“Man, that was some good eating.”

After gorging on the pizza and fried chicken Tetsujin V made for the party, I immediately took a bath and returned to my room.

Eh? What about the party, you ask? Everyone made a fuss about the delicious menu including top-quality artificial meat and had a blast. Anyway, we had a hell of a time. Well, there was one elf who kinda took it to the next level after getting drunk though.

Since I was already full, I left the elf who was still drinking and making noise to the two girls, as well as May and a maid from the Earl’s ship who tagged along with Chris. I then took a bath and promptly returned to my room. Apparently, I was more mentally and physically exhausted after that intense battle than I expected. It washed over me all at once at the latter half of the party.

“Man, what a rough day.”

I fiddled with the bedside console and put up the security images taken by the optical sensors installed all over Krishna on the holo-display. What appeared before me was the image of the hangar Krishna was parked in.

I saw the busy maintenance personnel and robots running around busily inside the hangar. We had an enjoyable party on our end, but it looks like Earl Daleinwald and his people were still busy dealing with the aftermath of the incident.

It looks like some people from the Comatt system defense forces were invited by Balthazar to participate in the failed attack, and according to Chris, the Daleinwald house and the Comatt system forces were in the middle of trying to clear things up.

None of that matters to a merc like me though! Currently, we are still on standby inside Earl Daleinwald’s ship until further notice. We were free to do whatever we wanted while waiting though. If there was a need to sortie due to some unexpected developments, we would have to participate as well.

After clearing the battlefield, Earl Daleinwald and his fleet continued on to the Comatt system main colony, Comatt Prime, in order to deal with the captured ships, hospitalize the injured, get much-needed repairs among other stuff. And we also had to tag along.

Since we already took care of the mastermind, Balthazar, and we were already on Earl Daleinwald’s home turf, this particular incident should be considered finished now right? But it looks like the Earl still wanted to act prudently.

As I laid in bed while thinking about those matters, a chime notification rang out. It looks like somebody wants to enter my room. Since the doors of Krishna’s rooms were pretty thick and airtight, you won’t be able to hear anything inside if people simply knocked. That’s what the electronic chime was for. Well, in Elma’s case, she would persistently knock on the door to the point where you can’t help but notice though.

“Good evening.”

“Y-Yeah. Good evening.”

I thought it was Mimi who visited, but when I opened the door, the one waiting outside was a black haired beautiful girl. In other words, it was Chris.

I didn’t really expect it to be Chris, so I went out just wearing boxers and a tank top. In other words, I was just in my underwear.

“Uh, can you wait for a sec. I’ll go change first.”

“Yes. I’m sorry for dropping in on you so suddenly.”

Since it’s not proper to talk while just wearing undies, I hurriedly put on some pants. Chris was kind enough to avert her gaze to the side while I was changing with slightly red cheeks. Sorry about this, girl.

“Uh, so what’s up?”

“There’s nothing in particular, really… I just wanted to talk.”

“Okay?”

The reason wasn’t clear, but I can’t just refuse her after all. I led Chris to sit on the chair in front of the table placed a bit away from the bed. I can’t just let a young noble lady sit on a guy’s bed after all. Uh, but maybe inviting her into my room was already an offense in the first place. Oh boy.

“Sorry. I don’t have anything fancy like tea to offer you… Will this do?”

“Yes.”

After seeing Chris nod, I took out a non-carbonated cola from my mini-fridge and placed it on top of the table beside her. Yep. It doesn’t pack much of a kick, but the sweet taste is still great.

“Well, uh, good job out there. In any case, you’re already out of danger, so congrats Chris.”

“Yes, it’s all thanks to you. My grandfather is also full of praise for your actions.”

“Really?”

But that old man always had a scowl on his face whenever he talked to me though. Well, I guess I should be thankful that he acknowledged a mere mercenary like me at least.

“Yes. He looked a bit grumpy, but he did say you were quite skilled.”

“I see. It doesn’t feel bad to be acknowledged.”

I then remembered something and got up from the bed. I walked in front of the closet and took out the necklace with the light purple jewel attached. I left it inside the pocket of my favorite jacket.

“It’s about time to return this to you.”

“That’s……”

Chris moved her gaze to the necklace on my palm. Her expression looked a bit forlorn.

“Well, I still have to work as Chris’ personal knight for a little bit more though. But since I already received a reward for protecting Chris from Earl Daleinwald, I think it’s better to return this to you now. It’s something important to you, right?”

“……Yes.”

When I presented the necklace to her, Chris obediently picked it up with her small hands. I then placed another chair in front of Chris and sat down.

“Um, I……”

“Yeah.”

“I… towards Hiro-sama… I think of you as someone very special to me. I think I may have fallen for you.”

Chris gripped the necklace tightly with a red face as tears flowed down from her eyes.

“……I see.”

Well, I did kinda see this coming. I’m not that dense. We did bond during our stay on the resort planet after all. Well, even discounting that, a guy who willingly puts himself in harm’s way to protect a girl in desperate straits is a recipe for this kind of development.

Well, I could just chalk it off to being carried away at the heat of the moment and leave it at that, but for this girl, it was a serious confession, so I can’t bring myself to do that. But, well…

“I did tell you this before, right? I have no intention of laying my hands on a noble daughter… No, wait! Don’t cry.”

Chris’s eyes flooded with tears after hearing me, so I wiped her eyes with my hands in a fluster. Sorry for not having a handkerchief with me. Just where did all that aggressive attitude that led to her tagging along with Mimi to attempt to sneak inside my room, I wonder?

“It’s just that we both are under certain circumstances, Chris. You have your standing as a noble lady to consider, right? Balthazar is now certain to be stripped of his right to inherit the house, so that would leave Chris as the sole heir.”

There’s also an option of adopting an heir from talented persons from within the rest of the family, but I’m not all too clear about something like that.

“I don’t think Earl Daleinwald would approve of Chris being in a relationship with a guy from who-knows-where. On the off chance that he did approve, I still can’t accept. I don’t have any intention of quitting the mercenary business at this time after all.”

If Earl Daleinwald did approve of our relationship somehow, I’d probably marry into the family and get to live on a planet where I can drink carbonated stuff as much as I want. It’s possible, but it just doesn’t sit well with me for some reason. I probably want to accomplish my dreams with my own efforts.

“Is it really no good…? Even if I say I’m willing to forsake my position as the Daleinwald House heiress?”

“That’s no good. If you do that, I’d be hunted down by Earl Dalienwald without a doubt. I’m sorry, but I just can’t throw everything I have right now away to be with you. I’m really sorry, Chris.”

Chris started tearing up again. My words were as good as rejection after all; and a not so subtle one at that.

But it can’t be helped. As I said, I don’t have any intention to throw away my current life with Mimi and Elma just to be with Chris. If I were hunted down by the Earl, I’m sure Mimi and Elma will be implicated as well. As a man, and as the captain of this ship, I cannot put my crew, who are also important women in my life, in any sort of danger unreasonably.

In other words, I treasure Mimi and Elma more compared to Chris’s feelings. I’m really sorry about Chris. But it really can’t be helped.

I took out my portable terminal and called May. After a short while, May entered the room. I signaled toward Chris, who was still crying her heart out.

“Sorry, May. Would you please?”

“It’s no trouble, Master. Please leave it to me.”

May then accompanied the crying Chris out of my room. I could have tried to comfort her myself, but I’m not so skilled as to be able to comfort a girl I practically just rejected. I had no choice but to leave it to May.

“Uwaaaaah……”

I let out a big sigh as I plopped powerlessly on top of my bed. Let’s just sleep. Yeah.

I gradually drifted to sleep with the image of Chris crying sorrowfully stuck to the back of my head.