I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship, so I Became a Space Mercenary

571 「No」「Boo!」

「Um… are you sure this is okay?」

「It’s fine. I’ll bill the expenses to the Imperial Household later, so you can think of it as practically a grant from them.」

「No, that almost makes it worse… Wait, you’re really going to bill them? The Imperial Household?」

「Of course I am.」

Isolde hugged the newly made sword to her chest, wearing an extremely complicated expression.

Happy, but also overwhelmed, and also at a total loss—like a bunch of emotions got tossed in a blender.

Still, Isolde says the strangest things. The Imperial Household selfishly forced this on us, so of course I’m billing them for the costs. Huh? What about the ship I got for Serena from them?  Doesn’t it count as payment? That’s that, this is this. Different matter. Nobody told me ‘We gave you a ship, so you owe us favors’, either.

「Next we’ll need four personal shields, and merc-grade armor too. The official stuff stands out.」

「Uh, do we really have to go that far…?」

「Compromising on equipment you’ll use for work is not a good habit.」

「Ugh… This guy just hit me with irrefutable common sense. Common sense!」

Isolde looked to Elma like she wanted backup, but Elma just shrugged.

「Hiro’s serious—surprisingly—when it comes to work. He’s stoic about it. He’s pretty sloppy about everything else, though.」

「You can’t stay tense and serious twenty-four seven. It’s exhausting.」

While I said that, I used my handheld terminal to message Mimi and the others to see where they were. They were out buying supplies.

Since our headcount went up, they were topping off our stock of food cartridges and picking up civilian rations for emergencies. Military surplus is cheaper, but it tends to be close to its expiration date, or it’s all the unpopular menu items.

This time, they were specifically buying brand-new civilian packs—and focusing on the popular menus. Honestly, I’m a little interested too. Military chow just kind of gets you hyped, you know? The stuff I tried before wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either.

Anyway, I told them our next stop was an armor shop and started moving.

The district we were in now was full of high-end stores aimed at nobles, so we had to head to the area that sold high-quality gear for civilians—mercs and the like.

「By the way, can you guys use guns?」

「Not as well as swords, but we can use them.」

「Then you’ll need laser guns too. If you just pick something safe and standard, you’ll be fine. Still… I get that with noble-level physical ability, swords are often handier than laser guns, but leaning that hard into sword training feels questionable.」

「But laser guns are practically helpless against a truly skilled swordsman, aren’t they?」

「Yeah, they are…」

For a body-enhanced noble, the ‘melee range’ where you’d fight with a sword might as well be the same as ‘right in front of your face.’ A top-tier swordsman can even swat laser shots away—or outright bat them back—so being told ‘fight a noble with just a laser gun’ would be rough even for me.

Now, if we were talking split-beam laser guns that can throw multiple beams at once, or plasma weapons you can’t deflect and return… that’s a different story.

Actually, if you’re dealing with a sword, solid-slug weapons might give you better odds. Swords are insanely sharp and made from ridiculously hard materials, but they’re surprisingly brittle. If you don’t align the blade properly against an incoming round, there’s a real risk it’ll just shatter.

Well—unless it’s a thick, wide, high-durability sword like Serena’s. That’s another exception.

「That said, most of the time, we’re dealing with space pirates. And sometimes a laser gun is just more convenient. If some punk tries to start something, you can’t exactly draw a sword and chop him in half every time.」

「Mm. That is true.」

Laser guns have a non-lethal output mode. Unless you hit a really bad spot, or you keep drilling the same point over and over, it’ll usually just leave minor burns.

Still, it hurts like hell and it’s hot as hell. But for subduing someone without killing them, it’s incredibly useful.

「So yeah—after the armor shop, we’re hitting a laser gun shop.」

「Armor… should I have one tailored too? And a laser gun…?」

「Yeah. We probably should get one for Serena as well.」

「Then I need one too!」

「No, you don’t, Lucia— …Ah, fine, fine! I get it! You too!」

When I tried to leave Lucia out, she smoothly flashed an Imperial-crest dagger at me like a threat.

Using royal authority as a bludgeon, huh…! Fine! I’ll get you bikini armor, then!

☆★☆

Turns out bikini armor existed.

But it did not get chosen.

I mean—it exists!?I’m still shocked.

To be fair, it wasn’t an actual bikini. The physical armor parts were just shaped like bikini armor, and you wore a tight suit—like snug tights—made of anti-laser fiber over your arms and legs. Some people don’t like heavy armor, so apparently it’s a product aimed at those types.

Anyway, the whole thing took forever.

It’s armor. Pick for function, you maniacs.

Since it was a merc-friendly shop, the customization options were huge. The baseline selection was massive, too. The Windas star system is the Empire’s largest shipyard system—and also a major military market. Meaning: the volume of stuff circulating here is insane.

Why do merc shops have so much customization? Because mercs have this ‘standing out is half the job’ thing going on, so there are plenty of guys who care a lot about looks.

You’ve got the ‘mohawk + spiked shoulder pads’ raider types where you can’t tell whether they’re mercs or pirates. You’ve got people in full-on plate armor like, ‘Dude, did you pick the wrong historical era?’ Rare, sure—but not that rare.

In the end, Serena bought a slightly pricey combat armor that screamed ‘cyber lady knight.’ Isolde and the other Imperial guards bought a downgraded version of the same line. Plus personal shields for everyone.

Lucia? Lucia’s was… magical girl? Princess knight? Something in that neighborhood.

Yeah. Her taste is something else.

She really is Mimi’s relative.

As for laser guns, the guards went with a totally standard model—no bells and whistles, just tough and reliable.

「Huh? That one?」

「Yes. Is there a problem?」

「No, it’s fine…」

Serena picked a large-caliber laser gun.

A huge one—big enough that even I’d feel a little unsure handling it one-handed. It’s a ‘laser gun,’ but the output is basically the same as a high-powered laser rifle. Honestly, it felt like someone took a laser rifle and shoved it into the most gun-shaped form factor they could manage.

Large-caliber laser gun… laser magnum… whatever you want to call it. Just like her sword, Serena probably likes big, chunky weapons.

「This one! I want this!」

「No.」

「Boo!」

Lucia tried to choose some grotesque monstrosity that looked like a laser gun glued to a plasma gun glued to a compact rocket launcher, so I rejected it, and she booed me.

Your Highness, that is not ladylike. Also, stop choosing the most dangerous option available.

I shut it down and shoved the same normal laser gun the guards bought into her hands. She ended up liking it anyway because it ‘looks merc-ish,’ so fine.

But you guys—can you stop spending so much time picking holsters? They’re basically all the same… Yeah, yeah. Do what you want. As long as it isn’t some insanely expensive genuine-leather model, I don’t care anymore.

Why is genuine leather so expensive, anyway? Same logic as why ‘real’ meat and vegetables cost more, I guess.

And with that, we wrapped up our business in the Windas System, and at last began the journey to the Brad System—the home territory of the Dareinwald Family.

…First we have to return to the imperial capital to use the Gateway, though.

Hopefully we can get through quickly, but that depends entirely on the schedule. If we can move without delays, great—but, well. We’ll see.