The imperial military’s request officially came through via the Mercenary Guild first thing in the morning of the following day. The particulars of the request were pretty much the same as what we discussed the other day and offered a salary of 400,000 Enels per day. Krishna and Black Lotus will accompany Major Serena’s Independent Anti-Pirate Mobile Fleet as part of her forces for the duration of the mission and will be placed under her command. The necessary supplies for the mission will be shouldered by the imperial military. Black Lotus will carry part of the supplies and will serve as both a part of the main fighting force and a supply ship. The duration of the mission is set for a maximum of three months.
“A maximum of three months huh……”
Mimi muttered in a somewhat gloomy tone as she fiddled with her tablet terminal. It’s for a maximum of three months, but it may end earlier depending on further developments out on the field. Even so, it’s true that we would have to go out there for an extended period of time.
“It’s quite reasonable, I think. The specified duration takes the hyperlane traveling time into account after all.”
After saying so, I glanced at the imperial military’s supplies being gradually loaded inside Black Lotus’s cargo hold from on top of Krishna’s boarding ramp.
The loading process was being carried out by the AI-controlled loading system installed on Black Lotus, and seeing the loading drones going about their work with absolute efficiency was an interesting sight to see.
“That’s right. We don’t know exactly how many star systems we’ll need to cross, but it would probably take more than a couple of days to reach our target destination.”
Elma was also watching the loading process with me, but it seems that she wasn’t really that interested. It looks like she didn’t find the sight of the loading drones as amusing as I did. As for me, I could watch industrial machines like those working at peak efficiency without tiring of it.
“The only other instance that required us to be out on the field for a long period of time was during that incident in the Alein system, right?”
“Yep. That’s right. Well, we’re surely in it for the long haul this time, so it’s better to take it easy instead of being all tense.”
It’s impossible to maintain an alert state indefinitely, so if you exhaust yourself and fail to exert your all when it counts, that would be quite counterproductive.
“Well, I don’t really think we’ll be out there for that long though.”
“Is that so?”
“Really?”
“Yep. Uh, I’m not that sure about it though. It’s just a feeling.”
I managed to tell Major Serena about the info regarding pulsar systems after all. It may not seem all that reliable in their eyes, but the current imperial military and Major Serena still have no clue about how to find the nest of the crystal lifeforms until now.
They would probably still investigate the pulsar systems near the Izrooks system eventually with the feeling of grasping at straws when the investigation fails to bring any results after some time. And there weren’t that many pulsar systems nearby to begin with. I’ve only gone through the galaxy map briefly, but I believe I only saw about two neighboring pulsar systems. I’m not really all that sure if the nest is truly located on one of those pulsar systems, but there’s still a pretty good chance since the behavior of the crystal lifeforms was mostly similar to the ones in SOL.
“Boss!”
Tina, who held a tablet terminal under her arm, approached us in a rush. Her stature was quite small, but she runs really fast. The sisters also participated in our daily workouts, and her physical capabilities were already more than a match with Elma, who was a five-year merc veteran. In other words, she was probably stronger than me.
Her stamina was amazing as well. She could bench-press three times more weights than Elma and five times more than me. Just where was she hiding all that power and toughness in that small body of hers, I wonder. Don’t tell me she was actually storing alcohol inside her system and converting it directly into energy or something? Nah, that’s just silly. Hahaha.
“The loading process is almost finished. It’ll probably take 15 minutes more. The contents of the cargo are… pretty much the basics. Water, food, and all that. There’s a bit of some other stuff mixed in though.”
“Okay. Go on standby once the loading process gets finished. We’re probably going to sortie soon.”
“Roge〜r!”
“Safety first, remember?”
“Of course. You should rest up before departure as well, boss.”
Tina waved goodbye and returned to her work. Mimi and Elma observed our interaction and stared intently at my face. What’s up?
“Hey, Mimi. Isn’t Tina’s atmosphere a bit different than before?”
“Yes, that’s right…… Um, it’s like she’s a bit gentler now…… She’s as casual as before, but her atmosphere really is different, I think.”
“It’s nothing really…… We just talked a little in the break room.”
“What kind of things did you talk about?”
“We mainly talked about how I met the two of you in the Termaine system. Oh, and I also told them about that amnesia cover story. That’s about it.”
“I see……?”
Mimi and Elma both tilted their heads. They were probably just imagining things when they said Tina’s atmosphere changed. She really did act nicer in general, but she probably just took that story about my supposed amnesia quite seriously and was simply worried for me… I don’t think it was really a cause for concern for these two anyway.
“Well, we still have some time before departure, so why don’t you try asking her yourselves?”
“Yes.”
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