Chapter 175 – Policy Decided

Translator: SFBaka

We concluded the call with Viscount Willrose with a promise to meet them face to face after the award ceremony. Eldmoore still seemed to have a thing or two to say to me for touching Elma, but……

“Hiro-san is a recipient of the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal, and soon, an even more prestigious Gold Star. You’re already regarded as an imperial hero. And having Elma get close to someone of your caliber and fame before anyone else offers quite a lot of advantages to us if you look at it from the perspective of an aristocratic house.”

“Guoooooh!? Milfi! I give, I give!”

Milfi-san, who held the still-hostile Eldmoore in a tight armlock as she addressed me with a sweet smile, looked pretty amazing…… She was undoubtedly Elma’s mother.

“But I feel like I went and got myself off the hook for a reason I don’t really get though.”

I murmured in a perplexed tone while sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Oh, you’re talking about the matter dear mother mentioned? Well, to put it simply, she implied that those who couldn’t even reign in her tomboy daughter have no right to point fingers when the said daughter was able to earn the attention of an excellent and distinguished mercenary like you. It wasn’t intentional on your part, but you did manage to get awarded the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal and Gold Star.”

“……How should I put it? Um, it’s like a children’s fight.”

“That’s pretty accurate, actually. Nobles usually indulge themselves in such trivial and silly exchanges.”

Elma, who still hasn’t dried herself off after taking a shower, shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. By the way, I was also still drenched since we took a shower together.

“Well, in other words, they’ll have to recognize your worth whether they like it or not. Since you’ve already produced solid results, they won’t be able to accuse you of being a hack. Rather, it would be more appropriate to just sit back and allow others to form their own conjectures instead.”

“Man, your social circle is something I really won’t get. It’s definitely more trouble than it’s worth.”

“That’s right. I was also fed up with those boring and tedious affairs, and that’s one of the reasons I ran away from home.”

“You made the right choice, I think. It just feels so much better to go wherever you wanna go and see whatever you wanna see at your own pace. You can go on adventures, eat lots of different food, hunt down pirates from time to time, and do whatever else you find interesting. It’s a lot more fulfilling, that’s for sure.”

“Isn’t it?”

Elma giggled cheerfully and sat next to me. She then leaned her body on mine and made herself comfortable.

“And I have you, Mimi, Mei, Tina, and Whisker on this ship. I get to go on adventures with comrades who I love and trust in this vast universe. We’ll get mixed up in trouble from time to time and overcome a pinch together. I get to live out an exciting and fulfilling life even better than those depicted by adventure holo-novels, and that’s more than enough for me. That’s why I have no intention of letting go of such a life, and in order for me to keep it, I’ll happily go with any scheme my mother cooks up.”

“I see. So, basically, you’ve just set your bottom line, right?”

“That’s right. Tina and Whisker notwithstanding, we’ll have to discuss things with Mimi and Mei to prepare for tomorrow. We absolutely have to protect our daily lives.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

And before long, Elma and I fell asleep together on the bed after talking about things regarding her family a bit more.

The next day.

Mimi, Mei, Elma, and I decided to have one final discussion regarding our plans for the ceremony later on at the breakfast table.

“I have no problems regarding the plan, but are you sure you’re alright with it, Hiro-sama?”

“What do you mean?”

I asked Mimi who was tilting her head.

“Um, I mean there’s a good chance you’ll be officially recognized as an imperial knight and be granted a formal imperial peerage.”

“Oh, so it’s about becoming a noble huh…… You mean I won’t just be granted an honorary title but an official one instead, right?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to become a noble, Mimi?”

“Eh?”

Mimi tilted her head once more after hearing my question. I want to know her opinion on the matter as well.

“You see, if I become an official noble, you’d probably become one as well, Mimi. In this case, Elma will be the first wife, and you’ll probably be treated as my second, right?”

“That would normally be the case considering our stations, but I’m still an elf you see. It’s still a fact that it’s usually fairly difficult to conceive a child with those of my kind, so having Mimi serve as the first wife due to that is also possible. And personally, I don’t really mind becoming a concubine at all. Actually, I think Mimi would be more suitable as your official wife.”

After she listened to Elma and my discussion and realized what we meant, Mimi’s face turned bright red from embarrassment.

“Well, once I become an official noble and get issued high-class citizenship, it won’t be that difficult to settle down on a planet somewhere in the empire. That option’s open, but we’ll obviously no longer be able to fly around freely across the galaxy as mercenaries.”

“Yeah…… Oh, here’s an idea. Instead of settling with father in the capital after getting knighted, we might be able to get more leeway if we join up with Chris. Earl Dareinwald still owes us for our help after all, and if you get promoted to a knight or baron and come under him, I bet we’ll still be able to act more freely under him, even though it definitely won’t be the same degree of freedom we’re enjoying now.”

“……Uh, but won’t Chris capitalize on that and double down on her pursuit of me instead?”

“Isn’t it fine? You don’t really hate being with that girl yourself, right, Hiro?”

“Uh, I guess. But still……”

Of course, I’d feel good to be sought after passionately by such a cute girl. But I don’t know about relying on a girl who I basically dumped in a spectacular fashion a while back though… She would probably go on the attack without any reserve once she learns of me becoming a noble myself.

At that time, I couldn’t accept Chris’s favor for various reasons, but there’s no doubt things would change once I became a noble. Or rather, even without those reasons, me laying a hand on Chris right now is all sorts of wrong y’know. Yeah, that’s definitely an out.

If I put my filthy hands on a girl her age, it’s definitely going to be a crime! I’ll get arrested by the police for sure!

“Well, I admit I do find it a bit interesting to try my hand at being a nobleman, but I still prefer being a free and unfettered mercenary for a while longer. Or rather, at the rate this conversation is going, it might lead to an unexpected development. Like, for some reason, Mimi coldly refuses to marry me or something. I’d probably dig a hole on the ground somewhere and bury myself alive if that were the case.”

“I-It’s okay! I’m willing to marry you, Hiro-sama!!”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m talkin about!”

“Yes, yes. Good for you huh. I’ll marry you too, of course.”

Mimi shrieked in glee with her face still bright red and made a guts pose. I turned to Elma and found her rolling her eyes at me as she giggled. Mei just quietly watched our interaction with a warm gaze.

“Do you want to get hitched with me as well, Mei?”

“I will follow whatever you require of me, Master.”

“Yeah. I guess I’ll be marrying Elma and Mei as well huh.”

“Yes, yes. Alright. Since you’re already on a roll, how about marrying Chris, Tina, and Whisker as well? Rather, how about marrying Major Serena too?”

“Uh, I’ll probably pass on Major Serena.”

Cuz y’see, if I do get into that kind of relationship for real with Major Serena after becoming a noble, I have a really strong gut feeling it’ll lead into trouble more explosive than an anti-ship reactive torpedo.

“Let’s ignore the matter about Major Serena for now, okay? So how about it, Mei? Are you really willing to marry me?”

“Yes. Independent AIs are also recognized as official citizens after all. It is even possible for me to have children with you if you so wish, Master.”

“Seriously?”

“Indeed. Seriously, Master. It requires complicated procedures and considerable expenses though.”

“Man. Science sure is amazing……”

How on earth would I actually conceive a child with Mei who’s an android? Will it be through a cloning process or something? Or rather, how would you classify a child born out of a human and an independent AI? It’s seriously stimulating my intellectual curiosity man.

“Well, we got off-track, but we’re clear about the plan, right? No matter what happens, we’ll insist on continuing our activities as free mercenaries. To that end, we’re willing to compromise to a certain extent. However, we’ll resist no matter what if their conditions end up affecting our current lifestyle far too much. That’s about it.”

“Yes!”

“Alright.”

“Acknowledged.”

The three ladies nodded. Yosh. Now we’re all on the same page.

“So what about Tina and Whisker? They haven’t come back yet since going to the satellite office, right?”

“Yes. It seems they were given jobs to work on by the Space Dwerg company, and they stayed at the satellite office overnight in order to finish them.”

“Uwaa, how very black……”

The dwarves seem more resilient than humans in general, but even so, having them stay overnight to finish tons of work still seems like something black companies would do. Just what is the corporate culture really like in Space Dwerg, I wonder.

As I thought of such things, the buzzer in the dining area rang. That should mean we have visitors, but……?

“Did someone make an appointment, Mei?”

“No, there wasn’t anyone in particular.”

After saying so, Mei turned her gaze toward empty air. She might be interfacing with Black Lotus’ surveillance systems in order to see who the visitor was.

“It looks like Tina-san and Whisker-san have returned.”

Hm? If so, then why did the buzzer ring? We’ve already given them access rights, so they shouldn’t have bothered to ring the buzzer.

“It’s not just Tina-san and Whisker-san. It looks like they brought companions with them.”

“Companions?”

“Yes. There’s a dwarven lady like them and some humans as well.”

“……? What do you think, guys?”

“I wonder?”

“If those two brought these people with them, then they’re probably related to Space Dwerg. Maybe it’s about that mercenary documentary they told us about back then?”

“Ah…… Oh yeah. We did give them priority coverage rights huh.”

“Yes. In exchange for a discount. However, we also agreed on some conditions regarding the interviews.”

So maybe these guys are visiting to give their greetings huh? Even so, it would have been better if they set an appointment with us first though. Umu.

“Well, I guess it won’t hurt to hear them out. We could still turn them away later on.”

“Right.”

“Eh…… We aren’t going to accept the interview?”

Come to think of it, Mimi was really gung-ho about getting interviewed huh.

“It depends on the situation. In any case, let’s hear them out first.”

After I said so, I matched gazes with Mei. She nodded and activated the holo-display. When the holo-display came online, the mechanic sisters, whose faces became similar to those of Tibetan foxes, appeared before us.

“Glad you’re back, guys. So, who are those folks behind you?”

『They’re people from the entertainment department Boss…… Sorry to bother you, but can you at least hear them out for us? Please?』

Tina, whose eyes were missing their usual luster, sighed as she pleaded with us. Ah, un. Man. People from mass media are the same in any dimension huh. I guess we better keep our wits about then.

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