed me her tablet. “We had a chance to talk already, and we’ve exchanged contact information.”
I see. They have each other’s contact info now. Given how vast the galaxy was, electronic messages could take days or even months to arrive, but they’d do so eventually. Having a way to contact each other was probably reassuring to the pair.
I myself had exchanged contact info with some people I’d met in my travels. For example, Chris. We messaged each other about as often as people would send each other letters. Sometimes I also received messages from Colonel Serena, complaining about her job, and from time to time the media staff we’d allowed aboard in the past also contacted me. Not often, though.
“Okay, then. Dr. Shouko…”
“I’m fine. When I left the company, we said our goodbyes, and we’ve long had each other’s contact information.”
“I see. Okay, then. Let’s set off as soon as we’re done loading.”
“Whooo! Oh yeah, hon—where exactly are we going?”
“Oh, I haven’t mentioned the system name yet, huh? Our next destination’s the Rimei System. According to Mimi’s grandmother, there are whispers that a pandemic’s going to break out because of a new virus.”
Tina suddenly rose, shouting, “The Rimei System?!”
Huh? Is there a problem? “Do you have some sort of connection with that place?”
“Well…yeah, I guess.” She didn’t seem to want to talk about it.
I looked over at Wiska, but she evidently didn’t want to say anything either.
“Looks like you two both have some connection with our destination. I won’t force you to tell us, but I’d rather not switch destinations at this point.”
We could sell medical goods wherever we wanted, so we could always unload what we’d gathered bit by bit, but offloading it all in a system desperate for such supplies would be far more efficient. Unless there were serious circumstances making the twins unwilling to go to Rimei, I didn’t want to change our plans.
“Yeah…we have a connection to it. But it’d be unreasonable to force you to change course because of our circumstances, so don’t worry about it, hon.”
“All right, then. What do you think, Wiska?”
“If Sis is fine with it… Sis?”
“I guess I should just tell you,” Tina said uncomfortably. “It ain’t really that big a deal, but I used to live there. Till I reunited with Wiska and left, at least.”
She used to live there? Live there… Right. I remember Tina mentioning that—before reuniting with Wiska—she ran with the wrong crowd in some colony somewhere. She cut those ties after meeting Wiska again and braved numerous dangerous situations to escape to the Vlad System.
“…I smell trouble.” I said.
“Yeah… Sorry, hon.”
“It’s fine,” I reassured Tina. She seemed quite down, but it was practically predetermined that I’d have to deal with problems no matter where I went anyway.
“Nobody here seems particularly surprised,” Dr. Shouko noted.
“Ah ha ha…” Mimi chuckled. “Well, this always happens, after all.”
She was right; this really was nothing unusual, so it wasn’t really a problem.
“It’s always like this?” Dr. Shouko asked.
“I haven’t been here long myself,” Kugi responded. “But so far, in my experience, yes.”
“I see. Well… Hopefully nothing bad happens.”
Just so you know, Dr. Shouko, if it does, it’ll affect you as well. You won’t escape. Kugi already seems to have given up on avoiding disaster too. But I suppose being highly adaptable is a good thing.
“That’s just how it is,” I said. “Mei, make sure to cover for me if I need help.”
“Leave it to me, Master. I will ensure that our combat bots are ready to deploy at all times.”
Reliable but violent. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to use them.