Chapter 222 – Pirates and Social Problems

Translator: SFBaka

With the end of the landing operation on Comatt IV, we returned to our usual – sometimes even boring – routines. Due to the destruction of their base, the activities of the pirates were quelled and the remaining ones laid low. The analysis of the data found on Comatt IV was finally completed after a few days, and the Twisteds active on Comatt IV and Comatt III were forcibly ordered to self-terminate. In other words, all threats have been removed and the colonization proceeded as usual.

“Thus, peace came to the Comatt system, and under the leadership of the young lady of the Dareinwald House, she took the first step toward development.”

“What the heck are you on about?”

“An autobiography? It was recommended by Allen, right? There’s quite a demand for mercenary autobiographies marketed as a type of novel for entertainment after all.”

“Oh, I’ve come across some from time to time. Most of the stuff that’s written in them seems really dubious though.”

“……But in Hiro-sama’s case, his exploits seem hard to believe no matter how you write them though, ahaha.”

“Oh come on.”

Well, it’s true that an expert in starship dogfights like me coming down to the surface of a planet in the middle of terraforming wielding swords instead of guns really does sound dubious. And it’s long been held in this world, or rather, in the Graccan empire, that only nobles can actually wield swords skillfully.

Of course, you can still swing a sword even if you’re not a noble, and it’s not like there would be a difference in the sword’s sharpness. However, without a series of physical enhancements costing ridiculous amounts, you won’t be able to perform feats like blocking laser attacks with your sword and even reflecting them back to the shooters. And usually, the only ones capable of shouldering such costs and accessing such procedures here are only the nobles. But it’s true that I’m one of the very few exceptions.

“The frequency of troublesome stuff occurring also doesn’t help……”

“I just live my life like any other merc does though. You’re talking like I’m cursed to constantly get hounded by troublesome stuff or something.”

“Ahaha…… W-Well, we do manage to come across well-paying jobs often because of them though.”

Yeah. We do receive more than enough rewards for our efforts, I guess. I managed to encounter excellent crew members such as Mimi and Elma, earn more than enough money, got two mechanic sisters along with a mothership purchase, awarded some fancy medals, got promoted to a first-class citizen, and even got awarded unrestricted gateway access. In a certain sense, we’ve actually been swimming in success. But as the person on the receiving end of all the trouble, I couldn’t help but feel tired of it all at times.

“As for me, I only need some usable footage.”

We’re currently inside Krishna’s cockpit. Fomalhaut Entertainment’s Zuia, who was sitting on the sub-seat while fiddling with his tablet device, let out a slightly dissatisfied sigh. Even if you tell that to us, what are we even supposed to do about it?

“Since the pirate activity has mostly subsided, I don’t think you’ll have a lot of chances to film scenes of that nature anymore.”

“Since they’ve lost their base, they’ll be unable to dispose of their loot reliably even if they continued to attack civilian passenger and cargo ships after all. Right now, the only pirates still operating in the Comatt system are either those who are already down in the dumps or those who just want to snag a few spoils before moving on to another system.”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

Zuia showed interest in Elma’s explanation. Ah, I see. I guess he isn’t actually that familiar with the usual lifestyle of pirates huh.

“The hideouts and bases used by pirates essentially double as black markets. They attack mercantile and cruise ships to acquire loot and slaves, bring them back to their hideouts, and then sell them there.”

“To be exact, they don’t really sell them in exchange for Enels. Instead, they barter the stolen goods for things such as highly valuable rare metals, daily necessities, luxury items, and other stuff. The ones who trade for the stuff you can find in pirate bases and hideouts are the so-called black market merchants, and they will then re-sell the stuff all across the galaxy.”

“Once a hideout gets attacked and destroyed, you won’t only get the pirates but the black market merchants staying there as well. So it would also deal damage to the pirates and black market merchants in the neighboring star systems who regard the destroyed hideout as their trading center.”

“I see? But judging from that story, isn’t the root cause of the piracy problem these so-called black market merchants instead? I understand that it’s important to crush the pirates, but wouldn’t it be better if we get rid of the black market merchants instead?”

Zuia’s words did have a point. It would certainly be better to pull the problem out by the roots instead of just cutting off the tips.

“How many active merchants do you think there are in the galaxy? There are countless large and small companies operating out there, and even itinerant merchant ships that go at it solo. Do you think we can effectively check each and every one of those guys to see if they are carrying goods acquired from pirates constantly?”

“……That would be quite difficult.”

“And also, aren’t there a lot of stores which sell items of dubious origins in colonies? The harsh truth is, some small colonies and stations out in the frontier can only stay afloat by relying on these black market merchants. And it seems they don’t only deal with space colonies and stations, but planetary colonies as well.”

“That really is a harsh truth to hear……”

After hearing us out, Zuia scratched his flame-like mane with a troubled expression.

After all, the presence of merchants is indispensable for the operation of colonies and stations. There are only very few colonies and stations that are completely self-sufficient. Every colony and station more or less trade with other colonies and stations in order to procure the daily necessities of their inhabitants. Of course, there’s the option of choosing only trustworthy and legal trading partners. But the reality is, as long as they sell their items off at a reasonable price, most would close one eye even if the trading partners were suspicious for the sake of keeping their colonies and stations up and running.

“These sorts of social problems are too much for us mercenaries anyway.”

“And if you think about it, it’s because of such problems that we mercenaries are able to strut our stuff.”

Elma sighed and shrugged her shoulders. We mercs would be out of business once the pirates are gone after all. Well, if the pirates really do disappear one day, then we’d have no choice but to switch our job scope to being monster hunters and the more traditional sort of mercenaries. In other words, we’ll find a conflict zone or war-torn country and sell our skills for cash. But we won’t be swinging swords and spears but firing missiles and laser cannons instead.

“Gah- Alright, stop. Let’s stop talking about all this lofty, idealistic stuff. Let’s talk about something more realistic instead.”

“Realistic topics…”

“Like our total earnings this time?”

“That’s what you call a realistic topic?”

I’ll just ignore Elma’s reproachful glare. At least, I think it’s a much more realistic topic than discussing social issues caused or related to the pirate problem.

“Um, we’re earning 300,000 Enels a day, and if we’re asked to do something else outside our contract’s scope, we’ll get at least another 1,000,000 Enels as an additional fee. We’re on the 20th day right now, and we’re supposed to be contracted for a full 30 days, so we’re looking at a clean 9,000,000, at least for now.”

“And since we were called in to assist during the emergency on Comatt III, we’re getting another 1,000,000 Enels on top of that, right?”

“I wonder how they’ll treat the job we took on Comatt IV? Considering the risks Hiro faced, 3,000,000 can be considered cheap.”

“So we’ll have 9 mil + 4 mil. That means a total of 13 million huh. Oh, and we also participated in the pirate subjugation operation, so that’s another 1 million. So it’s 14 million huh. And there are the earnings from selling off loot as well…… I guess we’re looking at about 5,500,000 from those, give or take. We managed to earn about 7 million from selling off the captured ships too. I’m not sure how much we’ll be able to earn in the remaining ten days, but I expect we’ll be getting a lot less.”

“So that’s a total of 26.5 million Enels. It’s just a rough estimate, so there’s still a margin of error.”

“There’s a chance we’ll be able to earn at least 30 million after these remaining ten days. But since the pirates have decreased, we can’t count on earning much from bounties anymore.”

“30 million Enels in a month…… That’s a level I don’t even dare to dream about. What are you planning to do with such earnings?”

I puffed my chest up proudly and answered Zuia’s question.

“My ultimate goal is to build an awesome detached villa in a planetary colony somewhere and live comfortably and luxuriously!”

“That sounds like a grand dream for sure…… But-”

“But?”

“Haven’t you earned more than enough to achieve that dream? And didn’t you just get granted first-class imperial citizenship too?”

I tilted my head after hearing Zuia’s words. Uh, it can’t be. It’ll take at least 100 million Enels to become a first-class citizen. And building a home on a planetary colony would also…… Huh? Wait a minute. Since I got first-class citizenship practically for free, all I need to worry about is building a home, and that’s……?

“……It’s doable, right?”

“I think so.”

“I think so too.”

Elma and Mimi answered positively to my question.

Huh? Before I knew it, my ultimate goal was now within my reach……? Uwah. I’m really dull, aren’t I……?

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