Suzuri is begging me to hire her, but I can’t just respond on the spot. Should I bring her to the ship to talk with the girls? I tell her that.
“I-I don’t mind that… I understand this is shameless of me… Hnu… Can I have a meal and a place to sleep for a night…”
“H-hey hey. What do you mean?”
“My small information device… I dropped it and it flew into space when the ship self-destructed…”
“Ah… So you can’t pay and you don’t know anyone in this colony? What about the people that were with you?”
“I have never been here… And the people that were there as escorts left in their power armor and ships…”
“Eh… And the people in the cockpit…”
“There were the captain and vice-captain, but they were charged with smuggling…”
“Ah, but what about going to an organization under the Alliance?”
“I was just released… But when I talked to the police there I was ignored…”
O-oh… She really was just a communications officer that was hired there… And has she not been eating for the past few days? When I ask, she nods. Okay, let’s buy something along the way… I don’t know if she can stay, but I think we can take her to the Mercenary Guild and do something about that money problem.
I tell her to come with me for now, and start walking. She then grabs my sleeve and follows me while crying. Stop it. I heard you’re sixty-eight, but you’re a hundred forty centimeters tall mouse beast girl and you look like you’re barely in high school. Uwah, people are openly mumbling.
“Low-life mercenary…”
“In broad daylight…”
“Someone call the cops…”
“Trash…”
“Hey, this is really bad for my reputation. And how come they’re assuming I’m a mercenary?”
“I-I’m sorry…”
“It’s not your fault, let’s just hurry back to the ship.”
As I say that, I hear a whistle, and people running after me. It’s two gruff looking men in navy blue uniforms. Ah, they’re really staring. What is this? The guy behind me speaks to what looks like a radio, and the guy in front of me holds up his baton to intimidate me.
“Hey you! Where are you taking this poor girl!?
“What kind of joke is this!!!! You!!!! You just!!!! I asked for directions!!!! And you called me a filthy beast girl!!! You whispered that and ignored me!!!! How dare you!!!?”
“Wha, ah, it’s you.”
Stop stop. No way a miraculous accident like this just happened. Bad-mouthing a police officer in public is bad, so shut up. Stop squirming. And don’t slap me with your tail. Don’t swing your arms! And leave my laser gun alone!
Ah… Now she’s really crying. Whoa, the policeman remembers her, and his eyes are darting around.
The stir around us is getting worse. Ah, and some people are pointing small information devices with cameras at us. But I’m the one that’s sympathetic here. We have Suzuri hitting me because she can’t contain her emotions, and policemen discriminating against beast people. By the way, the two policemen are walkers. And it’s like they want to move on but the situation won’t let them.
“Uwah, the policemen are discriminating against the beast girl.”
“So openly too…”
“It’s obvious she was seeking protection.”
“How evil are those policemen to not look after such a cute girl?”
“Then again, she could be four hundred…”
“Eh, but it wasn’t exactly kidnapping.”
“Helping a lost girl doesn’t count towards their quota, but fabricating a kidnapping gets them big points.”
“Eh? What are you doing, Genma?”
Hn? I look towards where I heard that last one, and see Saratha slowly moving this way on a platform with an engine. Ah, I’m saved. A guy and a girl look better in a situation like this than just a guy.
“What? Kidnapping a kid… No way, is that Suzuri!? Anyway, Purification.”
“Tha… Nk… You…”
“Sorry, thanks”
“Ahh… It reminds me of when I found Kori… Ah, your face is a mess from all the crying. Purification.”
Just cleaning the dirt of her clothes isn’t the same. I was wondering how she and Kori ended up living together, so she just picked her up… And can you stop burying your face in my stomach while crying, Suzuri? And can you stop looking at me like that, Saratha?
“Ah…”
“Leave the excuses for later, what’s going on here?”
“I think she was acquitted, but thrown outside without a small information device.”
“Ah! The smuggling charges! She was just roped into it, right!? So! Without an information device she’s penniless! And she was left on her own in a strange colony! Is that about it!?”
“Yes! And I just happened to find her! Let’s talk somewhere else! I said! And the police treated me like a kidnapper!”
“They ignored me before too! And now they did this! What’s that all about!!!?”
People are whispering to each other. Well, it’s obvious at this point that it’s an act, but there are no victims, so…
Now it’s the policemen who are troubled. The guy talking on his radio is sweating, and the guy that pulled out his baton is still holding it up, looking around unsure if he should lower it.
“Anyway! There is no problem! Thank you for your cooperation!”
“Wha…!?”
“Yes, no one is being kidnapped, it was a misunderstanding! Thank you for your concern!”
“Y-yes! Don’t act suspicious like that!”
Wait, it’s clearly not my fault, isn’t it? I think all we can do for our sake is act like it was a misunderstanding and everything’s been settled. I don’t know about the people around us though.
“Hey! Disperse! Nothing to see here!”
I look out of the corner of my eye at the guy that could’ve shut up before that last part, and we leave quickly. And don’t come at us later to act like we were the problem all along.
▽▽▽
And so, we get something to eat, and return to the living room of Tortilla Double. I really did end up bringing her here. But Saratha said it was okay so oh well.
“I saw it on the news, but discrimination is still a thing, uh? I’m a little disappointed.”
“Humanity isn’t as noble as you think.”
“Su~zu~ri~!”
“Kori!!”
Suzuri clings to Kori’s body and sinks into it. They talked through communications, but it’s their first time actually seeing each other… Hn? Sink!
“Kori!! Let her out!!”
“Ah, I hugged her a bit too hard~.”
“Gobe goboh!? M-mean…”
It’s still strange to me to hear a loli talk with the tone of an old woman… Is she actually sixty-eight? Maybe mental age stays close to appearance.
“By the way, it feels like a person’s pretty much done if they lose a small information device, but what can be done then?”
“If you’re with the Mercenary Guild, you can use your physical card to withdraw money. In fact, a branch of the Alliance can accommodate anyone with an account no matter where they are, to a certain extent.”
“When they released me, I tried to ask where I could find a branch but they ignored me…. They wouldn’t even feed me when I was in custody, it was awful… I filled my stomach with water…”
“Ah~, that happens with people who have a very strong prejudice~.”
That happens…? Anyway, I ask Suzuri if she wants something to drink, and she wants bean tea, so I get enough for everyone from the food printer. And we take her to the rug filled with pillows between the couches.
“I saw on TV that mercenaries live well, but you really have a nice place…”
“We went for comfort.”
“Well, I’m sure you know Genma makes good money for a mercenary.”
“I was surprised when you crushed a frigate with a mid-sized ship… I thought you were done for sure…”
Kori heads to the food printer to make marble cookies, and brings them to the low table on the rug. She urges everyone to eat, so we do.
Food cartridges are processed semisolids like algae and plankton. These are sold in various places as standard one liter bottles. You load them into a food printer, power it up, and pick what you want from a touchscreen.
It’s pretty confusing to me how crunchy buttery cookies come from a lump of algae and plankton, but it’s very nutritious.
And the fact that curry and pizza can come from the same food cartridge leaves me really impressed about future technology. Spices are important.
We watch TV while talking about what’s on, and as my stomach starts getting a bit full, Suzuri changes how she’s seated and we look at her in a relaxed way.
“I already told Genma, but I want to work here. I’ll do anything.”
She does a dogeza again, but it’s hard to talk to you like that, so raise your head…
“Anything~.”
“Kori, stop. Suzuri, you want us to hire you, but what can you do? The two of us are already working as mechanics.”
Saratha coils her tail around my arm, as if saying that’s enough girls. And she crosses her arms under her chest to emphasize it. Suzuri said anything, but it’s like Saratha is saying we don’t need a girl to just keep around.
Actually, hiring her might be good. After all, she has a class three ship piloting license. I don’t know if I can just leave it to her, but it would be good to have another person to take a shift when we’re in hyperspace. She has experience in a big transport ship too.
That’s all fine and good but… Money is one thing, but you need a certain level of trust to place your life in someone’s hands… Should we think about that after hiring her?
Furthermore, she has to go through our personal space to get to the cockpit. A structural mistake! The easiest solution would be to make her my woman, and Kori would be on board, but what about Saratha?
She has to show us she’d be a good addition.
“I have a class three ship piloting license, Alliance financial planning skill class three, Alliance bookkeeping class two, three years of experience on a large transport ship doing business transactions and office work, and I have led negotiations.
In Tamani Oishi No. 3 in particular, I was in charge of inventory management and restocking of about thirty people, crew and sometimes hired escorts. My qualifications can be verified digitally, so while it wouldn’t be possible now…”
“““Hired.”””
Another harem member!
Thanks.
Oh even admits it’s a loli so he’s a pedophile. Dammit.