I woke up after sulking in bed for a while. I felt a heavy weight on my shoulders and a bit of a headache. My condition was the worst. In order to protect my current way of life, I trampled over an innocent girl’s first love. When I thought about it again, my chest felt even heavier.

I can actually make up lots of excuses. Her grandfather was an Earl, and he would not have accepted our relationship. If we went against all odds and insisted, I would have to give up my mercenary lifestyle and possibly part with Mimi and Elma.

In the off chance that the Earl did agree, I still would end up quitting the mercenary business. There was still a chance of me using Krishna to hunt down pirates for sport, and Mimi and Elma would probably be treated as my mistresses.

But would I be able to accept a life like that? I really don’t think so after all. And if I marry into a noble house, I’m sure I’ll be burdened with tons of worries and responsibilities. And I’m sure Chris will face her own troubles as well.

I could try my best to support her, but I just don’t think I’d be able to do well in noble society–

“Ei!”

“Ooof!?”

What the–!? I turned toward the culprit and found light brown eyes staring closely at me. Those eyes looked somewhat sad and troubled.

“Mimi, huh.”

Mimi then suddenly burrowed her head onto my chest. What’s with her? She’s just like a puppy. I actually imagined dog ears on top of Mimi’s light brown hair for a moment.

“What’s wrong?”

I patted Mimi’s head and coaxed her. She removed her face from my chest and looked up at me with teary eyes. She looked quite shaken.

“Uu……”

“What’s wrong Mimi?”

Mimi tried to talk but broke down into mournful sobs instead. I hugged her close to me once more and patted her head in order to soothe her. Her sobs gradually subsided. Is she done crying? I peered at her face and found the red-eyed Mimi sniffling like a baby.

“Oh, man… Don’t be like this, Mimi. It’s a waste of your good looks.”

“Uuu……”

I took some wet tissues from the bedside and wiped her nose clean. I then tossed the used tissue inside the wastebasket and some replacement tissues appeared on the bedside once more. I don’t know just what mechanism was behind it though.

I continued to pat Mimi’s head until she eventually calmed down. Her state reminded me of Chris’ crying face earlier and I felt gloomy. I felt what I did to her was quite heartless just because I didn’t want to lose my current life with Mimi and Elma.

“Mimi.”

“……Yes.”

“Seeing you like this helped me calm down somewhat.”

“……Fuguuu〜〜”

Mimi ended up crying once more. Mimi sure is crying a lot today huh. I made a wry smile as I patted her head once more.

“I’m sorry for the trouble……”

“Don’t worry about it.”

The only sacrifice from the earlier incident was my undershirt, which was wet with tears and snot. It’ll be good as new after a round inside the laundry module, so it’s all good. But the wet tissue stocks did get depleted. That’s because it took more time to replenish the tissues on the bedside than usual.

“So just why did you start bawling like that anyway?”

After hearing my question, Mimi’s eyes started tearing up again. But Mimi managed to hold the tears back this time and started talking.

“Um…… I heard about the matter with Chris-chan from May-san.”

“Yeah.”

“I felt really happy that Hiro-sama chose me and Elma-san over Chris-chan…”

“Yeah… And?”

I get that she’s happy, but just why did she cry a river earlier then? No, maybe it’s something like… Hm. I can’t really be sure, but maybe…

“I was happy that I got chosen over Chris-chan. I was over the moon. But after I calmed down and thought about it, I felt like I was a really despicable person for being happy about Chris-chan being rejected… I visited Hiro-sama’s room to try and cheer you up, but when I saw you, everything just…”

“Okay, okay. I understand. There, there……”

I hugged Mimi, who was starting to tear up once more, and continued patting her head.

She’s feeling guilty about being happy even though her friend ended up getting hurt.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I was the one who wanted to cheer you up, but in the end, I was the one who needed to be cheered up… I’m so hopeless… To think I was such an unfair, shameful person… It’s just…”

Mimi let out a mournful sigh as she buried her face on my chest. I clearly felt her pain as she sobbed on my chest. But now, two undershirts got wet from her crying… Oh well.

“I ended up calming down a lot as a result anyway, so it’s okay. You did well, Mimi. So don’t be so hard on yourself.”

“Uu……”

Mimi looked up and peered at my face. I just wiped her face clean earlier, but now it’s ruined again. Here you go. Let me wipe it again then. Stay still. But at this rate, my room’s wet tissue supply would really run out. The replacement speed was clearly slowing down to a crawl already. It can’t be helped.

“I’m feeling a bit hungry. Let’s go to the dining area for some food, okay?”

“Okay…”

I helped Mimi off the bed and pulled her to the dining area. Of course, I changed shirts before going out and tossed the wet one inside the laundry module. Mimi looked apologetic, but I decided not to mind since she might start crying again.

“Oh, that was quick….. Wait, Mimi, why are your eyes so red?”

“Let me take care of it. Please sit over here, Mimi-sama.”

We found Elma still drinking her booze inside the dining area as May watched over her. After seeing Mimi’s current countenance, May prepared something and promptly had Mimi sit down next to her.

“You sure are relaxed, Elma.”

“Well, yeah. We really can’t do anything about it, so why worry in the first place?”

Elma placed her shot glass on top of the table and made a strained smile.

“Realistically speaking there’s no way Earl Daleinwald would have approved of a relationship between you and Chris. In the first place, Chris won’t even have time for something like romance.”

“What do you mean?”

I didn’t get what Elma meant by ‘not having time’ and inclined my head.

“Since her father was killed and Balthazar is out of the running, the burden of being the heir will fall on Chris’ shoulders. Since he’s a high-ranking noble, Earl Daleinwald is qualified to undergo life-prolonging treatment, but even that has a limit. If the Earl ended up kicking the bucket early, the Daleinwald House would be left in the hands of the still immature Chris. Well, I’m positive they will make sure that doesn’t happen, but Chris will still undergo rigorous training and studies from now on in order to prepare her to inherit the House.”

“I see.”

“Chris will be placed under strict surveillance and will be taught everything an Imperial noble needs to learn thoroughly. She won’t have time for engaging in romance at all. She’s still young though, so there’s no rush to complete her education just yet, but I bet her freedom is gonna be restricted from now on.”

“We saved her, but she’s still quite pitiful in the end, huh…”

“Well, it’s the duty of Imperial nobility, so it can’t be helped. In exchange for their domains and authority, they have to take upon themselves the required responsibility. Well, she does seem quite pitiful… but…”

Elma turned her gaze toward May. May was busy wiping Mimi’s face with a towel.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing. I do hope it doesn’t turn out into another incident in the future.”

“Now just hold up there. What the heck is with that ominous-sounding statement?”

“These Imperial AI are just… How should I put it? Um, they are kinda fixated on defending true love, or just the idea of a happy ending or something like that.”

I turned toward May in trepidation and heard some pretty dangerous-sounding words from her.

“Love and romance will save the universe.”

May looked at Elma and declared an unsettling slogan with a straight face. Wait, wait, wait! Just what did you say to Chris, May-san!?

“How old was that girl again? Twelve-something? In that case, she’ll be considered an adult after three years… It would be okay if she somehow had a change of heart after those three years. But if not…”

“It’s alright, Elma-san. We’ll be able to completely charm Hiro-sama within those three years, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

After having her face wiped by May, Mimi seemed rejuvenated and she pumped herself up with clenched fists. Seeing Mimi like that, Elma just nodded half-heartedly. She acted indifferently, but her face and ears turned slightly red. It looks like Mimi was okay now, and Elma looked as relaxed as usual, but I’m shaking in my boots here.

“May, just what did you tell Chris?”

“It’s nothing worthy of note.”

“Just tell me.”

“Alright. Chris-sama is a noble lady. I just told her that in order to get what she wants she’ll have to make it so she’ll have enough power and influence to silence all opposition. Afterward, she’ll just have to chase after Hiro-sama with all her might, corner him, and make it a fait accompli.”

She just uttered some terrifying statements with a straight face.

“Hey, May… I don’t have the slightest intention of becoming a noble y’know.”

“Yes, I know, Master. You hate being restricted and treasure your freedom after all. But there are several ways to get around what’s troubling you, so there’s no problem.”

The corners of May’s mouth raised up slightly.

“Hiee.”

It was a spine-chilling smile. Is she enjoying this? She is, isn’t she? Just what is this maidroid up to? Scary!

“There’s no need for you to be afraid, Master. I will devote my entire being to ensure you live the life you want to live.”

“That’s right, Hiro-sama. Please believe in May-san. She’s a good person.”

“Well, I believe she won’t do anything detrimental to you as well, so don’t worry. I can’t guarantee it won’t trouble you though.”

Mimi was completely supporting May now. As for Elma, she looked like she’s already given up. It feels like I’m gradually getting cornered here, man.

“Anyway, that’s enough about Chris’ matter. We’ll just have to claim our rewards once we land on Daleinburg later. I’ll leave our future itinerary to you, okay Captain?”

“Y-Yeah… Okay. We’ll need to plan our next destination.”

Since we used the gateway to come to a faraway sector of Imperial space, we’ll have to collect data about the surrounding systems again. Since we’ve made a considerable amount of money, maybe it’s time to consider buying a mothership once more? Once we get one, we’ll be able to make money through transport requests as well, and use Krishna’s cargo hold exclusively for weapons and supplies.

I really want to buy a mothership, but I also want to find something cheap but high-quality. I’ll have to consider future repair costs, as well as the fees for remodeling and customizing the ship, so the cheaper the initial purchase price, the better. And in order to get the best deal, it’s better to head directly to the source. In other words, we’ll have to head to a star system with a lot of ship makers.

Fumu. Yeah, I’ll have to seriously consider this.