“And so, I want to discuss our next destination with you guys now.”
“Waa–”
After I confidently announced my plan, Mimi generously gave a round of applause while displaying her sunny smile. I told our hosts we needed to discuss some mercenary-related business so we’d have an excuse to return to Black Lotus. Man, I really feel calmer and more secure in the Lotus. Although staying in a classy hotel or traditional inn does have its good points as well.
“You guys are really gonna let this slide just like that?”
“It’s the same as usual, Big Sis. Don’t think about it too much.”
Thank you for clapping even though you have a sour look on your face, Elma. You really are a good woman.
“Would it be alright for me to state my opinion about all this?”
“Of course. If you have any good suggestions, then go right ahead and share them.”
Of course, we’ll decide on whether or not to accept the suggestion depending on how the discussion goes from here, but the more options on the table, the better.
“First, I have a rough idea about what our possible next course of action should be. To put it simply, I want to upgrade our overall combat capabilities.”
“Combat capability upgrades huh…… What do you have in mind specifically, Hiro?”
“Honestly, I think upgrading Krishna itself would be difficult. There are a lot of unknown technological black boxes crammed into it after all.”
“That’s true. We checked it out, but even the heavy laser cannons are unique, so we’d face compatibility issues if we attempt to upgrade them with parts currently available on the market. The only stuff we can possibly upgrade would be the shard cannons and the reactive torpedoes.”
“We can only do stuff like replacin’ the torpedo launcher on the lower weapon bay to a seeker missile pod. Improvements to the shard cannons depends on Boss’s preferences. Upgradin’ stuff like the shield generator and chassis is a bit of a tall order fer us right now though.”
“I don’t think it’s necessary to replace the torpedo launch tubes. There would definitely be times where they’d be really useful after all.”
We wouldn’t be using them often, but those torpedoes are our ace in the hole for going up against large-class ships after all. A seeker missile pod would be pretty effective against small and medium-class targets, but I can just deal with those using the shot cannons and heavy laser cannons.
“So I guess it’s better to focus on upgrading the Black Lotus?”
“It would be difficult to find a better model to replace its EML, but I want to at least upgrade the laser cannons and the shield generator to military-grade ones.”
“That really would increase Black Lotus’s overall firepower. The power generator’s output can still take it anyway, so we can probably make it work, Boss.”
“It’s all well and good to upgrade our mothership’s firepower, but…… don’t you guys think you’d be overspeccing it already if you did all of that?”
“Eh? What did you say? Sorry, but I couldn’t hear you.”
So what if my ship’s overspec’d? That’s just how we gamers are, okay. Well, I’m in reality instead of a game right now, but it’s only natural for a guy to want the best for his ship, right? Upgrade maniac? Sorry, but those words aren’t in my dictionary.
“Sure, it might be overspec’d against pirates, but it’s not like our opponents are limited to pirates.”
“Well, I guess that’s true. I’d had enough of fighting crystal lifeforms though.”
“We won’t just be going up against space monsters you know. We might also participate in conflicts with other nations.”
“Will we?”
“It depends on the circumstances.”
In fact, we already went up against the neighboring Vereverem Federation in the Termaine system where I first met with Mimi and Elma. We could have chosen to escape, of course. But at that time, we were pretty desperate for cash. Now though…… Well, if the star system we find ourselves in is right in the middle of the conflict zone, it would be quite dicey if we choose to escape on our own. I’m a Gold Star recipient after all.
“Also, I’d like to buy a lightweight power armor that would allow me to swing my swords around freely even while wearing it.”
“……I thought you said you didn’t want to fight in person anymore.”
“I don’t like it. But I’d probably die otherwise. I still don’t like it one bit, okay!”
This point was important, so I had to say it twice. There’s been a rising trend of me fighting in person lately. I absolutely don’t wish for these situations to happen, but they’re happening anyway, so I had no choice but to prepare countermeasures.
“In that case, shouldn’t you have accepted Miriam-san’s offer, Hiro-sama?”
“Magic training huh. Now, look here, Mimi. Just try picturing this.”
Mimi inclined her head toward me.
“Fine. Let’s suppose I learned and mastered how to use magic. She said I had the potential to blow away an entire mountain, you know.”
“Yes?”
“What would happen if that fact gets spread to the public?”
“Eh? Umm……”
Mimi pondered my question with wrinkled brows.
“If that happens, it’s possible that the imperial military would go after you?”
“Not just the military, Mimi. It’s possible that the entire empire itself would come after me. They might classify me as an extremely dangerous element, and who knows what kind of shady stuff they’d pull off to get me. Right now, they might recognize my combat capabilities as extraordinary, but it’s still within the range of common sense. Emphasis on the ‘still’. But what if I’m now able to blow away entire mountains with my own power? In other words, I can actually blow up a colony on my own if I wanted to. That’s clearly way too abnormal already, right?”
If I demonstrated a power that rivals an anti-ship reactive torpedo using my magic, then that would mean it was even possible for me to take down a starship on my own, without using any weapons except my mysterious powers. That means I could even sneak inside the imperial palace to blow it up as well. I’m sure the empire would never allow such a dangerous existence to drift around its territories like a stray dog. If I was one of the empire’s higher-ups, I’d use means to place a tight leash on the said individual, and if that wasn’t possible, I’d make sure to finish him off no matter the cost.
“It does sound quite dangerous.”
“That’s the fate that’s gonna befall me if I accept that special-grade cursed item. That’s why I’m desperately rejecting the thing.”
While saying so, I glanced at the said special-grade cursed item that was shining in a corner of the dining hall where we were currently having a meeting. Could you stop flashing like crazy already? It’s annoying.
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