Chapter 135: Military Inspection (1/2)

A few minutes after we docked the Krishna back inside Black Lotus, the drop ship from the Brad System Defense Forces Third Fleet finally arrived.

A dropship was a small craft that allowed landing on a planet, colony, or other space vessels after launching out from a mothership. The one that arrived was your standard military model. For ships out in space with a hangar bay like ours, they can normally dock this way, but if the situation requires it, they may use the dropship to forcibly tear open the hull and rush in. In short, this tiny ship is unexpectedly good at close range engagements.

It’s like the high-tech sci-fi version of military landing crafts. In addition to being able to carry small vehicles and a good number of soldiers, it also has anti-personnel laser weapons, so when they use it to charge inside enemy ships, it doubles as a front line base.

As I reminisced about the missions I participated in back in SOL involving storming enemy ships alongside allied soldiers, the imperial soldiers sporting laser rifles and power armor finally got down from the dropship. There were about thirty of them. The number of soldiers wearing power armor was countable with my fingers, but it would still be reckless to try taking them all on with just me, May, and Elma.

“Welcome. I’m Captain Hiro, the captain of these ships.”

I waved to the soldiers in greeting, and one of the soldiers stepped out front.

“I’m Ensign Paul Dry, the commander of the 6th Platoon of the Brad System Defense Forces Third Fleet. We will now conduct a spot inspection of your ships in accordance with Article 3 Paragraph 7 of the Imperial Space Navigation Charter.”

Ensign Paul was a youthful-looking soldier who very much seemed to be a freshly promoted young officer. He was your typical handsome, blue-eyed, blonde ikemen with a moderately well-built frame.

“Yes, welcome. We just got this today, so forgive the cargo hold for being a mess.”

“……It does seem that way.”

Ensign Paul looked at the place I pointed to and made a wry grin. The cargo hold was visible from the hangar after all.

The stuff inside the cargo hold were the groceries and daily necessities that were originally loaded inside Krishna. I left only a minimum amount of supplies inside Krishna and moved the rest of the stuff here. We still didn’t have a lot of supplies stocked up because we weren’t really planning on departing from this system just yet, and we didn’t stock up on trade goods to peddle on other systems yet as well, so the cargo hold felt a little empty.

“Um, well then, we will check the cargo and inspect the rest of the ship.”

“Go ahead. Would you like me to accompany you all?”

“We will be glad to have your assistance. We will ask you about the cargo as we go along as well. And we will need to inspect that combat ship as well.”

“Sure. Can I ask you guys to go with them, Mimi, Elma?”

“Understood.”

“Okay.”

The imperial military had a reputation for being strict and thorough as well as being sticklers for regulations, so I’m sure they won’t be harassed or anything of the sort.

“Sergeant Betty, inspect that combat ship with your squad.”

“Aye aye, sir!”

The female NCO led her squad members toward Krishna with Elma and Mimi following along. The officer being a female one might be some form of consideration on Ensign Paul’s part.

Ensign Paul asked me several questions as his men busily inspected the stuff inside the cargo hold. The questions were the usual ones like our reason for leaving port, the reason for us being in this particular sector of space, and the source of the cargo we were carrying.

“Anyway, this truly is a newly minted ship huh…… It looks great. Everything looks brand new. I can’t believe you were able to personally purchase such a grand-looking ship.”

“We did get the price cut down by a lot, but even so, this girl still cost us 20,000,000 Enels.”

“Twenty million…”

Ensign Paul’s eyes widened.

“Um, if I remember correctly, a first-class warrant officer’s salary is 4000 Enels a month, right? With that monthly salary, you’d only be able to afford one yourself in about 416 or 417 years. Based on that, I get why you’re so shaken.”

“Yeah…… Wait, why do you know the monthly salary of a first-class warrant officer anyway?”

“I was offered a position as a first-class warrant officer a while back. I refused because the salary seemed too low.”

“……Yeah, I bet you would.”

Ensign Paul’s gaze turned distant. I’m sure an Ensign’s salary was higher than a first-class warrant officer, but even that Major Serena was surprised after hearing our regular income as mercenaries… Okay, let’s not dwell on the salary of military officers too much. I might have hit a nerve there.

“It looks like they’ve finished checking the cargo. Let’s continue with inspecting the rest of the ship.”

“I’ll accompany you. Well, this ship just got handed over to us today, so forgive me if I don’t serve as a satisfactory guide.”

I joined with Ensign Paul and his men as they inspected the rest of the ship. First, we exited the cargo hold and the hangar and went toward the central section of the ship.

“You’re telling me this is a mercenary ship…?”

“What the heck is with this overwhelming sense of luxury?”

“It’s way too big…… And the interior design makes full use of all available space.”

“I want to live here dammit!”

Ensign Paul and his subordinates were mentally dying after getting a load of the luxurious and large break room, dining room, and training room.

“Ah…… Gaaaaah……!”

A soldier wearing power armor glanced at the dining area and froze up. And he then promptly fell on all fours after letting go of his laser rifle.

“What!? What’s wrong!?”

The other soldier wearing power armor beside him got surprised and rushed over. No, really, what’s up man? Did you really see something so shocking?

“……Take a look at the auto-cooker over there guys.”

“What are you…?”

“T-That’s… Tetsujin V…!”