After shooting practice came hand-to-hand combat.
My opponent was a hologram, but Tsubame manipulated my suit to simulate the sensation of being punched or blocked. While there wasn’t intense pain, the shock of a blow and the simulated feedback of landing a hit were startling.
Footwork. Gaze. Lowering my center of gravity. Movement of the arms and wrists. Again, infinite corrections and critiques.
I felt discouraged when she even started lecturing me on my breathing, but it just showed how closely she was monitoring me. By the time my shooting and martial arts reach a level Tsubame is satisfied with, I’ll probably be a master.
…Whether that day will ever come is a bit doubtful, though.
[Shall we call it a day?]
“I’m beat…”
[Master has good instincts. At this rate, both your marksmanship and martial arts will take shape soon.]
“…I’m used to following orders, after all.”
[Master? You have the eyes of a dead fish. Did something happen?]
“It’s nothing!”
Just the trauma of being a corporate slave resurfacing!
“By the way, if I completely master this, what level will I be at?”
[Let’s see. You would have the accuracy to snipe someone in another galaxy, and the martial arts prowess to subdue an opponent even if your limbs were bound.]
As if I could do that.
I resisted the urge to snap back and let out a long sigh, just as the sound of clapping echoed.
Turning toward the entrance, I saw Nia standing there.
“Tatsuya, you looked so cool…!”
“Oh, you were there? Good morning, Nia.”
“Good morning!”
[Since she had just woken up, I had her help bring water to Master.]
It seems she brought me a water bottle. Since Tsubame doesn’t have a body, carrying things is hard for her. Tsubame could do it with a service robot, but it’s certainly easier to ask Nia.
I thanked her and took the chilled bottle. I was thirstier than I realized; I downed more than half in one go.
“Pwah! That’s good…”
The cold sensation traveled down my throat and into my body. Since I was flushed from training, it felt amazing.
I hit the medical pod and the changing pod again to wash off the sweat and fatigue before heading to the dining area.
The breakfast was, just like yesterday, incredibly delicious. Just you wait, sausages and fried eggs… one day, I’m definitely going to eat the super expensive ones!
“Alright, starting today, we’ll head toward Planet Gemini using subspace navigation.”
“Yes! Thank you very much!”
“In the meantime, I’m hoping we can clear out some space pirates. Starting a business requires a lot of capital, after all.”
“A business?”
“Yeah. Actually, I’ve only just started working as a mercenary, so nothing’s been decided. Since we’re at it, I’d like Nia to choose the company name.”
“A company name?! Me?!”
“I don’t have any sense for naming.”
[I, however, received a wonderful name from you.]
Tsubame boasted proudly. I didn’t realize it was such a big deal… I should have put more thought into it. Well, she likes it, so it worked out in the end.
“A name… what kind of company is it?”
“Space pirate hunting, mercenary work, transport, handyman… the tasks are so varied that nothing quite fits.”
“Reliable choices would be things like ‘Fujishiro Transport’ or ‘Tatsuya Mercenaries,’ I suppose?”
Nia hummed in thought, then looked up quickly. She gave me a smile that looked like a blooming flower.
“Ah, then how about… Fujishiro-ya?”
“Fujishiro-ya.”
“I think it sounds cool! Ah, I mean, the sound of the name is cool… and, um, you’re cool too, Tatsuya!”
“Yeah. I get it, it’s fine.”
She turned away, her cheeks flushed red. It seemed she was embarrassed, but since she’s still a kid, it was just adorable.
If it were Tsubame, she’d probably say something like, [If we brainwash her thoroughly now, in five or ten years…] but I’m not about to brainwash someone into a relationship. Besides, a ten-year plan is way too intense.
That’s pure lolicon thinking.
And besides, I want to date a cute girl now! Right now! I was a corporate slave who never even had a girlfriend. Being guaranteed to be single for another ten years is just too painful.
[Well then, Master. From this moment, let us designate this vessel as the headquarters and hold the founding party for Fujishiro-ya.]
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
“A party?”
[I thought we might raise some ‘dirty fireworks’ while securing funds for a lavish meal.]
“What do you mean, ‘dirty fireworks’?”
That’s some uncharacteristically rough language for Tsubame.
[It is an idiom from the Pre-Ancient era; does it not translate? Then, I shall be blunt. Armed vessels are approaching in stealth mode.]
“…Space pirates!”
So the “fireworks” are the explosions from shooting them down. They certainly are dirty.
Alright, if that’s the case, let’s get to shooting.
“I-is there anything I can do to help?”
[Then, I shall leave the sub-weapons to you.]
“Ah, hey, don’t put Nia in the middle of a fight—”
“I’ll do my best!”
Nia was brimming with motivation. Well, if she’s up for it, I guess it’s fine.
“Alright, let’s start shooting.”
…No matter how much I earn, until I deliver Nia safely, I probably won’t be able to go to any bars with cute girls anyway.
If only I had a communication terminal, I could have enjoyed my “treasure file” of sexy images and videos, but it was taken away before I was launched into the black hole.
That terminal had my files of the gravure idol I’d been following forever.
My absolute favorite among them was Mao-Felis, a half-Beastman, half-Crystal-person.
She was a girl with a slender body and the best proportions.
Being an albino, she had pure white hair and white cat ears.
A whimsical long tail extended from her cute, small backside.
And those jewel-like, sparkling eyes unique to Crystal-people.
Just looking at her was enough to soothe my parched soul.
“If only I had a terminal…”
[Are you in need of a communication terminal?]
“Oh. You can provide one?”
[Hehe. Master need only give the command.]
“Provide a communication terminal.”
Yes! Now I can search to my heart’s content!
Once I find some time alone, I can finally vent some of this stress.
“Alright, time to blow off some steam by blasting away…!”
However, at this moment, I hadn’t realized.
Using a terminal made by Tsubame meant that every bit of my browsing history would be monitored by her.
[What the hell is that ship?!]
[Why aren’t we hitting it?! Those are 4 million Potol homing missiles!]
[Dammit! Use the allied ships as a shield and get us out of here!]
[There’s too much debris from the destroyed ships! The shield energy won’t hold!]
Angry shouts echoed from the intercepted comms.
Naturally, I started by shooting the ones trying to run.
“That’s the eighth ship!”
“Oh, nice. That makes ten for me!”
Since we didn’t have other ships to protect this time, we didn’t use special warheads.
The standard rounds pierced the enemy ships exactly as Tsubame’s orbital predictions dictated, blooming into “dirty fireworks” in the vacuum of space.
The scattered debris obstructed the movement and aiming of the remaining enemy vessels, scraping away their shield energy as they collided.
Plus, we could deploy salvaging robots to collect the scattered wreckage.
[I would like a bit more lithium and iridium, but since they are merely space pirates, I suppose this will suffice.]
Tsubame was quite happy with the unexpected resource haul, so both Nia and I stayed focused, continuing to line up our shots.
In the end, the annihilation was complete in less than five minutes.
[Honestly… despite it being a celebration for Master’s new business, the scale of the explosions was small. These space pirates have no sense of occasion.]
“Hahaha. Filling space with too many dirty fireworks just clutters up the galaxy. This is plenty.”
As I cracked my shoulders, Nia let out a long, tired breath.
“By the way, is the security around here usually this bad? I feel like space pirates show up way too often.”
“It shouldn’t be like this, but…”
Apparently, an ancient inscription contained a mysterious saying: “If you see one, assume there are thirty.” Maybe it was referring to space pirates. Between the “dirty fireworks” and this proverb, it seems the Pre-Ancient civilization struggled with pirates too.
“Well, whatever. I won’t complain about more rewards.”
Once we get paid at the nearest spaceport, let’s stock up on groceries and supplies.
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