After buying what Kori called the bare essentials in the Mercenary Guild’s shop, she drags me outside. I tell her I want to check out implants, even if I’m not buying any, and she makes a cross with her fingers. Why not?
“Genma, this is all new to you, and you’re too excited~. Let’s forget about everything for now except for the health check up, composite vaccine, and life extension treatment~. You’ll just start wasting money~.”
“I guess so, but there’s things there I don’t understand.”
“Life extension treatment is something most people get as babies~. Someone with a normal lifespan of sixty won’t have to worry about aging until about five hundred~.”
“It’s like humanity’s dream.”
“It costs a lot of puni to get it done as an adult~. It also takes time and there’s a lot of preparations to be done~. And the ship is in tatters, right~?”
It’s true, I’m too excited. I mean, I got rich all of a sudden. But yes, if I cool my head and think about it, I should use the money on the ship. The armor was burned, I want to be able to cook, the furniture is terrible… I want to sleep on an actual bed. It’s awful how the blankets I put together for napping are actually more comfortable.
“I guess I should furnish the ship before thinking about getting guns.”
“Right~~~!? Let’s get someone I know to help out~.”
“I see, thanks. What kind of person is it?”
“A woman that used to be my roommate~. We rented a workshop together too~. I got scrap I thought could be used, and she maintained and modded armor and ships!”
So a mechanic, I see… Roommate…
“By the way Kori, how long were you stranded there?”
“About five days~?”
“Did you call her?”
“Not yet~. Why?”
You really should contact her right away.
▽▽▽
We get on a monorail and go down. The place where I left Tortilla Double is right in the center of the colony. People are free to carry guns, but security isn’t great because of the various guilds. But there’s so many things that can be called commercial establishments, that it’s bustling.
But the place where we’re going now is somewhere where people who don’t make much money live, even considering the standards of the colony. This includes stuff like street vendors. Kori strapped a holster around her waist that can be seen from all around her. Wait, does she have four guns? Where did she get those?
“Is it that unsafe here?”
“If I do this, they’ll think I’m crazy and won’t get near~.”
I see. Well, it doesn’t look as unsafe as she says. I don’t see people drinking or sleeping on the side of the road. You see that in big cities sometimes. And I don’t see any graffiti or trash. But when I tell her that…
“You must’ve lived in a really bad place, Genma~~. It really was a primitive planet.”
“So far I feel like this would be in the top five safest places…”
We keep chatting as we pass through a place with four story buildings placed at regular intervals. This colony with magic artificial gravity has a sky projected on its ceiling, and it’s a clear blue sky today. It’s a closed space, but the air feels nice. But it’s unnatural how there isn’t a single leaf on the ground.
We buy some sweets along the way as a gift to her friend, but the atmosphere around these stores isn’t all that different.
Another interesting thing is that I see practically no cars. I guess it makes sense with the moving footpaths, tram, and monorail, so all I see are big cars I think are for deliveries. It’s strange, but a little interesting.
“Would you call this exalted?”
“R~e~a~l~~l~y? We’re here~.”
“Oh? And is she home?”
“I guess~? She told me to come quick~.”
“She was worried about you.”
“She said to get my things already because they were in the way~.”
Kori was missing for five days, so I’m sure she’s just hiding her embarrassment, but it still sounds cold. Are they okay? Are they getting along well? If it was just a lighthearted comment, am I going to get punched all of a sudden? Is she going to be all I won’t let some new guy have my friend? This place isn’t safe, right? Also, was that really the sort of thing to do through a messaging app? Not even a phone call?
So this is a building. I look up and see frosted glass, and a wide dim entrance. This is an apartment building, right?
“These are homes and also workshops~. Let’s go~.”
“Ah, I see. I thought for sure the workshop was somewhere else.”
“Like I have that kind of money.”
A shadow appears in front of me, and when I turn around, I see a girl that’s taller than me, with a short red tinged bob cut. She’s wearing a green cardigan and a yellow dress. Does she have no makeup? She looks beautiful.
But she doesn’t have legs like I’d think, she has one red scaly leg like a snake. Wait, she is a snake. Her tail isn’t touching the floor directly, she’s on a big mobile cart.
And her left hand is holding a bag from the same candy store we just visited.
“Hello.”
“Sorry, hold on a bit. Kori! You…!! Do you have any idea how worried I was when you didn’t even call me for thirty days!? And then you just tell me ‘I’m here~’ and that’s how I find out you’re still alive!!!?”
“It’s been a while Sara~. This is my fiance, Genma~.”
“It’s nice to meet you, my name is Saratha! Yeah right!!!”
“I’m Genma. Can we go in?”
She said it had been five days. Don’t glare at me, it’s not my fault. I feel bad. I bought cookies Kori said were nice, but maybe we should’ve gone with something more expensive. Saratha and Kori are arguing, but the door is open, so I go in.
▽▽▽
“Ahhh, geez! What kind of tea do you like, Genma?”
“Ah, hum, I don’t know much about colony life, so something that goes down easy, please. Or just water.”
“What? Kori, did you nab yourself a space pirate?”
“No~.”
“Nab… Hum, what should I…”
Is this bean tea? Not coffee, it really does taste like bean flavored tea. Anyway, we tell her my story and how I took down space pirates, but not about the three million.
“Genma… I don’t know if you got one in your pants or not.”
“I’m pretty sure I do.”
“I don’t think you do, if you got charmed by a laflotty. Don’t you know they’re artificial life forms?”
“Hnn? She said they were a service race or something like that.”
“Kori!!!”
I hear a pyah and she runs to the other side of the room.
“She ran away?”
“They’re on the better side when it comes to artificial life forms, but they have a bad reputation. They’re nasty beings, who get the men they want even if they have to take them away from someone else during their wedding ceremony. They’re the enemies of women.”
“Eek.”
“They’re generally all about their partners, and generally harmless. You don’t have to worry, I’m more worried about my chastity…”
“How did this conversation swerve in that direction?”
“They tend to build harems for the men they love.”
I’m so lost. What are the ethics of this place?
“Nevermind that. Tortilla Double, right? You want to change its furniture and repair its armor, right?”
“Yes… Apparently it’s an old battleship. Its furniture is simple, and the bedroom is rough and tattered.”
“Apparently? You didn’t look into that? What were you doing on your way here… Ah.”
“Don’t just guess.”
“Anyway, I’ll check it out once things calm down a little. Also, I have been out of work lately, so I would appreciate it if you considered me for your harem.”
“No, that’s a weird direction to take the conversation. Weren’t you just talking about your chastity? Can’t you just be a normal mechanic…”
“Polygamy is recommended in my race. And it’s hard to find a husband with a good income in space. And race doesn’t make it any easier. I can give as much as you want if you’re up for it. Of course, we need to hash out some conditions.”
She says while pushing up her ample chest with her arms, and wrapping her tail around me. No! I’m weak to monster girls!! I didn’t even know they really existed. No! Ah, she’s wrapping it around me even more and it feels really smooth. Pet pet pet.
And then she slaps me with her tail for being too lewd with my touch.
So a lamia…
Well, first is a slime girl, and now a lamia. What’s next?🤨
Thanks for the treat.
Monster gurls are norm , huh~?
I think it’s great for alien setting rather than “other races” like in normal fantasy~