Chapter 89: Negotiations (1/2)
We docked inside the hangar of the flagship of the imperial independent anti-pirate fleet, Restalias, got off from Krishna, and were promptly guided by imperial soldiers to the captain’s quarters.
Both Mimi and Elma were more or less familiar with the layout of the ship since they visited several times during our fleet instructor stint at the Alein system. As for me, this ship was more or less my temporary workplace, so I was more familiar with it than them. But since these soldiers were ordered to guide us anyway, I might as well just shut up and let them do their jobs.
On the other hand, it was a new experience for Chris since this was the first time she was able to board an imperial military ship, and her eyes were filled with curiosity. The walls and floors of the ship were all made of military-grade metal alloys, so I imagine it would hurt quite a bit if you tripped and fell down here. Or rather, you might actually get injured if you weren’t careful. And so, Mimi pulled Chris’s by the hand and supported her so she won’t get into any accidents. Seeing two cute girls walking side by side while holding each other’s hands was quite the relaxing sight.
By the way, May was staying inside Krishna. Well, I don’t really think anyone would pull anything funny inside the Restalias, but it doesn’t hurt to be careful.
“We’ve brought Captain Hiro and his crew ma’am.”
『Good work. Please return to your duties, soldier.』
We finally reached the captain’s quarters, and when one of the soldiers operated the panel beside the door, we heard Major Serena’s voice through the intercom speaker.
“Yes, ma’am!”
The soldiers who guided us gave a crisp salute and left. Yep. That’s a soldier alright. How uptight.
The door of the captain’s quarters then opened.
“Please come in, everyone.”
The voice of Major Serena rang out from within the room and invited us in, so we did as we were told and entered.
The interior of the room was unexpectedly pleasant to the eyes. There’s a single large work desk, some sofas and a coffee table for entertaining guests, and a cupboard that housed several fancy-looking medals, a shield, and a decorative sword. Man, that sword sure looks cool. I want one too. Not that I knew how to swing a sword.
“Thank you for responding to the request of humble mercenaries such as ourselves.”
“Please stop that. It’s giving me goosebumps.”
“Really? I’ll just talk to you like usual then.”
“Haa…… Well, fine. So what’s your business with me this time? I’m sure you didn’t come here just to brag about your lovely vacation experiences, right?”
“Oh, how scary. But nah, we’re here on proper business. It’s about the pirates that attacked Sierra III.”
Major Serena’s ruby pupils narrowed at my words. It looks like she actually knows something already.
“I’m sure you’ve noticed that the scale of the attack was too unusual for ordinary pirates. They even slapped FTL drives on asteroids and used them for orbital bombing. It’s reasonable to think that someone backed those pirates up and supplied the necessary finances and equipment, right? And we happen to know just who that mysterious backer is.”
“How interesting. I would like to know more, but… what’s your actual objective, Captain Hiro?”
“Oh, nothing much. I just want to tag along with your fleet for one to two weeks. If possible, I also want to procure supplies through imperial military channels.”
“So that’s your angle… You want to make use of this fleet as a shield, huh?”
“Don’t put it that way, major. We just want your cooperation in bringing down a villain to justice. Anyway, it’ll just be for a little while.”
“You’re still quite the smooth talker I see… So?”
Major Serena raised her brow as if to ask for the specific circumstances. Now then, where should I start?
“Should I tell everything from the beginning?”
“I think that would be best, Hiro-sama.”
“It’s better to tell her about Chris as well, Hiro.”
All three of our gazes turned toward Chris. Major Serena’s gaze also turned toward her, and Chris seemed uncomfortable due to the sudden attention. Okay then. I’ll start from the beginning.
“When we first came into this star system, we were attacked by pirates y’see. They hit us with an interdictor and forcefully stopped our FTL drive, but we managed to fight back and eventually destroyed their ships.”
“You’re a trouble magnet as always. And then?”
“We found a cold sleep pod among the wreckages of those pirate ships. And Chris here was the one inside it. Her full name is Christina Daleinwald. She’s a lady of House Daleinwald, and the granddaughter of the current Earl Daleinwald.”
“House Daleinwald…… I did hear that the first son of the earl lost his life a few months earlier due to a pirate raid. I see. So she survived the attack…… Hm? Wait a minute. In other words…?”
“It was a fight for succession disguised as a pirate attack. And when the culprit found out that Chris was still alive, he set out to finish what he started. The mastermind of today’s pirate attack on Sierra III was Chris’s very own uncle… Uh, what was his name again?”
“It’s Balthazar Daleinwald, Hiro-sama.”
It was Mimi who gave the name of Chris’s uncle.
“Oh, right. There’s a high chance the mastermind behind this pirate attack was that Balthazar Daleinwald. They even managed to attack the island we were staying at by sending in combat robots.”
“……Can you give me more details about this matter?”
We all moved to the sofas and started explaining the ins and outs of the incident in more detail. The descent and attack of the combat robots were recorded by Miro and sent to May. There was a copy saved in Mimi’s tablet terminal, so we handed over all the data and recordings regarding the combat robots and the military-use stealth dropship to Major Serena.
“……Well, this is certainly some detailed evidence. And it’s something we can’t just ignore.”