The ship crab and wrecked ship were taken by Mishun prime. The Mercenary Guild presented a million puni reward, but I don’t think it’s right.
I’m a simple mercenary, running a business as a company president with four employees/lovers. I’m in no position to go against a planetary nation or an organization that spans entire star systems.
If I’m ever actually going to flare up at them, I’m going to at least need the firepower of a destroyer and a higher mercenary rank.
So, I’m not satisfied with where things are now. And if I’m not happy with this, I need to take part in more serious battles. I feel like Tortilla Double has the firepower to blow away all the military power in the Zadar colony, but that’s not the point.
Come to think of it, I took down a frigate of Mishun prime that was over a hundred meters long, so aren’t their defenses pretty shabby? Surely they have a destroyer or something, right?
Well, whatever, I’m sure they can make up for it with all the money they’re getting.
And in the middle of this gloomy situation, Vasilisa the octopus lady says she wants me to hire her.
“Wait? Didn’t they tell you?”
“No one told me anything… Iris?”
“The ladies sounded her out after she expressed her desire to be hired. They said she was welcome if you gave the go ahead.”
“Iris?”
Anyway, we’re going to a cafe near the Mercenary Guild to sort this out.
▽▽▽
This cafe is long and thin. There are tables for four on the window side, and something like a bar counter on the side of the wall. I think I’d say this is like a diner.
“Let’s just sit down… Can we sit at the counter? What do you want to drink? Ah, I’ll pay for food and drinks.”
“I can afford this much. Hm, lemon tea… With ice…”
“Oh, they have it. I’ll have the same. And Iris?”
“I will have the same. Three lemon teas then. And three nuts waffles.”
A kind looking old man walker wearing an apron nods, and he starts operating a food printer for liquids.
Vasilisa looks at me when she hears about the nut waffles, and her pale skin is flushed even as she nods.
“Well then… Let’s introduce ourselves properly. I’m Genma, a Grassland one mercenary that flies Tortilla Double, a mid sized ship that’s like a turtle.
I assume people in the Zadar colony see me as a troublemaker.”
“I’m Vasilisa, a thirty-six year old Town one mercenary, and as you can see, an octopus person. I typically work while wearing armor, and kind of work as a chemist too.”
So she has a vocation. I don’t know why she wants to come to my ship.
“Three lemon teas and three nuts waffles. Enjoy.”
“Let’s just start eating.”
The lemon tea is perfectly fine, nothing to say about it. The nuts waffle… Iris cut it for me before I knew it, and stabs a piece with a fork to feed it to me.
Of course, she doesn’t usually do this, and she has a cheeky smile on her face. But her face is so nice that my heart throbs.
This mechanical intelligence likes this sort of trick.
I oblige and eat it, and it’s pretty good. The crispy toasted wheat, and the square crunchy nuts simply taste nice. And it’s accompanied by syrup that smells of flowers.
The crunchy nuts feel like croutons, which I assume was added for fun. It was made in a food printer after all.
“Is it always like this?”
“No way. This is Iris’ idea of a joke.”
“I could do it every time if you so wish.”
Iris the butler clenches her fists, fired up, but I ignore her and confirm a few things.
“I don’t think a chemist would need to join a mercenary’s ship. Why do you want to come aboard mine?”
“Ah, I think you got the wrong idea. I just act like one. I don’t have qualifications or anything. I get materials from stalls, mix them in an electric stove or a pan, and then sell them at a stall. I’m more like an aspiring chemist.
Ah… I get it. I heard about something like a flea market in Zadar. I’ve never been there because I’ve never really had a reason to go.
“But what do you actually make and sell?”
“Mainly contraceptives. Also lubricants and detergent, and I also sell basic potions, but…
She brings a tentacle above the table to motion for me to get close, so I do.
“I also deal with bootleg liquor and aphrodisiacs.”
“I see, the alcohol sounds interesting.”
In this space age, alcohol is mostly made in food printers by mixing fine alcohol powder and various liquids. The words fine alcohol powder already feel futuristic to me.
I have a bad memory of seeing Saratha licking that powder while having a snack, and gave her a stern warning. And when Suzuri tried it, she got dead drunk and had to go in a medipod.
“I assume this is common knowledge, but if people living in a colony wanted to make alcohol, how would they go about it?”
“Well, the standard way would be to add water to cheap molasses, then add dry yeast and flavorings, and let it ferment! But they’ll come after you if you don’t pay the alcohol tax! And food printer alcohol is nice, but it just lacks a certain something!”
I get the feeling her and Saratha are a dangerous combo.
“If you do come aboard my ship, how is it going to be with those chemicals? Can they be sold to others?”
“They can all be sold after a simple examination.”
“Seriously? I get lubricants, but even the contraceptives?”
“I follow Alliance regulations, you know?”
“Ah, are they the type that are injected into the relevant area?”
“So, an examination by a simple appraisal magic item is required, but I don’t need qualifications to sell in the Alliance. Different countries have their own standards, but most follow the Alliance.”
I haven’t dealt with these medicines a lot (I typically use condoms), but I’m surprised that you don’t need qualifications. Well, maybe it was like that on Earth too.
“So, Saratha said it was okay, but we talked about me having a room for myself, and a room to work on these things. What do you think?”
We do have empty rooms. We have an empty room on the starboard side we are using as bedrooms, and one near the elevator is empty. And we have a room where we keep a simple medipod and medicine, and a big simple medipod for Saratha. I think it will work out, but…
“I think he’d be a bit hard to give you a room for a hobby. Were you thinking about using the cargo bay? Iris, would that work?”
“We were considering using one of the rooms in the living room.”
“No, I’ll actually pay it back as a proper job. I want to be an actual chemist, not a pretend one.”
“That just makes me even more confused about why you’d want to join a mercenary ship.”
“There’s only so much a person can do on her own. And I did a lot of job hunting, you know? This is it.”
She says as she brings her cute brownish red tentacles on top of the table.
“People kept telling me I’d be a bother. That’s awful isn’t it?”
“The same problem as Saratha…”
“Being a bit big down there meant I couldn’t find a job at all.”
Well, yes. Even now, it’s cramped enough that I’m thinking maybe we should’ve gone somewhere else.
“Miss Vasilisa and the other ladies spoke about her studying chemistry and making things such as basic potions and selling them, while also teaching about magic.”
“Magic? Like how you targeted the slime core directly?”
“I’m self-taught, but I’ve been something like a private tutor to other mercenaries. I use mid rank lighting magic.”
She raises a tentacle to her face, and there’s a blue crackle. Ooh! Oh? I’ve seen that before.
“I can cast spells when I’m in armor, but also when I’m in a ship and want to target things outside. So if armors cling to Tortilla Double, I can be a defensive weapon.”
“I saw blue flashes in space taking down a small drone. Was that you?”
“Yeah, it became an impromptu demonstration, but don’t you think I’m worth hiring?”
“I guess…”
Close combat is a big issue for Tortilla Double. Being able to take down a small combat drone flying at us fast…
“Not bad. We’ll provide all the basic necessities, and we’ll talk about a mixing room for you later. And about the pay…”
“Yes… I hope to receive the same treatment as the others.”
I see. They’ve been getting five hundred puni a week and a bonus if there’s a big reward… What? What are those bottles she’s putting on the table?
“This is contraceptive and this is aphrodisiac… We’ll see each other tonight…”
Both her pale face and octopus tentacle are bright red. Didn’t she say this sort of thing depended on the conditions!?
Join my patreon to support me and read ahead.
Probably because of your coke-wife~