We’re done with our second job in Mishyltia Prime, destroying the space pirate base. The quest was simple, but we had a bit of a rough experience because of the tough battle with the big gun battery we didn’t know was there. Big cannons really are scary.
“This is Tortilla Double~. We’re done destroying the space pirate base, so we’re coming back~! Requesting permission to dock~~~!”
“<Welcome back, Tortilla Double, come to the first dock.>”
“Thanks~~!!”
A mechanical intelligence worked from the outside last time we docked, but it looks like Sumire is controlling the station. After we let the auto-pilot dock, we see Van enter the dock with Sumire.
“I’ll go report. Can you prepare breakfast?”
“Then I will accompany you~.”
“Go ahead, but what are we gonna make for breakfast…”
“Pancakes~~~!”
Didn’t you eat that yesterday? I hear behind me as Suzuri and I walk through the living room. The display case with the ham now looks a bit colorful with the life tree fruit.
Pancakes go well with ham.. But we might as well have them galette style.
“Pervert…”
“I was just looking at the ham!”
“You didn’t mention the life tree fruit, so that makes you an even bigger pervert!”
“If I did it’d make things weird!”
“Maybe…”
“Don’t start blushing…”
The air gets a bit dirty as we leave the ship. I thought about it earlier too, but it looks like Van’s gotten pretty close to Sumire. I don’t think he brought the automata he made.
“You’re back early. Did you have trouble?”
“Yes, we got a bit careless.”
“I checked the footage. Thank you for completing the quest. They were indeed a little better equipped than the Alliance predicted.”
“Hn? Oh? Is it over!?”
“We have destroyed the base!”
“Didn’t you just leave!? It’s still morning!”
“We didn’t spend any time traveling, and the battle didn’t take that long either.”
Van expresses his surprise with a sigh and exaggerated gestures. It makes it worth surprising him when he reacts like that.
“Well, something that big making an appearance was unexpected. If I had that, I would’ve destroyed them in one shot.”
“Eh? Did they have something that dangerous!?”
“It appears to have been a large cannon placed on the station, but things might have been different if it was transported by armor… Although we probably destroyed all the ships they had to transport it.”
“Most likely. They only sent out a paltry three small combat ships to attempt to secure your station.”
“They were big though, like as big as a dragon…”
Eh? You took down dragons?
“Eh? You have dragons that big on your planet?”
“Mister Genma, dragons that live on planets are far smaller than space dragons.”
“Hahaha, but I became the ruler after killing… Did you say far smaller, Sumire?”
“I believe the one we fought a while back was three hundred meters wide.”
“Fought???? Three hundred meters???”
“Yes. It was because it has that sort of fire power that the Alliance and the mercenary guild issued a designated quest to Tortilla Double and its crew.”
“The help we had played a big part in the battle though.”
But this guy probably took down dragons with magic… If they’re like a small combat ship, they must’ve been bigger than twenty-five meters. Isekai reincarnations are scary.
“Well, that’s the report. Can we assume the quest is over?”
“Hn, yeah. Sumire checked the footage and there was no problem, right?”
“Yes, the quest is complete. Please check your account. The Alliance has sent the money.”
“Hnu? Does that mean you have already established FTL galactic communications?”
“Not galactic, but inter-planetary. There is a branch that is about a day away via hyperspace.”
I don’t know how it works, but they have text only and limited speed communications. It’s pretty slow, but they can communicate between planets. This galaxy is really scary…
“Eh? Sumire and Genma’s crew took fifteen days to get here, but there’s a populated area a day away? Why go through that trouble?”
“It was a matter of technology. To Akul prime is a nearby neutral planetary nation, and most importantly, the closest colony with mechanical intelligence technology.”
“Yes, we went there because we heard it was a technological colony.”
“Ah, Van, the level of technology can vary drastically between star systems. In some areas, the gap can be as wide as iron age and internal combustion engines.”
“Ah… Okay, so the Alliance doesn’t distribute technology evenly. So they sell stuff like smartphones and computers, but if you want to make them, you have to learn it yourself?”
“Basically. The Alliance likes go-getters. Although they might stop those attempting to reinvent the wheel…”
Van shrugs, looking fed up for a moment, but he soon smiles again.
“Well, I’ve no interest in raising the cultural level of scum below…”
I feel like I’d be stirring a hornet’s nest, so I stay out of that one. Suzuri also has a weird face, but she’s not talking.
“Well then, we’re thinking about going back to the colony after having breakfast. Until we meet again…”
“Hey, don’t you wanna make money?”
“Hnu… Genma?”
I do, but… I don’t want trouble.
“If you have quests, send them to the mercenary guild. We’ve decided we’ll take a break when we’re in hyperspace for a long time, so…”
“It’s not a quest. I was talking with Sumire, and I need money up front.”
Van puts out his right hand, and a white shiny globe suddenly appears on it. Scary. I know he can do that but it’s still scary. What’s that globe anyway? And all of a sudden there are a lot of leather bags on the floor.
“This is a pearl from a giant pearl oyster monster. Apparently they can be sold in space too.”
“That’s not something for me to judge…”
“It is in the Alliance’s database. And these bags contain magic stones and rare metals that can be sold in the Akul colony.”
“Suzuri, call Kori and Saratha.”
Suzuri nods, steps back a little, and calls them through her small communications device with mouse ears.
If I only heard it from Van, I’d think there was a big possibility this was a scam to fleece money, but Sumire is different.
She was sent directly by the Galactic Credit Union Alliance as an advisor, to be Van’s consultant. Everyone knows the Galactic Credit Union Alliance is cold, but fair. That means we must be able to sell those things.
“Can you buy it all for four million puni? Apparently a pearl this size can be used as a material for something like a destroyer’s shield generator. It can be worked into being close to something called a menkano sponge?”
“After you purchase it, you should be able to sell the contents of the bags to the port authority of Akul to cover the processing costs. What do you think?”
“You said the total, but without the list, we don’t know how much they’ll sell for.”
“I have sent it to Miss Suzuri’s information device.”
“!? Uwa, it really is here…”
Lemme see. The shield pearl is two and a half million. The contents of the bags are separated into eight categories. These are supposed to be bought for a million and a half, and it’s estimated that the port authority will pay thrice that.
No good, I can’t decide. I think they’re telling the truth, but still. Our faces are still sour.
I check out the content of the bags, and see mostly magic stones, jewels, and already smelted rare metal ingots. I don’t know what the magic stones and jewels are for, and I don’t know how much rare metals whose name I don’t recognize are worth!!!
I don’t say anything, and stand here looking troubled, until Kori and Saratha come down from the ship. That should help, but both their faces freeze when Suzuri shows them the list.
“Hnnn~~~… Ah, H~~~m… They’re real, and I’ve dealt with them, but the prices~…”
“We can tell the contents are real with simple appraisal, but… The prices…”
With the payment for this request, we now have more than five million. Tortilla Double is categorized as a mid size combat ship, but its shield generator is on par with a corvette more than twice its size.
This means that a civilian model lacks power, so we have two military models.
So, a corvette’s shield generator… They’ll barely sell them to civilian mercenaries in colonies, but monster products can be used instead.
I want it.
“Everyone, honestly…”
“Genma, I want to check something. Some of this stuff they’re selling is thirty percent less than its market value.”
“I am also curious about that…”
Van, who’s had his arms crossed this whole time while looking at us, speaks.
“I know the market price, but I want funds as soon as possible. Without funds up front, I can’t run a business. Think of it as a friendly gesture by a fellow Japanese.”
“I selected the amount and price based on what seems reasonable.”
Suzuri whispers in my ear that it’s kind of a gamble, but we won’t find a deal as good as this. Saratha and Kori nod like they’ve made up their minds.
“Okay, let’s haggle!!!!”
“Wha? Sorry, but I have no intention of doing that. If we’re going that route, I’m not really interested anymore.”
“You can read Weekly shonen jump’s digital version from 2014 to the second edition of August 2065, with no missing pages, on our devices.”
Van trembles.
“All the data from Kakuyomu until November third 2043, including Kakuyomu Next, author notes, and comments. All available offline.”
I hear the sound of air escaping.
“The complete social game with Amaryllis, and the limited edition materials one and three. I couldn’t find number two. I’ve confirmed that it works offline in our information devices. With a smooth framerate too.”
Tears start flowing from this boy born and raised in Japan. You’re an otaku too.
“How much?”
“How about half a million puni?”
“Say that again?”
“Fumu, then how about I lower… No, what if I add the Pretty Cure anime?”
“Do you have games?”
“Earth Defense Force 10, Fallout 6, and Rimworld with all the DLC until 2040. All unmodded.”
“That’s an exquisitely strange selection. Aren’t the numbered titles and the time period all over the place?”
“Copyright protection stopped being active when the planet was destroyed. Sometimes the complete digital versions are sold in colonies, but they’re all scattered, and the buyers are holding them as personal property, so they’re pretty hard to track down. I didn’t think I’d find someone with web novel website data either.”
That’s why when I’m in a colony or station, I pay to post on community websites that are like Jimoty. There’s stuff being sold in normal stores and online resale sites, but the ones I mentioned I got through private transactions. You could call them black market trades.
“I also have John Wick: Chapter 2. No dramas, but I bought some anime from a guy that loves magical girl anime for little girls.”
“I see… If you give me all that, I’ll take half a million off the price.”
“You can add half a million worth of goods instead.”
“This old man…! Fine, let’s do that. I’ll add more. I’ll throw in a bonus too.”
Van starts taking stuff out of his storage, and I head to my room to get the storage memory with the stuff I previously copied. When I come back, I see more leather bags, along with a bunch of fruit I’ve seen before.
“You…”
“I told you, they won’t rot even if they’re left outside for ten years, so I have a bunch in my Storage Space. I harvest a hundred every year. If you keep them refrigerated, they’ll stay fresh even after cutting. You can keep them in the fridge and use a little to make a smoothie every morning.”
Saratha doesn’t look too pleased, but Kori has a smile on her face because she loves sweet things. Suzuri said it was pretty good, so she has an it can’t be helped expression.
Well, it was good… It was sweet, but can I grow more in the hydroponics planter?
I hand the storage device to Sumire.
“Check for viruses just in case. And make a back up right away… It really is precious stuff.”
“Understood. I detect no viruses, and the data matches what Mister Genma said. I will inspect the contents later, but precious items from a lost civilization for this price… Is this appropriate? I will back up everything, and then prepare a server room for entertainment information storage… Mister Van?”
Van is crying. What now?”
“I reincarnated fifty years ago. When I was one, our elven village burned down… The spirit that reincarnated me was also erased by them… I lived for revenge ever since. I erased the civilization of the ogres that attacked, and I French revolution’d the three kingdoms that burned the village in the span of twenty years…
For the next few years, I led the history books in the continent to include that democracy is crap.
I spent thirty years jamming the magic communications of the adventurer guild that sent adventurers to burn down the village, destroyed them, burned all the books in their headquarters, and made sure the adventurer guild didn’t operate properly for decades.”
This is getting bad. Is this guy a demon king?
“My revenge is over… I felt empty… All I had left was the forest where my family no longer was, the automata I made, and the magic stones of the dragons that proclaimed themselves rulers of the planet and attacked… But I’m thinking now I can live to collect remnants of Earth.”
I-I see. This guy’s scary.
“Thanks for coming, Genma. Will you come do business again?”
“Yeah… And sell me what you’ve collected then.”
I put out my right hand, and Van grabs it. When will I come… Next year?
“You do have a magic organ. Was it added later? That’s pretty rare on my planet… What?”
“A-ah! I don’t!?!? I’m actually Japanese!”
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