We’ve encountered a giant monster in a sector of Mishun Prime, that’s hundreds of meters, maybe a kilometer long. And we’ve also found people being kept prisoner in this sector.
“Can you take food and water to that table, Vasilisa? If they say they don’t need it, you can take a break.”
“I gladly accept your kindness. That was terrible, we had to ration food and water and I was so hungry.”
“I’ll take you there, okay?”
“Thanks.”
She runs along with Saratha, walking on her octopus tentacles as though she’s sliding through this improvised dining hall. So that’s how she moves. It’s pretty cute.
Well then, the pirate that tried to grab Iris lost his right hand. It was pretty gruesome, but I hear he stopped bleeding.
“Why did the bleeding stop?”
“Miss Vasilisa healed him with magic. It seems she is a magic user, so she instantly cut his hand clean off, and of course, cleaned up.”
Eh… I guess we should have Iris bind him again and leave him over there. And let’s make a jail later. The problem is the remaining thirty-nine…
“Iris, get ready to open the door. Kori, point the armor’s laser gun at the door. Threaten, but don’t shoot. Deploy all patrol drones.”
“Got it~.”
“Understood.”
In this tense air, Iris moves her hand to open the door to the connecting bridge, and immediately hugs a wall as she stays cautious.
Five dirty looking guys appear, so the defensive drone deploys a shield.
“Looks like you wanna die.”
“S-screw you! It’s fine! You got food and water! And women! Enough to share!”
“This is no good. Iris, take them down.”
“As you wish.”
Five disk battle drones fire their non-lethal guns, and despite them also firing, the defensive drone means not a hair on our heads is harmed.
“Bind them too, Iris. Hold on, looks like we’re getting seconds.”
“Wait! Hold on! I don’t mean to resist!”
A man with blue eyes and a blond disheveled crew cut walks slowly with his hands up. Really?
“Iris, bind the five space pirates.”
“T-they aren’t space pirates, they are from Mishun Prime’s army…”
“Mishun Prime hires space pirates?”
They’re determined to make things worse for us…
“Could we throw them all into the ship, turn them into debris, including Captain Hasselback, and pretend we didn’t see them…”
“Ah!! Mister Genma! At least show mercy to us!”
An old man with animal ears I recognize stumbles through the connecting bridge, and other old guys walk slowly after him. They feel less haughty and more scared.
“I didn’t say you could leave from there.”
“But I don’t want to be debris! Please! Show mercy!”
“Quiet. I get it, so go up against the wall.”
Can I pretend I didn’t see them and make them debris? I guess not.
“Hum, so that’s thirty-five, excluding the six space pirates. Hum… Peacitt, can you go over to that table? Saratha is there, so assume you will be shot if you do anything weird.”
“Yes, I won’t do anything! I’m very thankful! They said giving food and water to non-military personnel was a waste!”
“That’s right! They really had us on thin rations!”
“We barely had enough water, and only ate every two days!”
“I’ll tell you anything, please just give me food and water too!”
Multiple old guys come out and kneel. Strange, I was thinking about sharing food and water for information, so why am I holding a gun?
“Captain Hasselback, how many military personnel was there, counting you?”
“…Seven.”
“Is this true?”
“Yes, there were seven.”
“The guy that lost his hand is a commander!”
“The ones who attacked with guns are privates!”
“Then go over there to that table and eat. If you mess with the girls we’ll kill you.”
“We won’t! We won’t!”
Three guys move immediately. What a pain this turned into. Let’s move the others here. Ah, sit there, Captain Hasselback, you’re being bound too.
“Hum… To the people still in the ship. If you want food and water, remove your weapons and come out here!”
The guys are peeking from the connecting bridge, but you’re not even a little bit cute, so hurry up already.
▽▽▽
We have a simple dining hall with a long table and chairs made with the alchemist crafter, and since they’re mostly done eating, I think it’s time to hear what the thirty-one old men and the one woman have to say.
Vasilisa was the one woman there. Was she okay…
“So, what’s that ship crab?”
“A legend in Mishun Prime.”
“Ah, I know! The rumors about a ship graveyard!”
“Well, they turned out to be true.”
“I don’t know about that. I think it only appeared recently.”
“And it’s kind of ridiculous that it has a hyperspace catcher.”
“Every prime has one or two legends about a ship graveyard.”
Okay, my bad. I’m not getting anything because of my sloppy question. Everyone’s just saying what they want.
“I think it really is recent. Those military assholes said they got caught in a routine patrol.”
“Yes yes, that’s the kind of information I want. Do you think a large laser would work on it?”
“No, the bright glowing shell would probably deflect it. At least that’s what happened when the military guys fired lasers.”
“You shouldn’t try! Multiple ships did and were destroyed!”
“But none of them fired a destroyer main cannon tier one, right? I can.”
“No. A destroyer didn’t come here.”
“Ah, but if you’re firing missiles, you should do it from below it. They landed direct hits with guided missiles.”
“Yes! But they were thinner than toothpicks, so they didn’t do anything!”
“You can’t manage anything if your missile is as small as theirs!”
Now they’re starting to talk dirty.
“Stop stop! If you have time to tell dirty jokes, kill that thing so we can leave. Is there any other useful information you can give?”
“Honestly, we should just stay put, no offense.”
“Yeah, apparently we still have food. I don’t know how many it will feed, but let’s wait for rescue.”
“Yes yes, there’s no need to do anything dangerous.”
No good… Most of them are in denial. I figured they’d talk, but now that their stomachs are full, they’re chatting to each other. I feel like I won’t get any more from them.
Yeah, don’t do anything dangerous and wait, but who knows if they’ll send help in a few months…
Hm, Peacitt… He looked away. He’s not jabbering… Hn? Saratha is motioning for me to get closer. And Vasilisa is doing the same with a tentacle.
“What is it?”
“Lisa has something to say.”
“I think it would be hard for this ship’s armament to break through that shell. I was drifting for about a month, and I saw mostly mid-size ships firing lasers that were deflected. Guided missiles won’t open holes either. A torpedo seemed to do the trick, and it blew away one of its legs.
Hum, Lisa from Vasilisa? So a torpedo works. And then I could aim the laser cannon at the wound… But as I think that, I see Peacitt motioning for me to come closer, out of the corner of my eye.
He’s pretty far from the others, and he’s motioning for some reason while surrounded by my disk battle drones. What is he doing?
“What are you doing, Peacitt?”
“This ship can fire torpedoes, right…?”
It’s fine that he’s whispering, but I don’t have animal ears, so I have a hard time hearing it… Do I have to upgrade my ears too…
“It can, but so what? Also, whisper a little louder…”
“That small combat ship is loaded with a nuclear torpedo.”
So that’s why you’re surrounded by battle drones. Iris, come over here.
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