We received a distress signal from a large transport ship, kicked around pirates without issues, and salvaged. We picked up strange blue logs that are apparently worth a lot, but that’s okay, right?
“<Uwah! Blue horizon is really rare. Stupid space pirates, that’s what they get for being greedy. But I’m sure more was caught in the explosion, so that’s a waste.>”
“That’s true~. Tortilla Double using a bit too much fire power is a problem at times like these~.”
“<But you dealt with that many with a single ship? That’s crazy.>”
Kori asked about the blue logs, and it sounds like they really are rare. Stuff collected from asteroids is free for the taking, so it doesn’t look like there’s a problem with selling them.
The main export of this star system is rare lumber. There’s green lumber too, but there’s also a lot of more orthodox stuff like ebony and mahogany.
They’re harvested from asteroids, taken to the colony, processed by furniture craftsmen, and shipped off.
Because of this, some asteroids near the colony are managed by a Lumberjack Guild, but aside from those, people are free to harvest from them.
“<Oh, it looks like the hatch is finally fixed. Thanks Tortilla Double.>”
“You’re welcome. We made money too, so we both win.”
Eh… What we picked up is estimated to be worth three hundred thousand puni. We have three blue horizon logs and forty more logs in good condition. We also turned scrapped rare metals into ingots, meaning one of the space expansion containers is full.
Also, about the logs. If they’re covered in a special film, they don’t really degrade unless they bump into each other.
The minimum price of blue horizon logs is a hundred thousand puni, but it drops to thirty thousand if we sell it at the port authority.
If we’re done here, it’s time to go to the colony… Ah, the transport ship doesn’t have a hyperdrive, and apparently they were attacked by pirates while traveling through normal space.
We use hyperspace to jump again, landing near the colony, and we use cruising speed to finally reach the colony in Pokapoka Flower Field Prime.
To put it simply, it looks like sea urchin.
The Pokapoka colony is round. There are a lot of rods on it, each equipped with many turrets. From afar, it looks like a shining white sea urchin.
What’s with this crazy colony, I think, but comets are enough of a problem for this colony that they put out a quest about it, and they’re troubled by too many space pirates.
Because of this, there’s a rule to not exit hyperspace around this colony. They won’t know who you are, and they’ll shoot. If it wasn’t for that, we would’ve come right to the center of the colony.
“We can finally rest.”
“You say that, but haven’t we been eatin’ and sleepin’ this whole time?”
“It still feels like we did a lot~.”
“Genma, I will need time to sell these things and lighten our load. We should perhaps stay here for at least twenty-four hours.”
“Got it. I want to go to the Mercenary Guild and stuff too, so let’s stay for a day. Speaking of the Mercenary Guild, apparently this place isn’t very safe, so always go out in groups of at least three, and make sure you’re armed.”
We request to dock, and let the auto pilot do the rest.
I heard docks are all the same in every colony, otherwise ships can’t enter.
“Why is there grass in the dock…”
“Perhaps it would be best to just think it is what it is. I will go to the port authority to have them check what we have and buy it.”
“Then I’ll go out with boss as security.”
“Eh~! That’s a date! Not fair~!”
“I’ll check the ship’s shell with Kori.”
“Then let’s leave once we’re ready. I’ll go get the cart.”
“We’ll be back after doing what we have to, so take the controls, Suzuri.”
“I have them.”
I equip the laser pistol around my waist, and head to the cargo bay with Iris, where I see Vasilisa with her engine-powered cart. Then we go down to the Pokapoka colony.
Unlike other colonies, I feel the freshness of a forest in the air, but am I just imagining that?
“This is a dock, but I already feel like the air is different.”
“Yeah, I feel like they mixed something in the filters.”
“Master, do you remember me telling you about phytoncide? It seems synthetic phytoncide has been added to the air.”
“I’ve heard that word but don’t remember it…”
“It feels tasty!”
I see, that’s probably it. Vasilisa grabs my body with her octopus legs, puts me on the engine-powered cart, and we head to the Mercenary Guild. Is she that worried about me? Am I that weak? Ah, yes.
The Pokapoka colony is pretty different compared to other colonies and stations I’ve visited.
There are leaves on the ground.
Unlike roadside trees on Earth, they aren’t all the same species, so it’s pretty strange. And they’re growing right in the middle of the sidewalk. They should think about the flow of foot traffic.
Also, if I get close to one, it really smells like tree. Are they real? I also see drones that look like moths and spiders approaching them and giving them water, as well as pruning them.
It’s also weird that there aren’t any moving footpaths. Not even in front of the dock, which was a little annoying.
The buildings are varied, with some looking like concrete and a lot brown like wood. I don’t know how to react to the five story buildings made to look like loghouses. Why are there log pillars on the four corners of these buildings?
I’ve also been noticing that there are a lot of long-eared elves, which are treated as a subspecies of walker. They’re a different race from my point of view, but apparently they’re treated as a subspecies because there are too many walkers. Beast people on the other hand are seen as a different thing.
It’s also pretty interesting how there are two types of long ears, ones straight and ones facing up. They have a healthy looking white skin, but not as white as Vasilisa.
That said, we’re not rare here, and there are other races around. I’m the only walker on an engine-powered cart, but there are others using carts.
It’s my first time seeing arachne. As I’m thinking that monster girls really are cute, Iris pulls my cheek like she wants to rip it off.
“That hurts!”
“We do not have the room.”
“Did I have that look in my eyes!?”
“Boss… It’s nice that you like girls, but if you don’t get it together, Kori is going to melt you.”
“I am keeping it together.”
“Are you…?”
I convince both, and I can see the Mercenary Guild. It looks like a two story saloon you’d see in a western. I look at the sign, which is translated by the translation implant, and this seems to be the place.
There’s a sign hanging from the roof that says this month’s motto, plant a tree after cutting a tree.
There’s a double door like in a saloon… It’s a transparent automatic door with a painting of wind. When it opens, there’s an animation of the drawn saloon door struggling to open. I feel an indescribable fastidiousness from it.
Once inside, people stare and stink of booze… I thought, but that’s not the case. It’s a public office without affections, like other Mercenary Guilds.
I see people taking numbers from machines, and we stay on the cart until our number is called. Vasilisa won’t let me go. What if I want to go to the bathroom?
We head to the designated seat when our number is called, and I see a male elf with blonde, almost white hair, with blue highlights that reaches his shoulders.
It’s a little strange, I think as I look at the spider, moth, rabbit, and goat capsule toy figures next to his tablet. Other guild employees didn’t have this sort of thing.
“What is your business here?”
“I just came from another star system, so I wanted to say hello. I’m Genma, a Grassland one mercenary. Here is my physical card. I’m also here to collect my reward for killing the pirates attacking a ship that sent out a distress signal on my way here.”
“I see. We here in this star system have a lot more pirates compared to others, so go on and make them fewer. The fewer of those pests we got the better. Next time you can have mechanical intelligence handle… Eh, you’re using a rare ship? Are you solo?”
“Yes, it’s thanks to it that I kicked around a small fleet of pirates.”
“Servant Model N.8, that’s a high grade model. It’s a bit finicky, but I guess this would be able to handle it alone… It has a large laser cannon turret, right?”
“Yes, what about it?”
“You might get profitable designated quests. You have two torpedo tubes, right?”
He says while moving his mouse.
“Well yeah, if I don’t use them, I don’t eat.”
“Oh, it looks like you did an emergency destruction quest on the way here. Thanks. Here’s your card. Are you staying for long?”
“Depends on the money I make. I’ve never focused on eliminating space pirates.”
“Hm? Lemme see… Ah, you mainly hunt monsters. Hn? You took down something big… Keep up the space pirate hunting and you’ll be Highway class in no time.”
Hm… Town, Grassland, Highway, Forest, Ocean, Sky, right?
“Wasn’t there a rank up exam?”
“I dunno. I’d probably skip the Highway exam… Maybe I’d do a written exam because there are so few exams. You can get an E-book with the questions all the way to Forest, and with your implants, it should be easy if you study.”
“Got it.”
I feel like my implants are personal information, but it makes sense since the Mercenary Guild covered a bit of the costs of the procedure.
“And… Hm? You’re selling stuff you got from pirates? We received an inquiry about it, so I’ll report to the port authority that there aren’t any problems.”
“An inquiry? I was wondering if it was okay.”
“It’s the blue horizon. That’s very high grade stuff, so they asked us about it. You’re lucky to have found it.”
The handsome elf’s awkward smile paints a good picture…
“They really treat you differently than Town ranks, uh boss?”
“Hn? Do you know this guy’s achievements?”
“I told her everything.”
The footage of me taking down the Herald of Autumn looks cooler thanks to Iris’ editing, and I showed it in the living room.
“You took something big on your first battle and went on from there, so of course I’ll be courteous. Just don’t do something stupid and die. You’ll earn a lot if you’re alive.”
“I try to be careful…”
“Boss worries a lot, so he won’t die that easily.”
“Although I think he plunges into weird stuff…”
It’s not like I want to. Probably.
“Well then, all we have are quests about destroying comets and hunting pirates. We have a lot of both, but make sure to check with the guild if you destroy comets. Immediately if you fail. Anything else?”
“No, I was just curious about some things… Come to think of it, can I land on asteroids?”
“Not the ones close to the colony. Most have owners. Most that have rare things are owned too, so scan before you destroy anything or land. You should detect their beacons, but if there are problems, we’ll check the ship camera.”
“Beacons? Wait, could I own an asteroid?”
“They’re a million at minimum. And ones with blue horizon go up for auction and are even more expensive. You’re not going to get anywhere with elves like us kuo people throwing money for the sake of pride.”
Yes. I guess maybe later…
“By the way, are there any date locations?”
“Buy a magazine for that, idiot.”
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