Chapter 199: Sortie Preparations (1/2)

After accepting Earl Dareinwald’s request, we immediately started to make our preparations. By preparations, I mean things like making additional purchases of food stockpiles for emergencies (food cartridges), medical solution for the med-pod, energy packs for the laser rifles, laser guns, and other equipment, performing some check-up and maintenance on said weapons and equipment, as well as bringing in and installing our newly purchased combat bots and maintenance/parts swap system…… Anyway, we had a lot to do.

“So you’re telling me the damn media people suddenly decided to ask if they could pay us a visit during a super busy time like this?”

“We’re really sorry, Boss.”

Tina bowed in apology to me who was currently watching over the colony transport system and the cargo-bots rushing to and fro inside the Lotus’ cargo hold to bring in the supplies, but I shook my head in response.

“No, it’s not like it’s you and Whisker’s fault anyway. I’m not blaming you guys. I guess it’s about time to get all the troublesome stuff out of the way anyway, so let’s get this deal over and done with.”

But troublesome stuff was still troublesome. I’m okay with starship combat, but I’m not that good with fighting in person…… Or at least, that was supposed to be the case. Presently, I’ve become a swordsman who is able to go toe to toe with Je*i knights and S*th lords.

Uh, maybe not. They aren’t just good at sword fighting after all. They also use mysterious powers to achieve abilities like foresight and so on…… They can also use those powers to telekinetically throw stuff around and release electric attacks. Yeah. I’d probably get thoroughly beaten up. Yep.

“There’s a need to arrange for a meeting first before anything else. What are their plans regarding that?”

“Um, they handed us their contact info.”

“I see. So they want us to contact them from our end huh.”

We didn’t hand them our contact info, so I guess this is to be expected. I have some prejudice regarding the media after all. Well, it’s not like everything’s gonna be bad even with that crappy first impression I got from them anyway.

I took out my portable terminal, received the contact info from Whisker’s tablet, and called them up immediately.

『Yes, this is Wamdo speaking.』

The one who replied on the other end was a man with a deep-sounding voice.

“This is Captain Hiro. I received word from Tina and Whisker from Space Dwerg so I got in touch. I heard you wanted to conduct an interview inside my ship, so I called to ask about the particulars.”

After a brief pause, I heard a loud crash, rattling, rustling, and other clamorous noises accompanied by some swearing. Since my terminal was on speaker mode, Tina and Whisker heard the noises as well and their eyes widened in surprise.

『E-Excuse me! Thank you very much for contacting us! We have really been looking forward to hearing from you, sir!』

I suddenly imagined the figure of a man bowing profusely like a click beetle on the other end. He seems pretty different from the ones who wanted to conduct an ambush interview and forcefully boarded Black Lotus back then.

He seems to have moved to a quieter spot (At least I couldn’t hear any other noises apart from his voice on the other side.) and started briefing me about the interview details in a calmer manner.

In short, they were planning to conduct a joint interview with Space Dwerg and other media outfits. Each company would bring their own filming equipment and would conduct the joint interview with everyone asking questions in turns.

“I see. Well, I guess it’s better to leave the interview methods to pros like you, but we have just a bit of a problem.”

『What is it, sir?』

“We were actually contracted by a certain noble house– Uh, I guess it’s alright to tell you which house it is. We recently accepted a request from House Dareinwald and we’re slated to depart soon.”

『Ah–……』

Wamdo choked up on the other end of the line. When it comes to interviewing mercenaries who are in an active contract with nobles, the media companies are required to discuss things with said nobles as well. Of course, getting the interview approved ain’t my problem. It’s up to them to see things through instead.

Anyway, it’s not like I’ll dump everything on them. I’ll at least serve as a point of contact between the media folks and House Dareinwald, but it’s up to the media companies to negotiate the terms. It’s not like we absolutely need to take the interviews anyway. We certainly had a deal with Space Dwerg when we purchased Black Lotus, but it’s not like we’re obligated to take the interviews.

After all, the contract also states that we can refuse interviews if they would end up interfering with our work. In other words, our client has every right to decline the interviews if they want to.

“I’m personally fine with getting interviewed. But whether or not our client will allow it is a different story. You’ll be the ones to discuss it with them, of course.”

『C-Can you pull some strings for us somehow, sir……?』

“I’ll act as the go-between at least. Of course, I can’t just reveal the particulars of the client’s request. I believe you guys have plenty of capable personnel, so just do your best, okay. I’ll ask the client if you guys can make an appointment with them after this.”

『Uu…… Please do.』

“Yeah. I’ll be sure to put in a good word or two.”