Encounter with Someone Familiar

"Well then, shall we get started with capturing your motion da– Hm?"

The shopkeeper, who was about to proceed with the next step of the

purchasing process, suddenly paused. He put his left hand on his left

ear and seemed like he was listening to something. Did he put a small

communicator inside his ear?

"I'm very sorry. Although a bit early from the appointment they made

previously, it looks like a customer that made a prior reservation has

already arrived at the shop. Will it be alright for me to take some time

to entertain the customer?"

"Oh, sure, go ahead. I personally didn't make an appointment anyway."

"Thank you. Well then, please excuse me for a while."

After saying so, the shopkeeper bowed his head toward us, left his seat,

and headed outside the consultation room.

"With this, we can get out of here after I get my motion data taken. Do

you guys need to shop for anything?"

"Mm, let's see. We don't really need to get anything in particular, but

maybe we can go for some window shopping."

"Window shopping. That's nice."

"Window shopping?"

It seemed that Kugi didn't get what window shopping meant, so she

tilted her head in a questioning manner.

"Window shopping is basically walking around shops and looking for

interesting items without any particular goal. Well, if we do find

anything really interesting, we might decide to buy it on the spot

though."

"I see."

We continued chatting for a while until I noticed that the shopkeeper

seemed to be coming back– Hm? There seems to be another set of

footsteps though?

"Please excuse me, everyone. This customer insisted on–"

"Geh."

"Ah!"

"…Haah."

When I saw the person who appeared together with the shopkeeper, I

couldn't help but raise my voice. Mimi also displayed a surprised

reaction, and Elma sighed as she placed a hand on her forehead.

"What the heck is with that 'geh' the moment you see my face, huh? Out

with it."

A beautiful blonde-haired red-eyed woman dressed in a crisp white

military uniform appeared before us with her arms crossed in front of

her chest in a sullen manner as she looked down on us. It was a really

familiar face. It kinda feels like the military cap she's wearing is a little

bit more luxurious-looking compared to before.

"It's been a while, ma'am."

"Actually, it really hasn't. We really do manage to encounter each other

fairly often, don't we?"

"That's true isn't it, Lieutenant Colonel?"

"Actually, I'm no longer a lieutenant colonel and am already a full-

fledged colonel instead. Rising in the ranks this fast does bring its own

set of troubles though."

After saying so, Colonel Serena wrinkled her eyebrows as she flicked

the brim of her military hat with her fingertip. It looks like I didn't make

a mistake. So that's why her military hat looks fancier than before.

"Congratulations on your promotion. So, what did you come here for,

Colonel?"

"Do you think there's any other reason for coming here aside from

ordering a custom power armor? I managed to get a little free time so I

decided to stop by for a bit, but then I found the shopkeeper in the

middle of entertaining a walk-in customer. Considering the kind of shop

this is, I found it strange for them to agree to entertain a walk-in

customer without any prior appointment, and when I inquired a bit, the

shopkeeper told me the customer was a mercenary."

"I see. There aren't that many mercenaries who need a custom-made

power armor tailored for nobles and have some sort of connections to

be entertained by a shop like this huh."

"Yes, that's exactly what went through my mind. And so, I asked the

shopkeeper to introduce us. The moment I asked if the customers were

you guys, I was able to confirm things right aw–…"

Colonel Serena's line of sight focused straight on Kugi. It seems that

Kugi was also staring straight at Colonel Serena. The two's gazes

intertwined.

"Did you actually increase the number of girls accompanying you

again…? Really, a man like you is truly–"

Colonel Serena turned her gaze toward me and looked at me as if I was

some sort of human-shaped garbage.

"H-Hey! It isn't like that at all… It really isn't. There are a lot of

complicated reasons for this y'know?"

"Complicated reasons huh… Well, it's you after all, so that might really

be the case."

Hey, stop that! Don't look at me with that pitying gaze. Stop giving me a

look that says 'this guy managed to get himself caught up in some sort

of trouble again' will you? I'm really gonna cry here.

"Do you need my help?"

"We're fine for now. There aren't any particular problems."

"I see. That's good then. By the way, can you introduce me to this young

lady?"

"Oh, right. Her name is Kugi Seijou. She is a priestess of the Holy

Vuelzarus Empire, and seems to have traveled all the way from there to

the Windas system to meet with and take care of me."

"…?"

Yeah, I get it. I really do. I'm only spitting facts here, but I get why she's

reacting that way. Even we, the party directly involved, haven't really

processed the situation completely yet, so it must sound quite absurd to

a third party.

"I didn't quite get the situation from that. Can you organize it into

something more understandable?"

"Like I said, she's a priestess of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, and she

insists that I'm some sort of special being. She says it's her sworn duty

to serve special beings like me."

"???"

She looks like she really didn't get what I was talking about. Well, this is

a pickle. I really don't get the situation all that much myself, so I can't

explain it well to others.

"Please just don't think about it too deeply. Anyway, she seems to be

staying by my side for her own purposes. Right now, we're working on

getting to know each other better first."

"I really didn't understand a thing you said, but anyway, I'm convinced, I

guess. However, the Holy Vuelzarus Empire huh…"

Col. Serena looked at Kugi with her arms folded in front of her chest.

"He is a freelance mercenary, but he's also regarded as a celebrated

hero awarded by His Majesty The Emperor Himself with the First-class

Silver Sword Wings Assault medal and the First-class Star Cross medal.

He's also been made an honorary viscount of this country. Just be aware

that any attempt of bringing him over to your country permanently

could result in severe diplomatic issues between your country and our

own."

"I understand. I shall only devote myself to serving My Lord. I will never

force My Lord to do things he does not agree with."

Kugi declared with a solemn expression while looking straight back at

Col. Serena. Well, for now at least, Kugi's words and actions have

remained fairly consistent. She really seems to be prioritizing following

my lead. She did say they were ready to welcome me in her home

country with the greatest hospitality, but she won't force me to come

over anyway.

"I take note of those words of yours. However, why did the Holy

Vuelzarus Empire go through the trouble of dispatching her all the way

to here, exactly? You said something about being some sort of special

existence, but I don't quite understand what that means."

"Ah–… Well, it seems I have some sort of huge potential for mastering

psionic power or something like that. And she also seems to be tasked

with observing me. Anyway, it's related to those things. To be honest,

we still don't quite understand it ourselves."

"I see. In other words, it's just your usual penchant for attracting

trouble at work. You're also having it hard huh."

"You sound like it has nothing to do with you, but ain't some of those

troublesome situations closely related to you, Colonel?"

"By the way, you ordered a custom-made power armor, didn't you?

What kind of armor did you get?"

This woman! She just quickly changed the topic with a smile…!

"This is it."

"It looks really cool!"

Elma operated the holo-display on the table to show the armor design I

ordered. Col. Serena smiled bitterly the moment she saw the design.

"It's a very, err, sharp design, I suppose… Well, this is just like you, I

guess."

"A heroic knight-in-shining-armor design really doesn't fit me, don't you

think?"

Of course, the armor I ordered was fully environmentally adaptable, so

it was the kind that literally covers the entire body from top to toe. The

color of the helmet visor is red. I mostly modeled the design after a

ninja, but I wonder if the people of this world would get that.

By the way, you can also choose and employ combinations of the many

exterior add-ons available. It was really similar to the time when I

designed Mei, except for the lack of some options like face modeling. It

seems they will tailor the exterior add-ons to match the general design.

The most important point was the inside of the power armor. In other

words, the armor's main body itself. When the exterior is peeled off,

you'd get to see a chassis underneath that's packed with artificial

muscles and various sensors. Well, since the chassis was considered the

main body of the armor, it seems it was possible to change the exterior

appearance if you wanted to.

"By the way, why are you here again, Colonel…? Err, it's definitely

something power armor-related huh."

"Because I was promoted to colonel, I received a power armor from

home as a celebration gift. Since I can't exactly leave it with just the

bare chassis, I went here to have it adjusted and get some exterior parts

installed. Oh, come to think of it, you're supposed to get your motion

data recorded, right?」

"That's the plan."

"Then this is perfect timing. Shopkeeper, how about recording both our

motion data at the same time? You can do that, right?"

"Yes, that is possible. If both of you are alright with that, then by all

means."

"That's what he said. You don't need to hold back on my account. Shall

we?"

After saying so, Col. Serena patted the handle of the sword on her waist

in a challenging manner. Err, we're not really gonna use real swords,

right? If we are, I'm just gonna run away from here, okay?