Satisfied with touring almost the entire ship apart from the most sensitive areas such as the cockpit, Princess Luciada finally left along with Captain Serena and the imperial guard oneesamas. In the end, she did manage to mediate between Serena and Chris, or rather, put out the fire before it got worse, didnât she? She might have wanted to come check on Neve in person as well.
âSo, umâŠâŠ ChrisâŠâŠâ
After seeing Princess Luciada and her retinue off the gangway, I turned my attention to Chris who was still standing next to me.
I trained my gaze toward Chris who remained on the ship instead of leaving with Princess Luciada and the others. Come to think of it, she had boarded the Black Lotus by herself without anyone accompanying her. Thatâs why there was no reason for her to leave together with Princess Luciada.
âAm I being a botherâŠâŠ?â
âNo, of course not. Did you really come here by yourself? You did say you came to the colony together with some escorts, right?â
âI went to this ship alone. I gave my retinue time off until tomorrow before coming here.â
âDid you book a hotel somewhere nearby? Or rather, are you gonna stay at a hotel alone?â
âI am already a fine adult and a qualified noble, Hiro-sama. I can take care of myself just fine.â
After saying so, Chris placed her hand on the hilt of the thin sword that was hanging on her waist and puffed her chest out proudly. Chrisâs sword was on the small and slender side. However, it was too long to be regarded as a dagger. It was also too short to be regarded as a small-sword. If compared to Japanese blades, it probably corresponds to a kodachi.
âHiro-sama, that look youâre giving me seems to be sayingăCan she even use a sword properly?ăyou know?â
âSorry. I havenât seen you in a good while, so you must have already undergone body reinforcement and combat training, but my previous image of you was a total non-combatant yâsee.â
I do concede that Chris has grown a lot, but I held a stronger impression of the cute and petite her when we were living together in the Sierra system.
âNaturally, I will not be able to hold a candle to Hiro-sama or Serena-san who is serving as an active-duty soldier, but my grandfather has acknowledged my prowess.â
âI see. Well, I suppose there arenât that many folks whoâd mess with you as long as youâre walking around with a nobleâs sword in the first place.â
If there were, it would either be folks from outside the Graccan Empire or out-and-out idiots who donât cherish their lives. Basically, the nobles in this country typically donât tend to flaunt their authority and privileged status to others, but if a commoner were to mess around with them maliciously, theyâd be quickly cut down with no questions asked.
âBy the way, Hiro-sama.â
âWhat is it?â
âCan you please introduce me to Kugi-san and Shouko-san?â
âHmmâŠâŠ Well, this is the first time youâve met them in person after all.â
Theyâve already exchanged info with each other a couple of times via messages, but I suppose wanting to meet them in person must have some special meaning to Chris.
When I turned to Kugi, I saw that she was looking at me and Chris as her tails gently swung to and fro. The fox ears on her head were also standing straight up, so it didnât seem like she was intimidated by Chris.
By the way, Dr. Shouko remained in the medical bay. It was so she could check up on Unit 104, or rather, Neve. It doesnât appear that Neveâs condition would suddenly worsen without warning or anything of the sort, but her body was still in the process of recovery after all, so Dr. Shouko tried to stay by Neveâs side as much as possible.
âThereâs no point in standing around and talking in a place like this, so letâs sit and chat in the break space instead. I have no intention of getting a room at a hotel right now anyway.â
âEverythingâs a bit more expensive after all. In this colony, that is.â
Chris displayed a troubled smile as we headed to the break space.
The Grakkius Secundus colony functioned akin to the imperial capitalâs castle gate. In order to apply for a planetary descent permit to the capital, you basically needed to come here first, and your identity would be thoroughly investigated during the screening process.
And so, people and goods inevitably gather up at the Grakkius Secundus colony. Naturally, there were many accommodations and restaurants for travelers and tourists, but just as Chris said, they were quite pricey. More specifically, they were about 20 to 30% more expensive compared to regular prices. Apparently, there were regulations in place to prevent prices from getting too high though.
And so, guys like us with starships that were equipped with high-quality living spaces typically donât tend to book rooms at hotels in Grakkius Secundus. If it were a genuine noble, then spending money on such occasions wouldnât be considered that big of a deal, but that isnât the case here. After all, I was just an honorary noble. Thereâs no need for me to go out of my way to spend.
âSo, uh, introductions, right? Alright then. Chris, this girl is Kugi. Sheâs a priestess from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire and a gutsy girl who traveled all the way to this country in order to serve me. Sheâs also my psionic power instructor. Currently, sheâs training to serve as the Krishnaâs sub-pilot in Elmaâs place.â
After we settled ourselves inside the break space, I formally introduced Kugi, and she gave Chris a polite bow.
âKugi, this is Chris. Her full name is Christina Dareinwald. Sheâs the next family head of House Dareinwald and is currently serving as the Comatt systemâs governess. As you can see from the sword strapped to her waist, sheâs a bona fide imperial noble. I believe Iâve talked about it before, but we befriended her after coincidentally helping her fend off space pirates in the Sierra system, which is a popular vacation resort system in the empire. I canât really talk about the exact details, but weâve overcome various dangers together andâŠâŠ Well, I guess you can consider us really close friends. Please get along well with each other, you two.â
âItâs nice to make your acquaintance, Kugi-san.â
âYes, Christina-sama. Iâm delighted to meet you as well.â
Chis and Kugi exchanged gentle smiles. Well, I suppose they were treating this as some sort of formal ceremony or something.
âAlthough sheâs not here, Iâd like to introduce you to Dr. Shouko as well, Chris. Sheâs a former researcher and medical doctor under Inagawa Technology, and she took good care of us in the Alein star system before we met Chris. Back then, the ship she was on was attacked by space pirates, and we ended up saving her by coincidence. Then, all sorts of stuff happened such as mysterious biological weapons causing trouble within the Alein Tertius colonyâŠâŠ For some reason, we ended up reuniting with her at the Edge World. Various other stuff happened after that, and I ended up inviting her to serve as our groupâs ship doctor.â
âVarious stuff ehâŠâŠ? Iâm guessing all sorts of stuff happened when you met Kugi as well, correct?â
After saying so, Chris turned her gaze toward me. Uh, yeah, thatâs right. A lot of stuff went down. Yeah.
âI wish you would have done various stuff to me as well back then though.â
âI mean, thereâs timing and all sorts of other stuff to consider, right?â
In my head, Chris was in the category of someone in need of protection as well as a girl I shouldnât lay my hands on, so itâs rather troublesome when she says something like this.
âJudging from this, him coming on to me without hesitation seems to be a rare case.â
âHe practically didnât hesitate when he laid his hands on Dr. Shouko and you, Elma-san. Mei-san too.â
âSo, the common point between all of emâ seems ta be beinâ all mature anâ stuff, right?â
âI suppose we didnât look mature enough in Big Brotherâs eyes, so he dawdled when it came to us, Sis. But he laid his hands on you really quickly, didnât he, Mimi-chan?â
âIn my case, that particular custom played a factorâŠâŠ And back then, I was desperately trying my best not to be abandoned by Hiro-sama.â
âBut mine took quite some time as well thoughâŠâŠâ
âPerhaps he just didnât want to make it seem like he was pressuring you using his authority over you, Kugi.â
Uh, could you guys quit talking about that sort of stuff out loud while pretending to be discussing it in secret? Itâs kinda painful to hear. And Chris was really coming on to me now. Nothingâs gonna happen even if you keep rubbing the area below my navel, so cut it out, okay? Itâs kinda risquĂ© as far as skinship goes.
Afterward, we continued talking about the various things that happened while working in the Commatt system as I tried my best to fend off Chrisâs racy skinship attempts. We then spent some time inside the training room, and I engaged in a light training session with Chris using mock swords. Then, Chris finally went back to the hotel she was staying at, though reluctantly.
I had Mei accompany her as an escort, but I honestly thought she didnât need one after that sparring session we had. At the very least, your average thugs wouldnât be a match for her. Even Elma would probably have a hard time if she didnât have her laser gun and fought Chris unarmed. Youâd get done in if you let your guard down while fighting her.
âChris-chan sure has grown into an adult before we knew it.â
I took a bath with Mimi earlier, and she whispered those words to me while we were relaxing on the bed together.
âYeah. Girls sure grow up real fast.â
I felt deeply moved as I pictured Chrisâs appearance when we first met and compared it to her current appearance. Chris, who was shorter, more petite, and thinner than Mimi when we first met her, was now taller than Mimi. Her previously short bobbed hair had also grown enough to be considered semi-long.
âBut I donât feel like Iâve grown at all in comparisonâŠâŠ Mmmph.â
As she said so, Mimi straightened her back while she sat on the bed, and raised her hands as if doing a banzai pose. Was that some sort of exercise to make her taller or something? In any case, the buttons of her pajama were hanging on for dear life. It appeared like it was about to burst. How wonderful.
âI think youâve properly built up your muscles though.â
âBut I just canât lose weight at all. Or rather, itâs actually been going upâŠâŠ!â
âMuscles do have quite a bit of weight after all. Thatâs why youâd definitely get heavier if you increase your muscle mass while maintaining your body shape, butâŠâŠ I still prefer your current build. In fact, I strongly prefer it.â
âIs that so? But I wanna be a bit more slender thoughâŠâŠ Just like Elma-san.â
âElmaâs probably gonna snap if she heard you.â
The âhavesâ just canât relate to the feelings of the âhave-notsâ. I could easily imagine Elma saying something like that with a smile on her face while veins were popping up on her forehead. And somehow, I could also picture her being flanked by Tina and Wiska.
Well, Elma does regularly down a lot of alcohol, but she showed no signs of gaining any weight at all, so I suppose Mimi wanted to be like that as well.
âHiro-sama, are you going to marry Chris-chan?â
âUhâŠâŠ About that. Iâm honestly hesitating. I do like Chris, and Iâm happy that she likes me as well. But marriage is a whole ânother matter. Iâm already married to you anyway, Mimi.â
âYou donât really have to mind meâŠâŠ Um, Iâll be happy if we stay the same as always.â
Even though she said so, Mimi still looked a bit disappointed, or rather, sad. Neither of us has ever consciously done anything married couple-like after all. I mean, it somehow felt like our firm bond with each other would get cheapened if we did that.
âThe thing with Serena was definitely my faultâŠâŠ But I just couldnât abandon her in that situation.â
It was such an absurd situation, but I was left with no other choice back then. I donât even feel like thinking about the other possible options we could have taken now. In any case, all choices except for the one we took would have led to extremely bitter outcomes anyway.
âI know this sounds like Iâve given up on thinking, but whatever happens, happens. So, thereâs no point in being hung up about those things at this point. Iâll just have to do my utmost to ensure that whatever results from this will satisfy all of us as much as possible. Anyway, I already swore in my heart thatâŠâŠâ
âThatâŠâŠ?â
âIâm gonna flirt like crazy with you today, Mimi. Come on then. Iâll spoil you as much as you want, alright?â
As I said so, I spread my arms out in front of Mimi while sitting cross-legged on the bed. Mimi looked like she was smitten by my actions a bit, and then she leaped into my arms with a smile.
Oh, there, there. You sure are cute, Mimi.
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