Noisy Peanut Gallery

"Thank you very much for your purchase. I will arrange it so we can

deliver the product as soon as possible."

"Sure thing. I do value quality work over speed you know."

"Understood. I will absolutely ensure that there will be no defects in the

product."

After saying so, Mr. Autumn returned to his company's booth with a

beaming smile on his face. This time around, the total cost of

purchasing Elma's new ship – the Antlion – was about 13 million Enels.

As it's a medium-class ship, it was quite a bit cheaper than the Lotus. I

suppose you can say the cost was just about average compared to the

other medium-class ships out on the market. But it's equipped with

military-grade stuff, so I suppose it's a great deal overall.

The base price was 5 million Enels, an additional 4 million for

upgrading to military-grade armor plating, another 1 million for

military-grade thrusters, 1.5 million for the military-grade highpowered laser beam emitter and other armaments, and a final million

for equipment such as life support, med pods, interior furnishings and

the like.

I also decided to get the weapons and generator of Black Lotus replaced

by military-grade ones as well. Due to the large number of items

needing to be replaced including the most expensive power generator,

the total cost went up to about 12 million, which was about on par with

Elma's Antlion.

The Antlion's generator was military-grade from the get-go, and the

prices of the Gravity Jammer and large-capacity capacitors were

already included in the unit's base price, so we really got it for a nice

bargain. In exchange, we needed to submit the ship's operational data

to Ideal Starway periodically, but that wouldn't be much of a hassle

because Mei will be taking charge of the task. I really have to make it up

to Mei when I get the chance.

"We somehow made a deal already, but was it really okay not to look at

the other company's products?"

"Well, the guy did offer us a completely new and unique equipment, so

it was pretty hard to pass up."

"In the worst case, if the ship turns out more useless than expected, we

can always sell it off and buy another one."

"Eh… Is that really okay?"

Mimi got perplexed after hearing Elma's nonchalant remark.

"Well, the guy did sell it to us openly out in public, so I'm guessing the

other companies are already aware of their newly developed

equipment to some extent. But his claim about the thing not being

distributed to the general public is most likely true, and due to its

nature, I'm not sure if it really ever will be made available in the first

place."

"Perhaps it was developed especially for the military… Unconventional

warfare-use, maybe?"

"It's plainly meant to ensure that targets won't be allowed to escape so

they can be successfully finished off. It's surprisingly a great fit for Col.

Serena's independent anti-pirate fleet, so it might actually be for them.

Or maybe the imperial military brass decided to emulate them after the

fleet's various achievements, and this equipment will be exclusively

provided to the rest of their fleets."

"A new section's exclusive equipment? Well, it does seem plausible."

I'm not sure about how exactly the rest of the imperial military views

Col. Serena and her independent mobile anti-pirate fleet, but as far as

we knew, they had already accumulated a good number of

achievements and displayed a certain level of good results. Were they

planning on developing other fleets using the same concept and

combining them into a new section of the imperial military? A new

corps? Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if it does turn out like that. Hence,

it's also quite possible that the Gravity Jammer will be the new section's

specialized equipment.

It also makes sense to supply the new equipment to mercenaries,

whose main targets are pirates, first in order to efficiently collect

relevant data. I'm only speculating about what Ideal Starway and the

imperial military are up to, but I'm willing to bet I'm not too far off the

mark.

"Anyway, since the equipment is already known to others to some

extent, it wouldn't be a problem to sell them off. Heck, we can even try

to sell them back to Ideal."

"Yeah. Compared to letting a rival company get their hands on them, I

suppose repurchasing the equipment themselves would be more

agreeable to Ideal. Well, it does seem like pretty useful equipment, so

I'm willing to close one eye regarding the ship's performance."

After saying so, Elma performed a resigned shrug. In fact, aside from

the special Gravity Jammers and large-capacity capacitors, the overall

performance of the Antlion can be said to be middling as far as

medium-class ships were concerned. There were many other models

with higher firepower, faster speed, tougher defenses, and more

substantial upgrade options. However, the unique advantage brought

by the Gravity Jammers can't be ignored, and the performance of the

ship itself didn't have any particular issues aside from not being a

standout. It had a decent amount of firepower, decent speed, and

decent defenses.

Because it was equipped with specialized equipment, its

customizability was a bit on the poorer side, but that tradeoff was still

acceptable, considering the advantages offered by the specialized

equipment.

"Well, I suppose we've settled for the Antlion guys. Though I admit that

the timing was a little bit too convenient. It's kinda creepy to be honest."

"Agreed."

"Well, I suppose we can just chalk it up to your trouble-magnet

attribute again if something goes wrong, Boss."

"We can also say there are actually still perks like this even if we do

tend to always attract trouble, right?"

"Is it just me, or did you just casually diss me…?"

I involuntarily frowned after hearing the mechanic sister's remarks. I

mean, wouldn't that mean after the good luck, bad luck will

immediately follow or something? Alright, now I'm scared about what's

gonna happen after such a convenient lucky event. Should we just lock

ourselves inside Krishna or the Lotus to tide things out?

No, it probably won't end with just secluding ourselves if we did so. I

refuse to be a slave to pleasures of the flesh.

"Since we're done with my new ship, shall we look for Hiro's new power

armor next?"

"That's fine too, but I think we better look for a hotel to stay at for a few

days first since the Lotus is scheduled for modification."

"Yes, I think that's a very good idea."

"So we need to pack our things and arrange for a hotel stay, right? Leave

the hotel arrangements to me please!"

Mei nodded to my words, and when Mimi heard me mentioning staying

in a hotel, she immediately volunteered herself with outstanding

momentum.

"Ooh, can ya arrange for a place where we can get to work without

much hassle?"

"You're being shameless, Big Sis…"

"Please leave it to me!"

Mimi and Tina excitedly started looking for a nice hotel, and Whisker

scooted over after making an exasperated expression. She proceeded to

check out the tablet terminal with the other two. Mei still had her usual

cool and composed expression on as she continued to stand behind me,

while Elma had a rather troubled look on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"No, well, um… Now that I thought about it, we spent quite a bit of

money huh."

"Yeah. And?"

It was a matter of fact so I nodded honestly in response. 13 million

Enels was indeed a rather large amount of money, just like Elma said.

To be honest, I'm not sure how long it'll take for us to break even and

make a profit again. Considering the operating costs, it will probably

take a good while. Still, it will definitely be more efficient to fight with

three ships instead of just Black Lotus and Krishna, and will eventually

be more profitable in the long run. Running three ships will not only

make it easier to hunt down pirates but also take on different types of

requests as well. It was certainly an expensive purchase, but it was

definitely money well spent.

"I mean, you're the one who paid for it, Hiro… but it's gonna be my ship,

right?"

"Yeah. So?"

"I'm not sure how to put it, but… just how can I ever repay you?"

"Repay me? For what? The ship? Why?"

Elma's incomprehensible remarks filled my head with question marks.

What the heck was this girl on about?

"No, not the ship… I mean all the favors and stuff. You always end up

helping me out Hiro, and I haven't even paid my debt to you yet."

Elma waved her arms to the side while making a troubled expression as

if to vent her complicated emotions. The heck. Really, what is this girl

thinking?

"Mm… Well, it's true that you haven't repaid your debt to me, but I don't

really care about something like that anymore, honestly."

"Y-You don't care anymore…?"

"Yeah. What I want is to keep being with you, Elma… I mean, being

together and having silly adventures like always and stuff. Anyway, I

just want to continue life as a mercenary. That's more than enough for

me. That's why I don't really care about debts or favors and whatnot.

I'm more than happy with what I got right now."

We stared at each other for a bit and then groaned in embarrassment

afterward. Both of us were probably making the same expression right

now.

"What's up with that? Is that some sort of advanced flirting routine or

something?"

"A-Advanced?"

"We'll just stay here. This situation calls for watching over them

quietly…"

Hey, peanut gallery! You guys are quite noisy over there. And why are

you closing your eyes like you're trying to achieve enlightenment,

Mimi?

"Anyway, don't care about that stuff too much. Let's just act like usual,

okay?"

"Like usual huh."

"Oh, treating me nicely or acting all sweet are more than welcome too."

"Pfft… If I feel like it."

Elma giggled happily and gave my cheek a quick peck. The gallery at the

back was annoying, but it looks like my feelings were successfully

conveyed. Great! Now I just need to pray that she'll feel like spoiling me

sooner rather than later. Elma-san can be really moody after all.