Chapter 200: Comatt Star System (1/2)

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person. I’m Space Dwerg Company Media Division Section III’s chief, Wamdo.”

“Hello. I’m Captain Hiro.”

I exchanged pleasantries with the oddly humble Wamdo and shook hands with him. Standing behind him were other dwarves who were probably members of his staff as well as humans, elves, people that resembled beastmen, lizardmen, and other species I couldn’t quite identify – though all of them were at least humanoid – and they looked like quite an eccentric mix.

“Are they the ones who are gonna do the joint interview together with you guys?”

“Yes. They are the staff of Moebius Ring, Fomalhaut Entertainment, and Nyaatoflix. Let me introduce you, sir.”

Wamdo introduced me to each of the three company’s representatives.

“I’m Allen from Moebius Ring Media Department Section II.”

“I’m Fomalhaut Entertainment Documentary Department’s Zuia.”

“And I’m Nia from Nyaatoflix, sir.”

Allen was a male elf, Zuia was a beastman-like alien with bright red body hair that could be mistaken for flames, and Nia was a dark brown-skinned woman with jaw-dropping beauty. She was beautiful to the point that she could correspond to or even exceed the APP18[1] value used on a certain TTRPG that deals with certain famous cosmic horrors with funky names. Elma was beautiful as well, but Nia’s beauty was just on another level altogether. I swore in my heart that I would try not to associate with her beyond what’s necessary. I feel a bit guilty about it, but I’ll just let Mei deal with her.

The number of staff brought by the four companies was five each, making it a total of twenty people. Well, there’s plenty of room inside Black Lotus anyway.

“Uh, I have a couple of things to tell you all before you board my ship. First, inside my ship, I’m the law. White is black if I say it is and vice versa. If, for some reason, you guys can’t accept that, then just give up boarding my ship.”

The media staff didn’t have any particular reaction to my statement and they just nodded obediently. Unlike the Space Dwerg guys who charged without any qualms back then, these guys are oddly docile and cooperative.

“Next, I’ll set a limit on the range of your activities within my ship. Specifically speaking, the crew’s private quarters and other important areas like the bridge, hangars, cargo hold, generator room and such are strictly off-limits. However, you would still be able to enter those areas as long as you guys get permission from me or my crew first.”

When I told them about imposing limits on their range of activity, they seemed to display some dissatisfaction, but when I told them it was possible to get access to restricted areas as long as they get permission first, their dissatisfaction subsided.

“Also, Whisker and Tina aren’t official members of my crew, but I treat them as official members anyway. That means they can freely move around the bridge, hangars, cargo hold, and other such areas. However, I will not allow them to lend a hand to you guys when it comes to that. I forbid you from trying to engage in any form of cooperation with them – whether direct or indirect – when it comes to your activities. If I manage to discover such an incident, I’ll stuff you all inside an escape pod and launch you guys out to space, so don’t even think about it. I’m a man who follows through what I say, and I’m more than capable enough to make good on my words. I’m guessing you all managed to watch the tournament, right?”

“””Understood!”””

Everyone straightened their backs and simultaneously replied. Un, nice answer. But these guys sure are obedient huh.

“Anyway, just take note of those points and we’ll be good. Our departure is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Each company has been assigned with three cabins for a total of twelve rooms. Just decide the room allocation among yourselves. If you have any questions or requests, feel free to ask them now…… So there’s none for the time being huh? Anyway, you can come to me later on if you do happen to think of something. You can spend your day inside the ship today or you can spend it outside. However, if you miss the departure time, we’ll leave you behind, no questions asked, so pay attention.”

By the way, the total cost for their accommodations on Black Lotus will be calculated by Mei later and billed to each company directly. Well, that kind of sum is just pocket money to me anyway. It can’t even come close to the profits we gained from selling off the crystal lifeform materials.

By the way, we managed to make a clean profit of about 2 million Enels after reselling the crystal lifeform materials we bought from the army after deducting the purchase cost and other fees. And of that amount, Mimi will get a 3% bonus. That means she’ll get about 60,000 Enels. Ain’t that too little, you ask? I think so too, but it seems that’s the standard rate in this dimension. I guess that’s just how advantageous owning a personal ship is.

Countries, nobles, and large intergalactic corporations have hundreds of thousands of such ships at their disposal. That’s why they are able to earn tons of money and can afford to pay enormous sums to mercs like us. Yep.

After my briefing, each company’s staff members picked up their luggage and showed Mei their security passes from their portable terminals before boarding Black Lotus… except for one guy. Mr. Wamdo headed over to me while carrying a large luggage bag.

“What’s up?”

“It’s nothing much. I just want to convey something to you all before I board. Please note that all the staff members dispatched here today are those who specialize in dealing with nobles.”

“Hou? So that’s why they are all oddly well-behaved huh.”

“Yes, well. And let me apologize once more for the behavior of the people from our company a while back. We’re truly sorry about what happened.”

“It’s not like you’re personally at fault Mr. Wamdo, so please be at ease. Well, for what it’s worth, I accept your apology.”

“Thank you very much.”