Mimi’s Blood Ties?

The internal affairs bureau director Lord Cornell, the imperial court

physician Dr. Falke, and the two members of the imperial royal guards left

for the time being. The imperial guard duo was very adamant in insisting to

accompany Mimi in order to protect her. However, I made good use of my

supposedly impressive track record as well as the high level of Black Lotus'

security measures (Once the shield is up, there ain't anything getting past

it.) and managed to convince them otherwise.

And the ones who remained on my ship apart from the crew are Major

Serena and her adjutant, Lieutenant Robbitson.

"There's quite a couple of things I want to point out… First of all, just why

did no one manage to notice at all until now? We even have some genuine

noble ladies here."

I turned to Major Serena and saw her beautiful face frown.

"I also only managed to notice when I watched the news this morning. I

merely thought the princess' face seemed familiar at first, but then I

remembered your crew member and that she was the spitting image of Her

Highness. I even spat out my morning tea in utter shock."

Man. I would have wanted to see Major Serena elegantly sipping tea only to

spit it back out… I think it would have been hilarious. I bet it would have

been fun to tease her about it to her face.

"I mean c'mon. She's your imperial princess, right? Nobody was familiar

with her face? Elma and Major Serena are both from reputable noble

houses, so it wouldn't have been strange if you had an idea about it. Why

didn't you?"

"Basically, members of the imperial family do not appear openly in public

until they come of age apart from the ceremony they undertake when they

turn five years old… This is the first time Her Imperial Highness Princess

Luciada has shown herself to the citizens in ten years."

"So it was just bad timing…"

"Well, how about you? You have a high-performance maidroid with you,

right? Don't tell me she didn't notice as well?"

After Major Serena pointed it out, all our gazes turned toward Mei.

"Regrettably, due to the fact that this was the first instance of Princess

Luciada appearing openly in ten years, and that I have been busy with

processing other important data these past few days, I placed her public

appearance low on my priority list and failed to notice as well."

"Other data?"

"Yes. I was drafting a list of nobles who potentially posed a threat to us

before and after the award ceremony. I looked up details like their

whereabouts, schedules, ingrained habits, and so on."

"""Ah…"""

After realizing that info really was rather important, I, Mimi, and the

mechanic sisters all cried out. Elma, Major Serena, and Lieutenant

Robbitson merely displayed bitter smiles.

"Anyway, I guess we're clear on why no one managed to notice this matter

until now, right? More importantly, you owe me for this, Captain Hiro."

"Just why? I don't think I'm at fault for anything though?"

Why did I suddenly owe this woman a favor, I wonder. I immediately

expressed my objection.

"It's because I noticed it fairly early and contacted the Imperial Internal

Affairs Bureau in order to arrange things as discreetly as possible. That's

why this matter didn't blow up in your face. That's a pretty hefty favor,

don't you think? I'm sure you at least have an idea how much more

troublesome things could have gotten without me making a move first,

right?"

"I'm sure it would really have become a major hassle if left alone, but we

had absolutely no idea after all. And besides, we also have a way to contact

the Internal Affairs Bureau, so even if Major Serena didn't make a move,

we would have been able to deal with things regardless."

Actually, Chris offered the help of House Dareinwald when she contacted

us earlier, and there's also the option of relying on Viscount Willrose,

Elma's father. Viscount Willrose directly worked for the Internal Affairs

Bureau after all.

"Nonetheless, it would have still taken some time even if you had contacts,

and there's still a big possibility of you getting into trouble even after

asking for help…"

"Well, I guess you're right. In my family's case, I'm not too sure if dear

father and brother would actually decide to help because of how they are."

"As for Chris… Ugh."

Chris openly showed that she still hasn't given up on getting together with

me, so if we solicit her help, she might use that as leverage in order to reach

her goal. If you ask me if I hated it… uh, not really, I guess. But I hated the

possibility of getting shackled and being made to stop my mercenary

activities. That's definitely a no-go.

"If you look at it like that, I suppose it might be better to just agree with

owing the major a favor. What do you think?"

"Considering the result, I suppose so."

"That's how it is then. We do owe you one. But with all that's happened

before, how about we just call it even?"

"I'm sorry, but I beg to differ. This is a pretty big favor you know."

"Okay. Then I guess we owe you a little. Just a little though."

"Gununu…"

Major Serena groaned in frustration, but she didn't offer any more rebuttals

afterward, so I guess she must have agreed, albeit grudgingly.

"More importantly, this matter regarding Mimi… Just how exactly did she

manage to have the imperial bloodline anyway?"

"I have no idea, Hiro-sama… As far as I know, my Mama and Papa really

were just ordinary commoners."

"Wouldn't we find clues if we trace back the imperial family tree and see if

there were royals who went missing during Mimi's parent's generation?"

"That's one angle. We can also look up the generation of the current

reigning emperor and even further back…"

"There's one person who is pretty suspect. The younger sister of the current

emperor, Celestia-sama…"

Elma and Major Serena came to the same conclusion and voiced their

thoughts out simultaneously. The younger sister of the current emperor,

Lady Celestia, huh… In other words, they were suspecting Mimi's

grandmother. I'm not too sure if it's the mother or father's side of her

family though.

"What kind of person was she?"

"…She was really unconventional for a royal."

"…Yes. She was quite the character."

According to our two noble ladies, the said princess acted like a tomboy

from a young age and was really adventurous despite her royal lineage. And

when she reached 15 years of age, she fled the imperial capital with a

starship she prepared in secret after undergoing her coming-of-age

ceremony. She then hid her identity and worked as a freelance mercenary.

She brilliantly evaded all pursuers sent by the imperial family, and finally

escaped to a far-flung sector beyond their influence– Hey… Now just hold

up one sec. I seem to recall a pretty similar story told to me quite recently.

"…What?"

"No, uh, I was just thinking the story was pretty similar to your own

experiences."

"…"

Elma's ears turned bright red and pinched my flank in embarrassment.

Ouch. I see. So the Elma five years ago was heavily influenced by such a

person and took off to the sea of stars to emulate her, huh?

"Ow, ow… Man. It sure sounds like her life story would be perfect as a

movie or something."

"There haven't been any direct adaptations released so far, but lots of works

made use of Celestia-sama's life story as a base."

"I've seen some of them as well. I particularly like the movie about

adventures in the McSear system."

"Eh? Don't you think Mercenary Celes vs. Shark Kaijuu was interesting as

well?"

"What's that? It sounds pretty interesting."

They really sound like they're discussing low budget B movies… Or rather,

what's the deal with something like a shark kaijuu? So sharks also exist in

space…? Well, I've already seen sharks with three heads and flying sharks

in movies, so I guess space sharks really ain't that weird. But I seem to

recall we already had something pretty similar too. Oh well.

"Anyway, it's very possible that Mimi's grandmother was the younger sister

of the current emperor who loved a life of adventure. Since the emperor's

granddaughter and Mimi look so similar, the possibility is very high."

"If that turns out not to be the case, we'd have to trace even further back.

But…"

"…?"

Mimi tilted her head when I and Elma turned our attention to her.

"If that really was the case, then just why was Mimi left to fend for herself

in such a disastrous state back then? If I and Elma didn't manage to

encounter you back then, it would have been pretty terrible."

"That's true."

Yep. That's what's bugging me about all this. Even though she fled and

became a mercenary, a royal is still a royal. They should have sent someone

to secretly monitor her and protect her or something.

"Perhaps Celestia-sama just managed to cover her tracks very thoroughly.

She might have hidden her true lineage, used illegal means to procure a

fake imperial ID, and blended in with the rest of the citizens."

"Can you actually fake such a thing?"

"As an imperial soldier, I really don't want to admit it, but there really

seems to be a way to forge one. It just goes to show that anything made by

mortal hands cannot possibly be perfect."

Major Serena answered me with an expression akin to having swallowed a

bitter pill. I see. So there's a way huh. Well, according to the stories I heard,

Mimi's grandma seems to be quite highly skilled, so she really might have

done it. But it's not like we've truly confirmed that Mimi's grandma was

really this Celestia person.

"Thinking about all this stuff is turning out to be a major headache."

"Yeah, that's true…"

"In any case, we already decided on a policy, right? We're gonna continue

on with being mercenaries no matter what. This is something we're gonna

insist on until the end. And for that, we'll get rid of anything that would

stand in the way, no matter who or what it is. At present, we'll have to deal

with the award ceremony first, prepare all that needs to be prepared, and

leave all the other procedures to Major Serena. We still need to wait for

their response regarding Mimi's matter anyway."

After declaring that, I pulled Mimi and had her sit on the sofa. I then sat

beside her.

"I won't let anyone take Mimi and Elma away. It doesn't matter who the

other party is. It's that simple."

"Oh boy. Those are some heavy-sounding words depending on how you

interpret them, Boss."

"This isn't the time to tease them, big sis."

"If Mimi and Elma still decide to leave in the end though, I guess I need to

swallow my tears and send you guys off… Nah, I'll probably get in your

way. I'll cry and tell you not to abandon me or something."

After saying so, I pretended to cry pathetically. Tina laughed her heart out,

Whisker giggled reservedly, Elma smiled bitterly, and Mimi–

"It's alright! I will never leave you, Hiro-sama!"

She then hugged me tightly. Umu. How very like Mimi. The volume of the

soft objects touching my arm was as heavenly as always.

"At this rate, we'll end up getting caught up in all this huh."

"Hahaha."

Major Serena and Lieutenant Robbitson didn't seem too thrilled, but that's

understandable.

In any case, we'll have to wait for the imperial family's response. The

award ceremony's date should be settled soon, but I'm sure those folks from

the Imperial Internal Affairs Bureau will contact us first.

If you're gonna come, then bring it! I'll take you on.