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Chapter 483: 「Of Course I’m Curious」

As soon as we entered the rest area, Neve greeted us with a grin. Despite being inside a mobile pod, she seemed to enjoy being able to move around freely and often roamed— or rather, took walks— around the ship. We just ran into her just as she was taking a breather in the rest area, it seems.

「We weren’t being intimate. Also, where did you even learn that phrase… I guess you had no shortage of sources, huh.」

「Exactly. Soldiers are all pretty vulgar, after all.」

When I tapped lightly on Neve’s mobile pod with my fingertip as a warning, she gave a sarcastic smile inside the pod and shrugged her shoulders.

「You’re too influenced by my appearance, Captain. I may look like this, but I’m a 24-year-old adult woman, you know?」

「…I’ll do my best to adjust my perception.」

I understand it in my head, but when I look at Neve’s appearance… Her height isn’t much different from Tina and Wiska, but her body is so thin. Really slender. Thin and delicate.

「If you stare at me that much, even I’ll get embarrassed… So, could you wait just a little longer? I’ll ask the doctor to hurry and make me capable of handling such activities.」

「I wasn’t looking at you like that. Well, there’s no need to rush, just make sure to follow Dr. Shouko’s instructions closely. You’re in good hands with her—she’s a specialist, after all.」

「Aye aye, Captain. So, you did end up getting cozy, didn’t you?」

「I told you we didn’t! You really like these topics, don’t you? Are you that interested, you pervy brat?」

I tapped on the glass of Neve’s mobile pod again, but this time, her response was surprisingly serious, both in tone and expression.

「Of course I’m curious. Until now, I couldn’t even move my body freely. I thought I’d just die without experiencing anything a normal human would. But now that I have a chance at a healthy body, of course I’m interested. Isn’t that natural? Despite how I look, I’m a 24-year-old woman whose body is recovering its normal functions.」

「Well… yeah, that’s true.」

「Plus, I’ve recently started being able to eat some flavored liquid foods. Sweetness is an amazing thing, Captain. Even when my stomach is full, I want to keep eating.」

For some reason, listening to Neve makes me feel a bit sad. The sweet liquid food she is talking about is probably just a basic nutritional paste from a food cartridge with minimal processing and simple flavoring. It provides all the necessary nutrients, but it’s far from what anyone would call delicious.

「When your body is in better shape and you can eat regular food, let’s have some really good meals together, okay? Right, Mimi?」

「Yes! I’ll prepare lots of delicious things that Neve-chan will love!」

Mimi, who had been quietly watching the exchange between Neve and me, clenched her fist with enthusiasm. When Mimi gets excited like this, she tends to come up with dishes like ‘alien creatures that look like they might attach themselves to your face and parasitize you (with a mild, creamy flavor)’ I’m getting a bit worried… well, if it comes to that, I’ll step in and help. I’ve gotten pretty used to the bizarre delicacies Mimi prepares. Surprisingly, they often taste pretty good… though there are some spectacular misses from time to time.

☆★☆

After seeing Neve off as she went for another walk, I settled down in the rest area and started the procedure to contact Chris. I linked my small data terminal to the large holo-display in the rest area and sent a communication request to Chris’s personal address through the terminal.

「I’ve been waiting for you, Hiro-sama!」

Suddenly, her face filled the screen in an extreme close-up. The large holo-display magnified the impact, making Chris’s beautiful face and blooming smile dominate my entire field of vision.

「Oh, uh… sorry for keeping you waiting. I was a bit worn out and had to take a break.」

「You met with the people from Holz House, didn’t you? In that case, it’s understandable.」

Chris’s face, which had been displayed in an overwhelming close-up, smoothly zoomed out. It seems Mimi subtly adjusted it. The holo-display allows for quite a bit of freedom in projection positioning, after all.

「Let’s get straight to the point. You mentioned wanting to come along with us to the Dexer System, right?」

「Yes! Since it’s a great opportunity, I was hoping we could join you. My ship is currently docked at the Grakkius Secundus Colony, but it’s a small craft, so could we bring it aboard the Black Lotus?」

「There’s one hangar free for a small ship, so taking it aboard shouldn’t be a problem. However, it won’t be free, and we’ll need to go through the mercenary guild—」

「No need to worry about that! I’ll make all the necessary arrangements without any issues!」

Once again, Chris gave me a full, beaming smile that almost felt overwhelming. Something feels strange here. We aren’t meeting face-to-face so I can’t use my psionic abilities to sense her thoughts, but something is strange, I can’t shake the feeling that Chris is up to something.

「If you’re saying that much, Chris, I trust you. I know you wouldn’t do anything that would make me sad or uncomfortable. So, I’ll leave everything to you.」

「…O-Of course. You can count on me.」

It might be my imagination, but I noticed a slight bead of sweat on Chris’s face after I expressed my complete trust in her. Is she planning something after all? Well, knowing Chris, I doubt she’d do anything that would truly bother me, even if she is indeed planning something.

「As long as you’re handling the contract side of things smoothly, there shouldn’t be any practical issues. The Black Lotus has enough empty rooms, too. You mentioned you had two companions with you?」

「Yes, Edeltrud, whom I introduced to you before, and Guterune, who’s waiting aboard our ship at the Grakkius Secundus Colony.」

「Guterune-san, huh? Is she also a female knight?」

「Yes, she’s my bodyguard.」

That makes sense. When an unmarried noblewoman travels with a ship, it wouldn’t be appropriate to have a male knight onboard as her bodyguard.

「So, we’re transporting a small ship and three personnel, two of them bodyguards. Mimi, can you work with Chris and Mei to handle the paperwork? Also, check if there’s anything else we need to do in the Imperial City. If everything’s clear, we’ll depart as early as tomorrow.」

If we dawdle too long, that Fucking Emperor or the Imperial Princess might try something again. I wouldn’t be surprised if those two came up with something like, ‘Oh, you’re heading to the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, right? Why don’t you take Princess Luciada along as a diplomatic envoy? Gahaha!’ They might come up with something even worse too. Just thinking about it makes me feel like I might cough up blood. There’s no way I’m letting that kind of trouble land on us.

「I’m going to check with Tina and the others to see if we’re ready for launch. Chris, besides dealing with the mercenary guild, make sure to get everything ready to leave your accommodations. Oh, and I guess I’ll give Serena a heads-up, as well.」

If we leave the Imperial Capital without telling her, she will probably sulk later.