“Good work guys.”

I cheered on Captain Serena’s subordinates as they took the pirates we managed to capture during the earlier sweep operation from the medical bay and passed through the break area. In addition, there were currently also quite a few of Captain Serena’s subordinates on board the Black Lotus. They were busy investigating the interior of the supposed pirate ship we rendered powerless in battle during the operation.

Aside from information on their hideout and which organization the supposed pirates actually belonged to, Captain Serena’s subordinates were also searching for other crucial clues such as where and how the ship was acquired and possible ties to the Vereverem Federation.

By the way, before Tina and Wiska hauled the ship inside the Black Lotus, it had its power generator neutralized in order to prevent it from exploding. Even if it didn’t explode when the ship was critically damaged in the battle, it might still do later on if we simply left it alone without taking any safety measures.

Currently, the sisters have begun restoring the ship in question. Fortunately, they were able to secure a decent number of parts from the enemy ships we’d destroyed, so the restoration was likely to proceed pretty smoothly. Captain Serena wanted to trace the ship’s ID or something like that, but according to Tina and Wiska, judging from the condition of the ship in question, it was probably quite old.

It wasn’t a surprise, seeing that the manufacturer seemed to be a shipbuilding company based in the Vereverem Federation that had already gone bankrupt and went out of business more than twenty years ago. There seemed to be quite a few of such companies in the shipbuilding industry, and ships made by such manufacturers ended up being unable to receive regular maintenance from the companies themselves. As a result, maintenance costs were higher than usual due to its relatively troublesome and time-consuming nature, making these types of ships less popular among potential buyers. And since they weren’t popular, they were usually sold quite cheaply.

Actually, the Krishna was technically the same type of ship. Even though its overall performance was quite high, it was also pretty tricky to maintain. After all, its manufacturer was unknown, and the generator and nearby components were complete black boxes. It also had many parts that mechanics and engineers have apparently never seen before. However, even if this was the case, it seemed that maintenance was still mostly possible through the use of analyzers and replicators. I truly tip my proverbial hat to all the work those two sisters do for us.

Anyway, let’s leave the matter about Krishna aside and continue talking about the captured ship. According to Tina and Wiska’s analysis, its overall design concept was probably something akin to a relatively inexpensive escort ship for use by mercenaries and traders. It exceeded a standard pirate ship in practically all aspects, such as speed, toughness, generator output, maneuverability, and firepower, despite being reasonably priced. I suppose the selling point was that if you had enough of them, you’d be adequately protected against space pirate raids for a fraction of the cost.

Unfortunately, its potential for upgrades was quite low, and it seemed difficult to replace the generator, thrusters, and so on with higher-performance ones due to the lack of leeway in its design. And since it can’t be upgraded, you can’t hope to improve its firepower, shield performance, or maneuverability. It was quite unfortunate.

To put it bluntly, its performance was just a bit better than the ship we mercenaries called『Zabuton』, but it lost out big time when it came to upgradability. Its price was also slightly higher than the Zabuton’s, and in terms of futureproofing, the latter was far superior. So, what was the point of the ship in the first place? That’s largely the reason why the shipbuilding company went bankrupt, apparently. Its design wasn’t bad, but its overall power left much to be desired.

Well, that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a demand for it though. It did look the part of a proper combat ship, and its performance was high enough that it wouldn’t easily lose to the common pirate ship. It was adequate enough for use as a fleet escort. Since a used ship of this type would be cheaper than a brand-new Zabuton, there would probably be a fair number of potential buyers.

“Why do you seem to always take your job seriously?”

As I busied myself with keeping tabs with Tina and Wiska through the tablet, instructing Mimi to replenish our supplies, and telling Kugi to accompany the soldiers and prisoners during the handover, Captain Serena suddenly made a strange comment while elegantly taking a sip of the tea Mei served to her.

“And why are you all the way here spending a relaxing time drinking tea, Captain Serena?”

“Did you not learn not to answer a question with another question? What an incorrigible man you are. As for why I have time to be here, it’s because when a fleet reaches the scale of the Independent Anti-Pirate Fleet, each subordinate officer is able to do their respective jobs well without need for much direct intervention as long as you delegate them the appropriate authority and give them orders in advance. As the commander of the fleet, I actually do not have much work to do. Of course, I still have to make the important decisions and run through all the reports that come in.”

“I see…… I mean, does it even need saying? You already know why I need to take my job seriously, right?”

After hearing my response, Captain Serena displayed a warm-looking smile. This damn guy…… Well, she’s not really a guy, but you get the picture. Anyway, are you provoking me, Captain? Huuuh?

“You won’t like me when I’m angry y’know.”

“And why is that?”

“I don’t care if the other party is my employer. This is MY ship. The captain’s authority takes precedence here. And I’m gonna use my captain’s privilege to throw you out.”

“I see? Can you really do that though?”

You might be trying your best to smile provocatively, but your excitement’s also quite obvious y’know? You should think of the feelings of your subordinates who were desperately trying to ignore that you were flirting with me.

“It’s totally obvious that you want me to pay attention to you. Even though the size of your fleet has grown and you’ve gotten promoted to Captain, are you still a loner like before?”

“I’m not a loner. Definitely not. I don’t think it’s good to say things like that without any basis. Don’t you have a heart?”

“Well, in your case, I suppose that rather than being a loner, it’s more accurate to say that people aren’t comfortable around you because of your status and family background. Wait. Don’t tell me you do stuff like ordering your subordinates to accompany you in sword spars, then beating them up afterward?”

“……I do not, okay?”

“That stinks of a lie! You’re definitely doing that! You’re the type to do so anyway!”

This muscle-brained gorilla wearing the skin of a blonde-haired, red-eyed beauty! Don’t puff out your cheeks and act cute, you. Are you a kid?

“Speaking of sword sparring, I’ve yet to settle things with you.”

“But I won by a landslide though. That matter’s basically settled.”

“It’s definitely not. It’s not because I say it’s not. I wasn’t serious back then. Those matches don’t count.”

“Hah. Says the one who was sulking and crying back then……”

I sighed and moved to sit in front of Captain Serena. Mei, who was standing behind me, silently served me tea. Mm. As expected of Mei. Anyone else would have missed the moment the tea was placed on the table.

“So, there should be a reason why you went all the way to the Lotus, right? Don’t tell me you came here just because you were bored?”

“Eh.”

“Eh.”

We simply stared at each other for a while. Oi, don’t tell me you really came here just because you were lonely and had too much free time. You should have a purpose, right? There’s something we need to discuss face-to-face, right? Please tell me that’s the case, Captain.

“O-Of course. That’s, err, how it is you know?”

“So obvious…… Are you serious? I mean really? But aren’t we on high alert right now?”

“This place isn’t directly connected to the front lines, so it won’t suffer from a sudden attack. If this place was attacked without any warning, then that would mean the front lines have been breached and communications have been completely cut off, which is quite unlikely.”

“But there’s no such thing as ‘unlikely’ on the battlefield, right?”

“It would be virtually impossible for a manned or unmanned force to attack this supply depot without getting caught in the several layers of defense nets that have been put up. Would you be able to do so?”

“Not through normal means, at least.”

Even though Krishna had an outstanding performance for a small-class starship, but its stealth capabilities were relatively lacking. In the first place, no matter how stealthy a ship was, it couldn’t mask its signature when using the Hyperdrive, so it was impossible to sneak past a military’s stringent surveillance network. That’s as long as irregular means such as falsifying the IFF signal, the ship’s nationality, and the ship ID, or having an insider cooperate to sneak you in weren’t used.

“But there might be someone on our end who’d offer assistance to the enemy, right?”

“House Ixamal, you mean? Like I’ve said before, no matter how far an imperial noble falls, they wouldn’t go as far as to betray the empire and give up their noble status. Didn’t Elma say so as well?”

“I do get what you’re saying to an extent, but is it really fine to regard things so simply? Those guys had connections to pirates, right? I believe it’s only common sense to doubt them.”

“There’s no conclusive evidence regarding their connection to space pirates.”

She was outwardly denying it, but Captain Serena’s expression said otherwise. I think she does believe that noble house is guilty. In that case, I’d like for her to seriously consider my concerns.

“It can’t be helped. If you’re that worried, I shall endeavor to be more vigilant than ever. Being with you really does make me question my common sense often.”

“That’s not actually a compliment, is it?”

“I wonder.”

Captain Serena flashed me a sweet smile. Man, it’s really good to be beautiful huh? Just one smile would make most people feel like letting anything slide. But I’m used to seeing beautiful women, so a mere smile won’t be able to fool me. Now then, let’s have a good talk about that matter, shall we?